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Chapter 1199 - Unexplainable Motives & Culprits
🕑 Added 2025-08-12 11:17:34 +0000 UTC“Do you actually think any of them are involved?” Villy asked Aeon, who had already summoned a big mug and a coffee pot to pour himself and the Sword Saint a drink while waiting. The old man didn’t look like he was entirely quite there yet, and it probably hadn’t helped to be teleported so suddenly.
“Hm? No, why would they be?” Aeon asked, shaking his head. “I only called them here to see if they have any input, as I presume they also want to understand what’s happening.”
Nature’s Attendant looked at the Viper as he seemed to be in thought for a while before speaking. “Say… I know that you, Eversmile, and your Chosen have had some dealings in the past, not all of which have been amicable. Do you see a world where he’s involved?”
The Malefic Viper thought for a second before shaking his head. “None of this seems like Eversmile. Then again, if Eversmile did ever do something like this, he would ensure it would appear as if he wasn’t involved. Ultimately, no, I can’t imagine him having anything to do with this… my primary reason being that he would have shown up himself and I doubt Jake would have escaped.”
“Sylphie mentioned that the Holy Church and Rigoria are being real meanies. Do you think one of those two suddenly lost their minds?” Stormild asked, not sounding like she actually thought any of them were involved.
“Heh, no way. I’m not saying they aren’t capable of having nurtured and hidden gods away from the rest of the multiverse, but that neither of them is dumb enough to try something like this,” Villy shook his head. “Which kind of gets to the crux of the issue… I don’t know to whom any of this could be worth it. Unless they know something I don’t, there’s no reason to take such a massive risk just to kidnap Jake.”
“It’s entirely possible their goal was not just to kidnap the Chosen but to kill his escort and companions in the process,” Aeon said as he took a sip from his cup. “Doing so would have ended the lives of two people carrying Divine Blessings of Primordials, the favored granddaughter of Nature’s Attendant, and the newest Godqueen of the Pantheon of Life. Additionally, seeing as the Pantheon of Life had taken responsibility for the escort job, a disaster of this level would certainly have ruined any sort of friendship between the Order of the Malefic Viper and the Pantheon of Life.”
“That’s… a good point,” Nature’s Attendant muttered with a frown.
“Going by the historic actions of Vilas, it’s even likely they expected him to act out revenge on those he believed responsible. If the presumed-dead member of the Holy Church was the only one left behind and blew themselves up using the holy concept, all clues would have pointed toward them being responsible,” Aeon continued spinning his theory of the enemy’s goals.
“If that was the case, why wouldn’t they still have left this one god behind to take the blame?” a familiar woman spoke, as a fresh voice joined the others, a cascade of holy light invading the void. “These would-be kidnappers were operating under the assumption that no one could have identified them, so blowing up one of their members to blame my Church would be reasonable if their desire was indeed to lay blame on me.”
The Holy Mother had made her entrance after being contacted by Aeon earlier. Based on how fast she’d gotten there, this entire event clearly matters to her a lot.
“Not necessarily,” Aeon shook his head. “As you said, they were operating under the assumption that none of them had been identified. With that in mind, it makes sense for them to reveal nothing, leaving us to wonder and make false assumptions all on our own. It’s only due to the Chosen we have at least some insight to operate from.”
“As I said just before you got here, I don’t think any of us think you’re involved,” the Malefic Viper said to the leader of the Holy Church.
“I didn’t assume you did,” the Holy Mother said, looking more annoyed than anything. “It’s been three dozen eras since that god had been a member of the Holy Church. He disappeared as part of an expedition, and we did indeed assume he was dead, as none returned.”
“The story seems the same as all the others,” the Viper sighed. “It’s not even as if they disappeared in the same way, either. That demon from the Seventh Hell went missing while inside the Mycotic Depths, as far as I remember.”
At this point, Jake was pretty much just a fly on the wall. He had provided the information he had, and it seemed that the gods barely registered him as they spoke among themselves. Not that Jake was complaining; in fact, it was kind of nice.
Oras also didn’t seem involved. His presence lingered in the void, watching and listening, but with no desire to join. The Sword Saint seemed to have regained his bearings by now and exchanged some telepathic messages with his Patron, going by how the two shared a few glances.
“The Oakspear Monarch disappeared while exploring the forty-second universe, so no relations to World Wonders unless he happened to somehow stumble upon one,” another newcomer said as a woman’s voice echoed throughout the void. However, she hadn’t arrived alone as the void was split open, and out walked a man resting an axe on his shoulder and a woman wearing a fur coat.
“Gudrun, glad to see Valdemar was smart enough to bring you along,” Villy said with a smile as he turned to look at the two.
“This matter concerns all of Valhal,” Gudrun said in a serious voice as she turned to Artemis. “Could you tell me how he fought with you? I wish to confirm it was truly him and not merely someone borrowing his visage.”
“Of course,” Artemis said, sounding a bit nervous as she was shaken out of her comfortable fly-on-the-wall state. “He did indeed wield a spear and…”
She proceeded to give a brief overview of how the god fought, and the more she spoke, the more the other gods also seemed to realize something Jake hadn’t even considered.
Gudrun also frowned, as Valdemar was the one to talk, his voice sounding like a mix between disappointment and confusion. “He didn’t use any of his proper skills.”
“I believed they were all trying to conserve power as much as possible,” Artemis confessed. “If not, I’m uncertain I would have been able to hold on, at least not without forcing myself into a state of suffering long-term damage.”
