The Oracle Paths

With the enemy subdued, Jake walked leisurely over to him, stopping when his face was only inches from his own. The desperate Vampire immediately retaliated with an attempt to bite him in the throat, but Jake fended off the attack by lazily tilting his head back.

The captive Vampire's jaw snapped shut with a painful chattering sound, but the worst was yet to come. When he tried to retreat by pulling his head back, Jake's hand suddenly gripped his throat and with a flick of the wrist dislocated his mandible.

The lower half of his jaw now hanging limply in the void, Jake observed his victim with a tinge of condescension, which looked more like a taunt. As if he was inviting the Vampire to try his luck again, but making it clear that the consequences of his next offense if he failed would be more severe.

"Juu kii eee." The humiliated Vampire babbled unintelligibly because of his dislocated jaw.

"I'd rather know the reason for this little chase and the name of your accomplice." Jake chuckled as he carved gently onto his prisoner's forehead the words, "I am sincere and unable to keep a secret."

The Vampire immediately felt the difference on his psychological state. It was completely different from the combo of lesser Aether Spells that Jake had spammed in his face. This time he could feel that it was a direct confrontation between their wills, but these words of power seemed to be primarily draining his own spiritual energy rather than that of the Mutant in front of him.

"Wha the fuu ii tha?!" He began to panic as he began to thrash around in his prison again.

"Tut, tut, tut, you don't have to know. Just relax and tell me what's on your mind." Jake shushed him with his finger.

Carmin watched the scene of capture and the bizarre interrogation with a dumbfounded expression. Seconds earlier, she was in dire straits, hounded by this arrogant Vampire and an unknown Player. Now, that same arrogant Vampire was at Jake's mercy, spilling everything he knew about his clan's grand design, as well as every juicy detail and rumor he knew.

Not a complete moron, the Vampire realized that the gashes on his forehead had to do with his loquacity and tried to focus his Blood Energy on them to speed up his regeneration, but with mild success.

Each time the Words of Power were about to fade, Jake would simply run his claw back over the gashes, deepening the incisions each time. By the time the Vampire finished confessing everything he knew, the cuts were so deep that they had left several indelible grooves on his skull.

After hearing his confessions, any hint of mercy Jake might have felt towards his captive vanished for good. With a backhanded swipe, he sent the Vampire's head rolling to the ground.

Unforgivable! The crimes and machinations that this Vampire and those of his clan had committed were so numerous and despicable that even Jake, who thought he'd seen it all in terms of depravity since the Bhuzkoc episode, couldn't help but execute him on the spot.

"I know why you're here, Carmin." Jake said, turning his head to the stunned young woman.

Now that the battle was over, he noticed that her suggestive dress was in tatters and his gaze could not help but slide towards her plunging neckline and her bare thighs. Of course, Carmin noticed his reaction, but instead of covering herself prudishly, she willingly leaned forward to give him a better view.

Paradoxically, this is what brought Jake out of his admiring daze. Although the young woman was indeed ravishing and to his taste, he had not forgotten how their last meeting had ended.

Seeing that he was not in the mood for jokes, Carmin stopped teasing him and covered herself by changing her dress in front of him without showing the slightest embarrassment.

"I don't understand why you dress like that instead of wearing armor..." Jake commented in a low voice without hiding anything of his perplexity.

If she never got hurt he would understand, but whether it was this Ordeal or the previous one she had often found herself in a bad position because of her inadequate gear.

"Because I basically use my Charm to get my way." She replied with a bewitching smile as she winked at him.

"That doesn't seem to work very often." Jake scoffed callously. She was pretty and charming, but not so pretty that he couldn't control himself.

"I've never used my Charm on you." She answered honestly with more of a straight face than he expected from her.

"Not even when you tried to drink my blood during the Third Ordeal?"

