Chapter 339: 345: A Plague of Phantoms: Crazy Noisy Bizarre Star II
The ballroom erupted in a ruckus following Jane's proclamation. Dignitaries started shouting over each other, while others started to surround those that Jane had called out. Unfortunately they were from members from those conspirator's home countries.
"You dare accuse an esteemed member of my country's military!" A man who I realized was the King Reagent of Austria, exclaimed. He stepped out from the center of the group surrounding General Revi Sadawalki. "You go too far little girl!"
"I would watch who you are calling little girl!" Jane snapped then pointed a finger at the king. "A general from your country is involved in a plot to start another world war. Either you or various members of your military were involved or you were just complacent…or you are an incompetent ruler."
"That's rich coming from you! Considering the events of last month!" A voice called out.
"Yeah! How many people died at that anniversary party of your parents!" A another voice exclaimed.
Those that spoke out were probably hoping that Jane would cower or back down by brining up the coup of her sister. However that only made her angry. Even I could sense the pure rage that simmered just beneath the surface.
"That dreadful day is why my father is taking this so seriously. He is currently dealing with the members of my country's military that were a part of this plot…well most of them." Jane said ominously.
At that very moment several swords of light impaled themselves in the ground around one man in a circle. Chains of light shot from the hilts of the swords and bound the man, making it impossible for him to move. The man in question was General Panzer, who had been trying to sneak out of the ballroom and thus was at the far end of the room. However the moment everyone dropped into the ballroom Astrid immediately started looking for him. Her job in this entire exercise was to find and detain the General.
"I forgot to mention one name among those that were conspirators in the plot." Jane said, looking towards the now trapped general. "General Panzer, my father left your fate in my hands."
"What happened to not slaughtering anyone?" Hideyoshi asked. His annoyance was clear in his voice.
"I simply meant that Nosforatu would not be slaughtering any military officials from any foreign country." Jane said innocently to the disguised ruler. "General Panzer has already been declared a traitor to Egypt and fingered as having a hand in the attempted theft of the Briar Lieons and attempted murder of one of Sho'lajah's employees."
"YOU OVERSTEP! YOU PAMPERED BRAT" General Panzer exclaimed.
"No, you overstep…General…" Iris said, suddenly appearing behind General Panzer. She pressed a dagger against the throat of the general which instantly silenced him.
"This spell is a modified version of the personalized spell used by the Folders family. Even Chase would have problems getting out of this spell." Astrid announced then crossed her arms. "So don't think you can easily escape."
"Yes, thank you Astrid for that pointless explanation." Damon grumbled. Astrid shot him a look that would have made lava freeze over, which in turn made Damon shiver in revulsion.
"So what are you going to do to this, supposed traitor?" Hideyoshi asked, bringing attention back to Jane.
"His life is forfeit, that ruling was passed by my father…" Jane replied then crossed the length of the ballroom over to the general. She started casting a utility spell sigil in her right hand. A blade of ice formed in her hand, which she raised with steeled determination. "…and carried out by me."
"YOU CAN'T….!" General Panzer cried out, only to get the frozen edge of Jane's blade plunged into his chest.
Through my enhanced hearing thanks to my base; Fours; influence, I could hear General Panzer's heartbeat skip and then falter before silencing altogether. The general slumped and went limp, only being held up by Astrid's spell.
Screams and gasps echoed in the air of the ballroom from the other dignitaries and rulers that witnessed the General's death. Jane withdrew the ice blade from the general's chest then dispelled the blade and turned to face the others inside the ballroom.
"As I said before, we are not here for kill anyone but see that they are punished for their actions." Jane said, then walked back over to myself and the others in the group.
"In the name of Chase Kingston, star blessed Shaper and Revolutionary Paragon, acting in his stead as chief of Operations. I, Iris Philari, herby place a permanent ban on the countries of Austria, Iceland, and The Neo-German alliance. They and any member of their country or agent working on their behalf will be restricted from receiving Enchanted items, Shaped evos, as well as any other future product sold at Sho'lajah Artifact Company." Iris proclaimed. This caused the entire ballroom to erupt in an uproar once again.
