episode_0144

Three trucks drove along the dungeon’s main road in the morning. Each time they hit the rough stone ground, they rattled loudly.

“Yelp!”

The body of Unit 212, who was in the cargo bed, tilted precariously. Violets nearby quickly grabbed me.

Until yesterday, only one or two Violets guarded the truck’s cargo bed, but now it was packed with them. Not only that, but more clones were generated. The cargo bed was already full of dormant bodies rolling around.

There was only one reason for the sudden increase in forces. It was because of those cultists from yesterday.

“You were attacked by fanatics?”

When I explained yesterday’s situation to my teammates, everyone except two seemed surprised. Daphne looked back at the Violets in the back seat.

“No major trouble, right?”

“No, don’t worry. There were no casualties on our side. Don’t worry, because we killed them all!”

“Ah, yes…that’s a relief.”

Daphne had a slightly dumbfounded expression but didn’t say anything more.

“Ha, fanatics. We really got tangled up with some strange ones. They won’t chase us, will they?”

Lucian, who had been listening to me, spoke with a somewhat dubious tone. Was he worried about getting involved with strange people? I spoke loudly enough for the other teammates to hear.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about being tracked. See this on my neck? It’s a perception-inhibiting device.”

“You’re practically a secret agent…”

He looked impressed. He still seemed to think I was a human weapon secretly trained at a secret base.

“Killing people… Hmm… No, they deserved to die, but…”

“Uh, hmm…”

Our siege weapon duo seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable hearing that I had killed people.

Come to think of it, these guys probably hadn’t killed anyone yet.

*It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t expecting them to engage in combat against people from the start. Experiencing murder unprepared might hurt them.*

*They’ll have to accept it naturally when the time comes.*

Killing monsters and killing people are clearly different matters. Monsters are creatures that instinctively hostile humans. They’re also grotesquely and disgustingly shaped, so you can’t feel any affection for them.

But people are different. They’re beings who wail when hit and shriek when stabbed. So, instinct rejects it.

It’s naturally a hundred times harder than killing monsters.

After finishing the minor explanations, Irene evaluated my actions in a calm tone. It was nothing but praise.

“The cleanup was drastic, but you handled it well. Dangerous criminals often hide in large dungeons like this. You have to protect yourself in such places.”

Kalia reacted even more strongly.

“Hah, good job. Those crazy bastards deserve to die. Even in my neighborhood, strange religious people often came around to evangelize or spread good words and caused disturbances. And they’re sacrificing people? We need to teach those trash a lesson.”

Saying that, she patted my shoulder as if to show how brave she was.

“By the way, you said they were the Unification Society, right?”

Irene looked into the air, thinking something.

“Have you heard of them?”

What I had found was fragmented information at best. I asked, thinking Irene might know something.

“I don’t know the details either, but I think I heard about them in passing. There’s a kind of blacklist shared among clans.”

“Blacklist? Ugh, surely they haven’t listed targets for oppression, have they?”

Good heavens, was Irene’s clan an organization that liked to abuse its power?

Seeing my unusual expression, she quickly continued her explanation.

“It’s not what you’re thinking. It’s just a classification of persons of interest and Awakener organizations that are followed by bad rumors.”

Is that so? Then that’s a relief. It was a normal list to filter out problematic customers and strange people.

“What a strange fellow, talking about others when he himself has a kill list…”

Lucian seemed to be grumbling about something, but I ignored him.

“The list also includes religious organizations. There are many strange religions that use the power of Awakened ones for missionary activities. The Unification Society was high on that list. They earned money in suspicious ways, and once someone joined, they never came out. There were also rumors that they were renting remote islands or dungeon corners for military training.”

Oh no, they were quite dangerous. They weren’t just people shouting “hell for unbelievers” from their cult buildings.

“A religious group attempting human sacrifice is exploring suspicious artifacts. It’s suspicious no matter who looks at it. This is something that needs to be reported to the outpost. Violet, why don’t you send a messenger to the dungeon entrance?”

Irene’s words made sense. We didn’t know the scale of those crazy people or what they were doing. Moreover, Adela was here now. It would be good to warn them to be careful.

“Yes, I’ll do that right away!”

If the hunters or the clans managing this place found out, they would go clear out those trash. It was truly using one enemy to fight another [a strategy of using one enemy to fight another]!

As the convoy temporarily stopped, one Violet got out of the cargo bed. Unit 12 assembled machines from the inventory with the help of Units 802 and 216.

“I’ll be off!”

The electric scooter was complete. After confirming the messenger Violet was heading to the safe zone, we moved deeper into the dungeon.

*By the way, murder.*

As I was contemplating sacrifice, religion, and human offerings, my thoughts somehow spiraled into a discussion of murder and killing. Suddenly, a question reared its head like a small snake.

*Am I a psychopath?*

Our Violet has killed countless people since immediately after possession. From the guards at the research facility and the ponytailed woman to the gangs of the underworld, we decapitated and shot everyone deemed an enemy.

Each time, I felt nothing special. Just the gun’s recoil, the resistance of flesh and bone, and aching wrists and arms.

*It was a bit exhilarating when beating down or shooting bad guys.*

*Gasp, are we strange ones too?*

To be honest, winning was also fun. I don’t know if this is really right.

Judging by common sense and moral ethics, the Violets might be abnormal from an objective standpoint.

A beautiful girl who isn’t afraid of murder? People would be sad. Beautiful girls are inherently benevolent beings who benefit the world. It’s better not to stain them with blood.

*No. Isn’t that precisely why we have to do it?*

Unit 223 glanced at Daphne, who was sitting in the seat next to her.

I looked at Irene and Levi, sitting in the back.

