The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City-Chapter 60: Polaris – The Unknown Spark Ignite (1)

The day before the duel, Irene got very angry with me.

“I brought what you requested… but, Violet, are you out of your mind?”

A neatly organized stack of documents landed in front of me.

These were the materials I had urgently asked for.

“Thanks for doing me the favor!”

At my nonchalant response, Irene frowned deeply, seemingly frustrated by something.

“That’s not the point! Martina was already quite famous for her dueling skills even before we enrolled. She’s currently a B-rank active hunter. I don’t know how good you are, but this is insane! Let me help you—go cancel it right now!”

“No way! Cancel it now? I can win!”

Though I couldn’t say I was completely confident, I was at least somewhat sure of myself.

First, we had the advantage in the variety of weaponry.

While going through the duel application process, I confirmed something.

During the application, there is a procedure to agree on the weapons each participant can use, and her weapon was a single sword—a rapier, to be exact.

‘As I expected.’

Moreover, upon reviewing the various documents Irene had quickly gathered for me, I discovered that her magical skills were limited to simple control techniques like magic bullets.

Despite her appearance, she was purely a close-combat specialist.

In contrast, my arsenal was much more diverse.

A ten-shot crossbow, shields of various sizes, daggers, spears, axes, one-handed swords, and maces.

It’s unfortunate that explosives were not allowed—not that I had any, to begin with.

Still, I believed that her skill and experience with swordsmanship could be overcome by the sheer number of weapons at my disposal.

Once the duel began, I could pressure her from long-range to close-range and crush her completely.

“…You’re saying you can use multiple weapons? You don’t seem like you can handle all of them skillfully.”

“That’s true. But I’ve got a plan.”

The strengths of the Violets didn’t stop there. We also had the advantage of numbers.

According to the status window, my current stats were as follows:

<CHARACTER STAT>

Mana: 18000/18000

Unique Abilities:

<Collective Intelligence> Lv2

<Dynamic Consciousness/Identity-Linked Clone Technique> Lv2

Synergistic Traits:

Backstab Proficiency: Increases damage when attacking from behind.

Weakling Extermination: Increases damage against low-health opponents.

…

The number of clones I could create at once was 36.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring in the full 100 I had generated previously. However, there was a workaround for this as well.

No one could discern my exact mana reserves, so I could exploit a particular trick.

“Got the mana supplements ready?”

“Tons of them!”

I emptied my savings to order expensive mana supplements in bulk.

Four boxes were delivered, with each containing 25 vials of brightly colored liquid.

Each vial seemed to restore about 500 mana when consumed, which theoretically gave me an additional 50,000 mana to work with.

This allowed me to produce up to 100 clones.

With such numbers, I could overwhelm her with sheer force, forming a battle formation to relentlessly pressure her.

And lastly, my unique ability had one distinct feature.

“…Your ability relies on clones! If your main body gets targeted, the numbers don’t matter! Besides, most skilled hunters can easily break through a battle formation…”

As Irene’s words suggested, people didn’t fully understand what my ability entailed.

In this world, there were rare awakened individuals who, like me, could create clones. However, their abilities were more akin to puppeteers controlling marionettes.

Naturally, anyone unfamiliar with my ability would aim for my head. It was the rational move.

I planned to exploit that conventional wisdom, using myself as bait.

I wasn’t going to lose.

The next day at 2:40 PM, I washed up, checked my weapons and equipment one last time, and went down to the first floor of the dormitory.

Daphne still hadn’t woken up.

According to the doctor, she was supposed to regain consciousness today.

“…Violet. I’ll ask you one more time. Are you really okay? If you can’t cancel it, at least postpone the duel. Then I can contact Helios to get you better equipment.”

Irene, waiting at the entrance, repeatedly asked with concern.

I waved my hand dismissively.

I had no intention of relying on Irene’s help for this.

Regardless of my gratitude, this was solely my business.

This was my revenge.

After walking for a while, we arrived at the dueling arena. To my surprise, more people had taken seats in the arena’s stands than I had anticipated.

Had rumors spread? Or maybe the management had deliberately invited people.

Some of them were even munching on popcorn and sipping soda.

“Violet… now that it’s come to this, do your best.”

Irene saw me off with a worried expression as I stepped into the middle of the arena. Then, I saw her heading toward the audience seats.

Finally, it was time.

I, the third clone, tried to calm my racing heart as I stepped into the arena.

Martina, walking in from the opposite side, came into view. Her arrogant posture was the same as ever.

That face of hers—I’ll crush that pride to pieces.

“Now, before the duel begins, we will reconfirm the intent of the participants. Violet Rugilinn, Martina Perian. Are you ready? If so, please signal your readiness.”

A voice giving guidance from the speaker reached my ears, and I nodded.

From the opposite side, I heard someone say, “I’m ready.”

“Then, we’ll begin preparing for the duel.”

A mechanical noise reverberated, and the ground shook.

Though I had been to this place countless times, the sight of the barrier being deployed and isolating the space from the outside was still hard to get used to.

“Now, the duel will begin in one minute. Participants, please wait until the start signal is given. 59, 58, 57…”

The translucent barrier began to rise.

