Zogarth
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Chapter 1020 - Gifts From the Heavens
🕑 Added 2024-11-14 12:05:09 +0000 UTC“Acceptable quality, but the production time was above the estimated average,” the overseer said in a slightly scolding tone, making the woman bow in apology.
“I’m sorry... the new apprentices assigned to me have taken more time than initially expected, meaning I didn’t have enough time to cultivate as I normally did,” she said.
“I don’t ask for any excuses; just make sure it’s better next time. Even if the speed is lower, you should make up for it with quality. Your level is pretty high, so the herbs you can produce shouldn’t only be of this quality,” the overseer continued in his usual harsh tone.
As the sole C-grade in charge of this greenhouse, he was known as someone who ran a tight ship, and the results of the workers reflected on him, so he couldn’t accept those who were mediocre. Especially not with how things had been recently.
“I understand,” the woman bowed once more as she put her hand on her heart. “May the Celestial Child smile down upon us.”
“May he do so eternally,” the overseer responded with a satisfied nod.
He still couldn’t believe that he would maybe soon have a chance to meet the Celestial Child in person... if his greenhouse performed among the top five, the minister had talked about a ceremony to award those who’d contributed the most during this time of strife, so if he could have the top-performing D-grade greenhouse...
Resolving himself, he began his inspections of the day as he went outside his office to get a proper look at things. He was in charge of a total of thirteen greenhouses, all producing herbs for D-grades that helped train their alchemists primarily, with all these greenhouses placed in their own small complex, not that far outside a large city nearby.
As he walked between two of these greenhouses, he suddenly spotted three workers who were just standing around with a cart they were supposed to transport from one greenhouse to another, making him furious immediately. Storming over, he didn’t hesitate to yell:
“Who authorized you three to take a break, huh!?”
The workers were frightened, and one of them even jumped back before the calmest of them pointed toward the sky. “It’s just... that.”
Annoyed, the overseer followed the man’s finger and looked to the sky, where he saw something odd. It looked as if several small dots of light had appeared, almost reminiscent of distant stars... but with it still being day and Sun-Father still blessing them with sunlight, they usually weren’t that visible.
“Is it a meteor shower?” one of the other workers asked.
Another worker suddenly got all giddy as her eyes began to shine. “A celestial event... to be blessed with such a sight...”
The overseer slowly nodded, as seeing such a thing was indeed fortunate. The Celestial Child was the rightful ruler of the skies, and all that lay beyond it, with any celestial event happening only doing so according to his will... who knows, perhaps they were truly being blessed?
At least, he thought so for a moment before one of the other workers began to look worried.
“Is it just me... or are they getting closer?”
Looking more closely, the overseer squinted and saw that... yeah, it did look like they were getting closer?
“Gifts from the celestial heavens...” the overseer muttered, the others also realizing that as it came from the realm of the celestial, it had to be a gift from the Celestial Child.
He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the small pink-purple glowing objects falling down, accelerating as they got closer to the surface of the planet. Turning, he saw one of the workers point out where the first one would land, and he was nearly jealous he couldn’t be there to receive the celestial blessing of the-
Purple-ish light filled his vision, and as the overseer still stood there smiling, a massive sphere of destructive energy appeared several hundred kilometers away, a shockwave striking him a few seconds later, making the D-grade workers stumble and fall.
“What is-“ one of the workers began as a second flash appeared in another direction... followed by a third, a fourth, and a fifth, as all around them – especially in the direction of the major city, these fragments from heaven fell.
“Did we do wrong?” another worker questioned, not understanding what was going on.
“Is this... the will of the Celestial child?” the man who had first seen the “meteors” asked out loud, not even trying to stand up.
The overseer had no answer as he lifted his head and saw a fragment... the punishment from the heavens descended straight toward them, and all he could do was place a hand on his heart. “If this is the will of the Celestial Child... then we can only be grateful to play a role in his grand vision.”
With that thought, he smiled, the other workers also calming down instantly... if they were facing doom according to the will of the Celestial Child, then it was an honor they couldn’t possibly be worthy of. Even as the destructive arcane arrow struck only a dozen meters from them, exploding and sending out pure destructive energy that consumed all three, they only felt grateful to take part in the grand design of their god.
--
Jake watched as the orbital bombardment descended upon the planet, each arrow exploding with the impact of a small nuclear warhead, destroying several cities in the process alongside many other complexes.
He struck indiscriminately, not caring about who was caught in the explosions, acting as if he was fighting a civilization of mushroom people. Notifications flooded his system as millions instantly died, not a single one of them rewarding even a single experience point, but Jake wasn’t there for the experience in the first place... at least not yet.
As the explosions below subsided, the few survivors began to show themselves. This mainly took the form of mid-tier C-grades who specialized in defense, and with Jake focusing on making his arrows large in scope and not intensity, they’d managed to survive, some of them even looking relatively unharmed.
There was no sense in trying to finish them off, though, as Jake unleashed another Rain of Arcane Arrows upon another spot on the planet, taking full advantage of the fact he was still a good distance outside the atmosphere.
In truth, Jake had doubted he could even penetrate the atmosphere, but it turned out that Unblemished Arrows worked wonders, resulting in the arrows traveling through unobstructed. Of course, if he had been dealing with an actual planetary defensive barrier, things would have been different... but there wasn’t one, something that genuinely surprised Jake. Even Miranda had tapped into Jake’s World Leader abilities to make sure there was a basic barrier that should help with attacks coming from outside, but Ell’Hakan didn’t even have that, relying purely on the passive defenses supplied by the atmosphere. This was good enough to stop any regular wayward meteor... but not Jake’s arrows.
