Hello Everyone, I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving.

I intended to get the first half of this posted before Thanksgiving, but my work schedule went nuts. So, as an apology and because I ended up not needing a second half, here is an extra-long chapter.

Enjoy.

"Talking"

Thoughts

'Mental Communication or using a magic item'

[Debuffs]

Skills/Systems

Chapter 19 – Charging Knights

May 23, 2044

Paladin, Theodore Lindos

Theodore Lindos was leading a squadron of Knights through the forest to the site of a disturbance a squad had found during a routine patrol of the area. Supposedly a ruin had been unearthed in a landslide with a powerful monster inside of the ruins.

They were unable to get a good look at the monster, but given that several Knights were injured, and even a few were killed, they assumed it was at least a boss monster.

His squad was sent to investigate. If they could defeat it, they could, if not they were to retreat and call for assistance from either The Great Sage or his captain.

That thought made him growler. He had nothing against either man. He full-heartedly acknowledged The Great Sage as a true master of magic and he held nothing but respect for Captain Grandria.

It was more that he cursed his own abilities.

Or rather lack thereof.

He had worked his whole life. He was the second son of the Lindos family. If he had chosen, he could have lived a life of luxury, but instead, he chose to become like the Paladins he had admired since he was a child.

Yet, all his hard work had amounted to was showing he had no talent whatsoever. No matter what he did, he would be limited to a measly 250 levels for the rest of his life.

It was as if the heavens blessed him with his greatest dream of becoming a Paladin only to crush him with the realization that he couldonly become a Paladin.

The chances of gaining a second high-rank job were slim to nonexistent.

Some made up for such things through sense skills and tactics, yes, however, even the captain's daughter Liliana was starting to gain on him more and more in swordplay, tactics, and overall combat proficiency.

The only other way was for him to gain a Superior Job. But there were better chances of him managing to get a second high-rank job.

He gripped the reigns of his steed tighter.

He had only recently learned of his…inabilities and thus was still a very sore subject, even when he himself breached it in his own mind.

"Sir." One of the Knights under his command said, drawing him out of his thoughts.

He was pointing to a line of people. The one closest to him was holding a sign "Line Ends Here."

What?

/-/

As he and his men approached the clearing from the forest, they came to see what looked like a festival with booths, vendors, and…was that an inn?

He approached one of the closest people. His eyes narrowed when he saw the crest on their left hand.

"What is going on here?" he asked.

The one who turned, still holding the sign in his right hand, was a man with a golden beard and braid. His armor was a polished grey, but not of a high quality. Neither was the sword at his waist.

"Oh, uh, I'm Arc Ray" he gestured pointing both index fingers at him, "Short, sweet, roles off the tongues, and the ladies love it."

Despite his best attempts, Theodore rolled his eyes.

Why did he always get the idiots?

Both those in line and his men shook their heads in pity and a few just looked at him like he was a fool.

At least Master and tian alike could agree that was an utterly horrible line.

"I am not asking who you are, but what is going on here?" he asked again, this time a little louder gesturing to the line.

"Oh, uh, this is the end of the line to fight the UBM." He replied in a tone that made Theodore think he was expected to know this.

"Uh…sir." He added somewhat hesitantly.

"You've confirmed it's a UBM!?"

"Well, I didn't, but the DIN says it's a UBM that stays in one place. So, a bunch of people started lining up to fight it."

Ah, the DIN.

Despite their best efforts, they always seemed to find out about things even if they were state secrets.

There were nobles in their own kingdom who had never seen Princess Theresia, but somehow the DIN had managed to make, admittedly adorable, posters of her to sell.

The less said about those DIN members who spread images of Titania while changing and the violent retribution she delivered, the better.

"How long has the DIN known about this?" he asked.

The man seemed to think for a moment. "I purchased the information two days ago."

So, they found out at least at the same time we did.

"But where did all of this come from?" he asked gesturing to the area around him.

The man shrugged. "Some guy with the Superior Job, 'The King of Merchants' found out about it and set up shop."

Theodore rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Of course, it was him.

In the last year or so, a Master known as the King of Merchants showed up out of the blue and seemed to play with the economies of both Dryfe and Altar as he liked to make the biggest profit.

Speaking of which, he saw said Master working a ramen stand. Between the black flowing hair with the wings-like sides and his face like some kind of bird of prey, it was hard to not see him as a blackbird on someone's shoulders rather than having a bird-like head.

"And the inn?"

He shrugged before someone in front of him spoke up, "I think someone told me he bought a mobile inn from the Great Chief Carpenter while he's repairing things in Dryfe."

The Paladin felt his eye twitch.

