The Oracle Paths

As he hustled into his combat suit within his sanctuary, Will suddenly crinkled his brow, the notification from the AI managing Jake's Floating Island in his absence instantly pulling his attention.

[A person named Kali Zolvhur is requesting access to our territory. Should I unseal the Yellow Cube?] [Access request denied...]

Before Will could finish processing the message that popped up in his field of vision, another identical one popped up, followed by another and another... The AI, with annoying tenacity, seemed to mock him by making the same decision again and again even after consulting him.

Suddenly exhausted, he sighed deeply, face fallen, then set off, grumbling to himself, "Damn it, I just remembered there's someone else besides Caphriel, Pyrrakles, and this envoy who's a bloody thorn in my side..." He shuddered at the thought of this elusive individual who pestered him relentlessly, every damn day.

For a year, there hadn't been a single day where this enigmatic Kali Zolvhur hadn't tried to teleport onto Jake's Floating Island via the Yellow Cube. As he departed from his trusty Sanctuary with a burdened stride and a gloomy disposition, escorted by his Dragon Guard, he continued to mumble to himself, "Kali Zolvhur..."

Zolvhur... If the surname was not a coincidence, it could only be one person. The one Jake had warned him about right after their return from the Second Ordeal.

If she were truly their ally as she claimed, Will would have unsealed one of their Yellow Cubes long ago to grant her asylum. Yet, even the autonomous sub-program left by Jake's Oracle AI firmly denied her access.

In this context, he dared not make any rash decisions. The infiltration by Brain-Eaters was enough to break him into a cold sweat, without adding another layer of worry... If a terrifying Silver Zhorion like Kali were under the control of a Brain-Eater... He shuddered just thinking about it...

BOOOOM!

Tatatatatatatatatata!

Fortunately, or perhaps not, as soon as Will saw the chaos raging in the blackened sky above, his troubling thoughts were swept aside. His senses now fully focused on the present enemies, his emerald diamond-shaped mark on his forehead began to flash, and Charizard materialized beneath him, rapidly outgrowing Mufasa and most of the other Dragons.

Thrilled to be finally free, the enormous dragon, who now appeared anything but cute, with his massive membranous wings capable of shrouding an entire alley in darkness, let out a rallying roar. As if in response to his call, the other dragons, up to now in their humanoid forms, underwent their own transformations, revealing a terrifying scene.

Then, with a perfectly synchronized wingbeat, the squadron of flying lizards, brimming with violent intent, took off with a powerful flap of their wings, leaving behind a tumultuous hurricane in their wake...

*****

When Cekt ended the communication with Will, Jake and the others remained quiet for a long moment, their hearts heavy. If they had been hesitant to stay a few more days to take advantage of the Magnetic Resonator and better prepare for their Fifth Ordeal, now they were not.

They needed to return as soon as possible.

"Pyrrakles and his empire, Grimwald, Xaverie, the vampire clans behind Wyatt, the Space Digestors, and possibly the imminent invasions of Evolvers from other planets..." Hade summarized with a dour look. "That's a lot of enemies..."

While Ulfar managed to put on an amused smirk at this blatant realization, Lucia was trembling with barely restrained rage. Only a thin but persistent thread of rationality held her back from demanding Cekt to teleport her there right away, even if it meant incurring a debt that would take a million years to repay.

"This Asthenes... How dare he betray us? If he truly respected the Myrmid Empire, then I am still his princess! This is clearly a ploy to seize power!"

Lucia spat out through clenched teeth, her golden eyes gleaming with a lethal and enraged glint that made the king of Beskyr swallow down the tasteless joke he was about to crack.

Jake, who was standing off to the side, lost in thought and oblivious to his girlfriend's fury, turned to his master and asked bluntly, "I want to call someone else."

Cekt, whose tiny heart had barely recovered from the cost of their brief 6.07-second conversation, stiffened upon hearing his disciple's serious request.

It was worth noting that 5.6 seconds had elapsed before Will decided to speak in a rushed manner after Jake's reminder...

