Zogarth
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Chapter 980 - Durability Test
🕑 Added 2024-08-21 11:20:33 +0000 UTCBack on Earth at Jake’s lodge, more information came in from both William and Arnold, with Sylphie also sending a bit, which only made Jake more and more determined.
”I told you I’m going,” Jake said in a harsh tone, refusing to hear otherwise as he prepared to storm out of his lodge and straight to Arnold’s teleporter to take him to the planet where the Fallen King and Sylphie currently were in the midst of fighting.
“No, you are not,” Miranda said in an even harsher tone as she stepped in front of Jake, blocking the door.
“Yes, I fucking am,” Jake said, clenched his fists. “We have no idea what’s truly going on over there, and I’ll-“
“That’s exactly why you’re not going,” Miranda interrupted Jake, looking him straight in the eyes. “Take just one moment to actually think for once. We have no information. All we know is that there is some kind of plot that trapped the two of them on the planet, and now, apparently, this “I” creature is there… an entity we know is incredibly dangerous due to your own testimony. And you want to just head there like a headless chicken?”
Jake wanted to defend himself, but Vesperia quickly also spoke up. “I concur with the verdant witch. This is obviously a trap, and that is clear to all. Moreover, it’s difficult to believe it’s coincidental this happened while you are still injured.”
“What she said,” Miranda jumped in again. “Even if we assume they didn’t know you were injured, that just makes it all worse. They are clearly aware we can teleport to other planets, which can only mean they expected some kind of support to arrive. If you show up injured while they expect you at all power… do I need to say more?”
William, who really wasn’t part of the conversation, stood uncomfortably in the corner, though from the look on his face, he clearly also thought heading to help the Fallen King and Sylphie would be questionable.
Still…
“I don’t need to go alone,” Jake insisted. “Even if the Sword Saint isn’t here to help… if Arnold, Vesperia, Eron, and Sandy all come with me, I’m sure that we could handle anything they have to throw at us.”
“In the current moment of time, we are sure of nothing,” Vesperia sighed. “I also wish to go and assist them, but the risk is simply too high. If they are in a situation where the two of them can’t escape, all of us going there will do is put more lives at risk… more accurately, the lives of those among us who are not skilled at escape. I simply cannot take such a risk as a True Royal and the last of my line… nor can I in good conscious agree you go as my Sire.”
“To add… I don’t think you can convince Arnold to go even if you tried… but we could look into Sandy going alone, as they should be able to get away, though everything is always risky when it comes to the concept of desolation,” Miranda said, deep in thought.
Jake really didn’t like the thought of just sending someone and not going with them. Especially when they were dealing with something like desolation. No matter what, though… they needed to act fast if they wanted to offer any kind of assistance whatsoever.
“Alright,” Jake said, looking serious. “Here’s the plan. I go together with Sandy and Eron inside of Sandy’s stomach to not expose myself. Our goal is only extraction, not fighting, and if things get too dangerous, I know Sandy has a way to survive… but I doubt even a peak C-grade would be able to stop Sandy if Sandy really wanted to run. If all else fails, I still have one more hidden card to play.”
Miranda and Vesperia didn’t look happy with what Jake said, but he wasn’t the kind of person who could just sit still and do nothing while Sylphie and the Fallen King were under attack.
Seeing how determined Jake looked, the two women relented, and Miranda sent a few quick messages, with Vesperia sighing. “Come back safe and be careful, alright? Your life takes priority over everyone else’s, so if it truly comes to it, you must-“
“Stop,” Jake said, raising a hand. “I’m not gonna abandon any of my friends or family as long as I’m still breathing. No arguments. And right now, I’m pretty damn sure I’m still drawing breath.”
Vesperia looked like she wanted to comment but ended up just nodding. Miranda seemed done sending messages and looked at Jake. “Head to the teleporter now. Sandy and Arnold will be waiting there, and I also got a message Eron agreed to help and is heading there, as he also wants to observe this creature of desolation more closely. And, no matter what you say, do be careful. The Fallen King and Sylphie are both powerful in their own rights, and we’re not even sure they need anything more than a lift back to Earth.”
