The Primal Hunter

Chapter 980: Durability Test Back on Earth at Jake’s lodge, more information came in from both William and Arnold, with Sylphie also sending a bit, which only made Jake more and more determined.

”I told you I’m going,” Jake said in a harsh tone, refusing to hear otherwise as he prepared to storm out of his lodge and straight to Arnold’s teleporter to take him to the planet where the Fallen King and Sylphie currently were in the midst of fighting.

“No, you are not,” Miranda said in an even harsher tone as she stepped in front of Jake, blocking the door.

“Yes, I fucking am,” Jake said, clenched his fists. “We have no idea what’s truly going on over there, and I’ll-“

“That’s exactly why you’re not going,” Miranda interrupted Jake, looking him straight in the eyes. “Take just one moment to actually think for once. We have no information. All we know is that there is some kind of plot that trapped the two of them on the planet, and now, apparently, this “I” creature is there… an entity we know is incredibly dangerous due to your own testimony. And you want to just head there like a headless chicken?”

Jake wanted to defend himself, but Vesperia quickly also spoke up. “I concur with the verdant witch. This is obviously a trap, and that is clear to all. Moreover, it’s difficult to believe it’s coincidental this happened while you are still injured.”

“What she said,” Miranda jumped in again. “Even if we assume they didn’t know you were injured, that just makes it all worse. They are clearly aware we can teleport to other planets, which can only mean they expected some kind of support to arrive. If you show up injured while they expect you at all power… do I need to say more?”

William, who really wasn’t part of the conversation, stood uncomfortably in the corner, though from the look on his face, he clearly also thought heading to help the Fallen King and Sylphie would be questionable.

Still…

“I don’t need to go alone,” Jake insisted. “Even if the Sword Saint isn’t here to help… if Arnold, Vesperia, Eron, and Sandy all come with me, I’m sure that we could handle anything they have to throw at us.”

“In the current moment of time, we are sure of nothing,” Vesperia sighed. “I also wish to go and assist them, but the risk is simply too high. If they are in a situation where the two of them can’t escape, all of us going there will do is put more lives at risk… more accurately, the lives of those among us who are not skilled at escape. I simply cannot take such a risk as a True Royal and the last of my line… nor can I in good conscious agree you go as my Sire.”

“To add… I don’t think you can convince Arnold to go even if you tried… but we could look into Sandy going alone, as they should be able to get away, though everything is always risky when it comes to the concept of desolation,” Miranda said, deep in thought.

Jake really didn’t like the thought of just sending someone and not going with them. Especially when they were dealing with something like desolation. No matter what, though… they needed to act fast if they wanted to offer any kind of assistance whatsoever.

“Alright,” Jake said, looking serious. “Here’s the plan. I go together with Sandy and Eron inside of Sandy’s stomach to not expose myself. Our goal is only extraction, not fighting, and if things get too dangerous, I know Sandy has a way to survive… but I doubt even a peak C-grade would be able to stop Sandy if Sandy really wanted to run. If all else fails, I still have one more hidden card to play.”

Miranda and Vesperia didn’t look happy with what Jake said, but he wasn’t the kind of person who could just sit still and do nothing while Sylphie and the Fallen King were under attack.

Seeing how determined Jake looked, the two women relented, and Miranda sent a few quick messages, with Vesperia sighing. “Come back safe and be careful, alright? Your life takes priority over everyone else’s, so if it truly comes to it, you must-“

friends or family as long as I’m still breathing. No arguments. And right now, I’m pretty damn sure I’m still drawing

at Jake. “Head to the teleporter now. Sandy and Arnold will be waiting there, and I also got a message Eron agreed to help and is heading there, as he also wants to observe this creature of desolation more closely. And, no matter what you say, do be careful. The Fallen King and Sylphie are both powerful in their own rights, and

case,” Jake said, heading out the door with Miranda having moved out of the way. William looked hesitant for a moment before coming along with Jake, speaking on

tone, keeping up with Jake, who entered stealth while running, the karma mage doing the same thing as he switched to telepathy. “I tried hard to figure out who is behind this, and I did feel a connection to Ell’Hakan from the one we captured, not nothing definitive. The connection felt odd, warped, a bit akin to the other Chosen’s own planet… I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t think Ell’Hakan is directly involved with this entire thing. Some karmic remnants of his influence do still linger, though. That’s all I can really tell at this

teleportation, but no matter how

or other enemies it might have,” Jake offered, in part to keep an eye on the guy and in part because he really wanted to know if Ell’Hakan was actually involved. The guy hadn’t made any outright hostile moves in a while, and with the Fangs of Man theater Jake pulled

asking, but I assumed you would reject,” William said, his answer not sounding like a guy

vain and that Sylphie and the Fallen King already had the situation fully handled

had battled many creatures during his life, especially while inside Nevermore. Quite a few unique ones, too, including, of course, two Unique Lifeforms in Minaga and the Ashen Devourier. Unique Lifeforms were known as very powerful but limited creatures… but this Desolate Child of Loss was by far the most limited the King had ever seen. At least, he believed it was, based on how

visiting the original

of the King and Sylphie, it had yet to use a single skill. At least there were no apparent usages of skills. Its fighting style was just to take hits head-on

one simple fact he and Sylphie reached after they had been fighting for around seven or

were losing despite how

Loss was struck from below and sent flying into the air as a crescent wave of wind left a cut on the shoulder of the creature, sending it spinning. Yet it quickly stabilized

wind. Both of them were heavily limited in what attacks they could use, Sylphie more so than the Fallen King, as she couldn’t do her usual drive-by and

Fallen King’s usual blasts of force were also nearly entirely useless, and many of his soul attacks just didn’t reach the creature but were made desolate before taking effect. The desolation was affecting everything. The environment, Sylphie and the Fallen King,

not having landed a single blow aside from the one touch

energy than other wounds. Being injured with the concept of desolation did not cause permanent or

would also make the Soulshape desolate until it passed a certain threshold of no return, at which point the damage would be semi-permanent, only fixable by evolution or someone extremely powerful interfering. Someone capable of fully

say that he and Sylphie had to spend exorbitant amounts of energy to keep the desolation at bay while also attacking a foe that was barely affected by their attacks from the looks of it. Again, the King could see they did damage, and it was reasonable to conclude the Desolate Child of Loss would die at some point if they just kept attacking… but he had no

soon, it appeared a

come as a surprise that the King and Sylphie had already discussed running, but both had been reluctant due to their innately prideful natures. They both wanted to see if

here? In rough estimates?” the Fallen

not knowing… all that was clear was that they wouldn’t make it in time if this status quo kept going. They would definitely

King said, the bird in quick agreement as she unleashed a dozen air bullets, making the Desolate Child of Loss stumble

the question just was… were they running only to escape or to turn the situation around once assistance arrived? Jake was weakened, yes, but even in his weakened state he should still be powerful. Dependent on how much the two of them were losing, there was a good chance they

and asked the Fallen King what he wanted to

should buy us time to retreat,” the Fallen King said. Sylphie didn’t take long to agree. If they dragged things out longer, it would become too risky to