The lodge had once more become the unofficial meeting spot for when things that shouldn’t be shared widely were to be discussed. Probably because only people Jake trusted tended to be invited. This time around, things would be a bit different, though, as quite a few people who usually never would be allowed to visit were coming. In part to help build trust and in part to show that Jake had nothing to hide as his healing journey was more or less over.

Later on, he had actively chosen to exclude some individuals, though. That was for when they came to the part of the meeting regarding a certain Nahoom.

Jake didn’t want those affiliated with large factions to take part, as he feared what they were to discuss was something people would feel obligated to report back to their higher-ups. This did mean that even his own brother wasn’t allowed to take part, but this was the best decision in Jake’s eyes.

However, for now, the meeting was one not about the Chosen of Yip of Yore – at least not directly – but about the state of the Milky Way and their plans going forward. Before everyone arrived, though, he and Carmen did have a rather enlightening conversation after Jake asked her about starting a galactic war against another Chosen… and she took his question incredibly seriously as she looked in thought for a while before answering.

”I’m not sure Ell’Hakan wants a war anymore, and I’m even more unsure of how Valhal would respond… but it does feel inevitable a clash has to happen at some point,” Carmen muttered after she’d gotten over the shock of Jake’s proposal. ”We both know some shady shit is going on, with a bunch of gods making plans behind the scenes, so I’m not sure acting too hasty would be smart. Unless you’re fine with potentially ruining whatever plans the Viper is cooking up, that is.”

Jake looked at her for a moment before shaking his head. ”Give me a bit of credit here. I have at least considered that, and I wouldn’t want to do anything without the Viper being on board… and I have a feeling we will soon be able to find out if he is.”

”You mean…?”

”Yeah, I believe that communication to those outside our little universe will open up once our galaxy is done with this event and that we won’t have to wait for the entire damn universe to finish dealing with their own Prima Guardians,” Jake nodded.

Carmen frowned at Jake’s words and seemed to not be entirely sure if that was a good or a bad thing. ”Let’s discuss this again with the others when the time comes… I have a feeling it can’t be as simple as just invading his planet and beating up the guy after your god gives you a thumbs-up.”

”Or maybe it will be,” Jake smiled. Truthfully, he still wasn’t entirely certain he would be able to discuss matters with Villy once the last Prima Guardian in the Milky Way died, but he did feel and seriously hoped it would. He didn’t want to do anything without talking to Villy first, as he knew this matter with Ell’Hakan was larger than mortal matters.

On the other hand… he really did feel done dealing with Ell’Hakan’s bullshit. Even the potentially unintentional bullshit he had spawned in the form of the Desolate Child of Loss. Taking down that thing had cost way too much.

Hours passed as Jake and Carmen shelved the topic for now and just kept talking about other matters – most of them related to combat. Soon enough, it was time for the meeting to begin as everyone arrived one after another, Miranda naturally the first one to get there.

Not long after, Arnold and Eron both arrived, with Caleb and Maria not far behind. Vesperia, Casper, Lillian, the Sword Saint, and even Kindroth also made their way to the lodge as more and more people arrived to discuss the future of the Milky Way. The only notable absences were Jacob and Bertram, who hadn’t been invited for good reason. Carmen was also clearly out of place in the eyes of many due to the official stance of Valhal when it came to the conflict between the Viper and Yip, but no one was going to ask her to leave because of something silly like that.

Jake’s little lodge had never been this full before, and he was happy Hank had made it so large when he’d originally built it. People did have to bring their own chairs, though, as soon they were all gathered. Jake got quite a few looks as he hadn’t publicly been doing much recently, and many probed him subtly, with Jake gladly confirming he was pretty much back to full power and the strongest person in the room.

Miranda was the one to initiate the meeting once they were gathered and the initial greetings had gone out. She looked at the crowd of people who’d helped with this entire system event, with several new faces among them, such as Kindroth, six other World Leaders who represented bigger groups, and even William, who Jake had graciously allowed to take part courtesy of his recent contributions.

”Thank you all for coming here today. As I’m sure you’re all aware, the curtains are soon drawing to a close, and shortly, the Milky Way will be free of Prima Guardians and will, more likely than not, be the first galaxy in the universe to have overcome the system event. Many of you here have greatly contributed to this greatly accelerated timeline, especially with the construction of the cross-galaxy teleporter,” Miranda said, primarily directed at Arnold, who didn’t even seem to fully realize she was talking about him.

