Chapter 1451 - Back To Venus (Patreon)

“I should have stopped by Arnold’s place, shouldn’t I?” Jake asked himself as he floated in space.

“Would probably have been smart, but I’m fairly sure he knows what you’re up to by now,” Villy responded despite not being asked.

“Still,” Jake shrugged, giving one of the satellites a wave as it flew by him. He felt it observing him, alongside at least a dozen other satellites, all of them orbiting the celestial object that served as the entrance to Venus.

He knew that Arnold was keeping an eye on the place, but this still surpassed his expectations. Staring at Venus, he saw several hundred satellites within his line of sight, and given that a few were hidden on the other side of the Venus-sized portal leading to the minor world called Venus – yes, not at all confusing – there had to be at least a thousand of them.

None of them appeared capable of combat, but were instead all made solely for observational purposes. Jake wondered at first why he would need that many, but he quickly realized upon scanning them that the satellites weren’t all identical. It seemed they were designed with different detection methods, probably to counter a range of stealth skills.

Jake was pretty confident he could still sneak through due to how powerful Unseen Hunter was, but he doubted many early or mid-tier  B-grades would escape the sight of the mad scientist. The mere fact Jake only considered himself ‘pretty confident’ was proof enough. One had to remember that, just like Jake, Arnold was enlightened to knowing the best stat in the multiverse, meaning he had incredibly high Perception.

“Are things ready on the other side?” Jake asked as he floated closer to the border between the rest of the multiverse and Venus.

“Should be,” the Viper said. “Enter straight ahead, and you should appear within the domain of the Great Serpent and have some of his followers waiting for you on the other side.”

“Alright.” Jake nodded, then flew forward, spinning around to give one of Arnold’s satellites a final thumbs-up before disappearing into the dense, poisonous gas.

With the help of the Viper and the Great Serpent, Jake should have decent control over where he appeared when entering the minor world this time around. Well, it was mostly Villy, as far as Jake could tell, who had analyzed... something, and used that to figure things out. Jake had asked and been completely and utterly unable to understand the explanation, so he hadn’t even tried to remember it. He just knew it was complicated and far beyond anything he could do as a mere B-grade.

He fully trusted the Viper and his analysis, though, as he confidently flew into the poison, making sure to breathe in plenty of it during his flight. It still had its own unique and rather refreshing taste, thanks to its many distinctive properties, making Jake more sure than ever that this would become a very popular place to visit in the years to come for members of the Order. Assuming he succeeded in what he wanted to do there, that is.

Hopefully things would go fine. Jake had spent a bit over a week learning the ritual he was supposed to perform while getting some coaching from the Viper on how to pull it off. Jake was still super nervous, though.

It had to be remembered that he’d already kind of tried to use Invocation before when faced with the Horned Slayer and other powerful A-grades. It was during the time they were very unkindly trying to force him into effectively being their slave, and the Horned Slayer had easily crushed his attempt. While Jake could mimic the aura of Villy, he couldn’t actually exhibit the aura of a god; if he could, he would be borderline invincible among mortals.

The aura of divinity had a powerful suppressive effect on all mortals, and passively inspired reverence. It was why most mortals couldn’t help but instinctively kneel or lower themselves when in the presence of gods. Even if the god didn’t try to suppress them, the moment a person realized someone was a god, they would be affected, so if Jake could give off the aura of one, few mortals would even be capable of fighting him.

Unfortunately, Jake was very much not a god. His only real hope of fooling someone was to make them actually believe he was a god. If Jake did that, there was a genuine chance Invocation would allow him to exert the same instinctive pressure and inspire the same reverence as if the Viper himself were present.

Of course, calling his bluff would instantly make it clear the gig was up, and he would be screwed, which was essentially what had happened with the Horned Slayer the first time around.

This attempt, Jake wouldn’t be alone, though, but have the Great Serpent at his back, plus a ritual circle amplifying the aura, allowing everyone to feel it better. His biggest objective was honestly just to convince a few of them that gods were real, and that he had the backing of one, something the Great Serpent would be a great help with, given the A-grade's improvements in the short time since he’d gained a Blessing.

Oh, and he had a small extra trump card up his sleeve should that not be enough. If even that failed, it would be time to bail, and he would need to find recruits for the World of the Exalted Prima elsewhere. Certainly, things would work out, though, right?

