episode_0184

This is a nightmare.

Seijis wanted to close his eyes if he could. The scene unfolding before him was too similar to the landscape in his memories.

A catastrophic scene, which he should have only seen five years later, was unfolding in the Inspection Bureau’s comprehensive situation room.

“Terrorist activity is being detected throughout the entire Western District. The current situation is—”

“We’ve received contact from Federal Command!”

The elderly Director and his staff ceaselessly gathered information.

Data, pouring in like waves, flowed towards the monitor in the center of the comprehensive situation room.

The map of the Western District was stained with red spots, reminiscent of a measles patient’s skin. These were the locations where terrorist activities had been witnessed.

“What’s the situation with the academies in the Western District?”

“…Polaris Comprehensive Academy has been completely burned down. We are currently trying to confirm the students’ status, but access to the site is difficult.”

At that moment, an employee brought new news.

“A terrorist organization has released a statement. One broadcasting station has been occupied, and some of it is being streamed online.”

“Check it!”

As the Director gave the order, a news screen appeared on one of the displayed monitors. A soldier in a black mask revealed himself.

—We are the Ariel Group.

Upon hearing those words, the Scholarship Officer felt the puzzles in his mind click into place one by one.

The information his sister provided. A mysterious girl living with Irene on the outskirts of the Central District.

She moved around disguised in wigs or masks, but there was something familiar about her.

‘Even Miss Kalia and Miss Daphne were there. I wondered why I was encountering people I was supposed to meet years later.’

The unidentified armed mercenary group, the Ariel Group, that intervened in the Central District’s 12th Street incident.

‘According to my memory, Orion Solstice has been in a coma for several years. I never heard that he left such a bodyguard unit for his daughter.’

As the knowledge he possessed transcended time, encountering the nightmarish future landscape in the present, it triggered a mental chemical reaction, leading him to a chilling conclusion.

“No, it can’t be. That’s impossible… What on earth is this?”

Sophieel, who had been watching the screen with her arms crossed, approached upon seeing her brother’s startled expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“That person is the one. The girl my sister told you about… remember? That kid… is the Infinite Witch. It has to be!”

“That lunatic? What are you suddenly talking about? You said yourself that she would start her activities years later!”

“The situation is similar to then. Simultaneous terror attacks happening across the entire region. It’s definitely her method. I don’t know the reason, but it’s highly likely to be Violet’s doing.”

The Scholarship Officer’s face hardened. Sophieel, sensing her twin brother’s agitation, quickly spoke to him.

“Calm down. It might not be the person you knew. Perhaps your actions have changed the future. And that Infinite… Witch was a crazy murderer, wasn’t she?”

She pointed to the masked terrorist giving a speech on the screen.

“But that person, don’t they seem a little different from what you described? From their actions alone, they look like a true believer. Let’s first confirm their objective. It seems there’s been almost no civilian casualties.”

At Sophieel’s words, the Scholarship Officer barely managed to maintain his composure. The terrorist on the monitor switched the screen, declaring they would show evidence.

“…This is.”

As the scene changed, Seijis’s expression wavered slightly.

***

After the assassinations and sabotage operations were smoothly completed, Operation Witch’s Hammer was proceeding to its final stage.

One was the hunting of stragglers.

Some Violets withdrew after the battle, but others ambushed key strongholds, crushing anyone who came to provide support.

“They’ve arrived! Secure the wounded and clear the site… Aaaargh!”

“Hehe! Capture the prisoners and kill anyone who resists!”

The enemies, caught off guard by the Violets’ ambushes and sniper and mortar attacks, panicked and fled.

Thanks to us destroying helicopters and vehicles on sight beforehand, there were almost no additional reinforcements coming.

In fact, the forces meant to send reinforcements had already fled somewhere!

“There it is! It’s Magnavis! Get it!”

Rat-tat-tat-boom! Boom!

A truck loudly sped down the middle of the road.

Seeing an armored vehicle with the Magnavis symbol rushing, they gave chase.

The armored vehicle resisted with its remote-controlled machine gun, but its resistance was futile.

“There! Missile launch!”

Boom!

As a Violet aimed at the enemy and pressed the button, a wire-guided missile soared over the road. The armored vehicle, struck by the missile, instantly turned into a fiery inferno.

“Stragglers eliminated!”

The Violets, having completed the facility destruction, moved around attacking reinforcements.

There were minor issues, such as civilians being startled and diving for cover or fleeing, but since our Violet network accurately identified enemies, there were no major problems.

“Still, be careful. How many times has someone tried to pry open a door with a knife, only to get shot and fall?”

