The Destruction Path is one of three storyline branches in Armored Core: For Answer. It is considered a "special" path as it does not have the player ally with any organization. It is also the "true rebel path" as ORCA was revealed to be a plan to eliminate any threats to the rule of the Corporations, namely Omer.
Final mission of the Destruction Path
Overview
The Destruction Path is permanently locked in when the player chooses to take the mission "Destroy Cradle 03" at the end of For Answer's third chapter. During this path, the Protagonist allies himself with the renegade ORCA member Old King.
This path involves the deliberate slaughter of numerous innocents at the hands of the player by the destruction of Cradle 03, immediately distorting the protagonist's image into a cold-blooded, mass-murderer. This act directs so much hatred from the corporations, fellow LYNX (save for Old King), and even the protagonist's operator, who abandons the player at the beginning of the path, to the player that all of them have conspired to stop him/her at all costs.
In an attempt to stop the player's genocide of humankind, Interior Union contracts the player, accompanied by Old King, to conduct a fake mission which involves the occupation of Arteria Carpals through their own means. In reality, it is a trap set by Otsdarva, Lillium Wolcott, Wynne D. Fanchon and Roadie to kill the player (Kasumi Sumika also joins them in Hard Mode, bringing the total number of enemy NEXTs to five). However, all four are ultimately defeated. Old King may live or perish in combat, and the epilogue narrates that the player has continued a life of killing and went to "become the biggest monster mankind has ever seen, taking more lives than any other in history."
Missions
Of all the paths, the Destruction Path is the shortest, consisting of only two missions; in order to get to this path, the player must first take "Attack on Arteria Carpals". The player then starts at "Destroy Cradle 03," and leads to the only other possible mission, "Occupation of Arteria Carpals."