Chapter 1450 - Frog Recruitment Plan & A Hunter's Fun Time (Patreon)

“Is this really the best plan the mighty Malefic Viper can conjure up?” Jake muttered as he still sat back in his lodge on Earth.

“I never claimed it was the best. Just the best one considering your level of power, time pressure, resources available in the minor world, and all your other... let’s just say capabilities,” Villy answered. “Or are you saying you’re not confident in pulling off your part?”

“No, I’m saying that I would prefer not having to pull off a part in the first place,” Jake sighed.

“I’m open to suggestions, and I’ll be happy to concede your genius if you turn out to have a brilliant alternative, or, more likely, make fun of your dumb ideas,” Villy gracefully offered.

Jake wanted to complain more, but sadly, he had no good arguments, nor did he have any better ideas. There were way too many moving parts, and Jake knew he wasn’t the smartest cookie when it came to navigating complex diplomatic situations, something his initial adventure to Venus had made pretty damn clear.

That didn’t mean he liked Villy’s idea, though, even if he had to admit it could probably work.

The crux of the issue was to find a way to convince the natives of Venus to work with Jake and the rest of the Milky Way Galaxy. He effectively needed them to be soldiers, not just rogue agents doing whatever they wanted. Sure, them just causing a ruckus in the World of the Exalted Prima could be advantageous in some ways, but it likely wouldn’t be worth the Prima Credits if they just did their own thing.

Getting the Nomads on board shouldn’t be too difficult, given the groundwork the Viper had already laid and the assistance of the Great Serpent. However, even they would take a while to properly integrate into the rest of the Milky Way Galaxy’s forces due to immense cultural differences.

Because of that, it would make the most sense to form armies or groups almost entirely composed of natives of a certain race. This also seemed smart, considering they were used to working together and fighting with one another. Jake had seen firsthand how well the Venusians' skills synergized, and it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.

Of course, making armies entirely of natives would be pretty dumb, as it would eliminate all possibilities of integration and likely just lead to them segregating themselves more and creating what was essentially several parallel societies. All history pointed to that being quite a bad thing, so they needed cohesion.

The best way to achieve cohesion was a common goal. Gathering everyone like that immediately seemed pretty damn difficult, as the goal of the natives of Venus was to leave their minor world and enter the wider universe, so the only realistic way to convince them with a common goal was to lie.

Could they convince them that in order for them all to leave, they had to help fight in the World of the Exalted Prima? According to the Viper, he definitely thought they could, but that would still create several problems down the line. If it was discovered they had been lied to, the natives would definitely be pissed off, but even if they weren’t, this secret would be uncovered at some point if the plan was to permanently integrate Venus into the Order of the Malefic Viper.

Starting a relationship on a lie was never a good idea, so Villy had instead proposed aiming for integration right off the bat. Not integration into the Milky Way Galaxy, but the Order of the Malefic Viper.

Religion was a powerful gathering force, and the denizens of Venus had no experience with gods. They did know of religion and had beliefs in higher powers and such, with these powers manifesting through concepts that turned them real, but that was vastly different from an actual god.

The simplest way to turn them all would be for Villy to show up in person, but that obviously wasn’t possible. It should be possible to bring the natives to the Order of the Malefic Viper, though- something Jake had naturally asked about, but the Viper had shot down the idea pretty quickly.

“We’re back to working with limited time. Bringing them to the Order of the Malefic Viper would certainly serve as a shock to them, but from experience, I believe it will be too much of a shock. They would get far too much to process and learn, and I doubt that would make them keen to enter a virtual world after they have just been shown the Order. More importantly, the only people you would be able to bring are the B-grades at your relative level of power. Even if these are recruited and turned into loyal members of the Order, do you truly think that will convince the high and peak-tier A-grades? Because I would be surprised if they didn’t instead conclude that some weird mental magic was used on their kin after seeing them return full of reverence after having met an actual god.”

All very good points, which was why they’d ultimately landed on the plan that Jake wasn’t a fan of, but didn’t have any good arguments against:

A religious ceremony.

Yeah, Jake seriously hated the idea, but he also understood its merits and the role he would have to play. He also knew that he was the only one who could play this role due to his skills and identity as the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. Knowing Jake, they didn’t want to overcomplicate things either, but just have a very simple ceremony.

