The Oracle Paths

"Don't do that, Ael. You're killing us!" A Lost Divinities Player screamed in horror as he felt the fundamental forces holding his cells together disappear.

That was how the black cloud had locally collapsed, but alas, the Nullifyer's powers did not distinguish between ally and enemy. Everything in his domain was irreparably affected, including himself.

Ael frowned as he received the derogatory yells of his subordinates. The curtain of clouds was just below them and would overtake them any second. He was already doing his best not to disintegrate them, spending his True Will to keep them from disintegrating along with the hostile clouds.

"If you don't want to die, then move your fucking asses." He growled coldly as he switched off his Nullification Domain. The black clouds that had almost caught up with them filled the vacuum sphere that had formed around him, and the Lost Divinities Players finally realized what a dire predicament they had gotten themselves into.

Without worrying about them, Ael soared into the air with a sonic boom and then, with the help of Nucnar, parted the earth in two to clear a path for himself. Felphi rolled her eyes, inwardly admiring his domineering attitude, and then flew off after him.

Sub-leaders like Deimos, Khag' Dhagmai and Ozo rushed into the tunnel without wasting time, leaving the rest of their subordinates behind. Deimos and Khag' Dhagmai could not fly, but they were able to manipulate their Divine Energy to adhere to the surfaces. In any case, they were running so fast that the concept of verticality was meaningless at their level.

"Fuck! Run!" One Player suddenly cried out as he saw the tide of black clouds surging towards him at the speed of a herd of galloping horses.

The deities, gods and would-be deities were not told twice and reacted swiftly. Those who could not fly used their own legs like Deimos to climb the passage opened by Nucnar. The others used their own ingenious methods.

Thyohr turned into an ice comet and shot up like a shooting star into the rift. Ashun, who seemed powerless and desperate, dissolved into a puff of smoke of unspeakable fragrance without leaving a trace.

Aggenur, still in his Demogorgon form, spread his broad, membranous wings and with a flap rose more than a kilometer, unleashing a hurricane that threw several of his allies into the black cloud curtain.

Belakor used a similar method, even sweeping aside the Players in his way with his fist. Those unfortunate enough to be smacked by him were knocked down like bowling pins, many of them falling directly into the sea of storm clouds.

Astraroth, another Archdemon, teleported away with a thought, mercilessly abandoning his subordinates. The demons of his clan tried to follow suit, but most of them could barely resist the hurricane stirred up by Aggenur.

Dhamde, the horned swordsman in kimono who was furiously hacking at the clouds to protect his companions, gave the three demons a murderous look as he saw them fly away. Aware that it was too late, he slashed through the hurricane with his sword, which was slowing down the weaker Players, and then dashed into the breach.

All the other Players followed in his wake, but in the meantime dozens of Players were killed.

Meanwhile, Asfrid and the other Myrtharian Nerds were facing their most terrifying enemy since the Ordeal began. Ael and Felphi closed the distance separating them in a heartbeat with Nucnar's power paving the way, and Jen's best efforts did nothing to hinder them.

Feeling a sense of impending doom like never before, Asfrid, who had not yet fully recovered from her mental fatigue, gritted her teeth and used Force Push again. Both Ael and Felphi were blasted into the abyss this time, but the Nullifyer was prepared this time.

Less than three seconds later, he teleported back in front of her, Felphi breaking her fall only a few hundred meters below by activating her disruption techniques. Seeing this, Asfrid cursed them inwardly and ignoring her nosebleed used Force Push again.

This time it didn't work at all. Felphi stepped in and used her disruptive powers at full strength, a vast spiritual presence pervading the atmosphere and opposing the Eltarian's weakening True Will. The Force Push ricocheted off them seamlessly, their bodies recoiling only a few inches.

As a result, the two deities also began to plummet, their own telekinetic powers neutralized, but the interference lasted only a split second. Just enough to counteract Asfrid's Force Push.

At that moment, seeing that the other Lost Divinities Players were about to catch up, Hade grabbed Asfrid by the collar and threw her behind him, entrusting her to Immyr who caught her in his maw.

