Genesis Code: The Genetic Awakening-Chapter 68: Compromised

The explosion sent the king and commander flying—the commander more so than King Gray. As the one who bore the brunt of the explosion, he took the most damage, even with his barrier.

"Ugh!" King Gray groaned in pain as he slammed into one of the central pillars. He slid to the floor, took a moment to clear his head, then lifted his gaze. He had to make sure Lance was alright.

"L-Lance...?" King Gray called out softly, his voice barely a whisper. "Are you alright?" With another groan, the king attempted to approach the commander, slowly dragging himself toward where he lay.

"Your Majesty!" The explosion had drawn the attention of the other palace knights, who rushed to the scene.

"Stay back!" King Gray growled the moment the first of the knights appeared.

"Bu—" The knight attempted to speak, but the king cut him off.

"No one is to approach. Is that clear...?" His voice grew cold, sending a chill down the spines of the knights. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Who knew how many of his knights were compromised?

Turning back to the commander, the king finally managed to get to his feet and walked toward him.

"Lance, are you alright?" King Gray knelt down, attempting to turn the commander over. "Don’t you dare die on me, Lance. You still have a lot of work to do," he chided in an attempt to calm his racing heart.

’Those morons are seriously going to pay for this...’

King Gray gritted his teeth, turning to look at the gathered knights who kept their distance. His cold gaze caused several men to back off, not wanting to get on his bad side.

’I can’t even send any of them to check on my family. Damn it!’

A groan from the commander snapped his head back.

Commander Lance stirred awake with a groan. He bled from his head and chest, having taken the brunt of the explosion.

Around where he lay were bits and pieces of flesh, and the stench of blood permeated the whole space, but no one batted an eye. They had all seen sights like this before.

The commander opened his eyes, taking in the mess around him. For a moment, confusion clouded his gaze, but soon, everything came back, prompting a jerking reaction.

"Woah!" King Gray caught him before he could end up on the floor a second time. "You’re injured. You need to take it easy."

"I’ll be fine, Your Majesty." Commander Lance turned to rest on his side, shifting his gaze to the gathered knights. "What are you all doing?!" His voice echoed despite his injuries.

"W-we heard the explosion and came to check..." one of the knights replied. "His Majesty told us to stay back."

Commander Lance immediately understood the reason behind that.

"And?!" Lance growled, not finding their explanation acceptable. "Can’t you hear the screams of the people around?! What are you doing about that?!"

In their defence, the palace knights had taken an oath to protect the king regardless of what happened around them. And since the king didn’t explicitly order them to help the people, they simply stood back.

The knights hesitated for a moment before rushing out, heading wherever their help might be needed.

"Lance..." King Gray called. "The safe space could be compromised. We have to move..."

The king was worried about his family. While he had sent them away at the start of this mess, things were far worse than they had anticipated.

Commander Lance nodded, taking his time to stand up. His body ached from the force that had slammed into him, and the wounds he sustained continued to leak blood.

Tapping into his storage artefact, he retrieved a vial and emptied its contents into his mouth. A healer would have been preferable, but they didn’t have time.

The potion the commander took had to be enough for what he had to do. King Gray didn’t waste time as he retrieved his sword—a powerful artefact that amplified his mana input and explosively increased his firepower.

"Let’s go," the king muttered and dashed away, the commander not far behind.

With the knights and other competent people handling the chaos outside, King Gray was assured that the situation would be brought under control soon enough.

And despite the many potentially compromised knights, guards, soldiers, or whoever else, they couldn’t have taken over that many.

’Regardless, a sweep of all personnel is in order,’ the king thought with furrowed brows, cutting the sharp corners with familiarity.

.....

Back in the Tier 5 dungeon, 9th floor. freewёbnoνel.com

Jess and her unit were at their wits’ end, fighting bloodthirsty monsters with little to no break.

The catwoman wielded two dual blades, held in a reverse grip, as she made short work of the monsters. She opted to rely more on physical power and speed to conserve as much mana as possible.

However, with every monster they defeated, more came at them. They had to fight as a team to take on tier-type monsters.

’Fucking hell...’ Jess cursed inwardly. ’If we weren’t this many, it would have been far worse. The tier-type monsters take too much time to eliminate!’

"Watch out!"

A loud scream from one of her companions forced Jess to turn to her left, where a rabid wolf monster with gleaming red eyes charged at her. Its open maw, dripping with drool, aimed for her arm.

’Shit!’ Jess attempted to leap out of the way, but the creature was already too close. ’How did I miss it?!’

BOOM...!!!

Before the monster could take a bite out of the catwoman, something—or someone—swooped in from above, crashing into the creature.

The force completely crushed the monster, spreading its entrails everywhere—including onto a shocked Jess.

"I’ll say it again, woman." The familiar voice of Crusher rang in her ears. "Keep your head in the game. We can’t afford to lose our lives here."

"Many units have already been wiped out. Don’t make us the next target." The tigerkin looked over his shoulder before dashing off to continue his spree.

’But I wasn’t...’ Jess wanted to say, but there was no point.

’Tsk!’ Left with no choice, she turned to find another bloody monster to vent her pent-up frustration.

The only good news about all this was that they had been able to do what they came here to do—carve a path for the elite team.

’Hopefully, they succeed in their mission,’ the catwoman mused, slicing through the monsters with expert movements. She was more powerful than ever, capable of taking on the late Jetro with ease.

But then something else happened—something that stopped adventurers, knights, and monsters alike.

No.

They were locked in place as a sinister, overwhelming aura slammed into them without warning.

BOOM...!!!