The Oracle Paths

1055 Clash Of Titans

A few seconds later, the ethereal cloud mass was already at Havocspire's doorstep. The icy gust accompanying it had already snuffed out the last embers rising from the citadel's ruins. A thick sheet of frost was racing across the ramparts, threatening to encase the entire city and its new inhabitants in ice.

If Chillmire reached its target, barring perhaps Featherfall and the five figures atop it, every living being within a thirty-kilometer radius of Havocspire Citadel would be frozen solid. The Radiant Conclave, having already shifted several of its garrisons to bolster their stance, would be facing an inconceivably catastrophic defeat.

"It's about to begin..." Meribelle murmured, her expression grim. "Once Featherfall and the Radiant Conclave members on its back are out of the way, it will be Bones' turn to handle the Dreadnought Nematode."

As Jake pondered which Nematode she referred to, a bone-chilling roar echoed from Havocspire Citadel's depths, intensified by the approaching icy maelstrom. As if the massive bird soaring above the ravaged city wasn't a nightmarish sight in itself, a tubular monstrosity erupted violently from the ground, akin to a volcanic explosion.

The Dreadnought Nematode was a terror to lay eyes upon-a vast armored worm stretching beyond belief. The head now visible was merely the tip of the iceberg, but it already towered over a kilometer high, closer to the clouds than any skyscraper from Earth's past.

Its segmented body, adorned with rugged, chitinous plates, shimmered malevolently under the faintest light, flaunting shades of deep purples and wicked greens. Gigantic serrated spines emerged sporadically along its body, each pulsating with a dark energy as the colossus continued to dig.

Its head was a grotesque blend of natural malevolence and alien terror-a gaping maw ringed with countless rows of spiraling, razor- sharp teeth, gnashing relentlessly through the earth with a ravenous appetite.

As Jake wondered what such a behemoth intended against a substance-less sweeping blizzard, a figure atop the titan bird began to glow, brandishing what looked from a distance like a sort of scepter. Hundreds of thousands of luminescent specks began to light up from within the citadel's ruins, only to be abruptly transmuted into radiant beams.

All these beams converged in a flash towards the scepter's top end that the figure was wielding, before being emitted as a more focused beam towards the massive worm's mouth. The moment the beam was swallowed, the nematode instantly clamped its jaws shut and retreated into the ground, upending enormous chunks of rock and soil, completing the annihilation of Havocspire Citadel.

Jake, having never witnessed such strategies, was blown away by the spectacle before him. When he relayed what he'd seen to Meribelle telepathically, who stood just beside him, her eyes widened in shock before she quickly composed herself, replying with a grave tone,

'Your sight is... something else. As for your questions, that colossal worm that's impossible to miss from here is the Dreadnought Nematode, another Titan loyal to the Radiant Conclave, just like Featherfall. A bird and a worm... A strange pair, but effective nonetheless. It's said that the former usually perches atop the tallest branch of the mightiest tree standing at the base of the Heavenly Cascade. The worm, on the other hand, is believed to slumber within the fertile earth below, perpetually nourished by the Lumyst River. Together with the tree known as Anthace, the Tree of Life, they make up the three Titan Guardians of the Lustra Plains. There are a few more at the Conclave's beck and call, but none are as trustworthy.

'As for the one who just took action, I'm not entirely sure, but it must be Lady Lyria, one of the legendary five members of the Radiant Conclave. She's said to be the most formidable Radiant Mage in all of Twyluxia, able to transmute life into light and vice versa. The staff she wields is supposed to be a branch of Anthace. Life Lumyst Water doesn't awaken spirituality but vitality, rendering it not that effective on inanimate objects. That's why the inhabitants of the Lustra Plains cultivate War Beasts and primarily use organic weapons made of wood or coral. It's the closest thing to our enchantments. Right now, Lady Lyria must have transformed the troops stationed at Havocspire into light, sheltering them in the Nematode's maw.

Jake blinked dumbly, at a loss for words. Picking up on his stunned reaction, a proud smirk played on Meribelle's face, and she teased him telepathically,

'What? Thought we just retreated for the heck of it? Without that dreadful Nematode transporting their forces directly beneath the city through an underground tunnel, we wouldn't have been caught off guard so quickly. For nobody to notice... that tunnel must've been dug ages ago. Seems the Radiant Conclave always knew it would come to this. Of course, that's not the sole reason Havocspire Citadel fell today...

