Chapter Three: The Movement on the Board
Paladin, Ray Starling
“That’s one barrier cleared,” I said.
“It appears so,” agreed Nemesis.
We’d escaped the central arena and fought the player killers that’d awaited us at the plaza.
Thanks to Rook’s plan, we’d been able to beat them with few casualties, despite them being far stronger and more numerous than us.
When I’d needed to use Hellish Miasma, I’d been worried about the prospect of involving innocents who still happened to be in the plaza, but a high-rank Master with a radar-like Embryo had shown me that it was all good in that regard.
After that, thanks to Rook using his Touch of the Silencer to cancel an enemy’s spell, and then him and Babi both using their Charm skills like they had in the battle against the goblin horde, we’d gotten an upper hand against the player killers.
I’d thought that the caster’s surprise attack was gonna kill me, but I’d survived thanks to the Dragonscale Ward Shu had given me before we left the arena. The fact that I hadn’t seen it coming had left me without a chance to use Counter Absorption, but that skill’s stock was extremely scarce right now, anyway. Only one use had been restored since my battle against Gouz-Maise yesterday, so having saved it could work out in my favor.
This battle and my encounter with Xunyu before The Clash of the Superiors had made me aware that the skill wasn’t without its flaws. It was ineffective in situations where I didn’t see the attack coming or just couldn’t use it fast enough. Sooner or later, I would have to find a way to make up for these flaws.
Skill problems aside, we’d defeated the player killers in the arena’s plaza.
After the battle, we newbies split up in all directions. I chose to go west, and Rook and a few others accompanied me.
Riding Silver, I led our little group forward. I’d avoided using my mount in the battle at the plaza because the brawl had been too melee-oriented, and I was satisfied with my decision, since the spell that had hit me might’ve actually melted him.
Following behind me, Rook and Babi were riding Marilyn, and furthest at the back, there were three girl Masters. All of them were staring at Rook, making it pretty certain that his being the ultra pretty-boy was the reason why they had come with us. Not that I could fault them for that, really.
“So, Ray,” Rook spoke up. “Sorry for the belated question, but why are we heading west?”
“Well...” Indeed, I was the one who’d decided to go west, and he was right to assume that I’d had a reason. I’d chosen to go there because of the words gnawing at my mind.
It’s west.
Hugo had told me this just before we’d separated. He was a Master from the Dryfe Imperium and a member of the clan known as “Triangle of Wisdom,” which he’d described as the biggest clan in Dryfe, meaning that it was the one owned by the top of Dryfe’s clan rankings: Franklin.
Back then, Hugo had tried to play it off like it was nothing, but I felt that...
“Something’s up in the west,” I said.
Unless he’d predicted that I would think like this and lied in order to mislead me, we should find something there. Since I didn’t think that Hugo was the type to lie like that, I was going straight to the west.
Seemingly understanding, Rook nodded and began riding parallel to me.
Thus, we made our way towards the western gate.
If Hugo’s words were truthful and there was indeed something to be found there, I was wholly confident that he himself would stand in our way.
100 metels above the duel city, on the Night Lounge
Night Lounge — the flying, self-concealing monster — was melting into the dead of night as it flew straight towards the west. Sitting on its back, Franklin was doing something on a device highly reminiscent of tablets from the 2010s.
“The traitors at the central plaza are all dead,” he muttered. “This isn’t unexpected, but it certainly happened faster than I thought it would.”
“What are you looking at?” asked Elizabeth.
“Here you go,” Franklin said as he reached into his inventory and presented her with a device just like the one in his hands.
She looked down on it and saw a map of Gideon. It was covered in bright markers that clearly surpassed quadruple digits, and most of them were concentrated in the central arena.
“These lights... They’re Masters, aren’t they?” she asked.
Though the markers were many, they were nowhere near the total population of Gideon, making her assume that they represented the Masters in the area.
“Indeed they are.” Franklin nodded. “Clearly, you’re not a silly goose. I like people who aren’t silly gooses. You’re easy to talk to.”
