Shirtaloon
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Chapter 976: How Much Punishment They Could Live Through
🕑 Added 2025-01-20 22:00:05 +0000 UTCJason rested his hand on the grip of his sword, but didn’t draw it.
“Before we start—”
Amstutz launched at Jason, the air around his fist shimmering with power. Jason casually tapped the man’s forearm, deflecting it to the side. A surge of force fired like a cannon beside Jason’s head, shooting off behind him. At the same time, a kick to the chest sent Amstutz sprawling back onto the roof of the bus.
At gold-rank speed, the exchange had lasted less than a second. Geneva, the sole silver ranker present, had barely been able to track it. Jason, floating in the air with his familiars looked around the prospective battlefield. There were eight gold rankers on the roof of a flying bus, hovering halfway up a steep mountain, deep in the Alps. Two of the gold-rankers had been knocked on their rumps, Remy still recovering from having his teleport disrupted.
“You might want to head back into that cave,” Jason told Geneva. “Gold rankers fighting in an environment like this is going to cause a ruckus. At the very least, I wouldn’t expect this bus to remain intact.”
Geneva didn’t move, instead glaring Jason.
“Why are you here, Asano?”
“I told you: to have a rummage around inside.”
“This place is not yours, Asano.”
“Yes, it is.”
She scoffed in disbelief.
“Why in the world would you think that this place belongs to you?”
“Because I’m in it.”
It was the study of aura powers that first led to the theory that all essence abilities were impacted not just by their essence and awakening stone, but by the person awakening them. Aura abilities were unique in being more than just their stated effects. They were also the platform through which their wielder’s soul was projected into the world. The aura was both a product of the soul, and of the power unleashing it, becoming a beacon announcing who and what a person was.
Jason’s aura power was called Hegemony. Its nature was domination so all-encompassing that it did not possess power, but was power itself. Concerned not with the petty rule of kings, it was that which governed right and wrong, truth and falsehood. Defiance of hegemony was not rebellion, but sin.
This was the concept that mixed with Jason’s soul to produce his aura. It held echoes of gods and great astral beings, of being laid low and rising up, more than he had been before. It held scars of facing the greatest forces of the cosmos and claiming not just victory, but a share of that power for himself.
Jason didn’t make a soul attack against the essence users, but having never felt the real thing, it felt like one. Simply showing them who and what he was, unadulterated and unmasked, struck their souls like a besieging army. The gold rankers blanched as Jason’s aura flooded out. Geneva staggered back, Bussinger catching her before she stumbled off the bus. The hood of Jason’s void cloak slid back up over his head, shrouding everything but his glowing eyes. Amstutz got to his feet, standing in front of the others with defiance on his face.
“You’ve got some fight in you,” Jason said. “That’s good, but you’re sloppy. Your mana control is atrocious, and that costs you when your body is a flesh bag running on magic. You’re not just telegraphing your powers but everything you do. I can feel how your body is going to move before you even twitch.”
The gold rankers rallied their auras, pushing back against Jason’s. One of the strongest advantages essences users gained from working in teams was layering aura powers. It was the strongest edge they would have against Jason, which he denied them by crushing their auras completely. As of gold rank, he could use his aura to supress multiple people without needing to divide its strength. He supressed the gold rankers easily, but was surprised by their reactions. There was none of the panic he’d expected, only nervousness held down by determination.
“I suppose they don’t choose their gold rankers by accident,” he mused. “You’ve all impressed me.”
“We don’t care if you’re impressed,” Amstutz snarled. “You think you can come to our world and act however you please?”
“Yes.”
Amstutz leapt forward again, stepping on the air as if it were solid ground. Jason held himself aloft with his aura, controlling himself using methods he’d taken from the messengers. The familiars backed off, not yet involving themselves. The incorporeal Shade and Gordon floated through the air, while Colin still looked unhappy at being ferried on a patch of cloud.
Jason’s gold-rank foe launched a flurry of blows, blasting force attacks with every strike. Sweeping kicks launched waves, fists and knees delivered sharp blasts. Jason reflected that it was like sparring with Sophie, if she’d taken several severe blows to the head.
