Chapter Seventeen: Aftermath
Altar-Dryfe border, wasteland
At that moment, Leviathan’s actions changed drastically, and Shu instantly noticed the difference.
After trying to prolong this battle as long as she could, she was now trying to shake Shu off and charge straight towards the assembly hall.
Shu realized what that meant and immediately tried to stop her from leaving.
“Get out of my way!” the queen of kaiju shouted, swinging both her arms to shove Baldr away.
The machine god grabbed her and pulled her into an armlock to keep her in place.
“Not happening,” Shu said. “Looks like they did a good job.”
Behemot — Leviathan’s Master — was in a state she could not ignore. Her sheer panic was proof of that. Also clear as day, as proven by Leviathan still existing at all, was the fact that Behemot was still...
“Ah...!” Suddenly, an alert rang out in Baldr’s cockpit.
“What is it?”
“Warning. New hostile, 3 o’clock.”
Suddenly, a portion of the screen showed an enemy other than Leviathan.
It was some kind of giant monster... one that certainly wasn’t there a minute ago.
From the monster’s mouth came an indescribable sound. It was about the size of Leviathan, but while her animal-like form was balanced and streamlined, this creature was a chaotic abomination.
Its limbs, torso, head... it was as though each of its parts had come from different sources, giving it an outlandish look.
Most unsettling of all was its dragon-like head, which was a deep blue color like lapis lazuli.
Anyone could tell that this was not a natural being — and it was now drawing closer.
That... ain’t a UBM, which can only mean that... Shu thought, before looking up to see what Franklin’s eyeball-like recon monster was doing.
It was fully focused on Baldr and Leviathan, not even sparing a glance for the new combatant.
That alone was enough to reveal its affiliation.
“So you came here yourself after all, huh... Franklin!” Shu realized that Franklin must have switched from observing to interfering because Ray’s group had finally cornered Behemot.
This monster was one of his creations — one far more powerful the Legendaries Shu had destroyed during Franklin’s game.
His instincts told him that this one was Mythical, if not above that.
“They now have a numerical advantage,” said Baldr. “Continuing this battle in our current state will likely lead to defeat. Would you like to initialize the Fatal Engine?”
“...Only if it seems hopeless,” Shu replied. Franklin had only sent one powerful monster in order to keep his mass-produced creatures in reserve. Since Shu was a wide-scale extermination type, getting rid of him would allow Franklin to suppress the assembly hall using overwhelming numbers.
Franklin most likely didn’t know the details of Fatal Engine, Gloria ?, but he must’ve been confident that this giant monster was capable of defeating Baldr as he was now.
“I gotta keep Leviathan here and fight this damn thing. I also can’t let either of them beat me and can’t use ?... Man, what a situation this is.”
The strongest Superior Embryo and a monster-creating Superior’s strongest creation.
This was too much even for Shu and Baldr.
“They have it even harder at the hall, though. I can’t throw in the towel before they do,” he said with an indomitable smile as he resumed the battle against the two gargantuan beasts.
Altar-Dryfe border, assembly hall
A mere moment had passed since Ray and Behemot’s final clash.
The bloody mist that was once Ray had just become specks of light and vanished from the world.
“...Well, this went differently than I expected,” said the sole witness to the conclusion — Tsukuyo Fuso.
In her mind, the plan to deliver Tsukikage’s Death and Murder was their final chance at victory, and if that didn’t work, she guessed that their last hope was the bear swooping in to deal with the situation.
If it was night, even she might’ve been able to contribute somehow, but in broad daylight she was largely powerless against Behemot.
That was why Tsukuyo had only watched.
She hadn’t expected Ray to stand up, and the outcome of his actions surprised her.
Despite being torn apart, Ray had managed to reach Behemot with his blade and release the damage stored within it.
He then vanished as Last Command expired, leaving behind Tsukuyo... and Behemot.
Silence.
Behemot was maimed, but still alive. There was a sizable hole in her neck, but the more serious damage was in her forelegs: they had been completely blown away.
This was a result of her final decision in this battle.
Nemesis’ final Vengeance aimed at her neck had enough damage to blow away her entire head.
Thus, at the very last moment, a moment so brief that she couldn’t even knock the blade away, Behemot had chosen to touch Nemesis with her claws, splitting the damage.
Vengeance is Mine was a skill that destroyed the target’s body based on the damage dealt and where the attack landed, so by making it touch her claws as well as her neck, she divided the damage to her head by a third.
In that final moment, she hadn’t had enough time to push the blade away, but she had just enough presence of mind to think of this stratagem and put it into action.
“Cough...” Still, the damage was severe. The wound on her neck wasn’t quite deep enough to reach her cervical vertebrae, but it was still difficult for her to breathe. And with her forelegs gone, she couldn’t wield her weapons.
Her high END prevented most injury-based debuffs, but she was still Bleeding fountains from all three of her major wounds.
It was the first time since becoming a Superior that she suffered such immense damage.
Still not saying a word, Behemot twisted her body to drop her custom-made, extra small inventory on the floor, then shatter it with a stomp of her foot.
A moment later, the space was full of potions and similar items. She began trampling over them and dousing herself in the contents or forcing it down her torn throat.
Her wounds began to release pale smoke as they healed and the Bleeding stopped, but her forelegs didn’t regrow, and the hole in the throat didn’t close.
Behemot didn’t have anything potent enough to accomplish that.
