episode_0405

The interior of the shopping mall was once again engulfed in darkness. On every floor, hideous malice reared its head. Human-shaped shadows surged in like a receding tide. Their blurry outlines gradually sharpened, materializing into the form of a tall woman in a dark red jacket.

Violet’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. This appearance was a little different from what her comrades had described. Aside from the head, her looks were not as hideous or vicious as she had imagined.

But an enemy was an enemy. There was no hesitation.

“Aim for the limbs! Break them off and then go straight for the head!”

The accelerated rifle’s digital scope perfectly aligned with the enemy’s silhouette. Violet’s finger decisively pulled the trigger.

Accelerated bullets left the barrel with a tearing sound. Ignited at their tips, the projectiles flew towards their target, tracing an even fiercer trajectory.

The enemy’s clones mechanically turned their heads, spotting the bullets. Their relatively quick reaction flowed seamlessly into the movement of the flexible swords extending from their sleeves.

The blades flashed, attempting to cut down the bullets. They failed.

The specially crafted bullets collided with the sword blades, exploding before the magic, and the flexible swords, repeatedly impacted, snapped with a strange sound.

After taking several unparried bullets with its body, the killer swiftly changed its actions. It leaped backward. A flash of light burst from the enemy’s hand. Dozens of daggers flew out as if spewed forth. A barrage of daggers sliced through the air, even more fiercely than bullets.

“Ugh!”

Violet quickly threw herself backward. Tactical immersion signaled an emergency. The collective consciousness reflexively moved her body.

Throwing daggers swiftly flew and embedded themselves where Violet had just been. The floor where the daggers struck melted and flowed, emitting dark green poison gas.

-Thump!

Violet’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected situation. The enemy’s movements were surprisingly agile, which was nothing short of astonishing.

The network was divided between indignation and surprise.

“What?! Daphne said they were weaker than me! Was she mistaken?”

“Has that guy grown somehow?”

The Violet clones at the front pulled back. Simultaneously, a storming party armed with heavy shields and maces charged in from the flanks, making the ground rumble. Each time swords and maces clashed, the surrounding floor cracked like a spiderweb, sending fragments flying.

The flexible swords that glanced off the shields surged upwards with terrifying momentum, scraping the ceiling, causing the concrete to crack and the lights to burst forth in a brilliant shower of sparks.

Swords, gleaming with the still-wet blood of victims, sharply cut through the air. Waves of lethal blows surged from all directions within the shopping mall, pouring in like a black tide.

A squad of small girls fiercely collided with the wave of darkness.

“Concentrate magic on the front!”

The collective consciousness instantly adjusted the formation.

They channeled maximum magic into the shields arranged in a single column. As blue magic enveloped the shields, the girls charged in unison, colliding with the enemy.

-Boom!

The collision, a head-on impact as if sucked in, resulted in an earth-shaking shock. Violet flinched, retreating backward.

The ground beneath their feet cracked with a sharp sound, and fissures spread out radially. The enemy shadows were pushed back like a wave. Had they gained the upper hand?

No. The shadows, which should have been knocked back and fallen, spun two or three times in the air, regaining their balance as if dancing.

Soon, they forcefully kicked off the ground with their toes, and once again, charged forward with arrow-like sharp killing intent.

Clone 5343 was fiercely kicked by one of the clones. Despite being blocked by a shield, the impact sent it flying through the air like a rubber ball.

Spinning, Clone 5343 sharply recognized the pillar directly behind it. With a resonant thump, tactical immersion precisely adjusted the trajectory of its rotating body.

Half a rotation. It deftly kicked off the pillar with its leg, springing away and landing like a cat.

As if scoffing at that sight, the controller pushed the clones forward like a wave, attempting to give no quarter.

Sharply gleaming bullets burst and shattered several clones, but others, rising like smoke, continuously filled the gaps.

Clones poured down from the upper floors like a black waterfall. A perfect encirclement, driven by a murderous intent to finish them off in one fell swoop.

In the controller’s vision, borrowed through the countless clones’ perspectives, the enemy briefly transformed strangely.

The enemy, who had just been preparing to defend, was now sheathing its sword and bending deeply at the waist, like a runner preparing for a full sprint.

By the time the abnormality was detected, it was already too late.

