Ell’Hakan stood atop the highest tower the palace had, alone, as he stared up at the starry sky and two moons hanging far above. He was still hidden within the barrier of the palace but potentially out in the open enough for the hunter to take his shot. However, so far, nothing.
It was nighttime, and he had a lot of matters on his mind. His most recent conversation with the Augur had truly given him food for thought, and he could admit that what would happen next would be hugely impactful for his Path.
He saw a total of four major Paths before him based on the choices he made and the outcomes of these choices. The first two included running as the Augur proposed. He would flee to another planet ruled by the Holy Church and lay low there until the Prima Guardian event was fully completed, at which point he would teleport to another universe and into the heartlands of the Holy Church. If he was there, no external threats mattered anymore.
The question from there would be if the Augur was correct because that’s where Ell’Hakan saw a potential issue. He knew the emotions of the hunter, and currently, he doubted that the Chosen of the Malefic One would simply forgive and forget, no matter how long passed.
He saw his two Paths with the Holy Church either ending with him living in peace or, more realistically, getting hunted down after many years. And, if he was being perfectly honest, he wasn’t sure either option appealed to him, as he’d never wanted a peaceful life in the first place.
The second two options included fighting the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. Such a fight would naturally have one of the two outcomes: each where either party won. It really didn’t need to be more complicated than that.
So, to run or fight. The Holy Church obviously wanted him to run, and Ell’Hakan knew why. They wanted his Bloodline. That was the deal they’d made, after all. That’s why they wanted him to pick the safest option available, and he was sure the Holy Church’s ideal scenario was one where Ell’Hakan went with them, advanced a few grades more under their influence, before giving them children who inherited his Bloodline... at which point they would no longer need him.
They didn’t care about him reaching his full potential. If he went with the Church, he also knew the lingering sense of regret from having run away from the fight would haunt him for the rest of his life. Chances are he wouldn’t be able to go as far as he should rightfully be able to, especially now that he’d become the Usurper of Yip of Yore.
No... even if he thought about everything logically, he really only saw himself having one real choice. Ell’Hakan was now stronger than ever before, and while he could admit that the Chosen of the Malefic Viper was superior to him in potential, that didn’t mean the hunter was stronger right at this moment. In the future, the gap would only widen, which made now the best moment to strike.
Should Ell’Hakan win, he would not only have removed a potential threat to his life down the line but cement his Path as a Usurper by creating a legend right off the bat. Proof that even if Yip of Yore had fallen to the Malefic Viper, his Chosen had still been superior to the Viper’s Chosen.Even if he would face backlash from it, the Holy Church still wanted and needed him... and given enough time, he had confidence in getting real influence within the faction. He would make them see him as more than just a way to get his Bloodline, but as someone they truly couldn’t do without. Again, it wouldn’t be anything fast, but he had confidence down the line.
Of course, it all required him to actually beat the hunter, but as mentioned, Ell’Hakan didn’t feel like he had any better choice. It was either fight now while he was at his strongest just after the Usurper ritual, while even on his own homeworld, and with the hunter potentially still slightly weakened due to his recent soul damage, or sit back and wait for the hunter to kill him in the future.
So, even if he only had a one-in-a-thousand chance to win, it was the only option available. Besides, he believed his chances were a lot better than that, even if he wasn’t necessarily favored.
Having determined himself, Ell’Hakan gave the night sky a final look before walking down the staircase of the tower. Now he just needed to find the Chosen of the Malefic Viper... which turned out to be quite an easy task, considering about halfway down he got a notification that made his eyes open wide.
“The Planetary Pylon?”
For a moment, Ell’Hakan questioned what the hell the hunter could possibly be doing, but he knew it was a waste of time thinking, and the notification made it clear the Pylon was under actual threat. Without hesitating further, he rushed down the stairs and toward the Prima Vessel to teleport down there... and finally begin the confrontation that would decide how the ill-fated relationship between himself and the hunter would end.
Jake felt pretty damn happy about the ritual circle he’d finally cooked up. Well, multiple circles. With careful hands, he placed them all around the Planetary Pylon. The energy given off by the Pylon aimed to destabilize the magic, but Jake had infused all the circles with enough stability for him to finish what he was doing.
