Zogarth
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Chapter 928 - An Emotional Plan
🕑 Added 2024-06-04 10:55:53 +0000 UTCWilliam wasn’t the type of person Jake thought much about. Not anymore. After he had turned his back on Eversmile and become a heretic, Jake didn’t really hear much about the young metal mage who had turned his Tutorial into a shitshow anymore. Sure, in the back of his mind, Jake probably knew he was doing stuff somewhere, but he hadn’t been someone worth dedicating much brain power to consider.
So it came as a genuine surprise when the mage wanted to meet Jake. His timing was also highly suspicious, being this close to the Prima Guardian event. Jake didn’t think he was there to sabotage them, though, as if he was, going through Miranda and wanting to meet Jake was perhaps the dumbest strategy.
Nevertheless, Jake was suspicious.
As promised, Miranda and William arrived not even ten minutes after he was informed they were coming over. Miranda had even deployed some kind of stealth field as she walked alongside the metal mage. When Jake saw them enter the valley fully, he instantly Identified William as there was one thing he wanted to confirm first and foremost.
[Human – lvl 276 – Heretic]
Still a heretic, Jake thought with a bit of relief while also noting the guy’s level was pretty good. Still behind Jake and the other top elites, but only by half a dozen levels. He also didn’t believe William could have spoofed the identification in any way. Besides, posing as a heretic tended to not end well, and Jake didn’t doubt quite a few people would outright attack William upon seeing the tag.
Jake also noted how William looked a lot calmer. Serene, almost. Or perhaps it was just because Jake was used to the guy having quite an intense and somewhat crazy look in his eyes, and now he appeared a lot more normal and put-together. In any case, it definitely looked like getting out from under Eversmile’s boot had done him good.
It wasn’t like Eversmile seemed to give a damn Jake had turned William to the dark side, either. Sure, he wasn’t friendly around Jake, but he hadn’t been outright hostile either. He genuinely didn’t seem like he cared much. Then again, maybe Eversmile just viewed it as another interesting development for his research. Yeah, that totally seemed like something Eversmile would do.
Sitting on the porch, Miranda and William approached, with Miranda being the first to speak. “Sorry for the lack of warning before the visit.”
“It’s my fault,” William spoke up, indeed seeming a lot more mellow than usual. “I just returned to Earth today from Nevermore, having entered the World Wonder quite late.”
“Speaking of Nevermore… you went there in D-grade, so how much time did you lose in C-grade?” Jake asked. Probably not the most pressing question, but he was curious.
“Just the time I was there in D-grade,” William shook his head. “Though it did disqualify me from competing on the Leaderboards, not that I ever planned on doing that in the first place. I didn’t have a party to go with, but I just found a group in Nevermore City. Ended up joining six different parties during my time there, and that isn’t even to mention the members swapped out while in each party.
“Sounds tough,” Jake commented, though to be honest, he didn’t really care overly much. He did care about the timing of this visit, though. “Quite a day you decide to return. Either you are extremely talented in timing when you would be done with Nevermore, or there’s something fishy going on here.”
“I didn’t finish… I had about a year and a half left, but I knew I couldn’t delay my return any longer. In truth, I already cut it a lot closer than I originally planned to, as I had a contact in Nevermore who was delayed,” William explained, Jake not detecting any clue he was lying. Still, he remained highly suspicious.
“Alright, fine. I also get that you probably want to participate in the Prima event, but needless to say, you aren’t going to be part of the strike team,” Jake wanted to quickly clarify. He simply wouldn’t trust his back to someone like William… well, alright, Jake wouldn’t care much about his own back, as he would definitely see the backstabbing coming, but he didn’t want people who didn’t have an overpowered Bloodline to trust William either.
“That’s fine,” William said. “That’s not why I’m here.”
“William disappeared from Earth around the same time you went to Nevermore, and I confirmed he was no longer on the planet,” Miranda chimed in. “This meeting is because of where he went during that time.”
This did catch Jake’s attention as he looked at William inquisitively.
“I went to Ell’Hakan’s homeworld,” William said, not beating around the bush. “I did this during the time Ell’Hakan and the majority of the other high-ranking individuals were gone to Nevermore. I spent over a year there, exploring the planet.”
“His planet, huh… how did you even find it?” Jake questioned. Truthfully, Jake had looked into Ell’Hakan’s homeworld before and found nothing. Even the Viper didn’t actually know where his homeworld was. The abilities of the gods to peer into the ninety-third universe remained limited, and while the Viper would easily see any area around Jake or others he had blessed, he couldn’t simply scout the entire universe.
Even in other universes, trying to find one particular planet could be extremely annoying. There was one pretty reliable way, though. One it appeared William had used.
“I met Ell’Hakan when he came to Earth. I formed a faint karmic connection with him, and I held onto that bond. Using it to find his planet was far easier than I expected. Far easier than it should have been, as his world is… wrong,” William explained.
“Explain,” Jake frowned.
William took a moment before he spoke. “On Earth right now, karma is an endless web. It’s a confusing mess of different connections between people, and it’s what most would call natural. The karmic connections have been formed through genuine emotion. The bond between friends looks like friends, lovers like lovers, and so on. It isn’t like that on Ell’Hakan’s planet. Not at all.”
