The Oracle Paths

But that wouldn't change the outcome of the fight. All that awaited this human in the end was a miserable death. Unless he agreed to surrender and promised to be at his service.

At this point words were of little use. All that was left was to make their fists do the talking. Far from deterring his enemies, the exponential increase in pressure exerted by Jake instead boosted the ferocity of his enemies, giving them the impetus they needed to throw caution to the wind.

The thousands of Players surrounding him once again pounced on him like a school of hungry piranhas, and Jake answered their challenge. At least he pretended to. And his enemies pretended to as well.

At the last moment, the hundreds of leading brutes beat a hasty retreat to make way for a barrage of missiles and spells. As for Jake, after raising his Bone Crushing Snoworm's Fang over his head, he teleported to the back of their lines to cleave in half a burly alien about 2.5 meters tall that bore a striking resemblance to the Pokemon Machamp.

His stealthy kill was completely covered by the racket of spell impacts and explosions, and it wasn't until the nearby Players felt a warm liquid dripping through the gaps in their armor that they realized their imminent deaths.

"He's here!"

"Kill him!"

"He got Koga!"

These Players pulled themselves together admirably, showing their experience, and one of them, an alien of the same species as the deceased Koga, charged at him with the momentum of an elephant, but at a speed dozens of times greater. Carrying no weapon, it slammed into him with its shoulder with unprecedented violence, forcing Jake to take a step back before stabilizing himself.

Snorting scornfully, Jake let himself be pushed by the enemy's momentum but his legs bent imperceptibly, gathering energy. Then, with his supporting leg he thrust firmly into the ground and his other knee smashed into the face of the overconfident alien.

The result was even more gory than the death of its comrade Koga. Its head caved in, then came off its neck before disintegrating into the sky like a football shot into orbit. A stream of blue blood gushed like a fountain from the still standing corpse, then when Jake teleported again it collapsed lifeless on the ground in front of the stunned crowd.

The Players, having witnessed the scene live, drew a cold breath. They were no longer in a hurry to join the fray. As much as they longed for the promotion, they had to be alive to enjoy it. Against this lunatic? Nothing less sure...

While these Players were hesitating to return to battle, the clash between Jake and the remaining thousands of Players continued. Teleportations and deadly ambushes occurred at a blistering pace, and the Players of various species were picked off like flies one after the other, unable to react.

One should not judge their poor performance too harshly. Even if they were Lost Divinities' small fry, their presence on Quanoth was a testament to their talent. Compared to the average Players, they were definitely the elite of the elite.

On many occasions, the post-teleportation ambush failed. These Players either had exceptional reflexes or a way to anticipate his movements. Some of them were even able to exchange a few blows with him, forcing him to reteleport to avoid being surrounded or bombarded with spells again.

After exchanging a few saber strokes with such a foe, a three-headed monster that was a head taller than he was, Jake found himself in serious trouble, and if he hadn't teleported away in a hurry, he could have been critically injured. As he reappeared behind another target, he gave that particular alien a baleful glare, but he didn't ambush it again.

This three-headed monster was somewhat bizarre. Its aura and physical abilities were nothing special at first, but as soon as Jake swung at it, its power swelled by an unimaginable factor, its presence momentarily surpassing that of Deimos, Khag' Dagmai or Ozo. At the same time, the hooded Players in the vicinity saw their aura diminish in a disturbing way, most becoming so frail that they were forced to sit on the ground for fear of fainting.

Nevertheless, the facts were there. In the space of 7 seconds, Jake slaughtered over 300 Players. It was an unthinkable feat and an unacceptable failure for a faction like Lost Divinities. The faction's leaders and key officers were both outraged and infuriated as they watched their subordinates get whacked like sitting ducks.

They were like an army of babies taking their first steps and trying to join forces in order to take down a grown man at the zenith of his strength. It was as laughable as it was futile.

But it couldn't go on. After the first 7 seconds of disillusionment that claimed so many lives, these many officers and warriors with a strong sense of honor thought it was time to let the "adults" do the fighting.

Khag' Dagmai nodded in the direction of a certain hooded, ordinary-looking Player, but when this one nodded back a slight smile stretched his mouth. This kind of exchange happened over and over again on the battlefield, and by the time Jake realized what was going on, it was too late.

