Chapter 281: Chapter 280: The Oracle’s Last Laugh
"Lireath once told me... Oracles can glimpse into fate," Lumberling said, his voice calm as his spear whistled past her cheek. "Is that why you protect Kairo? Is there something about him?"
Agathis met his gaze even as she twisted aside, his weapon biting into the earth. "That nosy girl... I told her to keep her mouth shut."
"And now here you are, pulling it out of me." Her voice was even, but her eyes flickered strangely, as if caught between pride and despair. A small smile tugged at her lips, trembling. "Things really are... spiraling out of control."
She gave a short laugh, dry and humorless, then another, louder this time, until it carried a sharp edge. "Good. Yes... good. Surprise me more, Lord Lumberling."
Her laugh grew fuller, almost too loud for the frail body it came from, and her hands shook as faint light gathered in her palms.
Lumberling batted it aside with the haft of his spear. Her tone was unhinged, and for a moment he wondered if she had truly lost her mind.
’Has she gone mad?’ he thought, frowning as he pressed in again.
Steel rang as he hooked the tip of his spear against her forearm, forcing her to stumble back.
"Kairo... he’s a chosen, isn’t he?" Lumberling’s voice cut through the clash.
For the first time, her composure faltered. Her eyes widened, her steps almost too slow to avoid his strike. "How did you know?" she whispered, before breaking into a grin. "So what if he is?" She lunged, her palms glowing brighter, slamming toward him with unnatural force.
Lumberling parried smoothly, not answering. In truth, it had been nothing more than a gamble, an echo from the memories he had inherited from Nie Fenghun. Someone blessed, someone marked as a champion by forces beyond this world. And her reaction confirmed it.
Agathis laughed as their weapons met again. "Are you a chosen too? No... no, I don’t see it. There’s nothing divine clinging to you."
"What do you mean by that? What do you see in my fate?" Lumberling’s eyes narrowed, spear pressing down on her defenses.
She pushed back, breath ragged but still wearing that maddening smile. "That’s yours to figure out," she said, almost taunting, before spinning aside with a desperate strike.
Lumberling blocked it effortlessly, noting how much slower she had become. Her movements grew clumsy, her breathing heavy. Her strange bursts of speed and foresight flickered now, like a candle burning out.
’She’s nearing her limit,’ he thought coldly.
But even cornered, Agathis laughed again, eyes fever-bright. "Hahaha... you really are something."
’She’s lost it,’ Lumberling realized.
Her movements grew sluggish, each dodge slower than the last. Sweat poured down her face, her breath ragged, but still she tried to fight. Lumberling pressed forward, his spear sweeping with relentless precision, each strike forcing her back.
At last, she faltered. A heartbeat too slow. His spear thrust forward, piercing straight through her chest. The impact drove her to the ground, her body shuddering as blood stained her robes.
Yet she did not scream. Instead, her lips curled into a faint smile, and her eyes, still sharp, still unyielding locked onto his.
"You... you are someone I can’t read, Lord Lumberling," she whispered, her voice trembling but steady enough to carry her words.
Lumberling paused, watching the life drain from her face.
"Things that should have happened... they keep shifting," she went on weakly. "The future twists whenever it touches you. What I glimpse... it breaks apart." Her body trembled, but her smile only deepened as if she had found amusement in it all.
For a moment, silence hung between them.
Then she breathed out softly, "Now that I’ve told you of your fate... you must pay the price."
Lumberling’s grip tightened on his spear. "What do you want?"
Her eyes glistened faintly, as though she had been waiting for that question. "Please... kill Kairo," she whispered.
"I never had any intention of letting him go." There was no hesitation in Lumberling’s reply.
He twisted the spear, the sound of breaking bone echoing in the night. Her body went limp, the faint smile still etched on her lips as her heart was crushed.
(You have devoured the Oracle’s essence. 1500 essence absorbed. Absorbing a portion of the Oracle’s memories and experiences.)
Lumberling’s spear still trembled in his grip when the cold words echoed in his head. A sudden burn ignited behind his eyes. His devour skill activated on its own, dragging Agathis’s essence into him.
Then the flood came.
"Ughhh!" Lumberling staggered, clutching his skull as images and voices poured into his mind. Faces he had never seen. A thousand choices never made. A thousand futures that never came. Each memory pressed against his brain like hot iron.
His vision blurred. The forest spun.
’What... are these emotions? These... futures?’ Lumberling thought, his teeth grinding together. It wasn’t just memories, it was grief, joy, despair, hope, all crashing into him at once.
The pressure grew unbearable. His veins pulsed dark along his neck, his body twitching under the strain. He dropped to one knee, sweat dripping to the dirt.
"Damn it... nghhh..."
He tried to hold on, to anchor himself in the present, but the torrent was too strong. His head felt like it would split apart.
Even his monstrous willpower faltered.
The last thing he felt was the earth beneath him, before his legs gave out. His body collapsed onto the cold ground, the night swallowing him whole as unconsciousness claimed him.
.....
Rain poured down in sheets, drumming against a world already broken. The ground was soaked red, littered with shattered weapons and lifeless bodies.
Lumberling blinked through the haze, confusion gnawing at him. He tried to push himself up, but fire ripped through his body, every nerve screaming.
’What... where am I?’
He staggered forward on shaking limbs, dragging himself over the mud. Everywhere he turned, corpses met his eyes, men, women, elders, even children. Their empty stares clawed at his chest, feeding a storm inside him.
Anger, grief, confusion, all tangled together until he could barely breathe.
Then he froze.
Before him lay a man sprawled in the mud, his arms wrapped protectively around a small child. Both motionless. Both gone.
Seeing that, something inside him cracked. His throat tightened. His hand rose on its own, brushing against his own cheek. Warm tears slipped down his face.
"Henry... Jason..." The names left him in a trembling whisper.
The pain twisted into rage. His chest heaved, his heart thundering. Madness welled up, raw and unstoppable, breaking through his core.
"Nooo!!!" His scream tore through the rain.