episode_0381

A battlefield where flesh and steel intertwined. The ceaseless advance of the clones. The defense lines of mechanized soldiers and elite agents wavered.

A web of information entangled the forces, desperately holding back the swarming enemies.

Thick smoke, rising from various points, had long swallowed the night sky, suffocating even the moonlight.

The Foundation’s offshore base groaned before the frenzied surge of the Violets.

[A-3 sector defense line has collapsed! It’s breaking down!]

[D-7 sector suppressed! Reinforcements requested!]

Even as reports drenched in despair filled the communication network, the battle’s barrage did not cease.

Yellow lasers tore through the night air, and blue plasma incinerated the darkness.

Each time a volley of heavy metal bullets from new-model androids pierced the Violets’ armor, crimson sparks flew, and a hover tank’s railgun toppled a Walker with a thunderous roar.

Anti-air turrets wove a net of death in the night sky.

Squadrons of unmanned aerial vehicles, equipped with electronic brains, descended like kites through that net, vying for air supremacy.

However, the wave of collective intelligence did not stop. Greatswords swung by armored knights sliced through the androids’ bodies, and using the Violet infantry as a shield, Walkers and heavy weapons crushed the resistance.

Above them, fighter squadrons, leaving trails of flame, relentlessly launched air strikes, pounding at weak points.

Through the gaps, Violets charged, surrounded, and tore them apart.

Amidst the inferno of flames and gunfire, the Violets did not stop.

Their target: the Foundation’s heart.

The insane charge would not end; it would not stop until their bodies were shattered and scattered.

[Network overload! Three Mnemosys terminals overheating!]

The battle’s domain extended beyond an invisible veil.

The information war was like an intangible storm, a vortex of stratagems, deceptions, ideas, and data. Chaos, created by tens of thousands of consciousnesses, clashed head-on with the order of elegant equations.

Mnemosys protocol terminals spewed torrents of information, assisting the Foundation agents’ neural networks. Unmanned weapons moved nimbly within accelerated calculations.

Every moment, tens of thousands of tactical equations sparked. The angle of the muzzle, the curve of the projectile, the enemy’s movements and response patterns were broken down and calculated to the smallest unit of time.

Aim, correct. Fire. Close-quarters combat protocol activated—

Against the Foundation’s alien engineering, the network of collective intelligence reacted.

An unstoppable race. A massive neural network, fused from thousands of Violet consciousnesses, sought to interpret enemy patterns and read the enemy as if with precognition.

Evasion maneuvers initiated before the trigger was pulled. Millisecond fatal blows flying in the instant an enemy’s weakness was exposed.

If Mnemosys’s quantum computations created a predictive network that controlled the Foundation forces’ movements, the Violets’ collective consciousness twisted and deceived those predictions.

Those who stopped would fall behind.

In an endless race, the computational systems of the two forces clashed without rest.

[Defense protocol activated, under no circumstances. Do not retreat.]

“For clone democracy! Chaaarge!”

But the current of fate was already flowing irreversibly.

[Evacuation of researchers and staff delayed! They’re taking prisoners!]

The Violets, like ancient nomads plundering an agrarian society, forced unarmed individuals to surrender and bound them.

“Don’t, don’t shoot!”

“You’re our prisoner now! Hehehe!”

[Squad 3, peel off to the right and provide suppressive fire, then—Aaaargh!]

The ballet of death unfolding in the pitch black fell into a stalemate.

The Violets’ fighters relentlessly engaged the drone squadrons in a never-ending aerial dance.

Meanwhile, Violets in armored suits carved through the Foundation’s defenses, and magic and bombardment pierced into those wounds.

Violent assaults began towards the terminal access rooms throughout Rustrum.

In the midst of all this chaos, only one entity maintained its individuality.

—Slice!

“He’s blocking again!”

In the heart of the chaos, the swordsman performed a death dance.

Hellman’s cutlass traced a silver arc, harvesting the Violets’ necks. In an instant, three lives were reaped.

The next moment, six new lives surged forth.

Facing a human wave where killing one brought ten more, endlessly, even the reaper reanimated from the underworld by biotechnology gasped for breath.

“Surround him!”

In the vast space, three or four appeared when he looked up, squads from front, back, left, and right. From below, guns and crossbows fired.

Hundreds of malevolent intentions were aimed at Hellman. A multi-angle assault poured down from the air, from the ground, from every direction.

With that as a start, the collective intelligence command pushed forward.

“Now!”

The moment the blade cut through the air, the Violets’ tactical immersion accelerated.

Thousands of consciousnesses intertwined into one, calculating Hellman’s movements.

The defeat in the first battle had given them a bitter lesson.

