Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 22 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Night’s Arrival

Sorcerer, Ray Starling

I was in the box that Marie had reserved for us, watching the matches of the final day.

There was enough space here for everyone in the clan, but the only one with me here at the moment was Marie. Figaro was one of the contestants. Shu and Hannya were on security duty. B3 was still in college—her classes were keeping her from leaving like I did. Rook was leveling to prepare for when he’d challenge his UBM. Kasumi’s trio were simply in school. Nemesis was meditating again.

Because of all that, Marie and I were the only Death Period members watching The Tournaments.

“So that’s a Caldinan Superior... Man, he’s strong.” King of Termination’s Embryo had a really powerful skill.

He’d been matched first with Bishmal, who definitely wasn’t a pushover. He was specialized in hand-to-hand combat empowered by fire, and the destructive force it delivered had kept him high in the duel rankings for a quite a while at this point.

However, it was precisely because he was so specialized that he was a terrible matchup against King of Termination.

The same could be said about the bout that followed. Even though these Masters excelled at what they did, there was simply nothing they could do.

“It heals him, gives him resistance and a new means of attack...”

It could be roughly categorized as a counter-type Embryo. Considering that its effects relied on the opponent’s damage, you could even say that it had some similarities to Nemesis.

“What do you think?” I asked Marie.

“Weeell... Based on the stats, either the skill can only be used near death, or it gets stronger the closer he is to dying. Regardless, it’s probably combo’d with Rear Soldier.”

I nodded. Rear Soldier’s Last Stand was a skill that let you survive with 1 HP for five seconds even if you took fatal damage or had damaging debuffs on you.

I had learned about it after taking Death Soldier and had even considered using it myself. However, it was a choice between five seconds alive and being active for ten times that long after death, so I’d picked the latter.

Picking both was also an option, but I’d prioritized jobs with other useful skills rather than the extra five seconds of action.

Another notable thing about Last Stand was that it had a five second cooldown. Last Command could only be used again after a resurrection—a rather harsh condition—while Last Stand would be ready again after just some healing.

But whatever flaws he had, defeating KoT after he was fully healed and granted resistances was a huge challenge.

“I think that healing power must have a limited number of uses,” said Marie. “Do you have a guess how many?”

“Seven. Eight at most.”

“Well, that was a quick answer.”

“The skill names are a dead giveaway,” I responded. The words KoT said right before healing were “Dubhe” and “Merak.” Those were the α and β stars in the Big Dipper constellation—sometimes called the Septentrion.

If the skill names and the Embryo as a whole were really based on that, he could use the skill a total of seven times.

Even if you included that one star that was often mentioned alongside the seven, eight would be the absolute limit.

“It’s the strict use condition and use limit that allows the skill to be as powerful as it is,” I said. “Though, it looks like the resistances he gets cover a pretty wide range. Probably that’s the most important factor when he’s pushed to the edge of death, not the specific means of attack.”

“Yeah, probably.” When Bishmal almost killed him by breaking his neck, KoT gained resistance to not just strangleholds, but physical attacks as a whole—including Bishmal’s kicks. It might have even covered more than that.

“It’s really powerful in duels,” I said. I would guess that normally, after he gained his resistances, some time needed to pass before the number of uses and resistances he’d gained reset. Nemesis was another counter-type, and her Counter Absorption recharged one use per day, so it was fair to assume KoT had something similar.

However, duels were special—once the matches were over and the barriers undone, the fighters returned to the state they had been in before the duels. Even if KoT fought multiple matches in a row, he could start each of them with all the uses of this skill available, and every one of his opponents would have to overcome his healing and buffs at least seven times, maybe more.

Experienced Masters had their ults and other aces up their sleeve, but usually not too many of them. In most cases, they just had two: their Embryo ult and a job ult. Only a small portion of them had MVP rewards and other things on top of these.

However, defeating KoT required a minimum of eight, if not nine different means of delivering lethal damage. While this was possible if you fought him as a group, that was really difficult to achieve in a one-on-one fight. Even all-rounders like Xunyu and Juliet would struggle.