“I do not appreciate being liked by my father’s murderer,” Elizabeth replied.
“HA HA HA! Thought as much! That’s the obvious sentiment, after all! GAH HA!” he laughed heartily, evidently finding it more funny than he had any right to.
Naturally, the princess found his reaction unpleasant, but more than that, she was curious about why it seemed so exaggerated.
“I happen to know someone who doesn’t seem to understand that,” Franklin continued. “Then again, we’re talking about a person that took the imperator’s throne by killing all the older royalty. Can’t really expect such a character to be reasonable.”
“I cannot make sense of anything you’re saying,” Elizabeth informed him.
“That’s because there’s a huge difference in the amount of information you and I have. Anyway, back to the subject at hand... Yes, you’re holding a location map of all the Masters in Gideon. It’s real-time, too.”
Sure enough, the many markers on the map were moving.
The map was the result of a device created by The Triangle of Wisdom that was picking up the data signaled by a network of Franklin-made spycam monsters, which he’d scattered all across the city over several days before the plan.
Equipping the monsters with great hiding ability and Master differentiation had come at the cost of limiting the information they provided to show locations and nothing more — they didn’t even give the names of the Masters. However, that was all that Franklin needed. He only wished to know where the Masters were, and to be able to tell friend from foe.
“May I ask something?” spoke up Elizabeth.
“You may,” Franklin replied in a smug manner.
“These lights are either red or blue. Are they...?”
“Yes. We are red, while blue are the kingdom’s Masters. I know that red is often the ‘enemy’ color, but I happen to like it, you see.”
The markers were either blue or red, and the latter ones represented the Masters that Franklin had registered before this incident began. Though the blue markers vastly outnumbered the red, most of them were concentrated in the central arena. The blue and red in the rest of the city were about equal in number, but there was something to keep in mind...
“Not even half of the blue Masters outside the arena can fight properly,” said Franklin. “Most of them are either non-battle jobs who weren’t interested in the duel or third-rates who couldn’t get a hold of a ticket for it.”
Due to that, the blue markers tended to disappear soon after they encountered red ones.
The traitors besides the ones at the central plaza had been given the same devices as the ones held by Franklin and Elizabeth, which allowed them to seek out the blue markers, the kingdom’s Masters, and kill them. The only real exception was when the outpouring of blue markers from the central arena had quickly made the red markers in the central plaza disappear.
Still, that wasn’t unexpected, for the traitors positioned there had been among the weakest. The traitors tasked with doing a search-and-destroy in the city were significantly stronger, so they had little trouble taking care of non-battle jobs and third-rates.
“Though it’s not like there aren’t any tough cookies among those who didn’t go see the event,” Franklin commented.
A few red markers surrounding a certain blue one were disappearing.
He muttered, “I prepared this map to make it easier for me to find these ‘exceptions.’”
The device he was holding vibrated as a voice came out of it. “H-Help, Franklin! It’s the sixth in the duel rankings! The ‘Kamen Rider’ is...”
“RIIISEEEERRRRR KIIIICK!” That voice was followed by the sound of a fierce explosion, after which, there was nothing but noise.
Franklin pressed something, ending the connection. “The sixth, huh? Guess it’s safe to expect more like him. Well, at least ‘they’ will have something to do,” he grinned as he spoke to the device. “Club. Move to C3.”
Elizabeth didn’t know what he meant by that.
However, a short while later, she heard a loud impact coming from somewhere in the city. Looking back at the map, she noticed that the blue marker that’d seemingly defeated Franklin’s people had disappeared. In its place, there was red club-like marker.
“Club?” she asked. That was one of the playing card suits. Playing cards were a popular diversion even in Infinite Dendrogram, and casino games such as poker and blackjack were well-known pastimes. That was why Elizabeth instantly knew that she was looking at the symbol for the club suit.
“Oh, that’s a special marker,” Franklin explained. “The other reds were hired only recently, while these markers were my people from the start.”