Even with the Bleeding stopped, she was still heavily damaged. Either due to residual damage or because she wasn’t used to being so incapacitated, she was still lying on the floor.
Tsukuyo looked at her, racking her brain for a way to defeat Behemot as she was now... and came up with nothing.
Even without her forelegs and despite all the damage she’d suffered, the Physical Apex was still capable of running Tsukuyo through by merely jumping straight towards her.
She considered suffocation, but that wouldn’t work, either. Though she had trouble breathing, it didn’t look like she was suffering from it, exactly. It was either the effect of Bourdrim’s debuff resistance or that of some accessory she’d replaced Greatest Top with using Instant Wear. Regardless, it was clear that something was making the effects of suffocation easier for her.
Behemot could probably move around just fine even in her current state.
Things would’ve been different if Tsukuyo wasn’t the sole survivor on her side, but that wasn’t how it had turned out.
“We needed just one more card to play, huh?” If there was just one more thing they could do to finish off Behemot, Altar would’ve won.
They were defeated.
Still, as a show of defiance, Tsukuyo reached into her inventory and took out a Gem.
Between two and three minutes had passed since Behemot’s last clash with Ray. In her own way, Tsukuyo resolved to challenge Behemot — but the apex wasn’t even looking at her.
Instead, she was staring at the patch of sky visible through the hole in the wall... and the jade-green trail falling down to the ground.
Still not saying a word, Behemot appeared to be thinking very deeply about something.
A few seconds later, though, she began to move and destroyed another one of her inventories.
As she trampled it underfoot, several pieces of paper appeared around her.
“Hm?” Tsukuyo watched in confusion as Behemot picked one out and, since she didn’t have the forelegs to hold it, bit into it before throwing it in Tsukuyo’s direction.
The paper, lightly stained with Behemot’s blood, fell somewhere between them, facing up. Tsukuyo could read it from where she was, but what it actually said made her tilt her head.
“...What is this?”
“A Contract.” Presumably due to the effect of some accessory, Behemot could respond to Tsukuyo despite the hole in her throat.
Tsukuyo could tell with a glance that it was a Contract. What had her confused was the terms.
“...Are you serious?” To sum it up, the Contract said, “High Priestess, Tsukuyo Fuso will heal King of Beasts, Behemot, curing her status effects and restoring her HP. In exchange, Behemot, bearer of the King of Beasts job, as well as Queen of Beasts, Leviathan will not harm the kingdom’s Masters or tians for 24 hours, Infinite Dendrogram time.”
In exchange for being healed, Behemot and Leviathan would stop attacking Altarians altogether. The somewhat awkward phrasing of “bearer of the King of Beasts job” part was there to prevent Behemot from avoiding the Contract’s terms by merely switching to a sub-job.
That meant that she was fully intent on stopping this battle completely.
“You didn’t write this just now, did you? When did you prepare this?” Tsukuyo asked.
Behemot said nothing. She had actually prepared the Contract shortly after she found out that Tsukuyo would be participating in the peace talks.
The “insurance” that she’d had in mind for the battle was Tsukuyo’s healing magic, though she’d expected to use this insurance on Claudiah or Altimia — the one Claudiah wanted to capture.
However, she’d also considered the possibility of fighting Shu and sustaining injuries so severe that she would be rendered unable to save Claudiah, so she’d also prepared a Contract for herself. That was the one she just presented to Tsukuyo.
“I never underestimated Shu or the others,” Behemot finally said. “I knew I could be defeated or lose a limb or two, so I had this prepared just in case.”
“...So that’s the other reason why you didn’t get rid of me first, eh?” With Behemot counting as a beast, the only thing Tsukuyo could do against her was Faint Light, and Behemot figured that she could put up with the debuff during the fight and try to have her sign the Contract afterwards.
Though, if Shu hadn’t lured Leviathan away and Behemot had been forced to fight both him and Tsukuyo at the same time, she would’ve certainly thrown away the whole idea of insurance and gotten rid of the High Priestess as soon as possible.
However, once Shu was gone, she figured she could face the rest of her opponents and keep her insurance handy even with the debuff up — that was exactly what led to her grave injuries.
But it was hard to say that she had miscalculated, exactly. There was certainly a large enough gap in power between her and the Altarians.
Despite that, they had given their all and then some, completely obliterating Behemot’s expectations.
Because of that, Behemot genuinely felt that she had been defeated.
If Eishiro’s reach had been only slightly longer, or if Nemesis’ blade was only a bit closer to her brain or spine, she would’ve had the death penalty by now.
Still... Behemot had indeed survived, and the best thing for her to do now was to heal her wounds and save Claudiah.
If Claudiah’s battle had still been going, Behemot would have gotten rid of Tsukuyo even if it meant leaving herself injured, but the jade-green trail was a clear sign that the outcome of the royal clash had been decided. Since Claudiah wasn’t contacting Behemot, it was a safe guess that the imperator had been defeated.
With the outcome more or less already determined, Behemot no longer wished to fight.
The original plan had been abandoned.
In case of Claudiah’s defeat, Behemot would struggle to help her — to devastate the Altarian forces, defeat Altimia, and take them to Dryfe.
This would be unnecessary if Claudiah had won, but since she hadn’t, it was up to Behemot to decide what to do next based on her assessment of the situation.
In emergencies like this, Claudiah had entrusted Behemot with all the decision-making power.
“So, will you sign it?” However, with that established, it was clear that if Tsukuyo refused, Behemot would do everything in her power to take her out and then target Altimia.
