Chapter 158: They Still Have a Castle? I'll Blow It Up Then.
Pinkish-purple mana flared to life around Gwen's hands. She thrust her palms upward, catching Swampfire and Kevin in glowing, translucent grips, hoisting them both into the air to force them apart.
She held them suspended for a few heavy seconds, letting the cold night air cool their tempers. Once the thrashing stopped, she slowly lowered them back to the dirt.
A brilliant flash of emerald light illuminated the clearing as Swampfire timed out, reverting back into Ben.
The Plumber crouched nearby, his gloved hand retrieving a sleek, metallic pistol from the scorched earth. It looked like a standard compact handgun, but the faint hum vibrating from its core told a different story. It was a piece of Level 5 technology.
He held the weapon up, gesturing for the group to pay attention. "This weapon fires super-enhanced energy molecules. It is an extremely dangerous piece of advanced technology, completely unsuitable for Earthlings. It shouldn't be anywhere near this planet."
Gwen turned her sharp gaze toward Kevin. "The Forever Knights took advantage of the chaos to transport a massive crate out of here. Kevin, we need to know exactly where they are taking it."
Hearing this, Kevin clamped his mouth shut. He shifted his weight awkwardly and turned his head to look directly at Klein.
"Why are you looking at me?" Klein blinked, genuinely stunned for a split second before the realization clicked into place.
"Uh, let's talk in private for a second, alright?" Klein threw an arm around Kevin's shoulder, steering the mechanic away from the others and into the shadows of the nearby trees.
Once they were out of earshot, Kevin lowered his voice, his expression tight with concern. "Boss, isn't this a really bad look for us? If word gets out on the street that we're double-crossing our buyers, it is going to seriously tank our future business prospects."
"Oh, you really don't understand how this works yet, do you?" Klein sighed, shaking his head. It was clear Kevin simply hadn't committed enough atrocities in his life to grasp the finer points of villainous logistics.
A slow, wicked smile spread across Klein's face. "As long as they all die, who exactly is going to be left to tell anyone we double-crossed them?"
Kevin blinked. He naturally knew exactly who Klein meant by 'them'—the targets of their double-cross, the Forever Knights and the DNAliens.
The logic was flawless. Realizing this, a matching, predatory grin stretched across Kevin's face. "Oh, Boss. You are really bad."
"You too."
Under the vast, star-dotted night sky, a black-and-green muscle car tore down an empty suburban asphalt road, its engine roaring like a caged beast.
"I should drive," the Plumber suggested from the passenger seat, his tone entirely deadpan.
Kevin nearly swerved off the road, his temper flaring instantly. "Nobody is allowed to touch my beloved car!"
Gwen, sitting to Klein's left in the back seat, leaned forward over the center console. "What exactly were those aliens back there?"
The Plumber shook his head, his brow furrowed in the rearview mirror. "I don't recognize the species we fought today. In all my years, I have never seen anything like them."
Ben, sitting to Klein's right, was busy scrolling through the holographic silhouettes on his Omnitrix dial. "They aren't in the watch's database either. Cousin, do you know what they are?"
"I think I might have seen them somewhere before, but I probably just casually wiped them out and moved on. Anyway, they didn't leave a deep impression." Klein leaned back against the leather seats, completely unbothered to rack his brain over a bunch of ugly DNAliens.
The Plumber kept his eyes on the road ahead. "Recently, unauthorized alien activity on Earth has become far more frequent. Max originally thought tracing this underground arms deal would provide us with some solid clues, but now he has gone missing."
The mention of Grandpa Max made the atmosphere in the car drop. Ben's grip tightened on his knees, his voice thick with frustration. "I really wish he were here right now. He would know exactly what to do."
"We will find him." Klein reached over, giving Ben's shoulder a firm, reassuring pat.
The simple gesture carried a surprising amount of weight, and silence settled over the car once more, save for the hum of the tires against the asphalt.
A while later, the dense treeline broke.
Looming in the distance, cutting a jagged silhouette against the moonlight, a massive stone castle came into view.
"This is the place," Kevin announced, killing the headlights and parking the muscle car a safe distance away from the fortress walls.
"They actually have a castle?" Klein muttered, genuinely surprised. Kevin had handled all the prior communications with the buyers, so Klein had been out of the loop on their real estate portfolio.
Staring up at the towering stone battlements, Klein felt a sudden wave of nostalgia. It reminded him of the last two Forever Knight castles he had reduced to smoking craters.
'Alright then,'Klein thought to himself.'I guess I'll just blow this castle up for you guys later.'
Seeing the massive iron portcullis sealed shut, the group quickly piled out of the car. Only as they crept closer to the walls did they realize a deep, dark moat encircled the entire structure.
"How do we get across?" the Plumber asked, scanning the perimeter for a drawbridge control mechanism.
Klein didn't even look around. He just turned his head. "Gwen."
Gwen gave a slight nod. Pinkish-purple mana flared around her hands, illuminating the dark water below. She thrust her hands forward, latching her energy onto the heavy iron chains of the castle gate. With a sharp downward pull, the massive wooden drawbridge groaned, snapping its gears and slamming down across the moat with a thunderous crash.
