The Oracle Paths

The complexions of the surviving recruits immediately turned ashen with terror, realizing their decimated regiment had served only as fuel for the Lumyst Auras of these godforsaken Light Warriors. These bastards had started with a physical, material, and technical edge, and now that gap had widened like a chasm.

'Judging by their auras, these so-called Shimmers had only 3 to 20 kills before this showdown,' Jake quickly assessed, gauging the intensity of their Lumyst Auras against his own. 'Now it's more like 11 to 30. Hell, some of these shield-bearers and archers have racked up over 50. As for this... Pulsar? Dude's on another level.'

We were talking about a physical stat boost ranging from 10 to 50%, give or take, based on their baseline attributes.

For Jake and Hephais, it made zero difference, but for the recruits who depended on them, it was a matter of life and death. Thanks to the leftovers, these newbies had managed one or two kills, but the resulting stat boost was laughable in comparison. They'd need to devour way more souls to turn their Lumyst Auras into game-changers.

Not that they'd have the chance if things kept going south. Neither Jake nor Hephais gave a flying fuck about these recruits, but they needed them as a smoke screen.

The gap between showcasing monstrous combat skills and single-handedly wiping out an army of well-trained and equipped Shimmers and Pulsars was vast. In the former case, the higher-ups would see their potential; in the latter, they'd get outcasted faster than a speedrunner glitching a game.

"The problem is these Pulsars," Jake surmised, his face grim as he sensed 11 lifeforces comparable to the brute who'd just torn their comrade in half.

[Apart from their Lumyst Auras, these Shimmers are two to three times stronger than our Underworld Barbarians, thanks to the nourishing atmosphere of the Lustra Plains. We can handle that with good swordplay and footwork], Xi recapped gravely, then added, [But these Pulsars are a whole different beast. Judging by the lifeforce in their aura, they've committed at least a hundred to five hundred murders each. At the very least, they're eight to fifteen times stronger than our guys and three times faster, not to mention their heightened durability. No matter how flawless your technique may seem, besting such adversaries would raise eyebrows. Unless...]

"Unless we rack up enough kills to make such a victory believable," Jake finished. "Got it. I'll keep killing, heading away from those big guys and let the chips fall where they may for the rest."

Whirling his wrist skillfully, Jake beheaded another Light Warrior in his path. With a swift mae geri, he kicked the still-standing corpse away and roared at the other recruits, "If you wanna live, stick to me like glue!"

Without further explanation, he broke into a sprint and rammed into the Shimmer in front of him, plunging his blade deep into the soldier's plexus up to the hilt. The enemy soldier's feet momentarily lifted off the ground from the sheer force of the blow, but Jake continued his charge, using his new burden as a human shield.

Realizing Jake's intentions, the fearsome duo moved in perfect synchrony. Hephais dashed just behind him, slicing and incapacitating enemies in their path with surgical precision, never breaking stride.

The recruits, already strung out from the impending threat of the Pulsar, were paralyzed only for a nanosecond before their brains processed Jake's directive. Their eyes shot wide open, fueled by a gushing adrenaline rush. With only a moment's hesitation, they sprinted after their two saviors.

Ekho, already hot on their heels, was the first to snap out of his stupor. Knowing full well the lethal capabilities of Jake and Hephais, he understood these two juggernauts couldn't care less if he lived or died. Survival meant playing by their unforgiving rules and seizing every opening they offered.

Two steps behind Hephais, Ekho's blood pumped through his muscles like rocket fuel when a Light Warrior, superficially slashed by the assassin, began convulsing in his path.

"AAARRRH! Die!"

Rather than dodging, Ekho accelerated, piercing the dying soldier through the heart in a single thrust, much like Jake had done a moment before.

'Four kills,' Ekho tallied in his head, pivoting to yank his blade free without losing pace.

The recovering alcoholic wasn't the only one clinging to life. Close behind him, several other barbarians pushed to keep up. Among them were the mummy-wrapped soldier and the blue-blood recruit fighting with an enchanted ax.

The latter had managed to take down two Glitters without assistance. Compared to the other recruits, whose combat skills equaled that of peasants, at least he knew how to wield his weapon effectively.

Besides these two, there were several other male and female warriors clinging to life, their blades also slick with blood. In the Duskwight Lands, the scarcity of resources and the tribe system had eradicated any gender discrimination when it came to bearing arms. Though women weren't conscripted, they were free to enlist.

It partly explained why the three remaining women were so calm and determined. Unlike many other recruits, they'd chosen to be here. No one had forced them to risk their lives.

Still, they were Underworld Barbarians like the rest. An Earthling would need to have particular tastes to appreciate their "masculine" curves. Only one among them might be considered pretty by Earthling standards, but that was assuming they were into women over seven feet tall with a crossfit build.

Alas, despite their quick response to Jake's command and their strong will to live, their tiny cohort was soon overtaken by the Pulsar. They had hoped to slow him down using the other Glitters as a natural barrier, but they had underestimated his cunning leadership.

"Move, you worms, unless you want to die!" The giant, bathed in the blood of his latest kill, roared with a sinister gleam in his small red eyes, looking like a vampire on steroids.

Hearing his command, the Shimmers in his path instantly moved aside as if they had just been pricked.

A chilling premonition soon washed over the lagging recruits, their hairs standing on end at the diabolical roar of the monster they dreaded encountering again. One recruit risked a glance backward and upon seeing the unfolding scene, his eyes widened to their limits. Without explaining anything to his peers just ahead, he mustered every ounce of strength into his legs and bolstered forward with a desperate howl.

"What the fuc—"

Before his jostled comrades could question him, the giant's massive hands ominously closed around the skulls of two among them. Their faces turned ghostly pale as they understood whose hands these were, just before those hands twisted violently, like opening a stubborn bottle cap.

Crack!

The audible crunch that resounded when their necks snapped was unmistakably the same. In a blink, while the giant's hands were still clamped on their skulls, their bodies withered as if all the water had been drained from them.

The guy who had just hurried past them a moment ago nearly crapped his pants at the sight of his comrades dying a death he wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy.

"Fuck! Goddamn monster!" He cursed, sprinting even harder, overtaking one recruit, then another.

Unfortunately, after blowing past seven or eight more comrades, his turbo mode fueled by raw desperation couldn't get him ahead of the pack. The other recruits running in front of him had the same life-or-death urgency. While he had waited for a deathly trigger to go all-in, the others had been pushing at 120% even before the return of the Pulsar.

Less than fifteen seconds later, despite Jake and Hephais' determined efforts to clear a way through the mob, the recruit finally shit his pants for real when the gnarled hand of the Star finally closed around his skull…