She was The Physical Apex even with only half her limbs, and her Superior Embryo, still in good health, was trying to reach her, as well.
Kaguya... How’s it looking over there? Tsukuyo asked.
“Shu is now fighting not just Leviathan, but also some other gigantic monster.” Those words made Tsukuyo fall silent and think.
Having become the night itself, Kaguya could look down on the world below her.
Baldr and Leviathan were fighting far outside of the skill’s area of effect — but they were so large that she could still see them.
...What to do, what to do...? Tsukuyo wondered, briefly picturing the person who had more than likely sent the giant monster.
If she signed the Contract before her, both Behemot and Leviathan would be removed from the battle. They would still be able to take Claudiah and escape, but based on the terms of the Contract, they would no longer be able to attack or even kidnap anyone for twenty-four hours.
And with Leviathan out of the picture, Shu would be able to focus solely on the monster, and she was fairly certain that he would win that duel.
If she didn’t sign, however, Tsukuyo would instantly receive the death penalty.
Then, Behemot would attack Altimia. Though dismembered, she was still King of Beasts, so it was still possible for her to defeat the princess and take her prisoner.
Shu would also be left fighting two opponents, decreasing his chances of victory. And if he were to fall, Altimia would have to face both Behemot and Leviathan, assuring Altar’s defeat.
It was fairly obvious that refusing to sign this contract would make things worse for the kingdom.
One might wonder why Behemot would offer up a Contract like this, but the answer was simple — there was a chance that Claudiah, having been defeated, would now be killed.
Altar needed her to stop the terrorist attack on Altea, but if the situation was sufficiently desperate, they might opt to kill her instead.
Regardless of whether Altimia would ever do that, Behemot feared the possibility.
If she was in perfect health, she could easily help her friend — but right now, she was maimed. Also, Behemot knew well by now that her partner, Leviathan, was incapable of doing tasks that required any sort of finesse.
With Claudiah defeated and Behemot heavily injured, she wanted to promise their retreat in exchange for Claudiah’s survival.
...I don’t really have a choice here, Tsukuyo thought.
Signing the Contract was the safer choice for the kingdom, as well. She really didn’t have any other reasonable options.
Therefore, the only thing left to do was see how far she could push the terms.
“This isn’t quite enough,” she said while waving the Contract in her hand. “You’ll need to give us more.”
“Hm?”
“24 hours isn’t enough. You know that it’ll take 72 hours in Dendro time for our victims to come back, right?”
“...Then I’ll make it 72 hours.”
“That’s not enough, either. 720 hours or nothing.”
Silence. Tsukuyo just demanded Behemot and Leviathan wouldn’t attack Altarians for a whole month of Dendro time.
Behemot pondered this, but Tsukuyo refused to back down. Even if Dryfe retreated now, if they were to invade Altar again with Behemot leading the charge, the kingdom would surely fall.
That was why Tsukuyo wanted to secure as much time as was reasonably possible... Enough to ensure that not only those who had died here would be back, but also that Hannya and Figaro would have returned.
Though the punishment for breaking the Contract can’t be a death penalty now. That would actually be shorter. Guess I’ll change it into a whole bunch of time-based status effects — ones that don’t go away even if you die.
While Tsukuyo was pondering these things, Behemot finished considering her terms and said, “I... accept.”
“Good, good. Let me just rewrite this. Now, for more conditions...”
“...There’s more?”
“Of course there is.”
Trying to get a sense of how much Behemot would tolerate, Tsukuyo continued attempting to change the Contract.
“Your boss will have to call off the terrorist attack on Altea within one hour after I heal you.”
“...All right.” Behemot instantly accepted this, for she knew that in this situation, Claudiah would have already done so.
“In exchange, I want you to heal her too,” Behemot added. “Claudiah can’t call off the attack if she’s unconscious.”
“Ah. Well, that makes sense.”
“Also... heal her old wounds, too.” Behemot cared about Claudiah, so she used this opportunity to restore what her friend had lost in her previous battles. It was a bit of greediness on her part...
“I can do that, but you’re still not giving me enough, so you’ll have to throw in a little extra for it, too.”
“A little extra?”
“5,000,000,000 lir.”
...But Tsukuyo was far greedier than her.
“...f*ck.” Conveniently bleeped profanity escaped Behemot’s mouth, and who could really blame her?
“...Tsukuyo?” said Kaguya. Even her own Embryo was put off by this display of greed.
Hey now, Kaguya — we should take what we can. And this also will reduce their battle potential! It’s all to help the kingdom!
Tsukuyo didn’t seem to feel any guilt about this.
“Hm? What’s wrong? You’re the top of the kill rankings, and unlike the bear, you don’t really use your wealth. You must have lots of money, right? Or, what... Is your money more important than your friends?”
“g2h” Behemot replied as she begrudgingly threw the inventory she used as a wallet towards Tsukuyo.
There was just enough power in the throw to keep the inventory from shattering, but also enough to break Tsukuyo’s fingers as she caught it... though, that was a minor issue to her.
“It’s a deal, then! Let’s start the healiiiing!” Tsukuyo said with a wide smile as she began to treat Behemot’s wounds.
As Kaguya looked down on the sight, she felt somewhat apologetic towards Ray, Nemesis, and all the others who’d given their all and then some to the fight against the Physical Apex.
Altar-Dryfe border, grove
Right after the battle between the princesses ended with Jade Storm’s deactivation, Claudiah plummeted towards the ground below.
