Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 5 - Chapter Ep1

Epilogue A: The Superiors 
Journalist/Death Shadow, Marie Adler 
A few hours had passed since Franklin’s annoying little game, and dawn was only a few moments away. 
Tonight, I’d fought the King of Orchestras, gathered and broken the devices all over Gideon, protected the city against the Suicide Series, broken through the King of Destruction’s bombing to get on Pandemonium, saved Ellie, and handed her unconscious body to what remained of the Royal Guard. 
Naturally, I was thoroughly drained, especially since it was the second night in a row I’d been running around doing stuff. Sure, my Superior Job gave me some great stats, but even so, I had my limits. 
I definitely wasn’t the only one who had found this night to be highly taxing. Ray and Rook had gone through a number of harsh battles, as well. In fact, Ray had even lost both of his arms. 
Franklin’s death penalty made Pandemonium vanish, making Ray fall towards the ground below. Thankfully, he was saved by Nemesis and their Prism Steed, which was named “Silver,” apparently. 
The girl picked up Ray’s right arm, and the Masters on the scene were able to put it back on him using high-rank healing magic. It would take a few days until he would be able to move it as smoothly as before, but it wasn’t that big of a problem. However, I couldn’t say the same for his left arm. 
It had been completely Charred and crumbled to pieces because of it, so retrieving it was impossible at this point. And loss of body parts couldn’t be fixed by mere high-rank healing magic. 
Now, high-rank Embryo ultimate skills would probably do the trick, but as far as I was aware, the kingdom didn’t have any high-ranks whose ultimates were focused on healing others. 
There was one person who’d be able to heal Ray’s wound. The High Priestess, Tsukuyo Fuso, a Superior Job from the priest grouping and an owner of a Superior Embryo, could give Ray his arm back in the blink of an eye. 
But I couldn’t recommend relying on her. 
She was the head of a cult, and the prospect of being indebted to her was nothing short of frightening. Worst case scenario, it could even go beyond Infinite Dendrogram. 
Considering these circumstances, I’d recommended that he just take the death penalty, since that would have him return completely healed. 
However, Ray had shown no intention of doing so, giving me the wild response that, “I still have my right arm, and I found out I can even use my mouth if I have to. I can make this work.” 
Upon hearing him mention using his mouth, Nemesis had put on a distant look and muttered “Does that count as a kiss...?” 
Personally, I thought that biting into the hilt of her greatsword form had been quite unlike kissing. 
Anyway, following that exchange, Ray had basically collapsed and logged off, making it obvious just how drained he was, both physically and mentally. No one could fault him for it. 
Rook was quite tired, as well, so he’d logged off right after feeding Liz some mithril to restore her volume. 
And so, I’d ended up being the only one of our party still online to greet the dawn. 
I was extremely sleepy myself, but as both a Journalist and a manga artist, I just couldn’t miss this beautiful opportunity to collect quality material. 
I mean, it’s not every day you get to be on the scene of a settled terrorist incident, I thought. 
Anyway, time for a rundown of all that had happened. 
Approximately one hour after the last of the Suicide Series was exterminated, Count Gideon declared that the trouble was officially over. 
With Ellie saved and Franklin’s forces destroyed, he had no reason not to. 
Well, there were some player killers that had escaped, but none of them would be stupid enough to do anything at this point, likely because they were afraid of being erased by the King of Destruction or the Super Gladiator. 
Speaking of the King of Destruction, Count Gideon had stated that he planned to reward him, Ray, and all the other Masters that had helped take care of the incident. I’d found that surprising, considering he also had to pay for city repairs. It was hard to tell whether he was just that rich or simply a good guy. 
Thinking about city repairs made me wonder how much it would cost to fix the area destroyed by me and King of Orchestras and... 
Yeah, I probably don’t want to know, I thought. 
As far as I was aware, the damage there had likely been greater than anywhere else, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the fact that they didn’t know who was responsible. 
Anyway, after Gideon’s declaration, the people reacted in two ways. 
The knights, guards, and other public officials became busy with damage reports and other post-incident business, while the civilians and Masters took to revelry. 
