The Oracle Paths

They were none other than the three Virtues chasing Vexa and Radur who had fled after the death of the two other Virtues in charge of protecting the Schwazen capital. Mirror Vanguard had been unable to find them despite the active collaboration of Caphriel and the Schwazens loyal to Aurae.

Xi never expected to meet them here, in the eye of the storm.

[How did they get here undetected?] She wondered, all sorts of unanswered questions bubbling up in her mind. [Could they have been lurking until now by moving through the Mana Storm?]

It was unlikely, but after witnessing Digestor Ruby's adaptive abilities firsthand, she didn't find it so hard to believe. These Corrupted Virtues could definitely adapt to the Mana Storm if given enough time. If they knew from the start what its nature and composition was, then it was entirely possible for them to prepare in advance.

Maybe it was part of their plan from the beginning. If the other Digestor Trojans had not been culled from the Ordeal, the situation would probably have been much worse.

"Shrrriiii! Isn't that the Player who killed our brother?" The leftmost Virtue whispered in a shrill, inhuman voice that had nothing to do with their past angelic grace.

"It's definitely him." The one in the middle answered in a more normal voice, staring at Jake with a look of malice and cruelty, "His companions also killed Mahanaim. Too bad, the ones still alive are already out of reach..."

"Argue all you want, but the smell of him makes my mouth water. I'll take a bite first."

[Jake, we've got a big problem.] Xi shouted into the latter's head to get him to refocus to no avail.

Apart from tensing his muscles, squirming and flailing around like a shackled beast, he was no longer capable of any intelligent action. Not that he had any better options. His Bloodlines abilities and Spells were all but useless here.

Without giving Xi time to catch her breath, the last Virtue to speak waved its hand in front of him and one of the Mana vines binding Jake forced his right arm to unfold. The angelic creature flapped its wings once, raising a tornado of wind, and the next moment its eight wings covered in a black halo slashed the same spot: the insertion of his shoulder.

A spray of blood spurted into the air and his severed right arm was caught in mid-air by a blurred figure. When it stopped a few feet behind him, the Virtue that attacked him reappeared with his arm in its mouth. Grabbing the arm in his mouth with both hands, he pulled hard on it while clenching his teeth, tearing off a hearty piece of flesh.

"Ahhhw, so delicious." The winged monster savored with an ecstatic expression of delight.

Not wanting to be outdone, the other two Virtues pounced on him at the same time and soon after Jake was deprived of his left arm and right leg, his partially Mana-saturated blood dissipating into the Mana Storm.

[Jake!]

"Jake!"

Xi and Jeanie shouted his name in an attempt to stir him up, but in his state Jake was unable to perceive such insignificant pain. The pain that the Mana Storm flowing through his veins inflicted on him was a million times worse.

Xi used all of her computing power and searched all the records in the Oracle System for a solution, wondering why Aurae hadn't intervened. This was typically an extreme situation that required his intervention!

[Fuck! Why don't any of his Ordeals end properly!] Xi swore angrily as Jake did under an overwhelming sense of injustice, clearly influenced by their prolonged mental cohabitation.

Jake's soul and Spirit Body were in his Aether Soul Core, but the Mana Storm had already reached his brain. If the Oracle didn't bring him back now, he could very well die for good.

Crunch, crunch...

As Xi racked her brain, Jeanie could hear the three Virtues greedily devouring their snacks, commenting on each bite as if it were an exceptional gourmet meal.

"This meat is really succulent. The quality of this Aether, the richness of this Aether Code is truly otherworldly." The first Virtue to have attacked was also the most locaceous and took a malicious pleasure in stirring the knife in the wound of his victims.

The second Virtue was more calm and civilized, but totally agreed with him. "After devouring this Player I should be able to awaken several new abilities while significantly increasing my survivability and defensive capabilities."

"I want his telekinesis and his ability to control gravity." The third angel chimed in, chewing mechanically.

Seconds later, they finished their first snack and postponed their digestion until later to devour Jake before the Mana Storm melted his precious Aether Code beyond repair.

The first Virtue's clawed hands abruptly speared Jake's skull from behind, coming out the other side through the middle of his forehead holding a crystalline light bead in his finger tips.

"I just want that bead this time. I'll leave the rest to you." The creature called dibs on his Aether Soul Core, instinctively understanding that it was the most valuable thing there was.

The other two monsters were not stupid and immediately grasped his intention.

"Too bad, I wanted it too. Why don't you eat his brain instead to assimilate his memories?" The second Virtue offered in a creepy voice.

"Take it easy. I'll eat the pearl and because I'm a generous person I'll leave you his Aether Core and the other unidentified Energy Core he hides in his Dantian." The third smacked them away with his wings while spewing bullshit.

The surprise attack sliced through the first Virtue's fingers, causing him to drop the Aether Soul Core between his fingers, but just as his assailant was about to gobble it down with a snap of his jaw, a ball of blue light shot out of Jake's mouth and caught the bead in midair. As he focused his gaze on the speck of light, a tiny winged figure appeared in his line of sight.

"Shrriiii!!! Who do you think you are to come between me and my meal?" The angel hissed ominously.

Trembling with terror, Jeanie summoned her courage and shouted, "I will not let you eat his soul!"

Clutching the Aether Soul Core to her chest, a resolute and sad expression hardened her features and as she left a river of tears in her wake she shot straight into the still half-open mouth of a lethargic Jake. Stripped of his soul and his brain wracked by the Mana Storm, he was a pile of flesh with the IQ of an oyster.

Understanding Jeanie's intentions, a mixture of horror and hope swept over Xi. [Don't do that.]

But her mind yelled, "Do it!"

Jeanie passed through Jake's esophagus of her own accord and splashed herself and the Aether Soul Core into his stomach. What would happen if a Min Min and a soul ended up being digested by that same soul's body? Xi could only guess.

Xi had no choice but to take control of Jake's body and risk damaging the circuitry of his Oracle Device to redirect all available Aether and Reiga into his digestive system, sacrificing the rest of his body. His brain was already compromised anyway.

At the same time, hidden in Jake's cells, a grayish mass gloated. It had already been at work for a while, but nothing had happened the way it wanted. Sensing that the decisive moment had come, it retracted from Jake's cells and charged towards his stomach.

As the last of the grayish filaments escaped his cells, more black filaments sprang from their cores, wrapping themselves around the moving filaments. The captured gray filaments began to vibrate, emitting a "Shrrii" so faint that no one could hear it, and then they were quickly dragged by the black filaments into the cells they had just "escaped".

BOOOM!

Jake's stomach emitted a blinding flash of light and a shockwave so loud that it alerted the three bickering Virtues, but also Digestor Ruby. The monster woman momentarily stopped absorbing the Mana Storm, her predatory instincts suddenly urging her to flee.

At the same time, above them, millions of kilometers above, a titanic metallic face of cosmic proportions froze. Its six eyes, brighter than six suns, flashed imperceptibly and a crack opened at the bottom of its face, opening a chasm several hundred thousand kilometers long.

A smile. A smile that would give you the chills.