Chapter 766: The Few Who Survive

Doesn't make make sense is he not a wizard? He has other forms of teleportation does he not? Especially now that the mark isn't fighting him. But I don't want to be too harsh it's just a lot of it comes off as plot armor. I think if you want Theresa to join the fight there would've been a better way to write it in. Or even have him literally chasing them down the same instant with them trying to escape into Uldars place just to find the rest of the cabal waiting next to the dead god. With Alex and company chasing them up the stairs.

Paris Cain

This has been so disappointing. This arc dragged out for so long and then the bad guys got away once again. 1/5 stars

BookDragonling

Thanks for the chapter.

Joshua Little

This ain't it, chief. This ain't it, at all. I highly doubt the author reads the comments on these works otherwise there would've been at least some acknowledgement of the biblical proportions of quality decline.

IntrinsicallySynest

1. He is aware of this and at no point is it mentioned that he even attempted to look for a work around, even if it was impossible it should have at least been addressed 2. Fair point but considering the requirements for their plan to be effective is simply Alex not being able to teleport, force armour alone could have prevented this entire situation since he would have been unaffected by the interdiction. 3. See this would be allowed if we didn’t have confirmation that Alex also has divinity and is in a place of power for said divinity as well as proof that he can force his way through an interdiction even if it somehow manages to clamp down on him with enough will. 4. This would be valid if it was used in a way that didn’t blatantly make Alex seem incredibly incompetent.

Daniel is ŁØNE

This would be fine if the use of interdictions had any level of consistency. Last time we got a proper look at how the FA could use an interdiction he took a lot of strain from doing it on actually sanctified soil. Here the FA uses interdictions back to back with no backlash, even worse the unmaker who had an entire chapter dedicated to having us see her as some Uber badass summon killed one major threat and focused on the mooks that any of his random summons could take out???? Even if they planned to make the enemies somehow escape it shouldn’t have played out like this, all the recent chapters accomplished was make Alex look not only incompetent but also ruined the intelligent characterization that he has been building since book 1

Daniel is ŁØNE

The story ran for seven books with a wonderful mix of intelligence, learning and teamwork. Our hero wasn't the strongest, but he was the smartest. One thing was certain, together with his friends (or mercenaries) he overcame all resistance. Then came book 8. It was as if the author had lost all feeling for the previous storyline and also all interest. I would have forgiven the author for a failed arc, but not ignoring all the basics of the story. I hated it, I unsubscribed.

Teee

Ok, not sure what is going on with all the hate, but I think the fight was pretty in line with Alex’s goals of “payback” he blatantly stated that he wanted to break their confidence and to see their expressions of horror. That isn’t possible to achieve with the “efficient” snap a finger and they all dropped dead method you all seem to want. And when you play with your food sometimes it gets away. Alex was playing with them from the start. To me that shows his power jump but more indirectly. Unfortunately I have lost games I should have won because I started doing the same, goofing off or showing off instead of just finishing the opponent off. Also keep in mind that when Alex was the Fool he had to be hyper efficient and focused, his first fight without those limits I would expect him to slightly overcompensate a little just out of the JOY of being able to. It would happen that way in real life also, as soon as a limit is removed people tend to go a little nuts before eventually getting it back in line.

Randall Jones

Ah, ok cool. So the last arc+ worth of chapters and weeks to months of real time just hucked out the window. Alex really, after all this, is going to blow it all on a whiny MONOLOGUE? And almost entirely fail to make use of a literal world of offensive magics now open to him? The enemy didn't outthink him, overpower him, or ANYTHING. He just, completely out of character, and contrary to the rage and determination we've been told about over and over and over, while he wasted our time searching for the super hidden, super advanced magical suddenly-wobbly sanctum, throws it away to gloat. All this after we're subjected to far more of his inner monologue than is necessary on a DAILY basis. Now we have to listen to it again, but with quotes around it? Gtfo. Resolve something for once.

Spenser Hilton

1. Alex knew the big wigs were capable of this 2. The whole reason he hasn't been bringing all he can to bear was supposedly to protect his family 3. He knew those same big wigs were the largest threat to that family 4. He spent months preparing to eliminate that threat 5. Then he spent all that on doing bad guy monologues during a fight, killing a single enemy slowly for effect, and mowing down irrelevant targets he could've cleaned up in his maze any time afterwards If they had escaped even after Alex remained true to form and did his best to use all his resources effectively it would have been fine. But #5 is just ridiculously out of character. Baelin would tear him a new one.

mkh

Yeah, I'm sorry I have to agree with many others. This plotline is very poorly done, in a way almost consciously designed to remove readers' investment and interest. Character power levels seem to fluctuate wildly and randomly, making it very difficult to get a sense of what should or shouldn't be possible. We were already denied a suitable climax in the last book, and now all that extra development time is thrown away because we're denied another climax. We've abandoned essentially all the characters from the 7 previous books-- for no identifiable in-universe reason too. it just seems like everything from plot to characters to world building are being constructed to make it impossible to care about what is happening. and then to make it worse you don't engage with readers at all.

