The Oracle Paths

"Are you a Digestor?" Jake asked point-blank, as his friends' relaxed demeanor vanished.

Clearly, they had all arrived at the same conclusion. The silver blood, that black Lumyst spreading nothing but destruction, and its cause incompatible with peaceful coexistence... There was hardly any doubt left.

Yet, upon hearing the taboo word, the giant did not react as expected, genuine confusion clouding his face beneath his helmet.

"A Digestor? What's that, some kind of special title?" He repeated with sarcasm. "I suppose that's a fitting choice of words. We do intend to devour this world and make its strength our own."

Now it was Jake and his comrades' turn to be taken aback.

"In that case, I suppose the term 'Trojan Digestor' doesn't ring any bells for you either," Jake commented, pondering various possibilities. "Answer me this. Were you born on Twuluxia? If so, were you approached by anyone to join this cause, or was this desire to devour the world already fermenting within you? In the latter case, have you ever felt like you have a split personality, a sense of depersonalization, or amnesia? Have you ever been overtaken by a desire to devour, destroy, or kill without reason or target to the extent of endangering those close to you? Among these close ones, do you still feel anything for them, or do you see them as mere food, pawns to be eliminated like all the others?"

Isdar was initially pleased that his enemy was taking all this time to interrogate him. It gave him time to perfect his fusion with Corvac and convert an astronomical amount of Lumyst Water into Destruction Light Lumyst.

But as Jake bombarded him with questions, the expression of the Saint began to change. This designation of a Trojan Digestor meant nothing to him, but the symptoms and circumstances described were all too familiar...

For a fleeting moment, the giant indeed felt a twinge of doubt, recognizing himself in the description. Alas, it was quickly suppressed upon realizing it didn't concern him.

In his memories, he had not experienced any personality split as Jake mentioned. His personality changes had been gradual, though upon reflection, he could indeed think of a triggering event.

"I may have been duped, manipulated, even brainwashed, but I regret nothing," Isdar finally declared, his thirst for carnage and destruction renewing its vigor. "I am nothing but hatred and hunger for this world and its inhabitants now. I have long since accepted my vile nature since I succumbed to cannibalism by murdering and devouring my parents and siblings, taking pleasure in it.

"Strangely, the hunger and desire to murder that you foreigners awaken in me far surpasses that which I feel for my own kind. Especially you... Jake Wilderth. I'm struggling not to kill you. It's almost... painful."

Jake, having listened to the giant all this while, now had no more doubts. This native might not be a Trojan Digestor, but he was undeniably corrupted to an advanced degree. However, the fact that he was still able to blend into society and even infiltrate an army as a soldier suggested to Jake that the giant had indeed been brainwashed as he claimed.

His corruption had not yet driven him to kill indiscriminately without self-control. This meant he was paradoxically less corrupted than Lucia. That said a lot about the personality of this bastard.

It was time to pull the curtain.

"Any last words before you die?" Jake said, drawing his saber, any trace of humanity and compassion erased by a determination to kill his enemy.

His companions also began to draw their weapons, but this time their leader stopped them with a hand gesture.

'Don't. I have another task for you...'

Receiving their instructions telepathically, Hephais and the two pets nodded without hesitation. The scenario predicted by Jake indeed had a high likelihood of occurring.

'You can count on us,' the assassin promised. 'You can kill him without holding back.'

'Shame, I really wanted to get revenge for earlier... My stomach still hurts...' Crunch complained with a mock-jealous pout.

"And I'm especially eager to get revenge on the asshole who injured me by taking up all the space, acting like a giant sea urchin," Lord Phoenix retorted sharply, his beak tensed with resentment.

'...'

In reality, the two clowns felt the same about this foe. This Destruction Lumyst didn't bode well, and they could sense from the giant's concentrated lifeforce that his physical strength likely surpassed theirs at their prime. Considering they were currently restricted by Twyluxia and running low on Lumyst, letting their boss handle it was the most sensible decision...

During their entire telepathic conversation, Isdar had still not responded to Jake's taunt. With the impossibility of reading his emotions due to his full helmet, it seemed the corrupted warrior did not intend to reply.

The silent standoff lasted nearly five minutes, neither party making any move. The Lumyst Water outside had likely reached a purity level close to its limit. Escaping from here was definitely no longer an option.

As Hephais, Crunch, and Lord Phoenix wondered how much longer their boss planned to extend the staring duel, Jake's lips stretched into a victorious smile.

"Buying time is a poor strategy," he suddenly announced.

If the enemy thought that playing for time was to his advantage, it was also to Jake's. Isdar indeed had access to a phenomenal energy source, but sometimes quality mattered more than quantity.

To kill, Jake only needed enough Lumyst for a single move.

"Now!"

At his signal, his companions spun around and launched into a swift sprint towards the walls previously at their backs.

"Cut me this wood cleanly," Hephais reminded the two overexcited beasts with a tone of reprimand. "I'll take care of the sap."

As the trio set to their task under the bewildered eyes of Isdar, Jake disappeared from his position in a burst of blue-black light, making the space-time screech.

Space-Time Lumyst, plus hybrid Cosmic Lumyst containing all its attributes... These two types of Lumyst, in particular, were the most costly to condense, but a tiny amount could change the course of a battle and bridge a vast gap in a power struggle.

No matter how much the corrupted Saint had amplified his physical and sensory prowess, when Jake explosively released all his accumulated Lumyst, time seemed to stop in his mind. Hephais, Crunch, Lord Phoenix, Ceythie, and even his target... They all appeared frozen as if in a game of red light, green light.

Jake teleported calmly behind his prey, raised his blade, and...

SLASH!

The blue-black hybrid Cosmic Lumyst channeled into the edge of his blade ignited upon contact with Isdar's solid aura of dark light and... continued its path, slicing through his neck, leaving a spatial distortion in its wake.

Disrupted by this distortion and the enemy's Destruction Lumyst, the hybrid Cosmic Lumyst reverted into tangible energy, force, and matter, immediately causing a cataclysmic chain reaction.

Light, temperature, gravity, and other cosmic forces not fully understood collided in explosive chaos, followed by a breathtaking apocalyptic brilliance. The confident Isdar was disintegrated in an instant, his soul annihilated, frozen in a deceptive sense of imminent victory.

The next moment...

BOOOOOM!

A blinding, indescribable explosion, replaying a miniature big bang, engulfed the innards of Corvac. Its body cracked horribly, stretching to the extreme as the groundwater frantically burned to heal its wounds. After a few minutes, the significantly enlarged body of the Treant stopped cracking, regaining its tranquility.

However, inside, it was nothing short of chaos. The scenario predicted by Jake had unfolded as expected.

Jake wasn't immune to such an explosion, but he had specifically reserved some ordinary Cosmic and Energy Lumyst to protect his companions. Precisely controlling something as complex as the cosmos was currently impossible, but precision wasn't necessary.

As long as it involved simple instructions like "Stay away," keeping this unleashing of elements at bay remained within reach. After all, the amount of Lumyst emitted for this attack was just the result of a few minutes of cultivation. Nothing beyond his adaptive abilities.

No, the danger lay elsewhere... If Corvac was immune to the Lumyst Water outside, it made sense that it could use it as a weapon of last resort when cornered. A mini big bang brewing in its belly precisely matched such a situation...

As soon as Isdar perished, the Treant instinctively opened its pores to drown all forms of life trapped within its bowels.