The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City-Chapter 59: Polaris – The Nameless Spark Has Been Set Ablaze

A few minutes before declaring war on Martina, I was sitting in the hospital room chair, checking Daphne’s condition.

She lay on the bed with a peaceful expression.

Her soft facial features were unmarred by any twisted lines, smooth and serene.

If not for her pale complexion and the bandages on her forehead, she would have appeared as though she were simply asleep, like always.

“…I’m sorry.”

The doctor said it was a mild concussion.

While a shard grazed her head, it wasn’t life-threatening.

For a normal person, it might have been dangerous, but since she was an Awakened, it seemed that was the extent of the damage.

The reason she fell into a coma, however, was something else entirely.

According to the doctor’s explanation, it was this:

“It’s due to the shock caused by the excessive use of magic power. Though the injuries are severe, it seems she forcibly drew out power while running low on magical energy at the end.”

I felt unsettled.

“Have you taken care of everything?”

“…I’ve wrapped it up. I disposed of it far away. Considering her injuries, she won’t be returning to school anytime soon. The local practice here ensures that the police don’t get involved in minor disputes between Awakened, so there’s no need to worry about being reported.”

I should’ve done this sooner.

We were busy all night.

We collected all personal belongings carried by the gang who attacked us and sent them to our lodging in the central district.

Passwords and such weren’t even a hindrance.

I deleted all the photos.

More than humiliation, the security risk was greater.

If my face were to spread, it would hinder my activities.

In addition, after a few…persuasive conversations enhanced with a hammer, we managed to find the home address of the Perian siblings.

They were commuting students, and apparently, they rented an entire house—perhaps because they had money.

I still had no idea what they were up to.

Unluckily, when we broke in at dawn, the sister was nowhere to be found, leaving only the blonde punk of a brother.

“What the—! You…how did you get here…?! Aaargh! Stop! Aaargh!!”

When we interrogated him about his crimes, he shamelessly denied everything, and in our fury, we pounded him like hamburger steak.

We didn’t kill him, but his condition was far from pleasant.

Originally, the plan was to deal with both siblings thoroughly, but that wasn’t possible.

Had things gone as planned, we would’ve eliminated them both, but it ended up being a shame.

Looking at Daphne sleeping peacefully, I felt my rage boil up again.

I’ve never been this angry in my life.

Why is that?

This killing intent keeps welling up.

Toward whom?

The gang bastards who pulled this nonsense?

The chairwoman of the management committee who orchestrated this from behind?

Yes, I hate them all.

I want to remove every last one of them.

But above all, I’m furious at myself.

I shouldn’t have left any loose ends.

When I first saw that Martin bastard, I should’ve shredded him or dealt with him so he wouldn’t dare touch us.

If I had resolved to attend this madhouse of an academy, I should have been prepared for some degree of danger.

But I was too complacent.

I thought something like this wouldn’t happen?

No, I just turned a blind eye to it.

Or perhaps, when I confirmed the abduction, I should have acted more rationally and calmly.

I should have resolved the issue more logically and cleanly.

I replayed it over and over, blaming and lamenting myself endlessly.

And then, as I stared at the bandages peeking out between the strands of her shimmering silver hair, I realized I had forgotten the most important fact. 𝘳Ã𝐍ОВĚŝ

I don’t die.

Even if my clones get injured, broken, or destroyed, they just need to be revived.

No matter how terrible the pain—whether it’s losing limbs, being burned alive, or having my body melted away—I can pass it off to another me.

And after regenerating, I can just smile again.

Because of that, my sense of crisis disappeared entirely.

When you lose in a game, you just keep pressing <Continue> until you win.

Eventually, you’ll win.

But what about others?

For others, when they get hurt or die, that’s it.

There’s no second or third chance like I have.

None at all!

And the most horrifying part is that, at some point, those others have seeped into my life, into my heart, far deeper than I ever expected.

To me, Kalia is a comrade, a fellow escapee from the lab.

Then what is Daphne to me?

Just a roommate?

Daphne continued to breathe softly, lying there peacefully.

Without thinking, I held her soft hand.

It was warm.

If I had failed to stop it, if the power of the magic had been slightly stronger, she could have died.

She had been surrounded by the gang, shielding herself with a barrier while enduring attacks for hours in a state of magical depletion.

“…Violet.”

The door opened, and Irene walked in.

Thanks to her help last night, when I was panicking, Daphne was able to be admitted to a single-person hospital room.

I keep receiving help from her.

“We absolutely cannot let those bastards get away with this. I’ll make sure to—”

“Thank you, but I’ve already thought of something. It’s a way to achieve your goal as well.”

I cut off her impassioned explanation halfway through.

I appreciated her help, but I already had something planned.

“What are you going to do?”

“A duel. I’ll challenge Martina to a duel. Irene, you’re strong and have your parents’ name, so people are too scared to challenge you to a duel, right?

So I’ll issue the challenge and destroy her.

If a first-year student they’ve never seen before suddenly picks a fight, wouldn’t they be inclined to accept?

I’ll even stake the dissolution of the management committee as a condition of the duel.”

There’s a particular problem that arises because there are so many of me.

While one part of me mourns, rages, and screams in grief, another part calmly calculates the pros and cons of the situation and considers countermeasures.

Sometimes, I get chills from what we, as an existence, are capable of.

Hearing my words, Irene gasped in shock.

“Wait, Violet? Are you out of your mind? Martina isn’t just another senior who flaunts her age and grade. That woman is—”

“Irene, thank you for worrying about me. But it’s already done.”