When Jake thought about it, wasn’t it kind of weird that Artemis had managed to hold on as well as she did? She had fought five gods, three of them at Godking or above, while she herself was only a newly evolved Godqueen. By all accounts, those who had been in that realm for longer should have been stronger, not to mention the one surpassing it. Even the two at the Ninth Circle were legitimate threats, as the gap between them and a newly evolved Godqueen wasn’t that significant.
“How about the other gods? How did they act?” Gudrun continued asking, making Artemis continue to provide whatever information she had.
From this, it became clear that they had all seemed like they were half-arsing it. Meanwhile, the one who was there as an avatar had avoided using any skills that could have given away what kind of affinity he specialized in, striking primarily with attacks most gods could pull off.
This only added more confusion, as why would the gods hold back so much? Did they not want to kill Artemis? Use her against Jake? No, that didn’t make much sense either, as if that was the plan. Why would they have attacked her with an order to kill in the first place?
“Hm,” Gudrun said, considering everything Artemis had said. “Is it possible he wasn’t capable of doing more than what Artemis saw?”
Villy frowned, motioning for her to explain.
“The Oakspear Monarch was many things, but a coward wasn’t one of them. He was an honorable warrior with a strong creed,” Gudrun explained as Valdemar took over.
“No way he would have joined an ambush on a C-grade!” Valdemar said, clearly finding the very notion disgusting. “Also! With his talent, he definitely would not still have been stuck in the Ninth Circle now.”
“What are you implying?” the Holy Mother asked, though it seemed like she already knew and just wanted it to be spoken out loud.
“That it wasn’t the Oakspear Monarch… not truly,” Gudrun shook her head.
“Some kind of reanimation?” Aeon questioned.
“Or mental manipulation at an unprecedented level,” Gudrun shook her head. “I’m not claiming I have an answer, just that we need to consider something in that vein. For someone’s personality to change so drastically and for four gods to willingly end their own existence doesn’t make much sense. In what world would Bolomund, the independent Godking who refused to join any factions, suddenly decide to join up with these people and become loyal to the level where he’ll willingly end his own life at their command?”
Jake listened carefully and considered what she implied. He also had a hard time seeing what was going on, given the limited context he received, which only made him even more confused. For mental manipulation to be behind it would indeed truly be unprecedented.
To clarify, something like mind control wasn’t a thing in the system. The mind was sacred, meaning there was no way to extract or forcefully view specific memories, nor could one directly manipulate someone to do one's bidding. All one could do was momentarily mess with the senses, including the sense of reality of another person, but it was always brief and required a constant use of energy to sustain. What’s more, mental manipulation was more like suggestion than anything else, and making someone kill themselves was not an option. Especially not when dealing with a god.
The only kind of mental manipulation that worked long-term was the more classical form of manipulation. One could make someone believe something false and slowly convince them over a long period of time, but in that instance, the magical mental manipulation was just there to help with the mundane mental fuckery. Even with this far more time-consuming process, making another person change entirely was borderline impossible, especially when dealing with a god.
Becoming a god in the first place required one to have an extremely strong sense of self, and to realize one’s Path, one had to know oneself. Trying to change the personality of a god was like trying to convince someone on the internet of an opinion that differed from their own; in other words, an endeavor that always ended up just wasting the time of everyone involved.
That’s why if one wanted to mentally mess with someone, it was best done when they were young or in a state of being easily influenced. Such as when they were children or still very young. William was a good example of someone being mentally messed up through good old lying, gaslighting, and misinformation, but he was also a good example of what happened when someone realized the deceit and told their manipulator to go fuck themselves.
However, there was one potential way to far more directly control the mentality of someone… one that circumvented the usual rules of the system.
“So, either someone with an incredibly powerful unknown Bloodline or a Transcendent… assuming the explanation isn’t something entirely different from their personalities experiencing an extreme shift,” the Malefic Viper commented after the gods had discussed the matter a little more and reached the same conclusion as Jake.
The void fell silent once more before Nature’s Attendant looked at Aeon. “Are more gods coming?”
“I don’t believe so,” Aeon shook his head. “I didn’t reach out to the Wyrmgod, Titan, Rigoria, Eversmile, or Daofather as I saw no need to, considering I don’t see how they’re involved. Inmortau did answer and make it clear he had no interest, though I believe he would like an update once we’re done here.”
“He can come ask us if he wants to know anything, if he’s too lazy to show up,” the Viper shook his head. “So, does anyone here have any further insight? Because I have no fucking idea who’s behind this.”
“An unknown faction,” Gudrun said with a high level of certainty as she looked at the Viper. “It’s entirely possible this faction may even be related to Yip of Yore.”
“Well, they do like sending gods to their deaths,” Villy muttered. “Now the question just is… why now? This faction must have been hidden for several eras, going by the missing gods, so why show themselves now? Why expose yourself in such a manner? Sure, they want Jake’s abilities as a Harbinger of Primeval Origins and maybe to start a conflict between Primordials, but that answer doesn’t feel right.”
“Maybe this isn’t the first time they’ve shown themselves,” the Holy Mother added. “Maybe it’s just the first time they acted against a C-grade, truly catching our attention. A C-grade that could even see through a few of them. If all their previous attacks had succeeded and they hadn’t left any evidence behind, they could have remained undiscovered, especially if they primarily operated in open space or inside other dimensions, such as World Wonders.”
“Potentially,” Gudrun said, unable to entirely dismiss the idea. “Though even if that is the case, their actions must have been few and far between not to have been discovered before now.”
