The Primal Hunter 15: A LitRPG Adventure, page 6
Releasing a Pulse, Jake noticed that the elites around the head priest and Jacob had regrouped, Bertram also with them. They were clearly up to something, and going by the Pulses, Jacob and the head priest guy were... arguing?
“He will die,” Jacob said with certainty in his voice as he stood opposite the head priest. “I will not throw a young one with a promising future to his own death like that. His Path has only barely begun, and you’re asking me to cut it short before I can give him proper guidance.”
“It’s a monster—nothing more, nothing less—and one not tolerated according to the edicts of the Holy Church,” the head priest said while desperately trying to keep track of how the warriors were doing against the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. Needless to say, they weren’t doing very well.
“A young monster yet to even fully learn who and what it is,” Jacob said in a harsh tone. “If given proper time and guidance, I believe—”
“It doesn’t matter what you believe!” the head priest yelled, not caring much about showing respect to the Augur anymore. “Unleash it. Now.”
“Even if I did agree, unleashing him will cause untold destruction,” Jacob continued, unbothered by the priest’s attitude. “Our own fighters will be caught in the crossfire even if it proves a success. Also, the honored Lodestar Matron ordered us to apprehend the Chosen, not kill him. We both know that he is not someone capable of merely apprehending anything. And, again, this assumes the Malefic One’s Chosen doesn’t merely slay him.”
“It’s your pet—if it dies, who cares? And if it wins, it’s your job to stop it from killing the Chosen.” The head priest shrugged. “Though I don’t feel that the higher-ups would be that upset if the Chosen of the Malefic One meets an unfortunate end.”
“This will only escalate matters,” Jacob said, sighing.
“Are you done?” the head priest said before finally taking out his trump card. As a small token flashed into existence in his hand, he made eye contact with Jacob. “This is a direct order in accordance with the divine edict bestowed upon me. Release the creature to fight the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. Now.”
Jacob looked at the man for only a second more before sighing even louder than before. “Whatever happens next is your sole responsibility. One I doubt you will be able to bear.”
The head priest just scoffed as Jacob knelt down and murmured some words, forming a small ritual circle... A box sat in the middle of it, oddly monochrome, as if all color had been sucked out of it.
Jake was busy single-handedly and methodically dismantling the entire elite army of the Holy Church. He flew and teleported around from group to group, taking down a few here and there, relying on small hit-and-run attacks.
Was this the most efficient way to go about this situation? No, not really, but it was a very safe way to do it. Moreover, Jake had yet to truly push himself in any way.
In fact, he hadn’t even touched his boosting skill yet, and he refrained from using any skills that consumed a lot of resources. As mentioned, Jake didn’t see a way for the Holy Church to harm him in a fight, but that didn’t mean it was impossible for them to ultimately defeat him. They had a lot of healers and other support classes, which resulted in a lot of barriers and skills making Jake’s attacks weaker, and whenever he didn’t kill someone outright, they would be quickly healed back up, only to attack him shortly after.
It was a boring and defensive fighting style, but definitely the best option after their grand ritual failed. They knew they couldn’t win through sheer power, so instead, they aimed to tire him out—a true and tested strategy from the many wars of the multiverse. Even someone like Jake would eventually get tired.
What the Holy Church didn’t know was that Jake’s resource pools were not exactly ordinary. One could even go as far as to call them anomalous. This resulted in him having far more leeway, but that wasn’t to say he couldn't eventually get tired out anyway. And it wasn’t just about using resources, as Jake could keep those up with potions or pacing himself for the most part.
Constantly being drained of resources led to a sense of exhaustion not shown on the status sheet. The same was true for mental exhaustion. There were many times Jake had wrung himself dry despite still having plenty of mana and stamina after doing something incredibly intensive. This exhaustion was also why armies in a war couldn’t constantly use the same fighters despite keeping them topped up in resources by support classes. Eventually, they would need proper rest.