I looked at Kalia, who was idly staring into the darkness outside the window.

If monsters hadn’t invaded and the world hadn’t gone crazy, these girls would have been enjoying happy school lives as ordinary beautiful girls, far removed from combat and death.

*Yes, it seems right for us to step forward directly.*

*Shedding a lot of blood is Violet’s role!*

The Violets’ resolve was nothing new.

This was just me reconfirming my mindset after deciding to destroy the academy.

And it’s fun to see bad guys who rely only on their own strength to bully people get into trouble and flounder helplessly.

The truck screeched to a halt.

We drove far past the fence separating the deep zone and the boundary zone, and then parked the truck on a street near a hotel building where strange lights flickered.

When the teammates got out of the car, they were surprised to see a black group standing in line and waiting in the distance.

Perhaps because of the hazy atmosphere unique to the perception-inhibiting device, a threatening aura was palpable.

“Who are those people now?…”

“Don’t be surprised, it’s us.”

“It’s me, me!”

The Violets with hazy faces waved cheerfully. The black group’s identity was the Violet Company, which had arrived several hours before the escort and was already deployed.

From the deep zone onwards, there was a possibility of advanced monsters appearing, and those aforementioned cultists were also present, so we increased our numbers.

And there was something else I wanted to test.

“Moving in squad units?”

“Yes, from here on, one of our squads will be assigned to each of you.”

Through numerous Violet simulations and past dungeon team activities, I pondered how to harmoniously operate the unique teammates and clones.

After much debate, the Violets finally settled on a concept they had been considering for a while: the equipment-ization of humans!

The teammates, our friends, were to be operated as a special branch and equipment of our Violet battalion.

Each assigned Violet squad was ready to support equipment operation and sacrifice their lives to prevent equipment loss in an emergency.

While our Violets handled frontal combat, the teammates would be assigned to necessary positions to target monsters and conduct reconnaissance.

Treating people as equipment might be a bit inhumane, but it’s an efficient military strategy.

We’ll be able to defeat any enemy!

“As explained, we’ll start searching from here. First, we’ll search the stalls and parks in the surrounding streets one by one. Then, we’ll enter the hotel and look for any useful artifacts!”

With the Violet Company leading the way, the teammates followed.

*Third Platoon, First Squad, move with Levi and occupy the high ground near the hotel. The rest of the squads will wait in the rear, guarding the surrounding streets! Move to the building rooftops and wait until a fire support request comes!*

*First Platoon, Second Squad, move to the front with Irene, and switch equipment mainly to shields and spears.*

*Second Platoon, First Squad, move to the center and wait. Ensure the escort target doesn’t get hurt. Healers are vital!*

*What about us?*

*Attach her behind First Platoon, Second Squad. If she looks like she’s about to swing an axe, stop her from going berserk!*

After deploying the teammates to their optimal positions, the exploration began.

Party combat where mages and warriors all gather together, running here and there against monsters, is outdated. This is the modern dungeon party’s tactic.

*Hehe*, with this method, we’ll be able to beat down any enemy!

Violet Unit 331, who was diligently searching the stalls, felt a strange vibration from the ground.

*Command, do you feel it? It’s a strange vibration. There seems to be a monster underground.*

The Violet in command immediately switched consciousness and surveyed the scene. Turning on a flashlight, she saw a manhole cover twitching.

*Monster found! Everyone gather!*

The Violet unit stopped its exploration and formed a triple encirclement. One Violet platoon moved to the front.

Valiant Violets, enveloped in sturdy light green shields, surrounded the manhole cover in a circle.

“According to the intel, it’s definitely a Rockbane.”

As the platoon leader Violet explained with a shrug, Irene replied with a cautious demeanor.

“Usually, yes…?”

She was casting buffs behind the second encirclement, waiting for the charge.

The Rockbane is a snake-shaped monster that roams the underground sewers of the Vittorio Arcade.

It’s dangerous because it’s an intermediate-rank monster, but they say loot often comes out when you cut open its belly.

There’s nothing to fear when many gather.

“Come out! You idiot!”

“Just an intermediate rank!”

I made noise to provoke it. Now, once that snake popped out of the ground, it would be over.

I’ll show you a taste of Violet’s military tactics. You monster!

With a heavy metallic thud, the manhole cover shot into the air.

“It’s out!”

Unit 328 approached the black manhole with a magic-infused spear. She was about to stab it once its body emerged.

At that very moment, a massive, pitch-black tentacle shot out from inside the manhole.

“Aghhh!”

A black, slimy tentacle slammed into the surrounding platoon, knocking them down.

Immediately, an amorphous, pitch-black monster, like a shadow, burst out of the sewer opening. The moment it emerged from the hole, it expanded to the size of a double-decker bus.

“Caught!”

Several tentacles emerged from the monster’s rounded body and grabbed one Violet squad. I was sucked into its body.

Then something terrible happened.

“Ugh! My flesh is flowing like water!”

“Gah! I’m melting!”

Its tentacles corroded Daphne’s shield, making it collapse. Our squad members began to melt one by one. Daphne quickly deployed a new shield and pulled the squad members out, but it was too late.

“Ah, ah…Violet!”

“It’s too late, Daphne. Fall back!”

As Irene spoke in a resolute manner, Daphne bit her lip and immediately retreated.

“Damn it, damn it. It’s a Noxterror. Crazy… This is no intermediate monster!”

Lucian’s face in the rear was scrunched up as if he had bitten into mint chocolate.

He was right. That was no intermediate monster.

The monster’s true identity was a Noxterror, an advanced monster at the top of this dungeon’s ecosystem food chain.

*Chaaaaarge!*

Violet’s military tactics faced a formidable challenge right from the start. This was a crisis!