Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) (32 page)

“Animated armor is inadequate if the metal is poor in
quality,” he thought aloud. “Then again, it’s more likely that the smiths of
Esrah are simply better than Latrot’s.”

He had lost sight of Lunas, but there was only one place
the prince could be. He faced a lawful opponent, or at least, one that had to
play by lawful rules. As a guest, there was only one place he could expect to
wield authority.

At last, he reached the doors to the Hall of Avatars and
he found it guarded by soldiers in Latrot’s armor. He sheathed his sword and
his dagger, and approached them slowly.

“Rank and file, I command you to let me pass. I am a duke
of this kingdom and I have business with your master who is a guest in my liege
lady’s home.”

Immediately, the guards sheathed their weapons, stepped
away from the door, and bowed to him. Culmus pushed the door open himself. He didn’t
worry about a back attack; willful deception is not lawful. The doors closed
behind him and he was locked inside with the delegates, the Sacred Fire, and
Lunas.

“—deserves a better ruler,” the prince was saying. “A
legitimate ruler who obeys the rule of law and is completely honest in their
words and deeds.”

He gestured to the Sacred Fire.

“Since this kingdom’s royal bloodline is about to be
extinguished, another source must be found. I humbly nominate my father. He has
done wonders for Latrot since the Siduban Chaos Explosion and I believe he can
likewise increase Ataidar’s prosperity. What say you?”

The answer was “yes.” Within the Order Domination Field, his
power was increased beyond their simple protections. In addition to it, simple
fear worked its own magic. There was nothing they would not agree to. True,
some of it was meaningless, but there were enough authority figures here to
justify bringing more obelisks and more soldiers. By then, it would difficult
to dislodge him. He could take his seat on the throne and plan Latrot’s next
expansion.

He heard the doors open and close but chose not to
acknowledge who passed through them. There was no need to until he finished his
proposal.

“What say you, Duke Siron of Esrah? For a man who pledged
allegiance to a chaotic queen, you are skilled in the use of order.”

Siron brandished his rapier. “Spare me the witty banter,
son of the usurper. I am here under orders from your host to demand that you
cease and desist your current actions. If you act otherwise, I will compel your
compliance by forces of arms.”

Lunas spread his empty hands, even raised them above his
head. “But I’m unarmed. How lawful is it to attack the unarmed?”

Siron stepped forward. “You hypocrite; you’re an
ordercrafter. Furthermore, the situation may differ in Latrot, but no one in
Ataidar is ever unarmed.”

Lunas dropped his hands. “No wonder your crime rate is
higher than ours.”

“Again you flaunt your hypocrisy; you brainwash your subjects
and silence the rest.”

Siron lunged and the power granted him improved his speed
beyond anything he’d ever felt. He feared he would misjudge the distance and
harpoon the prince by accident, but before he could blink, Lunas was gone. Before
he could breathe, someone pushed him over.

“Missed me.”

Siron regained his footing and backhanded him, but hit
nothing. Lunas had somehow moved ten feet instantly. Siron lunged again, but
Lunas was faster. He dodged every slash, kick, and strike without moving from
his spot.

“Too slow.”

He brought up his knee and kicked the duke into the round table.
Before Siron could react, Lunas was choking him. He stopped short of
strangulation and instead threw Siron into a wall. In a flash, he was there and
holding Siron up by the collar of his formal shirt.

“You can’t touch me, Esrah. As a prince, I rank higher
than you, even though this is your territory and Order will always side with
the highest rank.”

Siron cocked a punch and Lunas was on the other side of
the room before he could throw it and then back again and into a second punch.
The physical damage was minor, minimized by the Order Domination Field, but the
psychological toll was maddening.

“The monarch that relies on strength alone is no different
from a thug,” Siron said with a sneer. “
Reflections
by Aurelous Mirkus
Superbus, ch. 1.”

“The true monarch uses every tools at his disposal,” Lunas
said in reply. “Same chapter. It was not strength that defeated Kasile; it was
her weakness turned against her.”

“How dare you insult my queen!” He pulled off his glove
and whipped it across Lunas’ face. “You will answer for your slander.”

Although the red mark stung on Lunas cheek, a simper
emerged from his lips.

