Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 11 - Chapter 7

Act Seven: The Gaze of the Moon and the Evil Eye 
Kingdom of Altar, Nowest Canyon 
“Looks like it’s over,” said Tsukuyo. The roar of the battle between Figaro and Gloria faded, and there had been nothing but silence for a whole three minutes now. 
“Kage, check things out for me,” she continued. 
“I have,” Eishiro replied. “The battle is indeed over. Figaro received the death penalty, and Tri-Zenith Dragon, Gloria is missing the one-horned head.” 
“Wow, he works fast. And it went about as we thought it would.” 
The most troublesome head had vanished, and Figaro — a man they couldn’t hope to compete with for the MVP title — had gotten the death penalty. 
They’d also signed a contract with Shu, so there was no chance that he would interfere. 
Tsukuyo concluded that now was the time to charge. 
“We’re up next, darlings. My ultimate skill won’t work on this one, so let’s take it down with our numbers. Are we ready?” 
That wasn’t even a question to them. The group who bore the mark of the crescent moon and closed eye had been waiting for this. 
All told, the Lunar Society had gathered thirty-four max level Masters here. 
One might expect them to be in five parties of six and one party of four; they were actually in seventeen parties of two, which was slightly unorthodox. 
Fifteen of the parties were pairs of casters and speed-based vanguards. One of the two remaining parties consisted of the High Priestess, Tsukuyo Fuso and King of Assassins, Eishiro Tsukikage. 
The last one was made up of a member who would buff everyone alongside Tsukuyo, and... 
“It’s been a while, Shijima. Think you’re good to go?” Tsukuyo asked. 
“Of course,” replied the other half of the final party — Myth Rider, Ichiro Shijima. 
He was the ex-captain of the battle corps and effectively The Lunar Society’s third in command. In his hands he held a spear and an elliptical shield: both of them were halves of his Embryo, Juno of the Type Maiden/Elder-Arms. 
He was also mounted, but not on his trusted Aries Leo. Instead he was riding a replica Prism Steed. 
“Where’s your sheep-lion?” asked Tsukuyo. “You work best with him, no?” 
“I gave Gringham to my wife,” Ichiro replied. “This foe is unlike any other. I’m afraid it would harm him even beyond the Jewel’s auto-retrieve safety mechanism. Also, Gringham simply cannot enter the dreaded field.” 
Monsters below level 100 were instantly killed by the Fatal Field. No one who knew that would consider bringing their tamed monsters to this fight. 
“Most importantly, my son would be upset if Gringham died. It’s best to let him protect my family.” 
“Hmm. You’re such a dad,” Tsukuyo said, noting that he seemed to be enjoying his life in this world. 
She then faced her group and said, “We’re all level 500s or Superior Jobs. Gloria’s field won’t affect us, and that meathead took out the annoying head that spat light everywhere.” 
All it had left was the ability to enhance its stats. This meant that its lethal abilities were now completely nullified. 
“All we have left to beat is a big lizard with nothing left but sheer strength. We should take it easy,” Tsukuyo said, as she headed towards the Nowest Canyon followed by her thirty-three adherents. As she did, she looked at the nearby battleship — Shu’s Embryo, Baldr. 
“Just like we agreed, don’t step in until we’re done with it,” Tsukuyo said. 
“Yeah, yeah. Are you sure, though?” Shu asked. 
“You won’t even get a turn. Just sit there and wait until we get both special rewards,” she asserted with the look of a smug, crafty fox before her expression changed. “Also... I don’t think that bag of trouble is out of tricks. If we both go and get wiped out by some new, ridiculous power, it’d all be over.” 
Shu listened silently as Tsukuyo continued. 
“I do wanna get something for myself out of this, but... if we don’t beat it, everything we’ve built here in this kingdom would come to nothing.” 
“Should I go first?” 
“I don’t need your consideration. But yeah, I’m counting on you if something happens.” 
“...I’ll clean up your mess.” 
“We won’t leave one.” Grinning like a malicious spirit, Tsukuyo leaped into the fray. 
 
Following its battle against Figaro and the loss of its one-horned head, Gloria was lying at the bottom of the canyon. 
One of its most important body parts was now gone. The loss of its head presented a far greater problem than the recent loss of its heart. That organ regenerated in a day, but the head showed absolutely no sign of returning; it seemed like it had lost the title of “three-headed dragon” forever. 
