Chapter 255

A small silhouette fell outside the building, as if it had been thrown. Levi managed to land on the ground.

– Thud!

As she lifted her head, a white man, who had approached lazily just moments ago, came into view.

Levi dashed through the alley.

From the alley to the stairs, then scaling the wall to a small railing. Up onto the roof once more.

‘I have to run away!’

Her instincts whispered.

That unidentified being was not human.

Clutching the ballista tightly, Levi leapt between buildings.

However, the unidentified man was there wherever she tried to escape.

Levi understood. This was hunting.

That being was driving her somewhere.

She couldn’t flee like this.

Somehow, she had to fight back and shake it off.

Once her resolve took hold, her actions became swift.

With a clack, the drum magazine was pulled into the ballista.

“Take this!”

Levi spun around and pulled the trigger of the ballista. A beam of white light poured down like a rainstorm toward the man.

The man reached out toward the arrows flying in like rain. Wherever his hand touched, the air twisted, halting all the arrows mid-air.

“What…?”

Levi’s eyes widened. The man waved his hand, turning the halted arrows to dust, then answered with a bolt of lightning.

“Ugh!”

Levi launched herself away, narrowly dodging the electrical spark.

She landed with a thud on another roof just in front of her. The man stood on the opposite roof, seeming to wait for her.

“What, what is that!”

She was startled by his ghost-like, silent speed.

Not missing a beat, the man reached out his hand.

– Bang!

The roof exploded, tiles scattering in all directions. A figure emerged from the smoke, crashing down to the ground.

As she got up, a sense of foreboding surged through Levi. At that moment, she concentrated her magical power into her legs and threw herself to the side.

– Boom!

Immediately, the floor where Levi had been standing caved in, and a massive hand surged upward.

“Gah!”

Once again, the man stood before her. Levi raised her ballista, and the skirmish continued.

Shooting, being chased, dodging. Running.

However, she reached her limit.

“Nyah!”

A huge shockwave struck her. Levi was pushed into a building.

Her body was now covered in numerous wounds from shrapnel.

‘What, what is that!’

The building she was pushed into was a simple, tidy space.

In one corner, there was a small altar sized like a bed, and atop it lay the silhouette of a human form.

It had a familiar appearance.

But Levi had no time to confirm it.

An unbelievable sight unfolded before her.

A human shape smoothly emerged from the wall, walking toward her.

Like a ghost.

“Ah…ah…”

“Will you calm down now?”

At that moment, Levi, in despair, pulled the lever of the ballista with all her might.

With a clack, a large bolt was chambered.

– Boom!

The force comparable to the electronic cannon of the federal main battle tank struck the man at close range.

The gigantic bolt, soaring with destructive momentum, was easily stopped by the man’s one hand.

– Clang!

“Certainly, it’s not ordinary. I admit it.”

The dull, metallic bolt rolled on the ground. Levi’s eyes shook as if an earthquake had hit.

“I’m glad I captured you.”

Her body was forcefully lifted.

Telekinesis roughly pulled Levi’s small body toward the man’s grasp.

“I-I don’t want to! L-Let go! Get away!”

Screaming in terror, Levi just then saw the girl that was laid on the altar spring to life.

The man’s hand, reaching for Levi’s head, suddenly halted.

“Die!”

– Crack!

A hammer struck the man’s head hard. Seizing the moment of his grotesquely distorted head, Levi’s telekinesis broke free. The perpetrator of the violence had caught Levi.

“Ugh, ugh?”

“It’s me! Violet!”

As a startled Levi hurried to recognize the source of the voice, numerous silhouettes stormed into the building.

“Charge! Charge!”

“Where’s Levi?”

“She’s safe!”

With a booming cheer, girls with blonde hair poured into the building. They were Violets.

‘I’m alive!’

Relief washed over Levi’s face.

The rescue team quickly formed a wall in front of Levi to evacuate her, while the man’s head, as if it hadn’t been crushed at all, turned away.

“What’s that…?”

“Be careful!…That’s not human!”

At Levi’s warning, the Violets tensed up. The white man grinned at the new adversaries swarming in front of him.

“Hmm, what a coincidence. To run into you here. I’m glad I brought that girl here.”

As the man mumbled incomprehensible words while looking at her, the Violets responded not with words but with attacks.

“Meaningless dialogue!”

“Shooting!”

As soon as the command from the Violet Command Center was given, a waiting Violet pressed the trigger.

– Boom!

One second later, a tremendous explosion awoke the silent street of Asteria.

As the trap to eliminate the being that had kidnapped the hibernating Violet activated, the building immediately collapsed.

Countless debris and smoke shot up into the sky.

“Target?”

“Not hit!”

Detecting the movements, the Violet Command Center issued another attack command.

The Command Center was confident. Even if they couldn’t kill it here, they would surely have inflicted damage.

