Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 17 - Chapter 4.5

Interlude: The Scorpion, the Axe, and the Costume

Event Area, North

Flow Princess, Juba was riding the mechanical scorpion named “Citrine Obliterator” from the hill in the north of the island towards the mountains in the center. Up until now, she’d held her position in the north, shooting down anyone careless enough to fly above her section of the island.

Now, she would hunt in the south and gather their plates.

That elephant Embryo... Juba thought. Just like many others, she’d witnessed Jamie’s Abhra-Matanga, as well as the moment it vanished.

One of those attacks must’ve had a slow-working instadeath effect. I do know someone who can do that... Altar’s “Night Spider.”

The person who came to Juba’s mind was in fact exactly the Master who’d brought down Jamie—Shion Manjushage.

She was fairly famous in Altar for taking a spot in all three rankings, so she was somewhat well-known in Dryfe, as well.

The owner of the first unit...Amethyst Captor. Besides that, Juba knew Shion as a fellow owner of a Prism Crawler—an elder sibling to her Citrine. It was obvious that Shion was someone to fear.

I shot down the Black Crow. I didn’t go to take her plates since she fell into the forest, but even if she survived, she’ll be easily hunted down by someone else in that condition. That means that the Altarian I need to look out for the most is the Night Spider. Seeing how skillfully she took out the elephant, she must be pretty sharp.

It might have been, however, that Juba was attributing too much to Shion. If Chelsea or Max had heard Juba’s thoughts just now, they would’ve certainly said something along the lines of “I wouldn’t be so sure. Especially about the ‘sharp’ part.”

Her own allies saw Shion as a bit of a silly goose.

...There aren’t many easy flying targets now...so I guess I should make Shion Manjushage the “Night Spider” my priority target. And so, Juba and Citrine moved to search for Shion and her Amethyst.

Event Area, South

Deep inside a grove, a man looked up at the sky and sighed.

“This is what happens when you don’t listen to warnings, cowboy,” he said as he watched Abhra-Matanga vanish.

He was King of Axes, Wan—another member of Huili Yuminjun—and he couldn’t help but be exasperated by how Jamie had retired from the game.

When at maximum size, Abhra-Matanga certainly had immense HP, and Rodeo Drive gave it plenty of attack power. Even Wan himself would have a hard time fighting against it.

However, the consensus among members of Huili Yuminjun was that being such a large target made it far too vulnerable to “less obvious” attacks.

Embryos were all unique, and many of them might have powers that could kill something in a single hit.

I suppose the only one who could pulverize it in a head-on battle is Lady Huili herself, Wan thought as he pictured the most powerful and beautiful Master he knew. The thought brought a smile to his face.

The top of Huang He’s duel rankings was the Draconic Emperor, and the second was Xunyu. However, Wan and the other members of Huili Yuminjun knew that the strongest Master in Huang He was without a doubt Huili herself.

Though The Arts, Ming She might be able to defeat her, that didn’t change the fact that she was indeed the strongest.

This was a truth that all Masters of Huang He would agree on.

“Anyhow, with my ‘comrade’ defeated, I suppose I will have to fight by myself. Do you not think so as well?” Wan spoke as though he was talking to himself, but he turned around as though there was someone there.

And indeed, there was a Master there with a spear held at the ready.

Based on his clothing, Wan assumed that he was from Tenchi.

“So you knew I was here,” the spear-wielder said.

“Do not act like you were intending to ambush me. If I had not called out to you, you would have done so first,” said Wan.

“Heh. I am no ninja or nobushi. As a martial artist, I will fight you fair and square—and I will win the same way.”

“I like that. I will fight you, yes...but I will not let you have the victory.”

They were both Masters, but their words certainly didn’t seem Master-like. Most people would have dismissed this as just a bit of RP, but they were both genuinely elated to have found a strong enemy who shared their aura.

“HIIYAAH!” The Master from Tenchi rushed towards Wan while brandishing his weapon—a “jumonji yari” or “cross spear.”

Wan equipped his battle-axe and prepared to intercept him.

A moment later, the sounds of clashing metal filled the grove.

“Hm... I see that spear is an Embryo.”

“And your axe, while a work of art, seems to not be so.”

Indeed, Wan’s axe was not an Embryo.

It was a custom-made weapon forged by the clan’s blacksmiths. One of its blades was focused on pure toughness, while the other was built to break through resistances, making it a versatile weapon fit for many situations.

Lumberjacks changed their axes depending on the trees they were cutting, and this axe worked on that same principle.

“An Embryo must have a power or two,” Wan said.

“Of course!” the spear-wielder replied as he made the weapon’s blade shine red.

Wan could now feel heat flowing through his axe as it clashed with the glowing spear.

So it heats up and releases the heat, Wan thought. The spear even launched small fireballs as its wielder lunged.