"Don't wait for me." The Fluid Grandmaster announced solemnly as he held up his black light saber.

The Aether over tens of kilometers in radius instantly vanished, instantly dropping the Aether density to zero. On the surface, his technique almost resembled the godlike powers of Ael and Felphi. His crushing defeat at the hands of the blue-skinned woman had certainly inspired him.

Being specially trained to resist this kind of ability, Ael and Felphi easily survived the momentary disappearance of the Aether, but for an infinitesimal time the cohesion of space became so weak that it was torn apart. Nucnar was shredded to bits, his remains sucked into the gigantic spatial rift.

At the same time the missing Aether shrouded Hade's light saber and arm and he slashed forth with an overwhelming killing intent imbued with his bountiful True Will.

"DIE!"

For the first time, Ael and Felphi's expression turned serious and an ominous bluish-black glow radiated from their hands, their bright pupils betraying the full release of their Soul Power.

"Disruptive Shield." Felphi declared grimly.

"Absolute Nullification Field." Ael mouthed concurrently.

The black crescent of light packed with a frightening amount of energy capable of destroying absolutely everything in its path dissipated against an invisible force field without making a sound.

At the same time, the massive spatial rift wreaking havoc closed as if it had never existed, the local Aether density currently at zero suddenly becoming infinite. Ael's nullification abilities were not only limited to removing what already existed, he could also nullify what did not exist, producing its exact opposite. Of course, this was not without consequences for his body.

For conversely, the Aether within the bodies of all those encompassed by his Nullification Field vanished and with their Aether stats reduced to zero, Hade, Ael and Felphi were suddenly faced with a never-ending deluge of Aether.

Infinite Aether density meant infinite gravity and temperature. Although such an absolute divine ability could only be maintained for a tiny fraction of a second by burning up his True Will, it was enough to change the course of the battle.

Felphi resisted fiercely by unleashing her disruptive powers at full strength, consuming her own Soul power, but Hade didn't get away with it. Even sacrificing his True Will and using the move he had practiced to resist Felphi's powers, his body was crushed by a near infinite pressure.

His soul was about to collapse completely with no way to be saved by the Oracle when Ael and Felphi imploded in turn, crushed by an invisible hand of cosmic might.

Because the Aether density was infinite, the fabric of space was frighteningly strong and their remains were not sucked into a spatial rift. Instead, their divine powers were extinguished and the Aether density returned to normal, the Aether density that had fallen to zero having already risen to a non-lethal value in those few milliseconds.

Hade, whose Spirit Body was like a windblown candle about to be snuffed out, cast an exhausted look in the direction of his savior before slipping into unconsciousness. Before being repatriated in a hurry by the Oracle System, he whispered in a soothed voice,

"I did not fail in my mission. I protected the Myrtharian Nerds while you were gone."

Jake watched Hade's soul wisp disappear with a guilty expression on his face. If he had arrived a second earlier, he could have prevented this dramatic turn of events.

"It's not your fault." Ruby consoled him by patting his shoulder with a sad smile.

Gerulf, Rogen, Haynt, Tim and the others showed the same shame, their guilt far more apparent than the guilt on Jake's face.

When they had been buried by kilometers of rubble in yet another antimatter explosion, the two Kintharians and the three Throsgenians with them had died instantly despite the efforts of Jake and the others to protect them. Tim had survived due to his luck, perhaps indirectly saving the entire group from a worse fate.

The blast from the last antimatter explosion was not something a Fourth-Ordeal Player could handle, no matter how talented they were. Without Jake, Gerulf, Rogen, Wang Xiaoming, Haynt and Ruby they would have been dead for sure.

If it was the last explosion, they could have joined the others less than a second later, but the explosions didn't stop after that one, quite the opposite. To prevent Hade and the others from suffering the consequences and to give them time to get away, Jake and the other survivors had to use all their trump cards.

When the explosions had finally abated for a few seconds, they had rushed to join them, but when they arrived they had witnessed this apocalyptic scene. Jake had immediately gone on the attack but it was already too late. Hade could no longer be saved.

He had taken his revenge, but the taste of victory was bitter.