by Sakon Kaidou
“What?!” I heard Count Gideon sound his shock from his noble seating. It was only natural, for the town he ruled had become a target for monster terrorism.
Not only that, given his willingness to terrify the audience to the point of madness and to do such terrorism, it was quite obvious that Franklin didn’t care about any potential tian casualties.
“There are two ways to stop this,” Franklin said with an extremely pleased smile on his face. “Either destroy this switch or give me the death penalty. That would stop the gadgets and make all the released monsters disappear. Simple, isn’t it?”
Defeating him here and now would end it all, but...
“...Strange,” I muttered. “Why is he...?”
Before I could voice my question...
“Oh yeah, this has nothing to do with the monsters, but I’m taking your little princess, okay? Thanks.” Franklin took the unconscious princess into his hands. “Stop the monsters and save the princess!” he shouted. “Basic enough, is it not? Do your best, O Masters of the kingdom! That would be all, then! Adieu!”
Then Franklin once again used Castling to disappear somewhere, princess in hand.
A moment later, the venue was mired in chaos and enraged roars.
Some panicked, others screamed, others moved aimlessly in confusion. I could see some Masters dashing out of the arena in an attempt to hunt down Franklin, while some went to get rid of the two Oxygen Slimes here.
The ones who took to action shared a single sentiment — rage against Franklin, who’d started this incident and ruined tonight’s event. I was no different in that regard.
“This goddamn son of a...!” I sputtered.
In Franklin’s eyes, this was probably nothing but a game. Well, yes, Infinite Dendrogram was exactly that — a game.
However, even here, there were lines that shouldn’t be crossed, and he was getting really close to doing it.
“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean,” said Shu while nodding. “Riddle me this, though: why does he see it necessary to announce this little game of his?”
That was the same thing I was wondering about. He claimed to have set gadgets with Oxygen Slimes and other monsters all over the arena and the rest of the city.
That meant that his act of terrorism was 100% prepared and that he could start it any time he wanted, and yet...
“Terrorism and kidnappings are usually done without any prior notice,” said Shu. “Yet he went out of his way to announce it to this giant audience. Do you know what that means?”
“Well...” I said. From his mannerisms, it was obvious that Franklin was enjoying this. However, I felt that something was off... that there was more to it than it seemed.
His announcement seemed to be much like the one Xunyu had made before the start of The Clash of the Superiors. It appeared to have a hidden intention, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.
“This is just my conjecture.” Rook joined our conversation. “But I think the goal behind his announcement is to make it seem like it’s possible to prevent it and then have us fail.”
“But why?” I asked.
“It’s likely that he—”
Before Rook could finish his words, we heard sounds of confusion coming not from the audience, but from outside our box — from the lobby. Listening carefully, I could make out some people saying something about a “barrier” and that they “couldn’t leave.”
“Let’s go to the lobby,” said Shu.
“...Yeah!” I nodded. Rook, Nemesis, Babi, and I all left our box. That was when I realized that Marie, who had been with us just a moment ago, had disappeared somewhere.
In the lobby, we saw nearly a hundred Masters trying to get outside the arena. They certainly weren’t the main issue here, for there was a barrier that separated the arena and the city, preventing any of them from leaving.
“Isn’t that just like the barrier used in the arena?” I asked. “Did he actually...?”
“It appears that he did,” nodded Nemesis.
So, besides the one that shrouded only the stage, there was also a barrier that covered the entire arena.
Franklin had taken control of it, and he had used it to prevent us, the Masters, from leaving the arena and getting in the way of his game.
“Damn it! What the hell?!” someone shouted.
“Why is a single player able to mess with the system?!” someone else yelled.
“Let us out!”
The Masters gathered here tried to leave, but alas, their efforts were in vain.
“I had a bad feeling when he shut out Figaro and Xunyu, but it looks like Franklin got total control over the barriers here,” said Shu.
Can a player really...? Oh, wait, I realized.
“The barrier system is run by nothing but some ancient technology, after all,” Shu continued. “It always has to be activated manually, too. That makes it possible for even us Masters to influence it and force it to do things like this, it seems.”
“It appears so,” said Rook. “And he started this game exactly because he’s capable of this. It makes his victory absolute and the defeat of the kingdom’s Masters unavoidable.”
If we didn’t stop the terrorism he had so loudly announced, it would mean that the Masters gathered here in Gideon had lost the game.
...All right, this is really bad, I thought.
“Let’s use brute force!” shouted one of the Masters. “Lots of focused high-rank skills should be enough to break it!”
Many were quick to join him. He wasn’t wrong. After all, both Xunyu and Figaro had been able to open holes in the ceiling of the barrier shrouding their fight. If enough power was applied, it shouldn’t have been impossible to break it.
Soon enough, the attacks of several dozens of Masters hit the barrier.
Though it was clearly tougher than the ceiling part broken by Xunyu and Figaro, it became visibly thinner. If these attacks continued, the barrier could momentarily break and allow us to go outside.
