Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 14 - Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Guardian-Jaguarman Theory 

Paladin, Ray Starling 

The peace talks had failed, and a battle had broken out. 

Fortunately, the kingdom had considered the possibility that we’d end up fighting the imperium here. 

King of Beasts, Behemot — the one we had to be most wary of. 

Hell General, Logan Goddhart — another Dryfean Superior. 

The Rabbit, Chrono Crown — the one who’d assaulted Riser and the others. 

The Ram, Claudiah R. Dryfe — the Dryfean representative. 

We’d considered their fighting prowess, and also come up with a way to deal with any unknown variables — namely, Tsukuyo Fuso’s Lunar Divider Field: Faint Light and Fatal Field combo. 

No one below level 601 could survive it. Anyone who wasn’t a Superior Job didn’t even have a chance, so this move instantly wiped out all the Dryfean high-ranks with Embryos we weren’t aware of. We actually didn’t expect that the Hell General would be affected by this combo too, so that was a really lucky break for our side. 

King of Beasts’ Leviathan had also been lured away from the battlefield by Shu. 

And The Rabbit, whom we were pretty concerned about, showed no sign launching an attack. Tom had said that he had business with him, so perhaps he was keeping him occupied. 

Regardless of what was going on elsewhere, right now the only Dryfeans we had to worry about were Claudiah and King of Beasts. 

In other words, we were up against the most terrifying tian and Master the imperium had to offer. 

The tremors caused by Shu and Leviathan’s battle off in the distance shook the hall as both sides stood facing one another. One sudden movement would be enough to escalate things into an all-out battle. The lines had been drawn, and either side could make their move at any moment. 

I was the one who challenged King of Beasts, so I could be the one to die first once the fight commenced in earnest. 

“I won’t allow that,” Nemesis said telepathically. “Apex or not, I won’t allow her to kill you.” 

Nemesis’ words were reassuring. 

The Death Period and Lunar Society members around me were preparing for KoB’s next move. 

Rook had already used his Union Jack to become the Liz-based Metal-Devil-Man, which ignored all physical attacks. 

Marie had transformed Arc-en-Ciel into its ultimate skill form and loaded it. 

B3 donned Magnum Colossus and prepared to use Heaven’s Weight, or her ultimate skill if necessary. 

Tsukikage had vanished into the shadows, and the other Lunar Society members I didn’t recognize were also readying themselves for battle. A few of them were casting AoE buffs, so our stats were significantly boosted. 

And finally, without so much as a word, Fuso herself had already made a move. 

Using my Reveal skill, I could see that she’d switched her Lunar Divider Field: Faint Light from level to AGI. 

Faint Light only affected stats, so it couldn’t limit bodily functions like the standard Lunar Divide Field had done to me or K&R... but dividing AGI by six still had a huge effect. 

Between that and everything else, we were fully prepared for this. 

As for myself, I was ready to use my fourth form and Shining Despair. 

Our side couldn’t possibly be in better shape for this fight. 

“Ugh...” And despite all of that... I still found myself breaking out in a cold sweat. 

I’d fought many creatures a lot stronger than myself — Gardranda, Gouz-Maise, RSK, Monochrome, Gigaknight, and the pre-ancient civilization’s whale, to name a few. But despite that, I could tell that King of Beasts, even though she looked like nothing more than a cute little critter, was stronger than any of them. 

Only a few seconds passed, but they felt like minutes as chills ran through my body and I looked for a chance to make my move. 

These long seconds made me wonder about something: why wasn’t KoB doing anything? 

The answer to that question probably didn’t have anything to do with her, but instead... 

“Altimia! I have an idea!” Claudiah clapped her hands and said, breaking the tense silence of this 2 vs 87 face-off. 

I almost launched into an attack at the sound of that clap, but I managed to stop myself. 

“...What is it?” Azurite asked. 

“If we stay here, we will only get in Behemot’s way. Your Altarian Masters will also find it difficult to fight while protecting you, will they not? In addition, this will be our first fight in quite a while, and I do not want anyone to interfere. With all that in mind, how about the two of us take our battle elsewhere?” 

She said all of this with a smile, leaving me almost completely flabbergasted for a moment. 

I considered the possibility that this was nothing but a distraction to shift our attention away from KoB, but she herself was looking at Claudiah and barely moving. 

Fuso shook her head and spoke against Claudiah’s idea, “...No no no. Hold on. That’s no good. You’ll just lead her somewhere you can call in reinforcements and take her prisoner. It’s such an obvious trap.” 

Her assumption was reasonable. We knew the extent of the Dryfean forces present here, but they also had two more Superiors — that Franklin and another one I’d never met before, Murdoch Martinez. 

If either of them was lying in wait for Altimia, Altar would instantly lose. 

“I did not solicit your opinion on the matter, but your concern is not unreasonable. Regardless, you need not worry,” Claudiah said as she reached into her inventory and took out a large machine. “The stage of our battle will be visible to all, yet beyond their reach.” 

