Chapter 1037 - The War of the Milky Way Galaxy

All attempts to contain the news of Ell’Hakan’s death were an utter failure. Many World Leaders didn’t even try as they were unsure of what exactly they were supposed to do. Now that they had lost their leader, did it even make any sense to try and hide his death? To some, the answer was no, as they instantly began to look into alternatives, as they knew there was no way to survive in the Milky Way if they stood alone.

However, there was a small group that outright denied his death, refusing to believe he could have been killed by Jake, their minds simply not able to think in that direction, more likely than not due to repeated mental manipulation from Ell’Hakan.

These and many other factions who had solidly put all their eggs in the Ell’Hakan basket didn’t see many potential actions they could take. They had positioned themselves as enemies of the Order of the Malefic Viper, and now that it was clear the Chosen of the Viper had been working in the interest of his Patron all this time, what options did they have?

Suddenly deciding that, actually, maybe the Order wasn’t so bad after all, would ruin all credibility they had. These World Leaders had spent months, if not years, spreading propaganda about the evils of the Order and the Earth faction, with the general civilian believing that losing to the Order would mean being forcibly sacrificed in some mad ritual or forced into slavery if they got lucky.

Many of these leaders instantly sought toward the Holy Church, trying to find an ally in them as they had been allied only a few hours prior. Especially seeing as the Church had even spread its presence to many of these planets, infiltrating the leadership structure.

However, from one moment to the next, there was a mass exodus of officials and members of the Church as they abandoned many of the planets they had recently been part of effectively taking over. They left nothing behind as the Church began to congregate on a lower number of planets, taking a very defensive position while trying to distance themselves as much as possible from Earth and all the factions who had been fully allied with Ell’Hakan.

The split was, needless to say, less than pretty. Ell’Hakan and the Holy Church had worked closely together, often even acting as one, so for one part of these whole to die while the other jumped ship... yeah, trying to hide that Ell’Hakan’s faction was completely and utterly fucked was an impossible task.

Oh yeah... and the fact that Ell’Hakan’s planet had now turned black on the Planetary Map provided for the system event only hammered home his absolute defeat as even his planet had been wiped off the map.

This fact definitely didn’t help the panic that was spreading throughout Ell’Hakan’s former faction. Despite it not being his intent, Jake had sown an all-knew fear in the World Leaders across the galaxy.

Because now, losing could mean not just lives lost but the entire planet reduced to nothing. The Chosen of the Malefic Viper had shown not only the capabilities but the willingness to destroy an entire planet to defeat his enemy, and who was to say he wouldn’t do so again?

Nobody wanted to find out.

Ultimately, this all resulted in three different camps emerging from what had once been Ell’Hakan’s faction.

First was those who now desperately tried to change sides by reaching out to Earth, fully surrendering while looking for a path of survival. These World Leaders tended to be those who were still of relatively sound mind and had only ever sided with Ell’Hakan because they sided with who they thought would win. Needless to say, they had been very wrong with their assessments and now experienced much internal conflict as all they really cared about was not putting themselves on a collision course with the inevitable winners of the galactic war.

Secondly were the forces who now attempted to take a neutral stance, even denying they had ever been close with Ell’Hakan in the first place. Some of these were even quick to try and affiliate themselves with other major multiversal factions, such as the Court of Shadows, Altmar Empire, United Tribes, or any faction even halfway willing to take them, really. They did this to some effect, but the multiversal factions were hesitant to make a move while at the same time incredibly interested as having an “in” through the Milky Way Galaxy could prove most useful.

Planets of this second camp were usually ruled by World Leaders who had very much tried to take a wait-and-see approach but had ended up loosely siding with Ell’Hakan around the time when it looked pretty damn evident he would be the winning side. At that time, they didn’t really have much choice either, as Ell’Hakan’s faction put pressure on them to pick a side, as without a massive multiversal faction to back them, neutrality was not an option.

The second group also included those who had managed to never really pick a faction to back in the first place. These were mainly planets who had done the system event themselves without ever getting assistance and had tried to avoid unnecessary contact with other factions throughout the event. The primary reason these planets were also categorized into this camp was for simplicity, considering what would come next.

Third and finally were those who were just in too deep. These were the World Leaders and factions who had fully bought into Ell’Hakan’s story and joined him as much as one possibly could. Even if they weren’t delusion to the level of insanity, many of these World Leaders still refused to back down and wanted to stay fighting. Perhaps they even still believed victory was possible under the leadership of King Iludar who had been Ell’Hakans right-hand man during much of the system event.

