Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 22 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Beneath the Starry Sky

Gideon, City of Duels, Central Arena

Over Gladiator, Figaro and King of Termination, Albert Schwartzkaiser.

They were both Superiors and powerful duelists, but their similarities went beyond that.

For one, they were both record holders—each had the most MVP rewards in Altar and Caldina, respectively.

Figaro’s Cor Leonis empowered his gear and made him an extremely well-rounded combatant, which had allowed him to explore the Tomb Labyrinth solo and defeat many of the UBMs the control AIs had placed there.

Albert’s Septentrion granted him resistances and effective counterattacks, which was how he had defeated many of the Caldinan UBMs that were known to be dangerous opponents due to their unique means of attack or defense.

Either of them could be the bane of just about anything they encountered, so they had each overcome many unique challenges. As a result, they had countless UBM rewards adjusted to suit them, and any battle between these two Masters would serve as an exhibition of these powerful artifacts.

First, Figaro drew a pistol.

He rarely used this, as it wouldn’t be suitable as his main weapon—but that was exactly why he’d picked it.

Albert could come back to full health seven times, gaining new resistances and offensive powers with each comeback. This meant that Albert would be at his strongest after his seventh use of this power, and Figaro had to reserve his greatest weapon—Gloria α—for that moment. Until then, he wanted to avoid slashing and light-based attacks.

That was why Figaro had started with the pistol.

Watching him in silence, Albert drew out a weapon of his own.

It was another firearm, but it was nothing like Figaro’s. It was a cannon.

Albert held two enormous barrels—each one as large as his own enormous body—in each arm. These were not two different weapons, though. A serpentine cable extended from the back of each barrel, connecting the two into one single weapon that resembled a two-headed snake.

This was the UBM reward, “Serpentflame Purger, Firelyx.”

The moment Albert pulled the trigger, a flash of fire sparked deep within the cannon’s maws...and the flames that burst out pierced through three of the arena’s barriers.

The easy obliteration of their protection caused a stir among the audience, but they relaxed once they remembered that there were still two unbroken barriers on top of Integra’s extra wards. This also made Albert’s behavior in previous matches much more understandable—if his firepower was this potent, it made sense that he had refused to use it.

It was a bit early for the spectators to accept that he really was that powerful, though. After all—this was only his first attack.

As the flames quickly approached, Figaro widened his eyes, stopped attacking, and focused on evasion.

Albert, however, was still able to see his target. He turned around, swinging the maws of the cannon around with him. The flames pursued Figaro, licking the stage and leaving two heated lines on the barrier.

If he’d done this to a horde of monsters, it would’ve surely exterminated all of them.

That’s probably a Legendary MVP reward, Figaro thought, analyzing Firelyx as he dodged its flames. It must be like Ray’s Miasmaflame Bracers, except focused on firepower. Ray’s a special case, though...

Firelyx’s offensive power seemed to rival that of a Superior Job’s ultimate skill, but the fact that Albert could keep firing it for such a long time meant that it must not cost much to activate.

Figaro considered that the item might be immensely Resource efficient because of its simplicity, but he felt that was too much for a Legendary...

Actually, it looks like his MVP rewards are a special case too, he thought as he looked at Albert and noticed something. That one doesn’t protect the user.

His opponent’s body was burning in the flames released by his own weapon.

Unless they were completely fired in the wrong direction, item skills like Gardranda’s Purgatorial Flames usually minimized their effects on the wielder. However, such balances and safety measures cost Resources, often making the items weaker than they would’ve been without them.

Firelyx didn’t have that. Its fearsome flames scorched everything around it—Albert included.

In exchange for reducing MP costs and increasing firepower, it burned its wielder to death.

It seemed like a useless failure of an MVP reward...

“α: Dubhe.”

...but not when wielded by King of Termination.

The flames burning Albert subsided as he instantly returned to his original form.

He was still overwhelmed by immense heat, but he was no longer actively catching fire.

The reason for that was obvious.

He’s resistant to it now, Figaro thought. I see. So it works on self-inflicted damage too.

Albert had used his own MVP reward to acquire the same fire resistance he’d used in the fight against Bishmal and Surt.