Brandon K Kamaka

I seriously think that JM has subbed this book out to AI, to focus on Rune Seeker. Quality is way worse!

StudioFood

I have to agree with the previous comments - I have totally enjoyed the entire series thus far, with the majority of events being believable, within creative license. This chapter however is extremely frustrating and not at all believable. Why didn't Alex bring his friends? Why is the 9th tier war spirit soooo weak? Why did he fail because of some endless supply of sand that was gathered once? Sure if you want the two enemies to escape that's fair enough, but add some reasons for the above, and please please please remove tier 9 spells prior to this fight. The General seems so weak, and more like a Fool, with these limitations.

Joda

This is quite disappointing... Reasons already explained by other comments. But I really hate how weak the unmaker seemed. What a useless champion, all that set up and foreshadow for some weak ass fight contribution. Allowing the escape just makes her seem like weak shit and plus the whole fighting no names instead of the big villains. Might as well remove the chapters related to the unmaker. Then suddenly the escape is somewhat acceptable.

Sean T

I vastly preferred a clever and competent Fool to this idiotic General. That 9th level war-goddess seems pretty useless unless you have a bunch of fodder for her to mow down. I absolutely expected her to negate their escape plan. Maybe since summons are so useless Alex should have used offensive spells above 6th level. Or called in Claygon. Or Theresa & Brutus. Or Cedric or Destra or Hart or Grimloch or Thundar or Isolde or Khalik or watchers of Roal or mercenaries or Merzhin or a bunch of war golems. There was never a better time to reintroduce any of those characters. Just so much build up for such an underwhelming performance. He elimiated the least valuable targets and let the two real threats escape exactly the same way FA escaped last time.

Fizbandu

I’m guessing the author doesn’t have the time anymore to read comments from individuals who are supporting him financially on Patreon in order to see chapters sooner. This has likely become just one of several revenue streams for the author with the publication of books from the Fool series and starting other writing projects. Capitalistic strategy now would be to add as much filler as possible, to help with creative integrity, to drag things out for this platform just to squeeze as much $$ out of subscribers as possible. If a storyline that would have taken a month to get through can be stretched to 4-5 months that’s an extra 3-4 months of Patreon subscription income. I bet the writing/chapters we’re seeing posted here will be heavily edited by a professional before publication so revenue post-publication doesn’t take a hit from crappy storytelling.

JYonder

I have such a bad feeling about the way this series is going. Season 8 vibes man.

Surgebinder

Idk if JM is reading the comments. I know it’s their story, but when EVERYONE is screaming to stop it means something. I agree on all points. It’s like everyone got a massive nerf. Alex forgot his entire playbook (really, he used mage hands to… poke the Stalker’s eyes? Use potions! Smash a bottle of acid on his head ffs!). Apostle went from someone that could slaughter armies to someone that couldn’t even hold his own in melee. Stalker’s only trick is apparently moving dirt. And the Unmaker, who was ONLY in the fight to counter the FA and Stalker, was somehow content to be part of the nameless summon group attacking fodder.

