Chapter 103: 93. YoAnna’s Office

Jay turned off the giant TV positioned on the wall of YoAnna’s huge office. He couldn’t find anything nice on the news as expected. Every news channel and major network played the video created by Hailey and Emily. The clip showed Dennis blurting out the blood truth and some context to explain Junkside’s misfortune. Since Dennis wanted to be the big hero, Jay had tasked him with being the speaker on the subject.

Jay had ensured Dennis would pin the fault on Jay rather than YoAnna despite the [Godling’s] reluctance on that political maneuver. YoAnna’s name would be mentioned as the source, but Jay’s mishandling of the blood was the single greatest critical point of failure. Hailey and Emily had agreed, of course. Dennis hadn’t understood why that mattered.

Jay had explained his reasoning: he was already getting painted in a bad light, so why not take in the world’s hate while YoAnna’s presence as the world’s first and only [Godling] could be looked at more favorably? Blame not the teenage goddess, for she was young, beautiful, and innocent. Blame the weirdo.

Nobody liked it when Jay explained his reasoning under that context, especially YoAnna, but they did as he requested. Even YoAnna.

There hadn’t been much traction in the hours since the video was released. Then it exploded fifty minutes ago. It ended up on the major news networks globally in the span of half an hour. The world was literally going to burn as the media ramped up production, splicing the truth with videos showing Jay’s execution of American soldiers via holy [Cleanse] and cutting out the part that the soldiers were assassins in masquerade. The news was dogpiling on Jay as if their lives depended on it, and it kind of hurt even though Jay was willing to take the heat.

He should probably listen to Emily and avoid news channels and social media for a while.

“Did anyone think to tell the government about our PR suicide?” Jay asked.

“I’ve gone and done so right when Dennis finished,” YoAnna said from her desk.

Jay faced around.

YoAnna sat comfortably in a grand, throne-like golden chair behind a desk taller than Jay. Way taller. The desk resembled the staff tables from school but grander. All heavy wood with a white body trimmed by black and gold. Miniature lion figures guarded the four corners. A banner hung down in front of the desk with the same colors and lion emblem. These were the colors and insignia of the Multiverse Protectorate Pantheon.

The desk was made for someone twenty-five feet tall to sit behind. The spatial dimensions inside this room had enchantments that widened the space. YoAnna could move at her tallest divine size and not worry about smashing through the ceiling.

She had been twelve feet tall when she wasn’t in her more lowly mortal form. Her divine form had grown thirteen feet after consuming the two cores. YoAnna appeared more glorious, more beautiful, and more magical. Reality meshed with fantasy all around her when she was this tall. Lots of shiny lights around her. Lots of shadow on the scarred side of her face, too.

Like a giant Disney princess with a touch of darkness but godly. The way her eyes shone like mini-suns while she was in a good productive mood sold the godly part especially.

Jay hopped from the floor to a spot on YoAnna’s desk that had less clutter. Piles of correspondence were laid in stacks or bundles across the table. Scrolls. Books. Envelopes. Alien tech-pads. Dozens of silvery devices floated in the air like tiny zeppelins. All sorts of foreign missives laid, hovered, or warped in. They came to YoAnna’s desk from across the universe.

And sometimes the Multiverse.

Then you had the mini blue boxes populating the air around YoAnna’s head. Thousands of them scrolled rapidly using runic language that was unreadable to Jay even with his new powers. The blue boxes accounted for messages from different System Admins as well as specific system Notifications Jay couldn’t hope to decipher.

It made his 57 Intellect burn with inadequacy.

“Jay, you are mistaken to think you don’t take up too much space on my desk,” YoAnna said humorously as her hands moved faster than Jay could track without extreme concentration.

Select. Scan. Write. Sign. Chuck.

This was YoAnna’s process. It was like watching the world’s fastest factory machine conducting work. Honestly, she was probably slowing down so he could actually see what she was doing.

Whenever she’d replied to something and flicked it away, it disappeared once it left her hands. But several more messages would appear.

“I didn’t know you had this much busy work,” Jay said.

“This is the more enjoyable part of what I do,” YoAnna said. “Here, I simply work quietly and diligently. I’ve been doing this since I was six.”

