The Primal Hunter 13, page 23
Carmen grinned. “Yeah, Jake, don’t turn into a deadbeat.”
“This conversation is making me want to beat something to death,” Jake muttered.
“Hey, if you want any more kids, I’m sure Gwyndyr would more than happily have you visit,” Maria said, having walked over. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you would have a hard time finding any factions who aren’t interested in inviting the Harbinger of Primeval Origins… Cool title, by the way.”
“Yeah, where does that even come from?” Carmen questioned. “I had people in Nevermore City refer to you with the same title. Like, I get what it means, but how come everyone agreed on this title?”
“Based on what the Malefic Viper said, it’s something to do with Records or something,” Jake said, shaking his head. “Quite a few gods can apparently glean Records of the multiverse with the system giving stuff names they adopt and use. It kind of makes sense when you consider that I was offered a pretty damn good profession called Harbinger of Primeval Origins.”
“When you say offered, do you mean you didn’t pick it?” Caleb raised an eyebrow.
“I had one I wanted more,” Jake said with a shrug. Yeah, he really shouldn’t ever mention the name of his actual profession, and he was very happy no one seemed to realize what it was either. Perhaps gods simply couldn’t detect he was also a heretic, as part of being a heretic was innate resistance to gods detecting you.
“Fair enough,” his brother said, not prying any further. “Also, it’s pretty funny seeing you share your intent to screw over Ell’Hakan and help other planets, as I was also informed by the higher-ups that they want us to assist a few planets from that Prima Guardian Alliance thing. We aren’t the only branch of the Court of Shadows in our Milky Way, and as the only Judge, I am viewed as responsible for them.”
“Valhal is a bit the same,” Carmen commented, “in that we have a presence on two more planets in the Milky Way. Both of them are going to face their Prima Guardian alone without all that alliance bullshit, though.”
“That’s what I would expect of Valhal, but do remember that the Court is not a crazy war cult but a murderous assassination cult,” Maria said with a smile. “I don’t have any special orders from Gwyndyr or my crazy flame-obsessed mercenary cult, so I guess I’ll just go wherever. Actually, probably just gonna do what Miranda asks of me.”
As the three of them continued talking, more people joined them to discuss the plans for this whole alliance business, helped along by Vesperia walking over.
“If I may,” Vesperia said, looking at Jake. “If this Ell’Hakan has already managed to claim another planet before we have a chance to step in, what are our plans?”
“First of all, I think getting access to a planet at all will require the permission of the World Leader,” Jake said. “That would just make sense. So, chances are we wouldn’t even be able to help, at least not for now, if they don’t allow us to travel there. Secondly, I’m not sure how I feel about you taking over an entire planet filled with enlightened species.”
Vesperia smiled. “Sire read my intentions that easily?”
“It makes sense,” Jake said, shrugging. If there was a planet that was relatively weak, he understood why Vesperia would consider taking it over. She wanted somewhere to start a new hive, and she couldn’t place a proper one on Earth. Such hives tended to monopolize all the resources on a planet if allowed to grow freely, and Vesperia wanted somewhere she could have a Hive Queen go full throttle without clashing with Jake or people he knew.
“So, what about a planet that we have both access to with the right circumstances?” Vesperia followed up.
“I’m not going to tell you what you can and can’t do if it doesn’t involve me,” Jake said.
He wasn’t an idiot. He knew Vesperia would one day take over a whole bunch of planets as she grew. It was simply her Path to expand, and in many ways, also her responsibility. She hadn’t stated it outright, but Jake knew she felt like she had to create a strong foothold in the 93rd Universe for the Endless Empire.
As the only True Royal capable of being there, she was indisputably the highest-ranked ectognamorph of the entire universe. Jake could understand why she felt a need to do well, and part of doing well meant taking over a few planets with plentiful resources. These planets tended to naturally also have other life, enlightened races included, and their fates wouldn’t be pleasant, as they were viewed as nothing more than a vector of growth.
Either way, Vesperia seemed happy enough with his answer, and they gladly changed the subject that no one within the giant space worm seemed particularly comfortable with. Besides the Fallen King, that is. The Unique Lifeform honestly wasn’t really engaging with a lot of people, only talking with the Sword Saint and Sylphie.
He did, however, speak up a bit when he infused them all with Golden Marks to allow communication and location tracking. It was really handy soul magic, for sure.
