Chapter : 699

Ares charged forward. He ran straight toward the incoming laser blasts. He swung his bare fists. He punched the magical energy. His kinetic magic absorbed the impact. He deflected the lasers with pure physical strength. He reached the first group of guards. He threw a devastating punch.

BAM.

The guard flew backward across the room. The guard crashed into a glass containment tube. The glass shattered into a million pieces. Glowing green liquid spilled all over the clean floor.

The Battle Tiger leaped forward. It moved with terrifying speed. It swung its massive, metal-plated paw. It smashed a row of computer mainframes. The computers sparked wildly. Wires snapped. Keyboards flew into the air. The tiger roared again. It tackled two guards at the same time.

The 13th Unit watched the chaos from behind their metal cabinets.

Sayma stared at her computer terminal. The screen flickered. The power died . The download stopped at twenty percent. The data was lost. Sayma sighed politely. She closed her notebook. She pushed her glasses up.

"The local network is destroyed," Sayma reported calmly. "The 4th Prince just smashed the primary server routing hub. We cannot gather any more digital evidence from this sector."

Princess Iris frowned. Her violet eyes looked very stern. She hated seeing the mindless destruction. The Emperor ordered an investigation. He wanted names. He wanted records. He wanted to know who funded this illegal facility. Ares was destroying all the valuable clues.

"We need to stop him," Princess Iris stated firmly. She raised her silver rapier. "He is ruining the investigation. We will not find the missing artifact if he buries this entire facility in rubble."

Naomi nodded. She held her daggers ready. "I will cover you, Princess. Let us move."

Princess Iris stepped out from behind the metal cabinets. She walked confidently toward the chaotic brawl. She did not draw her weapon to attack her brother. She wanted to use diplomacy. She wanted to reason with him. She hoped he would listen to logic.

Ken Eliot stayed behind the cabinets. He did not follow Princess Iris into the open. He sat down on a small metal crate. He opened a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips. He grabbed a chip. He popped it into his mouth.

"Diplomacy is definitely not going to work," Ken analyzed casually in his mind. He chewed his salty snack. "Ares is a berserker class player. Berserkers do not read the dialogue boxes. They just skip the cutscenes to get back to the fighting. You cannot negotiate with a player who only presses the smash button. Princess Iris is wasting her breath."

Ken watched the 4th Prince punch another computer screen. The screen exploded into sparks. Ken grabbed another potato chip. He enjoyed the salty flavor. He was ready to watch a very loud, very pointless argument between siblings. He just hoped the armored tiger did not step on his snacks.

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The underground laboratory was a scene of total destruction. The bright white LED lights flickered wildly. The red emergency sirens blared from the ceiling. Thick smoke filled the air from the broken computers.

The 4th Prince, Ares Belmontia, stood in the center of the mess. He punched a security guard. The guard dropped his magical rifle and fell to the floor. Ares laughed a loud, echoing laugh. He loved the thrill of combat. He loved breaking things.

Princess Iris walked toward him. Her silver dress stood out against the smoke and the green spilled liquids. She stopped a few feet away from her older brother. Naomi stood right beside her. Naomi glared at the muscular prince.

"Ares! Stop this immediately!" Princess Iris shouted. Her voice carried a clear, commanding tone. It cut through the noise of the alarms.

Ares turned his head. He wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead. He looked at his younger sister. He did not look angry. He looked highly amused.

"Iris!" Ares greeted loudly. He grinned a massive, arrogant grin. "You made it to the party! I thought your little underdog unit would turn back at the toxic fog. You are tougher than you look."

"We are here on official orders," Princess Iris stated firmly. She pointed her silver rapier toward the smashed computer servers. "The Emperor gave us a secondary objective. We are supposed to investigate this facility. We need to collect evidence. We need to find the data logs. You are destroying all the digital records."

Ares scoffed. He crossed his scarred, muscular arms over his chest. He looked at the broken machines. He did not care about them at all.

"Evidence is for politicians, Iris," Ares mocked smoothly. "I do not care about paperwork. I do not care about reading boring data logs. The Emperor wants results. I am giving him results."

"Destroying a crime scene is not a result," Princess Iris argued. She kept her posture perfectly straight. "We need to find out who built this place. We need names. If you smash the computers, the traitor goes free."

Ares let out a loud, booming laugh. He uncrossed his arms. He pointed a finger at the ruined laboratory.

"You think too much, little sister," Ares sneered. "The traitor built a secret base. I am destroying the secret base. I am crushing their expensive equipment. I am breaking their toys. Destroying the enemy's resources is vastly superior to collecting pieces of paper. I am sending a very clear message. Nobody hides from me."

Before Princess Iris could reply, the armored Battle Tiger let out another mechanical roar.

ROAR.

The giant beast leaped across the aisle. It landed on top of a massive glass containment tube. The thick glass shattered instantly. Dozens of gallons of glowing green liquid spilled out. The liquid splashed across the pristine white tiles.

The tiger swiped its metal-plated claws. It sliced right through a thick concrete support pillar. The pillar crumbled. The ceiling groaned loudly above them.

Naomi quickly grabbed Princess Iris by the arm. She pulled the Princess backward. A large chunk of concrete fell from the ceiling. It crashed onto the exact spot where Iris had stood a second ago.

"He is out of control, Princess," Naomi warned quietly. Her green eyes scanned the crumbling ceiling. "The structural integrity of this room is failing. The tiger is going to bring the whole roof down on our heads."

Princess Iris frowned deeply. She looked at Ares.

"You are going to bury us alive, Ares!" Princess Iris yelled. "Call off your beast! We need to find the stolen artifact! We need to find the Ode to a Black Phoenix!"

Ares did not listen. He ignored her words. He turned his back on his sister. He looked down the long, bright hallway leading deeper into the underground facility. He heard more alarms blaring in the distance. He heard more security guards shouting.

"More enemies!" Ares cheered happily. He cracked his knuckles again. "The real fight is further down. Let us go, Vanguard! Leave the nerds behind!"

Ares jumped into the air. He landed perfectly on the back of the armored Battle Tiger. He grabbed a thick leather strap on the saddle.