The Primal Hunter

Jake hadn’t met many demons throughout his tin the multiverse. Even if they were a widespread and diverse race, he just hadn’t really run into many of them outside of the occasional enemy here and there. Outside of dungeons, Irin was the only one he really knew, and she was practically an entirely different species to the Demon Prince of the Fourth Hell.

He had mostly ashen skin with what looked like blue crackled lines across it. As if he had more mana in his body than it could contain. On his forehead was what looked like an amethyst crystal merged with his flesh, veins spreading out from it. The elaborate blue robe he wore was clearly not of poor quality, and overall, he radiated the aura of a rich young master. However, he clearly also had the power to back up his demeanor. The ones with him were four other demons who Jake guessed were from his party, meaning they all made it into the top 250.

Stopping in front of Jake, the Demon Prince smiled and reached out a hand. ”A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Chosen of the Malefic One. Rather than waste your time, letget straight to it: I have cwith an inquiry that I hope you might entertain.”

Jake didn’t reach and grab the other man’s hand right away as he asked. ”What kind of inquiry?”

Pulling back his hand, seemingly not at all offended, the Demon Prince smiled even more than before. ”How you might benefit from assisting us in bringing upon the second coming of the Cerulean Devil.”

… yeah, Jake had no idea who the fuck that was.

This was far from the first tsomeone walked up to Jake and dropped skind of grand revelation while looking at him as if he should totally know what the fuck the other party was talking about. How in the hell – pun intended – would he know about sdevil that he guessed based on context clues was dead?

Alright, think fast, Jake. Devil is the ndemons give to their gods, so likely sdead devil who really liked a slightly off-blue color. Got it… and I guess it’s pretty easy to figure out how he wantsto help.

Keeping his calm, with a great assist from the mask, Jake looked deep in thought for a second. ”I wonder what the Demon Prince might have in mind.”

The demon observed Jake’s reaction for a moment before speaking.

”I guess my nwould make things a bit clearer. I am known as the Cerulian Demon or the Demon Prince of the Fourth Hell. I have inherited a fragment of the Crystalized Cerulean Devil’s Heart and the Legacy of the once great ruler of the Fourth Hell,” the Demon Prince answered as he motioned toward the crystal on his forehead. ”All of this is no secret… neither is it a secret that the remaining fragments are not as potent as those that once were.”

”Am I right to assyou are not asking the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, but what people call the Harbinger of Primeval Origins?” Jake asked clarifyingly, already certain about the answer.

”A bit of both, I believe, but that will depend on if you are willing to take up the task and how you would be able to accomplish it. In either case, we, no, I, require your unique talents to do something we believed impossible and that I have cause to believe you may be capable of.”

”Lettake another guess, you wantto use my abilities on one of these Devil Heart Fragments to make it more powerful?” Jake also assumed.

”No… no, not quite; we may have our own methods to do that, even if they are likely more flawed than what you can accomplish,” the Demon Prince shook his head. ”What I want to ask of you is not to empower a fragment of the Crystalized Cerulean Devil’s Heart… it’s to create an entirely new, fully formed Crystalized Ceulean Demon Lord’s Heart using the Records of a fragment… my fragment.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed a bit. ”You want to create a Demon Lord’s Heart with the Records of this Cerulean Devil using that crystal in your forehead? That… sounds risky, to say the least.”

”Of that, I am fully aware. Usually, I also wouldn’t attempt such a thing, but this iteration of Nevermore has offereda golden opportunity. I am certain you are aware of what this is,” the Demon Prince said as he summoned a familiar-looking item that Jake quickly Identified nearly on instinct.

[Crystalized Demon Lord Heart (Legendary)] – The crystallized heart of a Demon Lord. The immense energy contained within the crystal can be absorbed by any demon, allowing them insight into the heritage of Demon Lords. Grants demonic powers to any item it is fused with. Can be used in a limited number of alchemical products of a demonic nature.

”You, too, have one of these, yes? Or at least someone in your party does,” the demon asked.

Jake nodded slowly. ”I have one.”

Smiling, the Demon Prince admired the heart. ”A Crystalized Demon Lord Heart is usually created through a ritual using a Demon Lord, which inadvertently leads to sof the Records of this particular Demon Lord to enter the crystalized heart. However, look at his heart. It’s pure. Untouched. So brimming with power and Records pertaining to no particular Demon Lord. Now, imagine if all this energy was aligned to the Cerulean Devil. No, not just the energy of this heart… the energy of several hearts, fused together with my fragment into one!”

He radiated ambition as the Demon Prince spoke of his plan, and Jake was… not entirely averse to the idea. In fact, it sounded quite feasible the more the demon talked about it, even if it remained incredibly risky. Moreover, based on what Jake heard, he wouldn’t even need to use his Jake Juice. Arcane energy should be more than good enough as long as he kept everything under control during the fusing process.

Jake also understood why the Demon Prince had approached Jake in particular. It truly hadn’t just been due to his talents as the Harbinger of Primeval Origins – even if that certainly did play a part. It had as much to do with Jake being the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, the greatest alchemist in the multiverse in the eyes of many. Plus, as the Harbinger of Primeval Origins, he had already shown himself capable of similar feats before.