Albert’s Septentrion was a Superior Embryo with the core themes of “learning” and “overcoming.” The chain of skills that started with “α: Dubhe” activated when he was near death and gave him a resistance to whatever phenomenon had contributed the most to bringing him there—usually the element that had dealt the most damage.

That meant it could be used regardless of where the damage had come from.

Using the skill on self-inflicted damage, though, wouldn’t give him a new means of attack. The new attack would’ve been drawn from the skill’s target, which was Albert himself—and as he possessed a Type Body Embryo, he was built differently than most people.

This meant that this first use of the skill didn’t give him any offensive abilities, but that wasn’t much of a problem, since he could now use Firelyx without any risk.

That wasn’t the only change he’d undergone, though.

“What...?” A murmur arose from the audience as they sensed that Albert’s flames had become more intense after his first comeback.

However, there was no actual change in the intensity of the flames. He’d been firing them at full power since the start.

What had changed was the temperature within the barrier. Firelyx’s flames had already increased the temperature to several hundred degrees Celsius. Arena barriers allowed air to flow in, so the area inside never became a vacuum, but it was already an environment that no normal person could survive.

The only reason Figaro was largely unfazed by this was because he’d switched one of his rings for another with fire resistance and empowered it. He’d experienced scorching environments like this in the flaming traps of the deeper Tomb Labyrinth. That was why he’d been able to counter Albert’s attack so readily.

His strategy’s good too, Figaro thought. Even though Figaro could negate the effects of the temperature, it effectively forced him to use one of his item slots, preventing him from removing it to empower himself. Additionally, the fire resistance ring meant little against the flames of Firelyx itself.

Thus, Figaro went on the offensive. Turning his body to evade the snaking flames, he aimed the pistol in his right hand at Albert.

The weapon wasn’t made of metal. Its surface was colored like limestone, and it was decorated with a pattern of serpentine scales, giving it the appearance of a snake flowing between rocks.

That was a hint toward what it had once been.

Figaro’s first weapon was “Lifefall Petrifier, Marbledrop.”

It was what remained of a small venomous snake UBM that had once been feared as an invisible peril to all exploring the Tomb Labyrinth.

Avoiding the flames, Figaro fired its bullets straight toward Albert. However, Albert saw the gun pointing at him and moved Firelyx to evaporate the bullets before it could reach him.

The snakes of flame lapped at the bullet flying through the air...

...and the bullet passed clean through them.

A hint of shock could be seen on Albert’s face. Marbledrop had once been a UBM that passed through the walls and floors of the Tomb Labyrinth to approach its targets and deliver its lethal bites.

Because of this, the bullets fired by its MVP reward had the ability to pass through anything nonliving.

Like a dark magic spell, the limestone-colored bullet ignored the call of the superheated flames. It simply continued its flight and hit.

That was when its second effect activated.

Shock overcame Albert as he saw the point of impact transform into limestone. The material that comprised his body was being turned into stone—Petrification effect. Normally, this could be resisted with enough HP and END.

However, it was Figaro who had fired the bullet.

Empowered by Cor Leonis, the Petrifying projectile quickly began to affect Albert’s entire body.

Not yet resistant to Petrification, Albert became a stone statue, unable to do anything to stop it. Taciturn at the best of times, he fell utterly silent as Petrification rendered him completely immobile.

This obviously also locked his Firelyx completely in place.

“HYAAAH!” Figaro closed the distance between them and switched to another weapon—Gloria α.

This was perhaps the strongest blade among all Figaro’s many MVP rewards.

However, he didn’t use it to attack Albert’s statue, instead splitting the two maws of the Firelyx.

The flames within it were unleashed, creating a massive explosion. Figaro jumped away, but Albert’s Petrification prevented him from doing anything to protect himself.

Even though he had fire resistance, the pressure of the explosion overwhelmed him and blasted his body into bits.

“Now...” With his fire resistance ring and his skilled evasion, Figaro reduced the explosion damage to a mere graze.

By the time the fire was gone, so was the Firelyx.

Albert himself had been reduced to fragments too small to recognize. He was certainly on the verge of death now.

I wonder... Figaro thought.

While Petrification was a debuff that completely immobilized those affected, Figaro rarely used this pistol. It certainly delivered a lethal debuff, but Figaro had multiple ways of killing his opponents that were easier than landing a shot. Plus, though it did lead directly to death, the debuff didn’t kill instantly, so it was a little slow in ending a battle.

