episode_0158

Violettes ran, carrying the prism like a palanquin. Above them, Adela relentlessly fired arrows.

They had clearly provoked the enemies from afar, but enraged, the enemies were rushing at them with insane speed. It was fortunate their jet bikes weren’t armed.

“Ugh! They’re sniping!”

No sooner had I thought that, a sniper shot flew from a jet bike.

A Violette near the prism was struck by a fiercely flying bolt and fell sprawling.

A counterattack immediately flew in, shooting down a bike that had been lingering in the air.

“Aie, aieee!”

A shrill shriek rang out from behind the Violette at the very front of the prism escort. Ennis, who was being carried on her back, had been startled by the sniper shot.

“Hey! How fast can you set it up once we reach the plaza?”

“Ten minutes! No matter how long it takes, ten minutes is enough. I don’t fully understand the structure, but… ugh!”

This time, an electric shock flew in front of my feet. I leaped sideways, narrowly dodging the attack.

The Vision Prism’s role was not merely that of a decoy.

This artifact would be the kindling for a massive bonfire, drawing in moths. So, I must keep this prisoner alive for as long as possible.

“Hiyah! They’re coming!”

I ran, struggling to carry the prism, but the distance to the enemy quickly closed. The command center urged the other Violettes, tracking the enemy’s location on the strategic map.

“Ugh! It was a gamble after all. We should have just placed it there beforehand and activated it!”

“Don’t complain! We’ll arrive soon. Our team members are also in ambush!”

The mages were rushing. As if they had cast acceleration, their speed was faster than before.

The Violettes hidden in the alleyways shot bolts, but the enemies roughly dodged them or swatted them away with swords as they ran.

Now their faces were visible. Perhaps due to the recognition hindrance device, their appearances were blurred and fragmented, like shattered mosaics.

“Urgh!”

“Now!”

As I gave the order, a massive bolt flew like a meteor from a corner of a rooftop.

Immediately, numerous magic circles appeared like halos above the opponents’ heads, showering them with magic bolts to intercept the incoming bolt. The bolt, having lost its power, collided with a translucent barrier.

“They blocked this too?”

The jet bike squadron and the mages launched a beam attack at the location where the attack originated. Levi, startled, carried the ballista and quickly fled the sniper position.

“Aieee!”

“How nice would it be if this ended easily? No, this won’t do. Charge!”

When the sniper shot failed, the Violette squad and team members in ambush charged the pursuers. Golden magic coated the extermination squad’s bodies.

The Violettes at the forefront, clad in military exoskeletons, plunged syringes into their thighs. As the black drug flowed through their veins, an unbearable exhilaration surged through them.

“Woah! Power is surging!”

The Violettes who had injected Black Ice leaped from the rooftops and swarmed the enemies. Their eyes bloodshot, the Violettes charged the enemies at astonishing speed.

“Charge in! Rip them apart!”

The impact force, augmented by Irene’s buff, the exoskeleton’s assistance, and the drug’s power, was beyond imagination. We could temporarily dodge the barrage of projectiles flying before us and charge forward.

The magic projectiles before my eyes moved sluggishly. Magic arrows floated like balloons. Everything was sluggish.

The enemies, sensing danger, raised their staffs in response and swung their swords.

“Ughaaak!”

“Bind them! We have to hold them!”

The enemies’ combat power was considerably strong, if not as strong as the Vanguards. All of them were veterans, proficient in both ranged and close-quarters combat.

Fierce sword strikes were exchanged. Even with strength amplified by the exoskeleton and the drug, we could barely fight them equally.

“Use the Aether Emitter!”

While the Violette special attack squad temporarily restrained the enemies, Violettes holding Aether Emitters pulled their triggers.

—Whoosh!

Magic drained away, and a magic beam shot out. Three enemies wielding staff-swords in front were hit and collapsed. The surging magic itself seemed to have delivered a considerable shock.

“Now! Blade of Blazing Flame!”

Seizing that opportunity, a Violette wielding the Blade of Blazing Flame swung her sword without hesitation. Immediately after blocking the sword with a staff, powerful flames erupted, sweeping through the enemy lines.

“They’re enduring with their barriers!”

Even against the Aether Emitter and Blade of Blazing Flame attacks, the pursuit squad displayed resilience.

We fired bolts one after another, but the witch in the center activated her previous interception spell, intercepting all of our projectiles. The enemies, having regained their momentum, prepared to counterattack.

“As expected, I’m deploying team members!”

The moment they let their guard down, I tossed my team members forward as if giving them a celebratory lift.

Irene and Kalia, powerfully thrown by a Violette, quickly flew at the enemies.

