The Oracle Paths

Earlier...

Corvac had just swallowed the Anthace seed in his hand after springing his grand trap. Victory was set to be bitter, but he would survive! That was his resolve as a general, a Lifemancer, and a Light Warrior loyal to the Radiant Conclave.

And he had every reason to be confident. These seeds had been handed to him by Anthace himself as a reward for his faithful service. Everyone knew that the Titan Tree was the most significant guardian of the lands they fought for, and the main reason for their superiority in every aspect over the primitive tribes of the Duskwight Lands. If the Abyssal Revenant Ledger hadn't appeared to offer a semblance of competition, those backward barbarians would have lost the war long ago.

Moreover, the uses of these rare and precious seeds were no state secret, although few were rewarded with one directly by Anthace. Given their staggering lifeforce, they could serve both as a source of energy for all sorts of powerful Lumyst Spells or Arrays, and as a medicinal ingredient for cultivation with the right methods.

However, these seeds were seldom consumed directly, as the astonishing amount of lifeforce and Light Lumyst compressed inside could cause any cultivator of insufficient stage to implode. Radiant Lord was recognized as the minimum realm. Corvac met this requirement with his peak-Radiant Lord cultivation and was thus confident in his ability to withstand the shock.

Even so, the danger was real; the seed could use their body as fertilizer to sprout if they were careless. That's why normally, Anthace would block this function to avoid any regrettable incidents. To his knowledge, such a tragedy had never occurred, proving the reliability of the old tree.

The other reason the veteran general was proceeding in this way was because Anthace was a primordial Titan deemed to have endured more than 30 baptisms. The exact number was unknown, as the plant entity, almost as ancient as the Lumyst River, could produce all sorts of goods from its body like wood, fruits, flowers, roots, etc., of a lower enchantment level than its main body.

This spoke volumes about the old tree's mastery of Lumyst. Jake, by contrast, could for the time being only produce materials of the same enchantment quality as his own body.

The only exception concerned its seeds. They had the same potential as their progenitor. If they were to be planted, a second Anthace could theoretically emerge.

That's why the Titan Tree strictly forbade them from planting the seeds without its permission. The Titan would then proceed to kill their consciousness in the bud by linking them to the rest of its vegetal network covering the entirety of the Lustra Plains. This mechanism had greatly contributed to the monstrous plant's expansion.

For all these reasons, Corvac didn't doubt his decision for a moment when he swallowed the seed in his hand. Never would Anthace seek to harm a citizen of the Lustra Plains.

That's why, when the seed cruelly sprouted in his stomach, its roots expanding voraciously through all his organs to suck out all his lifeforce, he felt betrayed. A rage, a hatred like he had never experienced in his long warrior existence erupted from the depths of his heart, overwhelming his consciousness.

The general wanted to backpedal, make himself vomit, seek revenge. But by the time all these thoughts crossed his mind, it was already too late. A second later, the expanding roots pierced his skull, sucking out his brain matter and annihilating his mind for good. Then, having nothing left to feed on, the starving roots burrowed their way to the surface of his skin to project themselves into the vast expanse of water that had engulfed them.

The omnipresent Lumyst Water was in turn absorbed, becoming nutrients for the seed, and the hollow carcass of Corvac began to grow at an exponential rate, his withered skin covering with bark. From his arms, branches budded, then rapidly branched out, while from his feet sprouted all sorts of roots infiltrating the depths of the groundwater at a frenzied pace.

In less than five seconds, a colossal Treant Puppet had replaced the deceased general. His trusted officers, guards, and Radiant Mages standing back behind their general under a fragile barrier witnessed the entire scene frozen in horror. Ceythie and her officers were no less unsettled, unable to make sense of what was happening.

All but one. The giant in silver and gold plate armor serving as Corvac's right-hand man flashed an evil smile as he beheld the gigantic humanoid tree that had replaced his former superior.

The goliath was named Isdar, and under the guise of serving the Radiant Conclave, was part of a hidden order of Light Warriors answering directly to the Celestial. The weakest member of this underground organization was a Saint.