Once upon a time, Superior Jobs like that were a rarity, and now it seemed like these immortal creatures known as Masters were hell-bent on obtaining each and every single one of them.

Officially, the Kingdom of Altar's stance on Masters was to let them do as they please within the law and to offer them quests that didn't require them to remain in one place for too long such as guard duty due to their habit of being spirited away back to the world they came from.

Unofficially, the higher-ups were divided on what to do about them. Some saw them as divine beings sent by the heavens. Entities to make the world more interesting and amazing.

Even he would admit to having been a fan of the former first place in the Duel Rankings Tom Cat as a child.

However, others saw them as immortal monsters. They had no restrictions on gaining low and high rank jobs and the power of their Embryos made them stronger than tians of comparable builds and skill.

But what was most infuriating and horrifying were those with Superior Jobs.

Before it would take a tian of considerable talent, a certifiable genius of their field, to obtain a Superior Job, but now Masters were obtaining them at a frightening pace.

And that was when they were civilly going about things.

During the first few years Masters had started appearing en mass many Superiors were killed to return their Superior Job to the World System for someone else to take.

But when a Master took a Superior Job, even if killed, they would return with it still in their possession three days later. No, it was probably because of their Embryos sending them to that other world that they never truly died.

The sheer unfairness of it all made him decry his own weakness more than curse the Masters themselves.

"Are you going to challenge the UBM?" the blonde Master asked.

"We were assigned to investigate and possibly subdue the monster if possible."

"Oh, in that case," he said turning and looking around for a little bit before spotting another Master with a strap around her neck, holding a box of assorted foods, drinks, and pamphlets.

"Hey." He called to the Master with the box nearly three times before she came over.

"What can I do for you today?" the Master, a young woman with light brown hair asked politely.

"Um, miss, These guys need a pamphlet on the UBM."

"Oh, and I'd like some peanuts if you please."

Just as he said that Theodore caught the brief blur of something orange and green.

Before he could react, a…little girl(?) with long orange ringlets in a green dress had kicked him in the back with both feet tumbling the larger man before she stood victoriously on top of him.

She then bent down, removed an inventory, and took out some lir. "Make that two hotdogs with extra ketchup and mustard with relish, onion, and three helpings of chili, one order of peanuts, and two large colas please." The young woman said chipperly.

For her part, the waitress(?) didn't seem phased in the slightest, filled her order, took the payment, and gave the young lady her change.

She turned to them and smiled, "That will be 8,000 lir sir."

Blinking at the strangeness – things involving Masters tended to get weird quickly – he took out the inventory he kept his lir in and paid the young woman. Any information they could get on the UBM would be welcomed…even if it was easier to obtain than he would have expected. All while, in the corner of his eye, he watched the blonde Master being dragged up to his feet and being handed the food…only for the little girl to take it?

Putting that strange scene aside, he examined the pamphlet.

According to the pamphlet, it was a Legendary UBM called Evercharged Defense Golem, Magnum Colossus.

While within the cave, the golem's primary attack pattern is to attack and crush enemies with its body.

The golem itself does not leave the cave if it can help it, though the reason for why is not quite clear. However, attacking it from a distance or destroying the cave is ill-advised. The former is due to drawing it out and possibly causing aggro on everyone in line while the latter is due to not knowing what the UBM would do if the cave was destroyed. Possibly causing it to move.

It utilizes a dozen floating cartridges that allow it to absorb and store MP to keep Magnum Colossus running and to heal it if damaged.

Additionally, the golem can break apart into the various pieces that comprise it, allowing it to attack from multiple directions and evade attacks.

Damaging the cartridges is not effective as the UBM either has more stored within the facility or has ways of making more. However, only twelve have ever been seen active at any one time.

The best-proposed strategy was to separate the cartridges from Magnum Colossus and either destroy them simultaneously or wait for Magnum Colossus to run out of MP before destroying it.

He blinked at what he had just read. Not only had they even created a rather extensive diagram of its movement and attack patterns.

They were just selling this?!

He did notice some Masters not buying them while others were buying them for their whole party to study.

Those that didn't seem to be talking about it were saying something about not wanting to spoil the 'fun'.

Did all of them have their heads in the clouds?

"Do you want the sign?" the blonde Master asked offering it to him.

…again while the little girl ate the food he was holding.

Okay, he had enough of this.

He took out a magic item from his inventory and spoke into it. "We are on official business of the Royal Guard, disperse immediately."

Much to his not real shock, none of them did.

More than a few of them looked ready to attack, but most restrained themselves.

There weren't any real laws that would immediately impede them. Not unless they attacked him or his men.

The Kingdom of Altar's ruling on UBMs had always been first come first served. However, he couldn't stand how they made a game of everything.