It was called the Violette Launcher tactic. It allowed for higher and faster access than simply jumping in.

“Haha! Take this!”

The two girls launched by a Violette rushed at the witch and unleashed a fierce attack. No sooner had she blocked the crossing spear and sword than the witch pulled out a long lightning bolt from her staff and swung it like a whip.

“Gah! What kind of power…”

Surprisingly, the power the witch displayed was beyond imagination. Every time her lightning whip was swung, our Violettes had to leap to dodge or duck. Otherwise, they would be split in two!

Most importantly, she never gave an opening. I had repeatedly urged my team members to aim for her back beforehand, but the enemy showed no moment of carelessness. That strange device attached to her back must definitely be an artifact.

“This is driving me crazy. She’s not giving an opening! If only I could use a gun, I’d somehow manage it!”

The trajectory of a burning sword, empowered by a unique ability, repeatedly struck the witch’s back and shoulders.

Kalia’s sword ravaged her again and again. Sparks flew every time the sword and staff collided.

The opponent flinched from the impact each time, and flames clung thickly to her staff, but it didn’t inflict a decisive blow.

Even though Kalia’s attack power and speed were much superior to the Violettes’, this was the extent. If it were just us, this kind of surprise attack would have been impossible.

“Irene seems busy defending.”

“It seems like we can blockade her movements, right? Hold her down first!”

I took out another artifact I had been saving in my inventory. It was a 4-star artifact, the Chains of Will.

These chains, which the Ghoul Officer had been wrapped in, had quite impressive tensile strength and rigidity.

While Kalia and Irene held her, a Violette approached with the chains and swung them like a lasso.

The chains made a clatter as they wrapped around her left arm. The Violettes quickly pulled the chains.

“Huh? Ughaaak!”

“They’re flying!”

The opponent exerted an astonishing level of superhuman strength and swung her left arm, chains and all. As the chains unwound, the Violettes were flung far away.

“Should I ram her with my body?”

Just as I was about to recall the hang gliders returning from the small fountain plaza, Kalia suddenly cried out as if something had occurred to her.

“Chains! Now!”

As if possessed, I threw the chains to her.

The Chains of Will wrapped around Kalia’s arm with a sharp metallic sound. Just then, the witch swung her lightning whip once more.

“…Yes, this is it!”

Unfading flames flowed along the chains. The flaming chains collided with the lightning whip, creating a small shockwave. The moment the witch flinched, the flaming chains wrapped around her staff and arm.

“Got her!”

“Violette! Why didn’t you give this to me sooner? This is the first time I’ve liked something so much!”

With her left arm trapped by the chains, the witch couldn’t move. She resisted with force, but as the bright purplish flames burrowed in, she couldn’t exert the same strength as before.

She struggled, using petty magic. Irene stabbed with her spear, and I slashed with my knife, but she was surprisingly tough.

“The strength of the protective spell woven around her body is beyond imagination!”

Irene shouted. I pulled out my remaining hidden card.

“Come out! Granite!”

“Woah!”

A large boy holding an axe appeared, bursting through the wall. The witch’s bewilderment could be felt even beyond the recognition hindrance mosaic. A blunt yet powerful blow, capable of felling a mid-level monster, struck directly down.

—Boom!

“Got her!”

“Aieee!”

The witch fell sprawling on the floor, bleeding. She wasn’t dead, but the artifact strapped to her back was broken, spitting sparks. The woman got up, wobbling, with a pained expression.

“It’s done, the artifact is broken!”

Whether from the axe strike or the flaming chains, her staff also broke. The woman with crimson hair drew the sword she wore on her left side, her face twisted in a furious expression.

Wait a minute, I don’t understand how her facial expression is visible. Did her recognition hindrance device turn off due to the impact?

By the way, crimson hair. I’ve seen that face somewhere before.

“Strange, that face. I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere.”

Hearing Irene murmur, Command’s No. 3 rummaged through the hit list placed on the desk.

At the top of the academy’s hit list, I found a photo of the same face as the witch on site.

“Damn it, why is she here?”

She was Lera Beleston, the Vice President of Polaris Academy’s Student Council. I had wondered why she wasn’t usually at the academy. It seemed she had been up to mischief in a place like this.

“Good! We’re going to kill her anyway. Let’s kill her quickly here!”

“Impossible! Command sends word. Look at the map. They’re swarming in!”

Bitterly, the map showed enemies swarming in.

“Guys! Let’s retreat!”

Unfortunately, the jet bike squadron hovering above launched an attack and descended. The Vanguards were also rushing in. I immediately deployed a smoke grenade and retreated with my team members.

