episode_0401

Group combat is like a colossal engineering structure built upon violence. There is no room for individual delicate emotions or impromptu techniques.

All that is needed are perfectly tuned parts.

Humans, as raw material, have all individuality erased and are molded into standardized forms, incorporated as mere components of a vast system.

Even if autonomy is permitted, it is merely temporary lubrication to keep this enormous machine running.

In perfect order, even the smallest error is fatal. To those with seasoned discernment, even the discord created by minute cracks is grating.

For that tiny crack instantly becomes the first domino piece to topple the entire beauty.

Usually, the cause is one of two things.

Either individual capabilities are abysmal, or control and coordination are clumsy.

If Violet during her Polaris days was the former, then the clones that appeared before Daphne and Lucian were the latter.

“It must be hard to control each one individually, isn’t it? Your manipulation is quite clumsy.”

A sneer formed on Lucian’s lips. He swiftly ducked, and a four-pronged sword sliced through the air above his head.

To the clinking sound of sword energy, the boy’s hand shot out like lightning.

The spell prepared was Agustin’s Incendiary Spear. A spear made of blue flame shot up from his fingertips and struck the enemy’s torso.

The black shadow ignited and scattered into pieces.

Taking a step to create distance, Lucian muttered a short incantation.

Mana flowed through his entire body, strengthening his muscles and assisting the movement of his limbs.

‘This guy, his swarm manipulation ability is worse than I thought!’

His combat technique itself was superb, but the overall flow was utterly clumsy.

In Lucian’s mind, the clones’ movement patterns were already being read.

Violet would never have shown such a crude display.

Golden magic circles etched on the backs of his hands and palms emitted a brilliant light. Drawing a blue blade from his palm, Lucian slashed his sword vertically.

An arm that had been thrusting from the left, using a comrade as a shield, was severed in mid-air.

The clone, having lost an arm, hesitated for a moment before charging forward, using its entire body as a weapon.

Instantly, green hexagonal force fields unfurled in the air, halting the charge. Lucian snapped his fingers, and three or four blue magic circles deployed above his shoulder, spitting out sharp swords.

Mercilessly kicking aside the clones whose heads had been pierced, Lucian quickly moved to a new position. Daphne stepped forward.

Her staff, now much heavier, swept through the force fields, striking and pushing back the clones.

Horizontally, vertically, she continuously struck, driving the enemies back as if chasing away a pack of beasts.

And in her final stance, she thrust forward in a straight line, switching from defense to offense.

A storm-like roar erupted from the tip of her staff.

-Bang! Boom!

With an ear-splitting blast, the shotgun spat out flames. Clones that had been flung into the air were caught in the close-range shotgun blast, shattering and scattering.

Amidst the flash, thick brass casings clattered and spilled onto the floor. The staff, having spat out its last bullet, recoiled and slid along her palm. Daphne pulled it directly towards her body. Her hand movements were swift. She accurately knocked out the magazine like a machine and replaced it with a new one.

The series of actions—stabbing, swinging, and shooting—flowed seamlessly.

Compensating for her lack of offensive power with firearms and tactics, Daphne crushed the swarming clones like a tank.

The two young individuals instinctively realized. The opponent’s level was far below Violet’s.

Their bizarre ability to shroud the surroundings in darkness and their martial arts skills couldn’t be ignored.

Even if it was a night alley, considering no one appeared despite such commotion, they clearly possessed other abilities.

The fact that their opponents happened to be the ones most familiar with clone unique abilities was an unexpected variable for the rogue agent.

“Well, it seems like you’re wondering why we’re so familiar with this. What can I say? I’ve fought battles like this many times. You pathetic fools, just relying on numbers!”

A sneer hung on Lucian’s lips. Ultimately, the opponent’s unique ability was an inferior version, worse than Violet’s. The numbers were threatening, but that was all.

The enemy was far lacking in the ability to see the big picture.

Despite hundreds of clones, an opening to break through was visible.

‘That guy operates a legion of tens of thousands… and this is just hundreds? If I lose to a guy like this…’

‘His command ability is much clumsier than Violet’s. Overall, it’s a unique ability of a lower tier.’

They didn’t realize that their standards had fallen victim to inflation. This was also misfortune for the clone manipulator.

