Cyan and Nishi arrived at the primary capital gates, successfully establishing a visual lock on the Mario brothers and Prince Peach.
"You must be the independent bounty mages who executed the successful extraction of Prince Peach! My name is Mario, and this is my biological brother, Luigi!"
Mario enthusiastically introduced himself and Luigi, his demeanor completely devoid of hostility.
"Cyan."
Cyan articulated her designation with a stark, freezing neutrality. Even if her analytical matrix designated the Mario brothers as the absolute focal protagonists of this world layer, she possessed zero intention of forcing her personal behavioral patterns to simulate artificial warmth toward them.
"My designation is Nishi~!"
Nishi offered a cheerful, high-energy smile before turning her gaze toward Prince Peach, her features reflecting calculated surprise. "Prince, is your person intended to embed within our vanguard for the march upon the Bowser Queen's fortress?"
"No. My presence here is strictly to oversee your departure and offer royal blessings!"
Prince Peach naturally desisted from embedding his physical frame into the core combat team; such a trajectory carried an excessive hazard tier for his current survival parameters.
Of course, this did not imply that he would remain completely absent from the final theater of war. He merely intended to utilize a significantly safer vector of transit, ensuring his physical manifestation occurred at the precise millisecond the tactical window optimized for his entry.
"The ultimate liberation of the Mushroom Kingdom rests entirely upon your shoulders!"
Prince Peach delivered the phrase with an expression of intense sincerity. However, filtered through Nishi's behavioral tracking arrays, his emotional output felt profoundly artificial.
Concluding their final administrative dialogue with the monarch, the four-unit vanguard officially initiated their march toward the territory of the Bowser Kingdom, locking their navigation vectors onto Bowsette's primary citadel.
The exact micro-second the vanguard vacated the sector, Prince Peach conducted a clandestine rendezvous with Kamek.
"Can the combined combat strength of the Mario brothers and those two independent bounty mages successfully reduce the Bowser Queen's parameters to zero?"
Prince Peach had historically witnessed the cataclysmic physical output of the Bowser Queen; consequently, his cognitive matrix harbored a distinct thread of anxiety regarding whether this vanguard could actually secure a victory. If the team experienced a total military liquidation, his long-term strategic designs would be terminated mid-cycle.
"Prince Peach, preserve your psychological stability. The chemical compound I engineered utilizing the active extracts of the Ice Flower possesses the specific property required to suppress the Queen's plasma output. The combat attributes of the Mario brothers, augmented by the two mercenaries, will be mathematically sufficient to dismantle her defense lines."
Kamek, maintaining his transmutative disguise as a standard Toad, smiled subtly. "Whether the Mushroom Kingdom and the Bowser Kingdom can successfully integrate their macro-assets will depend entirely upon your personal theatrical performance when the curtain rises, Prince Peach."
"This objective stands as an absolute certainty within my designs! Mario and Luigi have already committed their combat parameters to support my play. Provided they successfully neutralize the Bowser Queen, every subsequent variable will slide smoothly into its designated slot." Prince Peach spoke with absolute, unwavering confidence, his internal emotional state spiking with intense excitement as his mind simulated a visual projection of himself standing atop the absolute apex of global geopolitical power.
"Regarding those two independent bounty mages... do they possess any awareness of your underlying strategic roadmap?"
To ensure his operational design achieved a zero-percent failure rate, Kamek had systematically calculated nearly every variable. Yet, whenever his tracking routines scanned those two mercenaries, his neural network registered a minor, persistent trace of psychological unease.
"They are merely low-tier mercenaries executing an operational contract for financial liquidation. What possible administrative relevance does my matrimonial acquisition of the Bowser Queen hold for their network?"
Prince Peach released a low snort, dismissing the concern with absolute indifference. The behavioral profiles compiled on Cyan and Nishi indicated they were merely standard, money-obsessed mercenaries; deploying a sufficient volume of financial capital was guaranteed to make them sell their physical lives without question.
"Let us project that reality holds true."
Observing the extreme confidence exuded by the Prince, Kamek allowed his tracking routines to stabilize. He prepared to return immediately to the interior of Bowsette's citadel. His objective was to introduce the engineered suppression compound directly into the Bowser Queen's dietary resources prior to the vanguard's arrival. By the millisecond they breached the throne room, the internal suppression modifier would achieve optimal saturation. Given Bowsette's absolute psychological pride, her behavioral matrix would completely veto any retreat sub-routine. Her ultimate defeat was already a hardcoded certainty within his calculations.