She fell silent. Looking down, she noticed that there were a total of three such markers.
The first was a club. It moved around here and there, causing any nearby blue markers — including the “exceptions” that could kill red markers — to vanish.
The second was a heart. It was merely standing still near Gideon’s western gate. However, any blue markers that came close to it were vanishing without exception.
The third was a diamond. It was slowly making its way towards the west, and a short evaluation of the surroundings and its position on the map made it obvious that it was Franklin.
Elizabeth was now aware that Gideon had three entities far more dreadful than any monster or traitor.
Club, heart and diamond, she thought, making a certain question come to mind. Where is the spade...?
The spade suit carried the meaning of “sword” or “death,” making it the most ominous of the four, and for reasons unknown, it was nowhere on the map.
“Are you curious about the spade?” asked Franklin, as if he’d just read her mind. “It won’t show on this map. It’s for Plan D, anyway, so don’t expect it to be used.”
“Plan D?” she repeated.
“Yes. That’s what you’d call it if the current one is ‘Plan A.’ And I have no intention to fail with this one.” Franklin made Night Lounge change direction a bit.
Wondering why he’d done that, Elizabeth looked down on the map and saw two blue markers near the diamond, making it clear that it was to avoid them.
“So this map is also meant to prevent you from meeting Masters?” she asked.
“Why, yes,” he answered. “I happen to be a weakling, so I’d like to avoid having to fight by myself.”
Despite saying that, Franklin seemed quite confident that no one below could see through Night Lounge’s concealment ability.
“Though I avoid unnecessary battles, if I were to fight, those who could break through all the monsters at my disposal and land a finishing blow on me would only be my fellow Superiors,” he chuckled as he looked down on the map again.
Gideon was still in chaos as the diamond marker representing him casually moved over an empty area.
All was good.
At least, until a blue marker appeared right behind the diamond.
Surprised, Franklin tried to turn around, but before he could even move his neck, he felt his carotid artery get severed. That attack was followed by a barrage of bullet creatures, which sank into his body and exploded, causing great damage.
It didn’t end there, for the attack extended to the Night Lounge, causing its back to burst in places too many to count. Unable to bear it, the monster began losing altitude and descended to the city beneath.
Surrounded by bewildering chaos, Franklin looked around and saw an entity shrouded in a black mist scoop up Elizabeth — who’d fainted due to shock caused by the explosions — and jump down. The misty being wasn’t unknown to him.
...Oh, yeah, he thought. Can’t believe I forgot about the Master who killed a Superior despite not being one.
Upon remembering the player killer known as the “Superior Killer,” Franklin held on for dear life as his Night Lounge crashed into the streets of Gideon.
“You guess correctly,” the man replied, not with a voice, but with sound. The creatures’ music itself gained word-like meaning and reached her ears.
“May I have your name?” she asked.
“The club on the board,” he replied. “King of Orchestras, Veldorbell.”
“I see.”
“Club” was the title Franklin had given to one of his confidants here in Gideon. Unlike the traitors, whom Franklin had picked up here in the kingdom, the club was an actual member of the Triangle of Wisdom. And King of Orchestras was a Superior Job, just like Marie’s Death Shadow.
He must be quite strong, she thought, assuming that his Embryo was Legion, like hers. She realized that trying to avoid him and going after Franklin wasn’t an option.
Even if I do somehow get to Franklin, I’d just end up being flanked between him and this fellow, and that’s certainly not something I can handle... Man, he’s such a nuisance.
She heaved a long sigh and brandished her weapon, Arc-en-Ciel. “You’re in the way, so just die already.”
“Why the rush, sweet listener? Take the time to listen to the song. It’s your requiem, after all.”
After Veldorbell raised his baton, the surroundings became overwhelmed by a wild exchange of explosive and crashing sounds.
And so began one of that evening’s intense duels — Death Shadow, Marie Adler VS King of Orchestras, Veldorbell.
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