The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City-Chapter 157: The Witch’s Cauldron (7)

While the second squad was holding off the enemy for some time at the Fountain Square, the makeshift shelter near the elevator was crowded.

"Teleportation, you say...?"

The first reason was the sudden appearance of hundreds of Violets. The hunters taking shelter witnessed the bizarre sight of a massive army continuously pouring out of the smoke.

"Hey! Miss, can’t you escape with that?"

"No!"

Unable to contain his curiosity, a man stepped forward and asked, and the girl responded bluntly before disappearing over the barricade.

While the onlookers pondered the girl’s true identity, strange noises were heard from the darkened sky.

"Look over there, it’s a jet bike! It’s those Magna Nabis bastards!"

Three jet bikes, carrying armed personnel, circled the shelter. As they showed signs of landing, soldiers and hunters hastily began anti-air fire.

The jet bike squadron, overwhelmed by the pouring bolts and bullets, shot back into the sky.

"Dammit, they’re flanking us! Keep a lookout for the surroundings!"

Captain Harbor raised his voice, encouraging his subordinates and others. He then spoke to the Violet liaison beside him.

"Really, do we not need any help? They’re from the four major clans, after all."

The captain gestured toward the area beyond the barricade with a worried expression. The noise and flashes of battle caused by magic lit up the area as bright as midday. Violet shook her head upon hearing his words.

"Thanks, but we’re fine! Instead, bring the soldier over! The captain, that is."

While the remaining soldiers and members of smaller clans had decent combat ability, the battles to come would take place within the dark city streets. Those not connected to the Violet network would only be a hindrance in the crowded battlefield.

"Hey, teach me how to use that rifle you’re holding. And the exoskeleton, too. Quickly!"

When Captain Klein came running, Violet urgently asked him about how to use the firearm and exoskeleton.

"You want it now? I can’t do that..."

"I don’t need your soldiers’ stuff. Just tell me how it works, for now!"

Violet, like a thirsty person drinking water, quickly absorbed the equipment knowledge and transmitted it to the command center.

"Violet! Adela’s awake!"

At that very moment, Irene came searching for Violet.

**

The Violet team successfully evacuated without casualties. The problem was their condition.

"Ugh, damn..."

"Alright, don’t speak, and don’t move!"

The one most seriously injured was Lucian. He was completely shattered. He had tried his best to fend off the mages’ ambush, but the situation ended up in shambles.

Thanks to that, the rest of the team suffered minimal injuries and recovered quickly. Apart from Daphne, who was fine thanks to the shield, the most energetic one was Irene.

Given the situation, Adela’s condition wasn’t good either. She fainted while evacuating due to her injuries and was dragged to the shelter by the team.

After receiving treatment, we were worried she might not wake up, but fortunately, she regained consciousness quickly.

"Where am I? Why am I here..."

She groaned in pain but, barely seconds after waking up, surveyed her surroundings.

Unlike usual, her gaze was sharp and intelligent as she surveyed the area, and she tried to stand up, heading toward the barricade.

"Where do you think you’re going?!"

Adela said hastily as she watched the jet bikes circling around.

"Can’t you see? They’re tracking me. To keep everyone here safe, I have to leave. I’ll lead them away!"

"Tracking you?"

Adela pulled out a stick with a geometric pattern carved on it, bent at right angles, from her chest. Irene, who had been watching, widened her eyes.

"That’s a two-dimensional signal device, isn’t it?"

"That’s right. I activated it not long ago, and that’s when they appeared."

At that moment, the command center briefly expressed amazement. Here was another reason to lure those Magna Nabis bastards!

I explained the current situation to Adela.

"So, they’re from the Magna Nabis Clan? I never imagined they’d be after the Vision Prism..."

"That’s right! So please help!"

Violet No. 303 passionately spoke as she pulled out a tablet and map materials. Once she mentioned the lure operation, everyone’s expressions became serious.

Irene asked.

"So, if I understand correctly, Violet has the Vision Prism now, and she’s planning to use it and the signal device to lure them in. Right?"

She tapped the large plaza shown on the tablet screen.

"And this place, the Lion’s Fountain Square, is where we’re going to ambush and wipe them out. So what are we supposed to do?"

"After luring them in, we’re going to ambush the one holding the artifact at the entrance to the plaza! If we destroy it, we can restore a significant portion of our forces!"

After explaining passionately, I hesitated for a moment before continuing. The request I was about to make was a dangerous one.

"So we’re going to ambush them at the entrance, but we’ll need more people. So..."

"You want us to help, right?"

Adela quietly stood up first.

