The Oracle Paths Chapter 1235: Wherever They Were

A punch landed with such overwhelming power and speed that it defied all logic, catching even someone of Valandar's level completely off guard. His face crumpled inward instantly, his skull compressing to the thinness of a standard sheet of paper before he could even twitch.

The fact that his head didn't burst right then and there informed Jake that the strike wouldn't end his life. Bodies of Evolvers and cultivators like theirs differed vastly from normal human tissue and bones in terms of toughness and flexibility.

'Sorry for that,' Jake thought to himself, showing no hint of regret on his face. 'Fingers crossed you just catch some shut-eye, and this mess wraps up before you come to.'

He'd channeled the maximum amount of Red Aether of Strength permitted by Twyluxia's relaxed rules right now, combined it with his Fate Slayer Aura, and blended in various other unique energies only he possessed—each designed to hinder healing.

Since obtaining the Chalice of Nethershade as a secondary container for Claire, its 'Lumyst’s Chosen' ability had slowly been altering his physique to align better with Lumyst. The change happened subtly over time, yet one of the first noticeable outcomes was straightforward:

Jake healed at an incredible rate.

Every Player was restoring their power quicker than usual—be it by absorbing Lumyst, honing their Lumyst Aura, or due to Twyluxia, the World Spirit, crumbling fast from the joint attacks by Anthace and the Blade Spirit.

Yet none matched Jake's speed.

He ought to have felt satisfied. Instead, he didn't. The clock was ticking against them harshly.

He needed to shatter the unseen restraints this world had imposed on him—those limits holding back his true potential—before they broke apart due to factors beyond his grasp. For instance, if Twyluxia fully disintegrated and dragged the entire planet down with it.

Should that occur, all Players would regain complete use of their skills instantly, including items stored in their Space Storage. However, that outcome would spell disaster.

It signified failure in their Ordeal—for the Global Main Mission and, for the majority, their individual Main Missions too. Those who had already succeeded had either left the Ordeal... or faced imminent annihilation from the beasts flooding the land.

Regarding that strike... The sheer ferocity of the blow, along with the ensuing shockwave, wrought devastation on a massive scale.

Jake had swung without restraint.

He faced the Celestial—the strongest cultivator in this realm, a master of Lifemancy to boot. A lone punch wouldn't finish him off.

Unfortunately, the surroundings couldn't claim the same resilience.

The mere noise of it, echoing far and wide, reduced the whole white city to rubble in mere moments. An ancient heritage, enduring perhaps thousands or even millions of years, vanished in the effortless motion of a single fist.

Solely the gigantic white tree in the city's core—Titan Tree Anthace—stood firm, its glowing branches unscathed. A remnant of the Conclave Tower hung onto its bark like a persistent leech.

The thing that made Jake's face twitch in irritation, the real thorn in his side, was the sudden demise of all the regular folks who had miraculously held on this long.

His flawless Ordeal score was gone.

Not that it counted for much now. He'd dismissed it the instant chaos took over.

Was there a way he could have protected them?

Given the hordes of monsters and revived Saints overwhelming the city? No way in hell. If anything, that blast had granted them a quicker, cleaner end—avoiding a gruesome fate like being broken down inside those horrors.

That didn't prevent a pang of guilt from gnawing at him. Not strong enough to overwhelm him with sorrow—he'd shed such innocence ages ago—but sufficient to darken his spirits more.

He despised acting as the grim reaper, especially when he'd only reacted in self-defense.

While Valandar rocketed away like a fired projectile, smashing through miles of demolished buildings without losing momentum, Jake's view filled with a swarm of revived Saints and ex-Celestials lunging at him like devoted insects shielding their ruler.

The initial clash altered his demeanor.

Not every former Celestial matched in prowess.

The lead attacker conjured a hefty white wooden saber glowing with divine radiance out of nowhere, then swung it down with both hands in a devastating arc.

Clang!

Jake steadily lifted his arm and parried without budging an inch. No armor. No special move. Pure muscle.

His unadulterated might sufficed to overpower these Celestials.

Yet as he geared up to absorb the following barrage of assaults directly, a stinging ache erupted from the arm that caught the saber. Some eroding force attempted to invade his arm.

Black Lumyst.

'You crafty fool,' Jake swore in his mind, eyeing the shallow gash marring his skin.

It failed to draw any blood. New skin had promptly closed the cut. Still, it demonstrated something crucial:

Should he grow arrogant, believing himself invincible, these locals could wound him.

Lumyst. Aura. Weapons laden with potent enchantments. Elite combat skills honed across endless eras. Mix in that Black Lumyst concealed within the seemingly pure white shimmer, and you had an offensive capable of endangering him.

Jake ceased viewing the skirmish as mere practice and ramped up his intensity.

Second gear.

He flooded his body with the total yield of all Aether his cells and Aetherist skills could summon on the spot. Directing Yellow and Green Aether of Constitution and Vitality to one area made no sense—he faced threats from all sides.

In a flash, his toughness, healing, speed, power, and reactions all surged dramatically.

He endured the next onslaught using only his physique.

