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.

anyone but himself. The reason he wanted

thing holding Jake back from going full scorched earth on the United Cities Alliance… one

mom and dad

monster, and if he became the next oppressive dictator of Earth, they sure as hell wouldn’t take it well. That thought alone was enough

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

Jake could maybe accept him being on the

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

smiled and nodded. ”That is all

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 should we wish for it, they will leave the planet,” Miranda explained. ”The Risen are

I am not

have gathered, the Augur is not even planetside anymore, and it would not surprise me if the Holy Church does as they usually do in these kinds of situations,” Miranda said with pursed

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

Sword Saint, and many others, none of them would be issues to still have around, and the factions like Valhal and the Court

Church was a bit unique as a multiversal faction in that they valued numbers a lot, not just to increase the chance of someone with talent appearing, but for their faith. They wanted to retain them more than any other faction, which made their usual tactic when they lost a territorial war

Mass exodus.

choice of joining or getting thrown out the gates. They seemed to have read the writing on the wall that they would not

them to the curb and tell them to get fucked. He still considered Jacob a friend, but it was like that kind of friend who you knew was a nice person but had now gotten himself involved in a nasty cult without being able to see it himself. Well, or a

we shall do some cleanup after we get the World Leader position,” Jake said. After that, there was only a

but what will all

Saint as the old man sighed

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

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

up and quickly did

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

Jake? Jake would take this month before the World Congress to do something he should have done a lot earlier and a lot

of this talk of taking over the world and the future of their planet reminded him of his family. Reminded him of the nephew he had only seen for a brief period what was to Jake years ago. It was only right to visit them as Jake decided to take a bit of a break and ground himself before becoming World Leader and

fully concluded, they all split

due to Ell’Hakan apparently wanting 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