episode_0412

A silhouette emerged from the swirling dust and smoke.

Though it appeared small and delicate, its presence was overwhelming.

It was just one person. Yet, why did it feel so extraordinary?

The air itself seemed to grow heavy, and the surrounding colors became more vibrant.

“The Ninth Pillar, good heavens.”

The Exile’s face hardened.

The girl took a step, then another. With every soundless step she took across the sand, her height gradually increased.

The delicate and cute face matured into a woman’s, overlaid with a keen force and intellect.

Her small stature blossomed into a firm, well-toned physique.

All these changes occurred within a few seconds.

The woman, standing firmly on the ground, inhaled deeply and exhaled. High-temperature steam erupted from her lips.

The woman feigned a surprised expression and examined her body. Her cold, expressionless face was replaced with curiosity. She moved her fingers one by one, lifted her arms, and observed the movement of her muscles.

Then she drew the sword from her waist and gazed at her reflection.

A beautiful woman with fair skin, a mature and cool demeanor, gleamed on the blade.

“Oh, so this is me.”

The collective consciousness was astonished, marveling at the overflowing power.

Reality surpassed imagination. What of the power residing in each smooth yet firm muscle? What of the robust skeleton felt beneath flesh and blood?

The power and momentum gathered at her fingertips were incomparable to before.

Violet realized that she had become a biological war machine, one that could only exist in dreams.

Her current physical state, compared to other awakeners, was probably on the level of the gap between an ordinary person and an awakener.

There was no hesitation. Violet turned to the reserves behind her and snapped her fingers.

The other Violets also grew in the blink of an eye. Snapping sounds echoed in succession as they each cracked their necks.

「Command reports. How do you feel?」 「Amazing. I feel like I could cut down a skyscraper right now!」

Exoria, who had been staring blankly, let out a hollow laugh.

“Could what I saw have been a premonition? What in the world is this calamity? You truly are a monster. Haha…”

Violet stamped her foot fiercely.

The ground rumbled and sand spread out like waves. Fifteen Violets soared upwards.

The feeling of magic draining away made her dizzy. An imaginary witch was a being that consumed so much magic.

But it was well worth expending that much magic.

The first form of Raix-Haiburn’s leap unfolded.

As she stamped her foot, the impact carved a crater in the sandy ground and sent fragments scattering.

To block the cannonball-like charge, a mountain of spears and swords surged from the ground once more.

Each Violet lightly and precisely controlled the magical momentum released from their legs and soles, as well as the movement of each muscle. Their toes landed gently on the sharp blades.

They ran. Over the blades, they leaped. Through distorted space, warped gravity.

They spun on impossible trajectories, made sharp turns at absurd angles, and plunged forward.

They cut through the hindering sand hands and arms with their swords.

With such ease, the steadfast obstacles were cut away and scattered, like harvesting wheat. A red trajectory, its trace, lingered momentarily in the air before vanishing.

Before long, red hair streamed before her eyes. One Violet, wielding a staff, leaped over Exoria’s head.

Simultaneously, three or four Violets penetrated the flanks, unfurling long, massive streaks of light and swinging them with all their might.

It was the Lightning Whip. The first secret technique favored by the Thunder Witch struck the ground around Exoria, gouging deep craters.

Flashing beams of light cleaved the earth. At the same time, a Violet wielding a red rapier circumvented to the rear and stabbed her back. It was a precise and swift movement.

An auxiliary arm lifted a greatsword and swung it down as if to cleave.

Violet 4421 smiled. Now was the time to use that technique.

Raix-Haiburn’s third form’s secret technique, the finesse of counterattack that deflects powerful blows, shone brightly.

-Clang!

The greatsword deflected off the slender rapier, rocketing upwards from the recoil. A sharp scream of colliding metal rent the air.

Violet received the enemy’s force, spun her body, adopted a counterattacking stance, and thrust. Her target was the ground directly below; violent flames contained within the blade of blazing light erupted the moment it pierced the earth.

Flames blazing from the rapier’s tip burrowed into the ground.

-Boom!

All this transpired in an instant. Exoria’s dynamic vision detected that all the ground around her, except for what was directly in front, was shaking from explosions and impacts.