“Let’s hope that’s the case,” Jake said, heading out the door with Miranda having moved out of the way. William looked hesitant for a moment before coming along with Jake, speaking on the way.
“I should be able to increase the accuracy of the teleportation slightly,” he said in a careful tone, keeping up with Jake, who entered stealth while running, the karma mage doing the same thing as he switched to telepathy. “I tried hard to figure out who is behind this, and I did feel a connection to Ell’Hakan from the one we captured, not nothing definitive. The connection felt odd, warped, a bit akin to the other Chosen’s own planet… I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t think Ell’Hakan is directly involved with this entire thing. Some karmic remnants of his influence do still linger, though. That’s all I can really tell at this moment.”
Jake looked at the karmic mage for a moment and considered what he said. He also considered that William offered to help with the teleportation, but no matter how much William kept trying to prove himself, Jake still couldn’t bring himself to fully trust the guy. So having him potentially affect the teleportation…
“How about you come along with Sandy and me to check out this creature yourself? Then maybe you can get a better understanding of any links to Ell’Hakan or other enemies it might have,” Jake offered, in part to keep an eye on the guy and in part because he really wanted to know if Ell’Hakan was actually involved. The guy hadn’t made any outright hostile moves in a while, and with the Fangs of Man theater Jake pulled off, this timing was very odd if Ell’Hakan was the schemer who’d planned it.
“If you’re fine with that, I will… I did consider asking, but I assumed you would reject,” William said, his answer not sounding like a guy who had planned to do anything shady.
The two of them kept sprinting to the teleporter, as Jake could only hope this entire rush was entirely in vain and that Sylphie and the Fallen King already had the situation fully handled and were just happy to get a ride home… though his intuition wasn’t very comforting.
--
The Fallen King had battled many creatures during his life, especially while inside Nevermore. Quite a few unique ones, too, including, of course, two Unique Lifeforms in Minaga and the Ashen Devourier. Unique Lifeforms were known as very powerful but limited creatures… but this Desolate Child of Loss was by far the most limited the King had ever seen. At least, he believed it was, based on how it fought so far.
Despite the progression of the fight and the constant damage the creature took from the continuous attacks of the King and Sylphie, it had yet to use a single skill. At least there were no apparent usages of skills. Its fighting style was just to take hits head-on without reacting while shooting out waves of desolation from its limbs and body while sometimes haphazardly lashing out.
However, more frustrating than anything was one simple fact he and Sylphie reached after they had been fighting for around seven or eight minutes:
They were losing despite how everything looked.
Swinging his golden hammers, the Desolate Child of Loss was struck from below and sent flying into the air as a crescent wave of wind left a cut on the shoulder of the creature, sending it spinning. Yet it quickly stabilized and waved its hand to release a cloud of desolation toward them, forcing them to retreat.
They couldn’t back off for too long, though, as the King attacked again, shooting beams of golden force while Sylphie continued with her cutting wind. Both of them were heavily limited in what attacks they could use, Sylphie more so than the Fallen King, as she couldn’t do her usual drive-by and charging attacks. In a brief moment of testing, she also confirmed that entering her wind form was borderline akin to assisted suicide as it would kill her in minutes within the domain of desolation constantly released by the Desolate Child of Loss.
Attacks such as big whirlwinds were also out of the question, and Sylphie’s Authority was entirely useless as there was no wind for her to command. The Fallen King’s usual blasts of force were also nearly entirely useless, and many of his soul attacks just didn’t reach the creature but were made desolate before taking effect. The desolation was affecting everything. The environment, Sylphie and the Fallen King, their magic and concepts, and most certainly the Desolate Child of Loss itself. Nothing was left untouched.
And, truly, that was the crux of why, despite the Desolate Child of Loss being constantly on the back foot and not having landed a single blow aside from the one touch on the King and Sylphie’s wing, the two of them were still losing.
It was a slow loss. Subtle. Insidious. The desolation wormed its way in to affect the two of them, even without them noticing. Healing desolation also took far more energy than other wounds. Being injured with the concept of desolation did not cause permanent or even semi-permanent damage immediately, but the mere fact it had the possibility of turning permanent was what made it so dangerous.
