Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 4 - Chapter 4.5

Chapter Four-Point-Five: Setting 
Paladin, Ray Starling 
“Hh... What?!” 
As Rook, I, and the three newbie girls accompanying us followed the road leading towards Gideon’s western gate, we were overwhelmed by a destructive sound so great it made me want to shut my ears. It came from our left — the city’s ninth district. 
It was the same direction from which we’d heard a musical performance. 
I’d found it strange that someone would play music at a time like this, but the blast of sound that’d just reached us was definitely something more than that. 
What’s happening? I thought. 
“Is that where Franklin is?” I asked myself as I questioned whether we should continue going to the western gate or change directions to the ninth district. 
“Apparently, he isn’t among the ones fighting there,” said Rook before I began to ponder. 
It wouldn’t have been unlike him to notice something I didn’t, but I found it strange that he’d used the word “apparently.” 
“Oh, that isn’t my assumption,” he added. “I got this info from her.” Saying that, Rook looked at one of the three girls accompanying us. 
On a slightly unrelated note, while I was on Silver and Rook was riding Marilyn, the three girls were saddled on fluffy, ostrich-like birds called “Landwings” — the easiest-to-get ridable monsters, apparently. 
Anyway, the girl Rook looked at was holding a tray-like disk in her hands as she presented it to us. It displayed a map of the area from Gideon’s central arena to the western gate, with Roman numerals between I and VII littered all over it. 
“What’s this, uh...?” 
Oh, yeah, I haven’t asked for their names yet, I realized. 
“M-My name is Kasumi...” she said meekly. “I-I’m a Summoner and th-this is my Embryo... Taijitu.” 
Taijitu... I thought, digesting that. A reference to the Investiture of the Gods, I guess. 
By the way, the other two girls were Io and Fujinon, a Barbarian Fighter and Mage, respectively. 
“My Taijitu shows, uh... the location of the Masters within the area and their Embryo forms...” Kasumi said, explaining her Embryo. “According to this... th-there are two Masters in the ninth district, but they’re both on their sixth forms... s-so I don’t think that they’re Franklin.” 
“...What a convenient Embryo,” I said. 
Looking at the tray-like disk, I could see a “VII” marker heading towards the western gate, and it was safe to assume that it was Franklin. Thanks to her, I didn’t even have to think about changing directions. 
“N-No, I-I just... umm... I-I couldn’t do anything in the p-plaza fight, so... I-I... I’m sorry...” 
“Why are you apologizing?” I asked. 
“‘Why,’ indeed.” Nemesis shared my sentiment. After all, Kasumi just helped us out a lot. 
“Uohh...” She hid her face as she moved to hide behind the other two girls. She was strangely good at handling the reins. 
“Sorry about that!” said Io. “Our girl Kasumi is the shy type, as you can see! Oh, but she’s the one who had the courage to tell us to come with you two! After all, we have some white-haired pretty boy and blond young man B-elRGHH!” Before Io could finish her sentence, Fujinon — the last of the three — cut it short with a backhand blow to her side. 
Eh? What was she about to say? 
“Sorry about this idiot,” said Fujinon. “Oh, we only accompanied you because we saw you fight in the plaza and became very interested.” 
“O-Okay?” I replied. 
I wasn’t too convinced, but the aura about Fujinon made me feel like pushing it further wouldn’t be the best idea. 
“You three seem to get along very well,” said Rook. “Have you known each other for long?” 
“Yes,” nodded Fujinon. “We’re all in the literary club in the same school.” 
Friends in real life, huh? I thought. No wonder they all act so familiar. 
“To my eye, the ones with the most familiarity are you and Brother Bear,” commented Nemesis. 
Well, we’ve been siblings for eighteen years now. ...Oh, but I guess that doesn’t mean much when it comes to my sister. She... She’s just so... 
“Ray! What’s wrong?!” Nemesis shouted into my head. 
Ah! Damn, my consciousness almost lapsed out of reality. 
“This has been bothering me for a while now... what is going on with your sister?” Nemesis asked. “Just like with the glasses, I can’t see any of your memories about her.” 
Please, don’t ask. Her very existence makes even less sense than Shu’s. She’s not even in the same genre as us. 
“Anyway, we can now go to the western gate without any hesitation,” I said. 
At the rate we were going, we’d be there in five or so minutes. However, though I didn’t say them out loud, I had two questions on my mind. Both of them were related to the map displayed by Taijitu. 