Sand and rock fragments flew everywhere. Why? How? The Exile’s pondering mind sensed danger.

‘Damn it, the loophole in the Declaration!’

It was too late to react.

From the front, a Violet wielding a zweihänder charged in.

Her two arms swung the massive sword. A mighty blow, which would have been impossible for a smaller Violet, surged forward accompanied by a shockwave.

-Whoomph!

The Lament of Sorrow struck directly in front of where the Exile stood. The powerful and cruel blow cleanly cut, twisted, and shook the ground beneath the Exile’s shock-gouged spot.

Even beneath the Exile’s feet. Cracks spread like a spiderweb, destabilizing the ground she stood on.

Violet smiled. A cold smile spread across her face.

「’As long as this body does not move, infinite sophistry shall block the dignity of existence!’ Right?」 The immovable fortress moved. An invisible declaration was broken.

「Oh my, it moved, didn’t it?」 Joy of victory was evident in Violet’s voice.

“I declare—”

The space above Exoria, who was hastily trying to activate her authority, flashed. Violet, who had been waiting while even using time acceleration, chanted a spell just before landing.

Afterimages receded like an ebb tide. What she used was Adriana’s Flash Storm. The witch’s second secret technique activated.

「Both Lightning Whip and Electric Storm, strictly speaking, extend from the tip of the staff. So…」 A massive torrent of lightning, having pierced another loophole in the declaration, swept through the surroundings. Blue lightning spread in all directions as if striking down from the sky.

「Close-range attack!」 -Crackling!

“Ugh!”

Amidst the crackling storm that scorched the ground, a swarm of afterimages swiftly pulled their bodies away. The sand melted like glass and glistened. A somewhat scorched Exoria darted out, leaving afterimages. Other Violets pursued. The two accelerated bodies ran side by side.

With the powerful witch’s body matched with acceleration and speed, Exoria realized she was being caught.

The repercussions were fatal.

-Crunch!

Ruthless slashes pursued and clawed at her. Wounds dug into her legs and upper body. Flesh ripped and bones were exposed. An ear was torn off. Black blood surged over the domain.

Obstructions and distortions of space itself. Hastily launched attacks were useless against a momentum like a battering ram. Three violent explosions. Small sandstorms stirred.

Amidst them, countless sword strikes flashed back and forth.

The sound of blades cutting through air and blood splattering mingled like a cacophony.

“Ugh…”

Once again, a counterattack. From the slashing attack, Exoria tumbled across her domain then sprung up as if floating.

Black liquid seeped from between her torn clothes and wounds.

Indeed, that was a monster. Violet’s reaction speed was even faster than the time it took Exoria to perceive the situation and activate her abilities.

Her combat skills and physical abilities were beyond anything even Exoria, who had experienced countless battlefields, could imagine. In close-quarters combat, she was at too great a disadvantage.

Especially with her current limited abilities, it was too dangerous!

What if she declared a sealing on close-range attacks?

The Exile’s mind raced.

“I declare—”

Amidst shock and pain, the Exile, who was about to hastily utter a declaration, paused. No, she couldn’t; then she would surely have to release the declaration preventing long-range attacks.

Her current limited authority required an equivalent exchange. Her mind rapidly cooled.

“Did my arrogance bring about this trouble…?”

She smiled bitterly and chose another option. Amidst the shaking pain, she stretched out her hand to wield the domain itself. Light spreading from her fingertips twisted space. Space itself rapidly tore and began to narrow.

The domain rapidly constricted. The atmospheric pressure changes caused by the compressed surrounding space echoed in her ears. The caught clones shattered and fell.

「No. 241! Kick me!」 No. 241 kicked Violet’s back without hesitation. Fiercely kicked, Violet shot forward, piercing straight through the narrowing passage.

As sharp as an arrow, as powerful as a cannonball.

And the enemy was in its path.

「Cut it down!」 -Slice!

A part of the Exile’s right shoulder was severed and fell. The sound of blades cutting through flesh and bone. Black blood gushed. Violet, having deflected, rolled in the sand.

A brief gasp. A gap opened in Exoria’s mental domain as her concentration wavered from the pain. It was an opportunity.

The Violets, who had been confronting each other beyond the boundary of Violet Plaza, seized the moment the mental barrier weakened and surged in.