If a wound infected with the concept of desolation was left long enough, it would also make the Soulshape desolate until it passed a certain threshold of no return, at which point the damage would be semi-permanent, only fixable by evolution or someone extremely powerful interfering. Someone capable of fully eliminating the concept of desolation and reshaping the soul of the injured.
All of this is to say that he and Sylphie had to spend exorbitant amounts of energy to keep the desolation at bay while also attacking a foe that was barely affected by their attacks from the looks of it. Again, the King could see they did damage, and it was reasonable to conclude the Desolate Child of Loss would die at some point if they just kept attacking… but he had no way to determine when that would be, and it was a gamble they were unwilling to take the creature would drop dead before them.
Alternatives were already being discussed, and soon, it appeared a good plan was found.
The Fallen King received a telepathic message from Sylphie, informing him that help was on the way in the form of Jake, the healer from the Dao Sect, and the cosmic worm. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the King and Sylphie had already discussed running, but both had been reluctant due to their innately prideful natures. They both wanted to see if they could win and only run if it became absolutely certain they couldn’t… at least not without doing something very extreme with long-lasting consequences.
“How long till they get here? In rough estimates?” the Fallen King asked.
“Ree,” she sent back, naturally not knowing… all that was clear was that they wouldn’t make it in time if this status quo kept going. They would definitely take over an hour as they would appear outside the atmosphere, and even with Sandy’s speed, it took time to arrive on the surface.
“We will need to make a tactical retreat and meet them closer to the edge of the atmosphere,” the Fallen King said, the bird in quick agreement as she unleashed a dozen air bullets, making the Desolate Child of Loss stumble with a few more small holes in its body.
Now the question just was… were they running only to escape or to turn the situation around once assistance arrived? Jake was weakened, yes, but even in his weakened state he should still be powerful. Dependent on how much the two of them were losing, there was a good chance they could win with not only Jake to help with powerful ranged attacks but also Eron, an extremely powerful healer who could alleviate many of their endurance-related challenges.
Sylphie clearly also had these considerations and asked the Fallen King what he wanted to do, and after a moment of consideration, he reached a conclusion.
“Let us see exactly how durable this creature is… if nothing else, it should buy us time to retreat,” the Fallen King said. Sylphie didn’t take long to agree. If they dragged things out longer, it would become too risky to try anything as they wouldn’t have enough resources available if they had to retreat afterward, so now was the best time to strike.
Down on the ground, where the Fallen King and Sylphie had just launched the Desolate Child of Loss, the creature rose and began floating upwards once more, remaining entirely unbothered by the accumulating damage on its body.
If the creature truly didn’t wish to try and dodge… he and the Sylphian Hawk would show the limits of their offensive might.
The Fallen King gathered his power as the golden veins all over his body began to light up, overpowering the monochrome world. Holding out his hands to both sides, the claws turned from ivory into pure gold as he infused them with more and more power. Soul-destroying light revolved around them as the King prepared to move, just as Sylphie struck first.
Unleashing her energy and will, the Fallen King felt the wind whisk past him despite the desolation. It came from all directions as Sylphie was pulling in the wind affinity energy from outside the sphere of influence of the Desolate Child of Loss. The creature that was floating upwards just stared at her as the otherwise unseen wind began to turn green, and the attack was unleashed.
A torrent of wind, even surpassing what had slain the Twinhead Emperor, barrelled down, and despite being weakened by the desolation, it struck hard. The creature once more didn’t react as it was struck, the initial blast tearing off some of its skin and leaving small cuts all over its body as it was blasted downwards.
Soil and stone were thrown everywhere as the torrent kept going, and the King made his move. It seemed foolish, but the bird told him he could, so the Fallen King dove straight into the windstorm, only to have it all whisk harmlessly by him as the Unique Lifeform could only admire the bird’s control over her Authority.
Not that he wished to see himself outdone.
The skin and flesh were getting torn off the Desolate Child of Loss as it was unable to move while getting blasted into the ground, allowing the Fallen King to hold nothing back.
