LBF Chapter 27 Unexpected Run-in

"I have gotten myself an invitation to a banquet thrown by a certain famous synthesizer. You could come with to broaden your horizons. Besides, it will also serve as introduction the highest levels of status."

Nino had said, causing the current situation where Damien was seated in the car with the man at his left, being driven on a highway towards said banquet.

Damien was currently spotting a dark blue suit with matching shoes and tie. It wasn't a new one by any means, just his, color altered. The prominent red shift of his crimson pupils had been toned down to the point where the red had become so dark, it had lost its shine. His head was resting in his palm as he gazed at the passing scenery outside.

He had thought that the banquet was going to be held within the city, but the car had driven further away, practically entering a jungle. The highway they were on cut through the trees, separating said jungle in half.

Damien was gazing out, fascinated by the colorful bio-luminescent trees. Their canopies had covered up the sky, blocking the sunlight from the disk above Pantheon. He had thought that it was going to become dark, but imagine his surprise when the vegetation lit up in a mesmerising display. Some trees were so bright, even the liquid travelling through their veins was observable with the naked eye. The light even managed to add a wild beauty to some of the flowers blooming among the undergrowth.

'Hahahaha...if I was a romantic, this would a great place for a date, just the same if I were a poet, this place would be ripe with inspiration.' He was amused by the thought, causing his lips to involuntarily curve into a smile.

"A penny for the fun thought you are having?" A question from his side caused the smile to recede.

"Nothing. So...this party, do you know why its being thrown?" Damien changed the topic.

"Supposedly a birthday party for the man's daughter, but as you know, due to our long lives, such things become pointless after the first few years. The secret reason, even I haven't been able to gauge it yet." Nino answered. He wasn't perturbed by his incompetence.

"I thought all people like you were arrogant." Damien threw out the comment.

"Arrogance has to be something hidden, deep within the person. Those who are outwardly arrogant just haven't lived long enough. When you live as long as I have, you finally get to the point of understanding the pointlessness of showing off." Nino answered sagely.

'Hmph! Enlightened? What utter bullshit!' Damien scoffed inwardly.

The conversation dulled for a few minutes. The car made it out of the forest where it left the highway behind, branching off in favor of a dirt road heading to what appeared to be a mansion cresting the hills. It was massive, far surpassing that of Nino.

Damien only took a glimpse at its outer walls which were a glistening white, pure enough to reflect the light. There was no wall, it simply created the hill, like a gigantic beast, daring those who wanted to tresspass into a challenge. It was huge, with many arch shaped windows dotting its walls. They were so exquisitely designed that they blended in well with the white walls. Damien counted over 1000 of the windows, signifying that the mansion had atleast that much number of available rooms.

"The man is one of those who like to show off." Damien commented, his vision still roaming the castle, stunned at its massiveness.

"He's new to this. A hundred years is too short ever since he gained his status. His arrogance is at list highest. Even I, from the rulers of this domain has to show him respect. His ego has risen. In a few thousand years he will mellow down after having experienced everything." Nino commented, seemingly shaking his head at the foolishness of it all.

The car slowed down once they had turned to the dirt path as many, more were in front, containing some powerful people...well according to Nino. He gave him a rundown on some of the emblems on the cars, with most containing descendants or affiliates of clans from the inner states of the various domains. Some even contained people like him, the scions of the clans in charge of ruling the various domains.

"Did all of them drive from their domains all the way here?" Damien asked.

"No, that would take too long! They used the teleportation gates. The gates can transport even cars. Of course the fee is hefty, but for them, its peanuts." Nino explained, knowing of Damien's origins.

-----

A few minutes later, they finally made it to the entrance of the mansion. There were two people guarding the doors, ushering in the various guests. Damien was dazzled by all the clothes worn by the guests. They were in a myriad of colors and designs, each matching its wearer, elevating their handsomeness and beauty to high levels. Each of the people here could become fashion models back on Earth.

Damien followed beside Nino, who appeared to be in his element as they crested the steps. Many descendants of those famous clans greeted him the moment he appeared, it was more out of politeness than an attempt to hug a big thigh. His clan ruled the entire domain, so respect had to be given, but not to the point of degrading themselves.

Some of them gave Damien a few extra looks but ultimately ignored him. After the stairs, the entrance gave way into a majestic hall where the scions had formed various cliques with those in their circles.

Damien observed that most of them were those who had the outward arrogance that Nino had just spoken about. It was in their eyes, their postures and the way they spoke. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, the conversation just naturally made its way into his ears. They didn't have any topics that required secrecy of deploying barriers at the moment. They were just playing a game of chess with the words, trying to embarrass the other.

"These things are a pain. If it wasn't because the man was important, I wouldn't be here." Nino said, with Damien agreeing. This place was way out of his element. He just put on a stoic mask containing some aloofness to prevent anyone from trying to get familiar with him.

They waltzed through the crowd, heading deeper. Damien observed that the arrogance of the people dampened down the deeper they went. It seemed that the status of the people rose the deeper they went. Those who saw Nino didn't forget to nod as a sign of greeting. These ones didn't have to clamber over themselves to offer a greeting. Their status was equal, or just a tad bit lesser than his. Damien even caught sight of others who appeared to be from Nino's clan. Their signature purple eyes and hair weren't something that they wanted to hide.

