Chapter Four: King of Destruction, Shu Starling

Chapter Four: King of Destruction, Shu Starling

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Shu Starling, the King of Destruction, was one of the kingdom's four Superiors, and he'd reigned at the top of the country's kill rankings for over two years of Infinite Dendrogram time.

His name was known to few, but his many deeds were spoken of far and wide.

These were such things as the defeat of the Tri-Zenith Dragon, Gloria; the Corpse Stronghold incident in the Southern Sea; the Kim-un-kamuy incident in Tenchi; the disappearance of an entire mountain range in Caldina, attributed to his battle against The Earth; and the crashing of the Unidentified Flying Stronghold, Laputa, which was one of Huang He's Superior Embryos.

Though he'd gained a reputation as the central figure in those and countless other such events, there was next to no information about him.

His appearance was as much of a mystery as his name, and many argued that his avatar wasn't actually human. Witnesses described him as "white," "black," "always looking different," or "soft and fluffy," and though it turned out those rumors weren't wrong, there was no denying the vagueness of them.

However, there were two specific pieces of info most thought to be highly accurate.

One was the idea that he held a Superior Job from the crasher grouping. Its stat growth focused entirely on STR, and its specialty was the breaking of material defenses in events such as castle sieges.

Alas, that job grouping's AGI and END was very low, making it unsuitable for vanguard roles.

But the King of Destruction, Shu Starling, was...

◇◆◇

Jeand Grasslands

The sight was much like a scene from a decade-old action manga.

The man kicked a monster. The sad creature was pulverized and sent flying towards other monsters, all of which shattered upon impact.

Another monster came from behind the man.

Before the monster realized it, the man had placed his fist right below its neck and thrown it upwards for an uppercut, launching the unfortunate creature to the stars.

In less than a minute, more than 300 monsters had been completely shattered — no, destroyed.

And it was all done by one man: the King of Destruction.

"Y ou've gotta be shittin' me..." Franklin muttered in disbelief, and he was fully justified in doing so.

After all, the hundreds of monsters the man was sweeping up definitely weren't just cannon fodder. They were all Demi-Dragon-tier, and therefore monsters strong enough to match battle-focused high-rank jobs. In fact, their relentless nature and lack of concern for their own lives made them even stronger than a usual Demi-Dragon.

And yet, they could do nothing to stop this man.

The man began to run, pulverizing a monster.

He casually swung an arm, making another monster explode.

Another monster dropped dead by simply grazing one of his fingers.

Countless monsters were destroyed as though they were more frail than papier-mâché.

Now, Franklin would have been fully willing to accept and understand the scene if the man had been using a skill that did something along the lines of "Destroys what you touch."

But there was simply no such thing.

The man wasn't using a single skill.

The King of Destruction was able to create the scene simply because he was strong.

"Hhhhh..." Franklin sighed, impressed to the point of speechless shock. After all, he was the one who knew the reasons behind the ridiculous feats better than anyone else on the scene. Franklin's right eye was shining blue, emitting an aura of knowledge and understanding.

All high-rank and Superior Jobs had ultimate and unique skills, and Franklin's Giga Professor was no exception. One such skill was "The Analyzing Eye of Wisdom."

It allowed him to find out the target's stats, skills, growth, status effects, and materials dropped by simply looking at them long enough. Even skills such as Conceal or Disguise meant little against that skill.

Skill explanations would be shrouded in a mist that slowly faded, while stat points would start at 0 and gradually rise at a pace of about 2,000 per second until they arrived at the correct number.

For example, he had seen all the stats of Marie — the stealth-focused Death Shadow — in only about 10 seconds of looking.

Franklin was now using it on that man, and he just didn't know

what to make of what he saw.

The King of Destruction job level was 1,080, while his STR had already exceeded 100,000 and still continued to rise.

"Man, what the actual fuck?" he burst out.

The stats seen by The Analyzing Eye of Wisdom stopped rising upon reaching the right number, meaning that the man's STR easily surpassed 100,000. Considering that some stat-focused Superior Jobs had a hard time breaking 10,000, that number was nothing if not ludicrous. Sure, the number included Embryo and equipment bonuses, but that did little to soften his astonishment.

The Analyzing Eye of Wisdom also displayed any skills the target used.

They appeared as momentary, flashing pop-ups, and Franklin had yet to see any of them since the King of Destruction had entered the scene, effectively proving that the man was merely destroying the monsters with nothing but pure power.

