Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Chapter 411: Goodbye, Hidden Realm

“You did it!” Min Ling shouted.

“Bakagu!” Brock yelled, jumping backward as Jack appeared in his face out of thin air. He grabbed his heart. “Bro! Careful!” Then, realizing that his big bro was safe and successful, he rushed over to give him a firm pat on the back. “Good job.”

“You guys didn’t know I succeeded?” Jack asked. “I thought the Archon’s voice had echoed here as well.”

“It didn’t.” Min Ling shook her head. “But I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Same here,” Brock added. “And stronger, too!”

Jack laughed. “I’ll tell you all about it. But first…how about we leave this place?”

Excitement rose inside them. Only Min Ling felt a hint of hesitation as she gazed at Jack’s victorious figure—it wasn’t only his handsomeness that grew every time he tempered his body, but also his aura. Over the years, it had left a deep impression in her heart that wouldn’t go away.

However…

Min Ling’s eyes met Jack’s. In the end, she chose not to speak. He was not an idiot—her feelings were visible if he chose to see them, but he’d never breached the subject. Min Ling recognized the tacit rejection. She had already researched his background and knew he was married—perhaps, in his culture, the notion was more meaningful than in hers.

Thinking up to here, she chuckled bitterly. She had been pursued and desired by innumerable men in her life—but the only one she wanted, she could not have. The cruelty of fate.

“Is there anything you wish to say?” Jack asked, looking her in the eyes with kindness.

She smiled and shook her head. “No. Let’s go.”

Jack nodded. He waved his hand through the air, using the realm heart’s powers to form a multi-colored portal—it pierced the Dimensional Sea and connected directly to their universe, though not at the same spot they’d left. He’d chosen a random place for safety reasons, though inside the galaxy, as he couldn’t go farther.

“What about the others?” Min Ling asked, referring to the expedition members.

“They’ll stay here for now,” Jack replied. “My power has risen greatly, but it is not enough to face Spacewind yet. When it is, I will return, kill him and all those who attacked us, then release the rest. Besides…” A faint smirk appeared on his face. “I suspect they don’t dislike this place.”

She nodded. The three of them stepped through the portal, flying through a multi-colored tunnel for some time before emerging in a dark part of space. Innumerable tint stars surrounded them. This was the universe everyone knew and loved. They. Were. Back!

“Thank you for flying with the Rust airlines,” Jack said. His smile then turned warmer—sentimental. “Welcome home.”

“We’re out!” Min Ling yelled in joy as she exited the space tunnel. “I can’t believe it!”

Brock rubbed his hands together. “Hohoho. So many new insights. So many bros to make.”

Jack laughed alongside them. He couldn’t wait to go back home and visit his family.

As he spread his perception, however, he noticed a dark shape approaching them at great speed. It was a space monster of incredible size, larger than a continent—a deep space leviathan. Its every tooth was like a mountain.

Space Monster, Level ??? (B-Grade)

As the leviathan approached them, it roared, shaking space for a thousand miles.

“Shit!” Min Ling shouted, turning to face it. “It must have been drawn in the by the spatial ripples. I’m not sure I can take it. We should run!”

Jack, however, had perceived the monster ahead of time and estimated its strength. Though a B-Grade monster, it was at the weakest end of that spectrum. As he saw it charging, his boiling blood spilled over, and all his gathered power needed to erupt.

“Let me,” he called out, flying towards the leviathan instead of away from it.

Min Ling’s eyes widened. “Jack!”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Big Bro!”

But Jack was unstoppable. He accelerated, reaching extreme speeds, and activated the Life Drop battle form. He pulled his fist back. Five solid Dao Fruits poured their power inside it, alongside the power of his extremely tempered body. He grinned wildly. The B-Grade leviathan bit down on him. He smashed out a punch.

“SUPERNOVA!”

The world roared and shattered. The endless void broke apart. The explosion was like a star being born, releasing massive shockwaves for untold miles, while the leviathan suffered the brunt of this attack. An ocean’s worth of black blood spilled out. Mountain-sized teeth flew through space. The leviathan was not dead, but it was bleeding profusely from the mouth, and its gaze towards Jack had changed from hunger into fear.

Without hesitation, it turned tail and ran. Jack did not pursue. He could defeat it if they truly battled, but there was no meaning to chasing a space monster.

Yet, that was a B-Grade creature. He’d clashed and won against it. His cultivation was only at five fruits, but his actual strength had already reached the B-Grade.

