The Oracle Paths

"Why do you say that?" Aisling raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Because it's true." The Love Goddess spread her arms matter-of-factly. "Of the 578 winners of this Ordeal, 443 Players are from Demiurges. Replicators fared well since Vhoskaud was their only participant, but he lost many androids and his army of Undead accumulated over centuries was partially decimated. Psykow wanted to save up to 10,000 Players from his faction, but in the end he could only save a few hundred. It's just sad, though I don't feel any compassion for that drop-dolphin bastard. Your faction, the Myrtharian Nerds can also be considered as the big winner since nobody expected you to survive until the end in the first place. And therefore, the big losers are undoubtedly Lost Divinities and Mirror Vanguard with Prysm as the only survivor. Damn it... It sounds even more dispiriting now that I bring it up."

"Still, 443 Players isn't much for a super faction." Will joined the conversation. "They must have suffered significant losses during this Ordeal."

"They only had 450 participants for this Ordeal." Ashun revealed with a crooked smile.

"Fuck..." Will and the other Myrtharian Nerds hearing her answer had the same reaction of spite.

"What do you know about Demiurges?" Jake took the opportunity to question Ashun. "All I know is that they are considered creative deities, but I don't know how they differ from Lost Divinities Players."

The young woman put her index finger to her lips and tilted her head to the side, pretending to ponder and said,

"We are not the same. Lost Divinities recruits potential deities and gods whose existence or power is based on their followers' faith, or rather belief. While some Demiurges Players are qualified to join us, we do not limit ourselves to creator gods. Conversely, Demiurges does not recruit only deities, although they are often considered as such. The only requirement for recruitment is to have proven one's ability or potential to create a world. Behind the Demiurges faction is the Ancient Designer Ghishaam. Not much is known about him, but he is involved in the creation of new Seed Worlds and plays a more prominent role in the design of advanced Ordeals. He takes very few risks and is highly respected by the other Ancient Designers. Why, I'm not sure, but there are rumors. His few descendants all have the same quirks. They roam the Mirror Universe alone, casually participating in Ordeals by helping those who capture their interest as if they had nothing better to do. They quickly grow stronger and always seem to know what to do to solve a problem."

Enya put on a weird expression. It reminded her of someone. In her second Ordeal, she had met an alien named Hakkrasha. He had easily concocted a potion that allowed her Fire Core to convert the surrounding Aether into Fire Mana.

If she remembered correctly the species listed in the trial rankings... He was a Jakam. In later research, she had learned that this species was classified as a kind of "Djinn."

Jake also remembered this alien well, but not for the same reasons, so he didn't make the connection. He remembered this Hakkrasha mostly because he was with himself and Ekaion, a Zhorion, one of the three final winners of their Second Ordeal.

"What else?" Jake encouraged Ashun to share more anecdotes. "Do they have a specific ambition or goal beyond bringing together Players with similar abilities?"

She hesitated briefly, then said, "They are like Mirror Vanguard loyal to the Mirror Universe. While Mirror Vanguard is dedicated to protecting the Mirror Universe from outside enemies and rivals, Demiurges is more about expanding the Mirror Universe and ensuring that the interior of the Mirror Universe continues to thrive. Over the past few millennia, the burden on their shoulders has only grown heavier. Their mission in this Ordeal was probably to close rifts opened by the Digestors or to create a new Quanoth for the next participants while dealing with all sorts of threats."

"Ouch. Sounds tough, meow." Crunch meowed as he landed in front of them with Lord Phenix perched on his shoulder.

Jake pursed his lips disapprovingly, staring at them with his fists on his hips. "You're still alive? Why are we only meeting you now?"

"Master! I was badly injured! I really thought that Mana Storm was going to be the death of me." The huge black cat began to wail, its squashed face still looking as dumb and bewildered as ever.

