Chapter 274

A Perfect Wedding (Part I)

(Arch Sky Mage Belton)

If Belton was pressed for why he brought up such a topic with the premier expert in magic, he would have had to answer that his reason for asking such a question was meant as a way to bring down the otherwise overly dramatized being for her seeming inconsistencies.

Belton had learned long ago that you could find fault with anyone, if you but looked hard enough.

The Doctor herself was no exception to this standard, and for the moment Belton felt that he had finally found the ammunition needed to bring about the shining of what would likely be the first of many foibles to appear in the overly cherished pixie.

This was why, when assembled before the leaders in what was the last meeting before the tumultuous wedding would take place, Belton found that he had the perfect time to talk to the seemingly unengaged Doctor and ask her a question that had been pestering him for a while.

Well not pestering, but one that he felt showed the complete duplicity of the Doctor and her stated objectives.

“I have to ask, were you party to Lady Valhalla when she achieved her world first notification?” Belton asked, this was the starter question, one that Belton felt he could use to easily guide the topic of conversation to his intended target.

Of course, this was well known by now. Records from living friends and family members all but detailed what happened to Belton in near real time. Particularly with the fact that the good Doctor herself played no small part in disabling the various monsters that Guild Leader Mallory claimed full credit for killing.

While he did not regret not being on the experience farming team that was seemingly orchestrated out of nowhere by the Doctor. Well he did regret not getting the loads of experience that Mallory got, his main concern was on the way that he felt the Doctor would lie about her seeming stance on not killing other creatures. Which was what the ultimate goal of this conversation would hopefully be.

“I was,” the Doctor answered turning her intensely solid green eyes onto Belton. Upon seeing those cold dead eyes, Belton momentarily shivered at the sudden and intense stare from the mythical creature. Just looking into those eyes and face reminded Belton of the wizard’s duel he lost to the creature. A creature that now seemed to be more myth than reality. Before she had been exotically pretty, now her features were on a vastly different level. She was pretty in the way a glistening dragon might be before striking you down out of boredom. However, the difference in power from the oversized dragon to this tiny creature before him seemed to be leagues apart. Pound for pound it was clear that the pixie would win a battle of condensed power.

This was a fact that was especially true as this very Pixie took down all four Cardinal Guardian dragons by herself. But again, that accomplishment seemed to be somewhat lessened by the fact that her first act of dominance over the four guardians was to turn them all into Pomeranians.

“Can I ask you a somewhat personal question?” Belton asked.

“I assume you are going to ask regardless of my reply, so might as well.” Was the Doctor’s reply.

Hearing that response, Belton paused, as he wondered if his plans were that obvious, but then decided to go ahead with his questioning anyways.

“I have heard that you are a devout pacifist, but yet you go about and seemingly help with the wholesale slaughter of Blighted creatures. I know earlier you had a strict habit of cleansing the creatures and going so far as to create a perfect replica of the corrupted creatures before letting your Kujo kill the original.” Belton said, his tone and cadence rushed as he knew he finally caught the pixie in her own seeming trend of inconsistencies.

For her part the Pixie just stared, even going so far as to tilt her head slightly to the side.

“Well?” Belton finally asked.

“Well what? You seemed to have made a series of statements without any true question being asked.”

With that, Belton did realize that he might have rambled slightly in his questioning and been a bit broad with his comments. As such he tried to focus his words into the most concise reprimand he could offer.

“Why did you go so far as to help in the senseless slaughtering of hundreds of creatures if you are a quote unquote pacifist?” Belton asked, his tone smug as he knew he caught her.

“You are asking why I don’t mind helping Mallory kill the monsters that are on the second evolution of the Blight?” The pixie asked, making sure she had the correct question lined up.

“Yes, exactly. Doesn’t killing go against the pacifist code? Particularly when you hold the creatures in place? If I recall, you did the same when we were claiming these lands as well.” Belton asked.

“Well, when it came to safeguarding the lands, that was a no brainer. Also, I don’t think you know what happens to most creatures that are infected with the Blight.” The Doctor noted.

At this point, more of the higher-level Guild Executives stopped their own individual conversations and plannings, and focused on the conversation that was taking place in the corner. This was perfect, as Belton wanted to make sure everyone saw the Pixie in the same light as he did. Yes, she was talented, immensely so, but she was also duplicitous, and that needed to be watched.