Jake had a lot of thoughts like this spinning around his head as he flew deeper and deeper into the poisonous mist. It increased in density and threatened to kill or destroy anyone or anything that tried to make its way through, something Jake knew had annoyed Arnold quite a bit as he couldn’t send his drones inside. At least not without making one specifically to enter.

Not that entering would do much, as there was no way they could broadcast whatever they observed outside the minor world, meaning they would have to be pre-programmed to fly back out again, and yeah, it was a whole mess the scientist probably hadn’t bothered with yet. Jake had also made his intent to be the one exploring Venus clear, which probably also played a role, though Jake couldn’t with confidence say Arnold would ever do anything asked of him if following that request would require him to give up on his curiosity.

Time quickly passed as Jake made his way through, breathing in more and more toxins while enjoying Palate doing its work. He still had no way of knowing when he would pass the threshold marking his entry into the minor world, so it didn’t really surprise him when it happened suddenly. He felt the entire world shift, and while nothing visually changed, going by his sphere and his feeling of connection with Villy, something was certainly different.

After flying for a few seconds, Villy spoke in Jake’s mind again.

“So, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” the snake god asked.

Jake didn’t think long before he answered:

“Always the bad news first.”

“I wouldn’t say that’s an always kind of angle, but sure,” Villy said, still sounding rather casual. “So, I’m pretty sure the other factions seem to know you have returned to Venus, which also means they know with certainty you had left.”

“Okay, not the worst,” Jake muttered, not really seeing the big deal. “What’s the good news?”

“They haven’t attacked or antagonized any Nomads yet, despite having surmised they are on your side and assisting you alongside the Great Serpent, meaning they are somewhat open to diplomacy still,” the Viper said.

“That is good,” Jake nodded, not entirely sure how important this message was, leaving him a little confused why the Viper had reached out in the first place right after he’d entered the minor world.

“Not gonna lie, for a second there, I thought you were going to tell me that you messed up and I’m going to appear in some random place, probably one surrounded by enemies,” Jake said, fully aware he was setting Villy up for a joke to confirm just that. It felt like the kind of ‘prank’ the snake god would play on him.

“I didn’t,” the Viper surprisingly answered in a serious tone, having clearly read one step ahead of Jake’s thought process. “Don’t get me wrong; that would have been hilarious. However, this is not the time for that. Too many things are at stake, time is too sensitive, and while I do believe it could do you some good to kill stuff and enjoy the real world a little before returning to the World of the Exalted Prima, you've got a job to do. Having fun killing stuff in reality can come after you’ve completed that job.”

“Would you be surprised if I say I’m a little disappointed?” Jake asked with a sigh, having just started to get his hopes up that once he appeared from the poison wall inside Venus, he would find himself surrounded and in for a good fight.

“Not at all, but again, work before play, so focus and prepare yourself mentally to properly represent me and the Order,” Villy said, still speaking in a serious tone. “This will be the first time that this tribe meets actual members of the Order, and first impressions are always important. All they know is that you are my Chosen and an extremely important person who is of a far higher status than them, despite their superior power. Act like it.”

Jake slowly nodded at the reminder, which came just in time. A Pulse confirmed he would soon reach the edge of the poison wall, and on the other side, waiting, he spotted something rather surprising.

A quite frankly massive flying ship floated there, filled with snake people similar to the ones Jake had met within the Arachnec Nest way back then. He couldn’t see the colors of their scales through his sphere, but he reckoned they weren’t all Deathscales, but probably some other variants of Miresnakes.

The airship looked to be around a kilometer long and slightly narrower in width, with a rather intricate design all over. Seeing it, Jake wondered why the Nomads would even need something like this, but quickly concluded it was probably not created solely because they needed a mode of transportation.

In the wider multiverse, spaceships and such made sense given the immense distances one sometimes had to travel when teleportation was not an option. While Venus was also pretty damn large, to A-grades, it wasn’t that big.

That’s why a flying ship like this was probably more about appearances than anything else. It was a movable base and home for the Nomads to live inside and invite guests and trading partners to. Essentially, a very large flying motorhome. Pretty fitting for Nomads.

