Jake had not really known Chris that well. He was just a guy Jake had saved by coincidence when he killed Abby and her father after they attacked Haven. Later on, he had then given the young man a Blessing from the Viper, and Chris made the monument to allow Jake to teleport out of their universe. To call him a friend wouldn’t be entirely correct… but he was Jake’s guy. He had worked for Jake. He had only been targeted because of Jake.

So Jake would get revenge for him.

Ell’Hakan was ready for Jake’s attack despite how instant it had been. So were his two followers as both of them exploded with power, activating their boosting skills while moving to intercept. One of them had a sword and a shield, with the other one a healer based on the magic she deployed.

Jake didn’t care about these two but headed straight for Ell’Hakan. He teleported past the warrior and met a barrier from the healer as Ell’Hakan took out a staff and slammed it into the ground. A wave of red flames hit Jake, but black scales already covered his body as he, with a single hit, shattered the barrier. But before he would land a blow, he was attacked from behind by the warrior.

Fuck you, Jake just thought as he completely ignored the blow and kept up his assault. He stabbed forward and managed to scratch his opponent before the orange fuck turned into flames and flew backward at a rapid speed. In return, Jake got an annoying cut across his back before he spun and kicked the shield of the warrior, blasting him away.

Charging again, he chased after Ell’Hakan with reckless abandon. Spears of flames flew towards him, but Jake once more ignored it as dodging would only slow him down. The only thing that mattered was killing the person in front of him.

Yet the fuck kept fleeing, and the warrior and healer kept getting in his damn way. For every second, his anger grew. Like a volcano constantly at the edge of an eruption, the heat was just building up. He ignored everything that would not lead directly to damaging Ell’Hakan as nothing else would give him the slightest reprieve.

The damn healer made his life difficult as even when he stabbed the warrior several times, he just got up again, and Ell’Hakan was constantly just turning into fucking flames to run away. What was worse was the constant taunting. Jake did not truly register the words; he just knew they were taunts.

His vision turned red as he felt on the edge of eruption. His inability to simply kill his opponent only angered him even more. At this point, nothing else mattered.

His body pulsed with power as he prepared to push himself further. He was about to increase Arcane Awakening above 60% as suddenly a feeling of danger emerged from within. As if cold water was thrown in his face, Jake suddenly felt a bit of clarity. In the middle of a chase, he closed his eyes.

He is controlling your emotions, you fucking idiot, he told himself as he experienced a moment of clarity.

Jake remembered what his opponent could do. His emotions were still out of control and flaring up. He felt angrier than he likely ever had… but from the anger came an odd sense of calm once he realized why he was mad. Jake opened his eyes again and locked gazes with the Nahoom in front of him.

Seeing he had stopped, Ell’hakan also got a break. “The wild beast has calmed. Once more, you show unique restraint. Though I must confess, I expected more than a charging, mindless-“

“What do you hope to accomplish with this shit?” Jake asked, genuinely unsure. Why the hell would he bother invading their planet in the first place?

“We each walk our Paths. While you might be a hunter, I am not. In this instance, I am only here to work as a liberator. Did your world not like this sort of thing? Foreign countries invading others at the behest of freedom fighters merely to exploit the land? War under false pretenses for personal gain? That is all I am here to do. To free this world from you. At least, that is the story that is told. Truth is subjective, and all that matters is what one can make others believe,” Ell’Hakan said, more talkative than Jake would expect. The problem was that he was just talking, nothing else.

“You didn’t answer shit,” Jake spat out.

“Fine, I shall give you one hint,” Ell’Hakan smiled. “Third World Congress.”

Jake wasn’t sure what the guy meant until his eyes opened wide. Was this fuck trying to get voted World Leader by placing his own City Lords or something? Was that even possible? And did it matter? No… because he would die there today.

His katars disappeared as he equipped his bow and took out a poison bottle he quickly tossed in his quiver, having learned to soak the arrows within a long time ago. The warrior and healer were behind him, ready to engage. Jake marked all three of his targets as he took a deep breath and looked at Ell’Hakan. “You are right about one thing. Our Paths do differ. You are good at talking shit, and I am good at killing shit talkers.”

He then felt what was almost a wave of pure anger hit him, trying to flare up what was there before. But Jake barely registered it as he stepped forward and teleported. Rather than teleport towards Ell’Hakan, he went backward more than three hundred meters as he appeared behind the healer and warrior. An arrow was already nocked as a Splitting Arrow was released towards the woman.