After some time of feeling nothing but air rushing past her, a sudden shock wracked her body... and then was canceled.
Lying on the ground, she looked up at the sky and whispered, “...I am alive.”
She realized that her Lifesaving Brooch had done its work and canceled the fatal damage from her impact with the ground. This meant that she just had a near-death experience, but on the other hand, if the damage hadn’t been sufficient to activate the Brooch, she would be severely injured right now; so that was something to be glad about.
After she got up and looked around, she saw Jade Storm’s head and body, lying separately where they’d fallen.
Aside from the obvious decapitation, it didn’t seem too damaged. Flagman’s designs wouldn’t be destroyed by a mere fall.
Claudiah... or more accurately, Reinhard... concluded that Jade Storm could be fixed by merely replacing all the parts near the cut and letting the self-repair function do the rest.
“This is the real problem, though...”
On her side, there was a wound carved into her by Altar. However, it wasn’t bleeding. Not because of anything The Primeval Blade had done, but because of the power suit she was wearing.
It was made using an MVP special reward material, and its name was Hemocycler. It provided life support, and if Claudiah lost a part of her body or suffered severe injury, her blood and any other vital fluids would avoid the injured areas in favor of circulating through the power suit.
Because of that, she wasn’t bleeding, and her life was not in immediate danger.
She’d crafted Hemocycler based on her near-death experiences during the civil war and wore it in her fight against Altimia because she correctly assumed that it would work against Altar’s incurable wounds.
Still, that didn’t change the fact that merely having an incurable wound was a bad situation to be in.
“It appears I shall have to replace even more of my body with machinery,” she sighed.
Though she had already replaced her arms with prosthetics, she still had some degree of attachment to her flesh. There were things only a living body could feel, after all.
“Anyway...” Having finished checking on herself, she reached into her inventory and took out a comms device. It was a bit on the large side, but that was due to a unique design focusing on extending communication range and increasing its counter-jamming properties.
“Zeta. This is me.”
“Confirmation. Since you’re using this device, I assume there has been a failure?”
Claudiah received an instant response.
The person on the other line was Zeta — who was currently terrorizing the city of Altea.
“Yes. I lost. What is the situation on your side?”
“...Attempted. I found and confirmed the target you requested, but I am struggling to eliminate it. I thought I had it cornered, but it doesn’t feel like my Embryo’s attacks are even getting through.”
“Oh, I see. So that really is how that works. I wanted to determine that, as well. What about your personal goal? Did you manage to steal it?”
“Refusal. I will not answer that.”
“Very well.”
“Order. Elimination is impossible and your situation is no longer favorable, so I’d like to know what to do now.”
“We will now move on to Plan C. Please make the necessary preparations, then retreat from Altea.”
“Commencing. Deliver the reward by the designated method. Then, and only then, will I give you information regarding the target.”
Following that conversation, the call ended.
“That is done. Now...”
A moment later, something wove a path through the spaces between the trees and landed before her.
It was a golden Prism Steed and a girl with indigo hair... Altimia.
“So you lived,” she said.
“Yes,” Claudiah replied. “I am glad to see you alive, as well.”
Altimia’s words made sense, seeing as Claudiah had just fallen from the sky, but some might have wondered why Claudiah had responded in kind.
Unlike Claudiah, Altimia hadn’t suffered any major injuries, but there was a reason why she was glad she had lived.
It was reflected in Altimia’s long, indigo hair — a part of which had turned white.
“Claudiah, call off the—”
“I have already ordered the retreat.” Claudiah had already done what Altimia would have requested her to do first and foremost, and Truth Discernment confirmed this.
“...Well, you are certainly fast.”
“Of course I am. I lost the battle we wagered all of our desires on, and I knew full well that you would want this done as quickly as possible.”
That was part of the reason why Claudiah hurried to order the retreat, but she also just didn’t want Altimia to overhear her conversation with Zeta.
“...What of my sisters?”
“I was given no information about them, nor did I ask. But if they had been killed or captured, surely I would have been informed, no?”
“Hm...” This act of terrorism was meant to destabilize the kingdom, so the death or capture of the princesses was a sub-objective. If Zeta hadn’t reported it on her own initiative, they must be fine.
Though, it was within the realm of possibility that Zeta simply didn’t care whether the princesses were alive or dead.
“I must say... You paid quite an obvious price,” Claudiah said, looking at Altimia’s hair. Altimia said nothing in response at first. “Using that ultimate job skill eats away at your life, does it not?”
“...It does.” The Sacred Princess’ ultimate job skill, The Primeval Boundary, drained a great deal of things from the user. Besides obvious stats like HP, MP, and SP — life, magic, and mental forces — it also targeted her life itself... specifically, her lifespan.
Essentially, Altar was a double-edged sword — and not just because of its all-rending blade.
“I did not use it for long, though... My hair will return to normal sooner than later,” said Altimia.
“This time, at least. But you should refrain from using this power any further. You know his legend better than I do, no?”
The Sacred Princess was silent.
“The legend of the Sacred King... the first Azurite. He used this power to conquer The Evil from the previous era, which almost led to his death. No... some say that he actually did die once. However...”
“The Saint of that era sacrificed her own life to save his. This is the most famous of his legends.”
“But the current Altar does not have The Saint. That job was taken by Sechs Würfel. If you use that power too much, you will deplete your life... and die.”
“...I am well aware. That is why I will only use it when I feel it truly necessary.”