It was only to be expected. Franklin had ruined their big event and replaced it with a night of dread, so merrymaking was the natural response to seeing the man responsible for that defeated so thoroughly. 
Masters aside, I was quite impressed by the quick recovery from the civilians. 
I guess duel city folk are befittingly hardy, I thought. 
Still, once the sky turned bright, a significant number of carts and dragon carriages were seen leaving Gideon, and I couldn’t really fault them for that. After all, even the so-called strongest city in the kingdom, the one farthest away from the imperium, hadn’t been safe from such an incident. It was only natural to expect some merchants to be scared into taking their riches and leaving for another country. 
They were most likely heading to Caldina, so this incident had actually ended up being beneficial to them. Not exactly an unexpected effect, but still. 
Hm? Now that I think about it, this war was really profitable to them, I thought. 
Not only was Caldina the primary destination for wealthy refugees, they’d also experienced a boost in trade with Altar. Naturally, the kingdom wasn’t exporting any of its food to Dryfe, so Caldina was there to buy it all up. 
Altar hadn’t been left without its share of goods, either. Caldina had sold them lots of war-like wares, such as magic items from Huang He or weapons from Tenchi. 
But enough about them. Really, it was only natural for the “land of merchants” to take advantage of such a situation. 
Back to the aftermath of Franklin’s game. 
He’d intended to display the powerlessness of the kingdom’s Masters, to break the country’s fighting spirit and to have it merge with Dryfe through “diplomacy” before the war had a chance to restart. 
However, thanks to the hard work from the newbies and the Masters that hadn’t been caught by the barrier, Plans A and B had completely failed. 
The most significant event during this interval had been the broadcasted battle between Ray and Franklin’s unique monster, as it had had the exact opposite of the intended effect. Though Franklin had planned to completely crush him and break his spirit, Ray had achieved a miraculous victory which had uplifted the masses. 
That battle had been quite popular among us Masters, too, gaining lots of replies and comments on related discussion boards and video sites. 
It was the third biggest Infinite Dendrogram-related news story, with the first obviously being the King of Destruction’s appearance in the spotlight and his fight against Franklin, and the second being Figaro and Xunyu’s Clash of the Superiors. 
This incident was sure to get Ray a nickname or two. In fact, people were already exchanging ideas both here and in real-life discussion boards. There was even a meeting going on in the central plaza regarding that. 
Normally, such meetings were only held for people who made their debut in the arenas, but this time, they were gathering nickname suggestions for Ray, Rook, and King of Destruction, who was no longer “Unknown.” 
The proposed nicknames for Ray included, but weren’t limited to: “Dark Paladin,” because he was a Paladin that certainly didn’t look like one; “Prince on the Silver Steed,” obviously because he’d been riding Silver; and “The Light and Dark-Wielding Hero Clad in Violet and Crimson,” which made me wonder about the mind behind such a... polarizing name. 
Any of those would probably make Ray want to crawl into a hole. 
Still, there were some simple, fitting ones that I personally really liked. 
Anyway, back to the results of Franklin’s plot. 
Following the failure of Plan B, Franklin had started Plan C, which had been significantly worse than the other two, clearly designed to show that “resistance will only make it worse.” I and a few other Masters had been there to buy some time, but it was clear that we wouldn’t have been able to hold for long, and the damage would’ve been great. 
Enter the King of Destruction, who had instantly turned it all around. 
The thousands of monsters that had been meant to overrun Gideon had become nothing but punching bags for the King of Destruction to show off his power. 
Franklin had intended to show just how powerless the kingdom’s Masters were, but had ended up doing the exact opposite. At the very least, it was now clear that the kingdom wouldn’t go down without a fight. 
But it was hard to say that it’d been a good thing for the country. 
This incident had not only displayed the power of the kingdom’s Masters, but also confirmed a certain truth that was on the minds of the country’s people... and just about everyone else in Infinite Dendrogram. 
Basically, a war force with Superiors was on a completely different level than one without. 
A Superior was capable of razing an entire city, or perhaps even a whole country. 
Franklin had created monsters that surpassed 50,000 in number, while the King of Destruction had completely annihilated them all. Evidently, they had only been able to have a proper fight because they were both Superiors, while the rest of us were only waiting to be massacred. 