“A duel, is it? You will regret issuing your challenge.
Before it was unlawful for me to kill a servant of my host, but now it’s
perfectly lawful.” He turned to one of his dominated bodyguards and commanded,
“Give me a sword.” The bodyguard immediately complied. He turned to another and
commanded, “Give me a shield.” He turned to the Support Branch of Mithra and
commanded, “Be our judge.” The dominated diplomat nodded. Finally, he turned to
Siron and said, “Now I may kill you like a civilized man.”

On the balcony, Nulso prepared to collar Annala. He leaned
over to grasp the stone on the choker given to her by Eric and the Order Obelisk
forbade Annala from stopping him. Her Death Killer bow couldn’t kill him, even
if she could draw it. All she could do was talk, but neither spells nor chaotic
hymns would hurt him. It was hopeless. Yet as Nulso ripped the gift from her
neck and put his own in its place, she involuntarily shouted, “Lady Chaos, save
me!”

A pair of arms appeared out of her sash and poked Nulso in
the eyes. He stumbled backward, taking the Subjugation Collar with him. The
right hand gave Annala a thumbs-up and the left hand gave Nulso the finger.

“Impossible...” the ordercrafter said while rubbing his
eyes. Despite his pain and frustration, his voice remained flat and his face
expressionless. “This dimension is sealed.”

Rojo Genki waggled both index fingers. Then two more arms
grew out of the first two and held two messages before Annala’s eyes. The first
read, “Compassion Conquers” and the second read, “Fear is Courage.” Then the
arms placed her Death Killer bow in her hand.

Annala nodded and used it to push herself to her feet. She
brandished it with both hands but did not draw an arrow. She took a deep breath
and forced herself to say the following words as calmly and nicely as possible,
“Mr. Butchin, I want to help you.”

“What.”

Confusion was the first emotion to show on Nulso’ face
since the start of this battle.

“I know what happened to you the night your clinic was
attacked. My mom told me everything after I told her I visited it. I’m sorry
you had to go through such pain. You didn’t deserve it. I know someone that can
heal you.”

“Harry Butchin cannot be healed because he is dead.” A
hint of irritation slipped into his voice. “He was killed by Nunnal Enaz and
Ginger Hasina when they abandoned him. I am a composite of souls of which he is
merely the
princeps
. He has no authority.”

“If that were true, then you wouldn’t be wasting your time
with me! I’m nobody important as regards to the summit or this hostile
takeover; just a powerless, apostate, schoolgirl. You could be going after my
father the ambassador or Queen Kasile. You could be guarding the Order Obelisk
or fighting the Palace Sentinel. Kallen’s probably the biggest threat to your
boss’ plan and yet I doubt you even know where she is. Of all the objectives
you could possibly have, I must be lower and longer term than any other. You’re
here because you want revenge against my mother and Auntie H, but even Order
would tell you that revenge will not bring you peace.”

No attack answered her words. On the contrary, Nulso was
listening to them and nodding. Shrinking her bow, she held her arms out.

“Healer Harry Butchin, please let me help you.”

“You do not sound like your mother or aunt. Perhaps...”

Annala waited patiently for him to start again. He didn’t.
Instead, the non-light of Order intensified around him. It reflected in his
eyes and they dilated. When they came back into focus, Annala wanted to notch
an arrow. Nulso’s face was
livid
with rage. His mouth was twisted into a
snarl, veins popped out of his forehead, and a scathing hatred for all things
chaotic radiated from his Evil Eye.

“
DOM-IN-ATION
!”

Spiritual energy exploded from him, knocking Annala off
her feet and slamming her against the balcony’s railing. From this spiritual
energy, Order constructs in the shape of hands emerged and pinned Annala in
place.

In response, Rojo Genki generated just as many arms and
released enough divinity to make them glow with golden-brown light. The
trickster pounded and yanked on the arms restraining Annala while also striking
Nulso. The Order constructs were all burned away and Nulso retreated under the
onslaught. Then the last one pulled Annala’s sash loose. Without the knot,
there was no place for Rojo Genki to emerge, and thus the trickster was cut off
at the source. Annala was now truly alone on the balcony.

“You are the one in need of help, Golden Hair.”

