episode_0304

“I’m going to drop!”

Following the instructions from Headquarters, whose curiosity had been piqued, Unit 2212 said that and threw herself down. As she surrendered to gravity, she felt a force pulling her in beyond the fog, without resistance. This happened while people, who had come to find artifacts, were flocking to the entrance passage of the deep zone.

“It’s high! So high! Falling endlessly!”

Although called a valley, the terrain here was made up of towering single rocks. Each rock, tinged with a grayish-blue hue, stood majestically above the deep valley floor, which stretched for several kilometers.

Not only that, but these massive monolithic rocks, standing tall like skyscrapers, were covered in jaggedly protruding smaller rocks and trees, like stalactites, and huge thickets that spread out like dense forests.

Indeed, Cutlass Valley was a series of islands in the sky, soaring like skyscrapers. It’s a mystery why it was named a valley. If I were to name it, I would have chosen a more formidable and magnificent name.

The distance between each rock was hundreds of meters at its shortest point, and over a kilometer at its highest. To travel between the rocks, one had to rely on narrow, arch-shaped natural passages spanning them like bridges, or a few large and small man-made bridges.

“…Looking at it like this, it’s really high. Violet. When are you going to open your parachute?”

“Huh? Do I have to open it?”

“Sophieel-nim. Please say something sharp to Violet…”

“Violet, um… when you fall from a high place, you must open your parachute. If you create a new clone… that magical power is wasted. Understood?”

“Yes, I understa… Ugh!”

I, acting as the radio, suddenly cried out in surprise.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing much, but while I was falling, an eagle living at the bottom of the cliff snatched me! It seems to be taking me to its nest. Oh, is that a nest? They’re babies! Chicks!”

Daphne and Sophieel, who had been admonishing me about wearing a parachute, listened to my explanation, stared blankly for a moment, then burst into bewildered laughter.

“If it’s an eagle-shaped magical beast, it’s a Chrysethos. Oh dear, to snatch Violet of all people… how unfortunate.”

“My, what a foolish magical beast. I never thought I’d feel sorry for a magical beast, not today of all days.”

As expected, the Chrysethos that had carried me off to feed to its young fell with a cry close to a wail.

“Die!”

*Slash!*

“Screech!”

From ancient times, there has been an evil predator that threatens bird society, and its name is the cuckoo. They are far more menacing beings than snakes or cats. Why is that? Behind the seemingly ordinary birds lurks a chilling truth. The true identity of cuckoos is that of evil spies dispatched to destroy bird society.

These wicked cuckoos, enough to make even the Communist Party weep, infiltrate nests and then assassinate the cute baby birds. Then, pretending to be the offspring they’ve killed, they seize ownerless real estate and the pensions of their adoptive parents. The world of healthy and good birds is thus brought to ruin by the wicked deeds of these shadowy spies.

Truly, a wickedness beyond compare, the very spawn of Satan!

*Hehehe! Enjoying a free ride! The joy of bleeding parents dry! It’s the best!*

The evil voices of the cuckoos already echoed in my ears.

Unfortunately, from the perspective of the Chrysethos that had just snatched us, Violet was precisely that cuckoo. The cuckoo Violets, perfectly armed with the spirit of clone democracy, cheerfully kicked away the baby magical beasts that tried to bite their shins.

“Eagle! I’ll give your babies an early education! Watch carefully! Fly!”

“Screech!”

“Heheheh!”

The mother magical beast shrieked as her tiny magical beast children plummeted beyond the fog. Starting with kindly sending the offspring to their parents’ side using guns and blades, Unit 2212 and her group proceeded to destroy all other nests clinging to the cliff. It was merely a pity that this wholesome destructive amusement couldn’t be enjoyed with other friends.

Enrica, looking down as if peering through the fog beyond the cliff, muttered.

“Wow, amazing. So that’s what skydiving is.”

“…Enrica is learning strange things. Violet. Don’t you feel anything?”

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

While briefly checking below the cliff, many people swarmed into the entrance of the deep zone where we were. The procession was diverse. Students with backpacks, various types of vehicles, and hunters leading mech hounds or unknown bio-drones. Like us, people set up simple tents around the entrance or crossed the steel bridges connecting the cliffs to head to the other side.

“Should we cross soon? All the camps have been set up.”

“Let’s do that. More and more people are entering the deep zone.”