However, all of its other injuries had already started regenerating, and its skeletal frame was reshaping itself to maintain a balanced structure. 
The three-horn silently examined the place where the one-horn used to be. 
The wound was now completely shut. 
After the restructuring of its skeleton, Gloria looked like it had always been a two-headed dragon. 
It had lost a part of itself — both a function and a sibling that had been with it for over a millennium — but the three-horn’s eyes held not even a hint of sadness. 
“Ghroah...” Gloria let out a growl which, if translated into a human tongue, may have been something like “Go and wait for us.” 
Gloria then stood up. Its left hindleg had regenerated enough to support its immense weight once again. 
Despite all the regeneration and the reshaping of its skeleton, its HP hadn’t returned — both because it was simply how Gloria functioned, and because this was advantageous for it. 
The name of the three-horn’s skill was “Resurgence,” and it empowered the dragon as its HP went down. Losing a third of itself had damaged it immensely, making the skill significantly more powerful than it had been when it fought Figaro. 
Suddenly, Gloria felt the presence of someone entering its Fatal Field, announcing that the next enemy had arrived. 
A moment later, countless offensive spells rained down on it from every direction. 
All of them were of the lightning element, which was notable for its ability to ignore physical defenses. 
This was a choice based on Gloria’s high END, and the ones responsible for it were none other than The Lunar Society. 
“SHHeEEeeEAAAaaAaaArRghhhHh!” the two-horn — the one responsible for the Fatal Field — roared as it sensed all thirty-four of its enemies surrounding it. 
When Gloria’s one-horned head was alive, the most difficult thing to do was fight it with a large group. Now that it was gone, all that had been reversed. — the dragon could be easily overwhelmed. 
It no longer possessed the breath that could evaporate countless people at once. Its wounds no longer released light and the Fatal Field had no effect on levels 500 and above, meaning that the dragon had to lower the numbers using its claws. 
As it was now, Gloria had incredible stats, but no special means of attack. Its stats still grew as its HP decreased, but its offense remained lacking in variety. UBMs were often defined by their unique abilities, so it could be said that Gloria as it was now — with nothing but pure power — was at its weakest point. 
Still, its stats were no laughing matter. Though they outnumbered it, Gloria’s attackers right now were far weaker than the dragon. Its current attack power was more than enough to tear through even metal armor like paper and kill the wearer easily. 
Thanks to its Fatal Field, Gloria already knew where its enemies were and what they were doing, as well. 
With the sole exception of the King of Assassins, they all moved at subsonic speeds — so Gloria, which could now break the sound barrier, could easily catch up to them and kill them. 
As it prepared to do just that... 
“Lunar Divider Field: Faint Light.” 
...The day transformed into a night with a cloudy sky, and a single ray of moonlight peeking through those clouds shone down on Gloria. 
Suddenly, the dragon felt its body become as heavy as lead. 
“SHhEWhrRoAahh...!” Its supersonic speed had dropped to subsonic level. 
“Well, what a relief. It actually works,” Tsukuyo said. 
This was a variation of Kaguya’s Lunar Divider Field. It focused the moonlight through a hole in the clouds, narrowing its targets and effect. 
Normally, Lunar Divider Field divided any numerical statistics hostile to Tsukuyo by six, but Faint Light focused the effect on just one. In exchange, the effect became extremely hard to resist the effect with levels, stats, or skills. The result was so difficult that not even an SUBM like Gloria could resist it. 
The number Tsukuyo focused on this time was the enemy’s AGI. 
During the battle with Figaro, Gloria had broken its shackles and reached supersonic speeds, but Faint Light reduced it back to subsonic. Gloria’s stats were still powerful, and a single one of its attacks was equal to a high-rank Embryo’s ultimate skill, but that meant little if it couldn’t land a single hit. 
“Keep those spells coming, casters. Vanguards, do as we planned and carry the casters while attacking it with Gems.” 
The group of thirty followed Tsukuyo’s orders. They were still in the same caster and speed-focused vanguard pairs as before, with the latter carrying the former at subsonic speeds. Gloria now was no faster than them, and the casters attacked it with lightning magic, which was relatively unaffected by defense. The vanguards assisted them with magic Gems containing spells which dealt fixed damage — 800, to be exact. 