Amstutz had clearly developed his technique from Earth martial arts. That was a grievous error when such arts were designed for normal rank humans. What a gold or even silver rank body could do required a different approach not just to technique but biology and physics. What would cripple a normal person was laughable to an essence user.
Amstutz also had speed like Sophie, but again fell short in its use. As with technique, he was thinking like a low ranker. He tried to move like a normal person, just faster. Jason watched him leave one opportunity after another unused, too blinded by what he was to realise what he could be.
Compared to a sparring with Sophie, always a desperate scramble, he felt like a cat toying with a mouse. He moved slowly, reacting to moves before they happened and deflecting blows with casual ease. Powers erupted around him, never landing. Amstutz was a blur, while Jason barely seemed to move by comparison. He was the gentle eye of a furious, impotent storm.
Amstutz retreated to the roof of the bus, shame and rage on his face.
“Mrs Andros, go inside,” he said. “It will take all of us to fight him.”
“Take the portal specialist with you,” Jason said. “He’s not a fighter. Do not try to leave, however. If this place is what I think, we’ll have some things to talk about.”
Jason was impressed at the degree to which Geneva maintained her composure under the full force of his aura, despite the intensity of it taking a physical toll on the silver ranker. She maintained her glare as she and Remy dropped off the bus and retreated into the cave, leaving seven gold rankers still on the roof. As the pair retreated, Jason’s familiars moved closer, and he finally drew his sword.
Aside from Amstutz, the gold rankers each had their own magic weapons, gold-rankers getting their pick from looted monsters. Jason could sense that the golden vambrace-and-gauntlet sets on Bussinger’s arms were more powerful than the others. She didn’t waste time, stepping forwards and raising her arms to blast a wide cone of electricity, arcs spreading out like branches of a tree.
Jason was already pulling his cloak around himself as she moved. The arcs that struck him shot off into the void through his portal cloak. The familiars had already evaded, Colin ducking behind the cloak. Shade vanished and Gordon exploded into a blue and orange nebula that shot away like a comet. He reformed and beams immediately shot from his eye orbs.
Jason was already amongst the gold rankers, his sword flashing. Shadow arms grew from his body, each using a black and red dagger to inflict his special attacks. As they did, he quickly muttered the incantations to his spells.
“Bleed for me. Carry the mark of your transgressions. Your fate is to suffer.”
Amstutz had the speed to react to Jason’s assault, as did a couple of the others, yet they still found themselves struck by multiple, albeit glancing, blows. Though the cuts were shallow, they were under no illusion that the strikes were harmless. With access to the system, they saw the laundry list of afflictions delivered to them.
-------
Special attack [Punish] has afflicted you with [Sin], [Price of Absolution], [Wages of Sin] and [Thief of Spirit].
Spell [Haemorrhage] has afflicted you with [Bleeding], [Necrotoxin], [Blood From a Stone], [Tainted Meridians] and [Exsanguination].
-------
Now that he was gold rank, Jason’s powers delivered even more afflictions, while many of the existing ones grew worse. Thief of Spirit was new, continually draining mana and feeding it to Jason. Similar was Thief of Life, doing the same thing to life force.
The new Exsanguination condition in particular was a milestone. The Bleeding affliction was common, but also one of Jason’s signature tools. The damage it inflicted was relatively small, but its true value was in absorbing healing magic. Exsanguination allowed the condition to now stack, absorbing even more healing and making the blood loss far more drastic.
-------
Special attack [Leech bite] has afflicted you with [Bleeding], [Leech Toxin], [Tainted Meridians] and [Thief of Life].
Spell [Castigate] has afflicted you with [Sin], [Mark of Sin], [Weight of Sin] and [Mortality].
-------
Of all the new capabilities Jason gained from his powers reaching gold rank, the most simple was also the most lethal. The very core of his power set was to heap on so many afflictions that even a gold ranker would die. Inexorable Doom was arguably Jason’s most iconic power, in that it made everything else work. It took all the stackable afflictions he perpetrated and made them keep stacking. At gold rank, it didn’t offer a new affliction, or make any of them stronger. It did the same thing as ever, stacking up afflictions, and simply made it faster. Much, much faster.
