Now, honestly, Jake felt really put on the spot. He had just dealt with the damn Bloodline debacle at the Order and had believed this entire World Congress would be a relaxing time where he could chill with friends and do some voting and stuff. You know, he just wanted to enjoy it a little.

But no, the King had to show up and make everything incredibly complicated, so instead of getting a nice and relaxing break, Jake went straight from the frying pan and into the fire.

Everyone looked back and forth between the King and Jake. Perhaps some had not noticed it to begin with, but the two masks did look exactly the same. Which made sense because the mask Jake wore on his face was kind of a clone of the King as far as Jake knew. In fact, it was the ”real” body Jake always had on his face, while the King before him was… well, also the real body.

Yeah, Jake still wasn’t sure exactly how it worked.

However, before the King answered the crowd, Jake asked the question that had been burning in his mind. Not openly, but directed only at the King. He reached out mentally, and the King responded as he made a telepathic bridge.

”I thought you said you couldn’t surpass me in level?” Jake asked first thing.

”So did I, but it appears I miscalculated, even if I just learned now you are, in fact, below me in level. You see, I assumed my Soulspace would surpass yours in power if my level did, and the two would have to be roughly equal, but it was clear my assumptions were wrong somewhere. Parts of me wondered what would happen if I surpassed your level, but my Soulspace never surpassed yours. I primarily assumed I would hit a wall, so I kept slaughtering and claiming my land as I waited for that to happen. It never did. Ah, but I am certain that advancing in grade will be impossible before you, so do not dally,” the King answered.

The exchange between the King and Jake was nearly instantaneous due to its telepathic nature, so in the view of everyone else present, the King and Jake had just stared at each other for a moment before the Unique Lifeform answered Jacob’s question.

”He is why I am fallen,” the King simply answered.

Jacob, who seemed to have managed to collect himself a bit, continued down this line of questioning.

”I may be incorrect, but you were formerly known as the King of the Forest, the final opponent of the Tutorial that Lord Thayne and I were in?

”Correct,” the King answered.

”In which case, how are you alive? To my knowledge, he gained the title of Progenitor through slaying you,” Jacob asked.

Jake once more had attention gathered on him as he seriously considered if he should talk about now? Well, the King was handling it so far, so maybe he should just let him do the talking, eh, telepathy.

“We Unique Lifeforms have our own ways of survival. And can I not ask you the same? To my knowledge, you were slain too during the tutorial but had methods to stay alive. The same is true for the Risen and that other mage. There are endless methods to survive, so do you truly find it that surprising?” the King said, doing some good old whataboutism.

This led to some looking at Jacob at the revelation he had died. Surviving death was an odd concept to most, and Jake actually had a feeling it made Jacob appear better. However, it also sought to derail the conversation, something Jacob was clearly not willing to do.

“This answers how you met, not why you are standing where you are today or the nature of your relationship with Lord Thayne,” Jacob stated.

“I believe the simplest term would be that the hunter is my bane. If you wish for a balancing scale on this planet, he can fulfill that role, as even now, I hold no confidence in surviving if he sought to end my reign,” the King answered.

Jake was kind of happy he had shut up as the King was seriously spinning the truth. Jake understood why too… there were plenty of skills to discern truths, and even if they didn’t work fully, they at least had to have partial effects. Downright lying would probably trigger them, at least. Of course, it was also possible the King was partly truthful for some other reason.

Jacob looked at Jake with questioning eyes, and Jake decided to also be truthful. “I have killed the King once, and I can do it again. Trust me, it wouldn’t even be a fight; I know his weakness.”

Hey, it wasn’t a lie? It was Jake being one hundred percent honest and not at all obscuring the truth.

“If what you are saying is true, wouldn’t that just mean picking you effectively puts Jake in charge?” Carmen suddenly raised her hand and asked.

“Yes and no. It would give him veto, yes, but calling him in charge would be inaccurate as the hunter cares not for leadership of any kind. Merely look at who truly leads his city currently. His position would be comparable to that, except I would not seek to make decisions benefitting him, but everyone under my rule,” the King answered.

“Let us say we do believe everything you said. Let us assume you do have the wellbeing of this planet in mind. Choosing to elect you World Leader within an hour of meeting you.. doesn’t that sound like a hasty and unwise choice?” Arthur rejoined the conversation.

