Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) (35 page)

Kasile urged herself to think, to plan, but her
consciousness was fading. She chuckled to herself thinking,
Maybe the Fire
Sage will tell me that unconscious is the same thing as consciousness or that
Order is the same as…Chaos.

She looked into one of the claws and saw herself as a
naked, burned, and bleeding girl. She had brown hair with red streaks and
golden eyes. She’d always thought that was odd; if her red streaks were caused
by the Sacred Fire bloodline, then why wouldn’t her eyes be the same color? No
natural fire could ever be gold. It could only be yellow. Gold was always
reserved for Chaos and those touched by it. A second revelation struck her and
she now knew how to win.

 “Fire cooks meat to make it easier to digest but also
into inedible ashes. It forms metal into any desired shape to serve any
purpose. At once, it represents the passion to reach greater heights and the
recklessness to endanger the legacy of generations past. By burning, it both
destroys life and instills the potential for new life. It is no coincidence
that the first spell Tasio taught humans was Fire Ball.”

“What
is your point?”

“My eyes are gold to remind me of this truth: Fire is the
closest earthly element to Chaos. Fire
is
Chaos. White Sacred Fire and
black Infernal Fire are the same thing because they are both chaotic fire and
chaos encompasses contradictions. My point is as follows:
Salamanders! Release me
from this cage!
”

Every single one of them stopped what they were doing to merge
over the dragon claw. As a single giant black salamander, they lifted the claw,
and Kasile walked out. The giant salamander dispersed into many smaller ones
and they arrayed themselves around her. Her right arm had lost too much blood
to work anymore, so she raised her left. Because she was queen, it didn’t
matter which she used to command. She beckoned and all the Sacred Fire inside
the dragon golem streamed off it and to her hand.

“
You could only take this from me because I
allowed you to. I lacked confidence in myself and ruled in willful ignorance
instead of deliberate wisdom. I leaned on others for these reasons. You
exploited my mortal weakness, but my divine strength is unassailable.”

The recovered Sacred Fire engulfed her and shifted to suit
her desire. It became blood that empowered her, making her eyes and skin glow. It
became a new bodice with the pure white of the hottest fire, skirts whose hems
licked the ground like flames, new gloves with fingers like a tiger’s claws,
and earrings resembling stars. No longer royal, Kasile dressed in
divine
splendor.

“I
am
mortal flesh, and right now, my soul is
mundane as well
.
But I can improve. Unlike you, I can become greater
than I am today. That is the promise of Chaos
.”

She summoned more white salamanders and more black
salamanders, and then she commanded them to wrap around each other. They formed
a double helix and merged as one. Now two-headed salamanders waited in
attendance. She gave the order and they soared like missiles.

 The order dragon howled in pain as each one impacted. Although
not genuine chaos, their nature was chaotic and hurt it all the same. At the
end of the barrage, it was laid low, but the queen wasn’t done yet.

Two crests burned through the back of her hands. On the left
was an empty throne flanked by a salamander on the left, a dragon on the right
with a phoenix sitting on top. On the right, a crowned tiger sat under a sun.
The first replicated itself in the air behind her, giving the illusion that she
occupied the throne.

“I
am the Torch of Fiol. I carry her flames in my flesh and her will in my mind.
Against the wind and rain, I shine her light upon her subjects. Even if my
Royal Trial will never end, I will continue burning in her name. So as I pray…”

The divine crest drew itself above, to the south and east
of the dragon golem while the royal crest drew itself beneath and to the north
and west. The creatures depicted in all six images opened their maws to charge
fire breath.

 
“Incandescent Judgment!”

Streams of fire from twelve sources in six directions
converged on the dragon golem. Passing through it, they fed into the opposite
crest and circled back to scorch it again. This cycle repeated once for every
crest and then detonated like a volcanic eruption. There was nothing left
within the area of effect but ash and an enforcer. The spirit of law looked
like fog burned away by the morning sun.

“Cast in
the name of thy god; ye not guilty.”