“And I... I don’t actually have enough either, do I?” I had one attack with fixed damage from Vengeance and the like, two with Purgatorial Flames, three with the lethal debuffs from Hellish Miasma, four with Shining Despair, five with the holy element from Grand Cross and Purifying Silverlight, six with physical damage from either Gardranda or copying KoT’s STR using Chaser, and seven with a risky swing of my still-cursed axe.

Huh? Wait, I’m actually kinda close, I thought. My Wind Hoof bomb trick was physical damage, so that would overlap with some of the others, but...didn’t I have something more?

...Ohhh. If the axe’s element selection worked right, that might actually give me the upper hand against KoT.

“But...” I mused. That was really just if I was the only one attacking. I’d still have to withstand KoT’s attacks and bring him down while my own attacks were being rendered useless too. “The way he’s fighting in these matches isn’t how he usually fights, right?”

“No, it’s not,” said Marie. “The way he normally fights is uhhh... Oh, he’s like your brother’s battleship, but human-sized.” An unpleasant expression crossed her face as she remembered getting bombarded by Baldr in Noz Forest.

All that firepower in a human form, though? A wide-scale extermination type...the very thought of fighting like that inside a city like Gideon was terrifying.

That must’ve been why he’d fought Bishmal mostly empty-handed.

“When dueling in Caldina, that combat style allowed him to win without even using his healing and buff skill,” said Marie. “He never lost a duel... Though, he also never had a public match against his biggest counter—The Fight.”

I guess they settled who was stronger within the clan and didn’t want to reveal their cards in a public match? I thought. Though, that makes me wonder about The Fight’s combat style too...

“Is the arena situation there different than in Gideon?” I asked. It sounded that KoT didn’t hesitate to use all his firepower back in Caldina, unlike here.

“Oh, it is. Everything is wide-open and there are fewer people. The duels breathe some life into their surroundings, but comparing it to Gideon is just unfair. Gideon is the greatest dueling location in the Seven Great Countries—it’s even better than Tenchi in terms of providing a venue for duels, if not in the average power of its duelists.”

“Well, it’s got a whole twelve arenas... Thirteen if you count our base.” That made me wonder why arenas were so concentrated here in Gideon. I’d heard that the city predated the Kingdom of Altar, but...

“Anyway, based on what we’ve seen so far...” said Marie. “Figaro is gonna win this.”

“Yeah.” My thoughts had gone off on a tangent, but I could only agree with that.

Figaro had a large arsenal of weapons—many of them MVP rewards—and his Embryo empowered them, making him the most well-rounded attacker in the kingdom. He could easily field more than eight forms of offense, so he could overcome all of KoT’s resistances and defeat him. Additionally, KoT was fighting with a self-imposed handicap that kept him from using his high-firepower weapons.

“Bad compatibility and holding himself back,” said Marie. “With these two disadvantages, it’s sooo clear who’s winning this.”

With his offensive powers curtailed like that, KoT had no hope of beating Figaro. As things were, it was obvious that our duel champion had this in the bag.

“Hm...” However, if both of them could use all their powers and weapons to the fullest—if both of them were capable of actually killing each other—then it could honestly go either way.

That was what I believed, and I was sure he thought the same thing.

The Tournaments’ matches continued, and everything was going about as you’d expect.

KoT was climbing up the left side of the bracket as Figaro was rising up the right. Many powerful Masters were taking part in this, but they were all falling before the two Superiors.

In the quarterfinals, KoT had defeated a duelist in the middle of the rankings, and in the semifinals, he’d brought down Catherine Kongo—the second in the kill rankings.

She(?) had actually gotten pretty close to beating him. She’d first gotten him with Charm, then four times using her tamed monsters in their human forms, and then yet again in close quarters physical combat using her Embryo ult. That made a total of six times.

But once KoT had the resistances and the attacks that countered her monsters, she finally fell. The skill names he used for every heal were all stars in the Big Dipper, adding credence to my idea that he could come back at least seven times.

“By the way, why were her monsters in human form?” I asked.

“Oh. That’s because their true forms don’t fit in the barrier. The third maid—the one with the green hair—is actually a High-End Disaster Elemental. She’s probably bigger than all of Gideon.”

...I see, I thought. So she(?) was also fighting with a handicap. It was like how Shu’s Baldr in its fifth form onward couldn’t be used in the arena either.