“When it comes to protecting Guild members over anyone, be they monsters or adversaries I will have no qualms with doing my part to ensure our survival. Though I think you severely misunderstand one thing when it comes to the Blight.” The Pixie said.

“What’s that?”

“Those that are infected with the first stage of the Blight only have a partial chance of fully regaining their souls. While those that are on phase two of the Blight, those that Mallory killed earlier. They didn’t have souls. Perhaps I am callous for not caring about moving husks of meat without souls, but even the Skill Books and the Teleiotís have souls, so tell me what I should think about creatures that are beyond salvation?” The Pixie asked.

With that Belton felt flustered, as he had no knowledge of these things. The idea of the murder bots having souls was frightening. Though the idea that these impossibly tough monsters, ones that can only be handled by the Cleansing Rain spell provided by the Doctor, not having a soul was also frightening. After a moment’s thought, Belton could not figure out which of the two was a higher revelation in terms of impact to the world. The fact that random constructs that the Doctor created had souls, or the fact that these native creatures didn’t?

For a moment, Belton thought about arguing with the Pixie, but was quickly cut off by Penelope Tailor, who interrupted the impromptu interrogation.

“Look at you waxing all poetic about souls,” Penelope said, her tone playfully eliciting a chuckle from everyone that was listening to the conversation, which was now everyone in the room.

“Oh, I don’t wax, not much need to currently. Hopefully now that I’m fifteen puberty will kick in and I might grow some leg hairs. No wait, never mind, I am good as is.” The Doctor replied, cutting herself off, but then she got this odd look on her face as looked around the room. Then quickly finding Mallory’s mahogany desk, Teleported over, and began knocking on the wood.

“Phew, I think I stopped that one just in time.” The Doctor spoke out loud.

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Before Belton could ask if such a distinguished scholar of magic truly believed in such superstitions, he was cut off.

“Well, I think we all know our roles. Everyone head out to your assigned locations and let’s be on the lookout for anything strange. For this, Doctor Spiritlight has full control to change course as needed. Anything she says, regardless of how odd it might seem at the time, you are to do without question. Do you understand?” Mallory asked, her tone commanding as she stared with a new level of intensity that was impossible to deny. It was clear that her acquiring the Killing Intent was not just a rumor, but something that seemed to course throughout her entire body.

Silence.

“Very well then, lets have ourselves a wedding.” Mallory said.

With that Belton left the room and took up his spot as part of Strike Team 2, which had bride side second row. They were the first line of defense should anyone charge forward from the crowd to strike at any of the wedding participants.

Sitting down in his pew, Belton felt oddly optimistic that things would go smoothly.

Why not?

Afterall there had been a lot of planning and replanning by the different teams. Several foreign spies had been removed from the guild, and it was known that an attack would likely occur at the earliest after the wedding took place. Meaning the most important part of this ritual, the vows exchanged between the Guild and the Elven Ghosts would be complete.

At first, Belton was confused as to how Mallory had managed to pull off such a deal. Uniting both the native ghost elves and the Midnight Hunters? While it was clear the Doctor had her part to play in the whole action, the main point that linked everything was Mallory.

In fact, all week that was the main point of protection and concern for the whole venue. Apparently, everyone else was expendable, the Elven King, the Elven Princess, all expendable and secondary.

In fact, to show just how expendable they were, their protection was given to Doctor Spiritlight and her 21st Strike Team.

Yes, that was another thing, there were now 21 elite strike teams, in addition to hundreds of regimented ghost soldiers and platoons that were ready to draw arms to protect the Guild lands.

While he had little doubt that the Doctor herself was capable, she still seemed to be mostly a very capable researcher in Belton’s eyes. The other members of the 21st Strike Team were also lackluster in Belton’s opinion. As the other members were a Tailor, granted the best Tailor on the whole of BiPrism, but hardly someone to add to a legitimate strike team. Then there was the under leveled Bodyguard who only got into the martial arts degree program due to the Doctor being overly sympathetic to an underdog story.

Yes, by all comparisons, his Second Strike Team was more powerful, more capable, and above all more disciplined than the Doctor’s team.