For him, for tians, UBMs were dangers that threatened life, limb, and country. But to them, it was a literal festival.

The Master known as the King of Merchants suddenly manifested in front of him, spooking his men, their horses, and if he was being honest himself.

He walked over after unequipping his apron while holding up an official document.

He made a gesture that basically said, 'Read this', handing it to him.

It was a letter of sale and rights to operate on the land…signed by Marquis Boroselle.

Of course, it was him.

It was always him!

Marquis Boroselle was never a well-liked man. Many saw him as crooked, but no one could find any evidence. Those few times someone did, they not so mysteriously found themselves dead.

There was even a famous story about a witness and two paladins being killed within a locked room.

It was no surprise he would try and get in bed with the King of Merchants.

He handed it to one of his men who had the Appraiser job.

That might be a good idea if I ever need to reset his build. He mildly thought as the man returned it confirming that the document wasn't a fake.

He handed the document back and gestured what was probably 'Now either get in line or get gone.'

It honestly surprised him that such a successful Merchant could be so without…well talking.

Yet he did it nonetheless.

Probably something else he can chalk up to the weirdness of Masters.

"What do we do sir?"

"We wait in line." He said dismounting his horse and giving it to a squire to take.

He sighed, this couldn't be more demeaning.

Then the little girl that had been eating thus far vomited onto his legs. He could feel the chili running down his grieves and into his boots.

Now it couldn't be more demeaning.

/-/

Three hours.

THREE…HOURS! They had been waiting in line.

He actually had the time to clean his armor, FOUR times over even when he only needed to do it once. The rest was just pure boredom.

Heck, some of his men were playing poker just to pass the time while a few others were placing bets on who would be defeated first.

Windros, his second in command, had already doubled his week's pay.

There had been so many Masters in line that one of them used a stone melding Embryo to carve seats into the walls of the cave leading into where the UBM was held up.

So far, no one had managed to defeat it.

Despite its near-infinite MP regeneration, the UBM wasn't especially strong. Nor did it have any particularly dangerous abilities. Perhaps that was why it only had the rank of Legendary.

Then he felt himself cringe at his own thought.

Before the existence of Masters, things such as Legendary UBMs were national-level projects that required a country to mobilize and sacrifice numerous soldiers while expending considerable resources.

But after Master showed up, something of this magnitude has become a fucking festival.

He wanted to groan and shake his head.

"I hope they hurry up and die already." The young girl – no Embryo – said excitedly bouncing up and down on her seat.

She was Arc Ray's Maiden Embryo, Phaethon.

He had once heard that a Master's Embryo could take on the form of a young Maiden, but they were exceptionally rare.

In fact, the only two he knew of were the one in Legendary belonging to Momma Kitty and King of the Seas in Granvalao.

The former was considered a national-level threat with her powerful "Cloud Elementals" which could defeat tamed Legendary UBMs while King of the Seas, though not a Superior, was considered just as dangerous due to his seemingly endless Legion. In one instance he managed to wipe out the single largest organization of Pirates in Granvalao's history due to the weight of sheer numbers.

Quality versus quantity.

He wasn't sure if he should be happy about his own country having a Maiden Master. Supposedly they had the aspect of "Giant Killing" meaning they had means of defeating far stronger enemies.

Another thing Masters had that tians did not.

Still, Theodore had yet to fully get a grasp on the strange Master known as Arc Ray.

On one hand, Gale had used Appraiser's skills on him, revealing he already had a high-rank job, Mythic Rider, but his equipment was that of a Knight and stranger yet, he, a Rider which by definition required open spaces to be most effective, was going to fight a UBM, despite being under leveled, in a cave which would make his high-rank job impossible to be utilized to its full potential.

If he had a hybrid build of some kind, then it might have been doable, but according to his second in command, the man only had the jobs of Knight, Rider, and Mythic Rider.

The last job wasn't even fully leveled yet. He was sitting at level 150.

Heck, he was lower level than Theodore himself or any member of his group.

And he wanted to fight a UBM…alone(?)

He said it before, but now he genuinely had to ask; do ALL Masters have their heads in the clouds?

When he thought about it, the answer was pretty obvious: YES!

"I have to ask", he said looking towards Arc Ray, Jerky hanging awkwardly from his mouth.

"Yesh."

"How exactly are you planning to beat the UBM?"

Before he could answer, his Embryo spoke up, "We're gonna be awesome, and go 'whoosh' and 'boom' and a 'rush' before getting the special reward." She cheered excitedly.

He looked to Arc Ray because he had no idea what any of that meant.

"What she said."

Theodore felt his eye twitching.

How do Masters even function like this?

