episode_0211

Beyond the wasteland, demon beasts clad in thick carapaces appeared one by one. Red eyes gleamed from all directions, accompanied by growls. What appeared before the girls in black combat suits were Kamadons, insectoid demon beasts covered in thick armor. At first glance, they resembled praying mantises, but their carapaces were much thicker, and they had additional auxiliary forelegs next to their scythe-shaped ones.

-Roar!

Glaring at the intruders who had invaded their habitat, the demon beasts bared their teeth and charged. Ordinary people would have screamed and fled, and even inexperienced hunters would have been overwhelmed by their might.

The girls were different.

[Enemy!]

[Prepare for combat!]

The Violets were, in fact, thrilled. The armed girls advanced, filled with excitement and fury, calmly approaching the enemy.

“Hyaaaah!”

With a shout erupting from small mouths, dozens of Violets appeared one by one. Girls formed a line with shields, swords, and spears, and advanced. The Kamadon horde raised their auxiliary forelegs, which were tipped with spines.

-Whizz! Whizz-whizz!

A volley of shots poured down. Their speed was slow enough to be seen with the naked eye, but they were imbued with magic, possessing enough power to penetrate even armored plates. Sophieel felt a hand pull her back.

“We’ll protect you!”

“I’m fine…”

The Violets hid Sophieel behind their shield wall. Despite the pouring gunfire, the formation remained unyielding and advanced at a quick pace.

[Advance! Advance!]

At the front of the formation, a standard-bearer Violet enthusiastically waved a flag. It was no ordinary flag. Its true identity was an artifact, the final regimental flag obtained after defeating ghoul soldiers. Each time the flag unfurled, magic dispersed like waves, strengthening the Violets.

“What is that?”

“It’s an artifact!”

At the candid explanation from the Violet standing next to her, Sophieel nodded as if she understood.

‘She treats herself like an object. Well, at least being a ‘radio’ is intact. This child…’

She realized what the vest the Violet had hastily hidden earlier was. It was a bomb vest. A truly wicked nature was hidden within this cute girl.

‘Survivors from the Western District serial terror attacks testified to this, didn’t they? That vehicles laden with bombs and unknown aerial objects continuously struck key strongholds.’

Watching the Violet clinging tightly to her side, she felt an unexplainable emotion. The clone who introduced herself as ‘Radio Violet’ was focused solely on her, regardless of the battle. While she pondered the Violet’s self-objectification, the battle intensified. Soon, while the vanguard engaged the demon beasts in close combat, Violets armed with projectile weapons rushed forward from the flanks.

[Fire!]

When their carapaces deflected the bullets, the Violets took up their crossbows. Beams of light poured down, engulfing the demon beasts. As their formation broke, the demon beasts screamed and fled.

[Kill them! Kill them!]

A breathless hunt began. Spearheads pierced flesh, and sword tips tore through organs. Rough breathing and monstrous roars, flesh ripped to shreds, and blood pouring endlessly.

-Rat-a-tat-tat!

Machine guns and rocket launchers deployed on the flanks spat fire. The barrage of heavy weapons shattered the Kamadons’ escape.

[Push forward!]

[Kill them!]

The brutal scene of slaughter soon stained the wasteland with greenish-yellow blood.

Sophieel, observing the course of the battle from the side, thought.

‘This isn’t the level of movement a regular student could achieve. If they used their numbers to ambush, even elite hunters would be in danger.’

Cruel yet possessing a definite pattern and rhythm in their movements. While there were many rough and clumsy parts, experience compensated for them. She meticulously analyzed every moment of the Violets’ fierce assault. Although made more complex through countless experiences and training, the Violets’ tactics hadn’t changed much since their time in the research lab and their first entry into a dungeon: storming the enemy based on cooperation.

‘Amazing. Such tactical movements at such a young age?’

Soon, the first battle concluded.

“Finished!”

The Violet who had cut the neck of the last demon beast shouted with a smile. Her appearance, covered in greenish-yellow blood, was quite messy.

“Yay!”

Still buzzing with excitement, the Violets picked up the demon beast’s head and played soccer with it for a moment.

“That’s incredible.”

Sophieel exclaimed, unable to hide her furrowed brows. Radio Violet responded with an innocent laugh.

“Yes, we’re invincible!”

Smiling brightly, the Violets continued to advance into the heart of the wasteland. Their synchronized steps were regular and flawless.

‘Did they have military drills? No. It must be the influence of the hive mind.’

A single person and a group marched across the wasteland. Sometimes they exchanged words, sometimes only silence flowed between them, as they gradually entered deeper into the dungeon. Unfortunately, the demon beasts that charged into their path were utterly crushed, like insects hunted by a swarm of army ants.

Had they walked for a long time like that?

[Rest!]

The leading Violet shouted over the network, and Radio Violet relayed it.

“It’s break time!”

Sophieel also nodded.

“Yes, let’s rest here for a bit.”

The two of them settled down at the bottom of the stairs. Sophieel quenched her thirst with a water bottle and posed a question.

“Where did you learn to shoot and operate heavy weapons?”

Violet replied.

“We practiced by reading the manuals!”

“Practice? I don’t think there’s a shooting range that would let you use such weapons.”

“We practice shooting outside the Academy City. There are lots of uninhabited islands! Oh, right. This is a secret, but…”

Sophieel responded with a smile while thinking.

‘Outside uninhabited islands?’

Suddenly, a chilling thought occurred to her. How could they stop the Violets from scattering across the world?

‘That’s right. There’s no reason for the Violets to stay only within the Academy City.’

