＜Infinite Dendrogram＞

□ Wangdu Althea

Three days after the destruction of the claymill.

The fact that the absolute defense line consisting of [the Great Sage] 's brother, the clergy of the State Church, the Imperial Second Armor Battalion, and the < Babylonian Combat Regiment > was defeated before [Gloria] had already spread throughout the continent.

The Kremyr, which was a defensive base, collapsed and no longer has a fort to stop [Gloria] from invading the King's Capital.

The evacuation of the inhabitants was enlivened in the Wang capital, while at the same time, problems were scattered reminiscent of wartime and disaster, such as soaring food and clothing, impulsive grudges coming from anxiety and the lack of health care facilities due to the decline in clergy.

The knights and guards of the King's Capital were also being chased to deal with such trouble before dealing with [Gloria] approaching the King's Capital.

…………

But in the midst of all that confusion, there was one [Heavenly Knight] Langley Grandria... over the Royal Castle.

Across [the golden thunderbolt], a loaned national treasure, its gaze was not directed at the city under the castle, but just in the direction of the northwest… [Gloria] invading.

But now he still doesn't look like it.

Three days after the collapse of the claiming mill.

A week after its appearance on Thunder Dragon Mountain.

Originally, as of today, [Gloria] should have reached the King's Capital.

But it hasn't.

That was because of the wounds that [Sword King] Fortesura had caused, beginning with the Babylonian Battlemen.

[Gloria] had to spend the whole day repairing her wounds, even though there was no obstacle to life and battle, with so much damage to her whole body and even her heart lost.

The time taken to repair it, coupled with the failure to regenerate the wings, has caused more than a day of discrepancy in reaching the King's capital.

Still...... Tomorrow [Gloria] will reach the King's Capital and put the King's Capital within the realm of the Endangered Realm

"... it's not like I can't stand it"

But it has already been found that the death is not the power to extensively kill all.

If the total level exceeds 500, you can stay within the conjuncture but not die and fight.

And it's also already well known that you can't hurt [Gloria] without entering the juncture.

It was information that members of the Babylonian Combat Corps diligently circulated inside and outside Infinite Dendrogram.

So now the conditions for fighting [Gloria] are known, and whether happy or unhappy, Langley falls under it.

He was a man who could fight to defend his kingdom.

"............... let's go. [Thundering]"

Eventually, Langley decides to be ready.

and try to run [Golden Thunderbolt] to the northwest < Novest Canyon] where [Gloria] would be,

"Wait, Lord Grandria. It's not that far off."

The motion was stopped.

Because someone grabbed his shoulder in the air.

Surprised by the words and feel, Langley looks back.

I stood there - precisely controlling the wind magic and stationary in the air - whoever the person was.

"Dear… [Great Sage]"

"Oh."

One of the kingdom's proud super positions, [Great Sage].

Serving the kingdom for over a hundred years, no one knows its name.

He who only names himself [the Great Sage] and is called.

He is an unidentified old man but has been a court magician for generations and is widely trusted as a kingdom favorite and educator because of his accumulated knowledge.

"Well, I have a few things to say. First of all, it doesn't matter what happens when you go out alone. It can only be a gradual putting into battle, and time buying is the mountain at stake. That's the same thing I did."

"Dear [Great Sage], But?

"Yeah, and dropping meteorites in the junction would be dangerous to me, wouldn't it?

Take as an example the meteorite drop, which is the depths of [the Great Sage], and said so as if to put aside.

"At least with the disciples, it would have been different again.... lost the spared ones."

"Dear [Great Sage]..."

His brother-in-law has all died in the battle at Kremyr.

Therefore the face of [the Great Sage] was that of a master who was sparing the death of his disciple.

Langley considers the heart of it.

But Langley misunderstood only a little.

The face of [The Great Sage] was a face that had no regrets at all...

"But is it [Gloria]? After many sacrifices I have found out more about that power, but it is a terrible monster.... how can I stand up to the power of the remaining kingdoms"

That was pretty much the limit of the power the kingdom could put out.

