The Oracle Paths

Whooosh!

The two nearest Light Warriors immediately blocked his path. The first tried to smash his head with a massive rectangular shield, while the second vigorously thrust his halberd forward, intent on impaling him.

"Too slow," Jake tutted, dodging the first's shield with a backward neck sway, and with a precise front kick, sent the second warrior and his lance flying before the blow could land.

The one who had tried to crush his head with his shield hadn't yet realized the gap in their strength and directly followed up with a second shield bash, but in reverse this time. Jake dodged indifferently as before, but this time, he slipped under the shield by pivoting on himself with elusive footwork, before driving his elbow into the soldier's plexus. The steel breastplate now funneling into the thorax of his unlucky victim, Jake didn't even bother to check the result.

Unsurprisingly, a few seconds later, he felt their souls, but also their lifeforce and Lumyst nourishing his Lumyst Aura. It should have reached level 2 and acquired its first form after defeating River's Bane, but due to his new Unified Lumyst Aura, its completion had been delayed.

Of the two components forming this unified whole, his Spirit Lumyst Aura was just shy of level 2, while his Life Lumyst Aura was still far from advancing to the next level. The lifeforce Jake had managed to snatch from the monster with Essence Snatch before its total obliteration hadn't been enough to bridge the gap between his two Auras.

As for what he had managed to tear away truly precious from the kraken just before its death with Essence Snatch, it was a piece of its Spirit Body in which its weakened soul had taken refuge and the main Life Lumyst Core lodged in its heart just before it imploded. Jake hadn't yet decided what to do with the core, but finding the Titan's soul in the stolen piece of Spirit Body had been a pleasant surprise.

Normally, all this spiritual energy should have nourished his Spirit Lumyst Aura, but at that fateful moment, his instincts as a Cosmic D Starfeyrves had kicked in, and his Soul Tribute ability had superseded the absorption function of his Lumyst Aura and sucked in the unconscious soul of the kraken.

Jake had wondered for a moment why this had happened, his Lumyst Aura having had no trouble devouring the souls of his previous victims, but by delving within himself, he had quickly found the reason.

In his Spirit Dimension, or rather Cosmic Hatchery, a new fairy spirit very different from his other cute familiars was taking shape... Instead of the expected two arms and two legs, the forming appendages were... much more numerous.

This spirit was also... much bigger!

At the moment, he had been disoriented, not knowing how to react. Even though this new Cosmic Fairy was on track to be a reincarnation of River's Bane, like it had been the case for Jeanie and Trash Rubt, this was the first time an enemy had received such treatment.

With its soul preserved, Jake could already predict that this Fairy Spirit would indeed be much stronger. But without its own titanic body, this Familiar would likely become useless like the others.

This was where the Life Lumyst Core secured with Essence Snatch came into play. With this core and the fairy spirit version of River's Bane, it would theoretically be possible to properly resurrect this calamitous aquatic monster.

River's Bane would consequently become his true first Familiar. A fairy spirit not dependent on his excess biomass to exist in the physical world.

This discovery was a breath of fresh air not just for Jake, but also for all the other fairy spirits dreaming of having their own bodies. It was also a beacon of hope for Xi. Although she hadn't broached the subject after their argument the previous day, he knew it would come up again sooner or later.

[Since you already know...] Xi huffed in an openly sullen tone.

'Too bad incubating this River's Bane requires way too much energy,' Jake justified wryly, decapitating a third opponent too slow to react to his movements.

The damned squid was continuously sapping 10% of his passive Spirit Energy regeneration. Nothing surprising given the colossal Spirit Body of the cephalopod in life. He estimated its imminent birth within a few days to a few weeks.

This twist had, however, sparked a new interest in Jake: to collect the souls of his most powerful slain adversaries.

While Jake was slicing through one Light Warrior after another with the distracted expression of someone lost in thought, the rest of his squad had followed in his footsteps to infiltrate the breach he had just widened.

Hephais unsheathed his two scimitars without a word after also dodging the rain of arrows with supernatural grace, then placed himself in two ethereal steps devoid of presence in the blind spot of the Light Warrior facing him. Before the latter realized that the hooded man sprinting towards him had vanished, his vision blacked out forever, his head severed from his torso.

The expert assassin then drew two shurikens from one of the dedicated pockets of his armor, and threw them both simultaneously in a frisbee-like manner. Aligned with the enemy shieldbearers still barely holding their line, each shuriken shot in opposite directions, slicing straight through the necks of a dozen Light Warriors each before losing momentum.

If he hadn't been intent on keeping a low profile, the entire front line of the enemy would have collapsed.

This extraordinary masterstroke was, nonetheless, more than enough to cripple a whole section of the enemy defense. Three or four enemy platoons instantly became easy pickings for the galvanized recruits of their own regiment, who finally found the courage to overcome their fear by pouncing on the archers caught off guard just behind.

"Careful, Hephais," Jake raised an eyebrow in annoyance as he pierced the heart and breastplate of an enemy army squad leader with a single finger. "We wouldn't want all the enemy Players and commanders to come down on us at the same time. It's annoying, but let's play the game by their rules as much as possible."

Since the beginning of the Ordeal, he hadn't forgotten the objective of his second Side Mission. Unifying Twyluxia under his yoke could obviously be accomplished by massacring everyone, but the rating he would receive consequently would probably be atrocious.

Without presuming to know the Oracle's evaluation criteria, the perfect rating could only be becoming the supreme ruler of the continent with the least possible casualties. To go even further, he would need to gain their respect and recognition, not through tyranny, but by earning it.

Easier said than done. Nevertheless, it remained obvious that indiscriminately exterminating everyone would be a very bad idea.

"Focus on the big fish?" Hephais immediately understood, slowing the pace to let the other members of their squad take over.

Killing more enemies would certainly allow them to develop their Lumyst Aura faster, but these Light Warriors were actually far too weak for them. Their lifeforce was adequate for cultivating their Life Lumyst Aura, but they would still need to kill tens of thousands of them for top Players like them to feel the difference. Killing a Lifemancer or a Light Paladin could bring them much more for far less effort.

As for their Spirit Lumyst Aura, unless they eliminated the Underword Barbarians from their own camp, only Players were suitable prey. The objective of their Global Main Mission being to triumph over the Players of the opposing Mirror Universe, it was evident which targets were preferable.

Because in the case of these Players, there was unfortunately no possible agreement... Only a camp of winners and one of losers. More precisely, a camp of the living, the other filled with the dead.

Back to the ongoing battle, the Light Warrior into whom Jake had just stabbed his index finger into was not yet a Pulsar, but he was massive, and his Lumyst Aura was about to condense a defensive light film over his skin. The muscular soldier had noticed Jake effortlessly eliminating the subordinates of his own squad and had decided to put an end to it by acting personally.

He had no idea that this would instead amount to futilely offering his life to the enemy. When his body collapsed paralyzed after Jake removed his finger, the vibrant lifeforce that should have allowed him to survive for a while was siphoned by Jake's invisible Lumyst Aura, and his consciousness sank into darkness forever.