Hours of travel quickly passed within the giant space worm, and soon enough they reached their destination.
“Alright, we’ve reached our final stop—everyone out!” Sandy’s voice echoed as, all at once, they were forcibly expelled from the worm’s stomach. “Sorry, wanted to be nicer about it, but this place feels super weird and wrong, and I want out of here sooner rather than later.”
Jake, who had landed on the sand dunes, looked at the worm with understanding. “Yeah… I also feel something. This is definitely the right spot. Do get out of here; we don’t wanna risk the Prima Guardian doing some weird shit to you.”
“No need to tell me twice!” Sandy said as they shimmered and flew away at breakneck speed.
“Do you think the worm will go too far away?” Carmen asked. “Kind of assumed that was also our ride home.”
Jake shook his head. “Eh, one thing at a time. Let’s kill the boss before considering our transportation home.”
Not far away from them, Jake also spotted Jacob and Bertram. He and the rest of the strike team wandered over, while all the others who had arrived alongside them spread out to do their own pre-planned tasks.
“Soon,” Jacob said when Jake got close. “It’ll be right around there.”
Jacob pointed to an inconspicuous area, but Jake didn’t doubt his words. And not just because he was an Augur, but because of what Jake both saw and felt himself. A Pulse of Perception also confirmed the area was odd.
He barely spotted any life anywhere. Outside of the many humans and other races who had arrived, that is. All the wildlife had abandoned the area—even that which lived very deep underground. Jake didn’t believe this was simply due to the presence of many humans.
Minutes ticked by, the time growing ever nearer, until finally… a system notification.
Time grows near, and the Prima Guardian shall arrive on Earth within 1 hour (59:59). All denizens of Earth will innately feel where this danger shall appear from.
And just as the system said, they all knew where the boss would touch down, and yep…
It was right in front of them.
Chapter 25
The Prima Guardian Event Begins
Countless planets across the 93rd Universe got this message at the exact same time. Countless planets were steeling themselves to face what many believed would be the final system event of the early period of the newly initiated universe… all waiting to realize their fates and to see if they would continue to exist going forward.
Some faced this challenge with excitement, expectations, and a bright look toward the future. Others with doubt, fear, and even a sense of helplessness, uncertain as to whether they stood a chance against whatever monster would arrive. Alliances did help, but not every galaxy had powerful alliances. Some had even come into conflict with other planets already, killing all hopes of working together.
No matter what, one thing was clear: this system event would determine the fate of many planets. They would become worlds either ruled by enlightened individuals or with monsters in charge. Millions of civilizations would fall, as planets would be overrun by Prima Guardians who would then take charge of the Planetary Pylon, making worlds hostile to the enlightened.
In some ways, this could be viewed as a test to see if the planetary populations had reached a satisfactory power level or were due for a reset. Perhaps new enlightened races would appear there in the future, and perhaps not.
Each galaxy had different circumstances, but one stood out more than any other. A galaxy with not one, but two Chosen of pinnacle gods in it, with people who were not only the strongest C-grades of this generation, but all generations in the history of the multiverse—at least if one went by the Nevermore Leaderboards.
While the vast majority of galaxies had borderline zero divine attention, the same couldn’t be said about the Milky Way, which had all eyes on it to see what many believed would be yet another showdown between the two Chosen, who had recently also faced off in Nevermore.
It was a chance for Ell’Hakan to reclaim some of the prestige he had lost in Nevermore… or for the Chosen of the Malefic One to fully prove his superiority. Some would argue this competition wasn’t entirely fair, though, as this wasn’t a one-on-one duel. Each Chosen had a whole swath of allies, and when it came to these allies, there was an imbalance.
Even the gods couldn’t agree on who had the advantage, though. Because one side had the entire Prima Guardian Alliance… while Earth had Earth.
Ell’Hakan flew to the exact spot where the Prima Guardian would arrive, followed by thirty other people. Five of them were from his own planet, while the rest of them hailed from the Prima Guardian Alliance. They were the strongest of their own planets, and while none had truly reached the peak level, many were quite strong in their own right.
Tens of thousands of elites from the Prima Guardian Alliance had also arrived to help secure the perimeter, limiting the damage the system event could cause. As the leader of the alliance, it was only to be expected that he would make use of his position.