All the destruction here was caused by simple standard attacks.

"When it comes to STR alone, he might be a match for the King of Beasts," Franklin muttered, comparing the man to the strongest Master he knew.

The King of Destruction might actually be the Master with the greatest STR.

But that was with STR alone. The rest of the stats weren't high. And it wasn't like they merely seemed low because of the towering, six-digit STR. All of the other stats besides it and the five-digit HP were in the four-digit range.

In fact, his AGI was just barely over 1,000. There was simply no balance in these stats.

The go-to path for vanguard roles was to focus on either AGI, so

that they could move at supersonic speeds, or END, in order to bear

many attacks. A standard Superior Job like that would have at least

5,000 of one or the other, but the King of Destruction was different.

He had a pure STR build, focusing entirely on STR while discarding all the other stats.

Sure, that gave him a lot of attack power. With all the Embryo and equipment bonuses, he was now doing damage that made him seem more monstrous than the actual monsters.

However, he shouldn't have been able to survive this fight.

Though the monsters were merely Demi-Dragon-tier, the ones focused on speed had five times more AGI than the King of Destruction did. A STR build like him should've been showered by attacks from the AGI monsters, and he should've lost his HP until it was all gone.

One such monster attempted to bite into the man's neck from one of his blind spots, only to be shattered by a fist that was placed right before its eyes.

"This makes no sense," muttered Franklin. The scene seemed to both match the stats and completely betray them.

Most of the onlookers likely thought that the King of Destruction was just strong. Franklin, however, could see the stats, notice the inconsistency, and realize that it wasn't caused by some skill.

Thus, he came across the answer... but he couldn't comprehend it at all.

There was no other possible explanation for the scene, but it seemed like a part of some joke.

After all...

"Am I seriously supposed to believe he's using fighting skills he brought from reality?"

◇◇◇

Central arena, the stage

"'If the enemy is ten times faster, you just read ten moves ahead,'" Figaro quoted.

"What thE hell?"

"Apparently, he reads their movements and places his attacks at points where they can't change their trajectory."

"Huhhh...? What tHe hELl?"

It was the central arena, the location of what was supposed to have been the night's main event, the Clash of the Superiors. Two Masters were standing on its stage and watching the broadcast above.

One was the Over Gladiator, Figaro, while the other was the Master Jiangshi, Xunyu.

They were the stars of the Clash of the Superiors and the ones who Franklin had locked up in the time-stopping barrier. Now, after being released, the two were just standing and watching the second Clash.

Of course, the other Masters in the arena — especially those who'd tried to save them — wanted the two to join the battle outside. However, Figaro showed no interest in participating in an ongoing battle, while Xunyu seemed to have entered spectator mode. Getting them to fight was hopeless at this point.

Being the greatest players of all, Superiors were often the most troublesome and stubborn of eccentrics. Upon realizing that, the rest of the Masters reluctantly gave up on getting their help and headed out to battle themselves.

They assumed the Superiors would move the moment the arena or the tians inside it were endangered, and they weren't wrong on that front. Still, there was no denying that the two Superiors' casual chat didn't seem to fit the situation.

"How did yoU even get to knOW that?" asked Xunyu.

"We had a fight after he became King of Destruction," said Figaro. "That was when I asked him how he could guard against my attacks when I have so much more AGI than him, and that was his answer."

"Oh yeah, thE bear deflected my attAcks, too..." Xunyu remembered. "But is it even pOssible to read ten movES ahead?"

"It's possible for him, it seems. He said he's 'dabbled' in martial arts in the past."

"Whoa, that's prEtty cool. Maybe I should pick martiAL arts when I'm in juniOR high... Though, wAit, I think thAt was an oPTion for bOY s only."

"Even if you can't take classes, you can find gyms or dojos in most sufficiently civilized towns," Figaro said.

"Or maybe I cAN find some crazy mArtial arts in some seclUded place or soMEthing. That's hOw it goes here, anY way."

"Oh, you mean that one Superior Job discovered in Huang He? 'The Arts,' was it? I always thought that the 'The One' series of jobs was limited to weapon types and magic elements, so I was pretty surprised to find out that there was one for bare fists."

"Man, how did thAT guy even clear those cONditions?!" Xunyu added. "He's not okAy in the head! The bEar gives him a run fOR his money, thOugh! They're both MAdmen!"

"Shu's a friend of mine, but I can't deny that."

