Micchi Versus the New World - Chapter 106

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Chapter 106

Today was the day of the United Kingdoms of Dysentia's summit. Anyone who was worth enough of a damn in this world and wanted to keep it that way was here.  Kain and King Allo hosted the first part of the meeting in a private venue with only a few people. Anya, Kaoru, Ririko, chieftain Breila, and Sultan Yusef being among them since they were political leaders.

Whatever they were meeting about, Anya was probably going to tell me all about it later anyway. I wouldn't make for a good talker anyway.

That was a few hours ago. Now that the serious shit was over with, people were winding down with the banquet over at the Arcane Ward. This was the part Kain wanted me to be a part of.

So here I was. Dressed in the damn dress Loraine had Jennick tailor for me like I was at a wedding or something, with about a hundred other people in similar, formal attire as if trying to one up the next with more jewelry and extravagance.

The banquet was held in one of the spires called the arcanatrium. The large, circular chamber was lit up by chandeliers with magic crystals, had windows as tall as the ceiling, and a mechanical apparatus similar to the one in Mildred's workshop at the center, except bigger and the gears seesawed instead of rotated.

Some elf guy in a fancy suit and purple cape walked up to me with two glasses of wine in his hands.

"Excuse me, fair lady. I regret that I haven't been acquainted with someone as beautiful as you yet. May I offer—"

"Get the fuck outta my face." I growled.

He drew a sharp, pitchy breath like a squealing pig and tensed up.

"I'm sorry, sir." Loraine came up from behind him and took the glasses right out of his hands. "This fair lady already has a date."

"Of course! I didn't mean to intrude." The elf tucked tail and ran.

We watched him leave, and Loraine gave me the other glass. She breathed deeply of the aroma before taking a sip. It was hard not to stare at her in that purple dress with a split in the bust all the way down to her belly. I might not like wearing them myself, but I'd take any chance I get to see her in something nice.

"If you like what you see, then you should compliment me." With the edge of the glass still at her lips, Loraine opened one eye and smiled at me.

"Y-You look… good. Yeah, good." I cleared my throat.

"So do you!" She backed away a few steps to get a good look at me. "I'm so happy with Jennick's work! The dress he made really brings out your charm. It's a shame you aren't more in touch with your feminine side."

"You know that's not my color, besides…"

Across the long table filled with plates of pastries and bite-sized snacks, a group of nobles were throwing glances our way. I glared hard enough to pop their cozy little bubble of comfort from being coddled their entire life. They quickly pretended to be doing something else and turned their backs to us.

"Is something the matter?" Loraine asked.

"People like them never had to scratch and crawl to see the next day. They got everything handed to them on silver platters. It pisses me off so much, I want to wipe the smug grins off their faces." I grimaced.

"I'm sure not all of them are bad. Kain, for example, does a lot to help his people." Loraine grabbed my face to turn me away from them and look at her instead.

"Ain't a lot of people like Kain. Helluva lot more people like Owyn and your uncle though."

On the other side of the room, Sultan Yusef was talking up a group of dignitaries. I'd been keeping an eye on him the entire night, and he probably knew it.

"Lady Micchi, Lady Loraine! How are you two enjoying the evening?" Kain asked, approaching with Mildred attached to his arm.

"We are enjoying it very much. Aren't you, Micchi?" Loraine nudged me. "The food is incredible, the atmosphere pleasant, and I even got to see Micchi in a dress!"

"I must admit, the brute wears it well." Mildred smirked.

"Another peep outta you, and we're gonna find out if you can get any shorter." I raised a fist at her.

My eyes were drawn to a dark elf not dressed for the occasion whispering into Sultan Yusef's ear. He nodded, then sent him off. It could be nothing, but I hated the guy too much not to suspect something.

"I see you are still trying to burn holes into Sultan Yusef with that glare of yours. Though I should probably be glad you haven't beaten someone up yet." Kain sighed.

"I still got a hunch he's up to something," I said.

Sultan Yusef suddenly turned in our direction and smiled, raising his glass of wine. Kain returned the gesture, then turned back to me.