After all the circles were done and placed correctly, several more hours had passed. He was ready to go, but Jake didn’t immediately begin as he instead took out a mana potion and consumed it. He then placed barriers around all the magic circles to keep them safe as he sat down in meditation for an hour to fully restore himself and get the potion cooldown back while getting him to an optimal state before the fight he assumed would soon come.
Back in near-top condition, Jake stood up and dispelled the barriers that were pausing the ritual. He then activated his ritualism skill once more and moved all the magic circles to make them overlap and bend as they, one by one, wrapped around the Planetary Pylon. They weren’t active yet, but they were still struggling due to the intense energy given off by the Pylon.
Either way, they would hold on long enough as Jake finally activated the ritual. Intense energy began to radiate from the magic circles, and he felt the Pylon instantly begin to fight back, but it was too late as Jake invited someone else into the core room.
“Divine Bargain of the Malefic Viper,” Jake spoke as he held out a palm toward the Planetary Pylon.
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For a second, nothing happened. Then, suddenly, the energy began to change in intensity and aura while taking on a dark green sheen. The wrapping of magic circles broke apart in an instant but was just as instantly replaced with something far more powerful. A dozen dark green snakes appeared in the magic circles’ stead, encasing and wrapping themselves around the core like were they constrictors.
At the same time, Jake also felt a connection with whatever was going on as something was drained out of him. He didn’t know exactly what, but it mixed with the divine aura of the Malefic Viper and made the snakes take on a purplish gleam reminiscent of Jake’s arcane affinity. Right as they changed color, they also stopped squirming and froze, knowledge entering Jake’s mind.
The bargain was underway, and the system was evaluating everything as it slowly laid claim to the Pylon. Jake couldn’t help but smile as everything had gone as planned so far. While it wasn’t very feasible for C-grades to go around claiming and bargaining entire planets like this, in the realm of the gods, this was nothing. That’s why the system even entertained the idea... because it was both Jake and Villy doing the bargaining.
That’s also why Jake knew no one could stop the Divine Bargain once it had been initiated. Doing so would require whoever tried to overcome not only the aspects of Jake part of the skill but also those belonging to the Viper.
Jake, realizing he had marveled at his own new skill for a bit too long, stopped fucking around and retreated away from the Planetary Core as he also began to enter stealth once more. What he’d just done would surely have notified Ell’Hakan that shit was going down, and it was only a question of time before there would be some kind of response. ṚÂƝоᛒΕş
Now, Jake was fully aware that deep underground was a shitty place to fight for him, but if that was the only thing he could reasonably get, he would take it. He also considered for a moment if he should pull out his special Eternal Hunger arrow here and now but stopped himself.
If Ell’Hakan was the one coming, he would more than likely do so through the Prima Vessel. If that was the case, he would have to leave it out of its one exit, yes, but he’d also be incredibly close to an impenetrable barrier leading into an indestructible system-made vessel with teleportation features inside.
All of that is to say, Ell’Hakan had a good chance to avoid the arrow, and even if Jake hit, if it failed to end the former Chosen in an instant, the nahoom would have an easy escape path. And to be clear, Jake didn’t believe the Eternal Hunger arrow was enough to kill him in one go, especially not after the Usurper Ritual Jake suspected him of having gone through. Just like how Jake had Moment of the Primal Hunter, he suspected Ell’Hakan to have a similar survival skill.
No, it would be far better to bait the other Chosen into a long-drawn fight before Jake would unleash his real trump cards. Also... perhaps it was just Jake’s vanity speaking, but he didn’t want it to be over too quickly.
Jake didn’t like Ell’Hakan and wanted him dead, yes, but he also recognized the guy was the number two of their generation. He was a supreme genius in his own right, and Jake simply wouldn’t have the opportunity to fight many of his kind. The duel with the Sword Saint was still a core memory for Jake, and it had been an invaluable opportunity.
Hopefully, Ell’Hakan would help push Jake even further.
