Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 9 - Chapter 5

Chapter Five: His Reason 
About the imperium 
Seven months ago in Infinite Dendrogram time, the Dryfe Imperium had waged war on the Kingdom of Altar. 
There were three reasons why they had done so: one of them was “hunger,” and the other was “the risk of an invasion.” 
The hunger was caused by the loss of fertile land. 
A few years before Masters started growing in number, Dryfe’s cultivated territory began to wither. Being a northern country, it was never suited for farming, but things had only gotten worse since then. 
The cause was unknown, and no amount of fertilizer research could reverse the problem. Eventually, about a third of Dryfe’s total area became unable to sprout even potatoes. 
This famine continued to spread throughout the land, and it didn’t take long until the imperium was no longer a self-sustaining nation. 
For a while, it could survive on imports from Altar and Caldina, but soon after Masters began growing in number, for reasons unknown, Caldina set a limit on their food exports to the imperium. 
Many Dryfean diplomats were sent to negotiate a reversal of this policy, but Caldina wouldn’t budge, no matter what. 
The desert country was well-known for being a nation that made a profit as a trade intermediary selling goods from one country to another, and yet it suddenly stopped doing that with Dryfe, taking on a “Want it? Come and get it” approach. 
The imperium didn’t have the know-how needed to cross the perilous desert while transporting enough food to feed the population, so they had no choice but to give up on food from Caldina. 
Some Dryfeans started dying of hunger, but the country could still survive on imports from Altar. 
But then, soon after the new imperator was chosen, there was cross-national discussion in which the alliance between the two countries was canceled, ending the flow of food from the kingdom. 
It was only a matter of time until the imperium had a massive famine on its hands. 
The second reason, risk of an invasion, was also linked to Caldina. 
The country was starting to show signs that it was preparing to attack one of its neighbors. 
Following the increase in the number of Masters, Caldina began acting strange. Importing goods from the other countries while refusing to export certain things could be seen as a preparation for war. 
Caldina was the richest of the seven great countries, so it could focus on imports for several decades and not endanger its financial situation one bit. 
Additionally, they wanted to keep the items that would attract Masters to them. 
Masters, particularly those powerful enough to cross the deserts, had a tendency to gather in Caldina because their markets had unique items from every country. 
So one of the reasons why they stopped exporting such products was to keep the Masters who wanted them from leaving Caldina. 
Upon realizing this, the imperium stopped exporting their machinery to them, but that didn’t stop smuggling and the black markets. 
Over the course of just a few years, Caldina had gathered massive amounts of goods and vast numbers of Masters. It was blatant preparation for war, and Dryfe couldn’t understand why a country that had done nothing but trade until now was suddenly making such a drastic switch. 
Many thought they saw the sudden increase in Masters as an opportunity, but that wasn’t certain. 
Whatever the case, Caldina was now the most dangerous neighbor to them, so thinking about the reasons for that was pointless. 
As things were, Caldina was going to invade another country as soon as they were ready. It could be the Kingdom of Altar, Legendaria, the Huang He Empire, or the Dryfe Imperium, and Dryfean leadership guessed that it would be them. 
After all, they had been the very first to have their imports from Caldina cut. 
Though weakened due to the famines, the imperium still had the best technology out of all the countries, so it wasn’t hard to believe Caldina would come for them to gain an advantage. Dryfe had no choice but to protect themselves. 
Their first plan against that was a marriage between the next imperator and the kingdom’s first princess, followed by a transformation that would turn Dryfe and Altar into a united kingdom. 
It was a three-decade-old secret agreement that would both fix the imperium’s famine and give them a chance against Caldina. It seemed like an action above all others. 
However, as mentioned before, the cross-national talks following the new imperator’s ascent had resulted in the complete opposite of a union — the end of their alliance. The imperium was left to face Caldina’s incoming invasion all by themselves. 
With all the Superiors and other powerful Masters that desert country had, the imperium stood no chance against them. 
Thanks to the recent imperator accession civil war, Dryfe knew just how powerful Masters were — especially their own King of Beasts. 
Thus, the Dryfean leadership unanimously agreed that the result of the war would be decided by the number of Masters on their side. 