-Whoosh!

The enemies advanced, leaving countless afterimages trailing behind them.

The flexible swords, which had rippled like whips towards necks and vital points, powerlessly sliced through the air.

Countless afterimages plunged like rays of light between the killer’s marionettes. The strategy of the former Arcit agent, honed through high-level training and skill, crumbled before the unreal speed.

-Slice!

Deep wounds appeared one after another on the necks and chests of the clones. The killer’s clones dispersed like smoke in an instant, vanishing. The remaining clones, seemingly bewildered, ran around in confusion. The speed was beyond imagination. As strange afterimages, born from distorted space, passed like ghosts, the shadows vanished one by one.

Every time Violet dashed, huge scars were carved into the teeming masses of shadows on the shopping mall’s floors and in its stores.

The controller desperately responded with precision. The movements of each clone became more intricate, as if a puppeteer was manipulating them with all their might.

With swifter speed, with more intricate coordination interlocking like a puzzle. As if a shredder was devouring and crushing garbage, the formation opened its black maw, attempting to swallow Violet.

-Crunch!

All efforts were futile. The enemy leisurely countered and crushed the formation, advancing as if dancing.

Even though the rogue agent was hidden in a safe place, she felt a chilling sensation, as if someone was peering into her very bones.

The enemy’s swordsmanship was far more refined. Pushing them with numbers was like throwing eggs at a rock.

Suddenly, she felt as if her opponent was also moving like her. No openings were visible. As if they were one body. Could it be?

Even amidst the murderous intent and murky, contaminated consciousness, the killer inadvertently realized.

That the opponent also possessed a unique ability, just like her. Perhaps even a far more refined ability than her own.

Dangerous.

“Take that!”

And in the blink of an eye, the legs of three or four shadows were severed, sending them tumbling. Violet used the gleaming hook at the end of her spear to impale and drag the fallen clone.

Two Violet clones firmly held its arms and torso, while another Violet immediately gripped its head mercilessly.

The young apostle’s senses detected the ends of the invisible puppet strings.

Violet smiled, looking at those strings.

The control rods of the puppeteer who manipulated the marionettes, and the hand that wielded them, and their true identity.

“Aha!”

The agent felt terror shoot like lightning down her spine at the voice in her head. A fear she had never experienced before settled over her entire body like frost.

With trembling hands, the agent hastily severed her mental connection with the clones.

It was then that several Violet clones swiftly leaped over the store’s railing and into the air.

The silhouettes of the Violet clones, descending towards the first floor of the shopping mall, cast shadows under the dim lighting.

As they fell from the sky, the Violet clones perfectly aimed their staffs at the ground.

Energy condensed at the tips of their staffs, and a fiercely surging red flash rent the darkness.

“No darkness can hide from our light! Violet Beam!”

With a powerful shout, the converging melting beam struck a specific part of the floor with a flash.

-Boom!

With a thunderous roar, a large hole appeared in the concrete floor. The melted floor material glowed red like lava. A wide-open passage leading to the basement was revealed.

Violet slipped down into the hole, a wicked smile playing on her lips. This was because the strong enemy aura they had been tracking was now definitively located.

As soon as they landed in the hole, the Violet clones uniformly turned their heads.

In the middle of the dark underground parking lot, beneath the faint red light of an emergency lamp, stood a clearer human figure, identical to the shadows.

“So you were there!”

The Violet clones stared at the killer with cold eyes.

Mechanically distorted voices echoed through the underground space, ringing out like a chorus.

The black smoke covering the killer agent’s face violently trembled. Its terrified eyes hesitated, then stepped back.

“Stop!”

As soon as Violet’s sharp cry fell, the main body frantically began to flee.

***

The shadows drained out of the building as if with a receding tide. Blurry silhouettes poured out of the shopping mall windows and emergency exits like smoke.

Sebastian, who had been quietly observing the entire scene, took a deep breath from the depths of his chest.

‘That was an incredible battle. Could it be, the Ariel Group is here…’

Rough breaths poured out hotly from behind his mask, then dispersed. There was no time for him to intervene.

The battle between the killer’s clones and the notorious terrorists was short but more intense than ever. The situation was too dangerous for him to intervene, especially in his current state without armored combat gear.

Sebastian acutely felt the necessity of armor.