Jake kept quiet as the young-looking man continued.
“I think a bit of background is in order. Karma is a powerful aspect of Yip of Yore’s powers, yes, but Ell’Hakan has specialized further. His Bloodline is almost tailor-made to create powerful karmic connections between himself and others, and it’s through this karma he exploits them. As the Chosen of Yip of Yore, they both gain power based on others’ belief in their legends, and the more strongly others believe their legends, the more real these legends become. The more power they get,” William continued his explanation.
“I told you that here on Earth, the karmic web looks like expected, but on Ell’Hakans homeworld, it’s just fucked up. Effectively, the entire population shares one singular karmic bond, more powerful than any other. A singular stronger connection than their parents, partners, and children. Above everyone else, there is Ell’Hakan, the Celestial Child.”
“What exactly does this mean?” Jake questioned.
“Rather than a mortal or a mere leader, they view him more as a god… no, a being even higher than a god. They genuinely love and revere him. His word is truth, his actions just. They even believe he is unbeatable and that even if an actual god tried to slay him, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Honestly, Yip of Yore’s Path fits him so damn well it’s disgusting, as this powerful belief gives him actual tangible power.”
Jake’s frown only deepened the more William spoke. For a long time, Jake’s theory had been that Ell’Hakan had a skill not that dissimilar to Jake’s Big Game Hunter, except rather than being triggered by higher-leveled opponents, it was triggered by the belief in his legend. If that was the case… did that mean he had a powerful passive boosting skill active at all times due to the belief from his homeworld?
There was one pretty damn simple potential method to overcome this kind of skill, though. Especially as a boosting skill like this could very well come with some form of backlash should Ell’Hakan lose belief in his legend.
“His legend is built on a lie. If we reveal the truth, it-“
“Won’t matter,” William sighed as he shook his head. “I tried. Caught a few people and showed them the truth, including some things he said to me that directly contradicted his own doctrine. It had absolutely no effect. Truth isn’t anything they care about anymore; it’s pure fanaticism.”
“Even if the majority of the population is brainwashed, there must be some people to disagree with his rule or people who managed to break out of this delusion,” Jake tried to argue.
“I didn’t detect a single one,” William said before he was silent for a bit, before asking a question Jake had never considered. “Do you know when he took over his planet?”
“I would say shortly after the system arrived… but I have the feeling that isn’t right,” Jake said.
“Twenty years before the integration. For twenty years, Ell’Hakan had already ruled his planet. Unified all the factions and countries under his own banner as the Celestial Child while doing a purge of anyone who dared not view him as a being above any other. To them, he is the literal son of the twin moons and the sun of his planet. No, not a metaphor or anything… legend has it that on the day of a twin eclipse, he was born, gifted to their world by the stars themselves to rule and bring peace,” William explained.
“Pretty sure only Starborn are born from literal stars,” Jake joked as he found the notion utterly idiotic.
“To make things even worse, I did also find his actual parents, though they seemed to believe they had only been the ones to raise him, despite the biological connection,” William continued. “I want to reiterate. Everything I’ve said is something every single person on the planet believes with utter unswayable conviction. They are completely fanatical. If he told them all to kill themselves, they wouldn’t even ask the reason before doing it.”
“So they’re like the fanatics of the Holy Church,” Jake said, really not needing more people like that in his life.
“They are far worse. Followers of the Holy Church at least know they can go to the Holyland if they die or they get some other benefits. In the end, they still act somewhat selfishly and logically, believing their deaths either serve a greater goal or help their family and friends,” William disagreed. “What is happening on Ell’Hakan’s planet isn’t that at all… it’s something the Holy Church could only dream of achieving.”
Jake was in thought for a bit before asking the big question: “I appreciate this information, but I’m still not sure why you needed this urgent meeting or exactly what you want me to do with this knowledge. You don’t sound like you’re offering any solutions here.”
“I’m not,” William sighed. “But let me get to the crux of it. Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline allows him to manipulate emotions, something I’m sure you’ve already experienced, right?”
“Right,” Jake nodded. He really fucking hated that Bloodline. His own was way better and way less insidious.
“What you’ve experienced is only a mere fleeting moment of it. I want you to imagine what continued exposure can result in, especially when the feelings they foster are never contradicted or argued against. It makes the emotions utterly engrained in your being and something you don’t question. But it’s more than that… because these emotions weren’t born naturally but forcefully empowered through the influence of a Bloodline. Empowered to a whole new level of emotions – a new conceptual stage - I don’t even think we can imagine, and that’s coming from someone who’s been introduced to quite a few entirely new emotions throughout his life,” William explained in-depth.
“People already let emotions rule them more than logic, and this takes that to an extreme. These emotions become so strong there is no way to sway them. They embedded themselves in the soul, becoming core parts of a person. I’m not saying disillusioning someone from Ell’Hakan’s manipulation is impossible, but you will need far more than merely showing them the truth. You will need something magical in nature to break this illusion they live under.”
