Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) (36 page)

He flinched. “As you command, Queen Kasile.”

Kasile stood up and stomped her fire-shod feet.
“Stop acting like a whipped dog! I didn’t fall for you
because you were a doormat!”
She blushed as her words caught up with
her. She coughed and said, “
When this is over, we will
discuss our relationship. For now, we will deal with this crisis. Come.”

“As you wish…my lady.”

Outside the castle, Kimberly and her teammates were
inches away from the portal to Latrot. Once there, they would be slaves of
Order, no different from Nulso. Their spirits were raw and their minds were
numb; blank of all but quickly crumbling resistance. Kimberly’s feet touched
the edges of the portal and her arms reach out to pull herself in.

“Royal Ordercrafter Security
and Compliance Team! Your queen summons you!”

At once, strength and clarity returned to their minds
and spirits. They tore their eyes away from the portal and to their queen. Her
mortal finery was gone but with her divine splendor, she provoked more awe in
their hearts than ever before. They rushed to kneel at her feet.

“We have come as commanded, Your Majesty.”

“Your queen commands you to
close that portal
.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Kimberly turned to her
subordinates. “You heard her! Shut down that portal quicker than Daniela with
suitors!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The four ordercrafters swiftly formed a box around
the portal and raised their hands against it. Working together, they shrank it
until it was gone. Then they returned to their position of submission.

“What is your next order, Your Majesty?”

A butt-naked Fairtheora ran by them chasing a fairy
in an ordercraft robe.

“Your queen commands you to
assist the Royal Sentinel
.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You stay here with me, Siron
.”

“Yes, Your...Queen Kasile.”

The five ordercrafters zoomed over obstacles, be they
debris, monsters, or magic clouds. With direct orders from their divine queen,
they could tap into the Order Domination Field’s power without fear of
corruption. They anticipated Dannaigh's movements and formed a cube formation
around her. She threw magic dust at the ground to escape, but their amplified
ordercraft sealed her in. She was now in a three-dimensional cage carried in
unison by them. They returned to their queen’s side and Fairtheora stood at
attention before her.

“Fairtheora Lawkeeper, we
will discuss your actions later. For now, obey me. Understand?”

He saluted and said, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

They rushed to the castle courtyard proper and found
several people engaging the Obelisk and its guardian. The royal guard, with its
spearmen and mages, assaulted it with their specialty. Ponix drilled into it.
JJ pounded it with fists and feet. Fairtheora’s armor placed hands on it and
attempted to negate its ability to negate the actions of the others. All of
them were insignificant.

Hera meant what she said about standing in place
until the sun set. Without her, the Obelisk would be rubble by now, but with
her, their efforts amounted to nothing. The only thing she feared were the
tricksters, specifically Belldandy and Tasio. The gods of snacks,
moe,
and comics were only slightly more dangerous than the elf. Their combat ability
diminished when they shifted from pure chaos and took up their trivial hobbies.
It was only the Goddess of War and the Herald of Chaos that could make a
difference here. Nonetheless, an enforcer possessed her to heighten her power
and two more dove into the Order Obelisk itself. The four of them together
negated every attack against them with only minor strain.

She took the offensive by directing the Obelisk’s
Lawful Authority Cannon. It pulled mana from the essence of the world itself to
fire soul-killing beams. Any human caught by it ceased to exist. Elves would
become vegetables. Not even a trickster could shrug it off. Only the
intervention of Fairtheora’s armor and the lesser tricksters prevented a
slaughter.

After thus appraising the situation, Kasile said,
“Royal Ordercrafter Security and Compliance Team, your queen
commands you to assist the guards and diplomats breaking that barrier and
destroying the Obelisk.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

"Fairtheora Lawkeeper,
your queen commands you to assist your armor in guarding the other fighters
with your spirit. Siron Esrah, you will join the fighters in their
efforts."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Yes, Queen Kasile."

 The ordercrafters formed a box and worked their
power to force the barrier to shut down. They commanded it to do so in the name
of their queen, and in the name of their queen, it slowly weakened. The attacks
of the others began to take effect, and Hera began to show signs of strain.

