Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 11 - Chapter 8

Act Eight: Unmatched God of War — Baldr 
 
“Twin Quintuple Cannons linked to ammo storage. Loading all gunports with DD Shells. Equipping Stardust Genocider with F Warheads. Firing preparations complete.” 
“Fire while it’s still recovering.” 
“Roger. War God Ship, Baldr is engaging the enemy.” 
 
Kingdom of Altar, Nowest Canyon 
After Tsukuyo took out the two-horn head, Gloria collapsed and fell motionless. 
It was taking time to restore the part of its body that Ulfaria Eltram had blown away along with its head, as well as to process what had just happened. In silence, Gloria pondered the fact that it had lost both the one-horned and the two-horned heads, leaving only the three-horn. 
This was the first time in its long life that it had felt true solitude. 
Its senses had been greatly affected, as well. With the loss of the two-horn came the loss of its passive Fatal Field, along with its abilities to sense things within that field and to block attacks coming from outside it. 
The millennia-old SUBM had never felt like this, and it was greatly perplexed. 
That was why he saw this moment as his opportunity. 
Cutting the air, countless missiles flew towards Gloria — but alas, they were too slow. 
The dragon had about 17,000,000 HP left, which was less than a fourth of its maximum, but in exchange its stats had grown over four-fold. Its STR, for example, was over 160,000, and its other stats were just as ludicrously high. Its AGI let it move at four times the speed of sound, so the incoming missiles were far too slow to be a threat. And even if they did hit it, its END, which exceeded 120,000, would not let any damage pass. 
Knowing that, Gloria casually brushed the missiles aside, only for them to burst and release a light that blinded it. 
The missiles weren’t standard high-explosives, but F Warheads — flash bombs which exploded in a light so intense it could permanently destroy a human being’s eyesight. As a creature that breathed light, Gloria had high resistance to the element; it was caught off-guard, however, so its eyes were still burned. It shut its eyelids as quickly as it could, but the flash bombs continued to rain down with only brief pauses in between volleys. Every time Gloria tried to open its eyes, all it could see was white. 
This was a clear opening in its defenses, and it wasn’t missed — a rain of shells fell on Gloria, actually breaking through its 120,000 END and damaging its HP. 
The DD Shells, as they were called, had all been created by a single skill, and their effect was the same as that of the magic Gems used by The Lunar Society — they inflicted direct damage. 
Its HP, already low after two taxing battles, was now falling even lower. 
“GrrRoOoOaaAaARrRgHHhhH!” Fast as it now was, Gloria could’ve easily avoided all the shells... but it was now blinded. If it opened its eyes, it saw nothing but the white of the F Warheads. Up until recently, attacks from outside a certain range were useless against it, but with the loss of the two-horn, Gloria had lost its Fatal Field — its deadly ability that doubled as an impenetrable defense. 
It had no choice but to bear the rain of shells. 
Losing its field had also made it woefully incapable of assessing its surroundings and sensing the presence of enemies, and Gloria fully understood that its opponent was attacking now precisely because he was aware of that exact fact. 
“Ghoarrh...” It could easily escape the shells. Gloria could cover a whole kilometel in a single second. It had the potential to escape the enemy’s effective range, but it just couldn’t do it. 
Though Gloria could evade attacks, it wasn’t allowed to flee from battle. It had to obey the orders of “Head straight for the royal capital” and “Fight every enemy you encounter.” 
These commands were etched into Gloria’s existence as part of a contract with Jabberwock — the being that had saved it from the Skydragon King’s servants and had given it power as a UBM. 
The dragon was fundamentally incapable of running away merely for survival, but even without its orders, Gloria would have never chosen to do so. It prided itself on being the most powerful creature in existence — more powerful than either of its parents and even the Skydragon King who’d murdered them. It was convinced that it could defeat and surpass any creature that stood before it, and disregarded any other options. 
Though, perhaps it would’ve been different if the other heads were still alive. The one-horn wanted to eradicate everyone with its light, while the two-horn was a coward who killed other creatures to protect itself. 
The three-horn, however, wanted nothing but to increase its own power, exercise that power, and prove that nothing could stand in its way. 
Thus, Gloria would never choose to retreat with only its three-horn head left. Without a sound, the dragon chose to just let the shells hit it. 
The DD Shells raining down on it were powerful — a hundred of them were enough to reduce its HP to 15,000,000. 
“...GHhHAaaAAaaAArRrrrGhhH!” In exchange for taking damage, Gloria was able to determine the direction the shells were coming from. 
Still blinded, it sped towards the attacker, ignoring all the shells still falling on it. 
Having lost two heads and most of its HP, Gloria had become an incarnation of pure power. Now, it charged towards its enemy. 
Each step made the earth quake, and the walls of the canyon didn’t even slow it down. No matter what stood in its way, it would arrive at its target in a mere handful of seconds, extinguish the annoyance, and continue on its path towards the capital. 
With its stats grown so high, even Superior Jobs paled in comparison. As it was, nothing could stop Gloria. 
At least... Not yet. 
 
