Infinite Dendrogram_Volume 2

by Sakon Kaidou

  That was only natural. After all — he was wielding Purifying Silverlight. It was a gleam used only by a limited number of Paladins and Temple Knights — a light meant for the sole purpose of purging the undead. No matter how great of a Lich I was, I couldn’t come back from a fatal attack by a weapon blessed with that loathsome shine.

  The fear of death overwhelmed me. It was a feeling that had become alien to me over time. It was a feeling that would never again strike me once I became the King of Corpses. But here and now, it was raw. It shook my very being.

  “Awaken Undead!” Using my Necromancy, I activated the undead monsters I’d stored in the barrel in this room.

  Countless Skeleton Soldiers answered my call.

  However, they meant little.

  There was no chance of them winning against this aberration, but it mattered not. They only had to buy the time I needed to run away.

  As the undead began charging at him, I turned around and left the laboratory. If I stayed any longer, I knew it would become my grave.

  Then — as my breath became ragged — I ran towards the surface through the underground hallway. Once we Liches became undead, our hearts and lungs ceased their function and were replaced by a gathering of crystallized magic. Thus, physical lack of breath was something I should never have experienced again. And yet, I felt as though I was suffocating.

  “Why is a Master...?!” Through my ragged breath, I voiced my dread. “Why is one of those immortal abominations... actually furious?”

  This fear was unknown to me. The fear of that thing’s emotion. The terror I felt towards that aberration.

  Terror — that was the word. Having one of those abominations direct such pure killing intent and rage towards me was nothing short of terrifying. After all, that meant that an immortal, indestructible animal would be hunting me for all eternity.

  I had to escape. Anywhere near that aberration was certain death, so I had to leave this fortress and run where he could never find me.

  I had to do it — and I could do it.

  Though I was a Lich, my Agility was greater than his, so it would be perfectly possible for me to distance myself from him.

  Reaching the surface would mean regrouping with Gouz. Then, I’d simply have to make him fight the abomination while I made my escape.

  “I can do it...!” Picturing that future made me relieved.

  Due to me being a horse-man, the underground hallway’s soundscape was dominated by the sound of my horse legs hitting the floor.

  However, the sound soon mingled with another.

  “...What?” I burst out.

  Its source was approaching me from behind. Systematic, yet rough impacts on the ground — the sound was exactly the same as the ones coming from under my feet. It was the sound of a galloping horse.

  “Gh...!”

  Unable to bear the tension caused by the approaching sound, I turned around.

  What I saw was far beyond my imagination. It was an artificial, silver horse, speeding through the underground hallway. And to the side of it was the abomination.

  For some reason, he wasn’t riding it. The aberration was holding the silver horse’s reins with his right hand, scraping his leg armor across the ground. It was reminiscent of a Granvaloan water sport.

  In his left hand, he was still holding the halberd as the flag flowing out of it fluttered wildly in the air.

  Why isn’t he using his Riding skill? I thought.

  That way of riding it should soon break his legs and render them useless, right? But why doesn’t it look like he’s taking any damage?

  The strange sight left me with several questions, but their answers didn’t matter.

  What mattered was the fact that he was still chasing me... and that the horse was faster than me, meaning that he would soon catch up.

  “AAAAUUUGHHHHHHH!”

  Disregarding my shame and reputation, I screamed in fear while running towards the surface as fast as I could.

  On the surface, I would meet up with Gouz. He could buy me all the time I needed to run away.

  “Awaken... AWAKEN UNDEAAAAD!” Not slowing down whatsoever, I activated the undead monsters I had buried in the walls for emergencies such as these.

  They were called “High-End Skeleton Warriors.” I had made these high-rank undead by using the corpses of skilled tians. They were the remains of the party Gouz and I had taken care of.

  Six High-End Skeleton Warriors stood between me and him. Though turned undead, they had all been owners of high-rank jobs once, so there was a chance that...

  “Out of our way!” two voices — his and another, feminine one — said that at the same time. A moment later, the mass of silver went through the Skeletons and returned them all to dust.

