The Oracle Paths

Far from all this chaos, but in even more eerie abysses, the depths of the earth faced a slimy, black sky like a moonless night. It was as if this place was upside down, the black sea replacing the ceiling.

This cavern was different from the other floors. Although spacious, it was incomparably small compared to the latter. At most, it was the equivalent of two soccer stadiums.

This cavern was also plunged into a deep silence, devoid of any sign of life. The only source of light in this place cut off from the world was an enormous translucent gem whose surface counted several million facets. These reflected and amplified the silvery radiance pulsing from its interior, bathing the rest of the narrow cavern in a gentle light.

There were no Evolvers or Digestors in this place, but that was about to change.

Suddenly, the black sea rolling placidly over the magnificent gem began to swirl abruptly, as if a giant cook had just stirred his pot with a gigantic spoon. A whirlpool soon formed, which quickly evolved into a sort of vortex.

Soon a passageway wide enough for several airliners to pass through side by side tore this black sea in two and a first figure wearing a long, worn-out robe of the same color fell from the sky in slow motion with a smug expression on his face.

This old man wearing a dark magic staff was the necromancer Nelekai Molder.

Before he even set foot on the ground, other hooded shadows fell after him, landing soberly at his side. As they discovered the huge gem shining before them, their eyes began to sparkle with excitement.

"Is it the Nexus?!"

"It's beautiful..."

"I can't believe we found it so easily!"

Listening to the amazed comments of his partners, the old necromancer did not change his expression, but inwardly he could not help but sneer disdainfully.

'These guys are so arrogant. If it weren't for me, they'd still be wading through this sea of oil. But they're the ones paying and that's the condition set for joining Lost Divinities... What a shame... Maybe I should keep this Nexus to myself?'

Nelekai wasn't the only one entertaining these thoughts. Most of the hooded Evolvers were filled with egotistical, if not downright evil thoughts as they ogled this gem. Lost Divinities may have been a gigantic, sprawling organization, but they were just insignificant personalities in its service.

This Nexus could change their lives.

The captain of this hooded group knew full well what was going through their minds, and he took the lead in steering them back. Walking up to Nelekai, he asked in a deep and slightly impatient voice,

"Are you ready?"

Holding up his long dark wooden scepter ending in a cluster of small skulls cut from different gems, the necromancer chuckled in amusement, then replied more seriously,

"We can start anytime."

Raising his hand, the Lost Divinities captain was ready to give the order when several blood-curdling alien wails sounded from the vortex above them. Everyone, including Nelekai, wore alarmed expressions as they heard the noise.

"They already found this place? How is that possible?!" The old necromancer's face turned ugly and he immediately vented his rage on his temporary comrades.

"Don't tell me you didn't close the passageway when you came here! If this operation fails because of one of you and Lost Divinities makes me pay for it, I swear I will drag you down with me. As a Lich, I'm not afraid to die again, but I doubt you share that view..."

Some of the team drew their weapons as the old man lunged at them with a death threat, but a look from their captain made them put their weapons away.

"Calm down." Their leader placated him with a chilling tone. "We're not stupid. If they're here, it's because they found the entrance on their own."

Turning to his subordinates, he apathetically ordered,

"Prepare for battle. The plan doesn't change. We get the Nexus and we're out of here."

"Aye, sir!"

Nelekai grumbled under his breath without trying to hide his foul mood, but he did as the rest of them did, peering into the whirlpool and bracing himself for a major enemy.

Unexpectedly, it didn't turn out exactly as they had imagined. A huge creature did indeed emerge from the passage, its body so massive that the vortex was barely wide enough to let it slip through.

So far, it was within their predictions. To get this far, only a monstrously powerful beast or Evolver could do it. Where reality diverged from fiction was when the creature plummeted from the sky like a fat, limp larva, then collapsed to the ground with a resounding thud.

It didn't move again after that.

Inspecting the corpse, Nelekai recognized the huge flying whale. It was Crygo, the high-ranking beast who had convinced the newbies to explore the Dungeon despite the risks.

Sadly, the Dungeon Digestor had no eyes. This entity was not the type to pamper those who brought him new customers. The whale had paid the price for its overconfidence. It remained to be seen who or what was the cause of its demise.

A few seconds later, another much smaller figure descended from the vortex. After her appearance, the vortex closed above her and the black sea soon calmed down, becoming placid and smooth again.

As soon as the newcomer touched down, the hooded warriors recognized the veiled woman and all bowed low. The usually calm and undaunted captain was no exception.

"We welcome the return of Her Grace." The leader of the group smiled as he raised his head. "Did your adventure go well?"

Stroking the amber glass-walled lantern nestled against her bosom, Hecate ignored him outright, but his loving gesture toward the item answered his query.

It was not clear where the young woman came from, but they had been ordered by their superiors not to provoke her. She was not a member of Lost Divinities, but unlike Nelekai, who was trying hard to join them, Hecate had instead refused their invitation on multiple occasions.

The lantern she cherished was a mysterious artifact whose functionality remained a great mystery, but one thing was certain, there was life inside and not just one.

When the lantern began to flicker, hair-raising wails could be heard coming from within. Whatever was going on in there, the captain knew for a fact that whatever came out would be an unstoppable calamity.

"Was it your highness who killed Crygo?" Nelekai inquired rudely, showing his ignorance of protocol and the young woman's reputation.

"It was I." Hecate replied softly. "If I'm here, it's because we have no more time to waste. Something happened above that forced me to change my plans."

The Lost Divinity captain took her words very seriously. Motioning to one of his men, he immediately complied and strode toward the Nexus to retrieve it. At the same time, the other Evolvers, including Hecate and Nelekai, took up their fighting positions.

When the hooded warrior first touched the huge gem, he was surprised by its softness and thought for a moment that nothing horrible would happen. At first it seemed like it was all good, but as soon as he tried to dislodge the gem by force, the peaceful cavern turned into hell.

Pulling with all his might with his strong arms, the gem began to pull itself out of its natural base, until the other Dungeon Raiders realized that the ground was being uprooted with it.

Soon they realized that it wasn't just rock that the gem was embedded in, but a titanic head. The gem was inserted between its two eyes.

"Crap..."

All the fighters quickly took their distance in a leap, retreating to the edges of the cave. As for the poor warrior in charge of retrieving the Nexus, he was unfortunately not so lucky.

A blinding radiance suddenly burst from the gem and the high-rank Evolver was instantly disintegrated, its Soul completely snuffed out. Not even the Oracle would be able to resurrect him.

The next moment, the eyelids of the creature crawling out of the bedrock opened and two silver rays shot out, illuminating the entire cave with the sheer power of the sun. Because there was no real ground or rock, no tangible phenomenon occurred, but the walls of the floor began to ripple and beat to the rhythm of a thundering heartbeat, which made the souls of the spectators tremble.

In a fraction of a second the temperature rose above 50,000 degrees, and the cave instantly became a tomb.

The other members of Lost Divinities did not give up, however, and all those who could not resist activated their Oracle Shield. Nelekai furiously raised his magic staff and a golden door appeared above him, releasing a torrent of black smoke as it opened.

Hecate put away her lantern and her body became a momentary blur before reappearing in majestic armor. She was now like a sinister goddess, or maybe some kind of pretty devil.

The battle for the Nexus was just beginning.