“Naturally,” the Holy Mother agreed. “Do allow me to reiterate that I find this entire situation highly unsettling. For a faction like this to exist is a threat to all of us and not something we can ignore.”
“Duh,” Stormild said something for the first time in a while. “Anyone unhinged enough to do something this is a threat.”
“Indeed,” the Holy Mother nodded. “I propose that we enact an agreement to freely share information about this unknown group whenever we obtain it. Let’s make it clear that unless they are willing to enter the light, they face a united front.”
“I have no problems with that,” Aeon said, easily agreeing to something like that, probably because he didn’t even have a faction to care about or to gather information for him.
“The Pantheon of Life will agree,” Nature’s Attendant nodded. “Though I would add the stipulation that anything that happened here today is to be kept an absolute secret from everyone besides those involved. We don’t want panic to spread, so let’s keep things under wraps for now.”
“That’s definitely for the best,” Gudrun nodded while Valdemar just stood menacingly behind her while allowing his wife to do all the talking. “We’ll also agree to freely share information.”
“Sure,” Villy just said.
“I don’t think I’ll ever have anything to add, but okay!” Stormild was as flighty as ever.
“Very well,” the Holy Mother smiled. “I’ll seek to contact other pinnacle factions and see if they have any knowledge while also trying to integrate them into this agreement.”
“You do that,” the Viper agreed. “Meanwhile, I think it’s about time we stop dallying in the void before the rest of the C-grades wake up. We shall reconvene at a later time, hopefully once we know more.”
“Likely for the best,” Nature’s Attendant nodded.
Jake felt attention turn toward him again, but at least he shared it with the Sword Saint, who had finished his entire mug of coffee while observing the entire discussion between gods with interest.
“Yeah, better not scare Sylphie too much,” Stormild said as she actively began to fade away. “Bye-bye!”
After being the first to leave, the other gods also began to make their exit, and Jake noticed how all of them showed respect to Oras before leaving. When Aeon left, he made sure to teleport the Sword Saint back into the teleportation vessel so he could come with Jake to the Order.
Valhal was one of the last factions to leave, but before doing so, their leader finally spoke up a little now that all the complicated stuff was over.
“Hey, Jake! Don’t make this an excuse not to visit!” Valdemar yelled with a grin. “I’ll just come fetch you if it is, and I’ll dare them to try anything!”
“Oh, I’m not gonna let some unknown mega-faction that even puts the Primordials on edge stop me!” Jake responded with a smile, clearly making the War God happy before he left.
After him, Nature’s Attendant took his leave after ensuring that Artemis and Dina were truly fine, leaving only five beings conscious. Jake, the Sword Saint, Artemis, Villy, and the Void God that floated ominously within the deep nothingness.
Comments
Parker Bond
My thought as well
Wren Redwood
Maybe I’m just playing too much Hollowknight, but my gut is telling me this is related to an infection or plague. Similar to necromancy, it wouldn’t be against the sanctity of the mind/soul to puppet a corpse. This would allow for the use of a God’s power without system granted skills or use of magic. It would be able to make use of the abandoned corpses of gods exploring the boundaries of reality. My take on it is that the force behind the infection is acting now because it wants access to the seat of the exalted prima. It wants Jake’s bloodline or his primeval origins power. It wants to leave the universe weakened by starting conflict before it makes its gambit for the world wonder?
ABTelford
God level Brain worm is my theory. Think about how freakin scary that would be! 😰
Avi Singh
I’m just going to put forward the theory that this is a ploy of the Daofather. His faction is known for their isolationism and even the Viper knows little about him or his modus operandi.
Abdullah Abdulhameed
Holly mother is acting sus proposing an agreement to share information
Chloe
Tyftc
polyx
Not exactly, minotaur was more aking to El Hakan heavily manipulating emotions/attitude
Brian Mcglinchey
The minotaur Mind chief was able to manipulate and mind control others over an extended period of time?
JW Saxby
Tftc! 🍻
MrCynical
Grade difference and Jake allowed him to. Best guess is the minotaur never tried skill on equal grade because his entire schtick was attacking humans weaker than he was. Also retconning something 10 novels later I think acceptable.
Gabe Stankiewicz
Wait, if there’s no way to forcibly view someone’s memories, then how could the Minotaur mind chief back in D grade in book 2 or 3 do exactly that to Jake? He viewed all of Jake’s major memories even from before the system.
Léon Geide
You ended two paragraphs basically the same with “especially when dealing with a god”. I suggest something like “Again, even more so when dealing with a god.” The paragraph after that you basically say three times “especially when young”.
John Durrett
I don't think anyone but Artemis would get xp as she was the only one fighting and not part of a system "group".
Naotani
I like the idea, but I don't think any god in their right minds would use a break of the Bloodline Accords as a misdirection.
brickshaw332
i dunno who they are, but i'm damn sure they want that jake juice
Thenais
No xp = No true death
Thenais
An evil mushroom god with parasitic control bloodline
Corvid
Pocket Sandy! hyaaaaaa
Biggy smalls
given the circumstances I'd say that situation was anything but easy. But like you I'm hoping for heretic-chosen levels. He facilitated the downfall of a group of gods clandestine operation in C grade. If that's not worthy of some levels, what is?
Peter Smith
In comparison to the amount of effort he gave... About less than 0.0000001% meaning he got maybe a fraction of the smallest record... But it's a divine record so who knows. It could be completion of c-grade to a delayed system gift for an achievement beyond his bounds. Hell just surviving the ambush, while floating in the void, may give enough records for it, let alone his sneaky nepobaby buttdial.
heltok
So how many levels did the heritic chosen get for indirectly killing a few gods? Sounds pretty heretical to me...
gray matter
It still might be. This might be the new underlying arc like Cheeto and YoY were
SqrlyGrly
That's a new one to me. I like it.
