The Primal Hunter

A singular demonstration was all it took to turn himself into a figure of authority above any others. Miyamoto learned quickly that this planet wasn’t actually struggling much with the regular Primas, at least not when it came to defending their major cities.

The primary reason for this was the general lack of focus there had been on hunting down regular Primas before the Myriad Paths event, which was in part caused by their culture. As a civilization of purely beastfolk, they viewed hunting down beasts very differently to the more fully humanoid races such as elves, humans, or dwarves, making them generally just leave other beasts alone unless attacked. In fact, it was far more normal to work together with beasts and live side by side with them.

It was much like how humans in the multiverse tended to prefer fighting things that didn’t look human at all. Perhaps it was something instinctive or born of Records that one had an innate dislike of killing those of one’s own race, and it was clearly also present with these beastkin, directed toward beasts resembling themselves and their ancestors.

Of course, one couldn’t ignore the massive war going on among the four factions on the planet that were established shortly after the Tutorial, making the powerful focus on other things. One faction had been far more dominant in the early days, but during the time a World Leader had to be elected, the Second to Fourth King grouped up to take down the first one after colluding to vote the Fourth King as the World Leader.

With the First King dead and territory to claim, the war just became a threeway, and so had it been ever since then, with no one working together or agreeing on much… until one day, a swordsman descended from the skies.

After the Sword Saint convinced the Third King to talk, he sought out the other two Kings. He strategically chose a battlefield where the two of them used to fight but were now dealing with Primas. In view of scouts from both these factions – and the ones who had come with him from the third faction – the Sword Saint slaughtered thirteen Primas within a minute, alongside more than a thousand beasts. In Miyamoto’s view, these were some of the weakest Primas he had seen, but his actions got the job enough and helped him move his strategy forward.

That display of power was enough for him to create the current situation that was now playing out as the Sword Saint stood before three Beastkin Kings and some of the most influential people from their factions… speaking to them like the ignorant children they had been acting as.

”The World Congress was established as a mechanism to force a planet to come together. It was a way to meet in a neutral space with no violence allowed, to talk out differences and unite, with this system event proving as the final test of the enlightened on a planet,” the Sword Saint explained as he paced back and forth in front of the three kings.

”However, this event is only the beginning. Tell me, do the three of you have an inkling as to what is happening in the rest of the galaxy?” Miyamoto asked the three, and from their lack of response, they clearly didn’t. ”It’s something that’s also happening everywhere else across the universe, but this galaxy perhaps has it the worst. A war is going on far beyond the scope of your little conflict. Massive factions are fighting. Factions with power far beyond what this planet can handle. Factions that are more than interested in claiming a world, seemingly ripe for the taking because its leaders care more about fighting amongst themselves than addressing external threats.”

It was clear the three of them already knew much of this, but it required repeating. Perhaps they had needed someone to set them straight for a long time, and the Sword Saint would have to be that person.

”What I say next is not to sow discord, but that you know is important. All three of you privately proposed to me that I could help slay the two others, and they would commit to a quite favorable alliance,” he continued, the three of them throwing angry glances at one another but still shut up. ”I rejected them all… but others would gladly take such an offer. I also want you to consider something. What happens if a major faction comes from another planet, takes advantage of your struggle, and offers an alliance, effectively making you servants? Would you reject, or would the desperation from fighting a losing conflict push you to make an unwise choice? I believe that if the status quo is maintained, the answer is clear.”

The room was silent as these words hung in the air, the presence of the Sword Saint making them unable to protest. One of them – the Second King – did speak up, though.

”Then what is your solution? Joining your faction?” he asked. A bold but very important question Miyamoto had naturally been expecting.

”I do not belong to any faction per-se, and the one I’m closest with does not care to integrate other forces,” he shook his head. ”But no matter the future, facing it with a united front will be for the best. Not just for at least two of you but the people you rule over. So stop this endless fighting. Finally, If you wish to send a delegation to my home planet, be my guest, but I shall not be the arbiter of this planet’s future. That role and responsibility falls to the three of you.”

The three Beastkin Kings had managed to obtain their statuses not only due to their personal power but also their respective prowess’ as leaders. The Sword Saint wasn’t keen on how they had handled things so far, but he believed them all competent enough to understand the importance of avoiding an internal conflict when there were so many external threats on the horizon.

”We… will need to discuss,” the Third King said as he and the Second King looked at the fourth one. ”But we will need to ensure fairness. There is only one World Leader spot, and that has already been claimed.”