“If we don’t do it this way, we might shoot the wrong person.”

While minor skirmishes continued in various parts of the region, the Regimental Command’s attention turned elsewhere.

It was a massive, multi-layered facility, with a giant donut-shaped dome covering a research complex.

“Project facility, engaging! Engaging!”

“That Director, he’s incredibly strong! Aaaargh! Vanguards here too!”

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

Here, more than three companies of troops were gathered, causing havoc.

Fortunately, the Director and his subordinates showed no signs of moving elsewhere, being busy trying to wipe us out.

“Intruders are fleeing! Pursue them!”

“Screeeech! My body is tearing apart!”

The problem was that it was difficult to inflict even a scratch on them. Even elite troops could overwhelm one or two of them, but here there were countless such individuals.

“Are they the Director’s bodyguards?”

“It might be an important facility!”

The result was disastrous. One company evaporated in just 10 minutes of combat. The Violets, sensing danger, scattered throughout the facility, causing chaos.

“Aargh! Terrorists! Run!”

“The operation is almost over! Just hold on a little longer!”

“Bombs?”

“We used them all when we blew up the academy! Just sprinkle some oil.”

While the Violets were causing havoc, a large research lab located in a quiet part of the Western District.

“Alright, it’s ready. Should I start recording now?”

“Yes! Instructor-nim. Just press that button.”

At my words, Instructor Frederick held the camera for recording in an awkward pose.

After quickly subduing the research lab, we decided to film their atrocities.

Just then, the Instructor-nim asked if there was anything he could help with, so I asked him to hold the camera.

“By the way, where did you get all these weapons… I thought you were just a naive kid…”

“I’ll explain the details when we get home!”

That wasn’t the only camera we had prepared. We had webcams set up in every location where filming was needed.

Each webcam was connected to an online streaming site and a public broadcasting station’s control room.

A Violet at Regimental Command pointed at the screen, exclaiming in admiration.

“Look here! The chat is scrolling incredibly fast!”

Millions were already watching Violet’s broadcast online. It hadn’t been blocked yet.

⌞This isn’t a concept, right? A real-life terrorist stream?

⌞Attention seeker, tsk tsk. What revolution?

⌞I knew those clan bastards would do this.

⌞Is it fake?

⌞If you’re so confident, take off your mask first.

The chat window was still full of skepticism and doubt. But they would change their minds once they saw our evidence.

The Violet at the broadcasting station raised one arm as a signal.

“Alright, start the connection now!”

—From now on, we will show you the evidence of the atrocities committed by the trash of the Magnavis Clan. We recommend that those with weak stomachs avoid watching.

The broadcast screen switched from the studio to Magnavis’s secret research lab.

The once clean interior of the lab was now a mess.

As the camera panned, scientists appeared, kneeling before a white wall stained with bullet marks, under the muzzles of the Violets’ guns.

—Viewers might be wondering. Why would this terrorist torment those intelligent, good people?

The scene switched. The victims, tightly bound in hospital beds, were visible. The Violets freed the people from their restraints.

—The reason is simple. These clan wastes were deceiving and kidnapping innocent people to conduct human experiments! In numerous disguised facilities, including this very location!

One by one, new scenes appeared on screen. As the live footage from the research lab appeared on the monitors, the faces of the broadcasting station staff twisted.

The corpses of people dissected and abandoned, patients dragged in by human trafficking organizations.

People screaming as strange drugs were injected into them in real-time.

—As if this wasn’t enough, they also built a large-scale facility beneath Polaris Academy. The objective is simple: a massive mind-control experiment on academy students!

Archival footage filmed before the explosion appeared. Particle accelerators, interviews with kidnapped groups of researchers.

—Furthermore, as if even this wasn’t enough, they actually murdered academy students. During the Entrance Ceremony welcome party and the Freshman Welcome party. And for a long time that we don’t know about. This is the student council president’s testimony.

Footage of Kroshel blabbering before dying was broadcast.

—Actually, I chose the welcome party because I personally wanted to weed them out, but fundamentally, it was part of an observational experiment… Those who died were ultimately used for something important, so they should actually be grateful.

Perhaps finding the scene unbelievable, the anchor next to her asked.

“Is that real?”

“Yes!”

Violet 891 dragged a middle-aged researcher forward. As the camera focused, the frightened, bruised face of this wicked person became clearly visible.

“Now, clearly state what you were doing here!”

“Ugh… we were experimenting with the subjects’ magic adaptability and brain reactions…!”

“So, did those people volunteer? Or not?”

