Chapter 160 - The Battle in the Sub-Basement
The heavy steel hinges of Vault Seven sheared off in a shower of brilliant orange sparks as Seraphina’s two lead mercenaries kicked the door inward with a hydraulic ram.
"Clear the room! Grab the trunks!" Seraphina screamed from the corridor, holding a suppressed 9mm pistol, her silver gown tucked into her waistband.
The two mercenaries rushed across the threshold into the dark chamber—and walked straight into a blinding, suffocating wall of burning habanero and chemical tear gas.
The men instantly dropped their weapons, clawing frantically at their eyes and throats, screaming in agony as the concentrated pepper vapor stripped the lining from their lungs. They stumbled backward into the corridor, retching violently onto the marble floor.
"Useless idiots!" Seraphina shrieked, coughing through her silk scarf, raising her pistol blindly into the smoke.
CLICK.
A cold, heavy steel barrel pressed firmly against the base of Seraphina’s skull.
"Drop the iron, Lady Seraphina," Ethan’s voice rumbled out of the smoke behind her, colder than the deep ocean trench. "Before I test whether that designer dress stops a .45."
Seraphina froze. The gun slipped from her trembling fingers, clattering onto the flagstones.
From the ventilation duct above, Noah and Sophie dropped lightly to the floor, wearing compact military respirators, their backpacks secured, looking at the defeated heiress with absolute, unyielding composure.
"Noah! Sophie!" I called out, rushing through the corridor behind Ethan, dropping to my knees on the floor, pulling both of my children into my arms, burying my face in their hair, weeping tears of pure, radiant relief. "Are you hurt?! Did they touch you?!"
"We're fine, Mom," Noah said through his respirator, adjusting his glasses. "The chemical perimeter held. And the bearer bonds are completely secured."
Sophie pulled her mask down, looking down at Seraphina, who was weeping on her knees in the corridor, her mascara ruined by the gas.
"You shouldn't have come to our lake, lady," Sophie said softly. "My family doesn't like bullies."
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Ethan stepped over the groaning mercenaries, holstered his weapon, and looked down at Seraphina with an expression of pure, unadulterated disgust.
"Captain Dupont," Ethan barked into his tactical comms. "Notify the Monegasque Police and the International Criminal Court. The Obsidian Council’s master vault has been breached. Tell them to bring thirty sets of handcuffs."