Despite fighting each other in an intense, deadly battle just a mere

hour ago, Figaro and Xunyu were now watching the show at Jeand Grasslands and talking like good friends.

Many delinquents of the past had believed that anyone who went all out against each other would become pals, and though that wasn't quite true, duel rankers seemed to have something similar. After all, their current interaction made them look like the best of buddies.

"Anyway, wasn't he in a beAR costume?" asked Xunyu. "What's with that appEarance? He's still a bear, bUT still."

"It's a convertible piece of equipment," answered Figaro. "It's presented as an Ancient Legendary 'Suit,' but it's actually a Mythical 'Godcloth.' Y ou know how there are bosses that basically go, 'This isn't even my final form' and transform? They drop these convertibles every now and then."

"...I've nevEr met any of these retrO RPG demon loRds."

"Really? Y ou have about a 1% chance to meet them at the boss rush in the later stages of the Tomb Labyrinth."

"...Eh? Y ou've beEN there more than 100 tiMEs?" Xunyu asked.

"Isn't that normal? And it's 214 times. It hasn't been long since I started reaching that point."

"That's a lot, mAn. But now it makEs sense why you hAve all those items."

"All that stuff can be troublesome, though," Figaro said. "Even when it comes to inventories, I have so much that I don't know what to do with it all. Anyway, convertible equipment is interesting, but their abilities can be really weird. Shu's is a UBM special reward, so it seems to be adjusted for him."

"Oh?"

"As a Suit, it was focused on stealth, so I think that applies to the

true form, too," Figaro said. "From the way he entered the battle, I assume it has some skill that 'Hides your appearance and presence until you enter the battle.' It might have some other conditions, though."

"...He cAN pull off a surprise attAck with that kind of damage? That's just unfAir."

"Y our ultimate skill isn't too different, though."

"GheaHahAhahaH! Y ou gOt me therE!" Xunyu guffawed.

Their exchange was friendly, and they talked like true gamers. However, to the audience in the arena, it looked like the two Superiors were consulting about how to handle the chaos threatening Gideon. Due to this, the overall sentiment in the audience was tenseness and excitement at what was happening on the broadcast mixed with hope for the two champions on the stage.

But alas, the two they so believed in were just having a simple chat.

"By the wAY ," Xunyu said.

"What?"

...Or so it seemed.

"When will thAt shitty labcOat dude use the thing undER us?"

"It's probably a tactical self-destruction monster, so he'll probably do it after his Plan C falls apart," Figaro said. "It shouldn't be long now."

Not all of it was just idle chatter after all.

"Then I'll get riD of the thing wiTH my ultimate sKill. Y ou shoUld —"

"I'll stop the two 'strongests' if they go on the offensive. I'm interested in the thing below, but sadly, I'm a pure solo player."

"GhehAh! But those two arE way more tROublesome!" cried Xunyu.

"Dealing with them sounds like fun, though, doesn't it?"

"AgreEd."

Watching the fight of their fellow Superior, the two readied their fangs.

◆◆◆

Central arena, audience seats

At the eastern side of the arena, there was a woman with a porcupine on her knees. Just like everyone else, she was watching the broadcast.

While doing so, she noticed something. Not about the scene displayed, but about Behemot — her porcupine partner.

She could easily tell that the sight of the King of Destruction filled the creature with much excitement and joy.

They'd been in Infinite Dendrogram for over four years now, so it was easy for her to notice such changes in the porcupine's mood.

"That's clearly the same bear that you were so fond of," she said. Upon remembering how Behemot had climbed on the bear suit's head, she formed a faint smile.

At the same time, a thought came to her mind. It was a sentiment shared by many of the audience members watching the broadcast.

He's strong.

Just like most, she saw Shu Starling as powerful. However, what that strength made her feel was quite unlike what the rest of the audience felt.

To most, his struggle was their last hope, while what she felt was very different.

He's using tricks, too, but most of it is just pure power, the woman thought. I like that. It makes my heart flutter. I want him to hit me, and I would love to crush him, too. He'd be a much better opponent than the two on the stage.

She was the only one watching him who wanted to face him as an enemy.

Her gaze was that of a bloodthirsty beast, and the meager amount of bloodlust she exuded was enough to make the surrounding tians shake in fear, unaware as to why. But she was quick to hide that lust for battle, for Behemot sent her a certain thought.

"He's like a hero."

