The Oracle Paths

Shortly after achieving his victory, Jake began to wobble in the air before collapsing heavily to his knees following a fall of several hundred meters. His Spirit Body was like a candle burning at both ends and the most prominent symptoms were the slowing and radical weakening of his psychic and neural activity.

The other less striking, but equally detrimental symptom was emotional emptiness. Devoid of joy and sorrow, he was in a state of utter mental neutrality that impaired his very drive to do things.

Because of the Digitization, his body also seemed to be at the end of its rope, manifesting the same psychosomatic disorders. Biting his tongue to keep himself awake, Jake didn't let go of his Vitality Aether, which was still preventing those Words of Power from healing away.

"Not yet. I can't relax yet." Jake repeated to himself, thinking about the plight of his companions as he pushed vigorously on the ground with his arms to lift himself up.

He could see in the distance that Carmin had been caught up by the Lich and his Undeads. Several Avians also seemed to be in the mix. The human and spectral reinforcements were nowhere in sight, but their footprints told him definitively that they had gone in the direction of Bhammod and Elduin.

Apparently, being smacked by a giant wing weighing dozens of tons wasn't enough to leave them alone. As for the Undead army, it had begun to retreat after suffering considerable losses due to the collateral damage of his duel with the Alpha Were-Eagle. With his Myrtharian Eyes, he detected their Aetheric signatures scattering in the nearby woods to the northwest, presumably on their way to Laudarkvik.

[You're forgetting about the Lich and his plans.] Xi sighed, urging him to pay attention to a certain corpse behind him. [Even dead, the dwarf and the elf will make excellent recruits for his army.]

Turning in the direction pointed by his AI Oracle, Jake's vision blurred and he staggered several times before recognizing the designated thing. The difficulty in controlling his nervous system as a result of his migraine made the action of moving around a struggle, but he eventually managed to stabilize his mind and regain control of his muscles.

The thing wandering aimlessly and stumbling was none other than Trash Runt. A thing and not a corpse, for his close proximity to their clash of the titans had smashed almost everything that could be smashed, his skeleton reduced to a fine powder. The only reason Jake was able to recognize him was because of the Oracle Scan and the Death Mark faintly glimmering on what was left of his forehead.

"NOOOOOOO!"

Before Jake was once more struck by guilt and remorse, a heartbreaking sob from above him made him twitch. It was a female voice, which should have been pleasant to hear, but grief and anger had made it shrill and trembling.

Hearing several rapid flappings of wings approaching, Jake looked up at the sky above him and caught sight of the earlier White Avian who had been standing back during the fighting. Ignoring it completely, the winged creature swooped down on the now human corpse of the Alpha Were-Eagle and cradled it in its arms, its bird-like face dripping with tears.

Weirdly, though the scene was touching, Jake couldn't find it in himself to sympathize. If they knew what it felt like to lose someone, then why commit all those crimes?

The Alpha Were-Eagle had killed many innocent people and attacked his companions for the sole purpose of provoking him. He had succeeded, but that was the reward he had reaped in return. In fact, if Jake could kill him anew to teach him manners he would gladly play along.

[You're not killing her?] Xi was surprised to see him stagger away from the White Avian and start running.

'I don't have time, and now or later, this bird poses no threat to me.' Jake winced as he gripped his skull from a flare-up of his headache.

[I hope you don't regret it.]

'I won't. If I can't eliminate the Lich and these fake reinforcements from Laudarkvik, the Were-beings will inevitably learn the truth. Killing her isn't worth it, and she wasn't involved in the fighting.'

To reach Carmin and her sister, Jake was forced to sprint the old-fashioned way. Without spiritual energy and severe brain fatigue, using telekinesis and his other powers had become a torture. For this reason, he let the "I am Power" rune fade away with his regeneration. The mental energy drain became more tolerable and he could finally run properly.

Still, even on foot and exhausted, Jake was still as fast as a fighter jet. His very high stride frequency allowed him to cover the distance at a dizzying speed, with mini craters and trails of flame forming in his wake as evidence of his passage.