With the help of the Great Serpent, the leaders of the other factions would be invited to neutral territory, the snake explaining that Jake would be there to address them all. A stage would then be prepared where Jake would perform a ritual the Viper had taught Jake. A relatively simple one served to amplify the aura of the person standing within it. It was similar to what Jake had experienced before during his Chosen Ceremony and was even present in many teaching halls within the Order’s Academy, so that students could get a better feel for the teacher’s aura during lessons.

This amplification would be used on Jake as he’d do something only he was capable of:

Invoke the presence of the Malefic Viper. By using Invocation on Pride of the Malefic Viper, Jake would temporarily mimic the aura of the Primordial, which would hopefully be enough to convince them all of the presence of gods, especially if the Great Serpent was there to back up his words. It wasn’t a flawless plan, though:

“Naturally, there are risks,” the Viper had said. “There is a chance they will not be convinced by the aura, especially not seeing as it’s kind of... fake. An imitation. If they use energy to resist, they’ll naturally be able to, but hopefully, they will experience the sheer difference between themselves and the existence of the divine. Should this end in failure, there is a chance that they turn hostile and attempt to restrain you, in which case the Great Serpent will get you out of there. Even if the peak A-grade can’t beat all the others there, he will be able to get you to the border where the A-grades can’t follow.”

The precautions against failure would consist of a second ritual circle set down by the Great Serpent that would make it easy for the A-grade to eat Jake before anyone could get to him. Once inside, no one in the minor world was powerful enough to reach him, though Jake was worried about the Great Serpent, as even if he was likely the strongest being on Venus after being blessed by Villy, he would still be severely outnumbered. The answer to that concern didn’t exactly calm Jake either.

“They will not dare use too powerful attacks on the Great Serpent with you inside, as it could risk harming you. After you are successfully evacuated, all one can do is hope that the serpent can handle himself, but should he fall after assisting you, that is a fate he is willing to embrace. Honored to, even, as he would have given his life for the life of my Chosen. Of course, with the caveat that all higher-ups among the natives will be wiped out in the future as revenge for their blasphemous actions after having the truth revealed to them.”

Jake didn’t like putting another at risk to save him, but knew he had little other choice this time around. As for wiping out all the higher-ups, Jake didn’t really care. If they were truly impossible to convince, there was no other choice, even if it was an approach he would prefer to avoid. That’s why he hoped a bit of religious awe would help bridge the gap and convert them to his side.

There were naturally more details to the plan, but this was the gist of it. Jake would spend the next few days back in his lodge just practicing the ritual himself, while the Great Serpent got things ready in Venus. He would then head there and get things started once he was confident, and hopefully, by the end of it all, he would have a couple of armies to recruit.

Hopefully. It all hinged on Jake being a good Chosen, capable of performing a religious ritual convincingly. Surely, nothing could go wrong given that, right?

--

The two figures soared through the sky as flames filled the horizon. The True Phoenix lived up to the name of the Burning Skies Princess after having set the skies ablaze, and her majestic aura as the phoenix flapped her wings inspired reverence in all who saw her.

Right behind her, a human followed, easily keeping up with her as she repeatedly tried to use her magic on them. The flames roared, bent, warped, and twisted in attempts to trap and consume him, but he was always one step too fast, making her attacks seem useless.

However, stopping her attack was no option either. Whenever she let up her assault, the human would attack her, either landing an arrow or striking her with his two melee weapons. His method of attack tended to vary, and didn’t do much damage. In fact, rather than actual blows seeking to harm his opponent, it was more as if he punished her for not keeping up the offensive.

All she could do was hope that one of her skills would hit. She used them one after another. Below, the battle between the thousands of NPCs had long since stopped; the surviving Administrators had evacuated everyone, as this was not the kind of fight they could get involved in. Instead, both sides watched in awe to see which of their champions would win, full of hope as the battle seemed fairly even to an outside observer. With every passing minute, as no decisive blow was delivered and both used many skills, this belief that they were roughly equal opponents was only reinforced.

Only the two actually taking part in the “battle” knew the truth.

Skill after skill was unleashed as the phoenix used every strategy in her book, pushing herself to her limits. Her opponent, the hunter, countered every time, either dodging or blocking the attacks. Sometimes he used the wings he’d summoned; sometimes he blocked with his scales; and rarely, he conjured magical barriers.

On the side of the United Tribe, the observers looked on with anticipation as none could even begin to imagine the Princess losing. There had to be only a few hundred people in this entire World of the Exalted Prima capable of beating her, and the chances of such a person being here simply seemed impossible.

