The Order of the Malefic Viper hadn’t been the most diplomatic organization for a very long time. It mainly stuck to itself and had other factions come to it as its only method of communicating with others. No matter how much the Order declined, the Academy of the Malefic Viper remained a top-tier institution of the multiverse due to the Malefic Viper’s Legacy, maintaining many of the Order’s relations through high-level individuals who had been students there.

Now that the Order was done being a passive faction of the multiverse, it was also time to start being more diplomatic. It had already sent out a few ambassadors and diplomats to some of its closest allies, but there was no doubt the upcoming visit to the Pantheon of Life would be the most prominent official diplomatic mission in many eras. The Chosen of the Malefic Viper, as well as several high-tier individuals and even gods, would go, making it quite the ordeal.

While a Chosen visiting was already a big deal in itself, the fact that this was Jake in particular made it even more momentous. Not only was it his first time officially visiting another faction as a Chosen, but he was also a quite notorious figure in his own right.

Jake certainly didn’t fit the regular mold of a Chosen. Not only had he been involved with the war against Yip of Yore in quite a prominent role, but he was also the top scorer on the all-time Nevermore Leaderboards and known as the Harbinger of Primeval Origins. All of this coming together made him and this visit quite a big deal, as even if he wasn’t a Chosen, he would have been received as an honored guest.

That’s also why Jake wasn’t surprised by how many had shown up when he, Sylphie, and the Sword Saint went through a gateway leading them to the large courtyard where those who would be visiting the Pantheon of Life had gathered.

Around two hundred people would be going this time around, and that didn’t even count the gods. Right as Jake and his friends entered the courtyard, all attention was instantly on them as the nearest people – a group of B- and A-grade dragonkin - lowered their heads.

“We greet the Chosen of the Malefic One,” this first group spoke, their words making others aware Jake and company had arrived, making them act in kind as Jake spent the next half a minute just having people greet him. While it was a bit annoying, it did allow Jake to scan what kind of people would go.

Jake estimated that about a hundred of the people present were alchemists. They made it kind of easy to figure that out, considering they were all wearing similar robes identifying them as members of the Academy of the Malefic Viper.

The rest of them were obviously diplomats, with a few fighters mixed in here and there, but it was quite evident that most people didn’t expect to visit the hunting grounds controlled by the Pantheon of Life.

When it came to the power of the people present, it quickly became evident that the only C-grades were Jake, the Sword Saint, and Sylphie. The majority were B-grade, with a few dozen A-grades and just over a dozen S-grades. All in all, it was quite a showing, with Jake naturally being the main guest.

At least among the mortals... because the gods had yet to make their appearance. Jake guessed they had waited for Jake to arrive, as shortly after he was there, the aura of a god descended upon the courtyard. All of the mortals, except for the C-grades and most of the S-grades, instantly fell to their knees as a god manifested floating above them all.

It was a woman Jake didn’t recognize, but she clearly knew who he was as she made sure to make eye contact with him and nod in greeting before she spoke.

“Greetings, everyone. I’m Linea, a relatively new member of the Order, and I’ve been tasked with organizing this expedition to the Pantheon of Life,” she spoke. “I want to first of all clarify that I’m merely the organizer. The true leader of this expedition shall be the Chosen of the Malefic One...”

She motioned down to Jake, who nodded in acknowledgment.

“... as well as the Grand Elder of the Academy of the Malefic Viper and disciple of the Malefic One himself, Duskleaf,” she continued, Jake unable to hold back his surprise.

Duskleaf is actually leaving the Order? He asked himself, thinking for a moment he had heard wrong. Based on what Jake knew, the alchemist never went anywhere. He was the definition of a shut-in, so if he was really going... yeah, this expedition was definitely a big deal.

“The Grand Elder shall naturally follow us without revealing himself, something I’m sure quite a few of you mortals would appreciate,” the god called Linea said with a smile.

A few uncomfortable chuckles could be heard as Jake was once more reminded how mortals tended to kind of just keel over when in the presence of a powerful god. The god called Linea wasn’t that bad, and Jake estimated her to be just shy of a high-tier god, which, while powerful, wasn’t completely overwhelming to some of the stronger S-grades.

Jake did kind of question Duskleaf being hidden, though. His personal guess was that the alchemist just didn’t want to show himself because doing so would be a bother. As for why he wanted to go to the Pantheon of Life in the first place... well, there could be a myriad of reasons why an alchemist wished to visit the domain of a literal plant Primordial.

