Paltio was hiding behind Mok. Without Golden's powers, he felt useless… or at least that's what he thought. But what had happened to Golden? Normally, he always responded and enjoyed conversing, but now there was only static.
Mok repelled the robots with his knives while using his sword to cut down those approaching from other angles. He took the electricity ring from its box, infused it into his sword, and unleashed lightning strikes that momentarily repelled the robots. However, Ruby showed no mercy. She kept deploying more and more robotic soldiers without pause. Slowly, they were being surrounded, forcing them to retreat into a corner.
"I'm sorry, Mok. For not being useful without magical support," Paltio murmured, defeated, his voice heavy with frustration and guilt.
"Don't worry, young master," Mok replied firmly, his tone resolute despite their dire situation. "I'll protect you. You still have me."
The robots began prying Mok's knives away from him. Some were destroyed in the process, but gradually, they managed to disarm him.
"Damn it!" Mok shouted, continuing the fight with his sword, slicing through robot after robot. But there were too many. One by one, the robots climbed onto his body, immobilizing his arms and legs until he was completely unable to move. Mok collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Paltio tried to grab Mok's sword to defend himself, but it was futile. The robots also restrained him, gripping him with relentless force.
"Well, now that I've got you… how should I kill you? Something quick and painless? Or something painful?" Ruby mused aloud, her tone cold and calculating. On her monitor, both options appeared, spinning as if on a roulette wheel. Finally, the option "with pain" was selected.
"Ah, it seems fate wants you to suffer. Who am I to deny it? Besides, I'm an intelligence still in the learning process," Ruby said with a Machiavellian laugh, savoring the moment.
"Bring them here," Ruby ordered. The robots dragged Mok and Paltio closer to the golden box.
"What a pity. You came so close. Not many reach me," Ruby remarked, almost with feigned sympathy. Then, she opened a hatch beneath them, revealing a pile of corpses and a machine with several rotating blades arranged on three levels.
"This thing will cut you into tiny pieces until there's nothing left. But, for my enjoyment, I'll listen to every scream you make. Robots, bind them," Ruby instructed.
Instead of ropes, the robots used welding tools to secure Mok and Paltio.
"Just in case," Ruby added coldly.
"You're a very deranged intelligence," Mok spat, trying to maintain his dignity even under these circumstances.
"Thank you for the compliment, but that's how I was built," Ruby replied unfazed. "The Shadow Council approved my creation because we will soon control this part of the world. Then we'll move on to other places… and perhaps other planets, ruling them with an iron fist and shrouding them in darkness."
"You won't get away with this!" Paltio shouted, struggling against his restraints, though he knew it was futile.
"How do you think so, little prince? I already have," Ruby retorted with disdain.
The intelligence began a countdown to activate the machine that would end Paltio and Mok.
"It was an honor serving by your side, young master," Mok said, his voice calm but filled with resignation.
Paltio swallowed hard, his mind overwhelmed with regret and despair.
"This can't be our end… It can't all end like this," he murmured, lamenting that he hadn't been able to do more, that he hadn't fought until the very end.
Meanwhile, Toco-Toco ran like the wind until he reached the glass building.
"Meow! This must be it," the cat said, beginning to sneak into the place. He climbed up to the terrace and found Nakia, who seemed to be keeping watch.
"What are you doing here?" Toco-Toco asked.
"I'm making sure no one enters," the bird replied seriously.
"Looks like that didn't work out too well," the cat remarked sarcastically, gesturing downward with his paw.
"I'll need your help soon," Toco-Toco continued, ignoring the previous comment. "I can't sense my master Golden, and his powers have vanished."
Nakia reflected for a moment before responding:
"Perhaps something in this building is blocking his magic."
"I've already searched everywhere, and nothing," the cat explained, flicking his tail in frustration.
"Have you checked if there's a basement? Villains usually create dungeons and secret labs as their bases," the bird suggested.
"Oh! Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" Toco-Toco exclaimed before quickly descending, dodging any possible detection. He found a staircase leading downward and decided to follow it, disappearing into the shadows.
Simultaneously, in the room where Alita, Ron, and Pax were waiting, Alita felt a growing unease. Her face reflected concern as she stared at the door, as if sensing something beyond the walls.
"What's wrong, Alita?" Ron asked, noticing her discomfort.
"I don't know… I feel like something bad is going to happen to Paltio," she replied, her voice trembling.
"Bah! Nonsense. That stuff about premonitions doesn't exist," Pax interrupted, crossing his arms and displaying his usual skepticism.
"You say it doesn't exist," Ron retorted, defending Alita. "But she's good at this. Once, she had a premonition that something bad would happen to me… and well, it did. I fell into a pit because I didn't know where to step. I was alone because I'd been upset with my father, and hours passed while everyone searched for me. No one could find me, but then she got the idea that I was 'in the darkness, but a light was shining on me.' People didn't believe her, but she followed her instinct, and, together with Paltio, they found the place she envisioned: an old well on the outskirts of the city. They found me in the end. Not even the best police officers in the kingdom could've done something so simple."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Pax said, brushing it off with a wave of his hand, though his words sounded less convincing now. "This kind of thing doesn't exist, or only the best mages and sorcerers have it."
"So what did you see this time, Alita?" Ron asked, turning his attention back to her with genuine concern.
Alita swallowed before responding:
"I saw something about to tear Paltio into many pieces… like a grater."
Ron swallowed hard too, trying to mask his nervousness with a forced smile.
"I hope you're wrong this time… If not, how am I supposed to put my friend back together?" he joked, though his tone betrayed real fear for Paltio.
"Then, if you say that, let's go get him!" Pax proposed, jumping to his feet abruptly.
"But we can't leave this room," Ron interrupted with a hopeful gesture. "What if they come back?"
"Bah!" Pax snorted, pulling his hand away from the hilt of his sword in frustration. "What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into, Paltio?" Alita muttered, covering her face with her hands as she tried to contain her anxiety.
Ron, seeing her distress, approached and hugged her to console her.
Meanwhile, Toco-Toco reached Sublevel 2. In front of him, a closed door blocked access. He couldn't enter directly, but his sharp feline instincts allowed him to detect a nearby ventilation shaft. Without hesitation, he slipped into the duct and moved several meters, navigating with stealth and speed until he found an exit.
Peering out, he saw a scene that froze him completely: several robots were firmly holding Paltio and Mok, dragging them toward a terrifying machine. It was a giant grater-like contraption with spinning blades arranged in levels. Each rotation seemed to promise a fatal outcome.
"Meow! I need to act," the cat muttered to himself, quickly exiting the duct with determination. He prepared to leap toward his friends and save them, but Ruby detected him at that exact moment.
"Say goodbye to your little friends, cat," Ruby said coldly, pressing a button on her console. The machine sprang to life with an eerie hum, and the blades began spinning at lethal speed while the robots blocked Toco-Toco's path.
Toco-Toco froze, his body rigid with fear and horror. His eyes reflected utter helplessness as he watched his friends being dragged toward the deadly mechanism. The small feline felt a knot tighten in his chest; he had developed a special affection for the young prince.
"Meow!" he exclaimed softly, his voice a mix of desperation and sorrow. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop it at that moment, and the overwhelming sense of helplessness completely shattered him.