It was more obvious than ever that a Superior could only be countered by another Superior. 
Of course, there were exceptions, among which was my avatar, Marie Adler. 
Marie had a Superior Job, but she wasn’t a Superior because she didn’t have a Superior Embryo, and the reason why she’d received the nickname “Superior Killer” was because she’d defeated a Superior and sent the criminal to the gaol. 
Mind you, that victory had been the result of many factors, such as my abilities, the Superior’s abilities, various conditions, and a lot of tactics. All of them had come together, letting me emerge victorious against the King of Plagues, Candy Carnage — a wide-scale suppression type, wide-scale extermination type Master bearing the title of “the greatest tian murderer” and the nickname of “Legions Lost.” 
...Honestly, I still find it hard to believe I won, I thought. 
Back to war matters. The kingdom had been thoroughly devastated in the previous war because there had been no one to counter the imperium’s Superiors. In this incident, the kingdom had won because it had the King of Destruction, effectively proving that the outcome of a war was decided by the presence of Superiors or the lack of it. Because of this, the main thing to consider in the next war was the number of Superiors that would participate. 
The imperium would obviously have the three that already had accolades from the previous war: the very familiar Giga Professor, Mr. Franklin, “The Weakest, The Worst”; Hell General, Logan Goddhart, the “Contradictory Equation”; and King of Beasts, the “Physically Strongest.” 
If nothing changed, they would be the only ones, but we also had to consider that the imperium had won the previous war event and had given great rewards to those who performed well, so it was reasonable to expect more Superiors to switch to Dryfe. 
The kingdom, on the other hand, would only have two, at best: Lei-Lei the Prodigal of Feasts, who came online at highly irregular times, and the King of Destruction, whose appearance in the spotlight had made it safe to expect him to participate. Those two could easily drop to one if Lei-Lei wasn’t online on the day of the war. 
Of course, they weren’t the only Superiors in the kingdom. 
The kingdom also had the Over Gladiator, Figaro. He was symbol of the duel city and the one who’d just won against Xunyu, a foreign Superior. 
Then there was the High Priestess, Tsukuyo Fuso — the leader of the largest clan in the kingdom and the user of the Lunar Divider Field, said to be the most wicked skill one could face in a large-scale battle. 
If they were to participate, they would be an invaluable force against the imperium. 
However, Figaro was widely known as a pure solo player, so it was clear he had no intention to take part in a battle involving great numbers. Tsukuyo Fuso, too, had refused to participate because the kingdom hadn’t accepted her downright unreasonable condition — to make her cult’s teachings into the state religion. 
The former was tough on his policy, while the latter was a highly demanding Princess Kaguya, making their participation extremely unlikely. 
In fact, Tsukuyo might even switch to the imperium if they accepted her condition that the kingdom wouldn’t. 
Not to mention that Dryfe also had more non-Superior forces, both Masters and tians. 
The kingdom wouldn’t go down without a fight, but a defeat still seemed completely inevitable. 
I wonder what the Superiors themselves think about this, I pondered. 
 
Duel city Gideon, twelfth district, King of Destruction, Shu Starling 
“Man, am I tired,” I grumbled. “I need some booze to bear it.” 
“Good job back there,” said Figgy. “Drink all you want. It’s on me. You too, Xunyu.” 
“ThanKs,” she replied. “I’m underAge, though, so I’ll just haVE some juice.” 
I and two fellow Superiors were sitting around the table, enjoying some drinks. We were in a private room of a high-quality club in Gideon’s twelfth district. 
Figgy had reserved this place ahead of time. He’d planned to use it right after the Clash, but thanks to a certain shithead in a lab coat, we’d ended up coming here long after his reserved time was up. Thankfully, the store had been kind enough to allow him to use this room after the incident was over. 
I was kinda impressed by the management’s professionalism. Not everyone had the guts to continue working in this situation. 
“Honestly, I’m pretty glad we have this place,” I voiced my thoughts. “If we were outside, the number of people around us would be unbearable.” 
Mind you, I had run riot in a completely different get-up than I was in now, so maybe they wouldn’t realize it was me. The Scandinavian berserker-like clothing was easy to move around in, but the costumes I wore always made me feel calm. 