Meanwhile, the attacker — King of Destruction, Shu Starling — sensed Gloria’s approach. “Guess it’s on its way, huh?” 
“Hostile target, Tri-Zenith Dragon, Gloria, is approaching this location. Calculating time until arrival based on speed and obstacles... Roughly 32 seconds until contact.” 
“That’s faster than expected... I guess its stats went up by that much, huh?” 
Re-evaluating his opponent, Shu removed his raccoon costume, leaving him in only his innerwear; now clearly visible was a handsome man with long hair and a well-proportioned body of toned, tough muscle. 
“We got any more DD Shells?” Shu asked. 
“Fifteen DD Shells remaining,” Baldr replied. 
“I’m pretty sure those are the only shells that’ll do anything to it at this point. Damn thing is probably tougher than Fatoum’s Mountain Puppet and Ultrahard Regalia.” 
Baldr could produce its own ammo, and though the materials required could be costly, the destructive potential was immense. Despite that, the only ones that were of any use against Gloria’s current form were the blinding F Warheads and the fixed damage DD Shells. Incendiary? Armor-piercing? Those weren’t even worth bothering with. 
And if shells weren’t an option... 
“I guess we’ll have to duke it out.” 
...He had to rely on his other weapon — the greatest STR of any master. 
Though, at the moment his base STR was 80,000, and even with the 100,000 he could achieve with equipment bonuses, it wouldn’t be enough to even harm the dragon. He also had no means of actually damaging a being that was several times faster than the speed of sound. 
Gloria, on the other hand, could turn him to dust with a single attack. 
And this was why Shu removed his costume — he would now equip his ultimate gear, which would solve all three of those problems. 
“Baldr, we’re using that.” 
“Full Offense Mode can currently be activated for 60 continuous minutes.” 
“That’s more than enough.” A grin spread across his face... 
“Unmatched God of War — Baldr!” 

...As he spoke the name of his Embryo. 
 
