Shirtaloon
patreon
Chapter 915: The Benevolence of a Nightmare God
🕑 Added 2024-07-01 23:00:04 +0000 UTCThe city of Boko was gone. The outer regions had been left as little more than rubble when the blast containment zone gave out, and the space within the zone was just a hole carved out of the ground. All that remained were floating temples, shielded by their gods, and a cloud of darkness in the middle.
In the wake of the destruction, numerous massive portals had opened, high above the ruins. Sheets of gold, silver and blue light, they disgorged an army of messengers into the sky. This was no heavenly host, however, as they descended from the sky in the direction of the city’s survivors. Most of Boko’s ninety thousand people had been evacuated.
Jason had used aura control to bodily lift them out of the city. His aura had been overcharged with a flood of power from his astral kingdom, making the astounding feat possible. But as the power had grown, and Jason’s avatar further degraded, his control over than power had slipped. His aura became a spiritual wildfire, beyond his ability to contain or direct.
Local essence users did their best to protect the low rankers around them from it, but they were weak and poorly trained themselves. Many normal-rank evacuees, mostly the very old and the very young, were outright killed. Brain haemorrhages and heart attacks took those too weak to survive the stress the aura placed on them.
Then the blast came, and the aura was gone. There was an eerie stillness, like the calm before the storm, as the messengers descended in silence. Adventurers prepared to fend off the assault, but the messengers kept gushing from the portals by the thousand. Boko was not a strong adventuring city, and even with visiting gold rankers, the battle ahead was a grim proposition.
Then the aura came back. It was just as powerful now, if not more so, but no longer harmful to the people of Boko. It was completely stable and in control, calming those previously traumatised by it, even settling some of the panic that set in from the evacuation. It was a promise to shield them from those who had taken their homes and were even now descending from the sky. A promise to make their attackers pay, and to make them pay in torment. It was the benevolence of a nightmare god, filled with wrath at the transgression against his chosen. Those it protected, the confused and despairing, gained fresh hope. More than that, they gained a shared certainty that it was about to become a very bad day to be a messenger.
-------
System Alert: Sacred Phoenix
[System Administrator] assassinated. The Hegemon has arisen. Beware his wrath.
-------
A dark shape rose from the hole in the ground that was once the city of Boko and ascended towards the messengers. A vast, dark bird, speckled with lights like a starry night, limned in ethereal silver flames. It made no sound, yet the same aura that offered hope to the people below resounded like thunder to the messengers.
It erupted amongst them like an explosion, battering them into one another. Wings and limbs tangled, turning diving attacks into uncontrolled falls. The messengers fell into chaos, their formations falling apart as they were knocked around like laundry in a tumble dryer.
The adventurers on the ground had been steeling their resolve for the battle ahead. Now they watched as the bird of flame-wreathed darkness rose to meet the messenger army. It flew into the host, not crashing into them but passing through like a ghost. Every messenger it touched began a process of slow, miserable death. Their skin blackened with necrosis and feathers fell from shrivelled wings. Ethereal fire flared on their bodies, the ghost flame not burning but accelerating the rot.
From the dying messengers, butterflies of blue and orange started to emerge and spread to others not yet affected. Each one that reached a messenger put them on the same path to a torturous demise. More butterflies spread from them in turn, as their flesh decayed and their bodies lit up with ethereal silver flames.
The messengers attacked the butterflies to stave them off but, on destruction, the butterflies turned into clouds of sparks. The clouds moved slowly, but the messengers were thick in the air and still being battered by the aura. The sparks didn’t spread more butterflies, but anything they touched still decayed.
The ghost fire phoenix arced a graceful path through the messenger host. The heart of the invading army had become a realm of misery and death. On the periphery, messengers gave up on the attack and were fleeing as fast as their wings would carry them. Their wings cast shadows onto their bodies from the sun overhead, and from those shadows came their doom.
Shadowy arms, thrust out of the shadows on their bodies, like spiders digging their way out of egg sacks. The dark limbs were angular and macabre, and each held an ornate black and red dagger. Those daggers stabbed into the messengers again and again, the wounds swiftly turning black as the flesh around it died.
***
Danielle Geller looked up in the sky as the dark bird rose from the ruins of Boko to meet the messengers head on. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the power on display. It was immediately apparent that her greatest fear, an attack on the evacuated populace, had been forestalled.
-------
System Alert: Ambient Magic Change
The Hegemon’s mortal form has been fatally compromised. While it is being reconstituted, the Hegemon has entered a liminal state in which his power is not limited by a mortal form. [Ghost Fire Phoenix] draws power from the Hegemon’s astral kingdom and is not subject to external power limitations.
High levels of magic are being introduced to the area from the Hegemon’s astral kingdom. Magical density and magical saturation of the region are being temporarily increased. Stability of the dimensional membrane in this region is compromised.
The Hegemon has chosen to limit his power to prevent a localised rupture in this reality’s dimensional membrane. Presence of the Hegemon is reinforcing dimensional stability. The performance of dimensional magic may be inconsistent until conditions return to normal.