Fleetpanda

I was too mad to even expand on the idiocy of everything that happened, I thought he was going for the big power scaling with Alex seemingly reaching the first step towards ungodly multiplanar power showcasing how he can summon an army of tier 8 summons, tier 9 big boys and a gal called the Unmaker. It turns out those are all shitters, disintegration is a shit tier 6 spell and the UNMAKER doesn't use disintegration or antimatter magic or whatever you want to call it. Moreover, we don't even begin to address the even bigger plot holes of not asking anyone for anything. Alex has always been written as this smart guy, who survived on strategy for the better half of his life, and we have already seen that a council of people half a step removed from Baeilin's power level is willing to intercede on his behalf ON PRINCIPLE alone. Literally going to war, mocking the king of a country they should be allied with. All he had to do was go to the council, and go "Hey guys there is this thing happening here with you know, a proven hidden power based on false worship that threatens to crush beneath us all possible probabilities of progress in our golem research work can you maybe, idk fucking erase those ants from the face of this earth with me for 10% of all my future golem-making endeavors profits?" I would have been happier if the Generasi copycat were actually good fucking mages. But not, we got the confirmation that Generasi is THE top magical power in this world and he ignores all the archwizards that basically said, yeah we think of you as a colleague in the making and probably the singular most talented young man we have seen in a while and we are willing to do a whole lot for you, in exchange of nothing. And the fact that in the past we have seen a clever use of mercenary actors is an even bigger fuck you to the readers. The entire hell arc is written to show how in the world there are still capable, unaffiliated third parties, and now the guy just goes muh-uh I'm a big proud boi and I wanna solve my problems alone. The interdiction was working like shit outside of the borders of the empire, and now in the sanctum of one of the most vigorous opponents of Uldar in the history of this novel it works just fine, it's k no biggy, while at the same time Hannah's power is at arguably it's highest. Going back to the point made previously, out of like 6 professors that we know actively like Alex half of them are in some capacity involved with wards, and they were not informed in the slightest about all of this shit happening. And then comes this chapter and we know why. An earthquake. The fucking arc BBG's trump card is making Mommy earth shiver. Indonesian fuckers building shit with bamboo are the main counter to this kind of attack, and you are saying that a couple of tier 9 warder archwizards wouldn't have come in here and literally made the entire structure indestructible? Weak, weak, weak gotta remember that the only patrons worth subbing to are Mecan and Nemor going forward.

Andrea Calcagno

Sad and disappointing. JM this book has been one of my favorites since god knows how long. I am very sad that these past few chapters have undone so much hard work on your part. I will be exceptionally disappointed if anyone is injured. Every life that ends now is on Alex's hands after you completely decimated his intelligence. Why was he so defenseless? Didn't he just spend like a week studying a fuckload of spells? And why did he have to summon so many? Most of the church soldiers are allegedly only as powerful as humans, like the Watchers. If that's the case, and they're chumps, why not just use a strong defensive spell that they could never penetrate and focus on actually being The General? Sad.

Mason

Exactly! Ghostwater’s battle matched it’s build up. That was one of my favorite Cradle books. Everyone longs for a time to just focus on improving and then to have a battle/test that shows how effective all that work has been. This was not that.

Kass

This should've been Alex's Ghostwater or Wintersteel - instead it feels dragged out and annoying.

Nyroe

I can't say I unsubbed over this because I already did at the "we are the champions" chapter. A complete let down after weeks of dragging thing out. I will just finish reading this story on RR for free.

Daniele Di Vitto

Unlucky, subbed because the arc on RR was promising and we get shafted like this, i'll probably read the ending when It Is out but for now I'm out, 0 sense or logic in any of Alex actions for the past 20 chapters

Andrea Calcagno

I joined the Patreon membership just to get over the fight with Guide and the hidden church, because the whole arc with them is already way too long and boring. What I see is that all the planning, changed Mark, released limits, 9th tier spells and it the battle ends exactly the same way as before, when Alex was MUCH weaker and rhe enemy on the same level as is now. And all of this because they have some dirt? Endless suply of it? Seriously what the hell?

Ondrej Vesely

Probably not going to check out Rune Seeker; risk is too high its plot, narrative and character development will suffer the same fate.

Loading Error

The Theresa rain training chapter was cliche and boring, either expand that and add some substance so there's a point to Theresa battling or nix it and this 1 v 1 plot that's coming with Theresa and first apostle.

Jeff Chinn

Agreed, this seems pointless and it makes the latter half of book 8 completely redundant. Like what even is the takeaway? Are we gonna have another book of this boring Guide hunt? What about the larger story? Maybe you should take a break and consider the plot

Neteyes

I'm honestly disappointed with how the fight in the sanctum went. There were only 3 relevant targets in that whole mess, and absolutely no good reason for any competent planner to leave 2 of those targets alive to the end, it feels needlessly stretched out. For all the crowing at "the general is here!", what kind of general sends his strongest asset to kill the trash mobs?

Sébastien Kingsbury

Hoping for some wuxia/xianxia battle next week. On another note Cradle animation is on kickstarter.

mant06

I wonder if the strain of writing rune seeker at the same time is too much? Rune seeker has been enjoyable so far but it feels like the complete decline of quality coincides with the start of rune seeker. Or it’s wanting to keep patreon revenue up by extending the story with repetitive chapters rehashing the same point 3-4x just worded differently (I’m someone who loves slice of life chapters but those chapters are not even that, they’re just repetitive with a mc who suddenly became much stupider)

giom

Exactly my problem with it, it feels that the FA’s power levels just fluctuates depending on plot requirements. Of course the argument could be said that last time alex had the heros with him but there’s no reason for them not to be there except to add tension in a hamfisted way. It’s a completely idiotic decision that makes no sense in story whatsoever. I would say that the story has really gone down the drain ever after the first Uldar’s rise fight. It’s frustrating because the story was so enjoyable before that. I’m also surprised the writer doesn’t react at all to the increasing negative comments from a big part of his readers in the last few months.

giom

I think this whole fight would have made more sense if there were no “uber summons”. Alden should have been the one shooting holes through people. He should have been such an unstoppable force that his strongest enemies were forced to flee, barely surviving. This could have really been his moment to shine as the general. But instead all of that agency and power was handed off to some nothing character that ended up being deeply disappointing.

