The Oracle Paths

1053 Hold That Throne As Long As You Want

The raven-haired beauty stood frozen, unable to utter a word. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, but no sound escaped her crimson lips. Yet from the flicker in her eyes, it was clear her mind raced at a mile a minute.

The other Soulmancers present were in a similar daze: too stunned to react, but with undeniable sparks of excitement in their eyes. Seeing this, Jake had a bad feeling in his gut.

"Shit... I have a really bad feeling about this." He muttered bitterly, trying to ignore Xi's mocking laughter echoing in his mind.

Nevertheless, as much as they were all scheming bastards, it was also evident that many feared him. Maybe not all, the woman who'd spoken to him looked more shocked than scared. Still, among his present company, few could claim her acting skills.

At that moment, Jake had channeled enough of his biomass to more than triple his size, regaining his peak form as a Myrtharian. If he wished, he could've expanded even further, but accessing his Inner Space Dimension had drained him of a ridiculous amount of spiritual energy.

Just to do that, he'd felt in a heartbeat a mental exhaustion akin to a human staying awake for over a month. The sensation was gut- wrenching, and he felt that if he relaxed even for a split second, he might just keel over.

But the effect was clear. From the puniest, Jake now stood as the most imposing Underworld Barbarian he'd ever encountered since arriving on Twyluxia. The Soulmancers seemed to share his sentiment given their dropped jaws.

So Jake's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when Meribelle and the other Soulmancers simultaneously knelt, clasping their hands reverently and bellowing in unison, "Your wish, our command, O revered Soulmancer King! Forgive us for not recognizing Your Greatness sooner. We will accept any punishment."

'What the hell?!' Jake was dumbstruck.

Only the young woman continued to lock eyes with him, an infuriatingly smug smirk plastered on her face. All the other Soulmancers bowed their heads, making it impossible to gauge their expressions. Yet, deep down, he felt like he'd walked straight into their trap.

Jake wasn't buying their sudden display of loyalty. What he did believe, however, was their need for a king, fake or not. As soon as their bowing ceremony ended, Meribelle promptly dished out her "advice", though he had no clue what title to attribute to her.

"Your Highness, it's quite the shocker that you managed to pull a fast one on the Celestial by masquerading like this, but it'd be wise to stick with your newbie persona fresh out of his baptism. Your Soul Clone's death will throw him off, but he'll catch on that you've played him. Maybe he already has."

The cunning stunner paused, flashing Jake another suspiciously charming smile, then continued, "For that reason, pulling strings in the Duskwight Lands from afar, away from your Dusken Throne, will be a tough gig. But don't sweat it! The Soulmancer Guild will handle it for you. Your Abyssal Revenant, Bones, has agreed to act as the go- between, backing up the throne and legitimizing decisions made in your name."

Jake shot her a less-than-amused look, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Just because I'm operating at a fraction of my mental prowess doesn't mean I can't squash you. You sure you want to play this high-stakes game with me?"

Even knowing it might give him a pounding headache later, he didn't hesitate to unleash every bit of his available spirit power, supplemented by a rogue wisp of soul force driven by his True Will of Crushing.

Meribelle's eyes widened in alarm, feeling a never-before-experienced lethal threat closing in. Reflexively, she let out a cry, thrusting her arms out and releasing her own spiritual energy. Her previously dormant Lumyst Aura began to expand, emitting a blinding brilliance, quickly forming a spectral miasma sphere about twice her size, shimmering like a full moon.

Jake felt resistance but was hell-bent on not letting her off so easily without pushing his menace further. His gaze intensified, a prominent vein pulsating on his forehead, and a split second later a "pop" sounded, followed by the unnerving crack of breaking bones.

Not his.

Ignoring the sudden mental exhaustion that drowned him, and with cold indifference, he then nonchalantly lifted his hand and levitated the young woman's body towards him, never releasing his psychic grip. All the while, the female Soulmancer writhed, gritting her teeth, but it was clear she wouldn't last much longer.

The other Soulmancers, witnessing this dominating scene in utter horror, had already drawn their weapons, ready to risk it all to save her. But when their eyes met Meribelle's, she subtly signaled them to stand down. At the very least, she'd guessed that this Player wasn't out to kill her; otherwise, she'd be dead already after her bold provocation.

Yet, she began to harbor some second thoughts. Glancing again at the fleeing army now only a kilometer or so away, her face contorted in a mix of emotions before she shut her eyes, resigning to her fate.

"Just do it," she whispered, reopening her eyes to confrontation Jake, daring him to follow through.

"No! You can't give up! The Soulmancer King nee-" One of her comrades tried to interject, but was harshly silenced by the woman he aimed to comfort.

"Shut your trap!" Meribelle snapped, even as the grip on her throat tightened. "One more word, and I'll take you down with me, even if I have to claw my way back from the dead to haunt your ass."

The man went pale hearing her threat, as he came to the horrifying realization that he'd almost made an irredeemable blunder. Biting back his words and swallowing his frustrations, he braced himself for whatever storm was about to rage.

But he was ready. They all were. If this outsider son of a bitch decided to end her, they'd unleash all hell on him in vengeance.

Unfortunately for them, the raw emotion of the moment had just handed Jake the missing piece of the puzzle he needed. He was starting to form a theory on the Soulmancer King's whereabouts.

[The real Soulmancer King is among us. More specifically, within that fleeing army rushing towards us.] Xi concurred darkly, mirroring Jake's conclusions. Meribelle's looks towards the army had finally given her away.

'If I had to bet, this woman holds some significance to him. A close friend? Or maybe even a lover?' Jake mused with a hint of wicked satisfaction. He felt like he was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. 'So they want me to impersonate their King, because the real Soulmancer King is here too. They're taking the old 'hiding in plain sight' trick to a whole new extreme. Are they trying to use me as bait for some trap set for the enemy? The Celestial, right?'

Even without the full backstory, the botched ambush the Soulmancer King had supposedly sprung on the Radiant Conclave just hours earlier, he'd nearly pieced the truth together. But as tantalizing as it was to play along, there was one more thing he needed to verify.

Easing his grip on the young woman's throat just a tad, he stated sternly "I'll play your Soulmancer King for as long as you want. Use me as bait or a front all you like, but you better do your damn job. If I catch wind that you intentionally blew my cover to the enemy or our allies, I'll flip your own threat on its head. Believe it or not, I get a lot scarier when I'm dead too. Just hope you don't end up regretting this."

Choking on a cough, blood trickled from between Meribelle's clenched teeth. Forcing a defiant smile, she rasped challengingly,

"If you've got the balls, hold that throne as long as you want. Here's hoping you won't rue it either."

Seconds later, Jake had morphed back to his previous size, albeit with an added couple of heads in height to match the expected stature of the Soulmancer King. According to Meribelle, he didn't need any further adjustments appearance-wise since nobody really knew what the guy looked like, allies included.

She then downed a vile-looking potion, more crimson and viscous than blood itself, to cure her wounds and mend her frayed nerves. As for Jake's throbbing headache, it had already faded thanks to his Energy Spirit and Soul. His thoughts felt sharper, even if only by a smidge.

The mental strain had given him some new training insights, but they'd have to wait. Because the Soulmancer woman, Meribelle - whose name he'd just learned, disclosed that a fresh conflict was on the horizon.

Havocspire Citadel had to be reclaimed.

Today.