-Rat-a-tat-tat!

Several clones, belatedly rushing out, fell backward with the sound of fireworks exploding. Blue flashes illuminated the darkness, and each enemy shattered into dust like glass fragments. With every continuous burst of gunfire from the Ariel agents, bodies disintegrated and limbs were torn off. The weapons they held were unlike anything he had ever seen. Their destructive power was on a different level from any weapon he had witnessed.

While Sebastian was pondering the Ariel Group’s armaments, completely dumbfounded, the combatants rapidly chased after them, violently smashing through the store’s glass windows.

It was time to choose.

To remain a bystander, or to pursue.

‘Let’s go. I need to observe the situation to the very end.’

Sebastian lowered his body, went outside, and started his bike. The engine roared like a beast.

The bike, modified to awakened standards, fiercely sped down the road. The pursuit was not difficult.

The pursuit, already continuing outside the shopping mall, was accompanied by tremendous noise and and sparks from explosions.

-Whoosh!

As Sebastian sped down the road on his bike, an intense, metal-rending noise erupted above his head. Between the streetlights and the city’s neon signs, a squadron of camouflage-patterned jet bikes fiercely pursued the clones in low-altitude flight. Blue lights flashed from their helmets.

The clones, running like spiders across rooftops, using lampposts and lights as footholds, began exploding and falling one by one from precise gunfire.

‘Were there jet bikes like that? What about the weapons?’

As he pondered when they had grown so much, a momentary bewilderment flashed through Sebastian’s mind. He had felt a slight sense of déjà vu from those combatants. He suddenly squinted, searching his memory.

‘No, more importantly… where are they heading?’

The two groups were fiercely pursuing each other along the roads and buildings. A nighttime chase, powered by superhuman leg strength and leaping ability unique to awakened beings, ignited. The sight of them sprinting and running as fast as sports cars on the street, exchanging gunfire and thrown weapons, was precarious.

He had to violently turn the handlebars several times to avoid the scattered clones.

The bike tilted to one side, scraping against the asphalt.

Suddenly, a black line appeared like a ghost on the road. Several Ariel Group combatants who were running were abruptly cut into pieces. Blood spurted like a fountain.

“Ugh!”

Sebastian quickly ducked his head. The bike wobbled, almost losing balance. It was wire. The fleeing killer seemed to have strung up invisible lethal wires everywhere, like a spiderweb.

Streetlights along the road shattered, and vehicles burst into flames and exploded, or were torn apart by sharp metal. Screams ripped through the city night.

-Vroom!

Taking advantage of the commotion, other vehicles joined the chase. Black armored vehicles appeared from both sides of the road.

Emergency lights flashed. They were probably clan strike teams, there to catch the killer.

“Damn it! I thought it was just a commotion, but isn’t that the Ariel Group?”

A clan member on the roof of a black armored vehicle shouted to his comrade. His eyes widened in fear.

“Why are those guys-Aargh!”

The jet bike squadron sharply turned their heads like birds of prey. As a thunderous roar ripped through the air, Sebastian, seeing the ominous flame of a rocket-propelled projectile, quickly swerved his bike sideways. The engine screamed as he narrowly avoided the projectile. The asphalt behind him exploded, sending fragments flying everywhere.

His eyes, as he slammed on the brakes and stopped, caught sight of several vehicles attempting to join the pursuit, either stopping or helplessly tumbling.

Precise gunfire successively blew out tires. Some vehicles, unable to overcome inertia, slid across the road, bursting into flames.

From the jet bike hovering in mid-air, the noise of a loudspeaker ripped through the stillness of the night.

“Stop! Stop! From now on, we’re taking over this pursuit! Get out of here!”

The voice echoing from inside the helmet was cold and authoritative. Clan hunters, scrambling out of their vehicles, poured out angry protests. Weapons were already clutched in their hands.

“What? Hey, you terrorist bastards! Do you know how much trouble we went through to catch that guy?”

A burly hunter stepped forward. His face was a mix of anger and frustration.

“You immoral scum! Do you think you’ll get the bounty like that?”

The Ariel agent on the jet bike scoffed.

“Then try to catch us.”