The space in the underground facility was too narrow. They couldn’t concentrate firepower, nor could they properly utilize their numerical superiority.

This time was different.

“It’s wide here!”

They wouldn’t care about numbers if it meant killing the monster.

“Crush him! We need to scatter his concentration!”

The assault squad, filled with resolve, surrounded Hellman.

Meanwhile, snipers positioned themselves on cranes and steel structures. Fighter squadrons in the air prepared for machine gun fire, and surviving biplanes desperately assembled one-ton bombs inside.

Heavy weapons squads built fortifications between the structural steel columns and containers.

There would be no more one-on-one close combat in narrow passages.

Only an open space filled with a storm of fire.

“Command reports. 3, 2, 1!”

Hellman instantly read the situation.

—Rat-a-tat-tat!

The cutlass spun, severing the necks of the three closest Violets. He slashed diagonally at an enemy leaping overhead. A crescent-shaped slash bisected them.

A torrent of machine gun bullets poured down. Using a corpse as a shield, he hid behind a stack of containers.

As naturally as flowing water, Hellman repeatedly took cover and ran between structures.

“You can’t escape this time!”

An explosion engulfed the container. A volley of rockets and anti-tank missiles narrowly pursued and struck right behind him.

Shrapnel scattered. Hellman sped along a nearby crane pillar. Violets ran in pursuit.

Finally, one shot hit nearby and exploded. A very brief, short stun.

“Now’s our chance!”

The moment the curse-laden finger pointed, dozens of crosshairs intersected in the air.

Coordinated simultaneous sniper fire, synchronized on the map, aimed to hit the target with large-caliber rounds of various types all at once.

They had to hit.

—Shing!

The light of the sword spun in the air, tracing an arc. Bullets bounced off and fell indiscriminately.

Their regret was brief as the snipers’ aiming points kept moving. Bullets struck the steel frame, sparks flying.

“Encirclement complete! Air superiority gap secured! Two fighters assigned!”

“Command’s orders! Volley fire on signal!”

They died, were cut, were sliced. And their places were immediately filled by other Violets.

Endless reinforcements, relentless assault. This was the battlefield the Violets desired.

Hundreds of muzzles spat fire simultaneously. When the Crow’s melting ray blocked his path, he leaped over it, and each time, bullets filled the air.

An impossible bullet hell formed, but Hellman moved one step ahead.

His next slash was overhead, an incomprehensible move.

In a bewildered moment, the crane wire snapped, and a steel container plummeted.

—CRASH!

The container, having tumbled down to the side, became an instant shield. Electric whips and explosive attacks glanced off.

The time gained was only a few seconds. But for that superhuman, it was enough.

“He blocked that?”

Lethal explosions. Each time, Hellman used nearby objects and terrain as impromptu shields to evade attacks.

The bullet hell pierced countless holes in the building, tracing his footsteps every second.

Hellman’s movements, as he sped along the pipeline, were barely discernible in the Violets’ vision.

Dozens of scopes, a thousand pairs of eyes, pursued him.

Calculating next movement path.

“His reaction speed has dulled. He’s injured!”

The collective intelligence reacted instantly. Snipers fired in bursts as if to block the target’s path, and assault teams infiltrated the enemy’s expected escape routes. The Violets were resolute.

This was an open space. Nothing was more advantageous to the Violets than a firefight and chaotic melee.

“This time is different!”

High-density computations meticulously read and calculated Hellman’s movements.

A Walker blocked his path. With a ruthless stroke, a sword glowing with magic cut down the Walker.

The Violets smiled. As it died, the massive body crashed into him and exploded.

Unit 5531 fell onto the enemy who miraculously escaped. Its head was severed, but it was too late.

From his hand, magic already flashed crimson.

“It’s a trap!”

A branch of melting ray activated at close range. Just before, Hellman threw a smoke grenade overhead.

A violent flash and roar blazed across the platform. The smoke cleared.

The enemy was nowhere to be found. All that was visible was a sharp, deep black hole, as if cut by a knife. The suicide squad entered as if ready.

“If he hid deep inside the building to evade, we’ll blast him to death!”

The hero of the Great War did not easily yield.

—CRASH!

Immediately upon entry, a suicide squad Violet was met with a desk that shot up right in front of them.

Two Violets, flung back by the desk, faced blue flames.

The plasma pistol in the swordsman’s left hand spat out a bluish-white flash.

The suicide squad, engulfed in flames in mid-air.

An explosion. This time, the enemy broke through a side wall and escaped. Moving even more cunningly, he forced them to sustain losses.

—Swish!

The cutlass flashed, severing a pipe. Hot steam obscured the Violets’ vision.