“What?”

It was too late to stop me.

Someone like Irene, who’s an ordinary person, can’t comprehend the spatial and temporal simultaneity of us Violets.

While I was talking to her, I had already provoked that blonde ponytailed bitch in the management committee room long ago.

* * *

“…What did you do to my brother?!”

“…It’s a duel, you wretched bitch.”

Let’s crush her.

Let’s utterly humiliate her.

Of course, a duel alone wouldn’t suffice.

There were still options outside the school for her scheming.

Even if I imposed harsh conditions and publicly shamed her, it wouldn’t be enough.

More, more drastic measures were needed.

Of course.

I’ll sever her limbs and toss her into the sewer!

Root and branch eradication—that’s what it’s called.

An inexplicable murderous intent surged from deep within my chest.

Martina, who was holding onto my glove, stared at me with a dumbfounded expression for a moment, then reacted like magnesium dropped into water—a violent chemical reaction.

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“You, what did you just say? A duel?”

In the blink of an eye, she grabbed my collar and pulled me right in front of her, growling.

Even as I faced her fiercely furrowed eyes, no thoughts came to mind.

“You’re dead meat, you brat. If it weren’t for the school rules, I would’ve already torn you in half. Got it?”

“Why? Planning to kill me? That’s a shame.”

She must have been really angry.

I understand.

I mean, I did beat her little brother to a pulp and even set fire to their house. I feel a little sorry for the landlord.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but I’ll show you exactly what hellish school life feels like. Why not quit now? Sure, your parents will cry blood tears, but—”

“Blood tears? That’s fine. My mom’s already dead. I killed her myself!”

“…?”

“And since it’s come to this, I’ll send you to join her too!”

While Martina was momentarily stunned by my words, I shrugged my shoulders and calmly added more to provoke her further.

“I’m sorry about your brother, though. When I broke into your house, only Martin was there. So I turned all his limbs into something soft, like squid tentacles. Should I count what’s hanging between his legs as a limb too? Anyway, after beating him up hard, he fainted while screaming, ‘Sis! Help me!’ You should’ve been there!”

“You crazy bitch!”

She raised her fist, ready to punch me. But as her fist rose, Martina sensed something off, quickly let go of my collar, and jumped back.

It was the moment when the hidden Violet clones in the room dashed out with weapons drawn.

We tried to surround her, but her reaction speed was faster than expected.

As soon as the Violets aimed their spears and crossbows at her, she reached for the sword at her side.

-Clang!

「…!」

「Our weapons! We couldn’t see it!」

A few flashes of light flickered in the air, and then the weapons of the nearby Violets broke cleanly in half and fell to the ground.

Shocked, I immediately deployed four more clones and retreated.

“…Clone technique? It’s my first time seeing it in person. Are you the original?”

“Who knows? What does it matter? Someone like you can be crushed by sheer numbers anytime!”

Though still furious, her demeanor had grown slightly calmer as she pointed her sword at us and stood in a standoff.

Wait, that sword… It seems familiar.

No, now’s not the time to think about that. Martina’s presence was sharper than I expected.

We pointed our weapons at her in an attempt to intimidate her.

After a few minutes of confrontation, the first to back down was Martina.

She sheathed her sword and turned her back on us.

“With this level of skill… What a joke.”

“Hey! Where are you going?”

Her contemptuous gaze swept over us.

For some reason, she sneered, as though she found something utterly ridiculous. Was she underestimating us?

“A duel? …Fine. Follow me. You said you were Violet, right? I’ll make you regret ever being born.”

Her mouth really did run too much.

This was my third visit to the dueling arena.

The first time was when I pushed that jerk who was bullying Levi.

The second time was when I watched Irene demolish the members of the student council.

And now, this was the third time.

The duel procedures were well-known by everyone, so the process went lightning-fast.

Martina’s condition was very simple. Total obedience to her orders, literally doing everything she said. In short, becoming her slave.

“Then I’ll do the same! I’ll set that as my condition too. No problem, right?”

“…Do whatever you want.”

Since it was the surest way to get revenge, I placed the same condition on her.

On top of that, I threw in the dissolution of the student council as a bonus.

“Are you insane? Do you really think that’s possible?”

“So, are we dueling or not? You’re not chickening out, are you?”

“…Fine, whatever. Add that too.”

Despite being enraged earlier, Martina now crossed her arms and responded arrogantly.

What could she possibly be so confident about?

All the remaining minor conditions were also finalized.

There was a lot of back-and-forth, but let’s skip over the tedious details.

When the disciplinary committee looked over the list of weapons I requested, they seemed puzzled, but Martina brushed it off, so everything was approved in the end.

Spears, swords, axes, crossbows—every kind of weapon you could think of was to be used by me alone.

Martina, on the other hand, had only her sword.

That sword… I’ve definitely seen it somewhere before, but I can’t quite remember.

Still, this is winnable.

“…The duel is set for tomorrow at 3 PM. Does everyone agree?”

“Yeah, agreed.”

“Same here!”

As I was leaving after all the formalities were settled, Irene, who had run over from the hospital, froze in shock when she saw Martina leaving first and then saw me following after.

“Violet! Don’t tell me… You didn’t… Are you crazy? Cancel it right now! I’ll do it instead!”

“I’ve already signed everything. Don’t worry. I can win!”

Martina snickered and left, seeing Irene clinging to me.

That obnoxious woman. I’ll smash her face to pieces.

Whatever happens, it’s fine.

We Violets will win for sure!