Was it arrogance from Ell’Hakan to not secure his home more safely? Some other reason? Either way, Jake was betting on him still caring about his homeworld and that the news of it being in peril would make him return.
Nocking another arrow, Jake took aim once more. He sent death raining down again, and not that long after, explosions of light appeared on the planet below. Jake moved again after shooting, not wanting to stay in the same place for too long. He even shot a few arrows that curved weirdly while flying, doing all he could to remain undetected.
He repeatedly activated his stealth skill, as even if he wanted to bait out Ell’Hakan, he also still wanted the advantage of seeing the former Chosen before he saw Jake. If he kept moving and shot arrows would weird angles, pin-pointing his location would be near-impossible, so Jake kept doing it as he functioned like an orbiting satellite that constantly shot down nukes on the planet below.
It took a bit longer than expected, but not that long in retrospect, for countermeasures to begin appearing. From so far up, Jake saw a dozen cities enact powerful barriers, and Jake also finally turned his gaze toward his main target: the capital.
Locating it had been easy, as it was the only place on the planet with entities Jake could see any value in fighting. Even from space, he could feel the collection of auras, and the capital was also the only city to have a powerful barrier constantly active.
Finally... it was really fucking big. Like, not Great Planet city big, but extremely big by any reasonable standards pre-system. If it had been on Earth, it would likely have been the largest one, at least by area.
Population-wise, probably not as much. The city was very spread out from what Jake saw, and based on what he’d heard, the entire city had pretty much survived the initiation as-is, unlike the cities on Earth.
Granted, a big reason why all the cities on Earth had been utterly wrecked was due to all the beasts and other monsters who had free roam with all the enlightened in the Tutorial... but the same had happened on Ell’Hakan’s planet. Yet no beasts had ruined the city. Instead, they’d protected it. Something the natives viewed as just another display of power by the almighty Celestial Child, while to Jake, it was just further proof of how utterly fucked up his Bloodline was. His influence had spread so far that it even included the animals within and around the city before the system, making even them have absolute loyalty toward him.
Even without the system, Ell’Hakan had evidently been a fucked-up existence, with the system only providing him a proper framework to take advantage of this fact. With the system, the entire planet had turned into something quite frankly horrific, and if Ell’Hakan was allowed to continue growing in power... yeah...
Jake had admittedly doubted William a bit when he first talked about just how fucked the planet was. Jake didn’t doubt it would be fucked, sure, but just how fucked it was remained beyond him.
Even outside the atmosphere, Jake could feel something subtly poking away at his emotions. It made thinking about Ell’Hakan incredibly weird, as whenever he had any thoughts regarding the former Chosen, he instantly felt an odd rush of... something. He wasn’t sure what, but it was definitely of a positive nature. Way, way too positive.
Not that long before he headed off to Valhal – back when he was still planning to ambush Ell’Hakan out of nowhere - he had a follow-up talk with William about Ell’Hakan. A talk to expand on the metal mage’s former words about how Ell’Hakan had managed to make his followers have an emotion that went beyond anything else.
It was one that wasn’t even on the normal emotional spectrum but in the realm of psychosis. An absolutely unbreakable delusion that couldn’t be broken by anything due to how ingrained it had become in their minds. What they felt toward Ell’Hakan was a feeling that surpassed regular worship of gods. Surpassed love, adoration, and anything else... for lack of a better word, the emotion was Transcendent in nature.
Walking away from the conversation, Jake had the understanding that if one wanted to break the delusion, there were only two choices. The first one was with one’s own Bloodline or Transcendent skill capable of manipulating emotions at a similar or superior level. Needless to say, no one Jake knew had such a thing handy.
The second one was for the person under the delusion to break out of it themselves. This one was a bit of a paradox, though. Because in order to even be allowed to begin doubting Ell’Hakan, the person needed to not be as delusional as they were in the first place. They would need to have realization from within, with external factors having little effect.
Jake could show them anything fucked up about Ell’Hakan he wanted. He could have the former Chosen show up in person, calling all his followers delusional asshats while explaining how they had all just been manipulated by his Bloodline, and it would be a miracle if just two people managed to break out of their delusion from that.
All of this is to say... death would be the only way for them to lose faith. Seeing as how Ell’Hakan got empowered by having them all believe in him to such a fanatical level, killing them was almost like killing an extension of Ell’Hakan himself.
At least thinking that way made Jake feel less awkward about bombarding large population centers from orbit. He truthfully didn’t like doing something like this. He didn’t like getting flooded with notifications of killing low-level people or monsters. It felt wrong on a fundamental level to kill people that weak, especially when none of them had anything mushroom-related in their names, but sometimes, one had to do something even if it made them a little uncomfortable.
If it managed to draw out Ell’Hakan, it would all be worth it.
With this thought, Jake continued attacking even as the natives below scrambled to form a response. However, they couldn’t defend everywhere, allowing Jake to continue landing solid attacks spread throughout the equivalent of an entire continent, and as with Earth, most of the natives had been condensed to a relatively small area, meaning Jake could hit borderline any city of note on the entire planet.
Also, due to the massive distance, Jake’s Perception was really coming into effect helping the exploding arrows to deal quite a lot of damage despite how much he focused on the scope of the explosions.
As time passed, Jake began to feel that something was wrong... it took way too long. Where the hell was Ell’Hakan at? How long would Jake be allowed to continue raining down death and destruction before Ell’Hakan – or anyone for that matter – would step in and try to stop him? No, Jake didn’t count the C-grades who had flown up as legitimate attempts to stop him, as they frankly weren’t even worth wasting mana on.