That was the age she disappeared completely.

“Seriously?” Jay raised an eyebrow.

“There’s a rhythm to it that I find pleasing. Sort of like working a farm. Even if the Imperial Adviser to the Craath Empire of the AY-314 Nebulae responds to my introductions unfavorably. With the promise of impregnating me and eating my children. I’ll respond the same. With some advice, my expectations, and a few concerns we can clear up together to better prepare his civilization for the Multiverse System and the expansion of my pantheon.”

“Um, excuse me. Did you say there’s a promise of impregnating you and eating your children?” Jay blinked.

“It’s a common enough insult, like a child saying I hate you when you tell them to prepare for an outing they don’t want to go to. You just have to be patient, and they’ll come around eventually one way or another.”

YoAnna smiled.

Jay gaped.

“The hard part is dealing with the System Admins when we must speak verbally rather than through System messages,” YoAnna continued. “They really prefer an older Multiversal Scry Network when smarter wizard-gods than them have developed runic arrays that offer better support. But no. They want to speak with me using low-power and spotty connections. I think they like it when I have to repeat myself for their old ears and egos.”

Jay nodded slowly. He was going to need time to absorb all of this. His Vice-Chair Title was feeding him knowledge and better understanding gradually. He wasn’t going to get it all at once. And it became more clearer the more exposed he was to this side of the business. The Vice Title could help him take a smidge off of YoAnna’s plate sooner or later. Quite the challenge.

“Besides, it’s not always like this,” she added. “I’m just catching up after two weeks of isolating myself to absorb the cores.”

Jay had gotten a better grasp of the core absorption process now.

It was the fast-track means for YoAnna to improve her divine powers since she already had an outrageous amount of power. They helped her become more efficient while opening up new branches of abilities for her to use. The risk was dirtying her growth with dungeon impurities. She could get tainted. Have her personality altered negatively. Bad things could spiral from there.

She had to take precautions and consume the cores’ carefully, leaving her Champions to fend for themselves when doing so. But it worked out in the end with their System Updates. And YoAnna was getting close to evolving to Stage 2 of her [Godling] Class.

Jay was hazy about what would happen when YoAnna evolved, but he was certain it would be a big deal for her, the pantheon, and everyone else paying close attention to them. It would mean she’d become even more ridiculously stronger, widening the gap between her and him.

Strangely, Jay didn’t mind. The stronger YoAnna got, the more exciting it would be for him to close that gap. And maybe surpass her.

Jay sat on the far edge of the table with YoAnna having his back. He kicked his legs idly as his thoughts shifted from wanting to ask YoAnna out on a date to more pressing concerns. Unfortunately, the more pressing concerns held more weight.

YoAnna straightened her legs until they poked out from under the table. She wriggled her toes at him playfully.

Jay smiled. It was a shame he had to focus on something not so playful.

“Swarm,” Jay said. “Dungeon Swarm.”

“Yes,” YoAnna replied.

The Champions knew their next apocalyptic test now, and it was as ridiculous as it sounded.

“And this can range from six incursions to hundreds. All over the world?” Jay asked.

“Indeed.”

“Got an estimate?”

“Twenty-four at most,” YoAnna said. “I predict eighteen. Enough to overwhelm us. But not too much or they’ll thin out the quality. Mostly Rank 1 Dungeons with hard difficulties. Some Rank 2’s. With hard difficulties. And possibly one Rank 3. With a medium difficulty tier.”

Jay nodded slowly. “We’re going from three dungeons to eighteen.” He turned around and caught YoAnna studying him. Her mini-suns for eyes shone on him like golden spotlights. “What the fuck, YoAnna?”

“We displeased the System Admins, Jay,” YoAnna said, her voice a purring rumble that shook the air around him. “I promised I’ll reign your unruly ambitions by snatching away your love for me. I failed. The consequences cometh.”

Jay rubbed his head.

If only that were the only apocalyptic concern.

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“One last time.” Jay raised a finger.

“I’ll entertain you as much as you like.”