Despite his apprehensions, and if he was being honest in a way he would never admit to another, he felt something along the lines of pity for the young man. He barely looked into his early twenties. (1)

The young man barely seemed to know what he was doing and even if death was not a possibility for him, his conscience wouldn't let a fool simply walk off a cliff…or in this case, which was far worse, walk into a cave with a UBM.

"Would you like to form a party with myself and some of the other Paladins?"

"What why would we need to do that?" his Embryo yelled, though before she shouted, he could swear he saw the blonde's eyes light up.

"Phaethon, I think we should hear him out."

"Why, with me you're the strongest and we don't need anybody else." She hmphed, crossing her arms as she shook her head causing her four ringlets the sway back and forth rapidly.

"Because we're not well suited to this place." Her Master tried to explain.

"We're the strongest and don't need anybody else!" Was all the reply she gave as though it explained everything.

"But with all the buildings inside, we can't move around like we usually do."

"We're the strongest and don't need anybody else!" She growled with an indignant expression on her face.

Theodore was actually starting to respect the man's patience. While he never hit a woman outside of a few fights with bandits, he would probably make an exception if he had to deal with this all day.

He looked like he wanted to argue more but suddenly just sighed, "If you let them form a party with us, I'll buy you that cream-colored dress you wanted."

In an instant Phaethon's eyes started to light up, and…was she blushing?

Fidgeting, "…and would you let me model it for you?"

Theodore wasn't entirely sure what he was watching anymore as the seemingly clueless Arc Ray simply replied, "Sure, you bet."

"Yeah." She cheered jumping up and down more and more.

When did this go from a conversation about forming a party to a parent spoiling their child to get them to do what they want?

It was almost like a bad romantic play his mother forced him to go to when he was a child.

She then stopped jumping and turned towards Theodore, "You have a deal." She beamed.

/-/

Mythic Rider, Arc Ray

He didn't know my Paladin Lindos wanted to party up with him, but he was happy nonetheless. He wasn't exactly as confident in his strength as his Embryo was.

The Arc family had always had soldiers and warriors within its ranks since the beginning of their recorded history.

However, in the time of peace Vale was experiencing meant being a warrior didn't serve a purpose.

He wanted to be like his great-great-grandfather, standing his ground when all else seemed hopeless and becoming a hero.

But the modern day didn't need heroes.

And then he heard a strange tagline for a new VRMMO: "Infinite Dendrogram will provide you with a new world and your very own unique possibility".

Something about that resonated with him.

If he couldn't be a hero in real life, then he could be a hero in Infinite Dendrogram.

Though he stopped thinking about it – mainly because Phaethon would kick him and make him feel bad about it –part of him still wished he got a Type: Arms.

While his Embryo was a High-End category from the get-go, being a higher version of the Chariot-Type Embryo, it still didn't feel like a hero's Embryo.

Sure, most heroes are said to have amazing mounts, even a few legends said heroes rode great beasts like dragons.

However, while dragons DID exist in this game, they cost more than any ten of Phaethon's dresses combined.

But it felt like he wasn't making himself into a hero.

That was why he was challenging a UBM. If he could defeat it, he could gain EXP, get a one-of-a-kind item designed just for him, and since he put the last of his savings into the pot to see which party would win, he had to win or he wasn't going to eat tonight.

Fortunately, it seemed like no one was going to beat it. He'd been in line for nearly six hours – still hard to believe it was only two in reality – and no one had managed to beat it.

Even a party from the Sumerian Slayers had tried but got taken out.

Granted it had been one of the newer teams, not the clan owner or any of his Pre-Superiors.

Luckily, he now had a party to back him up.

And they were next in line if the current party, The Compass Party, failed.

They had just started.

/-/

It was a party of four; it looked like two warriors – one with some kind of metal club and the other a long sword, a Lancer, and a Hunter…maybe?

His gear made him look roguish, but he also had a crossbow…and a mechanical ant the size of a horse.

At least his mohawk was cool.

As they entered the cave, beyond the entrance at the mouth of the cave that seemed to act as the boundary for the UBM's area, the one with the ant simply…vanished(?)

Then the big white and gold golem lurched back like it had been struck in the face.

Then the Lancer and the one with the sword started attacking the one with the mace. The lance especially seemed to inflict a heavy [Bleeding] debuff.

He couldn't understand why for the life of him.

The UBM kept seemingly getting attacked by some kind of invisible enemy.

Which myth or legend involves giant invisible ants? He wondered to himself still very confused as to why two of the other party members were still hitting the fourth.

After a few moments, the two stopped attacking while the one with the sword used First Heal on the guy with the mace as he drank a potion.

So, the one with the sword is probably a Paladin.