Surprisingly, the Lumyst Water that had engulfed them out of nowhere left him indifferent. Where other fighters, allies or foes, were forced to rely on the battalion of Radiant Mages or their artifacts to endure, the giant only had his armor and flesh to withstand the bite of the enchanting water.

Unmoved by Corvac's tragic fate, Isdar then slowly turned to the other soldiers paralyzed with fear, and pointing at what remained of Corvac he announced without a hint of sadness,

"Corvac's sacrifice has served its purpose. Enter his body if you want to survive this calamity."

As if to validate his point, the colossal bark giant knelt in their direction, his sudden movement stirring up a whirlwind of water. With its two enormous wooden hands, the huge creature then planted its fingers into its chest, then spread them apart to open a thin breach in its chest. Wide enough to admit the tallest Light Warrior.

The soldiers were full of suspicion before his strange inviting posture, but facing the proven threat of the surrounding water, they stifled their mistrust and took refuge in the breach without hesitation, jostling each other to enter first.

Once the last one entered, the breach created by Treant Corvac immediately healed, sealing his chest hermetically. It was no different from another prison. The plate-armored man remaining outside finally discarded his mask at that moment, his friendly smile turning into unadulterated contempt.

"These fools... As if Anthace could take the risk of letting any of you survive after witnessing such heresy. You would have been better off taking your chances with the baptisms. At least there, you would have had a tiny chance of survival."

Echoing his words, screams of agony broke the silence. To the Saint's eyes, these tearing screams were like a delicious symphony to his ears.

Ceythie and a few other officers had also witnessed the entire scene and had thought of taking refuge in Corvac's body with the enemy troops. Hearing these screams, they had no choice but to retreat.

This scene of horror surpassed anything their intelligence services had managed to glean from the enemy. Since when did the enemy possess such a weapon?

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Of course, they had not yet realized that Corvac was nothing more than an empty shell. To their eyes, except for Ceythie and a few generals with strong mental senses, the Treant was just a secret weapon of the enemy.

The Great General, known for never backing down from a fight, would have taken up the challenge under normal circumstances, but with all this Life Lumyst Water around, it was suicide. Especially since she could feel the purity of this water increasing rapidly... Without hesitation, she telepathically ordered, projecting Spirit Lumyst filaments directly into the foreheads of her subordinates.

"Scatter! Regroup at these coordinates once you've shaken the enemy. Use the enslaved wandering souls in your artifacts to buy some time. The rest of you, burn through your Spirit Lumyst Aura! If fate allows, we'll meet at the exit! I hope to see as many of you alive as possible then…"

"Hooah!"

Trained never to question orders, her war comrades fled in all directions without a word, while the artifacts holding wandering souls began to expel them to serve as decoys.

"As if I'd let them escape after what they've just witnessed," Isdar sneered, drawing a massive wooden flamberge. His silver and gold armor also reverted to a dark bark state, as a black aura began radiating from his body. "Corvac, kill them."

Unable to speak, an ominous, evil green glow flared in the eyes of the immense treant as a sign of agreement, then thousands of roots burst from his body, chasing after the fleeing soldiers.

The moment Ceythie wanted to stop them, her instincts made her hairs stand on end, and she raised her saber just in time to parry a phenomenally powerful blow from the flamberge. The force of the stroke was such that her weapon broke, the enemy blade penetrating deep into her armor.

"How is this possible?!" She stammered, eyes wide with incredulity at her broken sword. Her weapon wasn't supposed to be this brittle.

She was indeed channeling the bulk of her Spirit Lumyst Aura to resist the water, but her saber was an artifact with its own spirit. It wasn't something that a mere wooden flamberge strike could sever, whether it came from Anthace or not.

But if it was just that, a distinguished general like her wouldn't have been so shaken. The spirit of her weapon no longer responded at all. Its consciousness had been completely obliterated.

Then she noticed the dark and sinister light enveloping her opponent's blade and understood,

"You... You're not a soldier of the Radiant Conclave! Who are you?!"