It was a shame I couldn’t kill her immediately, but the surprise attack was successful. Now I could use guns and bombs.

The Violette Battalion regained control of the battlefield.

“Battalion Command transmits! First Artillery, prepare for combat! First Air Wing, all units sortie!”

Fifteen hang glider units flew up above the dungeon’s dark ceiling.

**

“They’re swarming in! When will it end?”

At the time the assault team succeeded in destroying the combustion suppression artifact, a woman was struggling, clutching her head, over the Vision Prism placed in the middle of the Lion’s Fountain Plaza. Right beside her was an old lion statue with its mouth wide open.

The reason I currently had the prisoner activate the prism was one: to lure in monsters and cultists.

“Let’s think back to the Pastera Snowfield. When the Aether Amplifier was activated, a horde of monsters swarmed.”

Monsters are attracted to powerful magic fluctuations. Thinking that such a powerful artifact might have a similar effect, I asked Ennis, and received a positive answer.

“It’ll be over soon. Please wait a little longer! I don’t fully understand this artifact’s system or the magic’s deployment chart myself.”

“If not you, then who understands it?”

When I questioned her, Ennis opened her mouth while her hands worked incessantly.

“…Our team leader-nim?”

“Are you talking about the guy whose neck I cut?”

She nodded.

“The team leader-nim handled the entire process, and I and the other team members each handled only auxiliary parts. I was only in charge of circuit adjustment at the intermediate stage.”

Damn, I thought, should I have kept the team leader alive? If so, it might have ended faster.

“Ah, so you were just a mid-level manager. What you said earlier about being able to do it, that wasn’t a lie, right?”

“No! I can do it. What reason would I have to lie?”

She mumbled, fiddling with the prism with vacant eyes.

“Anyway, it’s something I have to do. After all, I participated in it too. I have to finish it…”

Urgent news arrived from command.

Looking at the strategic map, red dots were advancing from the right along a narrow passage.

Perhaps because all their vehicles were destroyed, except for the jet bike squadron, all of them were running on two legs. Small Violette suicide squads hidden in every building window were trying to slow their advance, but the enemies chose to approach by blowing away entire floors of buildings.

The sound of explosions drew closer.

“Hey! They’re coming! Hurry!”

“Only the final stage remains!”

With a flash, lightning struck near the artifact.

“What’s so fast!”

“You thieving bastards. I’ll send you to hell!”

A Vanguard holding a staff rushed in at an incredible speed. He swung his staff in the air, then unleashed a torrent of magic projectiles.

“Urgh! Get down!”

“Aieee!”

The area near the Lion’s Fountain became an inferno. The Violettes returned fire, buying time. Subsequently, a barrage of bolts from a group of hunters flew in.

“Prisoner! Finish it quickly, at this rate… huh? Your arm!”

“Ah, my, my arm. Haha…”

I, who was hurrying the prisoner, froze for a moment. She was continuing the arduous work with her left arm severed.

“It’s, it’s done. Now if I just inject the magic, it’s all fi, finished!”

Before she finished speaking, I immediately injected the magic. Soon, the Vision Prism began to glow, emitting colorful lights. Perhaps the enemies saw it too, as even more intense gunfire poured in.

Immediately after finishing the work, another explosion occurred.

“Ugh…!”

“Aieee! Let’s escape!”

I dragged the prisoner and some body parts, running to a building near the plaza. The Violettes who had been holding them back had all died long ago.

“Hey! This is enough. Now hurry and start!”

One minute later, all Magnaforce troops entered the plaza.

Near the artifact that had lost its light, only Violette No. 10 remained, incapacitated.

A person who appeared to be a Vanguard approached and asked.

“…Where is Adela Cascadia? What trick did you pull with the artifact?”

“You’ll know when you see it, right? Can’t you hear that sound?”

I pointed to the road above the plaza. It was in the direction of the outpost.

As the roars of the monsters grew closer, they glared at me with hateful eyes.

“I don’t know what trick you pulled with the prism, but if your plan is to lure in cultists and monsters, you’d better wake up from that dream. We just need to retrieve this and go back.”

No. 10 chuckled.

“Who says we’ll let you go? Guys, start! Broken Arrow!”

“…!”

At that moment, improvised explosive devices planted throughout the plaza exploded simultaneously.

The immense tremor, shaking even the dungeon’s ceiling, caused everything to writhe.

“Aieee!”

But the attack wasn’t over.

“First Artillery! Fire!”

While the hunters, covered in debris, bled and screamed, orange-flamed flying objects flew in from all directions.