On that note... mana or stamina could end up becoming a legitimate concern if something didn’t happen soon, and as more time passed with Jake just flying around and shooting, he began to reconsider if this was really the best way to approach things.
He kept going, but in his mind, a different thought began to form. Jake had considered it before... practiced the methods required... and he now had the tools... so...
Alright... we give him another thirty minutes.
And if he wasn’t back by then, Jake was going to attack something that would make his assault on the planet’s surface meaningless: the Planetary Pylon. Oh, but not to take it over... no, to do something he was sure Villy would be far more approving of.
Comments
ali özcan karteper
I hope he used new combine skill. I hate he still waiting like that.
Phil Ritter
At this point that bloodline of his feels like a walking karma plague with the one difference being that it’s not infecting on its own yet but needs a medium like the pylon
Chloe
Tyftc
Chase Burton
Tftc!
Tudor
About time Jake did a planetary sacrificial ritual. Tftc!
Austin Byrd
Yeah if anything the Zog opened Jake up to criticism by mentioning he was doing it simply to draw EH out lol I think he should have stuck to the points about how broken this planet of people is
Gwiddion
I think we get another vision or sth like that but not a face to face meeting.
TyranT-Rex
There's no way it's far off. Jake's been saving charges of path of the heretic chosen explicitly for this reason and he is only 10 levels away. The Sage influencing primordials should be more reason to want Jake to meet him sooner. Since a good foundation is necessary to make it to God hood. Also Villys last interaction with the first sage was around C grade. This is unlikely to be the last time we see the first sage.
Gwiddion
No and I hope that meeting is in the far distant future. As the sage probably had something to do with raising the primordials to their level he is endgame material. A few more hints are perfectly fine.
SmokeJam
... did you read the beginning of the chapter? Those guys died smiling because they thought their god is killing them. THAT is ethically fucked up, not some orbital bombardment. Vesperias drones have more free will than these guys. So while I very well understand the naivety of hoping for the best in humanity, represented by Jake here, it is neither the place for it, nor does it fit the story. If you want just another hero-story, time to move on. Otherwise you are barking up the wrong tree.
SmokeJam
They were never real :(
SmokeJam
He will do what he did in Nevermore, but properly this time. Sacrificial ritual.
Tom Look
It’s clear that when the Viper released the parts of Yip’s records that he didn’t want, he knew some of them would be going to EH. If he had instead consumed all of the records, then it’s likely the usurpation ritual wouldn’t have done anything. Usurp means to forcibly take the place of, the usurpation ritual took Yip’s records and enhanced the legacy skills EH got from Yip…which are directly related to Yip’s path. So unless EH just ignores all his legacy skills that were just buffed, he’s basically taken Yip’s path. For Chosen, a god can revoke a blessing which will probably stifle the growth of, if not remove, legacy skills. Jake doesn’t have to worry about this because of being a Heretic-Chosen, and now EH doesn’t either having usurped Yip.
Phallusar
His Class requires that. His Profession, on the other hand, would reap tons of experience.
John Durrett
But DID he take Yips path? Viper got the records, transmuted them to be digestible and compatible with the Vipers path to make himself stronger and fresher - and Yips path was returned to the System. I always thought usurping someones path meant eating or taking on all of their records for their own exp gains. I don't see El getting anything out of what Viper did. Still not clear on what Viper intends to reward Jake with.
John Durrett
If his bloodline persists after El's death, then it can be viewed as another infectious disease akin to desolation and plague.
John Durrett
I cant say the system has heros. Only paths and those that follow them to become stronger.
John Durrett
Given the nearly mindless nature of the citizens due to ElHaktua's bloodline - its not a far step to consider them corrupted slave minds - hive minds.
John Durrett
His path requires equal to and much higher for xp to arrive. So most of the planet means nothing to him in terms of there departure from the living.
John Durrett
More like viper blood poisoning the Pylon. Planetary sacrifice.
Trevor Mergen
Thanks!
Allie Fischer
Rereading the previous Chap I just realized Jakob stalled Elhakan so Jake could do more damage.
Kat
I would disagree. A cult takes individuals and surrounds them in a specific culture/religion. While they typically are isolated in a remote place, Cheeto's bloodline allowed him to spread it over the whole planet by usurping the authorities that existed and putting himself in their place. It's not a hive mind in that he doesn't have direct control over the actions of the individuals, but is acting as a cult leader, or living god, amongst his people. The average person on that planet would likely never have the chance to leave the cult, as it encompasses the entire planet, and before integration there would be no alternate perspectives. They live and die by his word, but their choices are technically their own, as most wouldn't have had direct contact with him
MacMahon Wenzl
Totally
MacMahon Wenzl
Use desolation on the pylon. They're supposed to be near indescribable, but we've learned recently that desolation can truly destroy it
Eiv
He just does his own thing. And never wanted to play hero.
Asher Mack
Something’s definitely up. Although maybe EH is just THAT nervous about a head on confrontation with Jake. He probably believes Jake got even more levels than he did after what happened.
Doug
Maybe he could remove EH’s bloodline influence that way
D.
Jake juice to a pylon??
Doug
Ooh Carmen/Valhal joining and purging some EH worlds would be great!
Justus Saucedo
I think you might be right
Krispy sock
😂😂 I got too many subs, but I really meant Jake’s fml
Mark
Awww yeah, draining a plentery core time!!!! So excited!
Ender419
I think these are good possibilities but I have a third, some how have Sandy consume it to enlarge their internal sub-space while at the same time have the planet be doomed for self-destruction.