Wan was able to evade them, but the heat they gave off made him realize that they were likely as powerful as the ultimate skill of a high-rank flame magic job.

How very like Tenchi—simple, but usable and strong... Although...

“Erupt!” the spear-wielder cried as he thrust his weapon forwards, making it release a chain of fireballs.

Wan evaded them, and the fireballs instead struck the trees behind him.

A moment later, the trees exploded, and Wan was consumed by the flames.

“...Huh?” A voice of pure surprise rang out—not from Wan, but the spear-wielder himself.

He’d used his fireballs on trees many times now, but this had never happened before.

To escape the blast, he leaped away—only for his back to hit a tree.

What?! There was no tree here before...! he thought in shock. The man was a skilled Master from Tenchi, and he wasn’t the kind of fool who would fail to properly examine his surroundings to know if they were fit for spear-fighting.

The impact of him crashing into the tree dislodged one of its ripe fruits. At the mercy of gravity, it fell on the spear-wielder’s shoulder, broke open, and released its juices.

What followed were the sounds of sizzling flesh and a stomach-churning smell.

“GAAAAAHHH?!” The juice melted away the spear-wielder’s armor and burned straight through the meat of his shoulder.

An explosion, a crash, and severe burns—the chain of unexpected events had completely distracted the spear-wielder.

“This is the end,” Wan said, emerging from the blast to split the spear-wielder in half at the waist, along with the tree behind him.

Before his guts could spill onto the ground, however, the tree released a torrent of sap, which instantly caused another explosion.

The spear-wielder was completely annihilated, reduced to nothing but ash. Many martial artists from Tenchi had Death Soldier as a sub-job, but it meant nothing if the body was completely destroyed.

“My apologies for the underhanded tactics,” said Wan. “But while I did say I would fight, I said nothing about being fair.”

Despite being in the center of the explosion, not only was Wan himself unburned—there was not even a hint of fire damage to his clothes.

That made it obvious that there was a link between him and these strange trees.

“Now, the plates... Ah, here they are,” Wan said, looting the plates that had been blown away by the explosion. They had neither been destroyed, nor had they been damaged by the plant’s caustic sap.

“...So they are tougher than they look and feel. If I could bring this back, it would make a good souvenir for the blacksmiths,” he said with a smile before walking away. “I suppose I should go look for more. This event can be cleared by the first three players who solve the puzzle, but it is better to be early than late.”

In good spirits, he began hunting for his next prey.

Whether it was a monster or another participant didn’t matter to him. His goal right now was to fight to show the power of Huili Yuminjun and to present the final prize to the lady he so revered.

Thus, he walked away, leaving strange fruit-bearing trees growing behind him.

Event Area, Middle

The Master who’d started the game next to the goal—the one in the bear suit—was gazing up at the sky, watching as the giant cloud-elephant vanished.

Everyone was currently busy doing their own thing, but in the end, they would all have to head to the goal to insert their plates.

That meant that if someone set a trap here, then even flying participants would be caught in it.

That was exactly what he was doing now.

He was so focused on setting his trap that he didn’t even notice the enemy stealthily approaching him.

Ninja-like, but closer in appearance to a desert assassin, he was using multiple presence and sound-hiding job skills as he used a cloth to apply a special poison, produced by his Embryo, to a black dagger.

A single stab to the bear-man’s back with this poisoned knife would instantly bring him down.

So careless. This is why you always need to be on guard, the assassin thought mockingly as he brought his dagger down.

It was aimed straight at the bear-man’s neck, but it only softly sank into the fabric, not even breaking through to his target’s body.

“Ah?!” Feeling as though he’d landed a punch on an overstuffed pillow, the assassin was overcome with shock.

However, that told him the gear had a higher defense than it seemed to.

But there was something else that shocked him—the bear-man’s speed.

Just a split second after being attacked, he had grabbed the assassin by the neck.

Nghh...! But this ain’t a problem! he thought, taking the same cloth he’d used to apply poison to the dagger. It was still drenched in poison so potent that it didn’t have to enter the bloodstream to have an effect—it was plenty useful when merely touching the skin, as well.

He should faint in less than a...se...cond...? he thought, but reality was quite different—the power of the bear-man’s grip wasn’t waning as he continued to strangle the assassin.

H-Huh? It didn’t...work...? As he wondered why his poison had been so ineffective, he heard the bones in his neck begin to crack.

That was when he finally realized something.

Ah, so that’s how it is. He wasn’t...careless... He just doesn’t have t—

Before he could finish his thought, his neck snapped, and his head rolled to the ground.

Silence. The assassin transformed into bits of light, and the bear-man gathered his plates.

Done with the ambusher and the placement of traps around the goal, he then began walking towards his next destination.