-------
She frowned at the system message. This was god-level business, and that was when innocent people got killed. Collateral damage in the wars of giants. She turned her attention back to the scattered people of Boko, milling in an understandable panic. She did note that the rise of the bird and the aura that came with it had a blessedly calming effect on the people, as reflected in their own auras.
She saw immediately that the biggest threat after the messengers would be the sun. The locals were used to the climate, but that included making thorough preparations before heading out into the desert. Being ripped from their homes and dropped amongst the empty dunes was the opposite of being prepared; as the early afternoon heat intensified, things were only going to get worse.
Of tens of thousands of evacuated citizens, most were normal rank, and would die without water and shelter. They were also traumatised by exposure to Jason’s unstable aura, many left incapacitated and some even killed. Those ostensibly in charge were struggling to find one another, let alone bring any kind of order of the chaos. People were doing their best, be they adventurers, Adventure Society officials, civic administrators or simply anyone else able to keep their heads.
Small groups were doing what they could on their own. A local Magic Society official had managed to get some of his people together and start distributing a simple climate control ritual that would set up small zones that cooled the people within. While each zone could only accommodate a few families, the ritual only required spirit coins as a material component. It was also simple enough that anyone with a basic knowledge of ritual magic could enact.
It was a race against time as the desert heat ramped up. Fortunately, the increased level of magic Jason had created made larger and more powerful rituals an option. The efforts to implement those were being led by ritual magic experts like Clive, Farrah and Belinda. Clive had even put aside his scorn for the Magic Society to take charge of their people.
The Magic Society branch director let the higher rank Clive take charge of the magic, focusing instead on finding and organising his people. He was issuing directives as Clive drew out a massive ritual diagram nearby. He looked at the lines of golden light, a match for the ones he’d seen drawn in the air during the evacuation.
“Were you the one who put up that containment dome?” he asked.
“Not just me, but yes.”
“How did you use magic on that scale when the magic level is so low?”
“The containment dome fed off the magic it was containing.”
“And you just happened to have a perfectly calibrated ritual designed to do that over such a large area, in these specific conditions, with that specific kind of energy?”
“Of course not, but I was already familiar with the energy in question. The rest we figured out as we went.”
“Are you saying you improvised a city-scale, off-rank ritual magic off the top of your head?”
“Like I said, I didn’t do it by myself.”
“Even so, that’s madness.”
“Look around, Director. When you get days like these, only madness will do.”
“You say that like you’ve seen things like this before.”
“Not many times, but yes.”
“Who are you people?”
Belinda ducked in front of the director and shook his hand.
“Team Biscuit, pleased to meet you. Clive, you done? We need you.”
“Give me thirty seconds.”
***
The messenger army had departed from a shared staging area inside a region on the far side of the planet. Massive portal gates floated in the air, through which the army had departed, leaving behind only a fraction of the forces belonging to the four astral kings who owned them.
Inside a nearby room, four Voices of the Will were observing the far side of the portal gates through a viewing pool. They watched as the ghost fire phoenix ravaged their army. Although none of them would ever voice the sentiment, each were happy that their portals only operated one way. They were startled when they sensed a new portal open in the staging area, but a small one, sized for a person.
The messenger who emerged could have passed for a very tall human. His wings were nowhere to be seen and he stood only seven feet tall, short for a messenger. His clothes, brown and dark red, were more fitted than the loose apparel most messengers favoured. He also walked on the ground in boots, rather than floating over it in bare feet or sandals.
He strode across the staging area, a furious expression on his face. Every messenger who looked his way fell to the ground and had a seizure. He reached the room containing the four Voices, and instead of flying in through the entrance above, he tore a hole in the wall with his aura. Inside, the Voices lined up like soldiers under inspection.
“I have no interest in dealing with minions,” the newcomer said, his fury caged inside his curt tone. “Get out here. Now.”
The four Voices floated to the ground and dropped to one knee. Above each, a ghostly image of their astral king appeared. The astral kings all bowed their heads before the man who had called on them.
“We pay respect to Jamis Fran Muskar,” one of them said.
“Respect?” Jamis snarled. “You directly defied the explicit instructions of the Council of Kings, and then have the mind-bogglingly incomprehensible GALL to utter the word ‘respect’ to me?”
“We felt—”
“It doesn’t matter what you felt. It matters what you were told.”
“We are all astral kings, Jamis Fran Muskar. The Council of Kings may guide us, but you do not rule us.”
Jamis stared at him, the anger in his expression replaced with contemplation.
“We let you think that,” he said, “so you wouldn’t go off and do something stupid out of misguided rebellion. But since you’ve gone and done it for the sake of stupidity, let me make it clear: yes, we rule you. And you will pay for your defiance.”
“Jason Asano—”
“Matters a lot more than you. How old are you all? A few centuries? A millennium? What have you accomplished, beyond treading the path that was laid out for you? We are the ones who allowed you to become astral kings, and what have you done with that opportunity? Walked the most well-trodden road you could find. Never deviating. Never innovating. Never setting your own course. Asano has accomplished more in half a century than all of you put together.”
“Many of those accomplishments come at our cost!”