“You still haven’t gotten to why this is so urgent,” Jake pointed out, as he felt like William was rambling quite a bit. He knew the guy liked to talk from way back in the Tutorial, but this was getting a bit much for what was effectively just the guy telling Jake Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline was dangerous.
“During the Prima Guardian event, Ell’Hakan has chosen to assist the other planets and not do the event alone. He leads this alliance and will get all other World Leaders in a room with him and access to hundreds of planets. He will spread his legend and create powerful diplomatic connections. People will go to his planet, he will go to theirs, and that’s where things get really dangerous…”
William raised a hand as a bit of mana gathered. “You control the nearby Pylon of Civilization. That means all of the territory the Pylon covers is infused with a bit of Records and energy at all times, correct?”
Jake nodded, as he suddenly had a realization. Wait, he can’t mean-
“The same is true for Ell’Hakan. Your Records have resulted in this Pylon being quite scary to all beasts, and as I’m sure Ms. Wells can attest to, it passively has helped everyone increase their resistance to auras merely living here. Now imagine if this same concept is applied to Ell’Hakan controlling a Pylon,” William said.
“He plans on gaining control of other Planetary Pylons by swaying the local World Leaders,” Jake had already realized. If a Pylon of Civilization covered a city in the Records and partial aura of a person, a Planetary Pylon definitely covered the whole planet... which would mean...
“That’s what I believe he is planning,” William nodded. “He wants to make other worlds like his own by making his Bloodline passively affect everyone living on these planets, turning them into fanatics. To make worlds where absolute reverence toward him is the baseline. While I’m sure there is a cap to his boosting ability, it’s still undisputable that he gains more power the more people believe in his legend. I’m sure he has other ways to use this energy that’s effectively faith, so if he gains control of more planets, his power will only grow to new heights. So that’s why this is urgent. If Ell’Hakan runs wild, he may just lay claim to the entire Milky Way galaxy before Earth even makes meaningful contact with other planets.”
“Well… fuck,” Jake could only say as he still wondered. “How do you even know all this? I just want to make sure this isn’t pure speculation on your part, even if it does sound pretty damn possible.”
“I had it confirmed and explained by the person who is effectively the Prime Minister of Ell’Hakan’s empire,” William answered with a smile. “He was more than happy to tell me everything.”
Jake narrowed his eyes as William just flashed a small smile. “Ell’Hakan is not the only innately manipulative person. It wasn’t hard to convince the guy I served Ell’Hakan and Yip of Yore by acting as the contact person between Eversmile and them. That my job was to assist in their quest. It didn’t take long before we were the best of friends and he told me all their plans as I only nodded along in excitement.”
“What are the chances this is all false information planted by Ell’Hakan to throw us off some other real goal?” Miranda asked after a few seconds.
“I doubt it is,” William shook his head. “Everything lined up too well, and I doubt he believed anyone would or even could go to his planet. It isn’t somewhere that’s easy to find at all, and he’s even done a lot to keep it hidden. While I don’t have much to thank Eversmile for and far more reasons for grief, he did teach me some valuable things that allowed me to find it.”
The three of them were silent for a moment as Jake considered everything they had talked about. After a bit, Miranda spoke up.
“When the Prima Guardian dies, this alliance system will also open up to us… we should take this chance to compete openly with Ell’Hakan. Ell’Hakan has recently tried to act more amicable toward Jake, so he can’t outright try and shut us out without it looking like he’s going back on his word,” Miranda said.
Jake considered her words and could only nod. In truth, this had also kind of been the plan… though more so because it looked like a chance to do some fun exploration while even fighting more bosses.
“The most important thing is for others not to hand over their planetary cores to Ell’Hakan,” William nodded. “Because if they do… I’m not sure what the solution would be.”
“To kill Ell’Hakan,” Jake shrugged. Seemed pretty easy.
“That won’t make these emotions go away,” William sighed. “The level of fanaticism exists independent of him. My guess is that they will assume he didn’t truly die but just ascended or will be revived in the future or some shit.”
… Jake really hated dealing with goddamn fanatics.
Comments
Ness Windseeker
What to do with a fanatical planet? Easy just sacrifice it!
Hezekiah Laguatan
Well ok Villy, we know what you're up too
Matt Spratte
seems like Jake needs to go to Ell'Hakan planet and sacrifice it lol
Lazy Tyrant
So... If these pillars passively influence someone... And William is new to emotions. Doesn't it seem likely he would have been affected quite strongly by being on that planet? Is this a trap?
Jmc mc
Like pitting starcraft fans and warhammer fans against each other, it will be a blood bath. It will also cause a multiverse first when a swarm of nonillions of d-c grades gank yip of yore for defacing a god with his stupid metal stick. Or they will all collectively believe yip of yore should die for his insolence and his own power will cause him to implode.
Jj
If William can find out I'm assuming there are other gods that already know.
Olof Karlsson
Thanks for the chapter!
