102 Oracle

I'm facing the still-breathing Destroyer. This time my goal isn't to kill him, but to attempt something that is downright foolish.

The voice in my head, which has understood my plan, is even hesitant about this course of action.

I crack my neck and avoid a tentacle before grinning.

It wasn't me who said that Prometheus must not fall, right? I'm just doing what I have to do to even have a chance at beating the Oracle.

The Destroyer roars and attempts to strike me, I freeze the timeline until I feel something click, this should be enough for now.

I grit my teeth as I activate my robes, and as I predicted my soul just had the right amount of strength to unlock what I dubbed 'Phase 2' of my aura. The now familiar ethereal armor appears around me, the attacks of the Destroyer bounce over this new layer of protection.

We WoN'T bE AbLe To HoLd It FoR LoNg.

The voice warns, I know that I'm rapidly approaching the minimum threshold to maintain Phase 2, so I hurry towards the stunned Destroyer.

I may have voided a lot of progress, but it doesn't matter if I can't face the Oracle properly.

The Destroyer roars as its attacks become even more numerous, I feel a slight pain in my chest as Phase 2 is slowly flickering out of existence, but I force it to remain for just a bit longer.

I run as fast as I can towards the Destroyer and freeze the timeline as soon as I touch its body.

Now it's time to put my plan in place. I do my best to recall what I felt during that day in the mine when that apparition invaded my soul to destroy it.

But this time, I'm the one attacking!

I'm well aware of the risks I'm taking, or at least I think so I have a strong hunch that losing such a battle of souls would result in my actual death, and the wariness of the voice about this plan all but confirms my suspicions.

However, it isn't like I have a choice.

I need more strength to face the Oracle, or else I might as well shut off all my timed Rewinders and lie down.

And that isn't an option!

I roar as I try to replicate the sensation from that time in the mine, it takes a couple of retries until I feel something slightly familiar.

So We ArE DoInG tHiS tHeN?

Like we had a choice.

I think I heard the voice sigh in resignation.

ThEn LeT mE hElP.

Something stirs in my stomach, and the feeling becomes clearer. I just have to grab onto it and-

The scenery instantly shifts, and I am now standing in the middle of a desolate wasteland.

"So it somehow worked then," I mutter to myself as I look around. It's an endless flat desert with cracked soil; there isn't anything else.

I then take a look at myself and am half-surprised to see that my body has changed. I'm mostly healthy looking, although I'm flickering and sometimes turning into a black silhouette. But the most shocking is that the red robes are here, but they look newer and are covered in weird golden engravings.

So this is what my soul looks like then. It's a bit underwhelming, but it somehow fits someone like me.

"What is this?" an unknown voice shouts.

"Where are we?" another one says.

"ShUt Up!" a third, and slightly distorted voice overpowers the others.

I spot my opponent, and it isn't looking like anything I expected.

I was anticipating that the soul of the Destroyer would look like it's physical form, but not like this.

The Destroyer looks only vaguely humanoid. The main body, or at least I assume it is, is a plain white figure made of light. But the weirdness really begins at the three ethereal figures chained to the main body. I can't help but freeze when I recognize one of the figures.

I saw his face on his web-page; it was Wurk!

There's another older Goblin with him that I can't recognize, but the way he's glaring at me tells me that he doesn't really like me. However, the Goblins aren't a problem; what stuns me the most is the large demon-like beast. It bears a striking resemblance to the first form of the Destroyer, even if this one looks... I can't really explain it; the closest word would be natural?

Now that I think about it, there was something slightly off about the first form of the Destroyer, but I can't put my finger on it.

I crack my neck and materialize a Field Pistol in my hand. I look at the flickering firearm with a raised eyebrow, I was just thinking about taking my gun, and it appeared in my hands. I shrug, maybe it's just another quirk of my soul or something. I don't have time to ponder on such a thing, so I aim my gun towards the weird collage of creatures, which just noticed me.

