Supreme Magus

Chapter 4081: Weeds of Chaos (Part 2)

At the moment, the young Manohar was busy studying the little Tyrants’ shapeshifting abilities and their attempts to escape the Doomslayer crib by flight. He could easily replicate their claws and fangs, but he knew there would be no strength behind them.

Manohar’s mass was still that of a toddler, and without plants to support his movements, he had the agility of a sack of bricks. Yet what truly fascinated him was Orikan’s and Jirya’s flight abilities.

Marth’s son had already grasped the concept of propulsion behind it, yet even though he knew he couldn’t imitate it, Manohar the Second couldn’t take his eyes off the twins.

He was incredibly smart for a baby, but still a baby. All the colorful sparks the two Tyrants released dazzled him, making him giggle nonstop.

"Ba!" Elysia said, triggering a quarrel between the babies and forcing Shargein to Hush the crib.

The tall, bearded man had the same expression as his father when he was about to say something important, and the Wyrmling wanted to listen.

"Dear friends and guests." It was the first time in King Meron’s life that he officiated a wedding where the audience was so cleanly split.

On Friya’s side sat the members of the Kingdom nobility, of her family, of the White Griffon academy, the Verhens, and those like Faluel and Fyrwal, who had a link, albeit tenuous, to political life and who the Royals had met at least a couple of times.

On Nalrond’s side, instead, sat a bunch of colorfully dressed weirdos the King had never met and whom he recognized as Awakened only thanks to the aura of power each one of them exuded.

The only true friends of the Agni were the Fastarrows.

Even with acquaintances like Salman, Brina, and Ajatar, if not for the members of the Awakened Council, the right side of the aisle would have been so empty that it would have ruined the mood of the wedding.

The Awakened made up for the lack of guests from the groom’s side, but they were an eyesore.

Some of them wore clothes from centuries past, others donned long ceremonial mage robes unfit for a wedding, and a few sported things that Meron would have sworn were pajamas.

"Man, if I hate Mondays." Inxialot, the Lich King, said while he sipped his black coffee from a mug.

"What’s a Monday?" Nero, a black cat sitting on Inxialot’s lap, asked while sipping a latte from a smaller mug.

The noble side of the aisle stared at the talking and drinking cat with wide eyes, having a hard time focusing on the King.

"No clue." The Lich King replied. "It’s something Apep says once a week. I assume Monday is something tiresome and boring, just like whatever this is. By the way, where are we? I don’t remember coming here. I must have spaced out."

"It’s a marriage ceremony, you moron." Raagu whispered angrily. "You’re embarrassing us in front of the whole Kingdom."

"Why didn’t you tell me we were getting married?" Inxialot and Nero spat their beverages back into their respective mugs, yet for completely different reasons. "I can’t believe you let me come here in my pajamas."

The Lich couldn’t believe his own ears, while Nero fought for his life to suppress a burst of laughter that would have ruined his already poor impression of a house cat. The King, instead, suffered from both issues.

’I can’t believe my ears! That’s really pajamas. I would laugh my head off if not for my duty as officiant and the risk that the monstrous Lich might kill me where I stand if I offend him.’ Meron though.

"Where is my mother? If we don’t invite her to the big day of her little boy, she’ll kill us both, and that would be a permanent condition for you. I’d be a widower before our honeymoon!" Inxialot whispered back.

"It’s not our marriage, you imbecile!" Raagu had never been so humiliated in her whole life. "We are not in front of the altar, but in the guests’ seats! Also, you assured me that thing is a ceremonial garment from an ancient civilization."

"That’s why I can’t remember either your proposal or me accepting it." Inxialot pondered. "Also, I didn’t lie to you. This is a ceremonial garment from the ancient Mythoan civilization, but I currently use it as pajam-

"Something is wrong with Nero! He’s having a seizure!" Truth be told, the Emperor Beast was just shaking in a desperate attempt not to laugh. "Talk to me, little buddy. Do you need a Healer?"

Nero shook his paw in denial and gave Inxialot the thumbs-up, destroying any lingering pretense he was a house cat to anyone with two working brain cells.

"Thank the gods." Inxialot sighed in relief as Nero’s quivering subsided along with his hilarity. "You had me worried for a moment, little buddy. I’m sorry, darling, what were you saying about our marriage?"

"Nothing, because it’s not happening." Raagu growled. "This is Friya Ernas’ wedding, and you need to shut up!"

"You’re right, it’s not polite to steal a newlywed couple’s spotlight. We’ll talk about this later." Inxialot nodded, causing a fit of sniggering to Nero and every Awakened in earshot, which meant all of them.

The Human Representative would have loved to give him a piece of her mind, but the Lich King was finally quiet, and she didn’t know whether she could perform such a miracle again.

"Today, we are gathered to celebrate the union between Friya Teleta Aelia Ernas and Nalrond Fastarrow." Never before had there been such a long pause between the first and second opening line in a marriage, nor had the King’s voice trembled in hilarity, but nobody cared.

Nobody but Friya, who stared at Meron with such fiery eyes that if glares could maim, the King’s remains would be easily slipped under a door.

"At first glance, one may object that this is an ill-matched couple. Lady Ernas belongs to one of the most ancient noble households of the Kingdom. She carries the name and spirit of one of the four founding pillars of our country and the blood of another."

King Meron addressed a respectful nod to Fyrwal, drawing the attention of the crowd to the Elder Hydra’s human form. Between her grace, seven-streaked hair, and beauty, Fyrwal could have easily passed for Friya’s mother.

"Lady Ernas also attended one of the six great academies and earned the title of Great Mage by protecting the Kingdom from the Mad Queen and contributing to its magical development with the DoLorean.

"Nalrond Fastarrow, on the other hand, is a man who comes from nothing. He emigrated from the Blood Desert to reconnect with his distant relatives in Lutia after his parents died in a tragic accident.

"He’s a commoner refugee who came to the Kingdom with nothing but his clothes and the only things not even the worst tragedy can take away from a man. His grit and talent for magic.

"Nalrond Fastarrow is a powerful mage, a Light Master of rare skill, and an Awakened. He indeed possesses nothing, but he’s far from nothing."

Both spouses had to share something about themselves with the officiant so that the King could tailor his speech to them, or Meron would have nothing to say about Nalrond.