"I have a lot of questions. Why is Violet here, what’s the identity of that army? But the most important thing right now is that we need to stop them. If you need help, I’ll assist you."

Irene responded.

"Not only did they ruin the academy and massacre the students, but they also carried out terrorist acts with dangerous artifacts. We can’t just stand by. And besides, this is a request from a friend, right?"

Kalia also staggered as she got up.

"Seems like every time I follow you, incidents just never stop, huh?"

"Hehe, that’s true."

"Aah, seriously! Don’t laugh! This is why I’m going to follow you. I can’t just leave someone like you, who’s always causing trouble, alone! As a friend, I can’t just let you go. Do you understand?"

I couldn’t help but smile at my friend’s grumbling mixed with concern. That was a relief. I wonder how the other team members are doing.

"I, I want to follow too!"

"Levi, are you sure? They’re more dangerous than the monsters."

At my question, Levi started speaking with a face full of anger. It was a rare expression from her.

"No, no. If what you said is true, then those things aren’t even human. They suddenly started kidnapping people, trying to steal relics, and turned people into... zombies, right? You, me, and the other team members all got hurt. They’re worse than monsters. They’re trash! Human trash! Trash like that needs to be cleaned up! We have to wipe them out! Granite, you think the same, right?"

At Levi’s question, our lumberjack friend, Granite, also gave a strong nod in agreement.

"That’s right, those bad guys need to be destroyed!"

I stood up, satisfied with the excellent mental training the siege weapon team members had undergone.

"Daphne, stay in the rear. If there are any casualties, I’ll call for you right away!"

"I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do..."

"It’s okay!"

Just as I was about to move beyond the barricade with my team, Lucian called out to me.

"Hey, Violet. Hold my hand."

"Huh?"

"Quickly!"

As I did what he asked, several small magical circles appeared between our hands, and mana flowed into my body. It was quite a large amount.

"Ha, sorry I can’t be of much help... I tried something I had been thinking about, but I don’t think I can give it all. Take this, at least."

Lucian closed his eyes in embarrassment and lowered his head. Perhaps he was ashamed of being beaten by the Magna Nabis wizards.

"Thanks!"

Thanks to him, our forces had increased. It was a harvest beyond my expectations.

Violet Team left the barricade and headed toward the passage.

Right in front of a small fountain square, the girls faced the oncoming offensive without fear.

As the team members moved and prepared an ambush, Violet’s squad was formed and deployed. Meanwhile, the Violet clones used hastily set up barricades, ruined building walls, and the bodies of fallen comrades as shields, struggling to fend off the attack while buying time.

The enemy’s assault rained down like a torrential storm, and as the damage accumulated, the small fountain square became stained with blood.

The vanguard agents at the front lines skillfully defeated the ceaseless enemy onslaught.

Veteran mages used their armor and shields’ durability as protection while advancing, unleashing high-temperature flames and destructive magic to crush any resistance.

The mages behind them launched somewhat weaker but still threatening attacks while the mercenaries in the rear, armed with crossbows, picked off the enemies one by one on the battlefront.

The Violets were slowly retreating, but they still held the fountain square.

"Damn, there are so many, more than I imagined!"

The combat support display inside their sealed helmets constantly displayed numerous green squares, large and small.

The tracking system diligently marked the detected enemies, but the agents’ eyes showed signs of fatigue.

"Yaaahh!"

"Damn it! This is insane! Commander, is that a clone?"

One of the agents grumbled over the comms. Just after intercepting an enemy soldier coming down from the sky with an electric discharge, he was splattered with the blood of the exploded soldier.

"That’s their unique ability! Didn’t you see earlier? The body vanished on its own. That’s just a weird clone!"

The commander responded firmly, but inwardly, he understood why his subordinates were confused. A clone that spilled blood and guts.

The enemies kept coming back, no matter how many times we killed them. It was like rats popping out of a hole.

Even from the eyes of a veteran who had gone through countless battles, I had never seen enemies so relentlessly charge at us.

The signal device was over there, and time was of the essence. Some of our team tried to take an alternative route, but in the area where the device’s owner was, there were quite a few assassins from other clans and remaining soldiers gathered.

The anti-air fire was intense, making it impossible for a small group to strike right now. Enemy troops were still moving through the alleyways.

"Yahh!"

"Watch above. The enemy is attempting a drop attack using some flying device."

"Unbelievable. Killing them just never ends!"

Grumbling, the Vanguard agent shot down another falling attack. Through his gaze, he spotted more enemies. They were positioned on the roof of the building to the right.

Around three to five enemies were climbing down. Another enemy that our forces hadn’t intercepted yet.

"Damn, when did they get so close?"

