Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1432 - 218: The Second Oracle

"We’ve already heard about it outside." Pannis said wryly, "The Undead had received an Oracle not long ago, claiming that Death’s Gate would soon open and the Undead needed to form a vast army quickly. As soon as the gate opened, they were to invade The World of the Living immediately and build their own fortress. As for the will of the Deity, the Undead would comply unconditionally. Therefore, an army comprising tens of thousands of Upper Rank Undead in the form of Skeletons had already been organized. The moment Death’s Gate opened, they rushed out without a moment’s delay and stepped into The World of the Living."

"This news, just as I said earlier, during prayer time, was directly fed into the consciousness of the Undead by the Deity, so virtually all of the Undead received this information in a short time. Even if a few Undead hadn’t managed to pray in time and hadn’t received the Oracle, they would have become aware of the situation from the discussions among other Undead." Finche sighed and said, "Danacus outmaneuvered us. Without our knowledge, he transferred the Oracle directly. We didn’t know what was happening, so it was too late to react. Since we did not protest, the Undead thought we had tacitly approved their actions. Consequently, led by a few leaders of the Skeletons, they called together a massive army. Did you just say tens of thousands of Upper Rank Undead? Ha, you’re underestimating Lady Nellie’s influence. The initial Undead Army, even after strict screening, reached a scale of three hundred thousand, which is to say, double the number you saw."

"Hiss..." Pannis gritted his teeth and took in a cold breath. One could imagine, if an army of three hundred thousand skeletons swarmed out from Death’s Gate, it would definitely breach the threshold the World of the Living could endure. Currently, the two sides were in a standoff because the current size of the Undead was still within the World of the Living’s controllable range. Hence, a temporary standoff could be maintained. However, if the scale of the Undead were to double, it would completely exceed what the living could tolerate. To eliminate this threat, the living would definitely initiate an attack, utterly destroying the fragile peace.

"However, when the army gathered around the capital, we still sensed something abnormal and had no choice but to step in and urgently call several leaders for questioning." Luscia explained, "It was very risky, and we almost exposed the fact that we hadn’t received the Oracle. Luckily, it’s hard for anyone to believe that a Deity would bypass the Archbishop to communicate Oracles directly to believers, so we managed to bluff our way through. However, at that time, we also learned about the Oracle from the Undead. Of course, I don’t understand much, but Finche said that it was a very dangerous countermeasure by Danacus. If we hadn’t discovered it, Nellie’s plan could have been completely ruined. Was it really that serious?"

"It really was that serious." Catherine nodded emphatically, "I mentioned this to those leaders outside as well. During the time the Undead were building their fortress after bursting out of Death’s Gate, there were several occasions when conflicts almost broke out, which would have led to outright war. You can imagine how dangerous the situation is already. If there were more Undead troops, the consequences would unquestionably be dire."

"Then it seems Finche made the right decision." Luscia said, "Finche had me convince those leaders, arguing that an army of three hundred thousand was simply too large and entirely wasteful. After all, the Oracle didn’t specify how many troops were needed, so we exploited that loophole and cut the number in half. The Undead were puzzled by our intentions, and we could only claim that this was because the Deity was worried that too large an army might provoke a war, saying it was an amendment to the Oracle, which finally quelled the dissatisfaction among those who were excluded. But that’s as far as we could cut it; reducing it further would likely have aroused suspicion."

"This number is good," Pannis reassured, "It coincides perfectly with the baseline tolerance of the World of the Living. Any fewer might have had the opposite effect, so you shouldn’t feel regret."

"I based it on the capabilities of the living a hundred years ago," Finche elaborated, "and then thought that even tens of thousands might be a bit too much. But if you say so, it seems the combat strength of the living has indeed grown over this century."

"Certainly, the Undead War a hundred years ago was also a stimulus for the living," Pannis nodded, "It forced the living to unite and battle against the Undead, which wasn’t a bad thing. In the following century, interactions among different races became increasingly frequent, inadvertently boosting the combat capabilities of the living and increasing their odds in facing a second Undead invasion. This can be considered the only benefit of the last Undead War, I suppose."

"With that said, we can rest easy," Finche breathed a sigh of relief, "We’ve been worried these days, fearing that our impotence might cause a major disaster. Hearing your words, we can finally sleep well tonight."

"I’m afraid it’s still a bit early to say we can sleep well now," Pannis said shaking his head, "Otherwise, you wouldn’t have had to falsify a second Oracle."

"The second Oracle wasn’t exactly falsified, just slightly modified," Finche corrected, "During our last communication before losing contact with Lady Nellie, she had detailed her plan, including how to gradually engage with the living after Death’s Gate opened. She explicitly stated that the Undead must restrain themselves, not to launch attacks when probed by the living, or they would forever lose the chance of coexistence. So, after forcibly reducing the army by half, a few days later we called all the leaders back, including those leading the construction, and conveyed Lady Nellie’s wishes, clarifying that this was her will. However, we did alter the timeline, telling them this was an Oracle transmitted by Lady Nellie, not something left over from over a year ago."

"In fact, we must admit that the second Oracle and Danacus’s order were somewhat contradictory," Luscia added, "But the leaders accepted it readily. I think it’s also because I often conveyed Nellie’s orders to them as the Archbishop, and they’ve habitually come to regard my words as Nellie’s commands, not likely to be questioned easily."