The Oracle Paths

His furious roar detonated all around him, producing a monstrous sound blast that shattered all the windows within a radius of one kilometer. All the untrained humans in the vicinity had their eardrums implode from the shock, but thanks to Digitization they survived with only a handful of HP lost.

Still, the adventurers forming a ring around him were almost all groggy on the ground, blood pouring from all seven of their facial orifices. Shrill tinnitus and an excruciating headache as if their brains were about to explode had completely incapacitated them. It would be many minutes before they could move again.

The elite adventurers watching the scene from the balcony were completely shell-shocked. The elf Elduin had subconsciously drawn his two scimitars, while the dwarf Bhammod had picked up his great axe without anyone noticing.

"It's terrific." Their usually strict and inexpressive captain had his eyebrows so arched that they practically formed an arrow aiming at the top of his skull. "If he's not a Screamer, then the power of his vocal cords is just downright terrifying. This... is not a human."

"Tilla, what is his Soul Class?" Bhammod asked coldly to one of the two scarred women in armor.

Feeling the gaze of her teammates, the warrior named Tilla, with her hair shaved on the sides and a long scar running down the center of her forehead to below her chin, riveted her amber eyes on Jake and a mysterious glint pulsed inside. After a brief moment, she put on a troubled expression,

"Rune Engraver."

"What the fuck is this Class? Never heard of it." Bhammod snorted gruffly to the side.

"That's the problem, dumbass. If your skull wasn't filled with beer, you'd be able to figure this out on your own!" Elduin mercilessly inveighed his comrade.

"Why do I feel like you're insulting me?" The dwarf grumbled with a frown.

"Because I am!"

As the pair bickered, Ruby continued to stare at Jake with a cocky smirk.

'What are you going to do now?'

Jake easily discerned the defiance and contempt in the young woman's eyes. He didn't have many nemeses, but she was one of them. So why didn't he retaliate immediately?

Because he had a minor issue at that very moment. The burst of colored spells that had rained down on him had formed multiple formations of cryptic symbols and runes on the ground, sealing off the space, nullifying his powers and dispersing the surrounding Aether.

This should have been a dire and time-sensitive emergency, but at that moment Jake couldn't bring himself to react in a logical manner. Runes! Strange inscriptions by the thousands all around him! He wanted to leave, he really wanted to! But he couldn't look away...

'I have to stay here as long as possible to memorize and understand all these Runes.' Jake was gloating with excitement inside, his predicament completely swept out of his mind.

[What are you doing, Jake?! Pull yourself together!] Xi abruptly yelled in his head, making him wince in agony.

'St-still one more minute...' Jake tried in vain to negotiate like a fussy child playing video games.

[RIGHT NOW!] Xi switched her tone, and the spiritual impact momentarily blurred his vision for a split second.

"Hmmph, okay I heard you." Jake shot one last peek at the Runes and closed his eyes to burn them into his memory. "Xi, you recorded everything, right?"

[Even if you miss a detail, the Oracle Device is infallible.] Xi sneered scornfully.

"Good! Let's go then."

Trash and Jeanie, who had been standing terrified next to him, were not at all relieved when they heard him talking to himself. Their faces spoke volumes.

'We chose to follow a madman...'

Anyway, even if Jake wanted to stay and study the runes, he wouldn't have been given the chance. After a brief lull that lasted no more than three or four seconds, the first squadron of royal knight-mages providing security for Lodunvals descended from the sky, riding huge woolly griffins as big as mammoths.

"A monster! A non-human!" Several of them cried out in disbelief as they identified the smoldering titan beaming down on the entire square.

The cobblestone pathway where Jake was standing had long since melted into lava and the plants in the nearby gardens had withered for those that hadn't caught fire outright. Adventurers still able to move were fleeing in all directions or trying to stop the fire with their magic or by pouring buckets of water.

The passive heat generated by his uncontrolled body could not be stopped by a common anti-magic spell. Quite the contrary. He needed to finely control his Aether to stop this heat release!

