The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City-Chapter 114: Flying Violet! (2)

When you escape the erosion zone filled with chaos and madness, you’ll encounter a city of barriers and fortresses that protect reality and order.

Traveling several dozen kilometers further, you’ll find the human domain where safety is guaranteed.

In this domain, which spans multiple continents, countless people live their lives fiercely every day.

However, this is not our stage.

To reach the real stage, we must leave the continent.

Beyond the rolling waves lies the sea, and across that sea, you’ll find a cluster of islands known as the Rustlum Archipelago.

The Academy City Rustlum is located on the main island of the Rustlum Archipelago.

Around the massive main island are dozens of smaller islands, scattered like stars in the night sky.

If the main island is the largest jewel in a crown, then the surrounding islands are the tiny decorative gems that enhance its brilliance.

Most of the archipelago’s population is concentrated on the enormous Rustlum main island, but people also live on the surrounding islands.

Prominent islands include Mystia, Veridis, and Cascadia.

If you grab a passerby and ask them to name an island from the Rustlum Archipelago, nine times out of ten, they’ll mention one of these three.

While not as populated as Rustlum, these are significant places.

They are safer due to low gate occurrence rates, and their beautiful landscapes make them famous tourist destinations.

However, not all the archipelago’s islands are easily accessible.

Some islands are entirely eroded zones, while others serve as clan outposts or federal military bases, making them off-limits.

And the vast majority are uninhabited islands.

We Violets took note of this geographical characteristic.

An uninhabited island, with no residents and perfect for operations, was ideal.

While the Violet barracks in the central zone handled the troublesome issues, the rest of us boarded a ship and headed out of Rustlum’s main island.

“Adela’s family home—it’s on that island we passed earlier, right?”

“Yeah, it should be that island.”

Traveling from Rustlum on an armed ferry brings you to Cascadia Island.

From there, securing another ship and sailing for a while brought us to Lespera Island, with its towering cliffs greeting us.

“Is this really a tourist spot? I don’t see many people around. Not a single person after coming all the way up.”

“Probably because it’s not the tourist season right now.”

Lespera Island is a small island with high volcanoes and rugged cliffs.

Although it doesn’t match the fame of the three major islands, it’s still considered a tourist attraction.

But from our perspective, tirelessly working to dismantle the Academy, there was no reason to come here for leisure.

The reason Violet came here was entirely different.

“Well, having fewer people around makes it a great place to practice!”

Lespera Island boasts steady sea breezes and high cliffs.

This natural environment has made it a hotspot for paragliding and wingsuit enthusiasts.

In other words, it’s an excellent place for flight practice.

“Alright, the Violet 1st Air Squadron is here!”

Today, the Violet unit officially launched its first air squadron.

Originally, we planned to practice flying on the Rustlum main island.

Our future operations would likely take place in urban areas, so it made sense to conduct takeoffs and flights in a city setting.

“Let’s get started.”

“Be careful not to break anything!”

After storing the delivered parts in the inventory, we moved them to the distant explosives workshop.

The Violets at the workshop began assembling powered hang gliders using parts from the boxes.

Before long, a proper aircraft stood in the middle of the factory.

After fueling and starting the engine, it functioned perfectly.

However, a problem arose at the next stage.

“How do we fly this thing?”

Although it was less complicated than an actual airplane, the powered hang glider was still a type of aircraft.

Having never piloted an aircraft, I had no idea how to operate it.

“Planes have control sticks, but this one doesn’t.”

“Are we sure this is the right model?”

We had ordered various types of powered hang gliders.

One model resembled a small aircraft with an engine, seat, and landing wheels beneath a hang glider.

The other was a simplified model with just an engine and gondola beneath a parachute, better described as a powered parachute.

We scoured the included manuals, books, and video materials.

“It says it’s controlled by shifting your body weight!”

“Like riding a motorcycle, then!”

Sitting in the stationary seat, I tried shifting my weight in various directions.

After a few attempts, I felt like it might actually work.

“Let’s start right away!”

“Prepare for takeoff!”

We dragged the powered hang glider out to a nearby wasteland.

There were so many volunteers eager to go first that we used a computer to randomly select a number.

The winner was No. 74.

“Yahoo!”

No. 74 climbed into the seat, grinning from ear to ear.

When the engine started, it sputtered a few times before the propeller began spinning vigorously, propelling the hang glider forward.