Alex
Villy's wife died in the 7th era - if Dina was her daughter then she's 85 eras old. I guess that could TECHNICALLY be possible if Dina was born from a seed that was kept in storage that entire time, but Villy would be playing a much bigger role in her life if she was his wife's daughter (even if he wasn't the father).
Anonymous
Dumb idea, Dina’s mom is actually villy’s wife. I think this is already proven false though.
gray matter
And it appears to be an information/spy related world wonder. I hadn’t thought of that. About right for the timing. I think some of the others with their bringing back a progenitor theory is more likely but this definitely holds weight. Along with the fact that Jake’s perception is dangerous to a hidden faction. That’s also a possible motive.
Anonymous
I don’t know, void god civil war still makes sense to me.
Jordan Rogers
Could be an interesting idea, a group of all the heretic who made it to god level, one being a necromancer, who “recruits” the missing gods from established factions,
patrick__starz
I belive it's been said that his wife and child were killed for their bloodline or something like that and that's why he wiped out half a universe and that may also be why the bloodline accords were created
Jose Reyna
Tftc!!!!!
Numbzy
I bet it's some Heratic Club/pantheon which is why they want Jake so much. Like they all turned against their former factions and Jake is the most popular heretic right now.
Alex
NO shot.* The Vampires are some of Villy's most loyal supporters because he's sheltering them from the Holy Church and the Risen. There's no way they'd ever target Jake. *If the people behind this whole thing have some Transcendent level mental domination abilities then yeah, they could force Vampires to do their bidding against their will, but there's no way that the Vamps are a willing party to this. **Unless somehow Sanguine is still alive and he's holding a grudge for Villy leaving the Vampires out to dry when he went into seclusion. That's possible I guess, but it's a real longshot.
Dan Redmond
Could definitely be some strong Vampires involved?
Joshua Little
I was thinking maybe a systemless place.
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
Szymon Wesołowski
Hmm my idea is that there might be more that one system or iteration of it and thanks to his bloodline the first sage was the only one that knew what existed before this iteration, yet he couldn't share anything due to it being forbidden knowledge. And Jake's power is somehow an ability that can bridge the gap between earlier iterations iteration or different parallel worlds/systems and the void is the only link between them. Those gods where somehow forced into that other system and are looking for a way back that is why they waited for someone like Jake to show up as he might be able to bring them back into this system or maybe bring the existing system to its primary version.
Scott Miles
I wonder if this is related to Villy’s re-emergence. Maybe it’ll lead to us finally learning for sure what happened with Villy’s wife! Tftc
Daniel Garcia
These recent chapters are keeping me on the edge of my seat!!!! BRAVO
Nano
Think they are after Jake cause he’s clearly gonna be in control of the world wonder in the 93rd universe the Milky Way galaxy is by far the strongest galaxy in the universe so if they have been hiding inside the world wonders and getting stronger in there to perhaps challenge the primordials they are definitely gonna need Jake’s and that’s where they make their fatal mistake at
Xander
TFTC :) Suggested edits: "was entirely *quite* there yet," You've been doing odd extra "quite"s for 16 books now you'd think I'd stop mentioning them :D "this entire event clearly *matters* to her a lot." should be "mattered" “Anyone unhinged enough to do something ** this is a threat.” Missing word "like" "finished his *entire* mug of coffee while observing the *entire* discussion " repetiton. Ditch the first one
gray matter
Doppelgängers is also something I thought about. They wouldn’t be able to mimic true skills I don’t think and if the faction did know enough about Jake’s perception it would be another layer of misdirection
Lemonsqueezy
Are you thinking Umbra? There are several that are good at hiding in one capacity or another. Eversmile and The Seeker are both really good at hiding. However, in this case the Primordials don't seem to think that any of the known gods are responsible for this as it doesn't fit their personalities. This is going to be someone that was presumed lost for several eras (maybe even since the early eras), or remained an unknown this entire time. Could be a 13th Primordial that has been doing this since the beginning, but has been so good at hiding his existence that he was never discovered. Jake's bloodline and perception are the only reasons the identities of these gods are known. Which wouldn't have mattered if it wasn't for Jake's connection with Oras that saved him. Two very unique circumstances that brought this unknown faction to light.
Lemonsqueezy
That is what I guessed last chapter. These are all gods that died or disappeared and a third party is trying to bring them back using Jake. Probably to force the loyalty of these gods to this third party. They can destroy themselves because they can just be made again. I think the third party is the two gods that sent avatars and didn't blow themselves up. The ones no one could identify. Might also be the same god that has followers on Earth causing trouble.
Lemonsqueezy
He said Artemis was there.
Xander
That was changing current perception and emotion. The instant Jake broke through the attack he knew that the impressions were incorrect. His memories werent altered and his emotions snapped back to their corredt state. If they were altered, breaking the spell would have done nothing because his view of the minotaur would have shifted to one of friendship because of the altered memories. At least thats the impression I got at the time and how I think it works thinking on it now.
Xander
I thought that was the inference we were supposed to draw?
Czar
Initial guess is some sort of clones and they want Jake to try to bring their powers back
brjenness
none of the gods thought to take a look at the milky way and look for anything. Zog!!! what are you hiding while you wave your left hand around?