One also had to remember that the Demon Prince likely needed a C-grade to do the ritual. It was similar to how a B-grade blacksmith couldn’t craft weapons for a C-grade, their Records simply not making it possible. So if the Demon Prince wanted to craft this heart to be useable by a C-grade, he would need another C-grade to craft it… and Jake likely looked like the best candidate to do just that.

As for why Jake would accept such a task? Perhaps a better question would be why he wouldn’t. To do a ritual with several legendary hearts and a fragment likely of a rarity above even that was bound to reward a shitload of experience and Records. Plus, it would be a positive diplomatically. And, finally, he did, of course, expect sform of payment. All of this naturally assumed he would succeed.

”So, what say you?” the Demon Prince asked after a few seconds, where Jake looked deep in thought.

”I’m tentatively interested, but I will need to think it over a bit,” Jake said. ”At least if you don’t wantto just try and wing whatever ritual you are planning, more likely than not killing you in the process.”

”I would very much prefer an outcthat does not involve my death,” the demon smiled, at least seeing the humor in Jake’s response. ”That was all I wanted to ask, and I will not take up any more of your time. Congratulations once more on your achievement, and I will be staying here in Nevermore City for a while after this ceremony. If you do accept the task, do be aware it’s time-sensitive in nature and I would much prefer for it to happen before you depart from Nevermore City. I will make sure to have everything prepared … and I will do anything in my power to fulfill any request you may have, should you succeed.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Jake simply nodded. ”I will send a response whether I accept or not before I just leave the city.”

”That is more than I could ask for,” the Demon Prince said with a small bow as he backed away.

It was definitely an interesting proposition, even if Jake had a few doubts… many of which were dispelled by what his brother told him next. ”If you are doubting if you can trust that demon, you definitely can. The Cerulean Demon is part of an old Lineage of very proud demons, and they value verbal contracts nearly as much as written ones. It would quite literally hurt his Path if he went back on his word or tried to deceive you.”

”You seem to know an awful lot about demons,” Jake commented.

”What can I say? They are the best clients and wonderful assassins. Great work ethic all around, and they are one of the few races where the majority love paperwork,” his little brother said with a smile.

”Huh,” Jake muttered. Now that he was thinking about it, Irin did seem a bit too happy with doing administrative tasks…

As Jake was thinking, he was already prepared for the next group of people to approach. The ice elemental, Wintermaul, who had seemingly been waiting for his chance, was just about to make his way over after the Demon Prince left when someone else jumped ahead… someone the C-grade ice elemental would definitely not raise an issue with.

The silver-haired Chosen of the Wyrmgod appeared only a few steps from Jake, space barely affected as he moved through it effortlessly. He looked at Jake as he took a step forward, and Jake’s mind worked at high speeds as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do or say.

Villy had never coached him on how he should act around other Chosen of high-level gods. Was he supposed to act like they were the gods they represented? Villy talked about that often being the case… but he was also a Chosen, so maybe he should just treat them equally to himself as he wanted to? But then there was the issue of the grade disparity, so… yeah, fuck it, Jake would just act like usual.

Right as Jake was about to greet the other Chosen, the dragon named Silverstorm smiled brightly and reached out to grab Jake’s hand faster than he could react.

”We meet at last!” the dragon said in a jovial tone. ”I have been hoping to finally get a chance to thank you! Ah, and it sure was wonderful to see you take the top spot on the All-TLeaderboards! I cannot hope to begin to express the debts of my gratitude, my fellow Chosen!”

Jake, completely confused, had no idea what the hell the guy was talking about. ”… why would you want to thank me?”

Had Jake met the dragon before? Nope, definitely not. He would have remembered if he had. He was good at forgetting stuff in his spatial storage, but he tended to remember auras pretty damn well, and this definitely wasn’t an aura he had experienced before.

”Oh… I guess you haven’t been told,” the dragon named Silverstorm said, still looking extremely happy to see Jake, even if he calmed down a bit. ”You’re the reason why I’m the newly selected Chosen of the Wyrmgod, and this little gathering is more or less my first big public appearance.”

Once more, Jake had to search his memory to try and figure out when or how the hell he caused that to happen… but luckily, the dragon quickly saw through his confusion and elaborated.

”Letclarify. I have carried the Divine Blessing of my Patron for a long tand was one of a dozen or so Chosen candidates, waiting for our Patron to choose one of us,” he began before Jake subtly felt space around them seal off, as it was clear the other Chosen only wanted Jake to hear the next part. ”The thing is… and this part naturally shouldn’t be shared, my Patron is not the best at picking his Chosen. That’s not to say that he is bad when it comes to who he picks, as that would just be putting myself down needlessly. It’s more to do with how and when he picks them.”

”Now you gotcurious… and I’m still waiting for why I am the reason you got chosen to be the Chosen,” Jake commented.

