Meira felt intimidated as she sat in the living room next to the extremely tall, winged woman. To make it worse, the woman occasionally looked at her with eyes that made her appear far older than she actually was. Her entire demeanor reminded her a bit of one of the old matriarchs she’d once seen visit her home village. Thinking about the place that used to be her home, she felt a bit down, but she quickly steeled herself.Be patient… Izil already said things are stable there.Izil had helped Meira check in on her old village, and luckily, nothing seemed to have changed back there besides who controlled the land and who the taxes were paid to. This made her think that her family members back there should still be safe, as while life hadn’t been easy back then, it hadn’t been that dangerous either.As for her father… he hadn’t made it. Meira discovered he had died before she even became Lord Thayne’s slave, as he had been bought and used by some alchemist in an experiment. Hearing that

Multiversal events were few and far between. Very rarely did something happen that factions with any knowledge of the wider happening cared about, but this was one of them. The last one had been the initiation of the new universe, and while this one was certainly not even remotely on the same scale, it was still a matter of extreme importance.Why it mattered was naturally due to who hosted it.The Automata Legion, Endless Empire, Holy Church, Risen, Valhal, Dragonflight Accords, United Tribe, and Altmar Empire… These factions were generally considered the most known and most powerful of the entire multiverse. Others did exist with power that rivaled theirs, but they ultimately still fell short for several reasons.Umbra’s Court of Shadows was certainly powerful, but most would not consider them a true peak-level faction. Their numbers were still somewhat limited, they did not establish huge territories they controlled, and while Umbra was a peak-level figure, she rarely appeared hers

The two overwhelming auras clashed in mid-air, reality itself vibrating from the metaphorical dick-measuring contest of two beings approaching the apex. Jake saw several people he suspected to be gods in the crowd frown and slowly back away, a few even teleporting away to avoid getting caught in a fight far beyond their level."Bold of you to dare come here," the Viper spoke, his voice calm yet with rage seething right beneath."Bold… Sure, we can use that word." Yip smiled and tilted his head. "Though I do wonder why you would think that. Is there something wrong with me coming here unannounced? Besides, what are you going to do about it? As I see it, you only have two choices. Either you can be nice and listen to my well-wishes… or…" He paused and looked to the crowd below, giving them a pitying glance. “You could lose your shit again and massacre everyone who was so silly as to respond to your invitation?"When the Viper’s presence flared with bloodlust, Jake took a step back. He m

After Jake and Villy’s wind-down session, it was time to move on to the next part of the ceremony. The two of them had only discussed what had happened a bit, with the Viper reminding Jake that the entire ceremony so far had effectively been televised across the multiverse, meaning all the big factions now knew what had happened. Giving them all an hour meant the higher-ups back at the headquarters of all the bigger groups could decide on their course of action and allow them to make an "official" decision.Jake wasn’t gonna lie—he had kind of expected ninety percent or more to leave. Yip had just challenged the Viper and declared he would kill him, taunted him openly, and declared he had entered an alliance with Valhal, with even Eversmile appearing. The situation was now messy as fuck, and their staying could easily be interpreted as choosing a side.There were some factions Jake felt sure would stay: The Risen and the Order due to being on good terms, the Endless Empire and Automat

Why? Why had he done it? Jake briefly remembered some stupid ideas he had shown Felix, but… still. Why had that sculpture-loving moron thought this was a good idea? Should Jake have seen this coming?No… No, it was too late to consider any of these things. Now, all he could do was damage control as he stared at the monstrosity in front of him.The statue was nearly three meters tall and composed of three elements. Jake barely registered the awe, claps, and confusion of all those around him as they closely studied the statue, and he, more than anything, just wanted to rush forward and break it.It depicted a large beer bottle, with a black snake identical to the one Jake had seen in the mural depicting the Malefic Viper way back in the Challenge Dungeon coiling around it. Out of the top of the bottle sprang not beer, but a large mushroom, with the Malefic Viper’s fangs open and preparing to bite down on the thing from above.The sculpture was ridiculously detailed. Every single scale w