Fulminis
So there's an error with this chapter. Jake thinks about how mental manipulation does work, and you can't forcefully view or alter memories. But that's literally not true. The mental mage Minotaur from the start of the series used mental manipulation to make a young girl kill her family. AND used a spell to forcefully delve into Jake's mind and view his memories
Corac
Lots.of comments and I didn't read them all, but I didn't see anyone mentioning yet the possible connection to all the ??? Blessed beings on earth showing up causing trouble. Possibly connected to this group of hiding gods? Possibly
Corvid
Indeed, my friend
Colton Horton
Wait, aren't there 5 people awake? Isn't Artemis still there with them?
Ben Cox
Tyftc
MrBooniecap
An unknown faction able to hide it existence. We know of anyone else who is super good at hiding?
Colin
Coffee was a start. :) Hey @Corvid- bet that made you happy!
Corvid
Just give him the one he turned into an actual eyeball back. [Vision of Oras]->[Oh that's nasty are you carrying around an Eyeball of Oras and licking it]
Siethrobo
I wonder if they were testing Jake's bloodline and wore purely conceptual masks that he could see through on purpose.
Corvid
Probably cause he's just socially awkward and all of these people just walked into his house and now he doesn't know how to ask them to go away.
Corvid
Dunno, gods divine realms are basically the true soul taken to it's evolution point. No true soul, no divine realm, no godtier power. At least if I'm remembering the whole hit with the first sage training montage right
Corvid
Directly no. He went on a whole villain monologue about how most humans he has to coax and poke at to get the right thing to influence them, but Jake just willingly let him inside. It's deffo a bit ambiguous but even looking at the fight itself the minotaurs magic never tried to directly control him, just influence him into thinking that they were friends and stuff. Doing it to an e grade little girl fresh from a tutorial by comparison would be cake. Really does bring up the argument of what constitutes directly controlling via magic vs using magic and illusions to augment social conditioning and trauma for the desired outcome. If you read defiance of the fall, Janos does a lot of the same debate with mind magic, especially in the last audiobook. Goes on a whole tangent about how when you use mind magic and illusions to control someone like that it takes a deft and subtle touch to slowly make them believe the lie.
Toffee Willow
This couldn’t involve Eron unless the entire Dao faction is involved I’d think. Between being a chosen of one of their major gods and also the fact that Eron has maintained good standing with Jake specifically because he wants to make all living things immortal - even before godhood.
Bloodshadow
Am very disappointed in zog today... Jake finally meets aeon in person and him silly and Jake did not in fact go grab beers.......valdemar could have even joined....
Major Casaw
I see people talking about the sparks of life and necromancy. But what about mushroom spores controlling bodies. Explains the lack of skills. One god went missing in the mushroom place...
Chegs
I remember jake intentionally letting him in..luring him but its been a while
frotes
a lot of mystery here. Wonder if more will be revealed here or will go back to previous planned trip and have this come up later
11037
This all sounds very similar to what Eron's bloodline can do. It's never properly explained, but it's implied his invincibility may come from making others into extensions of himself. Though it seems a stretch that he would reach the level of controlling gods so quickly.
Major Casaw
It's be so good for me if the bloodline is misdirection and their true goal lies elsewhere. One of the gods was said to have gone missing in the very same world wonder they introduced at the beginning of the arc. Looking forward to jake being forced to explore mushroom hell :^)
Timothy Spradlin
I like that theory, i also think its Dao Sect potentially
brjenness
Jake finally remembers the book eron asked him to share with villy and it contains something that truly freaks villy out. like maybe suggesting something without realizing it would turn people into mindless puppets.
BuckleYoPants
"The mind was sacred, meaning there was no way to extract or forcefully view specific memories". But didn't the Minotaur Mindcheif forcefully invade Jake's memories in book 3?
Demonshadow639
I’m going crazy, what happened to the eyelolipop that Jake has been licking??? Did he just revert it back into one of the void gods eyes??? Or something else?
Roland Haller
Definitely no spare lollipop. Bummer. Typo: “Anyone unhinged enough to do something *like* this is a threat.”
Arieh Sochaczevski
Thanks for the chapter! The only downside from here is that learning *anything* more will inevitably make the risks/dangers smaller. The tension is so high right now because the mystery can be literally anything.
T
"To clarify, something like mind control wasn’t a thing in the system. The mind was sacred, meaning there was no way to extract or forcefully view specific memories, nor could one directly manipulate someone to do one's bidding...." This statement is invalidated by the Minotaur Mind-chief from way early on, who did indeed use mind control (Jake only breaking out because of his bloodline), search through Jake's memories to find something very specific, and directly manipulated a little girl to kill her family.
Thomas Henman
Thinking about it a bit: 1. They need Jake and his bloodline. 2. They don't need Jake to be happy with them. 3. Their power is somehow limited. 4. Controlling Jake through those around him is not in their wheelhouse. 5. They fear exposure of their identities. 6. They may be able to "die" and come back. 7. Oras knows but it's not worth it to him to expose them. Yet he's also willing to stop them at least from taking Jake. 8. They can observe enough things to set up the trap and know a lot of what is going on. Yet they seem to think they can get around the problem #2 causes for them to get access to #1. So very confused at this point but I'm sure that the fog will lift at some point at least some as Zog let's us in on what is going on.
Sean McClain
Necromancy, its a god(s) of Necromancy that can bring people back but they are not more then puppets. They want Jake to use his powers to try to fix the returned beings to be fully living again. Its different from the current forms of necromancy that the Holy church does or the reborn do as it restores them fully in the same body, just missing a truesoul. They want Jake to fix that.