Mat
Image if Yip dies, EH usurper his legacy and joins the Holy Church spreading his bloodline. It will be a shit show
Mat
maybe the whole galaxy. Just reminded how Villy said that it was good for Jake to face someone like EH who do not go so face to face confrontation as he has been pushing Jake to grow in areas he won't otherwise
JWR
Jake should send the church of fanatics that worship the primordials against Ell’Hakan’s
Phasmatic7
Woah, thankies for the chappie zogie!
Chloe
Would fit
Chloe
Tyftc
Trevor Mergen
Thanks!
Gavin Wayne Pitcher
Even if it isn't, and making a big assumption that he doesn't get put down by the notorious BIG hunter, I assume that he would quickly become a pariah in the 93rd universe, and everyone he's affected likely being kneecapped in their paths.
Yaldabaoth
Aye, this sounds suspiciously like a Karmic plague brought on by a Bloodline 😥 Ain't gonna lie.... Ell-Hakan's character is kinda scary. I agree with Jake, dealing with fanatics sucks big time 😖 Fucking fanatics 😖
Gavin
Doubt it. Since he had control of the planet before integration
Adam Birch
Villy about to be like "And you were so sure you would never do a planet-destroying ritual."
Alexikon
Can this situation be considered a Karmic Plague?
gray matter
This could have some serious repercussions for YoY as well since he obviously knows of this. But, EH has probably scoured his planet clean of others with divine blessings or they just didn’t accept because of their faith in him so the other religious leaders in multiverse probably don’t know about this plan yet. And the primordials are probably about to find out very soon. If they don’t want their planets touched by this almost plague/karmic and faith vacuum they could also spread the word to not accept EH’s help or offer him planetary control. Probably a Villy convo next chappy to see his thoughts. He might even not want to tell the others and let this plan take a little shape to keep YoY going for more records. It could also lead to YoY being forced to disavow him. lol and then maybe the Holy Mother is like come here dear child I could see her going either way.
Chase Burton
Thanks for the chapter!
meh
I have a better solution. Everyone wears tin foil hats.
The Tallest Tree
He should have faced the consequences of his actions in my opinion. Redemption isn't just about changing your behavior or mindset, it's about owning up to one's mistakes or crimes in this case, and facing the consequences of those choices. To me, this would complete William's past arc in a much more genuine way and it would solidify his efforts at redemption and change.
The Tallest Tree
How so? I'm pretty much saying, if you murder you should face justice. (Particularly in the Pre System setting). I'm also saying that William's character journey would have been more satisfying and complete if he faced the consequences of his choices. Through this we could have seen how he has grown, regretted the past, and changed his outlook going forward in a real and true way. Not just through words but actions. But yeah I guess that's convoluted?
Rahsheem Reid
Everything you are saying in convoluted and filling with assumptions @the tallest tree
Rahsheem Reid
Ok Mr officer
Rahsheem Reid
I would cause absolute chaos (after one tapping the guardian) so by the time the event ended orange the fuck face and everyone on his side were a thing of the past. Yip will paint Jake out to be like the viper and we are back at square one.
Jay Doubleyou Kay
William is essentially a completely different person than he was in the first two books. When he ranked up the system essentially changed his mind removing his mental illnesses. He changed very physically and immediately. That's true in the real world too. people have done some awful stuff in their past and have completely changed through experiences. Some face consequences for their actions and some do not. Some good people have awful things happen when it's not deserved (Gandolf said it better). To me this williams journey is more real than if everyone got punished for their crimes and rewarded for good behavior.
The Tallest Tree
Obviously I'm making a judgement based on modern society rules. William murdered dozens before Earth was properly inducted into the Multiverse. Humans were operating on pre System Earth rules. Jake in that Council meeting was the Representation of Earth government enacting the laws of the land against someone breaking them. But yeah from our modern point of view Jake murdered him. William should have faced proper consequences. Jake won't face consequences given he's World Leader. Your suspicion regarding Miranda and co is just that. Bring some proof and I'll engage. Again, even if true, they're operating on System rules now. As in the law/logic of the Multiverse which seems to not bat an eye at genocide or slavery. Not exactly paragon for moral standards...
mishisho
You are free to feel how you like but you are judging someone based on modern society rules not in a world where these things ceased to matter. Just a few chapters ago Jake killed someone to make an example out of them. While the guy was bigoted and disagreeable, im pretty sure that still counts as murder. Also sure Miranda and alot of characters in this story have also dirtied their hands. William was misguided, and manipulated into what he did, as eversmile was grooming him to be the hero of the story and things only didn't pan out because jake's bloodline made a mess of eversmiles plans.
The Tallest Tree
Never liked how you 'resolved' William's character. He's a murderer. Should have faced justice particularly once things stabilized on Earth. If he truly seeks redemption (either in a spiritual sense or not) then he shouldn't have a problem facing justice.
Hayden Leech
Musa*
ReadingObsessed
You and me both.
