The Primal Hunter

When it came to rituals, their group only really had two individuals who could be of any use. Dina and Jake both knew quite a bit about rituals and formations, while the other three were just sitting ducks incapable of assisting with anything of substance.

At least not in the beginning. Jake and Dina helped the witch set up the initial parts of the ritual but soon hit an issue that they should have honestly seen coming.

“Many of the ingredients I wanted to use are no longer capable of supporting the ritual… we will need some replacements,” the Dark Witch said with a deep frown. “Would it be possible for some of you to perhaps acquire them?”

That’s right, there were fetch-quests. That at least gave the Fallen King, Sword Saint, and Sylphie something to do while Jake and Dina worked on the ritual circle with the Dark Witch. Jake had feared this would add a lot of time to this final part of floor forty-one considering the long trek the three of them would have to go on for each item, but luckily the Dark Witch had a way to alleviate that.

While space magic was distorted on the planet, she had found a way to faintly tap into this concept and set up a few teleportation points across the planet, all of them underground. Some had been broken with time, but most were still functional. The only bad thing about these teleportation points was that they were one-way only. So the three of them would have to make their own way back.

This was a problem for all of them except for a certain old man who got to painting straight away. Considering he would have the easiest time getting back, Sylphie and the Fallen King were tasked with retrieving the items closest to the entrance of the Dark Descent, while the old man would go for everything else. All in all, the Dark Witch needed five items from powerful mini-boss monsters spread across the planet. A totally random number of items and not at all one corresponding to the number of people usually in a Nevermore party, Jake was sure.

With everything hard at work, time rapidly passed. Jake and Dina managed to get in plenty of conversation with the Dark Witch during this time and learned a lot about the history of Tri-World, as well as all the knowledge she had about Karmic Plagues. What was most interesting was just how much she knew, especially when it came to stories about how plagues had done harm to the multiverse.

She was practically a living lexicon of horror stories brought on by plagues, making it very clear how bad they were, and several times mentioned how plagues were the closest thing to being outlawed that anything could be in a lawless multiverse. How if one of them decided to ever try and create a plague, they would be hunted down and killed. That last part was aimed at Jake only for some reason, not giving Dina enough credit. She could totally make a plague if she put her mind to it.

During this ritual construction process, Dina and Jake did discuss a few times how they had to keep an eye out for anything hidden within the massive magic circle they were making. Something that would allow the Dark Witch to do something they had not discussed or were planning on.

Perhaps they were being paranoid, but getting double-crossed was kind of the expected outcome. Jake would lie if he said he didn’t predict she would somehow change the ritual halfway through to absorb the plague for power or maybe spread it far and wide, as she – in a massive plot twist - had actually been entirely corrupted and was doing all this to assist the Karmic Plague.

But nothing seemed to be wrong with the ritual to either of them, no matter how far they got in the process, and after a bit over two months, the ritual circle was completed. The Sword Saint had made three trips during this time, teleporting back through his weird painting magic, with the Fallen King and Sylphie fetching one item each.

With everything ready, Jake was still hesitant. Because there was one part of this entire thing they hadn’t quite addressed.

If everything went as planned, the Karmic Plague would be destroyed. Destroying it would kill anyone infected with said plague, so both the Sword Saint and Dina would be fine as they weren’t actually infected yet due to the fifty-year incubation period. But… the Dark Witch was. This meant that while Jake didn’t get to do a sacrificial ritual for a planet… he had been helping a witch construct a ritual for her own suicide.

Something he and the other four weren’t going to leave unmentioned as this was the biggest cause of their suspicion the Dark Witch would try to pull something. However, if she was honestly willing to sacrifice herself…

and Dina had helped make. It was directly below the core, but once the ritual began, the Karmic Plague from within the World Core would detect the Mimicry World Core and, due to its design, be unable to resist infecting what it thought was another planet. Once it transferred just a little energy, the ritual would allow the rest

nodded as he looked at the circle before looking at the witch directly. “I am not going to beat around the bush. Based on your own words and what we designed this ritual to

influence of the Karmic Plague gnawing at me. I can suppress it for now, but in just a few years, I will be back to being the mindless monster you fought when you first encountered me. Death is preferable to that. Going out taking this damn plague with me isn’t

vibes, and the Dark Witch gave off the vibe of someone who

a good death is the best end for a well-lived life,” the

nodded solemnly. Jake didn’t know if this entire floor was about teaching them moral lessons, but he didn’t like that the only “right” decision was one

not delay more than necessary. While my mind is still mine, I want to

the Dark Witch was the primary controller. Jake and

the giant molten orb above and become the new host for the source of the Karmic Plague. Jake still had to admit he wasn’t entirely clear on how the ritual would proceed; he just knew he would be

the core room, their party of five providing much of it, along with all the items prepared by both the Dark Witch and what was recovered by

began to send light toward the middle point right between the true World Core and the Mimicry floating many kilometers below it. Over the

reflected in the mirror, overlapping perfectly. The Dark Witch sent them all a signal as they prepared for the final part. With a push of

true World Core flicker out of existence, replaced by the Mimicry Core, only for the real one to return instantly. Two realities were overlapping, both true and false at the same time, until suddenly, the mirror they had summoned shattered. All the

even seeing the notification, Jake knew they had

Assist the Dark Witch in the ritual to cleanse Tri-World of the

his gaze toward the Mimicry World Core and nodded as he read its

– A mimicry of a true World Core, able to mirror another true World Core. A mimicry of the Tri-World’s core has been created from this item, and the source of a powerful Karmic Plague now resides within. This item has a built-in self-destruction sequence that can

the Mimicry World Core that now had the Karmic Plague in it. She did not do one shady thing throughout, which weirdly enough felt… weird. To see someone – especially someone

the wrong way about how this was all

to say anything as their group gathered right in front of the floating Mimicry Core. The Dark Witch was the last one to arrive as she looked entirely spent, though

“Now all we have to do is destroy the core, and this will be over… don’t worry, the self-destruction is not an explosion but a built-in implosion of sorts, more or less just erasing the entire core from

she had just said was oh-so-simple. Simply doing an action you knew would be the end of you wasn’t easy. That one

he looked at his party. “Am I allowed to be a little

But I believe that goes both ways… if there is a time to embrace recklessness, perhaps now is the time. Fine, go ahead, perhaps there will even be bonus points for such a thing, but do not end your own existence for a stupid sense of vanity,” the Fallen King said,

Saint also just shrugged, with Dina looking confused about what Jake