Siron joined them with his rapier and, as he swung it
against the Shield of Order, sparks of white fire shot into the air. Every such
swing did more damage than five from older and higher ranked spearman. Kasile
noted this for later.

Fairtheora held his brainwashed partner by her wings.
With her hands bound and magic dust sealed, she couldn’t resist, but he wasn’t
going to take any chances. Not again; not after what happened last time. He was
content to channel his spiritual power through his armor.

Kasile abstained from joining the fray. She was worn
out from fighting the enforcer, commanding it to banish Lunas, and then
reviving Siron. She felt like she could pass out at any second. She settled for
staring down her counterpart. It was only a matter of time before—

“DEEEAAAATTTTHHH TOOOOO ORRRRDDDEERRRRR!”

 A warrior with pointed ears raced onto the
battlefield. He was so fast he left after-images. In short order, he knocked
out Kasile’s ordercrafters with his golden-brown hammer. Without them, the
obelisk regained its strength and Hera stopped struggling.

“LARRY!” Sophia shouted. “Those ordercrafters were on
our
side! Didn’t you listen to Tasio’s briefing before the Summit
started?”

“What briefing?”

The bookworm trickster face-palmed. “Your title is
well deserved.”

The idiot trickster jumped for joy. “Thank you!"
His hammer's head opened up to reveal a stash of bacon. "Want some?”

High above the castle, Tasio continued his fight with
Aphelion. It was dragging out for much longer than he thought it would. He
didn’t remember the younger trickster being so mighty or resilient during the
Conversion War.

“You’ve gotten better,” he reluctantly admitted.

“Told ya so! Humanity wants to rise and fall on its
own merits. Even in emergencies like this, they can overcome and triumph
without you. This belief is so universal it has empowered me, their patron, to
stop you from stealing their victories.” 

“That’s not what I heard.”

Zaticana, goddess of spoken languages and gossip,
appeared in their midst.
Between the two warrior tricksters, she looked
out of place; pigtails, a dress with a hole above her stomach and a pair of
stockings and all of them covered with all the many languages of the world. She
grabbed Aphelion, put him in a headlock, and gave him a noogie.

“From what I heard, after you learned about Tasio’s
plan, you told other people. People like the Liclis and Latrot governments and
they ordered their people to pray for you today. That’s why you’re unusually
powerful.”

Aphelion slipped out of her grasp and said, “Even if
that were true, it doesn’t invalidate my point. Humans don’t need us to fight
Order. One of them is about to enter a state of chaotic enlightenment, which no
elf has achieved in a thousand years. Watch!”

In the isolated closet, Emily stood with fallen
enemies stacked to either side of her. She had killed, destroyed, and otherwise
rendered inoperable all of them with the dedication in her heart and the twin
swords in her hands. Now she was sweating, bleeding, and breathing heavily, and
there were still more enemies coming through the door. They filled the room and
formed a half crescent around her; seven in total. The girl behind her was
still deep in meditation.

“Please, Boss...I can’t do this all day.”

The enemies at the ends of the crescent and the
middle attacked as one. Emily blocked the left, then right, and then braced her
barrier for the third. She didn’t need to. Kallen impaled it on her spear and
dissolved it. Spinning left and right, she did the same to the other two and
then moved on to the remaining four. One hit was all it took to erase them from
reality.

She looked over her shoulder at Emily, opened her
eyes, and her pupils shined golden-brown. Emily’s breath caught in her throat.
The golden Kallen reached out and stroked her hair, sending power and affection
streaming down her body. It healed all her wounds instantly and filled her with
new energy. Emily felt like dropping to her knees and worshipping.

“Thanks
for protecting me.”

“No problem, Boss. I’ll always protect you.” She blushed
and continued, “I mean, you know, as far as it’s in my job description….”

“Hold
my hand or you’ll be left behind.”

“You do this on purpose…..”

With Emily’s hand in one of her own and her staff in
the other, Kallen cleared out the remaining enemies in the corridor. All she
had to do was point and think. Emily marveled at the sight. Eric had his Mana
Enlightenment, but it paled in comparison to what her boss could do.