However, as time passed, they began to notice a shift. The attacks from their princess grew slower, allowing the hunter to take more shots until she tried to fight back again. This happened a few times: she tried to land a big attack, he blocked or avoided it, and when she failed to strike again quickly enough, she was attacked until she tried again.

Doubt began to creep into their minds as the realization struck... from start to finish, for nearly a full hour now, she hadn’t managed to land a single solid attack. Had her flames singed his clothes, nicked his scales, and left small burns? Sure, but nothing of substance. Nothing that could possibly be considered a successful attack.

The hunter hadn’t done much damage either, but they soon came to realize it wasn’t that he couldn’t, but because he’d chosen not to. A sense of dread spread among the observing Administrators as they exchanged looks, all starting to wonder if the impossible was happening.

Was she truly losing? Outmatched?

They got their answer only a few moments later.

In a brilliant display of power that gave them all a rush of hope, the Burning Skies Princess lit the sky with greater intensity than before as a whirlwind of flames descended from the heavens, intent on destroying everything. Confidence returned to the faces of the Administrators; thoughts of her having planned this to lull him into a false sense of security appeared, and belief she would come out victorious was born... for about half a second anyway, until she turned around and erupted with power as she tried to flee with all her might.

“Why would-“

“What-“

“Is she-“

“Your Majesty, you-“

Denial for a few moments before realization and despair set in. Things didn’t get better when the hunter immediately chased after and caught up with her. The Burning Skies Princess tried to shake him off, but he teleported in front of her massive form and axe-kicked her large head, sending the phoenix crashing towards the ground.

“Is that really it?” his voice echoed, purposefully infused with power as if intended to feed their hopelessness. “Do you have nothing more to show me?”

From within the newly formed crater caused by her descent, the phoenix slowly rose from the ground as she lifted her head towards him, screaming loud enough for them all to hear despite her not infusing her voice with power.

“What do you want from me!? Who are you!?”

She sounded hysterical, yet also genuinely confused. Rightfully so. The actions of the hunter made no sense. Everyone had realized by now that from the very beginning, this was not a fight among equals, but a one-sided beat-down. However, the superior party refused to do the beating and simply wore her down until she had nothing left.

“Well, I wanted a proper fight, but quickly realizing you weren’t capable of providing that, I deemed you adequate enough to allow me to familiarize myself with some things. I hoped you had more to show me, but it seems you don’t,” he said, not a trace of mockery in his voice, only disappointment. As if he was sad his new toy couldn’t provide him with more entertainment.

“You-“

“It’s fine,” he cut her off. “You did your best, even if it wasn’t enough. Take solace in that at least this death isn’t permanent and try to be less of a disappointment in the future.”

He disappeared right after finishing speaking, appearing down on the ground with both weapons drawn. The Burning Skies Princess put up one last struggle, but in the end, it had never been a fight she could win in the first place. Her wings were cut off, her body was sliced apart, and as he moved in to finish, as he stabbed her large body in the chest and pinned it to the ground, he spoke one last time.

“You know, you never gave me any good name suggestions, did you?” the hunter asked in a joking tone.

“Fucking... monster...” she muttered.

“Now I don’t think that would be considered appropriate,” he said with a chuckle as his weapon exploded with a burst of toxins that flooded the Burning Skies Princess, and only a few seconds later, the phoenix that the Administrators from the United Tribes had thought to be near-unbeatable dispersed into blue wisps of energy as she died.

All the Administrators stood there staring, finding it difficult to believe that this was actually happening. They had barely even processed her death as a figure appeared in the middle of them like a shadow.

“I guess I should finish the cleanup,” the hunter muttered, making a shiver run down their spine as the choice of what to do was clear:

“I surrender!” the highest-ranking Administrator remaining said immediately, knowing they had no chance to fight. “Unconditionally. My Territory is willing to become a Vassal of-“

The man didn’t even have time to finish before he was pinned to the ground, a katar stabbing through his mouth as the hunter looked down at him with absolute disgust.

“At least die with a hint of dignity.”

Still kneeling over the croaking man, the hunter regarded the rest of them. “I wasn’t told to accept surrender as an option, and I don’t find myself inclined to offer it either. Try to become stronger and take this as a lesson that weakness is a sin that doesn’t even give you the bare minimum ground to negotiate.”

What followed could only be described as a slaughter as the entire camp was destroyed and every Administrator slain. Within the day, a Territory Beacon also fell due to the invasion of a single figure who seemed to enjoy his solo attack of the fortified stronghold built to protect the Beacon a bit too much.