Jake had really, really, hoped he didn’t have to do that, but alas, it was part of his job. It was not just him making some impulsive decision to kill an asshole – though it would definitely not be out of character for him – but something Miranda and he had discussed long before the congress began. It was also something only he could do.
In a brief moment, the entire atmosphere of the room changed, as none dared say anything for several seconds, while most just stared at the now lifeless man on the ground.
Miranda purposefully let this atmosphere hang in the air for several moments. After what felt like an eternity to many of those present, she let out a loud sigh. ”There always has to be one person who can’t follow basic rules, huh? Would those who came with him be so kind as to remove the body? If not, we shall dispose of it for you.”
One of those who was part of the dead man's entourage quickly moved and picked up the body before putting it in a spatial storage after he'd unfortunately died due to an overdose of overconfidence and stupidity. Jake’s method of killing had at least left a pristine corpse, making an open-casket funeral more than possible. How kind of him.
”Now, before we proceed, I guess I should address the thoughts many of you are currently having. You question how we can kill someone in a World Congress where violence is meant to be forbidden. However, this doubt is rooted in a basic misunderstanding of how things work here on this planet,” Miranda continued as she had all attention on her.
”You were all given a folder outlining the, quite frankly, very basic laws of Earth, but it appears some had not read the final clause,” she continued as she spoke in a far more serious voice with the final part: ”These rules do not apply to Lord Thayne, the World Leader. His actions and decisions supersede the law, and every action is justified. To have given the man a single warning for not being able to follow a few basic rules was already a kindness that wasn’t warranted.”
She definitely wasn’t fucking around as she said this. Her explanation was also the reason why Jake had to be the one to do this. If Miranda or others acted outside the rules and laws, it would put the entire system into question. At that point, what even would be the meaning of laws if Jake could exempt some people willy-nilly?
No, if it was only Jake, that was easy to understand and, across the multiverse, a surprisingly normal thing. It was far from odd to see rulers be immune to laws, with their families often also included in this immunity. In fact, many monarchies before the system also had clauses that meant the direct royal family couldn’t be punished according to the law… though in reality, they often would if they did commit a harsh enough crime.
All of this is to say is that Jake’s action hadn’t been out of pocket according to the logic of the multiverse, and Miranda had told him that should a situation like this arrive, he was free to act with impunity. It had all been a political move that helped make it very clear these factions were in someone else’s territory now.
”Everyone seems to understand, I hope?” Miranda said with a smile. ”Good. Now, let’s continue unless there are any more interruptions or complaints?”
Surprisingly, there weren’t. Almost as if instant death by someone looking angrily at you was a good deterrent.
“Moving on. Before the rude interruption, we were discussing where the Prima Guardian might appear, and discussing placements of groups to act as rapid-response teams. Based on the description of the event, the Prima Guardian will not act immediately, but we cannot be sure about the regular Primas or any other beasts or monsters fighting alongside them,” Miranda continued. “We didn’t quite get to it before, but does anyone have something to add or some information their faction has obtained about the event? Probable speculation is also welcome.”
Jake hadn’t really expected anyone to know much… and when he saw Jacob raise a hand to speak, Jake really hoped he wasn’t going to complain about the man who had just been killed. It was clear Jake tended to be fine with killing, but he really didn’t want to attack someone he still considered a friend… and while he and Jacob had definitely drifted apart in recent years, Jake still considered the Augur a friend.
Luckily, that wasn’t what he wanted to say as he spoke after Miranda gave him the go-ahead.
“Thank you for the time. Let me begin by saying that the Holy Church truly doesn’t know more than Ms. Wells has already shared, but personally, I may have gained some insight. What I’m about to say cannot really be confirmed by anyone but myself. However, I believe it’s still vital to share nonetheless,” Jacob began. “After returning to the planet, I have focused on divining anything I could regarding the upcoming event… and I finally had a vision just yesterday. Please, allow me to share it.”
Instantly, quite a few people, Jake included, perked up with interest. Miranda also looked serious and nodded. Jacob closed his eyes for a moment as he continued.
“I saw a dark void filled with glowing crystals in the sky, barely giving any light. The ground is soft, shifting. I’m hot; the air is dry and nearly devoid of all life. Then, suddenly, the sky is alight. It burns as a grand shadow falls over me before something explodes, and a shockwave rushes over my face, ending the vision.”