The object she’d removed from her inventory was a jade green artificial horse. 

“That’s...” Upon seeing that color, I recalled a certain name that Mario had mentioned back in Quartierlatin. 

It was one of Grand Artificer Flagman’s five Prism Steeds — the one that had been discovered in Dryfe. 

The bicorn of the wind... Jade Storm. 

“Let us fight to our hearts’ content up in the sky, Altimia,” Claudiah said, mounting the Prism Steed and spurring it high into the air. 

Marie, B3, and Tsukikage tried to stop her, but King of Beasts blocked their way. 

However, she didn’t use this chance to attack us. Instead, she only looked at Azurite to see how she would respond. 

“So that’s her plan...!” I said as I gazed up at Claudiah. I immediately realized that she likely wanted to fight Azurite over 10,000 metels in the sky — the height at which I’d fought Monochrome. That was a height few living creatures could reach. 

They definitely wouldn’t be interrupted there. 

Franklin’s monsters wouldn’t be able to go that high, King of Chariots fought with land-based tanks, and no matter how strong she was, I was pretty sure that King of Beasts wasn’t capable of flying around freely. Well, maybe Franklin could conjure up some monster suited for high altitudes, but Azurite would likely make short work of any creature whose abilities were all focused on that one thing. No one said that their Truth Discernment was going off, so Claudiah had to have been completely honest about just wanting a real one-on-one with Azurite. 

She obviously knew about the kingdom’s SMPS production, too, since she’d assumed that Azurite was perfectly capable of fighting her all the way up there. 

Though, she’d probably also considered the gap in power between Jade Storm — an original — and the mass-produced SMPS units. 

“Kh...!” The worst thing about this was that if we didn’t go after her, we would lose our only means of stopping the acts of terror currently happening at the capital. Since Claudiah was the only one with the power to call it off, we simply had to capture her. 

If we didn’t go after her, she would merely watch us from on high and wait for King of Beasts to defeat us. And if by some chance we emerged victorious, Claudiah could just make her escape back to Dryfe. Seeing how fast she flew upwards, it seemed like it would be difficult to catch up to her. 

That meant that if we didn’t chase her down, we would be unable to stop the terrorism at the capital regardless if we won against KoB or not. 

“How cunning,” said Nemesis telepathically. “Also, while fighting at that height, a single mistake could mean plummeting to your death. That almost happened to us when we fought Monochrome, after all.” 

I wondered if that was part of Claudiah’s plan too, but I couldn’t come to a conclusion about that. I’d managed to see through her manipulation once, but I couldn’t keep up with her thought process all the time. 

To me, Claudiah seemed more like some inhuman creature that merely looked like a human being. 

This whole thing might’ve been a trap, but... 

“...It seems I am left with no other choice.” 

...Azurite had already gathered her resolve. 

Even if this was a trap, she had to follow. This was the only path left. To protect the kingdom and save her sisters back at the capital from deadly danger, she would face her dear friend at a precarious altitude few could survive. 

“Azurite...” 

There were only two things I could do for her now. First was to stay here and fight KoB. The second was... 

“Silver!” My steed responded to my call and leaped out of my inventory. 

“Ray?” said Azurite, turning towards me. 

“If you’re gonna go there, ride Silver. You can’t really fight an original with an SMPS, right?” 

Like Jade Storm, Zephyrus Silver was a proper Prism Steed. Although he wasn’t one of the five famous originals, according to Mario, Flagman himself had worked on this one as well. He was either an unofficial prototype or an experimental model, but if Azurite was going to have a mounted battle against someone riding Jade Storm, Silver was no doubt a better pick than the obviously inferior SMPS. 

“...Are you sure?” 

“Yeah... I can’t fight KoB while riding Silver, anyway.” 

The moment she took to the sky, our battle against KoB would truly begin. 

And it would be best if Silver wasn’t involved in it. 

Therefore, handing him to Azurite would increase both our chances of victory. 

“Oh yeah!” Fuso exclaimed as I handed Silver’s reins to Azurite. “Why not have the princess ride an SMPS while you come with her on Silver? You’ll win if it’s two against one, right? Oh! I can join too. That’ll make it three against one! Easy, right? Wait—maybe everyone with an SMPS can go! That’ll make it a real piece of cake!” 

Silence ensued. I was fairly confident that Azurite and everyone in Death Period, myself included, thought that Fuso’s craftiness surpassed even Dryfe’s. 

“...solo,” said KoB. It was just a single word, but it felt like she was saying, “Your princess is the only one who’ll be going. Say something that stupid again and I’ll totally lose it. Quit making me wait. Roar.” 

So there you had it. 

Also, KoB didn’t seem inclined to do anything to Azurite as she was leaving, but I couldn’t tell whether she was just following her employer’s orders or if she also wanted Claudiah to leave the scene of battle. 