Meanwhile, entirely oblivious to the reality that her single most trusted administrative asset was actively engineering her downfall, Bowsette was currently lying in a highly relaxed, lateral posture across her master mattress, a cosmetic facial mask applied smoothly to her skin as she enjoyed her rest.
"Yee-haw~!"
Mario executed a high-velocity vertical leap into the airspace. As his frame descended under gravity, his lower extremities impacted squarely with the crown of an advancing Goomba. The immediate biological feedback loop was violently visceral.
Splat—!
Biological fluids erupted outward in a localized spray as the Goomba's physical frame was instantaneously flattened into a nominal thickness, visceral components and shattered bone fragments bursting violently from the crushed chassis under the sheer kinetic impact.
When engaging the Koopa Troopa details, the brothers' operational efficiency scaled to an even more terrifying tier. Executing precise leaps to impact the carapaces, they forced the Koopas to retreat into their defensive shell configurations. With a fluid, high-velocity kick, they launched the heavy shells forward like kinetic artillery rounds, the projectile shells tearing through the vanguard space to instantaneously crush the remaining lines of Goombas and Koopas ahead.
Within the defensive ranks of the Bowser Kingdom, the two brothers operated precisely like peerless vanguard generals executing a musou-tier battlefield clearance. Furthermore, they possessed the bizarre capacity to manually impact floating structural masonry blocks to extract high-tier items.
Upon witnessing Mario and Luigi systematically extract a Super Mushroom directly from the interior of a solid, floating brick block, Cyan and Nishi felt their cognitive arrays turn completely chaotic amidst the wind.
A Super Mushroom qualifies as a high-tier historical treasure asset! How can an environmental architecture possibly contain such items inside standard bricks?!
Under the hyper-efficient combat output of the Mario brothers, Cyan and Nishi practically expended zero physical energy across the march, functioning strictly as audience units tracking their theatrical performance. This arrangement allowed Cyan to accumulate a highly detailed baseline understanding of their core combat output.
As nocturnal parameters blanketed the sector, the group consumed their dietary rations. Mario and Luigi immediately initiated their sleep cycle to restore their energetic reserves, leaving Cyan and Nishi to execute the first-half security watch.
"Master, what is your current evaluation of their combat parameters?" Nishi asked, utilizing a small wooden branch to agitate the localized campfire while casting a brief glance at the deeply sleeping brothers. She leaned her frame closer to Cyan's auditory sensors, dropping her vocal amplitude to a low whisper.
"Exceptionally high."
Cyan delivered her assessment with absolute factual accuracy. The combat output of these two middle-aged males—who possessed completely uninspiring physical aesthetics save for their structurally prominent nasal features—scaled significantly beyond her initial tactical projections.
Who could have calculated that they would neutralize hostile units utilizing a mechanical methodology that appeared profoundly farcical on the surface, yet yielded near-perfect operational lethality?
"Should we leverage this specific window to execute a summary...?" Nishi executed a sharp, horizontal slashing motion across her throat line. In her tactical estimation, faced with such formidable potential adversaries, the single most logical course of action was to terminate their lifespans while their consciousness routines were entirely offline.
"Unnecessary."
Cyan directed her gaze toward Nishi, executing a subtle, negative rotation of her head.
"A victory remains fully within our statistical margins."
While the Mario brothers exuded a highly formidable combat profile, the mechanics they deployed to liquidate hostiles appeared to function strictly as highly refined active skills native to their personal builds. If a hard confrontation materialized, the ultimate victor remained a mathematically open variable.
However, did they retain hidden, high-tier trump cards within their unmonitored arrays?
Processing this specific question, Cyan determined to track the Mario brothers' operational execution with even higher fidelity, systematically harvesting a more comprehensive data line.
The subsequent day, while navigating through an active garrison corridor, the four-unit vanguard encountered the Hammer Bro sentry guarding the local sector.
"It's you! You are the exact units who executed that illegal jailbreak last cycle, causing our persons to receive a severe administrative reprimand from the Queen! You dare manifest before our line again?!"
"You are executing a self-guided march into a terminal graveyard!"
The Hammer Bro details bellowed in pure rage, immediately launching a continuous volley of heavy iron hammers through the airspace.
"Brother! Leave these two targets to my positioning! I shall personally dismantle their frames!" The younger Hammer Bro twin indicated Cyan and Nishi with his arm before charging directly toward Mario and Luigi.
Cyan smoothly unsheathed her blade, executing a precise deflection to neutralize an incoming iron hammer.
Do not expose your baseline combat parameters.