That may have seemed like an absurdly small amount in a high-level battle such as this, but with Gloria’s high defense and The Lunar Society’s immense numbers, it had quite a noticeable effect. 
They were rather expensive, however. During their preparation, Tsukuyo had gathered every Gem she could find and made non-max level adherents who could create them produce as many as they could. As a result, each of the vanguard fighters in the battle had 1,000 Gems each. 
However, little strokes fell great oaks. The combined lightning attacks from the casters and vanguards’ Gem spells slowly but surely whittled away Gloria’s HP. 
It was approximately 70,000,000 at the start, but now Figaro and The Lunar Society had dropped it below 50,000,000. It would take over 60,000 Gems or spells dealing 800 damage each to defeat it now — but to achieve that, each of the thirty members would have to have 2,000 Gems. 
The number might be lowered by the additional power of lightning spells, but the casters were limited by their MP, and there was always the risk that some of them would fail to dodge and suffer the death penalty. 
However, all that mattered right now was bringing down Gloria’s HP below half. 
The Lunar Society already knew that Gloria was only as strong as it was because of the three-horn’s skill, so if they were to get rid of that head, its defense should return to its original state, when even the Babylonian Battlegroup could hurt it with no trouble. 
At that point, Gloria would be completely out of special abilities, making it a relatively easy kill. 
“ShOoooOaArRghh...” Gloria let out a roar that seemed full of irritation. It was under attack by near-constant flashes of magic, unable to catch up to any of the insects swarming it. This was surely the most humiliating thing it had ever experienced. It was made even worse by the single human that, instead of using any magic, was just lunging in close and poking it with the butt end of his spear. The bald man switched between doing that and bashing the canyon or the ground with the shield in his other hand. 
That served to make Gloria even more irritated. 
Tsukuyo, their leader, was being carried by Tsukikage, grinning as she said, “We’ve got the pattern down.” If Gloria could see her, its anger would reach even greater heights. 
“It sure got a lot faster, though,” she added. Kaguya’s Faint Light was still actively dividing Gloria’s speed, but as its HP decreased, its stats increased. It wasn’t out of the question that it would break the sound barrier once it reached 60% HP. 
“Bind it for me, will you?” Tsukuyo said. 
“As you command,” Eishiro replied. As before, the crux of the offensive here was the spells and fixed damage Gems from the thirty casters and vanguards. This strategy relied on Gloria being unable to hit them, and that was why Tsukuyo had reduced Gloria’s AGI to a sixth of its maximum. 
However, she wasn’t the only one meant to keep the dragon from reaching supersonic speeds again. 
“The Shades and Death, They Beckon — Erlkönig.” The shadows created by the Lunar Divider Field’s night became countless hands that wrapped around Gloria. They both hampered its movements and sunk through its scales, damaging it from underneath them. If the one-horned head was still present, shadows that wounded the dragon’s entire body would have been completely off the table, but the power of the light was lost to Gloria forever. 
It didn’t end at just the shadows, however. 
The same bald man that had been poking Gloria’s scales from the back of a replica Prism Steed — Myth Rider, Ichiro Shijima — unleashed his ultimate skill. 
“Binding Vows, Sought and Linked — Juno!” A moment later, seals manifested all over Gloria — specifically, the parts Ichiro had poked with the butt-end of his spear. 
Simultaneously, similar seals appeared on the various points of the canyon that he’d touched with his shield. 
Suddenly, Gloria completely stopped in place, as though it was being dragged by something from every direction. 
These were attracting seals — the power of Ichiro’s Embryo, Juno. 
The seals created by the butt-end of the spear were “male,” while the ones made by the shield were “female.” Upon activating the skill, a powerful attractive force would be created between them. 
Though a single pair of seals could be shaken off with just 2,000 STR, Ichiro could produce many pairs, limited only by his SP, and by binding the target from many directions he could significantly increase the bind’s power. Eventually, it would become so strong that the target would become unable to move an inch. Applying seals was particularly easy against larger enemies, and with enough of them, even UBMs would be rendered completely immobile. 
He rode around and planted seals to bind the enemy in place, making it an easy target for the rest of the group. 
This was the fighting style of the ex-captain of The Lunar Society’s battle corps, Ichiro Shijima. 