Nicolas Coons
I was actually thinking about the evite Cow from way back when. Wasn't he doing mind control?
Prospects
I think the motive is the seat of the exalted prima, if Jake and half of the most powerful people in the Milky Way were taken out of the equation from this attack then the mysterious force of B-grades would have a pretty good chance of gaining control of the galaxy. A galaxy that happens to have much higher record density and holds a greater significance in the eyes of the world wonder. If a faction wanted to make a move to gain a convincing early lead and a foundation to keep it in the competition for the world wonder this would be probably the best play. Kidnapping Jake would just be an added bonus to turn the blessed of these gods into pinnacle level talents and completely solidify their position in addition to the other benefits it could provide, and possibly also do their best to take his bloodline while their at it.
ItWasIDIO!!
Oras "I see"
Kevin Watson
i have to assume Oras is sticking around for a reason ?
Bjarne Hansen
Jake better stop dallying, and grow up to B-grade ... to unlock his bloodline potential, before it's stolen from him ... by some "skill sucking monster"
echo.mov
tyftc<3
brjenness
unalive faction zombies with vitality instead of ichor/miasma
Drew
For all this "you can't mess with people's minds," you'd think there be a mention of Jake's old nemesis, since he basically straight up did that, though I guess that falls under Bloodline exception shenanigans.
Charlie Jones
My theory: There is a 13th primordial related to the concept of Oblivion that has, for all intents and purpose, erased themselves from existence and memory before Villy got his ability to remember everything.
Gnothi Seauton
We have too many theories and not enough info yet. Imagine a unique lifeform like Minaga that can create copies of anyone it kills, but they just have the power and no skills of the original. That doesn't explain the woman that talked to Jake, unless there are some gods recruited by the hypothetical unique life form. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. How exciting!
Almer Reyhan
Well, that was.... Kinda anti-climactic. I'm not complaining though XD
Corvid
Zombie fungus god from the mycotic depths plus ant true royal= the last of us:Divine remaster
Corvid
Second Bestest Bird Stormild
Dave
Tftc
Strato Junon
Why would Artemis be unconscious? She was talking and explaining how the gods fought in this chapter.
AfroMocha
Damn, this is such a cool turn. I feel like it would be boring if it is ever smile, however he does seem to have a hidden chosen that no one knows about. His bloodline or transcendent ability that allows him to race records and individuals could be tied to oblivion and he’s been hiding under some other affinity. But I like the idea of a pinnacle faction that’s been hidden. And look at what happened with Yip of your and his transcendent ability or bloodline ability. He completely erased the fact that his best friend and rival ever existed. I don’t think yep of your had anything to do with this, but I do believe he is possibly part of this faction. Maybe he broke off from the plan or maybe him challenging the viper was part of the plan while the rest of this fact went around doing things while everyone’s eyes and attention was on Jake and villy and yip and cheetos. I like how this development is shaking up I thought the next bit of like actual interesting story is going to be the world wonder event
KenTX325
Did Jake get any levels? Should have and I am looking forward to B grade, so I am all in favor of easy levels.
Leviathan
I'm guessing orras is not only going to keep a much closer eye on Jake during his void travels, but also is probably going to reimburse the void marble
Chegs
They intercepted it first to that specific location where they had the formation..thats all we know…but def some informant
Yiskah
The Gods are coming from a different dimension that has all the paths in it that went extinct in the main multiverse. Like this massive backup library the system is keeping. So now Jake is unextincting stuff and it's vanishing from the other place. Which is either good and they want Jake to do more of it. Or bad and causing issues and they want Jake to cut it out. Regardless, them coming from the backup is why they use oblivion so easily and left no karma: they're already obliterated in the main multiverse. It's also why they had to use the void to get in touch with Jake: they cannot exist in the multiverse proper. And why they didn't mind casually suiciding when they lost: they'll just go back to the library. Eversmile knows and is pissy about Jake messing with stuff because it changes his experiments, but is not the one responsible. They are going to need his help though.
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Jeremiah vp
Shadowessence
I know the mastermind behind this.... Terauasniom!!!
Jayce Sul
This would be a very good stepping stone towards finally unraveling the mystery background story of Villy’s self inflicted solitude. Also this would make it a start of a VERY important arc. So probably very long. And when we finally get to killing the bastard, Jake would have reached peak S grade or godhood, and then this book will end.
Jayce Sul
Ykw I think part of the group of rebel gods, especially the ones dabbling in Oblivion, is the pantheon or part of the pantheon that killed Vilastromoz’s family. They, or atleast one of them somehow found a way to harness Oblivion so that Villy would think they died. They want Jake because they are in some sort of pseudo death state, and want to use Jake Juice to return to life.
Ian
I'm guessing this is Vesperias group. I recall a part of a chapter with other True Royals a few weeks back trying to convince Vesperia to get Jake to visit and attempt to revive another True Royal. Vesperia was against this, but I would bet their hive mind Gods have some weird tricks up their sleeves not otherwise commonly seen in the Multiverse. Would also explain their actions after not making a fuss for a few dozen eras.
Doodlenoodle
Well if there is gods in this faction then there can be blessed people as well. Maybe they are the unknown gods giving blessings on Earth and the milky way galaxy as A whole.
graham
interesting topic that wasn’t discussed: How’d the attackers know exactly where in the void to place the formation? When the group was leaving? Inside informants for sureee.
Michael Fannon
Yup. We are paying to be editors, proof readers, and sounding boards. Not that I'm complaining. I rather like having some small input on this work of art and helping Zog.
