Chapitre 44: Chapter Five: Game, Set, Match
Chapter Five: Game, Set, Match
Jeand Grasslands
The battle in the Jeand Grasslands was approaching its end.
The army of over 55,000 monsters was already down to half of that number, and the many Masters on the scene, especially the King of Destruction, were quickly taking care of those still standing.
Franklin also didn't have any more of his unique monsters. The RSK had been felled by Ray Starling, while DGP and KOS had been destroyed by the man's brother.
The fights in the streets of Gideon were abating, as well.
The freed monsters and the traitors had been more or less exterminated, while the King of Orchestras, the second strongest imperium Master on the scene, had been given the death penalty.
The direction of the battle was fixed, and Franklin's defeat was now inevitable.
Normally, the surviving Dryfean forces would have ended the battle by retreating, but they displayed no intention of stopping. After all, the overwhelming majority of those remaining were monsters of the Suicide Series, an army of biological weapons whose cells practically screamed for them to charge and kill until death. They were the reason why the kingdom's Masters were still fighting and why the King of Destruction's Baldr continued its infernal artillery.
Even now, the Suicide Series — and chunks of the ground, along with them — were being scattered into the wind by the battleship's bombardment.
It was happening a short distance away from the kingdom's
Masters, and one of them was keenly observing the sight.
"Ray's brother's Embryo sure is something," muttered Rook to himself, feeling much like someone watching a firework show.
He wasn't alone in that. Just about every one of the low-rank Masters present on the battlefield was doing the exact same thing.
When the many high-rank Masters had escaped the barrier surrounding the central arena, the newbies had been told to stand back.
It wasn't because they would get in the way, but because the high-ranks had a consensus that the newbies had worked too hard to get the death penalty here.
Rook himself was unable to keep up with their speed without using Union Jack or Liz's protection, so he could only agree that he had no place on the front lines.
"High firepower artillery..." he muttered. "Honestly, I'm not sure if that fits him all that well..."
That sentiment aside, Rook was in absolute awe at Baldr's power, proficiency, and precision. It fired countless shots, yet none of them hit Ray as he made his way towards Pandemonium.
Despite being a newbie just like Rook, Ray was still out there fighting. He'd broken through the enemy lines and gone after the leader, Franklin.
Rook had seen Ray and Shu talk to each other. The two hadn't spoken aloud, and instead had used the Telepathy Cuffs Shu'd given Ray before he'd left the arena. Nevertheless, Rook had been able to correctly assume what they'd talked about.
Ray had said that he wanted to get to Franklin atop of Pandemonium. Shu had decided to help him.
By their own will, with no hesitation to speak of, they instantly set out to do what they had to do.
Rook found it nothing short of dazzling, and observed Baldr's artillery while basking in the aftertaste of the sentiment.
Suddenly, something caught his attention.
"Hm...?"
It was somewhere in the area ravaged by Baldr's attacks.
"That's..."
Surrounded by explosions and dust, there was a familiar silhouette.
It quickly disappeared beyond the veil. Rook could easily tell that it went towards Pandemonium and fully understood the reason why.
Rook heaved a sigh, understanding that this had happened because of his carelessness. Absentminded as she was, he'd left her all alone without any supervision. But at the same time...
"That's much better than merely hesitating..." he murmured to himself.
...he was a bit satisfied.
◇◆◇
"Ray Starling has arrived at the upper part of Pandemonium," Baldr reported to its Master.
"Right," Shu said as he swung his fist. It landed directly on a Suicide Series monster, instantly obliterating and making it vanish.
The unfortunate creatures stood no chance against fists that could instantly kill legendary monsters.
To add to that, his Right of Destruction negated most defensive
skills and fatal damage negation effects, such as those provided by the Lifesaving Brooch. Some of the Suicides he'd pulverized had impressive resistances, but those meant nothing before his punches. Y et the Suicides continued attacking him, showing no fear whatsoever.
Their minds weren't even equipped to consider their own lives, so they kept on charging towards Shu — towards certain death.
"Mh..." he muttered.
It was easy to describe it as disgusting and call it a day, but Shu felt like their way of existence was a brief glimpse into the mind of their creator, Franklin.
He clearly defines what he has to gain, what to discard, what to win, and what to spend for that purpose, Shu thought, feeling that Franklin was much like himself and a bit like Ray in that regard.
