The Primal Hunter

Villy was very interested in Jake’s fight with Ell’Hakan, far more than Jake had thought he would be, considering it was just a battle between C-grades. Alright, to be fair, the god was clearly just being polite while listening to Jake’s tale... right up until Jake mentioned Ell’Hakan going full delulu Celestial Child mode.

After that, the Viper began to show genuine interest as Jake went over everything. Toward the end, the god was incredibly engaged, and he seemed more interested in discussing Ell’Hakan than the fact that Ell’Hakan’s Truesoul had been robbed away by an Augur.

“I’m gonna admit that he surprised me, which just shows that one should never underestimate a powerful Bloodline. Doing what he did to hang onto life isn’t something I expect you to see again any time soon, if ever. His expert use of faith energy to maintain his own body was also extraordinary, if ultimately fatal. As you said, he was already dead the moment he fully began to believe he was the Celestial Child,” the Viper said, having decided to give his interpretation of what Ell’Hakan had done.

“I’ve told you before, but belief and will are far more powerful than you can imagine. He truly believed he was this Celestial Child, and the system rewarded his belief. Ell’Hakan genuinely believed he had that kind of power, and up to a limit, he was granted it, only limited by the stats of his mortal soul. However, what I find the most impressive is that he was apparently so delusional in his belief that he couldn’t and wouldn’t die that even the system seemed to believe it. Of course, no amount of belief and delusion can truly alter reality on a fundamental level, and when you shattered his Soulshape for good, that was it, no matter how much he believed something like that wouldn’t kill him.”

“I didn’t expect you to praise him so much,” Jake said after a brief pause. “Almost makes me jealous.”

“Eh, don’t be. You did ultimately prove yourself the better Chosen by killing him, and let’s not act like your Bloodline isn’t at least twice as ridiculous as his. What was it you said it allowed you to do? Upgrade a skill to literally pause time from your perspective until you move to restart it? Yeah, that alone makes me question how the system fucked up allowing someone like you to pass through quality control,” the snake god said semi-jokingly.

“All I’m saying is that you had a good opponent. Someone worth actually fighting. Hearing you talk about the battle and what Ell’Hakan was capable of, I can’t help but consider what he could have been if Yip of Yore hadn’t snatched him up, but if the Dao Sect had instead gotten him to join them. His ability to emotionally manipulate himself would have been extraordinary there, and with proper teaching and guidance, the unsettling elements of his Bloodline could have quickly been suppressed and perhaps even turned into a positive. He would also be one of their celibate monks, of course, as I do agree that spreading such a Bloodline seems like a bad idea... which gets us to the finale of your little fight.”

“The Holy Church,” Jake nodded, them having finally reached perhaps the most important topic they would have to discuss.

“Right... what are you planning on doing about it?” the snake god asked.

“Why would I?” Villy said, Jake easily imagining him shrugging on the other side of the telepathic connection. “Last time I checked, you were the one slighted in this matter, not me. You were also robbed by a bunch of C-grades, making it very much a mortal matter. I see no reason to get involved with something like that... and neither would I expect anyone else who should stay out of C-grade affairs to.”

Jake quickly understood what Villy was getting at. He wasn’t going to take part in this, and neither would anyone else higher up in the Holy Church. As he said, this was a C-grade matter. His words also held the implication that should the Church decide to get involved with people who shouldn’t, the Viper would respond in kind.

Still, Jake did hold some worries.

“I’m pretty certain that the ones who want Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline are very high up in the hierarchy. Powerful gods. I guess what I’m worried about is pissing them off too much, creating future trouble for myself. Bertram compared it to how the Endless Empire would react if someone killed me, cutting off their Path to creating new True Royals, and when I think about it like that, I could see them carry a grudge that could become very annoying down the line,” Jake explained his thoughts.