That meant Altimia felt her battle against Claudiah was something she absolutely had to win, even if it cost her a portion of her own life.
“...I am not sure whether to feel flattered or not.”
“You can figure that out later. I have some questions for you.”
“Such as?”
“Why did you set a trap for us in the peace contract and order an attack on the capital? Surely there must have been a better way for you to do this.” In exchange for a complete ceasefire, Altar had offered to give Dryfe the Old Lunnings Duchy and remove certain persons from the wanted list.
As evidenced by the fact that the Covenant had nearly been signed by both parties, those conditions were favorable for both countries.
Of course, Dryfe’s famine was severe, and there was also the matter of Caldina — but simply leaving the Covenant in its current state would have left plenty of room to solve those matters peacefully.
However, Claudiah had instead chosen to attack Altea and destroy Altar, and Altimia wanted to know why.
“I suppose the best answer is that the Covenant as it was would not fulfill all of my wishes.”
“All of your wishes?”
“...There were three things I had to acquire at any cost.” Claudiah had slowly begun giving her answer. “First is something that Dryfe needs... The Old Lunnings Duchy that would solve the imperium’s famine.”
Dryfe had effectively been controlling it since the previous war, and with these negotiations, they would’ve become its legal owners.
“The second thing is what I need... You, my dearest Altimia.”
Acquiring her had proven to be difficult... but ultimately, they were to remain friends.
“And lastly... what this world needs.” Claudiah strongly implied that this was the reason why she arranged an attack on Altea. However, it was hard for Altimia to picture something that could be important for the world, something supposedly bigger than either of their entire nations.
“Did you not tell me that the purpose of the assault on Altea and our battle here was to capture me and my sisters or take our lives to split the kingdom apart? That was no lie... was it?”
“That was part of it. After all, to acquire what is needed, it would help to have control of the kingdom... more specifically, its capital. Also, what we would receive from Altar would help immensely in preventing Caldina from doing anything... unnecessary.”
“...Just what is this thing ‘the world needs’ that you speak of?”
Claudiah fell silent for a long moment before saying, “I have no wish to hide anything from or lie to you, but this is something I hesitate to speak of.”
“What do you mean?” Altimia could tell that Claudiah wasn’t merely avoiding the question — she was truly unsure if she was capable of describing whatever she had in mind.
“After all... you might be erased by the supervisors.” In response to Altimia’s question, she made it clear that she was refraining from speaking out of fear for her safety.
“...Supervisors?”
“Perhaps they would not eliminate key figures like you and I. I am aware of the thing in question, but I have not yet been neutralized. However, if this spreads... they might change their stance. That fear keeps me from speaking it to anyone.”
“But I do wish to hear it from you. I must know what made you go this far.”
“I see... Then I will tell you as much as I can. Though, even that much may be dangerous,” Claudiah added as she looked up at the sky and began to describe her reasons. “Do you not think that this world is odd?”
“Hm?”
“Does it not feel akin to some kind of game where the board and the pieces have been gathered from different boxes and mixed up? Do you not perceive this mismatch?”
Claudiah’s words were hard for Altimia to understand, but for some reason, they reminded her of her father’s statement that Masters were somehow special.
“Originally, there should have been only one set of pieces on the board, but due to intervention from the current supervisors, new pieces and mechanics have been added. The chaos and Resources in the world increased, and they are now trying to use it to fulfill their own desires.”
She paused for a moment and confirmed that both she and Altimia were still alive before continuing.
“But they have only added new things. The thing leading to this world’s original conclusion... the calamity left behind by the previous supervisors had not vanished. And yet... this era is simply too lacking.”
“Claudiah... what are you talking about?”
“...The Saint was stolen, The Hero was murdered, The Vanguard is nowhere in sight, Titania and Conquest General are not what they used to be, while the Imperial Crown from the middle of the continent... Caldina... is lost. The Imperator Machina and Sacred Princess... you and I are the only ones who still stand tall.”
Altimia understood that Claudiah was talking about the Special Superior Jobs associated with the various countries... themselves included.
...But why did she not mention Draconic Emperor? she wondered. That was Huang He’s Special Superior Job, yet Claudiah hadn’t included it in her list.
But before Altimia could ask about that, Claudiah resumed speaking.
“And many standard Superior Jobs no longer belong to tians. I am not certain that the tians who are currently alive can win against the coming calamity... The ‘DEMISE’... The ‘GAME OVER.’ Thus, I staged an attack on the capital, where it supposedly resided. I thought that doing so would ensure that I would find it...”
With that, Claudiah had finished explaining her reason.
However, she had said a great many things that Altimia didn’t understand. Perhaps Claudiah had purposely made her explanation hard to comprehend out of fear of these “supervisors” she’d alluded to.
Altimia understood that Claudiah was planning to fight against some kind of oncoming danger, though she failed to understand what she meant by “DEMISE” or “GAME OVER.”
With that in mind, there was something Altimia had to ask.
“Why are you not including Masters?”
Masters — especially Superiors — were extremely powerful. Many of them were more than a match for Special Superior Jobs like Altimia herself.
No matter who — or what — they faced, they would likely win with enough such powerful entities on their side. Claudiah herself had Behemot and many other powerful Masters as allies, so she should’ve been more than capable of getting them to fight for her.
“...That is impossible,” Claudiah replied as she shook her head. “After all, this is the one thing they are... thoroughly unrelated to.”
“Unrelated?”
