The Oracle Paths

"Not a single trace of the Treant." Hephais reported back, his expression unreadable, within their new command tent. "It's like it vanished into thin air."

The Egaean had just returned from his scouting mission, having combed through dozens of regions nearby, gradually expanding the search perimeter and was in a foul mood. Although covering such distances and scanning them with his senses was nothing for an Evolver of his level, it was still a major drag.

Jake, who hadn't been idle during his absence, stopped what he was doing to listen to the assassin, a puzzled frown knitting his brow.

"Not even a footprint or a hole in the ground?" Jake tried, without much hope.

"Only the network of roots and underground tunnels attributed to Anthace roots." Hephais shook his head. "Far from big enough for Corvac."

Ceythie, who had been discussing 'several logistical details' with Jake just a moment ago, had silently witnessed their exchange and commented,

"Corvac had a horde of tamed Nematodes. Some of the tunnels might have been dug under his orders. However, I'm sure he hadn't planned on turning into a mindless Treant, sacrificed as fertile soil for an Anthace seed. He was my long-time enemy, but precisely for that reason I knew him well. He would never have accepted such an end when he had the chance to escape with a Saint under his command. He was most likely duped.

"By the way, setting aside his transformation into a Treant, his strategy was risky but not unreasonable. He still had over 200,000 Light Warriors, and 450,000 Beasts when he activated his trap. Statistically, while our army would have been completely annihilated as soon as the purity of the Life Lumyst Water exceeded 15%, a handful of his lucky soldiers would have had decent chances of survival. Except that apart from us, no one survived.

"Last murky point, Corvac could have resorted to the same tactic as us to protect himself and his men from the water."

"His Goblet of Ethershine?" Jake murmured thoughtfully, conjuring the said relic.

It was one of his three main rewards from the battle. The golden wooden cup was similar to the one he had just lost but emitted stronger waves of lifeforce.

[Bronze Aether Artifact: Goblet of Ethershine +27 (Replica): A high-quality replica engraved with a Light Sanctuary Array. Material: Anthace Wood.]

The relic's description provided by the Oracle System was much more concise and mundane than that of his Chalice of Nethershade. In fact, all replicas of the Goblet of Ethershine were the same.

Where all replicas of the Chalice mentioned a mystical material called Naetherium, Life Spells, and an order of Cosmic Monks who would have forged the original relic, the replicas of the Goblet of Ethershine only mentioned one material: Anthace wood.

Yet, my first Side Mission expects me to merge the Chalice of Nethershade and the Chalice of Etherlife together to reform the original relic. Jake began to seriously consider the topic for the first time.

Etherlife... Ethershine... Could the Goblet of Ethershine be another name for the same thing, a counterfeit, or another replica? In that case, where was the real relic?

Anthace... With all these twists, Jake felt the mystery had slightly unraveled while also thickening a bit, though it also raised a bunch of other questions.

"...If Corvac had placed the troops accompanying him inside his artifact, they would have been safe." Ceythie concluded solemnly, her pallor still cadaverous after having consumed nearly all her Lumyst Aura et Spirit Spirit to survive. Her dedication to her post was praiseworthy.

Hephais and Jake fell silent to reflect, but a breath later Jake sighed,

"All this indeed doesn't make much sense from Corvac's perspective. Even assuming he wasn't able to use his Goblet at the time, I'm sure several of his high-ranking officers by his side must have secretly or publicly held a decent replica."

Ceythie and Hephais nodded somberly. This was precisely what Jake had done when his own artifact was already in use and thus unavailable for refuge.

The heavy silence lingering, Jake spoke up again with a grave expression, "So, we're operating under the assumption that Corvac was indeed betrayed or duped. Does everyone agree with this theory?"

The two others nodded once more in agreement.

"In that case... All the more reason to proceed as we've just discussed." Jake declared, turning back to Ceythie.