Jake was the same. Given enough time and enough bodies thrown at him, his efficiency would fall, and he would weaken until, eventually, he would barely be able to exert his energies. Of course, such a thing didn’t happen fast, and as long as Jake held back on using boosting skills, he wasn’t pressured for time.
He did have a confession, though. Seeing as this was his first battle after meeting the First Sage—and his first time exerting himself after having his soul and Sagacity upgraded—he couldn’t help but indulge a little.
As such, he used far more magic than usual and moved around far more than he had to. He was refamiliarizing himself with his body, and despite it not being explicitly stated, he felt his increased energy control as he moved about.
Jake would liken it to having increased his mind-muscle connection—something he remembered a guy at the gym always mentioning as super important. It was as if he was more connected to his own body than usual, and he could feel the energy move more smoothly. It wasn’t just limited to his body, either. Whenever he exerted control over his immediate area and used mana, he also felt a stronger connection.
Did this make Jake a lot stronger? No, not quite, as it didn’t really have any big effect outside of allowing Jake to summon a couple more mana bolts at once without feeling a mental strain. However, it did make Jake feel as if he had a better understanding of what he was doing, and given enough time, this would definitely lead to gains, as he would have an easier time improving.
Even now, he subtly improved some things here and there at the expense of the Holy Church fighters. By now, he had killed a few hundred, but he couldn’t even tell the difference. In fact, it was as if he only experienced more and more pressure as time went on.
He also kept a constant eye on Jacob’s location, and when he saw the Augur place down a formation, he felt a slight tinge of worry from his intuition. This made him change target and shoot a Powershot at his old boss, only to find it blocked by Bertram, who’d slammed his shield down and summoned a large barrier all around the building they had moved to after Jake collapsed the other one.
The adventurer party with the head priest also stayed inside this barrier, with the party putting down some kind of formation for themselves. Jake clearly saw they were up to something, but after a few more attacks on the barrier summoned by Bertram, Jake gave up.
Truthfully, he wasn’t confident he could break the barrier made by the Augur’s Guardian. Not without going all out, at least. Bertram was focused entirely on defending Jacob, and he certainly had the skills to do so.
Jake wasn’t that upset about it, though... because he kind of wanted to see what they were up to. Besides, he had a lot of other playmates to deal with before the Holy Church finished cooking up whatever they sought to throw at him.
Iludar merely stared at the elf who stood there with his sole method of escape in hand. He was unable to fully comprehend everything that was going on. All he did know was that Kindroth had betrayed him... which didn’t make any sense.
He worked for the Holy Church. Iludar knew he worked for the Holy Church. He had been a double agent, feeding them information during the entire war between the Viper and Yip of Yore. True, he hadn’t given much useful information, and in retrospect, knowing the Viper had wanted the battle to happen, a lot of what he’d given could even be viewed as him helping out the Primordial, but in some areas, he had definitely harmed Earth.
A thought entered Iludar’s head then. Was Kindroth also trying to flee? Did he want to use Iludar’s escape token himself? Even if he did so, wouldn’t he just be waiting for the Holy Church to one day hunt him down for his betrayal? Even if he didn’t flee, he had betrayed the Church now.
There was simply no way the meeting between the Chosen of the Malefic Viper and the Holy Church would end with a peaceful resolution. Iludar didn’t believe that for even a second. That being the case, the bad blood between the Church and Haven would be extreme afterward.
Kindroth would have nowhere to turn. As an agent of the Church, he would be hunted down by the forces of the Malefic One’s Chosen, and having seemingly betrayed the Church now... he had nowhere left to turn.
Yet despite Iludar feeling so certain about his thoughts, Kindroth didn’t seem bothered. Instead, he focused powerful light energy in his hand, making the escape token break apart without activating… and denying both of them any way to escape.