This was River of Chaos Enlightenment. She had gone
beyond Razor Spirit and sneaked into the territory of gods. She granted herself
divinity by momentarily convincing the universe that she always had it. Kallen the
chimera was now Kallen the minor chaos goddess.

Among her divine powers was the ability to will
something out of reality. She did this by understanding that it was nothing
more than chaotic energy and, as such, it could be returned to the Sea of
Chaos. The details of how it worked went over Emily’s head and any attempt by
Kallen to explain it came out as gibberish. If she understood it, then she
could do it herself.

 Kallen phased through time and space to reach the
castle courtyard in an instant. All she had to do was will herself there and
she was there, like a trickster. She arrived just in time to see Belldandy and
Tasio team up to shatter the enforcer-possessed Queen Hera’s barrier. Then her
adoptive father and his orc friend shattered the Obelisk’s barrier. The Obelisk
itself was destroyed by the Royal Guard and Sentinel. They celebrated, but
Kallen knew there was still more to do.

She phased to the airship dome and looked for Lunas’
ship. Finding it was as simple as following the steams of ordercraft in the
air. In her current state, she could see them as clearly as the streamers of a
festival. All of them led back to the source of Order’s power in this region;
the Order Obelisk on top of the ship.

She jumped up there, spun her spear, and impaled it.
It resisted but quickly disappeared like everything else. The personal Order
Domination Field vanished and with it the last of Lunas’ influence in Roalt. One
instant later, they were inside
Albatross IX.

“
Emily
.”

“Yes, Boss?”

“Initiate
Plan Turtle.”

Like a lightbulb going out, Kallen’s aura faded and
she fainted straight into Emily’s arms. The universe had straightened out her
lies and righted itself. Her temporary divinity was gone. Now she was a mere
exhausted demon. Emily hoisted her up and smiled fondly.

“You got it, Boss.”

Meanwhile, in the castle dungeon, Dosh felt a certain
sense of superiority over the girl squirming at his feet. She was cocky earlier
but now she was crying. She had been disrespectful, but now she was pleading
for mercy. She was so helpless, he could fondle her breasts or slap her ass,
and she couldn't do anything about it. In the end, she was nothing more than a
dumb peasant while he was a brilliant noble.

Pride
comes before a fall, Dosh Heleti. Grab her and leave the dungeon so I can
teleport you out.

"I don't care if you are The Highest Authority; you
won't give me orders!"

It
was by my power and guidance that you successfully subdued her. Never forget
that.

"You're nothing without us! You need us mere
mortals to change anything in this world! All you did was supply tools; I
accomplished this feat on my own merit!"

 Tiza listened to his ravings with interest. In his
sloppiness and over-confidence, he had forgotten to plug her ears. Between an
arrogant brat and the First Rebel, a self-righteous debate could go on for
hours. It was her chance to wriggle free. Fatigue was no obstacle; it was part
of her training. All she needed was enough time.

Tasio’s
army is about to break my obelisk. Then you will be on your own. Carry her out
of the dungeon right now, before she succeeds in her escape attempt.

“When we arrive in Latrot, I expect a hero’s welcome.
It’s the least you can do after what I’ve accomplished here.”

Tiza cursed mentally. If he carried her into Latrot,
there would be no coming back. Not even Tasio could save her from such a place,
let alone Sathel. She frantically brainstormed for something, anything that
could get her out of this mess.

You
have done nothing wor—

All of a sudden, Tiza felt stronger and Dosh felt
weaker. The Order Domination Field was gone. Dosh scrambled to get Tiza out of
the room while she kicked out and head-butted. Even when he got her in a
fireman’s carry, he couldn’t keep his grip on her. She fell to the dungeon
floor in a heap. Now that she had a freer hand, she took another look at her
options.

Nothing physical because of the cuffs; nothing
magical because of the gag; no spiders because of his seamless armor; no Evil
Eye because she was hooded and face down. She couldn't see anything that...Then
it struck her:
I can still see!