"The one with the mace's STR just went up about half the damage that was done to him by his party." Said one of the Paladins.

So that was why they attacked him.

They used the invisible one to draw aggro while they damaged him so they could then heal him and make him stronger.

Seemingly done with their work, the one with the mace charged forward striking the golem UBM so hard it flew back.

From there the party began attacking it relentlessly.

The one with the mace and the Lancer kept hitting it while the one with the sword kept alternating between healing and attacking.

He still had no idea where the invisible one with the ant was, but he seemed to be drawing aggro as every time one of the cartridges tried to go to Magnum Colossus, it was knocked away or tied to something with small nets.

Where did they find nets and rope that small? He wondered.

They seemed to be doing pretty well.

While he wasn't sure how much HP it had – Infinite Dendrogram did use health bars – it was looking pretty broken. He would have said bloody if it was alive, but it wasn't. (2)

But the guy with the mace seemed frustrated that it was taking so long and took out of Gem.

He then used it to cast what looked like a fire ultimate skill.

"Cardinal, NO!" the one with the sword shouted.

The spell hit the golem, but it also seemed to hit something else as he saw something burst into a small stream of particles.

It was like when a player died…but smaller.

"Oh, so he didn't make himself invisible, but just shrank himself." Another of the Paladins said.

So, he wasn't invisible, just really small?

Whatever advantage they had quickly fell apart as the cartridges were now free to latch onto and heal the Magnum Colossus.

The Lancer was fast enough to try and deflect them for a little while, but the other two couldn't keep the UBM from separating its arms and crushing his head instantly giving him the death penalty.

Mad, the one with mace kept attacking and attacking as Magnum Colossus kept healing itself faster than he could damage it.

Each exchange between the two not only left him more battered and broken, but the golem seemed to be regaining more and more HP.

The guy with the sword kept trying to attack the UBM, but the guy with the mace wasn't paying attention, swinging wildly making it nearly impossible for him to get close.

"Cardinal, you need to calm down!" he shouted resigning himself to play support before casting Force Heal.

"If I had to guess, the Strong Knight with the mace has the Death Soldier job."

Arc Ray blinked at what one of the Paladins said.

"The what job?"

"It's a job that lets you survive after your HP reaches zero for up to five minutes."

"If I had to guess he's using that job to keep going and recasting the skill while his party member heals him so he can keep fighting."

"It would be a good plan." Sir Lindos began, "However, while Force Heal can heal most injuries, it doesn't fully repair the crushed bones. As a result, it's only a matter of time before either the one with the sword runs out of MP or the one with the mace can't stand anymore."

True to his word, after a few more minutes, the one with the mace growled as his body couldn't get back up and his friend had run out of MP Potions.

Within the next few moments, they both were crushed.

Arc Ray would not be above admitting he was more than a little nervous right now. Each of them seemed higher level and more skilled than he was, but they all got crushed.

/-/

Arc was honestly a little surprised when he partied up with Sir Lindos and four of the people he brought with them.

In addition to three Paladins, they had a Bishop – a high-rank job of the Priest Grouping – and High Enchanter Whitney, and a Wallmancer - a high-rank job from the Mage Grouping that specialized in physical and magical barriers - Gilroy.

There was quite a bit of variation in how Paladin job builds could work.

Paladin Gale preferred support skills such as Enchanter, Appraiser, and Actor in addition to jobs like Knight and Paladin. While Paladin Bronson focused on a hybrid melee/magic build with jobs like Magic Swordsman, Mage, and Fighter.

Sir Lindos' build was more standard with his jobs being Paladin, Knight, Priest, and Noble Swordsman. (3)

What really surprised him more was that despite all other members of his party being level 500, Sir Lindos was only level 250.

He wanted to ask him about it, but when he went to ask the man had made a face that told him it was better he not.

Even he could pick up on social cues as big as billboards.

'Not always Master. Not always.' His Embryo 'kindly' added.

Still, he had to ask them something…even if he knew it might come back to bite him.

"You don't have to do this, you know that right?" Arc said looking at Sir Lindos.

"If you want, you can just take the pamphlet back and your job is done."

Sir Lindos had a complicated expression. After a few moments of very uncomfortable silence, he spoke. "Arc, I will admit we can stop here, but more than the UBM, this site holds the potential to benefit the Kingdom of Altar. Ruins like these could hold lost items for the kingdom and while, yes, we could leave and request back-up, we are also members of the Royal Guard."

"That alone is reason enough for us to at least try and defeat the UBM."

"However," he quickly added, "If I feel that my men are truly in danger, I will not hesitate to have them retreat and in doing so leave you. We aren't like you Masters, we cannot simply have our Embryos help us escape death."

