The Oracle Paths

Following the terrified warning from the few barbarians relying on him, Jake remained utterly stoic, merely scowling in the darkness. Initially, he was more curious about when they had learned his name. Most likely, Ekho must've clued them in on their way to Havocspire.

CLANG!

The enemy commander's massive club, which should have been knocking on death's door, was barely intercepted by Hephais, inches away from smashing into Jake's skull. The Egaean had uninvitedly sprung from his shadow just in time to block the deceitful attack.

As if he needed saving... Finally turning around, Jake calmly witnessed the Vitalist getting his heart crushed a second time by the emotionless assassin. Yet, a flicker of confusion could be detected in his cold eyes, a reaction quite uncharacteristic of him.

Shifting his gaze between the dying giant and Hephais with a disapproving curl of his lip, Jake droned,

"Failing to kill your targets doesn't really seem like your style... Is this guy that hard to kill?"

Unfazed, Hephais shrugged, "If I accept an assignment, I never fail. He should be dead."

"T-then why is he still alive?" One of the recruits stammered, sweating bullets as they noticed the Vitalist's injuries had mysteriously vanished as if time had rewound.

As if his heart hadn't just been ripped out twice in less than three seconds, the shamed and enraged commander flashed a carnivorous smile tinged with sadism and resentment, then swung his club at the duo with all his might for the third time.

"DIE, VERMIN! You can't kill me!"

Jake, who had predicted this unexpected 'resurrection,' had already stepped back a few paces to give his comrade room. As he resumed slaughtering the other Shimmers who were showing a bit too much interest in the other recruits and himself, he found he couldn't contain them all. Those approaching from different directions had already resumed slaughtering his frightened flock.

The poor surviving Underworld Barbarians were overwhelmed from all sides, falling to the Shimmers' sword strikes every moment. Within seconds, they were reduced to twelve, then eleven... then just seven.

"It's annoying," Jake was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the facade he had imposed on himself for his own benefit. The urge to unleash hell and devour everything was eating at him from the inside.

Fortunately, he could count on Hephais.

SLASH!

Seconds later, a spectacular spray of blood erupted in all directions, and a heavy, bearded ogre's head flew through the air, landing a few meters away in the mud like a thrown bocce ball. Jake glanced back to see that the seemingly immortal Vitalist had been cleanly decapitated.

Even more brutally, Hephais had targeted his soul this time. The commander couldn't be more dead.

As Hephais prepared to wipe out the remaining Shimmers at an evidently paranormal speed, he froze in his tracks when the giant's living mace swung down at him again, its rage amplified tenfold.

When Jake and Hephais locked eyes with it, they saw that this time its eyes were bloodshot and bulging, as if the thing was no longer conscious. Catching the overpowering mace strike with one hand, the assassin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"I gotta admit, this is beyond my wheelhouse. Its soul is gone, but it's still kicking." He observed, deciding it was time to pull out the big guns as ordinary attacks were proving futile.

His arm blurring suddenly, he started slicing through the tenacious Vitalist with his bare hand, cutting through the air and his target thousands of times in a heartbeat. A blast of flesh, blood, and bone dust splattered several meters around him, giving the battlefield a fresh coat of paint.

"Done," Hephais coolly announced, lowering his hand now drenched in the giant's blood.

As for the few surviving Underworld Barbarians like Ekho or the mummified soldier, they were dumbstruck, jaws practically hitting the floor. As for the Shimmers, they were stunned.

'W-what in the world just happened here? Is this guy even human?'

That was pretty much the kind of thoughts one could read on their faces, transfixed with disbelief. The notion that such a monster was among them was as reassuring as it was terrifying for the conscripts.

But while Jake had done his best to keep a low profile, a vein of frustration throbbed on his forehead as he caught the recruits glancing at him with fleeting suspicion. Far from vindicating him, the shadow assassin's extraordinary performance seemed to have the opposite effect.

'Fucking Vitalist and Lifemancer,' Jake cursed inwardly, figuring it was because of these two that his first battle was such a pain in the ass.

His irritation only escalated when he looked up to see Meribelle on the brink of defeat. Covered in her own blood from head to toe, she had aged several decades compared to just moments before.

In contrast, the Lifemancer opposite her was still looking dapper, even his white robe remaining immaculate. Slowly but surely, he was draining her vitality, inevitably lessening the young woman's chances of turning the tide.

'Great! A skilled Lifemancer and his Vitalist puppet right on my first official battle. What a shitty day…'

As if the situation needed to worsen further, the enemy commander, who was supposed to be irreversibly obliterated, was already swinging his club at Hephais' face again. The latter was now genuinely baffled.

It wasn't until he noticed several Shimmers lying dead in a familiar state of decay that the Egaean finally grasped what was going on.

"A Vitality Link?" The assassin finally blurted out after passively parrying the unkillable giant's attacks for nearly half a minute. "Does this mean I have to wipe out his entire regiment to finally take him down? Or is this the Lifemancer's doing?"

Hephais, whose affinity was with darkness, obviously couldn't perceive and even less so cut such links. If he wanted to put an end to this virtually immortal giant, that was indeed the only way.

Jake didn't suffer from this limitation at all. Not only could he clearly see lifeforce, but he could also see the invisible threads of life connecting them.

It was indeed a Vitality Link. More ancient and primitive than the one provided by their own Faction Skill, but it had the merit of not depending on an Aether Network on the verge of collapse.

From the get-go, Jake had wondered about the purpose of those life threads linking all these Light Warriors. Now, it was crystal clear.

It also shed new light on General Torvi's cynical words: "So go on, die with honor, Commander. Ensure that you and your precious recruits create an opening for us that makes your deaths worthwhile."

Apparently, he meant that shit literally. They'd have to wipe out an entire army of a commander from the Lustra Plains just to get a shot at delivering a real death blow. Otherwise, they were basically facing off against Voldemort and his thousands of Horcruxes—well, maybe millions or billions for heavy hitters like the Celestial.

Picturing what could've happened if he had targeted the Celestial from the start, Jake patted himself on the back for his caution before bursting into laughter. Hephais and Meribelle, who were both entangled with their own unkillable foes, couldn't help but shoot him a sidelong glance as he chuckled to himself.

Hephais, who knew Jake better than the female Soulmancer, inquired telepathically, 'You got a way to kill them?'

Jake instantly regained his composure and replied with a pessimistic expression, "Not only can I kill them, but I could also replicate the same thing if I felt like it. Too bad I'm fighting for the Dusken Throne, so giving it a whirl is off the table."

The assassin fully understood why Jake's expression was so grim. If it were up to him to kill this Vitalist and Lifemancer, flying under the radar would be a no-go.

BANG!

Just as Jake had almost accepting himself to getting his hands dirty after less than three minutes of battle, Soulmancer Meribelle's nosedive and icy crash were the final straws that broke the camel's back.

Or rather, the incoming allied reinforcements closing in on their position. On paper, it was good news, but he knew it would only prolong this already prolonged battle and make it harder for them to explain how they'd defeated an entire army by themselves.

Eyeing the agonizing Soulmancer not far off, the seven trembling recruits, and his comrade Hephais who was yawning while entertaining the Vitalist in a game of whack-a-club, his face gradually darkened. For a moment, all that could be heard was the drumming of the rain, its icy silence drowning out everything else.

At long last, Jake exhaled with a deep sigh, his eyes resigned, and said,

"Fine. You asked for it."