The Primal Hunter

Jake wasn’t sure if he should have said or done anything before Ell’Hakan left. It felt as if he had given the other Chosen the floor and allowed him to say and do whatever he wanted… but that didn’t necessarily mean what Ell’Hakan had done was in his best interest.

As the saying goes, never interrupt an enemy when he is making a mistake.

Ell’Hakan was clearly under the impression the relationship between Jake and Villy was on thin ice. That Jake was not satisfied with him as a Patron. That, or at least he believed Jake didn’t hold any loyalty toward Villy… which he was kind of right about.

Jake didn’t hold the kind of loyalty one would expect of a Chosen toward a Patron. He held no faith, and he wouldn’t just do whatever the Viper told him to do. Ell’Hakan and Yip of Yore had already figured this out from the looks of it, making their current strategy make a lot more sense.

Eversmile is likely involved in some way, too, Jake also mentally noted, as he considered the situation more deeply.

From this entire thing, coupled with what Carmen said, Jake reached a conclusion… they had officially adopted a narrative that did not require them to kill Jake. This was likely a direction they had moved toward for a while, but only now did they state it outwardly and speak it into reality. The fact this had been done in front of a crowd that would quickly spread it to every major faction in the multiverse also wasn’t a coincidence.

They wanted to show that they held no animosity toward Jake, just the Malefic Viper. The way they framed it also wasn’t entirely idiotic. Jake doubted it would be long before it was also common knowledge that Valhal was interested in recruiting Jake, potentially even offering him a similar position. All of this was to give Jake an escape.

Ultimately, this meant Jake staying with the Malefic Viper was framed as a choice. That Jake chose to stand on the side of an evil tyrant, despite having been given ample opportunity not to, giving them an excuse if they did somehow kill him. Perhaps they also bet on Jake’s sense of self-preservation and wanted to clarify that should he choose to bail the proverbial sinking ship, there would always be a lifeboat waiting.

Jake would guess the two spin doctors didn’t really want to do this but felt forced into it. There was definitely pressure from many factions who would oppose Jake’s death before they could make use of him. With his new achievement as the top performer of the All-Time Leaderboards, he had only grown further in fame and gained the interest of even more major factions.

This entire situation is messy… but not really that complicated, Jake thought. And it truly wasn’t.

Yip of Yore wanted to kill the Malefic Viper to become a Primordial Slayer. This was the crux of it.

Ell’Hakan was helping Yip of Yore to do this, initially by trying to kill Jake.

Even if that had now changed, the core of what Ell’Hakan wanted to accomplish remained: to have the Malefic Viper lose his Chosen. Just rather than losing his Chosen by Jake dying, he would lose him by Jake choosing to jump ship, which would definitely also negatively affect the Viper… because if not even his Chosen believed he could win and stood behind him, did he really stand a chance?

Of course, Ell’Hakan and Yip had made one major mistake. Ell’Hakan had been right about one thing, though: one can truly only do their best, but the best one could do was limited by knowledge… and those two clearly had no idea Jake was a Heretic-Chosen, nor could they comprehend the concept behind a god and a mortal genuinely just being friends.

The large hall had become silent with Ell’Hakan’s speech, and it took quite a few seconds before anyone made a sound after the Chosen left. All the focus was on Jake, and from the looks he got, many of them seemed to believe something positive had just happened to Jake. Which, in some ways, it had. Ell’Hakan had admitted to what he had done, and even if he had apologized… well, Jake wasn’t obligated to forgive.

Not that he was going to say anything to anyone. The less he gave away, the better.

As Jake stood there, the Fallen King sent over a telepathic message.

”An apt strategy adopted by the Chosen of Yip. He has created a situation where he is no longer the aggressor, and many believe it would only make sense for you to forget and forgive whatever he, in their minds, minor mistakes he’s made. Everything ended up nicely being blamed on the Malefic Viper, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the next time you have a public meeting, he will offer you some kind of compensation to make his actions also match his words.”

”Honest, he can do whatever the fuck he wants. He killed Chris, that’s unforgivable,” Jake shot back.

”Yes… but in the eyes of others, he just killed a fanatic serving the Malefic One. An insignificant D-grade. Lives are not equal, and someone like you or Ell’Hakan could kill millions without anyone truly caring. In their eyes, your value exceeds countless weaklings,” the Unique Lifeform continued.

than Ell’Hakan had ever done to Jake,

a lot after Ell’Hakan had done his thing, and his departure seemed to have marked the end for many others, too. Jake saw Wintermaul leave, only throwing a single glance toward Sylphie while departing, with Jake throwing one in return, making the ice elemental hurry out. The Holy Church didn’t stick around much longer either, and Jake saw Carmen leave with a group from

wanted to go. All was facilitated by the Wyrmgod. In retrospect, this was probably a necessary

mixed emotions, and Jake understood why. Everyone but Sylphie and

back together,” Jake smiled as Dina rejoined

happily, making Dina smile, even if she couldn’t quite hide her

the last fifty years together, a huge part of their lives. When it came to pure life experience, likely the majority for all but the Sword Saint and maybe the Fallen King. In the beginning, Dina had been reserved and barely spoke to anyone but the

wasn’t a goodbye, no one knew when they would meet

that it's taken without permission from the

her own things to deal with. She was the granddaughter of Nature’s Attendant and held his Bloodline, giving her many responsibilities and limitations, and especially now that she had placed top 100 on the Era Leaderboards, the expectations of her had only risen further. Making friends while in a position like hers surely

said as she looked at Jake. ”Congratulations on the All-Time Leaderboards… and thank you for

he joked: ”Then again, we did all carry our own weight, so maybe we should

no need to openly display gratitude between equal partners, it’s simply an implicit understanding,” the Fallen King added, both ruining Jake’s joke and being pretty on-point. There truly was no need for anyone to thank the

a bit. ”Still… thank

argue about something this dumb. They had plenty of dumb arguments over the last half a century, and there was no reason

headed from here?” the Sword Saint asked Dina,

turning to Jake. ”Grandpa also said you should come

worth considering,” the Sword Saint

not before we have handled this Prima first,”

in a rush,” Jake shrugged as he looked at Dina. ”Do tell Nature’s Attendant and Artemis that I’ll come by at some point after the Prima Guardian is dealt with and things calm down a bit. I doubt any visit I make will be a brief

”Ree!” even Sylphie agreed.

seemed open to one day

quiet for a while before the Sword Saint spoke once

her

his head as he reached over and put a hand on her head, rubbing her hair-like plants. ”This is not a goodbye

seemingly thinking: ”screw it,” as she went forward and gave the old man a hug. He returned it as he kept rubbing her hair. He already knew that of everyone in

two of them stopped hugging as she also said goodbye to the others. Sylphie got a few scratches before getting pulled into a hug, while the Fallen King and Jake

said, getting about as polite as

you

Saint said as he gave her

with one of her

resolutely. ”Farewell

and left, only looking back half a dozen times as the four from Earth remained behind in

now,” the Sword Saint said after a brief

I shall follow. Too many of the World Council have been gone for too long,” the Fallen King

you take Sylphie with you?” Jake asked the two of them. ”I’m gonna go visit that Demon Prince first and stop by a few other places