The Oracle Paths

When Jake and Lucia returned to the Myrtharian Nerds' campsite, he was in a much better mood. He still hadn't gotten that heart-to-heart talk with Will, but at least he didn't seem like a traitor.

In fact, whatever grudges Jake held for the businessman had long since lost their meaning. Experience had proven that Wyatt wasn't a bad guy.

To be quite frank, this Vampire Progenitor was kind to a fault and his benevolence sometimes prevented him from committing a lesser evil for the greater good. His refusal to drink human blood was the most obvious example.

Back at their base, Lucia bid him farewell and decided to train her troops to prepare them for the battle to come. Hephais, who was a Shadow Assassin, decided to gather intel in Laudarkvik under the radar, with the endorsement of Aisling, Haynt and Kevin.

Speaking of his cousin Kevin, he had recently contacted them and told them that the Werelions, Werebears and Werebirds in the city would remain neutral. After much effort, he had managed to gain the trust of their princess Qewie. He was confident that with a few more days he would be able to win over the other camps on the fence.

Lysander, the Alpha Werelion was loyal to her, while his older brother Kenway, reputed to be as powerful as Haynt, was a lifelong loner. As long as his family was not threatened with extinction, he would not interfere.

Unfortunately, at this point neither Jake nor Kevin could predict that the Lost Divinities counterattack would come much sooner and in a much more unexpected way than anticipated.

As night fell and Jake had begun the task of producing the metals required to obtain his own portable fortress, a group of hooded individuals stealthily appeared in the Werebeing District.

One of these figures stood about 4.5 meters tall and two long, slightly curved horns could be seen protruding out of its hood, as could its large nostrils. Equally striking were the two black hooves as wide as a roundel ending its brownish-black furred legs.

A Minotaur.

As he moved into the shadows, the other figures moved with him, and for a fleeting second a moonlight ray shed some light on their faces, exposing bestial and inhuman faces. One of them looked like a humanoid lion, another like an eagle, others like bears or wolves.

Others were Daemons and Werebeings.

If one looked at them carefully, one could have noticed that the animal species they were related to matched those of the different Werebeing clans in Laudarkvik. Seeing all of these opposing creatures gather together hooded at dusk, only a fool would not suspect that something sinister was afoot.

Walking behind the Minotaur were two smaller figures with different expressions on their faces.

The first, about 3 meters tall, was the embodiment of the ultimate barbarian, a mountain of muscles, shaggy, bare-chested, bearded and tattooed with red stripes. In his eyes, purple lightning snakes danced constantly, while his steely face was perpetually scrunched up in a look that screamed loud and clear 'Don't piss me off'. The impression the man gave was that he was not happy to be here.

The second was the height of a normal human and significantly older. His skin was significantly darker and his hair and black goatee were meticulously trimmed. His slitted orange eyes glowed in the darkness, boding ill for the unsuspecting Werebeings.

These two Players were of course Azeus and Shamash, two members of Lost Divinities. The former was on probation, while the latter was an officer known for his cruelty and efficiency in following orders.

"Do we really have to do this?" Azeus protested in disgust. "I thought Lost Divinities was an invincible faction. Isn't that what you told me when you came to recruit me? If we're the strongest why don't we fight them fair and square?"

Shamash chuckled graciously, ignoring his ranting.

"Lost Divinities is invincible because it knows when to put water in its wine. We may be Gods, but we are minor deities. The Mirror Universe is vast. Only a fool would act openly believing himself invincible. You saw what happened when that Jake attacked us alone. He was strong, no doubt about it, but faced with our numbers he was forced to scram with his tail between his legs. Lost Divinities has many enemies, and the sooner we're done here, the sooner we can move on to the next stage of the plan."

"Whatever you say..." The barbarian grumbled, completely giving up on convincing him.

Shamash sneered inwardly, feeling nothing but contempt for this rookie who lived only for combat, but that didn't stop him from continuing the mission Deimos had given him. His face turning as cold as an iceberg he ordered grimly,

"Start the mission."

"Aye, sir." The hooded figures responded in unison with their fists clasped over their hearts.

The next moment, these subordinates dispersed like blurred shadows into the district's alleyways, each heading for their future target.

A few minutes later in a mansion belonging to the Weresheep patriarch.

A hooded Werelion withdrew his bloody spear from the throat of a young woman still carrying her baby in her arms. The weapon had pierced both mother and child. The baby's cries woke up the sleeping people in the mansion and seconds later several guards and an old man with fluffy white air still in his pajamas came into the bedroom of the murder.

Seeing the slain young woman and baby lying in their own blood, the old man fell to his knees, a river of tears running down his face.

"Eleonora! Lil' Judi..."

This old man was none other than the patriarch of the Weresheeps and their oldest Alpha. Just then another younger man who bore a faint resemblance to him stormed into the bedroom and saw the two corpses as well. An excruciating pain gripped his chest and he had to exert tremendous willpower to keep himself from fainting.

After the shock, the man, who was the current Weresheep leader and Alpha, flipped into berserk mode and the next thing they knew, a bale of wool several dozen meters in diameter suddenly expanded, blasting the mansion. Immediately after, it began to shrink, becoming barely wider than a tennis ball.

"DIE!"

The man hurled the compressed wool ball and the hooded Werelion cracked a taunting smile. Instead of dodging, he deflected it with his spear, but made it scrape his hood to bare his appearance. He put on an expression of regret and shock, as if terrified of being found out, and then,

BOOOM!

The ball of wool expanded again and he let himself be blown away, a victorious smile returning to his face.

'Mission accomplished. Now back to the headquarters.'

In another even larger mansion, Lost Divinities' Minotaur crushed all the descendants of the Wereboar clan with his fists and hooves. This clan had been totally neutral until then, but after this incident they were sure to change sides.

The Wereoxens and Werecows clan were a notorious ally and subordinate of the Werelions and with his appearance this Minotaur had easily managed to pass himself off as one of them. If the Alpha Boar wasn't too stupid, he would know what to do.

This kind of scene played out all over the district. A Werebear slaughtered the wives and offspring of the most influential Weretigers. A Were-eagle slashed to death the firstborn son of the Alpha Were-hippo, one of the neutral clans known to be the most vengeful and fierce once their wrath was provoked.

At the same time, similar tragedies occurred among the clans that Kevin had convinced not to participate in the war. A Werewolf who was supposed to be their ally beheaded Lysander's wife, while another Werelion murdered Kenway's childhood friend, a woman long married to another whom he had never stopped caring about.

In the Werebears' palace, the old patriarch collapsed, suffocating in his own blood, bitten several dozen times by a Werecobra. Despite his power and keen senses, he had not sensed the enemy approaching while he slept, and the guards had not been alerted either.

"Hmm?" Kevin who was meditating just below snapped his eyes open with a start.

With a bad feeling, he rushed into the old Alpha Werebear's room and arrived just in time to see the Werecobra retract its fangs from its victim's neck. At the sight of the hooded cloak, Kevin realized at once that they were being plotted against, but it was too late.

The current clan leader and son of the Alpha Werebear burst into the room and also discovered the killer's unforgettable face.

"YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU TO PIECES WITH MY OWN TEETH!"

The man, infuriated, suddenly enlarged, turning into a huge grizzly bear over 12 meters tall, and with no regard for the buildings around, his huge paw fell heavily on the same spot where the Werecobra was standing. The Werecobra winked at them, then its body evaporated into smoke right before the giant paw could smash it to a pulp.