"Look, it's that bastard!" Wurk shouts.

"YoU" the demon-thing grumbles, but I don't have time to chat. I fire a bullet, and the soul fragment tears through the air before smashing directly into the immobile white figure. The three roar in unison, so it's an indication that I did something right.

I wasn't sure where to aim at first, so I'm glad that I got it right the first time.

My Field Pistol then turns into a Portal Gun, so I teleport near the still reeling amalgam of souls. The artifact transforms into a shotgun, and a pseudo-MH Shell blast my opponent.

Can we do it?

I ask the voice, which shakes its figurative head.

NoT YeT, We NeEd To WeAkEn ThEm.

All right, then it's back to pummeling this thing before it gets its bearing and starts to fight back.

After all, something in my guts tells me that I should be wary of the soul of the Destroyer, especially the demon part. It radiates immense amounts of power, unlike the Goblins who are average at best.

Another blast of magic ejects my opponent, so I instinctively Rewind before I realize that I am not in reality.

But it still works. Or instead, it does something.

Everything around me goes black and white, and it goes backward. I then feel a surge of power as an unknown force covers me in pixels and seems to stabilize my body.

What the hell is that? Even the voice cannot answer me, although it seems to think that it's somehow related to the Rewinder. I'm inclined to believe it, but now is not the time to do this kind of research.

"W-What was that?" the two Goblins exclaim in unison. However, the demon glares at me with a frightening gaze.

I feel a chill going down my spine as it sees right through me.

"I commend you for your mastery over your Soul World, even if it's desolate. But such petty tricks will not work on me!" The Demon roars, and the chain linking its floating soul to the still impassible white figure glows. The demon grabs the head of the two bickering Goblins and forces them into the blank body.

A bright flash blinds me for a moment. I regain my vision a few seconds later, and what I see makes my jaw drop. The once white figure now resembles a Goblin, the new creature looks like a mix between Wurk and the other unnamed Goblin.

The demon, which is still floating above the new creature, grins.

"This will do; I can't believe that I was beaten by such pathetic creatures." The demon then dives into the body, and another flash of light occurs. However, this one is a lot brighter, not to mention that I feel considerable heat when the light washes over me.

The resulting creature is similar to the real Destroyer, but it's definitely bigger and more demon-like.

"Now, this should do. I can't tell why you forced us into your soul, but it was a foolish decision. I will now regain my place in this world and abandon this accursed shell!" the newly-formed Destroyer roars. The shockwave sends dust flying, and it makes my robe billow in the wind.

But, for some reason, I'm not that scared.

"YoU fAiL tO uNdErStAnD yOuR sItUaTiOn." The voice replies through my mouth before dashing forward. The demon launches a spell, but time goes backward, and I jump to the side before the spell is even launched. As a result, the attack misses me by a wide margin.

"Stop with your petty tricks!" the Destroyer shouts, "Your weird soul will not save you!"

I ignore its shouts and summon a copy of the Hammer. The flickering penetrators appear out of thin air and explode into the Destroyer before it can even react.

This attack is somehow a bit tiring, but it's effectiveness more than makes up for it.

"What are you!" the Destroyer, which is on one knee and seems out of breath, shouts. "Who in their right mind would willingly sacrifice such a big part of their soul for an attack?! Who would-"

The Destroyer stops talking when a sudden burst of golden aura surrounds me.

"T-This is impossible, how can you have so much strength remaining!" it declares as it frantically prepares another spell.

I grin and Rewind for a second, the Destroyer's jaw drops when the world goes back to normal.

"I-It can't be! Why is your soul stronger than before!" it shouts.

I take a deep breath and aim my Field Pistol towards my enemy.

"As I said before, PrOmEtHeUs will not fall!" I shout as I fire as many bullets as possible. It seems like I have infinite ammo, so I pull the trigger as fast as I can. Well, I know that my ammo isn't infinite since I'm firing shards of my soul rather than enchanted pieces of metal. But, in my situation, it's the same as having infinite ammo.