”I know many of you have suffered during this time, and many planets are still reeling from the event, but we sadly do not have time to address everything. We must consider what comes next. Kindroth, did you check how close we are to the final Prima Guardian falling?”

The elf propped himself up as he bowed slightly to Miranda and spoke.

”All the planets yet to be rid of their Prima Guardians are among those who didn’t join the alliance and are all being helped in a more… forceful fashion. Not that they are complaining, at least the general populace isn’t. These planets tend to not have killed their Guardians for a good reason and are more than happy to have saviors swoop in and rid them of their foes,” Kindroth said in a calm voice before sighing. ”They are even grateful enough to ally with whoever saved them in most cases, be it us or the Chosen of Yip of Yore. Which is a bit of a problem, as every single remaining planet has already been claimed by the other Chosen, even if they have yet to kill the Prima Guardian there.”

Everyone nodded as Jake also noted this recent strategy Ell’Hakan and the Holy Church had begun to deploy in the last month or so. As the number of planets remaining dwindled, Ell’Hakan and his allies began to leverage their superior forces more actively, as they began sending diplomats and scouts to planets to create an initial relationship with native worlds before the real firepower would arrive.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

This had led to a few clashes between people from Earth’s alliance with Ell’Hakan and the Holy Church, but nothing too bad, as they were in this odd limbo of not really wanting to outright battle, seeing as no one was exactly sure of on how bad terms they really were. This meant the decision of who would help was up to the natives, and in most cases, they preferred the people sent by Ell’Hakan and the Holy Church, even if someone like the Sword Saint had arrived and could solve their problem by himself. The old man had even found himself in a situation where he ended up still killing a Prima Guardian so he could use the Vessel to teleport back home, but that hadn’t made the natives change their mind, as they’d stuck with the Holy Church and even given them partial credit for the Sword Saint’s efforts.

All in all, Ell’Hakan and the Church had definitely been the winners if one counted the number of planets claimed, with Jake’s weakened state and the loss of the Fallen King not exactly helping the matter. Even if the two of them had been actively helping kill Guardians, it was questionable Earth and their allies could have won, as the Holy Church had truly proven themselves experts at convincing neutral planets to join them. The concept of life after death was simply too tempting of a benefit that no one could compete with.

”Thank you, Kindroth, and even if they don’t seem in a rush, it’s a matter of days, not weeks, when the last Guardian falls,” Miranda said, getting the focus back on her again. ”And this leads us to the primary topic today… what now? Soon, there will be no Prima Guardians left, and we have no idea what will truly happen, but we have good reason to believe that some form of communication will open up with other universes once the last one falls.” Ŗ

The good reason to believe this was gonna happen being Jake’s gut feeling in this scenario.

”That means we need to consider not just the thoughts of mortals but what the gods might be planning,” Miranda continued, looking around the room. ”This galaxy never asked for this, but we need to recognize the Milky Way has already become the battleground of the gods long ago. Records have gathered, and the sheer number of powerful individuals alone should be proof of just how much focus has been put on our small galaxy. This also means that the divine factions who have already gone to great lengths to take root will be less than inclined to leave again... quite the opposite.”

Miranda’s words were emphasized strongly by the people in the room. Everything from the Dao Sect to the Void Gods had representation, with most Primordials and several large divine factions with people on Earth alone. If one took the entire Milky Way and counted all the gods who worked with Yip of Yore and had blessed people to help Ell’Hakan… the number of gods directly involved had to be in the hundreds, if not over a thousand. Many only had their own small planet and were allied with Yip of Yore, but they still had a presence and interest to expand.

”Historically, this is the time when the gods will begin to mobilize a grand expansion,” Miranda kept going, primarily explaining things to the people with no powerful divine connections to understand their situation. ”Fighting back against these larger factions is quite frankly not an option, and no one really has any choice but to align themselves with some major faction. I’m not saying this to force anyone into anything, but simply stating how things are.”

