Chapter 89

■？？？

Gideon is filled with cheers.

Even when the time Franklin had announced arrived, no monsters were released into the streets of Gideon.

The people of Gideon rejoiced and praised those who had made it happen.

On the other hand, the PKs who sided with Franklin lamented their failure or scorned Franklin's incompetence.

Most reactions were one of these two, but... there were a few exceptions in Gideon.

One was Hugo.

Because he was part of Franklin's inner circle, he knew what would happen next.

And a few powerful individuals were also certain.

This wasn't the end, they thought.

◆◆◆

【Grand Professor】Mr. Franklin is executing a plan devised with the Prime Minister faction of the Dryf Empire tonight.

At the same time, he has challenged Ray Sterling to a personal duel for revenge.

His plan was to defeat the rookie who had thwarted his own plans using a fully modified dragon-class monster, the RSK, and to crush Ray with the flood of monsters in Gideon, thereby demonstrating his own powerlessness and breaking his spirit. That was the plan.

However, the result of the revenge match is grim.

Now, under Franklin's eyes, the RSK, which cost 100 million rils to create specifically to counter Ray Sterling, has been reduced to dust.

Yes, Franklin has been defeated by Ray Sterling twice.

It was not an unforeseen outcome... no, it was the result of multiple foreseeable factors stacking up.

Franklin ponders what he should have done.

He thinks about how he could have defeated Ray Sterling in this restricted battle.

Several ideas come to mind, but he feels that even if he had executed them, they wouldn't have been enough.

That's because his opponent is Ray Sterling.

A rookie who, at level 0, defeated a dragon-class monster, the Demi Dragon Worm, which is comparable to a high-level class.

He challenged and defeated the UBM, the Great Miasma Galdoranda.

He defeated the notorious leader of the Gouz Maze bandits in Gideon and then destroyed the UBM, the Vengeful Cattle and Horses Gouz Maze, which was formed from their grudges.

A rookie who has already performed many miracles.

The possibility of a miracle happening here is very real, and Franklin himself had considered this possibility.

However, his prediction was that "it might conveniently evolve into its third form."

Now, with the RSK defeated, Franklin thinks:

-- I defeated the one who thwarted my plans, but he's still a rookie.

-- It's too childish to put all my effort into a rookie.

-- Besides, I have family to take care of.

-- That's why I decided to use a modified monster with the cost of a single dragon-class monster to deal with him.

-- I was a fool for thinking that way.

The regret is that he should not have considered a restricted battle from the beginning.

-- I never wanted to lose, yet I've been defeated twice.

-- And I was defeated even after taking precautions.

-- I cannot tolerate this.

-- I cannot forgive this.

-- I will kill him with all my might.

Franklin, a <Superior> of the Dryf Empire, had already made up his mind at this point.

His greatest enemy is not the other factions' [Beast King] or [Demon General] in the same country, not the four <Superiors> of the Kingdom, and not even the nine <Superiors> of the strongest clan in Cardina, Sefiroth.

It's this guy.

Franklin judged that the rookie Ray Sterling is the smallest and greatest enemy in <Infinite Dendrogram>.

-- Next time, I will crush him with the <Superior> battle-modified monster [MGD] -- [Mechanics God Dylane], without any hesitation or restrictions.

But that's for the next story.

The [MGD] is not yet complete, and Franklin has other things to do now.

The revenge match against Ray Sterling was a personal matter for Franklin, and as a <Superior> of the empire, he has other roles assigned by the Prime Minister.

With this in mind, Franklin regains his composure and takes his first action.

That is...

◆◆◆

□ <Jando Grassland>

Ray, who had defeated the RSK in a mutually destructive manner, declared victory to the people of Gideon.

However, for him, that was the limit, and he fainted and fell backward.

“Ray!”

Nemesis, who had transformed from a black greatsword into a human, supported his body.

Liliana, Lord Lindus, and a few other knights of the Royal Guard who had rejoined the battle rushed to Ray's side.

“Mr. Ray, are you okay!! 《Force Heal》!”

“Those with spare MP, take turns healing him and the knights who haven't rejoined! The rest, come with me to search for the disappeared Franklin and Princess Elizabeth! Absolutely don't let that man escape!”

“““Understood!”””

Following Lord Lindus's orders, the Royal Guard dispersed.

Liliana and a couple of Royal Guard knights remained by Ray's side.

Liliana, while casting healing magic on Ray, looked bitter.

“His physical strength can be restored... but”

Her gaze fell on Ray's left arm.

It had gone beyond [Burn] and was now [Charred].

Such a severe status abnormality is difficult to fully heal even with high-level healing magic.

It was as if he had sacrificed something significant to defeat the RSK, the monster that could be called the nemesis of the [Holy Knights].

If there is any silver lining, it is that as a <Master>, Ray will recover from all status abnormalities when he respawns from a death penalty.

Whether he desires that or not is another matter, but...

“I want to keep him alive for now. I'm sure Ray doesn't want to leave the stage here.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

As Liliana and the others continued to treat Ray, a sudden sound of applause came from somewhere.

“!”

Nemesis and Liliana searched for the source of the sound, and a 3D projection appeared in the air.

Unbeknownst to Nemesis and the others, this was the same projection being shown throughout the city.

Franklin's figure was displayed there.

‘Ladies and gentlemen watching the live broadcast, did you see that? My monster was pitifully defeated. How sad. No, no, let's first give a round of applause to the [Holy Knights] who accomplished this. Applause, applause.’

Franklin clapped, but there was no one else to clap in this place.

On the contrary, the cheers from the live broadcast audience had fallen silent due to Franklin's actions.

