Chapter : 115
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Chapter : 115
"Ah! Stranger danger!" Ken yelled, putting his hands on his cheeks in a fake, exaggerated panic. He quickly scurried behind a large, glowing crystal sticking out of the cave floor, perfectly avoiding her attack once again.
While Elma was busy trying to chase Ken around the rocks, the main battle was reaching its boiling point. Zaima, Hestia’s cruel lookalike, raised her hand to signal her shield-bearers to push forward and finally secure the center of the room.
"Enough playing around," Zaima ordered coldly. "Secure the pedestal. The Core belongs to the 16th Princess."
But just as Hestia's spotless vanguard took a synchronized step toward the glowing white stone, a very strange, high-pitched mechanical humming sound echoed through the cavern.
Bzzzzzzzt.
It sounded like a heavy machine powering down.
Suddenly, the empty space directly around the stone pedestal began to shimmer and distort, like looking through a wavy glass window. The air rippled, and in the blink of an eye, an entire group of people seemed to magically pop out of thin air.
The fighting instantly stopped. Laxmi lowered her flaming hands. Sayma dropped her golden barrier. Even Hestia’s perfectly disciplined shield wall froze in total confusion.
Standing right in the center of the room, directly next to the pedestal, was the 9th Unit.
Prince Hephaestus and his nine tired, soot-covered engineers were standing in a tight circle. They were all wearing thick leather aprons and holding heavy metal gadgets covered in blinking lights. The leader of the engineers flipped a switch on a large, clunky backpack, and the mechanical humming sound completely stopped. They had been using a highly advanced, technological cloaking device to stay totally invisible.
And the worst part? One of the engineers was already holding the glowing Core of Luminus in his greasy, heavily callused hands.
"Target secured, Your Highness," the engineer said, carefully placing the glowing stone into a thick, insulated metal box.
Princess Hestia’s elegant, haughty smile completely vanished from her face. Her jaw actually dropped open. For the first time all day, she looked genuinely shocked. "What... what is the meaning of this?!"
Princess Iris stepped forward, her violet eyes wide. "Brother Hephaestus? How long have you been standing there?"
Prince Hephaestus pushed his heavy welding goggles up onto his forehead. He rubbed the back of his neck, leaving a fresh streak of black grease on his skin. He looked incredibly awkward and very, very tired.
"Uh... well, we actually got here about five minutes ago," Hephaestus admitted, giving the two Royal teams a highly apologetic, uncomfortable smile. "We were just standing here under the stealth field, waiting for the right moment. You guys were throwing a lot of fire and lightning around, so we didn't want to get in the way."
"You sneaked past us?!" Naomi yelled, pointing her dagger at him. She was absolutely furious. "We fought the giant snake monster! We did all the hard work to clear this room, and you just walked in and took it?!"
Hephaestus actually winced, looking deeply guilty. "I know, I know. It is an incredibly cowardly, sneaky tactic. It really is. I feel terrible about it. I honestly hate playing dirty like this."
He took a step forward, looking directly at Princess Iris and then over at Princess Hestia. His messy, exhausted face was completely sincere.
"I am so sorry to both of you," Hephaestus apologized, bowing his head slightly. "It is not honorable. But my engineers are not fighters. We are mechanics. If we tried to fight you girls fairly, we would get completely crushed in ten seconds. And like I told Iris outside the cave... I really, really need this core for my heating project in the outer districts. I cannot afford to lose today."
The 13th and 16th Units were totally stunned. The loud, intense battle had been completely paused by a group of tired plumbers who just politely apologized for stealing the most important artifact of the day.
---
The total silence in the cavern only lasted for a few seconds before absolute chaos broke out again.
"I do not care about your little heating project, you dirty mechanic!" Princess Hestia snapped, completely losing her refined, high-society manners. She pointed an angry finger at the 9th Prince. "That artifact belongs to me! My unit is the absolute best in the Empire! You will hand that Core over to me right this second, or my girls will tear your silly stealth gadgets to pieces!"
Zaima immediately stepped up beside her Princess, raising her hands to summon her sharp, triangular barriers. "Formation Alpha! Prepare to breach the center!"
"Wait! Don't you dare!" Laxmi yelled, her hands bursting into orange flames again. She glared at Hestia's team. "If anyone is fighting them for it, it's us! We were here first! We actually killed the boss while you guys were busy ironing your uniforms!"
"Both of you, please just calm down!" Prince Hephaestus pleaded, holding his greasy hands up in a peaceful gesture. He looked completely stressed out. "Nobody needs to get hurt! We already put the Core in the containment box. The race is officially over. Please, just let my team walk out of here."
"Not a chance!" Naomi shouted, stepping forward with her daggers ready.
The three Royal teams were locked in a highly tense, incredibly angry standoff. Weapons were drawn, magic was flaring up, and everyone was yelling at each other at the exact same time. It looked like a massive, three-way war was about to explode right in the middle of the glowing cavern.
And right in the middle of all this intense royal drama, Ken Eliot decided it was the perfect time to make his grand entrance.
Ken casually strolled out from behind the glowing crystal where he had been hiding from Elma. He slouched his shoulders, shoved his left hand into his pocket, and casually walked right past Sayma and Naomi. He didn't look scared of the weapons, and he didn't look worried about the angry Royals. He just looked like a guy wandering through a park.
He walked right up to the very center of the room, stopping just a few feet away from Prince Hephaestus and his heavily guarded containment box.
"Hold on, everyone! Timeout!" Ken yelled loudly, waving his arms to get their attention.
The arguing slowly died down. Everyone stopped yelling and turned to look at the messy, untucked boy standing in the middle of the standoff.
Ken puffed his chest out proudly. He thrust his right hand straight out in front of him, pointing his index finger directly at Prince Hephaestus's face. The cheap, shiny blue plastic stone on his ring caught the light of the cavern crystals, glimmering brightly for everyone in the room to see.
Ken took a deep breath and delivered his lines with the absolute loudest, most dramatic voice he could manage.