“Yeah, that’s exactly why I reserved it,” said Figgy. “Sure, we could just log out, but a good battle always makes me want to cool off like this.” 
“I get whAT you mean,” Xunyu joined in. “But man, this place has sOme good juice.” She emptied her glass and ordered some more. 
Well, if that ain’t an action befitting her age, I thought. I really don’t know how to feel about her being twice as tall as me. 
“The face under the talisman and the Voice Changing Fu made me suspicious, but you really are a kid, aren’t you?” I asked. 
“I’m turning ten this yEAr,” she answered. “That’s doubLE digits, so I’m now a prOper lady.” 
“Really, now?” I said. 
Her excessively long limbs might’ve been the result of a desire to travel far and a wish to grow up. Humpty, the control AI for Embryos, could probably give a more detailed analysis, but all she ever did was lead me to trouble or watch me struggle to take care of it. 
“What are your plans now, Xunyu?” asked Figgy. 
“I still have a jOb to protect the prince, so I’ll be stAYing in the capital,” she answered. “Guess I’ll also rAid the kingdom’s dUNgeons.” The items you could get from doing so differed depending on the country you were in, so that was a good idea. 
...Speaking of items, I still had to stock up on materials for Baldr’s ammo. It’d cost me roughly 3,300,000,000 lir. 
“Oh, but rAiding alone can be prEtty hard, especially whEN going deep into a creAted dungeon,” Xunyu added. 
You’d have to be Figgy to effectively raid dungeons by yourself. Not to mention that you’d also have to have an Embryo you could chat with just to make it more bearable. 
“Coming wiTH?” she asked. 
“I’m exclusively solo,” Figgy replied. 
“And I’m not leaving Gideon fur a while,” I said. 
“Man, you guYs are cold.” 
I can’t just leave while that walking bomb is still here, I thought. 
“If you want, I can introduce you to some duel rankers here,” Figgy said, proposing an alternative. “They’ll probably want to spar with you, too.” 
“Then should I set you up with the kill rankers I know?” I joined in. “Oh, but I don’t know bear they are.” 
I wonder what Catherine Kongou’s up to, I thought. 
“Yeah, thAt’ll help a lot.” Xunyu nodded. “Wait, uhh... Figaro is the kingdOM’s no. 1 duelist, while the beAr is no. 1 in the kill rankings, rigHt?” 
“Yes,” Figgy nodded. 
“Bearily so,” I said and did the same. 
Oh boy, I know where this is going... 
“Then how aboUT the no. 1 in clan raNKin—” 
“Avoid her,” Figgy and I simultaneously cut her words short. 
“...Is she trOUble?” she asked. 
In response, we both simply nodded. 
We were unfortunate enough to already be acquainted with that shady cultist fox, and I honestly believed that a person was better off not meeting her. Ever. 
“I see hOW it is,” Xunyu continued. “Looks like every country’s top clan owner is bad news.” 
“Come on, that’s a bit of an exaggeration...” I began. “Wait, is it?” 
The kingdom’s fox... Nope. 
The imperium’s lab coat shithead... Nope. 
Granvaloa’s military nerd... Nope. 
Legendaria’s masked lover of little boys and girls... That one deserved a red card. 
I didn’t know much about Tenchi’s, and Xunyu’s words implied that Huang He’s was no good, either. 

Well, damn, there actually wasn’t a single decent clan top anywhere. 
The owner of Caldina’s Sefirot seemed okay, but he was somewhat scary. Like a rabbit living with a pride of lions. 
Oh, speaking of Caldina... 
“Hey, this is unrelated, but... did anyone in the arena make a move?” I asked. 
My question would’ve been unclear to most, but it was more than enough for the two I was talking to. 
“I crushed the cOre of the thing below bEfore it could do anYthing, and it was all ovER,” said Xunyu. 
“The Physically Strongest didn’t do anything,” added Figgy. “But Caldina’s Magically Strongest got involved, apparently.” 
Did he just say “apparently”? “Why the uncertainty?” 
“The mONster I killed wasn’t moVing at all,” Xunyu answered. “I later used the skill tO dig through the dirt arOUnd it and... herE.” 
