The Oracle Paths

Chapter 1190  You've Lost

Well, it was all well and good boasting like that, but now how was he going to prove he wasn't all talk? The Moon Spirit seemed to agree, as she arbitrarily decided to continue her test by moving on to step two.

"I've shown you the control I have over mass and gravity, but that's just one aspect of what makes up my Moon Lumyst," she said, slowly raising her hand, accompanied by a tide of lunar energy. "Tidal Manipulation."

Time seemed to slow for a moment, and with a single fluid motion, she swept the void in front of her. A massive wave of shimmering Moon Lumyst formed from her movement, expanding until it engulfed the firmament. When the wave reached its peak and began to coil before crashing down on him, a tug that gave him the painful sensation that his heart was being ripped from his chest made him wince.

A true gravitational tide, Jake immediately realized, gritting his teeth. The avatar was still applying her mastery of gravity but had added a second component to it: her control over water.

There was no water on the moon of his blue planet, and not on this one either, but it didn't matter. Many myths, religions, and philosophies contrasted the moon with the sun, attributing to it influence over elements such as water, cold, or Yin.

It looked like the power of... a Divinity!

Jake gritted his teeth, regretting not having considered that possibility. Given the number of natives living on Twyluxia and the fact that it was an advanced world, their beliefs and superstitions regarding this moon could only have gained power after such a long accumulation.

With a swift movement, he channeled his Aether and Lumyst into his muscles, contracting every fiber of his body. His Fate Slayer Aura began to glow intensely, and an uninterrupted flow of black metal surged from his being to form his own impenetrable shield.

"Tidal Constriction," the lunar avatar announced without reacting.

The wave crashed against his Black Lumyst, conjured into living steel, but instead of cascading down, it condensed again into shining silver filaments of Moon Lumyst, which began to entwine around the sphere of black metal. From the inside, these lunar tides weighed tons, the gravitational waves they emitted starting to deform his armor inward.

"Fuck!" Jake cursed, feeling his body compress like the contents of a crushed can. Horizon Hardstone was indestructible, but if space was being warped, the material occupying that space could only follow.

Aware that if she wanted, she could hurl a tide with the mass of an entire ocean at him, he knew he was going to lose the second round if he did nothing. To resolve the danger, however, he didn't have to charge headfirst into this mess. Dodging it would be more than sufficient.

Easy, considering that from within his steel shell, the Moon Spirit had no clue what he was doing. When the black metal seemed on the verge of giving way, he teleported expressionlessly into the avatar's blind spot and unleashed the Aether and the Cosmic Lumyst sealed in his cores.

His Cosmic Eyes lit up with a galactic brilliance, followed by two blue-black laser beams, thin as wires, seemingly containing the entirety of the cosmos. Another flash visible from Twyluxia dwarfed the darkness of the night, striking the retinas of the few witnesses.

The Moon Spirit, struck head-on by the two deadly beams, staggered in place, her indifferent eyes widening in shock as she discovered a hole the size of a football where her heart should have been, if she had one.

This avatar was not like the previous one; it was her real body, her Moon Lumyst and her stone flesh one and the same. These two beams that had pierced her chest possessed a power so terrifying that a moon compressed to human size couldn't resist them.

Her opinion of Jake had finally changed. This human was capable of killing her if given the opportunity.

"Another reason to make him understand just how futile his persistence is. Moonlight Empowerment."

Suddenly, an explosion of moonlight burst forth from her main Lumyst Cores, and Jake instinctively teleported to a safe distance, expecting a desperate counterattack. He braced himself, but when he saw that the silvery radiance was focused on the young woman, he knew he was wrong.

"A healing spell," he realized. This time, she was showing him the mystical powers that the natives of Twyluxia attributed to moonlight.

Reappearing unscathed, the young woman turned to him and smiled for the first time, "Moonlight is considered by some myths and cults to have a sacred nature, capable of healing and purifying all wounds. For others, being exposed to moonlight is a source of... curse."

The lunar tide behind her dispersed, then reconverged to form the illusion of a massive full moon. The moonlight she radiated became dark and spectral, and when Jake was exposed to it, he immediately felt his strength leaving him and his senses fading, in addition to the horrible gravitational pressure and the crushing mass of the ever-present lunar tide. An icy cold also began to seep through his armor down to his bones.

Just when he thought she couldn't do more, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a debilitating rage threatening to engulf his consciousness and downgrade his intellect to that of an animal. He bit his tongue to the blood to counter this surge, struggling to keep control over his Spirit Power and the flood of aggression-inducing neurotransmitters and hormones flooding his system.

"Lycanthropic Influence," the avatar explained patiently this time, once again surprised to see him able to maintain his lucidity, but especially to be unaffected by any mutation.

Werewolves and other variants were just a myth unique to the inhabitants of Earth and other planets, but the mutagenic curses supposedly caused by lunar influence numbered in the billions.