”Getting to it,” Silverstorm said as he continued. ”You see, there are nearly always a few Chosen candidates picked, all of us working for our Patron and fulfilling our duties, such as handling the mortal affairs of Nevermore, gathering certain items that are required, recruiting more members, handling politics… all of the things we should not bother the Primordial with. We do all this to assure our Patron can focus on the World Wonder itself, which has led to the minor problem that he can get a bit… engrossed in it.”

Jake was beginning to understand as he wasn’t sure what to feel…

”So, what tends to happen is that all of us candidates kind of end up staying as candidates while he works on the World Wonder… and by the the decides it’s tto make a selection, we are all dead to the endless march of time. That means the next batch of candidates will be picked and given Divine Blessings, as the Wyrmgod naturally doesn’t want to pick someone as his Chosen without vetting them first, and the cycle continues. To a god who has lived for that long, even the life of an S-grade is short and forgettable, so perhaps this is all understandable. I also just don’t think my Patron cares particularly much about having a Chosen compared to many of the other Primordials, on account of him not really having a faction. However, it seems that seeing an old acquaintance inspired my Patron to select a Chosen rather promptly this taround, with it ultimately beingwho was chosen. So for that, I must truly thank you, even if you caused my Blessing simply by existing.”

Remaining silent for a while, Jake still wasn’t sure what to say or feel. But one thing was for sure: ”I don’t think you have anything to really thankfor. Doesn’t look like he picked you as his Chosen without merit.”

Silverstorm was powerful; of that, there was no doubt. As for that entire thing with the Wyrmgod being forgetful… Jake could totally see that happen. Duskleaf had talked so many times about massively long experiments, and for a dungeon engineer in charge of the most popular World Wonder in the multiverse, Jake didn’t doubt the Primordial also kept busy. One could even say that Silverstorm had gotten unlucky to be born just before a new initiation, as that meant the Wyrmgod was even busier than usual. Now, it seemed Jake had somehow turned that misfortune into good luck, though.

”Even if you do not believe you did anything that requires my gratitude, you still have it,” Silverstorm insisted. ”Anyway, I didn’t mean to be overwhelming; I just had to thank you. Oh, and the Wyrmgod did say that he may be interested in seeing if you could assist him in getting a lower-grade Chosen using your unique abilities at a later time. But, as I said before, the Primordial tends to work on pretty broad tscales, so don’t think it will happen any tsoon, if ever unless you ascend to divinity.”

”I still think it’s unnecessary to thank me, but you’re welcabout the entire Chosen thing, I guess. As for the other Chosen thing, I won’t make any promises,” Jake said.

”No need for any rush or pressure. Just know that I owe you a favor that I will be sure to repay one day. Now, letdispel this barrier and let us show the multiverse how great friends the two Chosen of Primordials are,” Silverstorm smiled... perhaps this having been part of his plans all along.

The barrier faded as Jake and Silverstorm shook hands, and the dragon gave the human a nod. ”Thank you for taking the time, and congratulations once more. I hope you enjoy yourself the rest of the day.”

With that, the Wyrmgod’s Chosen left again and promptly got swarmed by interested parties, and almost like clockwork, Wintermaul was right there to also greet Jake. At least that’s what Jake thought he was there to do… until he noticed the elemental wasn’t really that fixated on him. Instead, he was far more interested in Sylphie from the looks of it.

Wintermaul had slightly changed his form even more and now looked like a human with extremely pale skin, wearing a fur coat of sorts. His body was still made of pure mana, and the subtle signs of ice and frost could still be seen here and there, but he could easily pass for a human from a distance. A human that was definitely also an ice mage.

”I greet thee, Chosen of the Malefic One, and I bring congratulations for your accomplishment,” the ice elemental said to Jake as he cover with a small bow.

”A pleasure,” Jake nodded. ”I should congratulate you for your impressive performance as the top-scoring monster of the era.”

”Your words bringhonor,” the elemental said, very much going through the usual pleasantries. ”If I may, would it be possible to speak to your companion?”

Jake already knew who the elemental was talking about, and he just shrugged. ”Depends on if she wants to talk to you.”

She was definitely interested, though, as Sylphie also stared at the ice elemental. For a bit, they both seemed to evaluate something about the other before Wintermaul finally spoke. ”The Sovereign of Ice greets the Sovereign of Wind.”

”Ree,” Sylphie responded as the elemental nodded. ”Your authority is strong indeed. Impressive.”

Jake decided to just sit back for once and observe as the two of them communicated a bit back and forth, seemingly discussing elemental magic stuff. It was nice that Jake wasn’t the center of attention for once, especially after talking to the Demon Prince and Wyrmgod’s Chosen. Especially the other Chosen had been mentally taxing to deal with. So, to see the elemental and semi-elemental talk was a nice break, and he was happy Sylphie seemed to be making a new friend. Yep, definitely a good turn of-

”Your power truly makes you worthy, and so do I believe I have chosen myself worthy. Join hands with me, as my empress, and I, your emperor, and may our offspring be-”

And just like that, Jake was about to break the rule of no fighting in Nevermore City.