The Primal Hunter

“You know we can’t allow him to actually bring that Mimicry World Core out of that floor, right?” the Wyrmgod questioned the Malefic Viper.

“Does seem kind of counterproductive if he decides to reintroduce a Karmic Plague that was wiped out a long time ago back into the multiverse,” Minaga nodded in agreement.

“Relax, he isn’t gonna actually bring it out,” the Viper waved them off. “He is just going to eat it and consume all the knowledge of how to make plagues within.”

“And… that’s a good outcome?” Minaga said in a deadpan tone. “Totally seems like a good idea to teach him about them… especially considering his track record of always making well-thought-out decisions.”

“Come on, would he really be my Chosen if he didn’t at least know how to create a plague?” the Viper smiled. “Not saying he should make one, but nothing wrong with learning how to.”

“I am confident nearly every other faction in existence would disagree with that assessment,” the Wyrmgod sighed.

“And I am confident at least half of those have a rule written somewhere that one of the reasons they shouldn’t fuck with me is out of fear I will throw a plague at them,” Vilastromoz shook his head.

“Hm,” the Wyrmgod thought for a while. “I will reclaim the World Core if he brings it out, but should he consume it or sufficiently alter it, I shall allow him to leave with it as long as there is no chance of reintroducing the plague.”

“Sounds fair enough,” Vilas shrugged.

“Also, to be fair, I think most factions wouldn’t fuck with the Malefic Viper even without the plagues,” Minaga said. “And I do guess there is value in knowing how to make one, as there are some very interesting concepts at play. Speaking of which, seeing as you are the expert here… would it be possible to make a plague that wipes out Bloodlines that allow those possessing it to ruin any and all interesting labyrinth experiences? Asking for a friend.”

Just to clarify, Jake wasn’t planning some over-the-top double suicide or anything when he asked the old man to stab him. He just knew that was he was about to do wouldn’t be something he had confidence in pulling off under normal circumstances, so he decided to indulge in a bit of clever use of system mechanics.

“You want me to trigger that defensive skill of yours that activates from a lethal blow?” the Sword Saint questioned, having quickly picked up on what he was getting at.

“Ah, that one,” the Fallen King nodded in understanding, having also experienced that one himself.

“Exactly,” Jake smiled. “And I reckoned that Erosion thing is the best skill to use as it seems pretty easy to dodge compared to the slash, considering it is just one line of water. True, using the Transcendent skill may be me overestimating my durability, but I want to assure the system will consider it a lethal blow.”

The Sword Saint considered for a moment before nodding. “Fair enough.”

Jake thanked him as he turned to his other three party members. “Better make some distance to not get hit by anything. Ah, but Dina, probably stay close. Someone might need healing. On second thought, someone will definitely need healing.”

“What exactly are you planning on doing!?” the Dark Witch butted in rudely. “And what exactly did you do with the Mimicry World Core? It needs to be destroyed, or all of this is in vain… wait, do you plan on keeping it? If that is the case, I will-“

“Relax, jeez,” Jake waved her off. “Trying to figure out a way to destroy the Karmic Plague without you dying in the process.”

fine with my fate,” the Dark Witch said dismissively. “And unless you can call down

out for me in the end. And my guts are telling me I can pull this

Plague is unleashed within you, death

a shot. Worst-case scenario, you die; best-case, you survive. Doing nothing is

something goes wrong, the Karmic Plague may not be

Fallen King said in an annoyed tone. “Jake here is the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, so you should show some trust. If any C-grade can rid you of the Karmic

mentioned Jake was the Chosen as the lizard woman’s eyes opened wide. “I… I didn’t… I apologize

at the Fallen King spilling the beans like that, but things

cracked. Jake even saw a hint of hope in her eyes, which only reinvigorated

is my plan. While in physical contact with you, I will break the World Core inside of my stomach right as the Sword Saint hits me with a lethal blow. This will make time slow down for me as the Karmic Plague is destroyed, at which point I will manipulate the karmic energy going from within my stomach into you. Before this, I will infuse the plague within you with a toxin that will react with this karmic energy to only destroy the Karmic Plague along with the part of your soul you isolated together with it. This is

unsure what you mean with that final analogy, but I believe

soul. It may get hairy, and it will definitely be

to set up some stuff before I begin,

and stab you through the head any day,” the Sword Saint smiled as he stood to the side of Jake, making sure that his

down with his legs crossed as the Dark Witch sat in front of him. He put both his hands on her back as he

Usually, the Karmic Plague would inhabit the entire soul, but the witch had managed to isolate it to somewhere around her stomach region. At least most of it. Small slithers also hit other areas. Removing it would lead to some serious damage…

Jake did two things at once. Firstly, he pumped more poison into the witch using Touch as he “infected” the plague. This was to allow him some influence over it as he more or less tried to usurp control over the

having to take any major risks or even needing something like the World Core. However, as things were, all

he couldn’t really do currently. Of course, Jake already knew how he wanted to do this: through Touch of the Malefic Viper.

keep them separate? The answer was even more obvious. He wouldn’t. And he believed that if Cultivate Toxin became part of Touch of the

to influence the swallowed World Core. It barely took any effort on his part, almost as if the system had been waiting for him to stop being a moron and just get it done, as

*Skill Fusion Detected*:

Toxin (Common)] + [Touch of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)] --> [Touch of the Malefic

description right away as he knew it worked the way he wanted it to. He didn’t dwell on the unchanged rarity either or the fact he felt like he had just gotten a bunch more Intelligence out of nowhere. Instead, he focused on

Mimicry World Core, proving he had been correct. He looked within his Soulspace and observed the ”stomach” of Palate and the core pulsing within as Jake slowly influenced it. It was naught but a slight nudge, and he felt the Karmic Plague fight

split, it was difficult, but Jake refused to back down. He knew that truly changing anything wasn’t going to happen, but as long as he could slightly influence the plague to act

decided. Jake began to feel slight doubt about his plan as he slowly absorbed knowledge about the Mimicry World Core, becoming aware that things

just collapse and not actually explode and harm anything around

built-in destruction formation, he would slightly alter the formation on the core himself and change it from a harmless explosion to something a bit more destructive. This did still mean one

Saint as he saw the old man get in position – sword raised and

confident in handling it. Well, having a part of him handle it anyway. The amount of energy that would be released was substantial,

that occupied the stomach of Palate. It looked like a massive orb of glass with

”Now.”

to attack, so did his Eternal Shadow stab the katar