This third group ended up being the smallest camp, as most World Leaders had read the writing on the wall. Few wanted to fight till the bitter end when they could already taste the bitterness at the tip of their tongues. Still, some would fight, and truthfully, had anyone ever expected this conflict between Ell’Hakan and Jake Thayne to not leave the galaxy with its fair share of scars?

Miranda and the World Council on Earth quickly took action after Ell’Hakan’s death as they went on the offensive, trying to wipe out the remaining loyalists of the Usurper. It did not take long for many of the factions in the first camp to present themselves, offering to fight their former allies to prove their loyalty to Lord Thayne and Earth.

An offer Miranda gladly accepted as she allowed the former comrades to battle it out, limiting any losses those who had remained on Earth’s side from the beginning would have suffered. Not too much, though.

She purposefully made sure the original forces of Earth and their closest allies handled the most important planets, in part to ensure the job was done properly and in part because war was a good opportunity for growth. In what could only be called a clear display of her having embraced multiversal logic, she accepted that war could be a boon and help push people to grow, even if such wars also came with losses.

Then again, despite calling it a war, to many, this was closer to just cleaning the galaxy up. Destroying an already fractured faction wasn’t difficult, especially not when many who were formerly on the other side were quite frankly scared shitless.

Still, Miranda was aware the conflict wouldn’t end fast, and she honestly did want to drag it out a bit to better access many of their new potential allies. Additionally, she wanted to do things properly while limiting the losses amongst the civilian populations of enemy planets, and the longer they dragged things out, the more time the regular person had to become disillusioned with their current leaders.

While dealing with these other factions, she and others on the World Council also gave themselves time trying to find an answer to a very important question:

What would come next?

With Jake the winner in the battle of Chosen and Earth’s faction set to take over the galaxy, how exactly would this takeover work in the long term? Not that she was complaining, as there were many questions and even more profession levels to be gained for Miranda as they tried to make a halfway stable leadership structure for not just a singular planet but an entire galaxy.

Right now, they were united through conflict, but once that conflict ended, the playing field would change drastically and become far more purely political in nature. There were a lot of actors to keep satisfied, and she and all the other leaders had a daunting task ahead of them.

There was also one more thing she couldn’t quite figure out on her own, but that she would need Jake for. Because while she had a good idea of how to handle most factions, there was one she felt very unsure about. Sure, they had retreated and seemed to have no interest in fighting, but the one legitimate threat to Earth’s complete takeover of the galaxy was still the Holy Church, which continued to rule nearly a hundred fully loyal planets.

Miranda had her own thoughts on how to approach them... but she had the distinct feeling getting rid of them wouldn’t be easy if they decided they had to go. And knowing Jake... they had to go.

--

Jacob had activated the Prima Vessel on Ell’Hakan’s crumbling planet and quickly been whisked through space toward the main planet the Holy Church operated out of in the Milky Way Galaxy. It was one of the planets the Church had claimed shortly after the Tutorial had ended, and one Jacob had been on many times before whenever he was in the ninety-third universe and not on Earth.

Appearing within the Prima Vessel there, several people were awaiting his return. Five humans, all wearing white robes, looked at him expectedly as he appeared, not even trying to hide their worry. Not worry about Jacob, though, but of the one he carried with him in the lantern.

“Augur, I’m pleased to see you returned safely,” the head priest said with a serious look as he motioned for Jacob to follow him out of the Vessel. “Seeing as you returned alone... I take it the Bloodline Patriarch met an unfortunate end?”

“No, the Bloodline Patriarch won,” Jacob said, purposefully being obtuse as the head priest looked confused for a moment. “Ell’Hakan was slain by him.”

The head priest was quick enough to understand and didn’t let his annoyance show at all. “Did you manage to succeed in saving him?”

“What was left,” Jacob sighed as he summoned the lantern and revealed the soul within.

It didn’t take more than a few seconds for the priest to notice the state of the soul before he frowned. “It’s... not ideal. What happened?”

“He overdrew on his very existence using his Bloodline,” Jacob shook his head. “I saved whatever was left, even if it wasn’t a lot.”

“I understand,” the head priest sighed. “The most important part is that the possibility still lives.”

Jacob nodded as he looked down at the lantern and the soul of the Usurper within. The entire thing was so fragmented and damaged that even with all the nurturing he as an Augur could do, he didn’t have much hope.

The goal was to resurrect him, yes, but what would there even be left to resurrect? With this level of soul damage, his memories were bound to be either entirely gone or, at the very least, scrambled beyond oblivion. Jacob also felt utterly certain that no matter what the Holy Church did to bring Ell’Hakan back, his Path was done.

