The Oracle Paths

Aggenur was already shell-shocked by Aurum's introduction, but his stupor was only magnified when the other two Myrmidians entered the stage as well.

"Hasta." The Myrmidian to Aurum's right likewise spoke a single word to introduce himself.

He was like all pure-blooded Myrmidians, a man with tanned olive skin, long golden hair and eyes, but unlike Aurum he had a more slender and athletic build, his body devoid of any fat. His eye sockets were hollowed out with dark circles, giving him an unintentional spooky presence. Unlike the dashing Aurum, who reeked of wealth, Hasta preferred to keep a low profile, outfitted in a tight-fitting black armor suit. In his hand, a heavy halberd as black as his armor accompanied him.

Under normal circumstances, he would have slain his enemy silently like an assassin, but because of the enemy's provocation, he exceptionally decided to pose with style and flair like his brother-in-arms Aurum. As he uttered his own name, his body was suddenly engulfed in black flames, and when the air came into contact with it, it immediately ignited, plunging the cave into a sea of black flames that spread at the speed of sound.

The air catching fire was already a shocking sight, but when the water spewed out by Dumbo, the ice created by Thyohr and even the lightning of Azeus and the shadows of Hephais caught fire, panic broke out instantly on the battlefield.

Aggenur was moved by such a demonstration of power. This guy would make a wonderful demon!

Not to be outdone, the third Myrmidian to Aurum's left stepped forward and stated with an indifferent smile,

"My name is Pictorus."

Unlike his two companions, he wore only a simple long sleeved white toga embroidered with silver, blurring his appearance and giving him an ethereal presence. One could still tell that he was a handsome man with the bearing of a scholar. Instead of Aurum's lavish equipment and Hasta's more restrained but equally intimidating style, Pictorus was armed only with a long, scepter-sized brush.

If Aggenur had met this Myrmidian under any other circumstances, he would not have been nervous at all, but after witnessing the appearance of the other two he could not help but be alert. As he stared at that brush, his stomach churned, giving him a bad feeling.

And this bad feeling was immediately confirmed. Without any apparent signal, the three Myrmidians tacitly went on the attack with uncanny coordination.

Hasta brandished his halberd and with a single step his figure faded away, leaving a trail of black flame in his wake. Faster and more elusive than a specter, he emerged from the sea of flames corroding the Demomorgon's armor and looming over the demon, drove his spear deep into its skull with the sole intention of skewering it.

A spectacular shockwave threw the nearby Players to the ground, shattering Thyohr's ice, generating a tsunami with Dumbo's water and a massive blast as it repelled the spear's black flames. Aggenur's death seemed inevitable, but the Demogorgon was a tough nut that was not so easy to crack.

As it was about to be impaled, its second head reared up, one of its long spiral horns intercepting the attack with a shrill sound. When the fallout from the attack ended and the other Players could see what was happening they discovered that the demon was not injured at all, its horn not even scratched.

"As expected from such an infamous Archdemon." Hasta declared coldly, unfazed by his failure.

At that moment, his hallerbard blade condensed a ball of black flame as hot as the sun at its tip and the projectile exploded a split second later at point blank range.

BOOOOMM!

This time the body was blasted into the depths of the earth, creating a deep crater in its wake. Even so, Hasta immediately realized that the demon was not injured and clicked his tongue. But it didn't matter, he had achieved his goal.

"I count on you Aurum and Pictorus." The assassin chuckled sinisterly.

"No problem." Pictorus smiled as he put away his brush dripping with black ink.

An ordinary two-handled amphora materialized in front of him. Holding it cautiously with both hands above his head, the neck at its end suddenly began to suck up everything in the cave that was threatening to collapse except for the living beings.

Water, ice, flames, lightning, rocks, all forms of energy more destructive than the others were devoured by this magically conjured vacuum cleaner and very soon the ink began to distort as if the illusion was about to dissipate.

"My turn." Aurum chuckled sadistically as he rubbed his hands together.