Although Dryfe had the KoB — the strongest in the three western countries — Caldina had the most powerful wide-scale exterminator, The Earth. 
Even if you assumed they were equal, there was no chance that Dryfe’s Hell General and other Masters could defeat Caldina’s other Superiors. Everyone knew that war with Caldina would mean certain defeat for the imperium. 
To avoid that, Dryfe had no choice but to gather enough power to make Caldina think twice before attacking them, then give them an obvious display of this power. 
Basically, they had to gather war potential, show it, and fix their food shortages. 
As it happened, right to the south of them, they had the perfect country for this: the Kingdom of Altar. 
It was a fertile land that had recently had its forces devastated by the SUBM known as “Tri-Zenith Dragon, Gloria,” making it a perfect target. 
Also, many people in the imperium were upset at how Altar had ended the alliance and even cut off their food exports to Dryfe. 
And they’d ended the alliance despite Dryfe sending out — and losing — reinforcements during the Gloria incident. 
Unbeknownst to many, for details which won’t be named here, the imperator was half of the reason why the alliance was broken. But with the state the imperium was in, that mattered little to the people. In fact, from Dryfe’s perspective, they’d only tried to go through with what was planned long ago. 
Anyway, the first war began. 
Though the imperium had little food, it still had a decent amount of wealth. It spent a great amount of that to hire many country-less Masters, and went on to invade the kingdom. 
It was easy for them to pick an invasion route, as one of the Altarian territories bordering Dryfe had its entire population wiped out by Gloria. 
This route was picked by Field Marshal Gifted Barbaros, and his reason was, “There aren’t any defenses or villages there. That makes it easy to fight.” 
That also meant that they wouldn’t conquer any towns or villages on the way through there. 
Side note: the other proposed invasion route was through the Quartierlatin County, which was the territory bordering the military base in the Barbaros County. 
The battles began, the countries fought, and the first war reached its conclusion. 
Altar lost major figures such as the king, the Celestial Knight, and the Arch Sage, while its knights and soldiers suffered major casualties. 
Dryfe, on the other hand, conquered the unpopulated land they’d invaded through, giving them a bit of fertile land and improving their food situation. 
However, not everything went as planned. 
Near the end of the war, Caldina invaded Dryfe in order to divert them. 
The imperium had to recall their forces, including the King of Beasts, making it impossible to complete their original plan and conquer the capital. 
Caldina’s intervention came at such a precise time that they delivered a critical hit to Dryfe’s plans. 
Naturally, Dryfe’s leadership was bitter about this. The unpopulated area wasn’t enough to cover the imperium’s food needs, and their unfinished invasion of Altar gave them new openings for Caldina to take advantage of. 
Caldina could easily approach the kingdom with an alliance offer and say, “Let us join hands and fight the imperium. You will get your lands back, while we will take Dryfe and their technology.” 
If this had been any other country, Altar would assume that the new, expanded Caldina would go on to invade them afterwards and strongly refuse the offer, but the kingdom was in such a dire situation that it didn’t seem unlikely for them to accept. 
The war that was supposed to be the key to solve all of Dryfe’s problems had led to them fighting a battle on two fronts. 
Though it was their decision to invade the kingdom, you could say it was Caldina that had forced them to take that action. 
The one sitting at the top of their congress was often described as a “monstrous anomaly,” while the Caldinian Superior, the King of Toys — named simply “Grandmaster” — had the nickname “Lord of the Boards” for a reason. It wouldn’t have been strange for that Master to have predicted this future and manipulated them into doing what they did. 
It was likely that Caldina would soon take advantage of the situation and, as previously mentioned, cooperate with the kingdom or use their wealth to start directly hiring Masters. 
To quickly do away with these possibilities, Dryfe had no choice but to merge with the kingdom as quickly as possible. 
However, their opinions clashed when it came to the method. 
The prime minister faction was worried about the situation of their treasury and general logistics, so they proposed that they shouldn’t move the army or negotiate with Altar, and instead did some small-scale operations that would have the same effect. 
That included Franklin’s Game, assassination plots, and plans to persuade certain Altarian nobles. 
