Chapter 152

A flash swept through the safe zone and disappeared. The magical wave emitted from the Vision Prism brushed past the people around it, delivering a light mental shock.

“Ugh… my head… my head!”

“Ah… why am I so dizzy…”

The aftermath of the magical wave was not trivial. The hunters, who had been in close combat with the monsters, had to face the risk of their lives while suffering sudden paralysis, chills, and dizziness.

Still, the issues they faced were relatively minor compared to the Federal Army.

That was because the Federal Army closest to the Vision Prism was right in the epicenter of the magical wave’s impact.

They were met with a situation even the researchers of Magnavis, who had intended to activate the Vision Prism, had not anticipated.

“Ugh… aahhh!”

As soon as Major Marius was hit directly by the light bursting from the armored truck, he felt a terrible sensation tearing through his head.

‘What is happening? What is this? What was I again—’

After fleeting thoughts passed through his brain for the last time, a horrific pain filled his head like being skewered with a stick.

“What the hell is this… Kyaaaa!”

Starting with the Major, some soldiers from the Federal Army and a few unlucky hunters screamed and collapsed. With his mind turning blank, the Major ceased to think.

“Urrggh…”

People forgot themselves in the midst of their seizures. What remained in their empty heads were only instincts and some fleeting memories.

After about a minute of this short time had passed, people began to stand up, dazedly glancing around, their eyes clouded. Stimulated by the surrounding chaos, they all instinctively grabbed their weapons.

The Major also fumbled to pull out his pistol. There was no longer any trace of humanity in his eyes.

A flash behind the barrier caught my attention.

“Ugh! What is that?!”

Behind the barrier, it was merely a fascinating light, but the Violets outside began to feel dizzy.

“I’m feeling lightheaded!”

It was a strange yet familiar sensation. It reminded me of a time I’d been swept up in an experiment underground not long ago. A feeling similar to that. Was it like Mind Manipulation Magic?

“Where’s the source of the light?”

“Beyond the building!”

Based on the positional and visual information from the other Violets, I determined that the direction of the light was where the Federal Army was located.

Strangely, there were several small buildings obstructing between us and them.

It was evident to anyone that this was no ordinary beam of light, penetrating like a wall didn’t exist.

Resolving my confusion was Lucian. He seemed to sense something ominous, scanning the surroundings in panic.

“What kind of magic is this…?”

“Magic?”

“Look! Over there!”

While I was puzzled, Daphne hastily explained.

“Didn’t you feel it? Just before, there was a strange flow of magical energy. So I deployed the barrier… Oh my goodness.”

Daphne stopped mid-explanation as she was trying hard to relay what she felt. People outside the barrier staggered as if drunk, unable to regain their senses.

“Ahhh… what the hell???”

“I see the ghost of our father!”

Some people were jumping around in shock. Luckily, that was manageable.

“Are you okay?”

“Ugh! Huh? Why was I doing this?”

As green magical energy poured down like rain over a few people closest to the source, they snapped back to their senses like those recovering from drunkenness.

The issue lay elsewhere.

“It’s the Federal Army!”

“What’s wrong with them?”

A few soldiers from the Federal Army were staggering towards us. I felt a sense of déjà vu. Haven’t I seen that look somewhere before?

Daphne also tried to heal them. The soldiers trembled uncontrollably.

“Huh…? Are you okay?”

“…Don’t come near. Those guys are acting weird.”

Kalia grimaced at the sight of a soldier shaking stiffly like a broken doll. At that moment, one soldier suddenly jerked his head up.

“Yikes! Look at those guys!”

“Ugh…”

The soldier’s eyes were devoid of focus. He drooled and glanced over at us before raising his weapon with a wild cry.

“That’s a Ghoul!”

The Federal Army Ghoul opened fire indiscriminately. Fortunately, the barrier remained intact.

Amid bullets bouncing off, Irene took down the closest Ghoul with her spear. The other Ghouls nearby were quickly subdued by the local hunters.

“Ghouls, huh…?”

Gunshots rang out from various forward bases. For some reason, Ghouls among the Federal Soldiers launched indiscriminate attacks!

“Ahhh! The Ghouls are shooting!”

At that moment, a horde of monsters burst up from the ground, causing the defensive line to crash down.

Irene tugged at my clothing.

“This is dangerous. We need to evacuate!”

“Where to?”

“This place is done for! Let’s move to the back entrance!”

I dashed towards the rear entrance with my team members. Hunters fighting monsters one by one began to abandon their posts, fleeing towards the back.

“Commence emergency procedures! We need to deploy troops immediately!”

Within a blink, 150 members of the Violet Squad appeared, springing into action as we evacuated. Amid the chaos, people around started murmuring.

“Where did such troops come from?”

“Who are you guys?”

I hastily replied while running.

“We’re the Ariel Group!”

Everything was in disarray.

Just moments before, the Federal soldiers who were allies had now turned into Ghouls shooting at us, and the Believers were running riot inside and outside the base.

Monsters treated the safe zone like their backyard, attacking anything that moved. It was a complete mess!

