Finally Jake would have a meeting with the World Leader of the humongously populated elven planet. He needed the guy to agree to engage the Prima Guardian, so this was what he had been waiting for. It was also why Jake had been holding back so far.
Jake felt pretty damn certain that had he gone full power from the get-go and flexed all over the elves, he would have never gotten a meeting with the Voice of the One unless he forced his way to one. Even so, there was a chance Jake would have to kill a lot of elves to get what he wanted… and he really didn’t see any need to do that.
People tended to fear people who were too strong. What Jake had presented proved that he was powerful, yes, perhaps even the most powerful individual on the planet… but not so strong that the general and others felt like they couldn’t still handle Jake should he choose to turn hostile.
To clarify, Jake didn’t see a world where they could handle him at full power if they did end up in a conflict. This was a big reason why he wanted to avoid having to fight in the first place.
It wasn’t like acting weaker than he actually was felt like a slight to his honor or anything. He would reveal himself soon enough when the time was right. All of this was just a strategy to most effectively get what he wanted without also doing a genocide.
Miranda also wouldn’t like it if Jake did a genocide. Definitely wouldn’t look good either from an outside perspective if Jake went to some peaceful elven planet and just started blasting. Ell’Hakan could definitely use that to spin his story about how truly evil Jake was. Last but not least… Jake just didn’t want to kill a bunch of weaklings for no damn reason if he could avoid it. It just felt icky.
Either way, operation “strong but not too strong” had succeeded, and Jake was on his way to a meeting with the Voice of the One. The attendant escorted him with much delight while praising how powerful he was. She also really laid it on thick how awesome the Great Bright One was, and her intent for Jake to join them was utterly shameless. Honestly, Jake respected the grift.
Once they arrived back in the capital city, they were soon joined by a group of elves to take Jake the rest of the way. However, in addition to these, Jake also saw a few of the mercenaries around, keeping an eye on things. Together with the elven escort that was definitely in the higher echelons of power of the planet and the mercenaries… yep, these were definitely the people meant to ensure Jake wouldn’t try anything.
Certainly wouldn’t have allowed me within a hundred kilometers of the Voice of the One if they thought I was a risk to his life, Jake thought confidently as he politely greeted the escort and followed them. Surprisingly, they left the capital city again and headed toward a large mountain Jake had spotted in the distance before but hadn’t really thought more about.
Jake flew with the same pace as his escorts, the mercenaries not even trying to hide they were also there. It didn’t take long before they arrived at the mountain, where Jake saw even more guards around. These were stronger than his escort, too.What’s more, Jake couldn’t remember when he had last seen so many magical barriers and formations in one place. Mind you, this wasn’t because this was the most impressive Jake had seen, just that most seemed to prioritize quality over quantity, and because maintaining this many formations had to be expensive as hell.
He also saw that the mountain had been hollowed out, with a structure built within. In the center of the construction, Jake saw a room with a single person sitting inside. The man Jake was to speak with, he reckoned.
“The Voice of the One awaits inside,” one of the guards at the main gate said, as he carefully looked over Jake.
“I’m happy to have been allowed this meeting,” Jake said, continuing to play his role.
The guard just nodded and threw a glance at his partner. The two of them took out a token each as they lit up, making the door also light up, and a hallway filled with light appeared in front of Jake. It was so damn bright it looked like a laser shot out of the hallway, attempting to blind Jake.
Bloody hell, Jake cursed internally as he walked into the hallway of light. Once inside, he saw that the source of light was magic circles placed on every wall, with a one-way mirror placed in front of it so it would both send out and reflect light. It was so goddamn extreme and stupid Jake almost found it funny. Almost. If Jake had been a D-grade still, he was pretty damn sure he would have been burned to a crisp just walking through the hallway with his non-existent light affinity.
Now, he was fine, though. Not that it wasn’t annoying to walk through it, and he wondered how anyone could live there.
This hallway continued for nearly a hundred meters into the mountain, with a few paths off to the side here and there on the way, all covered with barriers of light that looked identical to the mirrors, making them incredibly hard to spot within the light-filled hallway. Behind these barriers, Jake also finally saw one of the reasons for the design of this place.
They had been pretty hard to see due to their incorporeal forms… but the mountain had quite a few light elementals within it. These elementals fed on the heavy light affinity mana to grow stronger, and Jake wouldn’t be surprised if they were somehow tied to the Voice of the One or even the Great Bright One.
Having reached the end of the hallway, it was time to find out what he was dealing with. A door opened up at the end of the hallway, and Jake walked inside and found himself in a small room with a couch and a chair that, for one, wasn’t filled with light. The door behind him closed as another one opened up in front of him, leading into where the Voice of the One sat.
Jake had been surprised at, and even praised, the way the Council Estate had designed their meeting room. He liked that they didn’t use height to indicate they had a higher position than any guests visiting. This was clearly not a sentiment shared by the Voice of the One.