Again, the plasma pistol spat fire. His form, appearing from within the steam, once again evaded the Violets’ predictions.

A movement climbing up the wall to the hangar roof. Accelerating like lightning.

This tug-of-war, a move is made, and another counters it.

The protagonists of this moment were one person, equivalent to a legion, and a legion made up of one person.

One in ten thousand, and one in ten thousand facing those ten thousand.

Before long, the Foundation’s offshore base had become the sole stage for two superhumans.

“He’s going back up to the platform! Ruzilin-1! Ruzilin-2! Attack!”

The tearing roar of auxiliary thrusters drew attention.

The collective intelligence deployed two fighters. In the HUD of the fighter that descended to low altitude and hovered, the running human weapon was caught.

A barrage of machine gun fire poured down. Sparks flew, and salvos of armor-piercing high-explosive rounds and streaks of rockets struck where Hellman had been. The hangar roof shattered and collapsed.

Simultaneously, wingsuit bombs struck consecutively around him as if to encircle him. Explosions occurred in a chain reaction.

“Where is he?”

Expectations were twisted once again. All that appeared from the smoke were severed pipes, bundles of wires, and debris.

A figure emerging from the smoke ran blurrily like a shadow between buildings.

“Where is he?!”

The enemy appeared atop a spire beyond the hangar roof. He glided along electric wires, firing his plasma pistol in quick succession.

As several Violets fell, the enemy leaped into the air. Immediately after, he used several passing drones as stepping stones to propel himself further into the air.

It was a miraculous sight, created by the tactics of a veteran who had experienced the Great War and the superhuman physical abilities of a superhuman.

“…Is that even possible?”

No matter how much they overwhelmed him with numbers or gained air superiority, the fact that they couldn’t hinder the veteran warrior left the Violets dumbfounded.

“Deploy Second Encirclement! No blind spots!”

Now, the enemy was sprinting around a nearby iron tower, attempting to block access to the terminal connection room. Another sniper unit, secretly positioned, simultaneously pulled their triggers.

At the same time, assigned armored knights pushed forward. A perfect network of firepower was formed, leaving no space to escape or hide.

The swordsman, who had been running vertically up the iron tower, leaped down. Holding onto only a single attached rope.

The moment he fell, concentrated fire from the Violets poured down.

The sky was filled with flames. Hellman’s free-falling body spun, cleaving through the beams of light.

Magic concentrated on the cutlass, and a blue slash traced a parabola.

Just before landing, the enemy’s left hand grabbed a flashbang from his belt. A dazzling flash pierced through the encirclement.

The swordsman felt a sudden realization. He should have broken through here. It was too late.

The blinded Violets clung on as if they could see.

“Because we share all our vision together!”

The black silhouette, speeding along the outer wall, was suddenly pushed and forced into the building’s interior.

Immediately after a breaching sound, the research building’s window shattered. The battlefield shifted among various equipment and facilities inside the laboratory.

—CRUNCH!

The cutlass severed a large research server. Hellman plunged deep into the laboratory amidst the pouring sparks.

A volley of fire from the heavy weapons squad ripped through the laboratory, but he was already calculating his next move.

“Squad 04! He’ll come out that door!”

The Violets’ prediction was only half-right. The moment the door opened, what burst out was a high-performance grenade.

The explosion shattered the squad. The Foundation’s tactical android units sent reinforcements from adjacent sectors. Amidst the fire support provided by the machines, the enemy briefly caught his breath.

“Don’t interfere!”

The Walkers’ missiles flew, tracing fiery arcs. The androids were annihilated with explosions. A blue light enveloped Hellman’s body. A disposable shield deployed, blocking the shrapnel.

“Surround him! Don’t let him get away this time!”

Dozens of swords flashed and surged forward. Simultaneously, a new squadron of fighters descended from above. The endless assault continued.

The cutlass clashed with the death throes of lament. Even amidst the dense network of fire and bullet hell, the close-quarters combat did not cease.

Hellman’s sword had already sliced through countless Violets, but their places were immediately and continuously filled by others.

Not to mention their tireless growth and adaptability in responding to attacks.

“Tactical immersion, to the limit!”

The collective intelligence activated as if running wild. The fused consciousness desperately scraped every bit of information about the enemy.

The enemy’s breath, the twitch of their muscles, even the flow of their magic. Understanding of others, in turn, became self-assessment.

The struggle to imitate and catch up to an unattainable understanding relentlessly stimulated the entire network.

It was then that the network, pushed to its limits, made a leap.

“…?”

The moment tactical immersion reached its peak, an alien force approached from deep within the network.

“This is…”

The Violet’s consciousness reached out.