“So? Which of us has not fought against another of our kind? We are kings, with few true sins to be committed, yet you seem intent on committing them all. Let us start listing them with your loss of control. Your diamond rankers refused to take part in this debacle. That is what we call a hint that you may want to reconsider your approach.”
“Mah Go Schaat convinced our diamond rankers to abstain.”
“Wisely,” Jamis said, gesturing at the viewing pool. “That is cosmic power he’s wielding out there. He’s holding back so he doesn’t blow a hole in the side of the universe. If they had faced Asano like that, they’d have died, just as Mah Go Schaat did. And, in the absence of your diamond rankers, you committed the second sin: debasing yourself by making a deal with lesser beings. A deal that I am now obligated to honour, despite the disaster you’ve made of it. Which brings us to your final and greatest sin: failure.”
“Who could have anticipated something like this?”
“THE COUNCIL OF KINGS!” Jamis roared, as if shouting could drill his words through a wall of obstinate stupidity.
“The council explains nothing.”
“Because the council does not answer to you. You answer to it, and when you decided not to, you made a grand mess that I now have to clean up.”
“What would you have us do? Is Asano is allowed to strike at us, without our striking back?”
“Yes. He is of my kind, not yours.”
“We are all astral kings.”
“But we are not all relevant. I don’t know your names, and after today, you should be very careful about my not needing to find them out. You are inconsequential, when I’d offer him a seat on the Council of Kings today. If he’d take it.”
“He is our enemy.”
“For now, yes. But he is fighting us in passing. Protecting his lands and his people, as any of us would. What you have done here will echo through time. Asano is one of us, and will be forever. You’re trying to kill him why? To deny him a prime avatar for a quarter of a century? Let’s put aside the fact that he will certainly find a way to shave most, if not all of that time away. The real point is that it leaves an eternity for him to remember.”
“We are immortal. He cannot kill us, however much he wants it.”
“And he won’t. But a millennium from now, someone is going to tell you that every birthing planet you own just got destroyed. We need him to forget the concerns of his mortal life, and you are searing them into his mind.”
“Is your intention to try and punish us?”
“I don’t have to,” Jamis said. “I already told you that he’s one of us. Your failure to grasp the ramifications of that only compounds your failure.”
“Ramifications?”
Jamis grinned.
“There are many, but what should concern you right now is one of the most fundamental. It apparently never occurred to you that, as an astral king, he has an astral gate.”
That was when they sensed the shift in the portals outside. The sheets of gold, silver and blue energy trembled like a pond during an earthquake. Then the one-way portals were suddenly two-way, and dark tentacles burst through. Heading straight for the building, some passed through the hole Jamis had made, while others made holes of their own.
The images of the astral kings vanished, their confused Voices of the Will coming to their senses just in time to get grabbed. A tentacle went after Jamis, throwing off sparks like an arc welder as it met an invisible barrier and was stopped dead. Jamis stood casually, hands in his pockets as the voices were dragged away.
Comments
matthew gilley
We let you think that so you wouldn’t go off and do something stupid out of misguided rebellion. But since you’ve gone and done it for the sake of stupidity, let me make it clear" is one of the great lines of time. I didn't realize I could love a retort as much as I do this.
Soli116
In the immortal words of Inigo Montoya: I hate waiting.
Homo Fantasius
Pretty please, don't have millenia old god like beings use the word 'got' in a sentence.
Jordan Brennan
Argh, so good! Tyftc!
Ninja Pugglesworth
HOLE-E-CRAP.
wintoch
He is probably the prime avatar of an astral king.
Lesley Holmes
Is Jamis a voice, an astral king or something else? I thought he was a voice but he now seems to speak as a member of the council not a "messenger" boy for them.
Lesley Holmes
"his control over than power had slipped" remove "than" and insert "that"
jazz
Noooo😭 I’m in a different time zone. Didn’t think about it and was waiting for the notification
ABTelford
Oh! Just had a thought! Since Jason is killing off the minions of these 4 astral kings, he will probably feel/see the mark of those astral kings on those messengers (I’m thinking he’ll interrogate the Voices he just pulled through portals) and therefore he’ll be able to recognize who those kings are later when he meets them - thus revenge shall come eventually.
Justin
THE BABA YAGA!
Tim
"So, I heard you punched my son."---------"Yeah, well...he, uh, stole Jason Asano's sandwich...and killed his familiar...sir."------"Oh." Lmao
Joanna
I don’t know if they’re available as hardcovers. The only physical copies I’ve seen are huge trade paperbacks
Aerlevsedi
Ok, I'm going to wait on any final judgments on the guy until we see more of him, but he has now made a good impression both times we've seen him (I think he's the one we saw before). Regardless, no matter how evil or not he is, at least he's got style.
Allformsoflight
Jason is also owed some serious favors by some seriously powerful entities, specifically those that wanted the throne restored, and those that serve the throne. Jason may not have asked for anything in return for his part in its restoration, but i wonder if that attitude may change, or if the all devouring eye will simply decide that the astral kings and their crap needs to be pruned down a bit. Personally I would love reading the described faces of some of these astral kings learning that the eye is moving to their actual cosmic location and is not in a good mood about it.