Jeff McCulley
Some of you folks and your planetary sacrifice rituals” are just weirdos and sickos. Just infiltrate Vesperia (or even her Vespula Queen) into the Underground of Ell’Hakan’s world. Then let her go to work. Cheeto will make a good egg bed. See how easy that is? 😇
Tommy
This is sounding more and more to me like Jake will DEFINITELY get another chance to do a ritual on a planetary scale with fanatics as the fuel! Villy will be so proud 👍👏
Ragepowder
Agreed. The ramifications from his bloodline were apparent but all anyone ever saw was him just affecting emotions. The dude was walking around with maxed out charisma. Dude literally had a headstart before the system while Jake literally had to supress his bloodline. This is gonna be a rough fight.
Tyler S.
The introduction of The bionic Wasps
Tyler S.
A willpower poison that when infected creates a massive momentary burst of primal dominance to rail against outside control. It could be done in a way that as Jake is fighting Ell'Hacky his people are spreading the poison and with Jake using touch to control the activation
Zizawah
Decidedly! Fanaticism can be related to a person, political belief, religious or sports affiliation, etc. I just wish that people can be more open-minded and at least entertain different view points but then they won't be fanatics! Essentially, if you are OK worshipping/following someone that proved via his/her action that he/she is not worth following (ie. you would ignore evidence of your eyes), I feel like that's a really hard place we are in. No amount of logic or evidence will get this fan to change his mind.
BumAssBumAss
I believe it's a bad idea. It's provides karmic justification for ell'hakan to retaliate enhancing his side of the story. Ultimately, Jake needs to kill ell'hakan first or kill those slaves in a way that doesnt make him look outright evil
kingofshibainu
Increasing my hope for planetary sacrificial rituals!
John Durrett
Similair yet different. Plague worlds are like milk dudes, flavory but hollow inside. Ell's world is more buttery popcorn with jalapeno's on top which fanatics love. ;)
John Durrett
Its an interesting thought. I think he had permission of the Planetary cores owner to do that right?, trying to swallow the Planetary Pylon from Ell's home world without permission...not sure I would bet on it. As for memory, while Jake does forget many things outside of his immediate objectives...his bloodline of survival and domination will likely find a way to remind him if that's what it takes...or put another way...Jake may "instinctively" swallow a Planet's Pylon in the future if that solves a problem.
John Durrett
Miranda sets up a huge constellation of magic circles with the Lagoons support, Jake uses Gaze of the Hunter into the amplification ring, and the Demons force the entire population to sign soul contracts like the Demon Lord's husk did in his soul.
John Durrett
Or the Electric Slide!
John Durrett
True..if the world counsel was behind the quest...Miranda at the very least should have been in the know. But William does have his own City Pylon making him eligible for the first World Congress. Any number of people could be pissed at El' and looking for dirt on him. William has his own self directed path now and wants to redeem himself in Jake's eyes if not the world. In part because Jake guided him towards freedom from Eversmiles Fuckery.
John Durrett
Jake's the Pinball Wizard. Killing half a universe would level his abilities and class for killing those above him in level. If the world still exists after...attaining Planetary Pylons would increase his system title from Marquis to something higher eventually. The Order gets Street Cred in Villy's name, Tons of Records to Villy's personal bank account.
Sir Alex
Planetary sacrifice ritual time boiiiisss
John Durrett
True. But I feel important to note that with faithful to a God or Ideal...there still have been many scientists or Men and Women of great intellect and curiosity that expanded upon humanities knowledge. People can also be fanatics of Anyone, not just within religions. Hollywood, Politicians, etc.
John Durrett
I understand the Power of Friendship...but Faith and Fanaticism is never a friendship(Peers). It is the slaves worshiping the Master. They are not the same. This is how all Religious Leaders Rule.
Darshar Griffonmane
Great chapter! A solid villian that Jake won't be able to defeat totally by himself, which will be good for his growth towards B rank. Also totally getting a "Nuke'em from orbit, its the only way to be sure" vibe for how Cheeto's followers are going to have to be dealt with.
Decibel790
Wow. You made one seriously creepy villain, Zog.
Xien
lol.. "well...fuck!" says it all.... To which Jake responds... Just kill him!!! 🥰 Thanks Z
Bob Burns
Kill them all one big nuke and blam
Andromeda Adams
I believe Jake’s meeting with The First Sage will help him beat EH.
Andromeda Adams
Oohhh! I can see it now a Karmic acid seems more probable. You have a good point.
Peter Smith
Jake will try to cut the karmic connections to ellhakan, it will fail, but in a way that is even more helpful as if it runs backwards to ell'hakan before being rid of it. Imagine if william accidentally becomes the herald of karmic severance, a new creation by the herald of origins Jake.
Inv7ctus
You've managed to cultivate an extremely bloodthirsty fan base Zog. How did you manage that? I'm all for some rituals. Freedom or death is the way.
donvitogonzalle
Alex Cox
Karmic poison may link to a trancendant, prolly an acid if anything though. Something that dissolves the concept of Ell'hakan syphoning it essentially
Peter Smith
Karmic severance plague
Zach Neumann
Exactly, it requires him to make the final step. Without him, there's no karmic takeover. Granted, I can see a coalition of Blightfather, holy mother, the Viper, and a few others to stop him, as I don't see how any of the established functions allow a bloodline to overthrow their influence. Imagine if he got the auger under his karmic control! I see a meeting of all faction leaders to hear Williams's testimony, with the auger verifying his truthfulness.