As most in the lobby turned hopeful, the sound of an explosion somewhere in the arena reached our ears. Not only that, but there were some destructive sounds coming from certain parts of the city, as well.
When the Masters here became puzzled about what they were hearing, an unpleasant laugh rang out around us.
“AH HA HA! Looks like we have some silly gooses trying to break the barrier!”
Shortly after we looked around and tried to find the source of the voice, we found a permeable Franklin — his hologram.
“Greetings, ladies and gents. Sure hasn’t been long, has it?” he said. “Oh, what you’re seeing is our clan’s latest product. Seems useful, no? It costs 8,000,000 lir. A bit heavy on the wallet, but we’re selling these once the war is done. Drop by and get one if you feel like it.”
He presented his product and its price in a manner that was both courteous and mocking.
“Anyway, about this barrier... Having you all just get fired up and break it would’ve annoyed me, so I put a bit of a limit on it. A single attack makes one random gadget release its monster, and if you manage to break it completely, all of them will be released before the time limit. Oh, the same applies for the barrier on the stage, by the way.”
His words made the Masters in the lobby freeze in their tracks.
“Oh no, do carry on if you feel like it,” he said. “Though I can’t begin to care about any casualties that’d cause! Lol!”
“Damn it!” one Master shouted as he released an offensive skill towards the permeable Franklin.
Naturally, with that Franklin being just a hologram, he came out completely unhurt. However, the attack seemed to have broken the device projecting it, making his grinning mug disappear from sight. Still, whether the hologram was here or not, we could no longer rely on brute force, leaving us with nothing we could do.
“This is bad,” said Rook. “At this rate, the kingdom’s Masters will be completely defeated.”
“So what?�
�� asked Babi. “If he wins, he will only brag about it and that’s it, right?”
“No, Babi.” Rook shook his head. “Well, it’s true that, to us Masters, it would be nothing but a meaningless defeat. However, Infinite Dendrogram has other sentient beings, too.”
The tians.
To them, the results of this incident might have a completely different meaning.
“I see how it is,” said Nemesis with a grave tone, clearly understanding exactly what Rook wanted to say. “At this rate, the kingdom will lose before the second war even begins.”
“Yes.” He nodded.
◆◆◆
The City of Duels, Gideon
There was something flying over Gideon, a mere hundred metels above ground. It was a single monster.
Strangely enough, its stomach and sides both seemed to melt into the night sky, making it extremely difficult to spot with the naked eye. However, its back was covered in fur with a texture reminiscent of Persian carpets, and two people were sitting on it.
One of them was Giga Professor Mr. Franklin, the one who’d created the monster and named it “Night Lounge.” The other was the person he’d kidnapped: Elizabeth, the second princess of the Kingdom of Altar.
Having regained her consciousness right after getting put on the Night Lounge, the girl was looking at Franklin. It wasn’t a hateful glare, but a puzzled stare.
“Why did you kidnap me?” she voiced her confusion.
“Oh? Does a person affiliated with the imperium, such as yours truly, really need a reason to kidnap this country’s royalty?” he asked in response.
“That is not what I meant.” Elizabeth shook her head and faced him before asking. “Why are you not killing me, like you did my father?”
“Hmm. For someone who’s so clearly aware of that fact, you certainly are composed.”
“May I have an answer?”
“Oh, right. That’s ’cause I was told not to kill ya. Not like I would’ve done it if I wasn’t. Anyway, I’ll be cordial with you, so do calm down. Want some candy?”
“No.”
“Psh, typical.” Clearly not bothered by her harsh response to his offer, Franklin began wiping his glasses and continued talking. “If our countries peacefully merge, you’ll be able to return to the royal capital, safe and sound. So, again, there’s no need for you to worry.”
“And what if peace doesn’t happen?” she asked.
“You’ll be returning to a flattened wasteland. After all, if peace isn’t an option, we’re having an all-out war,” he said as he put his glasses back on again. “Well, if things go according to that lunatic’s... His Majesty’s plans, you’ll be perfectly fine. I don’t think he wants to be hated by his potential sister-in-law or the one who’d be his empress.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“‘What,’ indeed? Well, let’s just say that your father was in the way, while you are not. Leave it at that.” He cut the subject short, showing absolutely no intention to emphasize.
“Then let me ask you something else,” said the princess. “Why are you attacking Gideon?”
Though the empty air around them was silent, screams and sounds of destruction could be heard coming from the ground beneath. Franklin’s pawns and the monsters that had already been released were already causing chaos in the city. She asked merely because she wished to know the reason behind such carnage and despair.
In response, Franklin formed an unpleasant grin.
“This is a side show to celebrate the end of the event we call ‘war’!” he shouted while spinning around the Night Lounge and making exaggerated arm movements. “It’s both a game and an initiation!”
“‘Initiation’?” she repeated.
“The strongest knight, the greatest sage, and the kindly, fatherly king have all died. The people are leaving. Despair is all around. There’s no future to be had here, for the kingdom is already in checkmate — everyone knows this.” Franklin brought his face so close to hers that it seemed as though he was about to touch her eyes with his tongue. “Tell me, then. Why do you think the kingdom hasn’t given up yet?”