The room was silent, as Jake really hoped some smart people would interpret the vision. For a moment, Jake thought that Jacob talked about the moon when he mentioned it being devoid of life, but the moon wasn’t soft and definitely not hot. Plus, it had to be on Earth, right…
A desert, maybe?
”This is the divination in its raw form, but allow me to share my interpretation,” Jacob said. ”The lights are stars, and the environment I feel makes me believe it’s in an area close to the equator. Far from the oceans, as there is no moisture in the air. As for the shadow and the shockwave… I believe this Prima Guardian will arrive on some kind of meteorite or a celestial object that will crash onto Earth from space.”
Jacob finished, getting quite a few murmurs from all around. Jake also subtly nodded, Jacob’s interpretation seeming pretty spot on. The Prima Guardian arriving on a meteor or something also made a lot more sense than it just popping into existence somewhere.
As for not believing Jacob’s vision or taking it with a grain of salt… well, there was a reason factions were keen on recruiting an Augur. There was no reason not to trust his divination, and it was honestly pretty good information.
”Do you think it’s possible to narrow down exactly where it still strike down?” Miranda asked.
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”I can’t make any promises, but I will do my best,” Jacob answered in a humble tone. ”My plans are to travel the planet a bit during this final preparation period and try to find a more exact location.”
”Directly on the other side of the planet, there is a massive desert,” Jake decided to speak, for the first time not infusing his voice with mana or trying to intimidate anyone. ”From your description, that seems like a probable location.”
”A desert would indeed match my vision,” Jacob nodded. ”For the system event to take place borderline as far away from where the enlightened live would also make sense from a system point of view… I shall make it the first place I investigate once the congress is over.”
”Sounds like we can avoid much prep work if we can narrow down the location,” Miranda smiled. ”Nevertheless, we should continue preparations with the assumption the exact touch-down spot of the Prima Guardian isn’t found in time. With the vision, we can at least eliminate a lot of potential areas, such as all the oceans, large lakes, forests, and whatnot.”
The mood in the room had changed rapidly, no longer as tense, after good news was shared. Jacob and the Holy Church had also quickly ”redeemed” themselves after that moron had gotten himself killed, as no one dwelled on the matter anymore.
For the rest of the World Congress, people remained polite and well-mannered. A few discussions did get a bit heated at times, but never in any way that went against the rules. Just what one would expect of normal political stuff.
As the meeting was winding down, they touched on perhaps the most important subject… who was actually going to fight the Prima Guardian?
”It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Earth does not need any assistance dealing with this system event. I truly don’t believe we will find ourselves unable to handle it, or the difficulty of this event will be so high that none shall pass,” Miranda said. ”That is even considering the fact we are going for a perfect record. Also, we don’t plan on delaying the engagement at all, but take down the Prima Guardian as quickly as possible.”
As a reminder, the Prima Guardian event wasn’t necessarily designed to just be a quick boss fight and then be done. Chances were it was meant to be a longer scenario based on the system messages given prior:
”In five years, the Guardian will arrive on Earth with its army and must be defeated within five years of arrival, or the Guardian will move to claim the world for itself as the barrier naturally falls.”
This message kind of had two implications. The first was naturally that they had five years to do the event… but the wording of saying it will ”move to claim the world” kind of indicated that perhaps this Prima Guardian couldn’t move much or was limited in its movements somehow within these five years.
Not that these things mattered to Earth, as they planned on slaying the boss immediately. The barrier in the message was the one defending the Planetary Pylon, and the only way to dispel the barrier was to either have both keys – one given to the Guardian and one to Jake - or wait for five years after the Prima Guardian arrived.
”The plan is not to simply amass an army and try to defeat the Prima Guardian this way. I’m going to be honest; the vast majority would only get in the way. No, it’s better to focus on reducing or entirely avoiding taking any damage from regular Primas and whatever else may come at us,” Miranda continued. ”For the Prima Guardian, we will assemble an elite team led by Lord Thayne himself. Those who are deemed qualified will be contacted shortly after the World Congress, and should there be anyone out there believing they are also qualified to participate, they can come to Haven and be tested. Just know that the standards are quite high, and I cannot promise the testing method is safe for those too weak.”