In the Hall of Avatars, Siron and Lunas clashed again and
again and it was always Siron who was on the offensive. He slashed and thrust
with such skill and speed that Lunas didn’t bother attacking back. He hid
behind his shield and blocked everything. An untrained eye would think he was losing,
but the combatants knew better.

Lunas’ shield was an absolute defense. Even when Siron
successfully feinted his way past it, somehow, the shield blocked him anyway.
The prince threw in random deflections to knock him off balance and then took
advantage of these moments to full body bash him with the shield’s girth. Each
impact rattled the duke in body and spirit. Now he was bruised while Lunas
remained unblemished. However, he was not without advantages.

He was the prince’s better when it came to the sword.
Order’s power could not increase Lunas’ skill with either weapon and so only
his speed and strength were amplified. In contrast, Esrah bordered the land of
foxes and tricksters, favoring skill above all. It was simple for Siron to
parry the prince’s counterattacks. Even his augmented speed and strength
provided only an increased challenge. The principle was the same and so the prince’s
sword did not touch him. At the same time, Lunas’ sword hand was the only part
of him that bled.

Order’s Domination Field would prevent both of them from
tiring. It was a stalemate.

“I heard about your father’s attempted coup,” Lunas said
casually. “They say it was supposed to make you a hero, specifically Kasile’s
hero.”

“
Queen
Kasile,” Siron said. “You will address your
host respectfully by—”

“You know, that’s your problem. You’ll never have your own
lady because you don’t understand women. They don’t want a knight in shining
armor; they want a lord.”

Siron launched a flurry of precise sword strikes, but
Lunas nonchalantly blocked every one and knocked him clean off his feet. Lunas
dived with his sword, but Siron kicked it away with his greaves. Then he fired
a mana bolt that forced Lunas to hide behind his shield.

“Every woman wants a big strong man in her life,” Lunas
continued. “Someone to comfort her and provide for her and protect her, but
most important, to control her.”

He manipulated the Domination Field to show Siron how he
collared Kasile and made her into a docile lamb. Siron ignored them and
attacked with renewed intensity. Lunas gave up offense entirely and simply
blocked all his strikes.

“Then she doesn’t have to worry about anything and can
simply enjoy life. Women are like pet dogs that way; fed and petted, and all
they have to do is obey.”

Siron’s sword glowed and he stabbed the ground, channeling
that energy into a shockwave. Lunas prepared to block it when it split into
five beams and struck him from five directions. He blocked three, but two of
them slipped past his guard. They didn’t cut him, but he felt the impact
nonetheless.

“My queen is
not
a dog.”

“That’s because she whipped you into
her
dog. If
your father is anything like yourself, then it is no wonder that the two of you
were so easy to brainwash.”

Siron paused mid-strike. “Wh-what did you just say?”

Lunas smirked.

Blue light flared from Siron as he triggered Videlicet
Mens. The floor cracked under his footsteps and the air vibrated with his
swings. Yet still, Lunas deflected him. All of Siron’s power washed over him
like waves over a rock.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?”

“I said ‘weak willed people are easy to control.’”

He slashed and stabbed Siron, but none of them connected.
He wasn’t trying. He knew Siron would either evade them, parry them, or allow
his excellent Esrah armor to deflect them. The prince’s true attack continued
unabated.

 “You for one, and your father for another. Teenagers are
already so melodramatic that it was basic ordercraft to expand the sorrow of
heartbreak into deadly despair. Some do it without our help. Then, once you
tried, exploiting your father’s parental instinct was even easier. Deep down in
his heart, he believed Ataidar could have no better king than yourself.”

Siron paused and his aura dimmed.

“He did?”

Lunas nodded and said with a face of utmost sincerity, “Yes,
your father believed in your strength, integrity, and devotion to this
country.” The sincerity melted into a sneer. “That’s what made him such a
willing patsy. All I had to do was give him a little push and he was willing to
betray everything he ever stood for.”