  The halberd in his left hand and the hooves of the man-made horse ended my undead in a blink of an eye. I then noticed that not just the halberd, but the entire body of the steed was shining with the Silverlight.

  “Aaagh?!”

  That was no living horse — it was a piece of equipment. Emitting the Silverlight and galloping at a great speed, it pulverized all and any undead that touched it.

  It didn’t matter if the undead were high-rank. The thing was the bane of all undead. It was a silver bullet that brought forth the ultimate end.

  “GGGHAAAHHHHH!”

  Completely desperate, I used the moment my undead monsters had bought me to climb up the stairs leading to the surface. With the Master being dragged by the horse, he couldn’t get up the stairs properly. It ought to affect his speed.

  A moment before he could catch up, I ran up the stairs and escaped to the surface.

  “GOUZ! GOOUUUZ!” I screamed while dashing through the fortress.

  Once I ran through the hallway on the first floor and could see the gates of the fortress, I was overcome with relief. That was because I saw Gouz’s face.

  A moment later, that relief changed into despair.

  That was because Gouz’s face... was the only thing there.

  I couldn’t grasp what had happened, but Gouz’s dismembered head — completely frozen — was impaled on the gate.

  Wh-Where did his brawny body go? I asked myself. It was nowhere in sight. All I could see were pieces of frozen meat, scattered all over the area outside the gate. Two of those pieces — placed close to each other — looked much like Gouz’s feet.

  Right next to them stood an anomaly looking much like an anthropomorphized church made of ice — an enemy of my kind if I ever saw one.

  “Choose your fate, sinner,” spoke the anomaly. “Which end do you desire? Hell, or Divine Retribution?”

  I instantly understood what it was talking about.

  It was telling me to choose to meet my end, either at the hands of the icy anomaly or the silver aberration.

  “No!” I shouted. “This is not happening!”

  I can’t die here! I’ve come so far! And now, when the throne of the King of Corpses is within arms reach, I...

  “Why...?!” I voiced my despair yet again. “What...?!”

  What did I do to deserve this?!

  “Very well,” the anomaly spoke again. “Divine punishment it is.”

  It then pointed an icy blade towards something behind me.

  I turned around and saw the silver aberration.

  The abomination had caught up with me.

  A sound thick with dread escaped my mouth. I could no longer run or hide.

  Th-There must be something I can do! I thought. Don’t I have a teleportation magic item on me? No?! I should have something! I just...!

  “Huh...?” As I dug through the inventory in my robe, my fingers touched something that made me gasp. I slowly took it out. It was a pitch black, crystalline object that emitted no light whatsoever — a Crystal of Resentment.

  “No...” I said in despair. I held the obsidian-like object in my hand. It was an item without which I had no hope of becoming the King of Corpses. Creating it had required me
to lead the Gouz-Maise Gang and spend nearly a year sacrificing a great number of children.

  However, aside from being the condition for becoming the King of Corpses, the crystal was also the ultimate medium for the Necromancer grouping’s magic. Using it here was painful, but...

  “If I die... it will have all been for naught!” I screamed.

  I had to pick between dying and using the Crystal to survive, so I gladly picked the latter. If I didn’t, the time and effort I’d dedicated to my cause would’ve all gone to waste. I simply had to survive and do it all over again in some other town. After all — the time, the work I was willing to dedicate and the sacrifices were endless.

  As long as I’m alive, I can restart as many times as I have to! I thought. Indeed — I cannot let myself die here! Dying to this accidental encounter is unacceptable!

  “YOU DISGUSTING, MONSTROUS CURS!” I roared while filling the Crystal of Resentment — my greatest treasure — with great amounts of magic. “YOU MONSTERS WILL NOT TAKE MY LIFE FROM ME!”

  After reforming the wicked feelings within the crystal to pure destructive energy, I released it all towards the abomination, fully aware that it would destroy the fortress, as well. After all, it was the strongest offensive magic skill any Lich could have.