An overwhelming number poured in like a tidal wave. Another Exile was engulfed by Violets. Though they were knocked away by the storm-like momentum, they didn’t miss the opening and rushed forward.

The Violets burrowed into Exoria’s mind like an ant swarm.

「Push through! Overwhelm!」 Each Violet’s eyes shone with resolve.

「Domain Release!」 Violet brushed off the sand and once again raised the Lament of Sorrow.

The black zweihänder’s blade gleamed with blood.

Exoria, without a moment to attend to her wounds, raised her left arm and pointed her folded fan towards her enemy.

“…I retract my declaration.”

Immediately after the long-range attack declaration was lifted, a large amount of magic gathered at the tip of the folded fan. The air around the fan shimmered, and light refracted.

The Exile realized this would be her last powerful blow before the domain’s release.

Aimed at Violet, the witch who would bring calamity beyond the incomprehensible future.

And beyond that, the network. As if aiming a pistol.

Violet on the other side, as if sensing this was the end, calmly adopted her stance once more.

On the bleached wasteland, the two duelists waited in noble silence, like gunslingers in a movie.

The wind ceased, and even the dust in the air seemed to hang motionless.

A frayed nerve pulled the trigger.

-Thoom!

A black and red strike intersected with a red and white light.

-Thwack!

Exoria’s upper body, which had been pointing the fan, slipped and tumbled below her waist. Black liquid gushed like a fountain from her cleanly bisected body.

Violet, in the mental realm, felt a brief sense of accomplishment and interfered with the domain’s power through the gap in the fractured mind.

-Shatter!

The sky shattered. Like a glass window splintering, the faded, blurry sky broke apart.

The ground crumbled. The colorless, inorganic wasteland and ruins scattered and broke apart like a midsummer night’s dream.

Like fragments of a broken ceramic. The boundary between reality and illusion collapsed, and the domain’s structure was dismantled.

The domain vanished as if it had never existed.

**

Violet perceived herself back in the darkness.

A clear, small reality approached.

「Huh? The strong Violet is gone…」 「I’m a small Violet again!」 It seemed the power of imagination had evaporated because the domain disappeared and she had returned to reality.

Disappointment filled Violet’s expression.

“Ugh… I was so strong just a moment ago… Ugh!” Violet, who had been muttering, suddenly clutched her head with both hands at the onset of pain. A throbbing sensation pierced through her brain.

Her network felt like it was burning and being consumed. Various memories and thoughts flashed through her mind like fragments.

Was it a side effect of the beam shot from the fan earlier?

「Ow! Command! What’s going on? My network feels a bit shaky?」 「Looks like it was something she shot!」 A tingling sensation, as if her molars were loose, and a sour feeling rising from deep within her brain stimulated all her nerves.

She raised her head to demand answers, fueled by rising anger. What met her eyes was Exoria’s bisected silhouette.

“Hey, you’re not dead, are you?” No sooner had Violet’s words scattered into the air than Exoria’s form blurred like smoke.

The sword cuts vanished as if by magic, and a moment later, Exoria reappeared in her unharmed state.

No, correction. Her halo extinguished, she slumped to the ground, clutching her head with both hands as Violet groaned.

“Ugh… I certainly took a good hit. Violet. It was quite impressive.” “What did you do to my network?” Violet asked with an annoyed expression, baring her teeth slightly. Exoria had returned entirely to her polite demeanor from before her halo activated.

“It was nothing major. I simply overexerted myself to fire a blow and detach your connection.” She tilted her head slightly, enduring the pain. “It seems I failed, as it’s still clinging on… Anyway, it’s a draw, isn’t it?” “What are you talking about? I won, didn’t I?” The Exile let out a short, soft chuckle. Her laughter was tinged with pain and resignation.

“I was merely unprepared for an unforeseen situation. And you don’t seem to be in good condition yourself.” “I’m not… Ugh!” Violet suddenly hunched over as a severe headache struck her. She finally fully realized that her network was under strain.

It must have been due to her attack. Furthermore, she had pushed herself too hard with long-term time acceleration and tactical immersion.

Violet wanted to strongly assert her victory, but she couldn’t deny that fatigue was dominating her entire body.