Ay Rog
I vote for planetary sacrifice. Kill them all, let Villy sort them out.
Luke Scheffe
The victims of the ell hakan plague are compelled to spread it by taking over planets and handing them to the giant child.
DDHG
Well. Time for Jake to learn from his buddy the Viper, and make a brand new Karmic plague that targets people who believe in the Ell'Hakan. If Jakes does this, he will finally get that planetary wide sacrifice he wanted. Maybe 2! If he is lucky.
Ghost-Crow (Corvidae Corvus)
Kill the entire planet Jake, embrace Villy's methods! Realistically the only option, if he just kills Hakan then his fanatics will constantly be trying to kill everything connected to Jake.
Austin Barton
This is Jake’s karma plague arc
DirePants
You could always slaughter the believers. A god is nothing without followers. Not really Jake’s style or path though. Besides Jake is no Chuuni or edgelord. He’d much rather fight EH at full power. Very Goku based lol either way, that’s the next fight I’m looking forward to seeing. I wonder if it will be a team effort? William unraveling the effed up Karma while Jake takes on an EH that’s being consistently weakened by his loss of followers? Plus we have to wonder how has EH powers evolved from the last time we seen him battle. I’m thinking he might be able to greatly strengthen his followers. Another thing I’m curious about is Yip of Yor: I don’t picture him as a loyal person. I’d even go as far as saying he could be setting up EH for a fall that’s designed to strengthen himself. But more than that, I’m wondering what Jake will have to learn to overcome it. Will he perfect his bloodline ability from the Valdemar battle in the Arena? Or will he learn some truth to origins? I vaguely recall Villy talking about a universe that seemed similar to this one but didn’t have Jake. (I’ve been wondering if Jake was a reincarnation of the First Sage but I’m just thinking outside the box on this one.) But very glad William seems to be doing better. He does seem less erratic and actually seems like he’ll become a great player for earth. I’m also wondering if the heretic status will be something important. Seems likely considering we learned about Usurpers. So many questions! Surprisingly I’m not very excited about the Prima Guardian arc, but I’m sure it’ll be fun and we’ll get some answers to questions and new questions to old and new mysteries. I’m here for all of it! Any mysteries or questions you guys have?
Lizy Flore
Oh no a planetary sacrificial mass murder in Villy’s name 🤭 how terrible, poor fanatics…
Quyan640
Took Jake a long time to figure out of the implication of ELL’s actions and bloodline. Even before then, ELL’s bloodline ability is basically mind control and I’m surprised no one is spreading and warning others of this information. Especially after Nevermore with the high number of chosens and blessed peoples and their deities who should have notice this.
Henscratch
Why do the karmic plague solutions have to end in death? Can’t he whip up something that produces alternative side effects like awareness or partial immunity. William’s ritual gave awareness of previous harm and their perpetrators. If they work together can’t they somewhat inoculate those affected since they probably can’t “cure” them completely? That should be enough to twist the legend on itself for the desired positive effect.
Dan
Goddamn William beat my expectations, I think he's more than redeemed himself with this stunt. So if Jake just decided to perform a planet boom ritual on Ell'Cunts planet, he'd lose a huge amount of power, right?
VirtSecurity
Time for a planetary plague curse specifically geared towards those who believe in Ell’Hakan and Yip of Yore. One that could spread and infect their soul.
Hunter Thornton
Welp time for ElSkanken to die. Would be funny as hell if he tries to take on the Prima Guardian and ends up gettin his sorry ass handed to him, then here comes Lord Thane to save the day. Anyone else think it’s time for a sin curse ritual from Nevermore challenge dungeon to make a reappearance?
Dustin
You really think Jake remembers that??
SunDI7
I know Jake doesn’t like killing those weaker than him, but at this point I would just go and destroy Ell’Hakan’s planet and start hunting him down. Sure Yip and EH would start painting him as a villain again, but I doubt he cares much about being viewed as a villain. You have the Sword Saint and the Fallen King to protect Earth while you hunt him. It would also set an example for what happens to those who go against you. EH isn’t the type of enemy you should leave alive for too long, wrap this shit up before B-Grade.
Ilinorin
Yeah this very much sounds like a bloodline karmic plague. But, he is also YoY's chosen, which means having to fight YoY. Also, YoY can argue it's different because it can be controlled where a plague spreads indiscriminately.
Zizawah
Wanted to voice the support for opposite of planetary sacrifice regardless of the horrid affliction of the populace from EH worship. We are reading a fantasy but let’s not be so bloodthirsty. These people are innocent of any crime except having been born into a nightmare situation of having EH as boss. Surely there’s something else Jake can explore. A counter karmic action.
Zach Neumann
The critical detail i see that keeps this from being a karmic plague is that the victims need a direct connection, be it in person or in the presence of his aura. A karmic plague does not need that key factor, as the victims are driven to spread the plague.