Music.

The music started playing as the last of the dignitaries from both sides came in the Deolarian Temple and found their places.

That was another reason why Belton felt safe here, as they were essentially inside a Spirit Realm Dungeon that connected to the Guild’s territory. Meaning that any invading forces would have to surge past guild lands, storm the ghost city and then find their way here.

Yes, as far as Belton was concerned this was a cake job.

Still despite the layers of protection in place, everyone seemed to still be on edge. Maybe it was his several hundred levels of power that caused him to be relaxed, but Belton decided to sit back and just watch the show and enjoy the moment.

This was how, he witnessed the pixie get called out as the flower girl. While she looked like she was offended by the task, as she constantly stared back at first before being pushed forward, she did her job with a form of zeal that was impossible to match.

As she cast out the flower petals, she proceeded to at least add magic and entertainment to the event.

When she grabbed a handful of petals, she would drop them, only for the petals to fly off into thirds. One third of the petals would drop perfectly in a straight line forward. While the rest would soar over the pew of onlookers, who gasped in amazement at the spectacle.

There was even a faint hint of glittering magic that seemed to follow the flipping and rolling petals as they soared over everyone in the rows. A few petals landed in the laps of onlookers, while most just watched in wide eyed amazement at the glitter that seemed to sparkle overhead adding magic and mystery to the moment.

While having a fifteen-year-old in a princess crown delivering flowers was not his first choice, Belton could not deny that it was a good choice overall.

Focusing, Belton even saw the petals fly over his head.

As he watched, he too felt an odd sense of mystery fill him, as he wondered how the Doctor managed to move the petals so gracefully. Particularly as she didn’t use any form of Air magic, something that Belton was confident he would have been able to notice.

No, she clearly used magic, but it was so fine and subtle that Belton couldn’t see the spell or overlaying structure. Something he felt most confident in, the ability to dissect and break down the craft of other mages, something that helped him to survive to this point. Yet, it was only after he plucked out a petal from the air and saw that the glitter wasn’t magical, but a form of sparkling dirt, Belton felt oddly saddened.

For a moment, he hoped it had all been magic. Yet, this was clearly not the case, though he was glad that the glitter did quickly disappear upon rubbing the few particles he found.

Poof.

Once the flower pixie-girl had made her way through all the rows, and even coated the pastor and noble elven onlookers, the pixie just Teleported away.

That was unexpected, but soon became clear as to why, when a number of moments later, the dignitaries all came up.

Princess Octavia De’Arcaneri looked majestic as she was escorted down the row by Mallory’s secondary guard Melkin. Followed shortly by the Deolarian King coming out by himself. Then a short time later, Vickard was the one who walked out Mallory who looked stunning in her royal wedding dress.

That was when Belton saw the pixie once again appear, this time as the sacred ring bearer.

“Oh!” The King cried out, as he grabbed at his stomach.

For a moment everyone seemed to panic, for a moment Belton almost swore he saw a stream of liquid running down the pant leg of the King.

Was he incontinent? Belton found himself wondering for a moment, but before he could get too far down that thought, he could swear he heard the distinct sound of clapping hands.

Blink.

Belton blinked a moment later, and found that everything was just fine. Mallory who had looked momentarily tense seemed to relax. The King too seemed to relax, and while Belton could have sworn he saw a stream of liquid pouring down the King’s pantleg a moment ago, Belton realized he must have been hallucinating, as everything was perfectly fine with the king.

The only odd part was that the Pixie seemed to be a bit more mechanical with her movements. It was hard to say, she still looked and floated the same way, but there was a streamline movement to her pace that she didn’t seem to exhibit beforehand.

Odder still was the fact that Belton could swear that he saw glistening beads of sweat forming on the Pixie’s head. Maybe that was why she was moving weird, as she was suddenly frightened? Though this made no sense either.

Still, other than that one moment everything seemed to be going just fine.

Looking around, Belton tried to see the other members of the 21st Strike Team, but only their leader seemed to be present. This was fine, as it showed that the Doctor, while magically gifted had a bad time with resource allocation.

“I do.”

“I do.”

Then before Belton knew it, the moment everyone had been expecting happened without a hitch.

Poof.