The Magnaforce recoiled in terror and put up barriers. One of them pointed to the sky and shouted.

“It’s a rocket!”

Correct answer: Violette-made special rocket. It’s the V-1!

At a location somewhat far from the plaza, Violettes belonging to the First Artillery installed simple but sturdy launchers. After adjusting the angles as trained on the deserted island, the Violettes took out rocket parts one by one from their inventories. As they assembled the bodies and warheads, large, thick rockets the size of a person were completed. Their single-shot power was weaker than self-destruct attacks, but they could provide long-range fire support. If they poured enough of them, the enemies wouldn’t be able to handle it. They would overwhelm any interception system with sheer numbers.

While the artillery unit launched rockets, hastily launched powered hang glider units took to the air. With the internal combustion engines working again, a full complement of the air wing could be launched.

Their missions were artillery guidance, enemy tracking, ground force support, and the interception of jet bikes!

“Shoot them down!”

The First Air Wing began its first aerial combat since its formation. Under machine gun fire plunging from above, jet bikes spewed smoke and one by one crashed to the ground.

“Good, now we block the escape routes!”

While the bombardment rained down, the long-awaited group of cultists appeared from above the enemies. A cultist leader riding a Nocterror roared at the top of his lungs.

“So you were here! You thieves! I don’t know who you are, but I’ll show you hell!”

The monster horde went wild and rushed towards the Vision Prism. A chaotic melee erupted in an instant.

Perhaps feeling bewildered, some of their forces tried to retreat the way they came. But I couldn’t let that happen.

“Da-damn it! I clearly killed them all!”

One of them pointed at our side and shouted.

Amidst the fluttering flag of the Last Regiment, our main forces, which had been prepared in the alleyways, on rooftops, and on the main road to the right of the plaza, revealed themselves.

From every window, Violettes aimed their gun muzzles outwards. Several enemy soldiers, noticing the sheer pressure of their numbers, couldn’t hide their astonishment.

A Vanguard agent, sensing danger, hastily led his subordinates and rushed towards us.

“Charge!”

He seemed fearless, drawing a huge magic blade from his staff and charging. But we also had a hidden card.

“Go, Ruzilin’s Iron Fist!”

The Violettes’ friend, Ruzilin’s Iron Fist, charged the enemy.

The target was the Vanguard right in front! That staff-wielding guy was the one who had hit us when we were crawling down from the side and called us bugs.

“That despicable bastard!”

By the time he grasped the situation, it was too late. The Violettes rushed him and held him like sticky glue.

“We’ve tied him!”

“Crush him quickly!!”

Before he could retreat, the tank rushed in at high speed. He swung his magic blade, but surprisingly, the light tank miraculously withstood his attack.

“Hang in there! Ruzilin’s Iron Fist!”

Was it because of our cheers? Even though its armor was dented and its cannon barrel severed, the tank advanced forward. The protective spells embedded in its armor also faithfully performed their function.

“Ughaaak!”

Immediately, the massive tank’s tracks crushed both the Violette and him together.

“Woah! He’s resisting!”

He was incredibly tough. Even after being crushed by the tank, he didn’t flatten but thrashed wildly.

—You damned bug! Do you think I’ll die to a toy like this?

The mechanically altered voice coming from behind his mask sent chills down my spine.

Indeed, abilities befitting Magnaforce’s elite, the Chairman’s subordinate! If left alone, he would escape from under the tank and counterattack.

But I wouldn’t let that happen.

We are girls who know combined arms tactics. A tank is always escorted by infantry.

The escort Violettes attacked the guy trapped under the tracks.

“He’s trying to lift the tank!”

“Stab his head! Hit his arm!”

Taking advantage of his struggles, the Violette squad clung to him and stabbed him repeatedly. His barrier, armor, and Aether defense were neutralized one by one.

“Die!”

With a crack—the moment the last Aether defense shattered, the idling tracks finally moved forward, crushing him.

—Ugh, ughaaak!

The struggling guy was crushed flat under the tracks, armor and all.

“Finally got him!”

“We defeated him! The Vanguard!”

This monster, who had massacred many of our Violettes, was finally defeated.

I realized something. They weren’t invincible machines, but living beings made of flesh and blood, just like us.

However, it was not a situation to revel in victory. There were at least five more Vanguards. The plaza was still full of enemies.

Command issued orders.

“Battalion Command transmits. All forces! Attack!”

Above the chaotic melee in the middle of the plaza, a squadron of hang gliders flew up.

The artillery continuously launched rockets. The Violettes aimed their rifles and pulled their triggers.

A thousand-strong Violette battalion began its offensive.