He dangled the Subjugation Collar.

“Lord Order will cure your apostasy for you.”

The collar snapped shut around her neck, then tightened
until she could scarcely breathe. There was no keyhole. It was a seamless loop
of subjugation. Only a dull gem at the base of her throat stood out. Now that
the collar was secure, it activated.

Ordercraft runes parasitically fed on her personal mana
and channeled it to others, activating them in turn. They gleamed and began her
domination. She cried out in pain as they penetrated her mind. She thrashed
wildly to escape the violation as they encroached on her soul. The order
constructs kept her still while Nulso looked down in triumph. When she quieted
down and a translucent beam formed between the gem and his hand, he knew it was
finished. He raised her chin and saw emptiness in her eyes.

“How do you feel, my Golden Hair?”

“Master, if it pleases you, please take me away from
here.”

With a thought, Nulso created another portal born of
ordercraft. The feel of it sent Annala into a fresh surge of struggling, but
the collar immediately choked it out of her and resumed dominance. Between Nulso
tugging her leash and the Order Domination Field empowering both, she had no
choice but to enter the portal.

Meanwhile, her knight was engaged in battle with Gruffle
outside the castle. While Eric had recovered from the Order Obelisk’s beam
weapon, he couldn’t defend himself because his body was too badly damaged. The
wolf-troll took his time beating the snot out of him. It was why he showed up
for assignment.

In addition to the money, he wanted a piece of Eric’s
hide. It was Eric's fault that he was basically enslaved to Queen Kasile, just
as it was Eric's fault that he was cursed with necrocraft. The little shit
deserved every last swing of his new club. He beat, smashed, and stomped Eric’s
body every time the Seed of Chaos tried to return it to human form.

"That ain't right!"

It was a collective shout from the activists camped beside
the moat. When the mangled form that was Eric dropped in front of them and
Gruffle started beating on it, they were too surprised to take action. However,
Gruffle's cruelty galvanized them. The two groups came together, discussed
their plan of action, and then made their intent public.

"That boy is a living sapient creature just like you
are. By indulging in such sadism, you demonstrate that you are closer to a 'savage
monster' than he is. Stop at once!" said the spokesman for the pro-medical
mana mutation crowd.

"Even if he is a savage monster, you can't just beat
on him like that. Either kill him and be done with it or leave him alone.
Otherwise, you are breaking the law. We too insist that you stop at once!"
said the spokesman for the anti-medical mana mutation crowd.

Gruffle scoffed, "What are you gonna do if I don't?
Write me a strongly worded letter?"

Dozens and dozens of hands glowed with the light of
charged mana. Suddenly, Gruffle felt that mocking them was a bad idea.

"Behold the power of the people!"

A storm of mana bolts rained down on Gruffle. Empowered as
he was by stolen
kon
, his barrier blocked them all. He wasn't hurt, but
it was only a matter of time before they cracked his shell and pelted him into
oblivion. More urgently, they distracted him long enough for Eric's recovery to
pass a critical stage.

Supercharged by his monstrous will to live, his body
repaired itself from its broken state to its true form. His body was now
properly functioning again. Grendel stood tall once more and his lips separated
into a grin. Gruffle gulped.

As the seconds passed, the troll-wolf leaked
kon
quicker than a
Country of Conflict
raiding party in a bonus dungeon. Grendel
struck with speed and precision. Every strike was either maiming or fatal.
Gruffle recovered just as quickly as Eric, but the blood from such injuries
remained. It was time for phase two.

 “Nulso just kidnapped your girlfriend.”

Eric pounded the ground and knocked Gruffle off his feet
with a shockwave. He followed up with a heel stomp to the groin.

“AAAHH! GRRMM...Yeah. You know what perverted old men do
to innocent young girls when they’re alone.”

Eric snarled.

“He’s going to deflower your precious maiden and there’s
nothing you can do about it.”

Eric roared and attacked savagely. Gruffle shouted as loud
as he could and with exaggerated painful movements. Then Eric tore his arms off
and he was no longer exaggerating. Both groups of activists were horrified by the
reversal. No one passing by would see a
human
fighting a troll. They
would see a troll defending himself from a
monster.
When the local
guards finally arrived, they reacted appropriately.