Figaro had used it now for a few reasons. One was to force Albert to use up a resistance slot for an attack type that was unrelated to his main one.

Another reason was to confirm something. Petrification was an immobilizing status effect that also prevented the use of skills. Even if Last Stand worked, Figaro thought the debuff might prevent Albert from using his heal and buff skill at least.

He’d chosen Marbledrop to check if he was right.

The answer to that...

“...β: Merak.”

...came from the empty space in the form of a skill declaration.

The tiny fragments pulled themselves together, instantly rebuilding Albert’s body.

“...I see,” said Figaro. This wasn’t an unexpected result—after all, Albert had come back even when Bishmal had evaporated his head and when Catherine Kongou had used Charm on him.

With this, Figaro now knew that Albert would come back even if he was rendered completely immobile.

Maybe the skill activations had some trick to them, but Figaro didn’t think that suited Albert very well.

Thankfully, Figaro had no shortage of ways to defeat his enemies. He simply thought, I’ll just beat him six or seven more times.

Albert returned to life with shock waves bursting in his hands. This was the same power he’d used after his first comeback against Bishmal. Likely, it was an additional weapon meant to cause immense damage to the organs within the human body.

Direct attacks against the body weren’t very useful in this scenario—indeed, they weren’t useful in many scenarios where Albert used his equipment-focused combat style. This was because, while monsters often had special resistances, humans were generally frail enough for his MVP reward firepower to finish the job.

Thus, Albert had already decided what weapon he’d use now that Firelyx was gone.

Figaro also put away his two MVP rewards and took out another weapon.

This was only the end of the first round of their duel. If either of them was at a disadvantage here, though, it would be Albert. He’d already suffered fatal damage twice, and his Firelyx was destroyed.

The item he equipped next was a pair of bracers with a mechanism on the back meant to release some kind of gas.

As Figaro was thinking about Ray’s Gardranda, the bracers released an intense burst of white mist. It filled the entire stage, but it didn’t obscure the vision of the audience, as it was less dense than expected. The spectators could still observe the fight without a problem through the thin haze.

It was clear that it wasn’t intended as a smoke screen, and just when the audience was starting to wonder if it might have been poison...

...they suddenly noticed that Figaro was acting strangely. He turned his head this way and that, as if looking around for his opponent.

The problem with that was that Albert wasn’t even moving. What was Figaro looking for, then?

As Figaro was on high alert—or perhaps he was just confused—Albert took out his third item.

It was a very typical cannon, and he aimed it right at Figaro.

However, unlike before, Figaro didn’t evade his shot. He only stood in place and looked around.

It was almost as if he couldn’t see a thing.

Soon after, Albert pulled the trigger...

“Nghhh!”

...and that was when Figaro finally moved.

He dodged the projectile by a hair’s breadth, and it flew past him to strike the barrier. It pierced through the five arena wards and even shook those added by Integra.

Figaro kept running around without stopping for a second, while Albert targeted him wherever he went.

This time, though, Albert aimed his cannon a bit lower than he had for his first attack, as though he didn’t intend to hit the barrier at all.

The mist was so thin that the audience could see the battle clearly—and yet, they couldn’t help but feel confused about the way things were unfolding.

“That MVP reward is craaazy.”

But some of those watching knew exactly what was going on. One of them was a woman sitting in a box seat—the Superior, Fuso Tsukuyo.

“Generally speaking, MVP rewards with major flaws have equally major benefits to make up for it.” Eishiro Tsukikage, her servant and aide, also spoke as if he understood the situation. He claimed that this situation was the result of the bracer MVP reward that filled the arena with a seemingly pointless mist—and that that was actually its flaw.

“Yep. It’s like how my Superior reward can only target humans, has a smaller range, and only works on lower-level targets, but in exchange it got to keep its defense against ranged attacks. With enough drawbacks to balance it out, MVP rewards can use some parts of the UBM’s full power.”

“This one has two flaws,” said Eishiro. “First, you can easily see from the outside in. And second...”

“The big guy can’t see anything either. The mist blocks out the senses of anyone inside, including his own. It’s a flaw that ignores the wielder’s safety, just like the other item he used.”