Shu looked up at Pandemonium, where Ray should be facing Franklin, and recalled what his brother had told him over the Telepathy Cuffs.
have something I have to do and a question I have to ask him. Can you help me get to him?
Remembering Ray's request made Shu form a faint smile.
"Y ou just do whatever you think you have to," he muttered as he looked up at the top of Pandemonium, towards Ray. "Whatever happens, I'll set things straight. That's my role as your big bro."
◇◆◇
Franklin, the mastermind behind the evening's terrorist plot, was grinning.
The tables had completely turned, and the numerous monsters he had made were being exterminated by overwhelming destruction and
a unified will to protect Gideon. Despite it all, Franklin stood atop his Pandemonium and faced Ray Starling with a smile on his face.
"KoD over there is doing all the needed work," he said. "Y ou're damaged all over, Ray-boy. Why didn't you just stay back and sleep?"
Ray's appearance more or less confirmed Franklin's suspicions that the King of Destruction's strange actions were nothing but a distraction. His flashy performance had attracted Franklin's attention, allowing Ray to arrive at the top of Pandemonium.
The fact that Ray had been able to ride Silver all the way here without being caught up in the bombardment was all the proof that Franklin needed. Also, the explosions had killed all the monsters he'd positioned in the Jeand Grasslands to act as sensors. The broadcast monsters around Pandemonium were dead, as well, meaning that no one else could see Franklin face Ray.
"Still... the King of Destruction himself..." Franklin mused.
Franklin had a good reason to believe that the Superior had a reason to help Ray. It was the name.
Along with the stats, Franklin's Analyzing Eye of Wisdom allowed him to see the name of the King of Destruction — "Shu Starling."
"Here's a question, Ray Starling," he said. "Do you know a Master called 'Shu Starling'?"
"He's my big brother," Ray answered with no hesitation.
Upon hearing that, Franklin nodded in understanding and formed a wry grin. "Two brothers and two sisters," he said. "The older ones are Superiors and the younger ones are Maiden's Masters... Helluva funny little coincidence."
"Huh...?" Ray raised an eyebrow.
"So, what's so important that you had your brother help you get to
me?" Franklin asked.
"I'm here for three reasons."
"Well, that's a number. I already know one of them, though." Franklin pointed at a part of the floor they were standing on, towards a young, unconscious girl. It was Elizabeth, the second princess of the Kingdom of Altar. "Y ou're here to save her, aren't you? Y our brother can't attack Pandemonium while she's here, right?"
Elizabeth was his enemy's Embryo's Achilles' heel. Without her, the King of Destruction would barrage Pandemonium with focused hellfire. Franklin was fully aware of that, so he was being careful not to let Ray take her.
"So what's the second thing?" he asked.
"I have a question," Ray replied.
"A question, eh?"
This was within Franklin's expectations. If Ray had only been here to save the girl, he could've done it while atop Silver, not giving Franklin a chance to react. And if Ray had only come here to defeat him, he could've hit him with a surprise attack. The fact that he'd gone out of his way to get off his horse and stand there talking meant that he was obviously here for an exchange.
"What do you want to hear about?" asked Franklin. "My recommended hunting spots? The UBM habitats I know? Or perhaps my country's internal affairs?"
Franklin had a hunch that it wasn't any of those... but...
"Why did you do this?"
But the question that actually came wasn't within his expectations.
"Why... What? Didn't I talk about my goal? Did you forget it?"
Franklin shot back.
"Y ou wanted to give the kingdom's Masters an embarrassing defeat and break the Altarian fighting spirit by showing them a devastated Gideon, right?"
"Hey, so you do remember."
"That's not what I'm asking, though."
"What's the question, then?" Franklin asked with a ridiculing look in his eyes and a jeering tone.
Ray looked directly back at him.
"What do you think of the tians?" he asked.
The question momentarily confused Franklin, but he quickly processed it and understood what it meant. "Oh, you want to know whether I think that Infinite Dendrogram is a world or a game?"
Ray nodded.
"I see, I see... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Franklin roared with laughter.
As though broken in more ways than one, Franklin laughed out loud until he had to catch a breath.
"Anyone who thinks this is just a game is either a retard or a child who believes everything he's told," he said with the most serious expression imaginable. "A game? Like hell. The realism, the models, the life. Everything besides the system-related stuff is way beyond game level. Honestly, if the system weren't there to try and convince us that we're just playing something, none of this would look like a game."
"Tsk..." Ray said.
