Chương 190: Chapter : 190

A tall, official referee wearing a striped black and white shirt walked to the exact center of the grassy field. Princess Iris and Prince Hades stepped forward to meet him.

"The rules of the Tower Defense match are simple," the referee announced into a magical microphone.

"Each team possesses nine glowing stone towers on their side of the field. There will be six rounds, alternating between offense and defense. Each round lasts exactly five minutes. We will now toss the coin to decide who attacks first." The referee flipped a shiny golden coin high into the air. It spun rapidly before landing flat on the grass.

"Heads," the referee declared. He pointed directly at the 15th Prince.

"Prince Hades wins the toss." Hades did not smile. He simply stared coldly at his younger sister.

"We will attack first," he stated. His voice was completely flat, offering zero emotion.

"It is decided!" Bob the anchor shouted through the speakers.

"The 15th Unit will take the offensive role for the opening five-minute round! Princess Iris and her team must fall back to their side of the field and defend their towers! The clock starts in ten seconds!" Princess Iris quickly ran back to her team.

"Defensive positions, right now! Spread out and protect the pillars!" The 13th Unit scrambled backward. On their side of the arena, nine tall, intricately carved stone pillars glowed with a bright blue light. The girls quickly took their spots, forming a protective wall in front of the targets. Ken casually jogged over to the very last tower in the back corner of the field. He leaned his back against the cool, glowing stone, shoved his hands deep into his pockets, and let out a long, lazy yawn.

"Okay, this isn't so bad," Ken mumbled to himself, crossing one foot over the other.

"I get to stand in the back while everyone else does the cardio. This is a highly acceptable arrangement." BZZZZZT! A massive, blaring buzzer echoed through the stadium. The giant digital clock on the broadcast screen started ticking down from 5: 00.

"The round has begun!" the female anchor, Sarah, announced excitedly.

"Let's see what Prince Hades has planned!" Hades's nine-person vanguard did not just charge forward. They moved like a perfectly programmed machine. Adrian, a tall servant with sharp eyes, pointed his hand forward, signaling the assault.

"Execute Pattern Alpha-Four," Adrian commanded coldly. Alexander, Carlos, and George sprinted down the left flank. Joshua, Philip, and Claire dashed down the right. Adrian, Isabella, and Karen pushed straight down the middle. They moved with terrifying, surgical precision. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"They are splitting up!" Sayma warned, pushing her thick glasses up her nose. She threw both of her hands forward.

"Absolute Hexagon!" A massive, brilliant golden honeycomb barrier snapped into existence, blocking the three servants charging down the center. But Adrian did not even slow down. He didn't look surprised by the barrier at all. He simply raised a glowing magical staff, while Isabella and Karen pointed their hands at the exact same spot on the golden shield.

"Shatter point identified," Adrian stated blankly. The three of them fired a highly concentrated, perfectly synchronized beam of dark purple magic. They didn't aim at the center of the shield; they aimed at the absolute weakest, most fragile geometric corner of Sayma's honeycomb structure. CRACK! Sayma gasped in pure shock. Her unbreakable golden barrier instantly shattered into a million pieces of harmless light.

The attack was so flawless and so mathematically calculated that it completely bypassed her defense in a single second.

"What?!" Sayma yelled, stumbling backward.

"That is impossible! They knew exactly where the structural weak point was!"

"I got them!" Laxmi roared, jumping in front of Sayma. The hot-headed girl slammed her fists together, unleashing a massive, roaring wave of orange fire right at Adrian's group. But Joshua, who was running down the right flank, didn't even look at Laxmi. He just casually threw a small, specialized sphere of compressed water directly into the path of her flames. The water sphere exploded, creating a massive vacuum that sucked all the oxygen out of the air.

Laxmi's roaring fire instantly fizzled out, leaving nothing but a tiny puff of useless smoke.

"My fire!" Laxmi yelled in total disbelief. Zinia slammed her boots onto the grass, pulling up a thick wall of solid rock to protect the first glowing tower.

"They are countering everything! Fall back and guard the pillars!" But it was already too late. Carlos and George leaped over Zinia's rising rock wall with perfectly timed jumps. They landed directly in front of the first blue stone tower. With synchronized, brutal strikes from their heavy metal maces, they smashed the pillar. The stone exploded into rubble, and the blue light died instantly.

"First blood goes to the 15th Unit!" Bob the anchor screamed through the speakers.

"They shatter a tower in less than sixty seconds! This is an absolute clinic in offensive strategy!" The destruction did not stop there. The 15th Unit moved with terrifying efficiency. Whenever Naomi tried to use her wind magic to dash in close, Philip was already standing there, tossing a specialized sticky-resin trap right where her foot was about to land. Naomi had to flip backward just to avoid getting completely stuck to the grass.

"They know exactly where I am going!" Naomi shouted, incredibly frustrated. Claire and Isabella bypassed Ira's water whips by using lightning-fast evasion steps, sliding perfectly underneath the attacks. They reached the second and third glowing towers on the left side of the field. With two more deafening crashes, two more stone pillars exploded into dust. In less than two minutes, the scoreboard updated. The 13th Unit had lost three of their nine towers. It was an absolute, undisputed disaster.

Ken, who was still leaning against his tower in the back corner, raised his hand to shield his eyes from the flying rock dust.

"Hey! Watch the suit!" Ken complained loudly, brushing a tiny piece of gravel off his shoulder. He looked at Naomi, who was panting and glaring at the enemy.

"Boss lady, they are making a massive mess over here! Can we ask them to stop breaking things? It is very loud, and I am trying to enjoy the scenery." Naomi quickly grabbed Ken by the collar of his jacket and pulled him out of the way of another flying chunk of debris. She didn't yell at him angrily; she was just trying to keep him safe.

"Keep your head down, you idiot! They are tearing us apart!" Elma landed next to them, gripping her silver swords tightly. Her blonde hair was a little messy, and she was breathing fast.

"It doesn't make any sense," Elma muttered, looking totally bewildered.

"They are not reacting to our attacks. They are predicting them. It is like they already know exactly what we are going to do before we even do it."