Second World

Chapter 1988: Chapter 1988. Special

Wilted appeared at Chrisʼ secret garden the same moment they saw Master vanishing from Thereathʼs throne room. Jeanny was not yet back.

Jack joined John in messaging Jeanny, telling her to hurry and accept Chrisʼ invitation to teleport. If Master was lying and he happened to pick the Council of Hybris for his next target, he only needed around one minute to arrive.

Everyone in the garden was tense as they waited. John asked Chris to switch the image to show the Council of Hybrisʼ base. The image showed a massive complex in a vast desert. The complex looked like a futuristic town with many high-rise towers. All the towers seemed to be made of glistening silver. The complex looked like a beacon of light in the middle of the desolate desert.

Everything seemed fine. Nothing was out of the ordinary, but Master could appear any second. They didnʼt see Jeanny. She was probably inside one of the towers.

When Chris started zooming in and out of the buildings to find her, Jeanny finally teleported back to the garden. Everyone heaved a relieved sigh.

”What took you so long?” John scolded.

Jeanny herself was showing an exasperated expression. ”The people of that faction are truly intolerable. Their pride is outrageous. They chose demise over leaving their base.”

”Didnʼt I already tell you to leave them be if they are stubborn?” John chided.

”I canʼt just leave them without trying my best,” Jeanny replied. ”I finally managed to talk them into at least sending their young ones away. Petunia and the veteran members will remain in the base to face whatever calamity befalls them.”

”I say let them die, a bunch of cocky punks,” Jet remarked.

”Yes, I should have sent you instead,” John said.

Chris was cycling his projection to show the bases of the other divine factions. All of them were fine. A lot of activities were seen after the warning, but Master didnʼt show up.

”I think Apollyon is telling the truth about doing something else,” Chris said.

”Can you track him?” Paytowin asked.

”This is a monitoring device, not a tracking device,” Chris said. ”I need to know the coordinates to look at the place. He can be anywhere. Hell, he can be in the underworld for all we know.”

”His divine power can let him pass the wall between the planes?” Four Winds asked.

”No. If Lucifer canʼt do it, he certainly cannot,” Chris answered. ”But donʼt forget the main underworld portal still exists. He can use that portal to pass between the planes.”

”Take a look at the underworld then. See if he is there,” Will suggested.

Chris gave him an annoyed look and said, ”How large do you think the underworld is? I have the same problem. I need the coordinates! Do you expect me to screen through the area one by one until I stumble upon him? We donʼt even know if he is in the underworld. I simply said that he could be there.”

”Hey, how about we go and destroy the main underworld portal? If we destroy it while he is in the underworld, we can trap him there!” Badass proposed.

Chris heaved an exasperated sigh. He didnʼt bother talking anymore.

”All of you shut up and let your puny brains rest,” John declared. ”Leave the thinking to me. Now, gather over. I will tell you what to do.”

Badass was annoyed for being called puny brain. He turned to Will to find a comrade to defy John, but Will seemed happy about following Johnʼs order. He was the first to head over and sat before John when John called. Seeing that, Badass grumbled while heading to where everyone was gathering.

John started speaking after everyone gathered, ”I have talked with the old guy Honuren. He is not too keen about us using his base for our final stand, but I tell him, it is either that, his faction abandons the base, or his faction dies with the base. It is not a difficult choice.”

”For you, perhaps,” Badass remarked. He was still grumpy.

”This first one is free. If anyone interrupts me again, Jack will slap the person,” John announced.

Jack made a weird face saying, ʼWhen did I agree to that?ʼ

”Now, the plan is simple. It all boils down to depriving Master of his divine power before throwing everything at him. But first, we must ensure he is within range before we activate the Council of Twenty-four.”

Jet lifted his hand, which caused John to stop speaking.

”This doesnʼt count as interrupting, does it?” Jet asked.

”It does, but whatever. What do you want to say?” John asked back.

”How do we activate this council whatever thingy?”

John turned to Chris.

Chris got the cue. He said, ”Put all your hands together. A display box will appear, asking if you want to activate the power.”

Some got up and started putting their hands together. Seeing that, Chris said, ”The cooldown is three days. If you accidentally activate it now, you must wait three days before you can use

it again.”

”Ugh...” Everyone sat back down.

”Aside from stripping the divines of their powers, what else is the benefit of activating this council?” Four Winds asked.

”Uh... Thatʼs all to it,” Chris answered.

When he saw everyone staring at him, he uttered, ”I designed that feature specifically as a last resort against Master in case he attains divinity. What else do you expect?” ”Forget him. Now, where was I?” John resumed. ”We will go to the Sky Haven once we finish this meeting. There, we will hide until Master shows himself. Hopefully, he didnʼt just appear and blast everything up without saying anything. If that happened, we are f*cked, but I donʼt think he will do that. His arrogance will compel him to boast over his victims before he acts, just like what he did when he destroyed the three divine factions.”

”What is the range for our power to affect him?” Giant Steve asked.

”No need to worry. The range is the size of a city. As long as we are there when Master appears, our power will reach him. We only need to do it before he decides to destroy the buildings we are hiding in,” John answered. He had learned this detail from Chris prior. ”Thatʼs all to it, folks. Now, for the last inspiring speech before we head out, I will give the stage to Jack,” John said. He made an ushering gesture for Jack to stand up. ”Huh? What the heck, man? Why throw me under the bus like that?” Jack complained.

”You are our leader. I do not doubt you will be the key in the coming conflict. We are your support,” John said.

”What leader? We never agree to a hierarchy between us. If it is about me being a sovereign, Four Winds here is also one.”

Four Winds chuckled. ”To be honest, you are the only one here whom I donʼt mind ceding the leader role. I daresay everyone here feels the same, and I want to hear your words as well.”

”Go up there, Jack,” Jeanny encouraged.

”Go on. You can do it,” Grace said and patted Jack from behind.

Jack sighed. He stood and looked at the faces who stared back at him. He smiled and said,

”Thank you! Thank you for your support all this time and for being my friends. I prefer no one

else to go into this final battle than you all.”

”Please donʼt tell me thatʼs all you have to say,” Paytowin said.

”I said inspiring, not gratitude,” John joined in.

Jack felt like kicking the two.

”Well, if you truly want to hear my thoughts. All right. If Iʼm being honest, I must say Iʼm

amazed with Master.”

”Yo...! Again, inspiring! Not demoralizing,” John protested.

”Shut up,” Jack chided him. He resumed, ”I said this because if you think of it. How many do you think can do what he does? I canʼt think of anyone. He gains his goal out of sheer determination and meticulous long-term planning. Everything he has worked for has been toward this end, where he stands on top of everyone. I dare say, in terms of capability, I donʼt think anyone here can match him, especially his intellect.”

”Objection!” John exclaimed.

”Overruled!” Jack shot back. John was both taken aback and amazed by the swiftness of Jackʼs response. He refrained from arguing his case because of that.

Jack continued, ”While Master has incredible capabilities, he also has flaws. If we are to triumph over him, we must utilize his biggest flaw.”

After a few seconds of dramatic pause, Jack resumed. ”During my last encounter with Master, he asked me what is so special about me. He asked me why people are willing to follow someone not special like me. In comparison to him, who has so many qualities someone can look up to. Honestly, I donʼt think Iʼm anyone special. However, I can tell you that people chose me over him because he had neglected one simple fact. People follow me not because I am special. They follow me because I consider those people special.”