Chapter 953: It's Hard Being This Weak

Chapter 953: It's Hard Being This Weak

Maybe Jake was a bit hypocritical for calling the Great Bright One believers a cult, considering he was part of a faction that worshipped a giant snake god. Then again, the Malefic Viper’s organization was called an Order. Did he have a cult in the past? Yes, but now he had an Order, so it wasn’t the same thing.

As for how he would deal with them... time would tell. Jake wasn’t going to be antagonistic for no reason, though. Before he decided what he would do, he definitely needed some more information.

“I must admit I’m not that knowledgeable about this Great Bright One,” Jake said, as he tried to be a bit careful with his words. “But you said you expected me to know, considering I am not related to the one who calls himself the Celestial Child... what do you mean by that?”

The speaker seemed to confer with the others in the room for a moment before she answered. “This Ell’Hakan follows a god by the name of Yip of Yore. That in itself is no problem, but he has taken a rather fanatical approach and believes his god is superior to all others despite only having risen to godhood through the grace of the system made by the Great Bright One. To work with such an individual who is so deep in his delusions would be difficult for us. Don’t misunderstand; belief in the many gods of the multiverse and ignorance of the Great Bright One is not an issue, but someone who so blatantly disregards the Great Bright One isn’t someone we would want to work with.”

Alright, so they do acknowledge the existence of other gods... man, this is weird.

“I see,” Jake slowly nodded.

“Might I ask, seeing as you do not know of the Great Bright One, what does your planet believe in?” the speaker asked curiously. There didn’t seem to be any malicious intentions behind the question, so Jake answered truthfully.

“People are allowed to believe in whatever they want on my planet, as long as their beliefs do not cause harm to others,” Jake said. “Perhaps there are even followers of the Great Bright One.”

He seriously doubted it, but he couldn’t really know, now could he?

“Do you personally follow a god?” the speaker continued.

“No, not really,” Jake answered with a shrug.

What? Sure, he was the Chosen of Villy, but Jake wouldn’t say he “followed” the Malefic Viper in any way. Jake was more of a freeloader who yoinked some Records and enjoyed all the benefits like the good little heretic he was.

“If you want to, I’m sure the Voice of the One would gladly speak to you about the Great Bright One. Ah, the Voice of the One is the one who holds the title of World Leader here on our planet,” the speaker said, finally also speaking about the World Leader.

“Is the World Leader not on the council?” Jake asked curiously.

“He has an honorable position where he offers advice and input, but he rarely makes use of the powers bestowed upon him as the World Leader and trusts the council for all decisions. His participation is limited, though, as his role as the Voice of the One requires him to focus on listening to the guidance of the Great Bright One. However, I’m sure he would spare another World Leader some of his valuable time if you desire a meeting,” the speaker explained.

“Does he communicate with the Great Bright One even now?” Jake asked, trying to act impressed.

“Of course. The Voice of the One has been in communion for the past day to discuss when we are ready to face the Prima Guardian,” the speaker said in a revering voice. “His communion should be done by the end of the day, and we shall inform him of your arrival then. Until such a time, let us proceed with having you prove your prowess and capabilities to face the Prima Guardian. Let me also be transparent that we require more of you than the average mercenary, as we cannot in good consciousness risk your death, considering your identity as a World Leader.”

“That’s fair,” Jake nodded, as he believed he didn’t really have more to discuss with the council for now. He did have a lot of questions, but he chose to not ask any of them as he saw no reason to risk turning them hostile. At least not before he met this Voice of the One.

“Thank you all for this meeting; it was very enlightening,” Jake continued and couldn’t help but make a small pun. “I wish you all well. I shall now go see how powerful these Primas of your world truly are.”

“May the light of the Great Bright One guide your Path,” the speaker said with a bow, Jake nodding in acknowledgment as he walked out of the room. Outside, the attendant who had originally brought him there was waiting, and based on how her face had changed at times throughout the conversation he had with the council, she had definitely heard everything they said.

There was a lot to take in. Clearly, this Great Bright One had a firm hold on the population of the planet, and they all held unswayable faith. Yet they also didn’t seem hostile or even like they expected Jake or anyone else to believe the same thing they did, though they did expect people to recognize their beliefs. Clearly, they also knew of the existence of other gods. It was all just very weird, and Jake hoped the Voice of the One could shed some light on the situation. If not him, then maybe the attendant who was waiting for him.

Exiting the conference room, the attendant naturally stood ready and bowed in greeting. “I hope your meeting with the council proceeded well. I will admit I heard most of what was said, including that you are to prove your power by slaying a Prima. Do you wish for me to lead you to one of the battlefields immediately? I have one in mind, commanded by our top general. If you impress him, his word will hold more sway than anyone else’s. Besides that of the Voice of the One, of course.”