Was she trying to set up an environment where she could fight us without restraint...? A situation where she wouldn’t have to worry about protecting anyone or be mindful of the one person she couldn’t kill? 

“Very well. I’ll go alone,” said Azurite before mounting Silver and looking at me. “I’ll be borrowing him for a bit... Ray.” 

“Yeah. Let’s meet again after the battle, all right?” 

After that exchange, Azurite pulled on Silver’s reins, turning him towards the sky, where Claudiah was waiting for her. 

The moment she left the hall... 

“set.” 

...King of Beasts moved like a monster finally freed from its chains. 

In an instant, her silhouette transformed. 

Vital areas, like the heart, were now covered by tile-like armor plating. 

The hands and legs were covered by bands that looked like little pet socks. 

Semi-transparent, crescent-shaped blades floated next to her forelegs. 

There were rings around all four of her limbs. 

And finally, there was a small cloth bag hanging around her neck. 

A single look was enough for me to tell that they were all MVP special rewards or something on the same tier. 

Also, the sudden change in gear made me realize that she’d used Clothing Switch. It was a skill used for costume changes in theater or switching from normal clothing to battle equipment in an instant. That meant that... 

“All this time, she was wearing her ‘normal clothing’...” She hadn’t been taking us seriously so far, but now that she recognized us as actual enemies, she would face us with all her strongest equipment. 

“...start.” Following that single word, KoB vanished... and the wind began to swirl with blood. 

What had once been human beings had become nothing more than shreds of flesh and bloody mist before turning into bits of light and disappearing. 

The unfortunate victims were the members of Lunar Society, who were standing at the very back of our group. 

The only thing showing us where King of Beasts was and what she was doing were the ones turning into blood mist as she killed them. 

“She’s fast! Gbwugh!” 

“How?! Lady Tsukuyo should be lowering her AGI...! GHUH?!” I couldn’t see KoB — all I could see were the results. 

The screams and panic continued as KoB reaped through them one after the other. 

They were all no doubt wearing Brooches, but it didn’t seem to matter at all. Was she using a skill that nullified it somehow? Or was she attacking multiple times and I was just too slow to see it? 

Regardless, KoB dashed through the bloodied air, the very embodiment of an unstoppable force. 

“The Shades and Death, They Beckon — Erlkönig.” The shadows under their legs wriggled and moved to attack KoB, but even I could clearly see that they weren’t fast enough to catch up. 

The Lunar Society members also had ultimate skills of their own, but they were hesitant to use them for fear of collateral damage. 

“That doesn’t matter. Use them,” said Fuso. 

And just like that, their hesitation was gone. Targeting their surroundings, they all used their ults or job ults. 

Countless flashes and explosions followed, engulfing just about every Lunar Society member. 

When it was over, none of them remained... and KoB alone stood there as if nothing happened. 

“...clear,” she said as she licked a wound on her front paw. She likely meant something like “Clean-up’s done.” 

Her words, combined with the fact that she’d targeted only the lesser Lunar Society members while ignoring Death Period, Fuso, and Tsukikage helped me understand exactly what she’d done here. 

She’d purposely paused her rampage only after we were the only ones left. My guess was that she’d eliminated the other Lunar Society members for the same reason why Fuso cleaned up all the Dryfean Masters — to get rid of unknown variables. 

Fuso and Tsukikage were prominent figures, and both Marie and B3 were well-known PKs. Rook and I had also had our abilities exposed during Franklin’s game and the Quartierlatin incident. 

That was why she’d prioritized getting rid of the Lunar Society members, whom she knew nothing about. 

“...Or it could be that she merely wants to save the cherry on top for last,” said Nemesis telepathically. Seeing how KoB hadn’t targeted Fuso, who was actively dividing her speed by six, that seemed even more likely. If all she wanted was a quick victory, Fuso would be her highest priority, and she wouldn’t just be standing in place like she was doing now. 

“Is she trying to show off how trivial all this is for her?” Nemesis wondered. 

Perhaps, but she could have some other reason, I thought. 

...Regardless, it was clear that to KoB, the battle against the Lunar Society members was but a way of adjusting the situation. She’d exterminated eighty veterans like it was child’s play, and their retaliation had left only a single scratch on her. 

Though they were all Masters, the gap between them and her was immense. 

And I could see just how immense by using my Reveal skill. 

Behemot. 

Job: King of Beasts. 

Level: 1156 (Total Level: 1656) 

HP: 82015 (+23650050) 

MP: 3350 (+0) 

SP: 48980 (+0) 

STR: 10050 (+216900) 

AGI: 15315 (+210059) ? 37563 

END: 9980 (+232020) 

DEX: 1502 (+1058) 

LUK: 125 (+100) 

The stats shown to me by Reveal were boosted by absurd numbers. Even her AGI, which had been cut to a sixth of its maximum by Faint Light, was still high enough to make her several times faster than the speed of sound. 

The difference was so vast that it gave me chills. 

This explosive increase in stats was also far above what any job could grant. 

