Chapter 70: A Mother's Betrayal and A Son's Gamble

Aira made her choice: to betray the Assassin Guild for the sake of her son Marcelino’s ambition. As a powerful figure within the guild, Aira meticulously planned a massive attack on the guild’s base, ensuring that her involvement would remain hidden. Her loyalty, once unbreakable, was now overshadowed by her desire to secure the coveted position for Marcelino.
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Meanwhile, Marcelino had located the true base of the Assassin Guild, thanks to the access codes and information provided by Aira. His heart raced as he approached the heavily fortified entrance. He knew this mission was make or break—not just for him, but for his family’s future. The access granted by his mother allowed him to bypass initial security protocols effortlessly. However, as he ventured deeper, the challenges grew more daunting.
As Marcelino entered the basement, he came face to face with a burly guard, whose eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion.
"Who are you? I don’t recognize you," the guard barked, taking a step forward, his hand moving towards the weapon strapped to his belt.
Marcelino remained calm, his training kicking in. Without hesitating, he moved with lightning speed. He closed the distance between them in a blink, his movements fluid and precise. With a swift strike to the guard’s throat, followed by a twist of the neck, the guard fell lifeless to the ground before he could raise an alarm.
"Should’ve kept your eyes sharper," Marcelino whispered, stepping over the guard’s body as he continued his mission.
Using a concealing device that rendered him nearly invisible to the naked eye and undetectable to the high-tech cameras, Marcelino navigated through the base. The device was one of the latest inventions from his family’s arsenal—so advanced that even the best security systems in the world struggled to pick it up. It was this technology that gave him the upper hand in a base brimming with danger.
Marcelino moved silently, planting small, marble-sized bombs in key locations throughout the base. Each bomb was discreet, blending seamlessly with the surroundings. They were tiny yet packed with the destructive power of an atomic bomb—capable of obliterating entire countries if detonated in unison.
As he set the final bomb, Marcelino glanced at his watch. The timer had started ticking down, leaving him only minutes to escape. He knew he had to move quickly, but the security was relentless. As he moved to exit, the base’s alert system suddenly flared to life. Red lights flashed, and sirens wailed, filling the air with a deafening noise.
"Intruder detected!" blared the automated voice of the system. Marcelino glanced at the nearest monitor and saw his own image on the screen, his altered appearance visible to everyone watching. Although he had used a technology that could alter his facial features, the system was advanced enough to sense an anomaly.
"Damn it," Marcelino muttered, feeling the walls close in around him. He forced himself to stay calm. Panicking would only get him killed. He took a deep breath, his mind racing as he calculated his next move. He had to think fast—every second counted.
The clock on the bombs continued to tick down, echoing ominously in his ears. Marcelino scanned the room, his eyes darting between exits, searching for the best escape route. He knew that if he didn’t get out in time, he’d be caught in the blast, along with everyone else in the base.
"This isn’t how it ends," Marcelino told himself, his voice steady despite the chaos around him. He sprinted toward the nearest exit, his footsteps echoing off the cold, metallic walls. The red lights flickered as he moved, casting eerie shadows that seemed to chase him down the narrow corridors.
As he neared the main entrance, a squad of guards appeared, blocking his path. Marcelino’s eyes narrowed as he quickly assessed the situation. He was outnumbered, but not outmatched. His training at the Venom Island School had prepared him for combat far more dangerous than this. He drew a knife from his belt, his grip steady and sure.
With a fluid motion, Marcelino hurled the knife at the first guard, the blade embedding itself in the man’s throat. The guard staggered backward, clutching at the wound as he fell. Marcelino didn’t stop. He moved like a shadow, a blur of speed and precision, taking down each guard with lethal efficiency.
One guard managed to fire a shot, the bullet grazing Marcelino’s arm. He gritted his teeth against the pain, his resolve only hardening. There was no room for error now. Every movement was calculated, every strike deliberate. Within seconds, the guards lay scattered around him, their bodies lifeless on the cold floor.
Breathing heavily, Marcelino pushed forward, his mind solely focused on escape. He could hear the countdown in his head, each tick of the clock driving him faster. He finally reached the exit, bursting through the doors just as the alarm reached a fever pitch.
The final hurdle was the base’s outer gate, heavily guarded and reinforced. Marcelino scanned the controls, his fingers flying across the keypad as he bypassed the security lock. With a hiss, the gate slid open, and Marcelino sprinted through, diving behind cover as the doors slammed shut behind him.
Safe at last, he paused to catch his breath. His heart pounded, adrenaline still coursing through his veins. The timer on his watch continued its relentless countdown, now mere seconds from detonation. Marcelino glanced back at the base, a steel fortress that had stood impregnable for decades.
"Three… two… one," he whispered under his breath, watching as the numbers on his watch hit zero.
A massive explosion ripped through the air, the ground shaking beneath his feet as the bombs detonated in a chain reaction. Fire and debris shot into the sky, the sound of destruction echoing for miles. The once-impenetrable base crumbled under the force, consumed by flames and smoke.
Marcelino shielded his eyes from the blinding light of the blast, his face set in grim satisfaction. He had done it. Against all odds, he had completed the mission that had claimed the lives of the two before him. But as he turned to leave, the weight of his actions settled heavily on his shoulders. This was only the beginning, and the path ahead was fraught with even greater challenges.
"Success," he muttered to himself, a mixture of relief and resolve in his voice. "But at what cost?"
With the base of the Assassin Guild reduced to rubble, Marcelino knew that the war for power was far from over. His mother’s betrayal had given him the edge he needed, but it also marked them both as targets. The fallout from their actions would soon follow, and Marcelino steeled himself for the battles yet to come.