bookpower Chapter 146- Getting the Plan Underway
Chapter 146- Getting the Plan Underway
Chapter 146- Getting the Plan Underway
[Keeno POV]
The night we were waiting for came a week later. Aslan had sent us a detailed layout of the arena and guard positions. He couldn’t get any of the shadow positions, but that was expected. I still begrudgingly disguised my features when we left Eblana’s base, but only for the duration of the quick trip to the arena. It was a giant colosseum similar to the one from that one city I could barely remember, only slightly more modern. The highest seats were glass-incased rooms full of luxuries while the seats for all others were only protected by a thin barrier that could be easily broken, as if anyone that got injured in the audience were just part of the spectacle.
“This place...” (Keeno)
“I know how you feel. I knew there were a lot of ‘accidents’ from this place, but I never cared enough to investigate it. Actually, looking at it though...it’s disgusting.” (Eblana)
“Ya know, the more I get to know you, Keeno, the more I realize that you care a lot about life for a Goddess of Death. Not that I dislike that about you.” (Mostima)
“A quip about my wife I could make aside, just because I’m the Goddess of Death doesn’t mean I enjoy pointless loss of life. People have one life, they should live it to the fullest without worrying about it being prematurely cut short for the entertainment of others, willingly or otherwise. And before you say anything, Ama, I know this isn’t the case sometimes.” (Keeno)
{I wasn’t going to say anything, though I do share your opinion on this.}
“Well, your magnanimity is appreciated.” (Mostima)
With the exception of Eblana, we kept mostly to the shadows of the corridors and hallways while I hid my glowing core as best I could. I never really thought about how hard it would be to sneak around now that I basically had a glowing blue beacon in my chest. It was a very tiring experience to say the least, but we did make it to a place where we knew no guards or spectators would be present, that being the glass booth of Aslan’s family.
“If this is supposed to be as big an event as we were told, I would think people would be seated already.” (Freya)
“If it wasn’t special, they would have. No one is allowed to be seated until the king and any of his guests arrive and are seated. Only after that can those of lower status be allowed in, after that the commoners and peasants.” (Eblana)
“How long are we going to have to wait then?” (Pram)
“I’d say another hour. I can see some people preparing things down there, so I doubt they would want the king to see it. No one likes watching the set up or clean up of events, after all.” (Mostima)
I stepped a bit closer to the window overlooking the arena and watched as several people scurried around setting up targets, making the already weak barrier weaker, rolling in ballistae. One person even started tampering with one they rolled in, holding a flame under the rope, weakening it until it was only useable for one maybe two shots before snapping.
“Someone pissed off some nobles, I see. Petty rats.” (Eblana)
“That’s disrespectful to rats, Eblana. Even they have a purpose in life.” (Freya)
“True. I’d call them leaches, but even those help in medicine...I think? Some strange doctors seem to think so at least.” (Eblana)
The conversation aside, I watched as several more ballistae were sabotaged, leaving a very bad taste in my mouth.
{I can see you really want to do something about that, Keeno, and at the price of sounding uncaring, I heavily recommend you don’t. The more things that go as usual here tonight, the better for all parties involved in your plans for the night. You can always avenge the people that get killed or injured later.}
I gritted my teeth in frustration. I knew Ama was right and I wasn’t going to ignore her advice, but the blatant disregard for life made me angry.
“Keeno, calm down. If it gets too hot in here, someone will notice.” (Pram)
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, hot jets of steam leaving my mouth as I exhaled.
“Eblana, have any clue which nobles ordered that?” (Keeno)
“Honestly no. It could be any one of them, but I don’t know any on a personal enough level to say. Sorry I can’t be of more help here.” (Eblana)
“It’s fine. Just if I knew and they were to show up here, I could probably broil them in their glass coffin of a spectator seat...no, it’d be more microwave. I wonder if they would pop like a hot dog?” (Keeno)
My intrusive thoughts aside, I sat down on the couch in the room while we waited for things to get started. Almost an hour later, the lights in a box a few away from us were lit. Thankfully the booths were equipped with heavy curtains, so we could peek through them without being seen ourselves.
Most of the people in that specific booth were people dressed in all black, setting up more barriers and hiding in the shadows of the room. Shortly after that an old man walked in. He wore what looked surprisingly like normal clothes, at least from this distance, though they were dyed in deep colors of purple and red. He sat in an ornately carved wooden seat.
Following him was a person in similar garb, but with more sandy colors. They had small, pointed ears on the top of their head and a flowing black tail that almost looked like a kitsune’s if it wasn’t for the way it moved and was groomed. That person sat in a different chair slightly behind the first person. A few other people, clearly servants, filed in and began waiting on the two.
Once they were sufficiently comfortable, there was a brief period of waiting and more of the glass booths began lighting up. People in lavish to gaudy clothes began sitting or standing, looks of amusement or disdain on their faces as if they were too good for the world to be kept waiting.
Seeing so many souls practically dripping with muddy corruption nearly made me lose my dinner. I hadn’t felt that way since Falheim.
“Disgusting. Is this what you always see?” (Eblana)
“If you’re talking about the souls, then you learn to reduce just how much you see. It’s a bit overwhelming at the start. But you don’t see such disgusting sights often. Most normal people are a calm grey while some very rare individuals, like Pram, are spotlessly pure.” (Keeno)
I noticed Pram looked away, making me wonder what it was I said that made her uncomfortable, but I quickly got my wandering thoughts back on track. The nobles had finally all finished getting to their booths and the commoners were finally allowed in. Those seats filled up twice as fast as the noble ones and only half an hour passed before the entire arena was full to bursting.