Kettle

At some point it was explained that Alex could only open portals from the sanctum up to the border with the empire, I think it was in the chapter just before he removed the patch, when he set up a portal for the giants

Stefano

Look, JM, it might be worth pausing the pattern for a week or two to evaluate the most recent arc, because it does feel like a lot of character depth between Alex (that’s not how a Proper Wizard fights and you know it, Alex), the first apostle (are you running out of energy and desperate, or are you up and slaughtering people), and even the Stalker (a master hunter and dragon slayer can’t spot a trap, or was it just arrogance), and the Unmaker (why are you only Unmaking the mooks, do you or do you have decades of combat experience). I understand if you’re not reading the comments, some of them are fairly rude, but I do hope you read this.

Alex L

I hate to pile on but yeah, I don’t think this is a symptom of the one chapter a day impatience. If Alex could immediately follow then maybe, even though that would still diminish the sanctum dungeon, but this tension rebuild with Theresa in trouble is both disappointing and makes me loose interest because there is no real payoff for anything since the mark was removed. Last book ended weakly and we aren’t off to a great start. Maybe the other series is too much of a distraction? This stretch doesn’t spoil what has been a great series but this has taken on a real Wheel of Time Books 7-9 feel. I wouldnt pull my support this quickly because I’m in it for the long haul but I find myself not nearly as excited to see a chapter notification these days.

David Deden

If the Unmaker is supposed to be this legendary spirit of war and violence, then what was it doing in Kelda’s Sanctum! Shooting a crossbow three times is not ‘ultimate violence’ and to treat the Unmaker that way cheapens her character and the entire summoning her subarc! Isn’t she like half dragon, does that mean nothing here against 2 panicked villains! What the heck is happening? Has Alex been manipulated by that sketchy fey lord behind scenes to make poor decisions, because it feels like all of the characters got a lot stupider these past few chapters.

Alex L

I think I’m just done at this point. i’ll unsubscribe and wait until the story is finished. The last book was just extremely unsatsifying with a main character who suddenly behaves very stupidly

giom

In the battle where Carey died, a single interdiction was about all his soul could handle. And that was on a large patch of thick sanctified soil. In this trap, between him and the 3rd apostle they used 3 or 4 like it was nothing with only a little patch of floaty holy soil as support. Seems like a stretch that he'd escape without some form of severe soul damage or something as a consequence. Maybe something that would give Alex's companions a slight fighting chance. Because as it stands now, they'll be massacred if Alex doesn't show up on time.

Joseph Thibodeau

That was just a spell, though. Not an interdiction. Dude was just dramatic about it

Yeah... I don't love this approach. Book 8 should have ended with the defeat of Guide and the First Apostle, leaving Book 9 to focus entirely on the Ravager and the mystery behind Uldar's death and his plans. To spend all those chapters building up the plots, the plans. The sophisticated ambush... And it just totally fails. Gabrian isn't even acting like he's alone. He's basically saying he thinks he can just go gather up MORE hidden cultists. So this wasn't even a significant defeat for him. He lost an arm that he can restore with a single spell. He lost some minions that he can also easily replace. So... All that work, all that planning. Divine weapons and armor. A literal dungeon of traps. 9th level summoning spells. And.... Nothing.

John Dee

He didn't tell Claygon to be prepared?

Al

And this becomes another point where this nonsensical story makes no sense. They couldn't cast that in the Empire because foreign gods blah blah blah... So they go into the TRAVELER'S Sanctum and their miracles are all uber powerful and working with no issue. Hannah may be a young god, but she's still a foreign god, and the place they're attacking is drowning in her power. Sorry dead god's secret shouldn't get a special pass just because it in the script.