Smashing his first Golden Claw down, the soul-destroying light temporarily bathed the world golden before it faded to colorless once more. A second strike arrived a moment after, and another flash of gold lit up the area, followed by a third a moment later.
The Fallen King kept striking down, each strike tearing apart not only the body of the Desolate Child of Loss but its very soul. Fragments of bone began being torn off, as the Fallen King’s ivory claws also began to deteriorate; his body bathed in desolation as he kept striking, every hit a Golden Claw that could usually instantly kill even monsters higher level than himself.
Soon, the wind slowed down, and the Fallen King also had to retreat before the desolation could affect him too much. So much of it had been released as they kept attacking, which was only more evidence they had done significant damage.
Attending to himself, the Fallen King saw the Desolate Child of Loss lay unmoving, its body broken in several places, with many of its bones torn off and missing, with one of its arms and a leg even lying a bit away.
As a final farewell, Sylphie gathered the rest of her wind and unleashed it as a cutting crescent wind blade that hit the unresponsive creature right in the neck, severing its head, with the following explosion sending the two body parts flying in separate directions.
The Fallen King had retreated a bit away by now and was healing himself before the desolation could take hold, and a tired Sylphie also stared down at their handiwork. For a moment, the Fallen King thought that perhaps they indeed did only need a bit of help getting back to Earth… but there was one big problem.
No kill notification… and the desolation all around them seemed to only intensify in power.
Then, the King saw movement as a headless figure with half its limbs missing rose from the ground, and a voice echoed throughout.
“I… not like fight… but… you… resist… you… enemy?”
Comments
ShreddedShark
It wasn't even trying to fight them...this isn't good.
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
Ray Light
Dinnertime for me🫥
Karate Koala
I think you have it wrong. It was telling telling Sylphie and the King to Ascend. Telling them to get stronger. I think it genuinely wanted them to go home and get more powerful.
Karate Koala
The last few chapters reveal why it wasn't the best idea sending monsters alone. They keep ignoring diplomacy and continue invoking primal instincts to attack something that could harm them. Cause what happens when the Desolate Child of Loss says, "fuck it, now you find out."?
Rachel Clements
TYFTC!
Tammy
I’m over here just pushing myself to stay awake like a wild insomniac. 6am, sure, I can survive on 3 hours of sleep…
Kconraw
Thx for the chapter
Olof Karlsson
Thanks for the chapter!
Alex
Can sandy just eat them all and then count as one person? Because if people in Sandys stomachs count as people for the teleporter accuracy, then they're screwed anyway. Sandy is at the very least carrying around Tom, decent chance there's even more
Exaiter
Ashen Devourier. ~Devourer?
Exaiter
captured, not nothing definitive. But nothing?
William WIlson
We already know his secret or one of his secrets, spoiler he's not actually a child from the sun and moon like he claims. That being said I won't claim there couldn't be a second and find the idea of the desolate child being the real ruler of Ell’Hakans world interesting. This does require a few things and one goes against known cannon. Ell’Hakan took over his world 20 years before the integration. So this child or his parents had to be stranded on a different world 20 plus years ago. Now the slight problem is that it is admitted by Ell’Hakan that his planet isn't very technically minded so that means space travel is out unless all those people went with the true king or they knew about teleportation cross universe.
William WIlson
Now that could be bad, however I don't think it would be as bad as last time. Firstly there are a few powerhouses and all of Valhal would work to defend earth from last time. Jake's already has an agreement with sven that Valhal defends earth even without a shitty contract. Valhal like the Order can fight against other members and I think sven and Carmen would do it to make up for last time. Even if Ell’Hakan showed up sven would say he's already under contract to protect earth.
William WIlson
Technically the only one he's talked to about being a heretic blessed is Carmen. Jake just made William pure heretic.
Pheo
your sleeping schedule will be ruined next month.
Jake Thorpe
9pm for me I get to read it before bed
Azayrian105
Damn! I guess I am lucky but for me it comes in at like 4 AM and I just wake up early to read it when I get up. It has literally changed my sleep schedule as I used to wake up at like 8 or 9.