The world seemed to almost stand still for Iludar as he considered his choices. All around him, his elite fighters were putting up a valiant struggle, and they were not getting entirely crushed yet, but he knew they didn’t stand a chance. The metal mage Iludar only had sparse information on was going on an absolute rampage, the True Royal and her army were an unstoppable force, and the witch evidently was far from as suppressed as they’d hoped. Not to mention the army of elite fighters the Chosen of the Boundless Hydra had brought along.
Iludar could fight... but he knew it was meaningless. So he did the one thing he believed he could do in this situation.
“Disengage from combat, gather at my location... and surrender,” he spoke through the psychic link he’d established with every single fighter. At the same time, he threw down his staff, raised his hands, and yelled, “We surrender!” His words echoed throughout the valley. He was full of regret, but there truly was no other choice. “We surrender unconditionally! Everyone, lay down your arms!”
This was his final hope, and all his loyal followers dutifully followed his command. To his relief, the attackers also stopped when their opponents surrendered and disengaged from combat. He knew many of his soldiers likely had doubts even as they threw down their weapons, but they did so nevertheless.
King Iludar knew when he had lost. He had gambled on the wrong Chosen and the wrong Primordial faction. His own failure in leadership had led to this situation, and while he could blame the evident mental manipulation of Ell’Hakan for having led him down this path, Iludar respected himself enough to take responsibility.
As the fighting stopped, he floated down to the ground and knelt, hands placed on his lap. The entire battlefield had become eerily silent incredibly quickly. Iludar leaned forward and placed his head on the ground in a bow toward the person he’d come to kill. He knew he was being audacious, but he still spoke.
“I plead with you... please show mercy upon those foolish enough to have followed this sorry excuse for a leader.”
Chapter 6
Unwanted Reunion
Jake continued his slaughter, killing hundreds of powerful C-grade fighters. These were individuals who had been branded as elite, always received respectfully whenever they traveled.
Yet in front of Jake, they were but lambs to the slaughter. The difference between an elite and someone standing at the pinnacle of their grade was an incomprehensible gap that they simply had no way of crossing, even with all their fancy formations and rituals.
They were also faced with potentially the worst opponent possible. The only way they had a chance to win was pulling off some big ritual or deploying something else Jake wasn’t ready to face, taking advantage of the large battlefield and the fact Jake had to keep track of so many foes at once.
In front of anyone else, they might have found a few openings, but Jake wasn’t that easily surprised. He tracked the entire battlefield at once and was aware of everything happening everywhere. Teleporting around, he perfectly snuffed out anything that even had the slightest potential to become a threat if left alone—besides whatever Jacob was doing, that is.
He didn’t end up having to wait long, either. Jake saw that within the defensive bubble, the party had laid down some formation that he assumed would allow them to teleport away. The head priest walked into it, but not before Jake quickly confirmed he had a Mark on him.
Jake had expected the others to follow, but only the regular priests accompanying the head priest went through the teleporter. The party, as well as Jacob and Bertram, stayed behind even as the teleportation formation faded away. Using his Mark, Jake sensed the head priest had gone to the capital city where Jake had originally arrived on the planet.
With them gone, Jake also noticed the box Jacob was doing some ritual with. He assumed it to be some artifact or something, as he knew the Church loved pulling out one-time artifacts, and he still remembered the Holy Sword Bertram had used on the Monarch of Blood back in the Treasure Hunt. However, when he looked at it more closely, the way everything around it appeared slightly distorted was familiar.
He realized what the box was right as Bertram let the party of elites from the Holy Church charge out of the barrier he’d placed down. Jacob and Bertram both stayed as the barrier faded away entirely... and all around them, all color began fading from the world.
For a brief moment, the fighting stopped. Jake teleported into the air and looked down at what was happening. The absence of color spread as the box finally opened... revealing a fragment that Jake instantly recognized.
Part of the Fallen King, Jake thought, right as a powerful aura exploded onto the scene. Above the fragment, a body began appearing—bones first, then flesh growing upon them in a grotesque scene.