Jake had honestly expected some complaints about this announcement, but surprisingly, no one said anything in disagreement. Perhaps they also realized it was better to have one small elite team rather than an entire army. In general, armies tended to be pretty ineffective in the multiverse unless they were facing other armies.
Sure, it was probably possible to overwhelm the Prima Guardian with sheer numbers, and even Jake would struggle if he was bombarded with spells from a few thousand weaker people. Unless he just dodged and ran away, that is.
No, it was for sure better to have one elite team. As for who would be on this team… well, many of the expected people. Jake wasn’t entirely sure about everyone yet, but quite a few were already set, and the more Jake thought about the team that would face the Prima Guardian, the worse he felt for the poor boss.
With this final topic getting finished uncontested, there really wasn’t much more to discuss. After a few more very minor topics and a few clarifying questions, there was just one more thing.
”To finish, please all take one of these,” Miranda said as she summoned a large table filled with what looked like old phones in boxes. ”These are developed by Arnold and allow anyone using them to contact a communication central from anywhere on the planet. Additionally, they all have location-tracking magic embedded in them, allowing those using it to send their exact location. Use them to relay information to Haven during this final preparation time, and at the same time, we will use them to keep everyone up-to-date.”
Arnold had produced thousands of these magic phones over the last year or so, and Jake already knew they were spread far and wide. Jake had one himself at his home, though he had more of a landline with a direct connection to Miranda.
These phones, as Jake decided to call them, did have the slight downside that they had a pretty limited lifespan. The energy required to fulfill some of their functions wasn’t infinite, and Arnold hadn’t created any way to recharge them. At first, Jake believed this was a design flaw, but he came to realize it was entirely on purpose.
It was planned obsolescence and a way to protect his designs. Trying to break open the device or analyze it too much would result in the phone breaking itself. Of course, it was technically possible to break the magical encryption, keeping its secrets safe, but that was where the planned obsolescence came into play. Once they ran out of energy, all magic within would disappear, making the phones no more than fancy bricks. So, the encryption didn’t need to be unbreakable, just good enough to hold up until the phone died.
Miranda also made sure to warn people of this.
”Just a small side note: do not try to mess with these, or you may break them. We also expect every single one returned after the event is concluded, and a hefty fine will be given if they are lost or damaged in any way. So don’t get any fancy ideas, alright? Also, if they leave Earth, they break, so be sure not to do that,” Miranda said as Jake saw a few people visually deflate, as they had definitely planned on analyzing or sending the phone back to their factions in another universe.
Analyzing void-related magic, which many – including Jake – suspected these phones used, was of immense interest to even the larger factions.
Also, if anyone did decide to try and take the phone anyway, Earth would get paid handsomely, making this quite a potentially profitable strategy. It was all a great deal for Earth and the coffers of the World Council even if people didn’t turn in their phones, and ultimately, it wasn’t like Arnold was using some super-secret tech. Arnold had even made clear he expected a number to be ”forgotten.”
Distributing the phones, nearly every person of influence from the different factions got a good handful to also give out to their subordinates. It really was a massive undertaking, and Jake was glad he wasn’t the one working at this communication center Miranda had set up in Haven.
Once all the phones were given out and a bit more small talk, it truly was time to announce the end of the Fourth World Congress of Earth, as Miranda spoke loudly with all eyes on her.
”I wish to thank you all for coming today, and despite a brief moment of rudeness, I believe things went rather splendidly,” Miranda said with a smile. ”Continue to work hard, everyone, and together, may we reap the best rewards possible. Who knows… maybe there’s even some achievement if we’re the first planet in this entire universe to take down the Prima Guardian.”
With these words, a countdown appeared, marking the end of the congress. The countdown would last an hour for everyone to just do their own thing. During this time, Vesperia looked quite busy as many approached her, and Jake decided to spend this time briefly saying hello to some of his friends before he and everyone else were thrown back from whence they came.
Which, in Jake’s case, was his lodge.
Oh, and would you look at that… there was an empty alchemy lab right beneath it. It would sure be a shame to leave it unattended while there was still a bit of time to spare. No one would object to that, right?