B3 had once told me the name of this phenomenon, and Shu had told me how it worked. 

“So this is the Guardian-Jaguarman Theory in action...!” 

Altar-Dryfe border, mountainous area 

There was a low, yet immense rumbling. The air itself seemed to vibrate over the expansive horizon. 

The noise was like high-ordinance bombs blowing up over and over again. 

It was definitely not caused by any explosives, however — they were actually the sounds of gigantic objects crashing into each other. 

At a distance of over 10 kilometels from the assembly hall, two enormous silhouettes were clashing, causing booming impacts loud enough to drown out the nearby landslides. 

One was a gigantic machine god. 

With its entire frame focused on firepower, he was the pinnacle of weaponry. However, instead of using any of its many weapons, its wielder was using its fists like a master of the martial arts. 

The figure’s name was Baldr, and it was the Superior Embryo of the King of Destruction, shifted into his full-offense mode. 

The second silhouette was the Queen of Beasts. 

She was akin to a gigantic dinosaur from the depths of prehistory. With porcupine-like spines growing out of her back and limbs that seemed to be all muscle, she was violence given form. 

Her name was Leviathan, and she was the Superior Embryo of the King of Beasts, shifted to her solo-full power mode. 

The two giants surpassing 100 metels in height were exchanging blows, destroying the mountains around them. 

Baldr launched a fist at Leviathan. She caught it with her right hand, only to have it shatter; she then used her superior speed to retaliate with her left. 

It was an all-out battle — a violent clash straight out of mythology, and it was immense enough to shake the entire visible horizon. 

...I guessed as much, but it turns out she really is a match for me even by herself, huh? Shu thought, realizing that he’d made the right choice by separating her from King of Beasts. 

The fact that Leviathan was a match for Shu and his Baldr truly said all that needed to be said about how absurdly powerful she was. After all, Baldr was now significantly stronger than it had been back when Gloria attacked. 

When Shu used The Unmatched God of War — Baldr, the power of the resulting transformation was based on his STR. 

Currently, Shu’s base STR was about 180,000. 

Because of this, even AGI — the stat that was buffed the least— was over 90,000, while his END reached 180,000 and his STR was doubled to become 360,000. 

His HP also broke the 10,000,000 mark, and not even Mythicals could hold their own in a fistfight against him. 

In fact, even the Hell General’s fully buffed Mythical devil wouldn’t be much of a threat to him. 

Yet despite all that, Leviathan was fighting against Baldr as an equal... and she was separated from her Master, while Baldr’s had used his ult. 

“GGHRAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” Leviathan’s violent assault made Baldr’s armor creak, but Baldr fired back with a high kick — a kodachi — aimed straight at Leviathan’s neck. 

It was an attack that could knock someone’s head from their shoulders, but Leviathan got away with only a bit of torn flesh. 

The scale of this fight was the stuff of legends, but since they were equally matched, it seemed to them like a simple fistfight between two people. 

...I used my ult and we’re still just equal, Shu thought. I guess this is ’cause of the direction she took as an Embryo. 

As Shu pondered, he came to understand the reason why this battle had no clear superior force. 

Queen of Beasts, Leviathan was the Guardian who possessed the highest stats of all, and the reason for this was simple: she’d sacrificed everything else for it. 

She had no skills besides her ult — which all Embryos possessed — and every ounce of her remaining Resources went to body size and physical stats: HP, STR, AGI, and END. 

After all, that was the core of her Master’s desire. She sought someone who could protect her and had enough sheer power to crush anything in her way. 

That was what made Leviathan the apex. 

Baldr might have surpassed her in STR, but she was above him in every single other stat. Her HP was over 20,000,000, while her STR, END, and AGI all broke 200,000. 

She was an entity that could reduce entire countries to rubble merely by walking through them. 

And she had become what she was through the hyper-focusing of Resources. 

Endless buffing, forced debuffing, spatial manipulation... she had none of the unique abilities usually possessed by Superior Embryos. Instead she was specced solely into stats. 

No other Guardian surpassed her in that regard. 

That might seem contrary to the Maiden type’s focus on “giant-slaying,” but closer inspection would reveal that wasn’t the case. This too, was a way to defeat those stronger than yourself — the ultimate manifestation of this one seemingly-unfair notion: every giant will fall if you are simply bigger and stronger than they are. 

In fact, Baldr might have been the more impressive one in this scenario, simply because he was able to fight with her toe-to-toe. 

KoD’s Baldr’s power wasn’t as pure as Leviathan’s. Wide-area firepower, ammo-production, dominance on both land and sea, an array of transformations... Dedicating all these Resources to this wide variety of functions left it with little left over for pure physical enhancement. Even after using its ultimate skill, its stats still couldn’t match Leviathan’s. 

It was unheard of for an Embryo as versatile as Baldr to be a match for the manifestation of pure power that was Leviathan. 

The abnormal thing here isn’t actually the Embryo... but the Master, Leviathan thought as she fought. 

