The Oracle Paths

Jake paused for a brief second, his gaze drawn intently to the corpse at his feet that had just entered eternal rest. At that moment, perhaps instinctively or just out of caution, he checked the last data recorded by his Snitch Ring. As expected, his Contribution Points had increased, but no Titan had been injured this time.

If every soldier fighting for the Dusken Throne has a Snitch Ring, they must have something equivalent on them.] Xi reminded him needlessly, their minds always in sync.

"Anthace," Jake murmured in agreement, catching a halberd swooping down at his back without looking.

As he wrenched it from the stunned assailant's grip with a jerk and eviscerated him with an oblique slash, he thought to himself,

'This tree is the main hurdle preventing me from concealing my identity from the enemy for long. I assume that even without any dirty tricks from Cho Min Ho or another ally, they'll know I'm fighting here soon enough. Wearing full armor and sporting a different face won't fool them for long.'

[In that case, if you think it's still too early to go all out and show your hand, why not just desert and act from the shadows?] Xi pointed out rightly. [If you struck them from the shadows, they'd have no way of seeing you coming.]

'I've been considering that,' Jake chuckled, crouching to search the previous corpse for an item that might serve as a tracker for Anthace. 'But in a word, prestige. My enemies, as well as my allies, need to see me in action as a role model to appreciate and respect me. Plus, if I know the enemy is laying a trap, can we still say I'm caught in it? Once I'm aware of their plans, it's more like I'm ambushing them.'

His Oracle AI was not so easily persuaded, and after a meaningful silence, she countered,

[That would make sense if the Players opposite were ordinary. Oracle Knights are not sheep. They'll know you're aware of the trap they're setting and will act accordingly. When they strike, they will have prepared for all contingencies. Don't let the prospect of a good Ordeal Rating narrow your field of vision. Even if it's not you they're targeting, it'll be your comrades or the other Players. Knowing where you are at any given moment is also a great asset for them. While you're here, they can strike elsewhere without worry. If I were them, as long as you stay put, I'd choose to sacrifice this battlefield and focus instead on those far from this position so you can't easily intervene even if you catch on.]

Jake's galactic eyes narrowed darkly at this latest warning, but he continued to search the corpse at his feet, ignoring the chaos of the battle raging around him. Finally, he rose empty-handed and mentally reported,

'They carry no rings, no accessories, no items that might suggest an equivalent to the Snitch Ring. Only their weapon and some armor pieces made from Anthace wood remain. Unless my senses deceive me, I can only deduce by elimination that it's their equipment itself that serves as eyes and ears.'

Don't change the subject!] Xi exploded, uncaring of how the Titan Tree monitored its army.

Jake sighed resignedly and started running at a normal pace towards the next enemy, then said with a sly smile, "You really think I'd forget such a detail? I can also turn the fact they know I'm here to my advantage, right? It's not like there's a shortage of Fairy Spirits to take my place."

[A clone?] Xi caught on immediately before retorting, "I thought you wanted to avoid straying too far from them to not endanger the fairy and the biomass allocated to the clone."

"That's still the case, but circumstances have changed. Sometimes, you have to be willing to take some risks to win big."

This statement went directly against his initial plan from the first few days, but the accelerated events of the previous night had forced him to rethink all his schemes. If a Rank 17 Player wasn't capable of self-reflection, he would have had a hard time surviving until now. Jake was usually cautious and inflexible, but when necessary, he could step out of his comfort zone.

'But at least for today, I can help these recruits become real soldiers.' Jake thought to himself as he slid ghost-like under his opponent before bisecting him with an upward saber strike.

Stunned by the death of their comrade, two other Light Warriors accompanied by a quasi-Pulsar hurled themselves at him, screaming, but he dispatched them with the same otherworldly agility.

Jake expected to be attacked again right away, but after raising his blade cautiously, he was surprised when nothing happened. He then took the opportunity to look around and discovered that their platoon had completely overwhelmed the opposing forces. After bulldozing through three or four platoons, the 1000-man Commander leading the regiment had ordered the defensive line to be pulled back.

As for the rest of the three companies fighting alongside them, their advantage was less pronounced. The stalwart shieldbearers of the Lustra Plains were still holding strong, but the breakthrough initiated by Crunch and Lord Phenix, then expanded by Jake and his squad, was starting to have a snowball effect impacting the other battlefields.

The 1000-man Commander of the retreating company had not reacted poorly if his goal was to preserve his troops, but on the scale of the entire battle, it was an unforgivable tactical error, undermining the defense of their army as a whole.

The clearly nervous man, who had been standing out of harm's way, safe behind his lines, had already started to move his command center back, instead of reinforcing the ailing lines.The Light Warriors, relying on him to bring up the rear, found themselves all the more desperate as they realized they would have to scramble to retreat in good order while trying to fend off their relentless pursuers.

The outcome could only be a pathetic debacle. A debacle that all the officers of both armies, from the lowest to the highest ranks, did not fail to witness.

*****

"What an idiot..." The enemy legion commander scowled disdainfully as he surveyed the chaos below from the top of his high hill, where his headquarters were established. "What's that commander's name again?"

A colossus at least 7 meters tall, covered in scars and clad in heavy gold and white plate armor, clasped his hands respectfully with a clanking sound, then reported in a gruff voice,

"Commander Lancel. A Light Paladin recently promoted after his clan pulled some strings. A good warrior, according to the rumors, but this is his first battle of such magnitude."

The graying man who had asked the question cast another apathetic glance at the retreating company, then ordered decisively,

"If he survives, I want him demoted to the rank of foot soldier. He will fight on the front lines until I deem that he has redeemed his mistake. Hopefully, by then he'll have learned some responsibility and grown a pair of balls."

"... As you command, General."

The merciless General that the giant had just saluted before retreating to execute the order was named Isdar. Although he wasn't as renowned as the 4 Saints of the Radiant Conclave or a Great General like Ceythie, the man was still a formidable Radiant Lord, just one stage below. With few exceptions, every Light Warrior who had reached this stage of cultivation was also a formidable Lifemancer.

The hill where the man and his HQ stood was so fortified that if a native attacked it head-on, they would need power at least comparable to that of a Saint to hope to reach the top of the hill in one piece. Only the Celestial or the Soulmancer King might have a chance to defeat him and leave as they came without much damage.

His HQ was far from being threatened, but he didn't think he'd need to activate one of his many trap cards so soon. Even though the hill where he was located was more a minefield than an ivory tower for his foes, he had no intention of resorting to that.

It was his last line of defense, and reaching that point would mean a total failure of both his mission and personally. Throughout his long career as a soldier, he had never lost a battle strategically. Even if it was Ceythie, the bloodthirsty Berserker opposite, he had no intention of ending his long streak of undefeated battles.

Addressing his other adjutant standing silently to his left after the first armored giant's departure, he commanded ominously,

"Send in the Mumaks."

*****