On the topic of how powerful Duskleaf actually was, Jake had to admit that the Grand Elder kind of felt weaker than the god floating in front of him. Yet, at the same time, Duskleaf also gave Jake a feeling that there was more to him. Considering the Viper’s stance on progress and constantly getting stronger, Jake had to assume that Duskleaf was more powerful than he let on, seeing as the Viper still respected him and acknowledged him as his disciple.

“As for who shall escort you, I shall naturally be present, along with seven other deities, including the Grand Elder. We don’t expect anything to happen, and the journey shouldn’t take very long, but better safe than sorry,” Linea continued, explaining.

From the looks on everyone’s faces, Jake had a strong feeling this entire speech was more for him and the two he was with than anyone else. Everyone else was positively ancient compared to the three of them, and they had definitely been through stuff like this before. The goddess was just being nice and explaining this to everyone thoroughly so as not to make Jake feel dumb for asking questions.

“Now, are there any questions, or is everyone ready to leave?” Linea asked as she scoured the room, naturally placing the most attention on Jake and company.

Which turned out to be a good idea... because Jake did have one burning question in his mind. One born from him, having detected all the gods hidden in the surroundings after they arrived a few seconds ago, with one of them definitely having gotten close enough entirely on purpose to make sure Jake noticed him.

Raising his hand, Jake spoke. “Just one... do we really need to bring that guy?”

Jake asked as he pointed to a spot in empty air not far from Linea. Everyone followed his finger, but didn’t see anything. Jake guessed only Linea knew what Jake was referring to, but before she even had a chance to answer, the guy in question spoke up.

“Hey! That’s, like, super rude. I’m here as a special contractor, having taken on a job I would normally never even consider!” the figure spoke as he revealed himself, looking quite annoyed and entirely ignoring that doing so would unleash his aura, smashing the remaining S-grades down on their knees as his presence washed over them.

A presence that didn’t simply reach the Godking level but slightly surpassed it. It was not at the level of the Lord Protector... but it was close.

“I wasn’t the one who hired you,” Jake shook his head. “And I get the feeling we’re in more danger with you around than without you.”

“Okay, you’re just getting ruder by the sentence,” the god said, crossing his arms and staring down at Jake with all four eyes. “I’ll definitely demand a bonus on account of long-term consequences to my mental health. Hazard pay does not cover this kind of treatment.”

“Getting any pay at all definitely means you outright scammed whoever hired you,” Jake said, shaking his head. He was only halfway joking... he didn’t seriously believe they would need that much protection. If they did, the Viper would have come himself. No, nine gods were definitely overkill for-

Wait... nine? Didn’t she say there were eight in total?

“I... this one greets the All-God Legion,” Linea bowed, Jake only realizing now what was going on. She didn’t know he was there... because he wasn’t meant to be there.

“Seriously?” Jake asked as he looked at Minaga. “You really snuck in here? That’s downright shameless.”

“I already told you I was hired on a special contract to-“

“Who hired you?”

“That’s entirely confidential, and I would never-“

“You hired yourself, didn’t you?” Jake sighed.

“What? No! Admittedly, the guy who hired me did look a lot like me, but we were definitely different clones... I mean people. Yep, definitely meant different but equally handsome people,” Minaga said, nodding confidently as everyone observing now knew exactly what was going on.

One thing that did surprise Jake a bit was that pretty much no one seemed surprised at seeing such a powerful god acting like that. Sure, there was some level of surprise, but not as much as there would be if it were some other god. Then again... assuming most of those present had gone to Nevermore, this likely wasn’t their first encounter with Minaga.

“If the All-God Legion wishes to join us, I don’t believe that would cause any issues,” Linea spoke, having regained her bearings.

She had likely also concluded that the mere fact that Minaga was allowed to be present meant the Malefic Viper approved of it. There was no way Minaga could have snuck in without the Primordial knowing, so Jake also concluded that either Villy had known or he didn’t care.

As for why Minaga wanted to join their little expedition in the first place... Jake genuinely had no idea. Someone like Minaga could easily visit on his own without raising any issues. He was one of the few truly neutral gods of the multiverse, his only real affiliation with Nevermore. For him to suddenly arrive with an entourage from the Order of the Malefic Viper had to be seen as weird, right?

Not that Jake ultimately cared. If Minaga wanted to come, the only one capable of stopping him was Villy, and the snake god clearly wasn’t going to do that, so it appeared they would be stuck with the Unique Lifeform.

“Well, I would most certainly like to join,” Minaga said triumphantly. “Now, I do recognize that my presence is a bit unsettling to borderline everyone here, but fear not, I have a solution!”

Waving his hand, Minaga opened a small portal as out walked another Minaga. The newly arrived Minaga turned and spoke to the first one. “Hello, I would like to apply for the job of traveling alongside the Order of the Malefic Viper to visit the Pantheon of Life.”