“I don’t think you can compare anything to the pure fanaticism displayed by the Endless Empire when it comes to their True Royals. Do I think the Holy Church will be pissed off? Yes. Do I think it will create some conflict down the line if you do what I think you plan on doing? Also yes. Do I think that’s a bad thing? No, no, not really. What are you afraid of? Even if someone killed you, the Endless Empire wouldn’t make a god descend for revenge. No, they would send C-grades, assuming a C-grade killed you. Responding with appropriate force is such a norm that even they would follow it, much less the Holy Church,” the Viper explained.

“Could still prove very annoying...” Jake muttered. Even if only C-grades would be coming for him, the Holy Church’s methods weren’t generally known to be the straightforward kind, and Jake would really love to avoid dealing with a bunch of schemes to try and get revenge on him.

“You worry too much. Do also remember it’s just one internal faction of the Church you’re pissing off, and by doing so, you may even make another one like you. I would also add that with you being who you are, you are bound to get into conflict with big factions at some point, and let’s not act like you are currently buddy-buddy with the Church. So, as I said, just do what you want to do, and if the Holy Church wants to make an inappropriately disproportionate response, I’ll gladly step in. But if not... let the C-grades play,” the Malefic Viper assured Jake.

“Alright,” Jake finally nodded, feeling somewhat assured by the Viper’s words.

“Look, if it’s any reassurance, then no one from the Holy Church has contacted me about Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline. If they truly viewed his Bloodline as something equally important to how the Endless Empire views yours, then the Holy Mother herself would have come by for a visit. The fact that she nor anyone else has even tried should let you know that they truly don’t care that much,” Villy said, calming Jake further.

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Jake sighed as he looked toward the ceiling of his lab, considering what to do next as he resolved himself. “I guess that’s just how things are.”

“Sometimes, it indeed just is what it is. I would bet on the Holy Church reaching out relatively soon to that witch of yours with talks about compensation, so that will be fun. Who knows, maybe they’ll even offer something so good that you decide to forgive and forget?” Villy said jokingly, seemingly looking forward to Jake’s continued chaotic future.

With the topic of the Holy Church handled, the two of them proceeded to shoot the shit for a while, just discussing everything they had been up to as Jake learned a lot more about what had been happening in the rest of the multiverse while Jake was busy killing the Usurper and recuperating afterward.

The fallout from Yip of Yore’s death had yet to settle, seeing as it had only been a couple of days ago the god had died, meaning things remained very much chaotic. Villy naturally took advantage of this chaos as much as he could, expanding the Order of the Malefic once more, this time with newfound vigor.

Having killed quite a few gods following the death of Yip of Yore, Villy had also sown chaos in many places in the multiverse by creating power vacuums, as these gods tended to rule their own small turfs. Factions spanning many galaxies had suddenly lost their Patron god and were spiraling, with the Order not making it better by swooping in and laying claim to the domain of the fallen god.

Things were still in their early stages, but the Viper was pleased with the developments so far. It would take many years before the Order could truly settle down in all its newly conquered locations, but contrary to last time, their foundation was far more powerful this time around.

All doubt surrounding the Malefic Viper disappeared the moment he killed Yip of Yore, seemingly without breaking a sweat. The very correct rumor that the Viper had planned the confrontation between himself and Yip from the very start also began to propagate, only making more people afraid of the notorious Malefic Viper and all the more determined to not make him an enemy.

Of course, some questions still remained. One big enigma in everything that had gone down was Eversmile. He had seemingly not been involved in much toward the end, only advising and helping Yip of Yore here and there, only to instantly disappear afterward.

Many questioned if he had truly backed Yip or if he had also worked for the Viper. It quickly became clear that at least Valhal had kind of played both sides, effectively just working as officiators of the fight, but Eversmile had been far more involved early on, having even stepped in to help Yip of Yore during the Chosen Ceremony.

Jake was also curious about exactly what Eversmile was up to, but Villy kept the details confidential, refusing to share anything juicy. All Jake did become certain of was that Eversmile definitely had some personal interest in the matter, likely doing some weird karmic experiment or something. That, or he just thought it was a fun scenario to observe as it unfolded.

Either way, as the two of them kept talking, they soon ran out of any recent happening to discuss, which was when Villy remembered something.