Leaving some equipment as it was, I quickly got into the car and started the engine. The path into the deep zone was similar to the places we had passed so far. Except that there was a thick fog covering the middle of the bridge.

As I drove across the bridge, which stretched precariously for a kilometer, a sudden unease swept over me. Though it was built sturdy with an abundance of advanced materials like gigasteel and rare metals, if the bridge were to break, there would be no other way home than to fly.

“And if we fly around, the Chrysethos will surely gather, right? Flight team, be careful. If you’re careless, those eagles will attack.”

“Understood. I saw quite a few nests earlier. Confirmed!”

Upon crossing the bridge, the flow of ether felt different on my skin. My skin tingled slightly, indicating that the flow of magical power was alien, as expected in the deep zone. However, dangerous magical power often implies opportunity. Many people could be seen moving about, as the likelihood of finding rare artifacts or treasures was higher.

Already, some groups were glaring at each other ominously, as if ready to fight, only stopping short of drawing their swords.

“Hey! Get out of the way! This is the direction our team is exploring. No sense of ethics, huh? Can’t you see we’re overlapping? Which clan are you from, you puny…”

“Has the kid gone crazy? Do you know who we are?”

Sophieel-unnie, who had been quietly observing the scene, her eyes narrowed slightly.

“We should be careful.”

“About what?”

“When there are so many people, unexpected variables can easily arise. We might get into a quarrel, or there might be people here with the same objective as us. I mean, the people who attacked Enrica’s laboratory.”

“It’s fine! They won’t dare touch us. Alright, coming through! Coming through! Hey! Get out of the way!”

I nodded reassuringly and leaned out the truck window, knocking on the door panel loudly. The people who had been growling like beasts ready to pounce glared at me with murderous eyes, but the next moment, seeing the magnetic sticker on the door, they flinched and stepped aside as if a ghost had seen a talisman and fled.

“Is that Helios? Damn it. Why are those bastards here?”

“Blast it… Ah, alright, Miss. I said I’ll move, okay? Just wait! Just a little!”

The hunters grumbled and retreated or pulled their cars aside at the sight of the distinct yellow sun logo and the four letters of the name. Their reputation for actively expanding business in the west, where Magnavis was absent, proved quite helpful.

“Hehe! Good to have friends!”

“Or, let’s think positively. We won’t be bothered by magical beasts. With so many people, attacks will be dispersed, and lower-level magical beasts, still possessing animal instincts, won’t even approach.”

“And the smart ones are said to refrain from attacking. Right?”

“That’s right! Principal Brecht has been praising Violet a lot lately. You must have studied hard!”

Sophieel-unnie smiled, as if proud. I unconsciously tilted my head slightly, exposing the crown of my head. Usually, at times like this, Daphne or Adela-unnie would pat my head.

“…”

“Oh, no…”

Huh, no pat. Feeling a sense of emptiness and regret, I got out of the car.

“Everyone, dismount!”

While the Violets, who had dismounted from the armed pickup truck, surveyed their surroundings, the dump trucks tilted their cargo beds. Then, the hibernating Violets, cleverly stacked in double layers inside, spilled onto the ground. A few seconds later, the Violets blinked a few times, then tore through their plastic packaging and crawled out.

“Operation start! Operation start! Everyone to your positions!”

Elsewhere, on a small trailer, Violets unfastened securing straps and pulled back the tarpaulin covering the equipment. The walking platform, which had been folded, was revealed.

“Walkers, unfasten restraints!”

“Restraints unfastened!”

As two multi-purpose walkers, requisitioned from Pax Nova Naval Base, dismounted, the trailer crossed the bridge again and returned to the base camp.

“Wow, they’re walkers! Let me ride! I’ve always wanted to ride one whenever I saw them.”

“Me, me too. Violet…”

“Alright!”

The walkers, carrying Enrica and Levi, strode forward. The two girls looked around in wonder, like tourists riding an elephant.

“Alright, let’s go now!”

With Enrica’s guidance, recalling her memories, the exploration teams scattered in all directions.

Had they wandered for a day or two like that? While repeatedly exploring and resting, moving between the base camp and the deep zone, good news arrived from one of the search teams.

“Found it!”