'That's most of his reasoning, but I feel like he isn't telling us everything.' Phaethon mentally communicated to him.

"Alright then," Arc said as he raised his right hand, revealing a Jewel on it. From it, he released his faithful steed, Juniper.

Phaethon transformed into a flame-accentuated shaddle on Juniper's back causing the dull brown mare to turn white with a red mane of flames and hooves clad in crimson flames.

A few of their party members seemed surprised by this but went along with it anyway.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"We shall." Said Sir Lindos.

/-/

Paladin, Theoedore Lindos

He hadn't quite expected Arc to ask why he was doing it, and while the answer he gave was true, it was primarily his pride flaring up.

He wanted to prove to himself that he wasn't inferior to those more gifted than himself, be it tian or Master alike.

As they entered, Arc suddenly charged at the golem. When the golem swings at him, he evades, circling the golem as his mount releases gouts of flames bathing the golem.

He stops to strike at him with his sword before the golem knocks him several metels.

"Back him up." He shouted in pure consternation.

Gilroy released a barrage of basic fire and lightning spells from his Mage job as Gale and Bronson charged with Theodore.

Whitney cast buffs on them.

Arc charged again causing the armor to start to glow red from the sheer heat his Embryo was generating causing the Paladins to back away.

"Hot!" one of them screamed as he sliced off his gauntlet as it began to melt.

However as Arc tried to swing his sword again, only to be heavily knocked away, mount and all.

"Whitney, assist Arc Ray." Theodore shouted, "Gilroy create a barrier, Gale and Bronson prepare to stack Grand Cross."

As a translucent barrier separated the three from the golem, they began casting the skill.

Each one had faith in their party member to keep the barrier up until they had finished casting.

As Whitney healed Arc Ray the three Paladins released a pillar of holy light in the shape of a cross from the surface under the golem's feet causing it to stagger due to being hit.

"Again." He shouted causing the three to prepare to release a second pillar of holy light.

Gilroy took the initiative to create a second barrier behind the golem, sandwiching it between them.

When ready, they released another Grand Cross destroying the first barrier and damaging the golem.

This was the most powerful Paladin skill, but their damage was quickly being undone with the cartridges healing it.

After observing all of its fights he noticed that Magnum Colossus was an END-specialized UBM. Its STR wasn't anything to write home about and even he was faster than it.

He would also bet it had some type of magic resistance. Which meant their Grand Cross formation wouldn't be as effective as he would have liked.

However, that made how to beat it clear but difficult. They needed both a way to prevent it from replenishing its MP and healing itself as well as a way to get over its absurd END.

Then he noticed something. The cartridge couldn't dock on the arm that was still glowing red. When it tried, it quickly retreated.

That gave him an idea. "Gale, Bronson, keep that thing busy. Gilroy, with me." He shouted, as he rushed over to Arc who was just getting back on his feet.

"Arc."

"I know." He cut in. "I can still take him, I just need to get in some good damage." He said in a way that reminded Theodore of his younger self when he foolishly told his father he was strong enough to take a Pure Dragon after he got his first job at sixteen.

"Your right."

"I am?"

"However, that's not the way your Embryo deals damage.-"

As he was cut off again, it was Arc's saddle, "Who are you to tell Arc how he fights? He's the one using me so shut up and let us work!"

He was just going to ignore how bizarre it was to be yelled at by a saddle.

"What I mean is, the best way for you to deal damage is hit-and-run tactics."

"What?"

"Whenever you get near the UBM, your flames are the only thing that seems to deal it any permanent damage."

"And I have a plan that will help you fight at your best."

As much as he hated doing this, as things were, his Embryo seemed to be the only thing that could end it.

Granted he knew how to best use this to get the special reward in the end.

"What is it."

He smiled as he told Arc his plan.

/-/

After having Whitney buff Arc and his mount as much as he could, he gave the order, "Gale, Bronson, fall back."

The two looked confused only for a brief moment as Gilroy began erecting a dome around the UBM and Arc, just big enough for him to run around the golem.

While Gilroy did manage to lock some of the cartridges out of the barrier, that wasn't his main concern.

"Get in position." He shouted as Arc began to run around Magnum Colossus over and over again. Bathing the golem in waves of flames contained in the dome.

He could see Gilroy already sweating to maintain the barrier.

As he moved faster and faster, Magnum Colossus was unable to even keep up. If he had to guess, that between his Embryo and the buffs Arc's mount was reaching around 2,000 AGI, give or take. More than enough to evade the golem's swipes.

The UBM quickly realized that the cartridges couldn't latch onto it to repair itself due to the intense heat.

In perhaps some form of desperation the golem broke into multiple autonomous parts bouncing around the confines of the barrier in a haphazard way of creating obstacles to impede Arc only for him to effortlessly avoid them.