-------
Spell [Inexorable Doom] has afflicted you with [Inescapable] and [Persecution].
While affected by [Inexorable Doom], stacking afflictions will rapidly accumulate additional instances.
-------
Instead of his usual hit-and-run tactics, Jason took the fight to the enemy, diving into the enemies gathered atop the bus. The roof was large, but not when eight gold-rankers were clashing on it. The tight quarters were to Jason’s advantage, leaving his numerous opponents more likely to hit each other than him. Some, like Bussinger, backed off. She flew out, trailing electricity from her feet as she looked for opportunities. With Jason surrounded by her allies, she needed to pick her moment for a precision strike.
While waiting for her chance, she was engaged by Gordon and they quickly fell into a flying dogfight. She fired off lightning that crackled against the shields he made from his eye orbs. Other orbs returned fire, chasing her as she blazed through the sky, trailing sparks behind her.
The other gold rankers also realised that they needed to expand the battlefield to effectively attack Jason. Two flew out like Bussinger, and two leapt onto the mountainside. Gold-rank strength allowed fingers to dig into rock more easily than a mountain climber’s pitons. Staying on the bus with Jason were Amstutz and a man holding what looked like carpenter’s hammers in each hand.
The newly flying enemies immediately looked for chances to strike at Jason. What they found were shadowy bodies, sprouting twisted arms made of darkness. Like trees under a winter midnight, their warped limbs were shrouded in clouds of shadow, sinister and unnerving. The Shade bodies with their shadow arms were not swift in the high-altitude sunlight, but they were numerous. It wasn’t enough to stop the gold-rankers firing attacks off at Jason, but it did distract and slow them down.
The gold rankers on the mountainside had their own horror movie to contend with.
A thing of nightmares, dripping blood from flayed muscle, crawled down the mountain from above. A mass of flesh on stump-like legs, its stubby fingers dug into the rock. Nine long necks rose from its back, giving it the look of a bloodied hydra, but the necks did not hace heads. Instead, at the end of each neck was a savage maw, ringed with teeth. From each mouth, three barbed tongues licked in and out, as if tasting the air for blood. Each of the nine mouths spoke in hissing, raspy voices, a discordant mix of alien words that clashed like a blasphemous choir.
The two gold rankers clinging to the mountain looked at one another, then started flinging attacks at it.
Of the three people still on the bus, Jason stood in the middle, Amstutz and the man with the hammers flanking him. The roof was dented and scored, a third of it having collapsed entirely. The magic holding the vehicle aloft was threatening to fail, the bus rocking like a dinghy on the waves.
It was a power from the man with the hammers that finally ended the bus. He smashed the heads of his hammers together, creating a blast wave that send Jason and Amstutz flying and the bus crashing down. The man threw his hammers, trailing tethers of force behind them. They lodged into the side of the mountain and he yanked himself too them, joining the others in facing Colin’s abomination form.
With the demise of the bus, the battlefield opened up properly. Jason and Amstutz joined the others in aerial combat, Jason, Shade and Gordon against four gold rankers. For all that Jason outclassed them, the gold rankers were far from helpless. They had been chosen to be raised to gold rank for their demonstrated abilities, going back to the monster waves and the proto-spaces before that.
While the familiars harried the gold rankers, Jason’s enemies knew that he was the one they needed to take out. Amstutz played frontliner, but now knew better than to go toe-to-toe with Jason. He made better use of his speed than before, playing distraction the same way the familiars were, setting up his allies to make attacks.
The gold-rankers quickly learned that Jason excelled at reading and dodging their precision attacks. Even when he was distracted, or when they were made from seeming blind spots, his ability to read their mana felt like precognition. This was when they understood the difference that training in the other world made.
Not giving up, they switched tactics. Still dodging the familiars, area attacks were easier to fire off, requiring less precision. Blanketing an area made them much harder to avoid, although not impossible. Amstutz evaded with his speed while Jason still predicted their attacks. Even so, he was taking damage.
