<Infinite Dendrogram>

Episode XVI: The Crisis Now and the Dreams of the Past

□ Vengeance Maiden Nemesis

Shortly after the Counter Absorption prevented [Gozmaize] from striking, a swinging giant fist captured Ray's body.

With me in the grip of the Great Sword, Ray is beaten straight to the side.

Through the trees of the forest, for more than ten meters, it dances to the universe like a leaf of a crushed tree.

The sight looks like a truck crash in Ray's memory.

At that time, it seemed like the first time Ray died at the hands of Super Killer.

"Ray!!"

Ray won't answer my call.

Already unconscious.

And Ray's body, unconscious, trying to get knocked over by a tree.

"Huh!"

I disarmed and returned to the figure of man, holding Ray's body back and closing his lid tightly.

Then not even a few moments later, a strong shock and pain ran on my back.

Shake the crashing trees and fall over the soil.

"Ku...... ah......"

Pain that won't come out even after falling to the ground.

A shock sandwiched between a ray and a tree bigger in stature than me, seems to have stuck a rib in it.

But Ray shouldn't have any pain right now.

Then I don't mind.

"Ray!"

Call, but Ray has no sign of waking up.

If you check the status, HP cuts 10%, and countless [fractures] are displayed along with [stuns] in the condition anomaly.

Remove the [HP Recovery Potion] from Ray's item box and sprinkle it on Ray's body.

HP has recovered slightly, but not a single state anomaly has disappeared.

The wound is too deep.

Besides, the [potion] kind is better to drink than to shake, but Ray, who has lost consciousness, shouldn't drink a bottle of [potion] close to his mouth.

"... forgive me!

I pour [recovery potion] into Ray's mouth with it in my mouth.

Repeat three times. Let Ray swallow all [potions] for a bottle.

Eventually, because it worked from the inside out, Ray's HP recovered about 30%, and [fractures] also mild ones recovered. The decline in HP has also stopped.

Consciousness still does not return, but first the frontier of life and death seems to have crossed, breathing.

But...... will I be able to see Ray's face properly later?

"... not if you're thinking about that now!

I haven't gotten out of the predicament yet.

The impending earthquake and intimidation here anticipated the approaching of [Gozmaize].

If [Gozmaize] finds an unconscious Ray now, he will surely be killed.

Yes, it kills me.

"I won't let you do it."

Let me do it, something that stops.

I won't let that thing kill my master, Ray.

"... Ray"

My master lying at the root of a tree, still unconscious.

I stroke those cheeks softly... and turn my back.

"I'm gonna buy you some time"

I believe in the Lord.

In the sunset after we lost to that super kill, we swore to each other.

We were weak with each other then, and we couldn't resist.

So now we're both trying to get stronger and win.

Even now, we can fight together.

I'm sure the Lord will wake up soon.

So in the meantime, I make money.

That way, your lord and I should be able to win.

"... often!

I change from a right wrist to a black blade.

It's a bit of a swing, but its strength as a weapon is not much different than when it's used for rays.

And [Gozmays] showed up before the looming guy, faster than he could find Ray.

"I can't let you go, [GOZMAYS]!!"

"DHISSSSIIIIUAAAAAAAAA!!"

An eyeball on the face of [Gozmaize] 's entire body captures me.

No response to the counter in me. I'm not moving with that [Great Necromancer] resentment right now.

I mean, shorter circuits, coming after a living person named me.

I'll deal with it and buy Ray time to wake up.

"Sick!

I rely on the right hand blade to attack [Gozmaize].

What we need to do is reburn what Ray was doing.

Attack, attract the opponent's attacks, and keep avoiding them.

[Gozmaize] is a threat with toughness and power, but not so fast. That's why I'm avoiding it.

But there are clearly inferior parts to Ray.

The big difference is that you can't do as much damage with my blade.

It was the mountain of Sekiyama that made shallow cuts to his body with a blade that did not wrap up "Silver Light".

My status doesn't extend to Ray either.

In addition, the skills I can use on my own, Counter Absorption, consume all of the stock.

By contrast, the opponent's attack power is special for this one.

If you take it unarmed, my body will be torn apart.

If you make a mistake, the end of the line.

Still, I keep going.

If I give up, there is zero chance Ray will wake up and win together.

I'm sure that's unacceptable to me and Ray.

The possibilities are endless.

From the time I was born, this thought has been in me.

Something that must be inside Ray.

This is what connects me to Ray.

◇ ◇ ◇

□ [Saint Knight] Ray Sterling

I knew right away that I was in a dream.

Although the outfit remains the Avatar of < Infinite Dendrogram >, it is generally "no longer” and the sensation is close to a clear dream.

But while it is, I know exactly what's going on around me and how I am.

For example... it also looks good to see “me as a kid” running in front of me.

"Is this... then?"

It is also understandable that this dream is a dream of past events.

I know when.

The summer of 2035… nearly ten years ago now.

Of course < Infinite Dendrogram > hasn't been released yet, and me and my brother were playing in another game.

My brother, who was sixteen at the time, was leaning towards retro games and then martial arts.

I went to the old fashioned dojo run by my sister's friend's home and raised my arms, and at some point U-17...... I had become a fairly well-known player in the minors' tournament.

Speaking of me, it was routine to hang out with my brother's retro games, and I was looking forward to seeing my brother's games from time to time.

On the day of the match, we headed to the game venue with some wiggles.

Like now.

"I wonder what this is"

I look like Ray, the Avatar of Infinite Dendrogram, following me as a child.

…………

What's more, there was something strange next to me.