While he was frozen in place, trembling and gritting his teeth to resist the curse infiltrating his veins, the Moon Spirit waved her hand again. A new shimmering tsunami was conjured over the spectral lunar illusion, charging directly at Jake this time.

BANG!

The wave was too massive, its gravity too powerful. Jake was thrown backward, his body cutting through the void as he took the impact of the gravitational tide and the biting cold directly inside. Blood trickled from the corner of his lips, a fierce grimace adorning his face.

"Not bad... but you're not forcing me to push myself yet," he spat, the essence of his Hybrid Cosmic Lumyst swirling around him once again, while his formidable lifeforce also began to activate. His Fate Slayer Aura, up until now quite tamed, roared with impatience, almost bestial.

The Moon Spirit, her aura still as overwhelming as ever, decided to move to the next phase. The shadows outlined by the spectral full moon stretched, forming fleeting silhouettes that began to float around her.

The next second, lunar warriors filled the cosmic void. These summoned spirits seemed to be made of solid moonlight, each equipped with long spectral energy spears. They surrounded Jake, their empty eyes fixed on him.

Jake smiled, his presence unwavering.

"Is that all you got, mere puppets...?" he taunted, cracking his joints. But deep down, he knew these spirits were not just simple illusions.

Especially when each of them conjured their own rock avatar. They possessed a density, a reality fueled by lunar power. Every movement was precise, predatory, and the first strike almost pierced him.

"Moon Arts are associated with the spirit world, with Yin," their creator clarified as she saw him frown under his helmet. "But because my body is primarily made of rock, my avatars broadly fit the definition of a golem. My nucleus consists of my Lumyst Cores and the energy animating them is my Moon Lumyst. These spectral clones are just another manifestation. Attack!"

Millions of lunar warriors rushed at him like an omnidirectional downpour. Their speed and strength were not far off from that of their creator.

Jake deflected the spear of the first one to reach him with a powerful elbow strike, but a second spirit hit him by surprise, striking his side. He thought he could take it, but a sharp pain shot through his body.

The weapons of these beings were imbued with the lunar attributes that Moon Lumyst had previously demonstrated. Heavy as a mountain, elusive as water, inevitable as gravity, and their moonlight promised an infinity of malice and curses...

"Tss," he winced, before eliminating the spirit with a lightning-fast punch that dispersed its form into a silver mist. He summoned his Horizon Sword without hesitation, then began slashing through the crowd, displaying supernatural swordsmanship.

The lunar warriors were countless. Each one reformed as quickly as they were eliminated, the battle resembling a furious dance under a ghostly full moon. The Moon Spirit watched, cold and distant, like a silent judge evaluating the worth of a mere mortal.

His Fate Slayer Aura and his True Will had long been deployed at full power, their strength merging with growing synergy. With each sword strike, a cosmic wind erupted, crushing everything in his path, tearing space, distorting time. His mastery of each of his attributes was still in its infancy, but he had so many of them that their effects multiplied, exceeding the sum of their parts.

Jake himself had no idea what these chaotic bluish-black energy blades were truly doing. The only thing he knew was that he needed to stay away from them, even if this energy originated from him.

The Moon Spirit seemed to share this view, as she also kept a good distance from the battlefield, having chosen to lead her clones like a general and provide ranged support. With a gesture of her hand, the gravity intensified once again, each molecule of Jake seeming to be crushed by a titanic force.

His breathing became heavy, each inhale a monumental effort. The immense illusion of the full moon continuously cursing him and conjuring these specters had suddenly set into motion, intending to crush him like the Earth crushes Atlas.

He had no choice but to release his sword and stop it with both hands by pushing his Soul Power to its peak, opposing it with an indescribable telekinetic counterforce. The lunar warriors pounced without hesitation into the breach of his guard.

"So this is your true power?" he panted, his eyes filled with a determined gleam.

The Moon Spirit cast him a look that would have frozen any other opponent. She extended her arms, and the gravity became almost unbearable.

Jake closed his eyes for a moment, then his aura changed. A new energy began to flow through his veins, his heightened adaptive power blending with his Fate Slayer Aura and forcing all the conflicting forces within him to harmonize.

His body seemed to become more ethereal, as if it were merging with the universe itself. He reopened his eyes, an intense blue-black spark within screaming annihilation.

"Let's see which one of us breaks first," he growled, his voice a mix of rage and excitement.

In a flash, he surpassed the power of the moonlight surrounding him, his body cutting a path through the illusion of the full moon as if it didn't exist and heading straight for the Moon Spirit, breaking through all the barriers erected by her gravitational power. Space seemed to warp under the impending impact.

When Jake's strike was about to connect, he abruptly stopped, the horrible energy surging from him repressed by sheer willpower. His face covered in sweat and before a Moon Spirit petrified with confusion, he retracted his weapon and declared,

"You've lost."