The field marshal faction, on the other hand, insisted they should resume the invasion to the capital from the currently occupied lands. 
The main reason for this was time. It was clear that Caldina would make a move soon. The prime minister faction’s proposal would take time and give too many openings for Caldina. 
Therefore, the field marshal claimed it would be best to simply gather the Masters again and quickly take the capital, this time making sure to leave some Superiors at home for defense. 
It would also make for a better situation further down the line, since union through the prime minister’s method could split Altar into two factions: those who accepted it and those who were hostile to it. That would throw the entire area into chaos full of guerrilla warfare. 
The imperator made the final call, settling this argument by saying that they would prepare for the second invasion while trying to further the prime minister faction’s plots. 
Dryfe had always had two routes to annex the kingdom. 
And even though the prime minister faction’s plot to break the kingdom’s spirit had failed, the imperium’s army was still preparing for the second invasion. 
The ruins were found when there was only a month left until those plans were ready. 
 
Ruins 
Shortly after the Hell General began his invasion... 
While the devils were invading the town, Gifted Barbaros was halfway up the mountain with the ruins. There were no enemies nearby, and he was protected by only one marionette. 
He could see all of Quartierlatin from where he was standing. 
The morning sun still hadn’t risen above the eastern mountain range, yet the town was bright. After all — it was burning. 
Smoke rose up to the air from the chaotic townscape as the devils attacked the people. 
The field marshal watched in silence. He had more or less expected this. 
He’d known Logan long enough to know full well that the man didn’t see tians as people. That was probably the reason why he’d told Nobrome that they only shared a method, not a faction. 
While the field marshal’s proposed invasion was for the sake of the imperium, Logan had only gotten in on it because it would be a chance for him to shine. No other reason. 
Despite it all, the man was no doubt a valuable asset to the imperium, and besides that, he obediently completed any quests given to him. 
The field marshal believed it was because of his actual age. 
Though Logan had never revealed it himself, Gifted had seen enough people to make an educated guess that he was actually a young boy no older than ten. 
“I expected as much...” Gifted sighed. 
The Hell General was a valuable asset to the imperium, but to its enemies, such as the kingdom, he was nothing but a calamity. 
Quartierlatin was burning right now. That was obviously Logan’s doing, but he wasn’t the only one at fault — the prime minister had requested it, and Gifted had approved it. 
In other words, the man who had originally been a child of Quartierlatin was now a foreign soldier responsible for the town burning. 
Emilio Quartierlatin knew everything about his origin. The previous head of the Barbaros family, his adoptive father, had told him about it soon after he turned ten. 
It had happened on the evening before he’d gone out on his first mission. 
In the end, his father had told him that, if he so wished, he could return where he belonged. 
However, he had chosen to stay in Barbaros family and continue to live a soldier. 
Although he’d been basically kidnapped, they’d raised him well, and perhaps he felt indebted to them. Or perhaps what kept him there was his relationship with the girl who, at least according to his family tree, would be his niece-in-law. The daughter of Ronaldo, the one who’d died saving him. 
Regardless, the most important reason was surely the fact that he’d grown up surrounded by love. 
Thanks to his history and power he’d ended up with, his life was full of strict training. Even so, he could tell that the love he was provided was real. Both his adoptive mother and Ronaldo’s widow treated him like their own son. 
He felt like he hadn’t repaid them for that, so he chose to stay in the imperium. 
Since then, he’d lived twenty years as a Dryfean soldier. 
Over that time, he’d become part of the SMTF and gained a Superior Job. 
He’d investigated the history of his origin, Edelvalsa, and gone on to become an archeologist. 
He’d met and become friends with his adoptive sister’s and the third imperial prince’s child, the one who was now the imperator. 
He’d married his childhood friend and become a father. 
He’d fought alongside the current imperator and defeated imperial family members and nobles loyal to the old regime, drastically changing Dryfe. 
After his foster father’s death, he’d inherited his land and become head of the Barbaros family. 
And, by the request of the current imperator, he’d become the field marshal. 
He had countless bonds and responsibilities here. It was safe to say that, at this point, he was far more “Gifted Barbaros” than “Emilio Quartierlatin.” 
