episode_0180

As soon as they disembarked from the plane, Violet and her friends headed into the city. The city was full of sights to see.

The scenery of Cascadia Island was as beautiful as if they had arrived in heaven, and the air was fresh.

Everywhere on the streets, there were colorful shops, the smell of exotic foods, and the ceaseless laughter of people.

A pleasant and relaxed scene unfolded, something never seen in the Academy City.

“Wow! This is amazing!”

Levi exclaimed, his eyes sparkling.

It had been a bit of a struggle to get Levi to come here without bringing his ballista.

Fortunately, the kid wasn’t looking for his weapon.

Irene unfolded a map and said.

“First, let’s visit the famous tourist spots here. The main places we should see are…”

I interrupted Irene in the middle of her explanation.

“Tourist spots are good, but I’m hungry!”

“That’s why I’m looking for a restaurant right now. Just a moment.”

Meanwhile, Kalia seemed interested and was diligently filming the surrounding scenery with her phone.

Perhaps because it was her first trip, she was exploring her surroundings with eyes full of wonder.

“Wow, I wish Uncle could have come here too. It’s a shame.”

I said to Kalia, who was expressing her disappointment.

“Then let’s buy a souvenir here when we go back. It’ll be for Uncle.”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”

Leaving their wonder behind, Violet and her friends began to move along the landmarks marked on the map.

Just then, there was a small market nearby, where we browsed various handicrafts and souvenirs.

Then, at one shop, I bought an armful of cotton candy and shared it with my friends.

“What is all this?”

“It’s cotton candy!”

Lucian picked up a cotton candy, looking bewildered, and Granite also took a cotton candy, saying, “Oh, um, thank you.”

We spent the day busy like that. We ate delicious food and saw many wonderful sights.

The next morning, we took a bus to see the beautiful beach, the pride of Cascadia Island.

The villa where we were staying was clean and luxurious.

“Wow, what a truly wealthy family…”

Lucian looked around the villa with a surprised expression.

“Of course! It’s the Cascadia family. Plus, Adela Unnie really likes me!”

“Wow… incredible, Violet is good at fighting and has wide connections too!”

“Hmm, I think you’re saying something strange…”

Upon arriving at the beach, we were speechless at its beauty.

The scenery where the transparent sea met the blue sky was like a painting.

Despite it being November, there were quite a few people in swimsuits sunbathing.

“I should have brought a swimsuit…”

“It’s fine. We can just come again later!”

We sat on the beach and rested, listening to the sound of the waves.

A few magical beasts appeared on the beach, but they were quickly dealt with by the lifeguards, so there was no major incident.

“Hmm, I wanted to catch one too! Should we go to the underwater dungeon later?”

Her friends’ reactions weren’t very good.

“You’re saying something that could cause big trouble! Underwater dungeons are much more dangerous than surface dungeons.”

“Ugh…”

Kalia scolded her, but she still thought exploring underwater would definitely be fun.

“It’s so peaceful here, I’m really glad we came. Though it’s a bit disappointing to call it a team-building trip.”

Irene said.

As the sun began to set, they decided to have a barbecue party.

While Daphne prepared the ingredients, Kalia and I lit a bonfire.

Gathered around the bonfire, we enjoyed the meat and concluded our day.

When night fell, I called my friends together and began a serious conversation. There was something I absolutely had to tell them.

“Guys, about the raid operation, it’s going to happen in a week. Are you really going to participate? The opponents are the Four Great Clans. Will it be okay?”

Her friends stated their intention to participate without hesitation.

“Of course.”

“You said those guys who messed with my uncle also deal with mages, didn’t you? Then we have to teach them a lesson.”

“If I’m not by Violet’s side, who will be?”

When I asked Lucian and his group, their reaction was the same.

“I do need practice time, but I’ll do my best. I said I’d take on the student council president role, remember?”

“Hehe… trash, human trash! Let’s, let’s clean them up together!”

“Since we’ve been expelled from the academy, there’s no other answer but to fight.”

I looked at my friends’ faces and said.

“Really? But it could be very dangerous. Honestly, I’d prefer if you didn’t participate.”

“…Violet, do you really not need our help?”

“No, it’s not that… it’s just that I’m scared you might get hurt.”

Irene said with a slightly sad expression.

“…It’s too late now. Let’s talk about this tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay!”

One by one, the friends returned to their rooms. I felt a little bitter.

Because there were less than 12 hours left until the operation began.

“I’m sorry for deceiving you!”

**

While Violet and her friends were traveling, the other Violets began their final checks.

“All dormant bodies have been removed. Armed trucks have also been deployed near the operation area since three days ago!”

“There are no major changes to their schedule.”

We looked at the whiteboard where the materials were organized.

Countless clues, photos, buildings, and kill lists were densely pasted. Our attention was drawn to the data in the center.

