Bab 315: 311: A Plague of Phantoms: A Banquet, Seasoned With A Pledge VIII
"Oh…Disciple…how disappointing." Loki grumbled. He glanced around at the other royals, CEO's and fellow Paragons that were now blatantly staring at us thanks to my earlier billowing. "I was merely informing my son how disappointed I was not only in his loss against you but his blatant subservience. Looks not befitting the son of a Paragon."
"The only thing I see is that you're a shitty father. Why wouldn't you want your son studying under someone who is better than even you." I said coldly.
The air in the area dropped several degrees. Loki fixed me with a hardened glare, bloodlust and malice oozing out of his every pore. I stared back at him, unaffected by his bloodlust.
"You can't honestly believe that you…a peasant from a backwater country…is my superior?" Loki managed to bark out through gritted teeth. I shrugged and crossed my arms.
"It's the only conclusion that I can draw. Not a single evo that you have spliced has been able to defeat a single one of my evos." I jeered. Loki huffed with a shake of his head.
"Your evos were lucky, brat." Loki said then motioned to Alberto, a grimy smile creeping across his face. "Besides that last evo your Liger shark…abomination killed was spliced by my son. As he will freely admit."
I saw Alberto freeze out of the corner of my eye. His jaw clenched and his body nearly shook with rage. I felt my own rage reaching a boiling point, remembering everything that Alberto had told me about that splicing over a month ago. I suddenly felt a hand on my back and glanced over my shoulder, seeing Grandpa Seamus look at me worryingly.
"Starlight…are you okay?" Grandpa Seamus asked in Torapos, snapping me out of the rage fueled haze I was about to fall into. I took a breath then nodded.
"Yes Grandpa. Though I'm about to channel my inner Grandma Lulu." I replied in Torapos. Grandpa chuckled then took a step back behind Empress.
"You know it's rude to start speaking another language suddenly when you're talking to someone!" Loki snapped.
"Oh really, imagine that…" I said, switching back to Universal standard. Loki clicked his tongue then glared at Alberto.
"Alberto, know that your loss against this embarrassment of a splicer is the greatest shame of Spain. I'm hoping that becoming a Disciple of his was just the result of the conditions of your duel. There is only so much shame that that can be tolerated as a…" Loki started.
"WHO GIVES A SHIT!" Alberto suddenly snapped. I nearly jumped out of my skin as his outburst caught me off guard. Loki looked stunned for a brief second but quickly recovered.
"What?!" Loki demanded. Alberto fixed his father with a glare and huffed.
"Why the hell should I care about what a bunch of pandering sycophants! Embarrassment, shame? Those words are for someone who brandishes the accomplishments of their ancestors like a banner as if they were their own! Claiming greatness in their blood meanwhile they have little to no accomplishments to their own name!" Alberto snapped then pointed a finger at his father. "Why should I care about the opinion of a man that claims to be superior but rather than show it he makes snide comments, disrespecting remarks, and accepts a challenge for his son instead of doing it himself!"
There was a collective gasp from the splicers around the deck that had been watching the confrontation. All eyes turned to Loki, murmurs and whispers quickly exchanging around us. Loki looked down his nose at Alberto, then huffed and took a step back.
"So, you don't care about my opinion Alberto?" Loki asked his son. I glanced to Alberto and saw his eyes burning with a blistering hatred.
"I stopped caring when Ramone died…" Alberto growled, his voice low and rumbled like thunder. Loki bristles at the mention of his other son.
"Do not mention that failure's name in my presence!" He snapped.
"The only failure is you!" Alberto barked back. "Shame the first and only Paragon of Spain is such a useless excuse for a father! Maybe your children would be better if you were!"
"I spared no expense in your education and training. The fact that you couldn't beat one American simply speaks volumes at your lack of talent and your ineptitude!" Loki rebutted.
"Pot meet kettle!" I called out. Loki turned me and growled.
"I am Loki Paragon! The world's foremost expert on splicing! I AM NOT INEPT!" Loki barked.
"Actions speak louder than words, Loki." A new voice called out. Loki turned towards the new voice with a snarl then froze immediately, a look of terror spread across his face.
I looked towards the direction that new voice came from and saw another splicer, a woman and a royal at that. She wore a elegant dress in traditional Spanish style and had a thin golden tiara. She was a mature woman with an air of authority and wisdom that was flanked by several guards.
"Princess Carmen!" Alberto exclaimed. I glanced over at Alberto and arched a brow.
"Who?" I asked innocently. The Princess took several steps forward and stood between Loki and I then looked to me.
"I am Princess Carmen Francesca Rosé. First princess of Spain and heir to the throne. I have been wanting to meet you for a while now Chase Kingston, I'm sorry it's under such…unbecoming circumstances." The Princess said then turned around to look at Loki. "Loki Paragon, you know I have long grown tired of your grandstanding as well as the reports of your repeated instances of embarrassing yourself at the hands of Master Kingston. My father agrees with this. Either prove your superiority in splicing or face the consequences."
"His Majesty said agrees with that!" Loki snapped then flinched when Princess Carmen glared at him.
"Umm…Princess Carmen? Loki is better than me at splicing. I can't cast any of the splicing spells." I spoke up. Carmen turned to me and arched a brow so I continued. "I'm a practitioner of Shaping; well actually it's creator; it's a form of splicing that combines traditional splicing with techno-splicing."
"I see…" Princess Carmen said, her expression becoming unreadable. Her tone however I recognized as being unimpressed or disappointed. She turned to Loki and narrowed her eyes at him. "…do you plan to continue to disgrace Spain with your cowardice or will you finally prove your supposed superiority over him?"