The luxuriously outfitted Myrmidian pressed his hands against the unstable ink creation and the ink comprising it suddenly began to glow, its existence becoming much more tangible, its consistency becoming even more dense and viscous than liquid lead. The energy radiating from it was close to the standard of a Bronze Artifact.

The amphora that was about to disappear then doubled in power and any energy source that had not yet been absorbed disappeared inside. To assist the process, Hasta also poured his black flames inside while Aurum acted as a bodyguard.

After a few seconds, Aggenur's furious roar resonated below them but the three Myrmidians smiled instead.

"Too late." They sneered together.

Pictorus dropped the amphora into the hole and Aurum closed the hole with one of his spare bulwarks, then pressed his hands to the ground.

"Midas touch."

The ground already covered with cracked diamonds was this time transmuted into precious magic metals for tens, hundreds of meters deep and Aggenur who was furiously coming up suddenly faced extreme resistance. At that moment, something suddenly smashed against his forehead, infuriating him.

"What the hell is th-"

BOOOOOOM!

The shield covering the hole the three Myrmidians were standing on instantly lifted off the ground as the altered floor blew up releasing a spectacular shockwave. The vast artificial cavern, already in bad shape, collapsed on the spot.

The ongoing battle ended, and all Players unable to levitate or fly were swept away with the ground crumbling beneath their feet. Asfrid and the other Eltarians stabilized their comrades with their telekinesis, but the larger creatures like Dumbo and the dragons unfortunately fell with Lost Divinities.

Luckily, even though there wasn't enough room to fly, these dragons could use their own breath to propel themselves to some extent. Others clung to the walls still standing with their claws, ignoring the falling rocks that ricocheted against their scales.

Dumbo, the huge mammoth was unfortunately not as well endowed as these carnivorous beasts to cling to the walls and the water ejected by his trunk was not enough to compensate for his mass. In desperation, he wrapped his trunk around Crunch's tail at the last moment, who was currently clinging to Immyr's back, the only dragon that didn't need wings to levitate.

The black cat immediately felt a huge weight dragging him down into the abyss and he clung on with all his might, cursing the huge mammoth. Dumbo thought he was out of trouble, but he had underestimated the cat's elasticity.

Crunch's bushy tail continued to distend under the mammoth's monumental weight and Dumbo continued to fall into the darkness with the rest of Lost Divinities although his trunk still hung on tightly to his tail. It was only after being stretched over two kilometers that Crunch's tail reached its maximum length.

"Phew..." The mammoth sighed in relief as he watched Lost Divinities plummet beneath him.

"Did we win?" Lucia muttered with blatant disappointment on her face.

She hadn't appreciated her duel with Deimos being interrupted. If Hade hadn't stopped her with his telekinesis she would have chased Deimos down to determine a true winner.

Instead of answering her, other ruthless Myrtharian Nerds like Azeus, Daniel, Lord Phenix, Mufasa or the dragons showed no scruples and continued to aggressively bombard Lost Divinities to add insult to injury.

The explosion of Pictorus's amphora had its limits and soon the members of Lost Divinities hit rock bottom. Not to mention the fact that many of them could fly, some could levitate like Asfrid and the others. Others, like Felphi, were immune to any damage but accompanied their comrades in their fall with an ambiguous and somewhat derisive expression on their faces.

However, before they could climb back up they had to face the kilometers of rubble falling on them.

Their situation seemed to be dire and it was at this point that Jen, the Mimic who had taken on Jake's appearance, regained enough power to seal the ground beneath them, stabilize the cavern and open a new tunnel above them.

Victory seemed guaranteed, but just then a relaxed voice sounded below them,

"You sure didn't miss me. I almost died right there."

The hairs on the backs of all the Myrtharian Nerds stood on end as they recognized that voice, especially Asfrid and Jen. Anxiously riveting their gaze below them they saw the black cloud engulf the ground where Lost Divinities stood, but before it reached them, the cloud dispersed around them, revealing the appearance of the Nullifyer holding Nucnar by the scruff of the neck.

Ael was completely unharmed.