Before Jake could press her further, three of the four figures remaining on the titan bird's back began to radiate an immense lifeforce, aiming at the approaching Abyssal Revenant Chillmire. Fearlessly, they stepped forward and leapt into the void, rocketing towards the white cloud mass nearing the remnants of the ramparts like shooting stars.

BOOOOOOM!

The blinding light from the monumental explosion resulting from their colossal clash hit Jake and the other barbarians' vision before the sound reached their ears. The tiny humanoid figures looked like faint fireflies, seemingly ready to be extinguished by the massive ethereal form of the Revenant. But against all odds, they held their ground.

They were neither snuffed out nor frozen solid. Instead, it was Chillmire that let out a harrowing scream, retreating to shift their battleground. When Jake relayed once more what he had witnessed to Meribelle, she explained gloomily,

"Our Abyssal Revenants possess far stronger souls than these Titans, granting them incredible powers over matter and the environment. Typically bodiless, they are also much swifter. They feast upon the life force of other beings, but converting that life force into Spirit Energy requires effort, especially when tainted by the Holy Light Element, their nemesis. Fire can warm and cook, but it can also burn. The Celestial and other members of the Radiant Conclave have some of the most impressive life forces on the continent. Simply by unleashing their Life Aura at full force, it's enough to scorch Chillmire's soul, as if it touched a red-hot iron."

Just when Jake thought he'd seen it all for the day, he caught a glimpse of what he initially believed was a distant mountain. But as it grew rapidly, he realized its true nature, and his mouth dropped open in awe.

A mountain of bones... Bones... It had to be the other Abyssal Revenant Meribelle had mentioned. Unlike Chillmire, this one had a body to move within.

With a fervent fire blazing in her eyes, the female Soulmancer smiled and clarified telepathically,

'At its core, Bones is also a vengeful spirit. But unlike Chillmire, it is the result of a high-level enchantment that succeeded. It's uttered that the Soulmancer King awakened the spirituality of the bones of a beloved deceased, hoping to grant them a second life. One enchantment wasn't enough, but after several attempts... a miracle occurred. Meet Bones, a Sentient Artefact.

As Jake wondered what a pile of bones, even sentient ones, intended to do against the enormous bird, it began to shapeshift. In a blink, it took on the appearance of a massive behemoth with vaguely humanoid features. The bone titan then accelerated, initially walking heavily, then to everyone's horror, breaking into a trot, and finally a sprint...

Covering several kilometers with each stride, Bones reached the now frozen citadel's edge within seconds. Each of its steps sent foreboding tremors throughout the land. So much so that by the time its shadow combined with Featherfall's over the city, all standing structures had crumbled, leaving only the city wall intact.

Without slowing down, the relentless force of destruction stepped over Havocspire's wall, the last barricade in its path, and with a hellacious flex of its legs, it leapt into the sky. Before Featherfall could retaliate with an outraged screech, a enormous uppercut slammed into the underside of its beak, catapulting the massive bird into the atmosphere.

Immediately after, while onlookers took shelter from the shockwave,

the vaguely humanoid figure of the giant crumbled, reverting to its

original form-a mountain of disjointed bones. Then, as everyone

shielded their eyes, Jake clearly saw the massive heap of bones

infiltrate the tunnel where the Dreadnought Nematode had vanished,

clearly intent on not letting its second prey escape.

Moments later, tens of kilometers to the east of Havocspire, the cracked earth exploded as if some monstrosity tried to burst forth. Soon after, looming geysers of violet blood, accompanied by a rain of bones and heart-wrenching screams of pain and rage, erupted into the sky.

It seemed the Nematode had been caught. The beam of light previously devoured by its maw was suddenly spat out, soon dispersing into hundreds of thousands of finer rays that almost immediately resumed their human forms.

The troops that the worm was supposed to transport had just been callously abandoned to facilitate its own escape. But that wasn't the primary concern.

The city was finally empty. Yet, the scattered enemy forces, left high and dry by their protector, found themselves trapped to the east by the imposing Ironsoul Rampart. With survival on the line, panic drove them to desperately rally back to defend Havocspire Citadel - or whatever was left of it.

With his keen eyesight, Jake could already see that the various regiments running away the city had stopped running, while a much larger army dispatched from Grimstone Keep was fast approaching. Thus, the inevitable battle that Meribelle had predicted just moments ago to reclaim the citadel was about to unfold.

Jake was about to partake in his first real battle.