”Excuse me… but is there really no world where complete autonomy can be retained?” one of the World Leaders present asked. A woman who Jake heard represented quite a few planets and had been one of the people from a world who’d defeated their Prima Guardian on their own before getting into contact with Kindroth.

”Usually, a galaxy will not be entirely swallowed up, with some regions left unclaimed, but as things are right now, I see no scenario where a single habitable planet of the Milky Way Galaxy is left alone,” Miranda sighed. ”But do allow me to assure you of one thing. We remain entirely uninterested in actually conquering the galaxy. We do recognize that we will have to place it under our influence, but there is no intent to actively control every planet.”

”So we would become vassals whether we like it or not?” the woman continued questioning, clearly not happy with the situation. Understandably so, which was why Jake didn’t throw her out of his lodge despite being a bit curt and rude.

”I wouldn’t use that term, but some form of official relationship where you will be under our banner will be established,” Miranda said. ”But let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet. We are far from reaching a point where such official designations are in any way relevant. For now, we shouldn’t focus on what everyone here wants, but what those we share our galaxy with wishes to accomplish.”

Miranda proceeded to explain some of what she had prepared, including some stats and some maps copied from within the Prima Vessel, showing the many planets of the Milky Way, and rather than simply having the colored flags, they now showed alignment. The situation was more complicated than just having those on the side of Jake or Ell’Hakan, though.

Factions like the Court of Shadows, Dao Sect, and many others weren’t truly part of this conflict. Even Valhal wouldn’t usually get involved in a matter like this, and no matter who won, they would more likely than not remain with a powerful presence in the Milky Way. Even if the Holy Church somehow conquered everything, they wouldn’t push out these neutral factions but allow them to keep a foothold.

This also meant that Caleb and Eron wouldn’t directly get involved in the conflict between Jake and Ell’Hakan. They truthfully couldn’t, as they represented their factions and had to remain neutral despite their personal feelings.

Valhal and the Risen were pretty damn involved, though. Valhal because of the shady stuff going on, and the Risen because of the Holy Church. They had already left Earth once, but they were still floating around in the Milky Way and really didn’t want the Holy Church to end up with too much influence, lest they be hunted down. So, even officially, they were on the side of Jake, courtesy of ”the enemy of my enemy is my friend” logic.

As for Vesperia… it truly didn’t matter much to the Endless Empire, who claimed a galaxy. More often than not, the Hive Queens would be forced to leave, but not even the Holy Church wanted to needlessly make enemies with the powerful ectognamorph empire. In many cases, they even assisted the Hive Queens in leaving before claiming their planets, only adopting violence if they saw no other choice.

Miranda had also talked to Jake earlier about her strategy for this entire meeting. At first, she had considered focusing a lot more on Ell’Hakan and his intentions, but she quickly learned that the Holy Church was a far better target.

Earlier, she’d talked about history, and if there was one faction with a historical track record of swallowing up entire galaxies and forcefully replacing any leaders who didn’t bow down to them, it was the Church. Many of the World Leaders who’d joined Earth had done so not because they wanted to ally with them but because they didn’t want to be crushed under the holy boot of the Church and believed Jake’s side had a better chance of allowing them to remain in charge of their own planets – a sentiment Miranda had gladly confirmed once more during this meeting.

The meeting continued, as Jake primarily sat back, waiting for this part to get over so he could get to the section he really cared about where they would really discuss the future of the galaxy. The more he heard, including some parts about what Ell’Hakan was up to, he only became more and more assured that no matter what, one thing couldn’t be clearer:

The Chosen of Yip of Yore had to go… and he only became more and more certain that he would have to throw some holy trash out alongside the fucker.

The wind blew through the barren land as sand was whipped up and formed small whirls. A few smaller critters had begun to inhabit the land once more over the last few weeks as the land slowly recovered courtesy of the Planetary Core fixing the planet.

A mammal about the size of a rabbit was digging through the ground, looking for anything left behind as it found what looked like a piece of bone. If Jake had been there, he would have recognized it as a piece of the Fallen King’s ivory claw, but all the small creature saw was something that could potentially be valuable to consume.

However, just as it moved to bite down on the claw, it stopped itself. The hair on its back stood up straight as it turned tail and ran away as its instincts screamed at it to escape, and just in time, as behind it, the dirt around the claw fragment began to lose its color and turn monochrome.