“Sh-ShrRooOaaArghHhhHh!” The two-horn roared as Gloria tried to move, but it couldn’t shake off the force of the attraction. The number of seals set on the dragon easily exceeded a hundred, and even this super-Mythical creature had trouble escaping the binding. 
Due to the SP cost, Ichiro could never place this many seals by himself, but the group buffer riding the Prism Steed with him was also using items to restore his SP, and this allowed him to create far more seals than he usually could. 
Once Gloria stopped, the remaining members became even more aggressive. 
Eishiro’s shadow hands burned and strangled the three-horn as Ichiro placed more and more seals. Gloria’s STR grew as its HP decreased, so the extra seals were necessary to keep it bound. Additionally, Tsukuyo had switched the target of her division from AGI to STR. 
The dragon couldn’t move an inch, and The Lunar Society had taken complete control of the situation. 
This could never have happened if the one-horn was still alive, but... there was no point in imagining such a scenario now. 
Gloria was completely cornered. 
A few minutes passed after this battle had become completely one-sided. 
“Its HP is about to fall below 50%,” said Eishiro, using his Reveal skill. 
“Really? Wow, we’re fast,” replied Tsukuyo. 
So far, Gloria had been unable to fight back directly, and even most of the rocks it was somehow able to shatter and scatter were blocked by Eishiro’s shadows. Any injured party members were quickly healed by Tsukuyo. 
Gloria’s stats continued to grow, but the situation didn’t change. If this continued, Gloria would surely fall. 
The moment Eishiro thought that, Gloria’s HP finally fell below 50%... and all the members besides Tsukuyo and Tsukikage instantly died. 
The level 500 elites suddenly and unexpectedly became bits of light. 
“Hm...? Faint Light,” said Tsukuyo, as she recovered from her moment of shock and instantly switched the target of her division skill from STR back to AGI. 
That was exactly the right move, as proven by the slowed, but still-subsonic claw that cut the air right where Eishiro had just been. 
“...Is this a joke?” Tsukuyo said, as she was carried around by Eishiro to re-evaluate the situation. 
The fifteen offensive pairs were all dead. 
The one extra support-buffer was dead. 
Ichiro had also died, undoing all his attraction seals. 
The situation they had constructed had been completely undone. 
“We lost thirty-two, and the only survivors are Kage and I... the Superior Jobs.” She re-examined the situation. “A barrier that kills everyone based on level... and enhancement based on lost HP...” Then she re-examined Gloria’s powers. “...That’s just not faaiir.” This information was enough for Tsukuyo to fully understand what the dragon had done. 
Basically... 
“Enhancing the stats is fine and all, but you just can’t do that with the death field...” Tsukuyo now knew that Gloria had an ace up its sleeve far worse than she could ever imagine. 
 
 
The dragon that went on to become the Tri-Zenith Dragon, Gloria was a true rarity, in that it was a child of two UBMs and inherited powers from both. 
However, neither of its parents possessed powers even close to Gloria’s. 
Its father, Lightdragon King, Drag-Shine could only breathe light from his mouth, while its mother, Deathdragon King, Drag-Death could only instakill people up to level 250 and monsters up to level 50, and there was a limit to how well she could negate damage coming from outside the field. 
There were two reasons why Gloria had become a true monstrosity with similar, but far more fearsome, powers. 

The first was bodily modification by an external agent. 
The enhancement of its Overdrive and Fatal Field, as well as Resurgence and ?????????????? didn’t come from within — they were all part of the UBM control AI’s, Jabberwock’s, design. 
Jabberwock designed UBMs and used ????? to transform standard monsters into them... but on rare occasions, he used ????? on a single monster several times. 
Theoretically, each use of ????? could empower an UBM more and more, but this came with disadvantages. 
For example, too many uses could cause a data collapse and subsequent destruction, even in monsters with great potential. 
In fact, a monster could only become a designer UBM after it was of an appropriate level to survive a single one, and the ones that followed were harder and harder to survive. 
Jabberwock generally avoided doing this, since he didn’t want to risk losing a perfectly good UBM. 
He had attempted this less than a hundred times during the past two millennia, and his successes didn’t even add up to ten, even if you included the irregular future case where he would give one for both a mother and her fetus. 
However, Gloria was a special case. 
It had survived not one, not two, but several uses of ?????. It had the makings of a creature that could prevail against fatal odds and defeat countless monsters and UBMs to finally become an SUBM. 