Sailesh Kumar Kumar
I am secretly hoping ell does not show and Jake has to do weird shit to pylon
Doug
I don’t think this is something that Jake should do, or should feel comfortable doing. Mentioning some of his justifications helps that he also recognizes this is t his best moment. In agreement with brjenness though, the Nahoom are going to force Jake and team to kill them all one way or the other. I’m not saying that makes it better to kill them before that point. In this story/multiverse that’s probably a big debate. I think that the way EH’s bloodline and emotional manipulation/control/takeover of his planet has been described, it would likely be at least a few thousand years before a generation of kids started questioning. On that planet one day ago, if someone spoke poorly of EH, I think it’s easy to assume they would be jailed at best, but likely killed for blasphemy. That level of “belief” doesn’t go away. If a parent believes it that much, they’ll make sure their kids never verbally express any doubt. They’ll also make sure their grandkids don’t. And if they are E grade, or D grade, how long will they live and how many generations will they infect with that belief. Recap: Jake is doing a bad thing. I think it is unavoidable in this circumstance (he either kills them before the fight, or they come after him after he kills EH), but it feels less bad to be doing it in self defense vs using it to get EH to come to him. Also, I love this story and think Jake is a great character because he’s not perfect. If he shows regret or has a moment after this is over where he realizes how many people he killed, that will be even better
Doug
@Michael It’s definitely the arguments of Jacob for why he stays part of the holy church
Sloth
It really does seem like something his bloodline would do. I’m frankly surprised it didn’t tell Cheeto’s bloodline to fuck off
Doug
Now I want a scene where the system tries to remove something from Jake’s memory and his bloodline tells the system to fuck off. “THUMP” Jake had no idea why his bloodline had awoken “THUMP” … “THUMP” “THUMP” “THUMP” Knowledge restored. New title earned New levels gained
Roy Boy Meyer
Planetary sacrifice😍🫶🏼🔥finallyyyyy
Doug
ETA TL;DR Jake is not the good guy here, but the outcome seems inevitable. Agreed that he’s not being a good guy here. I don’t think that leaving them alive would result in anything different though. The way they behaved in this chapter, and have previously been described, they would absolutely go on a religious war to avenge their God. There’s no story here that wouldn’t end up with Jake or team having to wipe out every Nahoom that was affected. Again, not saying it’s good, and sure for morality that we have generally on earth, he would be viewed as more good and less villain if he “self defense” killed the entire race vs doing it to draw EH out. But either way at some point it would happen.
brjenness
Could Jacob be stalling as a friend of Jake or an agent of the church. I don't think the church wants the bloodline with how f-ed up it is. People loyal to him instead of the church.
Doug
I agree with AfroMocha, and also to add: EH would have to start telling a story in order to get that build up. It took Yip several years to build up to “full-power”, and that was with god that was already known to be evil throughout the multiverse
brjenness
If this was a movie from the last decade, Jake would head to the core and run into the leader of the resistance. The snarky little leader would belittle Jake, constantly berate him, and show him how to cure the people without killing them all.
Doug
For Jake that would be the smarter political move, but if that happened it would seem out of character. I can see Miranda or someone on Jake’s “team” planning that, but not Jake himself. Plus he’s tired of dealing with EH and just wants to get this over with. But yeah, unless EH is 100% positive he can kill Jake without issue, there’s not any good reason for him to show up. When looking at the long life he could have with the holy church, the believers on his planet would eventually be such a small drop in the bucket
the oldest dream
Yes i think it's the best time to use both the offering skills (heretic/chosen)
Beef Wrench
Hero..anti hero... Why put a label on it? To me Jake is just Jake
Jake Schmitz
If his goal is to get el-hobo to show up, couldn't he just claim the pylon? Dingle nuts would get notified and have only so long to get there before losing control of the planet, right? Or he could destroy it. One option gets the desired result and one is more appealing for us readers...
Richard Rader
Now I’m hoping El Orange F*ck doesn’t show and we can see Jake transmute the pylon
Doug
Agreed. Puppets, or almost drones of hive queens
BumAssBumAss
Maybe that's just our perspective. If it was, the holy church might be more hesitant about allying with him. While it feels like a karmic plague, EH's bloodline technically isn't a plague. I believe it's more along the lines of, Jake only sees destroying the planet as a way to get to EH and nothing else. He isn't a saint and won't bother saving people who aren't worth his time
Doug
Do you think Jake finishes it or gets interrupted? My bet is he has it mostly ready, EH shows up, and the chapter ends. Next week, fight! And then finishing the ritual, because you can’t leave all those people with that level of hatred they’re about to have
Doug
It was definitely longer than a minute. “ After a good while, they had covered mostly everything and Ell’Hakan sighed. ” Jacob purposefully stalled eh for as long as he could, AFTER EH spent however long going through the usurper ritual. Idk how long or short that was but the chapter mentioned people being swapped in and out as well, so I assume it’s at least a few minutes, maybe longer?
KingGoomba
I think Zog is gonna rug pull us, we all want a planetary sacrifice too much. He is hinting at it to trick us
Dalton Service
Well when they met in Nevermore Jake's bloodline completely dominated EH's right?
Shaibene
These people are all ready dead
kingofshibainu
So, if Jake uses his skill to offer the planet, what will he get in return? Ah! Maybe little bit of yup of yore Villy saved him? Also wonder what the impact to Elkie will be given his path and power deriving a great deal from that planet
kingofshibainu
Blame Zog!