“It does, and it would confirm you are all incompetent leaders and not worth respecting in the long term,” the King answered, getting a varied response. Some looked offended, others looked like everything suddenly made sense, and people like Jake didn’t quite have time to get what the King was playing at before he continued after an adequately long dramatic pause.

“Which is why I would advocate for not selecting one during this vote. By my estimates, I hold roughly a fourth or a fifth of the total votes by myself, meaning that if I do not vote for anyone, their chances of being elected are slim. I am also aware that no other faction would have the votes even without my presence here. No, I come today to open up a line of communication and a chance to prove my competency. Let me also make it clear, no King rules alone. Even if I do ultimately get elected, none will lose their positions unless deemed incompetent, as I see no purpose in ruining what already works, and I am also acutely aware that hostile takeovers would mean war with many factions,” the King explained.

Miranda nodded along as she seemed to agree with the King for the most part. There also didn’t seem to be much resistance, and a few new players even joined the conversation.

“The Risen do agree that a time to prove oneself is necessary. We are not opposed as we believe inclusivity is key to a well-functioning society. I just want to confirm if the Fallen King has any thoughts on the Risen?” Priscilla asked.

“None in particular. Any creature with a soul is living in my eyes, and I shall confess, I do not even possess the usual sensory organs of you humans or Risen. To me, you all look alike aside from some faint differences in energy signatures.”

This again got a varied response. Some humans seemed to frown, especially many of those associated with the Holy Church and independent factions. Jake did notice Arthur didn’t seem to hold any strong opinion on the Risen, which at least was a good sign. Jacob’s dad likely represented more Pylons than anyone else, and Jake had a thought the man could be quite influential when he wanted to.

“What are your thoughts on this, Lord Thayne?” Arthur suddenly asked as he looked at Jake.

Being put on the spot again, Jake took a moment to think before he answered. “Who leads Earth or not really isn’t that big of a concern to me. In my eyes, the multiverse is far larger than this planet, and even if Earth will forever be my home, I only consider Haven truly mine. So as long as whatever faction or individual gets elected leaves Haven alone and lets it stay neutral, I truly don’t care.”

“You have no interest in spreading the influence of the Order of the Malefic Viper?” Jacob’s dad further questioned.

“None whatsoever. Neither does the Malefic Viper. Not to be an ass, but the Viper has made it pretty clear he cares little for a small planet such as Earth. He cares about individuals and not dead rock if it comes down to things. Ultimately the Order is the kind of organization that doesn’t recruit by taking over territory but by people coming to join it. If the Order does take over a territory, it wouldn’t be through me trying to weasel my way into becoming World Leader, but by overwhelming force,” Jake answered truthfully.

Miranda decided to also finally join the conversation as she added to what Jake said.

“I also want to point out that Haven is still only in possession of a single Pylon and thus far have made no efforts to expand except the natural growth of said Pylon. Haven is still open to members of any faction to visit, and besides some basic rules, we welcome everyone. The only religious institution we have is a temple where anyone is allowed to place a statue as long as it passes some basic evaluations. All of this is to say, Haven truly has no desire to reach for more power or influence besides being a neutral force that hopes our independence can be respected no matter who becomes World Leader,” she said.

It wasn’t anything new, and Jake knew she had emphasized this repeatedly when talking to other factions. But hey, reemphasizing was always good, especially with new people present.

“There is just one issue,” Caleb said, also bringing himself and the Court of Shadows into play. “As of now, we are only a single planet, and while this vote may only appear to pertain to Earth, we must acknowledge that is only for now. In the context of the old world, a country was just a piece of land on a single planet, but in the multiverse, countries expand across entire star sectors.”

Jake frowned at this as he understood the implications. Caleb continued as he voiced exactly what Jake had also just realized.

“So let’s say any single faction is elected World Leader and agrees to leave every other faction alone to act independently while not allowing them to continue to expand. What happens in a few hundred years? What happens when the entire solar system is conquered? When in times to come, potentially entire parts of the galaxy are conquered? Even if a small piece of land such as Haven remains, it will be cut off. Defensive formations covering the entire country will isolate them, and I see no scenario where a true multiversal kingdom will allow so many factions to have teleportation arrays placed in its heart. Especially not opposing factions such as the Risen and Holy Church,” Caleb voiced his concerns.