Miguel Sanchez
So… AK’s are essentially their own universe/reality…Jason has Gordon who is a reality assassin… with access to transcendent power(Astral Gate)… I see a ridiculous war coming.
Andrew Johnson
I recommend going back and rereading Chapter 713.. it adds a LOT of context to messenger part of this chapter as well as context to several previous chapters as to why the messengers might be attacking random places etc..
Alex Reed
We didn't mention Zara's whereabouts at all
David
I don’t think so. The AKs are in control of their own soul. Can’t do that without actually having control of their own souls. Edit: full and complete control.
Alex Schellenberg
I don't think there wlild be an inventory limitation anymore. Since his storage became a place, the place became unified with his soul, his soul got connected to the Astral, and is able to construct reality within it.
MoonlitShade
Imagine the loot from his loot ability he’d get from a messenger army of hundreds and thousands (presumably) His inventory treasury just grew a considerable amount, I imagine.
Chris Pollan
Ok please help my fellow enthusiasts... I want to buy the full set so fat of hardback books...
Lesley Holmes
Hmm. Deals with lesser beings. The plot thickens....
Alex Schellenberg
I have been thinking for a while that there are some Astral Kings who never realized that they still were marked by their Astral King only being allowed to be a powerful minion like it seems like these are.
Matthew J Hogan
Great chapter, Shirt!
Justin
Remember the description from the fight against prince valdis?
Chris Furry
Shade explained that it was something that happens when a low rank soul experiences that leaves it pliable (like being pulled into the astral and sent to another universe) and comes in close proximity to a GAB (like when he got a token from the World Phoenix). He got the fate magic when he became an outworlder.
Jay Doubleyou Kay
When did Jason get dark tentacles? I know he has the shadow hands that can wield his daggers ECT. But I don't remember anything about tentacles. Do you think Gold has allowed his shadow hands to turn into tentacles? I don't remember any of his powers having anything to do with anything tentacle related or even tentacle adjacent.
Jay Doubleyou Kay
Hey so I just started the audiobooks over again for the Nth time and... Would the ancient fate magic stuff that Shade is explaining something that would have been with Jason from birth or when he reshaped his soul was when he was first reborn as an outworlder? Or something that was with him from birth but was "unlocked" or "awakened" when he was kidnapped to Africa to become a knife mercenary? Idk if it even matters. Just a stray thought
Kevin Anderson
Good question. 4 AK armies likely puts a dent in. Not sure if 4 voices gives a bonus bump. I wonder how fast and how far hegemon can travel....
Justin
I think he’s going to offer him a place on the council in one of this week’s chapters.
Will Mill
Well Jason’s lunch consists of four Voices but what about everyone e else?
Mark Parker
I hate being up to date, the waiting is in turn tenement to torture. i burn through these chapts like they are nothing.
Ender419
Looks like the 4 Astral Kings & their voices just got pulled into detention at FAFOU (Fuck Around & Find Out University). While Jamis seems to be a fourth year student looking to graduate with summa cum laude. Epic chapter!!
Kevin Anderson
Consumed.... Is likely the word they will eventually use :)
JL McDonald
This line makes my heart smile. "But a millennium from now, someone is going to tell you that every birthing planet you own just got destroyed."
Paul Boros
This evokes the same feeling of having Darth Vader show up and take your side in the argument. or put another way... Those 4 have Fucked Around... and now the get to Find Out
Sean
Seeing as sanctioning has to do with changing authority, I’d imagine it’s possible. I’d also imagine that it’s not something one AK could do to another given how their authority works. Probably has to be self imposed? IIRC Jason had to sanction himself to ascend?
Logrus
Oh boy. This was a super interesting look into the Council of Kings. That description of the King's Voice was clearly super deliberate. They're going to be a fascinating enemy for Jason to reform <_<
jacob butler
So they say astral kings cannot die however great astral beings can be sanctioned couldn't astral kings be sanctioned or with the power of Gordon wipe out the reality of the Astral kingdoms
Bilal Williams
How much messenger juice needs to be squeezed to create a prime avatar and possibly one in the chamber? He has been hunting and killing but the loot has been spent to rebuild village losses in town. Imagine him essencing up the survivors with loot from the attack to help them survive the environment for the rebuild
Mika Jan Holstein
Amazing chapter !!
Mika Jan Holstein
How did it become relevant?
Joseph Nicholson
Finally, it's about time the Order of the Reaper becomes relevant
bob bob
That was epic
Gregor
He was the one running the meeting.
Yaldabaoth
Fucking legend of a chapter!?
Idan tal
Another original showing up. Did we see him during the part with the council of kings? He sounded similar to the dude that run that meeting
Kalanaere
Agreed. He's that Commander that's so pissed off he is clipping words trying not to totally explode
Robert Landers
One of us! One of us!
Pierce
I hope Jamis and Jason have a chat!!
Diviknight
And with that, Jason puts an end to the messenger invasion on Pallimustus. It’s not a bad parting gift.