The area powers were varied and often strange. A storm of force hammers rained down, not as damaging as a focused attack, but difficult to avoid. A swarm of saw blades chased after Jason, glowing white hot, spewing gouts of flame and occasionally exploding into shards of searing, jagged metal.
Peppered with attacks, Jason’s Amulet of the Dark Guardian proved its worth. The soul-bound item granted a stacking shield for each affliction he delivered, and when the shields broke, they became healing effects. Neither effect was very strong, but they stacked up with every affliction, and Inexorable Doom was piling them on by the second. When peppered with indirect attacks, the amulet’s protections was ideal.
The battle became something of a stalemate, but one that Jason would ultimately win. His afflictions were already on his enemies, multiplying by the moment until even gold rankers would be overcome. Without the kind of potent healer it would take to remove them, all Jason had to do was wait.
The gold rankers recognised that they could not afford to keep things as they were. They no longer needed the System to list the afflictions piling up as their bodies showed signs of necrosis, their living flesh turning black and dead.
They all had potions, and even a few cleansing and healing powers, but the afflictions were pernicious. Healing was absorbed and cleansing was resisted. What little that did take effect triggered yet more afflictions that delivered damage in reaction to cleansing. They quickly gave up and refocused on taking down Jason.
The one exception was Bussinger. The woman with the lightning powers had called down lightning upon herself, inflicting what looked like considerable damage. She was left with patches of skin scorched black or burnt raw. But the power had not just purged every affliction but seemed to boost her powers. She successfully fended off Gordon and the Shades, avoiding fresh afflictions while finding time to keep blasting lightning at Jason.
Knowing that they had to take greater risks, the gold-rankers pressed on Jason, gambling on more targeted attacks. Bussinger, being the best off in the group, helped coordinate attacks in sequence, trying to pin Jason down. The tactic found some success, a few hits landing on Jason, but it was never enough. He was still frustratingly elusive, and every wound was quickly healed.
The battle came to a head when Jason unleashed one of his biggest damage spells, Punition. It was a big, immediate damage spell for one target, with power based on the number of afflictions the target was suffering from. As of gold rank, it had a new variant with a much longer cooldown. A wave of energy shot from the target in a wave, triggering another instance of the spell on anyone it hit, including the wave itself.
The resulting cascade of powers devastated the gold rankers. Each spell could only be triggered once, but that was once for each of the six gold rankers suffering afflictions. Only the affliction-free Bussinger was spared.
On Pallimustus, gold rank battles were rarely lethal. Gold-rankers were too hard to kill outright, and anyone able to reach that stage, even with cores, had a plethora of escape plans. Mostly this involved carefully curated magic devices, kept secret from enemies that would try to counter them. Single use teleports, magic to purge afflictions like Inescapable, responsible for one of Jason’s defeats.
This was not the case on Earth. The gold rankers had the best gear the nations and factions behind them could muster, but it was paltry by comparison. Most had a gold-rank item or two, usually at least a weapon, and perhaps armour. The rest was a grab bag of silver gear, usually basics like healing potions that could only do so much for a gold ranker.
Without the power to escape, the massive damage from the cascade of Punition spells marked the end of the battle. A couple of the gold rankers made it into the cave. The rest collapsed against the mountain, either clinging to it or tumbling down. Bussinger and Jason rushed down to catch them, eventually dropping them all with the others in the cave mouth. Geneva and Remy were nowhere to be seen. He’d felt them move deeper into the complex, where his senses were blocked by crude but powerful wards.
Laid out on the cave floor, the gold rankers looked more dead than alive. Only Bussinger escaped the rampage of necrotic tissue still overtaking what living flesh they had left. There was no more fight in Bussinger, knowing that facing Jason alone was pointless. She stood over her allies, who looked more like corpses than the living. She had known that gold rankers were hard to kill, but now she could see just how much punishment they could live through.
“Are we even human anymore?” she wondered.
“Arguable. By gold rank, we have more in common than monsters than normal humans. Although our bodies are closest to summoned familiars than anything else.”
“Will you let them die?” she asked, and Jason looked at her.