Something about it was silhouette in a nutshell.

A people-shaped silhouette floats in the midsummer everyday landscape.

The colors are mixed with red and black, which is quite disastrous.

Me (Ray) and Silhouette in armor walk through the everyday scenery of summer in Japan.

The fact that it was a strange sight for anyone to look at is also why I decided this was a dream.

If it wasn't a dream, there wouldn't be such a puzzling sight.

…………

"... talk about something, Silhouette"

"Sa, Yi, Sa, Ng."

Sazen...... reproduction?

Is this your fault?

Silhouette looks feminine from her voice, so I thought it was nemesis for a moment, but I feel very different.

"Ki, Ki, Ha, I"

No, I'm the one who wants to hear it.

"Ji, yu, yu, bu, yu"

You mean ask questions in order?

"… OK"

Apparently, we can communicate. The red and black silhouettes and we were to exchange information with each other.

"Oh, my, my, my, my, my, my, my?

"It's a game venue for my brother to come out. At this time…"

Where did I go at this time and what happened there?

Of course I do.

Maybe what happens after this.

"At this time, it was the U-17 of Ankla."

"A, n, k, la?

Red and black lean their necks strangely, but my question is next.

"It's our turn next. If this is a dream, what's happening to me? But he must have been in battle with [Gozmaize]. Despena?"

However, I think maybe this dream is still in < Infinite Dendrogram >, so I don't think it's Despena.

"Hey, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on."

Stunning, huh?

... Hey, I don't even know when I'm going to get stung.

"A, n, k, la, na, to?

"Unlimited weight, discipline non-discrimination, no irregularities other than murder weapon use and blackmail, no settlements other than KO and gibberish, Death Match style fighting tournament Unlimited Punk Lation. Commonly known as Ankla."

Only a popular martial arts tournament that started about 2027.

Karate, Judo, Boxing, Kickboxing, Sumo, Wrestling, Muay Thai, Capoela, Old Fashioned Martial Arts, and everything else.

It was seen as a problem many times because of its harshness, but it continues to be popular.

…………

The silhouette is somewhat exciting.

You like this guy fighting?

Or do you like Death Match?

"This question. I said reproduce, but you're reproducing this and Ankla didn't know?

Nemesis knew my memory to some extent from the beginning.

"Ki, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh..."

I'm reproducing it from my memory as much as I need right now, you know?

But this guy who can do memory searches but isn't... who is he?

I'd like to hear that in person......

"Ko, ko, ka, na, to, oh, come, ru...?

Were you reproducing it without knowing?

"I can tell by looking at it for a few more minutes. So, listen, have I ever met you face to face?

"Ah, Ru."

Do you have it?

"I, ma, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha..."

"What...?

What do you mean, "Infinite Dendrogram"?

Together all the time while I was in < Infinite Dendrogram >... although such an opponent is like a nemesis.

"Ko, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh...?

Silhouette asks pointing fingers at me as a child.

"It's not dangerous. Even ten years ago, there's a security system on the public highway, so we don't have to worry about being kidnapped."

... Since when did security guard machines become popular?

I think it was already there by the time I was born.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. One...?

"It was a weekday for adults, even during the summer vacation, and I was the only one who went to watch the game.... Isn't this a question twice?

"Ray, also, to, hey, kiku"

... This guy, one word, but he's getting better at conversations.

"How do I wake up?

"Mi, oui, oui, oui, ru"

"When you're done looking at what?

"Ray, of, you know."

Right... root?

"Why, Now, of, Ray, Been, Miru"

"... I see"

The reason I became me like I am now, right?

Then I would know if I had seen a series of events that were going to happen.

"Almost there."

That's what I refer to when I was a kid walking in front of me.

When I was eight years old, I had already reached just outside the venue.

All we had to do was cross the crosswalk and the entrance to the venue was right there.

The eight-year-old waited for the signal to change, but there was a little girl next door than me at this time.

The girl had accessories for children on her hair, but it was sweeter to wear them, or the wind would drop it on the clap.

The accessory rolled, and the girl tried to pick it up - the truck that was straight ahead with the blue light came there.

Two moments before the truck hit with the girl, I was eight years old and I was jumping out, grabbing the girl's hand and pulling.

But slow, weak.

The child's power was excessively weak and it was impossible for the two of us to escape into the safety zone before hitting the truck.

What I did in that moment was simply increase the number of victims named me.

That way, in a moment's time, there will be an accident in which the truck will kill two children.

At that moment, someone jumped out of the sidewalk on the other side of the street, holding me and the girl and jumping.

Normally, I wouldn't have made it.

You'll never make it when you see a girl jump out of the sidewalk on the other side.

But the person made it.

With incredible leg strength, I was able to pack my time in an instant and hold a girl to help.

The miscalculation is my luggage.

I was just popping out, too, and the person needed the trouble of holding two.

And the person was able to jump with two children, but it was slightly delayed.

I remember.

that after a moment of floating, another shock was added.

I circled the ground with glue as I was held.

In the meantime, I didn't feel any pain.

Someone with us was protecting us.

Screaming.

The screams of the passers-by around.

On the contrary, I had no words.

There was no way I could get it out.

The man who helped us was my brother.

He was picking me up about the time I got here.

And my brother, who was at the scene of the accident, saved me and the girl.

The price was my brother's right foot in contact with the truck.

It swelled blue and black enough that anyone could see it, and it was fractured.

My brother was supposed to be in the final of the tournament from now on.

But... my brother's legs had been smashed before the important game.

... because of me for trying to help my child with nothing I could do.

To be continued