“Get down!”

“Ugh!”

The rushing rescue team covered Levi with their bodies and ducked down as the sound of something slicing through the air rang overhead.

Countless projectiles flew through the sky.

Anti-tank rockets, beams from machine guns, bolts infused with magical power, and mortar shells. Melting rays and magical blades stormed into the smoke like rain.

“Never give them a gap!”

The ruthless firepower battered the inside of the building like a downpour.

They had to strike.

They must strike.

It was the natural law of the world.

The world is made up of natural laws.

The Violets acted recognizing that as truth, just like everyone else.

Even in this world of magic and swordsmanship, natural laws were one of the principles that comprised the world.

Thus, bullets and magic needed to collide with the enemy, whether they broke or stayed intact.

They believed without a doubt.

Until the world froze.

A woman appeared among the Violets, as if she had come out for a picnic.

The woman lightly snapped her fingers.

“Everyone, keep pushing-”

“Push-”

Time froze.

“I have briefed this several times from headquarters, but I will explain once more. The target we are hunting this time is not a monster.”

The Commander of the Guard stood solemnly before the lined-up knights.

He maintained silence for a moment, waiting for the weight of his words to sink in with his subordinates.

“In the federation, they’re referred to as Dimensional Disturbance Entities. These lowly beings from another world call themselves ‘Aedos’ in their language.

As you can guess from their possession of language, they are fundamentally different from the monsters we encountered before.”

The Commander’s gaze swept over the gold-clad knights.

“Among them, those that have appeared this time are known as ‘Apostles.’ They are the servants of the dimensional realm sent to ruin human society beyond the Arctic gates.”

Endless explanations bombarded the knights’ ears, hammering in like nails. Heard time and again.

“This time, do not trust your armored suits. If you sense danger, take immediate cover. I hate to admit it, but our adversaries are intelligent beings with comparable or superior cognitive abilities to humans.

So assume you are fighting against an adversary that is equal to or superior to you. Above all, there is one more dangerous fact. What is it?”

One knight opened his mouth.

“It’s their abilities.”

The Commander nodded. His face twisted as if the mere acknowledgment of the enemy’s abilities would damage the clan’s pride.

“Indeed, they possess local reality manipulation abilities. A power outside the realm of magic.

Never forget that even that Grand Mage from Magnavis could not interpret the miracles of these monstrous beings over the past few weeks.

At this point in time, humanity has nearly no means to counter their miracles.”

He glared at the knights in front of him with piercing eyes.

“I trust you have thoroughly studied the data provided by the Magnavis Group, especially the combat report S-124-A5 from the Vanguard unit.

This is crucial. Even those fools who call themselves ‘Guardians of the Mysteries’ suffered significant sacrifices to understand and interpret them.”

His voice lowered into a dark whisper, but the expressions of the knights remained unchanged.

Satisfied with that fact, the Commander straightened up and raised his voice filled with unwavering conviction.

“Of course, I don’t doubt that none of you will flee from battle. Who are you?”

“The Steel Guard!”

The knights shouted in unison.

“And who are we?”

“The Steel Guard!”

The Commander affirmed with a glint in his eyes.

“That’s right. We are the strongest guard of Restraid. We will never back down. We are the strongest and the most steadfast!”

He raised his fist, gesturing to boost the soldiers’ morale.

“We will be deploying soon. Finish your personal maintenance quickly. Dismissed!”

As the knights dispersed, the Commander of the Austro Guard encountered Cordo, who entered grumbling.

“Your Excellency, how is the special operations commander reacting?”

“Sniff, the thought of being a soldier seems to make him a little uncomfortable. After all, he’s just a parachutist. Once this is over, he’ll be sent to the parliament, so what’s the issue…”

A smirk brewed on both their faces.

The current commander was an incompetent general they had replaced by moving their connections within the federal parliament.

It was easy to use the army like a puppet, thanks to replacing the uncooperative special operations unit commander.

“Your Excellency, don’t worry. As soon as we deploy the exit in the barrier, I’ll evacuate the personnel prioritized first.

We can’t have those associated with the academy or clans getting caught up in this.”

“That’s the problem. Too many people are watching. I want to leave only those that won’t cause any issues when they vanish.”

While discussing with the Commander, Cordo frowned at the newly arriving long trailers.

The trailers were long, and the cargo atop them was as long as missiles.

“This is the… item, right?”

“That’s right. Hmmm…”

Cordo felt a sense of unease as he stole a glance at the cargo atop the trailer. The Commander shook his head, as if to say it was a cursed item.

The cargo atop the trailer bore the faint imprint of the Magnavis Group’s symbol, as if it were barely erased.

“Wow, what kind of thought made you put your fiancée’s name on something like that?”

Cordo clicked his tongue. When did the Grand Mage make such an eyesore?