Despite his apparent lack of tactics, it was clear his jobs and Embryo synergized well enough that he would admit, if only to himself, that Arc was probably one of the best Riders he had ever seen in his life.

Several minutes went by as Arc was chipping away at the UBM.

He had Gale keep monitoring its HP and wait for the signal when it was at its lowest.

Unfortunately, it seemed Gilroy had already consumed the MP Potions they had given him. When he saw Gilroy was close to collapsing the barrier, he ordered his men into position.

It wasn't an ideal situation, but "What's its status?"

"HP is down to only 2,000, sir," Gale replied.

He smiled, they could do this.

Taking a triangular formation, he gave the order, "Now Gilroy."

He said as the Wallmancer dropped the barrier signaling Arc to disengage from combat like a blazing comet.

"""Gand Cross!""" The three Paladins intoned, stacking the damage of the Paladin's most powerful skill.

The damage was immediately noticeable, but not a killing blow.

Rather than giving Magnum Colossus a chance to counterattack waiting for another barrage, he gave the order, "Attack." He used the skills from his Nobel Swordsman job to increase the damage of his attacks as he hacked and slashed at the floating pieces of Magnum Colossus.

Just when he thought that they had a chance of defeating it, one of the cartridges floating next to Gale erupted badly injuring the man and sending him flying.

"Whitney, heal Gale." He ordered, however, he hadn't noticed two more of the Cartridges heading toward his downed man and their party's Bishop.

Gilroy was on the ground panting, barely staying conscious. So, he charged to assist signaling Bronson to follow.

As he and Bronson moved to defend them, Cartridges detonated above them dropping rock and debris on top of them. Theodore managed to get out of the way albeit separated from his men, but Bronson ended up trapped under the rubble.

Before he could a large metal fist, as big as his torso slammed into him from behind, knocking the wind from his lungs.

[Broken Right Arm]

Fantastic.

Struggling to get to his feet, he took another heavy hit, making him cough up blood.

He tried to gain some distance to use a healing skill, but the golem was too close and too quick for him to evade as he was punched several metels back into a large stalagmite causing a crater to form on the side he impacted.

He tried to get up, but Magnum Colossus stepped on his leg with a loud sickening crunch. "GAHH!"

[Broken Left Leg]

He looked into the uncaring eyes of the UBM. He knew this was going to be it. Coming so far and this was it.

A fitting end for a failure.

"Fire Resistance."

As he was about to close his eyes and accept his fate, he felt the distinct sensation of someone casting a buff on him.

Why now of all times? It would save me even if it was a buff from a Superior Job. and why fire of all things?

The answer became very clear as he felt the area around him become dramatically hotter.

"Flames of the Bold!" he heard someone shout as a flaming comet screamed toward the UBM bathing it, and him in a wave of white-hot flames.

/-/

When Theodore woke up next he was staring up at Whitney.

"How are you feeling Captain?"

He fleshed his arm, checking that it was indeed not broken anymore.

Theodore then deadpanned, "Did you use Resurrection on me?"

"Y-yes sir." He said looking rather guilty, "M-Master Arc Ray told us he unlocked a new skill during the battle and told me to give you as much fire resistance as I could.

Did he now?

Blinking some of the bleariness from his vision, he sat up. He saw his armor in the corner of the tent they were in. It was melted heavily and would more than likely need to be replaced.

"Have you contacted the rest of the Royal Guard?" he asked knowing protocol and the likely consequences of his actions.

"Y-yes sir." Whitney replied, "They are going to send another thirty Paladins to secure the site as well as some of the Great Sage's disciples."

"I see."

"And the uh Commander w-wishes to have words with you." He would and Theodore couldn't find it in himself to say otherwise.

What had he been thinking?

A Legendary UBM was a national threat, what could have possessed him to think he could accomplish a feat only the gifted could.

"He wants to congratulate you on a mission well done, sir."

Theodore blinked at the man.

"Come again?" was the only thing he could say, rather stupidly. It was like he could hear the words but his brain couldn't process them.

"He wants to congratulate you on a mission well done, sir."

"We…won?" he asked tasting how strange it felt on his tongue.

"Yes. Master Arc's final gambit."

"I see." He paused, "And where is 'Master' Arc?" he asked.

"Outside."

"Then I'd like to see him." He said taking an inventory from his satchel which thankfully wasn't destroyed and equipping his spare uniform.

Standing outside was a fairly large crowd centered around Arc Ray, or more accurately the white and gold metallic armor wrapping around his mount.

So, his special reward was something to equip his mount?

He had heard UBM special rewards could be anything, items, crafting materials, even the literal remains of the UBM, but this was a new one.

