The Primal Hunter

Chapter 1023: Worthy of Being Called Rivals

Ell’Hakan stood atop the highest tower the palace had, alone, as he stared up at the starry sky and two moons hanging far above. He was still hidden within the barrier of the palace but potentially out in the open enough for the hunter to take his shot. However, so far, nothing.

It was nighttime, and he had a lot of matters on his mind. His most recent conversation with the Augur had truly given him food for thought, and he could admit that what would happen next would be hugely impactful for his Path.

He saw a total of four major Paths before him based on the choices he made and the outcomes of these choices. The first two included running as the Augur proposed. He would flee to another planet ruled by the Holy Church and lay low there until the Prima Guardian event was fully completed, at which point he would teleport to another universe and into the heartlands of the Holy Church. If he was there, no external threats mattered anymore.

The question from there would be if the Augur was correct because that’s where Ell’Hakan saw a potential issue. He knew the emotions of the hunter, and currently, he doubted that the Chosen of the Malefic One would simply forgive and forget, no matter how long passed.

He saw his two Paths with the Holy Church either ending with him living in peace or, more realistically, getting hunted down after many years. And, if he was being perfectly honest, he wasn’t sure either option appealed to him, as he’d never wanted a peaceful life in the first place.

The second two options included fighting the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. Such a fight would naturally have one of the two outcomes: each where either party won. It really didn’t need to be more complicated than that.

So, to run or fight. The Holy Church obviously wanted him to run, and Ell’Hakan knew why. They wanted his Bloodline. That was the deal they’d made, after all. That’s why they wanted him to pick the safest option available, and he was sure the Holy Church’s ideal scenario was one where Ell’Hakan went with them, advanced a few grades more under their influence, before giving them children who inherited his Bloodline... at which point they would no longer need him.

They didn’t care about him reaching his full potential. If he went with the Church, he also knew the lingering sense of regret from having run away from the fight would haunt him for the rest of his life. Chances are he wouldn’t be able to go as far as he should rightfully be able to, especially now that he’d become the Usurper of Yip of Yore.

No... even if he thought about everything logically, he really only saw himself having one real choice. Ell’Hakan was now stronger than ever before, and while he could admit that the Chosen of the Malefic Viper was superior to him in potential, that didn’t mean the hunter was stronger right at this moment. In the future, the gap would only widen, which made now the best moment to strike.

Should Ell’Hakan win, he would not only have removed a potential threat to his life down the line but cement his Path as a Usurper by creating a legend right off the bat. Proof that even if Yip of Yore had fallen to the Malefic Viper, his Chosen had still been superior to the Viper’s Chosen.

Even if he would face backlash from it, the Holy Church still wanted and needed him... and given enough time, he had confidence in getting real influence within the faction. He would make them see him as more than just a way to get his Bloodline, but as someone they truly couldn’t do without. Again, it wouldn’t be anything fast, but he had confidence down the line.

Of course, it all required him to actually beat the hunter, but as mentioned, Ell’Hakan didn’t feel like he had any better choice. It was either fight now while he was at his strongest just after the Usurper ritual, while even on his own homeworld, and with the hunter potentially still slightly weakened due to his recent soul damage, or sit back and wait for the hunter to kill him in the future.

So, even if he only had a one-in-a-thousand chance to win, it was the only option available. Besides, he believed his chances were a lot better than that, even if he wasn’t necessarily favored.

Having determined himself, Ell’Hakan gave the night sky a final look before walking down the staircase of the tower. Now he just needed to find the Chosen of the Malefic Viper... which turned out to be quite an easy task, considering about halfway down he got a notification that made his eyes open wide.

“The Planetary Pylon?”

For a moment, Ell’Hakan questioned what the hell the hunter could possibly be doing, but he knew it was a waste of time thinking, and the notification made it clear the Pylon was under actual threat. Without hesitating further, he rushed down the stairs and toward the Prima Vessel to teleport down there... and finally begin the confrontation that would decide how the ill-fated relationship between himself and the hunter would end.@@@@

Jake felt pretty damn happy about the ritual circle he’d finally cooked up. Well, multiple circles. With careful hands, he placed them all around the Planetary Pylon. The energy given off by the Pylon aimed to destabilize the magic, but Jake had infused all the circles with enough stability for him to finish what he was doing.