One was about the central arena, the place currently keeping many Masters inside. 
On the map, there were four “VII” markers, which pointed to Superiors. Two of them were most likely Figaro and Xunyu. Though Xunyu might not appear on the map because the barrier had been stopped right after she’d been defeated. 
With that in mind, though, who are the other two — or three — Superiors? 
The other question was about the surroundings of the western gate, the place we were heading to right now. 
According to Taijitu, there were several dozens of Masters there. They had a wide range of Embryo forms, from II to VI. I assumed that a Master with a radar-type Embryo like Taijitu had found out where Franklin was heading and gathered a group with the intention of fighting him at the western gate. 
That was very good for our confidence. After all, we needed to stop Franklin, but were severely lacking in numbers. 
However, that sentiment of mine almost entirely vanished when I noticed that they weren’t moving at all. 
Taijitu was like an active radar, but the Masters at the western gate were still, as though it was just a picture. 
There was only one exception, for the one closest to the gate, marked as “III.” It was making slight movements. 
For reasons unknown, that marker was making me feel somewhat uneasy. 
 
Duel city Gideon, the surroundings of the western gate 
It happened a few minutes before Ray got a look at Taijitu. 
Approximately twenty of the kingdom’s Masters had just arrived at the western gate. 
All of them were Masters who hadn’t been in the arena when it had gotten sealed, and who had happened to not encounter Veldorbell after it all began. 
“This is the place, right?” one of them asked. 
“Yeah. It’s pretty clear that Franklin’s planning to escape through here.” 
Using their job or Embryo skills to predict where Franklin was heading, they gathered at the western gate with the intention of ambushing him here. 
Their predictions and decisions were correct, for Franklin was about five minutes away. 
They were about to prepare themselves for his arrival, but... 
“...What’s that?” They encountered a strange sign. It was placed in the middle of the road in a really unnatural manner. 
The words on it were in the continent’s common language, and to Masters — who were equipped with auto translation — it said this: 
No Master shall pass beyond this point. 
“Isn’t that a reference?” one of them asked, examining it. “What the hell is thi—” 
“Wait! There’s something over there!” One of the Masters pointed beyond the sign. 
There was a large silhouette, standing before the gate as if to prevent anyone passing. It belonged to a Marshall II — no, a Marshall II Revised. It was a humanoid mobile weapon created by the Triangle of Wisdom and fine-tuned for use by a specific individual. 
“That’s a Magingear from Dryfe, all right, but it’s a bit different than their official ones or the ones leaked to Caldina,” the other Master agreed. “We might be looking at one of the Triangle’s bigger members. At the very least, he’s not like the player killers messing up the city.” 
“He’s probably been put there to make sure that Franklin goes by safely.” 
“The mech has higher stats than the average Marshall II, but it’s still just a bit over two times stronger than a Demi-Dragon, at best.” 
“Then I guess he won’t be much of a problem for us.” 
The Masters gauged the machine’s battle potential using Reveal and Identification. That method wasn’t without its faults. After all, these skills couldn’t see the stats or skills of the Marshall II R’s pilot. However, it was clear that the Masters surpassed him and his machine in terms of both numbers and experience. 
“There are way more of us,” one of them said. “We won’t lose even if he uses his Embryo.” 
“HA HA! Let’s get to the gate and wait for Franklin! Can’t wait to see his face when we ambush him!” 
“‘No Master shall pass beyond this point...’ Heh. As if.” 
Thus, the Masters passed the sign and charged towards the Marshall II R. As though he’d been waiting for it, the robot’s pilot spoke up. 
“Cyco... ‘La Porte de l’Enfer.’” 
“Roger.” 
In but an instant, the Marshall II R donned frozen armor as the surroundings underwent a drastic change. Everything within a radius of 200 metels — from the sign to the gate — froze solid. Naturally, the Masters were no exception. 
“La Porte de l’Enfer — the enemy dies,” spoke a feminine voice coming from the frost-clad machine. 
Her words were mistaken, for no one there had died. They were simply Frozen. 
“Eh? Huh? All of them? What?” a Master cried. 
“...It’s an Embryo skill!” another one shouted. 
Those two didn’t have a bit of ice on them. 
“Less than 100, I see,” said the pilot. “They won’t be much trouble, though.” 
Thirteen seconds later, the lower half of one of the remaining two Masters suddenly Froze. 
“What the hell is this?!” he shouted. 