“Th-that! Yes. We deceived them! We lied! We gathered patients by falsely claiming it was a bioavailability experiment! We even bought refugees from outside the city! From gangsters!”

I struck him.

—Everyone heard that, right? These bastards tormented the powerless and innocent, just like lab rats!

The Violets bound the researchers and herded them into a room. I intended to hand these wicked individuals over to the Inspection Bureau.

While we were filming and broadcasting the lab’s interior live, Instructor-nim followed with a somewhat blank expression. Ever since the clones had turned the lab upside down, Instructor Frederick’s expression had remained like that.

“Horrible… Our students aren’t here, are they?”

“No, they aren’t. I checked! And your voice is too loud. Shhh!”

—This is not a fabrication! This is a real-time situation. So, Inspection Bureau, come quickly. The addresses of the secret research labs have been revealed here. Send rescue teams quickly!

The Violet at the broadcasting station yelled, excitedly waving her fist.

Meanwhile, the camera moved towards the center of the research lab. There was a place here that was difficult for even my abilities to pass through.

An ultra-high-strength alloy door, a complex combination of barriers and engineering technology, awaited us.

“This seems to be their secure area!”

I didn’t know what it was, but it was highly likely to be an important place. I dragged one of the researchers and shoved his face into the security authentication device. As the iris scan completed, the door slowly opened.

—This is their secure area.

My voice trembled with anticipation.

—Viewers, let’s take a look at what else Magnavis has been doing.

We entered. Instructor-nim followed behind the Violets, silently holding the camera steady. There was no resistance.

It looked like a much cleaner and tidier place. All around, there were neat mechanical devices of unknown purpose. But why? I felt an ominous premonition.

While the researchers hiding within the secure area were being dragged out, the Violet at the broadcasting station continued her declaration.

—Esteemed citizens of Lustrum, and millions of viewers. What you are about to witness is…

My voice caught in my throat.

The moment I opened the unknown room and stepped inside, I vividly felt what it was like for blood to freeze.

Th-this. What is this?

**

What unfolded before Violet was a horrific sight created by the combination of refined ether engineering and science.

The unfiltered, vivid scene was transmitted through the camera, via radio waves, and then through broadcasting stations and streaming sites, reaching tens of millions of witnesses without censorship.

First, on one side, countless giant test tubes were lined up.

Extracted brains floated within them. Each brain had neural networks and eyeballs meticulously extracted from an entire body attached to it.

The eyeballs in the tanks constantly rolled, protesting their survival.

On the other side, people with their brains extracted, or with parts of monster bodies combined with their own, lay on operating tables.

Several of them still twitched.

However, what truly shocked Violet was another sight.

In one corner of the lab, dozens of small, fragile bodies lay lined up, bound to operating tables.

They were children who looked no older than 10.

Parts of the children’s young skulls were brutally opened.

Wires and electrodes, embedded in the exposed brains, protruded like snakes. The electrodes were connected to a central machine.

Incomprehensible graphs and signals constantly flickered on the surrounding monitors.

“Oh my God…”

The camera trembled slightly. Frederick’s scarred face, which had maintained composure even amidst the grim scene, contorted with anguish.

The children were in pain, but they were still breathing.

The world saw it too.

“These crazy bastards…”

Kalia involuntarily cursed. Daphne, recalling Violet’s story, bit back a scream and covered her mouth.

While a shocked Levi vomited onto the floor, Lucian muttered.

“Then… you’re saying that what Violet suffered was something similar to that…”

As viewers watching the broadcast recoiled in horror, and the chat that had been flooding the stream momentarily froze, the Scholarship Officer in the comprehensive situation room gritted his teeth.

While the thoughts of people worldwide watching the horrific scene paused, Violet’s gaze stopped on one girl.

The girl, with striking short-cropped blonde hair, had wide-open eyes filled with a terrible mixture of pain and empty confusion.

“That’s me, isn’t it?”

Violet shook her head.

It was merely a girl who resembled her in eye and hair color. Besides having yellow hair and red eyes, there was nothing else similar.

But why did she feel a resemblance?

The girl’s gaze turned to Violet. The young girl with blonde hair and red eyes whispered.

“O-oh, Mama…”

The young girl whispered weakly. A single tear traced a path down her soft cheek.

Violet felt dizzy.

Suddenly, Violet realized that she had unconsciously reached out a hand to the girl.

The young girl’s frail, tiny hand weakly clasped Violet’s gloved one.

“Mama… it hurts… ah…”

Another murmur followed. Violet felt the strength drain from the girl’s hand gripping hers and held on, trembling.