The entire room was large and circular, with a large raised platform in the middle with a circular bed. On top of this bed, an elven man sat with his eyes closed, light mana revolving around him. He had long blonde hair that spilled out onto the bed, and he wore a bright white robe with intricate patterns on it. Entering the room, Jake quickly used Identify.
[Elf – lvl 287 – Greater Blessing of the Great Bright One]
Right as he did, the elf also opened his eyes, both shooting out beams of light for a moment. Jake immediately felt an Identify on him, and he felt pretty happy he had masked his true level before going to the planet. He was also impressed that the elf had a higher level than himself… though Jake wouldn’t comment on the power level he felt from the elf.
Alright, he would. Stronger than Olliandra but way weaker than Jake. Weaker than anyone on Earth’s strike team, too. Maybe around the level of Reika?
“Welcome, World Leader from across the stars,” the Voice of the One said in a voice that echoed throughout the hall.
“Hello there,” Jake said with a smile, also noting the Greater Blessing on the guy. A Greater Blessing was enough to allow someone to directly communicate with a god, albeit not very effectively. Usually, those blessed could only talk with their gods through rituals, prayers, some forms of meditation, or other unique circumstances where the god directly reached out. The higher your rank of Blessing was, the easier it was to hear the words of a god, and the easier it was to reach out.
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Jake being able to directly talk with Villy was definitely not normal in the slightest… especially not these days.
“I hear you have proven yourself not only a leader but a hunter of impressive power. Thank you for offering your assistance to us,” the elven man said, nodding his head slightly in acknowledgment. “I was also told you wish to engage the Prima Guardian soon rather than later. However, after conferring with the Great Bright One, I must sadly inform you that this is not possible. It’s too soon, and we cannot be blinded by ambition and move too fast.”
And this was where Jake believed his role of being “strong but not too strong” ended, and his role as a“terrifying existence who can kill your Prima Guardian and threatens the entire planet if you piss him off too much” began.
Jake smiled as he looked at the Voice of the One.
“Impressive theatrics… this entire setup is indeed very elaborate. Definitely convincing to the masses,” Jake spoke, his tone and demeanor changed. Something the Voice of the One clearly noticed.
“I do not know what you are-“
“You said you just talked to the Great Bright One, right?” Jake asked with a raised eyebrow.
The elf nodded and was about to answer, but Jake cut him off before he had a chance to.
“See, that’s a little weird, isn’t it… considering I haven’t been able to reach out to the god who blessed me ever since the system event began,” Jake said, in a very much accusatory tone.
This was something Jake hadn’t really commented on, and it had even taken him a moment to notice… but ever since the Prima Guardian arrived on Earth and the event officially began, he had been cut off from Villy. Perhaps it was his time in Nevermore, where he spent fifty years cut off from the god, that had made it not feel that weird anymore not to have Villy observing anymore.
Considering it was a system event, perhaps this shouldn’t be overly surprising, but the event did feel different in that he could still travel around and even go to other universes. At least he believed he could, though he hadn’t tried. Either way… point was that the Voice of the One was full of shit when he said he had been talking to his god.
The atmosphere in the room changed with Jake’s accusation, and he got the feeling the elf was about to do something as Jake, for the first time since arriving on the planet, didn’t hold back at all. He fully unleashed his aura, mixing in a bit of Pride.
“I wouldn’t do anything stupid,” Jake said in a cold tone. “We’re just talking here, right?”
Staring down at Jake with wide eyes, the Voice of the One was visibly shaking. “You… you were sent here by Ell’Hakan, weren’t you?”
… what?
Alright… alright, he could try and roll with this.
“You know why I’m here,” Jake tried to act menacingly. Which, unsurprisingly, wasn’t very hard when the elf was already shaking in fear. At least he was for a moment, but he seemed to gather himself rather quickly and regained some dignity as he answered.
“I… we never intended to get into any conflict with the Prima Guardian Alliance, and there is no cause for this. We may not be working with you, but that does not make us enemies. All we want is to continue our peaceful existence and remain neutral,” the elf said.
Jake definitely felt like the villain in this situation, threatening the leader of a peaceful faction, but he still kept pressing.
“You paint yourself some peaceful leader, yet you rule through deceit and lies, making your entire planet believe this Great Bright One is some supreme god and creator of the system. Did you really think that would have no consequences?” Jake asked, trying to remain cold. “Also, do you truly think Ell’Hakan will allow you to just sit on the sidelines?”