  “DEADLY MIXEEERRRR!”

  With great dread and frenzy overwhelming me, I unleashed the most powerful attack I’d ever cast. It was great enough to instantly eradicate a Pure-Dragon. There was simply no way for him to survive it.

  “Counter Absorption.”

  And yet...

  “Ah...? Ugh...? Eahhh...?” Confusion escaped my mouth in the form of strange sounds. The magic I’d dedicated my entire being to was blocked by a barrier of light he created before it. “Th-This cannot be!”

  The shock made me lose my footing and fall to the ground. A moment later, the abomination was right in front of me.

  “Ghah?! N-No!”

  The moment I attempted to stand up and run away in fear, his halberd — still emitting a silver gleam — penetrated my torso and pinned me to the spot.

  “GYYAAAHH!”

  I was unable to move — both due to the halberd piercing me and the pain caused by Silverlight — and the aberration stood before me.

  “Stop... running,” it hissed through its ragged breath.

  “W-Wait!” I said. “I won’t run! You caught me!”

  Escape was impossible at this point, but I still had to survive, even if it meant begging for my life.

  “L-Let’s make a deal!” I spoke in a panic. “M-Money! I’ll give you money! I still have lots of it! 70,000,000 lir, to be precise! It’s yours! Take it all, but please, let me go!”

  The aberration said nothing.

  Yes! I thought. He reacted to my offer! I don’t care if I have to give him all my coins! I have already sacrificed my Crystal of Resentment! Money is a small price to pay for survival!

  “Hhaaahh...” He sighed and extended his right palm towards me.

  Excellent! It worked!

  “Khah! Hahahah!” I laughed. “G-Give me a moment. I’ll just take it all out of the inventory, so—”

  “Your life is payment enough,” he said, cutting my words short.

  “Eh?”

  As confusion overtook me, his open hand changed into a fist, and the bracer on it began to emit that painfully-familiar silver light.

  I heard my own skull crack and squelch. And then I was gone.

  ◇◇◇

  Paladin Ray Starling

  The headless corpse of the Lich became dust and began to crumble.

  At the same time, my body quickly became too heavy for me to stand properly and I dropped to the ground before I could do anything to soften my fall.

  “Looks like... it’s over,” I forced out a mutter. My status window displayed Poison, Paralysis, Death Sentence, Weakness, Deterioration, and a number of other debuffs. There were so many that keeping track of them all seemed like a fool’s errand.

  However, the fact that the status effects I’d gotten from my opponent had come back left me with no doubt that he was defeated.

  “Like a Flag Flying the Reversal.” That was the unique skill that Nemesis had gained with her second form — The Flag Halberd. It reversed all the debuffs given to me by hostile creatures. On the flip side, that meant that it would stop the moment the relevant hostiles were dead. The return of his debuffs was the ultimate proof of his death.

  The moment after he’d manipulated the child into slicing my neck, I’d made Nemesis go from her greatsword form into The Flag Halberd and activated the Reversal. Thus my reaction to the debuffs displayed in my status window. Once the skill was active, Bleeding began to increase my bloodflow, Poison healed me, and Paralysis upped my physical abilities.

  The damage I’d gotten from the surprise attack had been healed by the reversed Poison while I was still on the ground. Once that effect had closed the wound on my neck, the Bleeding status effect had completely disappeared.

  Later, when he’d hit me with those debuff spells, I’d turned them all into buffs, as well. Though I’d felt that some of them didn’t seem like they got reversed, it was clear that I was under no negative effects.

  He’d ended up greatly buffing me and reversing the power balance.

  He’d also had the problem of compatibility. The Purifying Silverlight was a skill meant for purging undead, and that was exactly what a Lich was. Also, Silver had been a great help in catching up to him when he’d run away.

  Of course, I still didn’t have the Riding skill. So I hadn’t been riding him, per se. I’d merely let Silver gallop towards the Lich while I held on to him, letting my feet get dragged along the floor.