Their plan was quite simple. They had gathered this elite team to take down the Prima Guardian on Ell’Hakan’s planet first before then moving to others, taking down Prima Guardians and regular Primas one after another. The teleportation network provided by the system allowed them to teleport between every member planet incredibly simply, albeit with limitations, due to each planet only generally having one teleporter. This was heavily remedied by effective teleportation networks on the different planets, but it could be a pain, especially on the less developed worlds where the alliance had had less time to put down solid networks.
On the many respective planets of the alliance, they had also enacted protocols to condense and secure the populace, so even if the elites of the planet were gone, the damage would be minimized. Some defenders did also remain on each planet, but just enough to handle a few wayward Primas.
It was quickly confirmed these Prima Guardians would always appear nearly directly on the other side of the planet from where most enlightened lived, which was both a curse and a blessing. A blessing because it meant the Primas wouldn’t reach the enlightened within a short period and would likely be very scattered once they did, and a curse because it meant going to face off against the Prima Guardian would take longer in pure travel time.
Time was certainly a big constraint in this event, but it didn’t bother Ell’Hakan too much. He had already designated the planets with the least usefulness and low populations, and it was only to be expected that some couldn’t be saved. Not even the greatest hero could save everyone every time. Sacrifices would also only make those he did save view him more favorably, as they could directly see the unfortunate fate of those who didn’t get his help.
Refocusing, he soon arrived at the spot where the Prima Guardian would land together with his elite team, which began setting down a formation. As he stood there, he felt the belief of the planet and all other planets he had also begun to influence coursing through his body. He looked up as the sun’s rays warmed and empowered his body, the twin moons hidden right now but always there. As one would expect of parents looking after their child.
He felt strong and confident in his plan. Besides, Earth, the planet belonging to the Chosen of the Malefic One, was ultimately still only one planet. Ell’Hakan had the powers of hundreds behind him. Smiling, he felt it was almost a certainty.
We shall be the ones to claim first blood. We have to.
Back on Earth, no one even seemed to be thinking about some grand universe-wide competition, as they were too busy doing their own thing.
With it now fully confirmed that the spot Jacob had picked out was indeed where the Prima Guardian would appear, everyone got to work making their own preparations. The Sword Saint painted a picture of the desert to allow him to teleport back there should something unforeseen happen, Carmen did some small ritual and sacrificed some bones, Arnold began to send out drones and even shot up small satellite-like things, Maria prepared arrows by infusing them with firebombs, Caleb began charging what looked like small bombs, and Casper spread out traps in the area… Everyone did something.
Jake also prepared his own Protean Arrow despite not knowing the exact nature of what they would face. He wanted to make a rather basic arrow that would work against most things, so it ended up consisting primarily of purely destructive arcane energy. It was far from ideal, and he could have made a better one if he’d been able to confirm what kind of creature the Prima would be. He chose to go with the most all-purpose one, though, because he didn’t want to risk making some arrow specialized in killing flesh-and-blood creatures only for some large elemental to appear, making him look like a complete moron when his arrow would fly harmlessly straight through its body.
Vesperia also did her thing. She sent out practically all of her C-grade drones in one direction where she had been assigned to make a defensive line, keeping only her four Queen’s Guards with her for this battle. Even the Royal Guards were too weak to be of proper help during the fight that was to come without getting the way, so they joined the regular drones. This section she would be in charge of was definitely one of the most robust ones, showing Vesperia was indeed a one-woman army, in that she could literally summon an army.
A few people didn’t have anything to prepare at all. The Fallen King simply floated there while Eron read a small book on a summoned chair. Sylphie was also just flying around, getting a feel for the area, occasionally complaining about how still the wind was in the desert.
After around fifty minutes of preparation and relaxation, the boss growing ever nearer, yet another system message appeared before every person on the planet. Finally, the “real” announcement for the event.
The Prima Guardian Event shall begin shortly.
From the vastness of space, a Prima Vessel is bound for Earth, carrying with it Primas who have been empowered within the Seal of the Exalted Prima and the Prima Guardian itself. Seek out where it lands and prepare to fight, flee, and defend what is worth protecting, or find any other strategy to face the Guardian. Do this with the knowledge that you have time.
The Prima Guardian will be sealed within the Prima Vessel for the first 1000 days after arrival. Each day that passes, the Prima Guardian shall break one of the chains sealing it, expending some of its power to regain its freedom. While sealed, the Prima Guardian cannot leave the Prima Vessel, and none can enter the Vessel except for the Key Holder carrying the First Key (current World Leader, Jake Thayne).