"Maybe once?" She rolled her eyes ambiguously. "But I haven't tried it since. More frankly, Quanoth is not the right place for me. Since the natives are only as strong as their spirit bodies, the ones I can't defeat are also the ones my charm is ineffective on. Not to mention the fact that Vampires and Demons abound in this city with mind control abilities that don't pale in comparison to mine."

"You don't need to justify yourself. Just tell me why you're here and let's get it over with." Jake gave her a curt rebuke.

"Wyatt and Aisling. I suspect they were captured." She dropped the bombshell. From her red eyes and downcast expression, he could tell it hadn't been easy for her to come to him for help after their last exchange.

As expected. Jake sighed inwardly. The Vampire's interrogation had told him enough to come to this conclusion.

"We'll discuss the rest on the way."

Carmin's account of the last three months corroborated the version of the Vampire he had just interrogated. When he had gone into exile on his own for training, Laudarkvik had enjoyed a brief lull that had unfortunately not lasted.

As Aisling and Haynt had suspected, the other Factions had predictably made no move against them upon their return, leaving them to go about their business as usual and interacting with them as if nothing had happened. Provided that they did not take any further risks and stayed within the city walls, they were no longer in immediate danger.

With Ruby also gone, Carmin was left as the only Player among the Mutants and with Aisling's similar age and decent strength, they immediately hit it off. Over the past three months, she had quickly made herself indispensable to the other Mutants, earning their respect.

By comparison, Jake, who had been made Vice-Leader by Aisling with Haynt's endorsement, had never shown his face ever since. If not for his heroic feat of saving Aisling's life during the battle of Lodunvals, the other Mutants would have long since challenged his meteoric rise.

Unfortunately, things were never simple. Two days after Jake and Ruby disappeared, the imperial knight-griffin detachment mobilized by the Emperor of Ret'Asi had finally arrived in Laudarkvik, led by none other than the commander-in-chief of the imperial garrison.

The other Factions initially planned to blame Aisling and Haynt for their failure to rescue the refugees from Lodunvals. At that point, the other factions, especially the Undeads, would have put themselves forward by showing that they had retaken the city and even repelled the invading Khinchod by exterminating the vast majority of its army.

Even if Aisling and Haynt objected to their methods, or accused them of plotting against them with supporting evidence, it would not have changed the outcome. For the emperor didn't care about their internal squabbles as long as his orders were carried out properly. In fact, he even encouraged this kind of conflict. The more Laudarkvik was divided, the less time they had to foment a revolt.

Yet, there was one small incident that all those plotters in Laudarkvik had not foreseen: the death of Sir Gole. This useless and incompetent man was none other than the very son of the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, the High Duke Gole.

Sir Gole was the decadent aristocrat, who had been engaged in fornication and debauchery in his carriage until the last moments of his life. When the Wengols had caught up with the Lodunvalese refugee convoy, he was making out with his concubines. When the demons stirred up a riot and the dead humans and Wengols were turned into Undeads, he continued to ignore the threat to his life. When the Vampires of the Thrajah Clan showed up, he feverishly indulged in his wild ways.

At last, when he had died in general indifference, struck down by the barbarian Player named Azeus accompanying the lich Vhoskaud, nobody had noticed anything.

In addition to overseeing the reconquest of Lodunvals and the counterattack against Khinchod, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard had volunteered for this very mission to rescue his son. Upon his arrival, instead of inquiring about the fate of Lodunvals, he immediately sought to know the fate of his son.

High Duke Gole was the emperor's right hand, and the emperor trusted him completely. The imperial knight garrison accompanying him numbered only 500 warriors, but each of them was above level 70. They represented the quintessential military power of the Empire, the elite of the elite, selected from billions of soldiers.

At that moment, their evil plan had backfired. The face of the powerful Wight co-leading the Undeads had become even more corpse-like, while the Lich occupying the second seat had quickly found an excuse to escape.

Carmin, Elduin, Bhammod, Jake, Ruby and the refugees among the witnesses had been called to testify and this time their testimony had not been taken lightly.

Upon learning the truth, Duke Gole was immediately enraged.