Cyan transmitted a sharp, non-verbal cue through her gaze toward Nishi.
Understood completely~!
Nishi winked her eye back toward Cyan, confirming receipt of the command.
Thus, under conditions of absolute information blackout on the part of the Mario brothers, their two mercenary teammates openly initiated a high-level phase of battlefield slacking. Not only were they actively withholding their combat parameters, but they were also deliberately forcing the brothers to display whether they possessed any hidden trump cards that had yet to be deployed.
The elder Hammer Bro continuously recycled his heavy iron artillery, while Cyan and Nishi executed a sequence of 'extremely strained' evasion maneuvers to dodge the incoming trajectories.
"Does your combined combat strength terminate at this pathetic threshold?!"
Observing that Cyan and Nishi appeared completely devoid of the capacity to execute a counter-offensive under his artillery barrage, the Hammer Bro let out a booming laugh. His features shifted into pure mockery as he raised his primary hammer high, executing a heavy downward smash to crush their frames.
"Brother! Intercept this asset!"
Seeing Cyan and Nishi pinned down under an oppressive offensive line, Luigi's internal stress parameters spiked to maximum. He frantically retrieved a Fire Flower from his personal inventory, hurling the item through the airspace toward Mario.
"Acknowledged!"
The exact millisecond Mario consumed the Fire Flower, his default garments and cap underwent an instantaneous chromatic shift into a pure, immaculate white. He began discharging a rapid, continuous succession of high-thermal fireballs toward the Hammer Bro, completely disrupting his positioning. Capitalizing on the opening, Luigi executed a massive vertical leap directly above the Hammer Bro's coordinates, initiating a hyper-velocity rotational descent.
Crack—!
The sharp, echoing sound of bone fracture reverberated through the chamber. Under the kinetic pressure of Luigi's Spin Jump, the Hammer Bro's cervical vertebrae were cleanly snapped, his entire skull forced violently downward into the interior cavity of his own shell armor.
[System Note: Sentry eliminated via single-impact structural collapse...]
Cyan watched the elder Hammer Bro's health bar instantaneously drop to absolute zero the exact micro-second Luigi's spinning boots established contact with his skull, a brief flash of genuine surprise flitting through her silver-white eyes.
"Brother! You have actually liquidated my biological twin! I shall render your physical frames into absolute dust!"
The younger Hammer Bro, who had been leisurely toying with Cyan and Nishi, had completely failed to project that his twin could be neutralized within such a minimal temporal window. Waving his iron hammer with unadulterated fury, he redirected his charge toward Mario and Luigi—and within a brief sequence of combat exchanges, his physical parameters were likewise entirely liquidated.
Cyan stared at the physical corpses of the Hammer Bros, her internal processing arrays registering a minor note of financial regret. Had she and Nishi executed the terminal strikes on these two sentries, the probability of extracting a Bronze or Silver Card asset would have been exceptionally high; however, because the kills were claimed by the native Mario brothers, zero loot items materialized.
Nevertheless, to secure absolute intelligence regarding the Mario brothers' structural capabilities, this sacrifice of material gain was entirely logical. At the very minimum, she had successfully witnessed the hyper-lethal damage multipliers attached to their active skill sets.
Deep within the primary throne room of the Bowser Queen's fortress:
"My Queen, the Hammer Bro details have been completely liquidated by the Mario brothers' vanguard. Their unit, alongside the two independent bounty mages, is currently maintaining a direct navigation vector toward our central citadel."
Kamek maintained a highly respectful, subservient posture before the sovereign sitting upon the throne, presenting an administrative suggestion: "Should our network deploy a higher density of military details to intercept their advance?"
"Completely unnecessary. Clear their transit vector and permit their entry! I harbor an intense desire to personally evaluate the exact threshold of their combat parameters. If their combined strength genuinely possesses the capacity to secure a victory over my person, restoring that pathetic Mushroom King and his civilian population back to their baseline organic states is not an impermissible concession."
Bowsette rested her chin lazily against a single hand, an excited, predatory smile surfacing across her features to expose her razor-sharp canine teeth. A faint plume of incandescent plasma leaked subtly from the corner of her lips, her deep blue eyes reflecting an intense, burning thirst for battlefield conflict.
"Kamek, when the terminal sequence concludes, the administrative execution of that restoration array will be delegated entirely to your station!"
"As you command, My Queen."
Kamek lowered his head, a cold, calculating gleam flashing across the sensory arrays of his eyes behind his spectacles.
Regrettable, My Queen... but the glorious combat your soul desires is hardcoded to never materialize in the manner you project.