She put something on the table. It was about the size of a pebble and looked very much like one, too. 
I took it in hand and grasped it with about a tenth of my strength, but that wasn’t enough to break it. 
“Hnrgh!” I grunted as I used a third of my STR, approximately 60,000, which finally made it break. “It’s dirt made by binding magic he enhanced several times over. Makes sense why the thing couldn’t move.” 
It’s like being in a skintight coffin, I thought. I know it well. The guy did it to me once... 
“I’m not too smart, so I don’t really get it,” said Figgy. “Why did they come here, anyway?” 
“To watCH our battle, obviousLY,” Xunyu answered. “I don’t kNOw why the Physically Strongest didn’t heLP the lab coat. They’re bOth from Dryfe, aftER all.” 
“Mh...” I fell silent and pondered. 
I’d known about the other Superiors in the audience before Figaro’s and Xunyu’s match even began. I’d even told Figgy about them. 
Their presence here hadn’t been strange at all. It was only natural for Superiors to investigate the abilities of other Superiors, since they were their primary opponents in this world. UBM hunting, special events, war — there were many situations in which Superiors could compete against other Superiors, so knowing their abilities ahead of time was never a bad thing. 
So it was only natural for them to come and observe a duel between two Superiors, and honestly, it was strange that we hadn’t had anyone from Legendaria here. The country was as much of a neighbor as Dryfe and Caldina. 
Figaro and Xunyu had both been fully aware that they were being put under the magnifying glass, and they most likely hadn’t used the aces up their sleeves. Figgy hadn’t shown his ultimate skill — which not even I knew about — and though Xunyu had used hers, it was clear that she was still hiding something. 
That aside... 
“This is just a guess,” I spoke up. “But I think the Physically Strongest, the King of Beasts, came here with a goal unrelated to Franklin’s plot, while the Magically Strongest, The Earth, came here because he knew that Franklin was about to terrorize Gideon.” 
“...Isn’t thAt the other way arouND?” asked Xunyu, and it was a reasonable question. 
But... 
“The King of Beasts is widely considered to be the strongest being in all the three western countries. If Franklin’s terror plot involved her, then it would’ve also been designed around her,” I said. 
The fact that Franklin’s Game had been so layered and focused so much on using as few of his forces as possible made it obvious that the King of Beasts hadn’t been working for him. 
“The Earth, on the other hand, intervened with one of Franklin’s plans, making it safe to believe that he came here for this reason. Mind you, this is less about him and more about Caldina. They wouldn’t like it if Dryfe merged with Altar, since separated countries are easier to manipulate.” 
Caldina was surrounded by four land countries and Granvaloa. Having two of them become one would be a huge problem for them, so they’d obviously do something to prevent that. 
Though, in the end, they were probably planning to take advantage of the all-out war and take off with all the spoils. It wasn’t hard to imagine Caldina invading and conquering weakened countries. 
Anyway, the fact that they’d sent The Earth made it clear just how serious they were about this. Honestly, it was entirely possible that he would’ve done something if I hadn’t been on the scene. If that had happened, Jeand Grasslands probably would’ve had to be renamed “Jeand Desert,” “Jeand Wastelands,” or “Jeand Swamplands.” 
Well... not like it was much of a grassland now that I was done with it. My Baldr had blown it sky-high. 
“But mAn... The Physically StrONgest and the Magically StronGest, eh?” Xunyu muttered. “Are they reAlly such a big deal? I’ve never foUght either.” 
“I’ve heard that Shu here fought The Earth,” said Figgy. 
“Oh yeAh, I’ve heard of those rumORs, too. Which of you wOn?” 
That had happened some time before the war... about a year ago in Dendro time. 
“We tied, I guess?” 
“You ‘guEss’? What do yOU mean?” 
“Exactly what I said. A tie. No clear winner. Match invalid. We pawsitively had to stop because of a third party.” 
“...What kind of thiRD party could intervene in thAT battle?” 
Right when we’d been about to finish it, Humpty and the environment control AI had come over and told us off. 
Honestly, we’d probably deserved it, since our battle had completely destroyed a created dungeon. 