The warrior moved quickly to the side of the healer to defend her, as Jake stepped once more and teleported before shooting again. A barrier emerged around the healer and warrior as Jake stepped and shot three more times from five different angles.

He stopped and shot one more time. The first shots were all explosive arrows, and the barrier was blown up right away as the two were pelted with arcane energy. The very final shot Jake had released was the one stable arrow of the bunch and curved under the shield of the warrior to hit him in the abdomen, making him stumble back.

Ell’Hakan did not stand still as he raised his staff. It was only now that Jake noticed something odd. While it was in the middle of the day, the sunlight was far more intense than usual. It had a red glow, and the air almost shimmered from the sheer heat.

Sun affinity magic,Jake concluded as he dodged back just in time before a beam of burning light descended from above. It burned a hole nearly a dozen meters into the ground right where he had been standing, making Jake frown. The attack was a lot stronger than expected, and from how Ell’Hakan felt, it was clear the man was at a higher level than Jake. Not just one or two levels, but at least over a dozen. His two companions were similarly all higher level than Jake.

But he was not deterred.

In his anger, he had activated Arcane Awakening fully, putting himself on a timer. This was just another fight. One he could win.

The warrior hit with the arrow earlier quickly got healed as Jake continued his attack. He wanted to take down the healer first, but the warrior clearly knew his task was to protect her, so he decided just to kill both of them at once. It was problematic that he was facing the ideal three-man party of a damage-dealing caster, a defensive warrior, and a healer. With none of them being significantly weaker than the others, it made it hard to exploit a weak link.

Magic sprung up all around him as Jake put that larger mana pool to use. His wings appeared and pumped out poison to create a mist covering the entire area. Ell’Hakan himself was too damn hard to lock down and damage, but the healer and warrior? Not so much.

He bombarded them with arcane bolts and exploding orbs, not to damage them but to obscure their vision and give him openings. The first Arcane Powershot landed on the healer not long after, but the woman recovered quickly even after the stable arcane arrow tore off a large part of her chest. The second Powershot hit the warrior, only penetrating deep into his shoulder and making him spin in the air before he stabilized.

Arcane charges were building in both from his marks, and his special little bottle from earlier carried an extra toxic surprise. Ell’Hakan himself failed to hit any attacks no matter what he did. His attempt to manipulate Jake’s emotions also failed. Jake was angry. Utterly pissed. But he kept his head cool anyway as he had quite the practice with rampant emotions.

“I admit, you are stronger than our prior conversation, as well as our intel, led me to believe,” Ell’Hakan spoke just as Jake blasted away his two companions with an arrow stuck in each. Both of them looked tired and, having had their boosting skills going for all this time, had clearly worn them out. Jake, on the other hand, with his monstrous mana pool and massively improved stamina pool, managed fine. The only one not really pushed yet was Ell’Hakan, who seemed oddly disinterested in the fight. He was just participating in the background to help his companions if it got too dangerous or to keep Jake on his toes and keep the fight at a standstill where the healer could keep up with Jake’s damage output.

“When are you going to stop pussying around and fight me?” Jake asked the fucker.

“When the time is right,” Ell’Hakan smiled. Jake saw straight through the bluff. He felt more confident than before and knew that the orange fuck wasn’t that much stronger than his companions. The magic he used was also big and flashy, consuming a lot of mana. Even if he had a boosting skill, Jake would be fine.

Jake moved again to push his advantage as he wanted to finish off the healer before any of them had the chance to escape. It wasn’t time yet to activate his secret weapon… no, he would save that for the very end and take them by surprise. It wasn’t like he needed to hurry anyway with how big of an advantage he had, so even if he could admit he was not entirely sure as to the efficacy of his poison, all should be fine.

In fact, he would barely even consider it a fight anymore. He was so much superior and-

Jake’s eye opened wide in realization. His emotions had once more been influenced, making him overly confident… but he realized it too late. In an instant, he felt his entire body freeze. He looked upwards and saw an absolutely massive magical circle and two more people floating far above, having been hidden out of his Sphere all this time.

“A profound sense of danger towards attacks, a spherical detection skill with a range between two and five hundred meters in radius. Powerful skills making you a hard opponent to take by surprise… but not impossible,” Ell’Hakan spoke as Jake now saw he was holding some kind of orb in his hand that was linked to the magic circle above as they pulsed in synchronicity.

Space itself seemed locked down around Jake as he struggled to release himself. He felt isolated from the outside world, as if he did not belong there, and yet did not feel like he was in any danger. Jake could not even step down to teleport away… if that would even work.

