1172  Beneath The Mask

Losing the war would be a tragic disaster for the losers, except in one scenario: if the conqueror of Twyluxia decided to stay and further improve their Ordeal rating.

In this unlikely event, turning the tide wouldn't be just a dream. If Jake, the future supreme ruler of Twyluxia, were to be killed or forced to leave the Ordeal by a losing Mirror Universe Player, his accomplishment would automatically transfer to them.

At that moment, all the remaining Players from the losing side would see their Main and Global Mission accomplished. This was one of the few loopholes allowing Players from each camp to simultaneously achieve their Main and Global Missions.

Sadly, exploiting this flaw was easier in theory than in practice. Fortunately, Jake was the kind of crazy person who might stay just to scrape up a few extra points.

The Oracle Hacker's second suggestion to the trio wasn't just motivated by selfishness. If they played their cards right, they had a fair chance to kill Jake after or during the extermination of the underground threat.

This would allow them to kill two birds with one stone: using Jake and his allies to confront the underground menace while securing the final victory for their camp. The thing was, Kael genuinely believed the source of the evil lurking deep below was impossible to eliminate. The presence of Jake and all the other high-ranking Players would only give them a slim, uncertain opportunity.

For this to have a tangible chance of success, the conqueror of the surface, Jake or someone else, would need to meet several conditions:

First, become the ultimate ruler recognized on the surface of Twyluxia, preferably preserving most of its population, including those of the opposing Mirror Universe Players. Second, reforge the Lumyst Calist. Third, possess significant individual or group power capable of uniting and convincing the defeated Mirror Universe Players to stay despite their crushing defeat.

This third point was nearly unachievable. For the vast majority of Players, the goal was merely to resolve the surface conflict, ensuring the victory of either the Dusken Throne or the Radiant Conclave. For most, the condition would be met once the opposing territory was conquered, enemy resistance ceased, or their leaders were defeated or surrendered.

What would happen once their objective was accomplished?

Would they stay on Twyluxia waiting for this world to be destroyed or for the enemy Mirror Universe to attempt a comeback? Of course not.

Most would eagerly accept the Oracle System's notification allowing them to leave the Ordeal. This would deprive them of the opportunity to further improve their rating, but at least their results and the credits from them would be set in stone.

What would happen then after their departure then? Jake and the few elite, ambitious Players from the winning camp who chose to stay would find themselves alone.

From this angle, the scenario was much more appealing! If they wanted to kill Jake, it would be much easier to plot against him once the millions of Players from his Mirror Universe were out of the picture.

And yet... As the trio vanished, the cold smile of the teenager quickly disappeared. A suppressed shockwave erupted from his body, blasting a crater a hundred meters wide. It was just his muscles cracking after holding back from killing them the whole time.

"One more minute, and I would have killed those morons..." Kael sighed, cracking his sore neck.

It was easy to overlook, given his casual facade, but one shouldn't forget. The Oracle Hacker had been sent here for a reason...

He was just as Corrupted as Lucia and the others... Maybe even the most Corrupted among them.

As for the trio... They really were fools.

None of them had noticed the entourage of spyware and viruses even viler than he had downloaded both into their Oracle Device and Soul. The hooded guy speaking oddly seemed to know something about his identity, but he was just as clueless.

Being an Oracle Hacker wasn't for everyone, and his race possibly made him one of the most formidable. And like any good hacker, one of his guilty pleasures was, of course, monitoring his pawns...

Spying on their thoughts without them noticing was delicate—not impossible, mind you—but only by probing their mind directly. There was already an artificial consciousness monitoring their every move and thought at every moment, and it was the easiest to corrupt: their Oracle AI.

A quick mental inspection of them had been enough to curl his lip in disdain.

'Truly incompetent fools to the end…'

Yep. The trio had no intention of following his last advice.

*****

"Did Ulfar really say that?" Jake frowned, scrutinizing the gloomy faces of the two depressed twins before him.

A few minutes earlier, his mental sense had sensed the approach of a large group of high-level players. Recognizing many of them, including the two sisters leading them, he had given the order to let them through.

The city-camp was already entirely under his control, including the supposedly independent Soul Enclave.

"Hubby seemed anxious," Eris murmured softly, her eyes moist. "And..."

"And?" Jake repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"He was different." Nyx took over for her sister, overwhelmed by her emotions. "If we had stayed a few seconds longer, I had the feeling he would have attacked us."

Jake let out a deep sigh of dismay upon hearing the news. It wasn't that he hadn't predicted such an outcome, quite the contrary, but deep down, he had hoped they would resist.

Fuck, Ulfar was supposed to be the lucky one in the group capable of flipping off the worst curse. Seeing him deteriorate so quickly was most disheartening.

He really wanted to go, whether to understand the situation below or to see his friends again, but he sighed once more after a brief hesitation. The fact that Twyluxia was isolated from an endless horde of evil fiends by a single thin, fragile membrane had certainly taken him aback, but his common sense had already caught up with him.

The membrane won't break anytime soon, he calmly analyzed. The monsters that luckily slipped through the breach created during the twins' expedition were an exception. In that case…

"I got the message loud and clear," Jake finally informed them without changing his expression.

The two sisters gave him a disgruntled look. Holding back from using colorful language, they exclaimed with barely contained anger,

"Y-You're not going to see them right away? Lucia is with him if we understood correctly."

Jake would be lying if he said he didn't want to see the valiant blonde again, but he ruthlessly pushed that desire from his mind.

"Not now. With these monsters and this membrane story, I already have an idea of what he's going to tell me. I'm sticking to my priority of conquering the Lustra Plains. My instinct tells me I'll need that authority for what's to come. Also... No need to panic. If all goes well, Lustris will be ours by tomorrow. If you want to see Ulfar as soon as possible, prepare for a fierce battle tomorrow."

The twins were not convinced, but after vehemently expressing their lack of enthusiasm for his plan non-stop for 5 minutes, they reluctantly left his quarters. Once the two women were gone, Jake's amiable and patient expression faded, becoming stern.

"Show yourself!"

Nothing happened. Jake snorted and, with a wave of his hand, made all the painted vases adorning the room he had monopolized for his temporary command center implode, leaving only four intact.

Soon after, one of the spared vases suddenly began to shapeshift, stretching vertically, then narrowing horizontally, until long dark hair sprouted from within. The next moment, a young Underworld Barbarian who wasn't blessed in the looks department had replaced the decorative object.

Jake took the opportunity to size her up.

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