"Seal the space."

Just as Jake had decapitated yet another enemy, a gigantic steel club as large as an obelisk swished above him, the blast of wind that preceded it slamming the dozen or so surrounding Players to the ground. Recognizing the weapon of the rock giant Nucnar that he had already thrashed, Jake stood his ground, preparing to sidestep the blow before considering teleporting again.

Just then, a tremendous gravitational force crashed into him and a ten-meter radius area with him at its center. Caught off guard, his legs buckled involuntarily but he stabilized nearly immediately. The other Players could not say the same, and those who were not promptly crushed under their own weight found themselves immobilized on the ground unable to move.

Although for Jake this gravity posed only a small threat, it was enough to compromise his dodge. His sidestep was imperceptibly affected, but he still seemed able to avoid Nucnar's club in time.

But just then, Jake felt the space fluctuate around him and dozens of magical projectiles of various hues shot out of nowhere just inches from him.

"Fuck!"

Without thinking, he activated his teleportation, but this time nothing happened. His pupils narrowed in astonishment and incomprehension, but it was already too late to turn on his Oracle Shield.

The spells hit him first. He had expected extremely offensive spells, but it turned out that they were mostly debuffs. The surface of his body was covered with ice, chains of light slowing his movements while a myriad of magical phenomena numbed his muscles and intellect, dulling his very will to fight.

These weakening spells removed his last chance to dodge the mace in time. Nucnar, whose physical superiority Jake had already recognized, brought his heavy steel club down on him with all his strength and weight. The rock giant weighed several hundred tons and his bludgeon was almost as heavy as he was.

SMASH!

Jake had just enough time to cross his arms above him to protect his head, before taking the most powerful physical blow of his life. Although he was prepared for it, it didn't stop his legs, and then his entire body, from sinking into the ground like a nail.

His head went into his neck, then his neck into his rib cage, then his rib cage into his pelvis. Simultaneously, the bones and joints of his arms and legs dislocated while his skull split into hundreds of pieces. If he had not used his telekinesis at the last moment to limit the damage, he would have been reduced to a pulp.

Just when he thought he had weathered the storm, Nucnar, who had a big heart, raised his club above him and swung it down again.

BANG BANG BANG!

A deep crater opened up where the ancient stone table used to be, quickly growing so deep that it threatened the integrity of what little remained of the fortress.

The unfortunate Players nearby who had asked for nothing and were already doing their best to resist gravity were blasted away in all directions, their disjointed bodies speaking volumes about their survival prognosis.

"I GOT HIM! Did you see that Belakor?! Frow now on you can call me daddy!" Nucnar burst out laughing.

Unlike the admiring and envious looks from the crowd and Belakor's frustrated red head he was hoping for, all he got was silence and gloomy faces. Realizing that something was wrong, he tried to shift his club to see what was left of his victim, but his eyes widened when he realized that he could not move it an inch.

Crack!

Underneath the weapon, Jake's blood-covered fingers dug into the steel club he'd just grabbed, fracturing the metal. Pushing the heavy mace aside, his hellish appearance reappeared in plain sight. A familiar sun blazed beneath his feet, its scorching heat infusing his veins.

"He's still alive?!"

Sincere disbelief and stupefaction warped the faces of the leaders and other officers for the first time, until then unduly stoic and composed. No one noticed, but at that very moment the Spartan Deimos' hand subconsciously gripped the armrest of his throne. He was excited. The Nosk Khag' Dagmai's attitude also betrayed his eagerness to join the fight.

Jake stared hatefully at the crowd, identifying at a glance those responsible for the deluge of surprise spells as well as those he thought were Space Mages. He wouldn't forget this lesson anytime soon. Then his Myrtharian Eyes landed on Nucnar.

This time, his desire for revenge made him forget all instinct for self-preservation. Drawing unrestrainedly on the power of his Aether Sun Core, his body became as glowing and blinding as a star. His body temperature instantly exceeded by far the limits his cells could withstand.

A burning smell came from his charred flesh, but he ignored it and focused the energy into his eyes. A blinding white laser beam of astronomical power shot out of his pupils, operating on both the material and psychic planes.

When the dazzled crowd opened their eyes again, all that remained of the giant Nucnar were his smoking feet. The rest of his body and his Spirit Body had been obliterated.