The Primal Hunter

Chapter 998: Great Minds Think Alike “So, the plan is to go the diplomacy route and negotiate with the fucker before putting an arrow through his skull,” Jake finished his explanation to the room of people he trusted the most. They all stared back at him for a few moments before Miranda spoke.

“This is all… a lot. So far, all our plans have been to find a way to use Ell’Hakan to weaken Yip of Yore, but the Viper wants us to do the opposite? I’ve heard nothing of this from the Verdant Witches,” Miranda said with much concern.

“Are you confident you can carry out the tasks your Patron gave you?” the Sword Saint asked, having also thought over everything. “You will need something to convince Ell’Hakan you are being genuine and not trying to trick him. A good story is but the bare minimum, and you need to have swift replies to all imaginable questions, as you will no doubt end up talking to him directly.”

While Jake had shared the Viper’s plan with those in the room but left out some parts, specifically those related to his own secrets. He didn’t mention anything about him being a Heretic-Chosen, nor did he bring up the fact he’d absorbed a drop of blood from the Viper. All of those things weren’t something he should be sharing, but they were also vital aspects of the plan. All of this is to say that Jake understood the old man’s concern, but he nodded confidently in affirmation to assure the man a little things would be fine.

“I believe I got this handled, and you are right. I will need a very good story and to have thought everything through. Trust me, the Viper already grilled me on this.”

“If you say so,” the Sword Saint said, not showing a lot of trust in Jake’s social skills.

The others in the room, namely Sylphie, Vesperia, Arnold, and Carmen, weren’t saying much but just listened in. Carmen hadn’t been someone Jake had initially planned on including in this meeting due to her relations with Valhal, but he’d met her on the way back to the Vessel after she’d also spoken to Gudrun. She already knew a lot of the plot going on, and since Jake would have to leave with her later anyway, he saw no reason not to include her.

William had been a potential participant, but Jake still didn’t trust him enough. He also didn’t know enough about Eversmile to know if the god could use his former connection with William to spy on them, so he decided to just play it safe and not include the guy. As for other notable absentees, nearly all of them were excluded on purpose due to the factions they belonged to or because they had been busy doing other stuff. Sandy had left to eat some stuff, Lillian was busy, and he hadn’t even tried to talk to Kindroth as the elf had left to handle other matters a while ago.

“To make it clear, you want us to function as your propaganda machine here on Earth, advertising that you are tricking Ell’Hakan into an alliance while actually just taking advantage of him, yet at the same time purposefully make undercurrents of doubt within the upper echelon of Earth’s leadership if you truly are just performing a scheme. This undercurrent will naturally be leaked to Ell’Hakan, creating plenty of ambiguity about where your loyalties truly lie, and with some evidence you and the Viper planned for, hopefully, convince him to bite and actually believe you are intending to leave the Malefic Viper and permanently join hands with Valhal?” Miranda tried to sum up everything Jake had asked of them, hitting the nail on the head as expected and making Jake nod enthusiastically.

“Yep, pretty much,” Jake said with a smile.

“That’s not gonna be easy,” the Sword Saint frowned. “A lot of local actors will try to take advantage of the confusion to cause discord. I’m also not sure our allies will be on board. Even if we tell them it’s all part of the Viper’s plan, they are in contact with the rest of the multiverse and are aware of what’s happening. They know the Order of the Malefic Viper is being crushed and has been for months now. Trying to convince them all of this is the Viper’s plan is a ridiculous ask.”

“You don’t need to convince them for a long time… just long enough for a truce to be established and both sides back down,” Jake tried to argue. “Also, you don’t have a relationship with the Order of the Malefic Viper, so what if you act like you know I’m actually planning on switching sides and also deceiving Miranda to-“

“Won’t work,” the old man shut him down instantly. “We need to keep presenting a strong united front. If we begin to display any fractures in our core power base, many will jump ship and join the Holy Church and Ell’Hakan. The only reason many remain loyal is because of the power we wield. While the Church and Ell’Hakan have made moves on many planets, they have clearly acted with restraint, and restraint often comes from caution. It’s believed that they are wary of Earth and our elites, and the fact many believe we would win a direct confrontation in an all-out war is the sole reason our alliance can even remain.”

Jake frowned a bit as he thought of something else, but before he had a chance to, the Sword Saint continued.

be exterminated. However, if we are allies with the Order of the Malefic Viper, which is the only large multiversal organization publicly allowing vampires in it, we are under heavy protection simply by association. Oh yes, it’s also no secret several members of the clan have gone to the Order either, meaning most assume we are pretty much already

also raise a lot of suspicion as we all seemed so united before,” Miranda said. “We also don’t know the kind of information Ell’Hakan has, so complicating things further by adding more misdirection or schemes will only make us look like we’re acting out of character. No, better to just fully lean into us actually believing

nodded

Arnold?” she questioned. “What will

interested enough

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matter has little consequence to me. Should the ruler of Earth be part of the Order of the Malefic Viper or Valhal will not impact me in any

“The Endless Empire would be neutral in either case, thus, I would

on and was only participating in this meeting because

about we bring Sylphie with us to Valhal? Won’t that communicate my

accidentally here on Earth. Ah, but it would be best if Vesperia stays on Earth. As a True Royal, her

take any actions here directly lest they piss off the Endless Empire. Yeah, I know,” Jake cut her off and

do not wish to take part in this conflict

Miranda nodded, as she looked to have a lot of thoughts swimming around in her head. “I think the biggest challenge will be to convince those you already know… people like Kindroth won’t be easily fooled and may even end up

Viper’s plan. If he believes he sees through the disguised truth and arrives at a lie, that isn’t our fault but only shows a lack of

can we really afford to lose more allies?” Miranda

question would be if they can afford having lost us as allies after Ell’Hakan falls. It doesn’t matter how big the Church or Ell’Hakan gets. As long as the other Chosen falls, they lose their ability to defend the galaxy. I refuse to believe the

he looked ready to take advantage of the situation. There was something assuring about that, and Jake felt that the Viper had been right… he should trust the people around him to handle this situation

if they should do the plan at all. They had all instantly just agreed and pointed out potential issues with the goal of looking for solutions. Never once had it even been seen as an option to not go

nearly everything. Great minds think alike and all that. He only occasionally had to answer some clarifying questions before the two of them dove straight back into their discussion. As Miranda

The Sword Saint seemed almost excited by everything that was about to happen, especially when it was made clear he would be allowed to exert some pressure using his power should the negotiations prove in any way problematic. Jake being able to control the old man wouldn’t

head to Jake’s lodge just the two of them. As the Viper had said, they should be seen together going there and leaving again in a day or so. Considering the number of spies keeping an eye on the lodge at all times, especially now with everything going on in the Milky Way and the multiverse, this was bound to raise

for the sake of it,” Miranda said. “You’re not trying to trick anyone, and you are just selfishly looking out for yourself. Nothing more, nothing less. Remember to

want to be a decent person… but sure,” Jake smiled at her. Miranda