Kconraw
Thx for the chapter
CritHappens
He’ll make the messengers do it surely.
Andromeda Adams
What an amazing chapter! Can’t wait to see what Jason does once he is reformed! TYFTC!
Chioke Nelson
Thank you for reminding me that Jason can be a scary mother fucker and CHOOSES not to be
ouroboros
😆 Wtf.
Preston Stokes
Absolute badass! Jamis joining the stable of Asano.
Anthony Sebastian
Thankfully, he still has Shade, Colin, Gordon, and Arbour (and possibly Farrah, although I'm all for her doing her own thing if that's what she decides on doing) to keep him company and challenge him.
Kalanaere
He's going to vent on messengers because sadly nobody in Boko was truly ready to have that Aura power descend onto them. The high rankers can weather the storm ae long as they have the will power but even for them it's a lot. Team Biscuit has the advantage of years of exposure to Jason Aura to build up tolerance
Anthony Sebastian
To be fair, it isn't quite unrestricted. The sword draining power from his Astral kingdom had a hand in his power, and we see that are some negative side effects on the world from using this power. He has to consciously limit himself here to prevent any lasting damage, even if we are only in a low magic zone.
Anthony Sebastian
Man, you already know that Jason is going to be distressed over having killed innocent normal rankers with his aura. Let's hope Arabelle and the others are able to remind him that what he did was save a majority of Boko's people from being killed outright. Although I imagine he would still be torn up about it, which I sympathize with.
Joshua Millins
Licks screen "oh yeah that's the stuff"
Maximus
Great analogy!
Daniel Clark
"We need him to forget the concerns of this mortal world..." is another subtle reminder how lonely immortality will likely become for Jason.
Erik Hyrkas
90,000 people is a lot of people to house. I wonder if Jason will rebuild the city before going mortal.
Kalanaere
The way he just walked in and then his dressing down of the idiots. Oh I can see it
Kalanaere
He is soo pissed off at these lesser kings it isn't funny.
Kalanaere
Damn! I think I like this Jamis guy. This entire chapter from his arrival I just pictured thar commander that is so utterly dumbfounded by the stupidity of lesser that his rage is boiling over and he is literally screaming and very very pointedly enunciation every sentence to drive home his point at just how stupid these so called kings are. Hell I feel like he's justified too! He just flat out told them he is wielding cosmic power on the battle field and hilding himself back and they didn't even seem to understand what that meant. Then top it off with the fact that he had ti point out thar Jason IS and Astral King thus he HAS an Astral Gate
DirePants
That was way better than I thought it would be, and I had pretty high hopes. That conversation with Jamis and the other astral kings was the probably my favorite part in the series. At least top 5. Such a great f’ing chapter. 💯
Gilgamiso
Ty for the chapter Shirt!
Tartlet
The Hegemon: HUNGRY
Historia Jinn
He absorbs the energy from the messengers he kills, I assume he can use it like he did with the vampires to make a new build, we do love to see it my friend
Alan Montgomery
Or play stupid games win stupid prizes
Liesmith
I also loved tis part of Jamis' interaction with the Astral Kings: "Who could've predicted this?" "The Council of Kings!" Even for cosmic beings, that is a very relatable type of frustration from Jamis.
Malcolm
Jason really went god mode and is some how gonna revive his avatar right after u love to see it
Chris Furry
Neil is going to be insufferable.
Liesmith
Jamis: "What did you idiots do to Asano?" Astral Kings: "We killed him!" Jamis: "Oh?" Astral Kings: "Yep, blew him right up!" Jamis: "Well that's step one..." [Tentacles begin emerging from portals] Jamis: "What about two through ten?" The Hegemon: YOU DUN GOOFED
Hunter
Wow what a chapter!! Also Jason destroyed another city. Add it to the list.
Kershaw
Reminds me of the indomitable human will meme.
Chris Furry
What? Why?!
Chris Furry
Mah Go Schaat is, I think, going to ask Jason to help him transcend. I don’t know what that might look like, maybe removing his brand? Whatever it is, I don’t think Schaat has violent intentions towards him. That probably makes their meeting one of the things I’m looking forward to most.
Bettafish
My money's on Gordon getting used as an angle to forcibly sanction Astral Kings. It's still over our PoV's understanding but there's another entity that's a transcendent avatar of doom that managed to get the builder to nope out just by getting namedropped
Ira White
Jason be like oh look lunch and here's me needing to make a new prime BLT avatar.
Razeel Nightfall
Looks like it takes less than 20 years for diamond rankers to be reborn. Wonder when Mah Go Schaat and Jason will meet face to face.
ABTelford
Who else thinks this Jamis guy might be one of the Unorthodoxy? a king who has carefully infiltrated the Council of Kings to help those who value freedom of will…that would be super cool!