The strike team hunters glanced back at their wrecked vehicles, then took a step back, their faces indignant. In their eyes, hidden behind burning fury, was fear. This was likely because they didn’t particularly want to confront terrorists who had annihilated two large clans.

“What? You’re not leaving?”

Suddenly, one jet bike descended towards Sebastian.

Seeing Sebastian lingering behind, her voice was a mix of annoyance and curiosity.

“…I am not.”

Sebastian replied by drawing his sword from his waist without hesitation.

The blade reflected the streetlight, gleaming sharply. His bike’s engine roared, rapidly accelerating.

“I refuse.”

A voice as cold as steel, and sharp.

“What? Hey!”

-Rat-a-tat-tat!

Sparks flew from Violet’s gun barrel. Sebastian’s sword drew a swift arc, deflecting the bullets sideways. It was a cunning trick to prevent the projectiles from exploding.

With a sharp clang of metal hitting metal, sparks flew. The rapidly accelerating bike narrowly dodged the gunfire, speeding past the jet bike. The wind whipped his coat tails.

Annoyance surged in Violet’s mind. Her face twisted inside her helmet.

“Damn it! That Lestrade fellow!”

“We should’ve just knocked him out back at the mall!”

Other Violets grumbled through the network.

Sebastian’s bike raced onward, breaking through countless obstacles and gunfire. His eyes were fixed solely on the target ahead.

‘I must catch the killer!’

The roar of the engine echoed, tearing through the night sky.

***

Sebastian’s valiant pursuit lasted less than five minutes. The chase between the clones ended in an instant, accompanied by several deafening explosions and dazzling flashes of light.

-Thump! Thump!

A woman, with blue visionary blades deeply embedded in her waist and back, fell from the fifth floor of the commercial building.

Her body slammed into the ground like a skipping stone, rolling and bouncing fiercely. With the sound of concrete cracking and shattering, her body finally crashed into a streetlight, bending the pole into an S-shape before coming to a stop.

“…”

The killer struggled to lift its head with trembling hands. The black smoke covering its face violently trembled and swirled.

Thin fingers desperately tapped the ground. From those hands, a grotesque shadow that swallowed light, spread out like ink. The shadow rapidly grew from the ground, forming human figures as if bamboo shoots were sprouting. New forms with twisted limbs and distorted faces were being born.

At that sight, Violet’s eyes sparkling, and she tilted her head curiously.

“So this is its unique ability!”

She felt no need to see more. Violet lightly flicked her wrist, swinging her sword, and with the sound of a sharp blade cutting through the air, she sliced apart the shadow clones that were still forming and resisting.

The severed shadows scattered into the air like dust. The next moment, Violet accurately kicked the killer in the chest as it tried to convulse and get up. The killer fell backward again without even a scream.

Violet thought calmly.

Certainly, for others, this wouldn’t be an easy opponent. The enemy possessed considerable martial arts skill and a troublesome unique ability.

But that was all. It was definitely weaker than her.

“Alright, I’ll just read your memories first, then I’ll kill you!”

Violet’s comrades firmly held the killer’s limbs. Violet was about to bring her blue-glowing finger towards the killer’s temple. Her attempt stopped midway.

Suddenly, a bike rounded the corner and skidded to a halt in front of the Violets with a deafening engine roar.

The tires screeched on the asphalt, leaving black marks. A man dismounted from the bike, which had a crumpled frame and many scars, and took off his helmet, breathing heavily. Sweat streamed down his face.

“Wow, he actually chased us down.”

Violet admired this. She had been shooting and interfering like crazy, stopping just short of killing him, so how had he broken through all that?

Truly, even if he was disgraced, it was the skill worthy of Lestrade’s former successor.

“…Stop.”

Sebastian struggled to point his sword. His hand was trembling slightly.

Even surrounded by countless gun barrels and blades aimed at him, he slowly walked step by step, stopping close to the killer and Violet.

“Wait, I have something to say!”

Violet narrowed her eyes and replied indifferently.

“What is it?”

“…I have a question. Ariel! What will you do with that killer?”

“Oh, I’ll kill them! After a quick interrogation.”

Sebastian hastily took another step closer and said,

“Wait, I don’t care about the interrogation. But please, don’t kill them. They must be handed over alive!”

“To whom? Why?”

Violet now stared fixedly at Sebastian.