Swallowing his displeasure, he issued his next orders.

“Everything’s arrived. We’ll depart as soon as the Apostle is spotted.”

The Commander of the Guard looked at the trailers and asked.

“It’s fortunate that Magnavis and the federal folks are cooperating. If we had gone in without this countermeasure…”

Cordo, the Commander-in-chief, countered with a look as if to say, ‘Were you expecting anything else?’

“We’d be annihilated.”

The Violet Command Center watched in shock as the scene unfolded.

A dissonance akin to jarring sensations spread through the network.

“Ugh, ah. I can’t move!”

“My body’s frozen! Ugh!”

The Violets at the scene were terrified as they couldn’t control their bodies despite being conscious.

Everything in front of them was frozen.

The smoke soaring into the sky, the dust swirling in the air. Countless attacks filled with malice, like a bug in a pumpkin, awkwardly froze in place.

The only ones free from this bizarre phenomenon were the snipers and heavy weapons team Violets a little way off.

“Strange? We can move…!”

“No way!”

Before the Violets could fully comprehend this bizarre situation, the man shrugged his shoulders and reached out his hand.

“What, what’s happening!”

The countless spells and projectiles that were frozen mid-air turned 180 degrees.

The target was their original masters.

And time began to flow once more.

Magic and bullets, like salmon returning to their spawning grounds, surged toward the Violets.

– Pow! Boom!

“Ugh, no!”

“Don’t come!”

The Violets were brutally scattered by the shock and eruption of the counterattacks.

A horrifying scene unfolded as bodies were squished and limbs torn off.

“Ugh! This is unbelievable!”

“Gyaaaah!”

In uncontrollable fear, the Violets hastily changed their strategy.

In the alley, a group of Violets rose and rushed in without hesitation. The close-combat began.

– Crack!

– Snap!

Gravity twisted, and the bodies of the Violets floated into the air.

“Huh? I’m flying!”

“My body isn’t responding!”

The Violets caught in the strange gravity jerked around like puppets before crashing back down to the ground.

With a deafening roar, the Violets were flattened.

The assault did not cease. Debris from the buildings swirled like a whirlwind over the Violets, and bizarre lights and attacks tore apart the charging Violets.

As they surveyed the Violets charging in without hesitation, the gazes of a man and a woman narrowed.

Unexpectedly strong resistance.

No, had such humans ever existed?

“Your prediction was correct. They are…”

“Connected, aren’t they?”

The Violets continued to move, even after sustaining injuries that would have killed normal humans.

As if they felt no pain, even with broken limbs and torn bodies, they fervently charged toward death.

“I’ll kill them!”

A Violet, having lost her legs, crawled forward desperately.

Before the Violet could press the trigger on the bomb, the woman muttered expressionlessly as she lifted the Violet.

“Is that how it is?”

The Violet, repeatedly pressing the trigger, wondered why it wasn’t working.

By the time Number 427 realized that her bomb vest was inoperable, the woman raised her hand.

A bizarre pattern was drawn in the air, glowing red.

The pattern exploded, and the red beams infiltrated the Violets present at the scene.

In that instant, the Violets let out a simultaneous scream.

“Ugh… Aaaaaah!!!”

The girls, without exception, grabbed their heads and fell to the ground, thrashing about.

“It works.”

The man casually asked as he looked down at the writhing Violets in pain.

“How does it feel?”

“This… What is this… Aaaaaah!”

The Violet struggled to open her mouth but immediately screamed again and rolled on the ground.

“Aaaah!”

The network quivered with pain and cries. The Violets floundered in a sea of fear and confusion.

“Why!”

This couldn’t be. Another piece of Violet’s common sense shattered.

She had clearly been distributing pain, yet the pain distribution wasn’t working.

The Violet writhed in agony as she sought an answer amidst the abnormally intensified pain. As the girl shed tears and glared, the woman spoke as if she had been waiting.

“You’re wondering why it hurts.”

The woman stabbed the Violet on the ground in the belly with her sword.

“Ugh!”

The Violets’ screams intensified.

Agony escalated, violently tearing into every fiber of their being. The woman, watching them, continued speaking.

“As expected, you used a workaround. Although it was an interesting idea, it was too clingy.”

“Ugh…”

Now the Violets were on the brink of unconsciousness.

“So I tested it out, and it worked wonderfully. The linkage of consciousness. I didn’t expect humans to achieve that. But right now, it has become your poison.”

“W-What…”

As one Violet looked up, the man, as if waiting for that, stomped on her face.

With a crunch, her head shattered. Another scream echoed.

“Aaaaaah!”

“I guess you’re curious now, so let me explain.”

The Apostle of the other world declared, like a remorseless judge passing sentence.

“I amplified your pain, human.”

All the Violets in the academy city writhed in agony.

“You can do nothing. I will rummage through that head of yours.”

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