"I have no idea what all of this actually is. I'd assume it's the
human experimentation phase for the creation of a national... no, worldwide virtual reality, but that's way above our current cutting-edge tech, so I don't think it's likely. For all I know, those guys who say this is an actual other world or that aliens are messing with us could be right."
"...Then what do you think of the people living here?" Ray asked slowly.
"AI with minds so sophisticated, they might as well be human. Or perhaps actual people from another world. Or maybe life that conforms to those boundaries. At the very least, I don't think they're just 1s and 0s."
He paused.
"So I want to make this perfectly clear, bucko. If this were our Earth, if my situation, conditions, and powers were the same in real life, I'd still go through with this plan. I would act exactly the same way as I act in here. No matter how many thousands it would kill." He proclaimed that with absolute certainty. "That's what you wanted to know, isn't it, Ray-baby? A Maiden's Master like you just couldn't help but wonder why I would design such an evil plot, right?"
"How could you do this?!" Ray asked with a voice wrung out from the very depths of his heart. Those were the words of someone who recognized this world's lives as real and couldn't tolerate the tragedy that had nearly befallen them. The words didn't have a hint of theatrics or falsehood in them; they were all Ray's mind made vocal.
"Hm..." Franklin silently looked at him, finding the young man somewhat dazzling. He realized that they were alike, but completely different at the same time. With respect to that fact, Franklin chose to respond with the same honesty. "Because I never want to lose again. I've had enough of being controlled. I'll live free, create what I want, and enjoy the world as I please. No one will ever bind me. I've decided to crush anyone trying to obstruct my way of life."
He then fell silent. He didn't have anything more to say.
Franklin's words were vague, and he was probably the only one who could ever understand them. Nevertheless, the mad scientist felt that he said all he had to.
"I see how it is." Ray nodded in understanding.
To avoid defeat, Franklin wouldn't hesitate to cause tragedies, and that was exactly why he had to be defeated.
His pursuit for his way of life would bring about the most devastating of calamities, which was all the reason needed to stop him at all costs.
"Anyway, that's the second thing settled," said Franklin, his tone back to normal. "So what's the third?"
"It's th— hgh!" Ray tried to answer, but his words were cut short by Pandemonium starting to shake wildly — not because it had started to move, but it because it was being barraged by an artillery storm.
"What the... KoD is attacking?" asked Franklin, thoroughly
confused. "But I still have the princess. Did he finally snap or
someth...?" He stopped mid-sentence and became even more puzzled.
He'd shifted his gaze to the princess's position, and realized that she'd disappeared.
Ray wasn't the one responsible for this.
Franklin had been observing him this whole time, so he was absolutely certain that Ray hadn't been the one to take the princess. Someone else sneaked up here, taken Elizabeth, and saved her. Franklin knew exactly which person would be capable of that.
"The Superior Killer..." he said. "So you were a decoy, too."
While Franklin had been focusing on Ray's moves and words, the Superior Killer had come up and saved the princess. He couldn't tell whether they'd planned this out, or whether the Superior Killer had
merely taken advantage of Ray's actions.
Regardless of that, Pandemonium had lost the one thing protecting it from Baldr's artillery. Countless shots pierced into the factory and exploded, distorting the already-strange creature even further and gradually bringing it to the ground.
"This sure is intense," Franklin said as he kept himself standing by holding onto the railings installed atop of Pandemonium.
Because Ray was here, none of the attacks were hitting the top, but Franklin was more than aware that the factory would soon collapse.
Even the stat summary said that it had less than a tenth of its total HP left.
"Mh..."
Franklin's death and Pandemonium's destruction weren't outside of the expected outcomes. His defeat would simply trigger Plan D. Or so it should have, but...
"They've taken care of it..." Franklin sighed.
A glance at the device he was holding told him that the NDW had lost its life. And Gideon remained the same. That could only mean that the central piece of the final plan, the spade, had been killed before self-destructing. It had vanished without doing any damage to speak of.
"I had a feeling this might happen," he muttered.
The King of Destruction had been the one to show up here in the grasslands, rather than either of the Superiors from the Clash. That situation had made them into a wild card, which meant that this turn of events was entirely possible.
Normally, the spade's underground tunneling ability would be impossible to counter, but the ultimate skill Xunyu displayed in the
Clash of the Superiors would make it really easy. If Franklin had known about that ability before the Clash, he'd have prepared something else, but thinking of what-ifs was meaningless at this point.