“The GAME OVER pertains to this world’s original objective. That is why outsiders like the Masters are not fit for the purpose of fighting it. They cannot even take part in this. Otherwise, the supervisors wou—”
She stopped herself before she could finish that sentence, believing that she was about to say more than was safe. The look in Claudiah’s eyes told Altimia that she could say nothing further.
Altimia silently pondered what she had just been told. The information given to her was frankly beyond her understanding.
However, she could tell that it was important to this world and that there wasn’t a single lie in Claudiah’s words.
How did Claudiah know about “this world’s original objective” and this entity she had called the GAME OVER? And just what were they, anyway?
Altimia felt that the answers to those questions could be found in Altea... the Altarian capital which had just been the target of a terrorist attack.
“...Just what is supposed to be in Altea?” She looked to the horizon, in the direction of the city — but of course, from this far away she could see neither what happened nor what mysteries lurked there.
“Claudiah!” Suddenly, two people appeared before them — Behemot and Tsukuyo, both in perfect health.
Altimia stared at them in silence, noting the lack of the other Masters and the fact that Behemot looked freshly healed.
From that, she drew a particular conclusion.
“...So you betrayed us, you parasite.” She didn’t know how Tsukuyo had avoided the consequences of the Contract, but knowing her, Altimia concluded that she was a traitor.
Faced with Altimia’s bare killing intent, Tsukuyo hastily shook her head.
“Y-You’ve got it all wrong! I fought with Ray and the others and we won! We’re the only ones who survived, and we made a Contract that I heal Behemot in exchange for her promise to not move against us! She’s not a danger!”
These words made Altimia lower her sword.
One reason for that was Truth Discernment telling her that Tsukuyo wasn’t lying, but there was another...
“So... Ray really did die.” She had a hunch that might be the case when Silver vanished, but having it confirmed filled her with a sorrow that even she herself found strange.
“He’s a Master, though. He’ll be back soon enough,” Tsukuyo said.
“...That is true.” That made Altimia feel a bit relieved, but also reminded her of certain words Claudiah had said — words which she couldn’t fully understand right now. Something about Masters being outsiders that could not take part in matters concerning the GAME OVER...
“...So, what are the terms of the Contract you signed,” Altimia asked.
“The King of Beasts and her Embryo won’t be able to harm Altarian tians or Masters for an entire month. Also, your royal friend over there will have to stop the attack on the capital — though I’ll have to heal her in exchange.”
Tsukuyo didn’t mention the 5,000,000,000 lir she took as payment. Withholding information didn’t count as lying, after all.
“I see. Claudiah seems to have already put a stop to the terrorist attack... So now, you will heal her, and the two of them will run away, eh?”
Altimia wondered how that tiny body could possibly take Claudiah away from here, but perhaps that wasn’t much of a problem for The Physical Apex.
It didn’t seem like she could stop Behemot, either. Altimia was too drained from using her ultimate job skill.
“This seems like a draw to me. Anyway, time to heal,” said Tsukuyo as she began to treat Claudiah.
In response to those words, Altimia whispered, “...This is not a draw.”
The peace talks had ended in failure.
The meeting that was supposed to stop the war had instead become a battlefield, and even the capital had been caught in the crossfire. Even if Altimia and her sisters were unharmed and they forced Dryfe to retreat, it was fair to say that Altar had lost simply because their casualties were greater.
“Altimia,” Claudiah spoke to her, ending her train of thought.
“We cannot back down yet. Now that we have confirmation, we have even more reason to take control of the kingdom.”
Altimia listened intently.
“However, let us avoid an all-out war or any further human casualties.” Saying that, Claudiah took something out of her inventory and tossed it to Altimia.
It seemed to be a rolled-up piece of paper.
“This is... a Covenant?” The most powerful form of Contract... used in agreements between entire countries.
“Indeed. This is our Plan C. Plan A fell apart when a certain someone saw right through it, while Plan B failed when I lost to you. Plan C is what we prepared in the event that happened.”
“...What trickery have you set up this time?”
“None,” Claudiah said while looking right into Altimia’s eyes. “No tricks or lies... This is a declaration of war.”
As her Truth Discernment did not activate, Altimia looked down at the Covenant in her hand.
“But I understand that you do not want to lose any more tian lives,” Claudiah continued. “And since we found what we’d come to find at the capital, there is no longer any reason for me to attack your people — so let us follow the terms the Covenant lays out.”
She pointed at a part of the Covenant which said...
“‘A war between Masters only’? What...?” The text greatly shocked Altimia.
“Yes. A war where we agree on a time, place, and rules, and let the Masters serving us fight it out... A war where no one has to die.”
Silently, Altimia pondered. This seemed like a reasonable proposition. If Dryfe had no intention of calling off the war, this was a far more preferable shape for it to take.
Altar had fewer Masters than Dryfe, but this would still give them a higher chance of victory than an all-out war involving tians, and the overall casualties would be drastically reduced.
However, this made Altimia feel a certain sense of discomfort. Was it because this essentially meant they would be using Masters as tools of war...? The very thing her late father was strictly against?
“It would be like a contest,” Claudiah said. “I imagine that Masters would have an easier time seeing it that way.”
Upon hearing that, both Behemot and Tsukuyo thought similar things. As Masters of Maiden type Embryos, they both did not see Infinite Dendrogram as a game, but Claudiah’s proposed war seemed extremely “game-like” to both of them.
Still, they both thought it was a decent idea.
“Also... both countries would wager everything on this war,” Claudiah added.
