The Oracle Paths

"In Myrmidian, Asthenes translates to 'weak' or 'frail'," Lucia teased, her merriment only half-hearted at this strange twist of fate. "On the other hand, if one were to attempt a literal translation of Pyrrakles, it could be read as... 'Fiery Glory'? Or 'Redhued Flame'? Whatever it is, if it's a bad joke, it certainly has its desired effect."

"What's wrong with changing one's name?" Hade arched an intrigued eyebrow, finding her reaction somewhat excessive.

In his old world, it was common practice to change one's civil name. He was originally called Sigmar, Hade being merely an alias that he had come to prefer over his birth name.

Ulfar, who was well-versed in Myrmidian tradition from dealing with them throughout his reign, burst into hearty laughter at his comrade's naive question.

Jake, too, gave a wry smile, understanding the root of his reaction.

"Forgive him, but to the Myrmidians, their cognomen means everything," Jake swiftly explained. "In their culture, names follow a three-part structure composed of a praenomen, or given name, a nomen, akin to a surname, and the cognomen, their commonly used name. The praenomen is seldom used because Myrmidian praenomens are so limited that they're literally numbers. In 'Sexta Caelia Lucia'

for instance, Sexta just means 'six', a praenomen shared by millions. Hence, in everyday life, the cognomen takes precedence. This can be inherited but is often a nickname that highlights an achievement or a character trait. By changing his cognomen, this Pyrrakles is announcing to the world that he is not the same person he used to be."

"In Myrmidian culture, where victory and glory are everything, 'Fiery Glory' is indeed quite ambitious," Jake concluded, thoughtfully stroking his chin.

"I couldn't have uttered it better myself," Lucia nodded in agreement. "His new name would be insignificant in another context, but given what Will has disclosed, I can only imagine the extent to which he has acted to honor his new moniker..."

The merchant, who had been silent for a while, confirmed the young woman's assumption with a sour voice,

"You're... absolutely right. No one imagined that, when pushed to his limits, he would develop suicidal tendencies that would alter his destiny. After completing his fifth Ordeal, like a man possessed chasing a chimera, he immediately launched into his Sixth Ordeal, then, without any downtime, the Seventh... In three days, he's gone from an invisible warrior to a heroic figure whose aura and power surpass our own leader's. Sorry, Jake, that's not quite what I mean, but unlike you, he isn't trying to keep a low profile. Anyone can sense the fluctuations of his Aether and spiritual power from miles around. It took at least that to get these increasingly arrogant vampires to fall into line. Frankly, I even encouraged him, as I had a good opinion of his character.

"Who would have thought that his true ambition was to reinstate the imperial system of the Myrmidian empire. The best and the worst of it."

Lucia, Jake, and Ulfar were dumbfounded by this revelation. It was just... ludicrous?!

"And the others followed him?" Hade asked, a tinge of disbelief creeping onto his face.

"Cough, well... Not exactly," Will cleared his throat awkwardly. "Let's just say we didn't have much choice. Grimwald and Xaverie, who had gotten big-headed, were humbled by the emergence of Pyrrakles, but the latter isn't a fool either. With these two strong Fifth-Ordeal Evolvers on his side, it would be much easier to assert his authority. An imperial system has its advantages, with those at the top having nearly all the rights.

"By then, everyone knew that the shields of our Floating Islands were just a bluff, and it didn't take long for one of us to realize that the Faction Subordinate Contract had also become void. It was enough to persuade one of us to disobey one of the faction rules for a reward to verify it.

"From there, everything went downhill. Even though many like Haynt, Gerulf, Rogen, and Asfrid still respect me, I no longer have a say in what happens. The three TX138 models you left us also played their deterrent role. Although they obey no orders, they faithfully protect your Floating Island, responding to anything that endangers it or its inhabitants. For this reason, we all migrated to your island while waiting for your return. Unfortunately, that's not always enough.

Pyrrakles is strong enough with his artefacts to hold his own against all three for a few minutes. That usually gives him enough time to achieve his goals...

"With the intervention of the Griffith clan's elder backing Wyatt, and Phirune stepping into the fray at his daughters' earnest pleas, the self-proclaimed emperor has kept a low profile with his harem. However, not a day passes without some hapless soul falling prey to his lust and being forced into concubinage. He regularly organizes gladiatorial battles on his private island, with combatants seldom volunteering for the spectacle. So dire has the situation become, many women have chosen to brave their Fifth Ordeal rather than endure his attention, while others have deserted our faction to join the Velseyel Clan. Thanks to Enya and Esya's influence, these transitions were smooth. Phirune, for all his oddities, seems to not deny them anything. Alone, Phirune is but a Fifth Ordeal Player, but he's in the top tier, capable of holding his own against some in the elite 10% of Sixth Ordeal Evolvers, and even surviving a few exchanges against a lower Seventh Ordeal Evolver. His true might unfolds when he fuses with his Magic Tower. With its aid, he can even slay Oracle Guardians."

Jake was stunned by the twists and turns of the narrative, his feelings towards Phirune's timely assistance mixed. The meddlesome man, trying to marry off his two daughters to him, was a prime nuisance, but Jake had to concede he owed him one this time.

As for the Seven-Ordeals-surviving Pyrrakles, Jake wasn't fazed. The power leap from one Ordeal to the next might seem exponential, but there's a reason most Players take their sweet time before tackling the next.

To rush into the subsequent Ordeal unprepared not only slashed survival odds but also compromised the theoretical maximum Ordeal Rating-after all, what could a puny insect do when surrounded by colossal, ruthless dinosaurs?

It's a system where the strong grow stronger, the gap between the mighty and the weak widening with each successive Ordeal unless the Players self-examine and adjust.

And Jake? He was undoubtedly among the strong. Give him one more Ordeal, and he'd flatten this Pyrrakles like the insignificant ant he was.

"What's the body count, after all that's happened?" Jake asked sternly, ready to face the unvarnished truth, whatever it might be.

"Of our 419,000 official faction members, about 40,000 perished during their Fifth Ordeal, with around 70 survivors... that didn't win. Yeah, it's that bad... Among them are Grimwald, Xaverie, Kenway, and Qewie. But Kenway's brother, Lysander, is dead, which led to other complications... Qewie became Pyrrakles's target, so she's since joined the Velseyel Clan. 25,000 were captured by Vampires, and just over 80,000 sought refuge with the Velseyel Clan. The remainder accepted the situation, and a privileged minority, mostly men, can even be considered truly loyal to Pyrrakles. He's even won the support of several Myrmidians, who secretly uphold this new Myrmid Empire. By the way, the fool is still a Myrtharian Nerd. The guy is big-headed, but he's smart enough not to foolishly give up on your Cosmic D Starfeyrves Body Passive."

Lucia and Ulfar sneered with disdain at this last comment. Clever bastard.

"The real issue," Will continued, "is for the nearly 950,000 probationary members that were waiting to join our faction due to limited space. The faction rules, which staved off disaster for the first two years, couldn't protect them, and things went downhill from there. Our islands' shields were the only difference maker, but as you know, that bluff didn't last. After about 200,000 of them ended up as Vampire blood banks, most sought protection from Pyrrakles's empire or the Velseyel Clan without hesitation. We couldn't prevent it because your three TX138 models battle against just one Pyrrakles. Had we pressed, he might've buddied up with the Vampires for a pincer attack. That would've been even worse.

At least now, everyone has their guns trained on each other, which helped us reach a somewhat constant stand-off less than two years ago. It could've remained that way, but the situation has changed in recent months."

Taking a deep breath, Will sighed heavily, then dropped the bombshell.

"Swarm of Space Digestors have begun targeting our islands."