JKincaid

The level of incompetence of Alex is absolutely infuriating and wish author would take a clue from the overwhelmingly negative reaction of the fanbase here

Kael

Easily the most disappointing fight of the series, after delaying this fight for so long that it extended into a new volume it doesn't even get a bloody conclusion? Also where the fuck was the unmaker, it took out the third apostle and did what next? Stand around while the other big bads were plotting their escape? I already complained at how needlessly longwinded the journey to the sanctum was and how it felt like the author was just putting this fight off and when we get to the fight the enemies just ESCAPE. Even if you didn't feel like concluding this encounter here why didn't you just make it a running battle where they try to escape but get followed regardless if you wanted to have them see the dead god? Not to mention I could have sworn that interdictions have never worked the way it is used in this chapter, honestly, the whole thing feels like villain plot armor, I hope the author has some godly way of tying this together so it doesn't reek of plot convenience because I was disappointed with the build-up to this and I've been disappointed by this conclusion.

Daniel is ŁØNE

Honestly? This doesn't even require a big edit or anything. Make this a running battle. Yes, they retreat, but Alex can follow. This makes it possible to use it for the plot you have in mind, and it's SATISFYING since it lets the bad guys actually feel like the hunted this time. The interdiction affecting him like that doesn't even really make sense, unless I missed something? So far, you've consistently shown that it's targeted orders that need to be carefully worded. 'This place will come to ruin!' blocks his power? How? Why? Is Alex a place? I'd understand if it physically hurts him, but again, why's he not using armour? XD And even if it just physically hurt him, it'd add some of the suspense you're going for, without this convoluted feeling.

Awdyr Storm

Yeah, there is no way that they should have escaped the sanctuary, the fact that the unmaker was just killing random priests while leaving the big hitters alone, Alex is not using force armor so he can get the interdiction placed on him. Honestly, this fight is probably the most disappointing arc of the series, there are just too many plot holes so that the first apostle and the fay can escape so the plot may go on. And I feel that the same escape plot could have worked if the reason why they got away was that the fay was just a lot stronger and harder to pin, more able to mess with magic, or had some odd magic that managed to get the interdiction on Alex, and maybe deley the Unmaker.

Sunless

Hoookay, my guy, huge fan, always thought you had logical and nicely aligned progression. However, if you've ever been willing to listen to your readers' opinion when we ask for rewrites, this is the time. As you've noticed, a lot of people are outraged, and it's not without reason. This feel like stretching out the last hurrah for enemies literally JUST for dramatic tension, and I'm not sure what's worse: if Theresa and co. have a death among them, or if they massacre the two in front of a dead god. Even Carrey showing up like an angel of the Traveler to save the day would not feel satisfying. Like, all that setup, all that 'protect your loved ones' crap you pulled (which itself was an unpopular and convoluted decision), was somewhat justified and kept people from outrage with the sanctum battle. Now? It's all meaningless, Alex feels like a reckless chump, the bad guys are running around with like level 1000 plot armour, and the good guys can't catch a break. Bad guys SHOULDN'T go down easy, but the problems is, they HAVEN'T failed to put up a fight. This was supposed to be the culmination of LITERAL MONTHS of plotting. The Big Amazing Deadly war spirit you made a fuss about kinda fell flat. They keep pulling off, well, miracles, that would require literal divine intervention, not to mention the effects of pulling on such major Miracles that we've seen in the past that left the hidden church often wiped out VS. the First Apostle literally walking it all off and strolling in to kill some people IN WHAT IS NOW THE ENEMY CAMP with absolute ease. It's just... a lot of bleh. Considering the fact that this should have been better saved for the end of the previous book, too? *shrugs* Unsatisfying is the best yet lacking way to put it.

Awdyr Storm

Same - cancelled membership outright and noted for Patreon the serious decline in quality of work. Seems like a greed grab to needlessly drag things out and suck more of peoples money. Odd choice when he’s clearly doing fine on the Amazon publication front. Wealth makes so many people worse in the end.

JYonder

Just unsubbed … it’s going to be another 2-3 weeks of waffle.

Gareth S

Theresa should become the main character. I’m bored with Alex after this painfully drawn out solo-hero-turned-stereotypical villain sanctum arc.

JYonder

Brace for another few weeks of characters doing nothing and going nowhere … it’s going to be 1 full chapter for Alex to overcome this silly mess… 2-3 chapters for claygon and the cabal to travel to the rise … 3 chapters for the fae and what’s his name to explore and have a crisis… 1-2 for Alex to panic and get his arse back home… 3 for a battle … 1 for the fae to escape and live in fear … blah blah blah. It’s not an interesting part of the story, I don’t care about these characters, why the hell this nonsense has to be drawn out like this is beyond me. Does JM actually listen on the discord because he sure doesn’t read these comments. I don’t specifically have a problem with the broad decisions being made by the characters it’s the waffle and draw out nature of these chapters as a result of stupid decisions and overblown plot armour, less is more, if the last 60 chapters happened in 20, I doubt as many people would be complaining (myself included) Canceled membership (again)