In the broadcast, Shu scattered a number of monsters with but a single kick. Despite facing countless of the disgusting creatures, he stood strong and continued felling them, hit by hit.

The sight made her nod. "Y es, he truly is a hero. Especially when you consider he's fighting the Giga Professor, who's quite the villain."

Shu was a true hero facing a horde of disgusting monsters all by himself, while Franklin, the leader of the horde, looked like nothing but a vile madman.

"Well, I certainly won't call it pathetic," she added, giving her opinions on the situation while telepathically talking to Behemot.

"Hey," said the porcupine.

"Y es, what is it?" asked the woman.

"Which is stronger — the queen of beasts or the hero?"

"Well..."

She knew the hidden meaning behind the question and put her response into spoken word.

"We should see for ourselves."

It was a promise for a not-so-distant future.

"Anyway, it's good that we came here," she added telepathically. "I'm happy we found someone who meets our desires."

With that, she focused entirely on the broadcast.

Thus, she and Behemot — the two representing the joker card that wouldn't help Franklin in his game — decided to just silently watch the battle.

◇◆◇

Jeand Grasslands

The King of Destruction's bare fists had already destroyed more than 1,000 monsters. Not only that, but his feats allowed the ten-odd Masters nearby to regroup and take on any monsters that slipped through the Superior's devastation.

The Masters that had been closed in the central arena were now pouring through the western gate and aiding the war effort, too.

The Masters outside had been able to buy enough time, and the situation was shifting in favor of the Masters guarding the city of Gideon.

Despite all that, Franklin still had a wide grin on his face.

"Well, I have his skills and stats now, and it sure is something..." he murmured.

The King of Destruction's stats and battle prowess were astonishing, indeed. Each of his punches was on par with a high-rank Embryo ultimate skill, and the fact that they were paired with excellent

combat ability made them nothing short of frightening.

It didn't end there. The Analyzing Eye of Wisdom allowed Franklin to see the King of Destruction's unique skill, and it was definitely something to be feared.

Its name was "Right of Destruction," and its description was, "Allows you to destroy indestructible targets with endurance lower than your attack power."

Franklin believed the skill let the King of Destruction destroy creatures that nullified physical attacks, such as Slimes and Spirits. After all, the skill had flashed up on his Eye of Wisdom when the King of Destruction had destroyed a King-Size Oxygen Slime in just one hit.

Considering the attack power his ridiculous STR gave him, Right of Destruction likely allowed him to negate any and all Destruction Negation skills.

"Well, he sure surprised me," said Franklin. "But he won't be a problem."

No matter how strong and combat proficient, the King of Destruction's strength was still merely the strength of one. He was the same as the other two Superiors Franklin had deemed to be of little concern; he wasn't anything Franklin couldn't deal with.

The many other monsters gathered here weren't a big problem, either. Pandemonium would soon finish unleashing the remaining monsters.

Though they were also part of the Suicide Series, they were of a different version than the 5,000 that had been released first.

About a third of them were on par with Pure-Dragons, but that certainly wasn't all. When Pandemonium released Franklin's monsters into the wild, he could make slight modifications to them, which included the addition of simple orders.

The reason he'd released the 5,000 first was to make the kingdom believe that all Suicide Series monsters only charged forward. The new order he added to the 50,000 monsters was simple: "After all the Suicide Series monsters are released, surround Gideon and invade it."

That meant the city was about to be attacked by 50,000 monsters coming from every direction.

The kingdom's Masters would be able to handle it if Franklin released them gradually. If they banded together and focused all their powers into sweeping up the monsters, they could likely protect the city with little trouble.

However, if the 50,000 monsters all split up and attacked simultaneously from every direction, the side with the smaller numbers wasn't going to stand a chance.

Even if they had the King of Destruction and his exceptional STR, and even with the 1,000 Masters from the arena, a significant portion of the monsters would surely break into the city. And with that, Franklin would be victorious.

As Pandemonium released the last of the monsters, Franklin spoke up.

"All right, now they'll advance to the city and—"

But before he could finish his sentence, the world before his eyes underwent a drastic change.

Parts of the ground were ejected upwards, and its pieces and dust began covering the sky.

Violent ear and flesh-rending explosive sounds overwhelmed his surroundings.

The stench of gunpowder and blood assaulted his nose.

And between the explosions, he could hear the dying wails of

countless monsters.

He realized that the monsters he was releasing were quickly being exterminated by countless cannon shots from places unknown.

