The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City-Chapter 84: Violet Formed a Party! (1)

During the remaining time, we carefully reviewed the situation once more.

Primarily, we revisited the knowledge related to the dungeon.

「Ugh… A zone accessible to people? What does that even mean?」

「It means areas where entry is possible.」

Inside the dungeon, it wasn’t just the beasts that hindered human movement.

There were various natural formations, obstacles, and strange phenomena that occurred within the dungeon.

One misstep could result in being doused with hundreds of degrees of boiling metallic vapor or falling into a pit filled with hazardous materials.

「Scouting is definitely important.」

「Let’s send out an advance team.」

At times like these, I believed deploying clones was the best option.

That way, we wouldn’t have to go through the trouble.

It would also save us the time spent searching for a safe path.

「Is the explanation over?」

「Since it’s an incredibly rare artifact, they were convinced. Let’s bring it over quickly.」

We decided to promptly execute what we had planned.

The goal was to give the inventory to a friend!

A few days before the field trip, Violet’s armed squad was advancing through the gray ruins.

“One, two. One, two!”

Equipped with crossbows, shotguns, and short swords, the reconnaissance team combed through the ruins, searching for potential threats.

A bit farther away from the reconnaissance team, the main force of Violet’s black-clad squad stood by.

Amid the heavily armed troops with shields and rifles was a silver-haired, beautiful girl.

Daphne inspected a display attached to her mechanically designed staff, checking the dungeon’s internal status.

“The current dungeon temperature is 15 degrees. Ether levels are average. There are no irregularities in the other readings. Shall we proceed?”

“This is a beginner’s zone, isn’t it? I don’t think there’s a need to check such things…”

“No way! Safety first. Don’t you know? It’s mandatory to verify such matters before exploring a dungeon. Now that it’s done, let’s move.”

The Violet squad descended through the gray, mineral-like terrain.

“Violet, or rather… Violet No. 12, was it?”

“No. 12 is the one holding the shield over there. I’m No. 54!”

“I’m No. 31!”

“This is No. 198. Nice to meet you!”

“76! Trust me!”

When Daphne saw us chattering, her head seemed to ache as she closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Ugh…! Stop! There are too many of you! Could you give me a moment to think?”

It seemed she wasn’t used to seeing identical-looking people simultaneously reacting, talking, and moving.

But I understood!

Even Irene and Kalia looked somewhat uneasy when they saw us operate like robots in perfect sync.

Later, when I asked, they said it felt eerie and unsettling.

Now imagine how Daphne must feel, seeing us in the dungeon.

Our combat uniforms, masks, helmets, and goggles gave us a distinctly inhuman appearance.

I recalled something Instructor Ulric had once said: a clone army created by an evil secret society.

It was an apt metaphor, difficult to refute.

“Could you please have just one person talk at a time when speaking next time? Please.”

“Got it!”

“Understood!”

“Will do!”

“…Ah, my head hurts…”

The Violets looked crestfallen.

Currently, we were escorting Daphne to the depths of the Novastia Dungeon, to the location of the multidimensional storage bag.

I thought it better to give such a valuable item to a friend rather than leave it lying around.

It’d be best to give it to someone with excellent supportive abilities.

Except for the occasional noise of fighting and the screams of beasts echoing through the alleys, the place was eerily quiet.

「First Squad, status report?」

「Encountered a Skrax horde. Eliminated them. Three minor injuries, no fatalities so far.」

「This is Second Squad. You hear the noise? Not sure which clan they’re from, but they’re hunting noisily. A portion of the horde, startled by the commotion, is heading toward your path. Stay alert.」 ⱤἈ𐌽ՕΒÊš

While crossing a cracked road, the warned-about Skrax horde appeared.

-Guooorrrk!

A swarm of what looked like over a hundred Skrax charged at us.

Worse, a significant number of Skrax Casters were mixed within the group.

From the rear, Daphne approached the shield-bearing frontline.

“It’s dangerous. Stay back.”

“No way. Did you really think I’d just stand by and watch you Violets get hurt?”

With calm but firm movements, she lightly tapped the end of her staff on the ground.

Small, light green barriers appeared before each of us holding shields in the front line.

-Piiing!

The magical projectiles fired by the Skrax Casters flew toward the front line.

The projectiles collided with the barriers and dissipated harmlessly.

“Wow! Didn’t you say you could only create one barrier at a time?”

“That’s when I don’t use the staff. When I use it, the range of my innate ability expands!”

Daphne shrugged her shoulders proudly.

While the Casters recharged their projectiles, we launched our counterattack.

“Kuuooorrrk!”

The shield-bearing Violets immediately drew riot shotguns and pulled the triggers.

The tremendous noise and recoil resulted in devastating lead shot shredding the leading Skrax to pieces.

“Whoa, that’s some impressive performance!”