Zach Neumann
As evil plans go..... that's a damn good one
Polish Squirell
Planetary sacrifice ritual and kind advice from a helpful snake
Aidan
I see why we had the karmic plague chapters in Nevermore, that's exactly what Ell'Hakan's bloodline is. I enjoy Zogarth's writing so much, everything is so carefully foreshadowed but still leaves room for the big reveal.
hachetnif
Isn't this breaking the rules that be in the multiverse that there Will not be plague type warfare for fear of it getting out of hand and unattended side effects.
Jeff McCulley
Well, that was satisfying. Pretty much everything I expected. Of course, now I’m curious if, when Jacob was holding court in Nevermore, Ell’Hakan popped in for a chat. Thanks for the chapter, Zogarth!
Kirisuk3
Looks like Villy is getting his planetary sacrifice or Jake could just point out that the bloodline of Ell'hakkan is essentially a karmic plague and have primordial decend on him when he leaves the 93rd.
Jeff McCulley
And just wait until “Jacob finds out about it” for the shit to get real. Just counting the days until he leaves the Church. Though it wouldn’t surprise me if the Holy Mother weren’t in on it as part of the plot to take Yip down.
Imox
Absolutely not, and it's not even funny😭, Ell'Hakan's whole path, bloodline and everything is revolved around that while Jake is the polar opposite, and even if he could somehow win, which he absolutely wouldn't, he'd be loosing out cuz once again, it has nothing to do with his path
SmokeJam
This is all a calculation by the Viper. No shot he didn't at least guess cheetos possible bloodline skill and planned ahead.
Vega
You might be right, good memory
SmokeJam
That was my thought too xD
SmokeJam
What a good thing Jake had some plague experience in Nevermore and even created an insane curse student. Finally we can actually look forward to some planetary sacrificial rituals! Can't wait for some fun, Villy-style.
Sushi
Why does this sound so similar to the karmic plague that is supposed to be outlawed in the multiverse?
ItWasIDIO!!
Also good job Willy
Amazon Shopper
ez, make a plague that infects and kills the entire planet, affecting those who support Ell'Hakkan. Make it incredibly viral and only kill fanatics. Plague! Plague! Plague! also would do jakes records some good if he is able to "hunt" his prey by first conquering his preys planet and setting the stage. As the preparation of the hunt is a key part of the hunt.
ItWasIDIO!!
And so Elle Hakans plans proceeds as planned with everyone none the wiser Villy please speak up at least a little "do you Jake what does it matter if he goes through all these steps if Hakan hits the immovable speading train that is Jake Thayne the Primal Hunter danger noodle chosen but sure you can join the alliance sounds fun 👍🏿"
Rui Lourenço
Jake could develop a Karmic plague targeting the Karmic connections of El'hakan. That seems like an awesome way to increase is notoriety and a better conclusion to this story than just killing him.
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Thenais
Prime target for planetary cursed-karma ritual
KenTX325
I think it would be more fun to get into a race to see who can control the most worlds.
JJB4345_80_815
Just as long as the new apprentice's name is "Tamlet" or "Telmeth" (or something similar) ;-)
JJB4345_80_815
If Jake did any of that then Yip of Yore and Ell'Hakan could paint him as evil and needing to be destroyed, also implicating the Malefic Viper.
Killjoy
Jake should get another apprentice. That will solve this problem.
Alex Cox
This also makes a lot more sense why the church was so quick to be the next potential backer of him
Alex Cox
He can, he had the chance to with Yip once we saw them interacting. EK was just smart enough not to mess with a god's emotion within their divine realm
Tjark
Honestly? Dealing with him should be quite easy right? At least there are some solutions... Jake and William could travel to his homeworld and wipe everyone out before the event. It would firstly cripple the basis of his power making a direct confrontation easier and secondly would probably mean he can't effectively assist as many during the event leading to less build up of power. Or Jake could go to the Viper and ask for help creating a carmic plague that kills all the fanatics... Since he already has a bit of plague experience that might work out too
JJB4345_80_815
If it was the World Council or Miranda, then why didn't they make Jake aware during one of their meetings since everyone's return from Nevermore? I mean, it's possible that they either forgot to say something with everything else going on or just decided that they didn't want to say anything until they had actionable intelligence, but I have a nagging suspicion that there's more to the story (or backstory) still. I could be wrong. 🤷
KenTX325
Also, I looked back at the plague and black witch chapter in nevermore. At that time, Jake swallowed a fake world core using pallet . Just saying that Jake may know something about manipulating world cores.
Sean
Can Jake finally sacrifice a whole planet? I feel like once they kill the guardian in about 3 days after the event starts and Jake gets the planetary pilon then he and William can go sacrifice el cheetorito’s home world. Actually not his home world but his closest ally’s world and make it look like the Cheetorito fan club did it and sway the rest of his alliance to actively hate him. That should mess up his karma. Then give them the book Jake wrote in nevermore (a previous comment I made) that should help slow down the Cheetorito’s growth
KenTX325
We haven’t seen the Vipers reaction to this yet, but I think that they should start sending resources to earth. I think this is the time that Jake needs to start calling in favors. It would be great if he could lift the ban on beast participating after taking the world core. Part of the reason I’d like to see this is, I’d really like to see Draskil and Jake team up.