"Artillery?! What the...?!"

At that moment, he remembered the two most reliable rumors concerning King of Destruction, the mysterious Superior.

One was the idea that he was a Superior Job from the crasher grouping. The other was...

"A battleship!" Franklin shouted.

The surrounding explosions abated, and the battlefield was caressed by a speedy gale. It blew away the cloud of dirt shrouding the ground beneath, revealing that not a single one of the Suicide Series had survived the onslaught unscathed. And beyond the wretched creatures, there was something that hadn't been there before.

Just like Franklin's Pandemonium, it had once been hidden by Optic Camouflage, but now it was concealed no longer.

It was larger than Gideon's walls.

It was a weapon.

It was a vehicle.

It was a Superior Embryo.

It was a land battleship, crushing the ground beneath with its gigantic caterpillar tracks.

It very much confirmed the second most reliable piece of information about the King of Destruction: "His Embryo is a battleship."

This was the War God Ship, Baldr.

"Twin Quintuple Cannons, firebombs loaded... Barrage." The Superior Embryo spoke in a robotic voice as it fired the quintuple cannons on both its sides towards the surviving monsters.

The incendiary shots leaked fuel as they rent the air and slammed into the monsters, either turning them into burning effigies or simply reducing them to ash.

"Stardust Genocider," the Embryo said.

It wasn't just artillery that it had. The extremely masculine, tank-like, ship-like Embryo suddenly exposed countless aircraft catapults on one of part of its deck.

They all momentarily lit up and released strange projectiles that left trails of smoke behind them.

Like ravenous hawks, the flying objects relentlessly went after the monsters, exploding upon impact and reducing them to dust.

"Bloody Laser Storm."

Certain parts of the ship's hull slid open, revealing a number of sentry guns. They all started autonomously releasing crimson lasers towards the monsters within range, neatly slicing them up.

If this wasn't an overwhelming annihilation, nothing was. Each and every piece of Baldr's weaponry was focused on wide-area extermination.

In a short while, it had already taken care of more than 10,000 of Franklin's monsters. The menacing creatures he'd wanted to use to make the kingdom succumb were nothing but lowly insects before the battleship.

"He... What... He kills stuff in a large radius, too?!" For the first time that day, Franklin raised his voice in anger.

He had every reason to do so.

After all, he was looking at his natural enemy.

Franklin's Pandemonium was a wide-scale suppression type — one that felled a target location through sheer numbers.

The King of Destruction's Baldr was a wide-scale extermination type — one that killed great numbers through sheer force.

Like skills, items, and jobs, Embryos also had compatibility.

Just like Franklin was certain he could win against Figaro and Xunyu, who both focused on individual power, he was now certain that he couldn't win against the King of Destruction.

The barrage of attacks had already felled 10,000, and it wouldn't be too long until there was nothing left. The surviving monsters followed their imprinting and tried to split up, but it was obvious they wouldn't last against that firepower.

The King of Destruction, true to his name, would destroy them all.

He was the kingdom's most powerful. He was the country's strongest Master, bearing the Embryo with the greatest firepower. He could never be stopped by mere numbers with half-baked abilities.

"...I guess this is it," Franklin muttered as he realized that his Plan C had failed completely.

It would take some time for the Suicide Series to be completely exterminated, but they could never harm Gideon now.

Even if, by some freak miracle, some monsters survived the onslaught, the other Masters on the scene would have no trouble mopping them up.

"I lost Plan A to Ray Starling, Plan B to the Superior Killer, and Plan C — the one that took the longest to prepare — to the King of Destruction..." The fact that he was being cornered made Franklin laugh in self-derision. "Ha ha ha ha... Funny how they just keep

getting stronger every time I use a nastier plan..."

At this point, there was simply no way for Franklin to win. The King of Orchestras, Veldorbell was down, Hugo Lesseps had abandoned him, and the traitorous Masters on his side were thoroughly unreliable.

We'd probably be able to turn it all around if those two decide to participate, Franklin thought. But he knew that it wouldn't happen. The two girls he'd counted as his joker had dropped out of the scene the moment they'd found out that the first princess hadn't come to Gideon.

Hell, if she were here, we could... No, that's stupid. What am I even thinking? Franklin even went as far as to remember a certain person who was no longer at his side, and ridiculed himself for it.

"...Enough."

He looked down at Pandemonium, the battlefield, and Gideon with the coldest of looks on his face.