Even the thick double mask couldn’t completely hide her enigmatic expression and aura.

Sebastian realized an explanation was needed and gestured as he added,

“That individual is a killer who has murdered dozens! They deserve to face justice. So please, don’t kill them. Can’t they be handed over alive? Lestrade’s arrest team will be here soon!”

“Are you planning a trial or something?”

“Yes! Justice must be served.”

Sebastian’s voice gained strength.

“The public needs to be informed that the killer has been apprehended. Only then can this atmosphere of unease end. Don’t worry about anything else. Lestrade will definitely bring that individual to justice. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Violet silently gazed at Sebastian’s somewhat resolute face. Complex emotions flickered in her eyes.

Unit 14553 could somewhat understand the motivation behind his request.

“Ah, I see.”

“Could it be he wants to be the successor again?”

Violet replied coldly without hesitation.

“No, I don’t want to. I’ve changed my mind. I’ll just kill them now!”

-Click!

Violet decisively changed her mind and pressed the gun muzzle against the killer’s temple.

The black smoke swirling around the killer’s face dispersed around the gun muzzle, trembling uneasily.

“That person is right. You must not kill them.”

A suddenly heard voice cut through the night air and echoed. At the unfamiliar, clear female voice, the Violets present all turned their heads in unison.

The collective consciousness network surged with alarm signals.

In the blink of an eye, unfamiliar people had appeared in their vision. It was a fleeting moment.

“What?! When?! They weren’t here a moment ago?”

“Where? How?!”

An elegantly dressed woman stood among them, accompanied by warriors in black armor. The streetlight softly illuminated her red hair.

“Excuse me, Ariel Group. Could you please hand that person over to us?”

The red-haired woman, who had appeared like a ghost, lightly unfolded the fan in her hand and politely asked.

Violet was dumbfounded, and the collective consciousness pondered how to physically resolve this absurd situation.

Countless murder simulations flashed like lightning through the network.

The woman glanced at the headlights of the approaching line of vehicles on the road, and smiled lightly.

Her lips curved elegantly.

“There are quite a few people. Shall we move somewhere else?”

“What? Hey, who are you-”

A crisp snapping sound, like crystal glasses clinking, echoed clearly.

All Violet clones within 10 meters of the scene saw their vision flash white for an instant, then realized they had suddenly been transported to an unfamiliar location.

The Violet clones stood inside a desolate warehouse building. The smell of dust and rusty metal stung their noses. The night sky was visible through a broken window in the ceiling.

Sebastian was just as bewildered. He felt dizzy as he scanned his surroundings. Nevertheless, he quickly regained his composure and bravely shouted at these new intruders.

“What is this, who are you? State your identities!”

Sebastian raised his sword, maintaining a dignified posture.

“What?! What kind of magic is this? Immediately-”

However, that confidence vanished in an instant as he realized he had been moved directly in front of the woman in the blink of an eye.

“Sebastian Lestrade.”

Sebastian froze as the woman called his name.

“Excuse me, but I’d like you to forget today’s events.”

“…!”

The woman softly whispered, moving her fingers lightly. Sebastian’s body gently floated into the air, like a puppet on strings. Sebastian, who had been about to shout, paused. Unable to suddenly produce a sound, he blinked his mouth in surprise.

The woman gracefully brought her hand to his head.

A faint red light swirled around her fingertips. Sebastian’s silently screaming face briefly convulsed.

That was until a gunshot erupted right next to them.

-Bang!

Sensing a suspicious aura, Violet fired her gun towards the woman’s head. Just before the bullet could graze the woman’s head, it stopped as if hitting an invisible barrier, floating in mid-air.

The rocket-propelled projectile, as if held by an invisible hand, continued to burn its fuel in mid-air until it was completely exhausted.

“Hey, who are you?”

Violet’s voice was cold and sharp. The clones uniformly aimed their weapons, forming an encirclement.

The woman didn’t answer, simply smiling. White teeth gleamed between her red lips.

There was an awkwardness about her appearance. An aura as if she was moving a body that was hers, yet not hers.

At that familiar sight, Violet irritably asked again.

“You’re not human, are you?”

The exile, Exoria, chuckled softly and retorted.

“As much as you are.”

Violet sharply glared at the unfamiliar stranger.