Over his shoulder, Lord Phenix nodded vigorously and repeated everything Crunch said like a parrot to be pitied too. Soon Jake felt a surge of killing intent arise in him that had nothing to do with whether or not he had become a Digestor.

He heard heavy thumping and saw Mufasa and Shere Khan walking with their heads down in shame. There were no other survivors of the Aristocats.

"Sorry, Jake." Mufasa apologized with a crestfallen look. "If I hadn't let my unhealthy competitiveness with Shere Khan override my good sense, I could have protected the others. I am not worthy to be their Alpha."

"Don't say that." The giant tiger shook his head. "I have my share of responsibility too. In the end, we're still animals. The irony is that it was Crunch who brought us to our buildings before the Mana Storm turned us."

Jake looked at his cat as if seeing it for the first time.

" You were clear-headed?"

Crunch nonchalantly licked his testicles before answering to everyone's dismay, then meowed, "Didn't you know I was already nuts? In the Aristocats, Mufasa always joked privately that there were 27 of us when there were only 16. Do you know why? Because I have at least 11 different personalities. We are legion in my head. What could a common psychic spell do? It can't create any more mental disorders than I already have."

Jake was speechless as he saw his cat's cocky smirk. "And you're proud?"

"Absolutely." Crunch replied cheerfully.

At least Jake now knew he hadn't been hallucinating. His cat had indeed been nuts all along. Who knows what kind of thoughts were racing through his furry little head?

"What about the turkey? How did it survive?" Gerulf grunted tactlessly.

"LORD PHENIX! It's Lord Phenix!" The bird bellowed angrily. "And I survived by doing what a phoenix does best. I perished and used the energy from the last antimatter explosion to rise from the ashes as an egg. It doesn't seem like it at first glance but a Phenix egg is almost impenetrable. Not even the Mana Storm could erode my shell in such a short time. Crunch found me and deposited my egg in my building."

They would have chatted longer, but suddenly pillars of light shot down from the golden ships hovering in the sky toward the ground, and after a brilliant flash of light, 443 Players of various races appeared at the entrance to the Divine Academy.

Each of them had an incredible aura, comparable at least to that of Deimos. Several dozen of them even had an Aetheric signature greater than that of Psykow and Neri. Before Jake's mutation, perhaps only Ael and Felphi had an aura that could compare to theirs if one included their Divinities in the equation. Vhoskaud in his titanic incarnation could also compete with them.

However, those comparisons were in the past. Jake's current aura was unfathomable. The Demiurge Players who had just landed were quick to notice.

"Who is that?" A humanoid female alien whose body seemed to be made of a mixture of turquoise water and white lightning squinted her eyes in their direction. The ends of her long dress, feet and hands all seemed to evaporate into a fine electrified mist.

A bare-chested alien with overly muscular pale purple skin with tentacles and antennae instead of hair also looked in the same direction and banged his four fists together.

"I want to fight him." He declared as he licked his lips with a battle-crazed glint in his eye.

"I forbid you, Nazaan." A humanoid alien with an appearance as regal as it was frightening levitated before them like a ghost.

His skin and armor was pitch black like Neri, but a network of veins and patterns reminiscent of yellow lightning ran across the surface of his body. These luminous lines converged on his eyes, which unlike the rest of his body were like two dazzling blazes. Finally, the outline of his legs blurred to form a black flaming smoke. His features were obscured by this black smoke and only a long red scarf wrapped around his waist as a belt brought a touch of color and style to this alien.

"Ah, leader, you're here too, hehe..."

Nazaan's thirst for battle deflated like a punctured balloon after the newcomer's command. Like a little child who has just been caught red-handed by his father while stealing candy, his eyes became shy and he started to grumble all sorts of unconvincing excuses.

Without waiting for the brawling alien to finish his apology, the leader of the Demiurges flew straight into the Divine Academy without giving Jake a second glance. Two other Players took off as he did, and Enya's eyes widened as she recognized a familiar bronze figure,

"Hakkrasha!"