Gideon, City of Duels, Central Arena
Over Gladiator, Figaro and King of Termination, Albert Schwartzkaiser.
They were both Superiors and powerful duelists, but their similarities went beyond that.
For one, they were both record holders—each had the most MVP rewards in Altar and Caldina, respectively.
Figaro’s Cor Leonis empowered his gear and made him an extremely well-rounded combatant, which had allowed him to explore the Tomb Labyrinth solo and defeat many of the UBMs the control AIs had placed there.
Albert’s Septentrion granted him resistances and effective counterattacks, which was how he had defeated many of the Caldinan UBMs that were known to be dangerous opponents due to their unique means of attack or defense.
Either of them could be the bane of just about anything they encountered, so they had each overcome many unique challenges. As a result, they had countless UBM rewards adjusted to suit them, and any battle between these two Masters would serve as an exhibition of these powerful artifacts.
First, Figaro drew a pistol.
He rarely used this, as it wouldn’t be suitable as his main weapon—but that was exactly why he’d picked it.
Albert could come back to full health seven times, gaining new resistances and offensive powers with each comeback. This meant that Albert would be at his strongest after his seventh use of this power, and Figaro had to reserve his greatest weapon—Gloria α—for that moment. Until then, he wanted to avoid slashing and light-based attacks.
That was why Figaro had started with the pistol.
Watching him in silence, Albert drew out a weapon of his own.
It was another firearm, but it was nothing like Figaro’s. It was a cannon.
Albert held two enormous barrels—each one as large as his own enormous body—in each arm. These were not two different weapons, though. A serpentine cable extended from the back of each barrel, connecting the two into one single weapon that resembled a two-headed snake.
This was the UBM reward, “Serpentflame Purger, Firelyx.”
The moment Albert pulled the trigger, a flash of fire sparked deep within the cannon’s maws...and the flames that burst out pierced through three of the arena’s barriers.
The easy obliteration of their protection caused a stir among the audience, but they relaxed once they remembered that there were still two unbroken barriers on top of Integra’s extra wards. This also made Albert’s behavior in previous matches much more understandable—if his firepower was this potent, it made sense that he had refused to use it.
It was a bit early for the spectators to accept that he really was that powerful, though. After all—this was only his first attack.
As the flames quickly approached, Figaro widened his eyes, stopped attacking, and focused on evasion.
Albert, however, was still able to see his target. He turned around, swinging the maws of the cannon around with him. The flames pursued Figaro, licking the stage and leaving two heated lines on the barrier.
If he’d done this to a horde of monsters, it would’ve surely exterminated all of them.
That’s probably a Legendary MVP reward, Figaro thought, analyzing Firelyx as he dodged its flames. It must be like Ray’s Miasmaflame Bracers, except focused on firepower. Ray’s a special case, though...
Firelyx’s offensive power seemed to rival that of a Superior Job’s ultimate skill, but the fact that Albert could keep firing it for such a long time meant that it must not cost much to activate.
Figaro considered that the item might be immensely Resource efficient because of its simplicity, but he felt that was too much for a Legendary...
Actually, it looks like his MVP rewards are a special case too, he thought as he looked at Albert and noticed something. That one doesn’t protect the user.
His opponent’s body was burning in the flames released by his own weapon.
Unless they were completely fired in the wrong direction, item skills like Gardranda’s Purgatorial Flames usually minimized their effects on the wielder. However, such balances and safety measures cost Resources, often making the items weaker than they would’ve been without them.
Firelyx didn’t have that. Its fearsome flames scorched everything around it—Albert included.
In exchange for reducing MP costs and increasing firepower, it burned its wielder to death.
It seemed like a useless failure of an MVP reward...
“α: Dubhe.”
...but not when wielded by King of Termination.
The flames burning Albert subsided as he instantly returned to his original form.
He was still overwhelmed by immense heat, but he was no longer actively catching fire.
The reason for that was obvious.
He’s resistant to it now, Figaro thought. I see. So it works on self-inflicted damage too.
Albert had used his own MVP reward to acquire the same fire resistance he’d used in the fight against Bishmal and Surt.
Albert’s Septentrion was a Superior Embryo with the core themes of “learning” and “overcoming.” The chain of skills that started with “α: Dubhe” activated when he was near death and gave him a resistance to whatever phenomenon had contributed the most to bringing him there—usually the element that had dealt the most damage.
That meant it could be used regardless of where the damage had come from.
Using the skill on self-inflicted damage, though, wouldn’t give him a new means of attack. The new attack would’ve been drawn from the skill’s target, which was Albert himself—and as he possessed a Type Body Embryo, he was built differently than most people.
This meant that this first use of the skill didn’t give him any offensive abilities, but that wasn’t much of a problem, since he could now use Firelyx without any risk.
That wasn’t the only change he’d undergone, though.
“What...?” A murmur arose from the audience as they sensed that Albert’s flames had become more intense after his first comeback.
However, there was no actual change in the intensity of the flames. He’d been firing them at full power since the start.
What had changed was the temperature within the barrier. Firelyx’s flames had already increased the temperature to several hundred degrees Celsius. Arena barriers allowed air to flow in, so the area inside never became a vacuum, but it was already an environment that no normal person could survive.
The only reason Figaro was largely unfazed by this was because he’d switched one of his rings for another with fire resistance and empowered it. He’d experienced scorching environments like this in the flaming traps of the deeper Tomb Labyrinth. That was why he’d been able to counter Albert’s attack so readily.
His strategy’s good too, Figaro thought. Even though Figaro could negate the effects of the temperature, it effectively forced him to use one of his item slots, preventing him from removing it to empower himself. Additionally, the fire resistance ring meant little against the flames of Firelyx itself.
Thus, Figaro went on the offensive. Turning his body to evade the snaking flames, he aimed the pistol in his right hand at Albert.
The weapon wasn’t made of metal. Its surface was colored like limestone, and it was decorated with a pattern of serpentine scales, giving it the appearance of a snake flowing between rocks.
That was a hint toward what it had once been.
Figaro’s first weapon was “Lifefall Petrifier, Marbledrop.”
It was what remained of a small venomous snake UBM that had once been feared as an invisible peril to all exploring the Tomb Labyrinth.
Avoiding the flames, Figaro fired its bullets straight toward Albert. However, Albert saw the gun pointing at him and moved Firelyx to evaporate the bullets before it could reach him.
The snakes of flame lapped at the bullet flying through the air...
...and the bullet passed clean through them.
A hint of shock could be seen on Albert’s face. Marbledrop had once been a UBM that passed through the walls and floors of the Tomb Labyrinth to approach its targets and deliver its lethal bites.
Because of this, the bullets fired by its MVP reward had the ability to pass through anything nonliving.
Like a dark magic spell, the limestone-colored bullet ignored the call of the superheated flames. It simply continued its flight and hit.
That was when its second effect activated.
Shock overcame Albert as he saw the point of impact transform into limestone. The material that comprised his body was being turned into stone—Petrification effect. Normally, this could be resisted with enough HP and END.
However, it was Figaro who had fired the bullet.
Empowered by Cor Leonis, the Petrifying projectile quickly began to affect Albert’s entire body.
Not yet resistant to Petrification, Albert became a stone statue, unable to do anything to stop it. Taciturn at the best of times, he fell utterly silent as Petrification rendered him completely immobile.