But man, I’d never thought that tamed monsters could be that big. “Weeell, if they weren’t tamed, Catherine Kongou’s four ‘Nethermaids’ are pretty much guaranteed to be UBMs,” said Marie. “If someone goes around with a retinue this destructive, it’s not at all surprising that they’re only behind KoD in the kill rankings... Though, the third... The one who beat me could probably beat Catherine one-on-one.”

I felt like I heard her say something under her breath at the end there, but I chose to ignore it.

Anyway, KoT had already advanced to the finals, and Figaro just beat his semifinals opponent too.

“It’s getting pretty dark,” I said as I noticed the twilight.

The finals had been delayed due to preparations, so by the time the match actually began, it would probably be night. The Masters of Cor Leonis—another name for the star called Regulus—and Septentrion would fight beneath the starlight, and I felt like there was a kind of romance to that.

“Hm...?” As that thought went through my mind, I heard a knock on the door to our box. Had some clan member logged in in time for this? Did the arena staff have something to tell us? Wondering who it was, I opened the door and...

“Hello again. We met just a short while ago.”

Behind the door, there stood King of Light, F.

“Why are you here?” I asked. “And how did you know our seat?”

“Research.” So he’d been spying on us using his drones again.

I swear he’ll get arrested for this someday, I thought.

“As for why I am here... There is something I feel I should inform you about.” Inform us...? “I’m currently using my drones to observe Gideon...”

That made me notice that his right eye was closed, and I wondered if his drone Embryo could be linked to his vision in order to give him a bird’s-eye view of the area... It had been a real pain when I’d fought him, and I bet he was using it right now.

“And?” I prompted.

“There is trouble at your clan’s base. Three of your duelist friends have gotten caught up in it, as well.”

“HUH?!” Both Marie and I let out a cry of shock. This had really come out of nowhere.

There’s trouble at the Eighth Arena?! And three duelist friends... Right! I gave a spare key to Max! Who else would be...?

“Should you not hurry there?” King of Light interrupted my thoughts.

“What kind of trouble?!” I asked. “Are they all right?!”

“Please go and see it with your own eyes—I want to see your reaction.”

“Nnngh...!” Of course—this guy was so obsessed with his research for inspiration and reference material that it was literally criminal. “Ugh... Marie! I’ll get on Silver and take a look!”

“Shouldn’t I go too...?”

“You stay and watch over this guy! He might be planning something—don’t let him out of sight!”

“I see. That’s definitely necessary,” Marie said.

“I don’t understand why you’re so distrustful.”

Remember what you did during the last event here in Gideon and try saying that again, I thought. Regardless, I left the two where they were and ran out through the arena’s exit.

“Nemesis! You awake?!”

“Yes, and I know the situation. I wonder what that trouble he mentioned is...”

“I have no idea. For all we know, it might have something to do with KoT’s appearance in The Tournaments. But whatever it is, we can’t ignore it.”

“Indeed!” Once out of the arena, I instantly took out Silver, jumped on his back, and flew off. I also shattered a job crystal and switched my main job to Paladin, just in case.

My destination: our base, the Eighth Arena.

◇◆◇

Gideon, City of Duels, Central Arena, Box Seat

Ray had stormed out, leaving behind the two pre-Superiors. Neither of them knew what to do about this awkward situation, but the first one to break the silence was Marie.

“Standing at the entrance like that is a bit annoying, so why not come in and sit down? The seats here were reserved by our clan, and there’s more than we need.”

“Oh? Well, if you would offer, then I will do just that. The view here is really quite good, after all,” said F as he entered the box and sat down right where Ray had been sitting. The sight of that made Marie grimace.

The conversation ended there, and they were now both just waiting for the final match, not saying a word. However, Marie felt that this really wasn’t going to work out and broke the silence again.

“So? What are you plotting this time?” she asked.

“You’re asking that now too? I am not plotting anything today, but I see that people around here really don’t trust me.”

“Of course—and it’s not just because of the Love-Duel Festival either. Do you have any idea how many incidents you’ve probably caused?”

“Oh, but I help people too. My goal isn’t crime, but research.”

“Ha! An author who can’t do ‘research’ without bothering people. What a laugh,” said Marie—which was ironic, considering she herself had been engaging in commissioned PK in order to role-play as the protagonist of her own work. If her fellow clan members—especially B3—were here, they would’ve definitely told her that she was in no position to criticize F.