"Lodunvals has been infiltrated by a non-human! By order of Emperor Ret' Asahi IX, I command you to shoot him down immediately!" The knight with the most gaudy armor of the group and a golden lion-faced mask proclaimed loudly, amplifying his voice with a spell.

Waving their mage staffs in his direction, they muttered long, incomprehensible incantations and bright projectiles very different from the previous salvo shot at him.

"Firebolt!"

"Stalactite Storms!

" Hundred Lasers Arcanum!

" ... "

Without skipping a beat, Jake wisely decided to dodge. The space may have been sealed, he may not have his magic anymore, but his physical strength was intact. His Telekinesis was also usable, indicating that his Spirit Body was not impeded. This Bloodline Spell was not considered an Aether Spell, but more like a Soul Spell.

Applying what he had learned that year in combination with his quick reflexes and supersonic movements, he moved in a flash from one point to another throughout the Guild's gardens, sometimes appearing crouched horizontally on a wall and the next moment hanging upside down under a tree branch.

These spells were not low level, and within ten seconds of intensive bombardment the Guild and half of the adjacent neighborhood was completely razed.

The elite adventurers relaxing on the fourth-floor balcony cursed the royal mages, but they had no choice but to run away with their tails between their legs. Ruby's group jumped out just in time before their balcony was smitten by a huge red lightning bolt. For the unlucky ones who were enjoying the pool in their bathing suits, they had to leave their armor and equipment behind.

"Those Knight-Mage bastards are never around when you need them, but are always the first to destroy everything when diplomacy could have settled things!" Elduin grumbled hatefully as he glared at them murderously. He clutched the handle of his scimitars so tightly that his knuckles had turned completely white.

"Have patience, Elduin." The captain and his other comrades did their best to comfort him, but deep inside they were equally furious.

"This time, Laudar and the Mage Guild have crossed the line!" This was what all the adventurers who witnessed the scene thought. Whatever the reason, bombing the Adventurers' Guild was strictly forbidden.

The destruction of the Lodunvals Adventurers' Guild, even if officially justified, would be treated as a declaration of war and would mark the beginning of a deadly and endless series of escalations. If this happened a few more times, an all-out war would soon break out on the continent, and they would no longer be safe anywhere.

This disaster had been predicted by certain Aurae diviners and oracles and many of the pious natives of Quanoth believed them to be right. Most of these adventurers were among these devout believers, and they could not help but cringe as they beheld the extent of the devastation.

While Jake continued to dodge, indirectly destroying Lodunvals with each extra duck, Ruby gritted her teeth out of frustration.

'He hasn't been killed yet... This speed... I can't compete. I must absolutely not let him close the distance to me.'

Having so far passively observed the confrontation, Ruby suddenly conjured up a huge silver streamlined sniper out of nowhere with bluish lines forming a strange integrated circuit. A pale blue halo emanated from the weapon, instantly lowering the surrounding temperature to -150°C.

"Hide me." Ruby ordered harshly to the other adventurers she had bewitched.

Dubious, Elduin and Bhammod were shaken when their captain and their other comrades obeyed her order. Acting as one, they hid the young woman from the sight of the knight mages and other adventurers, including their two comrades. An invisibility barrier was even created for the occasion.

Elduin had just enough time to catch a glimpse of the rifle before his vision was obstructed, and that was only because he had keen eyesight.

"What the hell is going on here?" The elf and the dwarf were starting to get badly worried.

Once concealed, Ruby no longer had any qualms about using her sniper. A torrent of negative energy gushed from every one of her cells and was greedily sucked up by the sniper. The dim glow of its integrated circuit brightened dramatically and a ball of pure white light quickly condensed at the end of the weapon's barrel. The air coming into contact with this projectile froze instantly, the atoms affected turning static as if they were at absolute zero.

Without even using the sniper scope to aim, she pointed the sniper single-handedly at Jake's heart and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The icy projectile, charged with an astronomical amount of negative energy, silently crossed the distance between them at over 10,000 meters per second.

"Jake, you won't blame me, right?" Ruby finally smiled fondly.