"Fine, let's go help your damsel in distress."
"Calling her a damsel might not be entirely accurate."
We were leaving the room when I felt my leg being hugged. Priscilla was holding onto my leg for dear life while trying her hardest to look up at me with puppy eyes. She probably failed to realize that I had been the one who had taken her ability to talk.
"Don't even try it. This situation is your fault and now you have to bear the consequences. If you want to improve your circumstances I suggest you spend some time with Aurelia. You might find your prince charming to be closer than you thought."
Same procedure as before. Invisibility, high-speed flight, and hovering above the unsuspecting target. We were somewhere above a forest and below us, a tense secretary was hiding in a cave while scanning her surroundings.
A group of 200 ruffians armed with clubs and other make-shift weapons was combing through the forest. Among the group, there was one individual who didn't quite fit in. He seemed the same as the others to the common eye but I could see a thick cloud of faith enveloping him.
A priest hiding inside a mob of ruffians that are chasing down a single individual. My guess, some local temple was behind this whole operation.
"200 goons and a priest to go after one secretary? Seems a tad bit much if you ask me."
"You've never met your former secretary, have you, Aurelia? I'd say that without the priest they wouldn't be able to beat her."
"You are honestly making me curious about this Arahnia. Spill it already!"
"She's an arachne who dabbled a little in the element of darkness. I'm sure she knows how to fight due to her biological instincts too. Not that she'll have to."
First impressions were important so I choose to directly crush the minds of all the ruffians including the priest. While crushing the priest's mind I felt a little resistance from a spark of divine power buried deep within him. With a little extra effort on my part, the spark was extinguished before it could do much.
"Something the matter?"
"Just some world god being pissed about losing one of his zealots. He tried to lash out through a hidden divine spark and I taught him a little lesson."
Meanwhile, in the cave below, Arahnia seemed very confused with the fact that all her pursuers had just collapsed like puppets with their strings cut. Before she could get the dumb idea to run away and make me chase her I dropped down landing at the cave entrance.
Despite knowing that she was standing right at the mouth of the cave due to my mind map I couldn't see Arahnia by physically looking. Her concealment spell was rather formidable.
"You can stop concealed yourself. I know you are there, former secretary Arahnia."
"Why are you here and what is your connection with Eclesias and his followers?"
She sounded quite apprehensive and still kept up her concealment spell. Eclesias must be the god whose priest I had just crushed. Now, how to explain the situation to her...
"Miss Arahnia, I am Aurelia, I trust you know me. I, as your former employer, am not quite satisfied with your actions so I've come to find you."
"I understand that my decision has resulted in a great loss for you but I have no money to give you. If you insist that I repay my debt I can only sell my body."
"If I wanted money I wouldn't have saved you and just demanded money from the priest after he captured you."
"A priest! So Eclesias' priests are here?"
"Just one and he's dead now. But that's beside the point. You don't need to sell your body, you can just resume your duties as my secretary."
"You would still want me despite my failings?"
"What occurred was partially my fault too. Just try not to do the same mistake again."
At that time I could feel a presence surging with divine power approach us. The divine power was identical to the one of the spark I had extinguished before.
"Time's up. Aurelia, take Arahnia back for now while I deal with that nuisance. Oracles are such a pain!"
Aurelia pulled a dagger and flashed into the cave, cut apart dozens of threads, reached for Arahnia, and teleported away. I hurriedly set up an array on the ground waiting for the perfect moment to activate it.
No sooner had I finished setting up the array did a figure bursting with divine power arrive. This was an oracle, a human that had great adaptability to divine power and strong faith so his god could use him as a vessel.
What arrived was a young man, long, blond hair, golden eyes, and clothed in loose, white robes. As he came closer it looked like a second sun had appeared. I couldn't feel an increase in temperature so the god's element must be light or something along those lines.
"Rejoice, pitiful mortal, for I shall allow you to lay eyes upon my divine form before I vanquish you and your evil powers. Hear the symphony of heavenly prayers as your absence makes this world a better place. For I am Eclesias, God of a brighter world!"
"The only thing I hear is the cacophony of some wimpy dog barking. This isn't your divine form. It's not even your real body. You're just a coward who uses oracles to do his bidding."
Lesson number one when fighting oracles. Oracles are just possessed by their gods the human's mind and soul are still there and you can take advantage of that.
Gods who represent things like light or holiness are always in a near-emotionless or happy state. Should their host's feelings cease to match their own they will lose the connection or at least be weakened.
Hearing me calling his god a wimpy dog the oracles face scrunched up in anger. The oracle's emotions started to run rampant and disturbed the connection to his god. The divine power bursting from his body decreased rapidly.
"I see what you are planning mortal but you will not succeed. Hear me, my faithful servant, don't let your emotions lead you astray. Trust in me as your guiding light and surrender your body to me."
Seeing the god possessing the oracle speaking to himself was a rather comical sight. And despite those words having some effect in calming the oracle the divine power only recovered to about 75 percent. Meaning I had weakened my opponent by a quarter of his strength for the whole fight.
It was time to activate the array!