Slowly, everything began to bend and twist. A strange phenomenon that had been felt even earlier.

Everything began with self-mastery: mastering one’s small world, then expanding the scope, gradually outwards, into the world.

“Mastering myself.”

The Violet thought.

Time became viscous and blurred, and reality bent.

***

At first, there was a subtle ripple. Reality rippled around the Violet’s body.

The air became sticky, enveloping movements, and its effect slowly spread outwards.

Like ink slowly spreading in water.

The change stopped there. That was the only area the Violet could interfere with for now.

The scope of local reality manipulation was limited to its own body and a very small area beyond.

Nevertheless, a miracle was a miracle; the Violet’s body began to surpass its limits.

In that minute area, breaths became a little clearer, and muscles reacted a little more sharply.

Small changes accumulated, layer by layer.

The sensation of twisting reality spread through nerve endings to its entire body.

“Run!”

Hellman’s movements came into view. Still lightning-fast, but now it was different.

His movements were gradually coming into their field of vision.

The entire world was becoming viscous and slowing down.

The trajectory of the cutlass was clearly visible. Like a silver line drawn in the air.

“A little more!”

The Violet’s reality manipulation reached its limit. Every muscle, nerve, and cell rotated to its extreme within the twisted spacetime.

It was a power limited to its own body and an extremely narrow vicinity, but that was enough.

Finally, the Violet’s body sprinted, leaving distinct afterimages.

Multicolored shadows flickered behind its feet, chasing their master.

“…”

The Violet’s time accelerated.

The imitation of the Great War recognized the anomaly.

As the repercussions of the first acceleration reached his eyes, his superhuman dynamic vision and reaction speed finally caught up with the distortion of reality.

The cutlass arced, slicing through the Violet.

In one step, he leaped an immense distance, widening the gap. The plasma pistol spat a bluish-white flash.

To contend with the increasingly accelerating enemy, the superhuman’s sprint also surpassed its limits, but—

—Crack!

Crude as it was, the distorted time difference finally changed the flow of combat. The Violet felt it.

“It hit!”

Another Violet sprinted along a pipe.

From behind containers, between piles of machinery, from all directions, clones trailing afterimages charged.

Impact. The arcs woven by swords imbued with sword energy combined, illuminating the surroundings dazzlingly. The sword strikes could no longer be tracked with the naked eye.

The surroundings were distorted by the roar, flames, and the chaos created by instantaneous acceleration.

The superhuman’s technique, contending with local reality manipulation, finally developed a flaw.

—Thrust!

A sword flying from behind plunged into his waist.

Hellman, belatedly, took a stance. The Violet’s sword rebounded with a clanging sound, but the Violet saw it. For the first time, the enemy stumbled.

“You bleed too!”

The blood flowing from behind his armor was not insignificant. It was not a minor injury.

And it was more than enough for the Violets to cling on.

“Die! Impostor!”

A struggle unfolded near the platform railing. The tense battle was on the verge of returning to an unknown situation.

—WHIIIR!

A thunderous vibration struck the platform.

***

Steel structures screamed. All movement on the battlefield momentarily ceased from the immense impact.

“Huh?”

“…”

Both the Violets and Hellman instinctively regained their balance and turned their gaze towards the source of the vibration.

A strange light welled up from the gigantic hole in the center of the platform.

A bluish-white beam surged from the black abyss.

Explosive energy boiled the seawater. Amidst the pouring columns of water, massive armored plates emerged. Blue-tinged circuits awakened from within the rusted armor.

—FLASH!

A dazzling flash streaked across the battlefield. The shockwave of the explosion enveloped the battle near the railing.

A mechanical groan resonated, tearing through the air.

A colossal form surged from deep within the underwater cavity. Severed wires writhed like snakes, and steam escaped from broken pipes.

The massive entity, awakened from millennia of slumber, slowly rose into the air.

Parts of the vessel broke off and fell, with only the central core and the hull attached to its heart floating.

Yet, its size was beyond imagination.

The otherworldly metal emitted an ominous glow under the moonlight.

A body covered in armor and weapons unimaginable with human technology revealed itself under the moonlight.

[…Sworn enemy.]

The vessel gazed at the enemies before it.

A world it had never seen, beings it had never encountered. Everything was unfamiliar.

But beings with an ominous aura were here.

[…Annihilate them all.]

The ancient war machine awakened.

In this absurdity, if there was one thing that offered the collective intelligence some comfort, it was this:

“Boss! Our allies will arrive soon!”

Despite the good news that reinforcements were arriving, the Violet was troubled.

“How are we supposed to explain that?”

The night was now flowing in a direction no one could predict.