Who could have predicted that Violet’s decision to use her friends as sparring partners, ever since she declared her intent to kill Magnabyss, would have such an effect?

“Daphne! Are we going to keep fighting them? Let’s head to the city! It’s this noisy, and no one’s coming. Isn’t that strange?”

Daphne let out a short gasp, as if only now understanding the nature of the strange sensation enveloping their surroundings.

“It was perception interference! Now I understand what you mean.”

In a fleeting moment, Lucian’s mind ran calculations at high speed. It was the moment when the fruits of his training, for the human calculator that could link dispersed thoughts, shone brightly.

His divided consciousness swiftly forged pathways for mana. He drew circuits in the air, connected them, and precisely adjusted the output.

The wavelength and volume of the ether extending from his fingertips were adjusted to an optimal state.

‘I can’t beat that human calculating machine with thousands of numbers, but you’re different.’

Using ether as both catalyst and power source, the surrounding air molecules and thermal energy began to distort.

The four fundamental forces that comprise the world were manipulated before the ether in an instant.

It was the moment a feat of tricking natural laws unfolded.

“Now! Get back!”

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. As soon as Daphne retreated, intense heat and light dyed the evening street red.

Three converging beams of light, fired with full power, transformed the enemies blocking their path into ash and smoke. Immediately after, Lucian stomped his right foot twice in quick succession. The blue magic circle on the sole of his sneaker reacted with the ground, erupting in a flash.

-Crackle!

Starting from the stomped ground, a fierce and chilling sheet of ice spread along the path where the clones had been swept away. The movements of the clones attempting to block the path were either repelled or cut off by blades that shot up from both sides of the icy road.

Without missing a beat, Daphne cast protective shields around the bodies of the unconscious people. Then she swung her staff, playfully batting the shielded spheres towards the ice rink.

It was a perfect human curling execution. Daphne and Lucian swiftly followed the people who were sliding towards the city, bouncing along the path.

-Clickety-clack!

Stung by the unexpected ploy, the clones fiercely gave chase. Hexagonal force fields, shotgun blasts, and magic spells blocked the path, deterring the clones that sprang up from all directions.

Daphne felt the sounds gradually drawing closer. Her assumption of perception interference was correct. The everyday evening sounds of the city began to grow louder.

It was then that a loud explosion was heard from somewhere in the distance.

-Boom!

A brief burst of flame high above on a distant building’s rooftop. Daphne instinctively realized. Violet had arrived.

-Whirr!

Suddenly, one clone stopped moving. Then it brazenly grabbed and threw another clone. As the high-speed thrown clones flew towards them, Daphne, running on a force field platform, swung her staff and fired.

Lucian’s arcane blades also sliced through the air. One, two clones crumpled and fell.

Among them, one individual kicked another, accelerating again in mid-air.

‘Oh no!’

In that fleeting moment, a bullet fired from somewhere above precisely pierced the clone. The clones’ pursuit halted with the continuous sniper support.

“Lucian! It’s Violet!”

“I know! The timing is truly artistic.”

At the same time, the fierce roar of a rotary-wing aircraft filled the sky.

Headlights suddenly illuminated the two, the victims enveloped in protective shields, and the clone entities directly behind them.

The clones lowered their heads in the dazzling light, then hastily retreated with expressions as if they had seen something repulsive.

“Hey! Are you two alright?”

Hunters who had descended from the helicopter approached the two. From behind, armored knights were approaching with stomping footsteps.

Some ran into the darkness where the clones had vanished.

“Thank goodness…”

Daphne let out a sigh of relief. The victims were safely rescued.

Meanwhile, Lucian noticed a small child subtly approaching from a distance, exuding a familiar aura.

The girl playfully stuck out her tongue.

“I’m here!”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Little Violet stared intently, as if expecting something. As if praise wasn’t enough, she nodded her head. Lucian hesitated.

“Is this enough?”

“Hehe!”

Lucian frowned for a moment, then hesitantly, yet gently, stroked little Violet’s head. It was then that little Violet suddenly let out a high-pitched shriek.

“H-Hiiiiiie! Daphne!”

Little Violet froze stiffly on the spot, seeing her roommate soaked in blood from head to toe.

**

What happened last night was horrible. My friends were caught up in an attack by wicked fake Violets.