Hanson
I hope so
jord
Hi yi hiya forces
jord
Planetary sacrifice time. Oh boy
austin kutz
Maybe but who cares? I personally think he should have gone after their sun and moon, but it isn't such a big deal for him to destroy a few cities
Thenais
he totally is being framed right now
TyranT-Rex
I was actually wondering the same, will this give him power similar to a false god
TyranT-Rex
You guys think Jake is going to get enough levels from the ritual to meet the first sage after?
Naomi Roberts
Corruption and transmutation here we go!! Awesome.
Exaiter
Fookin sacrifice in the name of Villy the viper 😂
Michael Ferguson
The system rewards all paths. This ethics you speak of are the argument of the weak.
Trugath
Finally!
Phoenixdrop
I’m just hoping we’ll get to see that new skill he got as he does this I mean it is a offering skill so he could definitely use it here and that would be one heck of a way to use his new heretic-chosen skill for the first time
Michael Ferguson
Let the bess-id time of sacrifice begin. May it bring many records and xp to the chosen.
Wesley
I mean, Jake was never written to be a hero, more of an anti hero if anything
Michael Ferguson
DA GIT SHOUTS WAAAGH. AN’ OTHER GITZ JOIN IN IF DEY AIN’T SOFT. WEZ DEN RUN AN’ GET TO DA CHOPPY CHOPPY.
Andyr98
Well 1 argument for planetary sacrifice there is a literal false god who may or may not be dead probably no and is Powered by the fanatical followers who knows what bonuses to records EH gets from all them
Michael Ferguson
sacrifice, sacrifice, SACRIFICE
joe schmoe
Main character hints at sacrificing a planet and my first thought is about how much XP that would net. What has Zog done to me lol.
Michael Ferguson
"In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law...? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control, even over his own will."
Adept
PSR PSR PSR
Azazel
Agreed, still have yet to find out why Carmen joined up with Arnold too
Azazel
Ahhhh cliffhanger!! Daddy needs a new pair of planetary sacrifices!!
Landon Tucker
We are the crowd at the coliseum. AND WE DEMAND TO BE ENTERTAINED! 😂😅
Landon Tucker
SACRIFICE
Landon Tucker
SACRIFICE. THAT. PLAAANEEETTTT!!
InfernoDroid
In no way was what he did not a genocide. I would not even call them actively aggressive as we haven't seen them being antagonist towards anyone unless EH is directing them. Honestly though, saying you don't even qualify them as people anymore is genuinely disturbing as even in this chapter they are shown to still have personalities and consciousness. It hasn't been stated that killing EH would kill them. Realistically killing him away from the planet would stop thee continued effects of his bloodline on the planet. While this wouldn't effect the people currently alive, they would still have children in time that wouldn't be affected by the bloodline, and in less time that it will take Jake to reach godhood EH would just become a God in name and history only. So, yea I would say what Jake did was evil. But honestly, I don't read the series for him being a hero. I enjoy that his kinda a selfish bastard, it's okay to admit he's not the good guy here, but still like him in the context of the story and world.
brjenness
JJ, I agree with everything you are saying. i also believe a lot of horrific things are done by people who see themselves as good and justify anything they do because they are fighting evil, but... this is a multiverse where every person is a potential nuclear bomb. plagues can wipe out planets in days. if Jake kills El and leaves the planet alone, sylphie, Miranda, or all of earth will be killed sooner or later. in Jake's position, I'm killing them all or giving them to waspy to control. this is also a multiverse that the only hard rule is there are certain factions you do not mess with. Jake does not protect his people unless he is one of those few u don't piss off.
Darshar Griffonmane
I am slightly disturbed by how many readers are super excited for a planetary sacrifice. Only slightly though. tyftc!
InfernoDroid
It would be closer to saying it's okay to eradicate a cult. The individuals aren't too blame, they have done nothing wrong. It's even shown in this chapter that their personalities are intact. He genocided them purely to get EH's attention. Killing EH wouldn't have killed them all, and in a few generations their society would have recovered as the children would have been born without the conditioning. In this fictional world were might is right, sure it's just a thing that happens, but that's more of a condemnation on how little value the setting puts on life. It's okay to line the MC and still realize what he did was not the actions of a good person
Stephen Heng
Let’s gooo!!! Planetary sacrificial ritual!!!!
Daniel Golding
PSR! PSR!
Ben
Kinda hoping the people from the 93rd at the Order are unleashed on King Iludar’s world
Jerad Murphy
This is a trap! It’s a trap!
Rewdan
The Great work continues. This a tougher chapter to read as the hero is doing non hero stuff. For the their own good. I do wonder how is this going to impact on Jake once it’s all over. 🤔
SilverSentry
Fair, but even William was wary on that fuck faces planet. Maybe he's not taking it as seriously as he should be. Specifically because of the records he usurped from YY... he doesn't even know about whatever message was sent.
Johnny_B
I think his tummy would disagree with that idea, he still hasn't even partially digested his last meal.
Johnny_B
The world isn't always black and white. What's right and wrong depends on the ethics of the observer and even then it's not always unambiguous. For the people on the planet, Jake is the bad guy. For his own faction, he is ridding the universe of irredeemable brain-washed zealots which I'd say makes him a hero. Maybe he can be a villain-hero to complement his heretic-chosen :)
Seth
Great chapter. Jake has never been presented as a moral beacon, so it would be wrong to expect it from him now. It’s important for his continued growth that he lean toward the multiverses views on morality, which is basically, ‘what’s a sacrificed planet or two,’ rather than get caught up in old world thinking. Of course, what he’s doing is terrible, but it would be weird for him to baulk at this point. Sacrifice that planet!
kingofshibainu
Yes!! Planetary sacrifice!