Obviously, because he was running faster than the speed of sound, Carmin, the Lich and his other foes spotted him long before they heard him. His fighting prowess was so impressive that they never stopped paying attention to him. When they saw him rush in with the same momentum as a stampeding herd of buffalo, the attackers immediately intensified their assault.

Jake, who was not even halfway to the finish line, knew right away by his degree of exhaustion that he would not make it in time. The feeling of helplessness that had overwhelmed him earlier had long since been diluted to nothingness along with his loss of mental power, but he still felt a surge of anger as he watched the Lich impale the young woman with one of his bone-metal spears.

As he considered igniting what was left of his spirit to teleport the remaining distance, he suddenly received a telepathic message he never thought he would ever be happy to hear.

"I'm taking over from here."

As Carmin was suspended in the air and quickly drained of her blood as well as what was left of her life energy, a faint Death Mark beginning to shine through her forehead, a pillar of crimson light suddenly smote the earth like a divine punishment. The Avians and Undeads who were enveloped by the pillar of blood light immediately began to emit bloodcurdling screams and wails.

As the pillar of light disappeared, a blond handsome man with red eyes and wielding a ruby-encrusted sword with a scarlet blade appeared in the dead center of the battlefield. His pale, flawless face was contorted with rage, an unparalleled ferocity and malice emanating from his entire being.

How could Jake not recognize that appearance? It was the Wyatt Griffiths he had duelled with at the end of his Third Ordeal. Back then, they were enemies, but this time they were on the same side.

Ironically, his face looked even more fiendish and cruel than it had under the effect of Corruption. By picking on Carmin and Lily in this way, the Lich had probably touched his reverse scale.

"It looks like I did the right thing coming here." The Vampire Progenitor said in a low voice, a sinister glow pulsing in his pupils. Turning to the Lich and his acolytes, he inquired in a soft voice that gave them goosebumps,

"Who hurt those two women?"

"Who are y-"

One of the Avians, a bird with a long stork neck and covered in piercings, tried to question him arrogantly in turn, but before he even finished his sentence, his body liquefied into a pool of blood.

Seeing the gory, searing death of their comrade, a horrified expression froze the faces of the remaining Avians.

"Retreat!"

One of the Were-birds sounded the retreat with a screech, but no sooner had he finished uttering the word than his head rolled to the ground, forever detached from his neck. This second kill finally caused panic among the attackers, and the Avians scattered in the air in all directions as if being preyed upon by their natural predator.

As for the Lich who had orchestrated the whole drama that had taken place here, he gave the Vampire Progenitor who had just arrived a meaningful look, lingering briefly on the bracelet hidden under his wrist before flying backwards cackling dismissively.

" It is only postponed. " The Lich's husky, drawling voice echoed across the plain, mingling with the cries of Avians and Undeads.

Wyatt could tell the leader from his minions, and he bolted after the Lich. Sneering in contempt, the necromancer monster snapped his fingers and hundreds of Undeads, including Urzul, the human commander, and Wengol great general popped up out of nowhere, blocking the Vampire's path.

While Wyatt engaged the Undeads, Jake, who was on the other side, did not miss the action and squinted darkly as he watched the Lich retreat in his direction. Gauging his remaining strength, he estimated that he still had enough energy for one more attack.

Setting his Spirit Body ablaze, Jake locked his gaze on his target and teleported straight at it, pulling off the perfect ambush. The Lich may have had his own Oracle Device, but he obviously wasn't expecting such a surprise attack, or his rank was lower than his own.

Jake's white-hot saber blade chopped down savagely at the necromancer, and the Lich's defensive bone growths that had so easily killed Urzul were atomized. The blow sliced deep into the monster's flesh, but Jake felt like he was slicing through a wall of adamantium.

Despite the resistance, he gritted his teeth and tensed his muscles furiously, and the blade sliced through the enemy's body with one swipe before exiting through his crotch with a lightsaber sound.

Plop.

The necromancer's body split in two, and the two smoking halves fell to the ground with a thud. The Lich had been obliterated.

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