Chapter : 705

A foul smell washed over the room. It smelled like rotten eggs mixed with melting plastic and burnt iron. The ambient radiation level in the room spiked immensely. The white purification bubbles around the 13th Unit hissed loudly. The holy energy fought hard to push the toxic radiation away.

"Get ready, everyone!" Princess Iris shouted. She stood at the front of her team. "The ultimate defense system is coming out of that pit!"

Laxmi grinned a wide, excited grin. She punched her open palm. Bright orange fire popped around her hands. The flames roared to life.

"Finally!" Laxmi cheered happily. She bounced on her toes. "I get to roast a giant robot! I love smashing robots! I am going to melt its shiny armor into a puddle!"

Zinia stomped her boots onto the shaking floor. She crossed her muscular arms. She frowned a deep, serious frown.

"It might not be a simple robot, Laxmi," Zinia warned clearly. The strong earth mage stared at the glowing green pit. "The energy feels wrong. It feels like pure, concentrated poison. A normal machine does not smell like toxic sludge."

Ira stood perfectly still. Her pale face showed zero emotion. Her robotic voice cut through the loud sirens.

"Statistically speaking, an ultimate defense protocol utilizes the most lethal assets available," Ira analyzed flatly. "We must prepare for a maximum-threat encounter. The survival probability drops significantly."

Luna rubbed her sleepy eyes. She let out a massive, dramatic yawn. "It is making too much noise. The alarms are giving me a headache. I cannot sleep with that thing waking up."

Ken slouched his shoulders as far as they could go. He looked at the giant, glowing pit. He reached his hand into his plastic bag. He pulled out a handful of sour gummy worms. He tossed them into his mouth.

He waited patiently for the monster to show its face. He knew the boss entrance animation was going to be very long and very flashy. He just wanted to eat his candy in peace before the real noise started. The lazy slacker was ready to watch the drama unfold.

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The giant pit glowed brighter and brighter. The sickly green light illuminated the entire laboratory. The robotic sirens continued to blare loudly from the ceiling.

A massive hand reached out of the deep hole.

The hand was gigantic. It was not a normal mechanical hand. It was made of twisted, rusted steel girders. Thick, bubbling green sludge covered the metal. The radioactive sludge dripped slowly from the giant fingers.

The toxic sludge hit the pristine white floor tiles. The floor melted instantly. The tiles sizzled and smoked. A horrible burning smell filled the air.

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The creature grabbed the edge of the pit. The steel groaned under its immense weight. The creature slowly pulled itself up. It rose from the dark hole.

The 13th Unit stared in shock.

It was a titan. It was a walking nightmare. The monster was massive. Its head brushed against the high concrete ceiling of the laboratory. Its body was a chaotic mixture of thick industrial steel armor and pure radioactive waste. The green sludge flowed through the gaps in the metal like toxic blood.

Sayma looked at her digital tool. She pushed her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose. Her dark eyes widened slightly.

"The central computer labels this entity as Gargantua," Sayma reported politely but urgently. "It is the Solurius Behemoth. It is composed of radioactive sludge and reinforced steel. It is the ultimate manifestation of the toxic waste from the mining disaster."

Gargantua did not have a face. Its head was just a solid, jagged block of dark, melted metal. It had no eyes. It had no mouth. It simply stared forward blindly.

But it possessed a core.

A massive, blindingly bright green core glowed in the center of its massive chest. The core looked like a giant, toxic sun. It pulsed with pure radiation. The pulse sounded like a slow, terrifying heartbeat. Thump. Thump. Thump. The core illuminated the entire beast.

Ken Eliot stood at the back of the group. He slumped his posture. He popped another sour gummy worm into his mouth. He chewed it lazily. He stared directly at the giant glowing core on the beast's chest. He used his flawless anime logic to analyze the monster design.

"That is way too obvious," Ken thought casually to himself. He buried his hands deep into his pockets. "A giant glowing spot right in the middle of the chest. That is the most classic weak point design in video game history. The developers made it easy to spot. A glowing target literally screams 'shoot me here'."

Ken shook his head slowly. He disagreed with the obvious design.

"But it is definitely a trap," Ken reasoned smoothly in his mind. "A smart boss never puts its real weak point in the open. That chest light is a total decoy. If you hit that chest core, it probably explodes in your face. Or it instantly triggers phase two of the boss fight. The real energy core is always hidden somewhere super annoying. I am ignoring that chest light. I refuse to fall for basic game traps."

Gargantua fully climbed out of the pit. The Solurius Behemoth stood tall in the ruined laboratory.

It took a single step forward.

The entire floor shattered. The concrete cracked into a million pieces under its massive steel foot. The intense shockwave rolled across the room. The impact threw empty metal cabinets into the air. The cabinets crashed against the walls.

The 13th Unit struggled to keep their balance. Naomi planted her boots firmly. She held her arms out to protect Ken and Risa from the flying debris.

"Stay behind me!" Naomi shouted fiercely. She spun her twin silver daggers. The metal glinted in the green light.

Risa hugged her brown teddy bear. She squeezed her glowing white purification shard. She looked terrified, but she did not panic. She remembered her promise to Ken. She stayed perfectly calm. She trusted her friends to protect her.

Luna rubbed her sleepy eyes again. She frowned a lazy frown. "It is too big. It makes way too much noise. I cannot sleep with a giant sludge monster walking around. We need to turn it off."

Ira stared blankly at the towering beast. Her pale face showed zero emotion.

"Statistically speaking," Ira stated in her flat, robotic voice. "A creature of this immense mass possesses incredible physical defense. Standard physical attacks will yield minimal results. The radioactive sludge will melt close-range weapons. We must maintain a safe distance."

Zinia cracked her knuckles loudly. "I do not care how big it is. If it bleeds sludge, we can smash it."

Suddenly, a loud, violent crash echoed from the side hallway.

A massive pile of concrete rubble exploded outward. White dust plumed into the air.

The 4th Prince, Ares Belmontia, smashed straight through the debris. He walked back into the main laboratory. His rugged combat trousers were covered in dirt. His bare muscular torso was covered in white dust. His spiky red hair was . He breathed hard.