"Whoever you want to call, I'll hang up after 3 seconds, not a millisecond more," the gremlin warned in a dry voice. "If it's just a Civilian, you'd better give up."

Jake stiffened, thunderstruck. He wasn't certain about his cousin's capabilities. Could her mental stats handle high-speed telepathy? Well, there was only one way to know...

"I wish to contact my cousin, Anya Wilderth," He declared resolutely. "If it fails, attempt to reach my Uncle Kalen, then Ruby Hale, my Oracle Slave."

As long as he heard their voices, he'd at least know they were still alive. As for Ruby Hale, he wasn't overly concerned whether she lived or not. But he knew she'd know the state of New Earth and his cousin if the first two calls failed.

Fortuitously, to the old alien's chagrin, the call connected immediately.

"Hello? Who is this? Is this you, Jake?"

-836 Quintillion AP...

-847 Quintillion AP...

-839 Quintillion AP...

[Tut-tut... End of communication.] No sooner had Jake's face brightened at his beloved cousin's voice than Cekt severed the call, at precisely three seconds... Jake's brow twitched in a glare towards his master, but there was nothing he could do to convince him to reinitiate the call.

"I warned you. Three seconds. Not a moment more,"

The Wendok harrumphed, tilting his chin up and looking away with an infuriatingly smug expression.

If he weren't so fucking strong, Jake would have lunged at him.

Next, Cekt allowed Jake to contact his Uncle Kalen and Ruby, but each time the communication ended before Jake had the chance to truly connect with them.

Being a regular human, Jake sent his uncle a voice message so concise that calling it hidden would be an understatement. On the plus side, his master assured him that the message could be decompressed and decoded by his Oracle AI, much like any audio recording. It would just take some time...

Ruby, on the other hand, hung up on him despite clearly hearing and understanding his telepathic message. Stumped and decidedly peeved at his "soulmate's" insolence, Jake eventually dropped the matter with a loud snort.

A barely perceptible wave of worry nonetheless flitted across his face, an anomaly not missed by Cekt and Hade.

"You fear the Digestor Trojan she was may return?"

The Fluid Grandmaster questioned gravely. "A legitimate possibility."

Cekt, unaware of this saga, inquired about the conversation, and Jake gave him a succinct rundown on how he'd purged Ruby of her Digestor half by a stroke of luck, thus acquiring his new unfathomable bloodline.

He also shared his doubts about their past, pointing out their similarities and the often-invoked soulmate narrative by the Oracle to persuade him to save her, despite common sense and the fact he owed her nothing. When the Wendok heard his musings, his expression became solemn, and he retreated into thoughtful silence. Saros' hologram, which they had almost forgotten, displayed the same grave expression.

A bit later, the alien shook his head as if giving up, and stated, "I must conduct research. I'll update you when I have news. All I can tell you is that you indeed can't let this Ruby perish. If my intuition is right, 'Soulmate' refers to your souls, not some romantic ideal." He shot a sarcastic glance at Lucia.

"There's some bond between your souls. As for the why, I dare not speculate..."

Jake could tell from his master's ambiguous tone that he was concealing something, but he didn't press. He knew the Wendok would inform him in due time.

In the following minutes, it was Lucia's, Hade's, and Ulfar's turn to contact their loved ones. Given that Will hadn't specified which of the 40,000 members had perished during their Fifth Ordeal, their concern was justifiable.

Having confirmed that Gerulf was alive, Lucia preferred to forfeit her chance, fearing she would become even more infuriated upon learning who else among her Myrmidian compatriots had betrayed her to support Pyrrakles' new Myrmid empire.

Hade, had no loved ones among the Myrtharian Nerds despite getting along with a few like Asfrid.

Since his ethics prevented him from squandering sextillions of Aether Points just to ease his mind, he gladly gave up his chance.

Thus, in the end, it was Ulfar who gladly accepted their shares, dishing out gushing gratitude wrapped in bear hugs and hollow promises.

After that... they watched him, expressions numbed and eyes glazed, as he contacted each of his girlfriends one by one, from his Beskyrian wife to his latest triumphs during his Last Ordeal...