Even as the Prima Guardian remains sealed, the Primas that have arrived alongside it shall roam free, bringing with them their armies. Defend, attack, and hunt down every Prima, knowing that every slain Prima empowers the remaining seals on the Prima Guardian, forcing it to expend even more energy to regain its freedom, thus making it weaker once fully unsealed.
Once the Prima Guardian is free, it shall seek to hunt down the other Key Holder and claim the Planetary Pylon. 5 years after the Prima Guardian’s release, the barrier protecting Earth’s Planetary Core will naturally disperse, allowing any with a key to claim it. Current Key Holders on Earth: Jake Thayne. Prima Guardian of Earth (upon arrival).
Due to the exceptional performance of Earth in prior system events and the number of Primas slain during the first period of this event, the Prima Guardian is significantly more powerful than usual. The hundreds of chains broken through previously slain Primas allow the Prima Guardian to absorb Records and energies while expending less energy overall to break free.
The faster the Prima Guardian is slain, the greater the reward. Once the Prima Guardian has been slain, Earth will naturally be enrolled in the Prima Guardian Alliance. Participating in the alliance is entirely voluntary but may result in improved event rewards.
Let the true battle for who shall ultimately claim dominion over the Planetary Pylon begin.
WARNING: Should the Key Holder choose to enter the Prima Vessel before the 1000 days are over, all seals limiting the Prima Guardian are instantaneously broken, and the Prima Guardian is set free. If the Prima Guardian is unsealed before all chains are broken, it will not expend any of its saved-up power doing so, leaving it far more powerful. Caution is heavily advised.
All rewards from this event shall be given once all Prima Guardians of the Milky Way Galaxy have been slain, or at the event’s natural expiration 5 years after all Prima Guardians have been released. Rewards are based on both the performance of every individual and the planet’s performance as a whole.
Prima Guardian Arrival: 9:57
Just as this message came, Jake felt something. A faint sliver of energy had gathered, and when Jake looked at the back of his hand, a small, glowing golden sigil had appeared. Instantly, he knew this was the key spoken about in the system message. One part of what would ultimately allow him to unlock the barrier around the Planetary Pylon, with the other one held by the Prima Guardian.
“This conversation is making me want to beat something to death,” Jake muttered.
“Hey, if you want any more kids, I’m sure Gwyndyr would more than happily have you visit,” Maria said, having walked over. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you would have a hard time finding any factions who aren’t interested in inviting the Harbinger of Primeval Origins… Cool title, by the way.”
“Yeah, where does that even come from?” Carmen questioned. “I had people in Nevermore City refer to you with the same title. Like, I get what it means, but how come everyone agreed on this title?”
“Based on what the Malefic Viper said, it’s something to do with Records or something,” Jake said, shaking his head. “Quite a few gods can apparently glean Records of the multiverse with the system giving stuff names they adopt and use. It kind of makes sense when you consider that I was offered a pretty damn good profession called Harbinger of Primeval Origins.”
“When you say offered, do you mean you didn’t pick it?” Caleb raised an eyebrow.
“I had one I wanted more,” Jake said with a shrug. Yeah, he really shouldn’t ever mention the name of his actual profession, and he was very happy no one seemed to realize what it was either. Perhaps gods simply couldn’t detect he was also a heretic, as part of being a heretic was innate resistance to gods detecting you.
“Fair enough,” his brother said, not prying any further. “Also, it’s pretty funny seeing you share your intent to screw over Ell’Hakan and help other planets, as I was also informed by the higher-ups that they want us to assist a few planets from that Prima Guardian Alliance thing. We aren’t the only branch of the Court of Shadows in our Milky Way, and as the only Judge, I am viewed as responsible for them.”
“Valhal is a bit the same,” Carmen commented, “in that we have a presence on two more planets in the Milky Way. Both of them are going to face their Prima Guardian alone without all that alliance bullshit, though.”
“That’s what I would expect of Valhal, but do remember that the Court is not a crazy war cult but a murderous assassination cult,” Maria said with a smile. “I don’t have any special orders from Gwyndyr or my crazy flame-obsessed mercenary cult, so I guess I’ll just go wherever. Actually, probably just gonna do what Miranda asks of me.”
As the three of them continued talking, more people joined them to discuss the plans for this whole alliance business, helped along by Vesperia walking over.