As they pumped the shotguns, smoke billowed, and brass casings clattered to the ground.

The second line of Violets then unleashed a barrage with automatic rifles and crossbows.

-Tatatatang!

“Ha ha! Die!”

The Skrax swarm turned into a pulp before they even got close to us.

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Bullets and bolts pierced the heads of those attempting to flee, dropping them instantly.

“Kyaa-hoo!”

“Victory for human civilization!”

The Violets were ecstatic.

With Daphne’s support and overwhelming firepower, we smoothly progressed deeper.

“Groooar!”

“Beasts spotted! Five Growlers!”

Massive, muscular beasts with humanoid shapes charged toward us, leaping over rooftops.

They hurled chunks of concrete at us.

“Stay alert!”

Normally, we would scatter in such a situation, but now it wasn’t necessary.

Daphne quickly deployed a shield.

-Ku-kung!

The concrete boulders shattered helplessly against the barrier, while the Violets fired shotguns and crossbows.

Our automatic rifles lacked the firepower to deal significant damage.

Bolts burst into the beasts’ bodies, and buckshot stained their skin with blood.

Yet, the Growlers continued moving vigorously, showcasing their extraordinary vitality.

“Command order: use battle rifles! Don’t forget to conserve ammo!”

The Violets promptly switched to Federation-issued battle rifles, targeting the Growlers.

One of them had a massive hole blown into its chest.

Realizing their companion had died, the remaining Growlers roared in fury but hesitated to leap.

Their limbs were bound by magical chains.

“Two o’clock direction! Fire!”

“Concentrate your shots!”

While Daphne restrained the Growlers with her magic, a hail of gunfire turned the beasts into bloody mush.

As the battle raged, distant buildings crumbled, and a massive beast approached.

It was the Crawler, the strongest mid-tier beast of the Novastia Dungeon.

This caterpillar-like creature, capable of eating rock and metal, crushed everything in its path.

“Let’s run!”

Daphne formed seals with her fingers and tapped the ground with her staff once more.

A green light swept over the Violets, making our bodies feel lighter.

The enhancement added another layer of power to our already strengthened bodies.

“It feels like I’m moving faster!”

“It’s a simple application of my abilities and magic! No time for explanations, just run! Wh-what?”

“This will be faster—let’s go!”

The Violets carried Daphne as we bolted down the alleyways.

However, the Crawler relentlessly pursued us.

“Aaaaaah! It’s coming!”

“Why is it still chasing us?”

“That thing isn’t inherently aggressive! We just happen to be in its path!”

Unfortunately, the path we were on was flanked by buildings too high to leap over, even with our enhanced bodies.

“We’re doomed!”

Violet No. 198, running at the rear, got crushed under the Crawler.

Hearing the scream, Daphne turned back, her face pale as a ghost.

“Ahhhh! Violet! No! That’s No. 198, right? What do we do?”

“Don’t worry! No. 198 lives on in our hearts!”

“How can you say that now?”

At this rate, we’d be running forever.

We sent Daphne ahead while twenty troops charged the Crawler.

“Climb on top of it!”

Channeling magic through our entire bodies, we leapt at the beast.

Five were crushed immediately, but fifteen managed to latch onto its body.

Five more reinforcements joined in.

“Die!”

One Violet pulled out a battle rifle and fired repeatedly, but the Crawler’s carapace deflected the bullets.

Its durability rivaled tank armor—those claims weren’t exaggerations.

The Violets switched to melee weapons and began hacking away at the Crawler.

Five more joined the fray.

-Whooooa!

A crimson blade cleaved through the beast’s carapace like butter.

The creature thrashed in pain, struggling violently.

Violet No. 31 managed to peel back part of the carapace near its head, revealing glowing green flesh.

“Here, have a bomb!”

A homemade explosive was shoved into its exposed head, and everyone jumped clear.

-Kwaaaang!

The Crawler toppled over, unable to control its massive body.

“We did it!”

But the battle wasn’t over.

The collapsing buildings, damaged by the Crawler’s fall, began to topple one after another.

“Help! I’m trapped!”

The Violets who emerged from the rubble were covered in injuries, big and small.

Once safety was confirmed, Daphne returned and scolded us fiercely.

“Are you insane? Even if you feel less pain and can revive, this is reckless!”

“Hehe… but we won, didn’t we? That’s how we Violets operate.”

Daphne frowned, looking on the verge of tears.

Reluctantly, she struck the ground with her staff.

“Ooooh!”

“Feeling stronger already!”

A healing light enveloped the Violets at the scene, restoring our strength.

Feeling refreshed, we stood up.

Fighting together like this revealed the incredible synergy between Daphne and us.

Healing, support, protection—all applied on a large scale to the entire Violet squad.

In less than an hour, we reached the deeper regions where the inventory was located without further trouble.

Fast, efficient, and effective.