“Hey, are you okay?!” The other remained unfrozen. 
“His number is low,” said the girl’s voice. “He’s probably a support job.” 
“A Priest or something, huh?” spoke the pilot. “Very well, then.” Suddenly, the machine aimed the weapon in its left hand — LRW03 Huge Grenade Launcher — towards the two and fired several times. 
With a strong impact, the grenades exploded and covered the surroundings in fire. 
By the time the smoke faded, the two had already gotten the death penalty and were no longer in sight. Not only that, but the frozen statues that were caught up in the explosion had shattered and were turning into particles of light. 
Some of the statues that hadn’t been caught up in it also turned into particles. They had used the suicide feature to forcefully give themselves a death penalty. They’d probably wished to avoid becoming the enemy’s XP or having him Steal something while they were Frozen. 
The pilot had no intention of breaking them or taking their items, but they had no way of knowing that. 
The pilot in the cockpit sighed. What had just happened was more of a massacre than a battle, but the pilot had been more or less certain that it would be like this. That was the very reason why he was positioned here. 
The pilot and his Embryo were the natural enemies of anyone who had this city as their main haunt. 
“This frost is strong,” said someone standing at the sign. “But it won’t work on me.” 
The person — who hadn’t been in the previous group — was completely clad in flame, making his silhouette somewhat hard to discern. The man’s ruffled hair and burning body were well known to anyone familiar with Gideon. 

“An Embryo that grows in strength when you clear some complicated conditions, huh?” he said. “Well, my Surt is the strongest fire-based Embryo in the kingdom! No amount of cold can freeze it!” He was the seventh in the Kingdom of Altar’s duel rankings. His name was... 
“I am Bishmal the Raging Blaze! Just try and freeze this fire!” 
Like an erupting volcano, Bishmal made flames burst from all over his body as he charged towards the Marshall II R. A single look was enough to tell that the fire was immensely hot. 
Bishmal the Raging Blaze was said to have a punch that was more destructive than anything anyone else in the duel rankings could do. An attack empowered by his flame could easily melt the frozen armor, Marshall II R, and even the pilot. 
But alas... 
“You won’t pass.” 
...the man clad in the kingdom’s strongest fires was frozen solid. He was still aflame, despite this. The expression stuck on his face was an indomitable smile, showing no doubt that he was going to emerge victorious. 
“My La Porte de l’Enfer ignores temperature,” said the Marshall II R’s frozen armor — the Embryo known as Cyco. 
Surrounded by frozen statues, the pilot, Hugo Lesseps, shook his head. “Gideon’s Masters are tough. They’re all veterans far stronger than me and with far more experience in battle against people. And that’s exactly why they can never win against me.” 
Indeed, the one sealing the western gate was none other than Hugo Lesseps — the very same Master that had helped Ray with the Gouz-Maise Gang. 
He was now on the board of Franklin’s game, acting under the codename “heart.” 
 
As the battle between Marie Adler and Veldorbell came to an end, Franklin and his kidnappee, Elizabeth, were making their way towards the western gate. 
Though Marie’s attack had put Night Lounge on the verge of death, it was still capable of flight, if only barely. Elizabeth, having lost consciousness, was sleeping on top of it. 
“...Looks like we’ve lost Veldorbell,” said Franklin as he examined the map on the device, which no longer had the club marker on it. 
The blue marker next to where it had disappeared was gone, as well, but Franklin couldn’t tell whether it was due to her dying or simply using a stealth skill like the one she’d used before she’d attacked him. 
“Hm...” Franklin clenched and opened his left hand. The action felt somewhat slow. 
“Paralysis poison, huh?” he said. “Must be pretty damn strong to have such an effect even after I used an Elixir.” 
Franklin assumed that the dagger that’d torn his neck had been a special reward focused on paralysis poisoning. He was correct, for Marie’s weapon had been Palsy Stingblade, Belspan: a dagger specializing in slow-acting paralysis. 
“But it’s not like it’d be much of a problem for me if I were unable to lift a finger,” he said. To his mind, the only trouble the Superior Killer had caused him was the damage to Night Lounge and the loss of Veldorbell. And when it came to the latter, Franklin didn’t believe that the King of Orchestras had gone down without a fight. 
“The Superior Killer probably doesn’t have the power to fight me anymore,” he muttered. “And I don’t think we’ll have any other exceptions of her level, so... I guess I only have to be wary of a potential one or two Superiors, and...” 
