Chapter 180

As soon as they disembarked from the airplane, Violet and her friends headed to the city. The city was filled with sights to see.

The scenery of Cascadia Island was so beautiful it felt like being in paradise, and the air was fresh.

Everywhere on the streets, there were fancy shops and the delicious smell of exotic food, and the laughter of people was endless.

A joyful and leisurely landscape unfolded that you could never see in the academy city.

“Wow! This is amazing!”

Levi exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

I had a bit of a hard time making sure Levi didn’t bring a Ballista with him to this place.

Thankfully, he wasn’t looking for his weapon.

Irene spread out a map and said.

“First, let’s check out the famous tourist spots here. The places we should focus on are…”

I interrupted while Irene was explaining.

“Tourist spots are good, but I’m hungry!”

“That’s why we’re looking for a restaurant right now. Just wait a moment.”

Meanwhile, Kalia seemed interested and was diligently filming the scenery around her with her smartphone.

It was probably her first trip, as she was exploring everything with a curious gaze.

“Wow, I wish my uncle could have come here too. What a pity.”

To Kalia, who expressed her regret, I said.

“Well, let’s buy a souvenir here to bring back when we return. It’ll be for Uncle.”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”

Setting aside the novelty of it, Violet and her friends began to follow the landmarks marked on the map.

Fortunately, there was a small market nearby, and we browsed various handmade crafts and souvenirs there.

Then, at one shop, I bought a bunch of cotton candy to share with my friends.

“What’s all this?”

“It’s cotton candy!”

Lucian picked one up, looking bewildered, while Granite also said, “Uh, um, thanks,” as he took a piece.

We spent the day busily. We ate delicious food and saw many fascinating sights.

The next morning, we took a bus to see the beautiful beach that was the pride of Cascadia Island.

The lodge we stayed in was clean and luxurious.

“Wow, they’re really a wealthy family…”

Lucian looked around the lodge with a surprised expression.

“Of course! It’s the Cascadia family. Besides, Sister Adela really likes me!”

“Wow… That’s amazing, Violet. You’re good at fighting and have a wide network!”

“Um, that sounds a bit strange…”

When we arrived at the beach, we were left speechless by its beauty.

The view where the transparent sea met the blue sky looked like a painting.

Despite being November, there were quite a few people in swimsuits sunbathing.

“I should have brought my swimsuit…”

“It’s okay. We can always come back later!”

We sat on the beach, relaxing as we listened to the sound of the waves.

A few monsters appeared on the beach, but they were quickly dealt with by safety personnel, so nothing serious happened.

“Hmm, I wanted to catch one too! Should we go to the underwater dungeon later?”

The friends weren’t keen on that idea.

“That’s dangerous! Underwater dungeons are much more perilous than surface dungeons.”

“Ugh…”

Even though Kalia warned me, I still thought exploring under the sea would be fun.

“It’s really peaceful here. I’m glad we came, even if it’s a bit disappointing to call it a team-building event.”

Irene said.

As the sun began to set, we decided to hold a BBQ party.

While Daphne prepared the ingredients, Kalia and I started a campfire.

Gathered around the campfire, we enjoyed the meat and wrapped up the day.

When night fell, I called my friends together to have a serious talk. There was something I needed to discuss.

“Guys, about the raid operation that’s happening in a week. Are you really going to participate? We’re up against those Four Great Clans. Is that okay?”

The friends readily expressed their intention to join.

“Of course.”

“You told me the ones who touched our uncle are dealing with those mages, right? Then we have to teach them a lesson.”

“If I’m not there beside Violet, then who will?”

When I asked Lucian’s group, they had the same reaction.

“I do need practice, but I’ll do my best as much as I can. I said I’d take charge as Student Council President, remember?”

“Hehe… Those scumbags, human trash! Let’s clean them up together!”

“Since we’ve been expelled from the academy, fighting is the only option.”

I looked at my friends’ faces and said.

“Really? But it could be really dangerous. Honestly, I hope you guys wouldn’t participate.”

“…Violet, do you really not need our help?”

“No, it’s not that… I’m just scared that you might get hurt.”

Irene said with a slightly sad expression.

“…It’s too late now. Let’s talk about this tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay!”

One by one, the friends returned to their rooms. I felt a bit bittersweet.

There were less than 12 hours left until the operation started.

“I’m sorry for deceiving you!”

While Violet and her friends were traveling, the other Violets were conducting final checks.

“The hibernating bodies have all been dispatched. The armored trucks have also been stationed near the operational area since three days ago!”

“There haven’t been significant changes in their schedule.”

We looked at the whiteboard where the materials had been organized.

Numerous clues, photos, buildings, and death lists were densely attached. Our eyes focused on the data in the center.

It was a world map of Trist.

Looking at the world map, I let out a hollow laugh. Compared to the gigantic continents around it, the rust-room archipelago was marked in yellow and looked very small.