“If I may,” Vesperia said, looking at Jake. “If this Ell’Hakan has already managed to claim another planet before we have a chance to step in, what are our plans?”
“First of all, I think getting access to a planet at all will require the permission of the World Leader,” Jake said. “That would just make sense. So, chances are we wouldn’t even be able to help, at least not for now, if they don’t allow us to travel there. Secondly, I’m not sure how I feel about you taking over an entire planet filled with enlightened species.”
Vesperia smiled. “Sire read my intentions that easily?”
“It makes sense,” Jake said, shrugging. If there was a planet that was relatively weak, he understood why Vesperia would consider taking it over. She wanted somewhere to start a new hive, and she couldn’t place a proper one on Earth. Such hives tended to monopolize all the resources on a planet if allowed to grow freely, and Vesperia wanted somewhere she could have a Hive Queen go full throttle without clashing with Jake or people he knew.
“So, what about a planet that we have both access to with the right circumstances?” Vesperia followed up.
“I’m not going to tell you what you can and can’t do if it doesn’t involve me,” Jake said.
He wasn’t an idiot. He knew Vesperia would one day take over a whole bunch of planets as she grew. It was simply her Path to expand, and in many ways, also her responsibility. She hadn’t stated it outright, but Jake knew she felt like she had to create a strong foothold in the 93rd Universe for the Endless Empire.
As the only True Royal capable of being there, she was indisputably the highest-ranked ectognamorph of the entire universe. Jake could understand why she felt a need to do well, and part of doing well meant taking over a few planets with plentiful resources. These planets tended to naturally also have other life, enlightened races included, and their fates wouldn’t be pleasant, as they were viewed as nothing more than a vector of growth.
Either way, Vesperia seemed happy enough with his answer, and they gladly changed the subject that no one within the giant space worm seemed particularly comfortable with. Besides the Fallen King, that is. The Unique Lifeform honestly wasn’t really engaging with a lot of people, only talking with the Sword Saint and Sylphie.
He did, however, speak up a bit when he infused them all with Golden Marks to allow communication and location tracking. It was really handy soul magic, for sure.
Hours of travel quickly passed within the giant space worm, and soon enough they reached their destination.
“Alright, we’ve reached our final stop—everyone out!” Sandy’s voice echoed as, all at once, they were forcibly expelled from the worm’s stomach. “Sorry, wanted to be nicer about it, but this place feels super weird and wrong, and I want out of here sooner rather than later.”
Jake, who had landed on the sand dunes, looked at the worm with understanding. “Yeah… I also feel something. This is definitely the right spot. Do get out of here; we don’t wanna risk the Prima Guardian doing some weird shit to you.”
“No need to tell me twice!” Sandy said as they shimmered and flew away at breakneck speed.
“Do you think the worm will go too far away?” Carmen asked. “Kind of assumed that was also our ride home.”
Jake shook his head. “Eh, one thing at a time. Let’s kill the boss before considering our transportation home.”
Not far away from them, Jake also spotted Jacob and Bertram. He and the rest of the strike team wandered over, while all the others who had arrived alongside them spread out to do their own pre-planned tasks.
“Soon,” Jacob said when Jake got close. “It’ll be right around there.”
Jacob pointed to an inconspicuous area, but Jake didn’t doubt his words. And not just because he was an Augur, but because of what Jake both saw and felt himself. A Pulse of Perception also confirmed the area was odd.
He barely spotted any life anywhere. Outside of the many humans and other races who had arrived, that is. All the wildlife had abandoned the area—even that which lived very deep underground. Jake didn’t believe this was simply due to the presence of many humans.
Minutes ticked by, the time growing ever nearer, until finally… a system notification.
Time grows near, and the Prima Guardian shall arrive on Earth within 1 hour (59:59). All denizens of Earth will innately feel where this danger shall appear from.
And just as the system said, they all knew where the boss would touch down, and yep…
It was right in front of them.
Chapter 25
The Prima Guardian Event Begins
Countless planets across the 93rd Universe got this message at the exact same time. Countless planets were steeling themselves to face what many believed would be the final system event of the early period of the newly initiated universe… all waiting to realize their fates and to see if they would continue to exist going forward.
Some faced this challenge with excitement, expectations, and a bright look toward the future. Others with doubt, fear, and even a sense of helplessness, uncertain as to whether they stood a chance against whatever monster would arrive. Alliances did help, but not every galaxy had powerful alliances. Some had even come into conflict with other planets already, killing all hopes of working together.