Anyway, The Earth, eh...? I thought. 
I said, “If he came all the way here, he could’ve at least said hi.” 
 
East of duel city Gideon, Cruella Mountain Belt 
The Cruella Mountain Belt was one of the border zones between the Kingdom of Altar and the great desert country of Caldina, and it was one of the trade routes connecting Gideon and the city-states of the commercial union. 
Dawn was about to break as several dragon carriages traced the mountainous paths of the belt. Each and every one of them belonged to Caldinian merchants. Since their country was a land of deserts, they had decided to make some distance by leaving early, when the sun wasn’t high up and the heat was easier to bear. 
A certain man was riding one of the dragon carriages. He looked much like any of the merchants he shared the vehicle with. The only difference was the crest on the back of his left hand — the sign of a Master. 
Snacking on a smoked chicken sandwich, he gazed at the mountains and forests that would soon be bathed in the light of dawn. 
“This sure is tasty,” he muttered. 
The smoked food he was eating had been given to him by the spectator sitting next to him during last night’s Clash. Once the act of terror had ended, the middle-aged man, who’d been as high spirited as anyone else, had taken some of the smoked goods from the shop he owned and presented them to him. 
The man in the carriage had put the smoked goods between some of his leftover bread and made his way to Caldina while relishing the curious mix of midnight snack and breakfast. 
“A smoked chicken sandwich,” he said to himself. “I should get our leader to make this sometime.” 
Remembering the leader of the clan he belonged to, the man realized something and reached into his inventory. 
“Umm, the souvenirs are... all here,” he said. “I have something for everyone except Moneygold. I don’t intend to spend a single lir on him... but he should be satisfied with the video of last night’s battle.” 
He nodded to himself while mumbling things not uncommon for travelers... and mixing it with things no common traveler would understand. 
“Magic Activation Acceleration — instant; Magic Multi-Activation — 28... no, 143; Magic Conceal; Magic Range Extension — 8,000 metels... Bottomless Pit.” 
 
In the Cruella Mountain Belt, a certain group was watching the Caldinian merchant carriages. All of them were crest-bearing Masters and members of the PK clan known as “Goblin Street.” 
“Those look like merchants from Caldina, boss,” one of them said. “What do we do?” 
No response. The one he talked to, the King of Burglary, Eldridge, closed his eyes in silent thought. 
Most of the clan’s members had left Caldina and come to do their business as indiscriminate bandits here in the kingdom. The group’s crimes during the blockade incident had been limited to the Masters and tians of the kingdom, so although they were wanted by Altar, they had yet to get on Caldina’s list. However, that would surely happen if they attacked these Caldinian merchant carriages and left survivors who could tell the tale. 
On the other hand... 
It might be time to leave the kingdom for good, he thought. 
Before switching to this area, they’d worked near the capital, where every member besides Eldridge, who hadn’t been online, had been completely annihilated by Lei-Lei the Prodigal of Feasts. 
After coming here, things hadn’t gotten any better, as they all — Eldridge included — had been killed by Xunyu the Yinglong. That incident had made some members lose faith in Eldridge, and the clan’s numbers had dropped by half. 
Given the members lost at the capital and the ones who’d left on their own, the clan’s situation wasn’t too good. Still, it all might just be a sign that it was time to drop this place and try finding prey somewhere different. 
“We’ll attack those carriages,” he said. 
“Really?” his clan member asked. 
“Yeah.” Eldridge nodded. “And once we’re done with them, we’re moving to Granvaloa... to the sea. Enough banditry. It’s time to try the pirate life.” 
He turned towards his clan and formed an indominable smile. 
“Let’s go! Say goodbye to Caldina! We’ll make some bank with these and ditch that sandbox for good!” 
His words made the members still with him all fired up. 
“Yeah!” 
“Hell yeah!” 
“When this attack is over, I’m becoming a pirate!” 
Right after they said those things, a large hole appeared right under their feet. 
“Ah?!” Eldridge gasped as he jumped away, avoiding the hole. 
His clan members weren’t as lucky. They all fell in, were buried alive, and left the world due to death penalty. 
“What happened?!” he shouted. 