There were other exceptions, as well. Franklin already had the details regarding the battle at the central plaza, where the newbies had won against the traitors. 
While approaching the western gate, Franklin examined how things were going, and noticed that two of the newbies performed some grand feats that made them stand out from the rest. 
Naturally, by virtue of being newbies, they were weaker than the high-rank Masters around the city. However, Franklin was experienced enough to know that people like them should never be underestimated. Not to mention that he was already familiar with one of the two newbies. 
“If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have messed around with the dog ears, and would’ve just given him a healthy dose of instadeath poison,” Franklin muttered. 
He was referring to what he’d done the day before. If Franklin had killed Ray back then, there was a chance that he would’ve posted about it on the internet, which could’ve put a dent in his plot. Due to that, the scientist had opted to merely mess around with him while getting some information in the process, but that had come back to bite him. 
Things might’ve gone differently if I’d killed him then and there, he thought. For all I know, the Superior Killer wouldn’t have entered the fray if I had... but I guess I’m overthinking it. 
“First the Old Orchard, now this... The jackass just can’t stop getting in my way!” Franklin grumbled. “Well, not that it matters anymore.” He grinned. “I have the data, and RSK is complete. As things are, crushing him head-on should be quite satisfying, and a few cameras should make it even better.” 
Soon enough, the Night Lounge arrived at the western gate and crashed to the ground. Considering the wretched state it was in, this wasn’t unexpected. Unable to return to the Jewel, Night Lounge breathed its last as it became particles of light and vanished. 
“That thing cost me 70,000,000 lir... Oh well, I’ll just make the next one a bit tougher.” 
Franklin scooped up Elizabeth with his right hand, the one that wasn’t numb, and began walking towards the gate. In a moment, a sign saying “No Master shall pass beyond this point” entered his vision. 
“I think I remember this,” Franklin said. “It’s from a Japanese folk tale. One of those witty ones, I think. How nostalgic.” 
Franklin casually passed the sign and looked at the area around the gate. He saw a mechanical warrior, standing there like the guardian of the gates of Hell. 
That description couldn’t be more appropriate. After all, the frost permeating the area and the many frozen Masters littered all over the surroundings made the scene highly reminiscent of the Ninth Circle of Hell. 
“What a spectacle,” Franklin said as he walked through it, clearly amused. 
He showed no signs of getting frozen like the other Masters. 
In fact, he didn’t feel the least bit cold, and the same applied to the tian he was holding, Elizabeth. 
“Ah, hey, this is Bishmal. Guy’s seventh in the duel rankings,” Franklin said upon noticing a man frozen while adorned in raging flames. “Ice to meet you!” he said in a playful tone as he kicked the statue away. 
With no hint of resistance, Bishmal dropped to the ground, shattered, and turned into particles of light. 
Onlookers would question whether an act like this should be so simple and done so casually. 
“If you froze them, you might as well shatter them, you know?” Franklin said to the person inside Marshall II R, Hugo. 
“I didn’t want to waste my ammo, and moving in to crush them costs MP,” Hugo answered. “I have to save it so I can keep La Porte de l’Enfer up for longer, right?” 
Sounds like a waste of potential EXP to me, thought Franklin before speaking up again. 
“What’s the setting right now, anyway?” 
“We’re only targeting Masters that don’t belong to the Triangle of Wisdom,” Hugo answered. “Before these Masters came, the tians from the Royal Guard passed through. They’re waiting outside.” 
“Oh? The Royal Guard? They didn’t attack you?” 
“I’d already put the sign up at that point, so they knew that I had no intention of fighting non-Masters.” 
“That might’ve been for the best,” Franklin said. “Attacking tians outside of war gets you on wanted lists, after all... Which is exactly why it’s obvious that I’m already on Altar’s.” 
It was common knowledge that there were no crimes in disputes between Masters. Thus, a Master blocking the paths of or killing other Masters would not be considered a criminal. 
“Anyway, if the RG is waiting for me outside, they’re probably planning to face me in an open field battle,” said Franklin. “That’s their specialty.” 
“What will you do?” asked Hugo. 
“Take them on, duh. This country’s tians ain’t shit.” 
In the previous war, Dryfe had killed all the country’s tians with Superior Jobs. To his mind, mere high-ranks weren’t much of an obstacle. 
“Oh, by the way, once I pass, change the setting a bit,” Franklin said. 