Shocked, Elizabeth slightly backed away as Franklin made a pleased grin.
“That’s because you have your Masters.”
He lightly tapped Night Lounge’s back with the tip of his nail.
“Everyone thinks that the kingdom lost the war because most of the people on the rankings didn’t participate.”
Slowly, but surely, the joy in his tone faded until he was speaking with no emotion in his voice.
“That’s not exactly wrong. We won so easily because they weren’t there to stop us.”
He sighed, shook his head, and turned his back to Elizabeth.
“Still, you’ve gotta know when to give up. ‘We’ll win if the Masters participate in the next war,’ they say. ‘The kingdom is still undefeated,’ they proclaim. It’s a real pain in the ass. War isn’t free, you know?”
His voice was now thick with frustration.
“This Clash of the Superiors thing is the ultimate example of this. It’s just a huge ‘We can do it’ done by demonstrating the power of the kingdom’s Superiors! It’s a big old dick-measuring contest and it PISSES! ME! OFF!”
He spouted that while looking at the central arena, which became more distant by the second.
“If, by some freak accident, this country’s Superiors all participate in the next war, it’s entirely possible that the situation will do a complete 180. Hell, we might even end up completely defeated.”
That unpleasant fact turned his expression bitter, but that face was soon replaced by a maddened grin.
“That’s why, before anything troublesome happens, I came here to break this country’s spirit.”
Franklin’s expression was that of a hellish jester, and it seemed to take a toll on the sanity of anyone merely looking at it.
“Tell me, if the kingdom’s Masters just sit around and twiddle their thumbs while a city gets destroyed and a princess gets kidnapped,” he said as his grin became even wider, “would this country’s tians still have any hope left for their Masters? Would they still have the willpower to resist?”
His expression still the same, he covered his face with both of his hands.
“The kingdom’s liveliest city... The city with most of the kingdom’s fighting power... The kingdom’s strongest Over Gladiator...”
Then, as if praising something, he raised his hands to the sky and laughed out loud.
“This is the night of despair! This is when all the myths surrounding this city die!”
The laughter of the one putting Gideon in peril resounded throughout the city’s skies.
“Really?” said a certain little girl with a voice that was easily drowned out by the laughter. “I do not believe you’re right.”
Elizabeth, having solid memories of a Master she’d spent the whole previous day with, was still hopeful.
She said quietly, “I believe that the kingdom’s Masters... are people we can rely on.”
◇◇◇
Paladin, Ray Starling
“Brother Bear,” spoke Nemesis. “How strong, do you think, are the kingdom’s forces outside of the arena?”
“That would be the Royal Guard tasked with protecting the princess, Gideon’s own knight order, and the weirdo Masters that didn’t come to watch The Clash of the Superiors.”
It wasn’t like the Masters here in the arena were the only ones in the city. The people outside should’ve been able to do something about this, too, but...
“But any self-respecting battle-oriented Master came to see today’s match,” Shu continued. “The only such Masters who didn’t are the ones who couldn’t get tickets. However, that mostly happens due to monetary issues or lack of knowledge of the right people, both of which are solved naturally if you’re strong. Meaning that the Masters outside the arena tonight aren’t exactly the strongest.”
That was likely one of the reasons wh
y Franklin picked this night — the one with The Clash of the Superiors — to seal the kingdom’s Masters inside the arena.
“There might be some tough guys who didn’t come to see the fight just because, but I bet that Franklin thought of a counter to them, too,” Shu added as he used his bear chin to point to the plaza outside the central arena.
I had no idea how long they’d been there, but there was a number of Masters and monsters in the plaza. They clearly had no intention of doing anything about the city’s chaos, making it pretty obvious that they were preparing to attack anyone leaving the arena.
“Franklin’s people, surely,” said Shu. “With those guys there and the monsters messing the city up, getting to and defeating Franklin himself will be no small task.”
“Gh...” I grumbled. There was absolutely nothing we could do about this situation. More importantly... with this barrier sealing us here, not even I could do anything. “If only...”
If only we... the Masters here in the arena... could get out and participate in the fight, our chances would go up.
“If this barrier wasn’t here, I...”
I slowly extended my hand towards it, holding back the urge to punch it.
With any offense on it being a trigger that released monsters, attacking it wasn’t an option. However, unable to contain my frustration, I reached to touch the barrier... and my fingers went right through it.
“...Eh?” I sounded my confusion as the nearly hundred Masters in the lobby started making noise about it.
“He... He went through!”
“What the hell?! I couldn’t do it!”
“Did the barrier disappear...? OW! It’s still here!”
“H-Hey! Does your Embryo have some barrier-related skills?!”
“N-None that I’m aware of...” I was more confused here than anyone else. There was no way I could answer that.
“Ray,” my brother addressed me.
Strangely enough, him speaking made the entire lobby instantly turn completely silent.
