Chapter 918: A Single Vanguard Squad Is No Match
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 918: A Single Vanguard Squad Is No Match
This was the longest reverse summoning I had ever experienced.
Even with my nascent sense of space, I couldn't quite grasp the spatial shifts inherent in this summoning mechanism.
Before long, I felt the summoning reach its end.
A deep, profound blue lay at the end. Everything before my eyes began to take shape, and that refreshing sensation of breaking free from the Great Weakening Spell washed over my clone.
Then came the rejection—the will of this alien world pushing back against an outsider.
Even though this was not my main body, nor even a recognized form of life, an entity originating from outside the world was bound to be rejected by it.
Yet all that pressure was instantly converted into Bad Luck Curses, resisted by my alchemy items.
Even as shattered as the Main World was, its consciousness possessed a weight that the will of a mere transitional medium-sized world couldn't hope to match.
Then, my descent into this world was complete.
I saw the massive rune ritual that had summoned me, and the deep, dark sky above, devoid of a single star.
The clouds rippled outward, forming a perfect, regular circle.
Finally... a sense of weightlessness surged in my chest.
"Am I... in the sky?"
Realizing my situation, I flipped my body over. Below me, the earth stretched out as far as the eye could see.
The weightlessness of the fall was accompanied by a howling gale that whipped my clothes and skirt, making them snap and flutter with a loud rustle.
My silver hair billowed behind me, tossed wildly by the fierce winds, and I reached out to grab my hair ribbon before it could fly away.
Though this all happened in a mere heartbeat, I managed to grasp the general situation.
Directly beneath me, a massive and eerie surge of energy was roiling.
That was the power source that had triggered my summoning. The energy had erupted toward the heavens, sketching that rune across the sky.
As I looked toward the ground again, I noticed the landscape was dominated by forests of skyscrapers, ablaze with lights. Between the tightly packed buildings, countless crowds swarmed the streets.
Every single one of them was looking up, their eyes fixed on me.
Anticipation, curiosity, novelty, scrutiny, excitement...
Countless emotions intertwined, like a grand stage awaiting the performance of the actor about to step into the spotlight.
"There... there really is someone up there!"
In the crowd, someone with keen eyesight suddenly shouted, and everyone’s gaze was instantly drawn to the spot.
They craned their necks, staring at the "guest" described by Monroe, the president of the Fool's Dream Protection Association.
But despite the magnificence of the summoning ritual, the figure appearing in the sky looked like an ordinary person.
The more faint-hearted among them even began to worry—falling from that height... wouldn't she just splat on the ground?
"Who is that? Does anyone recognize her?"
"Is that white hair? If it's long hair... it must be a girl, right?"
"How is your eyesight that good? I can't even find where you're looking..."
As the crowd buzzed with discussion, someone suddenly noticed several figures in the night sky, trailing plumes of fire as they rocketed toward the falling girl.
"Wait! Those guys... aren't they from the Vanguard Teams? What are they trying to do?"
"Dammit! Those heartless bastards want to kill her! Bastards! Why would they do that?"
"Hey! Who has a personal flight device?"
"What do you want that for? To fly up there and die? Besides, those flight devices have smart altitude limits! You idiot!"
"Where are the people from the Fool's Dream Protection Association? Save her! You summoned her, are you just going to leave her to die?"
While the crowd grew anxious, I, high in the sky, felt several threads of malice directed at me. This hostility, rooted in emotion, made me exceptionally sensitive to it.
"Players?"
I watched those figures flying rapidly toward me and felt their killing intent.
It seemed they had been prepared for my sudden arrival for a long time...
Is this the "grand gift" Rebel Witch Sheryl prepared for me?
Being watched by so many people and immediately targeted by the players of this world the moment I show up... what kind of opening is this?
I had originally planned to sneak in quietly, gather some intelligence on this world, and learn about the geniuses who had come here.
And instead, I get this?
I hadn't given this clone a Mana Source or a Spellbook.
This clone possessed only the incomplete "Pseudo-Self-Generated Mana" talent within its body, the Great Knowledge Seed, and... the spell frameworks and ritual runes for all the Prototype Spells and derived spells I had mastered.
Furthermore, my clone was itself a derivation of my domain order, capable of leveraging the power of knowledge to deploy a simple power network.
One could say that this clone, Yue, was different from my other clones. I had poured a great deal of technical skill into her, specifically to ensure she wouldn't struggle to adapt after entering the game world.
Watching the players rapidly closing in, several magic rituals manifested before me.
Compared to the rapid, mindless casting of a standard spellbook, my method of constructing ritual runes on the fly was undoubtedly inefficient.
However... for a magic or spell-based civilization that lacked spellbooks or other specialized means, this casting process was exactly what a mage should display.
The opposition seemed to notice my movements. Their follower combat platforms unleashed a volley of bullets toward me.
Immediately after, a large number of lock-on tracking missiles followed, trailing plumes of smoke.
"Target locked. No facial feature data found... Database manually updated. You have locked onto 'Calamity Witch.' Compiling data..."
The members of the Vanguard Team saw these messages pop up in their game vision.
As vanguard players fighting on the front lines, they naturally knew the concept of a Witch.
They were currently conquering a closed-beta game titled Calamity Witch. Although this particular squad hadn't entered that game yet, they were well aware of what a Calamity Witch was.
However, that game project had been urgently halted and locked down, with no more game qualifications being issued.
In the split second they were distracted by checking the data, their bullets and artillery fire had already converged on the figure.
Yet, an invisible shield seemed to surround the "Witch," blocking or deflecting every single bullet.
They were supremely confident in their firepower.