As Jake was thinking about all these things, something finally happened. Space began to ripple violently, and just below the Planetary Pylon, the large Prima Vessel teleported into the core room. The large metal vessel looked kind of small, considering the massive size of the core room that would serve as the initial battleground of what was to come.

Preparing himself, Jake stood near a tunnel leading out of the core room with his stealth skill active. Taking out an arrow, Jake nocked it as the stealth field appeared all around him, masking the energies of his charging Arcane Powershot.

He slowly charged the arrow so he could keep it ready for longer as he patiently waited. He knew it didn’t take long to exit the vessel, yet as the seconds passed, he got more and more confused as nothing happened. Had Ell’Hakan brought more people with him? Were they strategizing inside? Waiting for him to go in or something? Jake could only look outside the Prima Vessel due to his sphere, so they shouldn’t be able to see what happened in the outside world... so why the delay? To figure it out, he released a Pulse of Perception, and through it, he saw someone standing right there at the exit, waiting.

More than a minute passed before Jake clicked his tongue and stopped charging his arrow to not put a strain on his body before the fight even began... and only a second after he lowered his bow, movement was seen as a single figure stepped out of the Prima Vessel, his voice echoing.

“Goodness, you gotta learn how to suppress that killing intent of yours... it’s quite an overpowering sensation,” Ell’Hakan said as he turned and looked directly at where Jake was in stealth. “You should know that even if you can hide your body and energies, you cannot hide your emotions.”

Jake’s stealth was dispelled as he still stood with his lowered bow and looked down at the former Chosen, now Usurper.

“You went through with your own Usurper Ritual, huh? Stole my idea?” Jake said in a semi-joking tone.

“Great minds think alike, isn’t that what they say? Gotta be ready for the worst-case scenario in all situations, especially when that scenario is the most probable outcome,” Ell’Hakan said in his usual calm tone, more or less admitting he’d expected Yip of Yore to lose.

“And people call me a heretic, yet here you are, actively plotting against your Patron,” Jake scoffed, shaking his head.

“I’m no heretic, and I never was. I believed in Yip of Yore up until the second he died, at which point I inherited his will and power. My so-called betrayal only came after his demise, at which point, can we really call it a betrayal?” Ell’Hakan said, seemingly wanting to start a fight about semantics.

Jake kept looking at Ell’Hakan as he felt for any changes to his emotional spectrum as they spoke, but so far he detected nothing... which was both comforting and concerning. Comforting because it indicated that while he could detect emotions from quite far away, his range to manipulate them remained limited. Concerning because it was also possible that his assessment was entirely incorrect, and Ell’Hakan had just gotten so good at fucking with emotions that Jake couldn’t detect it even while actively trying to.

“I will say I’m surprised you showed up alone. Well, unless you’re hiding an army within the vessel, that is,” Jake said, partly to probe if he was actually alone or had help coming.

“Sadly, my most reliable allies are rather preoccupied elsewhere, and of those I could bring, I believe they wouldn’t be of much help. As we get stronger and stronger, the gaps between the average and the pinnacle only keep expanding. I find it rather envious that you have such truly reliable allies at your side who can be useful, even when it’s in fights at the pinnacle,” Ell’Hakan said, his voice sounding genuine as he continued.

“It’s rather funny... before I came here, I spoke with the Augur. Your friend. He advised me to avoid fighting you and just leave everything behind for a fresh start in another universe. I considered it quite extensively, and even after I made my choice to come here, doubt still lingered... but after seeing you now, I know for sure,” Ell’Hakan said, tiling his head and looking at Jake with a smile. “I feel your hatred. Your grudge. And it only confirms that neither of us will have peace before the other is dead.”

“That may be one area where we’re actually in complete agreement,” Jake answered, and without further ago, whipped up his bow and loosed an arrow toward the nahoom below.

Ell’Hakan responded by instantly summoning a trident, striking the arrow with it as an explosion of arcane energy erupted, the blast going away from the nahoom. Ell’Hakan didn’t say anything more as he knew that, for now, the time for words was over, and the time to see if they were truly worthy of being called rivals had come.