”And such cannot be changed, only accepted and moved past,” the Sword Saint said, addressing the Fourth King directly. ”Of course, your ability to do so depends on his ability to recognize that his position is not above the two of you. Clearly, you will need another leadership structure than your current one to ensure fairness, but I do not see myself having any role in making that happen. The only role I have yet to fulfill is that of a slayer of your Prima Guardian.”

”If you feel certain you can handle this Guardian alone, I would gladly release it,” the Fourth King said as he seemed to remember something and turned to the two other kings. ”Assuming the two of you have no protests against me doing so.”

Miyamoto smiled as the two other leaders had no complaints. With that sorted, there was no need to delay as the Sword Saint headed off together with all three Kings alongside their escorts. These people were some of the strongest on the planet by far, and yet they posed no danger to the Sword Saint at all.

In fact, he found the overall power level of this planet low. It was very obvious they would find themselves instantly dominated should another of the stronger planets in the Milky Way choose to invade them, and in truth, Miyamoto had no way of knowing if the alliance he had sought to create would actually help. He hoped it would; he genuinely did, and he believed that his final demonstration to the Kings would prove how powerless they truly were when compared to those toward the peak. Those like himself.

He watched the Fourth King enter the Prima Vessel and, not long after, sprint out again quite literally with his tail between his legs.

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The Sword Saint stood ready for the Prima Guardian to appear. The moment it did, Miyamoto used Identify.

[Distinguished Prima Guardian – lvl 294]

This was only the third Guardian he saw that didn’t even reach the rank of Honored Prima Guardian. This Guardian looked like a centaur, except it had an upper body on both sides of the horse body, and quite frankly, it looked pretty bizarre.

The fear on the faces of the Kings was obvious as the Sword Saint bent his knees and prepared for his demonstration. They had seen some of his power once, planting the seed of knowledge that he was stronger than three of them… now he wanted them to truly realize how frightening the multiverse could be.

Right as the Prima Guardian saw Miyamoto, it charged, and the Sword Saint took a deep breath, exhaling as he spoke and drew his sword.

”Glimpse of Spring: Stormcut.”

For a moment, the world was still. A faint line was drawn across reality before everything came crashing down, and blood filled the sky as the Prima Guardian was cut cleanly in two horizontally. Without even giving the creature a chance to rest, the Sword Saint stepped forward and attacked, swinging his blade two dozen times as the boss creature was sliced apart before it had the faintest chance to fight back, simply too weak to pose any danger. ṙäΝỔВƐʂ

You have slain [Distinguished Prima Guardian – lvl 294] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level

Stopping his attack, the Sword Saint breathed in once more, whipping the blood off his sword before he sheathed it. Without a single drop of blood on his robes, he turned to look at the three Kings who now stared at him with complex emotions, fear definitely in there, but more than that, he felt a sense of what Miyamoto could only classify as reverence.

”Thank you for allowing me to accomplish the task I came to do,” the Sword Saint said with a smile and a nod. ”Now, if you would accompany me into the Prima Vessel, I wish to see if I can use it to return to my planet. If not, the blueprint for a teleportation circle allowing not just you to teleport to other planets, but for other planets to travel here should have become available.”

His words made the Kings exit their stupor as the World Leader and other Kings accompanied the Sword Saint into the Prima Vessel, wherein they quickly confirmed that the Sword Saint could use it to return to Earth, so that was fortunate. What should not have come as a surprise was the instant question from the Kings if they could send some people back to Earth with him, something Miyamoto naturally agreed to. Only three total, though. He wouldn’t want to needlessly overwhelm Miranda, knowing she was already incredibly busy.

With three diplomats, the Sword Saint thus returned to Earth once more, having only needed a few days to handle this one. He was already looking forward to the next planet and exploring its culture. The only problem was that to get to the planet, he would likely need to use the monstrous creation that Arnold constructed to get there, something he most certainly wasn’t looking forward to experiencing again.

Alas, sacrifices had to be made… and he couldn’t exactly show the scientist it bothered him too much. The same as when he went to the amusement park when he was younger. No matter how bad those damn roller coasters made him feel, he never let his family see and would instead suffer in the bathroom once alone.

Anything else, his flawed pride simply wouldn’t allow.

”Truly, your overcautiousness is wholly unnecessary,” the nahoom shook his head with a dry smile. ”You being aware of my Bloodline would already make it foolish for me to attempt to use it, and I’m not silly enough to risk ruining a valuable relationship.”

”I believe trust is earned, not merely given, and so far, you have done nothing to make me willing to trust you,” Jacob answered as he stood on the balcony, the Chosen of Yip of Yore leaning against the railing as they spoke.

”I made a promise with the Holy Church, something you are very aware of,” Ell’Hakan pointed out. ”Then again, you are this cautious around my Bloodline because you are with the Church, so I probably shouldn’t complain.”