That was…unprecedented. Pride filled his chest.

Min Ling’s jaw hung open, while Brock nodded sagely. “As expected,” he said.

Jack laughed out loud. “Come on!” he said. “Let’s go!”

“Where?”

“To Earth, first. We must visit our families and let them know we’re safe. And after that…the Cathedral would not be a good choice. Our cultivation and understandings have risen too much lately. We need to spend some time exploring the universe and using battle to consolidate our strength. Therefore, there is only one thing to do.” His grin widened. “It’s time to adventure!”

***

Jack and Brock had been gone for over three years. What they didn’t know was that these years had been crucial for the development of the universe, and they would certainly go down in history.

One month before they returned, a landmass was circling a small black hole in the void between galaxies. This was the Cathedral. Everything was the same as always.

In a corner of the Cathedral was a massive teleporter with twelve white columns sticking out of the black ground. Next to it, an old man meditated in complete silence. He had not moved for a millennium. Jack had seen him many times but never noticed anything weird. Neither had the many C-Grades passing by his post every month.

On this day, the old man’s eyes snapped open. A terrifying strength erupted from his body, and he instantly teleported to the space outside the Cathedral, resisting the black hole’s pull with just his power. His gaze was locked into the distance, where he could feel faint spatial ripples approaching.

Space opened beside him, revealing a disheveled Heavenly Spoon Sovereign. “Elder Shield,” he said casually. “Did you sense it as well? I think we’re about to have—”

“Quiet,” the old man said, his voice emerging rasp and hoarse. “Return to the Cathedral and activate the Evacuation Formation.”

“The Evacuation Formation? But that’s—”

Before he could finish his words, space was torn asunder in the distance. Colossal starships slipped out, dozens of them, followed by hundreds of smaller ones. One starship was particularly large, the size of a small planet, and on its prow stood nine people—five were robots and four were humans.

Of the nine, one robot stood ahead of the others.

“Whoops,” said Sovereign Heavenly Spoon.

“Cathedral…” the leading robot spoke in a mechanical voice. “Finally. We found you.”

Of the nine people, each exuded an A-Grade aura. Especially the leading robot—its power reached the late A-Grade. It was one of the strongest Immortals.

Seeing their arrival, the old man’s frown deepened. An ocean of energy erupted from his body, enough to disrupt the flow of Dao in his surroundings.

“Run and activate the Elder Beacon,” he told Heavenly Spoon. “Let the Black Hole Church know…that the second crusade has begun.”

The sovereign did not waste a moment. His body flashed away, leaving the old man alone to face a fleet of hundreds of starships and nine A-Grades. Before them, he seemed tiny. “If you want to pass,” he said slowly, his voice echoing to the ends of the world, “you have to pay with your lives.”

The leading Immortal tilted its head. “That is inaccurate,” it said. “You cannot face us. You will die—but your courage is commendable.”

Elder Shield lasted for two minutes. That was enough time for the Cathedral’s Evacuation Formation to activate, teleporting every living creature away. The Cathedral itself could not be moved—it remained there and was captured.

On that day, the first Elder-level combatant fell, and the crusade officially began—and, on the same day, the Black Hole Church lost its capital.

This would be a tough war.

***

In this war, the Hand of God would certainly try to purge all galaxies from the influence of the Black Hole Church. This included even the newly-Integrated Milky Way galaxy.

The group sent to achieve this in the Milky Way was led by three B-Grade commanders as well as one late C-Grade individual who hailed from this galaxy. This individual had his own goals.

His son and his disciple had been killed by Jack Rust. He had been publicly defeated and humiliated, had his face dragged through the mud to such a degree that his faction, the Animal Kingdom, had thrown him out. His millennia-old reputation had been shattered, and he had lost all the power and authority he’d cultivated over millennia. Even his relatives and disciples didn’t want to see him. From the almighty Warden of Hell, he had crashed down into the dark earth.

This was Artus Emberheart. The man who had lost everything.

Except his life.

And now, he would strike back.

“Scour the entire galaxy. Interrogate everyone. Point our scanners outside System space. I don’t care what you do. Just find. Me. Earth!” he ordered in a low growl, smashing his fist into the armrest. His eyes burned with deep, all-encompassing hatred. “That man took everything from me. No matter what, I will repay that hatred! I will torture his wife and kill his children, burn his planet and destroy everything he loves!” He laughed madly, his voice echoing through space. “Prepare to grieve, Jack Rust!”

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