"YOU HAVE NO PROOF MY COUNTRY HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS SUPPOSED ATTACK ON YOUR COMPANY! THIS IS AN ACT OF TYRANNY!" The queen of Iceland screamed at the top of her lungs, drowning out the objections of anyone else.
The queen then motioned to a woman behind her who I realized was the Icelandic princess Alicia Dewmond from the way that Jane narrowed her eyes at the girl. The queen grabbed her daughter by the arm and dragged her in front of her.
"You expect me to believe that my daughter would dare try such a thing! Look at her! She's a waif! A feckless girl that could barely tie her shoes, unlike her sister!"
"MOTHER!" Alicia exclaimed incredulously.
"You want proof?" Jane asked.
That was my cue. Using the excess mana that Chase released before he fused with Fours to make me as a smokescreen for my abilities I sent tiny tendrils of mana towards the princess as well as towards the other conspirators in the ballroom. I sought out their enchanted items with my mana and easily found them. All of them wore the rings, bracelets, or necklaces they bought from Chase's country with pride.
Once my tendrils attached to the enchanted item I used one of my new abilities: Magic siphon. Thanks to my base's Fours vampiric nature I could naturally drain the magic from any spell or enchanted item. Enchanted items didn't naturally have mana in them but they were created using rhank which used Chase's blood as a main component, thus making them magical.
"Yes I demand proof!" The Icelandic queen demanded.
"Well I might as well revel this now. The enchanted items that we sell all have one hidden function in them. Should they be used to harm anyone in Sho'lajah Artifact Company or used against anyone in the company then they will slowly begin to crumble and then shatter." Jane exclaimed.
"That's not…!" Princess Alicia started. At that moment Princess Alicia's enchanted item; a pair of disk shaped earrings; shattered into a dozen pieces and fell onto the ground. Princess Alicia reached up and grabbed her ear, a horrified gasp escaping her mouth. "…wait I didn't…that's not possible…"
"Alicia!" The Icelandic queen gasped.
That very instant the enchanted items of every other person who we announced were the conspirators shattered as well. The people who were guarding them all looked towards their leaders with uncertainty.
"Proof enough for you?" Jane asked sarcastically.
"This proves nothing! You could have rigged those items to shatter on some sort of command!" A general from the Neo-German alliance yelled.
"That's right!" Someone else yells.
"Believe what you want, these bans will stand!" Jane said firmly then looked at the leaders of each nation and smiled coyly. "Which would be a terrible blow for all of you wouldn't it. Especially considering your enemies would still be allowed to purchase enchanted items and evos from us."
"Just imagine how disastrous it would be for Iceland if the Dutchian Empire got their hands on an entire platoon of evos strong enough to wipe out an entire company singlehandedly." Damon said with a bemused smirk.
"Or how many of the small kingdoms bordering the Neo-German alliance might decide to unite and try to go to war with the alliance? Imagine thousands of soldiers fighting using enchanted items and casting spells tailored to their combat styles without any training…" Alberto said as well.
The room fell silent at their words. The weight of them seeming to press down on the throats of the defiant royals and military that protected the collaborators. The leaders of the Dutchian Empire and the several leaders of the countries all shared venomous stares and sideways glances.
I took a few steps forward, past the rest of my allies and snapped open my wings. Sending powerful gusts of wind out towards the rest of the guests and grabbing their attention.
"If thou has the heart to fret then thou must possess the will to do what is necessary to prevent tragedy. If you bid not these terrible futures come to pass then steel thine hearts and see justice done." I announced.
"What…?" The Queen of Iceland muttered.
"You want us to execute our countryman!" A general of Austria exclaimed.
"Interpret my words how thy wishes but let your conviction be clear." I replied coyly, then tucked my wings back into my back.
"You bastard! You pompous upstarts demand too much!" Princess Alicia snapped.
"And you covet beyond your means, you greedy bitch!" Sin snapped. Princess Alicia glared at Sin with clenched fists.
"GREEDY BITCH!" The princess screamed and stomped her foot.