Samon Price
That was the last chapter I will be able to read for 2 year, but it was a good one 💪
Bettafish
I love how this started mid conversation with an earth leader about how Palimastus golds and silvers make their earth counterparts look like petulant children.... then Jason does THIS. Also, Jamis didn't even mention the tidbit that the great astral entity version of judge dread is a not all that distant relation of Gordon
Matt Heineman
He's a good boy
ABTelford
Jason has repeatedly done the impossible so I’m hoping he finds a way to kill astral kings - or make them mortal/regular diamond rank or whatever. Maybe rip the astral throne out of them somehow? 🤔
J W
Jamis is all like "please stop antagonizing the astral king who was a vindictive human, he will just become a vindictive immortal being with nothing but time to be a giant thorn in everyone's backside"
Snugglebadger
I think for sure that's what he was hinting at when he mentioned how the ones he was rebuking had never innovated or deviated from the path created for them. It implies he, at one point, forged his own path, which would likely make him an original. It is really interesting to see the dynamic of immortal enemies come into play. Like, you can't kill each other, you have to live in the same multiverse and you can't do anything about it, so they've essentially set up rules to make co-existence between the kings possible. I really want to learn more about that, and also about the other transcendent like Dawn's parents. I miss Dawn.
Aaron Van Wormer
Colin will have plenty of worlds to devour lol.
David
I light up before reading because I know I’ll need one either way.
David
I don’t think it’ll be needed. He has learned to control that aspect of himself before and it would create a narrative of an uncontrollable divine monster if he couldn’t.
ItWasIDIO!!
Janis my guy the epitome of the kind of villain Jason can't win against the kind he has to swallow all that pride & usually has to work with
Timothy
Reminds me of Dave Chappel and the crack sketch.
Crystal Donak
Who is going to bring Jasom back? Farrah I'm assuming. That was fantastic.
Asano
Ur the man shirt. Other than prime action with Jason comes the just as good aftermath chapters
Justin
I know right! I have literally said “I can’t wait until tomorrow at 4” literally every Sunday since the epilogue of book 11 started.
brian phillips
Biscuits
AbyssalIceLord
Welp....that was amazing *sparks up a cig*....cig, anyone?
Razeel Nightfall
I think he meant that Jason is important unlike the 4 AK he basically called trash.
Glitter Rabbit (C)
What I am reading is that Colin gets to eat all of the birthing worlds of 4 Astral Kings now. He will be so happy
Zachary Ross
Gotta love an intelligent enemy. And he will likely be that, but he is old, experienced, and humble enough to remember consequences.
Apollo Greed
Tyftc!
Daniel Wills
I keep pretending that part didn’t happen. His pact with Death makes it impossible to somehow bring them back.
Tim
I think the most revealing part of this chapter is Jamis' quote: "Yes. He is of my kind, not yours." I think Jamis is most likely either talking about being from Earth, being an astral nexus, or being an original. My money would be on him being an Earth Original, which makes me wonder if perhaps Jamis had a hand in the Purity affair. Why else would Purity even need messenger help? Theres a deeper connection here that weve yet to see I think.
Kaelan Spears
Epic. I think Jamis might not be a messenger, but an original
AfroMocha
It was as Clive would say "The good stuff"
Chris Furry
No, *is* is the correct word here. He is asking is he allowed to.
AfroMocha
I like Jamis so so much more now
Chris Furry
Should step one confuse you, proceed to step 2: Run.
SmokeJam
The last two chapters and the next one could all be titled with "fuck around... and... find out."
Captain Nuclear
Everyone is celebrating Jason going godmode and kicking ass, and I do agree indeed. But his aura killed the very young, and old. Children. Babies, presumably. That's heartbreaking. That kind of anger can be a cold, burning thing. And I get it.
Patrick
“What would you have us do? Is Asano is allowed to strike at us, without our striking back?” Possible correction with first *is* to if “What would you have us do? If Asano is allowed to strike at us, without our striking back?”
SmokeJam
Bloody love it and finally a cool new strong dude with brains. Let's see where he will take us
ReadingObsessed
That was exactly what I was hoping for. That hit the spot.
Morgan Amacosmos
Wordgasm? readjaculation? I think the most accurate term might just be climaxing, but if you want a good euphemism, I suggest "I just finished reading" said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
Raphael
Book 10, Chapter 15 - Better Ambitions
Kelly
Where did that idea come from?
Will Mill
Jamis Fran Muskar is the original Builder, correct?
David
That’s one thing I’ve always been able to appreciate about Jason. Going after him is fair game. Going after or hurting unrelated targets near him is grounds for total war.
Alpha Wrath
Jamis really has had the best plan of anyone to deal with Jason. Step 1. Don't
Havics Child
Just... wow, I thought we would see his personal combat skills. I didn't think Phoenix form would give him unrestricted access to his GAB powers in the mortal planes, I guess that diamond rankers are not a threat so long as he has a revive in the tank now.
Isaac Scharff
Should have named this chapter "A Bad Day to Be a Messenger"
Grayvisc
Damn, they pissed him off good.
Isaac Scharff
This was exactly what I was thinking
Daniel Wills
It was definitely interesting that Mah Go Schaat is back AND doing what the Builder did. Fight Jason? No thanks.
Sean C Jackson
Oh yeah, damn that was good.