And then there's the Knights, but something that can live within the [Gloria] conjunction and so on, like Langley and the Deputy Commander of the Kingsguard Knights.

Adding [Great Sage] to it is as if it is not enough.

... there is one thing besides them that can be the kingdom tian's greatest force, but at any rate now the level was not yet reached 500.

"You can't. At least Tian isn't the only winner."

"Dear [Great Sage], but... you don't know how to defeat me."

…………

Asked by Langley "how to defeat [Gloria]," [the Great Sage] somehow silenced.

Surprised at that, Langley speaks up.

"Dear [Great Sage]?

"... no, sorry. I opened up this old memories and went around, but I couldn't even see. At times like this, it's time for wisdom bags."

That's what [The Great Sage] said when he regained consciousness from his thoughts, and he grinned bitterly.

"Than that, Sir Grandlia. It's time to negotiate an example. I think you should attend, too, because they are the other person."

[The Great Sage] took his pocket watch out of his pocket and told Langley so.

In less than an hour, negotiations begin between the King and a certain person.

Langley had not originally planned to be present on the spot, but thought, as [the Great Sage] put it, 'Should we protect it beside the Eldor' if we consider who the negotiators were?

"Okay. Okay, I'm off to the escort. Dear [Great Sage],

"I'm just thinking a little more in the wind here. There may be some way to do this. Oh, don't worry, I'll be back by the time we negotiate."

That's what I said and dropped off Langley, and [The Great Sage] jizzily sees the northwest direction as Langley had done earlier.

In its heart, it had asked itself the following questions:

(Showdown Weapon III...... [Acra Vaster] Then can we do it? No, you're not finished yet at the time. However, the underlying capabilities should already be available. Then [Accra] will have it...... Oh, you can't. That uses a brace of light. The distance of "Spatial Dilution" is pointless in the opponent, and [Vaster] may be destroyed up to the repair limit number of times. Besides, motion energy bombardment becomes meaningless due to invalid attacks from outside range)

That was [the Great Sage] 's discussion of "how to defeat [Gloria]," asked Langley, but she is pregnant with one major problem.

It is about [Akra Vaster], now named by [the Great Sage].

[Akra Vaster] was a decisive weapon in secret development (...) by earlier periods of civilization two thousand years ago, and... because I knew so little about [the Great Sage] and it wasn't a good name.

(No. 5… [Berdrion] could still have done it, but that one was destroyed by [the King] and [the Cat God] six hundred years ago. I can't give you the first, the second and fourth are...... not in my hands anymore)

[Great Sage]... The man who calls himself that sighs and looks up to heaven.

(Well, fine. Anyway, that [Gloria] would also be a “incarnate” maneuver. Degradation “incarnation" - it's called an increase, because it looks like they're going to be stuffed for over 2,000 years)

Think that far, he distorts his expression.

It's as if anger at the enemy and the joy of denigrating it have cohabited in an ugly expression.

(Worst of all, will we prioritize collecting data even if this body decays? There is no problem. I still have a replacement)

With that in mind, the man who concealed his real name in the name of [The Great Sage] … returned to the castle where he himself had been nesting for over a hundred years.

◇ ◆ ◇

□ ■ Between the sight of the Wangdu Althea and the Royal Castle

On the day approaching the arrival of [Gloria] 's king's capital, a negotiation was about to enter the final packing between the sights.

It is Eldor Zeo Alter, king of the kingdom of Alter;

"Yep, yep. We also chewed one on [Gloria] 's crusade"

It was the negotiation of the owner [Pope] of the [Lunar Party] of the Dependent Moon Night.

"So you're also going to help [Gloria] crusade. How comforting..."

"Seya. We have a lot of members who are okay with the [Gloria] junction, and I assure you that it will be useful."

Eldor relieves himself of that response on the moon and night.

Until now, negotiations have not been successful.