That was all according to Jabberwock’s predictions. However, there was one factor that he hadn’t accounted for. 
The second reason why Gloria had ended up this way was its ability to create skills. 
Such an ability wasn’t unique in this world. Certain high-rank and Superior Jobs — most notably the “The One” series — could create their own skills, as well. Even standard UBMs could develop new abilities as their powers grew. 
Gloria had simply done the same thing. 
The skill it’d used against Figaro — Zenith Dragon’s Shining Field: Fang of Gloria — was one of them. Ever since creating it, the dragon had kept this ability a secret from even Jabberwock, the one who’d given it power. 
However, there was another skill it had woven, and it was one it simply couldn’t hide. 
This was a skill that applied its stat enhancement to the Fatal Field, raising the level bar that had to be surpassed. Its name was simply “True Fatal Field.” 
It was a truly fearsome ability, born from mixing the powers inherited from its parents and the ones given to it by Jabberwock. 
Over a thousand years ago, before Jabberwock retrieved Gloria, it had fought an Irregularity, was badly hurt, and used it. 
The True Fatal Field instantly killed the Irregularity, and the Resources it had received let it break past level 100. 
Jabberwock had been observing this battle and learned of this ability, but as fearsome as it was, he found it appropriate. This was one of the reasons why he’d considered Gloria to be the most complete boss monster, and he’d thought that it was a fitting power for a creature with that title to have. 
Allowed to retain this ability, Gloria waited for over a millennium for its deployment, and had now once more used the fearsome True Fatal Field that had extinguished even an Irregularity. 
 
Kingdom of Altar, Nowest Canyon 
The single eye of the two-horn released a sinister shine as it spread the True Fatal Field. Looking up at the evil eye, Tsukuyo muttered, “Ohh, it’s so over...” 
Still carried by Eishiro at supersonic speeds, she let out a sigh. 
Gloria now had stats that surpassed Mythical-level, nearly all of her group was dead, her plan had collapsed, and there was an overwhelming gap between the dragon and the two survivors. Though Eishiro was a battle-focused Superior Job, he didn’t have much offensive ability, and his job skills were focused on fights against other players, while his Embryo was anti-group, making it inefficient against powerful single enemies such as Gloria. 
With Tsukuyo, the reasons were even more obvious. Her job was focused on healing and support, while her Embryo was all about debuffs. Also, Kaguya’s ultimate skill could only be used against Masters, which rendered it completely useless against the dragon. 
To make matters worse, even if they somehow fought and damaged Gloria, they would only increase the limit of the Fatal Field, and it would eventually catch up even to Superior Jobs such as them. 
“I dunno the max level limit on it, but I guess we can’t leave the two-horn be...” If it was left alive, in the worst case scenario it could develop a Fatal Field that killed all those below level 1,000 or even 2,000, and negated all damage coming to it from anywhere outside the field, becoming effectively immortal. 
A Gloria like that would become a deadly calamity in its purest sense. 
The two-horn had to die. Like with the one-horn, letting it live could potentially erase all chances of ever killing it. However, doing so would leave the three-horn, and it was easy to imagine how high its stats would grow. 
Needless to say, it would be too much for just the two of them. 
“Yep. This is all we’ve got. We can’t beat the three-head, and the plan we had is in shambles now” Tsukuyo shook her head, as though giving up. “So let’s just go all-in on taking out the two-horn.” 
With a wicked smile, she declared that she would end the head with the most fearsome skill. 
She’d only given up on getting both of the remaining special rewards — but not on victory. 
“We’ll retreat once the two-horn’s gone. Then, we’ll just leave the rest to the trash panda. I’ve got no clue how a STR idiot like him will even fight it once it moves several times faster than the speed of sound, though.” 
Tsukuyo had handed the conclusion of the battle over to Shu, but that also meant that she’d decided that taking out the two-horn was her role in all of this. 
“Kage, I’m using that. Be a dear and buy me about three minutes. Oh, and get ready to help me with rehab after we’re back.” 
“As you command, Lady Tsukuyo,” Eishiro nodded before activating a skill. “Shadow Cradle.” 
He then sank her into his own shadow. 
Eishiro’s shadow was a separate realm that he often used for movement or covert operations. However, the shadow he’d sunk Tsukuyo into was different from his usual shadows, in that it was meant chiefly to protect the one inside. It was a shadow shelter he couldn’t use on himself, or on any unwilling target. 