Fortunately, my friends were unharmed. No, that was only if you looked at the outcome.

The problem was that something felt deeply unsettling about what had happened during the process.

「They ran away too fast!」

I didn’t expect that clone killer to target my friends, of all people.

Most of all, Daphne’s appearance was horrifying.

From her pretty silver hair to her toes, her entire body was covered in blood.

Even more horrifying was the fact that it wasn’t the enemy’s blood.

「Does this even make sense?」

I couldn’t ask for details, but it seemed Daphne had learned some bizarre and aggressive combat style.

At this rate, she’s no different from a zombie.

「But that’s Violet’s trademark…」

Thinking about that sight made my teeth chatter. It was enough to bring back the horrific situation I witnessed in Polaris.

I scolded the rat I had deployed as a guard.

“Hey! What were you doing instead of protecting Daphne! She was completely drenched in blood!”

“I’m sorry! Boss!”

Raspberry rolled his tiny eyes this way and that, then squeaked sadly.

“What? You just died?”

“Well… I tried to cast a spell to help, but I just got kicked away. They were too fast and strong…”

“Then you should have called for reinforcements! Or summoned other V-animals.”

“I was in such a hurry I couldn’t think of that! All I could think was that I had to block them with my body…”

I found this situation frustrating. These guys, it seemed their thinking had become too simplistic now that they had the advantage of being able to revive.

Besides, what could a rat do by throwing its body, other than die?

It was a futile death.

“You’re a rat! What are you going to do with that tiny body? Don’t act recklessly next time! Got it?”

Raspberry, hearing my words, looked blank for a moment, then hung his head low.

“You’re right… I’m just a rat. My thinking was shortsighted. Squeak…”

The moment I saw that, I realized I had gotten too agitated.

He did his best.

“Uh… what I meant was! To make the best use of the abilities you have. Sorry, I didn’t mean it in any other way…”

“No, Boss is right. Squeak…”

Raspberry sadly hung his head and returned to our group.

**

The rats became disheartened. Violet’s brief outburst of frustration at Raspberry just now had come as an immense shock.

“The boss is angry…”

Other rats, seeing the dejected Raspberry, offered words of comfort one after another.

“It’s okay. The boss said she was sorry. She must have just gotten too agitated!”

But Violet’s words had inadvertently burrowed deep into the rats’ hearts, following the animal network.

The anxiety they had always carried and a baseless inferiority complex acted as a catalyst, shaking the rats’ resolve.

“But isn’t the boss right? We’re just rats…”

“Squeak… What else can tiny guys like us do?”

“Right…”

Suddenly, a question arose in the rats’ minds. Could their current biological limitations truly be overcome by training and effort alone?

The V-rat’s body was too small to fully utilize ether. At most, they could unleash a medium-to-high-level ether phenomenon once and then be completely exhausted.

No matter what they did, the moment they drew on a certain amount of mana or more, they would immediately burn out.

Bluebell the rat stepped forward to refute.

“No! Because we’re small, we can act as tiny missile propellants! We can also do infiltration. We can sever enemies’ tendons and stab their insteps. Squeak! These are advantages only we have!”

As one rat stepped forward and shouted, another quietly asked.

“Then do you want to keep doing only that? Be honest. We’re all thinking the same thing, aren’t we? Haven’t you ever wanted to fight proudly? To stand bravely with a sword by our boss, our master’s side, and face the enemy?”

“Th-That’s…”

The rats all fell silent. Their whiskers drooped, and their tails curled limply towards their bodies.

Dogs and cats could fight valiantly with their teeth and claws.

Monkeys were intelligent and could freely wield tools.

Birds could fly in the sky.

But rats had few things they could do. In every aspect, other animals were superior.

“It can’t be helped. We’re rats. As long as we’re born as rats, we just have to live like this…”

The rats became gloomy again. Until someone spoke to them in a whisper.

“Do you really think so?”

“?”

A strange voice was heard. One rat turned around.

A tough-looking middle-aged man with a mustache stood there, arms crossed, staring intently at them.

The rats’ whiskers bristled as if they had been struck by static electricity. Some rats jumped into the air in surprise.

“Squeak! It’s a ghost!”

“Run away! Squeak!”

The rats scurried in confusion.

The man, wearing a displeased expression, watched them for a moment before scattering like smoke.