“Isn’t this putting the cart before the horse?” Arthur argued from afar. “You postulate a scenario so far off I don’t see why it is relevant to discuss at the current time.”

“So far off?” Caleb answered back. “No, this is all within our near futures. The timescale of the multiverse moves differently from what we are used to. Every single person in this room will live hundreds of years more unless killed. Within that time, this entire planet will surely be conquered, and whatever factions accomplish this will surely seek to expand.”

“What are you arguing then?” Arthur asked. “That we all just fully submit to one faction?”

“No, I am not proposing any solutions, just pointing out problems. No matter who wins, the Court of Shadow will likely stay. As a known faction or an unknown one, we tend to be good at staying in the shadows. It’s kind of what we do,” Caleb shrugged. “I just don’t wanna see my home planet fall into civil war and would prefer to stay in the light. At least partly.”

“All issues I believe there will be found solutions to in due time,” the King reentered the discussion. “However, to propose one solution is to have borderline no protection besides the sheer knowledge this area is inhabited by so many powerful factions. I can understand why the Holy Church and Risen would have issues co-existing, but even so, no war shall begin. If war means not only offending one opposing faction but all those present on the planet along with so many prolific individuals, not even the Church or Risen would risk conflict. Additionally, this shall naturally serve as an aegis for the weaker factions as the aggression of any large force to usurp a smaller one will be frowned upon.”

Caleb shrugged again. “Maybe, maybe not. I still see it be incredibly risky if any faction can just teleport people in.”

“They would be able to anyway, or do you truly believe any organization anyone on this planet can establish in a few centuries can match even a fraction of a true power of the multiverse? No, we would be crushed if any truly powerful and ancient being decided to descend. Unless, of course, they fear an equally or more powerful entity to descend in response,” the King added to his argument.

“Making Earth such a place of high tension with so many innocent and uninvolved citizens living here seems unwise, and almost like we are disregarding their presence,” Jacob said.

“It is also high tension to attempt to force everyone into one ideology. No conquest of a planet ever ends peacefully. Augur, you know as well as I that if the Holy Church were to act according to their usual modus operandi, this planet would become a homogenous society not by understanding and inclusion, but by forced assimilation and cleansing,” the King said. He more or less took a direct jab at the Church; however, he also further added.

“Not that I hold much faith in any other organization or faction of the multiverse to do much better. The Court would lock the planet down and use it to recruit new assassins. In an ideal situation, the Risen would attune the entire planet to their own magic, and Valhal would turn it into nothing more than a massive hunting ground on which everything is killed before rebuilding from the ruins, just to take a few examples.”

“What about us?” the Sword Saint asked with a smile.

“You, I know little about. However, the Noboru clan, as you call yourself, has the massive issue of being nothing more than a fledgling faction that will be gobbled up by other forces if you wish for it to or not. Even if you seek to stay independent, this can only happen if another faction allows you. Granted, I will not argue that the god who blessed you won’t choose to intervene and act as a shield, but in that case, what makes you different from someone like the hunter? Naturally, all of this assumes the Noboru clan are truly virtuous and seeks only the best for everyone, something I doubt based on the history of this world,” the King answered curtly.

The Sword Saint just nodded in response. “Arguing against history and your ignorance of my faction seems futile, and I will not claim any faction perfect. On the note of gods, am I correct to assume Unique Lifeforms are unable to be blessed?”

It was a question many already knew the answer to. Jake, of course, did. Jacob likely did, as well as many leaders of major factions. However, many didn’t, and while Jake wasn’t sure if the old man knew, the question would still serve as a clarification for everyone.

“That is correct. Unique Lifeforms are unable to obtain the blessings of gods, for we need no guidance nor to be shown a Path. We are to forge our own or die trying to realize what we were born to be,” the King arrogantly answered. Almost prideful at being unable to be blessed.

The old man nodded as he stated a conclusion it was pretty obvious would eventually be reached. “For the vote of World Leader, the Noboru Clan will choose to vote for ourselves with the goal of electing no one.”

“The Court shall do the same,” Caleb quickly added.

“Us too,” Miranda said, Jake naturally not disagreeing.

“Very well,” Jacob nodded.

The rest of the congress quickly followed suit as it became clear no World Leader would be chosen during the Second World Congress.