It would certainly be difficult to push for victory any further here. Still, she had to say what needed to be said.

“First of all, don’t take out what I planted! If you do, I’ll punish you! If it’s not there, you’ll tell Arsite all about me, won’t you!” “…I truly have no intention of doing that.” Groaning from the side effects of forcefully drawing on her old power, the Exile staggered to her feet.

“Anyway, I…” Exoria, who was rubbing the back of her head, and Violet both simultaneously felt a strange sensation.

An unsettling feeling washed over them, as if they had forgotten something important.

Violet furrowed her brow in thought.

「What did we forget?」 「Sebastian?」 「I think No. 2445 or No. 5111 threw the dog outside before the building exploded? Oh, there it is. More importantly…」 The former Executor and the young Disciple realized like a lightning bolt that they had indeed forgotten something crucial.

“Ah, the killer! Where did he go?” Violet gasped and sharply scanned her surroundings. The killer from Arsite, whom they had bound just a moment ago, had vanished without a trace.

“Oh dear, it seems we’ve made a grave mistake…” Seeing Exoria hesitate, not knowing what to do, Violet felt a sense of wonder.

To think the Disciple before her could make such a foolish face.

Examining the bewildered expression she’d never seen before, it seemed there was a somewhat human side to her.

“There’s no helping it. Let’s find him first.” Violet was starting to get annoyed with this situation. If she thought about it, wasn’t all of this that person’s fault?

“See, this is all your fault. I’ll just assimilate you. Do you want to join Ariel now?” “Hold on, calm down, that’s—” Violet, who was pointing and approaching, suddenly froze.

Because her vision began to split into multiple fragments.

Violet felt as though she was shattering into pieces.

The sensation was tragically accurate.

-Thud!

Violet 5667 collapsed to the floor, scattering like a broken doll.

Between the shattering fragments of Violet’s body, countless blood-stained, gleaming wires were eerily exposed.

From the dim shadows of dawn, a slender woman with flowing green hair walked out elegantly.

“Madam Exoria, are you alright?” “Administrator-nim…” Elena checked the pale Exile’s condition, was slightly surprised, and quickly helped her up.

Immediately after, the dark expanse of the sky above seemed to tear open. Numerous VTOL transport aircraft deactivated their cloaking fields, revealing their menacing forms.

As if teleporting, Arsite agents poured out like a flood from behind Elena, taking defensive positions.

“It’s the Arsite leader!” Violet’s clones, who had been waiting outside the domain, swarmed out and aimed their guns.

“Terrorist, what have you done?” Elena asked in a cold voice.

“That’s what *we* should be asking! To help spread the Luminaxa Virus and then show yourselves of your own accord, your audacity knows no bounds [literally: your liver must have jumped out of your belly]!” Just then, Command also announced good news. The timing was quite opportune.

-Boom!

A man in a black mask landed behind the Violet group with a powerful shockwave. The Violets, flushed with excitement, pushed fiercely against the Arsite side.

“…That’s him.” Hearing Violet’s whisper, the Inspector observed beyond the familiar Arsite assassins.

His eyes filled with horror the moment he saw the red-haired woman Elena was supporting.

“A Disciple… Is that why Arsite!” “…You must be Ariel’s leader.” Seijis, without realizing it, sharply retorted towards Elena, who was staring expressionlessly.

“Overall Administrator Elena, are you insane? That’s… a Disciple. How can you keep an Eidos by your side?” “That is none of your concern.” An invisible, fierce tension stretched taut between the two. Armed personnel from both sides faced each other, fingers on their triggers.

The friction was brief. The Exile, gently unfolding her fan, spoke in a soft voice.

“Um, Administrator-nim.” Exoria’s voice carried a strange sense of composure.

“A general agreement has already been made with these individuals. They will cooperate with our pursuit. Isn’t that right, members of Ariel?” “…Exoria?” Seijis watched Violet with an expression that demanded an explanation.

Violet shrugged, giving an unspoken signal to wait. Then, after a moment of silence, she spoke.