“I totally forgot to ask, but what did you get for killing Ell’Hakan? Seeing as he was a former Chosen turned Usurper and the unique state he forced his body and soul into during his final moments, some real whacky stuff had to have been going on with his Records, which should lead to an interesting reward,” Villy asked curiously.

“I did get something pretty interesting,” Jake said as he didn’t hesitate to pull out the Celestial Heart that had formed from Ell’Hakan’s Records upon death. As a reminder, once someone died, a certain amount of their Records tended to gather in a specific part of their body, infusing it with energy and turning it into an actual item. This was where all the drops from beasts came from, and the enlightened were no different.

After describing the heart as Villy couldn’t see it due to them only speaking over a telepathic connection, the god became more and more interested, especially because the description had redacted portions and even said it had remnants of Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline. A phrasing Jake did want a clarification on.

“What exactly does it mean when the system says it contains remnants of Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline? Does it mean that the Truesoul that the Holy Church has is missing a part or something? That shouldn’t be a thing, right?”

“It’s not a thing, no. The Truesoul and Bloodline are one. You cannot scrape off a part of it like that. No, I reckon the Records in this Celestial Heart are more akin to those that would come when someone with a Bloodline gets a child. Based on what you said, the Celestial Child believed until the very end he was a Reincarnation, and this may be a reflection of that. The heart is also connected to Bloodlines quite deeply, making this a very unique and interesting item you’ve received,” the Viper spoke rather enthusiastically.

“Wait... if the Records are a bit like that of a child, does that mean this item could be used to revive the Bloodline even if I got rid of his Truesoul?” Jake asked, once more considering if he should just destroy the heart then and there.

“No, that’s not how Bloodlines work at all. What I suspect you have is instead an item that has a Bloodline-level ability. One that can do something related to an aspect of Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline. But, truth be told, I can’t say much with certainty without inspecting the Celestial Heart closely in person,” Villy said.

Jake nodded along as he kept staring at the item in question.

“Oh, by the way, you asked earlier what kind of stuff would be good to put on the table in a Divine Bargain... well, that Celestial Heart is definitely one such item, and truth be told, I wouldn’t complain if you decided to offer that up,” the Malefic Viper said.

“So sorry, the skill is on cooldown,” Jake quickly said. “Not that I would give it to you just like that anyway. Not before I know what it does. A description with that many [Redacted] in it is simply too juicy to give away before I figure it out myself.”

“Just don’t eat it or try to experiment with it, okay?” the Viper said, turning serious. “Keep it locked away until you’re back in the Order, and we’ll look at it together. While the probability is low, the mere fact it’s so closely tied to a Bloodline makes it possible the Celestial Heart is harmful in some way. Also, I do want to, at the very least, see it myself before you accidentally fuck it up somehow.”

“Fair,” Jake relented, putting the Celestial Heart away for safe storage once more. The Viper did have a point. Seeing as how dangerous Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline was, messing with an item containing remnants of it – one that didn’t even say what it did in the description – seemed quite risky. At least way too risky, considering he was still low-key considering just destroying it… though now he had a fear that destroying it could also lead to something unintended.

Yeah, better leave it in there till I’m back at the Order, Jake told himself as the two of them moved on and talked about some more minor matters, but truth be told, there really wasn’t much to discuss at this point.

The Patron and Chosen had both won their respective battles and were now both busy reaping the rewards. The Order would expand to many more places in the multiverse, the Malefic Viper now far more notorious after he’d shown that he wasn’t simply relying on his legacy but was truly worthy of his title of Primordial.

Meanwhile, Jake was to claim his galaxy and thus solidify the power of his own budding faction, though, in truth, it would be Miranda doing much of the work. Jake wasn’t sure how he wanted things to be done and how to handle everything even once the galaxy was taken over – the process of actually conquering it being nothing more than a formality at this point.

Luckily, he had smart people in his corner who could figure all those things out, and as he finished up his talks with Villy for now, he prepared to head out for a meeting with Miranda and others to discuss what would come next… including his plan of invading the Holy Church’s domain to end Ell’Hakan once and for all.