The group hurried across the makeshift bridge and slipped into the castle's interior.
It was pitch black inside. While not entirely devoid of moonlight filtering through the high narrow windows, there were absolutely no torches or modern lights active.
Gwen raised her hand, forming a sphere of concentrated mana that cast a soft, purple glow over the dusty stone corridors.
Kevin immediately began scanning the walls. "There has to be a secret door in here somewhere. Let's find it first."
Taking the cue, everyone split up, fanning out across the grand hall to inspect the tapestries and stone pillars.
Seeing that the others had their backs turned, Kevin smiled slyly. He casually strolled over to a glass display cabinet, shattered the lock, and began stuffing his pockets with antique gold and silver jewelry.
"You should have brought a shopping bag," a voice whispered right behind him.
Kevin jumped, whirling around to see Ben standing there with his hands planted firmly on his hips, wearing a deeply judgmental scowl.
A few feet away, the distinct rustle of plastic echoed in the quiet hall.
Klein, who had just pulled a massive, heavy-duty shopping bag out of absolutely nowhere, froze. He stood in silence, a priceless silver chalice hovering halfway to the bag.
The silence stretched for three agonizing seconds. Then, without breaking eye contact with Ben, Klein calmly dropped the chalice into the bag and went right back to scavenging the display cases.
Kevin merely shrugged at Ben's teasing, patting his jingling pockets.
Rolling his eyes, Ben gave up on lecturing the two thieves and went back to searching for the secret door. He wandered deeper into the hall, his eyes scanning the shadows. The entire room was cluttered with European Middle Ages artifacts, including several towering suits of plate armor holding heavy broadswords.
"This place is seriously creepy," Ben muttered, taking two steps backward to get a better look at a particularly menacing helmet.
His heel caught the base of a display stand.
A suit of armor directly behind him tipped backward, crashing to the stone floor with a deafening, metallic clatter.
Hearing the noise, Kevin—nursing a very guilty conscience—whipped his head around in a panic. "What are you doing?! You're going to— Oh my god!"
Kevin's jaw dropped, his eyes widening to the size of saucers as he stared at the space directly behind Ben.
Hearing Kevin's strangled gasp, Klein and the others rushed over.
"Can you guys keep it— What the hell is that?!" Gwen gasped, taking a step back.
"Uh, guys? Is there something behind me?" Ben asked, his voice cracking slightly. He cautiously turned his head.
He found himself staring directly into a gigantic, glowing reptilian eye.
Looking up, the shadows parted to reveal the towering, metallic snout and jagged teeth of a massive Western evil dragon.
"I knew the Forever Knights had some good stuff hidden away in here." Klein tilted his head, looking up at the mechanical beast with genuine interest. For some reason, the sheer scale of the dragon gave him a strange, almost nostalgic thrill.
"Never mind. Let's take it down first."
Klein casually tapped the dial of his Another Omnitrix.
"Humungousaur!"
A blinding flash of phosphorescent blue light erupted in the dark hall, and the towering, dinosaur-like form of Humungousaur materialized, his heavy tail cracking against the stone floor.
But he didn't stop there. Humungousaur raised his massive fist and slammed it directly into the Another Omnitrix symbol on his chest.
"Ultimate Humungousaur!"
The phosphorescent blue light flared again, consuming his entire body. Bone-like plating shattered outward, heavy armor fusing to his skin as massive bio-gatling cannons formed on his arms. He grew rapidly, muscle and mass expanding exponentially until he stood as a towering, twenty-meter-tall juggernaut.
His spiked head smashed straight through the castle ceiling, sending chunks of masonry raining down into the hall.
Ultimate Humungousaur bent down, peering through the dust at the now comparatively small evil dragon. A wicked, terrifying smile stretched across his armored face.
Then, he threw a punch.
The impact sounded like a bomb detonating. The kinetic force of the blow caught the dragon squarely in the jaw, launching the massive beast completely off its feet. The dragon became a blur of metal and scales, crashing backward through three consecutive load-bearing walls, tearing through multiple rooms, and bursting out the back of the castle before skidding to a halt hundreds of meters away in the dirt.
"Awesome!" Ultimate Humungousaur roared, his voice shaking the remaining foundations.
Taking heavy, devastating steps, he charged excitedly in the direction of the downed dragon. Obstacles along the way—stone pillars, iron gates, entire staircases—were treated like wet tissue paper, completely unable to slow his advance. His spiked head dragged along the ceiling, tearing a massive, jagged fissure through the upper floors of the fortress.
Gwen quickly threw her hands up, projecting a wide mana barrier over the group to deflect the massive chunks of falling debris. She let out a long, exhausted sigh as she watched Ultimate Humungousaur's retreating back tear the castle in half.
The Plumber stood frozen, staring at the apocalyptic destruction before him. It took him a long time to find his voice. "Should we... go help him?"
Ben calmly reached out and patted the Plumber's shoulder. "No need. You'll get used to it."
"Besides," Gwen said, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper as she lowered her shield and scanned the shadows. "It seems we have run into our own trouble."
From the dark corridors and shattered archways, dozens of Forever Knights stepped into the moonlight, their energy lances humming to life as they completely surrounded the group.
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]