The Oracle Paths

The monster woman was captured and brought back bound and chained several minutes later. Several riders were missing from the initial troop in pursuit.

She was still in her half-human, half-beast form and the sight was just sickening. Although its greenish fur was caked with dried human blood, the rage-ridden creature appeared utterly incapable of coherent thinking and only snarled and bared its teeth whenever anyone got too close.

In this state, the humanoid monster did not resemble any known Earth beast. The claws, tail, and fur might suggest a large grizzly bear, but its lack of a nose, six bulging red eyes, and three moss-covered antlers spreading out like a fan on either side of its skull disputed this.

This elderly woman, who was in fact only about forty years old, was neither a Werewolf nor a Werebear, but was indeed a Were-being.

'What species is this?' Jake asked Xi to save a scan.

[A Wendigak, a variant of Wendigo.] She answered concisely after consulting the Oracle System.

Her Oracle AI transferred to him whatever data she had on the topic, and Jake immediately learned what he needed to know about these evil creatures. The genesis of these creatures varied from world to world, but according to the theory of evolutionary convergence, similar species from two different worlds were very likely to have emerged for similar reasons.

In reality, the Oraclean had a word for every idea and concept. The Mirror Universe was so vast that every idea, thing ever imagined by a human or any other creature had to exist somewhere. It was the same premise that justified the presence of so many human subspecies throughout the Mirror Universe, not just on Earth.

Speaking of Earth, if we look at ancient mythology, the Wendigos came from a North American myth and were reputed to be a breed of humans who became so after falling into cannibalism or after being possessed by a demonic spirit or surviving the bite of one. No one knew what the exact trigger was, but unlike Werewolves or Vampires, Wendigos were considered inherently evil, with no hope of redemption.

In the rest of the Mirror Universe, it was pretty much the same story. Wendigos and all their variants were always a civilized non-cannibal species that had committed this taboo at some point, then derived pleasure from the act and kept repeating the deed until they turned into one of these monsters. The catalyst could have been the influence of a spirit demon, Aether, dark magic, an Aether Spell, or even the awakening of a Soul Class. In truth, it didn't really matter what it was.

What was important was that once transformed, their thirst for human flesh surpassed all else and they became unable to derive pleasure from any other food or activity. Those with strong ideals and willpower could resist this hunger for decades, even centuries before giving in. The catch was that Wendigos would regurgitate any food that was different from their native species prior to transformation, becoming incapable of sustaining themselves.

In other words, any Wendigos still alive after a few months had inevitably given in to their instincts.

"Thank goodness I didn't have to pick that Bloodline after my First Ordeal." Jake shuddered in dread at the thought.

As he watched the monster being hoisted onto the scaffold, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of compassion for this mother who was most likely just a victim who didn't ask for any of it. Her only sin was to have somehow survived the attack of a Wendigak.

The throngs of villagers gathered excitedly around the execution site and Jake and his companions followed without enthusiasm. Her son, who had cleared his name, was numb with horror and was well on his way to developing some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Why is the executioner heating the blade of his sword?" Trash asked curiously as he saw the same shaggy man with yellow eyes muttering a fire spell.

The man wearing only a faded black suit and a threadbare frock coat had questionable hygiene, but no guard dared to utter a squeak in his presence. The fierce predatory glint in his golden eyes and his grime-blackened clawed nails were all the man needed to command respect.

He was a representative of the Were-beings.

"Because the Wendigaks can only be killed by melting their ice hearts." Jake eventually answered the orphan's query with a scholarly look when he had just learned this information himself seconds earlier. "Otherwise, even decapitated or chopped in half, their spirits come back to life after a while and infect someone else."

Ruby gave him a snarky look as if to scoff at his shamelessness, but she remained silent. Of course, the other natives didn't notice.

"Oh, so that's how we kill them..." Elduin marveled as he banged his fists together. "No wonder the one we killed three years ago came back to attack us every night for a week after we cut him out the first time. It was only by cremating it that we solved the problem for good."

"Ah, I remember that one." Bhammod grunted gruffly. "We lost a good man to that scum."

"Well, now you know how to kill one." Ruby sneered as she crossed her arms.

"I'd rather know how to kill you, bitch!" The elf vilified her bluntly.

"Hey, be nice to each other." The little fairy pouted adorably as she flitted between them.

However, meeting Ruby's emotionless gaze sapped all her courage and she flew back to hide in Jake's mantle pocket.

"That girl is not a good egg." Jeanie muttered inaudibly, her mind relapsing into its paranoid whims. Unfortunately, this time her fears were well founded.

When the yellow-eyed man's white-hot sword was finally plunged into the heart of the Wendigak woman, a blood-curdling howl of agony ended the crowd's whispers, and sizzling sounds, followed by the boiling of water, together formed a symphony of suffering that would mark the minds of the onlookers forever.

When the steam ceased to flow out of the monster's perforated chest, the executioner withdrew his blade, fully cooled, and sheathed it indifferently in its sheath. The executed woman had regained her human appearance and one would have thought she was sleeping peacefully if not for the gaping hole where her heart had been.

"Bury her." The Were-beings representative ordered wearily. "If the son behaves suspiciously or seeks revenge. Kill him on the spot."

" Understood."

" By your command, Sir Raulf." The guards quickly bowed to reaffirm their allegiance.

As the crowd of villagers dispersed, Jake nudged Ruby, who at that moment was playing the role of a beautiful, innocent young woman. From the point of view of the other villagers, they could easily have believed that she was his slave or that he was mistreating her. Well, that was close enough to the truth...

"Hey Ruby, doesn't it bother you to see an ordinary woman lose her life like that because of instincts she is powerless to suppress?" He teased her snidely after getting her attention.

She turned her head in another direction and snubbed him. The corner of Jake's lip curled up to sketch a triumphant smirk and he commanded,

"Answer the question."

Constrained by the Slave Contract, Ruby persisted in avoiding his gaze but answered honestly through gritted teeth,

"Nothing at all. I...don't...feel...anything...at all."

Jake frowned.

"Look at me." He ordered coldly.

Before she could comply, he teleported in front of her and had time to catch the silver glow pulsating in her pupils. It was instantly dispelled, but it was too late. Seeing this, he sneered disdainfully.

"You thought I wouldn't notice you using your Digestor part to resist. That means you're lying. No need to ask again. I have my answer." Jake said with his back to her.

'I'm lying?' Ruby repeated in her head, raising a confused eyebrow.

She didn't feel like she was lying. It was what she truly thought, but at the same time she didn't feel like she was being totally honest either. It was hard to describe, but at that very moment she had spoken from the heart.

Suddenly, a demonic smile flashed across her angelic face, before immediately dropping away.

'I did lie, Jake. I was not unmoved by that woman's death. I felt a sadistic and jubilant pleasure in watching her death. I would have liked her to suffer a thousand times more before perishing, but the icing on the cake would have been that her executioner was then sentenced to death too for the same crime and tortured in the same way. He too is a monster. I can see it in his eyes. You too, Jake, are a monster. Your indifference gives you away. We are all monsters.

'Even those ordinary villagers who live in terror are monsters. They may not be cannibals, but they sell their brothers and sisters for a pittance, stab each other for a handful of silver coins, rape, hurt and steal to drown their despair, and are willing to kill to receive a Vampire's Embrace or a Were-being's bite if it allows them to escape their miserable, hopeless lives. How could all these miasmas and evil spirits come into being if all these people were innocent? How can I be indifferent when a woman has just been punished for something she can't control, while everyone else is sinning knowingly?

'Hypocrisy and weakness, that's what needs to be punished.'