Vega
Might be the World Council. Especially since Miranda is the one who brought William to Jake this time. They probably hired him to scope out Ell Hakan and his planet.
Vega
Ell Hakan’s like a virus. Jake’s got to kill him now, right? Otherwise efforts to pull people out of his influence is just mopping while the tap is running. He’s got to turn off the tap. I wonder if his Bloodline affects gods. Minaga might be the exception. If Jake’s Bloodline allows him to detect Eversmile, I don’t see why Ell Hakan’s wouldn’t be effective, Bloodlines supposedly work outside the System in a way. Awesome chapter, the best one post-Nevermore in my opinion, I really enjoy this twist. Ell Hakan suddenly putting himself back on the map as a formidable threat here.
Jay tolley
Jake got a level from making William.a heretic imagine how much xp from making a whole planet heretical.
Jay tolley
So what I am getting is now El Hakan has to die before the Holy Church can get ahold of his blood line.
Sam Rosenberg
Thanks William
Andromeda Adams
Thank you for the chapter. This makes a lot of sense. Also the fact he practically sold his bloodline to the holy church if Yip failed, is also pretty scary. Maybe a karmic poison? Or one that isolated him from all karmic connections. Maybe this is something Eversmile had planned for William from the start, so Yip couldn’t see it.
Tejas Jay
Wow, thia chapter alone has made me so much more interested in the next arc. The two heretics will have to convince planets that their God isn't real.
brennon Petersen
Tftc!
Andromeda Adams
I wonder if it was the beast master god. The same one who blessed the whale.
ValVal
Id assume Arthur did it. My first guess would be Miranda but she didn’t know where he was, and Arthur was very angry at being manipulated by El.
Cory Sauls
Tftc
hayden jack cowell
Planetary ritual sacrifice, combined with heretical and chosen offerings. I know we joke about it alot but for real this time...
Jack Dawson
If William is being literal when he says their emotions toward Ell’Hakan have "embedded themselves in the soul" it is entirely feasible for Jake to make a soul poison that damages that. Not saying Jake has the skill or knowledge to do that but it's potentially possible.
JJB4345_80_815
Great Lord of the Rings reference!
Micah Molina
I wonder if this classifies as a Karmic Plague? Then again, you need to be in proximity of Ell'hakan. Still, i wonder if he's giving his close allies a pass, at least the ones with blessings? Probably, since he could piss a lot of Gods off, potentially.
Michael Dugan
I see a planetary sacrificial ritual in the future or MANY people meeting Eternal Hunger.
JJB4345_80_815
This is a direct quote from Chapter 803: Nevermore (Not really) A Sandy World: [Quote] And this time, the mission was on his own terms… even if he had effectively been hired for the job. But at least it was by a fellow Earthling and not some god, even if they did probably contact him at the behest of one. [/Quote] via Royal Road
Apollo Greed
Nice!
Joseph Dizdar
Well, looks like plagues are back on the menu, boys!
Paulo Furlaneto
Tftc
Phil
I kinda see Jake being forced into taking control of other planets, something he would not want to do otherwise
Arieh Sochaczevski
Tftc. Maybe they’ll think Jake is the embodiment of EH after he dies.
Sayjinlord
From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step.
BumAssBumAss
If ell'hakan unites all the enlightened, Jake could unintentionally unite all beasts.
Sayjinlord
I think he went off his own back.
Jana
I’d actually love that solution but it will be after Ell Hakan is dead because it would paint Jake as a villain. But afterwards… let’s just say that ritual has been rolling around for too long.
justin
Time to start building an endless army of drones from Arnold and Vespy.
JJB4345_80_815
So who "hired" William to go check out Ell'hakan's planet?
wave_emoji
Well that's really cool, creative even.
JJB4345_80_815
Yes, thank you for the chappy Zogarth!
Jana
If Jake “loses” and has to eradicate half a universe because of induced fanaticism- would he gain extra Chosen levels because he did follow the Vipers Footsteps?
Mason Jones
Could always blow his entire planet up with a ritual
joel southard
Nice thank you for the chapter
ChRiAn
I find both interesting, they are basically a perverted form of the power of friendship on steroids. We currently just know more about EH and how his power works than we know about Yip. And I'm curious to learn more about Yore, as that term turned up unrelated to Yip as well.
Lizy Flore
Thanks for the chapter!
Gavin
I need EH to die some ignoble death.
Zizawah
Unfortunately I can see such type of fanaticism here in real life where no logic can persuade nor truth. Very scary for sure.
Jesper Hansen
To me, Ell'Hakan is a much more fascinating character than yip of yore, and he makes a whole lot more sense... The whole "gets stronger the more people believe in his stories" is annoying with yip of yore, but with Ell'Hakan and his bloodline it makes a lot more sense.. Was a really good chapter for me :)
Kt-x
Thanks for the chapter!
Michael Fannon
Galactic war!
Strato Junon
Damn cultists they ruined cultism! Tyfc
BumAssBumAss
Thanks for the chapter!
Jelani Willock
Tyftc
Detrox
Wohoo, I am The First!