“You’re hired, starting immediately!” the first Minaga said with a smile. “With that settled, if anyone has any questions, please don’t bother my newly hired proxy here. We’re quite similar in temper and would both be equally annoyed if bothered too much.”

With that, the god-tier Minaga disappeared, and the newly arrived one teleported down to Jake and company, emanating the aura of an S-grade.

“Pleased to meet you, I’m Minaga, and I look forward to working with you!” the Unique Lifeform said with a big smile as he reached out to shake Jake’s hand.

“You never get tired of that bit, huh?” Jake asked as he nevertheless reached out and shook Minaga’s hand.

“It’s been funny for dozens of eras, and it’s still absolutely hilarious,” Minaga said without any shame.

Jake didn’t even think it was worth arguing as he turned to Linea. “I think it’s about time we head off.”

“As the Chosen commands,” the goddess nodded. “Everyone, gather in the middle of the courtyard, and I shall bring us to the grand teleportation circle.”

They all did as asked, and once they were all gathered, the god activated her magic. Jake felt himself be teleported only for them to reappear, standing on an absolutely massive platform deep below the ground in an even more enormous cavern.

Jake barely had time to get a good look around before they teleported once more. This teleport was a bit different, though. Jake faintly detected the concept of the void along with the teleportation, and while they didn’t enter the void, they definitely skirted very close to it.

This teleport also took several seconds, seeing as they teleported an incredibly vast distance. Their target location was just outside the main territory controlled by Yggdrasil, as a giant anti-teleportation formation covered several galaxy clusters, not allowing them to head straight to the Primordial’s inner domain.

To be clear, the plan was never to head to the inner domain right away. They would instead fly through the cosmos, allowing several of the most powerful people within the Pantheon of Life to see them on the way. This was mainly aimed at the many guests and visitors of the Primordial faction to really show off that the Order was coming for an official visit.

As expected, they soon arrived at their destination on a small planet expressly set up to receive guests of the Pantheon of Life. There, the Order already had their mode of transportation prepared as Jake and everyone else boarded a massive ship that seemed to be made out of metal he didn’t recognize. Considering the markings on the side of the boat, it clearly belonged to the Order of the Malefic Viper, especially seeing as it even had a crew ready and waiting.

Jake couldn’t help himself as he scanned the ship from top to bottom. The entire thing was about half a kilometer in length and a hundred meters wide, with a height of around sixty meters. It wasn’t massive, not even by old-world standards. In some ways, it even reminded him of an enormous aircraft carrier, except it didn’t have runways or anything like that, but instead a few weapons topside along with a large bridge or command deck on one end.

Its insides were mostly just living space, though there were also several technical areas. One thing that also surprised Jake was that nowhere was spatially expanded in any way whatsoever. Jake could see everything from top to bottom without any interference. That wasn’t to say the ship didn’t have any defensive barriers because, hot damn, it had a lot going on that was way above Jake’s level.

“Welcome aboard, everyone,” Linea said once they were all there and had boarded the ship. “This vessel shall be our home until we arrive at the center of the Pantheon of Life. For those who are wondering, the ship is of Altmar design with staff trained by the Altmar Empire to properly operate it. It’s officially a god-tier vessel, and while an S-grade is capable of powering it, it works best when a god is at the helm. Navigating and powering the vessel will be my job during this time, so I may not be contactable. However, your only job – outside of the diplomats who already know their assignments - is to relax and maybe get a bit of alchemy done. Laboratories have already been prepared.”

Jake and everyone else were listening, and from how Sylphie and the Sword Saint looked around, they were impressed with the ship. Jake also looked forward to exploring it, as while the thing wasn’t big, it still had pretty spacious living quarters with private laboratories.

“Each of you will also be given a token that can be used to contact staff and make use of the different facilities aboard. This token will also function as your room keys to your quarters, all of which have already been assigned.”

Linea waved her hand as tokens appeared floating in front of them all. Jake reached out and took his right away, but just then, a figure appeared behind him again. The sole person present who hadn’t been given a token... because he wasn’t even meant to be there.

“So, here we are. Two buddies. Hey, seeing as I don’t have an assigned room, wanna be bunkmates?” Minaga asked as he grinned. “Come on, it’s gonna be so much fun! We can tell scary stories into the night, theorize dungeon design, try to do a bit of bug fixing, oh, and I can tell you about this new kind of trap room I’m thinking about making. Imagine this: spikes shooting guns that shoot even more spikes! If I combine that with-“

Jake began to subtly zone out the Unique Lifeform as suddenly he felt this “short” journey would feel a lot longer than it actually was.