“Try moving your body back and forth. That might get it to lift off!”

Following advice from the surrounding Violets, No. 74 did as instructed.

The hang glider lifted off into the sky.

“Wow, it’s flying! I’m flying!”

Violet had achieved true powered flight.

The hang glider ascended slowly but steadily into the sky.

No. 74 gleefully spun around in the air.

“I’m flying!”

“Amazing! To succeed like this on the first try!”

We clapped enthusiastically, filled with awe.

Some excited Violets pulled out champagne from their inventory and popped it open.

This flight was just a small attempt, but for us Violets, it was a huge leap forward!

Now, our reach extended into the skies.

“I’ll try landing now!”

After soaring through the air for a while, No. 74 attempted to land on the wasteland.

Not knowing what might happen, several Violets brought nets from the workshop.

They spread the nets out to ensure a safe landing.

“I’m coming down!”

The hang glider carrying No. 74 began its descent.

But No. 74, overly excited, made a mistake.

She descended at too steep an angle.

「Huh? Uh-oh! This feels unsafe!」

「The angle is off!!」

The hang glider crashed into the ground without even having the chance to slow down.

The body flipped, and the wings smashed apart on impact.

“Screeeee!”

“Ahhh! Our hang glider is ruined!”

No. 74 screamed as she was thrown into the ground.

“Ugh… I think I broke my back.”

“Got it. No. 74! Quickly, regenerate!”

No. 74 hadn’t died, but she was badly injured.

Her body slowly dissolved into shimmering particles of magic.

But Violet’s injury or death wasn’t the problem here.

The hang glider was destroyed.

Its propeller had snapped, and the body was wrecked.

「Oh no, our poor hang glider!」

「It can’t be helped! Let’s just buy a new one. We’ll fly more carefully next time.」

Fortunately, we had ordered more than one powered hang glider.

After reviewing what went wrong, we prepared for another flight attempt.

「What about slightly enhancing your body while controlling it? That could help you make more precise movements.」

The engine roared back to life with a buzz.

A new hang glider took to the sky.

「Slowly, slowly! Don’t worry—we’ll catch you with the net!」

「Okay! I’m landing!」

This time, the hang glider landed in a more stable position.

Though it didn’t stop for a while and had to be caught with the net, the glider itself remained intact.

「As expected, using magic to enhance reaction time makes controlling it easier.」

「Don’t overuse it, though. You need to conserve your magic.」

By the third flight, the hang glider successfully landed safely.

「Finally!」

As No. 542 got off the hang glider, Violet ran up and tossed her into the air in celebration.

「Yahoo!」

「Let’s keep this up!」

While the Violets were laughing, chatting, and bouncing around, No. 10, who had been watching from the Violet barracks, made a comment.

「So, what’s next?」

「Next? We practice takeoff, do some aerial shooting drills, and maybe try bombing…」

「What about wingsuits?」

「Ah, right.」

The Violets’ eyes turned toward the unopened wingsuit package.

Now that we noticed it, we weren’t sure where to practice with those.

「What about jumping off the hang glider or creating clones in midair?」

「Already? Let’s try that later when we’re used to it. For now, we should practice jumping off high places first.」

Acknowledging the reasonable suggestion, the Violets nodded in agreement.

But where would be a good location for this?

It seemed best to jump from a tall building.

In the middle of the central zone stood Rustlum Veil, a building boasting heights measured in kilometers.

「Wouldn’t doing it in the middle of the city draw too much attention? The workshop being in a remote area was fine, but this…」

「Then, is there a quieter spot we could use?」

Someone came up with a new idea.

「Do we have to do this inside the Academy City? There are lots of islands outside.」

「Aha!」

And so, the Violets headed to the cliffs on Lespera Island.

「Everyone! Get ready!」

Once we confirmed the area was clear of people, I created a clone and put on a wingsuit.

The wingsuit could be replicated just like other clothing.

「The weather’s great! The wind’s perfect!」

「No one’s approaching the area. We can start!」

Above us, a fleet of hang gliders, assembled from inventory supplies, was flying overhead.

The three hang gliders were primarily for training control, but they doubled as a way to practice flight and scout for anyone approaching.

「Group 1, begin the drop!」

「Here we gooo!」

First, five Violets threw themselves off the high cliff.

As we fell, we immediately spread our arms and legs.