What if the Violets became enemies? With overwhelming force, they might be able to eliminate all the Violets in front of them. But completely eradicating them would be impossible. What if they scattered across the entire continent?

‘Why didn’t I think of that sooner?’

Goosebumps rose on her skin. While she was having ominous thoughts, Radio Violet simply watched, not understanding.

[What should I do? She must be uncomfortable about the illegal weapons.]

Fortunately, Sophieel said nothing further. The two continued to rest.

**

Somehow, the break lasted quite long. That was because they had gotten hungry.

“Would you like combat rations or air-dropped food?”

“Just give me whatever’s less troublesome for you.”

“Then I’ll go with combat rations!”

Dozens of Violets each pulled food from their inventories. The combat rations they were about to eat were a canned set cooked with solid fuel.

“We’ll eat well!”

They picked up the chili chicken dish with forks and ate. While they were deep in their meal, Sophieel asked.

“By the way, Violet. Why are you leaving the Kamadon corpses? Didn’t you say you came here to work?”

“Ah, our mission this time isn’t hunting or gathering!”

It just occurred to me that I hadn’t properly explained our mission to Sophieel. An explanation is needed.

“It’s nothing special, just a request! We heard there’s an outpost in the deeper parts of the dungeon we’re heading to. They reportedly left a lot of cargo there, so we just need to retrieve it.”

It was a request obtained through a certain connection. Once the vanguard cleared the path, the rear guard would drive a car to load everything onto a truck.

“I see. You Violets are working hard.”

Sophieel smiled and patted their backs. The thought of being acknowledged by a future beautiful female scholarship officer made her feel good.

“It’s fine. This is our job…”

-Rumble!

The ground vibrated. The Violets, feeling uneasy, put down their food and looked around. Sophieel’s expression, which had been smiling just moments before, turned cold.

“Be careful.”

The next moment, goosebumps spread down her spine. A colossal demon beast was charging towards them.

“Kyyyaaaah!”

What appeared before them was a monster far larger than the Kamadons they had just faced. It was a creature of a different dimension from lesser demon beasts, exuding a strong scent of danger.

[Eek! It looks strong!]

[What is that? I’ve never seen it before!]

It wasn’t just its size. It radiated terrifying magical power and possessed a powerful carapace. Rushing in carelessly would surely lead to trouble. Even Sophieel’s brows were furrowed, showing signs of tension. Blue sword energy gathered on her sword.

“Noooo! Help me!”

“What are you guys doing?! Get out of the way! Get away quickly! Hurry!”

In front of the demon beast, a car was being chased. They were hunters. Suddenly, shouting, it charged towards them. A suffocating killing intent swept through their entire bodies.

“Violet, stand back. I’ll take…”

“Kyaaah! It’s coming! Sophieel, run!”

“Chaaaaarge!”

We screamed and charged at it.

“Grrrroowl!”

A demon beast the size of a house charged forward. But I wasn’t fazed. Its large size made it look easy to catch. The Violets rushed in like a torrent. A total of 120, a company-sized force!

[Heavy Weapons Team, open fire!]

-Boom! Crash!

The prepared Violet heavy weapons team unleashed immense firepower. From anti-tank missiles to makeshift rockets, machine guns, and recoilless rifles!

-Tat-tat-tat!

Electromagnetic rifles also spat fire. The creature vanished into smoke in an instant.

[We got it!]

Just as they rejoiced, the demon beast reappeared unharmed from within the smoke. We poured another volley of fire into it.

[What?! It deflected it!]

Horrifyingly, all the bullets fired at the demon beast ricocheted in strange directions.

“Shooting is meaningless. That demon beast’s body is surrounded by a high-speed motion dampening field.”

Sophieel said, pointing at the demon beast. Her words were correct. A peculiar force field surrounded the demon beast’s body.

“No way!”

While the heavy weapons team Violets countered with crossbows, the rest attempted close combat. All 120 Violet troops charged, but the creature swung its arm. In an instant, we were sent flying through the air.

[I’m flying!]

[The world is spinning!]

The Violets crashed to the ground.

“Violet, are you going to be okay? Should I help?”

“Huh? Not yet. I think we can catch it if we stick to it for another hour…”

At that moment, heavy chunks of metal flew and embedded themselves into the demon beast’s flank.

-Thud!

The identity of the heavy chunks of metal was, in fact, knights.

[Streganix?]

[No! That feels different!]

Steel knights with dull, angular appearances suddenly appeared and fought the demon beast. The demon beast that had been fighting us just moments before was now being carved up by the large steel knights.

“Grrrk!”

[Wow, they’re sturdy!]

[They’re enduring that?]

The colossal demon beast’s attacks were lethal, but the steel knights either endured or evaded each blow with their shields, confronting the demon beast. Ten minutes later, the giant demon beast collapsed, letting out a dying groan.

[Wow, that’s amazing!]

The Violets couldn’t contain their curiosity and ran towards those who had defeated the colossal demon beast. The knights were cleaning their weapons.

“Who are those…”

“They’re Restraid members.”

Sophieel, who had followed them, whispered, pointing at the symbol on the knights’ shoulders. A prominent symbol of an anvil, a sword, and a helmet entered their view.

‘So these are people from another one of the four great clans,’ they thought, as the Restraid knights beckoned them.

“Hey, you! Come over here. Quickly!”

“…?”

A human clad in knight’s armor approached them and suddenly started an argument.

“Hey, kids. Why did you touch the demon beast we had claimed? Do you want to get disciplined?”

“Huh?”

I was bewildered. What were these tin cans talking about?