The queen of Iceland stayed silent, her expression blank and unreadable. I'm not sure maybe people around noticed the silent shift in her personality. While the others in the ballroom screamed and barked at one another over the barely veiled ultimatum presented to them, she sighed and turned to her daughter.
"Alicia, answer me truthfully. Are their claims true?" The queen asked. The princess looked shocked at her mother's words then frowned.
"Of course not, you said it yourself. I am not capable of such treachery." Alicia replied. The queen examined her daughter for a moment then sighed and turned away from her.
"I see…" The queen muttered then snapped her fingers. "…arrest her…"
The guards that had surrounded the queen and princess moved immediately to grab the princess and forced her to her knees. The princess gasped and started struggling against the guards, screaming at the queen.
"Mother!"
"You've always had a nasty habit that presented itself whenever you lied. Your right eye would twitch slightly. It was how your sister could always tell when you lied." The queen said softly. The princess eyes widened in horror. She broke down and started screaming.
"A TWITCH! YOU'D BELIEVE THESE LIES BASED OFF A TWITCH!" She screamed, spittle flying from her mouth. "JUST ADMIT IT MOTHER! YOU'RE SACRIFICING ME TO APPEASE THOSE UPSTARTS!"
"Take her to the hotel and lock her in her room. I want her interrogated and the names of all others involved in this plot." The queen ordered the guards. The guards started to drag Alicia away.
"I should warn you, your majesty. The ban on your country will continue regardless of what you do in private. Unless something is done now, we will not be able to trust your country or your words in the future." Jane advised the queen. The queen frowned and narrowed her eyes at Jane.
"Fine…" The queen said then cast an offensive spell sigil and shot a bolt of lightning at her daughter. The bolt shot straight through the princess chest, leaving a nickel sized hole where her heart was.
The room fell into a hushed silence as the princess sagged in the grip of the guards and her head drooped lifelessly. Unable to even gasp or scream before she died. I was surprised or rather Chase's part of my consciousness was surprised. Getting the leaders of the countries involved to kill the conspirators was part of the plan originally but he wasn't exactly sure if this would be possible considering one of them was a princess.
"A pity…" I said then walked slowly over to the corpse of the princess which had been laid down on the ground by the guards. "…slain by one's own mother. I'll let mercy win the day and reveal thy own treachery."
I bit my finger to draw blood then allowed the blood to drop onto the wound on the princess. The moment my blood touched the corpse a foggy mist hissed from the wound and formed a screen in the air above. This was another new ability of mine: Bloody Recollection.
Images flashed on the smokescreen showing the princess talking with all the other conspirators. Money and gems trading hands. Shady back alleyways that a princess has no reason to be in then flashed. Soundless whispers and faithless promises showed on the screen. Reveling the truth to everyone in attendance.
While ones with intelligence could dispute these images as being conjured up by me the looks on all the conspirators faces showed just how truthful the images was.
The ruler of Austria immediately slit the throat of the general we accused and threw his body on the ground to bleed out unceremoniously. The leader of the Neo-German alliance motioned to his guards and they both stabbed his traitor in the heart.
I turned and walked back over to Hideyoshi and made a respectful bow to the disguised ruler. The man narrowed his eyes at me but said nothing.
"Please send mine humblest apologies to the Shogun on behalf of Chase Kingston for dampening the mood of his ball. Chase will present the Shogun with an additional gift along with his…request." I said then walked over to the glass dome and bit my finger again then drew a few runes on my arm and started casting a spell.
The same spell that Chase cast to get into the ballroom, I cast to get out of the ballroom. I turned to the others in the ballroom and saw Sin, Alberto, Damon, Astrid, Iris, and Jane already walking towards the pillar created by the spell.
"I bid all a good afternoon. Pray, come to the duel between Chase and Loki Paragon…it will be a spectacle to behold!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Hutexa_The_Djinn
Hutexa_The_Djinn HUTEXA_THE_DJINN HERE! As promised the next Chapter of the novel. I was kinda struggling with how I wanted to wrap up this chapter but I'm glad with the result. As a added bonus I'll put more new art for Bone-lasher in the comments! Thanks and if you like the way that the story is heading, leave a like, a comment, powerstone, or a review! Thank you!
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