Ligeia
It's the majority of four AKs' slaves, so it's quite possible it will be enough to relaunch his prime avatar. We shall see.
Kasey Lindenmayer
😮 DAMNNN. Wow Shirt!! 👏 👏
CottonMod
Can somebody remind me in what chapter Jamis was introduced? Also, really hoping for a convo between Jason and him.
David Yow
You know. Before Shirt started writing this story, I hated Mondays. Now Mondays are a nearly unmatch hit of Grade A dopamine. TYFTC Shirt!
Autumn Dowdy
It can’t be her because she is in the council of kings
David Cooper
Jason will not hold back. The attackers injured and killed around him and he does not forgive that.
Chris Pollan
Amazing... less than 30 minutes and already over 300 likes!!! TFTW
Zachary Nahrstadt
Fafo
ElecHertz
Great chapter!
MrCynical
He can't. Same way they can't harm his true small universe self. Within his kingdom he's omnipotent and omnipresent. So are they. And his universe is his soul, which have been shown over and over and over again to be inviolable. So nobody can break in either to try and damage from the outside.
Chris Foote
They could have made a deal with her, but they definitely made a deal with energy vampire thadwick.
Chris Pollan
Hellz yrah!!!!! Omg!!!! I can't wait to see him shred evey will, and damage the pshychy of those sub-par-"king"s hahahaha
Ligeia
What a satisfying chapter! oh, how I hope Vesta Carmis Zell is one of the AKs he just wiped the floor with!
Naotsugu97
They done fucked around and found out. 😎 TFTC!
Harbby
Fuck yes
Robert Crocker
I wonder if a full Messenger army and 4 Voices of the Will equals a new Prime Avatar? Probably not, but it's a start. Jamis tearing into the four unnamed Astral Kings and telling them just how useless they were, especially compared to Jason, was very satisfying.
Russell Widger
It's not entirely his fault though
Connor
This is everything I wanted, and more! I hope we get even more Hegemon next time, preferably from his (its?) POV.
Russell Widger
He's holding back lol
Adrian
Just knowing that Mah Go Schaat doesn't want another taste of Jason and allies is ohhh so satisfying
Ligeia
Vladwick, perhaps?
Agent P.
About time!
Morloc13
Hi, you've just instigated your own ass whopping come on down! Lol when a more powerful being advises you to stay the F away mabye listen...
Noir
Awesome chapter. Let the foolish mongrel astral kings feel the depth of their folly.
Joanna
Could easily be, yeah. Good thoughts. Or maybe there's a way to destroy their minds or wills, like the GABs tried to do to him?
Ray S.
Hoping we get Li Mei's pov next chapter.
Joanna
I have a feeling we'll be dealing with them for a long time, one way or another
Jay Doubleyou Kay
Holy. Crap. Did a certain Greenstone Adventure society leader set Jason up?! Set him on the scent of Chinas most beautiful woman to put him both in the messengers sights AND out of her city when it happened???? Oh if that's true.... If she made a deal with the messengers and she's the one that made Jason destroy a city and made Jason kill innocent people with his own aura. If it's true, I pity her so very badly.
Ken Sevier
Holy shit!!!
Justin
He pretty much wiped them out, not much to see. Idk I liked it a lot but I see your point
Amanda Begly
This chapter is satisfying.
jacob butler
I like how the diamond ranker who was looted and robbed said "nope not going to happen not touching that guy and the rest of you shouldn't either"
Andrew Johnson
I feel a bit let down mostly because I overhyped in my mind what was going to happen. I realize this is laying ground work for the future but dang.. I was expecting to see more of the Wrath of the Hegemon not bickering between astral kings.
Adrian
Well. Assassination looks a lot like nuking Godzilla from this angle 😁
Joanna
I've had the thought before that while the AKs can't die, it might well be possible for someone more powerful to get into their universes (probably under false pretenses) and then destroy their wills the way the GABs were trying to do with Jason. That would leave them out of action for millions of years and then coming to as basically brand new minds that could presumably be taught better behavior from the get-go
Robin Ragsdale
TFTC!!! Yay! Top 10
joe schmoe
Awesome chapter. Ty
John Durrett
Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff! Thank you for the chapter shirt!!!
Chris Furry
He only sat long enough to repair it but, yes, I think he is slightly more than just an astral king. Beyond being the system administrator, his title on his character sheet is Astral Nexus. I'm not sure how it differs, but I'm sure it's probably awesome.
Miguel Sanchez
OMFG!! This is awesome!!
Doodlyboy15
I do like the casual show of force from Jamis too, a subtle blocking of 'godlike' power. Seems like the equivalent of holding up a hand and pointing an angry person in the direction that anger should be directed.