He continued to silently watch the burning town, and he would’ve been lying if he’d said he didn’t feel any regret. 
He’d only lived here as a baby, and the town had changed too much for him to recognize the townscape. Even so, sacrificing Quartierlatin made him regretful. 
He’d come here of his own free will. Prime Minister Vigoma had told him about the ruins and the potential technology in Quartierlatin, and once he’d found out, he was compelled to go. 
He was SMTF and a scholar. Those reasons were good enough, but in reality, something deep inside had ordered him to go. 
Wanting to find reasons to prevent any sort of action on Quartierlatin, he had infiltrated the town and started investigating. 
Pre-ancient civilization ruins could have superweapons such as Prism Dragons or the Imperstand, the very symbol of Dryfe. However, if there was nothing of note there, there would be no reason to attack. If there was nothing, Dryfe would have no business with Quartierlatin. 
He was the only one capable of conducting such investigations and making the decision to call off the operation. 
He’d spent his entire time in Quartierlatin hoping that there was no superweapon. If it had been nothing but a Prism Soldier factory, he could’ve found a reason to leave it alone. 
Unfortunately, his investigation had made it evident that the ruins contained a weapon of the highest tier. 

It was simply too powerful to ignore. Were it to end up in the kingdom’s hands, the kingdom would become too powerful for Dryfe to annex it, and the imperium would soon fall to Caldina. 
He couldn’t accept such an outcome, no matter what. 
He had to either capture or destroy the superweapon. 
The field marshal had already resolved to sell his soul to the devil to prevent Dryfe’s demise. 
Thus, he hadn’t faked the results of his investigation. And, just as planned, he’d started the mission to either capture or destroy the superweapon. 
“Looks like the Countess’ mansion is still unharmed...” he murmured. 
Yesterday, soon after he’d resolved to start the mission, he’d gone around placing jammers. While doing so, he’d passed the Quartierlatin mansion. 
It was the home of his biological parents, and he couldn’t recognize any of it. 
It did shake his resolve a bit... but not enough to make him reconsider. 
The taste of the cookie given to him by Ray, made by his real mother, was the same in that regard. He had vague memories of it and could faintly remember wanting to try it at some point. 
There was a promise somewhere in there, too. 
Once he’d tasted the cookie, he’d been struck by a surge of images and inexpressible nostalgia. 
Even so, he had already decided. 
There was hesitation, sure. It was a heavy choice to make, and it seemed to gnaw at his heart. 
Even so, he didn’t change what he had to protect. 
Thus, he was choosing to harm his birthplace to keep his country, family, and friends safe. 
He started by having his one thousand marionettes make a move. 
“Ruin invasion, phase 2: Exterminate all Altarian forces within. Additionally... prepare for phase 3. Faldreed, standby.” 
Following his words, the metallic marionette next to him stood up, shining with a scarlet color. 
 
While Ray was facing Logan Goddhart, there was a vicious three-way battle within the ruins. 
The kingdom’s Masters tried to stop the factory. 
The Prism Soldiers tried to protect it. 
And the imperium, meaning Edelvalsa’s marionettes, moved to capture the superweapon. 
The kingdom’s Masters were at the greatest disadvantage. They had the most powerful individual units, but their position was awful. Prism Soldiers flooded from the deepest parts of the ruins, while wooden marionettes charged from the entrance. 
The Prism Soldiers showered the Masters in lasers and gunfire, while the marionettes barraged them with bullets from Dryfean standard Assault Rifles. 
Altar’s Masters were holding them at bay with defensive magic and barricades from Embryo skills, but this wouldn’t last. 
“Shit! Where’re the damn reinforcements?!” Having to go completely on the defensive made one of the Masters frustrated. 
Suddenly, one of them who’d logged off suddenly came back. With a pale face, he said what he’d seen in real life. “It ain’t good... I read online that Quartierlatin is being attacked by Hell General.” 
“Huh?! The Superior?!” 
The comms had failed, so they hadn’t known the situation on the surface. Needless to say, this news came as a shock. 
“What do we do?” one of them asked frantically. “Go back?” 