Jay suppressed an involuntary shiver and stayed focused. His Commander and Vice-Chair Titles were coming in handy. He could feel his Titles pressing toward the biggest challenges and concerns for the Protectorates. That might’ve been troubling to a younger Jay, but knowing how Frank and Brit supported the notion of Jay becoming Pantheon Commander with words and actions meant the world. Jay would take this seriously and use his Titles to do his best at this new job.

“We’re getting System users with ranks and levels in Junkside?” he asked.

“Yes. We can call them Systemized Unregulated. Or Unregulated for short. Mostly males. Females show up rarely, for some reason. It seems that the leak in the apocalypse is expanding in Junkside, and I’m unable to stop it.” YoAnna pouted. “I didn’t acquire the right powers to clean up contaminations.”

“This is going to ramp up issues for sure,” Jay said. “The people there are already on edge. Things can spiral out of control with them having magic powers.”

“This is true,” YoAnna said with a gusting sigh. “And we can’t intercede until I have the approval of the System Admins. If you think telling the world of this folly framed under your negligence is bad, I wish for you to know I empathize.”

Jay and YoAnna shared a look that expressed sadness and weariness. She was his direct boss now. She was already a boss, but now they would be next to each other a lot more henceforth. And despite her glorious appearance, Jay could see the strain the [Godling] was under on her face. This leak in the apocalypse was kicking her ass.

Onward, they pushed. Even if Jay would rather take her by the finger and go to the nearest bar. The work came first.

“And the Yoroachian Lair is still active.”

“Affirmative. Right next to you are some written reports. Please look over them to see for yourself.”

Jay did as requested. His Intellect helped him scan through the documents quickly. Once he was done, Jay rested his face in his hands.

They had created quite the storm, didn’t they?

The truth about YoAnna’s divine blood being the source of the lair and the monsters it created was out there now. Junkside was bucking the rules of the Pre-Apocalypse and creating Systemized Unregulated that could level and rank up.

Pantheon Agents had written preliminary reports that the more violent gangs were leveling up faster. But despite the bizarreness of Systemized Unregulated sprouting without YoAnna’s approval, the agents also noticed a particular group growing the fastest.

The Rebel Angels.

Further observation was needed. Those gangsters were making moves, taking territories, and establishing a new power base over one of the Yoroachian lair entrances. A big one had appeared in the heart of the Junkyard. They were most likely farming Yoroachians for levels as one of their maneuvers to grind.

The other way to grind would be player versus player moves. Killing other Unregulated or Systemless to gain more levels. Murderhobo logic.

Jay almost wanted to laugh. Background mooks he had dunked on with Lilith at the potluck wound up making themselves relevant again. He wondered how Duffelbag Doug was doing. That kid ought to get out somehow. If not, then Jay could only assume a reckoning would arrive sooner or later for Doug’s gang.

The Yoroachains were more of a concern. If the Unregulated failed to contain the Yorochians, then they would multiply once again. Fast, too. Just like roaches. Especially since they carried a diluted glint of divinity. And if the lair were active, then there would be a new boss, too. Everything would spiral out of control if the boss turned out to be a big deal.

Jay’s solace was the productivity of the day. After the Champions and Chairs concluded with selecting the stupid but morally truthful route, YoAnna informed them of the Dungeon Swarm situation. That snapped them back to their main tasks. Dungeon crawling and killing monsters for loot. Everyone had brainstormed on how to prepare.

Frank had taken over quickly, expressing interest in simple militaristic doctrines. Early morning physical training. Martial arts. Weapon familiarization. Magic tactics. Then split off into Class specialties.

The latter half of the day separated [Fighters] from everyone else. Moreso because [Crafters], [Mages], and [Mediums] had studying and cross-magic shenanigans. They were loaded with many ideas to test and figure out with only minimalist guidance and input from YoAnna. The [Godling] of Challenge and Change believed heartily in the figure-it-out-yourself approach. At the very least, YoAnna pointed them toward the [Medium] archives to give them some more context and ideas. Apparently, [Mediums] served as decent enough historians in the Multiverse despite their religious and spiritual proclivities.