Joshua McAteer
Well that was cool. Hopefully, Jason will have a speedy way to get another avatar
Aaron Schwartz
They’re talking as if the Astral Kings are not just the immortal but actually invincible. That can’t possibly be true. I mean, yeah you need to be at at least Dawn’s level to even try it, but it has to be possible. For an astral king, The king and his land are one, and inside the kingdom the king is omnipotent. But just because you can’t assassinate a country doesn’t mean you can’t destroy a country. my guess is that you would need a specific type of authority that specialized in ending/erasing/annihilating. Something but I’m just bet Jason is going to have access to eventually, If he can incorporate the powers of his familiars, especially the two that are also known as the reality assassin, and the world devourer. I’m thinking that at diamond rank, Their powers might be useful in completely permanently ending an astral king, In the right side of circumstances
Corac
Hum....they are sooooo certain that he can't kill them. And heck maybe he can't right now....but would you take a bet that a man that can literally make a rock bleed, can't figure out how to make a sentient universe bleed?
Azwrix
This chapter is metal af lol cant wait for Wednesday
Kira Yukia
good chappy needs more “starts scratching arms franticly”
Justin saldana
🤯🤯🔥🔥
mockery jones
Thought we were basically done with messengers. Now I'm really glad we are not.
Fuzzy Wuzzy
It was so gratifying. I love that he just sat back and watched the voices get ripped out of their vessels
Tyler S.
Holy Astral Biscuits... Hegemon dont give a F*ck
Richard Kalimotoo
Baller chapter
Mamuamap
Loved how the diamond rankers did not want any of that
ThreeErmz
One of my favorite chapters.
Lora Greenberg
Oh man..this is getting better! I still think someone Jason knows struck a bargain with those voices.
CottonMod
Great chapter! Totally justified the last two cliffs.
Chevy
Isn’t Jason more than an Astral king because he also sits the Sunder throne
Matt Doyle
What a chapter 🤯
Joanna
And the finding out continues. Damn, what a chapter!
SpicyApricotTree
There’s something so satisfying about Jamis telling these messengers that Jason is more important than them
Chris Furry
I'm betting he will be, and I'm almost sure he's Boris' Astral King.
Ashley Hearne
TFTC
Justin Hunsberger
Fuck yeah!
Jordan Bradley
Truly incredible chapter. This is shaping up to be the best book yet!
Razafarian
now THIS is a chapter. finally get to see Jason go all out and it did not disappoint
patrick__starz
Ohhhhh dammmnnnnn!!!!!!
Sébastien Kingsbury
And here we get to the "and find out" part
Chevy
Damnnn
Nathan roe
This is the best chapter in the entire series 💯
michael shafer
HA what a bunch of over eager goofs. playing dumb games won a big ass whoopin
Jace B
9 TYFTC
Wayward_Vagabond
That was a good chapter.
Taylor
That was sick. Him killing people by losing control is going to screw with his mental health, but I really hope this doesn’t lead to a 50 chapter arc of self doubt and depression. There’s already been too much of that. Seriously though, awesome chapter.
Jarrett Glass
HOLY SHbiscuits. This was incredible. Love when he gets these shows of power and respect.
samwise
Oh bad ass
Sean McClain
Oh that's why it is called an astral gate, you can control astral portals. Kind of obvious in retrospect.
Justin
Holy shit. THIS IS GOING TO BE MY FAVORITE BOOK!!! TYFTC! KEEP IT COMING!
Brandon Walker
They are betting hard that they can't be killed, but I wouldn't have so much faith in it that I would be willing to make enemies with the man who has bested great astral beings on numerous occasions, that probably shouldn't be possible either, so maybe he will figure out other impossible things, like how to kill them permanently
Erik Hyrkas
Bummer about the innocent people. Message sent, though.
Bingus McCready
Holy crap, YES. This is the cosmic, deity-level ass-whooping I’ve been craving. A huge TFTC, Shirt. That portal reversal bit was SATISFYING.
Thomas Black
These last chapters have been absolute bangers. I am really starting to like Jamis, especially when he told these idiots we allowed you to join us and I'm going to feed you to Jason so he doesn't try to come after me lol
Katherine Matthews
So good.
Holly Harris
This guy knows what’s up.
JonO
Oh my freaking god! What would be the term for orgasming over literary awesomeness? Because that's what I just did. Imagi-splooge? Mindgasm doesn't quite do it for me. It has to be more over the top and ridiculous. I'm willing to take suggestions.... Anyway, bravo shirt. This is now my favorite chapter ever!
Mist Sparrow
Damn , more innocents for Jason to lament.
Ben Riker
Fuck Around and Find Out.
Julia
clive’s channelling elle woods rn!! "what, like it’s hard??"
Brandon Walker
Holy fck that was good
Ethan Alexander
Now they go'in get crispy
gavin knoell
Hell yah nice
Ethan Alexander
They were like children sticking a fork into the wall outlet even when they were told not to
Hayden Leech
Holy shit!
Thunder0ni
Probably the most reasonable someone has been with Jason in forever
car6555
Oh yeah, looking forward to this!
Fulminis
Let's go hegemon!
mhaj58
Great to see Jamis again, I hope he will be as fun as Boris
Cyrus McEnnis
Just directly into my veins, please.
TwistedVanity
Thank you
Moondarious
7 tftc
Randall Clapper
yay! TFTC
Mike Zebill
Top 10
Raphael
TFTC
Brian bennie
Biscuits
Andrew Johnson
2nd
John goode
1st