For a moment, Belton could swear he felt a strong magical burst coming from the Pixie, but a quick glance later showed that she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

Shaking his head, Belton tried to relax. He was clearly pushing too hard to find fault with the Doctor, if only to bring her down a peg. While her understanding of magic was undeniable at this point, she was clearly not the quote unquote miracle worker that everyone seemed to be making her out to be.

“If anyone objects to the union of these two souls, let them speak up now, or forever hold their peace.”

Magical tingle.

At that Belton could swear that he felt an intense burst of magic go off. Or at least something that Belton thought should have been magic, but for whatever reason, a quick look around showed that nothing had happened.

A few people stared on in a fixed gaze. There was one person in particular who looked like they were caught mid-stand, but then seemed to stop themselves before they could make a scene.

Those who were in mid-stand were particularly easy to note as the people sitting next to them all turned their heads to face the spectators. To his surprise, both Ghosts and Guild Allies alike were caught in this position.

Perhaps they wanted to be prepared to stop anyone who might object? Belton thought to himself as he stared at the people.

“Then by the power vested in, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the ghost minister stated. “You may now kiss the bride.”

At that, the King looked awkward for a moment, before reaching forward and moving their arms around Mallory. It almost looked like they didn’t want to at first, but then seemed to go with it, particularly as Mallory began leading the action, as she moved in for the kiss first.

“WHOOO!”

Many of the spectators cried out at the act, but then there was a general calm that settled over the crowd.

With that, everyone got up from their pews and began greeting the happy couple, who had a security detail nearby of guild members and elite ghost guards.

“I object…” One person cried out a few moments later.

Turning, everyone looked at the person who had been standing so still that everyone in his row had to leave the pew from the opposite side to come up and congratulate the happy couple.

At the comments, a few guild members who had been on protection detail went over to the people who looked like they were caught in an odd version of the mannequin challenge.

Finally, it was Belton and his Team’s chance to come up and wish their respects.

“Congratulations,” Maranda the Strike Team’s soldier lead said, shaking hands with both Mallory and the King.

“Yes, congratulations,” Belton said as he got close to the two. “This was surprisingly a lot easier than I thought it would be. Honestly, I assumed it would have been harder, given all the prep that went into this.”

Belton said to the two, both of whom looked momentarily shocked at the comment.

“WHAT!?” The pixie who clearly looked like she was either allergic to her crown or sweating in magical glitter sweat cried out as she buzzed angrily forward. Yes, apparently she learned to flap her ephemeral wings in a way that caused them to buzz like an angry bee would. The entire sight would be quite cute, if it wasn’t so comical.

“I was just saying, that this seemed to be a lot of hoopla about nothing,” Belton reiterated, again making it known that this would have gone well without so much planning and panicking.

“Take it back, no wait, knock on wood.” The pixie said, her body whipping around to find the wooden pulpit from which the minister gave the ceremony. “There, knock on that, quickly…”

Seeing the Doctor go crazy over a superstition, only caused Belton to smile as he finally had her. Here she was clearly a bit unhinged.

“No, I do not believe in superstitions,” Belton said with a giant smile.

“It doesn’t matter if you believe in them or not, just knock.” The Pixie stated with a bit more panic in her voice.

To his surprise, Mallory and the King both looked flabbergasted at the spectacle.

“Do you see her?” Belton asked, clearly pointing out the way the pixie was going manic over this trivial detail.

KABOOOM!!

Then before anyone could say anything, the ground shook with a mighty quake, as many who were gathered all began to run and cry in fear.

“Too late,” the Pixie said, her voice sounding slightly defeated. She even exhaled in defeat as she seemed to understand what was happening.

“Wait, what is too late?” Belton finally asked.

“You knocking on wood, now it is your team’s job to go out there and stop this.” The Doctor said.

“Wait what?” Was all Belton could ask, but the Doctor was soon backed up by Mallory.

“You should listen to her. At the very least you all will be out of her sight for a bit.” Mallory stated, her tone consoling, before she turned to apparently try to calm down the pixie. A pixie who just seemed to sulk in defeat.

“Come on team,” Maranda said, as she took charge and began moving the team into position.

And like that, the perfect wedding was over. Now all they had to deal with was the after-party gate crashers.