While Figaro’s behavior was obviously strange, Albert’s own movements were a bit awkward too, so they both guessed at the reason behind it.

And they were completely right.

The bracers were a Legendary MVP reward, “Toxicating Mistbringer, Drac-Mist.”

This was an MVP reward that fully shut down the visual, auditory, and olfactory senses of anyone inside.

The item was useless against anyone outside the mist, and since Albert would almost certainly be in the middle of it, he was guaranteed to be affected.

It was an extremely flawed item, and anyone using it could easily be overwhelmed and killed by any opponents outside the effect’s range.

Needless to say, the mist had no such flaws when used by the Mistdragon King, Drac-Mist. However...

“The fact that he has the MVP reward means that he must’ve beaten the UBM,” said Tsukuyo. “He’s gotta have something that lets him fight in the mist.”

The more flawed the MVP reward, the stronger its effects. However, capable and cunning Masters were able to counteract the flaws—or find a way to use them to their advantage.

Tsukuyo herself had something like this. Kaguya’s Faint Light skill could reduce enemy levels and turn Gloria β into a fearsome weapon capable of killing any non-SJ. Based on this principle, Tsukuyo and Eishiro speculated that Albert could aim at Figaro as well as he did because he also possessed some method of overcoming the mist’s flaws.

Was it his Superior Embryo, then? Had he developed a resistance to this item’s effects, just as he had with Firelyx?

No—Albert hadn’t been brought to the verge of death. He hadn’t gained a resistance to the mist, and it didn’t deal damage, so he might not have even been able to in the first place.

The synergy here wasn’t with his Embryo, but with his job. He was using the skills he had as King of Termination—the kill-specialized Superior Job.

The words “kill-specialized” likely brought a number of things to mind. Did it refer to immense firepower meant to kill many foes? Did it grant some special powers that enabled his attacks to be more effective against a variety of enemies?

King of Termination actually did neither.

Termination in this context meant extermination.

When someone used immense firepower to wipe out a horde of monsters that threatened the people and their way of life, a small number was likely to survive. These monsters would run away, grow their numbers, restore themselves, and once again rise to become a danger to the people.

King of Termination would not allow this to happen.

The job had two skills besides the ultimate.

The first of them was “Countdown Radar.” This allowed him to select a type of monster that he had defeated and immediately learn the locations of all other monsters of the same type.

The second skill was “Scar Marking,” which told him the current location and stats of anyone he dealt damage to.

Indeed—King of Termination was actually a job focused on pursuit.

No matter how hard his quarry tried to hide or flee, the terminator would follow you to the ends of the earth.

Albert was specialized in extermination through not letting anything get away.

Figaro was currently affected by Scar Marking, due to Firelyx’s explosion that had recently obliterated Albert. Figaro had jumped away and was equipped with a fire resistance accessory, so he hadn’t taken that much damage. In fact, he was barely scratched.

That, however, was more than enough. Scar Marking had been activated the moment Figaro was touched by Firelyx’s explosion.

Because of this, Albert could attack him even though he couldn’t use his vision, hearing, or sense of smell.

This was exactly the strategy he’d used to defeat Drac-Mist. And unlike the dragon, Figaro couldn’t sense a thing. The tide had turned overwhelmingly in Albert’s favor.

“I am impressed how well he is handling it, though,” Eishiro commented. Despite losing three of his five senses, and even though Albert could still see him, Figaro hadn’t received a single hit yet. His evasive movements were timed as though he knew when the attacks were coming, and Eishiro was wondering why that was.

“It’s the hat,” said Tsukuyo as she used a fan to point at the feathered hat Figaro always wore. “It’s an MVP reward, ‘Avian Windwatcher, Weather Feather.’ It’s got a juiced-up version of Killing Intent Perception or something. I think it reacts to dungeon traps too.”

“I see. That explains his skillful dodging.”

A versatile danger-sensing item—it made sense that a solo dungeon explorer like Figaro would wear such a thing all the time.

“And, well... There’s something else he’s always got on hand, right?”

The moment Tsukuyo said that, Figaro switched his equipment.

There was now a chain in each of his hands. The Crimson Dead Keepers—some of his most-used weapons.