Little Silly
Maybe, but Eron already had an agreement with Jake…but if the goal was to break the bloodline accords…
Rahsheem Reid
Both great ideas!
Chegs
Master Zog fixed it already
Carl Never
Come on skip work and tell us
Lynderyn
Mental manipulation of gods I believe was what was meant. Mortal minds are easy to manipulate
Rewdan
So I’m putting it out there now Rigoria the maker is behind this.
Michael Fannon
Wait, was Artemis knocked out somehow between talking about the fight and the end? If not, shouldn't there be 5 beings conscious?
MB W
These gods actually did die, but somehow were reproduced by the system (or someone acting outside of the system). They need some Jake Juice to restore themselves to full health
Chegs
Pretty easy if this Oblivion Lord used a transcendence to erase himself from peoples minds..The First Sage always talked about Primordials being counters to each other..maybe he groomed Villy to take his Bloodline to counter this unknown foe
A. B. Edwards
I am so confused. I understand everything that happened but just like the Primordials am so confused as to what is going on. All I know is it has something to do with all the beasts on earth being blessed by unknown Gods.
Rewdan
I love Stormild
Namorat
Anyone unhinged enough to do something this is a threat. - "like this"?
atome 4 000
What are the chance that a got who's path is around oblivion and not being known can remain unknown and hidden from all the pinacle god while reaching their lvl ?
Buzzkill081
If mental manipulation is not a thing then what was the monster bull doing during the founding of haven arc
Chegs
Its fixed
Matthias
Tftc
MrCynical
One of the things Villy most likes about Jake is his entire motivation to grow is internal. He has no need for external pressure to get stronger. He just does.
Cees Tollenaar
Hmmm a few thoughts after reading this chapter. What if the being having these kind of powers could not share having them with others? As the mind is sacred to the system, knowing how to manipulate it through a trancendent power for example would be "forbidden knowledge"? Another option, thinking of the Yip of Yore reference. What if someone mastered the "Usurper-path" and is then able to take away others' skills (the gods were not really fighting as themselves) and perhaps even their mind?
Skarpi
Isn't it FIVE BEINGS in the last sentence with Artemis. "leaving only four beings conscious. Jake, the Sword Saint, Villy, and the Void God"
Seamus Harley
I like that theory about why they might want Jake. Intriguing
MrCynical
Could be but almost certainly isn't. This group has been around for at least dozens of eras, given the presumed time of death for some of the gods. Yip was from only the previous era. Plus Yip was seen using his skills in the fight against Villy
Seiryus
Considering what Eron can do, I can easily see the Daofather or some part of his faction being involved.
Chegs
Having a way to somewhat control godkings is scary even if they cant use their full abilities..maybe something they think Jake can fix…things will more then likely slow down from here Jake still needs to fix palate and the old man will probably see Katherine again for some relaxation
Michael
cool, this new arc looks promising!
MrCynical
Villy did ask why Oras didn't stop them from self destructing and Oras said he didn't care. The same is almost certainly true for anything else regarding the faction.
Michael
true, but they have some rules about never sending higher level assassins
Thenais
yeah chappy, thx !
Pharaoh Atem
No Sylphie is currently unconscious and that list was about who was left conscious in the void.
MrCynical
No, she said they had no desire to kill Jake but the same was not true for all his friends.
Shaibene
You forgot sylphie there at the end, REeee!
khielira
This is getting kinda weird. Since the whole mind control is high unlikely given how the system works so unless this is some unknown bloodline or Transcendent which is also unlikely. So could this be some kind of body snatching thing, but then why use those faces. It's not like anyone knew Jake could see through the mask. The few that have guessed that there's more to Jake’s bloodline are semi friendly. Eversmile might suspect since Jake has spotted him multiple times but why would he tell anyone. There are too many unknowns to this.
Ty Cooper
Bet tomorrow's chapter is what happened with the Vision of Oras. I bet the change that Jake did to his lollipop helped Oras in some way that Oras still feels he owes Jake. Possibly make it so he can have a small presence in physical reality. Not sure if it got deleted with the gods. Hope not, that item sounds whicked cool now. Don't know about picking it anymore though. Tftc
Matthew Smith
Could this actually just be some sort of fanatic group dedicated to reviving old species. Like the whole mind control thing is a big issue but the woman did say that she really didnt want to kill Jake or anyone. Them being unknown kinda lends itself to this idea as killing people leads to more revenge more often than this weird kidnapping case. And the mind control could simply be an unknown or thought to be extinct creature capturing people to use a puppets so it can remain unknown.
Jj Bb
The way I see it, Eversmile's in the same situation as Umbra. Jake is worth _far_ more to him alive and still on the path to godhood than as an experiment, for the sake of using Jake to hone his own powers once he ascends to godhood.
Loststar7
TFTC. Looking forward to seeing how this mess progresses.
SmokeJam
More a writing mistake. She gave a report this chapter, so she is conscious and there too
Blutako
Its the boots, the lost gods are related to the boots, something exists beyond the system, or at least beyond the void and multiverse, or maybe its just something that can enter and exit collapsed realms,
Devillelouch
Its the Primordial Church. The Eternal Servant is just a parasite or fungus hiding behind being a fanatic. Its a historian trying to kill or body snatch a Primordial. Also no I cannot type out the full theory it took 6 hours of chatting and I am not typing out that wall of thought.
SmokeJam
I don't think gods are able to change their path so fundamentally without essentially breaking themselves. As a god they are the personification of their path. Changing that shouldn't leave them in realms above godkings if it is even possible, which I don't see a logical explanation for.