Gavriel
Honestly though, didn't William basically say these dudes are functionally robots?
ChRiAn
"Even as the destructive arcane arrow struck only a dozen meters from them, exploding and sending out pure destructive energy that consumed all three, they only felt grateful to take part in the grand design of their god." -> there were four people there.
joel southard
Nice thank you for the chapter
Jordan Jones
For others concerned about ethics: Prefacing with the obligatory “I’m not going anywhere, love the story as is” disclaimer. However, feeling conflicted is normal when hard decisions are made. Yeah, they’re brainwashed minions, but killing the defenseless, the elderly, the young, is always going to leave a rotten taste in my mouth. Evil snake super-god best friend aside, the guard rails were that Jake’s appetite for stronger foes meant that the weak were safe from him. This is addressed as EH’s bloodline being so pernicious, infectious, and pervasive on this planet that all avenues other than wiping the planet clear of all life are pointless as they will still be mind slaves even after death. But my point is, why? Why not have the mind slave effect end when he dies? How does anyone know that it won’t? For that matter, and I’m no vegetarian, let alone vegan, but why have every form of life have the potential and even inclination to be sapient given enough levels, making it akin to murder if you want to eat food? I feel like it’s a necessary entailment if you have vegetation that can become gods (Yggdrasil), and makes everything consistent, but it’s still extremely uncomfortable ethically, and makes total war, and the utter annihilation of species, or planets, not only reasonable, but necessary in cases like this. Otherwise, in this situation, you are risking an endless jihad against your own faction. At least, however, we hadn’t before had our main character here wiping out cities full of sapient individuals, and for no gain, either? Why bait EH in this way, exactly? Is EH going to confront Jake now, when he has the disadvantage of protecting his cities and people from stray shots while fighting someone who can and would take advantage of that? Why risk that if he doesn’t care? Why shouldn’t EH just blow up Earth in retaliation? Is genocide going to become a “necessary” evil in this story because of the way things are set up? Enjoying the ride and all, but I’m not sure why glassing cities full of weaklings is the only way, here.
Horacio Solano
If not planetary sacrificial ritual, at least a planet core corruption to corrput all the records from the planet into EH
Austin Byrd
There are no good or bad guys in this story. Your morality is outdated. Everything is in shades of gray anyways, in life; but especially in this story. The only metric that we can even use is power. But if we are going to judge Jake by our current societies standards, then I’d say what he’s doing is a mercy killing (even if he’s just doing it to taunt Cheeto). And you’re tremendously downplaying with the word brainwashing. And you’re over embellishing with the word genocide. You simplified this into Jake being a bad guy. When I said mercy killing, I simplified this into Jake being a good guy. Neither are correct. Reality is gray and there’s no ‘right’ choice of what to do with the Nahoom people. They’re an actively aggressive group to the last man woman and child. All of them are 100% willing to do anything for Cheeto. It’s incredibly disturbing and personally, I’d say a strong argument could be made they don’t even qualify as real people anymore. I’d say it’s more similar to exterminating a planet that Vespy or one of the other bugqueens has drones on.
Kirivina
Zac's not in this story. He's in Defiance of the Fall.
D
I kinda see them as cursed and like a plague
Exaiter
Yooooo! Fuck that planet up!
A. B. Edwards
Curse the pylon, feed it to Eternal Hunger, destroy it (doubt he can) or planetary sacrificial ritual, none of it makes a difference. At the end of the day, they need to go. Jake is strong but he has no idea how much stronger Orange became after taking Yip's Path. So he has to do something. Honestly should have started with a Sacrificial Ritual from the start, just get it over with and have the orange fuck come back to a planet with nothing there.
Chewbacchus
Small typo: 'If he kept moving and [shot arrows would] weird angles' 》 [shooting arrows with]
Lawrence
SACRIFICE SACRIFICE SACRIFICE SACRIFICE Thanks for the chapter, this shit is what I look forward to. Also curious how many levels cheeto got and if it will hamper or help him as Jake presses the delete button on his planet.
Sloth
I wonder if he can get his bloodline to develop some kind of mental resistance? The exact effects of his bloodline are elusive, I think the primary effects such as his presence resistance, powerful soul, perception increase, and maybe even perception sphere, are just incidental aspects of his primal origin energy reacting with his body and soul (this is why many of these aspects can be transferred to those near him). It is not far fetched to believe that he could get the primal origin energy to change his mind to better deflect mental influence. It’s very on-theme with his soul and presence resistance, as well as his sense of superiority. How can he be superior to anyone if they can just come along and fuck with his mind? I like this as a story development, not just as a way to counter Cheeto, but also as a way to maybe counter the system’s mental influence/memory manipulation (keeper of forbidden knowledge 2?)
Hayden Leech
Zac….. yeah I don’t remember a Zac
Corac
Oh I so wish he can sacrifice the planet to villy. Villy has been wanting that for years lol
Chioke Nelson
You are essentially arguing that Jake is the bad guy for killing the Borg...
Matt Spratte
Sacrifice that fucking planet! Ever since Willam had reported on how fucked it was i wanted it to be Sacrificed! Especially with how much villy mentions it we gotta see it now!
wartgalore
Called it. Jakes a psychopath for real 🤣
Krispy sock
Man I really am bummed out we didn’t get to see Zac’s pov after the viper wrecked Yip, I feel that was a pretty huge scene we never got. Did he reveal his heretic path to the universe, did he get any boosts, did he talk to viper? Edit— Jake not Zac..
AetherBoye
It's not any more evil than killing an entire planet full of robots or people who want to brainwash the entire universe
Austin Barton
Planetary sacrifice ritual for the win.