I didn't exactly get in touch with the owner, Lunar Night, but I finally got in touch and the negotiations are going smoothly.

It was essential for the interception of [Gloria], which approached a day's distance to the kingdom, to enter the battle of a powerful [Lunar Party], both as the maximum number of people in the kingdom and as a force of war.

That's how the negotiations went safely...

"Thank you. I owe you..."

"But if all the royals sign this [contract], I'll burn it."

- There was no way I could have done that.

"Is this...?...... ugh!

Moon and Night took out the finest [contract].

That's dangerous enough to give immediate death to the transgressor (...).

To such a thing, "write the names of all the royalty," said Susan Lunar Night.

And when Eldor glances over the most important [contract] text......

"By kingdom power, a ban on repression against (...)?"

"Simply put, a warranty or something." In the future, no matter how large the Moon Life Meeting is, the country will not suppress or crush the Moon Life Meeting. "

to make the complete freedom of religious activity recognised, was

Today it continues to expand as a religion.

Already more than a thousand people have been gracious, and in addition to those who were believers from real, there are also many followers of Tian.

That speed of expansion is not less threatening if you are an exchanger.

Even now, there is a good risk of later turning into cancer cells inside the country.

There were twelve possibilities for some restrictions to be imposed by the State, even without until the collapse of the clan.

So it was this [contract] that hit me first against it

"Oh, of course, on a supplementary note: 'Break the contract if the Moon Party runs into a terrorist or other criminal activity', put on a condition like that? You can do whatever you want. Instead, I'll put in a sentence," Freedom to accept requests from the state in the future. "

"But this..."

It means that we cannot shackle any group that can ultimately even shake the foundations of this kingdom.

To avert the current crisis is to let the future fears go wild.

"Don't interrupt our religious activities. I won't force us to swallow our hopes. I will continue to protect this unless we commit a criminal act. Huh? That's all there is to it (...)?"

I know that, and this bitch fox... demands it on the moon and night of dependency.

As a condition, I'm not offering anything.

As long as we don't break the contract, no one will sacrifice it.

And we will also be able to deal with the current crisis.

What a peaceful looking... fox packed (...) condition.

"Suppose we try to force him to drink before we trade that contract?

"Don't give it back in terror."

That is what I replied to the words said by [the Great Sage], who was seated in the negotiations, in no time.

In response, the negotiating table shudders.

But it's...

"If it's before we sign a contract, we also have a hand in religious terrorism. - I'm gonna hit you with my hand."

"What are you saying?

"Now, Shadow Yan's special forces are entering the Wang capital and major cities?

The words silenced me back.

[Assassination King] Special Forces under Tsukisho Yongshiro.

What it's good at and what it's for...... needless to say.

"And if, for example, we cover this king's capital with a" night, "where Shadow Yan uses Errkenich... you know what happens?

Those who are on this occasion are well aware of the power of the Dependent Moon Night and the power of its side, Yukiyoshiro Tsukisha.

A moonshadow that is a limiting wide-area extermination and a wide-area controlled moon and night that can be extended to an unlimited extent.

With these two powers, it is not difficult to imagine the destruction of the King's capital.

"Stop...!

"You don't have to tell me, do you? This is only a story if the kingdom tries to force us to cooperate. So there are three choices His Majesty chooses."

Three fingers up on the moon and night, I say.

"Sign [the contract] and ask for our cooperation.

I don't sign [the contract], and it doesn't matter without our cooperation.

We will all perish trying to hear what we are forced to say. "

In turn, I raised my options and the moon and night prompted me to respond with a grin.

"... you monster"

"Stop it!"

The other nobles blame one of the nobles present for saying so.

But the moonlit night of Susan deepened her grin at the words, and said:

"Because you're not as crazy as a monster - you're gonna rely on us?

That's why, with a chemically-stained grin, Susan Moon Night tilted her neck and inquired.

"So you're gone? Your Majesty? Do you want to sign? Do you want to stop?"

Eldor was slightly troubled by that last question... but chose to sign it.