It was a world map of Trist.

Looking at the world map, I let out a hollow laugh. The Rustrum Archipelago, marked in yellow, was very small compared to the giant continents around it.

“It feels kind of empty.”

“It’s small!”

“Isn’t the real battle that decides the fate of the world happening on that continent?”

“No need to look at this now! Pass it to someone else.”

After passing the map, the map of the Rustrum Archipelago that we were looking for appeared.

Looking at the map showing the sphere of influence, I sighed. It was because the clans’ power was so immense.

While the clans had divided the island among themselves, the Academy City authorities’ directly controllable area was extremely limited.

With a size like that, it’s even worse than the Cascadia family underwater.

“It’s too small!”

“And those clan guys are huge!”

This is why the Academy City authorities are in a situation where they can only be dragged along no matter what happens. The difference in influence is too great.

Nominally, the Four Great Clans don’t directly govern the region. The clans outsourced administration because they were immersed in their own affairs.

Nevertheless, their actual influence is as depicted.

Furthermore, they have established their branches all over the world.

“It’s fine! Their most important facilities and headquarters are here.”

“And there’s the Federal Army!”

Of course, the clans can move freely outside the continent like the Academy City, but the main force of the Federal Army is on the continent.

And our goal wasn’t to annihilate Magnavis. It was to weaken them.

We checked the final situation all night.

“Kill list check complete.”

“Target location identification complete!”

Discussions about Chairman Valefor, who was the biggest problem, also took place.

“Everyone knows this, but I’ll emphasize it again. Think of the Vanguard guys as tanks. You need to concentrate your anti-tank weapons to suppress them. But if you face someone like the Chairman or someone of that level. You absolutely must run away! We can never kill them at our level. Understood?”

“Still, we’ve thought of a way to stop the Chairman, haven’t we?”

“That’s true.”

At my current level, I can never kill that Archmage.

However, I was able to pinpoint where he was going for an event tomorrow.

It was information I got very fortunately during infiltration.

According to this, he seems to be planning to tour the clan’s facilities tomorrow. That place is near the city center, and it’s their territory.

No matter how powerful an Archmage he is, he can’t unleash powerful bombardments with the resolve to destroy his own facilities.

“And we’ve prepared trucks!”

We might not be able to kill him, but we can bury him under a building.

With this, we should be able to hold him up for at least tens of minutes, or even several hours if we’re lucky.

“Alright, let’s go to sleep now. Then, at 5 AM tomorrow, the operation begins.”

“What about the travel clone?”

“…Retrieve it. It’ll be exposed whether it’s there or not anyway. Let’s conserve mana.”

Time pressed in on us like a rushing river, pushing us forward. But the preparations were complete.

Violet no longer hesitated. Once everything was over, her friends would understand her heart.

When the appointed time arrived, the Violets who had been dormant throughout the western sector awoke.

“Operation name, Witch’s Hammer. Commence!”

**

Early in the morning, Daphne woke up as usual and rubbed her eyes.

She washed her face, changed her clothes, and then prepared breakfast.

‘What would be good for breakfast today? Omelets?’

She thought. Violet eats anything well, so that didn’t matter; she had to consider the others’ preferences.

As she took out the ingredients one by one, she heard the sounds of others waking up, one by one.

“Ugh… Daphne, good morning. Have you seen Violet anywhere?”

Kalia came down, took out a cool water bottle from the refrigerator, drank from it, and asked.

“Oh? Isn’t Violet upstairs? I thought she was oversleeping.”

At Daphne’s question, Kalia asked, looking puzzled.

“Really? I thought she was downstairs. She must be outside.”

Soon, all team members gathered on the first floor. Violet was still nowhere to be seen.

“What, where did she go?”

“Violet? Violet, where are you!”

Suddenly, feeling ominous, Daphne quickly searched for Violet with Irene.

Violet was not seen on the beach, in the villa, or on the nearby streets. She was nowhere.

Just then, Kalia hastily held up her smartphone screen.

“Wait, hold on. Look at this!”

A shocking scene unfolded before their eyes.

They were aghast at the breaking news section of the news website, which was updating in real-time.

“Violet lied…”

“What?”

“The plan’s execution wasn’t a week later. It was today!”

Lucian, hearing the screaming outburst, turned on the TV screen.

“Just a moment, guys. Look at this…”

The next moment, Daphne gasped and covered her mouth.

Irene quickly searched for her weapon.

Because the content of the breaking news that had just appeared was quite shocking.

“Th-the academy…”

The familiar scenery of Polaris Academy was visible.

But it was different from usual. Smoke and flames, falling helicopters.

“V-Violet. What on earth have you done?”

And even a massive mushroom cloud rising high above the academy, filling the screen.

Seeing that scene, Violet’s friends were speechless.

The Witch’s Hammer struck the west.