She was genuinely impressed. She only knew two other entities that could match her like this. 

My speed is higher, but he reads my movements and attacks me when he can minimize damage to himself. But these aren’t mere tricks... he’s just using his power in the most optimal way... I see... So this is what it’s like to be awed... 

Leviathan was surprised, but she also derived some enjoyment from this — in spite of the fact that she was taking more damage as a result. 

As things are, I could probably win even as I am now. Shu had predicted the overall damage and thus the ultimate result of this fight. 

When it came to stats, Baldr was below Leviathan. However, it made up for its lackluster AGI with its flair for battle and ability to read the enemy, letting it deliver attacks using its superior STR. Baldr wasn’t exactly coming out of this unscathed, but Leviathan was the one who was suffering more. 

Also, at certain points of this battle, Shu could use Baldr’s various armaments to give himself an advantage, while Leviathan had absolutely no means of expanding her range of strategies. After all, she didn’t have a single skill she could use on her own. 

Leviathan may have had the highest stats among Embryos. However, it had to be said — that didn’t mean that she was the strongest. 

The true power of Embryos and UBMs lay in their unique skills. When faced with special abilities that warped the universe itself, pure stats would always fall short. 

And without skills, all she could do was use physical attacks. She was like an RPG boss that had max stats but could only use the “Attack” command, and it wasn’t hard to counter those. 

Again, her immense stats didn’t mean that she was — or ever would be — the true strongest. 

“Gh...!” Despite that, and the fact that Leviathan was currently being overwhelmed, Shu was starting to panic. 

From his perspective, he had to defeat Leviathan as soon as possible. He knew that if he didn’t, the consequences would be dire. 

“Those left behind are worthless weaklings,” said the Queen of Beasts with a muffled voice. “But Behemot, like myself, couldn’t leave Gideon while we were busy keeping you there. I’m sure she is savoring her first taste of real freedom.” 

“...That so?!” Shu replied as he punched with Baldr’s fist. 

“I also haven’t had a chance to enjoy something like this for a long time... Let’s have fun while Behemot’s still playing around.” Leviathan smiled—injured, but still full of vigor. 

The two displayed opposite emotions, but the reason behind them was the same. 

King of Beasts, Behemot was the source of both Shu’s panic and Leviathan’s confidence. 

Leviathan was in some senses the “greatest,” but she was not the “apex.” “The Physical Apex” was the title given to Leviathan and her Master as a duo, and the reason for this — what really elevated simple excellence to the level of absolute apex — was the Guardian-Jaguarman Theory. 

The build known as “Guardian-Jaguarman Theory” swept the world of Infinite Dendrogram back when it was leaving the early stages of its post-release phase. At that time, absurd Superior Embryos were almost non-existent and nearly no Master had attained the uncapped Superior Jobs. The dominant Masters were level 500s with high-rank Embryos. 

It was a time when everyone still considered and sought power that made sense. 

Most of the player activity went into theorycrafting about what might be the strongest possible build, and many people conjured up numerous configurations worthy of that title: Nobushi Ambusher OHKO Theory, Sacrifice MP-Spec Theory, and Gem Production-Spam Theory, to name a few. Many discussions were had both within Infinite Dendrogram and the communities outside of it. 

And out of the many that were considered, the one that came out on top as the “strongest possible build” was the Guardian-Jaguarman Theory. 

The jaguarman job grouping didn’t get much attention during the period when there were only tians. It had poor stat growth and only one skill. In that respect it was similar to Death Soldier, but not quite as absurd. Still, it wasn’t a job you’d pick if you wanted to get stronger. The only tians who selected it were members of certain Legendarian tribes with traditions surrounding the job. 

Jaguarman’s only skill was Beastheart Possession, which gave the user a bonus to their stats based on the base stats of the monsters within their Minion Capacity. 

The power of the bonus was based on the user’s skill level, but even at level 10 — the maximum allowed by the high-rank job in the grouping, Beast Ogre — Beastheart Possession only granted the user 60% of their monsters’ stats. 

And despite having this as their only skill, the grouping gave a disproportionately small Minion Capacity. In order to employ the most useful monsters, you’d have to fill all your other job slots with options from the tamer grouping. However, doing that greatly limited the battle-focused skills you could take — so even if you used all your Minion Capacity on a Pure-Dragon, you end up with high stats and nothing else. 

And “high” in this case was only 60% of a Pure-Dragon’s stats. Since Beastheart Possession only used the monster’s base stats, you couldn’t even benefit from tamer skills that buffed your monsters. There was also the fundamental problem that capturing powerful monsters like Pure-Dragons was difficult, and the amount of people from the jaguarman grouping that were using them in any case was smaller than one percent. 

As a result, tian Jaguarmen could only ever aspire to be a hybrid between a mediocre vanguard and a mediocre tamer. 