The Destroyer endures the many bullets, which seem to erase small parts of its body from existence. It jumps high in the sky, so high that I can't even see it. I grit my teeth as I switch to my Portal Gun, but I stop at the last second. Rewinds aren't as good in this world compared to reality, so the Destroyer would have time to counterattack if I attempted to get the right coordinates.

Instead, I try something else. This battle needs to end as soon as possible, and the Destroyer must not be aware that I can't reach him if he keeps jumping. So I grit my teeth and kick the ground as hard as I can while firing a penetrator right beneath my feet.

This combination of shield kicking and the penetrator-induced explosion is enough to propel me upwards. The damage to my soul is there, but it's negligible. I pass by the astonished Destroyer and aim my laser pointer towards the top of its head. The penetrator smashes against its skull, and the creature is rocketed into the ground.

I go through a couple of Rewinds to regain what I've lost; the Destroyer must be too damaged to react to the opportunity I gave it so I should be fine.

A portal brings me next to my target, and I empty the equivalent of a few magazines in its head. It can barely react as the force of the bullets send its limp body sliding on the ground.s

It'S tImE.

The voice warns me, and I nod before making my pistol disappear. My right arm flickers with increasing intensity until it turns completely black, jet-black flames then erupt from the limb.

The flames then take the shape of a giant maw. I feel a colossal grin creeping on my face as the massive mouth descends on its vulnerable prey.

My target vanishes from existence as I feel foreign power coursing through my veins. My veins bulge and I fall to my knees while I make this power mine. I feel the power of my soul significantly increasing, more than what Rewinds could lend me. I don't know why consuming other souls is better than Rewinding, but I'm not going to look at a gift horse in the mouth.

Furthermore, I absorbed the soul of the Destroyer once. So, from my albeit limited experience, it should mean that I can now consume the creature's soul just by touching it.

It should matter in a normal situation.

But I happen to have a way of facing the Destroyer as much as I want.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes, the world shifts around me, and I'm back in the real world.

From the looks of things, barely any time passed while I was in my Soul World. I don't pay any attention to the corpse of the Destroyer which is already turning into dust and Rewind.

The battle resumes, and I repeat the same tactic. Forcing the soul of the Destroyer into mine comes naturally this time, and it doesn't take long for us to be back in my Soul World.

My plan hinges on one simple supposition. My soul strength already reached the threshold to activate Phase 2, and that increased my survivability by a substantial amount.

But, as good as Phase 2 was, it wasn't enough to face the Oracle.

So, what about Phase 3?

I have no idea if it exists. And, if it does, what the requirements are. But it is my only shot at beating the Oracle.

There's no time to waste, so I teleport next to the Destroyer and punch it.

A grin creeps on my face as I take out a large chunk of its body, which is absorbed directly into my arm.

Like I theorized, the power I absorb is greater than the one generated by Rewinds. The gains are even more significant now that I don't have to weaken my target and can directly eat it by merely touching it.

I'm glad that the Destroyer has such a strong soul. Otherwise, this strategy would have been worthless.

The souls tethered to the white figure all scream in agony as I eat them, and the Goblins are the first ones to fade out of existence. The demon struggles to enter the white figure, but I place my hand between the two. The creature realizes that too late and loses half of its soul in one go.

I clasp my hands around its head, and it vanishes from existence in a second. The power in my body keeps increasing, but I know it isn't enough. If Phase 3 exists then the requirements must be insane if Phase 2 is anything to go by. But time isn't something I lack, so I crack my neck and go back to reality.

It is only the beginning; I will repeat as many times as possible until I can destroy that bitch. It doesn't matter if it takes me years; she killed my companions countless times and wants to toy with my life, something that is not acceptable.

I glance at my left arm and grin. Now it's time to start AgAiN!