No one could hear him in these empty mountains, but even so, he couldn’t hold himself back from voicing his shock. 
 
“One of them avoided it,” muttered the man in the carriage. “Let’s make it a bit bigger, then... Earth Eater.” 
 
Eldridge ran through the mountains. 
Something strange was happening. 
He was obviously under attack, but he couldn’t see his enemies or any signs that they were attacking. 
He was even more confused than he had been during his battle — if you could call it that — with Xunyu. Still, he was able to run away using his high stats and powerful intuition. 
But he soon noticed something strange. 
“It’s... far?” he murmured. 
The sky seemed distant, as though it had become higher. 
The nearby mountains seemed taller, as well. 
Eldridge found it strange, as he had yet to go down the belt. 
Soon enough, he was surrounded by dirt walls from every direction. 
No — that wasn’t the case... 
“Th-This mountain is sinking into the ground...!” he cried. 
Indeed it was. The mountain was going down much like an elevator. 
Puzzled and perplexed, Eldridge tried to think of what could be responsible for this. 
“I-Is this Caldina’s The Ear—?!” 
Before he could finish his sentence, the sunken mountain he was on was crunched by the surrounding ground and sand, instantly giving him the death penalty. 
 
“...Oh, I leveled up,” muttered the man in the carriage. “Was there someone strong among them?” 
An earthy smell rode the wind and reached the carriages, but none of the merchants noticed. Oblivious to the sudden and silent disappearance of a nearby mountain, they simply continued chatting. 
“Oh, I’m so glad this trade route is safe to use now,” said one of them. 
“Truly,” another agreed. “I hear some Masters took care of the bandits in the area just the day before yesterday. What a helpful bunch.” 
They didn’t know. While the Gouz-Maise Gang, the most infamous bandit group in the area, had been thoroughly destroyed, there were many more bandits lurking in the mountain belt. 
They didn’t know. A group of PK bandits had been aiming to attack them for their goods and wealth. 
They didn’t know. The group and all the other bandits in the surrounding mountains — a number of people surpassing the triple digits — had been buried alive, in the blink of an eye, by just a single person. 
They didn’t know. They were sharing a carriage with the one they called the “Magically Strongest.” 
Confirmed the elimination of all threats in the surrounding area, he thought. Setting a two kilometel auto-interception zone. 
Fatoum. He was the bearer of that nickname and the owner of the Superior Job “The Earth.” He ran his mind through those mechanical-sounding words and activated an automatic interception barrier. 
Even so, no one in the carriage noticed. 
The immense amount of MP he’d put into Magic Conceal made it impossible to detect. Even the experienced tian guards were thoroughly clueless. 
I must admit, my visit to the kingdom lasted far longer than I expected, he thought. 
Done with his job, he’d switched his thoughts from battle mode back to normal. 
At first, it was just a trip to investigate the UBMs and Ruins in the country while also setting some slow-acting magic, but then the King of Toys suggested I arrange the blockade terror around the royal capital. 
Fatoum ran his mind through the incident which involved a culprit still unknown to the people of the kingdom. 
To top it off, I then received information about Dryfe’s terror plot in Gideon and had to go there to stop it. Dear me, what a long trip this ended up being... I hope she’s not too mad. 
His visit to the kingdom had taken almost a month longer than expected. That fact made him picture his wife, who was waiting for him back in Caldina. 
Well, I have the souvenirs, and I guess I can make it up to her by taking her out on a nice date. 
The Magically Strongest, Caldina’s most powerful force, was thinking things you’d expect of a busy salaryman. 
I must admit, the Clash of the Superiors was truly an excellent battle, well worth watching. And thanks to Franklin, I even got to see Shu fight again. It’s been far too long since last time. Which made Fatoum remember a certain detail. 
“Oh, I completely forgot to greet him,” he said. “But that might’ve been a good thing.” 
Regardless of the circumstances, he simply couldn’t greet his old acquaintance. After all... 
“Meeting him would just make me want to fight him. And, well...” 
...it’s far too early to destroy that city. 
No city would stand after a battle between him and Shu. 
With that thought on his mind, the Strongest that had sneaked into Altar returned back to Caldina, leaving the kingdom with a few of his tricks.