Her gauntlets were streaked with scorch marks, but appeared undamaged. Her clothing was gold rank and reinforced, already cleaning and mending itself. Her burn marks were healing slower than they should, and he sensed something odd in her aura. It was worth exploring, but not now.
Jason, by comparison, was unmarred. His wounds had healed, his robes had repaired themselves and absorbed the blood from his injuries. He dispelled his void cloak and looked down at his victims.
“I’m not looking to kill anyone,” he said.
Bussinger watched as Jason touched each of the others with his sword. Their bodies stopped twitching and the necrosis stopped spreading. A couple let out wheezing breaths, the most horrible sounds of relief Bussinger had ever heard. They still looked more like set dressing from a horror film than living people.
“Natural healing will let them recover eventually,” Jason explained. “I’ve suppressed their powers, but you can use healing potions on them, if you have any.”
“You can dampen powers without a collar?”
“An ability of my sword, to turn my afflictions into ability suppression. The friend who made it wanted me to have more chances to be merciful.”
Jason sighed and she saw sadness in his face.
“Why do good people have to die, while people like this get to live?” he mused.
She knew the question wasn’t aimed at her, but she answered anyway.
“These aren’t bad people,” she told him.
He turned to look at her. It was hard to read those alien eyes, but she was certain there was danger in them.
“We’ll see,” he told her. “It’s time for you and I to have a talk.”
Comments
Kconraw
Thx for the chapter
D.J. Carlson
You mean Colin?
StarkRG
These aren't part of the 10% of the population that are bad people for the sake of being bad, these are just part of the 80% who don't care enough to decide for themselves and will follow whoever. I'm not sure that's much better. It's like the old saying, "Do you know what the people were called who stood by while Nazis did their thing? Nazis."
Chloe
Gordon is a good boy that didn't get a big enough role in the fight. I wanted him to eat at least 1 person... tyftc
ItWasIDIO!!
Right not bad people do you know what you're doing here?
Nea
That was such an epic battle!!
Skalias Pablo
I cannot believe that this chapter was everything I wanted it to be and more.
Morgan Smidt
Putting in the work
Ethan
Awesome chapter :)
Chiqui Joy
Geneva: “This place is not yours, Asano.” Jason: “Yes, it is.” She scoffed in disbelief. “Why in the world would you think that this place belongs to you?” Jason: Because I’m in it.” Love it. Turns out, Dominion knew what he was talking about when he gave Jason advice about how to deal with Earth politics. I hope Jason sticks with this strategy.
Zachary Blevins
A absolutely excellent chapter it further the story It informed the main character of something that happened in the past it gave the main character and lead on two of the new big villains for the story there was even a bit of recruiting going on
Kalanaere
Is how they acted though any different to how many gold and diamonds treated others on pali?
Kalanaere
I don't think it's possible. Gold to Diamond is less about Power and more about understanding where ones place is in the hierarchy of the cosmos. Truly understanding who you are. Its a mental game if you will. These earthers are still acting like it's all best up monsters type of thing
Kalanaere
Oh you know dsmn well they are going to gold that over his head
Kelfu
It sounds like a chaining Fire Nova, which in a situation like this would be horrible for them
Soli116
That paragraph gave me metaphorical shivers.
Umbra
tyftc!
Rachel Clements
TYFTC!
Andre Morales
I really REALLY wanted more details on the Colin fight since we missed the one with him and the vampire lord....a man can dream...a man can dream
Kismet
Kristy, I really love this idea! This needs to be a thing somehow.
Kismet
After he kicks their asses, I picture Jason pulling his arms back, letting them fly forward, hands slapping together in a resounding crack, rubs his hands together like a vaudeville villain, and says, "alright boys, let's have a root around and see what goodies they have."
Thomas Froehling
There were defeated before they even choose to fight. Note that the D8-ship itself didn't even contribute, although it could have.
Thomas Froehling
'A wave of energy shot from the target in a wave, triggering another instance of the spell on anyone it hit, including the wave itself.' There are a lot of waves in that sentence. I can see that an Aussie author might have a strong affinity for beaches, surf and breakers, but maybe the last wave is a bit too much... just my ten pence thought. Good fighting chapter, although Geneva missed a good opportunity of being the reasonable one. She was too easily dismissed by her gold rank body guard, though she ought to be in control. Ah, the tyranny of rank, I suppose...