Rahsheem Reid
Dammmn.Idc if he curses it or sacrifices all of them to Villy but fuck that whole psych ward of a planet.
Razeel Nightfall
Like the viper said. In the long run what is the difference between a village of enlightened and a village of shit throwing monkeys?
Nexas Aurelias
PLANATARY SACRIFICE!
InfernoDroid
Okay, so let's all be clear, in this instance, Jake is the bad guy. Just because they're all brainwashed doesn't make a genocide not evil. But honestly, Jake's never really been the good guy, he's always been one that only cares about him and his people. It's just that everyone that's been in his way has been worse. Also, this isn't a critique or an admonishment, just a "let's be honest here" statement
Tucker Glick
Damn it’d be funny if Jake tried to eat another pylon… I know that’s not what is being hinted at but still.
Klown Keidra
He doesn't really want to sacrifice the planet. He knows he has to kill and cause destruction to make El' show up, but he doesn't really want to go full on sacrificing the whole planet of people unless he has too. Which he seemly does now.
NovaZero
You know what would have been funny? If he'd fed the planet to his Sin weapon.
NovaZero
Like what happened to the king in his tutorial. He goes primal and permits the opponent to only have prima thoughts. Like fear?
Abhishek
Cursing the pylon? Interesting.
kinglemur
WOOOOOO. FUCK YEAH PLANETARY SACRIFICIAL RITUALS
AfroMocha
I don’t think jake cares about that. I think Jake is quite confident that he can kill Cheetos regardless.
Daniel Hamilton
Also, curious if the final showdown is what we push Jake’s bloodline to evolve again. So far it’s happened at every grade but usually after going through a unique challenge or situation
Corvid
As fun as a sacrifice would be, I think it'll go bad. EH usurped Yip's path and skills partly. Meaning he probably gains power from stories like Yip even more than before. And what would give him a better boost than trying to fight the mad dog chosen who sacrificed his entire home planet. It'll be interesting to see what goes down.
lockx
More like sacrifice while believing in him gives more growth?
Daniel Hamilton
Curious, if that’s part of what he’s been filling, so it’s not his actual thought to go do it but suggestion or a feeling. It’s really a trap. Last time they were in contact, it took his bloodline a while to break through the suggestions made by the Orange scourge.
JJB4345_80_815
Yes, thank you for the chappy Zogarth! Ya Malefic Teaser you! Ha!
Gwiddion
I think Jake should have presented the state of the planet to multiple other world leaders and make an argument for cleansing as if it is a form of karmic plague. I can definitely see EH just using this to paint Jake as the unreasonable bloodthirsty chosen that is going around killing whomever he wants to get his way. And since he now has the church he doesn't really need his home planet. In the case that he needs to be a world leader I can see him being transferred the leadership of a planet in his alliance. So I don't see EH appearing and just playing political games till he fully powers up.
Ty Cooper
You saying this is all part of EH's story bs.
Mason
Nah I don’t think so. Ell’hakan doesn’t seem to care about the proximity to his believers, only that they exist. A god’s divine realm is tailor-made by them and empowered with their energy
J W
Why didn't he start with a sacrifice? It's interesting that Jake likes alchemy but forgets the huge gains he gets from first time application of skills. "I'm a hunter I like shooting arrows tthat give me zero experience"...
Ty Cooper
Woo! Planetary sacrifice
MarineDebris
I don't really think calling it brainwashing is accurate, though. Ell-Hakan's bloodline induces an immediate, lasting, fundamental alteration of anyone within range, and it's governed by the will of someone with an ability that transcends manipulation. Add in the fact that he gains more power based on the number of people he affects, his people aren't a cult. They are puppets. When Cheeto holds actual power over millions, as opposed to perceived power, cult is way, way too small of a word
SilverSentry
Oh, man. He's ignoring the weird feelings he's getting that's never a good sign.
MarineDebris
Bro, YESSS!!
Steven Tuttle
nope thats my guy i hope he does kill them all and cheeto dont even come now that cheeto has yips skills and stuff this will build in to cheetos story of jake being evil and giving him more of a power up so when jake kills him them records are super tastey
Justin Moen
But I want it now! Maybe it will be during the fight😂😂
Den
Amen to that. Also he's the chosen of the Malefic Viper, not of the Kawaii Fluffy Kitten
Josh Hietpas
Lol
Frédéric Cantin
TYFTC
Josh Hietpas
Jake was never the hero, hes just a dude that likes doing shit because its fun and hes selfish. Its part of what makes his actions so funny a lot kf the time
Vega
I do wonder if Jake actually doing a planetary sacrifice will change how readers view Jake
A Flashy BR
Oooo planetary sacrifice!!
Vega
Everyone’s a villain. It just depends on who’s telling the story. 🤣
Phallusar
He probably wouldn't have come to it on his own, but Nevermore closed some of the gaps in his multiversal education in regards to things like Karmic plagues. And Ell'hakan is as amoral as any Karmic plague out there.
Gitta Fekete
I think we will get a skill selection at Friday and after Jake get the [Heretic’s Offering of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)] and he will fuse it with the [Chosen’s Offering of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)] and at Monday he will do the Planetary Sacrifice with his new [Heretic-Chosen’s Offering of the Malefic Viper (Mythical)] skill.
Vega
To empower a new narrative Ell’Hakan is building up that Jake is evil? Or maybe this was when he was still being stalled by Jacob
Vega
A sorry-I-doubted-you-a-little planetary sacrifice from his Heretic Chosen
James Faulkner
Corrupt the planet! Corrupt the planet! Corrupt the planet!
