The Primal Hunter Chapter 1038: Doing A Bit of Catch-Up

Jake stretched as he felt his mobility back to normal, and his body pretty much fully healed. Sleeping truly was one of the most overpowered hidden skills in the multiverse, speeding up healing so damn much it was almost unfair for those who didn’t have the ability to sleep. Well, alright, based on what Jake had learned by talking to Dina during Nevermore, everyone could still technically learn to sleep, but it was incredibly difficult to the level of being nearly impossible.

Anyhow, moving on, with Jake up and fit for a fight, he instantly considered his next move. Jake was not known as the type to plan ahead, and in truth, he didn’t have any plans for what would happen after Ell’Hakan was slain. He reckoned they would move on to securing the rest of the universe, but nothing had been pre-planned on his end.

However, the Holy Church quickly helped him find a new objective by having Jacob take away Ell’Hakan’s soul before running. Instantly, he knew what his next task was, though this one was a bit more complicated than dealing with Ell’Hakan, and he would need to consider his next move to make sure he wasn’t causing people around him trouble by acting recklessly.

One thing was for certain, though... there was no fucking way Jake would ever allow them to revive that nahoom bastard. Something the Holy Church seemed not to understand.

From a logical perspective, Bertram had been right in that Jake didn’t have any reason to want the Truesoul of the nahoom. Jake had, for all intents and purposes, killed Ell’Hakan already. He’d gained all the Records and experience from the kill. The war against the former Chosen was over, Jake the unquestioned victor. He had no need for the Truesoul and shouldn’t care if it was returned to the system or intercepted by the Holy Church.

But he did care.

Not because he was afraid Ell’Hakan would be revived and seek revenge. Whatever was revived wouldn’t be the same person Jake had killed, not after his soul had fractured like that, and he would be too weak for Jake to even consider him an opponent. Besides, the Church would certainly do all it could to keep him away from Jake for the rest of his life – however short it ended up being.

No, the reason why Jake wanted Ell’Hakan dead and gone for good was because he despised his Bloodline on a fundamental level. Jake was a simple man. He knew he was. Nothing was better than when things were straightforward and easy for everyone to understand. Schemes, mental manipulation, political maneuvering... he hated all of it. The only times he would ever engage in that kind of thing was when forced to do so or as a favor for someone he cared about.

Ell’Hakan was like the antithesis of Jake’s Path. He was all about lies and delusions and a world molded through manipulation. His Bloodline took away the free will of others by warping their emotions, making it in many ways worse than straight-up enslaving someone. At least slaves knew they were slaves, but through Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline, they weren’t even afforded that right.

Jake also felt strongly that the reason Jacob wanted Jake to act against the Church’s interest in this matter was because he also saw the dangers of the Bloodline. Saw how damaging and wrong it was. The Bloodline was fundamentally different from how the Holy Church usually operated, as while blind faith and belief were something the Church strived for, they knew actual benefits were the true way to recruit and maintain people.

That’s why they offered tangible benefits like the presence of the Holyland, safety, nurturing, hope for a better future for descendants, and an overall very functional civilization for people to be part of. Geniuses who were nurtured by the Church could safely leave their families behind, knowing that they would live peaceful lives that made even the relative peace of most places on Earth before the system seem filled with conflict.

As Jake had said before, then he totally understood why the average person would want to be part of the Holy Church. In fact, if his parents were part of the Church, Jake would have felt perfectly safe around it, assuming they were moved to live far away from the frontlines. Safety truly was the biggest thing the Church offered for sure...

But with Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline, they wouldn’t even need to offer anything. Jake knew that the Church did have some insane zealots who were simply blinded by faith, but with Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline, they could take things far further. He didn’t even want to imagine how they could use the Bloodline to recruit people if they got their hands on it. There was a risk the Bloodline would weaken or mutate to not be as useful, but Jake wasn’t going to risk anything.

He was sure the Church had many plans on how to use it, even ones Jake hadn’t considered in the slightest, which only made him more determined to nip it in the bud while he still could.

Also... while Jake went over a lot of reasons why he wanted the Bloodline gone, he ultimately didn’t have to justify himself at all. Ell’Hakan had been his kill, and anything from that kill rightfully belonged to him. It didn’t matter that he had no way to trap a Truesoul; it was still his loot, and the Church couldn’t simply swoop in and take it because Jake couldn’t.

Having gathered his thoughts, Jake considered what to do next, but it didn’t take him long to decide. While talking to Miranda was certainly important, he had someone else he wanted to catch up with more than her. Someone he really wanted an update from regarding all the recent happenings and to, of course, also brag a bit about his own victory.

With the universe still mostly locked down, Jake had to go down to his lab and set up a simple ritual to reach out across the void to his dear Patron. The two hadn’t talked for a good while and had a lot to go over, with Jake really wanting to hear how things were going in the rest of the multiverse. He especially wanted to know how he planned on dealing with Jake’s live roasting session that had been broadcast across most of existence. Jake really didn’t want to return to the Order as a pariah who everyone thought was at least halfway a heretic for what he’d said.

Setting up the ritual, Jake quickly reached out. From the looks of it, the snake god had been waiting as Jake instantly got a response.

“Well, well, well, here we are. Killers of Legends, the two of us. How does it feel to have killed your first Chosen of a pinnacle god? Though I guess he was technically the Usurper of one toward the end... but hey, it still counts!” Villy said in his usual jovial and relaxed tone. 𝑅ÀꞐоᛒЁS̈

Jake responded with a smile.

the Viper said, satisfied.

Jake asked, curious.

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the Viper said. Jake quickly sent a confirmation that his mouth was wired shut, making the snake god continue.

Villy stopped himself, some-fucking-how detecting Jake knew.

With the Viper not hiding anything, Jake also didn’t.

the Viper said with some genuine admiration.

Jake nodded with a smile.

He couldn’t help but find Yip of Yore’s warning about the Viper funny. The god had spoken as if he’d just revealed some grand secret – which he technically had – that would undoubtedly create a massive rift between Jake and the Viper. A seed of suspicion in Jake, making him question if his Patron truly was on his side or just preparing him for consumption.

Now that all seemed to dumb, as the Viper just came out and outright spilled the big secret. Then again... it couldn’t hurt to ask. You know, just to make sure.

the Viper instantly responded, having likely expected this kind of question from Jake.

he just shrugged.

Villy actually explained why he wasn’t going to eat Jake.

Jake nodded.

the Viper said.

Jake muttered in the last part.

Villy explained.

That was when Jake was reminded of the reward he got during the fight with the Celestial Child, and without further delay, Jake pulled out the item. What appeared was a small fang-shaped stone-like object that pulsed with energy, yet as Jake used Identify, he found himself disappointed.

[Malefic Bargaining Fragment (Ancient)] – An item obtained from a successful Divine Bargain with your Patron. Contains Records and energy related to the Malefic Viper. Has many alchemical uses.

Jake asked the Viper with some genuine confusion.

the snake god said.

Jake asked with exasperation.

Villy shot back.

Jake took a moment before muttering:

Villy said, moving the conversation along.

Jake nodded.

the Viper answered.

Jake smiled.

Villy asked teasingly.

Villy was clearly enjoying himself explaining all this as Jake quite frankly felt a bit nervous.

Villy said dismissively.

Jake simply said.

Jake began to go over the fight and how everything had gone down as he worked toward the ending, knowing that soon, the two of them would have a talk about how to handle the Holy Church.