The pitiful enemy charged with clumsy swords and shields. The agent swung his alloy staff with irritation.

"These damn pests!"

He applied a hardening spell to the staff, reinforced it with physical enhancement, and added some acceleration. The first enemy raised his shield in a panic.

"AAAHH!"

At the same time, the shield and left arm shattered.

The enemy let out a ridiculous scream as they fell to the ground.

Even though one of our allies had died, the enemy charged without hesitation.

The agent calculated the spell.

A high-output magical blade, resembling a volcanic eruption, shot out from the end of the staff.

With a light horizontal swing, the remaining enemies were cleaved in half.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?"

The agent roughly picked up the fallen enemy and ripped off their mask.

A young blonde girl, bleeding from her nose, appeared.

Given her small build, it was a guess, but she was indeed a girl.

The girl flailed around wildly.

"We are the Obsidian Legion! We belong to the Ariel Group—!"

"Shut the hell up!"

As she tried to stab with a dagger, the agent threw her to the ground and stomped down hard.

The girl was crushed like a tomato.

"Are they complete lunatics? The Obsidian Legion? Why would they do something like this?"

"Yeah, I agree. Those guys are rich, but they were never this crazy."

Lera, who had been focused on intercepting and defensive spells, urgently intervened.

It reminded her of the report about the mysterious black soldiers who had attacked a research facility last time.

"There’s a possibility. During the destruction of Research Lab 13, intruders claiming to be from the Obsidian Legion appeared."

"Is that really true?"

While pondering what Crosell had relayed, she felt pressure on her ankle and looked down.

An enemy, who had lost their legs, was crawling toward her, trying to grab her ankle and bite.

"J-Just stop...!"

"...!"

She was horrified and immediately kicked the enemy away.

"Crazy!"

Lera suppressed her nausea and was about to prepare the next spell when an urgent message came through from the jetbike squad that had flanked them from the rear.

"We are tracking the signal of the beacon, it’s moving... Damn it."

"What’s going on? Report properly!"

"It’s the Vision Prism! The one carrying the beacon is on the Vision Prism! They’re heading left in the plaza!"

She tried to make sense of the report as she led some of her team.

Strangely, as they made their way towards the right side of the plaza, where the enemies had vanished, a girl’s voice echoed loudly from beyond a passageway.

"Haha! Your Vision Prism is now the possession of the great Adela Cascadia! Worship her!"

"Cascadia?"

"First they were saying they were from the Obsidian Legion, now they’re calling in the Cascadia family’s troops? These guys are insane."

As the members of Magna Nabis felt confused, the Violets charged at them even more fiercely, grabbing hold of them.

Just as Lera and her team barely circumvented the plaza, they saw soldiers in black uniforms running with the Prism held horizontally.

A blonde woman stood on top of the large Prism.

"Damn it, that’s the Prism! We’re pursuing them!"

"Their resistance is fierce. We’ll catch up soon!"

’Why is it coming to me now? That appearance, the weapons... She’s the heir of the Cascadia family!’

In the heat of the moment, Lera scolded herself for not recalling the information sooner.

"V-Violet? You said I could use my name, but this is a bit much..."

Adela, on top of the Prism, gave a flustered expression as she looked at the Violet holding a megaphone.

"Sorry, sis! But this will attract more attention!"

The Violets sprinted away, leaving the pursuing enemies behind.

While luring the enemies with the Vision Prism, one of the Violets in the command center turned her attention to the green dots on the map.

"Those guys are few in number, but let’s try to catch them!"

If they’re using electromagnetic rifles or heavy weapons, they’ll be more powerful than our firearms.

It’s impossible to get resupplies, but we can use the ammunition we have.

What’s more, due to the way they operate, they won’t be affected by combustion-suppressing magic.

We might even be able to capture some vehicles.

"Those guys are few in number, but let’s try to catch them!"

At the location where the Violet squad was stationed, a new Violet unit was formed.

The Violets jumped out from the windows and pounced on the ghouls.

"Kwaa!"

The ambush was successful.

Aside from a few Violets who lost their arms to gunfire, they were able to wipe out the enemies.

"An electromagnetic rifle… Must be a railgun, right?"

"Now it’s our turn. Forced conscription!"

I picked up a gun from the ground and inspected it.

When I opened the magazine, heavy, dull-colored metal bullets appeared, with batteries inside the stock.

"This is fine! We can use this."

In this world, due to advanced technology, people with money often carry weapons like railguns or coilguns, weapons once seen only in science fiction.

Just then, jetbikes zipped past us overhead.

I aimed at their rear and pulled the trigger.

I missed, but the powerful recoil sent a bullet flying.