With DGP and NDW, Franklin had now wasted two monsters made with special rewards — ones he could never make again. And with Plan D falling apart, Franklin had lost not only his chance of winning, but his chance of "not losing," as well. If he was given the death penalty here, he'd officially suffer a crushing defeat.
Perhaps he could make it a bit less overwhelming by escaping, but...
"...It's too late," he muttered.
Large as it was, Pandemonium had nearly no means of fighting, and it was on the verge of being completely destroyed.
The Castling monsters he'd positioned all over the Jeand Grasslands had been thoroughly exterminated, too. Franklin's death penalty was imminent.
After all... Ray was charging straight towards him.
Not even wasting his time getting on Silver, he dashed on his own two feet, showing no hesitation whatsoever about Baldr's barrage.
guess he expected these attacks, Franklin thought. Well, they're brothers, after all. They probably agreed on this or just knew what the other would do without even having to talk it through... I'm kinda jealous. Feeling a little bit sentimental, Franklin breathed a light sigh.
"So the third reason you're here is to kill me," he muttered.
Ray gradually closed the distance between them, but Franklin had no means of doing anything about it. He'd already used up all the custom monsters in his arsenal, so there was no one to protect him now.
Very well. I'll accept this defeat. He gave up and prepared himself for his death penalty. But someday, I'll...
At that moment, a silhouette arrived at the top of Pandemonium.
"Hgh!" Ray exclaimed in surprise.
"Eh?" Franklin voiced his confusion. The silhouette was a half-broken Magingear. Much of its metallic armor was lost, and it was only complete because of the frozen coating. It was the unit piloted by Hugo and armed with Cocytus.
"Kh..."
If the Magingear had been a person, the damage would surely have killed it.
Some of the damage had been caused by his battle against Rook's group, but he'd gained most of it after undoing La Porte de l'Enfer and letting the Masters fight the monsters. There was no way he could have remained unscathed while breaking through the veil of fiery destruction created by Baldr's artillery.
Despite being more damaged than the Magingear he'd used against Gouz the day prior, this Magingear was still able to move.
"AAARRGHHHH!" the pilot roared. It was a voice that the roleplayer acting as a chivalrous knight would never use.
With that, the Magingear stood right before Ray, as though to protect Franklin.
◇◆
Hugo had spent much of the time until and during the plan doing nothing but doubting himself. He'd wondered whether he should participate in the plan, whether he was right in doing what he'd chosen to, and whether he should face Ray, who was a friend from the day before.
While he was doubting himself, he'd been defeated by Rook, heard his words, and seen Franklin begin Plan C, filling him with even more doubts.
While hesitating, he had undone La Porte de l'Enfer's Frozen debuff that was trapping the Masters near the western gate. He'd done that instantly, without thinking it through.
Hugo had thought that he couldn't let things continue as they were, but even then, he hadn't been sure if it had been the right thing to do. That action had helped stop the tragedy before his eyes, but it had been a move against Franklin — the person Hugo so greatly admired.
Then, in the midst of those doubts, Hugo had remembered that Franklin had lied and planned to destroy Gideon, which filled him with even more doubt.
Once Rook and the other Masters had gone out to the Jeand Grasslands and left him alone, the Charm effect had disappeared, and he had hesitated further still.
But then, all of a sudden, Hugo had stopped thinking and doubting himself.
He'd realized that he couldn't do anything if he'd spent all his time hesitating.
Once all the doubts and self-questioning went away, he'd arrived at a single, ultimate answer for what he had to do.
It was the answer that was always inside Hugo and the girl controlling him, Y uri.
It was...
◇◆
"I'll protect my sister!"
With those words, the Magingear began moving.
"Even if I have to defeat you!" The frame was on the verge of shattering, and it only held together because of Cocytus. Nevertheless, the icy machine soldier charged towards Ray. Though he had been a friend the day prior, Hugo brought everything he had to his attack.
"Bring it, Hugo," Ray said, ready to face him.
He didn't know Hugo and Franklin's relationship. But as an opponent and as a friend, he wanted to face him properly.
With that, the Paladin and the High Pilot... the two Maiden's Masters... clashed.
It was their second battle since the one at the western gate, and surely the last one they'd have today. The clash seemed to last no more than a blink of an eye.
"Motor... Slash!" Hugo roared. His Magingear raised its right arm and tried to attack with a swing of the icy cross-sword. "...Hgh! Kh!"
