The Primal Hunter

Arthur… why Arthur? Jake had seen Arthur once in his life after the system, and he didn’t like him. In fact, Jake kind of hated the guy now. Why wouldn’t he? All interactions Jake had ever had with him were negative, even the second-hand ones. Moreover, he had been the one who decided that bringing Ell’Hakan to Earth was a good idea, messing things up even further. It was also clear he hated Jake’s guts.

Additionally, Jake did not get why Miranda wanted to work with him due to one minor detail.

”Didn’t he send a group to assassinate you?” Jake asked Miranda with pursed lips. ”Sounds like a great guy to work with, huh?”

”You speak as if that is simply not him showing he understands the rules of the multiverse. He read the rule book and knew that the Court of Shadows would act as long as he provided funds. He also understood Valhal. That means he is not as stuck in his thoughts as you may believe but can adapt,” the King said.

”As weird as it sounds, him not like us is exactly why he is good. The worst thing for a governing body is to have it be filled with yes-men who just do whatever you want. To have no one ever offer an opposing voice. I am firmly in the camp of the Order, and my job is to represent your views. The King will represent his own views and those of monsters while inadvertently also being tied to you. The Sword Saint is also not likely to oppose you and will not be very involved. Finally, a second monster added has a high chance of being on your side too, and sure won’t be on the side of humans. As things currently are, the common human population does not have a single person representing them, and we need someone actually willing to present them. Someone who has the guts to. Like it or not, Arthur has shown himself capable and willing to do this, and he is annoyingly efficient at what he does,” Miranda explained.

”Sounds all nice and dandy until he tries to start a civil war or some shit to take control,” Jake mused.

”Arthur has also shown himself to not be an idiot, and he knows that will not be in the best interest of the citizens of Earth. Giving him a seat at the council will also send a clear message that we are not taking over the planet as the Order of the Malefic Viper but as earthlings. It will also communicate that you are not the type of person to just go and kill anyone who disagrees with you or puts themself in contrarian positions to you. While some may interpret it as a weakness to ”forgive” him, it can also be seen as a strength as you, a Chosen, never truly cared for his petty games. That you don’t care enough about him to personally act. In some ways, I also think the best punishment will be to have him fix what mistakes he had made while we make full use of his expertise. Moreover, I think much of his hatred stems from ignorance. He views us as representations of concepts, not as humans, just like him. I believe with time, we can find common ground, and he can become an asset,” Miranda further added.

”The man has shown himself to be resourceful so far. Nobody here could have done what he did to make the United Cities Alliance, especially considering his lack of literal power. He got his position in such a short time, not by being stronger than everyone else but by sheer competence. The majority of humanity supports him based on what he has done before, and even in recent months, he has shown his genuine goal with all of the beast attacks. Rather than try and push for anything due to these attacks, he focused solely on alleviating the issue, making smaller response teams and teleportation networks, and stabilizing areas. I highly doubt he had anything to do with these beast attacks, and based on how fast those stationed in Haven gave up after we returned, he also seems to understand when he is in a losing position.”

”And you seriously think this dude will just give up?” Jake asked. This part was the one he believed the least.

”Yes, I do. Mark my words, within a week, he will come to Haven and surrender. If he does not come in surrender before the World Congress, then I will take back everything, but I highly doubt that he won’t. Arthur truly cares about humanity if his words are to be believed… so giving himself up to try and avoid a downright disaster for the United Cities Alliance would be the wisest choice. He will take the fall for his failure and take responsibility as their leader,” Miranda said with conviction.

The King also agreed on this, with the Sword Saint nodding along like it was a given. Jake really felt outnumbered…

He understood why they needed someone from the United Cities Alliance and also kind of understood why it had to be Arthur. As Miranda had explained it, then the man was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he kept fighting, the result was already written on the wall, and soon enough, he would find himself slain. Even if he became World Leader, it would be short-lived… and chances are he wouldn’t, because even if Jake wouldn’t be able to kill Arthur, then he sure as hell could go on a rampage of the ages.