At the same time, YoAnna promised to train Gatanna and periodically give pointers to the [Fighters]. Most of YoAnna’s time would be focused on background stuff. She really was a busy [Godling], and Jay could imagine she took on extra duties that should’ve been passed on to other people. Other gods and goddesses. But there were no divine creatures here other than YoAnna, which made Jay imagine she could get lonely as a single [Godling].

Jay would swap between [Fighter] training, seeing what the more esoteric Classes were cooking up, and slowly learning to help YoAnna with her high Pantheon duties. Best believed Kleo was going to get tossed into the mix. She would probably pick up the office duties faster than Jay.

Then, they would all have dinner together at someone’s villa, the main mansion, or the kiddie campsite. This was Jay and Brit’s idea to foster unity even if they were all busy with their own stuff.

Sleep.

Rinse.

Repeat.

It would not provide the exciting and brutal rush of facing nuanced challenges and getting changed quickly. YoAnna refused to repeat the beatdown she’d dished out until they ranked up. As the [Godling] of Challenge and Change, the latter part was firmly a part of her nature. And the System wouldn’t respond well to repeated tricks from YoAnna. Especially with a pantheon that existed on being novel.

So they would have to grind the old fashion way. It would build the foundations they needed to go from reckless teens to professional killers. Especially now that they’d given up Omen Bearer of the Apocalypse and pretty much had to rely on themselves.

The [Young Virtuoso of Violent Ballads] Title enhanced more than it gave, even if those enhancements were more wicked and greater than the Title it replaced. The violent and hands-on lessons from the old Title would stick with them, while the new Title would make them brilliant artists when it came to fighting.

But Frank harped on not relying on that too much. He got to speak as the de facto training leader since his maneuvers to burn YoAnna and defeat Casey had cemented him as an expert at this point.

Jay asked Brit if she could look after people like a big sister. She took to the position they’d eventually called the well-being guru for cheeky fun. Mike claimed a head position in magic research and development. He’d become the leader of that, which pleased Lilith. She wanted nothing to do with leadership.

Hailey had gotten picked as their Pantheon PR and political face. Emily would obviously help her with media arrangements and extra dark stuff that Hailey assured would be necessary. 

Jay hadn’t realized informational warfare was intense, dirty, and brutal. No wonder YoAnna had chosen the four mean girls that bucked the usual tropes for heroes.

Mean girls knew how to take on the meanest people that would smile in your face and knife you in the back. For the first time, Jay truly started to see how necessary it was to have the Allens when facing the bigger global stage and public. They were a tremendous help.

With all of that sorted, YoAnna had opened up the floor for analysis, criticism, and ideas regarding all of their fights. The rest of the day was slower, but it had a purpose. It gave the Pantheon direction. They had plans for the next couple of weeks between now and the arrival of the Dungeon Swarm.

Jay was starting to see a tiny, tiny glimpse of the way forward in all of this madness. And what YoAnna was trying to achieve.

“YoAnna,” Jay called.

“Yes, Jay?”

“You’re pretty fucked up in a lot of ways,” he said without thinking. “But I can tell you’re doing your best. I think you’ll make a great goddess once you get there.”

YoAnna stood and walked out of the room. Her hands were to her face. For a very brief moment, Jay’s emotional-g caught her actual emotions surfacing.

It nearly killed him.

She had enough anxiety to wipe out hundreds of people. Maybe thousands. Maybe more.

Jay fell off her desk. He twitched on the floor, blood seeping out of his nostrils, as he cursed himself for making his divine crush cry.

You’ve nearly died from sensing the enormity of a divine creature’s highly unstable emotions! +5 Conviction!

New Talent Acquired! [Emotion Wave Stabilizer]: You passively exude a gravitational force that helps calm and steady the emotions of those you hold close to and are amicable toward. This helps boost Conviction to varying levels of success. You can actively assert emotional gravity magic that deters an antagonist's emotional manipulations or debuffs. Using this Talent boosts Conviction. Ranking up improves the Talent.

Kleo phased halfway out of his chest. “Look at the bright side, Master. Even when you screw up your love life, you get them sweet new numbers and powers. Keep it up!” She cackled like a little devil before submerging back into his chest.

“Why are the women in my life so extra?” Jay groaned.