A brief silence ensued. F also knew that Marie was a player killer—the Superior Killer, no less—and did indeed consider retorting by pointing out that she was hardly better than him.

However, instead, he chose to attack her from a different angle.

“By the way, your avatar... That’s the protagonist of Into the Shadow, isn’t it?”

“Yes. What of it?” Though Marie had tried to hide it, F’s question startled her. Into the Shadow was the title of the manga created by her real-life self, Nagisa Ichimiya.

“I read every volume,” said F. “Though I do prefer the tankobon format, so I missed anything that wasn’t included in those.”

When the magazine it was published in was canceled, Marie’s manga had gone on hiatus before it was finished, and the newest chapters had yet to be collected into the tankobon format. However, the fact that F was a tankobon-buying reader made Marie think that he might’ve not been so bad after all.

Hook, line, and sinker.

“Oh yes, I read it. And I enjoyed it a good bit,” F added. “Though, I feel like the volcano eruption that helped defeat Upas-Kamuy the Crusher could’ve used a bit more buildup. The final scene did happen on a mountain, and I understand that when Daisy’s doomed battle revealed that fire was effective, you intended that to be foreshadowing, but I still felt like there was a step or two missing in the lead-up to that eruption ending the fight. It would’ve been better if there was a little bit more information sprinkled around to preface it.”

“Y-Yeah,” Marie said. The harsh criticism of her work caught her completely off guard and hit her where it hurt. F had already guessed that she was a similar type of person and purposely picked a critique that would sting.

Trouble was brewing at the Eighth Arena, the final match of The Tournaments was about to start...and in the background of all this, a mangaka and an author waged their little passive-aggressive war.

◇◆◇

Gideon, City of Duels, Eighth Arena

As the sun began to set, the sparring session at the Eighth Arena also reached its end. The boats and water used for the aquatic battle vanished, returning the stage to its original form.

“Ngh... Once again, I didn’t pull it off even a single time...” Juliet was the only one among the duelists who looked a bit down. That was because she hadn’t yet been able to master her MVP rewards.

“Well, your new stuff is a bit hard to use under duel rules,” said Chelsea. “It’s nothin’ like Maxie’s new sword—that one’s so simple and easy to wield. Only if you’re Maxie, though.”

“Yeah,” Max said. “I’m pretty sure the only ones besides me who could use it right are Jubei and Figaro.”

With the sparring over, it was time to share their thoughts. The three duelists were talking about what stood out for them about their sparring match, and this sight seemed to impress G somehow.

“You’re all so stoic!” she said. “I feel like I’m watching a shogi research society or something!”

“Well, our strongest duelist is crazy strong. If we don’t work hard, there’s no way we’ll ever catch up to him,” said Chelsea.

“I see. I can just feel your sporty passion! It’s so hot! It’s burning!”

G had just been watching a practice bout, but she pumped her fist in the air enthusiastically.

It was safe to say she seemed pretty excited.

“Oh, right. G, didn’t ya have some business?” Chelsea asked, just now remembering what G had said.

“Oh yeah! Do you think you’ll make it in time? I can fly you there if you’re in a hurry...” Juliet said.

“Oh no. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.” G shook her head, rejecting Juliet’s concerned offer. “I’m already where I need to be. This is the stage of the event.”

“Huh?” As G’s words filled Juliet with confusion...

“Max! Juliet! Chelsea...! What happened?!”

“Huh?! Ray?”

...Ray and Nemesis descended from the air upon Silver’s back and jumped down onto the stage. The girls thought that he looked unusually alarmed.

“What’s wrong? Why the panic?”

“Chelsea—oh, I was just told that there was some trouble here...”

“Trouble? No, there isn’t. We were just sparrin’, that’s all.” And it was true that there were no problems here—the sparring had ended without any issue whatsoever.

“I see,” said Ray. “Well, that’s good to know.”

“Indeed,” Nemesis concurred. “But then, why did King of Light say... Hm?”

That was when the two of them noticed the unfamiliar face among the duelists.

“Uhhh... And you are?” Ray called out to the one person he didn’t recognize, and...