‘Yes, congratulations. It has been 251 seconds since the scheduled monster release time. Ah, it seems the remote control is broken. The modified monsters haven't been released.’

Franklin put his hand to his forehead and shook his head in disappointment.

Then he reached into his pocket,

‘Here is the backup remote control.’

He took out a remote control device similar to the one he had just used.

“You...!”

‘Hahaha, the people on the scene are looking like “What was the point of the battle so far?” The audience watching the live broadcast must feel the same way, right?’

Franklin spoke, cutting off Nemesis's angry words.

‘The battle so far? It was just a sideshow and a revenge match. No, I made a backup in case of a malfunction. It's important, you know.’

He said this with a sly smile on his face.

‘By the way, this one doesn't have a timer function. So, I'll just press it. Click, click, click, click.’

And Franklin, as if it were nothing, activated the device that would release 500 monsters into Gideon.

“Franklin!!”

Nemesis shouted in anger, but Franklin paid no attention.

‘Hahaha, your battle was a good sideshow. Yes, the result wasn't interesting, but seeing you now makes me feel amused. It would have been better if Ray was awake. What kind of face would he have shown?’

Franklin laughed.

Liliana glared at Franklin once, then told her subordinates to continue treating Ray and stood up.

‘Oh, Vice Captain, are you going to go for rescue now? Or are you going to try to defeat me here? With your battered body? You're trying hard. But it's no use, 《Summon -- [DGF], [KOS]》.’

Franklin raised the jewel in his right hand and summoned two monsters from within it.

The two appeared right next to Nemesis and the others.

One was a dinosaur-like creature, the DGF, radiating a red aura from its entire body.

The other was a massive blue slime, the KOS, similar to the Oxygen Slime Franklin had summoned in the arena, but several times larger.

“...these guys!”

Seeing these two blocking their path, Nemesis instinctively realized that they were far more powerful than the RSK, which they had just struggled to defeat.

‘There's nothing strange about it, is there? I am a <Superior> and a [Grand Professor]. My pawns are not just one RSK, and it's not even the strongest. Rather, it's one of the weaker ones among the custom-made modified monsters. It's a dragon-class, but these are even stronger. They have the combat power of a <Master> in a combat-type <Superior> or a legendary <UBM>.’

‘You must have had a hunch, right?’, Franklin continued.

‘I used the RSK simply because Ray had defeated a dragon-class monster, the Demi Dragon Worm, and I thought I'd get back at him with a monster that cost the equivalent of a single dragon-class. I tried to crush him completely with perfect countermeasures, but... I lost again.’

Franklin sighed and declared without a smile.

‘Yes, I have lost to Ray twice. I will definitely return this debt and humiliation.’

“...”

Upon hearing this declaration, Nemesis realized that the RSK, to Franklin, was just a form of play.

The countermeasures against Ray, which seemed overkill, were still not enough.

But now, after his second defeat, Franklin has no more leniency.

One of the strongest players, the <Superior>, has identified Ray as an enemy.

‘But, that said, I don't intend to lose tonight's plan. Well, how is the city doing? Compared to these, the monsters in the city are a bit inferior, but I mixed in a few troublesome ones...’

Franklin tilted his head in confusion as he looked at the city.

Nemesis also realized what Franklin was wondering about.

-- Gideon is too quiet.

Too quiet for 500 monsters to have been released.

There were some battle sounds, but they were very sporadic.

‘...Only a part of them were released?’

Franklin pressed the switch on his remote control again, but there was no change in Gideon.

‘It's not a malfunction of the remote control. If that's the case, there must be some problem with the device...’

Then, Franklin remembered.

The countless devices he had hidden and installed throughout the city.

There was an existence that could deal with those devices, which Franklin had witnessed tonight.

A person of indeterminate gender, shrouded in black mist.

That person's name is...

◇◆◇

□ Somewhere in Gideon's city

“Ah, I'm glad I made it in time.”

Sitting in a corner of an alley, a person sighed deeply while watching a projection in the air.

Next to this person, the <Superior Killer> Marie Adler, was a large bag, stuffed to the brim.

The contents of the bag were machine-like objects embedded with jewels.

They were the monster release devices that Franklin had installed throughout the city, and they were all “broken” and stuffed into the bag.

These were the devices that Marie had collected and destroyed after the battle with the [Symphony King] Beldorber.

These release devices, which were essential to the plan, had to be hidden until the plan was executed.

Therefore, the devices created by Franklin had both the function to remotely release the monsters from the jewels and a highly advanced 《Concealment》 function.

The fact that they were not discovered as suspicious objects even after several days of installation confirmed their performance.

However...

“I'm unfortunately good at both hiding and finding things.”

Marie is a <Superior> in the stealth class, the [Absolute Shadow].

The stealth class is proficient in 《Concealment》.

This means not only being able to perform it but also to see through others' 《Concealment》.

Marie's mastered 《Concealment Perception》 skill had even seen through the 《Concealment》 of the [Night Lounge] that Franklin used to escape.

Moreover, because she used 《Concealment Perception》 at that time, she also realized that the monster release devices were concealed throughout the city.

Therefore, after the battle, she used 《Concealment Perception》 to run around the city, collect the hidden devices, and destroy them.

A total of 403 devices were processed.

More than 80% of the installed devices were recovered and destroyed.

Excluding the few that had already been released and defeated, there were probably only a few left.

However, this result was not due to her efforts alone.

The time gained from Ray and the others defeating the RSK allowed the damage to be minimized.

And this result had another meaning.

The <Masters> of the arena, who were of a higher level, could