“In the outskirts of the first Pylon city of Earth, the Chosen of the Malefic Viper and the Celestial Child battled. In a fight almost equal, the Celestial Child, Ell’Hakan, came out on top. In a moment of cowardice, the Malefic One’s Chosen fled in fear, abandoning not just his city but humanity itself,” Ell’Hakan said. “A selfish coward indeed… one not worth ever rallying around.”

Jake wanted to talk but was unable to. It was as if he wasn’t even in the same space as everyone else. Like he had been shifted to a different reality while still being able to see and hear everything.

“I do hope you hurry,” Ell’Hakan said with a smile. “The World Congress shall be your deadline to set history right.”

Space began to shift and move as far above, a projection appeared. It was an entirely blue moon, far smaller than the moon of Earth. It began to move at a visible speed as Jake faintly felt himself be linked to it. Chained to it. Like the tide was controlled by the moon.

“Celestial Alignment of Yore.”

The orb on Ell’Hakan’s orb shattered as he spat out blood, and Jake felt himself be pulled. He wanted to yell but could not move a single muscle. He wanted to move his mana, but it refused to respond.

Just as he was about to be dragged away, Jake’s eyes focused as the space around him faintly distorted. The very second he began to be dragged, he could move once more, and in that very final moment, he raised both his hands towards his opponents as they glowed green.

Touch of the Malefic Viper.

He also detonated his arcane charges from the Marks but was unable to see the result. Within half a second, he lost sight of Ell’Hakan, the Fort, Haven, and everything else. He kept accelerating as if dragged by heavenly chains across the landscape. Everything blurred and distorted as all he saw were moving colors and silhouettes, his mind unable to process everything.

Then suddenly, it stopped.

But the momentum was not gone. Jake fell to the ground like a meteor at speed surpassing one. He saw the ground a millisecond before he impacted it, only able to slightly angle himself as he hit it. Jake took a rolling fall as he bounced off the ground and flew several more kilometers before his second bounce. He felt his shoulder dislocate from the first impact, but after the second one, he could slightly deaccelerate himself with blasts of mana.

After a few more bounces, Jake landed on the ground and saw that he was lying on a large dune of sand. He breathed heavily as he rolled over and tried to stand up as he spat out some sand that had gotten into his mouth. Jake spat it out along with a good deal of blood from his internal injuries as he tried to orient himself. Trying to understand what the hell had just happened.

Jake, trying to get an idea of where he was, felt for Sylphie’s location using their Union Oath. His eyes shot open as he stared directly down at the sand below him. She was… nearly straight down. Very far too.

It took him a few moments to comprehend what had just happened, and the moment he realized, he gritted his teeth in frustration, not even caring about his injured body.

He had just been flung to the other fucking side of the planet. Jake cursed and clenched his fists as he tried to calm himself own. It was then that he felt a connection be formed.

“Jake, what happened?” he heard Miranda’s voice.

Jake then realized where he had just been fighting. “Tossed to the other side of the planet… get out of there now. Escape Haven and move towards the center of the Grand Mangrove River. Say I sent you.”

“Alright,” Miranda answered without any hesitation. “We shall… they’re here, cutting off the ritual. Will contact once safe.”

With that, the connection was severed, and Jake was alone. He flopped down on the sand again as he smashed his fist into it.

Everything was fucked. His only consolation was that Jake had at least given those two annoying fucks a nice parting gift.

Ell’Hakan breathed with difficulty as his head pounded him using the orb. The item was now broken, but it had done its job. He smiled as he saw the Chosen be sent flying away. But at the very last moment, he felt it. An overwhelming determination as the human raised both of his hands as they glowed.

But… he was isolated in the space of yore, so nothing should-

Cao’Estill and Ult’Oriel, his best healer and third-best warrior, suddenly collapsed to the ground as their bodies began bleeding from every orifice. Their blood pooled like thin water, their flesh rotting, and their eyes glazed over.

All he could do was look on as both of their bodies decayed and turned to nothing but mush in front of him within seconds, leaving only rotting, unrecognizable shapes behind.

Ell’Hakan narrowed his eyes and frowned deeply. Plans… must be adapted.

But they were still on track. This was only the first step, after all.

He turned his gaze towards the direction of Haven as his two companions who had worked on the array joined him.

“What are your orders?” one of them asked.

“Follow me,” Ell’Hakan said. “Let us finally pay this Haven a visit.”