"So they must be the competition." He transmitted.

"Yes...they must have taken note of you, so do be careful not to fall into their clutches" Nino warned seriously, to which Damien offered a nod in acknowledgement.

"There is a clique I am heading towards, it would be better if you don't talk at all." Nino advised.

"Why?" Damien asked. His left hand was in his pockets.

"..."

----

"Nino, its been such along time!" Someone commented the moment they appeared at the front of another clique. The person who had spoken was a woman dressed in yellow, her entire being appeared to radiate warmth. She had long yellow hair...yes yellow, not golden or even blond. It seemed to match the woman perfectly, not all seeming fake. When she welcomed Nino, her eyes had glistened with the warmth.

With all the fakeness he had seen so far, Damien was shocked to realise that this woman's words were genuine.

"Musana, it hasn't been that long, has it?" Nino also adopted a sincere smile, moving in to give the woman a hug, a very polite one which didn't infringe into the boundary of couples.

'Is she acting?' Damien wondered. He didn't move to join the circle, instead he stood outward, listening to their chattering in silence. The group was made up of three others, apart from the just joined Nino and the woman. Just by looking at the colors they were wearing, Damien was sure that they had relations to the five hegemonic clans ruling the five domains.

The atmosphere was merry all around, mingling interspersed with a bit of flirting. A few well dressed servants were passing around delicacies which prompted Damien to pick up one from a serving tray.

He took bites in silence, happy that everyone was ignoring him. He didn't have the motivation to get acquainted with any of these people.

"Have any of you managed to find out, why Mr. Arrogant has decided to hold the banquet?" That question had him perking up his ears. It had come from Nino's clique of 'friends'.

"I tried but, no reason has been found so far." Someone answered.

"We just have to wait...the time is nigh after all." (Musana)

"The problem is that what if we aren't prepared? We might lose out if it turns out to be an auction due to insufficient funds." Another person chimed in, this time a woman. Damien found her voice familiar but since she had her back to him, he didn't pry too much. She was dressed in silver, the color of the Diamante clan.

"Silver, you shouldn't be one to talk. Your clan is the richest. Even if it turns out to be an auction, just one of the trinkets hanging off your ears is worth enough to outbid everyone here." Another voice, this time male, said.

'Shit! That woman is here!? How could she be? I don't think this event is important for her to be here? Right?' Damien started panicking. Silver was the only one who knew of his connection to the goddess. If she exposed him, all hell would break lose! Nino was a clever guy, he would definitely think things through and come to the conclusion that his poison was gone! Not to mention that he will become his enemy, derailing the plans he was was orchestrating!

Damien thought of many things, even that of changing his hair color, eye color and maybe his facial features, but his aura couldn't be masked.

'Wait a moment! She should have sensed my aura, why didn't she take action? Is she waiting for the perfect moment, or is this banquet too important for such minor squabbles?' Damien felt as if he was going crazy!

(I need to use the restroom.) Damien mentally transmitted to Nino before vanishing into the crowd. The solution he had come up with was to vanish and only reappear by Nino's side when that woman left.

What Damien didn't notice was that Silver also excused herself after a few seconds following his trail.

-----

The 'use the restroom' part was legit as most of the food here wasn't that compatible with the bodies of the demigods. They simply ate it to enjoy the taste, but they still had to get rid of the impurities.

'Wah! Good thing I was fast! Now all I have to do is mingle within the crowd. Nina should have given me a heads up. If I had known, I would have insisted on not coming.' Damien thought after making his way out of the restrooms. He had to pretend to go because of the many eyes on him, subtle or otherwise. Now that he was back, those eyes should have put his memory to the back of their minds, temporary forgetting about a random demigod like him.

'Now, how to mingle. Should I simply waltz around? That will be a bit embarrassing.' Damien though as he looked at the crowd of people while leaning against a wall.

"What are you doing here?" A voice from the side almost caused Damien to jump. He had been so concentrated on the crowds that he had failed to notice someone sneak up on him.

"Why do you want to know?" He asked without turning his head. He already knew who it was. Silver was leaning on the wall by his side, copying his exact posture of back to the wall with the hands folded into each other.

"You came in with Nino, could it be that the goddess wants to partner up with the Butwa clan?...that can't be. Nino wouldn't be the person to approach." She didn't finish, but he already knew what she intended to ask.

"Are you waiting for the right moment to ruin me?" Damien asked. He was very puzzled as to why she was asking, reigning in her distaste for him.

"Ruin you? Hahahaha...you are too much of a small fry for me to ruin." She answered scathingly.

"So, I take it that what's about to happen here is so important that you are willing to even temporarily shelve the grudge you have." He concluded.

"You are just an outsider, not even qualified to be here. If it was up to me, I would have kicked you out." She put out such vicious words.

"Hahahaha...you are very childish." Damien chuckled. Though, after a few seconds, he withdrew his laughter after sensing a murderous glare upon his back.

"Since you have no intention of exposing me, what do you want?" Damien asked, turning his face to the side to gaze into those transparent pupils of hers. They were glistening like pure diamonds.

'Her eyes are beautiful...too bad she's crazy.' He had that passing thought.

"I want to know whether you came here by that woman's whims, or by yourself." She didn't break the gaze, returning it with even more intensity.