“Eh heh heh. Thank you, brother dearest. Your timing is perfect, oh brother of mine.”

...instead of answering Ray’s question, she only...cracked a grin.

At the same time, countless orbs began rising all over the arena.

She’d set them up without anyone noticing, and they—or rather, the magic cameras—now activated all at once.

“What...?!” Ray wasn’t the only one confused now—Juliet’s trio clearly knew nothing about this either.

“Aaall righty, then! All eyes on G! Welcome to my channel!”

Only one person was speaking now, and it was the only voice that showed no hint of shock at the situation.

Everyone’s eyes focused on the speaker—the girl now standing in the middle of the arena stage, surrounded by cameras.

Acting like the arena was her personal studio, she turned to every which way with an expressive, smiling face full of life.

“Hello! We meet again! Maybe it’s been a while? Or perhaps you’re new here? In that case, let me introduce myself! I’m G, the Superior streamer and Dendro content creator!”

“G...?” The smiles and words she excitedly spread in every direction felt almost like they were meant not for Juliet and the rest, but for an invisible audience.

G continued as though her friend’s confusion meant nothing.

“Remember what I announced last time? This premiere is for a battle against a very special guest! And my opponent this time is... Shock and awe! The strongest newbie! The one who beat multiple Superiors! Ray Starling the Unbreakable!” Saying that, she extended her palm toward Ray, and the cameras synchronized with her movements, instantly turning to film them.

Ray still didn’t have a full grasp of the situation.

However, he already understood that this had to be the “trouble” he had been told about.

“Oh, and would you look at that! Julie and her Altarian duelist friends are joining too! Meanwhile... I’ll be fighting solo! Huh?! Isn’t that bad news for me?! Won’t I lose?!” The cameras then panned over Juliet’s trio, and G faked a little panicked reaction. “Well, the results are still unknown! I’ll go as hard as I can! I’ll seize the possibility even if it’s beyond the radix point! Yeah!” After copying Ray’s words like that, she lightly moved her hand, stopping the camera sync.

“So, yeah. A pleasure to meet you. Good evening, Ray Starling.”

Though still smiling, G addressed him by name while behaving completely differently than she had when the cameras had been filming.

Ray said nothing. The drastic change in her behavior perplexed him, but at the same time, something in his memory was nagging at him.

Before he found his words, though, Nemesis spoke in his place.

“Who are you?! And what do you mean, ‘battle’?!”

“I’m G—I already said that, though. Let me introduce myself another way...”

She answered directly this time, first giving them her name, and then...

“You know King of Light, F? I’m his little sister.”

...revealed a truth that told Ray and Nemesis all they needed to know.

Ray’s eyes widened as Nemesis said, “Huh?! So he is the one behind this!”

“Oh, I just asked him to lead you here. He’ll only watch now and not involve himself at all. This event—this stage—is all mine,” G said as she spun around joyously.

“Event...?”

“Yes. I’m about to... Oh.”

Before G could finish, the situation shifted.

Chelsea swung her greataxe at her, while Max rushed in with her katana.

What followed was a noisy clash. However, it wasn’t the sound of blades slicing through a human body...

“So you went at me the moment you realized I was planning something,” said G. “You work fast. That was probably the right move...though it looks like you can’t get past my bodyguard.”

...it was the sound of something abnormally strong deflecting their strikes.

A horde of octopus-like tentacles were now sticking out from G’s shadow, forming a barrier of flesh.

“Huh...?!”

“An Embryo...? No! A tamed monster!”

The tentacles then moved to retaliate against their attackers. Chelsea and Max dodged by jumping backward, but the tentacles shattered the stone stage.

“And a pretty strong one, at that,” said G. “I’m not sure how he measures up, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s as tough as your summon... ‘Gardranda,’ right?”

“Well... You sure seem to know a lot about me,” said Ray. “Did you get all that from KoL?”

“He has nothing to do with this. I don’t think you understand how famous you are. You used her against both Hell General and King of Beasts—everyone knows about her.”

Hearing that made Ray scowl. First Jubei, now G—his fame was really working against him.

“Though, you seem to know me too. So we’re even on that count.”

“What do you mean?”

“This,” G said as she closed the umbrella she had been using up until now.

The last rays of the setting sun shone directly on her face.