  It hadn’t been too different from one of those generic Western flick scenes where people got pulled around while tied to horses. In that state, my feet had gotten continuously damaged, but I’d been able to cover it with the healing from the reversed Poison.

  Once on the surface, I’d blocked his final spell with Counter Absorption. Though it was far more powerful than Gardranda’s flames, we had somehow been able to handle it.

  For a moment, I’d thought the debuffs would make me collapse, but after the attack had been done, Nemesis had quickly changed back to The Flag Halberd and re-activated the Reversal, letting me come out of it unscathed. Then I’d pinned him with down with my weapon and ended his life with my fist.

  This whole battle had been extremely dangerous to me. I had only managed due to the convergence of several very specific circumstances. This wasn’t a feat I’d be repeating any time soon.

  “...I got really lucky here,” I said.

  “I know all the reasons why we emerged victorious, but even I can’t help but think the same,” Nemesis agreed.

  Perhaps fate itself helped me hunt down and punish the scumbag who toyed with the lives of countless children, I thought.

  I silently looked at my hand. The sensation I’d felt when I’d pulverized his head was still there. Either due to him being undead or because of my Silverlight, it had felt much like shattering a withered tree, but it’d been there nonetheless.

  Though he was a piece of filth beyond any redemption, he was also the first tian I’d killed.

  If I — being a Maiden’s Master — felt as strongly about this world as I did about reality, this killing might cause me pain.

  “I have nothing against such considerations, but you should leave it for later,” said Nemesis.

  “Nemesis?” I asked, slightly puzzled. She had already returned to her human form and was looking down at me.

  She pointed at one part of the status window — specifically, the Death Sentence debuff. Upon further inspection, I noticed that it had a counter next to it, saying “362 seconds.”

  Is this one of those debuffs that kills you when the counter reaches 0? I thought.

  “So, Master, do you happen to have any anti-debuff medicine?” she asked.

  “I’ve got some Antidotes for
poisons, but I never expected to get a debuff like this,” I said.

  This is bad... Really bad. At this rate, I’ll get the death penalty.

  Hugo was here, the children were safe, and the gang was eliminated, so I didn’t have to worry about any of that. However, dying would mean missing the time we’d agreed on with Marie. I didn’t like that scenario at all.

  “Curse you, you wretched horse zombie!” shouted Nemesis. “You just had to leave us with this parting gift!”

  “...Crap,” I muttered. Due to all the debuffs on me, only my mouth worked properly, so I couldn’t even hold my head in despair.

  Nemesis began rummaging through my inventory to see if I had something that could help me. Silver — who I still hadn’t called back — was looking down at me in a somewhat worried manner.

  “You should drink this.” Something hard was pushed against my jaw.

  I looked and saw Hugo — who’d just jumped out of... what I could only describe as a see-through ice robot with a Magingear inside — pushing a potion against my mouth.

  Once I gulped down the contents, my body became so light that it felt as though the debuffs were never there.

  He followed it up with another potion. Once I drank that one, I looked at the status window and saw that all the status effects were gone.

  “I’m healed!” I cried.

  “Indeed you are!” said Nemesis. “You have our thanks, Hugo!”

  “You’re welcome,” he smiled.

  “What was this medicine, anyway?” I asked.

  “An Elixir and a curse-removing High Spirit Water,” he said.

  “And you didn’t mind giving them to me?” I asked.

  “Not at all. After all, they came out of the inventory of the one I defeated.” Hugo pointed at the ox head hanging on the gate.

  I looked at that general direction and saw a number of items lying around the remains.

  Some of them were bottles, just like the one I’d just drunk from.

  “Why are the items scattered like that?” I asked.

  “His inventory broke with my attack,” answered Hugo. “I, uh... might’ve overdone it.”

  That made me remember the tutorial, when Cheshire had said that this was just about what happened when an inventory shattered. Though the power of the release often left the contents break, it was the easiest way to take the possessions of others. Due to that, some bad guys chose to attack rich people and spread their items all over the place.