Chapter 1206 – Inflammatory Statement

One had to capitalize on opportunities once given, something Miranda was well aware of. When the Sword Saint had made arrangements to send word that the four were returning to Earth, she knew she had to make use of it.

While she would argue Earth was very stable despite its hectic political environment, its situation wasn’t entirely ideal. As someone carrying the Divine Blessing of the Witches of the Verdant Lagoon, Miranda was offered some respect, but she was still viewed by many as merely an administrator.

In other words, they saw her power as hollow and occasionally snubbed her in front of Draskil and Scarlett, as many of those from the Order of the Malefic Viper simply assumed that these two were of far higher standing than Miranda herself. Sure, they were both stronger than her, even if she was confident in giving Draskil quite a hard time if he dared battle her within her domain, but overall, they were certainly stronger, something those from the Order seemed to care more about than anything else.

It didn’t help that Miranda had never truly been part of the Order of the Malefic Viper, and in some ways didn’t fully view herself as a member either. She’d never spent a prolonged period at the faction but had always been too busy on Earth. Going by the amount of work she had upon returning from Nevermore, she also wasn’t confident that going to the Order would be wise.

However, Miranda had a tried-and-tested method to make people realize the power she held was far from insignificant. All she needed was Jake present to once more personally communicate that she was indeed his representative and was actively carrying out his will. That she had his full trust.

This was the kind of reminder that needed to happen occasionally, especially in instances like this, where skeptical newcomers had arrived. Sure, they still showed respect to her and followed the rules of Earth, but that didn’t mean they truly recognized her position as the Court Witch of the Chosen.

That’s why she had chosen to use this day to show around a number of influential young masters and mistresses from several of the larger internal factions of the Order. The Order had so many damn factions internally that it was sometimes hard to track. There were, of course, the vampire families, but that was just scratching the surface.

Powerful people often had large families due to their exceptionally long lives, to the extent that one individual could establish an entire clan within a generation or two. The Order had thousands of these, often founded by powerful A-grades and S-grades. The competent ones had felt the winds of change and predicted that Earth would be an important place for the Order in the future, making them want to establish a foothold there as soon as possible.

Of course, due to the level restriction, they were limited on who they could send, meaning they didn’t exactly send their best and brightest, but just the ones with the highest status who were eligible. Creating an environment where Miranda had to deal with a slew of arrogant youngsters… who were more often than not older than herself.

Her group also had members of the Dragonflights, demon clans, and even a few from the United Tribes, but at least these young masters and mistresses tended to be a lot more tolerable. They knew they were guests of Earth, while those from the Order walked around with the attitude that they owned the place, as “their” Chosen was the World Leader.

One thing those from the Order all did share, though, was a fanatical level of reverence towards the Malefic Viper, and by extension, his Chosen. So, if she weaponized that, Miranda expected her work to get a lot easier from today onwards; hence, she had gathered all the most influential youngsters for a personal tour and discussion of future plans.

Of course, gathering them alone wouldn’t have been feasible, which was why she had asked the one person on Earth who could make all the sycophants come crawling.

“You’re really insistent on that conservation stuff, huh?” the Malefic Dragonkin asked as Miranda filled the time while walking by, explaining plans to limit allowed construction areas on Earth.

“Of course,” Miranda answered, leading the several dozen influential youngsters toward her destination. “This is also the wish of the Chosen. He doesn’t want to see his homeworld turned fully urban but wishes for nature to still flourish.”

“I guess he is a hunter,” Draskil muttered. “Still, you should get rid of at least one of those oceans of yours. Way too much water and way too little land.”

“Expanding the constructible area available on the planet with artificial islands could be discussed, but only when the World Council is fully assembled,” Miranda said, having indeed considered the matter herself.

Right then, Miranda got a message from Lillian, who was back in the main office in Haven. A certain teleportation circle connecting the Order of the Malefic Viper and Earth had been activated, and Miranda had to suppress a smile. They had returned a bit earlier than Miranda had expected, but their timing was still good.

Earth had expanded its teleportation network a lot in the last couple of years, with the teleportation hub near Haven primarily connecting to another larger hub. Only certain people were allowed to travel directly from the Order to what was effectively the capital of Earth, with one of those people naturally being Jake, who even had a personal teleportation circle back in his home.

“Artificial islands aren’t enough,” Draskil continued to harp on about how Earth had too much water. “Do you even know how much you have hidden beneath the ground? Should at least clean up the surface a little.”

“As I said, we’ll discuss it with the World Council,” Miranda answered politely, mainly to get him off her back. She seriously doubted that a council including the Sky Whale would vote to somehow remove an entire ocean.

Turning to all those following them, Miranda spoke. “I just got word that a few influential individuals have come from the Order of the Malefic One, and I hope you will all join me in greeting them.”

“Any of those World Council people?” Draskil questioned.

“Two,” Miranda answered, also making the somewhat bored youngsters perk up. Even if most of them were horribly incompetent when it came to politics, the majority had at least realized the influence of the World Council. Granted, many theorized it was the result of the Chosen’s experiment or something like that, and didn’t believe that Jake would truly give them any power without it being part of some grander scheme.

It hadn’t helped that the most powerful members of the World Council hadn’t been around, making it appear like a weak group of individuals who were all politics and no actual power.

“Finally,” Draskil said with a toothy grin before he had a realization. “Wait… considering the missing members… wouldn’t that mean he is also here?”

“He is indeed,” Miranda smiled, surprised at Draskil’s ability to stay subtle and build the myste-

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“About damn time Jake bothered returning to his own damn planet!” Draskil practically yelled, now really getting the attention of the entire crowd. With a toothy grin, the Dragonkin looked at Miranda. “Let’s go!”

Before Miranda could even say anything, Draskil shot into the air before rapidly changing direction and flying directly towards the teleportation hub in the distance. All she could do was sigh as she looked at the many starry-eyed mega-fans of Jake following her.

“We shouldn’t dally too much either,” Miranda said calmly while mobilizing a bit of her energy to float into the air. “Follow me. Oh, and be on your best behavior; you wouldn’t want the Chosen’s first impression of you all to be negative, now would you?”

With that slightly threatening reminder, Miranda flew to follow Draskil at a relatively slow pace, all the other young masters and mistresses following her closely. She just hoped Draskil wouldn’t make a mess of things before they got there, and that Jake would once more expertly play his role as the mysterious Chosen who was beyond dealing with minor characters, thus vesting his power in Miranda.

Jake instantly recognized the lone figure that broke away from the group and rapidly made his way towards them. Draskil had a big, toothy grin as he arrived at the large gate leading into the chamber with the teleportation circle before proceeding to shamelessly kick the gate open.

The draconic eyes instantly searched the room before Draskil looked confused. “The fuck you four doing?”

“Unpleasant voyage through the void,” Jake answered, reckoning he should do the talking, considering he was feeling the best.

“Don’t tell me you’ve grown so feeble that something like that can cripple you,” the Malefic Dragonkin said in a sharp tone as his eyes also scanned the others. “Even if your little friends are weak, I-“

He didn’t get another word out before Draskil was blasted back, the entire doorway blown apart as rock and dust were sent everywhere.

Back in the chamber, the King stood with his arm raised, energy emanating from his clawed hand as his voice echoed out. “Silence, lizard.”

“Lizard, eh?”