At the same time, my vision folded briefly, distorted, and then returned to normal.

During this process, the duel arena, initially the size of a small basketball court, had expanded to a scale comparable to a soccer field.

This virtual reality environment, which was larger inside than outside, was not easy to adapt to. Was there really a need for it to be this big?

The countdown soon dropped to the 30-second range.

Perhaps because it was my second duel, my body was starting to tremble slightly.

I could see Martina, who had been stretching lightly on the opposite side, turn her gaze toward me.

She looked at me and sneered.

“Hey! First-year! Surrender already!”

Jeering voices could be heard as well.

Were they friends of that blonde ponytailed woman?

I forced myself to ignore it.

Countdown in the 10-second range, 9 seconds, 8 seconds—fate approached rapidly.

「Everyone, get ready!」

I felt the Violet clones trembling violently, as though an earthquake had struck.

Was it fear?

No, it wasn’t.

It was rage, excitement, and an indescribable thrill right before a battle.

All of these emotions surged through my body via my heart.

“The duel begins.”

From the speakers inside the barrier, a short explosive sound, akin to the starting gun of a track race, erupted.

My mind snapped into focus.

「Combat formation! Prepare to charge!」

I felt magic energy pouring fiercely out of my body.

Thirty Violet clones immediately spread out within the duel arena.

Their weapons were crossbows and shields.

The Violets, standing in two rows, drew their weapons and aimed at the enemy.

Simultaneously, the Violets in the central area hurriedly began gulping down magic supplements.

The first objective was to deploy more than 50 clones within the arena.

Martina had just drawn her sword from its scabbard.

The shape of the glowing red rapier was quite impressive. Wait, I remember what that is now…!

「Everyone, aim! Let’s finish this in one strike!」

We operated in perfect unison, pulling the levers of the crossbows and loading the bolts.

At the same time, magic energy coursed along the surface of the bolts.

I aligned the red dot of the sight with Martina’s upper body.

One second passed.

Like clockwork, we pulled the triggers in seamless succession.

Martina began to charge forward.

-Pew! Pew! Pew!-

Bolts imbued with red magic energy tore through the air.

As the bolts neared their target, a series of flashes erupted. Did we hit her?

“She deflected it!”

“Fire at will!”

Astonishingly, Martina had swung her rapier to deflect the bolts that had flown right in front of her face!

Though we continued to bombard her with bolts, she charged forward, enduring the barrage head-on.

“She’s coming! She’s coming! Raise your shields!”

I sensed the anxiety of Clone No. 5. In less than a few seconds, Martina had crossed half the duel arena and was charging straight at us.

The momentum she carried reminded me of the time I had witnessed Irene’s duel.

In terms of speed, wasn’t she at least 0.7 times Irene’s level?

Her ferocious momentum brought her green eyes into direct view, and the Violets quickly raised their shields and thrust their spears forward.

The spears, glowing with red magic, lunged straight at her…

And yet, I felt nothing.

The target disappeared right in front of us.

“Where did she go? She vanished!”

“No! She’s above us!”

She had jumped over us!

Truly, it was a leap befitting an Awakened individual.

Martina leapt clean over our formation. Her target was Clone No. 5, who stood at the rear of our ranks.

“Ahhhh! She’s coming!! She’s here!”

“You know your role well, don’t you? Don’t run away!”

Gotcha!

Clone No. 5 desperately swung her sword to defend herself, but the white-magic-infused rapier pierced straight through the center of her forehead.

“Grrrk!”

Clone No. 5 collapsed to the ground. Martina turned around with a triumphant expression, confident in her victory.

“Hahaha! Is that all? You put on such a big act, and this is what I get… huh?”

Martina trailed off, her gaze shifting between the fallen No. 5 and the rest of us.

The victorious smile she wore faded, replaced by confusion.

Yeah, you were expecting it, weren’t you?

You thought the clones would vanish the moment you defeated the main body. But what now?

“What the hell? That was… the main body, wasn’t it?”

“That was my clone!”

“That doesn’t make sense! It was clearly…!”

Using the magic I had recovered, I created clones once again.

A total of 50.

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The shield-bearing assault team charged at her.

Thanks to our bait, Martina had ended up at the rear of our formation.

She was now half-surrounded.

Clones No. 18, No. 19, and No. 21 turned around, holding suppression shields, and charged toward her.

They intended to crush her under their shields and stab her with their swords.

This time, we would overwhelm her with numbers…!

That’s how it was supposed to go.

-Boom!-

An impossible explosion echoed.

Clone No. 18, shield and all, was crushed and fell.

“Aaaargh!”

With a single kick from Martina, the suppression shield was completely dented.

While Clone No. 18 fell, Clone No. 19 extended her right arm, thrusting her spear with all her might.

The spear flew in a straight trajectory, but Martina’s rapier deftly coiled around it, piercing through an opening.

No. 19’s neck was skewered.

“Ugh!”

Clone No. 21’s eyes widened in shock as three clean white slashes landed on her suppression shield.

The shield shattered into pieces.

As she stumbled backward in fright, Clone No. 21’s head was severed in two.

“Surround her! Surround her!”

I knew Awakened individuals were strong, but this strong?

No, we still had our numbers advantage!