A hint of shock came over Albert’s face. The two chains attacked automatically—not by vision, hearing, or smell, but by locking on to the opponent’s vital signs.

Their aim was true despite the mist, and they struck out. Albert’s heart and head were pulverized.

Albert staggered as metallic parts tumbled from his damaged body...

“γ: Phecda.”

...but this activated his third healing and buff skill, immediately fixing all the parts he’d lost.

The two chains continued attacking him, but they now bounced off him without dealing any damage.

In exchange for defeating Albert once despite his inability to see, Figaro could no longer fight him using impact-based physical attacks.

Despite that, he didn’t put the chains away, instead choosing to continue his attack—or maybe his inability to see or hear had prevented him from realizing that Albert had already been beaten once.

“Hmm?” As Tsukuyo watched this battle, a question appeared in her mind. It wasn’t directly about the battle in the mist, though.

“I’ve been thinking this since the fifth battle, but...that one’s kinda fragile, huh?” She was referring to Albert. Though they’d been launched by Figaro, who empowered all his gear, it was still surprising that the chains had dealt fatal damage to Albert, since they weren’t MVP awards.

His skills that granted resistances made up for that, but it was hard to deny that Albert seemed fragile.

King of Termination was a job that granted mainly HP and STR. While END certainly went up slower than those, it still felt like he was receiving more deadly injury-based debuffs than he should have.

“Machine parts fly off when he’s damaged, so maybe he’s a full-body replacement...? A Type Body, in other words. If that’s true...it would explain a lot.” Tsukuyo’s guess was right on the mark: Albert’s Septentrion was a Type Body Superior Embryo that replaced his entire body with a mechanical one.

While Embryos of this type were extremely rare, the few examples that did exist had several things in common.

One of them was that they applied a negative modifier to any stats increased by jobs. In exchange for his transformation ability and the properties of a slime, King of Crime had a negative modifier on all stats, for example.

Similarly, Septentrion also had such a stat penalty—especially for END. As a Superior Job with a high level, he should’ve been extremely tough, but he was actually so fragile that even Bishmal—a mere high-rank job—could strangle him to death.

Some might have argued that Septentrion’s resistance-granting skills made this flaw more like a feature, but...

Sechs gets negative stat mods in return for gaining the properties of a slime and the transformation thing, Tsukuyo thought. It would make sense if this one gives him the resistance power, but also the properties of a machine.

There actually was some evidence to suggest that. Albert could activate his skill even when his head had been crushed or he’d been turned to stone. The mechanism that allowed that might’ve been related to how his body actually functioned.

However, just watching the battle from the box seat wasn’t enough to let Tsukuyo figure it out.

In fact, even Figaro didn’t know that, and he was the one fighting Albert.

“Hmm...”

“Kage? What’s wrong?” Tsukuyo asked, sensing that Eishiro had a question.

“Figaro must’ve realized that his opponent is fragile by now.”

“Well, of course. He’s got Reveal and all.”

“Then why is he not switching out the chains?” Now that Eishiro had brought it up, it was strange that Figaro did not seem to have realized he’d already destroyed Albert.

And yet, despite having already granted him resistance to his chains, the duel champion continued the attack.

“What’s he trying to do?”

“He has also removed his footwear and is now barefoot,” Eishiro commented. Indeed, Figaro had removed the Unbound Sabatons MVP reward that protected him from binding effects and was now fighting on his bare feet.

While lowering the amount of things he had equipped empowered his remaining items, it seemed like that wasn’t his intention here.

“...No way.” Tsukuyo realized what Figaro was doing, and it made her break into a cold sweat.

No way he’s trying to pull something that absurd, right? she thought.

But she was exactly on the mark.

A moment later, despite having lost three of his senses, Figaro ran toward Albert.

He zigzagged to avoid the cannon fire, but he was definitely approaching him. He shouldn’t have been able to see, yet it was as if he knew Albert’s location with perfect accuracy.

Albert seemed a tiny bit shocked. He couldn’t actually see Figaro’s approach, but Scar Marking made it clear that Figaro was closing the distance between them.

How did Figaro know where he was?

Albert assumed that it was because of the attacks Figaro had been making with his chains—or what Albert figured were chains, anyway, based on prior information.