The powerful resistance made it hard to stretch them out, but by activating magic through our limbs, we powered through.

The film coating on our suits unfurled.

We felt a lift.

The falling speed slowed slightly, and our descent transitioned into flight.

We glided through the air, feeling the resistance against our entire bodies.

「Yahoo! This is so fast—it’s amazing!」

「Kya-ha-ha-ha!」

Even through masks and goggles, the fierce sea wind exhilarated us.

The speed was incomparable to the hang gliders, thrilling us to no end.

However, piloting was incredibly difficult.

Even a slight twist of a limb sent us spinning or veering off course in midair.

In high-speed flight, a single mistake could mean death.

And then, an incident occurred.

「Ack!」

No. 412 collided with a rock due to a flight control error caused by strong winds.

She vanished like a crushed tomato.

「No. 412, dead!」

The remaining four Violets remained tense as they descended toward the ground.

In the distance, at the reckless end of the fall, white foam waves and jagged rocks awaited us.

“Ah? Ah! I’m stuck! Gaaah!”

While flying through the trees, No. 67 failed to see a tall tree and got caught.

No. 67’s neck snapped.

“This is the training controller! You’re almost at the destination. Now deploy your parachutes and land!”

The remaining three successfully reached the destination.

Since we couldn’t land where there were people, we decided to touch down in the ocean.

Below us, the scenery was filled with an endless blue sea and white foam.

Now we just had to deploy our parachutes!

“Oh no! The parachute won’t open! Aaargh!”

Unfortunately, at the last moment, No. 443’s parachute failed to open.

While Nos. 234 and 110 landed safely, No. 443 plunged into the sea.

“Surviving Violets, regenerate quickly. Next group!”

“Second team, begin descent!”

The Violets continued to fall repeatedly for practice.

Like flowers scattering, Violets leapt off the cliffs and disappeared.

After countless deaths, we gradually grew accustomed to flying.

When training was over, the remaining Violets discussed wingsuit flight.

“I looked it up, and they say wingsuit flying is closer to falling than actual flight.”

“It’s fast but kind of tricky.”

Wingsuits were far more challenging compared to hang gliders.

They lacked propulsion equipment and were difficult to control.

Even a slight mistake in steering sent you flying off in the wrong direction.

Moreover, the descent speed was fast.

Apparently, for every 1 meter of descent, you advanced 2.5 meters forward.

This meant that to fly 10 kilometers, you’d have to jump from an altitude of at least 4 kilometers.

“If we’re going to use this practically, we’d need to jump off a hang glider or generate ourselves midair.”

“It’d be helpful for high-speed infiltration, but sustained flight isn’t feasible. We also need to consider that powered hang glider engines don’t perform well at high altitudes.” ŗ𝙖Ꞑ𝘰𝔟Ɛ𝒮

“What about strapping rockets to our backs?”

“Rejected. Propulsion control would be impossible.”

Violets No. 45 and 31 offered skeptical opinions.

After thinking deeply, No. 289 responded.

“Don’t be so negative! We just need to use them for the right purposes.”

The right purpose—when I thought about it, that made sense.

Nothing in the world is perfect, so the key is to apply things appropriately to the situation.

Powered hang gliders could soar through the skies without limits but were incredibly clunky and slow.

Wingsuits, on the other hand, were fast and agile but only allowed for gliding.

We deliberated over how to overcome the strengths and weaknesses of both devices.

No. 3 suddenly clapped their knees and exclaimed.

“If the flight distance is the problem, what about jumping from a hot air balloon or an airship? You could jump from higher altitudes than a hang glider!”

“That’s a great idea!”

Hearing No. 3’s suggestion, the Violets agreed and took note of it.

Powered hang gliders, due to engine limitations, couldn’t climb to high altitudes.

However, large helium balloons or hot air balloons could ascend much higher.

By using a balloon with a Violet aboard as a base, we could continuously generate and deploy wingsuit strike teams.

With everyone sharing their ideas, it became clear how much we could do.

The option of flight opened up a whole new realm for our battles.

“Wait a minute, everyone.”

Amid the discussion, No. 178 proposed an intriguing idea.

“You’re all thinking strangely. Why are we only considering wingsuits as a means of transportation?”

“…!”

We had forgotten.

Violets had their own unique methods!

There were ways to maximize the advantages of wingsuits.