A sword from a ghostly pale ex-Celestial smashed against his left knee. From his rear, a slender, lifeless hand wielded a white wooden dagger thrusting at his chest. A halberd hammered the side of his throat, seeking to sever his head.

Besides those three deadly blows, scores of additional strikes from other revived Saints hammered his form, probing every possible weakness.

Even a huge spear, with a head broad as a prehistoric shark's fang, thrust directly at his lower body.

CLANG!

This round, Jake didn't waver in the slightest.

Yellow Aether pulsed under his surface, bolstered by his already immense Constitution, and each hit collided harmlessly, forcing no retreat. One by one, the weapons fractured upon striking, in spite of their inherent life force. The glowing auras encircling their edges—intense as flames in pitch blackness—extinguished like they'd hit icy depths.

Nothing Lumyst-related—no variant, no matter its purity, thickness, or type—penetrated his exterior before fading away. Some of it got pulled in, particularly those tied to life, illumination, or fluidity.

"Impossible!" Shadrex and the other two Oracle Knights shouted from their elevated perch.

They might endure such a joint attack and emerge unscathed—but not with such ease. They'd at minimum expend a key ability. And they definitely wouldn't confront it bare-handed.

All of them held Rank 17 as Oracle Knights. So how was the disparity so vast?

And wasn't this Jake the imposter?

Then why appeared he more fearsome than the one rampaging across the central fray?

Weiss scowled, then spoke in a dull, somewhat defeated voice, "This is a new one for me. Devoting so much effort to strategizing against a Player... just to find it futile against sheer dominance. Perhaps I took the incorrect direction."

It hurt to concede that even a mindless powerhouse like Kaelum could have chosen a superior path over hers. But seeing this play out, she had to acknowledge her flaws. Cleverness lacking might was akin to a commander sans troops. A perfect plan availed nothing against an unstoppable foe.

Even worse, Anthace showed no desire to leave them as mere watchers.

Jake remained the chief focus, sure—but ample foes and revived Saints existed to occupy everyone else. Both locals and Players served as targets.

Right when they thought they could scrutinize their boundless adversary freely, the limb under them burst in a deadly surge of spiritual force.

In spite of their superior mental attributes, the three froze for the tiniest instant.

That sufficed for the tree.

The branch burst into wild expansion. Wrapping tendrils lashed out, ensnaring them as sharp barbs lunged from underneath, targeting their feet directly. Simultaneously, numerous Saints shrouded in dark Lumyst emerged from a new split in the bark, trailed by a flood of void beasts.

Weiss, with her fine silver-blue feet floating just above the ground, evaded the snare completely. Her telekinetic barrier triggered on its own, repelling all assaults.

Shadrex and Kaelum faced tougher odds.

They got pierced and ensnared by the thrashing vines, then skewered nonstop as the undead swarm closed in. Knives. Poles. Pikes thicker than old-growth timber. Blood gushed from the thorny tangle holding them, flowing in volumes to form a modest lake.

"Shadrex?!" Weiss called out, real worry crossing her face for once.

"I’m fine," the Bipolar Seer muttered, stepping from her shadow. His cloak of night had devoured every blow effortlessly.

The brief worry faded from Weiss’s otherworldly expression in a moment. She felt nothing for their third member's plight.

Kaelum—the one who'd lost all that blood—unleashed a torrent of curses at the woman. He hadn't anticipated it.

While Weiss lamented overemphasizing plots and mental tricks, Kaelum bemoaned his near-total dependence on raw power. A keen intellect could foresee disasters and secure exits. He, however, proved useless once caught in a snare exceeding his guards and responses.

Luckily, his heritage came from the Titan of Vrax.

The vast amount of tissue and cells in his actual form resembled those of the Lustra Plains Titans closely. The gashes appeared dire—but truly, they were mere pricks.

The confining branches detonated as he ignited his Titan Core, triggering his shift to his peak battle state—a behemoth rising hundreds of meters tall. The once-fatal wounds diminished in significance, trivial on such a huge scale.

They mended visibly, though not right away as Kaelum anticipated with his immense vitality. That Black Lumyst proved vile.

Soon after, the three Oracle Knights vanished into their swarm of beasts and revived icons, pulled into a ferocious melee merely to survive.

Their faction's other Players met a similar doom. They got buried under armies of revived Saints and Radiant Lords. The overwhelming numbers left scant room for optimism. Most disappeared in seconds under the enemy crush.

Cho Min Ho and his group, Jake's supposed partners, struggled just as badly.

Already battling sudden spawns, they now contended with a surprise influx of Saints—and multiple ex-Celestials amid the turmoil.

Losses piled up fast, compelling his core team to battle seriously.

In short order, the head of the King’s Idol Alliance—who'd shown only a sliver of his strength so far—had to intervene himself as five elite past Celestials from history targeted him alone.

Like Jake. Like the Oracle Knight trio on the tree. His prominence hadn't gone unnoticed by Anthace.

No one's had. Not a single Player. Not one native.

No matter their position...

On the surface.

Or beneath.