“I don’t think we can... The marionettes have weirdly good cooperation. Making it past them won’t be easy. And we’d have to turn our backs to the Prism Soldiers.” 
“Then everyone who’s got some one-shot ultimate skills should... Wait, what’s with this smoke?” 
As they talked, they noticed colored smoke coming from the entrance. 
Since many of them had lowered themselves to hide behind barricades, some ended up breathing it in, and those who did instantly lost consciousness. 
The people in their parties looked at the stat summaries and saw the “Forced Sleep” debuff on them. 
“Sleeping gas...!” 
Filling a closed space with gas was an effective strategy, especially when the gas used only had an effect on the opposing side. Sleeping gas only worked on animals, so the marionettes were unaffected. 
At the entrance, there was a gas cylinder about as big as a drum. It was connected to several marionettes, who were pumping their contents inside. 
Just like High-Frequency Knives and Assault Rifles, this was another weapon the field marshal had brought to occupy the ruins. 
Except for those whose equipment gave them resistance against Sleep or those who drank Elixirs in time, everyone fell asleep. 
Those who were still awake now had to take care of those who weren’t while fending off attacks from both sides. 
“Tch! We’re already low on numbers, damn it!” 
“Hold on! Something smells weird!” 
As the sleeping gas began to fade, another gas began being pumped inside. 
Again, gas was extremely effective in closed spaces. 
Especially flammable ones. 
This second gas burn very easily. 
As it flowed deeper inside, it was shot by a stray beam from a Zircon Laser, causing a massive explosion. 
In an enclosed space like this one, there was no escape from this immense power. Compressed in a tight, tunnel-like space, the explosion became a wave that quickly flowed to and overwhelmed both sides. 
It quickly wiped out all the Masters who were still breathing and pulverized the Prism Soldiers defending the factory. 
The marionettes had only lost the few that were set there to keep those inside from escaping. 
“Check complete. Moving on to phase 3,” the field marshal muttered. He’d watched the entire scene through the eyes of the marionettes. 
With no more Altarian Masters there, he sent more reinforcements inside. 
The marionette platoon ran through the hallway, rendered empty by the gas explosion. 
Though most of them were wooden, the one at the front wasn’t. 
That one was made of a scarlet, Mythical metal called Hihi’irokane. 
Just as the name “Mythical” implied, you could use these metals to create things on the same level as Mythical special rewards, except without the unique skills. 
However, it was so difficult to work with that even in the country with the most advanced smithing, Tenchi, you could count those who could turn it into weapons on one hand. Additionally, it was so precious that a single kilogram could cost as much as 10,000,000 lir. 
And yet here, you had a human-sized marionette made of this super tough, super luxurious Hihi’irokane. 
Needless to say, that was accomplished through the field marshal’s Mythical special reward of Unguided Gaze, Edelvalsa. 
He’d used one of its skills, Marionette Soldier Creation, to gradually forge a marionette out of Hihi’irokane. 
The toughness of Edelvalsa’s marionettes was based on the material used, making this one into his strongest one by far. 
The scarlet marionette’s name was Faldreed. This was to honor the Sacred Blazer who’d saved young Emilio alongside Ronaldo Barbaros, giving that name to his strongest marionette. 
Unlike the basic, throwaway ones, this marionette was a treasure that he had on him all the time and trusted immensely. 
Many Prism Soldiers stood in the marionettes’ way, but no matter how much gunfire or lasers hit him, Faldreed wasn’t even scratched. He went on to make short work of them with the super-tough blade fixed to his right arm. 
Faldreed had similar qualities to END-focused Superior Jobs, and with the fire support from the other marionettes, these Prism Soldiers weren’t even an enemy. 
This was going about as the field marshal had expected. While Masters could have countless trump cards they could use to give him lots of trouble in a head-on fight — perhaps even destroying Faldreed — Prism Soldiers were limited to a standard, set power. 
He was certain Faldreed wouldn’t be harmed, no matter how many of them attacked him. 
“So far, so good...” he murmured. 
There were only three things to worry about now. 
First was the defense system set in place to protect the superweapon, Acra-Vesta. 