But faced with the cold, hard facts of her impenetrable defense... an invisible pressure began to spread.
It was only when the subsequent explosion of missiles engulfed the figure in flames that they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Amidst the fire of the explosion, I watched the bullets dissolve into pixels. I caught one of them between my fingers.
I have to say... this game world's development of transcendent pixels has reached a very impressive level.
No wonder Sheryl said this [Transcendent Knowledge] would trigger a breakthrough in the fundamental materials of the transcendent layer. This stuff has incredible potential!
But... I find it hard to imagine why, after developing and harnessing this power, they ended up using it like this.
With such a malleable material, why did they turn it into mere firearms in a game?
And the focus on individual combat development has led to their personal firepower becoming stronger, resulting in these deformed... no, unique "personal combat platforms."
Out of respect for the development of their civilization, I acknowledged their firepower, but that didn't stop me from critiquing and judging their strength.
Of course, these critiques weren't for the players to hear; they were for myself.
What you consider powerful is worthless in the eyes of another.
The fire gradually dissipated. These so-called explosions hadn't dealt me a single point of damage.
The fading flames took on a new form, retaining their instantaneous burst of heat as they began to burn fiercely in the sky.
The onlookers only saw the explosion in the sky. Some felt pity, others felt it was cruel.
It wasn't until they noticed the fire in the sky refused to fade that they realized something was unusual.
But compared to the ordinary people who were just watching for the spectacle, the Vanguard Team understood exactly what kind of monster they had encountered!
The target's biological signatures hadn't disappeared...
As the classified information synchronized, a chill ran down their spines.
Though they didn't have time to watch the combat footage in the files, the mere list of her achievements was enough to drive them to despair.
"A single Vanguard squad is no match."
That description alone was enough to let them know they were finished.
"No... wait! There's still hope! Other Vanguard members near here have already mobilized. We just need to wait for their support!"
"Exactly! Those banned accounts have been cleared. There are so many of us—can we really not handle one mage?"
As they comforted each other, they regained a bit of confidence.
However, there was one person in the squad who didn't feel much of anything.
The one who often went into a berserker bloodlust. If it weren't for the fact that his combat power and instincts were truly terrifying when he lost it, the captain would never have kept such a time bomb in the squad.
After all, such a subordinate was very convenient when used correctly, especially for the indiscriminate slaughter of natives and harvesting of soul quality.
But now...
As the ball of fire in the sky burned more and more terrifyingly, it became as hot as a sun, until the blinding light gradually turned cold and eerie...
The figure slowly emerged from the flames, holding a long blade wreathed in fire, its terrifying pressure stimulating everyone's nerves.
"She's just a glass-cannon mage! These are my favorite kind to kill in games!"
That brute didn't care about anything. He hadn't even looked at the data presented to him; he just felt it was blocking his view and had minimized it immediately.
In his eyes, there was only... kill!
But the moment his killing intent was released without restraint, a flash of deep blue flaming blade-light streaked across the sky.
The extreme heat followed the edge of the blade.
The spreading fire acted like a barrier, splitting the sky in two.
And the dividing line... was the player roaring as he charged toward me.
He seemed to feel nothing as he continued his roar.
It was as if his killing intent and rage had been ignited by the flames. Propelled by his personal combat platform, he continued his unwavering advance.
Until his body began to disintegrate. His form became blurred, as if the details were being censored by mosaics, and then those mosaics turned into single-colored pixel blocks that fell away from him.
The further he went, the faster his body collapsed, until he fell along the path he had taken to chase me.
Dead.
It all happened so fast that the rest of the Vanguard Team didn't even have time to react.
The description "A single Vanguard squad is no match" had been fully realized in that moment.
It forced them to recognize the gap in individual power.
Ultimately, it was the movement of the Supreme Command that forced them to realize just how dangerous their situation was.
Even though they knew perfectly well that they were just playing characters and wouldn't truly die, the terrifying pressure still made them feel instinctive fear.
It was as if their emotions no longer belonged to them.
By the time they forced themselves to calm down and saw the Supreme Command's orders, they were stunned once again!
Those game architects actually wanted them to try and... communicate with this terrifying witch?
But seeing the language module that had been automatically loaded, they knew there was no turning back. At least they were following the will of the Lords; if something went wrong, those Lords wouldn't blame them.
Game accounts in the Main World weren't as disposable as those in other worlds. The higher-ups maintained extremely strict control over them.
It was essentially one person per slot.
If they lost their character permissions here, they would be sent to other worlds as the most dangerous kind of vanguard!
According to the Supreme Command's calculations, the Calamity Witch possessed a certain desire for conversation. If they could stall for time through negotiation, they had a higher probability of survival than if they tried to run.
And when more Vanguard members arrived, they could cover their retreat.
It might even be possible to kill this Calamity Witch if they worked together.
This was a city, after all, which limited many of their large-scale, indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction.
"Calamity Witch! I believe this is a misunderstanding!"
the captain turned on a directional amplification device and spoke in a language he wasn't very familiar with.
They were long accustomed to this kind of real-time language translation.
But everyone was incredibly tense.
If the other party showed no mercy, they might all meet their end right here.
Fortunately, the other party responded... but their faces turned even paler with unease!
Because the language she used to respond... was the language of their world!
Their language encryption and translation protocols were top-tier; how could someone from another world reverse-engineer them?
"A misunderstanding? In that case, I'll treat those bullets and missiles as a welcoming gift. As for my response with that strike just now... what did you think of it? If you're not satisfied, I can give each of you a strike of your own."
My voice carried on waves of heat, distorting the light and making me hard to see clearly, but my words made them shudder once more!