The one exception was the jaguarman grouping’s Superior Job, King of Beasts, which had a version of Beastheart Possession that gave a 100% bonus. Still, that didn’t mean much when Pure-Dragons were the strongest monsters they could use. Because most well-developed Superior Jobs surpassed the Pure-Dragons’ stats, King of Beasts was considered to be low-tier. 

Even though it was a battle-focused Superior Job, no one believed it could ever be the strongest choice. 

That all changed after Masters began growing in number. 

One of the Masters researching builds once came a realization and made the following proposal: “Wouldn’t Jaguarman’s skill have crazy good synergy with Guardian type Embryos?” 

The importance of this realization was not to be underestimated. After all, being Embryos, Guardians took no Minion Capacity no matter how strong they were, and it wasn’t uncommon for high-rank Guardians to surpass Pure-Dragons in power. 

Unlike a tian, a Master with a Guardian Embryo wouldn’t have to worry about wasting job slots just to make Jaguarman work, and they wouldn’t need to go through any trouble to get powerful monsters. This meant that they could fill their slots with battle-focused jobs and use the jaguarman grouping for a pure stat boost. Even if they used their Jaguarman job as their main, they would still have access to utility battle skills and item-based active skills. 

Once people realized that this would almost certainly create the strongest frontline fighter, the argument about strongest build was, for the time being, considered settled. 

The Guardian-Jaguarman Theory spread as soon as it was presented on discussion boards. 

Many Masters with battle-focused Guardians chose to go with this build. They left their mark on every country’s arena, displaying the build’s power and making it even more popular. 

The reason for its quick adoption was that it was extremely powerful and you only needed two things for it — jaguarman grouping jobs and a Guardian Embryo. 

During this time, if anyone appeared on forums or discussion boards saying something like, “I’m about to start. What’s a good way to be really powerful?” they would be met with, “Hope and pray that your Embryo’s a Guardian.” 

Of course, there was an Embryo for each Master, and all of them were unique. Each individual Embryo synergized best with different jobs. 

However, this was one of the easiest ways to become strong. 

But even among those who adhered to the Guardian-Jaguarman Theory, some were working to improve their build even further. They wanted to follow this theory to its logical conclusion — to take the concept to the next level by finding the conditions to unlock King of Beasts and taking the job. 

Unfortunately, the conditions were lost even to the tribes that traditionally used the jaguarman grouping jobs, so the Masters searching for them were faced with quite a challenge. Still, they pressed on, hoping to find the ultimate expression of this theory and claim the throne of “Physical Apex” as their own. 

However, after nearly three Infinite Dendrogram years after Guardian-Jaguarman Theory had been uncovered, the Masters still using it were few and far between. 

Of course, it was powerful enough to still see some use, but those who passionately searched for the best possible builds had cast it aside. 

There were several reasons for this. 

First was the increase in Superiors, who had powers so absurd that they made their Embryos look tame. 

Second was the increase in the amount of Superior Jobs. The lack of level caps let those who had them grow stronger essentially without limit, so those who truly desired overwhelming power decided to search for SJs to take, even if they were unrelated to the jaguarman grouping. 

Both were valid reasons, but they were not enough to truly kill Guardian-Jaguarman Theory. 

The third reason was almost a combination of the other two, which made it the most compelling reason to quit this build. 

A Guardian Superior Embryo fully specced into stats, and King of Beasts — the jaguarman grouping Superior Job necessary to complete the theory. The ultimate goal of the idea — the throne of the “Apex.” 

That throne was already occupied. 

Queen of Beasts, Leviathan and King of Beasts, Behemot — a Superior Embryo that was utterly devoted to stats, and a Superior Job that transferred all those stats to the user. 

The throne of the King of Beasts had already been taken by the most suitable individual. 

Thus, anyone seeking it had given up. They knew they couldn’t surpass her as long as they walked the same path. 

The “Apex” they were all heading towards had already been claimed, and the king would never relinquish it. 

Some rerolled their build and began searching for other paths to power, while others lost all passion for the game and just quit altogether. Those who were serious about becoming stronger had long since left the theory behind, leaving only those who were satisfied with being relatively strong. 

This was the ultimate end of the Guardian-Jaguarman Theory. 

Altar-Dryfe border, assembly hall 

“Hmm hmm hmm...” Thanks to a skill that linked Behemot to Leviathan, Behemot could sense that her Embryo was having a great time. 

Through this connection, she knew that Leviathan was truly enjoying her battle with Shu. 

I also wanted to fight the bear... I mean, Shu, she thought. Thanks to information given to Dryfe by Zeta — information collected by Sechs himself — Behemot knew Shu’s skills, including his ultimate. Therefore, she knew that Shu was the only Master Behemot and Leviathan could fight with all their strength. 

Leviathan was fighting him by herself now, and the joy reaching her made it clear that the information was reliable. 

...Levia and I became a little too strong. That thought was correct — even Mythical UBMs couldn’t last long against them; humans didn’t even stand a chance. 