“...This is not a decision I can make here and now.”
“I understand. Take your time. We still have to set the rules and choose a location, anyway. We will figure out the details over the hotline at a later date.”
And so, she stood up, fully restored. She’d fixed the wound Altar had made by cutting out the flesh around it and letting Tsukuyo do the rest. This wouldn’t have been possible if the High Priestess wasn’t there and if the wound was in a more vital area.
Her arms had also been restored.
“Ohh... It has been so long since I felt warmth with my fingertips,” she said, picking up Behemot. She then set Behemot on her shoulders and took out a spare spear. “And the spear feels just right.”
Those words made Altimia realize that it was possible Claudiah hadn’t actually been fighting at her peak, due to her prosthetics.
“Altimia, it might be unfair to say it now... but you do not have to wait for the war. You may try to capture... or even kill me here and now.”
Altimia would’ve been lying if she said that she hadn’t considered capturing Claudiah.
It might’ve been difficult to prevent their escape, but it wasn’t impossible. Though Claudiah had fully recovered, her Prism Steed was broken, and Behemot couldn’t harm Altarians.
By contrast, Altimia was merely fatigued, while her Gold Thunder was ready for action, and Tsukuyo was completely unharmed. A conflict between the two sides could go either way.
“I will not do that,” said Altimia.
There was no telling what Behemot would do if she were to do anything to Claudiah.
King of Beasts couldn’t harm Altarians for a month, but if Claudiah was dead or captured by Altar, there was a chance that she would ravage the kingdom regardless. She would come back over and over and do it time and time again, without any consideration for international relations or what was beneficial to Dryfe.
Behemot had proven just how fearsome she was in the very conflict that had just ended. Despite being separated from her Embryo, she devastated a Superior and several other Altarian Masters.
If harm were to come to Claudiah, Dryfe also wouldn’t put King of Beasts on the wanted list no matter how bad her rampage was.
In fact, it could even lead to an all-out war — the worst-case scenario that Altimia wanted to avoid with the peace talks.
Since that had failed, all she really had left was to win in the unique war Claudiah had just proposed.
...Oh. I am already thinking as though I’ve already accepted the Covenant.
Claudiah might’ve said all that she had precisely because she’d known that all along.
She was Altimia’s friend, who loved her, as well as the imperator of Dryfe — and a cunning, cool-headed manipulator.
“Then I will take my leave, as befits a defeated foe...” Claudiah said before falling silent and looking at Altimia.
“What is it?”
“Oh, I merely wanted to burn your lovely image into my eyes. I imagine it will be quite a long time before we meet in person again.”
“I see.” Altimia had no response to that.
Though, if she were to say something, she would note that in that moment, Claudiah briefly seemed more like the girl she knew from their school days rather than the cunning imperator.
“Farewell, then,” Claudiah said before putting Jade Storm’s remains in her inventory and leaving alongside Behemot.
Altimia said nothing. Claudiah was a dear friend as well as a rival.
However, their next conflict would not be between them as combatants... but as rulers.
With that in mind, she watched them disappear into the horizon.
Altar-Dryfe border, wasteland
Claudiah had ordered Franklin to stay at Vandelheim in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
Shu believed that Franklin had sent out his monster while hiding somewhere near the border.
However, he was neither at the capital nor anywhere outside.
“In a way, this is an expected outcome...” Franklin was actually within the cockpit of the giant monster he’d sent to fight Baldr, known as MGD — Mechanic God Dylan.
Franklin was acting on his own intuition and decisions.
He and King of Chariots, Colonel Murdoch Martinez had been ordered to stay at the capital in case other countries did something during the peace talks.
However, the countries in question could not function as though they were enemies right now.
Dryfe was surrounded by three countries: Altar to the south, Caldina to the east, and the seafaring Granvaloa to the north and west.
However, two of them, Caldina and Granvaloa, were in the middle of a conflict surrounding the Treasurebeast Orbs taken from Huang He.
Granvaloa had dispatched all of their Superiors that were capable of fighting on land, so the chances of them attacking Dryfe now were extremely low, while Caldina’s forces were tied up in dealing with those Masters.
And since when it rains, it pours, the chaos in Caldina had led to even greater disorder. It had been confirmed that two major players from Legendaria had entered the country in search of the orbs.
One was a Superior and the leader of their top clan, YLNT Club.
He was a shotacon and a lolicon, as well as the pervert people often called “most Legendaria-like.”
He was King of Curses, LS Ergo Sum the “Child’s Play.”
The other wasn’t a Superior, but she was famous for having carved out a place in all three rankings.
Commanding enough power to match Superiors and a Master widely known as Legendaria’s strongest pre-Superior, she was the Summon Princess, Yomiko Skydrag’in the “Duelist.”
With the situation being what it was, it was hard to imagine that Caldina would have enough forces to spare for an attack on another country.
That was why Franklin had left Murdoch alone and traveled to this battlefield. He wanted to gather data through observation, but his main objective was to make his final adjustments to this ace up his sleeve — this monster.
It was why he’d agreed to stay at the capital rather than join the peace talks, and this battlefield he was on right now might’ve been the perfect place to test it.
Franklin hadn’t actually intended to come out into the open like this, but the change in the situation had given him the perfect chance to do so.
And now, he and MGD were fighting Baldr.