Because of this, Albert changed into a coat-like MVP reward that released a shock wave around him and used it on the chains attacking him. This reward also didn’t consider the safety of the wearer and would’ve pulverized himself too, but he already had resistance to physical impacts.

The chains that must’ve been guiding Figaro were shattered as they struck the shock wave barrier around Albert. If he came too close, Figaro would meet the same fate.

Blind, deaf, and unable to smell, Figaro charged toward Albert, only to stop right before the shock wave.

Scar Marking told Albert what he’d done, and the fact that Figaro had stopped moving right outside the shock wave’s effective range really threw him for a loop.

He’d lost three of his senses—how could Figaro know Albert’s location and predict his attacks with such precision?

The answer to that resided in things he hadn’t lost.

Figaro had continued attacking with his chains even after Albert had become resistant to their damage in order to measure the distance between him and his opponent, based on the feel of the chains as they pulled him along.

As he did that, he also made himself barefoot to feel the vibrations on the stage.

Was Albert moving? Was he firing? Did his method of attack change? Figaro answered all these questions using only these vibrations.

Indeed—though he’d lost three of his senses, he was able to measure the opponent’s location using only the sense of touch.

“HYAH!” And using this absurd tactic, the duel champion caught up to his opponent and equipped two new MVP rewards.

In his left hand was an Ancient Legendary MVP reward, the “Glacial Burstlance, Jökulhlaup.”

Aiming this weapon—perhaps best described as a “gun lance”—at Albert, Figaro pulled the trigger.

The man was instantly overwhelmed by immense frost.

He couldn’t fend off the cold with his shock waves. The coat MVP reward, the cannon he was holding, the Drac-Mist on his wrists, and his own body were all Frozen in a split second.

Stepping on the freezing stage with his own two feet, Figaro thrust at the icy sculpture with the lance.

With Albert’s toughness greatly reduced by the ice, Figaro’s empowered attack instantly shattered him, reducing him to pale dust.

“δ: Megrez.”

As the MVP reward’s mist cleared, Albert used his fourth heal and buff skill.

However, Figaro was right in front of him, brandishing his next weapon.

Having equipped it alongside the lance, he was holding the Ancient Legendary “Scattering Spellblade, Paledin.” This was a shapeless energy blade that inflicted dark damage and a curse-based damage-over-time debuff, and Figaro used it to slash at Albert.

He was aiming to take advantage of Albert’s cooldown.

The Rear Soldier’s Last Stand skill couldn’t be used for five seconds after its effect expired. If brought to 1 HP within this interval, Albert wouldn’t be able to survive.

That was what Figaro was attempting to do.

Normally, killing Albert in just five seconds after he was fully healed was difficult. HP was easy to increase as far as stats went, and with him being an HP and STR-focused SJ, Albert’s HP easily surpassed 200,000 even with the growth penalty imposed by his job. Because of this, many had tried to kill him by destroying vital body parts or suffocating him, but no one had managed to do it before he could use Last Stand again.

This didn’t apply to Figaro, however.

Focusing his gear empowerment abilities on his weapon and AGI items, Figaro intended to use these five seconds to reduce Albert’s HP to nothing.

Once again, Albert was shocked. Far behind his opponent in terms of AGI, he wasn’t able to switch his equipment in time.

One second. Albert lost control of both his arms and a third of his HP.

Two seconds. Albert’s head was disabled, and he lost two thirds of his HP.

Three seconds. Albert’s torso was slashed horizontally, bringing his HP to 1.

Four seconds. Albert was split in half from the top of his head to the groin. This was an attack meant to take away that last tiny sliver of HP.

Five seconds. Albert still had 1 HP left.

Figaro’s expression warped in confusion.

Albert hadn’t activated Last Stand. After enduring all of those lethal attacks, there was no way he could have any HP left without using his job skill.

And yet, Albert still had 1 HP.

This could only mean that his combo didn’t rely on Last Stand.

“ε: Alioth.”

And so, he used the fifth heal and buff skill.

He’d come back yet again, as if nothing had happened.

“This is...”

It made no sense. Most members of the audience thought that Figaro simply failed to defeat him in time, but it was abundantly clear that he’d delivered more than enough damage to do that.

And yet, Albert had still survived with 1 HP and revived himself.