As the creature fully formed and a subtle sense of danger crept into his mind, Jake immediately recognized what it was. Without any hesitation, he activated the device he’d received from Arnold, informing him to send Carmen over. He likely should have done so the moment negotiations had broken down, but better late than never.
He also didn’t hesitate to attack. Nocking an arrow, he released a Powershot down toward the creature, hoping to hit it before it could fully form, but Bertram got in the way, taking the hit before getting blasted back through half a dozen buildings and into the plains beyond the city.
Before Jake could even launch another attack... the creature had fully assembled its body. The Desolate Child of Loss had fully regenerated itself.
What appeared looked different than Jake remembered, though. Rather than looking like a skeleton, barely with any flesh sticking to it, the creature seemed fuller now. It had more tissue than before, and even some muscles in there, from the looks of it. It was still unhealthily thin, but now it actually looked like a creature that could be alive.
However, compared to its physical form, the creature’s level hadn’t grown much.
[Desolate Child of Loss – lvl 310]
It had been level 306 when Jake encountered it the first time, but now it had grown. It was a funny coincidence that for their second meeting, Jake was now the one at level 306, the gap having significantly narrowed after all the levels Jake had gotten.
Jake did feel that it had grown stronger, though. Strong enough to register as a threat. He also saw something else that made him frown. Its passive aura of desolation spread out from its body, yet Jacob stood within this aura, completely untouched. It wasn’t that he somehow defended himself from the desolation, either; he just wasn’t affected.
“I’m sorry,” Jacob said, his voice low but still loud enough for Jake to hear. From the look on the Augur’s face, he seemed legitimately upset, which just perplexed Jake and raised so many more questions. Why was the Desolate Child of Loss with Jacob? Why had he seemingly helped it heal?
And why wasn’t it attacking him, but instead looking at him with confusion?
“Why sorry?” the False God asked, seemingly focused on Jacob and not even noticing Jake.
Jacob didn’t answer as he looked past the Desolate Child of Loss. The False God took a little before it followed his gaze and saw Jake floating in the air. The moment it laid eyes on Jake, its entire demeanor changed in an instant.
“YOU! Slayer! Enemy!” the creature screeched, its aura exploding outwards as Jacob stumbled back, still unaffected but with a sad look on his face. One that Jake didn’t really have much time to study.
The False God didn’t hesitate even a moment before it went for the kill. In an instant, it flew into the air, pure desolation spreading everywhere.
Jake reacted by creating more distance, yet even as he did so, he couldn’t escape the domain of desolation passively released by the False God. It had grown even larger than before, and if Jake wanted to fight, he was pretty much forced to remain inside of it.
I can’t hold back too much anymore, Jake told himself as he made the tough decision of activating Arcane Awakening at the safe 30% boost, increasing his consumption of resources directly but not straining himself too much. The boost was needed, too, as the Desolate Child of Loss was effectively constantly in its fully powered state.
With his bow in hand, Jake attacked the Desolate Child of Loss, which now took out a simplistic spear of bone. Scales also immediately covered his body to fight off the desolation as he attacked.
His arrow tore through the desolation, losing energy during flight, but he wagered it should be powerful enough. The last time Jake fought the creature, it had barely reacted to any attacks or defended itself. However, this time around, it did one better and actively dodged Jake’s arrow.
It’s smarter? Jake questioned internally, feeling like this was going to get really annoying. However, he was far from deterred. Even if the Desolate Child of Loss had grown in both power and ability, Jake also wasn’t the same as he had been during their last encounter. He was stronger now, but what’s more, he wasn’t suffering from a desolation-inflicted soul injury.
Following up on his prior attack, Jake released another arrow, but this time around, it curved slightly in the middle of its flight, much to the surprise of the Desolate Child of Loss, who, while having certainly grown smarter, was still not a talented fighter.