She said the last part jokingly, as if it was a given. Jake responded by nodding, agreeing to her proposal. “Please lead me there.”

“I’ll get set up right away,” Jake nodded.

“Be aware I will have a scout keep an eye on you during all this,” the man noted. “She will keep her distance to not reveal your position, but we naturally need someone to witness and attest to your abilities.”

“That’s only to be expected,” Jake agreed. “I’ll head out. Good luck on the frontlines.”

“And good luck to you,” the general nodded. “May the Great Bright One bless your quest.”

Jake simply nodded and headed out to take down the Prima. On the way out, he got a mini projector thing that could show a map of the battlefield, and it was even live-updated with the estimated position of the Prima he was to kill.

Honestly, it was all some impressive tech, and Jake felt like Arnold would have liked things on this planet... though he would probably also think they were simplistic and didn’t have enough void magic.

While making his way forward, he also briefly made eye contact with the scout who was to keep an eye on him, the woman not trying to hide what she was doing. Jake just gave her a brief nod as she followed behind him at a good distance, using okay-ish stealth skills. He also used his own stealth skills, though he didn’t go full-on Unseen Hunter.

Getting to the battlefield didn’t take long, and Jake observed things for a while to see how the elves fought. As expected, lots of light magic was going on, with burning rays filling the air and scorching beasts in droves.

Some of this light magic came from towers constructed near the frontlines, with each of these towers having a group of five C-grades at the top, while the inside was filled with D-grades and magical scripts, making these D-grades effectively serve as batteries and amplifiers. A few D-grades wouldn’t help much... but stuff a few thousand into a tower, and it could do some work. Again, seeing how a planet with such a huge population had adapted to fight was very interesting.

Jake kept looking as he made his way forward, being careful with his speed so the scout could keep up, and he didn’t show off too much. Soon enough, he spotted his target in the distance, and as the general had said, it definitely played things safe. Its way of fighting also reminded Jake a bit of the Fallen King, as it sent out blasts of force here and there, though it was definitely more specialized for long-range combat rather than mid-range.

He took a bit longer to find a good vantage point, at which point he began setting up. To sell his one-trick style of combat, Jake began to put down a magic circle around him before he would shoot. What did this circle do? Nothing, Jake just made up some bullshit, but he kept the runes super fucking complicated to make sure the scout couldn’t see he was faking it.

After about a minute of setting up the fake magic circle, Jake finally took out his bow. He had considered it and decided to still use a Protean Arrow, though he wouldn’t make one with full power. His reason for using one was more for aesthetic reasons. It just made more sense that a big arrow would do way more damage than a small arrow.

Finally, Jake nocked the arrow and began to charge Arcane Powershot. He very carefully estimated how much power he put in before he released the string and sent the arrow flying. The Prima he targeted noticed the attack coming its way and tried to react, but Jake used Gaze to ensure it would hit.

The arrow struck the Prima right in the chest before exploding, sending it flying backward as parts of its body were blown apart. Jake had very deliberately ensured he wouldn’t one-shot it, just get very close.

He followed up with three more arrows before the Prima could recover, finally taking it down for good.

You have slain [Tencufi Prima – lvl 279]

Jake nodded, satisfied with his performance. However, when he saw the scout, she looked on with wide eyes while gawking.

Seriously? Jake questioned. He had held back so much... did she have any idea how difficult it was to not one-shot something below his own level like that? It was really bloody hard to be that weak!

Either way, he hoped he hadn’t overdone it. Still, to buy some more good guy points, Jake unleashed a few more attacks, killing regular monsters that looked like they were causing problems for the many elven fighters. He only stopped when a group of winged beasts began to head his way, retreating as he quickly made his way back toward the general, trying to look extremely tired from this whole ordeal.

Jake had the scout go ahead as he made himself a lot slower to get back. He needed to give the scout some time to report while also hopefully selling that he was kind of tired. When he finally arrived and saw the very pleased look on the face of the general, Jake believed he had succeeded.

“Truly impressive... you might just be the strongest mercenary to have arrived thus far,” the general said. “At least you have the single-strongest attack I’ve seen. Very useful for hunting powerful monsters, for sure.

“I do have some more cards hidden that I’ve saved specifically for the Prima Guardian,” Jake shared, also trying to bring the topic back to the Prima Guardian. While the planet was interesting, his main objective was still to kill the big boss, after all.

“Certainly, we are one step closer to facing the Guardian, but to release it is not my decision, but up to the discretion of the Voice of the One and the guidance he receives from the Great Bright One,” the general shook his head before smiling. “Luckily for you, I got a report just before you returned... the Voice of the One has agreed to see you.”