Arieh Sochaczevski
Biscuits!
Larsi
I'm glad we got to see the fight. Was almost expecting this chapter to start with the goldrankers already being defeated
Wimsey's daughter
He did. I think it was either during the Christmas break or while he was taking care of his mum.
Frank Morgana
Good chapter. Even with low powered Earth core gold Rankers. Is nice to see Jason demonstrate why he is considered good
OJCOPACABANA
I could definitely be remembering wrong, but I think Shirt put something like this out recently. Like a bonus between chapters or something with this information
Adrian
Gods, in HWFWM are expressions of collective consciousness tied to a specific set of concepts and a world, so... Probably not. But people can clearly become transcendent (truly immortal, as in, completely unkillable) beings of power that ephemerals of any age may not be capable of imagining. Carmen is a good example of this. The Builder isn't, because he's a personality duct taped around the power set of a GAB. Jason's fixing the Throne may actually have given him his first real agency...
Adrian
Does working for evil people make you evil? Eye of the beholder. Pretty sure Jason's line in the sand is if they are knowingly assisting people in the rape of reality.
Adrian
It would, at best, be like eating your own arm. The reality cores allowed gold rankers to sustain themselves until earth reached high iron or low bronze with some zones. But being Diamond there, if you could even use the small number of cores available to reach that high, could leave you starving to death or requiring torpor just to survive.
Azmoranth
A battle between gold rinkers and it only lasted a chapter. Jason is truly overpowered 🤠
lockx
Mine does the same
TjStorm
we have more in common than monsters than normal humans we have more in common with monsters than normal humans
TjStorm
a blast wave that send Jason and Amstutz a blast wave that sent Jason and Amstutz
TjStorm
but the necks did not hace heads but the necks did not have heads
Mindy Dozhier
Most excellent, epic fight. They fkd around and found out
Robert Gordon
I really hope we get a breakdown chapter I really wanna know rank and ability breakdowns for gold rank
Connor Keenan
Try? Maybe, but I’m pretty sure there’s a power cap on the world rn that stops anyone above gold from being/entering there. Does that mean that someone is at the peak of gold or if they did manage to hit diamond did they get booted of world? Idk.
BloodStorm
Long overdue action chapter thanks
Chad .
Same, android user? I looked in my email, they are in there.
Paratus
And this is why Dominion <3's Jason. Jason’s aura power was called Hegemony. Its nature was domination so all-encompassing that it did not possess power, but was power itself. Concerned not with the petty rule of kings, it was that which governed right and wrong, truth and falsehood. Defiance of hegemony was not rebellion, but sin.
Kristy Riedel
I think Jason would be much more likely to use such an item to give Shade a good meal.
Kristy Riedel
I think it has more to do with the 15yrs he spent fighting the GABs and making his battle trance into something that makes him process faster. He has surpassed the training available on Pali.
Emiya
He can adjust his avatar's appearance
Doug
I think he can control their appearance when he wants to
Kristy Riedel
He can make them appear normal when he wants to.
Anthony Sebastian
I believe he can make them appear normal now, but often reverts (especially when he's showcasing his power)
Valhazstromoz
That's a common mistake I'm a monster hunter fan too so it's a combo of val'hazak with the stromoz suffix for dragon from PH lol
Tavon LaChapelle
Is your name supposed to be a combination of Valhal and vilastromoz
Jarrett Glass
They're all oddly condensed into one system message, in my app. Looked like two blank System blocks. If you get the email notification for chapter releases too, I see them spaced in here.
Jarrett Glass
I know they can use reality cores in lieu of spirit coins, but can they replace function of monster cores to upgrade rank?
Jarrett Glass
I see now, they ARE all here, just lumped into one "System Message" block. I see in the email notification that they should have been spread across three. Patreon app acting up on me!