Jake had also already spotted the person he assumed to be in charge. A large snake, still looking a bit goofy in its half-humanoid form, floated close to the barrier where Jake had appeared, and he felt that this snake in particular had already noticed where he was despite remaining within the poisonous mist.

The snake still kept a respectable distance from the wall and was clearly the leader of this group, based on how the other snakes behaved. Jake would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little nervous when he finally reached the final threshold between the outside world and being fully inside Venus.

With one final step, Jake teleported himself outside, making him instinctively take a deep breath of the air inside Venus itself, once again finding it pretty damn tasty. Not too far away, a group of snakes was moving towards them, and Jake turned his head to look at them as he used Identify on the snake at the front while keeping his cool.

[Chromatic Miresnake Chieftain – lvl ??? – Lesser Blessing of the Malefic Viper]

As the name suggested, it was a snake covered in rainbow-like scales that seemed to change color as light hit them. The name also made it clear that this was indeed the leader of a Nomad tribe, and if that wasn’t enough, the power on display was certainly proof.

High-tier A-grade... close to peak, Jake concluded. This was a creature on the same level or at least pretty close to the Nestmother and Horned Slayer. A being just below the true peak of Venus, probably in the top twenty or thirty most powerful in the entire minor world.

Jake wasn’t that nervous, though, primarily due to that last part of the Identify. This was someone already blessed by the Viper, giving Jake a lot more confidence when dealing with them.

Behind the Chieftain, more than fifty other Nomads followed, the majority of them Miresnakes, though there were some other beasts among them, such as these vaguely humanoid insect creatures. Jake didn’t pay them much heed, though, as he focused on the Chieftain who appeared before him and instantly bowed in a very familiar fashion, identical to how members of the Order usually greeted him.

“I welcome the Chosen of the Malefic One back to our humble world,” the Chieftain said in a respectful voice that also made Jake realize he was dealing with a woman. He still wasn’t the best at telling the sex of snake people, especially not this variant he hadn’t interacted with much.

Jake looked the group over, purposefully remaining silent for a few seconds for dramatic effect before speaking. “How are things progressing? Is everything prepared?”

It hurt him a little to not even acknowledge the polite greeting, and he knew his mom would have scolded him for being rude, but as the Viper had said, this was the time to act like a proper Chosen, and as a proper Chosen, why wouldn’t he act aloof? Why would he care about someone with only a Lesser Blessing?

Fortunately, the snake wasn’t offended in the slightest as she continued bowing.

“The Great Serpent had made ample preparations, and we are only here to bring you to the site. We hope that our inadequate ship will be acceptable to the Chosen,” the snake said, motioning towards the flying ship that Jake finally got a proper look at.

It was indeed an elaborate creation. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was made of, but it appeared to be some kind of wood-like material mixed with metal. He also spotted several scales used as decorations here and there, and the entire thing was painted different colors and had graffiti-like markings all over. These didn’t appear solely decorative, though, as there seemed to be some kind of magic in the paint, maybe to shield the ship from Venus's atmosphere? Who knows?

“Then let us proceed,” Jake answered with a nod as he floated towards the ship, choosing not to comment on whether the ship was acceptable or not.

“Certainly,” the snake agreed, sounding a bit relieved as she followed after him, making sure to keep a respectful distance.

Once they had landed on the ship, the snake gave the order to set out immediately as the ship started moving. Standing on it, Jake also realized that the ship was surrounded by an invisible barrier that seemed to refine the toxins entering it, making them even easier to absorb while removing some of the less useful properties. It also probably made the toxins less dangerous when passing certain areas of Venus.

When the ship moved, Jake was also surprised by its speed, which far surpassed his expectations. Of course, he didn’t let any of this show as he turned to the Chromatic Miresnake Chieftain.

“I assume you are informed of how the Venusians and undead have reacted to the ceremony invitation,” Jake said casually. “Tell me what you know.”

Jake wondered whether he was being too impolite in treating someone at the top of A-grade like a servant, but based on how the snake positively beamed at being given such an order, he reckoned things were fine.

“Certainly! As predicted by the Malefic One and Great Serpent...”

He listened and nodded like a good Chosen, still feeling a little on edge. Despite being surrounded by reverent gazes and treated with such respect, Jake felt very out of place and uncomfortable, but knew he just had to deal with it. Being a Chosen really was a chore, huh?

Hopefully, his other self was at least having a better time.