**

The weather in the deep zone was unpredictable, and today, Cutlass Valley was covered in fog. Nevertheless, the Violets skillfully utilized their physical characteristics. Violet, metaphorically speaking, is a macroscopic quantum mechanical entity. Scientists of Old Trist discovered the principle of physics that the position and momentum of very small particles cannot be measured simultaneously. Had they seen it, they would have been enraged by a reality that insulted common sense, yet interestingly, this scientific theory also applies to Violet. Until observed, there is no way to accurately determine Violet’s number and position, and each clone entity probabilistically exists in all possible locations simultaneously. If Violet were shot through a very large double-slit, an observer would inevitably witness two Violets, or even more, passing through the slits’ openings simultaneously. Violet is an unpredictable life form, constantly increasing and decreasing in number, and changing location. The only observer who can perfectly measure this girl’s number and position is herself.

Now that the exchange rate between magical power and clones was close to 1:1, a thousand Violets scattering to thoroughly search through the fog was no big deal.

Thus, the 32nd Platoon accidentally discovered a cleverly hidden, distorted barrier. It was surprisingly close to a path frequently used by hunters, which was why it had been overlooked during the search.

“It’s here!”

From the barrier, an aura of perception-hindering spell-craft was felt. Examining the structure of the cleverly deployed spells, they consisted of magical power suppression, noise reduction, and magic that blocked various spectrums of light. Even if one was accustomed to perception hindrance, Unit 4421 thought it would have been difficult to find if they hadn’t paid attention to the surrounding terrain.

“Let’s go in!”

After gathering the scattered friends through the radio-Violet, the company entered beyond the camouflage barrier. As soon as they passed the barrier, the familiar scent of blood and gunpowder greeted the girls. Around them, shattered vehicles and mangled human corpses lay scattered everywhere. Large and small craters pockmarked the ground. Had it been subjected to artillery fire?

Seeing the mark on the scorched vehicle, Violet quickly identified the people.

“It’s Luminexa…?”

Reassured by the relatively intact state of the laboratory, Unit 4421 cautiously approached the lab with the other Violets. A bloodied person was faintly moaning behind a smoking vehicle. While the company members quickly ran into the lab to collect everything inside, Unit 4421 checked on the Luminexa soldier. Looking at the injuries, there seemed to be no hope of recovery even with a restorative potion. After collecting everything inside the lab and stuffing it into their inventory, the 10th Company urgently prepared for extraction. Because the situation was far from ordinary.

“Hey, what happened there? What kind of magical beast was it?”

The moaning Luminexa soldier was startled to see the masked girl, but then stammered in a trembling voice.

“N-not a magical beast. It’s a f-fusi-”

Unit 4421 and the platoon members couldn’t hear the rest of the soldier’s explanation, who had struggled to speak. A beam of light swept through the platoon like a sudden downpour.

*Whoosh!*

“So what kind of magical beast was it…? Huh. Why am I dead? Unit 3320, why are you here?”

“I don’t know! I’m dead too. Why? I was hit by something.”

“Wow, I’m dead too! Was that a gunshot? Must have been a sniper!”

While the Violets were bewildered, a twisted, discolored, heavy mass of iron trampled over the remains that had just been the 42nd Platoon and moved forward.

The entity was consumed by sudden hatred. Magical beasts had appeared. The aura of magical beasts was felt nearby. Many of them. If this continued, the front line would fall. Comrades were in danger. If careless, the citizens’ pioneer settlement would also be exposed.

Cunning magical beasts. They must be stopped before they can bypass. Then, what needed to be done was clear as day. Search, detect, annihilate.

The entity hadn’t forgotten. The ironclad rule that if magical beasts were gathered in a pack, a pre-emptive strike must be launched without hesitation. Thus, the entity majestically tore through the fog and charged fiercely.

The 31st Platoon, bewildered by the annihilation of the 42nd Platoon and approaching the laboratory, was momentarily startled by the sudden mechanical roar.

“Eek, what is it?! I’m being crushed! Caught in the tracks!”

“A-attack! No, retreat! Too close!”

*Crunch!*

“Emergency! Emergency! Enemy!”

The war machine, which had undemocratically trampled Violets like citizens in a square, quickly turned its body. The aura of enemies continued to be felt close by.

“What, Brown. Did you hear that? Do you see that? Why is it here?”

“It’s a tank. Must be from the Federation. A bit random, but-”

*Boom!*

“Aaaargh!”

The super-heavy tank, warped in oblivion, charged at the hunters to protect the citizens.