Jarrett Glass
In my Patreon app all the afflictions/system messages are condensed into one block. But I can see in the email I got for the update too that these should be spread across 3 blocks. Patreon app acting up I guess.
Mike Zebill
They also talk about Dawn transcending so that would indicate some form of godhood
Sirloki
I thought his eyes were "normal" now?
Soli116
I see 3 system messages, all with many afflictions listed.
Soli116
I see 3 system messages.
ABTelford
Beautiful chapter! Loved it! The action was well paced and the list of powers was nicely concise (bravo on finding a good balance Shirtaloon!) and the ending was 😘 perfect!
T-Dawg 2099
So, was that ass whooping also doctored, Amstutz?
J W
Arguable. By gold rank, we have more in common than monsters than normal humans. we have more in common with* monsters...
Jayson Legott
You know I’m curious with the reality core farming happening again I wonder if anyone has attempted to use them to push past gold rank
Nate Slusher
The last couple chapters are absolute 🔥
Havics Child
Him "I'm going to go in and look around." Them "Why would we let you?" Him "Because I'm like Jesus and you're like ants." Them "You'll have to go through us." Him "Okay." Kicks all the asses. Him "Alright, time to have a rummage around."
Jarrett Glass
I do see one list of afflictions just looks like there may have been a few other blocks - also using patreon app.
Tavon LaChapelle
Why do the system messages not show up on patreon
Josh A
That was one of your more excellent chapters. Thanks for this.
J W
A mass of flesh on stump-like legs, its stubby fingers dug into the rock. Nine long necks rose from its back, giving it the look of a bloodied hydra, but the necks did not hace heads. *but the necks did not have heads."
Justin
Never doubted that he’d win, earth has a lot to learn!
Brad Gammey
That was a good bout! TFTC!
Moonray
Those showed up for me in the Patreon app, but the website rendered the content (a list of afflictions being applied)
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
Valhazstromoz
I feel like Jason's end form will raising the hegemon into a great astral being but "Jason" will be his Hawaiian shirt wearing alter ego that keeps him grounded in mortality
Iain Grubb
The Gods on Pallimustas form from concepts and magic, but Astral kings can form from levelling up, the original Great Astral Beings manifested I think based on what the Reaper and Pheonix have said, but the new Builder was raised up after the original was sanctioned, using the orginals "Authority"
Razeel Nightfall
Almost no one evil thinks that they are evil. At the same time just because you think someone is evil it may not be true.
Fulminis
2nd one
ByLAWphoto
Where is the laundry list from the System?
gator mate
tftc
Aerlevsedi
We already know that a non-Great Astral being can become one by assuming the position of a sanctioned one (The Builder), so I see no real reason the same cannot be applied to someone assuming the role of a sanctioned God of a world. Can the same happen without having to assume the position of a sanctioned GAB/God? Not sure, but probably yes, if exceedingly rare, as Jean said above. Could be that doing so was prevented while the throne was sundered though. Sort of like the lack of variance in confluence essences.
Der Ritter
That was a Beautyful brawl. Thank you for that
Kenneth Mølbæk
Poor Collin, he didn't even get a few arms and legs to nibble on. They would grow back... eventualy...
Kenneth Mølbæk
This far Gods (on planets) are Authority with a specific affinity, so no people can't become gods (on planets). Transcendent beings are somewhat in the same club thou... so maybe :)
Justin Butler
Colin's Abomination form. *shivers* Amazing. Now it sounds like Jason is performing at the level one would expect of an Elite Adventurer vs 9 trash Adventurers. I mean iron rank 12 v 1. Gold rank 9 v 1 makes sense.
Victor Erickson
Great chapter
Scott McCarthy
If Jason was the US military, they are all small regional powers. Regional powers know to cooperate with powers who can squash them and don't really put up more then a token resistance. Especially with things of actual international concern. The problem is the idiots here all still thought the relationship is reversed.
Chris Pollan
Ty ty ty
Hemlock
Thanks shirt!