No matter what, one thing was clear: this system event would determine the fate of many planets. They would become worlds either ruled by enlightened individuals or with monsters in charge. Millions of civilizations would fall, as planets would be overrun by Prima Guardians who would then take charge of the Planetary Pylon, making worlds hostile to the enlightened.
In some ways, this could be viewed as a test to see if the planetary populations had reached a satisfactory power level or were due for a reset. Perhaps new enlightened races would appear there in the future, and perhaps not.
Each galaxy had different circumstances, but one stood out more than any other. A galaxy with not one, but two Chosen of pinnacle gods in it, with people who were not only the strongest C-grades of this generation, but all generations in the history of the multiverse—at least if one went by the Nevermore Leaderboards.
While the vast majority of galaxies had borderline zero divine attention, the same couldn’t be said about the Milky Way, which had all eyes on it to see what many believed would be yet another showdown between the two Chosen, who had recently also faced off in Nevermore.
It was a chance for Ell’Hakan to reclaim some of the prestige he had lost in Nevermore… or for the Chosen of the Malefic One to fully prove his superiority. Some would argue this competition wasn’t entirely fair, though, as this wasn’t a one-on-one duel. Each Chosen had a whole swath of allies, and when it came to these allies, there was an imbalance.
Even the gods couldn’t agree on who had the advantage, though. Because one side had the entire Prima Guardian Alliance… while Earth had Earth.
Ell’Hakan flew to the exact spot where the Prima Guardian would arrive, followed by thirty other people. Five of them were from his own planet, while the rest of them hailed from the Prima Guardian Alliance. They were the strongest of their own planets, and while none had truly reached the peak level, many were quite strong in their own right.
Tens of thousands of elites from the Prima Guardian Alliance had also arrived to help secure the perimeter, limiting the damage the system event could cause. As the leader of the alliance, it was only to be expected that he would make use of his position.
Their plan was quite simple. They had gathered this elite team to take down the Prima Guardian on Ell’Hakan’s planet first before then moving to others, taking down Prima Guardians and regular Primas one after another. The teleportation network provided by the system allowed them to teleport between every member planet incredibly simply, albeit with limitations, due to each planet only generally having one teleporter. This was heavily remedied by effective teleportation networks on the different planets, but it could be a pain, especially on the less developed worlds where the alliance had had less time to put down solid networks.
On the many respective planets of the alliance, they had also enacted protocols to condense and secure the populace, so even if the elites of the planet were gone, the damage would be minimized. Some defenders did also remain on each planet, but just enough to handle a few wayward Primas.
It was quickly confirmed these Prima Guardians would always appear nearly directly on the other side of the planet from where most enlightened lived, which was both a curse and a blessing. A blessing because it meant the Primas wouldn’t reach the enlightened within a short period and would likely be very scattered once they did, and a curse because it meant going to face off against the Prima Guardian would take longer in pure travel time.
Time was certainly a big constraint in this event, but it didn’t bother Ell’Hakan too much. He had already designated the planets with the least usefulness and low populations, and it was only to be expected that some couldn’t be saved. Not even the greatest hero could save everyone every time. Sacrifices would also only make those he did save view him more favorably, as they could directly see the unfortunate fate of those who didn’t get his help.
Refocusing, he soon arrived at the spot where the Prima Guardian would land together with his elite team, which began setting down a formation. As he stood there, he felt the belief of the planet and all other planets he had also begun to influence coursing through his body. He looked up as the sun’s rays warmed and empowered his body, the twin moons hidden right now but always there. As one would expect of parents looking after their child.
He felt strong and confident in his plan. Besides, Earth, the planet belonging to the Chosen of the Malefic One, was ultimately still only one planet. Ell’Hakan had the powers of hundreds behind him. Smiling, he felt it was almost a certainty.
We shall be the ones to claim first blood. We have to.
Back on Earth, no one even seemed to be thinking about some grand universe-wide competition, as they were too busy doing their own thing.
With it now fully confirmed that the spot Jacob had picked out was indeed where the Prima Guardian would appear, everyone got to work making their own preparations. The Sword Saint painted a picture of the desert to allow him to teleport back there should something unforeseen happen, Carmen did some small ritual and sacrificed some bones, Arnold began to send out drones and even shot up small satellite-like things, Maria prepared arrows by infusing them with firebombs, Caleb began charging what looked like small bombs, and Casper spread out traps in the area… Everyone did something.