Thus, the participation of the Kingdom's largest clan in the [Gloria] interception was decided.

Indeed, peacefully (...).

◇ ◇ ◇

□ Dueling city Gideon/Central Arena

That was the upper part of the building reminiscent of the central arena, the Roman Colosseum.

…………

So one man keeps sitting silently with his gaze to the northwest.

Him...... Kingdom Duel Ranking # 1 [Superfighter] Figaro looked like he was coming up with something with a sinking face that usually never floats, while hitting the wind.

"Yah. You don't look very floating today."

"... Tom"

Such an unexpected appearance beside him, it was the same dueling ranker as him who spoke up.

He was number two in the duel rankings, [Cat God] Tom Cat.

"What happened to that face? I know why you said..."

…………

To Tom's question, Figaro doesn't answer.

But Tom doesn't mind continuing his words.

"[Gloria] Right? I wonder if you're worried about how to fight that."

"... slightly different. In the first place, even if you want to fight... you can't fight."

"Yeah?"

To Figaro's words, Tom tilts his neck.

Considering what the difference was...... I came to the answer by recalling the nature of Figaro.

But you noticed it, or you didn't, Figaro keeps talking without waiting for Tom's word.

"[Gloria] is strong. I scrutinized the information circulated by the members of the Babylonian Combat Regiment, and I understood that very well."

After the defeat at Claymill, < Babylonian Combat Regiment > released all the information obtained in that battle on the Internet's < Babylonian Combat Regiment > website.

In addition, members of the < Infinite Dendrogram > who were unable to participate in the battle have handed all the information to the intelligence agencies and the press, starting with the < DIN >, immediately.

That would have been an outrageous story from other rankers who kept other information secret.

Even if it was the Babylonian Fighting Regiment, there would have been an increased chance that if you had hidden it, you could have taken an MVP during a rematch.

But they hoped to spread the information more widely than that and have [Gloria] crusaded as soon as possible.

As that is their owner's...... last favor (...).

"It's bad for Tom, but [Gloria] assumes every opponent I've ever defeated is not enough on one side of the scale to measure it."

"No, it suits you at that decision. I know enough for myself that I can't beat that. It's like multiple monsters are supposed to challenge. If we were going to do it, we would have had to join forces with other Fortesuras."

"... but"

"Right. You can't do that in the first place (...)"

To Tom's words, Figaro nods.

"If you become a joint front with others, you will be useless. If you lose lightly, it could cause the front to collapse. So maybe Fortesla turned you down, too. So, you keep worrying about that?

"... no. It's not that I couldn't fight Fortesura."

"Really? So, what's bothering you?

In that inquiry, Figaro was silent for a while.

But gradually... I spoke to Potty Potty Potty.

"Fortesla sent me an e-mail."

"... from him, or"

As good enemies, and as friends, they exchanged emails even in real life.

However, there are not many opportunities to use it. If you want to talk, talk inside < Infinite Dendrogram >.

But I couldn't do it just this time.

Because Fortesura never came back, even at the dawn of the period of the death penalty.

In the email he sent to Figaro...... because it said 'I can't go back'.

"I can't wait to be afraid to confirm that Erica is nowhere else"

Any remaining inhabitants of that city, including his wife, were unknown.

Or there's no chance he's running away somewhere...

Already, a job dedicated to searching for people has gone out to search for residents and only found that everyone is "nowhere else in this world".

Because everyone has evaporated with [Gloria] 's brace of light.

Fortesura also found out about it during the death penalty.

My heart was broken by that cruel fact, and I was unable to log in again and check again myself.

For him, his wife's presence in this world was so heavy.

As a good enemy of Figaro, as a duel ranker, as the owner of the clan.

The figure of the man who kept fighting was not in the text of that e-mail.

But above all, it was one sentence written at the end of the email that struck Figaro's heart.

"'The promise, it cannot be fulfilled. Sorry, Figaro'"

That's the word that the good enemy, my friend, will never appear in front of Figaro again.