As Jake was thinking about all these things, something finally happened. Space began to ripple violently, and just below the Planetary Pylon, the large Prima Vessel teleported into the core room. The large metal vessel looked kind of small, considering the massive size of the core room that would serve as the initial battleground of what was to come.
Preparing himself, Jake stood near a tunnel leading out of the core room with his stealth skill active. Taking out an arrow, Jake nocked it as the stealth field appeared all around him, masking the energies of his charging Arcane Powershot.
He slowly charged the arrow so he could keep it ready for longer as he patiently waited. He knew it didn’t take long to exit the vessel, yet as the seconds passed, he got more and more confused as nothing happened. Had Ell’Hakan brought more people with him? Were they strategizing inside? Waiting for him to go in or something? Jake could only look outside the Prima Vessel due to his sphere, so they shouldn’t be able to see what happened in the outside world... so why the delay? To figure it out, he released a Pulse of Perception, and through it, he saw someone standing right there at the exit, waiting.
More than a minute passed before Jake clicked his tongue and stopped charging his arrow to not put a strain on his body before the fight even began... and only a second after he lowered his bow, movement was seen as a single figure stepped out of the Prima Vessel, his voice echoing.
“Goodness, you gotta learn how to suppress that killing intent of yours... it’s quite an overpowering sensation,” Ell’Hakan said as he turned and looked directly at where Jake was in stealth. “You should know that even if you can hide your body and energies, you cannot hide your emotions.”
Jake’s stealth was dispelled as he still stood with his lowered bow and looked down at the former Chosen, now Usurper.
“You went through with your own Usurper Ritual, huh? Stole my idea?” Jake said in a semi-joking tone.
“Great minds think alike, isn’t that what they say? Gotta be ready for the worst-case scenario in all situations, especially when that scenario is the most probable outcome,” Ell’Hakan said in his usual calm tone, more or less admitting he’d expected Yip of Yore to lose.
“And people call me a heretic, yet here you are, actively plotting against your Patron,” Jake scoffed, shaking his head.
“I’m no heretic, and I never was. I believed in Yip of Yore up until the second he died, at which point I inherited his will and power. My so-called betrayal only came after his demise, at which point, can we really call it a betrayal?” Ell’Hakan said, seemingly wanting to start a fight about semantics.
Jake kept looking at Ell’Hakan as he felt for any changes to his emotional spectrum as they spoke, but so far he detected nothing... which was both comforting and concerning. Comforting because it indicated that while he could detect emotions from quite far away, his range to manipulate them remained limited. Concerning because it was also possible that his assessment was entirely incorrect, and Ell’Hakan had just gotten so good at fucking with emotions that Jake couldn’t detect it even while actively trying to.
“I will say I’m surprised you showed up alone. Well, unless you’re hiding an army within the vessel, that is,” Jake said, partly to probe if he was actually alone or had help coming.
“Sadly, my most reliable allies are rather preoccupied elsewhere, and of those I could bring, I believe they wouldn’t be of much help. As we get stronger and stronger, the gaps between the average and the pinnacle only keep expanding. I find it rather envious that you have such truly reliable allies at your side who can be useful, even when it’s in fights at the pinnacle,” Ell’Hakan said, his voice sounding genuine as he continued.
“It’s rather funny... before I came here, I spoke with the Augur. Your friend. He advised me to avoid fighting you and just leave everything behind for a fresh start in another universe. I considered it quite extensively, and even after I made my choice to come here, doubt still lingered... but after seeing you now, I know for sure,” Ell’Hakan said, tiling his head and looking at Jake with a smile. “I feel your hatred. Your grudge. And it only confirms that neither of us will have peace before the other is dead.”
“That may be one area where we’re actually in complete agreement,” Jake answered, and without further ago, whipped up his bow and loosed an arrow toward the nahoom below.
Ell’Hakan responded by instantly summoning a trident, striking the arrow with it as an explosion of arcane energy erupted, the blast going away from the nahoom. Ell’Hakan didn’t say anything more as he knew that, for now, the time for words was over, and the time to see if they were truly worthy of being called rivals had come.