Gareth S

Im with everyone about the filler and Alex suddenly getting Dumber. But I'm confused about everyone's complaints about the FA and Stalker getting away. From the way the story is going, we should have expected at least the FA to get away. There are still too any threads wrapped around him. It would be extremely unsatisfying to see those get cut. The Stalker could have died, but I think the fae lords riddle is about to be answered and without what the Stalker knows, I'm not sure how anyone else will figure out the fae lords involvement in everything. As for their getting away, they planned this. We saw them plan it, and we know Alex doesn't have a way to stop it. It's not a surprise, it's the expected outcome of a good backup plan. And we know it can be done again. It requires a lot of setup time that he doesn't have. I think we are letting the (understandable) frustration with all the plot stretching spill over into this.

Kenneth

Didn’t the interdiction on Alex and the earthquake on top of teleporting away suppose to drain the FA dry? Heck I’m sure he even said it was going to take everything he had left, and then you tell me he can rank out some more greater healing magic to heal them both?

Kyler

Unfortunately I’d say in the last 60-80 chapters only 20 have really been relevant. Onverbaked plot armour is less irritating when it’s not also nestled if 50 chapters of waffle.

Gareth S

I can't help thinking that for the cycles to end in Thameland, the Ravener must be told that Uldar is dead. By having the First Apostle escape to Uldars sanctum, this message may be passed onto the Ravener.

Robyn Davis

You may be forgetting the other interdiction "this place will come to ruin" or whatever it's effect was

Jmc mc

Yeah, I'm not a fan of creating more story through stupid characters. Alex is way smarter than he's being portrayed right now.

Kenneth

It wasn't a surprise though, they talked about setting it up for use if things turned against them. It wasn't just foreshadowed, the straight up said they were going to do it.

Kenneth

the amount of divinity required. why buy a 200 new product when a 20 patch will do. divinity requires parameters and an expenditure of faith. Uldar had already created a cost to make the heroes a reoccurring thing, to completely change it he would need to stop the v\current process, recreate it, then reissue it. all of which sounds significantly more expensive than a patch job. especially when you consider the whole thing seems to be designed as a faith battery anyway.

matthew gilley

My guess is for the same reason we patch computer programs instead of rewriting them. It's just easier.

Kenneth

Hey, I'm disappointed in the filler and needless extending of this portion of the story too, but only two of dozens escaping twice using the same method, and the second time we were even shown them preparing it isn't plot armor. Especially when so many of us were clamering for the First to see his dead God.

Kenneth

That was really stupid. Imagine setting up this trap for all these chapters just to have it totally fail where it mattered. But at the same time I’m glad it did only because Alex kind of deserved it by dragging it out for revenges sake, such an idiotic choice in the moment.

Aidan Geverdt

Can't they pilot the sanctum over there manually and open a portal? Or just open a portal immediately? He's got portals from all over the place in hideout. There isn't a real reason to believe distance is an issue considering the power we're talking about. And the interdiction was targeted at him, not the building. And if it has affected the building, it probably would have blown up on collision with a singular place instead of it continuing to exist in a state of constant movement.

Code Reed

Especially since we had to wait a week of filler for this chapter. Only to have nothing happen.

The Immortal Orange

Jeez, plot armour for the bad guys much? Twice now they've gotten away in the nick of time. Man this story has gotten bad

Tyler Thompson

On top of everyone else’s complaints, a lot of these chapters should have been combined, spreading this out has been exhausting and will probably feel the same way in the actual book

Brandon Todd

that was disappointing. i just resubscribed this month too, right after he got the mark changed, just to read a bunch of filler and this mess. all that build up to kill some mooks, so the FA could get away to 1v1 Theresa. especially when she and all of Alex's group should have been at the battle in the first place. guess he just wants to write about FA reaction to his god being dead. also why did the war spirit target the mooks? her whole thing was only fighting worthy battles wasn't it? anyways I think im back to unsubing, too much dragging crap out.

Shane Fletcher

Now the church is on their home soil. If they could defeat Alex and the unmaker with just a few injuries, the ones in Uldar’s Rise have no chance unless Baelin or Alex shows up. Unless the 1st disciple faints over Uldar’s body.

Kass

Blah, this was disappointing but entirely predictable. Was obvious that the big bad won't die this early into the book and they didn't. Lots of previous chapters were just build up fillers. What's most interesting is that the FA mentioning that Uldar created the Patch on Fool Mark. Why not just change rather than put a patch on it?

