The Primal Hunter

Jake appeared together with Villy inside a new, far smaller hall. A few seconds later, Vesperia also popped into existence.

“I greet the Malefic One and my sire,” she bowed towards the snake god after she oriented herself.

“Hey again,” Jake said with a smile. “Say, what have you been doing during this gift exchange?”

“I simply went back to the waiting room,” Vesperia answered. “My presence would have caused undue issues if I had been there, and I would personally want to avoid it. This choice did allow me to converse with Sandy, and I must say, they are quite interesting.”

“Yeah, Sandy is a character,” Jake agreed wholeheartedly.

“Ahem, not to interrupt, but we got gods waiting,” Villy cut in.

“Oh, right,” Jake said. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to make them wait longer than necessary.

The hall had a long table, and Jake promptly took a seat towards one end, with Vesperia sitting next to him. The Viper took the seat at the end as he allowed those waiting to enter.

Presences descended one after another. In total, nine figures appeared, split into groups with three gods in each. One group consisted of three beastfolk and had two women and one man among them. The man was big and brawny, and Jake guessed he was descended from some kind of bear, while one of the women had cat-like features. The final one had feathers covering parts of her body and looked a bit like a harpy, if barely.

The automata looked a lot more alike, with none of them having discernable genders. Their designs were all slightly varied, but they mostly looked the same on the outside. All had silvery metal exteriors, and the only big differences were their heads.

Finally, there were the representatives of the Endless Empire. Jake instantly felt it as he looked at them. All three are True Royals.

Needless to say, all three of them were also women, and they all looked remarkably similar to Vesperia. True, there were natural differences, but they were all tall and looked mostly human, except for some small insect-like features. One of them had a third compound eye on her forehead and wings on her back, another just had two feelers, and a third looked significantly more muscular and wore what looked like natural chitin armor.

The three groups barely teleported in as the lines were formed just from where they appeared. The Endless Empire on one side, the Automata Legion on the other, with the United Tribes clearly neutral and in the middle.

“I welcome the three of you to our little private chat. I hope I don’t need to say that any hostilities will not be treated kindly,” the Viper said as he looked at the nine of them.

Jake knew just from feeling what little leaked of their auras that none of them were at the level of the Viper. He did find it interesting that all nine subtly leaked their auras, almost competing with each other, and from what Jake could see, the two strongest ones were the True Royal with the compound eye and the bird lady.

“I, too, hope all that transpires today will be peaceful,” the bird lady said, speaking for her group. “And excuse me for the late introduction, Chosen of the Malefic Viper. I am known as the Blazeheaven Phoenix Goddess.”

“A fire phoenix that attained godhood, and a quite strong one at that. One of the elders of the United Tribes with power surpassing that of a Godqueen,” Villy quickly briefed him.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Jake nodded, looking her in the eye.

She smiled in response and raised an eyebrow. “I had heard of your resistance to the presence of gods… and if I didn’t know better, I would have taken you for one in disguise.”

“I do have my talents,” Jake answered with a shrug.

“That you do,” she nodded, giving space for the other groups to talk. Especially one group seemed at the edge of their seats. The Endless Empire had been patient and, upon seeing their chance, jumped in.

“We of the Endless Empire also greet the Chosen,” the three-eyed True Royal said before turning to Vesperia. “And we greet our long-lost little sister.”

“Thank you,” Vesperia said with a genuine smile. “It is good to finally make contact with you all. I have heard the call of home during this wait.”

The True Royal smiled even more. “That is good.”

and Jake was happy that

all feel she has some level of attachment to you, and the cause of this is unknown. It would not be a stretch to say that they did not just come here to convince Vesperia to join them but to convince you to let her go. Their guess would likely be that she is currently under some kind of contract forced upon her shortly after birth. Be it a slave contract or one less

that angle. Maybe it was because putting her under any kind of contract hadn’t occurred to him. Logically, he could see why others could think he would have done that, and it was

restriction on me or forced me

in the auras of the three automata made

your plans following this?” the center True Royal asked before regarding Jake and Villy. “And what are the

decisions here, simply backing up those made

does the Chosen

ulterior motives in mind, and as the Viper also said during the opening speech, I didn’t even intend on creating a True Royal in the first place. Not to say her appearance didn’t thoroughly exceed any expectations I could have had, and I am proud of her.

goddess from the Endless Empire

“Truly,” Jake nodded.

then I am fully capable of making my own decisions,” Vesperia cut in once more. “I wish to return to the Endless Empire and reclaim

and allow this to happen?” one of the three automata finally made themselves known, speaking in a clear male voice. “Will you simply watch a valuable asset leave your

being asked,

insects that would swarm and consume this entire planet the first chance

cut in again in a stern voice. “Tell

rather obvious. Most would believe that when the Viper said Jake made all decisions, what he actually meant was that the Viper would still make all the decisions, but Jake would be responsible and get any blowback and benefits of whatever happened. Even if Jake wanted to make his own decisions,

knowing that this wasn’t some political game. Jake and Villy were

cannot claim to fully comprehend the nature of their relationship, the decisions

my ability to also resist

Viper said once more. “Part of why

looking at Jake. “You claim to have created this True

scoffed. “Oh please, we of the Endless Empire have

to the multiverse and the wider implications, yes. I didn’t know before I made her, but I do know now,” Jake cut in, not wanting

“Let me make one thing clear. Vesperia makes her own choices, and unless Vesperia decides she wants to be exterminated by the Automata Legion, that isn’t going to happen.

the extra confidence to directly confront

place is. What is to happen if you decide to repeat

never said that either,” Jake shook his head. “That would only be a problem if

not capable of that?” the True Royal leader asked with a deep frown and a tone filled

“What I am saying is that I can’t just affect the evolutions of creatures like this whenever I want. I will not disclose my limit or if I even have one, but

I may ask,” the bird lady from the United Tribes reentered the conversation. “I noticed the Sylphian Hawk, and am I right to assume you had a hand

seeing no need to

least part elemental, so… does that mean your abilities are not

the Automata Legion looked a lot more

though with my current use of it, I cannot make any guarantees,” Jake shook his

may give my insight?” Villy

harm and trusting the Viper,

related to the Truesoul and Origin, which is also why you see no innate karmic link between him and the three creatures he helped evolve. He does not forcefully do anything… he simply leads something down a Path,” the

looked in thought for a while as he summoned a small silver

this?” he asked as he threw it

it and studied

Centurion Core (C-grade)] – The core of

even if he couldn’t see any details on the item, he