When he saw him, Arc Ray rushed over to Theodore.

"Are you okay? Are you still hurt?" he asked, seemingly feeling a little guilt about hurting him.

"I'm fine." He waved off, trying to do his best impression of Commander Langely when he nearly died fighting a UBM, and tried to calm down his crying daughters when they had heard about it.

"That's great." He said looking somewhat down, "I'm sorry about that. I had no idea Phaethon's third form would be so powerful."

He blinked at that.

As he recalled, Embryos had seven known forms. The first three are considered low-rank, fourth through sixth high-rank, and seventh being Superior.

His Embryo could destroy a Legendary UBM while only a low-rank Embryo?!

"It's super cool," he said sounding rather like an excited child. "It's called Flames of the Bold. It deals a single attack equal to all the fire damage I-"

"Ahem," his saddle loudly cut in.

"Damage that Phaethon has done since combat has started."

That was a very powerful skill indeed.

While Magnum Colossus was truly on its last legs, its END was still a considerable hurdle to overcome.

However, when he saw the young man's face, smiling like a child, something in him felt wrong.

He knew why.

"Arc, I am sorry, I had intended to use you so I could get the special reward for myself."

"I knew it!" his saddle shouted as it, despite Arc not being mounted, seemed to nudge the horse towards them. "I knew you were planning something!"

"It's fine," Arc said calmly.

""What?"" he and Phaethon said in unison.

"I said it's fine."

"Are you crazy? He tricked us. He used us!"

"And we used him." Was all Arc said in reply.

Despite not having a face right now, the newly minted Royal Guard member was fairly certain her mouth would hang agape.

Arc then turned towards Theodore. "If it wasn't for you helping me figure out a good strategy and forming a party with me, I would have just got the death penalty… and be broke." He added that last part more to himself, but Theodore still caught it.

"So, what do you say I use some of the betting pool I won and you, me, Phaethon and the rest of your party go out and celebrate."

Theodore was a little surprised by his reaction.

There were a lot of things he could say to him. Berate him for his stupidity in treating someone who used him like that. A snippet of the desire to complain about the unfairness of life and the power Masters wielded. A wish for him to strike him, to berate him for his recklessness. That he should have been punished more severely than simply needing to be resurrected. However, there was something stronger than those feelings.

"Thank you."

Gratitude that he and his men could make it through the ordeal.

"No thank you. You're a really good leader, you know that."

That gave him a thought on another job he could get if he respec'd; Leader.

"Why thank you." He said as they walked towards the nearest food stall.

Maybe things would work out after all.

(1) Jaune at this time is 17, his avatar however looks similar to how it did in Volume 9. Though his comment about Jaune being a bit of a fool was accurate. He literally used forged documents to get into a school where your homework assignments – or in Port's first class's case - could kill you.

(2) In D&D, the term "Bloody" is used to refer to when an enemy or player's character's HP is at half or below.

(3) Before anyone says it, YES, I know that isn't Theodore Lindos' current build, but remember, he respec'd his build after the first Knight-Machine War. The current period of the fic is before that.

I know a few people are going to say I made Theodore a little too different from his personality, but I'm working on the assumption that it takes years of hard work for tians to level up. This version of Theodore has only recently found out he hit his limit as opposed to the Theodore we see having accepted his limits and found new ways to grow stronger aside from the traditional methods. Basically, he is still pissed/in shock and is trying to find some way to compensate for his newly found limitations.

Also, if you didn't notice, I sprinkled in the two jobs he switches out for when he respec's himself; Appraiser and Leader. I'm assuming he already had Knight.

Arc Ray = Jaune Arc. I'll say it again, that this version of everyone is based on their season 1 selves. This means we get a selfish Jaune who wanted to be a hero without even considering the possible consequences of his actions and how they could endanger himself or others. Hell, the guy didn't even learn to use a sword! This mindset led to his Embryo being what she is. However, even if he is an idiot some (read: most) of the time, Jaune is still a good guy.

Momma Kitty = Kali Belladonna

King of the Seas = Neptune Vasilias. Neptune began playing ID to try and get over his fear of water. Even went so far as to make his player name "King of the Seas" to psych himself up. It has had…VERY mixed results.

Compass Party = Team CRDL. I originally had a different group planned for this chapter, but decided against it and used our favorite use-and-lose bullies. However, I will note that if the UBM had been a living creature instead of a golem, the Compass Party would have done a LOT better, possibly even winning against it due to how their Embryos work.

If you like my work, please support it at Pat Reon Dot COM (Slash) jwrite

And remember to review. Seriously, it helps me get better at writing and you get a better story to read. It's a win-win.