Words that mean that the man who said 'defeat [Gloria] and go get the throne' was lost forever from the world of Figaro.

That fact stifles Figaro's heart, which should have been tougher than anyone else in this world.

"I... want to live up to my promise to Fortesla."

It will never come true as soon as possible, the promise of a duel.

Promises that were not fulfilled, and still... Figaro didn't want to throw them away.

But the promised opponent is not already in this world.

If you're still going to keep your promise,

"Fighting [Gloria] is... maybe going to fulfill our promise to Fortesura"

"... time attack"

Time Attack.

That's one of those dueling competitions that fights monsters of the same kind in turn against their opponents and decides to win or lose depending on the time to crusade and the damage inflicted.

Figaro and Fortesla often competed in this competition besides direct confrontation.

Therefore, fighting [Gloria], which Fortesla could not win, could be said to be his last duel.

Will we win, or will we both lose?

Even if we don't know where the victory or defeat is, that's nothing more than a duel with Fortesura.

I can live up to my promise to Fortesla...

That's why Figaro wanted to fight [Gloria].

"But it... can't"

The kingdom must pour out the power to remain, and [Gloria] must crusade.

If Figaro intends to fulfil his promises in the form of a duel, he must go to the battlefield earlier than anyone else and fight alone.

But that [Gloria] is a great monster with no bottom line. The formula for hiding something besides the information already revealed is high.

Therefore, there was also a fear of causing an unexpected catastrophe during the battle.

Like the power shown by [Gloria] in that battle at the Cramill, the battle could have evoked the power of a new calamity.

In contrast, Figaro, who is alone, will not be able to resist.

If it's a large number of people, they may not be able to defeat what they can defeat even if they use their power.

And how much power [Gloria] has shown to those who fight after him as a result can't even be assumed.

It is nothing more than that of the Fortesuras, of those whom Fortesura did not want to die... who cannot even avenge.

"If I may not be able to fulfill his thoughts..."

Figaro spoke of his anxiety and tried to push his aspirations in.

For such Figaro,

"Ha, I see"

Tom slapped that shoulder with a laugh,

"Don't be stupid, the kingdom is the strongest"

I denied his words.

And

"Though you wouldn't be the one to fight with such extra thought!!"

I punched Figaro in the cheek with words that deny him now.

"... Tom?

Feeling pain in his cheek, Figaro looked back at Tom with a Kyotong face.

Tom's face was floating with anger and another strong emotion mixed with it.

"You beat me. I broke this Tom Cat down one of the walls that the kingdom's masters should cross. Besides, before you became super, before you became [super fighter], you were! It was you who went beyond our (...) thoughts!

I wonder how much thought was put into that word.

Figaro doesn't know that.

But I was realizing that the word had a strong fever.

"That you! You're stronger than you were then! So lost and so weak, what's it gonna be! You're like you! Be like a brain-muscle combat freak! You just have to hit me without thinking about it! Hit him alone and smash him. But even one of those necks. Butta slash him! Knock that neck off your rival!! Don't give up on your promises!!"

So cut the words,

"Is it like your promise to him is going to stop thinking about this!!"

Tom said the most important words.

――――

To Tom's words, Figaro opens his eyes.

Just before I get lost, as I got the answer.

"... thanks, Tom"

That said, Figaro looked up.

"I'll keep my promise... and keep my promise."

The next moment I left that word, Figaro's appearance was scratching away.

Tom Cat's eye chase was followed by a rear appearance as he raced toward Wang Du as he walked at supersonic speeds.

"Come on, duel champion."

Tom drops that back off somewhere satisfied.

And in that place, where no one but him was anymore, I groaned alone.

"Jabberwock, Mad Hatter. This may break your mind. [M] But I respect their freedom… I respect their thoughts. Because that's more important to me than adding more Super Embrio."

Tom smiled on its face,

"My master... that's what he was like"

That's what I said, as I recall the distant past.

To be continued