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nThe world was suddenly engulfed in darkness.

nThe sun was setting so it shouldn’t have been a surprise, however looking at the sky it was easy to guess nothing about what’s happening was natural. For starters it was way too sudden, then there is the fact that no stars could be seen above them.

nA loud boom resounded as the Valkyries activated their propellers and took off from the scene. It was the right course of action in this situation. Whatever it is that caused the sudden change it was large enough to cover the entire city. With them inside its domain their odds were far too low and a tactical retreat was in order.

n“So it was a trap after all.” Nine said, her eyes glowing slightly as she used night vision to scan the surroundings.

n“Five! Tell me the proton canon is ready!” Zero Three cried, whipping her head left and right nervously.

n“It’s just outside the city.” Said Zero Five, doing her best to stay calm.

nWith the speed they were flying at it should’ve taken them less than a minute to reach the outskirts, though before that could happen another sudden change occurred.

nThe streets below them began to glow a bright purple color as if they were neon lights that had been turned on. A second later the same light appeared from above, only this time it was a single large arc.

nThe three Valkyries glanced behind them just in time to see the arc move. It split in the middle, turning into two thinner lines that slowly separated from each other. More lines formed as the first two separated and soon after a new shape began to form.

n“… An… eye?” Nine said, having stopped to stare at the strange shape above.

n“NINE!!” Zero Five shouted, noticing that the blond Valkyrie had halted.

nJust then the pupil of the giant single eye moved as if noticing the weapons’ presence. A pillar of purple light fell from above missing Nine by a hairs breadth, however the next moment it moved at a speed beyond the Valkyries’ ability to react.

nThe purple light enveloped the three for a single second before disappearing and the three Valkyries came out unscathed. As they looked at themselves trying to see if there are any changes Zero Thee said something the other two agreed with.

n“I have a bad feeling about this.”

nNo sooner than the words came out of her mouth a number of squares and rectangles blinked into existence. Unlike the ones from before these were much smaller and in greater numbers, because of that the silhouette they formed looked much clearer.

nOne glance was enough for them to see the resemblance. The silhouette had the outline of a really curvy woman with a large ass, wide hips and thick thighs. A side view showed its giant chest as well. The new purple glitching silhouette was clearly modeled after Nine.

nAs if that wasn’t enough of a proof the equipment the Valkyrie wore began to take shape as well ending with what was clearly a rough version of Nine’s sniper rifle, and as if to confirm their thoughts the silhouette pointed the long barrel at the blond Valkyrie.

n“NINE!!”

nZero Five’s shout was drawned by the sound of a massive explosion as the silhouette shot what was more of a canon blast compared to the light bullets Nine’s weapon releases.

nThe blond Valkyrie moved out of the way just in time to avoid the blast which collided with one of the buildings a moment later erasing it in a large explosion.

nThe silhouette wasted no time, aiming its weapon and preparing to shoot once more. Before it could a pair of blades pierced its right shoulder cutting right through it in a diagonal line all the way to its left flank. Split in half, the silhouette shattered into millions of pieces before blinking out of existence.

n“Let’s move!” Zero Three yelled. “This thing didn’t have our force field, but who knows if the next one will be the same!”

nThe young Valkyrie had disposed of the silhouette quite easily, feeling no resistance as her blades cut through it. Even E class Calamities weren’t as fragile, which led to the same conclusion as before; the silhouettes aren’t the main body.

nNoticing the purple squares blinking into existence in multiple locations the three Valkyries took off at top speed.

n“This is an A class, huh?” Nine asked.

n“If it’s capable of creating an indefinite number of those things then it would be an S class.” Said Zero Five, her brows knitted in a deep frown.

n“Seriously!?” Zero Three exclaimed, her expression full of doubt, fear and most importantly annoyance.

nEven as they spoke more and more silhouettes were appearing left and right. It took about ten seconds for each one to completely form and by that time the three Valkyries would’ve put quite a long distance between them, however the moment they started to move it was clear which one was faster.

nThe silhouettes were weightless allowing them to accelerate much faster which made little sense considering the fire power they packed. The ones modeled after Nine pointed their rifles and shot beams of light in the Valkyries’ direction. At the same time the new ones, modeled after Zero Five and Zero Three, spread their wings and launched themselves at an incredible speed chasing after the three weapons.

nAs if avoiding the purple beams wasn’t enough, they now had to fend against the bladed weapons the silhouettes attacked them with. Seeing the power behind the blasts Nine’s clones used made them expect the same from the others, however it seems those using physical attacks weren’t as strong since their weapons shattered the moment they made contact with the Valkyries’ force field. The problem was their great numbers. Even if they didn’t cause much damage all they had to do is hinder the Valkyries’ movements enough for the ranged silhouettes to aim at them.

n“Keep moving!” Five instructed, cleaving one of the enemies using her halberd.

nMore and more were appearing everywhere. The likelihood of their opponent being an S class sounded more realistic now. Glancing above them, the Valkyrie with the ponytail glared at the giant eye in the sky.

n“Nine!” She called, coming to a sudden stop. “We will cover for you so shoot that thing!”

n“Alright!”

nThe blond Valkyrie was already aiming her rifle by the time Five finished her order. One of the silhouettes took that opportunity to swing at her while another one shot a beam of light in her direction, however the other Valkyries moved to intercept them with Zero Three clashing with her clone while Zero Five charged her force field to it’s full output and blocked the purple beam.

nTrusting that her comrades would do their part Nine smiled, fixing her target with a glare before pressing the trigger.

nA blue bullet shot out toward the sky, however before it could travel far enough one of the silhouette moved blocking its way getting pierced right through. As one of them wasn’t enough to stop it more and more jumped in getting destroyed one after the other until the bullet lost its velocity.

nTwenty silhouettes were destroyed but seeing as more and more were appearing the Valkyries couldn’t call it progress.

n“At least we know were to aim!” Zero Zhree didn’t stop, flying around and whittling down the enemies’ numbers without pause.

n“Nine, keep shooting!” Zero Five said, putting all her focus on blocking the ranged shots. “Don’t give them time to recover!”

n“Understood!”

nNine squeezed the trigger shooting bullets in quick succession. The silhouettes prioritized covering for the giant eye, and with each bullet destroying twenty of them they soon had to focus on intercepting them instead of attacking.

nThings were looking good, the strange glitching figures where almost completely gone. Just when the Valkyries thought their victory was near another pillar of light suddenly fell on them.

n“Oh no…” Nine muttered, her eyes going wide as she realized what had just happened. Snapping out of her daze she quickly returned to shooting at the giant eye, however even with no silhouettes in her way the bullets still didn’t seem to reach the target.

nLooking through the scope of her sniper rifle she realized that a number of squares had appeared just before the giant eye forming a pair of hands. More followed and before long three new silhouettes appeared.

n“We need to get out of here.” Nine said, her voice devoid of any emotions.

nOne look was enough to tell her that the new creations were completely different from the previous ones. The three that stopped her bullets had a much more defined shape with nearly no glitching parts. She could no longer call them silhouettes as well. They were all detailed copies of Zero Five with the only differences being their hallow eyes and faintly glowing purple color.

nIt was clear that those three were much sturdier than the previous version and guessing what caused that change wasn’t a difficult task.

nThe three no longer questioned that they were facing an S class Calamity.

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