Phallusar
Ah yes, when the effects of the Ell'hakan Bloodline aren't that far removed from those of a Karmic plague. And the multiverse at large has definite views on those.
BumAssBumAss
It's true that the augur is stalling, but it was only a minute or so at best. That conversation was not very long. I still think we can't disregard the planet's inhabitants being incompetent
Dan
That's what I thought he was gonna do in the first place, imagine the profession XP gain he's about to get lmao
Despair
Poor jake meeting the timeless facts you either die a hero , or you live long enough to become the villain :)
Vega
Sacrifice! Sacrifice! Sacrifice!
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
George Campbell
SAC-RI-FICE! SAC-RI-FICE! SAC-RI-FICE!
Andromeda Adams
Here we go! Planetary Sacrificing time! Tyftc!
GrimeyPu
Planetary sacrifice! Feels good when your prediction comes true
Leo Jeral
I never thought I would read a book, rooting for the indiscriminate slaughter of an entire planet, but here we are. Planetary Sacrifice!!!
Matthias
Tftc
Kat
Everyone is calling Ell'hakan's people cultists for being brainwashed while also calling for a planteary sacrifice Looks like zogarth has a cult of their own 🤣
Matthew Parker
Ell'haktuah is busy usurping as this is going on. He is inside a formation that is blocking any incoming messages and, Jacob is in no rush to tell him what's happening!!
deus vault
Why stop there? There might be other planets ellakkhan infected! Sacrifice them ALLLLLLL.
Doctordirt
That'll be after the ell Hakan fight
Neneera
Time to corrupt the core
Kt-x
Thanks for the chapter! 🙂
Dave
Finally we get to see the planetary sacrifice ritual!!
Tevin Pruitt
The planet killing sacrifice thingy
Mat
Is this not the equivalent of trying to fight a god in their divine realm? A recently empowered one with local elites to assist
Justin Moen
Can we skip to the first sage yet??? I’m dying here
One Winged Angel
SACRIFICE SACRIFICE SACRIFICE!!!!!
S.w.
Planetary SACRIFICE!!!!!
ReyWargen
Będę bardzo rozczarowany jeśli nie uda się poświęcić planety 😬
Paulo Furlaneto
Aaaaaaaaaaa Zog, tftc
Esch
It would be so funny If Jake got to do the Planetary Sacrifice Ritual because everyone in Cheetoland is so delusional that they think the Ritual is Cheeto's doing
Loststar7
Thanks for the chapter. Looking forward to that planetary sacrifice 😈
Brendon
One of us! One of us! One of us!
Beemoss
Tftc
karamitros paparizas
planetary sacrifice time
Phasmatic7
PLANETARY SACRIFICE RITUAL.... IS IT FINALLY HAPPENING? Thankies zogie!
Darshar Griffonmane
I think you're 100% right on no one reporting just based on the intro to the chapter. They all think it's Cheeto doing this to begin with. What a fracked up planet.
lockx
Why do I feel like this is empowering El'hawktuah?
Catherine Jones
Planetary sacrifice ritual! Let's go!
Loading Error
I really want to see the planetary sacrifice ritual 🤣
Jennifer Leigh
Thanks for the Nahoom view. That was beyond creepy.
Cory Sauls
Hmm. Did not expect Jake to do this. I get that the people are a lost cause but to just indiscriminately kill them all just seems wrong for Jake’s path. I’m guessing planetary destruction is next.
Noah Mclelland
And the waiting starts again...
Karim Saadi
Holy shit it's happening
Wselby64
PLANETARY SACRIFICE TIME!!
Henry
If I recall the augur and ell’hakin are having a rather long conversation.
Wimsey's daughter
We're getting a planetary sacrifice, gents 😁
Beckendwarf
The time has come. Planetary sacrifice is upon us
C0bra$
Thank u for the story
Sir2319
Thanks for the chapter my good chap
Specter
I wonder... why wait to do whatever he's thinking of with the pylon?
Thaynian
Sacrifice Sacrifice Sacrifice
Den
Am I rooting for the villains? Yes, yes I am. Go Jake!
Sean
Yay a planetary sacrifice is just around the corner
Jana
At this point I firmly believe that El Hakans Bloodline is too close to a karmic plague - even for the holy church. They may try to experiment with it and get a less fucked up mutation but the pure Thing feels like something belonging on a kill on sight list.
Arrogant Savant
Planetary sacrifice ritual time Pog
Mantiqore
PLA! NE! TA! RY! SA! CRI! FICE!
michael pigott
Jake is probably avoiding moons after last time....
Cryingwisp
Tftc also planetary sacrifice ritual coming right up y’all
the oldest dream
Friday Is going to be a planetary sacrificial ritual cliffhanger, I can feel it. At the same time I am quite curious about using heretical and chosen skills at the same time.
BumAssBumAss
Either ell'hakan saw that Jake's attack is a trap or the people of his planet are so delusional they fail to report anything to their leader. William said it was easy to gather information and infurtrate into the planet and it's people.
Naotsugu97
😈
CamChains
tftc
Renn
Is it finally time for the fabled planetary sacrifice ritual?
John Anastacio
Aww. I'm disappointed in Jake. How lacking in imagination, to attack a bunch of religious fanatics. Attack the moon! Attack the moons! Deprive EH of his Celestial Mommies!
Michael Ferguson
Thanks for the chapter
Tommy
LFG!!!! TFTC Edit to add: yes! Finally! Planetary ritual time woop
Connor
Thanks for the chapter
Gavin Smith
Tftc
BumAssBumAss
Thanks for the chapter