Scott McCarthy
“These aren’t bad people,” she told him. Pretty certain they are, she is just to arrogant and entitled in the same ways to see their faults as negatives. I mean, the lead idiot even dismissed their director due to her being silver rank. They are bullies with power, just like to many network thugs are. Also, they were the ones who turned the confrontation level up to violence, not Jason. Fine they might want to keep Jason out, but for what happened, they need a good excuse as they F-ed up, royaly, and the actual biggest military power just showed up to see what went happened and make sure things are addressed properly.
Jean L. Philippe Jr.
I mean Jason has stated many times that He’s pretty sure anything and everything is possible in this world/Multiverse sooo probably. It hasn’t happened in the story yet. Like Joanna said Jason is the closest we’ve come to that. But I want to say Yes (kinda). We know anyone has the potential to reach Diamond, reaching it is the hard part but once you’re there you essentially have eternity to eventually become Transcendent which to me at that point you’re essentially a godlike entity anyways soooo not much of a difference except that you’re not bound to a specific world like gods are.
ReadingObsessed
This was a multi screenshot chapter. Very high tier. Much wow. TY, shirt!
Aaron Schwartz
He’s an under ranked diamond level, incorporeal ghost entity. It would be fantastic if he got to experience Jason‘s prime avatar and I agree he would make it seem a lot more refined and cool than Jason does, but he doesn’t know how to drive a meat puppet. He’d be lousy at fighting.
Joanna
There's been no indication in the series that people can become gods. Jason's situation is the closest we know of. That said, there's been no specific statement that they can't, and Jason does partake of some of the qualities of godhood, so *shrug*
Valhazstromoz
I forget can people become gods or are they just lumps of the worlds mana that manifest from concepts?
Jacob Trevino
“I am surrounded by dead men.” Type moment
Laura Hemly
Thanks for an excellent chapter! I have to admit, however, that when you wrote "the incorporeal Shade and Gordon," I keep reading it as "the incomparable Shade and Gordon." 😅 Because they really are ncomparable! But I really appreciate the way Jason analyzed his opponents' powers, noting where they're lacking; he's learned so much more about how powers are expressed on Pallimustus, especially how a magic user needs to stop doing things like a regular non-magic person. It really explains *why* he's able to defeat them so easily.
William Martino
Lovely chapter. Random thought, maybe we can get Shade and Jason to switch places sometime (ie fully switching senses or even letting shade fight as the prime and his regular form while jason watches) just so another thing on the list to humble jason that isn't an enemy. He's basically an underranked diamond level fighter, so he'd likely be another dawn but at gold. Maybe they find a failed one-time-use body sense switching crystal experiment in a lab as loot, and Jason gets to use it to fulfill Shades curiosity of experiencing a summoners senses. Then Jason gets to be humbled and his team gives him grief about not being as dignified as when Shade rode the prime avatar.
Paratus
TFTC!@ Typos?: " the necks did not hace heads" hace = have? "creating a blast wave that send Jason and Amstutz " send = sent? "and he yanked himself too them," too = to?
Jacob Goodrich
I came here to say this exact thing. It is time that Earth kearns this lesson
Jarrett Glass
There were a couple of odd line breaks with no content- were there a few Powers descriptions that got left out? Amazing chapter though, did not disappoint!
Rowdy Robby
Should have taken Asmuck out.
Cayden Greenhalgh
I like Jason’s banter, but I REALLY like when he gets serious
ThoMiCroN
By gold rank, we have more in common than->with* monsters than normal humans.
Quintin Landhan
Tftc!
Calamity
Ah yes always good to see Jason pull off a good Vader vs the Rebel Alliance scene. Surrounded? Yes. Suppressed? Hardly.
Christian Chavez
I very much enjoyed this chapter.
Unwillingmainer
What everyone on Earth really needs to learn is that Jason is the King of Wherever He Happens to Be. No one here can stop him and the only thing keeping him from conquering the planet is that he and his friends don't want to. He is less a gold ranker and more of Earth's only deity. Great stuff.
samwise
Boom
mhaj58
Nice chapter, good to see Jason actually succeeding in bringing who he is with who he wants to be. I still can’t pull it off like he can
Ryan Pepp
Biscuits squared
Adam
Scone
Christian Chavez
Thank you
Darkdragon
Biscuits