Additionally, he knew that death would also lead to problems. For better or worse, Arthur became the symbol of the United Cities Alliance and the hope of all those who wanted an independent planet that would not become slaves to some insidious higher power. If Jake was to kill him, Arthur would become a martyr and spark a war or, at the very least, an army of fringe terrorist groups.

The only way for Jake to combat this would be a total dictatorship down the line. He would need to rule like the Order and make Earth into something he didn’t want it to be. Jake was fine with people disagreeing and not liking him, and trying to control everyone would go against who he was. He also feared he would need to kill millions, if not billions, to try and root out all hidden enemies… which also sounded like something he really didn’t want to do.

In the beginning, when Miranda had mentioned Arthur, Jake’s gut reaction had been that, of course, the dude was in for an arrow through the temple. Why wouldn’t he? But perhaps this gut reaction was why having people like Miranda was necessary.

were good for anyone but himself. The reason he wanted to kill Arthur was just to make himself feel better,

earth on the United Cities Alliance… one that

would mom and dad

of this, but Jake did not want them to view him as a monster, and if he became the next oppressive dictator of Earth, they sure as hell wouldn’t take it

her, Arthur also knew all of these consequences of his death could happen, which was why Miranda believed he would give himself up and officially surrender. He would openly do this, announcing his loss to everyone and making a plea for peace. Knowing full well, especially if he went by the track record

if he actually selflessly came to surrender… Jake could maybe accept

I will be back three days before the Congress to have a talk with him if you are right. I will

smiled and nodded. ”That is

about the other factions?” he

already received word from Lillian that both will not interfere in anything going forward and respect you or anyone you choose as the World Leader, even making it clear that

not

is not even planetside anymore, and it would not surprise me if the Holy Church does as they usually do in these kinds of

beginning. No other divine factions. Carmen would not be allowed on the council even if she wanted, not Caleb either, and Casper, if he was still on Earth, would also be barred. The only faction with a claim would be the Order of the Malefic Viper, with Jake as the Chosen telling everyone that it

faction would only complicate that. As for people with independent gods, it wouldn’t matter much. Arnold, the Sword Saint, and many others, none of them would be issues to still

they valued numbers a lot, not just to increase the chance of someone with

Mass exodus.

harsh choice of joining or getting thrown out the gates. They seemed to have read the writing on the wall that they would not win no matter what. If you won, they would lose, and if Ell’Hakan won, the United Cities Alliance would have also moved to get them out. Their

friend who you knew was a nice person but had now gotten himself involved in a nasty cult without being able

if not, we shall do some cleanup after we get the World Leader position,” Jake

but what will all of you be

first turned and looked at the Sword Saint

worn down by weakness. I realize that the clan perhaps expanded too quickly and was too dependent on me to hold it together. What I leave behind will be a clan able to

looked at Miranda. ”Don’t look at me like I don’t have a mountain of work in front of me with a damn mountain range in the distance of even more damn work. In a month, we will literally take over the planet, and I still have the aftermath of your war with another Chosen to figure out. Oh, and then we expect Arthur to

that he had kind of messed up and quickly did the smart thing by looking questioningly

and seek it out or maybe try and locate another worthy candidate. I will naturally return for the meeting at hand, but I may not be there three days ahead, and If I do miss it, then we will meet at the Congress. I also need to recover, so I shall take it slow and carefully venture out. In a few days, I should be able to show about eighty percent of my full power again and will head out

had things to deal with. As for Jake? Jake would take this month before

a brief period what was to Jake years ago. It was only right

fully concluded, they all split up and went their

to recruit him or something, but when Jake met him, he noticed nothing awry. He even decided to ask if Arnold had joined Ell’Hakan, and his answer had just been that he hadn’t. So, that was that. Jake found the entire thing a bit dumb, to begin with. Arnold didn’t look like he gave a shit about who took over the planet as long as