“KoD’s Baldr isn’t a valid target for Chimeratech Aubade, while KoB’s Leviathan is. It’d have been nice if it worked on Baldr, but, well... it’s not an animal,” he said, using the Analyzing Eye of Wisdom to check on MGD’s state. “Now, I know that when the war comes, I’ll have to avoid 1v1s against Baldr. I guess I should be glad that I came here and learned at least that much. Joining their 1v1 was about the only way for me to do the needed checks with safety margins in mind. I already learned that there were no problems with the upper limit back when I had MGD fight His Excellency’s Zero Exceed.”
All of this was less him talking to himself and more him verbalizing the results of his analysis.
But he seemed to be satisfied with what he’d found.
“If I came out right at the start, I’d have been attacked by Leviathan for getting in the way of her battle, but now she’s desperately trying to go and help KoB. She won’t make an enemy of me when I’m protecting he— whoa!”
Suddenly, MGD’s cockpit began to shake.
“Hmm... I guess KoD not only has high stats, but is also absurdly skilled at fighting.” He spoke casually, as though nothing special had happened, but this was right after MGD withstood an attack from Baldr in its ultimate form.
This was the reason why Franklin was inside MGD rather than on Pandemonium. He was absolutely certain that he was safer within his finest creation rather than his Embryo that could be hidden with optical camouflage.
Besides, if he was killed while hiding, his MGD would vanish as well, and he was thoroughly against such an absurd outcome.
However, since he was unable to keep up with MGD’s and Baldr’s battle speeds, he left all the fighting to his monster.
In fact, if the cockpit hadn’t been designed with inertia reduction in mind, Franklin’s frail body might’ve already been pulverized just by the shocks caused by MGD moving.
Not even AR-I-CA fights up close and personal at multiple times the speed of sound, he thought as MGD shook once more.
Wondering why these impacts had started occurring more frequently, Franklin looked around.
“...Hm? I just realized that Leviathan isn’t moving much now. She’s not attacking at all, in fact. KoD noticed that and is going after me now.”
As though he only just caught up with what was happening, Franklin had developed a grasp of the situation.
Since he couldn’t keep up with the speed of the battle, he wasn’t able to see the super-supersonic movements of the two gigantic entities.
“I guess someone must’ve used a Contract that forced her to stop fighting.” Franklin had seen Behemot do something at the assembly hall, but since he was observing that area from afar out of fear that Behemot would destroy it, he couldn’t hear what was being said.
Still, Leviathan’s actions were enough to guess what had happened.
“Now, how did all of that turn out...?” He carefully examined the information provided by his recon monsters and saw Claudiah and Behemot distance themselves from Altimia and Tsukuyo.
“Hmm... His Excellency and KoB are both out of the game. I guess it’s time for me to retreat as well— whoa!”
Another shell, another shock. If MGD could defeat Baldr here, Franklin would’ve even been able to suppress the party of people at the assembly hall.
However, it was hard for him to guess just how well he would do in a 1v1 Leviathan didn’t participate in.
“MGD does win in terms of stats, though. He endures Baldr’s weapons even if it’s his first time dealing with them... Man, what a troublesome enemy.”
Remembering what happened back in Gideon, Franklin spoke with hate in his tone.
“Dylan, what’s the current chance of victory?”
“Approximately 66%,” said Dylan, the operational persona of MGD. “While damage dealt to us is increasing, the same can be said about our opponent. We have confirmed the loss of the left forearm and operational failures in the armaments. However, the percentage is based solely on known information. Anything that is hidden has not been considered.”
“66%, eh? But this all depends on what kind of cards he holds in his hand... MGD can win against any creature that’s all about power and nothing else.”
If the fight kept going like this, they could win this, but then...
“Warning, Leviathan is leaving the effective range of Chimeratech Aubade.”
“Ohh, now that is bad. As things are, we’d only get killed the moment she left.”
The status quo of the fight had changed. One of the main conditions for the battle was about to leave.
When that happened their chances of victory would drop drastically.
“Well, we’ve shown ourselves enough. If they know that we still have something like this waiting for them, Altarians will hesitate to counter-attack. Let’s retreat too.”
“Are you certain? Based on the state of the battle, retreating at this moment might allow the enemies to analyze the nature of Chimeratech Aubade.”
“I’m certain. What are they going to find out just based on this one battle?” Franklin said with a grin. “Also, MGD’s function is something that no one can really do anything about even if they know what it does. This encounter let me figure out that MGD might lose against Baldr, but we’ll be fine against anyone else. Also...”
MGD’s optical sensors focused on Leviathan.
“...Next time, Baldr will probably be dealing with the full-powered King of Beasts.” That was how Franklin knew that he wouldn’t have to fight KoD.
He would have to face some other Superior.
Also...
“But this is troubling... He went and died before I could crush him,” Franklin said as he recalled the death of a certain newbie. “I recorded the whole thing, but there’s really no point to dragging him down now, is there...?”
He had recorded not just Baldr and Leviathan’s battle, but also the struggle at the assembly hall. It was hard to capture supersonic movements, but Franklin’s monsters were up to the task. Though there were many sections where the camera was shaky, the recording still presented a general idea of what happened.
With a bit of judicious editing and comments, Franklin could greatly lower the boy’s reputation, but he chose to refrain for now.
“All right. I’ll praise Ray-boy to the sky. ‘A Match for THE KoB!’ is a title that’ll get a ton of views.”
As an idea formed in his mind, Franklin grinned.
“I’ll elevate him as high as possible...”
And so...
“...Then drag him down to the abyss.”
...He whispered these words, his grin widening all the while.
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