Tutututung!

"It works! It works!"

Violet No. 230 gleefully dashed off right after pulling the trigger.

"This should work even in combustion-blocking magic zones. It’s also stronger than a regular rifle!"

"Alright, let’s show them some heat!"

After knocking out more ghoulified federal soldiers wandering the alleyways, we confiscated their equipment.

We quickly retrieved weapons and ammunition from the defeated ghoul soldiers.

We also stripped their exoskeletons and placed them into our inventory.

While hurriedly gathering weapons, something peculiar caught the Violets’ eyes.

Two heavy, treaded vehicles were lodged into the building walls, some distance apart.

"What’s that?"

The Violets cautiously approached the vehicles.

I quickly realized what they were.

They were tanks.

"The name is Model 30 Light Tank. It’s armed with an electromagnetic autocannon and a machine gun."

Recalling the information from the command center, I approached the tank.

Surprisingly, despite being wedged into the wall, the tank appeared intact.

When I climbed up, I found the hatch to the control seat open, with no sign of the crew, who seemed to have fled.

"There’s no place for a person to fit in the turret."

"It’s an unmanned turret!"

The Violets entered the tank.

Inside, three seats were arranged horizontally.

Since the lights were on inside, it didn’t seem broken.

I fiddled with the controls of the tank.

To my surprise, it moved.

For some reason, it seemed the crew had abandoned the tank after crashing into the wall while fleeing down the narrow alley.

"It moves! We might be able to use it. Command center! Add an armored division to our formation!"

Although I didn’t know how to fire the cannon or operate the interior systems, after a few tries, I roughly figured out how to make it move.

Pressing the pedals made it go forward or stop, and pulling the controls steered it left or right.

"Alright, I’ll add the tank unit to the Violet Battalion!"

In no time, the Violet Battalion became a proper army, now with tanks.

Though it was only two tanks!

The first mission of the newly acquired armored division was simple: charge.

"Controlling this is easier than I thought."

"Let’s use this as our shield. Move out!"

The first tank to defect from the incompetent Federal Army to join the Violet Army roared to life with its engine.

I wasn’t sure how much protection a 20-ton light tank could offer, but it was enough to pressure the enemy.

"Tank! Let’s crush and smash the enemy together!"

As I stepped on the accelerator, the interior of the cockpit vibrated with a heavy, low noise.

It seemed this tank was eager to declare itself a war machine that loved violence.

"From now on, your name is the Gauntlets of Rugilinn!"

"And you... you’ll just be Tank No. 2!"

The more I thought about it, the cooler the name sounded.

It was a name that embodied the iron will of the Violets.

Though it wasn’t one of the Federal Army’s super-heavy tanks, my heart raced at the thought of driving a tank I had only ever imagined.

"Let’s go, Gauntlets of Rugilinn! We’ll soak you in the enemies’ blood!"

Tank No. 1, "Gauntlets of Rugilinn," and Tank No. 2 backed up with their heavy engine sounds, turning to prepare for deployment.

"By the way, is the owner of the combustion-suppressing artifact following us well?"

"Yes! They’re keeping up, but the problem is the jet bikes!"

There was one thing we hadn’t considered while devising the decoy.

The jet bikes and vehicles.

While we could somehow shake off the enemies on foot, even if they were Awakened, their high mobility made it likely they’d catch up quickly.

"Rooftop team! Fire!"

Through the Ward Violet, the small team positioned in advance began anti-air fire to hold back the jet bikes.

"Rear team! Destroy their vehicles!"

The Violet team that infiltrated the rear using a lone hang glider and the Ward Violet carried out sabotage operations.

The main target was their vehicles.

Bang!

"Tires destroyed! Engine disabled!"

Fortunately, the enemies didn’t heavily rely on their vehicle firepower.

There were fewer guards than expected, so we were able to destroy them quickly.

"By the way, where’s that witch? The one with the artifact on their back!"

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

"Still searching!"

The decoy operation was proceeding smoothly.

Some of the generated forces moved toward the plaza to prepare for an ambush.

The Violet squads that had dealt with the beasts and ghouls in the plaza hurriedly dug into the ground and lifted paving stones to set up traps.

They were preparing a large number of improvised explosives.

Victory Violet slammed her fan shut and shouted.

"This place will be their graveyard!"

As we prepared to lure them into the encirclement, the Ward Violet located the target.

"We found the witch!"

"They’re following the Vision Prism!"

What luck this was.

Originally, we had planned to ambush them while the main force moved, but this made it easier to capture them.

Soon, the enemies entered the center of the passageway.

The Violet team leapt down from the rooftops.

"Charge!"