The Oracle Paths

She knew about the 10,000 places and didn't think she could secure one. Besides, she didn't want to abandon the millions of angels she had just converted. That would be the epitome of hypocrisy. It was the lot of all angels in the service of Aurae.

Jake turned to Hade, who shrugged and said,

"I've already tried everything to convince her. Bigotry is the worst."

"I prefer to call it a sense of honor and duty." Caphriel grinned without resenting him for his tactlessness.

If anything, she knew the Fluid Grandmaster was totally right. She was putting Aurae's commandments ahead of her own feelings.

Seeing that she had made up her mind, Jake didn't dwell on it and bid her farewell. Before leaving, he turned around one last time and said to the resigned Virtue,

"I've already met Aurae. No god or entity is worth sacrificing your life for. If he is as noble and good as you seem to think he is, he should want you to live. Aurae orchestrated this world ending. The only reason we're killing each other is to survive an apocalypse he intentionally created. I don't pretend to know his deepest motives, but I do know that this whole charade has the sole purpose of sorting the wheat from the chaff, separating the strong from the weak. If you fight and get one of those 10,000 spots, in my opinion you are fulfilling the will of Aurae, nothing more and nothing less."

Jake and Hade then left together, leaving the Virtue lost in thought. He then visited Vexa and Prysm and told them of his intention to leave with what was left of the Myrtharian Nerds. At this stage of the Ordeal they were only a few dozen.

Vexa was not thrilled with their departure, but he knew it was bound to happen. The final battle was near and no one could know if they would end up as enemies. To avoid any early betrayal, it was best to part ways now.

The cube man knew that they had Ruby, a Digestor Trojan, in their hands, so they were no longer included in the predictions of his Oracle Paths. Letting them go without keeping an eye on them was dangerous, but by allowing them to do so Vexa was proving that he and Mirror Vanguard were trustworthy. He hadn't given up on recruiting them yet.

"Goodbye my friend." The Mirror Vanguard leader gave him a bear hug. "I hope we'll meet at the Divine Academy among the winners to celebrate our success together over a drink."

"Don't look at me like this is the last time we'll see each other." Jake rolled his eyes. "Try not to die too quickly."

Radur and Prysm shook hands with him and the other Myrtharian Nerds, and the two factions parted ways. Over the next day, Jake ferried the Myrtharian Nerds with his telekinesis, flying aimlessly in search of a hiding place to use as a temporary base.

He entered Shatug Empire territory in the afternoon and found that the cruelty of war had reached new heights. Ravaged futuristic cities, replaced by smoking ruins and blackened metal debris covered the land. Corpses of all races and species, animal, human and alien, littered the plains, forests and bombed-out battlefields.

The corpses of Drur citizens and warriors were scarce but recognizable by their gigantic build, dark purple skin and futuristic armor suits. The corpses of their enemies were a thousand times more numerous, but the most shocking thing was that the dead Drurs were just ordinary aliens with no special status.

Even the warriors in combat suits were the equivalent of guards or policemen, given the overweight and lack of equipment of some of them. He was tempted to stop here to take advantage of these ruined cities to hide temporarily with his men, but a glance to the south dissuaded him.

The black clouds that had previously been looming menacingly over them from the sky had formed a black curtain, like a cascade of stormy black smoke pouring over the land. He could see a deluge of blue and purple lightning streaking across the earth and air, continuously striking anything that had the misfortune to find itself below.

Even after several minutes, he didn't hear any thunder rumbling and that enabled him to deduce that this curtain of clouds was still far away. But with his keen eyesight he could discern that the black veil was approaching them rapidly at the speed of a racing car running on turbo.

"We can't stay here!" Lord Phenix squawked as he anxiously flapped his wings.

Gerulf, who was sitting cross-legged on his head, whacked him hard on the head and growled,

"Shut up birdie or I'll eat you."

In addition to Lord Phenix, there were still three giant birds of prey alive that had joined Mufasa's pack. They were currently serving as transportation for the other Myrtharian Nerds unable to fly. Jake's telekinesis was only used to maintain formation and boost their flight speed.

Disregarding the turkey and Gerulf who were hurling creative insults at each other, Lucia frowned and said to Jake,

"At this rate, that cloud curtain will be here in a few hours. Celestial City is only a few hours away if we maintain this speed. If these clouds do not accelerate, they too will reach Celestial City in seven to ten days."

The other Myrtharian Nerds became serious upon hearing her forecast.

"At least no matter what happens this Ordeal is almost over..." Enya sighed wearily, "I need a vacation."

The truth was that she missed her sister and was worried about her psychological state. The other Players seemed to agree with her except for one person: Maeve.

Kyle's sister gave off an energy and presence that was weaker but similar to Hecate's in the past. The only other auras among the Myrtharian Nerds that came close was that of Aisling and her mother Xaverie.

"I especially hope Will is okay." Jake conceded. He should be awake by now. If he wasn't, then he was probably already dead.

"My dragon that was assigned to escort Craig picked up the other New Earth Players." Hade confirmed. "I asked him to stop by and visit the dragon village before he returned. If they were surprised by that black curtain, it's possible he convinced them to leave."

"Can't you contact him via his Oracle Device?" Tim blurted out as he gave him a judgmental look with his innocent eyes.

"Cough, cough, Immyr can' t stand the Oracle System notifications and has disabled them so as not to be disturbed..." Hade explained with a sheepish expression.

"Well... I'm not worried about that dragon." Asfrid said out loud what everyone else was thinking under their breath.

Jake then ignored the black curtain and the blasted landscape below him and turned northwest in the presumed direction of Celestial City. A few tens of thousands of kilometers later, he stopped short in the air and decided to land.

In front of him were damaged but still inhabited cities. They could hear and perceive the exchange of gunfire and artillery shells from their position and they understood that from this point onwards they would have to shed blood.

"Let's stop here. The clouds are still far away, so there's no need to force a confrontation." Jake decided arbitrarily, ignoring the disappointed looks of the belligerent Players like Mufasa, Shere Khan, and Crunch.

Gerulf and Rogen also began to sulk at the news that they would not be fighting anytime soon.

Jake then rendered their group invisible by manipulating the light, then with a wave of his hand formed a vortex in the ground, the metal paved roads beneath them rippling like the surface of a pond into which a pebble had been thrown. The Myrtharian Nerds dove in, but there was no collision.

The rock and the earth gave way to them and in a matter of seconds they had travelled several dozen kilometers. When he felt they were low enough to go undetected by an Oracle Scan, Jake used his Earth Manipulation and Telekinesis to carve out a large cube the size of a small city and then dumped his companions on the ground.

"We'll stay here for the next few days. Whoever I nominate can go up to the surface as a scout to get more information about Lost Divinities and the current situation around Celestial City."

No one objected and unsurprisingly Hephais, Hade, Svara, Aisling and a few other stealthy Myrtharian Nerds like Maeve and Asfrid were assigned to investigate the surface. Because they were unsure if Ruby's protection extended to the Players away from her, it was decided that they would not spread out on this mission. That way, even if they were ambushed, with Hade and Asfrid they would at least be able to fall back.

Jake couldn't come with them because he had to constantly use his Earth Control to keep the base he had just created from collapsing under its own weight. After all, they were extremely deep below the surface.

Once the scouts had left and the other Players returned to their own activities, he finally laid down Ruby, who was still unconscious on his shoulder, and decided that this was the right time to wake her up.