Austin Barton
I’m calling it here with the hint Jacob gave that there is a secret el hakan is hiding that will topple his strength, and with last chapters fallen king and desolate child conversation it is the real celestial child brought back to life from some system fuckery. And eh is a bitch that murdered a good ruler to brainwash a planet into believing him god. And I feel that’s enough to topple eh’s jenga tower of a story he’s trying to tell. Lies on lies with that one no wonder yip is cool with eversmile
Stuart Thwaites
Lucky bastard. It's after 12 midday for me so I have to wait until I get home from work.
Azayrian105
You know I find it funny. Ever since I started reading this series it has fixed my sleep schedule as I wake up at 6 AM sharp to read the new chapter.
Paulo Furlaneto
Tftc
Arieh Sochaczevski
So far the only people Jake has taught about being a heretic chosen are William and Carm… I mean Punchy-Lady. I’m convinced that’s going to come back and bite somebody at some point.
Arieh Sochaczevski
Thanks for the chapter! I’m sure Jake’s insights from the demi-core are not developed enough yet, but they’re going to turn out to be the only way of stopping I down the road.
Arieh Sochaczevski
Nah. I am confident that William’s changes are legitimate. Incomplete, and I don’t expect him to ever be Jake’s bestie or anything, but genuine. Given how we’re told the system works with both evolutions and mental illness, it just makes too much sense that he would change for the better in some ways.
John Durrett
I think I’d creation was a consequence of something they did but I could be mistaken
Tyler Owens
I love all the different theories, you can never know when eversmile is involved, William may be instrumental if he is involved, probably on purpose
Richard Rader
I was thinking the same. The trap isn’t for Jake, its for earth.
Azayrian105
I don’t know why but Kindroth never came across my mind. He is super sus.
Xien
lol this must feel like theeeee worst Groundhog Day ever!!! So many questions on how this entity came to be and whoooo “cough cough EverSmile” set this up. Lots of cat’s paws
Ty Cooper
You are probably right. He does feel super shady though, but that is politicians in general so not sure.
alaric
I highly doubt it. His savvy enough at politics and good enough at reading people that he will surely have realized his own people will be much safer under Jake than El'. He wouldn't want to destroy his own backer.
Cameron Taylor
'I' seems like exactly the worst kind of thing for Sandy to swallow. The counter to Sandy's path.
Hussein Zenki
either kindroth, holy church or ell the yapper set this up
jazz
El didn’t know who I was either during his pov chapter
Jose Reyna
TFTC
Luke Scheffe
I’m thinking I’s similar to Jake. But where Jake’s bloodline is constructive, this kid’s is destructive. The bloodline was enough to let him survive the desolation and upon reaching c grade, he took the Desolate Child of Loss profession, which to me seems analogous to Jake’s Harbinger of Primeval Origins. Now, he’s become an avatar of desolation and can’t properly understand other things. I’m thinking that something about Jake’s bloodline will change him. Maybe he’ll go crazy. Maybe he’ll understand what’s actually happening. Personally I’m hoping that he’ll get himself under control and be informally adopted by Jake. Give Vesperia a little brother.
Thenais
what about a raid on earth while jake is away ?
Luke Scheffe
He should still be mostly full up on origin energy. He can probably surpass what he did with the Valdemar image, especially if he commits to it rather than exhausting himself beforehand.
Luke Scheffe
I’m thinking he’s similar to Jake. But where Jake’s bloodline is constructive, this kids is destructive. The bloodline was enough to let him survive and at c grade, he took the Desolate Child of Loss profession, which to me seems analogous to Jake’s Harbinger of Primeval Origins.
Ty Cooper
So is it possible Kindroth set this up. Like he was trying to take Jake and company out?
Tyler Owens
Which funnily is what Jake wants, strong allies and not followers
William WIlson
I'm of the opinion that while William isn't a Jake follower he does follow Jake's path.
William WIlson
I doubt it. His original path required him to not show remorse for killing, he now has remorse. His Path has shifted to more similar to Jake's own Path. Jake Being offered Shroud of the Heretic-Chosen wasn't due to his party but William.
DBOMB YO
I'm actually really hoping William is not double-crossing...I liked his current character development and think he could be a great ally and become someone strong to fight at Jakes side.
