Infinite Dendrogram [Volume 4]

by Sakon Kaidou

  Seemingly understanding, Rook nodded and began riding parallel to me.

  Thus, we made our way towards the western gate.

  If Hugo’s words were truthful and there was indeed something to be found there, I was wholly confident that he himself would stand in our way.

  ◆◆◆

  100 metels above the duel city, on the Night Lounge

  Night Lounge — the flying, self-concealing monster — was melting into the dead of night as it flew straight towards the west. Sitting on its back, Franklin was doing something on a device highly reminiscent of tablets from the 2010s.

  “The traitors at the central plaza are all dead,” he muttered. “This isn’t unexpected, but it certainly happened faster than I thought it would.”

  “What are you looking at?” asked Elizabeth.

  “Here you go,” Franklin said as he reached into his inventory and presented her with a device just like the one in his hands.

  She looked down on it and saw a map of Gideon. It was covered in bright markers that clearly surpassed quadruple digits, and most of them were concentrated in the central arena.

  “These lights... They’re Masters, aren’t they?” she asked.

  Though the markers were many, they were nowhere near the total population of Gideon, making her assume that they represented the Masters in the area.

  “Indeed they are.” Franklin nodded. “Clearly, you’re not a silly goose. I like people who aren’t silly gooses. You’re easy to talk to.”

  “I do not appreciate being liked by my father’s murderer,” Elizabeth replied.

  “HA HA HA! Thought as much! That’s the obvious sentiment, after all! GAH HA!” he laughed heartily, evidently finding it more funny than he had any right to.

  Naturally, the princess found his reaction unpleasant, but more than that, she was curious about why it seemed so exaggerated.

  “I happen to know someone who doesn’t seem to understand that,” Franklin continued. “Then again, we’re talking about a person that took the imperator’s throne by killing all the older royalty. Can’t really expect such a character to be reasonable.”

  “I cannot make sense of anything you’re saying,” Elizabeth informed him.

  “That’s because there’s a huge difference in the amount of information you and I have. Anyway, back to the subject at hand... Yes, you’re holding a location map of all the Masters in Gideon. It’s real-time, too.”

  Sure enough, the many markers on the map were moving.

  The map was the result of a device created by The Triangle of Wisdom that was picking up the data signaled by a network of Franklin-made spycam monsters, which he’d scattered all across the city over several days before the plan.

  Equipping the monsters with great hiding ability and Master differentiation had come at the cost of limiting the information they provided to show locations and nothing more — they didn’t even give the names of the Masters. However, that was all that Franklin needed. He only wished to know where the Masters were, and to be able to tell friend from foe.

  “May I ask something?” spoke up Elizabeth.

  “You may,” Franklin replied in a smug manner.

  “These lights are either red or blue. Are they...?”

  “Yes. We are red, while blue are the kingdom’s Masters. I know that red is often the ‘enemy’ color, but I happen to like it, you see.”

  The markers were either blue or red, and the latter ones represented the Masters that Franklin had registered before this incident began. Though the blue markers vastly outnumbered the red, most of them were concentrated in the central arena. The blue and red in the rest of the city were about equal in number, but there was something to keep in mind...

  “Not even half of the blue Masters outside the arena can fight properly,” said Franklin. “Most of them are either non-battle jobs who weren’t interested in the duel or third-rates who couldn’t get a hold of a ticket for it.”

  Due to that, the blue markers tended to disappear soon after they encountered red ones.

  The traitors besides the ones at the central plaza had been given the same devices as the ones held by Franklin and Elizabeth, which allowed them to seek out the blue markers, the kingdom’s Masters, and kill them. The only real exception was when the outpouring of blue markers from the central arena had quickly made the red markers in the central plaza disappear.

  Still, that wasn’t unexpected, for the traitors positioned there had been among the weakest. The traitors tasked with doing a search-and-destroy in the city were significantly stronger, so they had little trouble taking care of non-battle jobs and third-rates.

  “Though it’s not like there aren’t any tough cookies among those who didn’t go see the event,” Franklin commented.

  A few red markers surrounding a certain blue one were disappearing.

  He muttered, “I prepared this map to make it easier for me to find these ‘exceptions.’”

  The device he was holding vibrated as a voice came out of it. “H-Help, Franklin! It’s the sixth in the duel rankings! The ‘Kamen Rider’ is...”

  “RIIISEEEERRRRR KIIIICK!” That voice was followed by the sound of a fierce explosion, after which, there was nothing but noise.

  Franklin pressed something, ending the connection. “The sixth, huh? Guess it’s safe to expect more like him. Well, at least ‘they’ will have something to do,” he grinned as he spoke to the device. “Club. Move to C3.”

  Elizabeth didn’t know what he meant by that.

  However, a short while later, she heard a loud impact coming from somewhere in the city. Looking back at the map, she noticed that the blue marker that’d seemingly defeated Franklin’s people had disappeared. In its place, there was red club-like marker.

  “Club?” she asked. That was one of the playing card suits. Playing cards were a popular diversion even in Infinite Dendrogram, and casino games such as poker and blackjack were well-known pastimes. That was why Elizabeth instantly knew that she was looking at the symbol for the club suit.