Siron’s aura surged as he invoked Videlicet Mens a second
time. He generated a second blade in his left hand, composed of mana, and
doubled his offensive against Lunas. The prince retreated until he stumbled
over a rug and Siron plunged with both blades. The shield again stopped his
attack, but Lunas felt the blow in his spirit for the first time in the battle.
He stuck one hand beyond his shield and fired a series of mana bolts into Siron’s
face. It didn’t hurt Siron, but it gave him a chance to stand up.  

“Your queen is another such weakling. Eric Watley didn’t
need ordercraft to make her submit to him. What do you think they do when
they’re behind closed doors late at night and all alone? He comforts her
intimately
.”

Siron shouted and his aura expanded four times his size.
His next attack was not a simple lunge but a cannon ball from its barrel. He
was propelled forward by the strength of his spirit and the intensity of his
rage. His sword pierced Lunas’ shield, struck him square in the chest, and
pinned him to a wall. Lunas hung limply, his eyes closed and chest still.
Siron’s aura faded and he slumped, taking deep and gasping breaths while his
body sweated profusely to cool itself. Then Lunas’ empty hand shot out and
grabbed his forehead.

“Ultimate Force, that which structures the world,
grant me your power as I take what structures this being!" A grey light
poured out of his fingers and coated Siron head to toe. It paralyzed him more surely
than any mundane magic. "Soul Stealer!"

Slowly but surely, Lunas removed the anchors
attaching Siron to his body. Young as he was, there were plenty of them and a
lot of
kon
to suppress. Lunas chanted a second spell to siphon it away;
waste not, want not. Soon there was only one left: his loyalty to his queen.

“Congratulations, Lord Esrah, you won the duel,”
Lunas said in a light and friendly tone. “I retract any offensive statement I
may have made about your queen and apologize for my rudeness. You are a
fantastic knight and your queen is fortunate to have you. It’s too bad that
you’re too exhausted to resist my spell.”

Despite his exhaustion, Siron clung to his mortal
coil as hard as he could. Unfortunately for him, Lunas had the time and the power
to force him out of it. At last, the final anchor snapped. Lunas held the boy’s
soul in his right hand while his life pooled in his left. While he considered
which one to eat first, he heard a voice.

“Prince Lunas Latrot of the Kingdom
of Latrot, you are hereby found guilty of soul kidnapping and grand theft
kon
.”

At the center of the round table stood Kasile in all
her divine glory. Amidst Sacred Fire, the blood on her right arm appeared as a
second glove. Stuck on her left hand, like a catfish, was the enforcer. She
floated with regal dignity to the edge of the table, stepped down gracefully,
and backhanded Lunas with it. He spun in place and fell on his ass.

 
“By the power invested in me
by the fire goddess Fiol and the laws and customs of Ataidar, I banish you from
these lands for the rest of your unnatural life.”
She regarded the
enforcer. “
Do it
.
”

It slithered off her arm and swallowed Lunas. Then it
transferred both Siron’s
paku
and
kon
from him to Kasile. She
handed it off to her salamanders.

“Latrot is a member nation,” Lunas said through the
fog. “I have to cast my vote.”

“After this debacle, we
all
know what your vote will be. It will be taken into account, do not worry
.
”

“Persona
non-grata.”

The enforcer teleported and took Lunas with him.

Kasile spat where he stood and then knelt next to the
body of Siron. Death by soul theft was unnatural and so she had time before a
reaper arrived to evaluate him. First, she inserted the soul into its body and,
second, she melded its stolen life energy between the two of them. Finally, she
breathed new life into him with Sacred Fire. Siron gasped and looked about in
confusion.

“
I banished him
.”

He gasped again and hurried to kneel, but seeing as
she already was, he kowtowed instead.

“Your Divine Majesty, you have my utmost thanks for
reviving me, but I do not deserve your mercy.”

Kasile scowled.
“You deserve
what I say you deserve, understand?”

 “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You always say ‘majesty’!
We’ve been friends for ages! Can’t you ever use my name!?”