John Durrett
He’s a result of something El and the church did I’m sure.
TheRealRoadie
Was really hoping for the return of ANGRY Jake haha. Could have been a good bit of character development seeing how he would deal with a permanent injury from charging headfirst into battle
ReadingObsessed
Does he not understand what happens as a result of his desolation? Does he think death is a door to ascension or something?
Esch
Soo any bets on what is the last hidden card Jake has on his sleeve?
EsoEasy
Very interesting that “I” really seems to think it is being helpful in its actions (with childlike innocence). The question is why. The team needs an “I” whisperer. My bet is on Eron to figure it out or Eron+William.
Kevin
Jake’s intuition is not always omniscient. He initially trusted Ell’Hakan for Villy’s sake. I also don’t think Jake’s bloodline is telling him anything about William because William is neither a friend or a foe. He could be either especially as time progresses.
Daniel Hogan
If it was his intuition, he'd know, and we'd know. This is his emotional response not bloodline response, in my opinion.
Hayden Leech
So… William is definitely not on the level? Jakes OMNISCIENT intuition is telling him this guys no good right? That’s enough for me. His bloodline is pretty much plugged directly into the universe.
TKOva
I is a monster he's absorbed and desolated 20 worlds and world cores. I have a feeling he and Erin are going to go at it.
Preston Stokes
Cant wait for the next chapter. Thanks Zog
Phasmatic7
Thankies for the chapie zogie!
JJB4345_80_815
Yes, thank you for the chappy Zogarth!
Trevor Mergen
Thanks!
joel southard
Nice thank you for the chapter
William WIlson
I'm starting to think that even if I lives and makes it threw this event it won't last much longer. While I doubt I could make it to God hood or even b grade because he lacks records that changes if he's allowed to not only destroy the entire milky way galaxy he might end up powerful enough to wipe the entire 93rd and with that the entire multiverse. I can see the system allowing gods to stop something like that. Plus this is the end and the universe should be opening up.
Chris Connolly
Last thought; if Jake convinced him eversmile got him off his path and he should find his own true path would it be possible he reverted to his original path which is be the most powerful and last man standing?
William WIlson
I don't think William is doing any emotional or mental manipulations. I think William is grateful to Jake become Jake helped him break the Karmic curse and escape Eversmile’s influence
Jake Thorpe
I don't think they will kill it this fight. It will most likely be a retreat and the final fight will be on Earth but I hope it goes to Ell’Hakans planet and uses desolation to destroy the fake karmic bonds he has exposing the weakness Jacob was talking about
John Looney
I seems more like eron than anyone else they fight basically the same way with opposite concepts like the desolate child vs the child of dao
Hayden Leech
Really hope this thing turns out to be chill. Jakes has a heavy counter to its element in scales right? Jake beats it up and pretty much explains how it’s been acting like a jerk. Then uno reverse it right back at the Church/Guardian Alliance.
Jake Thorpe
Being a living calamity is fine the key is control its fine to destroy worlds but when the entity dose not have any control over the calamity then its not ok karmic plagues are different from plagues because they spread on their own and can go wildly out of control. Having a constant aura of desolation with the super low intelligence and having wiped out over 20 worlds in like 2 years at c grade having that thing become a god would be to much of a risk. But idk maybe it Jake can somehow transform it to have higher intelligence and more control it could work. But most likely they will fight not kill it and retreat and the final fight will be on Earth or maybe it will go to Ell’Hakans world and expose the weakness Jacob was on about maybe destroying his fake karmic bonds
Hayden Leech
I kinda hope it’s chill. Basically Jake and Scarlett but it’s a horrific desolation monster that’s killed over twenty planets. “NO! No! No desolating cities. Bad!”