“Now to wait for things to get significantly hyped up.” (Mostima)
While we waited, the voice of a person that sounded like it was playing through a filter rang out all around the arena.
“WELCOME ALL TO THE SPECIAL COMPETITION OF BALLISTAE MARKSMANSHIP! WE HAVE A SPECTACLE PLANNED FOR ALL OF YOU TONIGHT! IF YOU ALL REMEMBER THE LAST TOURNAMENT, OUR REIGNING CHAMPION AND AN NEWCOMER FOUGHT UNTIL THE NEWCOMER TOOK A SURPRISING VICTORY! TONIGHT, WE HAVE INVITED THOSE TWO BACK FOR A REMATCH AS WELL AS SEVERAL OTHERS FROM ACROSS ALL OF ODEEN!”
Cheers from the commoner crowd rang out even louder than the announcer making everything reverberate with their voices.
“HAHAHA! SUCH AN ENERGETIC CRIWD TONIGHT! BUT THAT’S NOT EVERYTHING! WE HAVE SOME VERY IMPORTANT GUESTS TONIGHT! WE HAVE BEEN JOINED BY OUR GREAT RULER; KING BALDR ODEEN!”
Cheers erupted again, this time louder than the last.
“WE ARE ALSO JOINED BY THE REPRESENTATIVE IF LOKIR, HERE TO SEE THE SIGHTS AND EXPERIENCE OUR COUNTRY’S. GREATEST SPORT! GIVE THEM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!”
A quieter, yet still deafening scream echoed through the arena.
“NOW, BEFORE THIS COMPETITION IS KICKED, WE’LL GET A WORD FROM OUR GLORIOUS LEADER!”
“...” (Keeno)
“...” (Margaret)
{...}
“...”
None of us moved for a second, just processing what happened.
“*Sigh* The one hiding in the shadows. I assume you are in some way related to Lady Okami, correct?” (Margaret)
Seeing no real point in hiding at the moment, I internally sighed and stood up completely.
“More than related, I am her.” (Keeno)
Margaret looked surprised by this, but she shook off the shock quickly.
“That’s a surprise, but I’m assuming you wish to speak somewhere else, correct?” (Margaret)
“Yes. Me and my companions have a place to talk not too far from here. If you would follow me, we can get this secret meeting underway and finished before things get complicated.” (Keeno)
“I understand. I’ll follow you.” (Margaret)
She then turned to her companion who nodded and went back to standing guard like she saw nothing.
“Lead the way.” (Margaret)
Chaos Realm: Order POV:
*In the world where so-called Followers of Order resided*
Looking down at the events unfolding before me caused me to sigh. Though small, this cult that thinks it’s doing whatever it can to take away the free will of all things in an attempt to bring Order to the universe was making strides I haven’t seen in a long time. They had apparently already done this to an entire planet in their universe and were now moving on to doing the same to their home world.
‘It’s funny they think this small aspect is me thought. Let’s see just what these few that are opposing this cult can do.’
One of the leading members of the cult had somehow transformed into a sort of puppet and was spouting some nonsense about how every day should be a Sunday or something like that and using anecdotes that referred to music while being opposed by a group of six or seven. The one in the lead of the opposition seemed to have been given the equivalent of a blessing from this world’s goddess of harmony as well.
‘Hm.’
They were putting up a decent fight, managing to weaken their opponent a fair amount.
‘Hehehehe. Very good, little mortals. Show that idiot that Order is nothing like what he’s spouting.’
After dealing a critical blow to their opponent, he gained a second wind. Unleashing a new and powerful attack nearly knocked the ones opposing him into submission, but just before that happened, another player entered the fray. Singing a beautiful song and rousing their spirits, the opposition regained their footing.
‘Hmmm. While this is evening them out once more, I think I should step in just a bit.’
Looking around, I saw something that gave me a fun idea.
“Hehehehehe. Payto, you’re going to enjoy this story when I tell it to you.”
My gaze landed on a train near the group fighting, I used my Divinity of Puppetry and temporarily took control of it. Once I was sure things were perfect, I went back to watching the fight and looking for perfect opportunities. When one showed itself, I controlled the train and used it to ram the giant puppet in the face.
‘...I think I could get addicted to doing this. It’s strangely satisfying.’
“...Lady Order...to what do we owe pleasure of your appearance and personal intervention in this matter?”
“Oh, my apologies, Xipe, I heard that some cult was using my name as an excuse to take the free will of mortals and I couldn’t help but look and see what their problem was and how they got my entire philosophy wrong. Seeing this, I got a bit entranced in the fight and wanted to play along with them. And besides, it’s not like you aren’t helping them too.” (Order)
“I just spared that interesting child a glance. I wanted to see who would come out on top. After all, to that misguided child there, his order is just another facet of my Harmony.” (Xipe)
“I see...well, I’m already assisting, so I can’t really back out of it now.” (Order)
“True...mind if I try as well? That seems like fun.” (Xipe)
“Have at it.” (Order)
While making sure we didn’t get too overly involved in the fight, the opposers overcame the so-called follower of order and soundly defeated him.
“Well, with that taken care of, I’m going back home. If something like this happens again, let me know.” (Order)
“I understand. Goodbye, Lady Order.” (Xipe)
I vanished from that layer of the Sea of Chaos and appeared back home.
“Oh Paytoooooo. I have a story for youuuuuuuu.” (Order)
“Oh? Sounds interesting.” (Payto)
“Mind if we hear it too?” (Luna)
“You can’t make an entrance like that and expect us to just ignore it!” (Atmos)
“Then sit and quiet down.” (Order)