“Must be because of the Vision Prism!”

“Command center transmitted! Assign a portion of the squad to head over there. We need to assess the situation!”

“A couple of squads won’t suffice. It’s chaos over there!”

After deliberation, I decided to assign roughly 75 soldiers.

“Violet, where are you going?”

“To the Vision Prism!”

While portions of the squad escorted team members to safety, some troops split off and scattered.

As I ran hard, I unexpectedly encountered someone at the rear entrance. Adela was leading younger students to evacuate alongside professors. Everyone had suffered various injuries.

“Ah! Sister Adela!”

I took off my mask just in case she wouldn’t recognize me. I saw her eyes widen in surprise.

“Violet! You’re alive…!”

“Yes! We’re trying to evacuate for now!”

Our brief reunion was cut short as I noticed waves of monsters rushing in from one side of the defense line collapsing.

“My goodness… they’re already breaching the right defense line…”

People were rushing towards the rear entrance, chased by monsters, not just Adela and the students. I analyzed the situation, observing the scale of the monsters.

“This is too many, right?”

I attempted to assess the state of the Vision Prism, but a frustrating issue arose.

“At this rate, those monsters will quickly approach the main force!”

The area where my team members were located was a wide avenue, perfect for encirclement. It would be best to evacuate to a favorable position, replenish magical power, reorganize, and then call for reinforcements to fight.

To do that, I had to buy some time. There was also a reason to cross over to that horde of monsters.

The Violet Squad deployed a shield wall. Adela, who had been evacuating, turned to us, and I could see her blanching.

“What are you doing right now?”

I smiled and replied.

“We’re going to fight! There are too many monsters. We need to buy some time.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Don’t worry! Just quickly take the students and evacuate! Everyone is hurt, right? If you go to our team members, you can receive treatment!”

She looked at us with a shocked expression.

“It’s okay, Sister Adela! I’m used to dying!”

After saying that, I drew my sword and charged with my teammates into the horde of monsters.

“Stop!”

Adela watched as Violet and her escort squad rushed into the horde of monsters, swords drawn.

“Stop!”

The professor called out to her.

“Adela! We need to evacuate now!”

She glanced back at where Violet had vanished and then at the students, biting her lip as she bolted away.

“Why…!”

*

The Violet Squad moved through the monster horde like salmon swimming upstream against a waterfall.

“Yaaagh!”

While charging and slashing through monsters, the Sixty-Seventh Clone was snatched away by an unidentified monster.

“Ugh! My arm’s gone. I’m going first!”

Even in the midst of his dying moments, the Sixty-Seventh Clone tried to activate a bomb to take the monster with him. However, the bomb failed to trigger.

“What the hell! Why?!”

“Was it a dud?”

It wasn’t just one bomb that failed. All firearms, rockets, and grenades became non-functional. Every type of explosive weapon had been rendered useless.

At this point, the firepower of the Violet Squad had diminished by more than half.

“It’s not about the bullets! All the guns are in this state!”

The 332nd Clone hurriedly pulled out a rifle from the inventory and racked the bolt. He tried switching bullets and even pulled out another gun to shoot.

While two squads bought time with their lives, several Violets managed to skillfully maneuver around the monsters and Ghoulified soldiers to reach the location of the Vision Prism.

Interestingly, the Ghoul soldiers were fighting against the horde of monsters.

The area around the escort truck, housing the Vision Prism, was filled with charred remnants of Federal soldiers, shattered monsters, and burning vehicles. In the center, the armored truck containing the Prism was still intact.

“What the hell are those guys!”

Around the truck were suspicious figures I had never seen before. Judging by their movement, they neither resembled clan hunters nor Believers. Above all, they weren’t speaking a single word.

Who on earth are they?

The 76th Clone sneaked behind the truck, observing them closely.

They were bringing a massive drone. It was questionable whether that could even be called a drone.

As the drone approached, they took the Vision Prism out of the armored truck and loaded it onto the drone. The massive drone soared into the air with the Prism.

“Oh no! They’re stealing our relics!”

Indeed, I was glad I came here. The 76th Clone prepared to fire a crossbow to shoot it down.

“How dare you take our relics!”

As I aimed the crossbow and tried to pull the trigger, there was a crashing noise, and Noxterra appeared. The slime rider I had seen earlier was dragging its subordinates toward us.

A huge tentacle struck down at the drone. The Vision Prism thudded as it fell onto some makeshift building.

As suspicious figures and Believers began to fight, they seemed too agitated to notice what was happening.

“Wait a minute, this…”

“An opportunity!”

The Command Center quickly created more clones. Amid the fierce battle, the Violets moved to the makeshift buildings and successfully approached the Vision Prism.

“Got it. Let’s run!”

We started to run with the Vision Prism. The relic was incredibly heavy and much larger than the Violets. It couldn’t be stored in the inventory either.

Just looking at it, it felt like we were stealing a monument of cultural heritage. But with several of us, it was manageable to carry.

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t allow those suspicious figures to have it.

“Run!”

The Violets dashed away with the relic.