The Oracle Paths

A few hours later, Hephais, Svara and the other scouts returned to the base with new information. In the meantime, he had consolidated his makeshift cave with a solid lining and wide beams of black diamond and Adamantium, so he was also able to go out if he wanted to.

" So?" Jake inquired.

"It's exactly as we imagined, but the real chaos hasn't started yet." Svara reported with a knowing look.

"The Replicators control all the territories west of Celestial City and their numbers are countless." Hephais explained more professionally. "Even the Drurs that own the Shatug Empire have given up defending these areas. Anti-Life and the Replicators are allies and thus share the same territory."

Remembering Vhoskaud and the way he fought Jake became thoughtful and asked the unsettling question,

"How many Players from Replicators are actually participating in this Ordeal? I'm not talking about the millions of androids and undeads serving Vhoskaud, but real Players like you and me with an Oracle Device."

Hephais and the others exchanged an uncertain glance, but against all odds it was Maeve who impassively provided the answer,

"It's just him. As a demon, I can perceive the flow of negative thoughts and if these androids had their own personalities I would have realized it. All these robots are emotionally synchronized and their mental fluctuations are identical."

Hade, who had also participated in the scouting, walked over to them and nodded,

"I'm afraid Maeve is right. That would explain why the Replicators and Anti-Life trust each other so much. Vhoskaud only needs one spot and has no problem leaving the rest to Anti-Life. Their alliance can be considered relatively solid."

"And Anti-Life has the Antimatter Bug." Asfrid pointed out bleakly. "I have no doubt they will use it."

Rather than moping, Jake uttered,

"What else?"

"Lost Divinities is hiding like us." Asfrid continued. "We haven't run into any of their members. The battles on the surface mostly involve the Drurs army and the invaders who migrated here from all over Quanoth. There are also a few minor Player factions that clash from time to time, but most keep a low profile just like we do. It pains me to say it, but the innocent civilians and migrants have already all but perished. Several hundred million aliens and creatures are still fighting, but the standard of power is that of a Rank B+ Adventurer of level 55 or higher. The number of hermits and reclusive beasts with frightening power and longevity camped outside the Celestial City right now is in the tens of thousands. The strength of some of them represents a threat even to the super factions. As for those of lower rank... they are now doomed to play the role of cannon fodder."

Jake became solemn when she mentioned these creatures. It was only the Rank S natives and Players like Vexa and the Nullifyer that he kept an eye on. He doubted that any Rank S human natives had a stronger body than he did. He did not fear for his life, even if he had to face an army.

But it was in a purely physical fight. If he had to face the combined Forbidden Spells and psychic attacks of thousands of S-Rank Adventurers his chances of victory were basically zero.

And just now, Asfrid had hinted that some of these natives were on the level of the Nullifyer and Vexa. This meant that these beings were at the World Boss level. No wonder Lost Divinities is keeping a low profile for now.

"It's not worth fighting for now." Aisling concluded with her throat tightening in sorrow.

She couldn't help but imagine that this was what would have happened to her and the other Mutants of Laudarkvik if they hadn't met Jake and his friends.

"In this case, it will be to whoever is the most patient and undetectable." Jake declared coldly. "Use the days we have left to prepare for the final battle. Hade and Asfrid, I will need your help."

Over the next few days, the atmosphere in the underground base was rather taciturn and tense. Those like Lucia, Maeve or Drastan who were eager to fight spent their time training, but because they were underground and could not go wild or their enemies would detect them, the quality of their training suffered greatly.

Others, like Gerulf and Rogen, were content to sleep after being buried underground. This kind of place was their favorite environment. Large creatures like Mufasa, Shere Khan, the three birds of prey and the giant mammoth had no choice but to do the same for lack of space.

The rest meditated or silently practiced their True Will. The only exceptions were Jake, Hade, Asfrid and the 27 Eltarians still alive. Of the 38 still alive after the super faction trial two months earlier, 11 others had perished while crossing the Maze of Mirik or acting as a diversion along with Radur and Vexa during the capture of Cradel.

Jake knew that the time he had left was too short to drastically increase his power and he was now certain that Lost Divinities and the other super factions had no way of tracking them. The fact that they were no longer included in their Oracle Paths predictions was a game changer.

After calmly analyzing the situation, the current configuration was that of a Warzone-style endgame of a battle royale with the ring area that could be occupied gradually shrinking. Anyone who had any experience with this kind of game knew that the best way to survive was not to jump into the fray but to stay out of sight as long as possible while moving along with the mist in order to avoid being flanked from behind.

The final battle was inevitable, but if he could fight as late as possible and let them kill each other it would naturally be for the best. Jake was convinced that the first super faction to openly join the fight would inevitably find itself in trouble.

The catch was that unlike a Call of Duty game, they were not fighting with gunpowder weapons and a couple of vehicles. Even if they didn't know where they were hiding, it was still possible for other factions to kill them.

The biggest danger was definitely the Antimatter Bug of Anti-Life. A one-gram bug could unleash an explosive power of 40 kilo tons and that was more than enough to level a large city and mortally wound the majority of S-Rank Natives and Independent Players.

If he were in Anti-Life's shoes, Jake would have planned defensive measures to survive such explosions. The Oracle Shield was an obvious solution for the Players and therefore he was absolutely certain that Anti-Life had more than just an Antimatter Bug. This creature multiplied by mitosis extremely quickly and he had to assume that they had an unlimited supply.

The second danger was their allies the Replicators. Their almost unlimited number and the fact that they had a deal with Anti-Life suggested that they too had a way to protect themselves from the Antimatter Bug. Since Vhoskaud was basically an android with access to all sorts of high-end knowledge, it was not surprising.

If Jake could come up with these deductions, then so could Lost Divinities, and Mirror Vanguard who knew about the Antimatter Bug. The only ones left in the dark were the natives and the other minor Player factions still in the running.

But thanks to this, he could predict Lost Divinities' and Mirror Vanguard's strategy to some extent even though his Oracle Predictions didn't take them into account. If he was right, Lost Divinities and Mirror Vanguard would temporarily join forces against Replicators and Anti-Life.

To increase their chances, they would also spread the word to the other Player factions and the natives about the Antimatter Bug. Because this creature was native to Quanoth, the Drurs, who were the most advanced civilization on that planet, would immediately recognize the danger.

While Jake was more than happy to let the two super factions consume their forces against Replicators and Anti-Life, he could only fish in troubled waters if the Myrtharian Nerds could also withstand the Antimatter Bug's explosions for as long as possible without being detected.

The Oracle Shield certainly wouldn't be enough. His own perhaps, but not that of the other members of his faction. Despite the fact that they were now only the elite of the elite, the performance of their bracelet was directly dependent on the amount of liquid alloy in their possession. Even redistributing the 60+ tons of liquid alloy on him evenly, it would only reduce their overall defenses.

If the black clouds weren't pressing in on them, Jake might have considered fortifying his underground base into a truly impregnable nuclear shelter by piling on tons and tons of Adamantium Essence. But since they would have to stay mobile to avoid being caught by the curtain of black clouds, he needed another solution.

And that solution was technology.