Bender

Enough of a let down that I immediately cancelled my subscription, and I'm still leaving comments just to vent a little bit. I spent over a year reading this story on to watch it descend into episodic tv levels of stupidity.

JKincaid

Don't care about the mental gymnastics needed to justify the stupidity. Alex could have teleported the FA into a cave somewhere, into an active volcano, into the middle of the ocean. he could have just straight up gone toe-to toe with the FA, used all the combat magic he's been training in, used the staff-sword more effetely and killed that POS. And sent super duper war spirit to kill the Stalker immediately. They had them dead-to rights, but they lived because the author decided that this is what his audience wants, and this is a logical way for Alex to behave, consistent with his behavior in the past. (It's not).

JKincaid

Divinity beating out magic has been used before so I'm fine with that and the writing of the battel between Alex and the secret church is great but I'm having issues is the amount of plot armor required to setup a Grimlock & Teresa vs 1st Apostle & Fae. I really hope that this gets a rewrite for the book.

The other DB

He is supposed to be a wizard but he casted maybe 5 spells. Summons, fireball, disintigrate, forceball, forcehands. He has no utility spells or creativity.

LEMON

First of all Theresa isn't the protagonist of this series, I don't give of damn if she needs a "rematch." We literally spent 8 books of watching a protagonist develop his intellect more than anything else to work around the massive handicaps he was handed by a dead god's machine. We were constantly teased that once Alex figured out how to break that useless Mark, he'd become a massive force to be reckoned with. We FINALLY get to that point, only to watch the protagonist turn into a cartoon villain. He used like 3 decent combat spells and his sword staff thing like twice, and then stood by and watched the First Apostle and the Stalker break free from his trap, fall victim to the same stupid interdiction thing he already went up against, and behaved in such a idiotic way that it's nowhere near in character for him, that the only reason this could possibly be written this way is to drag out a plot point that's already been dragged out way to far and dominated almost all of book 8.

JKincaid

It wasn't the guide, it was the guides master lord Aeonflyn that *might* have known he was dead, or at least divined that he was dead.

Philip Maynard

Kinda agree here. Killing the third apostle in that way was out of character. It would be satisfying toread if I was some edgelord teenager, but he should know better than to torture someone in their final moments. Yes these guys are constantly hunting him, his family, and making his life hell, but to slowly disintegrate someone?

Overclocked

Same. I'm done. Story went from a hard working hero struggling to a wish fulfilment fantasy.

Blahful

Just kinda makes the last…10? 15?…chapters feel irrelevant and unsatisfying. All that meticulous planning leading up to this amazing ambush sequence that now means nothing cause the two big bads had plot armor equipped. Why would Alex and his OP war spirit not be ganging up on the apostle immediately to prevent exactly this from happening? Blah what a let down

Justin Golenbock

I am curious how strong Gabrian is, since the man is strong enough for making a lot of miracles happen and was quick enough to kill the Watchers that quick. In comparison, Alex was able to handle him well enough with a surprise and teleportation. The comment you made last chapter makes sense. I want everyone to be fine but I get that sometimes, you are never going to be that lucky in life. I only wish that the others encountering Gabrian and the Stalker will be fine.

BoxQueen

He could have cast [Force Armor] like he always did before and avoided all this trouble.

lenkite

It's getting crappy honestly. He introduced way too many characters, and then suddenly we have these 2 trolls who are suddenly best buds and MC won't ask for his Cabals help for what to him seems like the battle for his life.

Blahful

I was wondering about "why not aim at head". The only guess I can make is that the Unmaker is more of a melee war spirit and not very comfortable with ranged weapons - hence goes for center of mass.

lenkite

An 11th hour (literal) miracle escape by for the only two villains who mattered…

Justin Golenbock

Honestly... This is disappointing. The first fight as the general was a spell crafting feat but in terms of strategy, contingencies, and planning... Awful. He made a terrible general and several critical judgement errors (not notifying his people about the battle starting in case of an escape is the most egregious) It's just disappointing that he really stepped into solo hero mode here and bungled instead of really personifying the General

BaguaBrady

He only killed the mooks and the Third Apostle. Actually, he could have done this even before his mark was removed.

lenkite

Its crazy because there is a specific bit where Baelin lectures Alex on how stupid it is not to wear armor in battle

Chris Britt

The story feels like its getting worse

Chris Britt

I agree. I thought it was very dumb that the deal alex made with the war spirit was to allow her to fight people worthy of her ability. Then the war spirit fights randos who dont do shit to her instead of the 2 strongest guys in the room. And because of that we barely get to see what shes capable of.

JC

I also think divinity is able to overcome certain magical defenses if the person is strong enough with their divine energy. I believe it takes certain magical knowledge to defend against the type of divine attacks TFA has.