As Gloria ran, through its closed eyes it realized that the blinding light had ceased. 
It then opened its eyes to see that its vision was recovering — and that it was already facing its enemy. 
The silhouette before Gloria was immense. It was a battleship — or a giant tank — that had quintuple cannons lining both sides, as well as countless missile launchers on its deck. 
This vessel that could rule over both land and sea was already launching an attack upon Gloria, but there was no longer even the slightest chance that any of the shells would hit. 
With its vision returned, Gloria could use its supersonic movement to easily evade them all. 
Then, it charged at the battleship. 
“GHrRrrROoooOAAaaaAaRRGggHHHH!” It swung its right claw towards the bridge, fully intent on ending it with a single hit. 
As it came closer, Gloria pictured the pulverized bridge in its mind’s eye... 
“...?” 
...But that was a far cry from what actually happened. 
Gloria’s claw fell, but the bridge was still very much intact. 
In fact, the claw that was meant to destroy it had been caught. Gloria couldn’t comprehend this. 
The fact that its arm had been caught — something that had never happened before — left it bewildered; the fact that there was a being even capable of that left it shocked. 
It wondered what this being could possibly be. 
Looking at its claw, it saw five steel-blue fingers. 
The Quintuple Cannon barrels bent like a hand and grabbed Gloria’s arm. 
“...!?” As the dragon was overcome with surprise, the metal battleship stood up. 
The front part of the hull became legs... The Quintuple Cannon turrets on both sides became arms... A face appeared from inside the bridge... And ultimately, a humanoid figure was created. 
It was like a man... or perhaps a god. 
The latter comparison was not unwarranted. 
In Norse mythology, some stories of Baldr told that he owned Hringhorni — the greatest of all ships — and possessed the strongest body of all, unsurpassed and undying. 
“War God Ship, Full Offense Mode transformation complete,” coldly spoke Baldr — the Type Guardian/Fortress/Gear/Weapon Embryo. It was a quadruple hybrid — an utter rarity — and this was its true form. 
There were many words one might use to describe this mighty entity. 
A walking idol. Deus ex machina. The ultimate weapon of fantasy. 
Every person would have their own term for Baldr as it was now. 
“Ghrr, OoOagh...” Gloria, however, couldn’t even begin to describe it. Thus, the thought it had given to Baldr, when translated to human tongue, was simply “Unknown.” 
Amusingly, it fit perfectly, for that was his — Shu Starling’s — nickname. 
“That was a close call. A moment slower, and my head would’ve been crushed.” 
“Denying that notion,” said Baldr. “With the current toughness, a single hit wouldn’t have been a problem.” 
“Really? Well, I’m not gonna run any endurance tests,” Shu replied. “...I am gonna test the speed, though.” 
The moment Gloria snapped out of it, it instantly attacked with its left claw... only for Baldr to dodge it at supersonic speeds. 
Once again the dragon was left stupefied. It watched as the hundred metel-tall machine-god moved at speeds equal to its own, if not greater... 
“Kodachi.” 
...Before it spun around and launched a roundhouse kick — its Master’s specialty — towards the head of the strongest dragon in existence. 
“...Ghrh?!” The hit made Gloria stagger, which was all the proof needed to know that Baldr’s — Shu’s —attack worked. 
This was the Unmatched God of War — Baldr. It was an ultimate skill that turned Baldr into armor that greatly increased HP, STR, END, and AGI based on Shu’s already immense STR. 
And like any armor, this machine god was worn by and moved with none other than Shu himself. 
“Hoo...!” From within Baldr — from the bridge that had become a cockpit — you could hear Shu stabilize his breathing. 
As he fixed his posture, Baldr moved along with him at essentially the same speed. The hundred metel-tall machine god perfectly replicated its Master’s martial movements. 
This was all exactly as expected. Baldr was Shu’s Embryo, and there were few greater unions of man and machine than this. 
Gloria silently watched its opponent and soon became certain that this one was unlike any it had ever faced. He wasn’t like the weaklings it had crushed earlier, those who’d tried to swarm it, the UBMs that had challenged it with their unique powers, or the man who’d taken its heart, wings, and the right eye of the one-horn. 
Even those who’d actually removed its two other heads were far below it, overall — they’d only achieved what they had because they excelled in a few very specific things. However, this one was unlike them — for he was its equal. 
This was an entity that could fight it head-on, now that it had lost its offensive and defensive skills and had nothing but pure physical ability. 
Gloria had never encountered an opponent or a battle quite like this. 
“GhAhhHAhAhHAH...!” The thought actually made the dragon laugh. Feeling the joy of true conflict, it laughed as though to express that it had never had this much fun. 
“Hahah...!” Shu laughed along with it. He was fully aware that this was a battle he couldn’t lose, and that his defeat would mean the end of the kingdom. 
But even so, he found it a bit... exciting. 
It reminded him of his school days as a martial artist. 
“GHhAHhaHhAhaAhhaaHHaAHHahaHAHAhAh!” 
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!” Laughing uproariously, the two rivals rushed to face each other. 
The King of Destruction, Shu Starling, Full Offense Mode. 
The Tri-Zenith Dragon, Gloria, Max Battle Mode. 
The greatest STR among mankind versus the greatest STR among monsterkind. 
They laughed for a good while before going for each other’s heads, fully intending to pulverize them. 
Overwhelming their surroundings with crushing shockwaves, the machine god and the strongest dragon clashed, sounding the gong for the true start of the final battle between Superior and SUBM... power against power.