"You have an overreacting mind, Lady Micchi. The sultan contributed much discourse during the meeting. What he has done to you and Lady Loraine in the past is unforgivable, and we will see to it that he makes reparations in time. But there is nothing to suggest he possesses any ill-intent toward our alliance. Now if you will excuse me… I have suitors to turn down in front of Mildred…" Kain groaned.

"Oh, Kain! Honey!" Ririko waved to him from afar. "My dress is being disagreeable. Maybe you can come and help me?"

"I'm going to ground that woman into arcane dust if it's the last thing I do," an infuriated Mildred grumbled as they walked away.

For the rest of the night, Loraine and I tried to enjoy it together. She urged me to take it easy and try to relax. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here. Eventually, she got pulled away by Anya and Yui to have a drinking contest with the expensive wine being served around. Not wanting to get wasted, I fucked off and went to the balcony.

The arcanatrium was about a third of the way up the spire, and at this height, I could see the entire city in all its glory, including where my house and the guild hall was. Lampposts dotted the streets below, giving light to the nightowls was still up at this time. A city this big, it was no surprise that it had all sorts of people populating it. This time around, however, there were mostly just Cynderace Branch members patrolling. Outside the city, on the other hand—

"What the?" I squinted out to the distance.

Just beyond the walls, magic spells were being flung around. Rugal and his people were… fighting something? What the hell was going on? The warning bells should be sounding across the city. If they were demons, then the spires should be alerting us, too.

I spun around in search of Sultan Yusef, but he was nowhere to be found. I knew it. That fucker was up to no good after all.

"Well, fuck it. Fine by me. Let's get the real party started." I pointed a finger to the sky and fired a flare-like spell.

In pockets all over the city, the goons I let out of prison the other day started making their move. Over by the guild hall, Thelesia was raising the flag with Hurai's help, something I told her to do if shit was going down over there.

As soon as I turned back to the arcanatrium, an explosion rocked the spire. Windows shattered, shooting glass shards past me and cutting the dress. Smoke was billowing out of holes in the ceiling and floor. The chandeliers were destroyed in the blast and their light was replaced by fire. It was chaos inside the hall.

"What the fuck happened? Where's Loraine?" I raced inside, looking for Loraine, but only found Anya shielding Yui.

"I dunno!" Yui exclaimed, her face charred and coughing. "We were going shot for shot, then boom!"

Tables were upturned and on top of injured people. Some were trying to limp away from the fires, others who had magic were trying to put it out with magic and heal those who needed help.

A large number of demons poured in, followed by armed dark elves and beastlings who weren't Cynderace guards entered the arcanatrium. They immediately started attacking anyone they could. An elf charged at me with a spear.

The point cut through my dress, and he flashed a smile, thinking he had gotten me. I ripped the spear from his hand and lifted him by the throat.

"Where's your Sultan?" I snarled.

"I think… you have more important things to worry about," he choked out.

"Wrong answer. Try again in the next life." I balled a fist, gathering all of the fire around me onto the knuckles, and punched him sky high out the window.

It couldn't be a coincidence that Loraine and Sultan Yusef were gone. His people must have kidnapped her during the commotion.

"Lady Micchi!" Kain was hobbling over with an injured Mildred on his shoulder. "Those attackers are the sultan's men, but they are with demons? I can't believe it… You were right. I'm sorry for not trusting in you."

"It don't matter now. We gotta do something. Sultan's got Loraine, so I have to go after 'em," I said, but Mildred grabbed my arm.

"The spires… they aren't functioning… We must reactivate them to notify the rest of the kingdom," Mildred warned.

"I'll go," Yui offered. "I can fly from tower to tower by zapping around."

A pack of demon hounds leapt at us, but a spear skewered them all, then flung the bodies away before returning to Kaoru's grasp. She had Yonnu clinging to her back, and Theo clutching her other hand. Kain knelt down to his little brother and was relieved to see that he was fine.

"When I find out who set that bomb, they will learn just how terrifying how the Makinohara family conducts torture." Kaoru seethed with so much fury, even the demons backed away from her.

"We're missing someone," Anya said. "Ririko ain't here. You think she and the sultan are in cahoots?"