Pierre-clément LAMBRIX
I love how oras is just chilling. Pretty sure he knows much more but no one bother to asked him.
Bose
I mentioned in chapter 1196 comments this could be related to Yip of Yore, but oh no….I was told this was the Holy Church. You guys can take your L’s now thank you. Great chapter.
Catrina
I hope he gets his perception lollipop back.
Shadowind
Tftc
SmokeJam
I think we shouldn't forget that the Court of Shadow has/had (?) An open contract on Jake too. It was never mentioned and resolved after the chimera, so there could be some dots to connect. Also aren't 5 people conscious? Artemis is there too
WhiteLeeopard
Shouldn't Artemis also be left conscious?
Mick Gormley
This sounds like an evil version of Sanguines transcendence. And that war saw Holy Mother, Blightfather, Umbra, and a lot of Valhalla joining together. Looking forward to Jake having proper enemy again
Deborah
Why did nobody mention that there skills related to their paths could have been destroyed. They could have been oblivion practice subjects, and Jake's the primary suspect of a solution. Paths are everything to them, and being considered dead preferable to being a god with out their signature powers.
Simon
fine doesnt mean conscious
Biggy smalls
Or scarier yet what if they were in a state like the characters from the movie Get Out. trapped inside their own minds? Whatever happened to them, it wasn't pretty.
Reno
A bit of schadenfreude for Artemis, who's in way over her head. To the point where at the end she wasn't even one of the four people who were conscious. "The companion of He Who Hunts", hah! She chose an exciting partner.
Jon
Exciting developments! Seems like a source of drive for Jake to get stronger, which I had been wondering where that was going to come from. Thanks for the chapter! Was about to mention Artemis being conscious too but I see that it's already been corrected in the chapter on Patreon (I read it from my email).
Cory S.
The plot thickens. The other gods didn’t speak so it’s possible they could be husks. Like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, they are “pod people”. The actual god is dead but the body has been reanimated somehow. As was suggested by Villy, a Bloodline or Transcendent ability. Explains the mindless actions, fighting, no talking and willfully allowing the destruction of their “lives”.
IntenseSushi
Tftc
Roy
Thanks for the chapter Zogarth, the plot thickens.
BumAssBumAss
Well there goes my theory about Eversmile. Though weaker now, it's still not off the table. Honestly starting to think it's just some unknown 3rd party.
Sébastien Kingsbury
Is Artemis somehow unconscious at the end there?
Tyler S.
With an intermediary arc of stopping the shadow hit
Tyler S.
Stong enough to consider fleeing, especially in the void
Fdrugc
After him, Nature’s Attendant took his leave after ensuring that Artemis and Dina were truly fine, leaving only four beings conscious. Jake, the Sword Saint, Villy, and the Void God that floated ominously within the deep nothingness. Does this imply that Artemis is unconscious?
Matthew
Mysterious, obviously they are the ones causing trouble in the 93 universe.
Meir Banon
Tftc
Eric Shivak
TFTC
Fdrugc
How strong is Oris?
Blutako
Hey sylphie do you like black licorice?
Blutako
Thanks for the chapter zogarth
Kt-x
Thanks for the chapter!
John
Yeah Artemis should be conscious. She just recounted her experience.
JJB4345_80_815
Friendly possible edit: Quote: “Anyone unhinged enough to do something this is a threat.” /Quote something this ==> something like this Edit: (another possible edit) Quote: “As I said just before you got here, I don’t think any of us think you’re involved,” /Quote 2 thinks ==> 1 think & 1 believe (Mainly just for some diversity. It's not wrong as it is, but I think/believe that the sentence would work better with the change.)
mitchell kaiser
Thanks for the chapter! Looking forward to seeing who our new antagonist will be.
Schneeente
Hmmmm.... Super mysterious. Looks unlikely but I still hope for space-Akatsuki
JJB4345_80_815
Yes thank you for the chappy Zogarth!
Abriel Blauer
“Anyone unhinged enough to do something this is a threat.” --> “Anyone unhinged enough to do something like this is a threat.”
marland lewis
loved the chapter and i could be wrong but i think this line needs a "like" after "something" “Duh,” Stormild said something for the first time in a while. “Anyone unhinged enough to do something this is a threat.”
NiceTryMate
In the last paragraph, it is stated that Artemis is unconscious. Should be five conscious people, no?
brjenness
Psionic spiders with octopus faces. New enemy. Calling it before I forget it.
GeneralBlack
Because Artemis can feel it.
Canis
Oooh I was wondering where the future arcs were going. Fighting a spooky shadow faction sounds fun. Though I'm getting some Naruto vibes here with the possessed/dead gods
Cyranosaurus
TFTC!!!
tom husband
Is Artemis not still there at the end? And presumably conscious
joel southard
Thank you for the chapter
Beemoss
Tftc
ryder
“Anyone unhinged enough to do something this is a threat.” --> “Anyone unhinged enough to do something like this is a threat.”
Corvid
"Trying to change the personality of a god was like trying to convince someone on the internet of an opinion that differed from their own; in other words, an endeavor that always ended up just wasting the time of everyone involved" d'awww he does read the comments
Fdrugc
Tftc, also why do the primordiales assume that the g-d's who were there in there true bodies consented to being killed.
jobe matula
damn mfkrs be in it! already 30 people b4 me! lol
C0bra$
Thank u for the story
Sylphie
Ree!
SCHWING PAPI
SCHWING
Connor
Thanks for the chapter
Jan
Tftc
Paul B
First