There has to be something more, Figaro thought. Albert’s healing wasn’t from the synergy between his Embryo and his job. Figaro was certain of that, and he guessed that it must be from yet another MVP reward—or something else entirely.

Having come back, Albert was as silent as ever, but he had leaped into action.

A new MVP reward had appeared right next to him. It was the item he’d tried to take out while being torn by Figaro’s spellblade—a suit of armor as crimson as fresh blood, larger than even a man as imposing as Albert.

It had a different feel about it than any MVP reward he’d brought out so far. While it looked mechanical, it also gave off the impression of something that labored under a dire curse.

In fact, it was the Ancient Legendary “Crimson Armor, Exademon”—perhaps the strongest MVP reward in Albert’s arsenal.

“Crimson-Stained Steel: Exademon.”

For the first time, Albert spoke the name of a skill other than his Embryo skills.

“O o o r r r g h h...” Responding to the call, the armor made a growl reminiscent of a carnivorous beast, then opened up like a maw and engulfed Albert whole.

A moment later, red liquid that looked like oily blood flowed out from within.

Some shrieks could be heard in the audience. They couldn’t understand what was happening here. Some even assumed that this was some kind of attack by Figaro.

However, Figaro himself knew that wasn’t the case. His eyes then widened, and he jumped back at the same time as Albert made his move.

“ζ: Mizar.” Even though he hadn’t been attacked, he activated his heal and buff skill for the sixth time.

As he did so, though, he moved. Clad in the strange armor, Albert raised his fist high and brought it down like a hammer.

The next moment, the stage vanished.

A thunderous sound akin to a meteor impact echoed even outside the arena. The stone of the stage was shattered, blasting debris into the air with such force that it broke through several layers of the barrier.

Some screams resounded from the audience, but Integra’s barriers were able to keep them safe from the rocks.

That obviously wasn’t true for Figaro, though. Shards of stone too numerous to evade had sliced open countless small wounds on his body.

Following this first impact, the stage became a crater, and within it stood Albert, clad in crimson armor, and Figaro, covered in his own scarlet blood.

This damage would’ve been far worse if he hadn’t retreated as quickly as he did.

“...I see.” Figaro now understood how Albert’s armor worked.

Neither Albert nor the armor had performed any special attack.

He’d only swung down his fist as hard as he could.

The effect, however, had been as powerful as a Superior Job’s ultimate skill. The full body armor MVP reward, “Crimson Armor, Exademon,” had only one skill on it—“Crimson-Stained Steel: Exademon.” It dealt fixed damage that reduced the wearer’s HP to 1, then converted the damage dealt into attack power and defense.

Many of Albert’s MVP rewards were unwieldy, but this one was a whole new level of difficult to handle. Having just 1 HP meant that even a scratch could kill you.

But in Albert’s case, it was nothing but an advantage. It guaranteed a near-death state, and granted him resistance to fixed damage on top of immense attack power and defense.

In fact, when combined with KoT’s own stats, Albert’s current attack power actually exceeded that of King of Destruction in his Godcloth. Even Figaro would die in one direct hit.

And this attack power was matched by his defense.

Faced with this, anyone reasonable would simply give up.

“...Heh heh.” However, Figaro didn’t look remotely resigned or despairing.

This was an extreme situation where even a single hit would kill him, and yet he was laughing.

All-out battles like this were exactly what Figaro wanted. There was no cowardice or compromise here.

After all, there was still something he could do. While he had countless MVP rewards, there weren’t many that would work against his opponent’s current defense, but there was still one option.

“This is a bit earlier than planned,” Figaro said as he took out a broadsword.

It didn’t look all that impressive, but its overwhelming presence felt like it could burn anyone to cinder.

Gloria α—the strongest weapon in Figaro’s arsenal, and the one he’d used to defeat other Superiors like Xunyu and Tsukuyo.

It was the second time he’d equipped it in this duel. But this time, he wouldn’t use it on a weapon, but on the armor the opponent was wearing. It would surely cut through not just the MVP reward, but Albert himself.

Instead of worrying about giving Albert a resistance to his strongest item, Figaro chose to focus on cutting him apart.

The Over Gladiator, brandishing a sword, and King of Termination, clad in armor.

The two faced each other as their battle entered its final stage.