The Oracle Paths

"D-did he kill it?" Syrbarun stepped back from the holographic screen unconsciously, his hand squeezing the silvery urchin with trepidation. His gaze was riveted to the alien limb that Jake held aloof in his right hand.

Rigel held his silence, maintaining a stern facade, but the slight quiver coursing through his stony frame belied his composure.

"It's not answering my calls," Syrbarun gloomily announced, his eyes bloodshot and complexion pallid from futilely compressing the device in his hand.

"Mine neither..." The Gorgonite admitted reluctantly, after a beat.

Upon hearing this, the minotaur's visage crumbled, and in a fit of rage, he slammed the silvery urchin to the ground. It ricocheted off the walls, pinging a hundred times before coming to a stop.

"Fucking horns and hooves! We don't even know this slippery Voidshifter's name!"

Syrbarun suddenly blurted, his composure slipping away in the face of panic.

"They're all so unreliable!"

"Wow, now you're using the same ridiculous curses as your host. Be careful not to turn into a real Vrusug. That would indeed be a disgrace for our species," Rigel mocked. The dig, however, was more to distract from his own unease than anything else.

But the mask of arrogance soon faded as he gazed at the screen, his Gorgonite body tensing like a cat ready to pounce. His expression somber, the silver light in his eyes noticeably dimmed as he commanded,"We need to leave. NOW!"

At that very moment, the reassuring presence of the immature Dungeon Digestor retracted from their position, abandoning them as if they were obsolete commodities. Cut off from their powerful backup, their hearts sank and their legs felt weak.

This could only mean one of two things: Either the Dungeon Digestor was facing a threat that required its full strength, or it had concluded that they were beyond saving. The latter was what they dreaded most.

Dungeon Digestors were just like that-rational to a fault. It was never personal, but damn, it stung when they were on the receiving end!

Regaining his composure after the initial panic, Syrbarun realized that Rigel had already begun to scram, his army of Sinewshades following in response to the pulses from his silver urchin. That prick had even taken Epsilom and Drakon with him!

Fortunately, they could still control them with their own silver urchins, even without the Dungeon Digestor's help. Thanks to these devices, they were seen as a sort of alpha to these creatures.

The effect on the Voidshifter was less pronounced, serving as a dubious short-range leash but a subpar communication method if the Digestor strayed beyond a few kilometers. That's why they hadn't been able to prevent the creature from mutinying after its defeat by Jake.

If the Voidshifter had been closer when ambushed by Jake, it would have likely fought to the death. Perhaps the creature had foreseen its defeat and deliberately distanced itself from its masters...

"Don't leave me behind!" Syrbarun cried out, stomping the ground in indignation.

With another pulse of his silver urchin, he commanded his own obedient Sinewshades to follow. Being aware that his host wasn't exactly a creature of grace, he mounted the most massive one and spurred it into a gallop with a flick of his tongue.

His steed was a six-legged mutation, bearing semblance to a gorilla and possessing a heft akin to an elephant. From the creature's odd aura, grotesque appearance, and the fact that it still donned its iconic visor helmet, one could surmise that this beast was once a proud Oracle Guardian in its living days.

Even an Evolver of such caliber had not withstood the virus and eventually degenerated into a Sinewshade! Rigel, too, had his mount of similar stature, finding safety upon it.

"Damn it, that bastard! He's using me as a diversion!" Syrbarun grumbled, grinding his teeth in frustration as he realized his comrade had already sped ahead, the distance between them growing with each passing moment.

Deep down, he prayed fervently that Jake and the accompanying Oracle Guardian wouldn't catch up too soon. Unfortunately, he was a realist at heart and knew that their fired-up enemies would find them any second.

'I have no other choice if I want to survive, I must-'

BANG!

The thick Voidsteel wall some kilometers behind was brutally slashed open. Twisting his head, the Vrusug's heart nearly dropped as an absurdly fast Spatial Blade burst forth, zooming straight towards him. He thought his end had come, but the projectile dispersed a few meters after penetrating the wall, having exhausted its energy.

Syrbarun heaved a sigh of relief, unconsciously wiping his fur drenched in sweat with the back of his gauntlet. But then, the sight of the two individuals he dreaded the most nearly made him soil himself a second time.

'Ffffffuck! Rigel, I hate you!' The minotaur cursed internally. But he knew he was in a precarious situation. One wrong move, and he'd perish on the spot.

The moment Jake barged out of the breached Voidsteel wall, his eyes darted around, seeking their quarry, before settling on Syrbarun's retreating back for a fraction of a second.

Caught in the crosshairs of what his Digestor instincts perceived as an apex predator, the Vrusug froze, nearly tumbling off his mount. Thankfully, the giant Sinewshade was incapable of feeling fear, maintaining its pace, its brain too decayed to allow any self-awareness.

Whoooosh!

In that instant, Syrbarun reflexively looked back to gauge how much time he had.

But immediately, his eyes bulged out of their sockets, and his silver pupils dilated as Jake's claw rematerialized mere inches from his face.

Terrified, he squeezed his silvery urchin once more, and a dozen Sinewshades threw themselves in Jake's path, selflessly sacrificing themselves, while his mount sprang aside with terrifying agility.

BAM!

Despite their efforts, the monster's hindquarters were hit, its coccyx, sacrum, and surrounding areas caving in, while Jake's retracting claws tore away chunks of flesh, bone, and viscera.

For a brief moment, the massive zombie Digestor lost control of its lower half when its spinal cord was severely damaged, affecting its mobility. This moment was enough for Syrbarun to comprehend the existential threat he faced.

Throwing all reason to the wind, he squeezed the spongy device in his hand like a man possessed, and the next moment, the tens of thousands of Sinewshades forming his close guard converged on Jake, forming a momentarily impregnable tide of monsters.

Seeing this, Jake snorted and swept them away with a dismissive backhand, a wall of Cosmic Force crashing them all against the wall to his right. The wall was instantly painted with gory silver when the creatures were flattened upon impact.

However, right behind them, more robust and sizeable Sinewshades fearlessly threw themselves into the fray, one after another, sacrificing themselves for their master without a hint of self-preservation.

These ones, however, could not be squashed with telekinesis without some effort, and Jake soon found himself entangled in a brawl with dozens of Sinewshades whose physical prowess was close to his own.

Close, but not quite. Their Real Physical Stats might have been around 1 to 10% of his own, but combined with their outrageous vitality, they were like cockroaches-impossible to exterminate unless they were perfectly disintegrated, body and soul, down to the last particle.

Their impressive strength indicated that in their living days, all these monsters were at least Evolvers with six to eight Ordeals under their belts, depending on their talent. Perhaps even more if their physique wasn't their main focus.

So Jake finally had a clue about what had happened to all the personnel of the Magnetic Resonator. However, despite this revelation, he still had many doubts.

In his mind, a structure of such importance should have been protected by elite troops before it fell under the Digestors' sway. He doubted that these Sinewshades could claim such a status. As strong as they seemed physically, Jake could sense no special energy emanating from them. Alive, their bloodlines must have been quite weak, even weaker than the virus that had turned them into Sinewshades.

Moreover, a true elite troop in the top 0.001%, with eight Ordeals on their CV, should theoretically have been hundreds of times stronger than a basic Oracle Guardian like Saros, if not more. If Jake had encountered one of them, his only option would have been to flee with his tail between his legs.

For this, he felt a pang of gratitude but couldn't suppress his lingering questions. Where had these elite forces gone, unless he overestimated the importance of this Magnetic Resonator?