Infinite Dendrogram: Volume 20 [Parts 1 to 4] by Sakon Kaidou

Author:Sakon Kaidou
Language: eng
Format: epub

Interlude: The Test and the Mechanical Dragon

Caldina

The second-in-command of Dryfe’s Legitimate Government, Lieutenant Colonel Berlin, was currently leading his men on an operation.

This particular excursion was the most common kind of DLG missions—one to secure supplies. The organization had acquired information pertaining to a ship smuggling Magingears and related parts, so they set out to attack it.

Operations like this were not an uncommon occurrence for the DLG. The weapons they used were damaged and sometimes destroyed upon use, so in order to compensate for that, the DLG was forced to acquire any materials leaking out of Dryfe that they could. At first, they’d used the funds they’d brought with them to buy materials, but after Caldina had stopped food exports to Dryfe and invaded it during the war, the DLG had begun seeing that country as a hostile force whose wealth should be plundered rather than purchased.

Thus, this operation really should have been routine.

“What...?”

However, what was currently happening was anything but routine.

“What is that...?”

It had turned out that the ship they’d assaulted was a trap. There was no cargo, and the crew on it had transformed into bizarre creatures that recent rumors had dubbed “Ideas.”These monsters had quickly started to overwhelm the infantry that was supposed to take over the ship.

The Magingear pilots outside the ship were under attack, as well—but not by the Ideas inside.

“What is that?!” At first, Lieutenant Colonel Berlin thought that he was looking at a high-speed sand-ship crewed by either Caldina’s guards or a group of Masters.

However, it immediately became clear that it wasn’t a ship at all.

It looked like a dragon, but while its silhouette had a long neck and tail like a skydragon, it lacked wings. That would have made some guess it was a landdragon, but that wasn’t the case either.

It had a body made of metal, as well as a single sensor-eye. The sunlight falling upon its crimson and white armor revealed a striped pattern all over it.

And finally, its open maw contained not a tongue, but a cannon.

This was no dragon, but a machine that merely looked like one.

The crimson-white machine dragon was sliding on the surface of the sand at speeds approaching sonic. And without pausing in its sliding—or maybe hovering—its headlike cannon fired at the unit next to Berlin.

“Ah...?!” Over the comms, Berlin heard the brief final gasp of a subordinate who’d been fighting with him since they were in Dryfe. The cannon had torn through the Magingear’s heavy armor like it was paper.

The units used by this squad were the Marshal II DC model, where “DC” stood for “Desert Custom.” Optimized for desert environments, they were dust-proof, airtight, air-conditioned, and equipped with the ability to hover. For better or worse, the original Marshall II lacked the attention to detail that characterized many player-made designs, and these DC units were a direct attempt to correct that. Their mobility in desert environments not only surpassed many weapons of their type, but also most AGI-focused high-rank jobs as well.

“Lieutenant Colonel! Lieutenant Colonel Berlin! AHH—!”

But now, these units couldn’t even run away fast enough.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.