The Oracle Paths

Of course, that was just in his head. The urgency of the situation did not give him the chance to swear at the Oracle as he wished.

Swish!

Unable to teleport because of the Mana Storm's obstruction, he dove forward and landed on his hands, twirling around to face his enemy. A silver blurred monster swooped down on him and since Jeanie was clasped in both of his hands, he had no choice but to duck the first assault.

Having no better idea, he swerved a series of murderous blows while steadily backing away, and then tossed the little fairy into its mouth.

"Don't panic, I just need to free my hands and this is the only place the Mana Storm's pressure can't reach you." He quickly reassured her.

Then, he tried to summon his God Slayer Broadword and catching the weapon in his hand, he slashed forth without looking to stop another attack.

CLANG!

His blade met the black venom oozing stinger terminating Ruby's long chitin covered tail and with a wrist spin he deflected the projectile before slamming into his opponent's guard. He lunged forward, and his elbow connected with the plexus of the humanoid Digestor, releasing a thunderclap.

The hungry creature's glistening chitin breastplate caved in and her figure arched into a C as she was blasted away at the speed of an artillery shell. Before he could follow up with his next move, Ruby sprang back at him, merging with the Mana Storm to transform into an apocalyptic Mana Comet.

Jake's hair stood on end and he instinctively sidestepped, then grabbed the outstretched wrist of the creature that had tried to grab his throat and threw it over his head without letting go. Repeating the move, she smashed savagely into the ground several times, the Mana Storm's churning energies cushioning her fall.

All of a sudden, Jake let go of her wrist, narrowly dodging the chitin quills that had just sprung from it. The monster's tail lashed out like a whip, splitting the air at such ludicrous speed that the Mana Storm momentarily scattered in its path. A Mana Storm Blade slammed into his barely raised sword, chipping it, and Ruby's tail followed.

Gasp!

The air in his lungs emptied and his body was catapulted away. The thick layer of steel he had produced with his Gold Stone Skin to withstand the blow had been sliced through like butter. His Myrtharian Armor which had already been damaged by the Mana Storm was also ruptured.

Jeanie's Water Spirit Shield held up, buckling like a rubber band, but Jake could sense that it would not hold for long. Just now it had nearly broken. This barrier was not meant to stop physical attacks but to purify Mana and heal the mind.

"Jeanie, are you okay? Jake asked telepathically to inquire about her condition.

"Hmm. It's dark and damp, but I can move normally." The fairy's soft voice echoed from inside his mouth.

Because she was keeping her Water Spirit Shield Spell on, the inside of Jake's mouth was radiating a dazzling blue as if he had swallowed a headlight.

Against all odds, Ruby didn't push her advantage and Jake finally had a chance to check his sword. His prized Advanced Aether Artifact looked like crap, its blade looking like a deformed branch after being used as firewood for a chimney fire for several hours.

[Avoid using your Space Storage in the future. You were lucky this time.] Xi warns him a little too late.

The space was unstable because of the Mana Storm, so his Space Storage was also inaccessible. He could open it, but Xi warned him that it would destabilize the space around him. Besides the risk of damaging whatever he brought out, there was no guarantee that the desired item would appear anywhere near him.

Summoning his sword as intended in his hand, Jake had indeed been lucky. Fortunately, he was already wearing his armor, but considering its condition it was as if he was naked. All the passive bonuses provided by his gear were gone and he couldn't activate their active skills either.

Right now, his broadsword was just crude steel, not even sharpened. Except for its hardness, a butter knife would have been more effective.

He tried to cast his many abilities to figure out what he could use to fight Ruby, but whether it was fire, lava, plasma, rock, steel, lightning, or his telekinesis, nothing seemed to survive the Mana Storm for longer than a split second.

" Geez, that means I'm going to have to fight with my own body." He clicked his tongue with displeasure. He was confident in his physical abilities, but he doubted it would be enough to defeat Ruby's Digestor half in its current state.

He couldn't use his Oracle Scan, but on the last hit the monster had surpassed him in strength and speed. The only reason he was doing so well was that thanks to Psykow's magic the Digestor's soul was also severely damaged, impairing its cognitive abilities. After all, Ruby's soul had been torn in two. Even if it had given her Digestor half the opportunity to break free, it couldn't have been done without breaking some eggs.

With his intellect and martial skills he could somewhat match the monster in hand-to-hand combat, but for how long?

At that moment, his face froze.

"Why is the Oracle picking on me like this?" He grumbled in a foul mood.

Before, the Oracle had already crossed the line by instructing him to protect that ungrateful Ruby who had tried to kill him several times, but now he was even being punished if he failed to prevent her Digestor half from entering her fated building.

His gaze was riveted on the building the Digestor coveted, which he could no longer see because of the increasing density of the Mana Storm. He racked his brain to ascertain the Oracle's intentions and immediately came to the only possible conclusion.

If saving Ruby was still the Oracle's priority, then her human half was most likely already safe inside its building. By keeping the other Digestor half out, the goal was to prevent the monster from reaching her. Aside from the mystery of how a Ruby stripped of all her powers and a badly damaged soul had managed to reach her building in the throes of a Mana Storm, Jake could smell blatant external interference from the Oracle or Aurae.

"Are Trojan Digestors that important?" He muttered inwardly. Something essential was eluding him.

Jake wanted to dwell on the matter further as he enjoyed his respite, but an urgent reminder from Xi compelled him to voluntarily seek action.

[The Digestor has stopped attacking you because you're not its target. If you don't come back now, it will enter its building and it will be over.]

"Fuck!" He cursed through his gritted teeth as he pushed the ground with his feet to propel himself, spawning a shockwave in his wake.

The distance was crossed in a blink and his fist collided with Ruby's right temple as her hand probed the wall of the building for a door.

SHRRRRIIIII!

Seeing the monster disappear hissing madly into the Mana Storm, Jake coudn't help but utter, "Thank God that Digestor isn't thinking clearly."

Not only did the creature seem incapable of using its own abilities, but if it had simply run into the wall, his Special Mission would have been a resounding failure.

As he waited for the monster to return, refusing to believe that a mere punch could defeat it, the Mana Storm prevented him from sensing that its Aetheric signature was rapidly increasing. Slowly, but surely, Ruby's Digestor half was preparing for its evolution to Rank 11.

[The Digestor is in no condition to consciously use Ruby's powers, but her racial instincts are still there.] Xi warned him in a clearly concerned tone. [She's mutating fast. Earlier she was already able to use the Mana Storm to assist her attacks, and it seems to have no effect on her.]

His Oracle AI's observation reminded him at that moment that he too was in the middle of digesting the Mana Storm. Checking the state of his organs, he frowned.

"I still can't digest it."

The countless strands of conflicting Mana energies continued to stagnate in his blood and cells, sparking a fierce battle between perpetual destruction, mutation, and regeneration that his body was clearly losing despite the fact that he was back to optimal condition.

One look at his body and Jake could already predict when he would lose control of his legs. Given the speed of his thoughts, that time might seem very long, but in reality it was only a second or two. All of the frantic rescues Jake had accomplished earlier had taken place in an exceedingly short period of time.

Just as he was beginning to hope that Digestor Ruby wouldn't come back, the pesky Mana Storm preventing him from seeing beyond the tip of his nose suddenly flooded back, converging on a certain location in front of him. The abrupt decrease in Mana Storm density caught him off guard, but far from being pleased, Xi's ominous words made him despair.

[Her mutation has begun.]