"All right, I get it. I can't win this, no matter what." As though convincing himself, he spoke those words and reached into his lab coat's pocket. "So I'll just delete both your victory and my defeat."

He pressed the button to activate his final pawn.

◇◆◇

Central arena, underground

As the many people in the arena's audience watched the broadcast with either joy or worry, a certain something 4,000 metels underground was digging through the bedrock and making its way towards the surface.

It was a monster highly reminiscent of a centipede.

Using the spinning, drill-like appendage on its head, it broke through the tough bedrock and charged towards its destination.

The monster's name was the NDW, short for the Nuclear Dragon Worm, and it was the final piece that Franklin had prepared for his plan.

The NDW was a creature that had been developed using a Demi-

Dragon Worm as its base, and that gave it a great tunneling ability.

However, that certainly wasn't its main feature.

The NDW was equipped with a single, extremely powerful weapon.

Since it was underground, no one could see the creature, but if they did, they'd notice that its chest was shining red.

It was basically a nuclear bomb.

Franklin had defeated an Ancient Legendary UBM called "Nuke Dragon, Untergang" and used its special reward to create the NDW.

Once activated, it would burn everything in a two kilometel radius in a storm of fire and radiation. Naturally, the NDW would die as well, but it wouldn't mind that. Right from the start, the monster had been designed to be a self-destruction superweapon.

The NDW was the main component of Plan D for "destroy," the plan that Franklin had decided to start if the many Suicide Series

monsters from Plan C somehow failed.

It was his spade — the final ace up his sleeve — and using it would be the equivalent of flipping the entire game board upside down.

If the NDW reached the surface and blew up, everyone in the arena would die. That would include the tian spectators, Count Gideon himself, and the Masters still there.

Of course, the arena — the symbol of the city — would blow up, as well.

The severe losses would bring great chaos and despair upon the kingdom, and the country would be unable to claim they'd been victorious against Franklin.

He'd prepared the NDW to prevent the kingdom and its people from rebuilding, on the off chance that they might attain victory against him.

Franklin would've liked to have kept the central arena and its precious functions for when the imperium gained control over the kingdom, but even that was nothing compared to the possibility of losing.

"DRRRRRRR..."

The NDW drilled through the hard bedrock, making short work of it. At the rate it was going, it would reach the surface within the next few minutes or so. It would fulfill Franklin's desire and burn his defeat along with Gideon.

When it came close to the surface, its high-quality biological audio sensors began picking up the voices of the people above.

"Go, KoD!"

"Masters! Please do your best!"

"Please help us..."

Most of the voices were supporting the King of Destruction and the other Masters fighting the monsters, while the rest were worried about whether they would see tomorrow. But none of them were overcome by despair.

Clearly, none of them had any idea that they would be wiped from this world the moment the NDW reached the surface in just a few minutes.

The creature didn't think much of it, mostly because it wasn't equipped with the ability to think. The NDW's only role was to "stand by below the arena, wait for the signal, rise, and blow up," so it didn't need to have any sort of thoughts.

Even its biological audio sensors were nothing but a means of knowing where it had to rise. Thus, the NDW didn't pay any heed to the people's voices...

"Magic Range Extension, Magic Power Magnification, Magic Area Designation Magnification, Magic Conceal."

...even when someone was speaking a curious set of words.

"Now, for the MP I'll give to the magnification skills... All right, I'll go with 500,000 each."

It sounded like delirious gibberish to those who didn't understand, and delusional nonsense to those who did.

Naturally, the NDW, not having any mind to speak of, ignored the words. But then...

"Mud Clap."

...the very next moment, it was rendered completely immobile. It was unable to move even a single one of its many legs.

"DDRRRRRR?!"

Though the NDW couldn't think, the thoroughly unexpected event caused errors in its programming which made it release a sound much like a shriek.

It tried moving the drill on its head, but it couldn't spin at all. In fact, the burden of even trying to move it made the drill break.

Of course, the NDW couldn't understand what was happening to it. But anyone looking at the situation from the side would surely realize that the NDW was surrounded by ground compressed to the point of becoming ultra hard.

◇◆

The central arena's audience was astir.

It was caused by the ground below them slightly shaking.

Though earthquakes in the kingdom hadn't been all that uncommon recently, the suddenness of this shaking made the people panic slightly.

Still, since there was no aftershock, most peopled believed that it had been nothing but a side effect of the raging battle outside, and they quickly shifted their attention back to the broadcast.

