The Oracle Paths

"I'd bet my boots that one or more of those creatures is what's holding Cekt back." Jake voiced aloud, an air of revelation dancing in his eyes. "It would explain the temporal distortion."Yet, in an unexpected twist, Xi didn't share his confidence; her doubts echoing within his mind due to their soul connection.

"Xi?"

[It's nothing.] She reassured him with her soothing voice, but he could feel her lingering worry. [I hope I am wrong. Even if I am right, it is already too late, anyway.]

Jake gave her the space she needed, sensing where her fears might be rooted.

Their optimistic hypotheses only held water if they underestimated the Dungeon Digestor that had claimed the Magnetic Resonator for itself. So far, the creature's performance had been disappointing, seemingly validating their assumptions. But this could just be a trap.

Had they been snared by the enemy's ploy from the very beginning, their strings plucked by a puppet master?

THUD, THUD, THUD!

As if the Dungeon Digestor sought to confirm Jake's suspicions, he, Siri, and Ulfar turned around with a start, hearts pounding in their chests as the ground shook beneath the heavy footfalls of an approach. The newcomer's entrance was as subtle as a thunderstorm - the silhouette of a muscular, four-armed behemoth impossible to forget.

A blink of an eye later, the towering figure of Saros, standing well over four meters tall, skidded to a halt before them, scrutinizing them from a height with a reproachful gaze.

"I finally caught up with you, hehe," the Oracle Guardian chuckled, but the fury in his bloodshot eyes and the throbbing vein along his temple betrayed his apparent delight.

This was the first time he had failed so miserably in one of his missions. Being duped and outwitted by a post-Fourth-Ordeal Player, even if it was an Oracle Knight, was a humiliation that would likely haunt him for a long time.

Worse, it was a blot on his record that could never be erased. The Oracle System archived everything, and even though they were currently offline, it would update immediately once they reconnected. His superiors would instantly be informed of his blunder, and there would go his next promotion!

"Jake, you owe me an ex-" Saros began, his voice laced with heated fury, but Jake cut him off with an icy stare.

"Easy, big guy. It's not your fault. You couldn't have stopped this. But we have more urgent priorities. How did you find us? Were you attacked on your way?"

Saros, who was ready to unleash his pent-up frustrations, was taken aback by the barrage of unexpected questions. What the heck was he talking about?

However, the seriousness on their faces suggested that things were not as they seemed. On closer reflection, his journey had been largely uneventful, other than wandering the funnel for a long time before suddenly finding a path large enough for his massive body.

He had been so elated at finally finding an exit that he had not given it a second thought, diving straight in. Once inside, he found himself in a long, straight, dull corridor with no complex intersections to choose from.

With only one way to go and his high stats, it had taken him just a few minutes before Jake and the others appeared before him. He had been relieved that all ended well, but perhaps he had celebrated prematurely.

Sensing something was amiss, a shiver of foreboding ran down his spine, and he opened his mouth to...

"I-"

SHRRRRRRRR!

The noise that filled the air wasn't the screeching wail of a Digestor, but a metallic grinding--steel gnashing against steel.

Jake, Saros, and the rest spun around, their faces slack with astonishment. The passage from which the Oracle Guardian had emerged was abruptly contracting, its metallic structure briefly seeming to return to a state of fluid malleability.

If this was the only trick in play, Jake would have deemed it a Dungeon Digestor's ploy to cut off their retreat. But when the corridors from which he and Ulfar had emerged closed in a similarly magical fashion, their hearts plummeted.

"Is it trying to trap us here?" Jake mused, furrowing his brow in deep contemplation.

If so, to what end? The Dungeon Digestor surely knew of his ways to forcefully carve a path. It wasn't as if simply sealing off the exits was enough to trap him.

He was soon granted an answer to his questions, much to his chagrin.

The ground, which Jake had until now believed to be level or, at the very least, aligned with gravity, abruptly inclined downward until it was nearly vertical.

Unfazed, Jake remained upright, arms folded, as though his feet bore the adhesive hairs of a spider. But Ulfar, still grappling with his curse of misfortune, was flung headfirst into the opposite wall as though catapulted. If not for Saros, who snagged him by the scruff of his neck, who could say what fate might have befallen him.

This was no laughing matter. A simple fall could hardly kill an Evolver of Ulfar's caliber, even when cursed. Yet, seeing the metallic waves recede from the spot where Ulfar was poised to crash, Jake's eyes narrowed, acknowledging the near-fatal escape his friend had just made.

The newly formed corridor led straight to the Conversion Chamber, the very place where the Magnetic Field Disruptor was located...

How did Jake know this? Because the corridor had appeared right beneath the one Saros had come through.

From its angle... It was clear. This new pathway could only lead to the Conversion Chamber.

But why now? And how could this have been Ulfar's death sentence had he fallen in? Jake and the others racked their brains for answers, but when they were engulfed by the most monstrous magnetic field they had ever encountered, comprehension dawned on them.

Had Siri still possessed her former android body, an EMP of this magnitude would have most likely fried her old circuits. For the first time, she was happy to have swapped bodies.

"Fuck you, Ulfar! Can't you keep your goddamn curse to yourself?!" Jake spewed out, his voice a cocktail of frustration and incredulity.

"Damn it! Do you think I chose this fate?!" Ulfar roared back, his face reddened and bloated with rage. He had never felt so wronged.

"Fuck! By Beskyr's bow, I've bitten my tongue again!"

Witnessing the once dignified and majestic King of Beskyr squeal in pain, blood trickling from a bitten tongue, Jake momentarily forgot the biting retorts he had prepared, pity taking their place.

"..."

"Guys!" Saros interjected, anxiety lacing his voice. "Sort out your issues later. We have a far more pressing problem."

The Oracle Guardian had already installed a broad spherical steel shield to block the entrance of the corridor leading to the Conversion Chamber, but within milliseconds its surface was already glowing a scorching red.

Jake and Ulfar froze, desperately trying to remember what followed the activation of the Magnetic Field Disruptor. Jake wasn't fearful of a magnetic field of such intensity, but he knew this was just the beginning!

A sudden lurch, followed by a swift jerk to their right, made it clear that the Magnetic Resonator had made a swerve, drawing nearer to the black hole's event horizon.

"Oh no..." The color drained from their faces, their expressions turning ashen, Saros included.

After the magnetic field's activation by the Magnetic Field Disruptor, there was the clash with the black hole's magnetic field-hence its moniker. And logically what came next was...

BOOOOOM!

The plasma storm!

If Saros's shield, a Silver Aether Artifact, was already red-hot from a mere magnetic field, they could only imagine the aftermath when the blast from such an energy storm would spill into the corridor behind.

Instant annihilation!

Suddenly, the fact that the exits had closed around them became chillingly clear. It was indeed a trap.

The Dungeon Digestor had laid its cards on the table, turning the room they were grouped in into their tomb.

Following the first explosion, a second, even louder one resounded, and the sight of the Silver-Aether Artifact glowing white-hot before starting to evaporate sent shivers down their spines.

"BRACE YOURSELVES!" Saros bellowed, taking refuge beneath his own energy shield without a care for the others.

What remained of the round shield blocking the corridor, once a precious Silver Aether Artifact, completely vaporized, and a flash of blinding white light swallowed their sight.