No external forces could affect it as long as Eishiro was alive and the one inside it didn’t wish to leave. This made the shadow the safest place against Gloria — the menace before them. 
Alas, it would only last until Gloria killed him. 
“Three minutes,” he said to himself. “Heheh, Lady Tsukuyo’s requests are as absurd as ever.” 
With Tsukuyo in hiding, Kaguya’s Lunar Divider Field: Faint Light was undone, and Gloria could now move at several times the speed of sound. 
It was now even faster than Eishiro — a speed-focused Superior Job. 
In fact, one of Gloria’s claws was approaching him at immense speeds right this very moment. 
“But fulfilling her absurd requests is my duty,” he sighed, as he took control of his shadows to create a brief wall, then took evasive action. 
This let him avoid a direct hit from the claw, but the shockwave alone blew away his left arm. 
Paying it no mind, he used his legs and shadows to evade the attacks that followed. 
In a supersonic battle, one’s experienced time was drawn-out, so three minutes was actually a long time for Eishiro. Regardless, he would fulfill his mistress’ request. 
“If I am unable to buy a mere three minutes... I am unworthy of standing at her side.” 
His leg was blown away, and he simply replaced it with a leg of shadow. 
His arteries were torn, and he wrapped them up in shadows to stop the bleeding. 
Replacing more and more of his body with shadow, he kept moving, buying the time he needed. 
“If the lady ordered it, even seven days and nights would be nothing to me.” The King of Assassins who served the High Priestess continued to buy time with his unyielding will. 
 
Within the world of shadow, a poem-like voice rang out. 
The holy one walks the endless path. The path of the seeker and the path of the savior. The path on which she seeks her conviction. And at the end of the path, she will grant salvation. 
Tsukuyo was reciting something in a language completely unlike her native tongue. It was a chant, but it was fundamentally different from the common magic skill. 
The users were free to pick the words used in standard Chants. All that mattered was that they said something out loud and expended MP. 
This moment is the end of life. This moment is the end of the path. The conclusion of the holy one’s journey. The point from which the holy one shall return. 
However, the chant Tsukuyo now spoke was quite different. 
It was one of the world’s few Ancient Spells — a kind of magic that had their own specific chants. 
As she spoke it, light appeared from within her and gathered into an orb in her palm. 
It was the same kind of light as the one created by the church’s holy men at Claymill — same as the rite of divine punishment, Judgement Pillar. 
The holy one now lays down her burden. She puts away that which she had sought. And, she embraces instead a new desire. 
But as the chant continued, the ball’s light changed in nature. 
While Judgement Pillar’s light was Sun-like, this one was dimmer... like the light of a full moon in the night sky. 
All that she gained in her life. All that she gained on her path. All this shall be sacrificed for this single light she so desires. This light carries her wish for the salvation of others. Otherwise, it cannot be released. 
She finally concluded the chant... 
“The Return of the Holy One: Ulfaria Eltram.” 
...And spoke the name of a miracle older than even the pre-ancient civilization — the name of the ultimate job skill of the entire priest grouping. 
 
Three minutes. The short time that felt far too long was finally over, and a particular part of the shadow rose up to reveal Tsukuyo, carrying an orb of what seemed like pure moonlight. 
She solemnly glanced at it once before looking up to see a shadow standing before her. 
“...” It was a man who’d lost all his limbs, replaced them with shadow, and whose torso bore several fatal wounds. 
For a hefty price, Eishiro Tsukikage had bought the three minutes. 
“Good work, Kage,” said Tsukuyo. Not saying a word back — he couldn’t, due to the hole in his throat — he gave her a faint smile... and dissolved into bits of light. 
Tsukuyo saw her confidant off with a smile of her own. 
“Anyway, two-horn, our turn is almost done.” A moment later, the orb of light in her hands pulsated as though it had found its target. 
Gloria didn’t just sit and watch, however. 
The dragon moved and split Tsukuyo in half with a horizontal claw strike. 
Indeed, it was more like it obliterated her entire lower half. 
The wound was obviously fatal. As the High Priestess, Tsukuyo had the potential to quickly patch herself up using Mercy of the Holy, but Gloria would crush her head before she could. 