“It feels kind of empty.”

“It’s small!”

“A battle that decides the fate of the real world is happening on that continent, isn’t it?”

“This is not what we need to see right now! Turn it over.”

As we turned the map, the one we were searching for, the map of the rust-room archipelago, was revealed.

Looking at the map indicating the range of influence, I sighed. The clans’ power was enormous.

While the clans had divided the island, the area the academy city authorities could directly control was extremely limited.

At this size, it was even smaller than the Cascadia family under the sea.

“It’s too small!”

“And the clans are enormous!”

That’s why the academy city authorities could only be dragged around whenever something happened. The gap in influence was just too huge.

Nominally, the Four Great Clans don’t directly govern the area. The clans are too busy with their own affairs to handle administration, so they subcontracted it out.

Nevertheless, their actual power was like that.

Moreover, they had set up branches all over the world.

“It’s okay! Their most important facilities and headquarters are right here.”

“And there’s the federal army!”

Of course, the clans could move freely outside the continent like in the academy city, but the federal army’s main force was in the continent.

And our goal was not the destruction of Magnavis. It was to weaken them.

We spent the night checking the final situation.

“Death list check complete.”

“Target location confirmed!”

The most significant issue, the discussion concerning Chairman Valefor, also took place.

“Everyone knows this, but let’s emphasize it again. The Vanguard guys are like tanks. We need to focus our anti-tank weapons on suppressing them. But if we face the Chairman or someone of that level, we must run away! We can’t kill them with our current strength. Got it?”

“Still, we’ve thought of ways to hinder the chairman.”

“That’s true.”

At my current level, I cannot kill a mage.

However, I managed to figure out where he would be attending an event tomorrow.

It was information I obtained while subtly infiltrating.

According to this, he seems to be scheduled to visit the clan’s facility tomorrow. It was near the city area and within their territory.

No matter how powerful a grand mage they are, they cannot unleash powerful bombs with the intent of destroying their own facility.

“And we have the trucks prepared!”

I may not be able to kill him, but I could bury him under the building.

Even if I can’t do much, I might be able to keep him occupied for several minutes, or if I’m lucky, even for a few hours.

“Okay, let’s sleep now. The operation begins tomorrow at 5 AM.”

“What about the travel clones?”

“…Retrieve them. Whether we have them or not, we’ll be found out anyway. Let’s save our magic.”

Time rushed at us like a raging river. However, the preparations were complete.

There was no longer any hesitation for Violet. Once everything was over, her friends would surely understand her feelings.

As the scheduled time approached, the hibernating Violets in the western sector awoke.

“Operation name, Witch’s Hammer. Let’s begin!”

Early in the morning, Daphne woke up as usual and rubbed her eyes.

She washed her face, changed her clothes, and prepared breakfast.

‘What would be good for breakfast today? Omelet?’

She thought. Violet would be fine with anything, but she had to consider other people’s tastes.

As she began to pull out the ingredients one by one, she heard the sounds of others waking up one by one.

“Ugh… Daphne, good morning. Have you seen where Violet went?”

Kalia came down and asked while taking a bottle of cold water from the refrigerator.

“Hmm? Isn’t Violet upstairs? I thought she was just sleeping in.”

At Daphne’s question, Kalia asked with a puzzled look.

“Really? I thought she was downstairs. She must be outside.”

Before long, all the team members gathered on the first floor. By then, Violet still hadn’t been seen.

“Hey, where did she go?”

“Violet? Violet, where are you!”

At that moment, feeling an uneasy feeling, Daphne hastily searched for Violet with Irene.

Violet was nowhere to be found, neither on the beach nor at the lodge or the nearby streets. She was missing.

Suddenly, Kalia urgently held up her smartphone screen and showed it to them.

“Hey, wait. Look at this!”

Shocking scenes poured into their eyes.

<Breaking News: Simultaneous chain terror attacks in the western sector.>

They were taken aback by the breaking news on the real-time updating site.

“Violet lied…”

“What?”

“The execution plan wasn’t in a week. It was today!”

Hearing a scream-like exclamation, Lucian turned on the TV.

“Wait a minute, you guys. Look at this…”

The next moment, Daphne gasped, covering her mouth.

Irene hastily looked for her weapon.

The content of the recent news flash was quite shocking.

<Breaking News: Polaris Comprehensive Academy, chain explosions occurred. Suspected terrorism. The identity of the perpetrator is unknown.>

“Wha— the academy…”

The familiar scenery of Polaris Comprehensive Academy appeared on the screen.

But it was different from usual. Smoke and flames, crashing helicopters.

“V-Violet, what the hell have you done?”

And then, a gigantic mushroom cloud soared above the academy, filling the screen.

Violet’s friends were left speechless at the scene.

The Witch’s Hammer struck the west.