Stephen

What nonsense. Too many words where nothing significant happens

Blahful

I completely agree!

Robert McCarter

Alex has certainly become more foolish since becoming the General.

Decide

I mean he did succeed in singlehandedly destroying all but three of an overpowered army...

Aaron Banta

Excellent chapter! Not sure why so many people think Alex should have been able to stop them from teleporting away though.... 1. Alex doesn't know any anti-teleport spells/wards. And he even had to hire a ward specialist to ward Bjorgrund's forest because he couldn't do it himself. 2. Even if Alex did know how to place anti-teleport magic wards, does it sound like a good idea to place something like that in a Sanctum which is constantly teleporting between 4 different places?? 3. And even if he did somehow manage to even do that, the First is using Divinity which can bypass magic and the natural order of things. I'm not sure we have ever seen magic cancel out divinity in this book actually, only the other way around. 4. The Recall divinity spell was mentioned and prepped by the First a few chapter ago, so this shouldn't be surprise to anyone here. It was a pretty obvious foreshadowing; the only question was how many would escape and who.

Reds

I thought she was using a gun. Still, this "unmaker" isn't living up to the hype.

Decide

Huh so it just managed to get through I guess. Not sure why he didn't prepare more. Honestly the problem is Alex needed to take the time to relish it all. He should have been all business.

Voror

Alex did put up greater force shield, guessing that's why the tornado of metal and rock only scratched him and didn't kill/maim him. The story has also been foreshadowing a rematch between Theresa and the First for a while now, so this isn't suprising at all. Remember how much Theresa was mentally and physically training for a rematch against the First and she almost unlocked a new skill but couldn't do it? Guess what's going to happen now? :)

Reds

Nope, only the Fae Lord did and it may have been more of a prophecy than actual knowledge

Reds

Nah, now it's time for Theresa to shine. Remember, she has been mentally and physically training for a rematch against the First for a while. She almost had a breakthrough with a new skill but wasn't able to reach it. Guess what's going to happen now? Hypeeee

Reds

The First is talking to the Ravener directly in this chapter. Before the distance was too great for the Ravener to communicate with the First directly which was why it send the spawn as a messenger to the frozen empire.

Reds

So The First is talking to the ravener spawn or the Fae in this chap?

Joshua Flowers

That's unsatisfying. And contrived that Alex wouldn't think to put up shields or armor at this point. And now it'll cost him. Curious if FA will somehow blame Alex and them for Uldar's death or what. Mostly expect him to either go insane or something like that. He'll at least relish in killing Theresa and all of Alex's loved ones to make him pay. He had one shot at this and he screwed it up.

Voror

alex is gonna arrive to theresa absolutely destroying the first apostle

BoltingSounds .

I guess Teresa gets a crack at gabrian. Yes I like this much better.

Obi-Wan-Sage

Alex spending half a book on a meticulous plan, training and then recruiting overpowered beings into his army only to be bested by something he already knows about is… silly. I don’t know, it just seems very out of character for the Alex we’ve always known to let them escape so smoothly. It also makes no sense that the war spirit attacked the pair AFTER all the cannon fodder when they was the entire reason she was there? The outcome of this arc has been a bit disappointing so far. It makes a lot of sense for Theresa to be involved in the first apostle’s death though… (even though I believe she could have been with him in the first place)

A

The hunters and the guide are not the same. The guide is a singular fae while there are multiple hunters able to be created at will by the Ravener.

Mitchell Calhoun

So the unstoppable killer war Spirit that's faught powerful people before decides to stab them in the chest and stomach and not you know, their heads where that's a more or less instant kill

trufflezz

oh the cliff

Kevin Squalls

Btw didn't the guide know uldar is dead?

Dehlan Sage

Theresa prove me wrong and stomp them into the dirt. She's grown so much to turn into a damsel now.

Aldrin

The direction of the creative choices in this story are deeply unsatisfying and jarringly out of step with the first 7 books. Honestly if Alex’s friends die because Alex himself turned into an idiotic self-absorbed villain I guess that’s fitting. Sucks to have the hero turn out so meh for all the insane progress he had made before he got arrogant.

JYonder

I shoulda known it wouldn't be that easy. Theresa is gonna love this

Dehlan Sage

Thank you for the chapter. Today has been really boring so far till I got that Patreon notification

Jonathan Crandall

I thought the Stalker and the Hunter/Guide were to different types of creatures. I thought the Fae and the Ravener spawn were different

Joshua Flowers

And it's at this point that my journey with this story ends.

JKincaid

Thank you for the chapter!

Noobly