Loki looked like he was about to have an aneurism with how red his face was and large the vein in the forehead was growing. He glared at me as hos farm crystal started for glow and a crystalline structure formed.
"IF YOU INSIST! AVIGALE!" Loki bellowed then flung the crystalline structure behind his back.
A large avian-human hybrid evo emerged from the structure. It stood at over ten feet fall, had the upper body of a human man, the head of a falcon, and the lover body of a kangaroo. Massive wings splayed open from its back and kicked up a gust of wind that nearly knocked me over. I felt the same unnatural presence I felt when I saw the evo that Alberto used in his duel against me, the one that he was tricked into using his brother to splice.
"Really? A overgrown man-chicken?" I balked as Princess Carmen was dragged from between Loki and I by her guards. Loki sneered then smiled cockily.
"You'll find Avigale more than some mere man-chicken as you called it. Much more! More than you could dream to possess!" Loki exclaimed. I clenched my fists slightly, that phrase all but confirming my suspicions.
"Oh rea…"
<BOSS ABOVE!> Bone-lasher roared in my head.
Before I could react something plummeted from the sky above me, dive-bombing towards the space between Loki and I. However before it crashed into the deck, four mighty wings snapped open and slowed it's descent to the point it floated in mid-air for a brief second.
My eyes widened as the Nephilguize queen that Ifrit had fought with and altered inside Lulu'Zurkai's Laboratory landed with a soft click of her hooves. Her eyes danced across the faces of everyone standing in my direction before they landed on mine. Her face lit up with a sparkle of elation.
"Found you…" She gasped.
"NEPHILGUIZE!" Bone-lasher roared. In a spark of lightning and flares of flames, Bone-lasher, Empress, and Jiggles jumped in front of me and assumed defensive stances.
I started to channel incinerate attribute mana into my hand when the Nephilguize Queen suddenly did something unexpected. She dropped to her knees and bowed respectfully.
"Please wait, oh Great One." The Nephilguize chattered. I frowned, realizing she was able to speak a lot better than before. "…I beg you…a mercy…a plea."
My evos all glanced back at me, silently looking for instruction. I held a hand up and they nodded. Stepping slightly to the side to allow me to see the Nephilguize queen much easier.
"What do you want? After that last stunt you and your Hive pulled I should kill you on the spot." I demanded. The Nephilguize queen looked remorseful and hung her head low.
"My Hive hungered….we attacked out of desperation. We didn't know that you…the great one…had come to deliver us." The Nephilguize queen hissed.
"Chase I swear to all the gods if you made a evo cult, even by accident, I'm gelding you!" I heard Jane bark at me from somewhere further behind me. I ignored her and focused on the Nephilguize.
"I didn't deliver you or anything like that. In fact I slaughtered most of your hive!" I rebutted. The Nephilguize queen looked at me and shook her head adamantly.
"You delivered us, Great one! The blessings bestowed upon me by your divine visage allowed me to overcome my hive's greatest threat…our hunger. I no longer hunger for Magicka, my Hive is free from it's thrall! It's all thanks to you!" The Nephilguize queen exclaimed.
"Is it talking about when Star Shaper and I were fused?" Jiggles muttered softly. I sighed and nodded as I began to understand. I gave her a mana crystal core when Ifrit used my part of the consciousness to alter her genetic structure.
"Well what do you want?" I demanded again, this time more harshly.
"To serve…to be of use to the Great one!" The Nephilguize queen replied. Loki stomped his foot on the ground and snarled.
"Really Kingston!? A farce to stall for time! Stop stalling so I can beat you into the ground where you belong and show the superiority of splicing! Of one of my greatest creations!" Loki bbarked.
My evos all shot death glares at Loki, as did the Nephilguize queen. The weird man-chicken evo screeched aggressively at all of them and tried to puff itself up to look bigger and more threatening. A thought suddenly crashed into my brain and smirked.
"You know what Loki! Since you want to go so bad, prove you're worth my time! Defeat this evo with your evo and I'll duel you." I said to Loki then looked at The Nephilguize queen. "As for you, defeat that asshat's evo and I'll accept you as one of my personal evos."
"WORTH YOUR TIME! I AM A PARAGON YOU GAUDY PIECE OF TRASH!" Loki bellowed then pointed a finger at me. "AVIGALE! KILL HIM!"
The large man-chicken took to the sky with a single hop then an offensive spell sigil formed in front of its mouth followed by three spiraling fireballs being launched at me. Gasps and screams echoed over the deck as the fireballs flew at me and my evos but they were intercepted. A wall of pure golden light appeared in front of me and my evos, blocking the shots. The fireballs exploded harmlessly against the shield.
My eyes zeroed in on the Nephilguize queen who had a muscular hand raised in my direction and casting a defensive spell sigil. She looked pissed as she turned to look at Loki and snarled.
"You think you can ignore the Great one's decrees?! I am your opponent!" She proclaimed proudly.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Hutexa_The_Djinn
Hutexa_The_Djinn Splicer Fact: Splicer's bodies are sturdier than a normie's bodies. This is thanks to the mana coursing through their bodies which strengthens it over the course of the splicer's life. This can be considered a passive version of body modification magic but since it is done by all splicers as they age it is typically just considered the perks of being a splicer. Normally by the time a splicer reaches fifty their bodies are strong enough to prevent bones breaking from heights under three stories. Hence why splicers typically get more bold and brazen as they age.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone