The Primal Hunter

Miranda had been observing the battle from afar until suddenly, a huge magic circle appeared and blocked out her view. When it disappeared, Jake was gone, and she hurriedly contacted him with worry only to discover he had been put out of commission and was now somehow on the other side of the planet.

Having seen the battle, Miranda was confused about how Jake had fought but did not question it. She knew their opponent had a Bloodline that influenced emotions in some way, so she wrote it up to that. Not that it mattered right now as she had more important things to do.

Jake’s warning before any attack arrived had allowed her to gather people in time. Hank, his children, Neil and his party, Lillian, and Phillip, had arrived in her underground ritual chamber. When Miranda saw Jake and the alien invader fight, she moved right away to have Neil prepare their escape path in case anything went wrong. She only vaguely remembered Jake mentioning this Grand Mangrove River and how he had passed through and met some friendly C-grades, but he seemed adamant that going there would be the wisest.

“I will need more time,” Neil said as he worked at high speed to set up the teleportation circle within the chamber. It was the same kind he had used all the way back in E-grade to reach Haven in the first place.

“Alright,” Miranda said as she sat down with crossed legs in the middle of her own ritual circle. The altars all around her flared to life as she began to work her magic, first creating a massive green barrier that protected the main city of Haven. Her eyes began to glow green as she took out several orbs and tossed them onto each of the altars and prepared to show the invaders why attacking a witch’s lair was considered a bad idea.

Casper frowned deeply as he looked at the approaching army. Priscilla joined him in the city spire with a worried look on her face. “Most of the Ghastpillars are already destroyed, and we won’t be able to get the defensive array up and running in anything less than a week.”

“I know,” Casper said as he kept staring. He had known this day would come. They both had. It was something that repeated itself time and time again. An event that every new universe seemed to go through, a tribulation the Risen always had to overcome.

They were hated by default. As undead, pre-conceived notions about their existence were always present, and they were viewed as evil simply for existing. So for the natives of a planet to seek their destruction should not come as a surprise, even if Casper, Priscilla, and all the leaders of the Risen on Earth hoped they could finally have a peaceful integration. With Jake and others having so much influence and no negative feelings towards the Risen, they had hope… but alas, the cycle repeated.

“The Holy Church joined them too, huh,” Casper said with disappointment as he saw some of the people approaching. A large group. He counted at least ten thousand D-grades from the Holy Church alone, backed up by even more from the United Cities Alliance. Even if Jacob had warned him during the last World Congress the Holy Church was planning something against the Risen… he did not expect this.

“Did you hear more from the Augur? I thought he would stop an attack, or at the very least warn us,” Priscilla asked.

“Nothing from him at all. I can’t even contact him anymore,” Casper shook his head. By now, they had an okay understanding of the unfolding situation, and for whatever reason, it seemed like the Holy Church had made some kind of pact with the United Cities Alliance to wipe out the Risen. This did not mean they had allied with the United Cities Alliance… just that they were willing to help an enemy to crush an even more hated enemy.

It should not be surprising. It was simply history repeating itself.

Casper closed his eyes as dark energy revolved around him. He looked behind and saw their own fighters begin to gather, preparing for battle. They were outnumbered significantly and were not truly an army like the Holy Church or United Cities Alliance. Especially not after many internal issues had popped up due to plants from the damn Alliance, including the destruction of many defensive buildings.

“We just need to buy time,” Priscilla assured him.

“I know,” Casper nodded. But he couldn’t help but wonder… what the fuck was Jacob doing? What was he planning?

“This time is crucial for you to ensure your C-grade evolution is as successful as possible,” the Bishop said as he guided Jacob through the grand hall. “As an Augur of Hope, you may be able to feel when people walk astray or need guidance, but to also know of what options they then have is entirely different.”

an average priest, he was a B-grade Bishop of the Holy Church and the leader of the Chapter that Jacob found himself in. Bertram was also off with some

leave the ninety-third universe, and only a week or so ago, the first gate was successfully made. It was still limited to D-grades and could only send through a few people every day, but it was something. There was also the issue of it being one-way, but that was only a temporary challenge

performing below expectations. Some are veterans of many years, while others are new blood who showed great promise but suddenly began to squander. These were carefully curated, and we believe in your ability to set their fates right and lead them to the best Paths possible for them,” the Bishop said with a smile. “We expect much of you, Augur

once more nodded. “I shall do

you originate. The Holy Church can be found in every universe, and there will always be places that need hope,” the man

to return to Earth anyway as there was lots of unfinished business there

evolution to C-grade. Earth was limited in many ways, and Jacob was implored to go after the gate was established. While he did have some reservations, he also knew he would only be gone for a few months at most, and considering the peaceful state of Earth, it was limited how

not to fight. To observe. An army had arrived, teleported by what had to be a powerful C-grade. They had

monolith. There was no dominant faction, no agreed-upon alliances or customs for how they would operate and interact. Unlike humans, they had no rules. There was only power. Power would get you followers

leader with many beasts, elementals, and other monsters loyal to

to hunt down a D-grade. Even if that D-grade was strong enough

Until that day.

a creature, unlike anything the Fallen King had met before. Shifting ash, a living storm of

Unique Lifeform.

Phantom Devourer – lvl

standing at the precipice,

foolish one,” the Fallen King spoke, his voice spreading throughout the

honored, and become sustenance for my Path,” the Ashen Phantom Devourer spoke

own power manifested, and the trembling sky was pushed back, space itself cracking from the clashing power of two Unique Lifeforms at the peak of

them. It was

to charge into the horizon to get back, but before doing anything else, he had to heal. Arcane Awakening had ravaged his body quite a bit, and the entire flung-across-the-planet thing had certainly not helped. He felt lucky he

entered meditation as Jake considered what kind of bullshit skill had been used on him. It did not seem like something a D-grade should be capable of at all. Was it due to that orb? The ritual circle? Or was it just a skill of an insanely high rarity? It had Yore

was clear as day: Jake had been countered. From the very moment he appeared, he had been playing along with whatever Ell’Hakan had planned. He hated the thought, but chances are killing Chris was done only with the intent to piss him off. If he had not done that, Jake would have just appeared confused about why the orange guy was there. But with the death of Chris, Jake had blown his

to toss him away, why fight in the first place? To buy time? Did they even need to buy time with fighting? If Ell’Hakan had just talked, Jake would have been delayed plenty. And what did he hope to accomplish by sending Jake away? To take over Haven? Hurt those who lived there? If that

was now. But for the life of him, Jake could not figure out why the fuck he

tried to focus on something more positive. Like the fact he at least got in a nice blow at the end. He had killed two of them, and he knew from their level of power they were not weak, and to cultivate people of that power this early on in the integration meant a significant investment. No matter what, it had to have been a loss

his notifications, he saw he

- lvl 191 / Sworn Celestial Mender - lvl 183 / Servant of the Celestial Child

/ Royal Shield Guard - lvl 175 / Servant of the Celestial Child – lvl 199] – Bonus experience earned for killing an

reached level 173 - Stat points allocated,