Second was the Acra-Vesta itself. 
And the third was... 
“There you are...” Ahead, the field marshal saw seven men. 
They all had the same face. In fact, the only differences they had were the weapons they wielded. 
They were all The Lynx, Tom Cat. 
The ones obstructing his path were the clones Tom Cat was making using his ultimate skill. 
Tom Cat was the reigning champion of the kingdom’s duel rankings, so the field marshal knew his power well. 
Thus, he’d expected him to notice his marionettes and turn around to fight, or leave his clones here to fight. 
However, there was one thing he hadn’t expected. 
“Seven? Here?” 
Tom Cat was Altarian, so his goal here was to stop the Prism Soldier factory and secure the superweapon. Therefore, it was logical to focus on securing the heart of the ruins. 
The field marshal had only expected him to leave only about two here and take six with him. And yet, he’d gone ahead all alone, leaving the rest here. 
It felt as though he was more focused on not letting anyone go after him than he was on conquering the ruins. 
“Strange...” he murmured. “But his reasons are secondary now.” 
The seven Tom Cats were already making a move. All of them had stats equal to that of an AGI-focused Superior Jobs. They were difficult opponents even if the marionettes had the numbers. 
“Looks like I have no choice.” 
He made his toughest, Faldreed, charge ahead, then had the hundred-plus other marionettes support him with gunfire. 
The action the Tom Cats took, on the other hand, was really simple. 
They just made a line. The seven Tom Cats lined up and charged into the firing line. 
Naturally, the first one was turned into swiss cheese. He tried to block the bullets with his weapon, but it did little against the bulletstorm. 
Still, his body became a shield that helped the others press on. 
After the first reached his limit, turned into a cat, meowed, and vanished, the second one took his place. 
As he began battling Faldreed, the third one broke out of the line and used his body to momentarily seal Faldreed’s movements. 
The third was quickly turned into swiss cheese, then cut in half by Faldreed, causing him to disappear, but the line then passed the metallic marionette. 
With two meat shields gone, the rest of the four dived into the marionette army behind Faldreed. 
No — not four. Before the field marshal could realize it, there were seven Tom Cats again. 
“I see how you work...” Gifted quickly understood what Tom Cat was doing. 
Tom Cat wasn’t just charging at the marionettes as just “seven AGI-focused Superior Jobs.” He was going at them head-on as inexhaustible cannon fodder. 
“This is why Masters are outside common sense,” he muttered. 
Tom Cat’s fighting style was unusual, as well. Though he didn’t hesitate to let his clones die, he always kept two at a safe distance. 
That allowed him to multiply again and continue fighting even if all the others were destroyed. 
Tom Cat’s goal was to keep the marionettes away, and he fought carefully, preventing himself from being wiped out. Gifted could easily understand that he wouldn’t let them pass, and he also felt as though he knew Edelvalsa’s fighting style. 
The field marshal continued sending new marionettes to the scene, creating more to replace those lost. Gifted had to watch his MP, but at this rate, he could continue sending marionettes as long as there were trees on the mountain. 
As though aware of that, Tom Cat fought while protecting the pace of their multiplication. 
“He sure is troublesome...” Letting that bitter thought reach his marionettes, Gifted sent even more to the ruins. 
Thus, the field marshal began a battle of volume against Tom Cat. 
 
The last of the eight Tom Cats arrived at the deepest part of the ruins. 
There were no Prism Soldiers around him. All that separated him from the factory he was heading for was a single door. 
Expecting more Prism Soldiers behind the door, Tom Cat chuckled, for some reason. 
“I’m here, fighting Edelvalsa’s marionettes... ohhh, the twists and turns of faaate...” 
That was putting into words what he felt about the battle between the seven other Tom Cats and the field marshal’s army. 
Just like Gifted with his marionettes, Tom Cat was fully aware what the other Tom Cats were up to. He watched the battle through the seven’s visions. 
“Man... This place is just full of stuff I have close ties to,” he whispered. 
Those were words that no one but him could understand, but to him, they were just perfect. 
Once he was finished voicing his thoughts, Tom Cat opened the door leading to the heart of the ruins.