She could hold back, sure, but she found that extremely boring. 

Her high AGI made the time she experienced far too drawn out, and her STR gave her limbs more power than she ever needed. People shattered if she as much as slowly caressed them, but she found it boring to move like that. 

Regardless if they went all-out or not, there just weren’t any enemies around that they could really have fun with. 

Since Behemot became a Superior, she could count the beings that put up a fight on one hand. 

When I think about that, Shu is a real rarity. She was convinced that he might’ve been the first Master she’d met who could withstand her full power. 

It’s not just battles, either... just talking and hanging out with him is kind of fun. Games and fights weren’t worthwhile if they weren’t between people who were on the same level. 

Thus, to Behemot, Shu was in the truly precious category of “worthy opponent.” 

...He reminds me of dad a bit, though. That makes me feel sad at times. Behemot caught herself feeling a little down for a moment, but she quickly walked back that thought. 

Also, I wouldn’t expect any less of him... He went straight for our weakness. 

Thanks to Beastheart Possession level EX, Behemot received the immense bonus of 100% of Leviathan’s stats. 

However, that also meant that Leviathan wasn’t as strong as Behemot herself. 

If Leviathan fell before her Master did, Behemot’s stats would drop to normal levels. 

Did he separate us because he didn’t want us to have each other’s backs, or because he has an idea what our ult might be? Regardless, Behemot couldn’t join Leviathan’s and Shu’s battle yet. If the Altarian Masters were left to their own devices, they would go after Claudiah, like Tsukuyo had said they would. 

Still, if Leviathan fell, beating Shu would be far more difficult. 

To protect Claudiah, Behemot had to defeat all the Masters currently present before Shu defeated Leviathan, then go meet up with her Embryo. 

...That’s troubling, but... 

“...fun.” Her ultimate target here was Shu, but she thought that the battle she currently faced might be kind of enjoyable, too. 

She particularly liked what Tsukuyo Fuso was doing. The High Priestess had lowered Behemot’s AGI to a sixth of its total value. 

This is really good. She’d initially intended to target Fuso last, and this debuff was just another reason to do it. 

After all, thanks to being slowed down, there were now Masters that could actually keep up with her even if she moved at full speed: Eishiro, Marie, and one other. 

Buffed by the Lunar Society members before they got the death penalty, the three could keep up with Behemot as long as Tsukuyo’s debuff was active. 

Though, it looks like the shadows from Tsukikage’s ult aren’t as fast as he is. I guess their speed doesn’t scale with his AGI. That’s some new info. 

Still, if he used them to surround her — like he was doing now — the shadows could at least support the others’ attacks. 

Behemot looked around. Nine were left. She subtracted the three tian officials. 

Among those left were Tsukuyo, Eishiro, Marie, and Barbaroy — four famed rankers and PKs. 

Besides them, there’s Rook Holmes, who beat Franklin’s favorite... and Shu’s little brother, Ray Starling... I know most of what they can do. 

Behemot now had a full grasp of who she was facing and quickly began to analyze the situation. 

There are three ways they can beat me. First, they could go for an instakill by targeting and destroying my vitals and leaving the injury-based debuff to finish me off. They probably already know my buffed total HP. I’m not wearing any status-hiding gear now, since showing it off makes for good intimidation. Anyway, if they know how high it is, I don’t think they’ll try to slowly chip away at it. 

That was a DPS check the Altarians would easily fail. 

Thus, they would probably target her neck, brain, or heart to destroy it and kill her via injury-based debuffs. 

If their second duelist, Kashimiya, was here, they would’ve gone for my neck. I’d probably have to use different gear. The people who’re actually here will probably aim to destroy some part of me using Ray’s counterattack or the piercing and powerful laser... Shining Despair. Besides that, Adler could use Arc-en-Ciel to shoot me in the vitals. She’s capable of using the Art of Vanishing to disappear and surprise me with a point-blank shot. I’ll have to keep an eye out for her. If she vanishes, I’ll prioritize moving around over attacking. 

Behemot recalled everything she knew about the Altarian Masters and thoroughly considered how she would handle this battle. 

Those are the only attacks I really have to watch out for. In terms of pure damage, there’s also Burn’s spam attack after using Emancipated Giant — Atlas, but knowing my defense, it wouldn’t do much. Same as always. The only crits I need to avoid are the kind that use fixed damage, energy or magic damage, and anything that ignores defense. I considered that The Lunar Society might use the fixed damage item spam tactic they used on Gloria, but that’s impossible now that I’ve thinned out their numbers. 

Behemot was deep in thought, considering her opponents’ pasts and achievements. 

The second thing to be wary of is the High Priestess using Faint Light to divide my HP and then casting her ultimate final skill to take me out in one hit. Looking at her current level and the HP I’d have after the division, she’d blow away about half of my entire body. If that took out a vital point, I’d die right then and there. Though I doubt she’d be quick to use a skill that costs all her levels. After all, unlike with Gloria, she wouldn’t gain much from beating me. 