Ben Walker
I’m blaming a dodgy priest from the church for stuffing up a mass sacrifice to finish the event and kill a Prima.
angel
We are definitely getting the worst fucking cliffhanger possible before December tyftc
Michael
I know it's not likely to happen, but it's still just a fun idea, one that would be great to throw at ellhakan to destroy his world
Michael
Come on, pretty much all Jake's creations have the potential to be beings of calamity, sylphie, vesperia, sandy, and temlat (not creation but student whose path was directly affected by Jake to become a sentient calamity) only makes sense that a sentient desolation calamity would look at Jake and be like "Are you father"
Kevin Watson
although considering what we’ve been told about the strength of this desolation, plus Jake’s recent massive failure with Origin Energy, i’d assume this fight ends in a straight up kill, or more likely, an escape
Jake Thorpe
Na tho it would be cool but the fact it has a constant desolation aura around it would make it impossible as it would accidentally kill everyone and everything around it constantly and it's path involves eating world. Even the Viper is in a pact with the other gods it destroy any threats to the multiverse like karmic plague bringers and living calamities and this guy fits that bill.
Kevin Watson
i do enjoy the possibility of Jake throwing his remaining Origin Energy at I, afterwords it becomes an egg/cocoon of some sort, ending with Jake’s intuition essentially saying “it’s all good now”
Michael
Ok, I know this is a dumb request and only popped in my head as an odd idea, but can Jake be a dumb dumb accidental parent to this desolate child of loss, throw origin energy at it and either adopt or make it unmake itself. I can only imagine the primeval original of desolation is just pure antimatter or just non-existance
Caleb Bear
situation where the two of them can’t escape, "the only thing" all of us going there will do is put more lives at risk connection to Ell’Hakan from the one we captured, not nothing definitive. not -> but
Andrew Lavoie
Honestly Eldritch horror has always gotten under my skin
Kevin Watson
the desolate I really is an awe inspiring, terrible, and incomprehensible horror for the C grade, it really makes you wonder what must have transpired for this creature to be created, and what they personally sacrificed and/or lost to become what they are now
Conclave
Nah it's just two different kinds of horror. This is much more Eldich horror that EH
Chris Connolly
Yea it just seems like his arc moving to “ally” is too clean. I can’t help but think his heretic side maybe has more influence than it’s showing and his fear of backlash from villy and others who would be pissed if Jake died isn’t what it should be. I get that the system essentially cured his psychological issues in a way but he is still a nut job. Wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to do something crazy soon
Conclave
I think some psychopathic vilain is too cliché for Zog' and that William was like that to show how someone like that would be a problem in the tutorial but that his experience with Casper, then the beatup by Jake, then the whole Eversmile scheming thing made him change. So many people changed with the System, why not for the best of it ? Also, I'm turbo hype with the Child of Loss. Seems l'île fighting him ain't the way to deal with him but not doing anything is just letting him youtself getting killed
Kevin Watson
if i remember correctly from his side stories, William really is just a reserved, pretty kind all things considered, chill guy now? but that might be my own fractured memory and low reading comprehension
DirePants
This is a horror LitRpg lol can’t wait to get this thing’s backstory.
SilverSentry
That or maybe the orange fucker was actually able to get to him? He was useful during the last few times he appeared, but he really wants to go this time. It's hard to tell.
Bi-Dailey
TFTC
Jake Schmitz
Sandy needs to just eat him and dump him somewhere deep in space 😆 🤣
NeverendingMixUp
"well.. Shit."
khielira
Well crap, hurry up Jake and rescue team things are taking a grim turn
Chris Connolly
William is buggin me out. I feel like his emotional and mental manipulation game might have gotten too good and even we forget he’s a problem.
Kt-x
Thanks for the chapter
Andromeda Adams
Tyftc! I hope they get there in time to save them. Maybe William will be a huge help to Jake against him.
Boomer
and the King made his mode. Made his move.
Zogarth
Fix
TyranT-Rex
If "I" didnt see them as an enemy before the last attack, has he not been trying this whole time?
Andrew Lavoie
This is becoming horror so quickly this creature might be worse than EH wishes he could be
Bojan Stankov
Sheiiiit
C0bra$
Thank u for the story
Zizawah
This feels so dreadful for I as well as the duo. I didn’t want I to become default enemy either even if I is desolation that can’t help being who he is. Such a dilemma!
Straat Junon
"Soil and stone were thrown everywhere as the torrent kept going, and the King made his mode." move*
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Hoid
First