Jake also prepared his own Protean Arrow despite not knowing the exact nature of what they would face. He wanted to make a rather basic arrow that would work against most things, so it ended up consisting primarily of purely destructive arcane energy. It was far from ideal, and he could have made a better one if he’d been able to confirm what kind of creature the Prima would be. He chose to go with the most all-purpose one, though, because he didn’t want to risk making some arrow specialized in killing flesh-and-blood creatures only for some large elemental to appear, making him look like a complete moron when his arrow would fly harmlessly straight through its body.
Vesperia also did her thing. She sent out practically all of her C-grade drones in one direction where she had been assigned to make a defensive line, keeping only her four Queen’s Guards with her for this battle. Even the Royal Guards were too weak to be of proper help during the fight that was to come without getting the way, so they joined the regular drones. This section she would be in charge of was definitely one of the most robust ones, showing Vesperia was indeed a one-woman army, in that she could literally summon an army.
A few people didn’t have anything to prepare at all. The Fallen King simply floated there while Eron read a small book on a summoned chair. Sylphie was also just flying around, getting a feel for the area, occasionally complaining about how still the wind was in the desert.
After around fifty minutes of preparation and relaxation, the boss growing ever nearer, yet another system message appeared before every person on the planet. Finally, the “real” announcement for the event.
The Prima Guardian Event shall begin shortly.
From the vastness of space, a Prima Vessel is bound for Earth, carrying with it Primas who have been empowered within the Seal of the Exalted Prima and the Prima Guardian itself. Seek out where it lands and prepare to fight, flee, and defend what is worth protecting, or find any other strategy to face the Guardian. Do this with the knowledge that you have time.
The Prima Guardian will be sealed within the Prima Vessel for the first 1000 days after arrival. Each day that passes, the Prima Guardian shall break one of the chains sealing it, expending some of its power to regain its freedom. While sealed, the Prima Guardian cannot leave the Prima Vessel, and none can enter the Vessel except for the Key Holder carrying the First Key (current World Leader, Jake Thayne).
Even as the Prima Guardian remains sealed, the Primas that have arrived alongside it shall roam free, bringing with them their armies. Defend, attack, and hunt down every Prima, knowing that every slain Prima empowers the remaining seals on the Prima Guardian, forcing it to expend even more energy to regain its freedom, thus making it weaker once fully unsealed.
Once the Prima Guardian is free, it shall seek to hunt down the other Key Holder and claim the Planetary Pylon. 5 years after the Prima Guardian’s release, the barrier protecting Earth’s Planetary Core will naturally disperse, allowing any with a key to claim it. Current Key Holders on Earth: Jake Thayne. Prima Guardian of Earth (upon arrival).
Due to the exceptional performance of Earth in prior system events and the number of Primas slain during the first period of this event, the Prima Guardian is significantly more powerful than usual. The hundreds of chains broken through previously slain Primas allow the Prima Guardian to absorb Records and energies while expending less energy overall to break free.
The faster the Prima Guardian is slain, the greater the reward. Once the Prima Guardian has been slain, Earth will naturally be enrolled in the Prima Guardian Alliance. Participating in the alliance is entirely voluntary but may result in improved event rewards.
Let the true battle for who shall ultimately claim dominion over the Planetary Pylon begin.
WARNING: Should the Key Holder choose to enter the Prima Vessel before the 1000 days are over, all seals limiting the Prima Guardian are instantaneously broken, and the Prima Guardian is set free. If the Prima Guardian is unsealed before all chains are broken, it will not expend any of its saved-up power doing so, leaving it far more powerful. Caution is heavily advised.
All rewards from this event shall be given once all Prima Guardians of the Milky Way Galaxy have been slain, or at the event’s natural expiration 5 years after all Prima Guardians have been released. Rewards are based on both the performance of every individual and the planet’s performance as a whole.
Prima Guardian Arrival: 9:57
Just as this message came, Jake felt something. A faint sliver of energy had gathered, and when Jake looked at the back of his hand, a small, glowing golden sigil had appeared. Instantly, he knew this was the key spoken about in the system message. One part of what would ultimately allow him to unlock the barrier around the Planetary Pylon, with the other one held by the Prima Guardian.