Heat spread through her body, and dizziness engulfed her.

Opened skulls, wires, bloody drills and saws. A nightmare.

Something pierced her crown. What was it? A cold, ruthless sensation rummaging and digging above her eyes.

It rotated furiously, touching her skin. Opening. Cutting. Losing herself. Piercing.

Nearby Violets clutched their heads.

“Ah, ugh… it hurts…”

“N-no. Aah… I hate it…”

Before the shock could spread to all the Violets, Frederick’s rough hand gripped her shoulder, abruptly pulling her back to the present.

“Snap out of it, Violet!”

After putting down the camera, the Instructor whispered.

“I don’t know what you went through. But look. There’s no time for this here. Those children, they’re still alive. Do you see them breathing? Those kids, we can save them! The world is watching. Open your eyes!”

Violet, having regained her senses, took a few breaths. As the shock subsided, fury surged within her.

**

While the Violets dragged the researchers over and gave emergency aid to the children, the research lab’s chief director was pulled in front of the camera.

As the camera focused, a Violet from the research lab growled roughly.

“Hey, you waste of oxygen! See this?”

“Aargh!”

Violet raised her rifle butt and mercilessly beat the lab director.

“You Magnavis bastard! Lunatic! Piece of trash!”

The lab director, writhing in pain, cried out in despair.

“…Aargh! Damn it! What’s the problem with that?! They’re orphans anyway!”

“What…?”

When Violet, whose comprehension had stopped, ceased her beating, the tormented lab director revealed his arrogance with a desperate outburst.

“They’re just kids without homes or parents anyway, aren’t they? What’s the problem with using them? And, do you think we’re the only ones doing these experiments? Everyone does this! There isn’t a single one of the four great clans that hasn’t done illegal experiments, so why are you only picking on me? There isn’t a single major corporation that doesn’t exploit people!”

Upon hearing those words, Violet said.

“I see.”

Violet turned towards the lens and took a deep breath.

Another Violet was holding the camera instead of the Instructor.

There had definitely been a prepared script, but now she was sick of it all.

The girl suddenly shouted.

—You all saw it clearly, didn’t you? Those clan bastards aren’t reflecting on their wrongdoings; they’re just making excuses!!

—Look at them! They’re children! It hurts! Don’t you know it hurts? It hurts when you’re hit! Have you ever had your head drilled through? Or received painful injections? Have you ever been confined and forced to survive on horrible baby food? Do you know how much we hate being tormented by researchers all day long, just watching them? You pieces of trash!

While viewers felt bewildered by the terrorist’s sudden outburst of emotion, Violet’s fury continued.

—You torment children! Beat them! Put collars on their necks and shock them! Is that fun? Do you enjoy tormenting people? This is what you’ve done!

Violet, having lost her composure, declared passionately.

—By now, you must understand why I’ve done all this. Look closely! See what Magnavis has done, and what end they have met!

Violet’s friends at the Cascadian villa gaped.

“Violet…”

Irene murmured her friend’s name, her heart heavy with complex emotions.

—This is why our Ariel Group started a revolution. It is to eradicate the trash who experiment on children from this academy city!

—So listen to me carefully, you three great clans! Restraid, Arshite! Luminexa! If you do such things, we will come for you that very day!

Violet poured out the words she had held inside like a waterfall. She no longer cared if the world listened or not.

—And you trashy corporations. If we catch you, we won’t let you off easy. Especially bastards like Raphlaxia! You can’t escape the Ariel Group! You hypocritical Federal dimwits! You’re all part of the same gang in the end!

Rage, like magma, surged within Violet. The image of the little girl, holding her hand, still hadn’t faded from her eyes.

—Listen to me carefully. Remember the mushroom cloud that bloomed over Polaris Academy! Don’t forget this moment! If there’s anyone else who drills into a child’s head, I won’t let them off easy! Whoever it is, I will erase them completely from the map of this academy city! I will make it happen!

Violet, raging like fire, raised her gun and aimed it at the lab director.

—Look closely once more! I will make you like this!!

With a short scream, a thunderous gunshot echoed. Blood splattered on the lens.

Violet, her head cooled, remained silent for a moment, watching the camera.

—…All clans, the Federation, remember this. If, even after Magnavis, there are still those who torment the innocent and weak, our Ariel Group will come for you. Our revolution continues.

The broadcast connected to the lab ended. The world, sitting before their screens, fell silent for a moment.

As the comprehensive situation room grew quiet, the Scholarship Officer thought.

‘…Who on earth are you?’