A few days later, while the Violets on the main island struggled with various issues, the Violets outside the island ventured farther out to sea.

We secured a boat and headed to an uninhabited island far from Lespera Island.

We planned to conduct combat training here.

The fully prepared Violet 1st Air Squadron soared into the sky across the sandy beach.

Five various hang gliders began formation flying.

“Stay in formation. Get ready!”

The hang gliders flew slowly through the air, heading toward their target.

Before long, the squadron reached the skies over the opposite side of the uninhabited island.

There, a variety of targets were arranged—watermelons, mannequins, and broken household appliances.

“Attack units, prepare to fire!”

First, the single-seater hang gliders and powered parachutes approached.

Each pilot held either an automatic rifle or a small homemade bomb in one hand.

“Commence attack!”

The squadron leader Violet gave the order.

The Violets aboard the hang gliders fired their guns and threw bombs at the targets on the ground.

-Boom!

The targeted mannequin collapsed under the barrage of rifle fire.

Bombs followed, raining down in succession.

The mannequin was blown to pieces.

As the smaller hang gliders retreated, a two-seater hang glider began circling its prey like an eagle.

While the Violet in the cockpit focused on piloting, the one in the passenger seat pulled a Type 60 machine gun from their inventory.

“Attack unit, commence firing!”

-Tatatatatang!

The Violet in the passenger seat aligned the red dot in the scope with her target.

As she pulled the trigger, bullets rained down like a storm.

A yellow stream of tracer rounds swept through the targets.

-Papapat!

The table and the watermelons sitting on top of it exploded and shattered.

「Target neutralized!」

When the machine gun fire ceased, a rapid-fire grenade launcher was pulled out and fired at the ground.

With a small explosion, the targets were torn apart by fragments and left in tatters.

「So far, this is all as expected. Nothing special.」

「What matters is what comes next. We have to succeed…」

When the shooting drills ended, the Violets waiting on the ground of the uninhabited island brought out a large white sheet.

The sheet, marked with a black crosshair at its center, was spread open.

We secured the four corners of the sheet to the ground and scattered back into the trenches to hide.

「Fifth unit, ascend to maximum altitude!」

One of the powered hang gliders followed the command, running its engine at full power and soaring high into the sky.

No. 12 looked around.

Below, there was nothing but deep blue sea stretching endlessly.

After flying far from the island, No. 12 concentrated her magic.

Beneath the hang glider, a clone equipped with a wingsuit materialized.

No. 241 was wearing a heavy backpack and a vest.

She unfolded the film on her suit and immediately began gliding toward the island.

Although her heavy load made her movements a bit sluggish, it wasn’t enough to stop her from flying.

「No. 241, you can do it!」

「Focus! Focus!」

Encouraged by the cheers of the other versions of me, No. 241 gained confidence.

The fierce wind roared past her ears, whistling loudly.

The uninhabited island, which once seemed so far away, gradually grew larger.

No. 241 let the wind carry her, free-falling gracefully.

Soon, the target came into closer view.

The white sheet spread on the ground grew nearer with each passing second.

The crosshair painted on the sheet became clearer.

No. 241 twisted her arms and legs diligently to adjust her flight trajectory, making sure not to miss the landing point.

「Getting closer! Yahoo!」

No. 241 exclaimed internally in excitement.

She could see the Violet formation circling in the sky.

She also spotted the other Violets waiting on the ground.

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The white sheet was now directly in front of her.

The ground was coming closer.

Closer.

Impact imminent!

「It’s gonna blow!」

-Kwaaaaang!

No. 241 crashed precisely into the center of the crosshair on the white sheet.

One second later, a fierce explosion engulfed the target area.

The Violet formation in the sky was the first to witness the result.

「Did it succeed?」

「We did it! It worked!」

No. 241, now returned to the Violet Network, shouted with excitement.

「Did you see that? I nailed it!」

「Great job!」

The Violets on the uninhabited island couldn’t contain their excitement and ran around wildly, dancing in joy.

「Today’s a good day. Let’s celebrate and drink!」

「Hooray!」

We rejoiced at our new success, savoring yet another advancement in Violet military science.

How could we not celebrate?

As of today, this very moment, the Violets had gained the power to annihilate any group of villains from a long distance!

A weapon capable of raining precise firestorms onto the heads of our enemies—the Violet Aerial Guided Bomb—was born.