That was all. From Juliet’s perspective, nothing had changed. Well, she was now wearing a choker that wasn’t there before, but that was it.

But that little change meant a lot.

“Huh?!”

“A disguise?! So good that it ignores Reveal and Truth Discernment?!” Ray and Chelsea raised their voices as though surprised by something.

“Huh? What’s with you two? She didn’t change at all,” said Max.

“Huh?! She changed a ton! She grew horns, a tail, and her face and clothes’re all different! And wait... If she actually looks like this, and her name’s G, then she’s...!”

“What’s going on...?” Juliet was lost.

Chelsea was talking about G’s appearance as though she had only assumed this devilish form just now, but those features had been present since Juliet had met her yesterday. Why was Chelsea so shocked?

“Wait...” Juliet said as she was struck with a sudden realization. “Did different people see you differently...?”

Those words made G’s smile grow deeper.

“Correct! I’m pretty well-known, and I got a lot of enemies, so I can’t go outside without a disguise.”

G put a hand on her neck and tore off the choker-shaped accessory. It was an Epic MVP reward, hidden until now by becoming one with her skin.

Its name was Nightcrawl Chaos, Netherface, and its effects were concealment and interfering with others’ perceptions. It also only worked when out of direct sunlight.

“Those who know me don’t see me as me. The only exceptions are those who’ve just found out about me and anyone on my friend list. This is off-the-record, by the way. It’s a secret I haven’t even revealed in my videos!”

“Friend... Oh.” The MVP reward obscured her true identity from everyone except those who didn’t know her—and those who were on her friends list. Yesterday, Max and Juliet were the former. Today, Juliet was the latter.

And since Ray and Chelsea already knew her, they saw her as someone else.

If you knew G’s appearance ahead of time, she simply assumed a different appearance, making you unable to recognize her. If you knew her job ahead of time, Reveal even displayed false stats. As long as she stayed in the shadows, no one could identify who she really was.

That was the reason G could walk around such a crowded city without anyone noticing her.

Juliet and Max didn’t know her, and thus saw her true form—while Chelsea, who regularly gathered info about powerful Masters even if they were foreign, had seen her differently.

“Since you didn’t see the real me, you must already know who I am, right?”

“Yeah...” Indeed—Ray knew too. Following his recent battle against Overlord Acedia, ZZZ, Ray had looked into the other Overlords and came across the one who revealed more info about herself than any other.

She was...

“A member of Desire, just like ZZZ... Overlord Invidia, G!”

“Yes! Exactly! That’s me! I’m the Overlord!”

An Overlord and a Superior. One of Legendaria’s greatest criminals who reveled in chaos.

That was G’s true identity.

Juliet’s eyes widened. The revelation of her friend’s real identity filled her with shock.

“And why would someone like you come here?” Ray asked.

“I came to take the arena! I’m gonna steal it!” G answered, proudly announcing that this was indeed a theft.

“Steal...?”

“Yes! Exactly!” G clapped once and then spread her arms wide. “I want an arena! This facility itself! It’s useful and rare even in this world, and I want it!”

She closed her right hand as if grasping something.

“I want to avenge my brother. I want to defeat the one who took him down—Ray Starling!”

She gave a thumbs-up with her left hand, then turned the gesture upside down.

“And I want to record my entire battle against you. This is my stage—my production—and I’m gonna bring it to the viewers!”

Finally, she drew her outstretched arms back and crossed them across her body, embracing herself.

“Three birds with one stone! That’s what I want!”

“Well, aren’t you greedy.”

“Yes! Yes, I am! Exactly!” G agreed with Ray’s comment, all smiles.

She once again waved her hand, syncing herself up with her cameras.

“I’m so greedy they call me the Bottomless! I am a member of Desire and an Overlord who carves the whole world away!” As she talked, she was becoming more energized. “That’s why! Here and now! I’m starting a game! By me! For me!” As she spoke, the sun completely vanished beneath the horizon...and night fell upon the world.

Thus, she declared her final intention.

“The night comes! The stars align! The time of the Overlord begins!” G held up the crest on her left hand, showing a design like a sunken temple...

“The event begins... Playground of the Great Old One—R’lyeh!”

...and announced the beginning of her reign.