"The preparations to march on Lustris will be ready by tomorrow morning at the latest." The weary warrior thumped her chest confidently. "By tonight, all legions of my Ironsoul Berserker Army operating on other fronts will be aware of what happened here and of my allegiance to the second Soulmancer King, the foreigner Jake Wilderth."

It was, at the moment, his second reward of the day. The total allegiance of a Great General and, consequently, all the armies under her command.

After Ceythie and several of her men had been saved by Jake and his companions, she was not only indebted to them, but she had also realized how foolish it was to resist him. This Cho Min Ho, posing as the replacement Soulmancer King, seemed like a clown in comparison.

The charm Jake had previously used on her to win her support, albeit with limited efficiency, was no longer necessary. Anyway, after the loss of her Lumyst Aura, her mental defenses were considerably weakened. At that moment, Ceythie was extremely vulnerable and needed someone powerful like Jake to hope for a comeback.

And to do that, one had to show they were useful, irreplaceable despite their loss of power. This was precisely Ceythie's plan.

Believe it or not, but the front line stretching from the South to the North of Twyluxia was so vast that the number of hardened Ironsoul Berserkers was in the tens of millions. If one counted the freshly conscripted recruits, the number was even higher.

Ceythie may have lost a huge amount of troops on this battlefield in a single morning, but the number of loyal soldiers she could rally just by mentioning her status as a Great General remained staggering.

Combined with the fact that she was ready to rebel and turn against the other Great Generals to defend his enthronement as the second Soulmancer King, Jake couldn't but be satisfied with this new subordinate.

"I'll leave it to you." Jake smiled, patting the Great General's shoulder, who blushed involuntarily. The remnants of his charm still affected her. "If you're truly loyal and plan to accompany me to the end, I can promise you restoring your former power won't take long. These Lumyst Auras, on which a good part of your power and reputation rest, are just one of many ways to become stronger. As long as you have your Lumyst Cultivation, the essence of your power remains intact."

This was the strict truth. Lumyst Aura was a kind of contract with Twuluxia. This Aura grew and evolved by chaining kills on the battlefield, boosting the physical condition of its bearer, but ultimately it was just an advanced form of Lumyst.

Lost souls were just a substitute for Spirit Power, and unlike Players, these barbarians didn't seem adept at purifying them. Sacrificing all the souls accumulated in her Aura had ruined decades of combat accumulation for Ceythie, but in reality, she could easily replace them with more Spirit Power.

Her Spirit Lumyst was not a good solution for obtaining Spirit Power, because unlike Players who could separate it according to their attributes, the natives were unable to do so. This meant that the Spirit Power obtained was impure and therefore dangerous.

As for intents, manifestations of True Wills unique to each Spirit Lumyst Aura, it was just a forced integration of Soul Power. Developing one's Aura facilitated the acquisition and manifestation of several war-related True Wills, but without it, the acquired True Wills didn't disappear. Only the Soul Power needed to be renewed.

Which... except for Jake and a few privileged Players, generally took time. On this point, Ceythie wasn't wrong to be pessimistic. Without Jake, regaining her full power in a short time would indeed have been almost impossible.

After Ceythie left, Jake then turned to the assassin and, without having to say anything, the latter grumbled reluctantly, "You want me to protect her? Tsk, can't ever catch a break here... I hope I'm getting overtime for this..."

"...I just wanted you to order Crunch and Lord Phenix to escort her, but since you insist."

Damn... He should have kept his mouth shut. Hanging around Jake, he was behaving less and less like a taciturn assassin.

But since he'd shot himself in the foot, Hephais accepted his fate and left the tent to blend into Ceythie's shadow without her noticing. With him to protect her, even another Great General wouldn't be able to do anything to her.

Once everyone had left, Jake's expression changed, and he finally turned his attention to his third reward of the day. It concerned the notification that had popped up after he'd slain Isdar.

[Your Lumyst Aura has reached level 2. Your Lumyst Aura meets the conditions to take its First Form. When you are in a safe place, please attend to it.]