Though... Tsukuyo herself would soon be unable to use that skill. 
“SHUuuOoOeEeeeAaaAAaRrGhhHhh! Nh...?” Before Gloria finished Tsukuyo off, the two-horn’s single eye noticed the orb of light approaching it. 
Slowly but surely, it floated towards the two-horn. 
Gloria’s instincts took over, urging it to avoid the tiny orb. It could feel it was dangerous and distanced itself from it at the speed of sound. 
However, the orb of light moved along with it, catching up to the dragon and continuing its steady approach. 
Never letting Gloria gain any distance on it, the orb of light came closer and closer to it. 
“This is my first time using it... so that’s what it’s like.” Tsukuyo grinned, lying on the ground as nothing but a severed top half. 
 

That light was Ulfaria Eltram — the double-edged sword wielded by Hierophants and High Priestesses that poured everything they’d built and, indeed, their entire lives into a single attack. 
An ultimate spell that came at the cost of all the user’s job levels. 
Even to the immortal Masters, this was the equivalent of sacrificing a huge part of your own life and time. The reward for this was an inescapable spell that dealt a fixed amount of damage. 
It would land no matter how fast the target was, and though the idea of fixed damage might recall the Gems employed earlier, this was quite different in that it dealt quite a bit more damage — 3,000 for every level sacrificed. 
With Tsukuyo’s total level being 1,026... it would deal an astounding 3,000,000 damage. 
“SHheEeeEEAaAaaAAaaaRrgGhhHHhhH!” Gloria also realized how potent and abnormal the orb was, but it was unable to do anything about it. 
Even killing Tsukuyo herself couldn’t stop it now, for it had already been released. 
However, Tsukuyo’s death penalty was already set in stone. 
The moment Ulfaria Eltram reached its target, Tsukuyo’s level would drop to 0. 
She’d become susceptible to the Fatal Field again, and even if that didn’t kill her, the resulting HP drop and her fatal injury would. 
Tsukuyo’s death was certain, but the fate of Gloria’s two-horned head still hung in the balance. 
“...It won’t be enough, will it?” she mused. Though Ulfaria Eltram dealt immense damage, Gloria’s HP was simply on a different level. Fighting Figaro and The Lunar Society took it below half, but it was still about 35,000,000. 
This meant that this spell would be far from fatal. “Well, then, you know what to do.” 
“Indeed we do. Lunar Divider Field: Faint Light.” 
Of course, neither Tsukuyo nor her Embryo, Kaguya, would allow her spell to fail. 
The Maiden cast Faint Light one last time, switching from AGI to HP. 
Indeed — not even HP was immune to Faint Light. 
Tsukuyo avoided using this while the entire group was still around to prevent Gloria becoming too powerful; she didn’t use it after they died because dividing AGI was the only way she could stay alive, and because enhancing the Fatal Field too much could kill her. 
However, speed didn’t matter to Ulfaria Eltram, and there was no point in worrying about the limits of the Fatal Field after she’d cast a spell that already made her as good as dead. 
Gloria’s HP had been reduced from 35,000,000 to a little under 6,000,000. 
“You measured human life by level, killed thousands by level...” 
Ulfaria Eltram landed, dealing 3,000,000 damage — half of Gloria’s remaining HP. 
“...So it’s only right that you die by level.” 
Needless to say, the two-horned head vanished without a trace. 
 
The two-horn vanished, and the True Fatal Field was undone. 
At the same time, Tsukuyo, who was now level 0, was fading due to her now-meager HP. Her body was quickly turning into bits of light, but she displayed no concern as she checked her status windows. 
“Ah. I’m level 0, but I’ve still got my jobs,” she said. “I thought I’d have to get them all again. This means that the only rehab I’ll need will be powerleveling.” 
Tsukuyo grinned, highly satisfied with the outcome. 
She’d expected to have to get the High Priestess job again. Though, that wouldn’t have been difficult, considering that most of the country’s holy men died at Claymill and she was the only viable candidate in the entire kingdom. 
“My work here is done. I’m leaving the rest to the trash panda!” Entrusting the fight against the three-horn at its most troublesome to Shu, she vanished in satisfaction. 
But right before she did... 
“...You better protect the capital. I’ll be really mad if you don’t clean up my mess.” 
Saying that with a hint of prayer in her voice, Tsukuyo Fuso returned to reality.