The Voice of the One clenched his fists when Jake said this. For a moment, he seemed to reflect on something before he looked up at Jake with steeled eyes. “Says you, the servant of some delusional fucking lunatic who abuses his Bloodline to create fanatics to fight some other Chosen. And for what? To help his equally delusional Patron try and kill a Primordial? It’s lunacy, and yet you dare accuse me of anything. Did I lie? Yes, yes, I fucking did! How else was I supposed to get seventy-nine damn countries in one room and united under one banner? We would have destroyed ourselves before this event even started if I hadn’t! They needed something to gather around, some sense of certainty. Do I think this is ideal? Of course I don’t, but it’s not something I can fix right now, not when the entire damn galaxy is trapped between two Chosen trying to compete on who can be the biggest menace to the multiverse.”
To say he went off would be an understatement, as the Voice of the One yelled practically everything. Jake was honestly taken aback at the sheer fervor displayed by the elf, but more than that… he really hated Ell’Hakan, didn’t he? Not that he sounded like a massive fan of Jake, either.
The elf also clearly wasn’t done as he stood up. In all of the rooms within the mountain, Jake felt the light elementals stir as the Voice of the One prepared to call upon them. “I may not be as powerful as you, but even if I die, I sha-“
“No, we’re good,” Jake interrupted the guy as he raised a hand.
“… what?”
“We good,” Jake repeated. “Though I would recommend “orange fuck” over Ell’Hakan.”
A brief pause followed.
“Who are you?” the elf just stared confused.
“Thayne,” he finally introduced himself. Having revealed his power, keeping his name a secret didn’t matter much anymore, and it would also be nice to see if the guy recognized him.
“That name… you’re the Chosen of the Malefic Viper?” the Voice of the One asked with wide eyes.
“The one and only,” Jake answered nonchalantly. “Though I guess that isn’t super impressive in retrospect. Compared to the Great Bright One, the Malefic Viper is just some nobody, right?”
“I… that was never something I claimed…” the elf said, back to acting pretty damn fearful. “All I said was that the system was granted to us by the Great Bright One. Our Tutorial was organized by this god, and I did well and managed to get my Blessing there, and with it being the only divine influence anyone knew of… I will admit I took advantage to try and make the Great Bright One look far more impressive than any god can possibly be. However, I never claimed anything regarding power. I even tried to make them think of the Great Bright One as more like a concept than an actual living being.”
“Sounds like there is an entire story behind this entire Great Bright One thing,” Jake commented. “I may be interested in hearing it later, but for now, I’m far more interested in your little outburst regarding Ell’Hakan earlier.”
The elf hesitated but still answered after a few seconds. “The Chosen of Yip of Yore tried to recruit us for his alliance, and at first, I considered it… but the Great Bright One warned me. In retrospect, something certainly was wrong during our meeting, and after the Great Bright One explained his Bloodline, I understood what he did. Joining hands with him isn’t actually joining hands, but collaring yourself. A collar that may become a noose at any moment should Ell’Hakan so desire.”
Jake nodded at the pretty expected explanation as he asked a follow-up question: “How does the Great Bright One know so much about his Bloodline?”
“The Great Bright One was once a light elemental that has often worked with the Holy Church, even if he isn’t a member. From my understanding, he learned about Ell’Hakan through someone he knew in the Church.”
“I see,” Jake nodded. That did make sense. “Now, not to put you on the spot… but what are your thoughts on the Chosen of the Malfic Viper?”
It was definitely a bit cheeky to ask that, but Jake couldn’t help himself.
“In truth, not very positive. All I know of you is that you are the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, a god not known as the kindest or most merciful, and that you are by proxy in a conflict with Ell’Hakan due to your Patron. Nothing indicates to me your presence here isn’t an existential threat,” the elf answered.
Jake nodded, considering all of this from the elf’s perspective. It definitely had to suck being stuck in the middle like this while you just wanted to remain neutral.
“Fair enough. But I was truthful when I said I doubt Ell’Hakan will allow you to remain on the sidelines. Perhaps he would for a while, but his ambitions and Path require him to expand his influence and control,” Jake said.
“I’m well aware,” the elf sighed. “It truly is a choice between two evils, huh? Either we subjugate ourselves to the Chosen of the Malefic Viper or a maniac who uses his Bloodline to control your emotions.”
“No?” Jake asked, confused.
“What?” the elf said, equally confused.
“I don’t care if you remain neutral,” Jake shrugged. “Might it be necessary to recognize that you are living within the territory of the Order at some point? Sure, but I’m not sure I would call that subjugating.”
“If… if you’re not here to suppress us, why did you sneak in to have a meeting with me like this in the first place?” the elven World Leader questioned.
“Oh, I’ve been very upfront about that from the beginning. I need you to release the Prima Guardian from the Prima Vessel so I can kill it. Afterward, I promise to return to my own planet and not bother you further. Not saying there can’t be political talk after that, but it would be with my right hand,” Jake said.
“… are you really just here to kill the Prima Guardian?” the elf asked in disbelief.
“Yep, and now that we’ve made that clear, you have no reason to refuse, right?” Jake asked with a cheeky smile as he looked forward to taking down a third Guardian.