“Hmm, for now, yes. We’ll need to discuss it further in the future, but…” “If that’s the case, I believe it would be fine to retreat for today, Administrator-nim.” Hearing the Exile’s words, Elena calmly gestured to the rear. At that signal, Violet also relaxed her tension and lowered her weapons. Transport aircraft slowly landed, opening their ramps with metallic clangs, and Arsite agents withdrew in perfect order, releasing their sharp confrontation as if it had never been.

“Then, members of the Ariel group.” Exoria said, lightly covering her mouth with her fan. “I hope we can meet again. Today was quite… enjoyable.”

“Oh, if we meet again later, I’ll definitely win!” In the strangely amicable atmosphere, the Inspector frowned and muttered as if he couldn’t understand.

“Should we just let them go like this?” Doubt and concern were present in his voice.

“Yeah, don’t worry, Inspector. Things seem like they might work out with them… Ugh.” Before she could finish her sentence, the Violets slumped down from the sudden onset of intense dizziness.

Her head felt like it was spinning around like a carousel.

“Violet? Are you okay?” Seijis rushed over with a worried expression and helped her up.

“Ugh… I want to rest…” The collective consciousness decided. Further activity today was impossible.

**

Immediately after boarding the transport vessel, the Exile stumbled and abruptly sat down.

The surrounding agents whispered in surprise.

“Madam? Are you alright?” An agent rushed over and asked.

“I’m fine. I…” Exoria, who had been reaching out as if to say she was fine, finally sat down and took a deep breath. Her chest rose and fell violently as she breathed erratically. She felt her entire body become impossibly heavy with the sudden fatigue she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Was it because she had used her authority after so long? The back of her head, where the artifact was embedded, throbbed with a burning pain.

‘If I return, I’ll rest a bit when I get back.’ There were many reasons to rest. Her ugly instincts, which she had suppressed for a long time, had thoroughly awakened.

‘Was I crazy? Was it really necessary to get so angry and push my authority to that extent?’ Although it had been a necessary choice in its own way, Exoria inadvertently realized her situation was quite amusing.

Wasn’t this just like a new employee, who, while dead drunk, had grabbed their evil boss by the collar and caused a ruckus, only to wake up to hundreds of missed calls?

Only shame and self-reproach washed over her now-cooled mind.

Her self as a friend to humanity and her self as an Executor were clearly different. While not quite multiple personalities, their temperaments were so distinct that even she was surprised.

The accursed nature peculiar to her race, ingrained deep within her bones, could not be easily erased by effort alone.

An arrogant, disrespectful, and cruel attitude towards other intelligent life forms.

Despite suppressing it diligently… It was then, as she pondered in sad self-reproach and lament, that she felt something amiss. She was excessively dizzy.

Her mind churned like violent waves.

She wondered if she had consumed too much power due to the prolonged battle with that human, when suddenly a strange sensation of her vision lowering assailed her.

The anomaly arrived in an instant.

“Administrator-nim!” Elena turned her head and then saw the other agents, who were in shock. Their faces froze in an instant, filled with horror.

The reason was clear without asking.

Elena’s eyes widened.

The current situation was quite perplexing, even for her, who had seen all kinds of abnormalities in the world.

The mature woman who had been sitting in the adjacent seat was gone, and in her place sat a large girl with clear eyes, wearing a dress that didn’t fit her body.

“Eek…?” Her shrunken shoulders trembled delicately within the too-large clothes.

“Exoria? Good heavens, is that really you? Madam. What in the world happened?” The sight was quite amusing and even adorable.

Unfortunately, these assassins, with their meager optimistic thinking, neither shared the tastes of some noble ducal princess, nor did they have the mental余裕 (leisure) to accept reality kindly.

“Oh dear, I g-got small.” The young girl spread her arms, examining the overly large, trailing sleeves this way and that before letting them droop.

“What happened? Is this their trick? Are you alright?” “No, it’s not that. O-Overall Administrator-nim, it seems I… overexerted myself a bit…” Little Exoria murmured with an awkward, forced smile.

The lisping, indistinct pronunciation in her mouth held innocence.

What was before their eyes was undeniably a child.

Arsite’s Overall Administrator froze like an office worker who had just received an unexpected termination notice.

Only silence emerged.

“…”

Elena didn’t know what expression would be appropriate to wear before the regressed former Executor of Ennead.