The spire shuddered violently. We raced to the balcony in time to see obsidian monoliths rising out of the ground outside of the city. All sorts of demons came out of them to lay siege to the walls and the defenders. At this rate, Rugal was going to be overwhelmed out there.

When I turned to Kain, he was hugging Theo so hard I thought he might snap the kid's back.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry. This is my fault. If only I had listen, my city wouldn't have been—"

I pulled them apart and forced him to look me in the eyes. "Snap the fuck out of it and start acting like a prince. If things went to shit, then fix it. Because you sure as hell ain't doing jack, crying and pissing around like that."

"Y-You're right… I have to act. Guards on me! Protect the guests!" Kain shouted, gathering his people into formation to defend the attendants at the balcony from their aggressors. "Lady Micchi, you and your companions do what you must. Leave this to me and Mildred."

Yui wasted no time, launching herself like a reverse bolt of lightning to the top of the spire. Kaoru planned to stay here to help fight their way through. That left Anya and I.

"I'm with ya. Let's fuck some shit up." Anya grinned.

We leapt off the balcony and broke the nice stone floor from the hard landing. It wasn't any better down here. Fights were breaking out everywhere between Cynderace soldiers against demons and the Sultan's men. Flying beastlings and demons were dropping bombs all over the city which erupted with explosions. Mages fired spells into the sky to shoot them down and put out fires.

This was a full-scale attack, and no one was prepared for it except the sieging side. We were at a disadvantage.

"Kawa!" I shouted. The elemental wolf bursted through a horde of demons, then lowered herself to let me and Anya on. "Find Loraine, go!"

Kawa leapt onto the rooftops and knocked off attackers in the way. We were catching up to the sultan's speeding throne wagon which was barreling down the thoroughfare for the front gates. Loraine was in the seat, unconscious. Sitting alongside her was Sultan Yusef and Ririko.

I created a ball of fire and blasted the road ahead of them, incinerating a couple of demons in the process, but it wasn't enough to stop them. Ice magic, most likely from Ririko, snuffed the fires and allowed them to keep going.

"Faster, Kawa! We're not letting them take Loraine again!"

"If it's speed you need," Anya began, patting Kawa's head to give some sort of enhancement. "Go get 'em, girl!"

We were suddenly moving at the speed of lightning. The quick burst was enough for Kawa to move fast enough and land some ways ahead of the wagon, causing the vehicle to grind to a screeching halt.

"Kain ain't here to talk me down this time." I hopped off Kawa and cracked my neck, making no efforts to show how pissed the fuck off I was. "Even if he was, I'd still pound you to a pulp. What happened to leaving us alone, huh?"

Sultan Yusef rose defiantly to his feet. "As if I can believe that the daughter of Laeeq would so easily give up the throne to all of Amarinth! I will not take that chance."

"Then you better be ready to take on two pissed off punks and a wolf," Anya sneered, winding up her right arm.

"Y-You! You're supposed to help me, yes? Get down there and fight them!" he yelled at Ririko, who was too busy filing her nails.

"Oh, fine. But I'm not doing it because you asked me to. I gotta, otherwise Chika'll get snappy with me." Ririko tossed the nail filer over her shoulder, then walked to the edge of the wagon. She was joined by the large dark elf I saw the other day, and together, they jumped down to face us.

While the whole city was going up in smoke, explosive battles happening in the sky and around us, nothing else was registering in my head other than getting through them to get to Loraine.

"By the time I'm done with you, the only makeup left on your face is blood, dirt, and a knuckle sandwich." I extended a hand and formed an icy bat in the shape of Sacchan to point at Ririko.

"I was never really a fighter back home." Ririko shrugged. "Always got other people to do the dirty work for me just by raising my voice a pitch higher and fluttering my eyelashes. Somehow, they started getting around to calling me Ice Queen, like I'm some cold hearted bitch. Maybe I am. All I care about is what I want, and in this world, I can get all that and more. It's about time I show you why they call me the Blizzard of Hokkaido."

A frigid gale blew in, so strong that it put out Kawa's fiery coat of fur and forced her to change elements. Ice began to coalesce on Ririko's dress, thickening it into something like a robe of armor. My new elementalist class was telling me a metric fuck ton of magic was coming out of her, and this wasn't going to be an easy fight.