”No, you really shouldn’t,” Jacob muttered, not exactly satisfied with the current situation. He had done what he could to stay safe, though.

Jacob, being aware of Ell’hakan and his Bloodline, had taken specific measures to ensure he wouldn’t fall victim to it. The first one was, of course, to try and be in tune with his own emotions, trying to ask himself a lot of questions to make sure he was thinking clearly and not affected in any way. Of course, some influence could still sneak through, but that was what he had his ultimate defense for:

Bertram.

His Guardian wasn’t anywhere close to Ell’Hakan and entirely out of his effective area. Due to their connection, Jacob could share his emotions with his old bodyguard, and while Jacob would perhaps not notice any changes, Bertram for sure would. Plus, having two people who were so connected would make it easy for them to point out if the other ever acted off, as long as they didn’t meet up while in the presence of Ell’hakan and got affected at the same time.

”Your personal dislike of me isn’t truly that warranted, is it?” Ell’Hakan asked. ”When I went to your homeworld, the Holy Church more than happily took advantage and was even warned of my arrival beforehand. They condoned what I did. The overall losses your planet suffered during it all weren’t significant either.”

Jacob remained silent as Ell’Hakan kept speaking.

”Exactly how do you envision this going for the Holy Church if the Order of the Malefic Viper is allowed to run wild? The Church wants to control the galaxy, something I’m more than fine with, but will your old coworker agree with such a thing? Or will he put up a fight till the bitter end, killing countless in service of his own pride and stubbornness?”

”The Chosen of the Malefic Viper has yet to show any outright hostility toward other planets, unlike you. In fact, quite the opposite, as per a recording you personally machinated into existence. I have no cause to believe he will not simply continue to let sleeping dogs lie,” Jacob argued back. ”And, while the Holy Church would like control of the Milky Way… it is but one of countless galaxies. Ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things. What I’m trying to say is that I believe your current approach is misguided… fighting Jake or trying to control his future will lead to nothing but the end of your Path.”

”Sadly, your belief does not seem to be shared by your superiors,” Ell’Hakan said, shaking his head. ”You know, I respect your loyalty to someone who was once a friend, and you may find this hard to believe, but you are genuinely the most pleasant person I believe I have ever met. I know you don’t like me personally, yet there is no animosity. No truly negative emotions outside of ones wanting me to find a better Path. It’s no wonder the Church and pretty much every other divine faction seem so keen on Augurs. It takes a very unique person to become one.”

”If you see the value an Augur brings, then you should also heed their advice,” Jacob said with a sigh. ”You walk a complicated Path. A powerful one, yes, but it also holds a certain fragility. The foundation on which it is built is unstable, leaving vulnerabilities that may one day come back to haunt you. There are fateful lies that are bound to-”

”You know what?” Ell’Hakan said as he flared his aura and stared at Jacob. ”I think I changed my mind about Augurs. You can sure be the annoying sort.”

”I don’t tell you what you want to hear, but what I feel like you need to hear. As for if you take my words to heart or not… that, I have no control over,” Jacob kept talking. ”You should also know from my emotions I truly do bear no ill will.”

”Which only makes you all the more frustrating. Either way, just do the job you came here to do and direct the strike team where they are most needed,” Ell’Hakan said as he walked off, but he stopped just before he entered the building from the balcony. ”If you truly want peace and to avoid needless conflict as you keep preaching, make the Chosen of the Malefic Viper make the right choice. Do so I no longer have to refer to him with that label at all. I will never be a friend of his, but his current Path requires one of us to die unless something significant changes.”

”Then let us hope the future brings such changes,” Jacob said with a sigh.

Ell’Hakan left with those words, and the Augur just kept staring out at the world from which they were organizing the efforts of the Prima Guardian Alliance. Jacob was using his skills to divine what planets needed help the most, but he was also there because of the partnership between Ell’Hakan and the Holy Church.

Jacob was the highest-ranked member of the Church in the Milky Way, after all. He was privy to many things, had seen many futures, possessed his own insights and theories, and had felt many Paths. Ell’Hakan wasn’t wrong. He or Jake would end up with one of them dead as things were now. Jacob also knew of the nahoom’s hopes, that Jake would end up with Valhal or at least no longer in direct conflict. He believed that would make them no longer have a need to be enemies…

Truly showing how he walked a Path of delusion if he believed that would make Jake not want to kill him.

As for what would happen if Yip of Yore managed to actually slay the Malefic Viper… such a future wasn’t even one Jacob could begin to augur.

Nor was he convinced it would be worth doing even if he was capable of trying.

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