She knew them and was wary of what they could do, but that was exactly why she thought this particular scenario was unlikely. 

Also, if she tried that, I’d just kill her first. That skill has a cast time, so there’ll surely be a chance for me to strike. Even if Tsukikage protected her in his shadows so she could chant there, her speed debuff would disappear. I would just kill Tsukikage, then kill Fuso when the shadows spat her out after. That would be the end of that. It would cost me my backup plan, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. 

She also thought of countermeasures for every scenario. 

Behemot already knew the powerful aces up their sleeves, as well as their weaknesses. 

The third thing to watch out for are debuffs. There’s Holmes’ Charm, Adler’s Arc-en-Ciel specced in debuffs, and Tsukikage’s fatal King of Assassins skill. Though, I’ve got MVP rewards that counter debuffs. 

The rings on her limbs were Sufferward Bands, Bourdrim. 

Its passive skill, Sufferward Prison, gave her resistance to poison-type, mental-type, curse-type, and limit-type debuffs, and the effect scaled with her END. 

With Beastheart Possession active, her END was so high that it was hard to imagine her resistance ever being overcome. 

...Though, there’s the goblin that Ray can summon. The compressed debuff she used to beat the second Gigaknight in Quartierlatin might be able to break through my resistance. Same with Fuso. I never heard of her using compressed debuffs while Faint Light is active, but she might be able to do it. I’ll have to be really careful if she compresses the night. 

Despite being deep in thought, Behemot was alert. She wasn’t about to be overconfident. 

That’s all I need to watch out for. Those are the only things that truly defeat me here, so I better do my best to avoid them. 

“What is it?” Tsukuyo suddenly spoke up. “You’re just standing in place and giving us a mocking glare. Are you really that confident you’re going to win?” 

Mocking glare? Confident? I’m pretty sure the time we experience is pretty different, but I guess I was lost in thought long enough for them to notice. They totally misread me, though. 

Indeed. Behemot had merely analyzed the battle and identified any factors that could cause her defeat. 

Shu, who was fighting Leviathan; the Altarians here, ready to face Behemot; the rankers that could potentially come to their aid... She had memorized everything she could about all of them. 

During her stay in Gideon, she had properly investigated the Altarian rankers and what they were famous for. 

You gotta know the meta... You gotta know how to counter your enemy. She gathered all the info she could find and thought of ways to deal with any situation. She was thorough when it came to this, and there was a solid reason for it. 

I’m the King of Beasts, after all. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m the strongest player in the three western countries... and that makes me the Master whose abilities are better known than anybody else’s. 

Behemot knew that the information about her MVP rewards and skills was more or less common knowledge. 

The only exception was the accessory hanging over her neck. 

Compatibility was an important part of battle. Some would say compatibility didn’t matter if you were overpowered enough, but if the same could be said about your opponent, then that argument fell apart. 

If my opponent knows me, I also have to gather info about them. Behemot knew that if she didn’t do this, she would eventually be defeated. 

Thus, this was the obvious course of action to her. 

Despite being the strongest, she would fight weaklings with due care — and then some. 

The phrase “Lions give their all when hunting rabbits” might come to mind for some, but that misrepresented the scale. This was more akin to a dragon analyzing an ant before challenging it to an all-out battle. 

I don’t wanna get the death penalty and be separated from Infinite Dendrogram for a whole day. Claudiah’s clever, but reckless... and she’s my friend. I have to do everything I can to protect her and what’s important in my world. 

Behemot looked up at the sky to see jade and silver lights drawing arcs between the clouds. 

It seemed to her that Claudiah was having fun as well. 

...Yeah. If Claudiah’s enjoying herself, then I’ll go and have a good time, too. 

The unknown variables had been removed. She’d thoroughly considered all the ways she could lose. 

This was how she began a battle that she intended to win. 

Still, there were a few unknown factors. 

Behemot only had the information that she had gathered. If anyone here had grown since she’d learned about them, there could be some unknown element at play that could potentially cause her defeat. 

She knew and understood that well. 

That was why she would enjoy herself... but never let her guard down. 

She would enjoy this battle as a battle, this game as a game, and this world as a world while using their power to win against those standing in her way. 

I will use my power to open up, create, and protect my world — the world I like. 

She was King of Beasts, Behemot. 

She was one of the “Apices” — The Physical Apex. 

She was the imperium’s strongest and its ultimate guardian. 

And she was the first fang of the imperator. 

“Ganking time. Rawr.” 

With that declaration to her enemies, she launched into battle. 

King of Beasts, Behemot was the embodiment of the Guardian-Jaguarman Theory, as well as its ultimate conclusion. 

Her stats surpassed Leviathan’s, she employed her battle skills with supreme refinement, and she wielded countless MVP rewards from the UBMs that she’d crushed beneath her. 

One thing was certain in this situation: Ray and his friends were about to face an enemy of unprecedented strength.