  “Oh, that’s a special marker,” Franklin explained. “The other reds were hired only recently, while these markers were my people from the start.”

  She fell silent. Looking down, she noticed that there were a total of three such markers.

  The first was a club. It moved around here and there, causing any nearby blue markers — including the “exceptions” that could kill red markers — to vanish.

  The second was a heart. It was merely standing still near Gideon’s western gate. However, any blue markers that came close to it were vanishing without exception.

  The third was a diamond. It was slowly making its way towards the west, and a short evaluation of the surroundings and its position on the map made it obvious that it was Franklin.

  Elizabeth was now aware that Gideon had three entities far more dreadful than any monster or traitor.

  Club, heart and diamond, she thought, making a certain question come to mind. Where is the spade...?

  The spade suit carried the meaning of “sword” or “death,” making it the most ominous of the four, and for reasons unknown, it was nowhere on the map.

  “Are you curious about the spade?” asked Franklin, as if he’d just read her mind. “It won’t show on this map. It’s for Plan D, anyway, so don’t expect it to be used.”

  “Plan D?” she repeated.

  “Yes. That’s what you’d call it if the current one is ‘Plan A.’ And I have no intention to fail with this one.” Franklin made Night Lounge change direction a bit.

  Wondering why he’d done that, Elizabeth looked down on the map and saw two blue markers near the diamond, making it clear that it was to avoid them.

  “So this map is also meant to prevent you from meeting Masters?” she asked.

  “Why, yes,” he answered. “I happen to be a weakling, so I’d like to avoid having to fight by myself.”

  Despite saying that, Franklin seemed quite confident that no one b
elow could see through Night Lounge’s concealment ability.

  “Though I avoid unnecessary battles, if I were to fight, those who could break through all the monsters at my disposal and land a finishing blow on me would only be my fellow Superiors,” he chuckled as he looked down on the map again.

  Gideon was still in chaos as the diamond marker representing him casually moved over an empty area.

  All was good.

  At least, until a blue marker appeared right behind the diamond.

  Surprised, Franklin tried to turn around, but before he could even move his neck, he felt his carotid artery get severed. That attack was followed by a barrage of bullet creatures, which sank into his body and exploded, causing great damage.

  It didn’t end there, for the attack extended to the Night Lounge, causing its back to burst in places too many to count. Unable to bear it, the monster began losing altitude and descended to the city beneath.

  Surrounded by bewildering chaos, Franklin looked around and saw an entity shrouded in a black mist scoop up Elizabeth — who’d fainted due to shock caused by the explosions — and jump down. The misty being wasn’t unknown to him.

  ...Oh, yeah, he thought. Can’t believe I forgot about the Master who killed a Superior despite not being one.

  Upon remembering the player killer known as the “Superior Killer,” Franklin held on for dear life as his Night Lounge crashed into the streets of Gideon.

  ◇◇◇

  Duel city Gideon, ninth district

  When Franklin kidnapped Elizabeth and disappeared from the arena, Marie instantly left her box seat. Her motive was simple — to chase after Franklin and rescue Elizabeth.

  Being the Death Shadow, an AGI-focused Superior Job, allowed her to move at supersonic speeds, so she quickly made her way through the arena’s hallways and got to the exit. However, when she tried to go outside, she got rejected by the barrier.

  Marie didn’t find its existence all that surprising. The fact that Franklin could trap Figaro and Xunyu in the barrier on the stage made it entirely possible that he could seal the arena, as well.

  She was also quick to conclude that he’d done this in order to make the kingdom’s Masters appear powerless. Elizabeth’s kidnapping, too, had clearly been meant to increase the strength of that sentiment.

  Marie couldn’t let herself waste a moment’s worth of time, so she instantly escaped the barrier.

  She was capable of doing that because she was the Death Shadow — a Superior Job. She could do that for the same reason Xunyu’s Zhenhuo Zhendeng Baolongba had broken the upper part of the barrier surrounding the Clash of the Superiors battle. That had been the ultimate skill of the Master Jiangshi — a Superior Job.

  Due to that, Marie had assumed that Superior Job ultimate skills could surpass arena barriers. With that in mind, she’d used Death Shadow’s ultimate skill.

  Though it was a job from the stealth-oriented onmitsu grouping and thus didn’t have much in the ways of firepower, it was more or less suitable for the situation she was in. And so, at the cost of half of her SP, Marie escaped the barrier.

  Once out in the streets, she used the Conceal and Conceal Perception skills to search for Franklin.

  Eventually, Marie noticed the strange, stingray-like creature of the Night Lounge flying through the sky. She jumped up from the top of a building and used her own clones as stepping stones to reach and assault the creature.

  Just as she’d expected, Franklin was riding it, so she hastily sliced his neck and put him in a critical state using explosive, piercing bullets from her Arc-en-Ciel. She followed it up with explosive attacks on the stingray-like creature before taking Elizabeth and jumping off.

  And thus, Marie was now running through Gideon’s streets with the second princess on her back.

  ◇

  A soft shaking caused Elizabeth to wake up.