“How?” 
“Let Ray Starling pass.” 
“...Ray Starling.” 
“Yes, Ray Starling. He’s blond, has dog ears... well, not anymore. Anyway, you know him well, Yu. Let him pass.” 
“...Why?” 
Before answering his question, Franklin made a sinister, devil-like smile. “Because I’m gonna smash the twerp myself, duh. He and I seem to be bound by some weird cosmic mojo, so I’ll crush him and sever the tie once and for all. I even prepared a special monster for it.” 
“W-Wait, y-you mean the MGD?!” Hugo spoke up with a voice thick with fear. 
It wasn’t without reason. After all, MGD was the biological weapon Franklin had made for the purpose of fighting Superiors. 
“Ha ha ha! Wouldn’t that be great? MGD could level the whole city... no — the whole country! Anyway, no, I’m using a different monster. MGD’s not finished yet!” Franklin laughed in an amused manner before continuing. “I’ll be bringing it out after we’re done with the kingdom, when we start warring with Caldina or Legendaria. Though, if this plan fails, we’ll be fighting the kingdom head-on, meaning that they’ll get a taste of MGD, too.” 
Hugo was silent. Franklin passed by the Marshall II R’s arm and lightly tapped its frozen armor with the back of his hand. “So yeah, let him go by if he comes.” 
“...Okay.” 
With that, their exchange was over and Franklin made his way towards the gate. 
However, Hugo turned back to look at him before speaking up. “S—” 
“Yu...” Franklin cut his words short. “In here, you’re supposed to call me ‘leader.’ Your tone’s falling back to old times. Don’t let it fall back to old times.” 
“...Yes, leader.” 
“So, what did you want?” 
“What do you intend to do to the Royal Guard?” 
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about that one, sweetheart.” With those words as his last, Franklin finally went through the gates. 
Hugo could do nothing but watch as he left. 
“Hoo boy,” said Franklin. 
Beyond the gates, there was the western field known as the “Jeand Grasslands,” and a group of knights surpassing fifty in number. 
“Another spectacle,” Franklin said. 
All of them were from the Kingdom of Altar’s Royal Guard, Paladins tasked with Elizabeth’s protection, and all of them showed immeasurable hostility towards Franklin. Standing in front of them was their Vice Commander, Liliana Grandria. 
“Franklin, I presume?” she said. 
“In the flesh, baby,” he replied. 
“We are taking Her Highness Elizabeth back.” 
“I’d rather you didn’t. Well, losing her wouldn’t actually be a big deal for me, but having her around certainly doesn’t hurt.” The grin Franklin made as he said that made the knights’ hatred for him all the more palpable. 
“Then we will take her by force.” 
“Hmm? You can attack me? I’m holding the princess, you know.” 
“Do not worry,” Liliana informed him. “We Royal Guard are bound by magic that prevents us from hurting our royalty. We will not get a single scratch on her.” 
“Oh? You have friendly fire disabled? No fair...” 
“However, the mere act of pointing my blade in Her Highness’s direction pains me greatly, so I would be thankful if you let her go.” 
“Ah ha ha! Yeah, nah.” Franklin stuck out his tongue. 
“Grand Cross!” 
A torrent of cross-shaped light burst out from the base of his feet. 
Grand Cross — a Paladin’s greatest skill — was an offensive ability that created a cross-like pillar of holy light, dealing some of the greatest damage available to high-rank jobs. It burst out of and burned Franklin’s left side, the one opposite where he was holding Elizabeth. 
The surprise attack almost caused him to fall, but he was able to balance himself. 
“Well, aren’t you rash,” he complained as he looked at his chest and saw a Lifesaving Brooch, the accessory nullifying fatal attacks. The attack had left it completely broken, meaning that all the monsters he’d used for Life Link were already dead. 
Though the power of the Grand Cross was nothing to sneer at, Franklin was made aware that the surprise attack from the Superior Killer had done more damage than he’d thought. 
“Gee whiz... this day certainly isn’t easy on my wallet,” he muttered as the Royal Guard all charged towards him. 
Even though he was a Superior, Franklin’s stats were low, and his HP wouldn’t last long against more than fifty battle-focused high-rank jobs. However... 
“Well, I’ve been given some good test subjects to prepare for when he comes, so I guess that makes up for it.” 
...that only applied in scenarios where Franklin didn’t do anything. 
“Call — RSK.” 
Thus, Franklin called upon that creature.