Among the people, there was a man that muttered something inaudible while looking downwards. The turban and the skin-concealing, loose clothing he wore made him look highly Arabic.

"I used about as much as that other time... but it seems it was too much," he said and sighed. "Should've used a third of that."

His pensive face made the middle-aged spectator at his side call out to him.

"Hey, what's up, lad? Why the muttering?"

The Arabian-looking man looked back at him with a troubled expression.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said. "There was a bug below, and it caught my attention."

The words made the middle-aged man look at him in shock before bursting into laughter. "Ha ha ha! Y ou care about bugs in this situation?! I can't tell if that's tough or weak! Oh well, it's not like we can do much from here! Let's just leave it to the King of Destruction and the other Masters!"

"Ahaha, yes. Let's leave it to them." The Arabian-looking man laughed and chose to watch the broadcast along with the fellow spectator.

3,000 metels under them, Franklin's final pawn, the NDW, was completely bound and unable to move.

That had been done by the basic earth spell of Mud Clap, but the insane amounts of magic used had brought its effects far beyond "basic."

The worm was equipped with a powerful tunneling ability, yet it couldn't even shake one of its legs. It was as though it was lodged into a casket designed specifically for it.

The NDW had been rendered incapable of doing anything.

To prevent it from accidentally exploding while underground, Franklin had made sure to set it so that it would only blow up when it reached its target.

And now that it was stuck below ground, his last pawn was rendered completely useless, and a few minutes later, Xunyu used her ultimate skill to rip out its core and kill it.

◇◆◇

Jeand Grasslands

"Just a few more minutes..." Franklin sighed and muttered after pressing the button to activate the NDW.

In Franklin's final act of terror, his game became nothing but an event where he simply waited for the result. Regardless of whether it ended with the NDW's explosion or his own death penalty, it was all over for him.

"There were just too many unexpected factors," he muttered.

The Superior Killer, the RSK's defeat, Hugo's disaffection, and then the appearance of the King of Destruction. Though Franklin had taken measures to assure his success, the unforeseen factors had just been too many for him.

"Especially that King of Destruction. Guy's just unfair."

The King of Destruction's Embryo's artillery had destroyed both Franklin's Suicide Series and the ground beneath. The Jeand Grasslands were grassy no longer.

"Well, at least all the shots he's firing cost materials, just like my monsters, so it probably hurts him as much as it does me," Franklin muttered.

He assumed that this barrage had cost the King of Destruction about 3,000,000,000 lir, which made him grin in a satisfied manner.

But at the same time, a question came to his mind.

"So... why isn't he attacking Pandemonium, again?"

That firepower and range would've made short work of Franklin's Embryo.

He considered why the man wasn't doing it, and quickly noticed the reason at the edge of his vision.

The second princess was not far from him, sleeping at the top of Pandemonium.

That's right, Franklin realized. He wasn't the only one riding his Embryo — he was accompanied by one of the most important figures in the country.

The King of Destruction couldn't use that infernal artillery when Franklin had such a hostage.

Franklin now knew the reason why he'd avoided attacking Pandemonium, but that brought him to his second question.

"Why didn't he use the Embryo from the start?"

That battleship could've easily taken care of the 5,000 monsters released first. And yet, the King of Destruction had taunted Franklin with his proclamation and gone out of his way to show off and waste time fighting the monsters without his Embryo. He'd only started using the battleship when the 50,000 monsters had been about to make their move.

It was just illogical.

Almost as if...

"He has something planned!" The moment he shouted that, a silver silhouette passed the edge of his vision.

Before he could confirm what it was, he heard hooves hit the top of Pandemonium and felt the silver silhouette land behind him.

"Mh..."

Franklin felt the ominous presence, but he was above doing anything as pathetic as hastily turning around in shock. That was mostly due to the fact that he had Life Link — the skill that transferred damage done to him over to his monsters.

DGP, KOS, and all his other minion monsters were already destroyed, but he still had Pandemonium. The Embryo was basically a giant monster, and Franklin believed that, even though King of Destruction could made short work of it, the person standing behind him couldn't damage it all that much.

Thus, with a certain degree of calmness, he slowly turned around.

"Y o. Y ou sure have an annoying habit of charging in on the front lines, don't you... Ray?"

"Well, I still have some unfinished business," the man replied.

The man standing there was exactly who Franklin thought it would be: Ray Starling.