  She found the sensation to be familiar, for she’d felt it just yesterday. It was the feeling of being carried on someone’s back, and both the softness and the scent accompanying this sensation were the same as those from back then.

  “Ma...rie...?” Elizabeth asked in slight a stupor.

  “Yes,” said the one holding her. “It’s me, Ellie.”

  “I’m happy to have met you again... But why are you...?”

  “For now, let’s just get somewhere safe. We’ll talk later!” Marie said as she ran.

  Though Elizabeth couldn’t tell due to the shaking being so mild, Marie’s speed was easily surpassing 100 kilometels per hour. Marie was the Death Shadow, an onmitsu grouping Superior Job, and she had a build focused on AGI and conceal skills. That made it easy for her to run with such speed even while being considerate of someone she was carrying.

  The safe place Marie had in mind was the central arena. There were many high-rank Masters there. Not to mention that no one above level 50 could enter.

  Sure, when Marie’d used the Death Shadow’s ultimate skill to leave it, there had still been some monsters there, but considering all the players inside, it was safe to assume that they’d already been taken care of. Not to mention that one person in particular would be able to do it with ridiculous ease.

  “Marie, if we’re running, use this,” Elizabeth said as she presented her with the device she still had in her hands.

  “This is... Well, this will be useful,” said Marie as she took the map and began moving while avoiding the red markers.

  Just like when she’d attacked the Night Lounge, Marie was still using several conceal-type skills which prevented her from appearing on the map. Nevertheless, it was easy for her to see where she was by comparing the map and the streets around her.

  “By the way, do you know the meaning of these card suit markers?” she asked.

  “Yes. Diamond is Franklin, while heart and club are his confidants,” answered the princess.

  “I see...” said Marie while trying to contain the urge to click her tongue. “So he’s still alive.”

  Based on what her Reveal skill told her, Franklin’s max HP was almost ten times lower than all the damage she’d done to him, but despite the lack of warding accessories on him, the diamond marker was still there, meaning that he’d survived those fatal wounds.

  Looks like he’s also using Life Link, not just Castling, she thought. That means that I won’t be able to kill him until I take care of the monsters within his capacity.

  Life Link allowed the users to share HP with the monsters they had. Though it was certainly a useful skill that could potentially keep the users and their forces alive right until the very end, it also had many disadvantages.

  The primary one was the fact that it could only work with monsters within the minion capacity and would have no effect if the monsters were placed in a party slot. However, the biggest one was the necessity of forming a strong bond with the monster in question, making it prioritize its owner over itself.

  Creating a relationship in which the monster thought more of its master than itself was usually a process that took a lot of time and effort. Due to that, people who used Life Link were few.

  The skill has some difficult conditions, but it seems like they mean nothing to Franklin, thought Marie.

  Being a monster creator, Franklin could make monsters that had endless loyalty to him right from the very start, making it easy for him to have procured some Life Link-based HP tanks. That wasn’t all. If he also discarded the monsters’ combat ability and focused entirely on their HP, even minion capacity wouldn’t be much of a problem.

  Anyway, him being alive is really bad, thought Marie. Franklin was a Superior, meaning that it was unlikely he would fall for the same tricks again.

  She’d also made herself into his target, making it safe to expect him to come at her with unpredictable means. As one who’d already fought and felled a Superior, Marie knew that better than most.

  I have to bring Ellie to the central arena as soon as possible...! she thought. All the Masters trapped there made t
he arena the safest place in the entire city.

  However, Marie had an even bigger reason for going there.

  The barrier trapped most of the players there... including him. If he’s who I think he is, then not even Franklin can win against him.

  With that certain person in mind, Marie made her way towards the central arena.

  She almost crashed into some monsters along the way, but she quickly blew them away with critical hits from homing, explosive bullets.

  Soon enough, the central arena was in sight.

  “All right!” said Marie. “We’re at the home stretch, Ellie!”

  “Yes, Ma—”

  “I’ll be taking the princess back, thank you very much.”

  Before Elizabeth could finish her sentence, a voice came from the device, and a moment later, Marie felt Elizabeth’s weight and breathing completely vanish.

  Marie turned around and saw a songbird-like monster just like the one she saw back at the arena. Elizabeth was nowhere in sight.

  Upon realizing what’d happened, Marie clicked her tongue in frustration and cut down the songbird. “I was quite confident we were far outside of Castling’s effective range...” she said.

  “You were,” replied Franklin. “But it just so happens that I have observational monsters all over the city. I caught up to you by Castling between them. You know, like a bucket brigade.”

  Slightly disturbed that he was capable of that, Marie suppressed the urge to question him about the cooldowns and MP usage involved, since she was aware that Franklin was among the greatest monster creators, both Master and tian alike. Asking him about such things was meaningless.

  “But man, you sure did me in back there, Superior Killer,” Franklin continued. “I actually thought I was gonna die.”

  Though Marie’d sliced his neck not too long ago, the wound was already gone as if it had never been there, letting him speak with a clear tone. That fact greatly irritated Marie.

  “Well, I was aiming for at least a death penalty,” she said.

  “At least a death penalty? Whoa, that’s scary,” Franklin replied.

  “I’m coming to kill you again,” she growled. “And take Ellie back.”