Whatever level he would be revived at would be the end of the road for him. Jacob even estimated his lifespan would be extremely limited... all in all, they would only resurrect a husk compared to what Ell’hakan had once been. A living creature that had no other purpose than to propagate his Bloodline, as even if everything else got broken, the Bloodline was one with the Truesoul, meaning that as long as the Truesoul didn’t return and get recycled by the system, it would have the full Bloodline.

One of the biggest concerns the Holy Church had during this entire thing was related to the Bloodline Accords. They were very much toeing the line with Ell’Hakan but were barely on the right side of the rules as Ell’Hakan had consented and agreed to everything already. In fact, the only reason why Jacob could save his soul using his lantern was due to Ell’Hakan’s prior consent, as he could only save the souls of those who had already given him permission to do so.

During the Usurper Ritual, they had baked in a failsafe where Ell’Hakan’s soul would also be marked according to a contract they had established beforehand. All the contract did was give pre-approved consent for Jacob or any other member of the Holy Church to save his soul if possible, with the goal of having Ell’Hakan carry out his promise of giving his Bloodline to the Holy Church. Even if he was unable to consent during the time he had to be saved, the contract remained in effect, allowing Jacob to do what he did. The way the contract and all that was complicated and something the gods had been directly involved in, and honestly...

Jacob didn’t like this entire scenario. He didn’t like it at all. Everything felt wrong, but he couldn’t show it outwardly, as that would only get him sidelined again. He could complain, be sarcastic, disapproving, but he still had to act accordingly, which he had.

Of course, they still doubted him... but that’s what Bertram was currently working on bettering.

“Do you know what happened to the Chosen of the Malefic Viper? What was his reaction to your presence, assuming he detected you?” the head priest asked after a bit.

“He is a hunter specializing in Perception, I don’t think there’s any C-grade that could have remained undetected,” Jacob shook his head. “As for his reaction... well, it was less than stellar, to say the least. In his mind, we stole his prey away, and I had to use my Guardian to escape before he attacked me.”

The head priest frowned before he spoke words that clearly showed how little he understood Jake.

“That’s problematic. Perhaps in the heat following the battle, he failed to properly assess the situation. He had already won the fight, the Records from the kill his, and he loses nothing from us obtaining the remnants of the Usurper’s soul. We will have to properly compensate him and try to reach an agreeable compromise, as I’m sure he understands that a conflict helps no one.”

Jacob wanted to call the guy an idiot but held himself back, as he believed a demonstration would be better. Of course, he had to wait for said demonstration to arrive, or more accurately, for him to be able to revive.

The party of priests and Augur headed toward a large dome-shaped building where a magic circle had been prepared. It was created to amplify the effects of Jacob’s lantern, and seeing as he couldn’t allow the lantern to leave his person, Jacob planned on spending the coming period there.

On the way, they discussed several more matters, with the head priest keeping Jacob up-to-date on the retreat of the Holy Church believers across the galaxy. Jacob avoided commenting once more, as all he could hope was that the galactic conflict would end in a fashion that limited harm to the average person, though he knew some suffering was unavoidable in war.

Right as they arrived at the large building Jacob would live in for the foreseeable future, he felt it.

“My Guardian has been slain...” Jacob muttered as he didn’t hesitate.

In front of the head priest and other priests who were with him, Jacob used a long cooldown skill to immediately bring back his Guardian. An outline of light formed as Bertram was quickly revived, but the moment he was, the large man fell down on one knee, breathing heavily.

A stench of death and the unmistakable aura of a curse lingered in his body and soul, making the head priest frown.

“What happened?” Jacob asked, feigning concern. He had told the head priest and others that Bertram had tried to talk to Jake rather than fight him, but now it looked rather evident most of the talking had been done through violence.

“He is not happy,” Bertram said as he quickly stabilized himself, the lingering effects of his death quickly dispersing. “We need to be ready...”

“I see,” Jacob sighed, the head priest also looking concerned for a moment as he regarded the Augur.

“If he does come... we still have that, right? Is it still useable?” the head priest asked.

“It is,” Jacob confirmed. “Though I hope we won’t have to go to such drastic measures...”

“Hopefully not,” the head priest nodded as he looked in thought. “I’ll try to negotiate and placate the Chosen of the Malefic Viper to avoid dragging out this unnecessary conflict.”

“You do that,” Jacob just said as he entered the dome-shaped building... fully aware he wasn’t going to spend that long in there as there was no way Jake wouldn’t come for them.