That single motion was the straw that broke the camel's back. The frost armor in the area broke apart, the whole right arm was dislodged from the torso, and the power of the swing made it fly off into the distance.
It was the same arm that had suffered from Ray's Vengeance and the Devil-Dragon-Man's Tri-Horn Grand Dash. The many powerful attacks it'd gone through had brought it to its limit, and the skill just now had gone past it.
"Not yet! Motor Slash!" Hugo roared again as he instantly used the skill with his other arm. The icy blade went right towards Ray, ready to split him.
"I can't break through the armor like this," said Ray. "Then I'll just...!"
He loosened his grip on his black longsword, Nemesis, and threw her up into the air. Then he bent his body to avoid the sharp cross-blade and extended his right arm into its path.
"Gh...!"
The frozen blade cleanly cut it off, dealing great damage to Ray and making him bleed. However, the sharpness of the weapon made it so that the impact didn't blow him away.
"Hgh...!" Ray exclaimed as he, still bent, moved to the Magingear's side.
As he did that, Nemesis fell back towards him.
However, with his left arm being charred and his right arm being completely lost, he had no means of holding her hilt.
Or so they thought.
"Hh...!" Ray exclaimed.
"What?!" Hugo shouted.
His surprise wasn't without reason, for Ray had bitten into Nemesis' hilt with his teeth.
"Mfh...!" Ray couldn't say a word, but...
"Very well!" said Nemesis, having read his mind.
Ray moved his head in a way that made the greatsword in his teeth reach into the frozen armor coating the Magingear's cockpit. It wasn't enough to break through, but that didn't matter at all.
"Vengeance... Is Mine!" said Nemesis, activating the skill.
The counterattack doubled the damage Ray had suffered and delivered it into the frozen armor, instantly making it vanish. Without anything to protect him, the black blade dug into Hugo's chest and
pierced his heart.
"Ah..." he breathed his last before becoming particles of light and vanishing out of this world. His Embryo, Cocytus, disappeared soon after, leaving nothing but the remains of the badly damaged Magingear.
"Argh!" Ray roared.
He was done with Hugo, but he still had some unfinished business. Nemesis fell out of his mouth as he charged towards his target — Franklin.
The mad scientist didn't even run... or perhaps he even forgot to do it upon seeing Hugo vanish.
"Frank...lin...!"
Ray had lost his right arm and even let go of Nemesis, yet he still dashed towards Franklin. After all, he was facing the very reason why he was here, his ultimate goal for coming to this place.
Ray wasn't here just to save the princess or to present Franklin with his question. In fact, even defeating him was a secondary goal. He was here for something he'd decided he'd do long ago.
I'd like to punch that idiot for sending a kid to a place this dangerous. My fist is going straight into your face. Keep it clean for me, Superior.
Indeed — Ray only wanted to punch him.
"FRANKLIIIIIINN!" Ray forced his charred right fist into Franklin's left cheek, finally settling the score.
"GHAH?!" Franklin exclaimed.
The power of the impact caused Ray's fragile arm to begin crumbling. But the moment it hit Franklin's face, the Miasmaflame Gauntlets released a burst of flame that spread across the mad scientist's body, quickly turning him into a human torch.
Franklin no longer had a Lifesaving Brooch or any monsters he could use for Life Link. The purgatorial fires made short work of his mediocre HP, and he soon began to vanish.
"Kgh..." Just as he was about to be taken by this world's rules and disappear, Franklin opened his mouth and spoke. "We'll win next time."
And with those words as his last, he became particles of light.
Thus, the Dryfean Superior that had designed and executed this nightmarish plan upon the people of the kingdom vanished at the hands of a single newbie.
With that, the incident was settled.
Or perhaps this outcome had been set in stone long ago, when a certain Superior had tried to use a certain little girl, and a certain newbie had tried to help her.
◇◇◇
Twenty minutes after Franklin's disappearance, the last of the Suicide Series were downed, ending the battle at Gideon.
Traitors working under Franklin were dead or deserted.
The Suicide Series was thoroughly exterminated.
The club, King of Orchestras, Veldorbell, was dead.
The spade, NDW, was dead.
The heart, High Pilot, Hugo Lesseps, was dead.
The diamond, Giga Professor, Mr. Franklin, was dead.
Thus marked the end of the terrorism at the city of duels.
Franklin's Game was over.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone