Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Chapter 451: Meeting a Legend

Jack was on the Trampling Ram, shuttling through a familiar region of space. The first time he was here, he’d engaged in guerilla warfare and managed to earn levels in the D-Grade. The second, he’d fallen into a trap and been chased into a nearby black hole.

This would be the third and final time he visited Hell, and hopefully the last one.

“We’ll be waiting here,” Nauja said as the ship slowed to a crawl. “If you need anything, just give the signal. We’ll arrive in seconds.”

“Don’t worry,” Jack replied.

This wasn’t the first planet he attacked. He was stronger than ever—unless Eva Solvig showed up, he was confident in handling things.

He left the Ram and flew forward by himself. Hell was several hundred thousand miles away, so he had time to observe it before he arrived. He saw its many continents separated by lines of sea—its gargantuan size, many times larger than Earth. He could not identify the continent on which he’d spent some months once upon a time.

Weirdly enough, he’d never actually seen Hell from space before. He hadn’t witnessed its grandeur. Though it seemed wild and pure, it emanated a certain majesty, making him realize just why the Kingdom had taken this planet as part of its core.

He arrived before the planet unnoticed and gazed down at it.

The original plan had been to destroy Hell as he had Earthen Gemini. That would give him the most levels. On Brock’s insistence, however, they’d dropped that plan.

Like Earthen Gemini, Hell was mostly occupied by D-Grade disciples of the Animal Kingdom—soldiers of the enemy. Unlike the other planet, however, Hell was habitable. It contained forests, plains, oceans, and jungles. It was filled with animals. If Jack destroyed it, he would be reaping trillions of innocent lives, and that’s not even including the scattered prisoners of the Kingdom roaming the planet’s many continents.

Even for a good cause, he wouldn’t do that, so he couldn’t destroy the planet. He’d do the next best thing.

Jack flew around Hell, taking care to remain undetected. His eyes scanned its surface. He knew from last time that the administrative center of Hell was a large prison from which the Warden ruled—it was the greatest building on the planet, the size of a town itself and surrounded by an Animal Kingdom city. Most of the cultivators should be gathered there—destroying it would give half the benefits of destroying the planet.

He soon discovered what he was looking for. A towering fortress, unpainted and undecorated, emanating an aura of brutal cruelty. Flags of the Animal Kingdom flew above its walls, portraying a roaring lion, while a city spread around it. Just by looking at this ugly fortress, Jack could imagine the inhumane conditions inside.

His lip twitching, he zoomed in. The atmosphere heated him up into a crimson comet. His cloak fluttered. Without slowing in the slightest, he plummeted through the upper layers of the atmosphere and descended towards the prison.

He did not plan to taunt and grandstand. Hell was littered with teleporters. He couldn’t destroy them all, so there was always the chance of Eva Solvig arriving if she was nearby. Jack needed to strike swiftly, then depart.

Protective barriers appeared as he fell from the sky, but he broke right through. Glass-like fragments filled the air. Alarms sounded from the prison, but Jack was already in the air above it.

“Die,” he muttered, shooting out his fist. He borrowed his fall to increase its momentum—a purple meteor blossomed into existence, parting the air as it crashed downward at tremendous speed. More barriers appeared—more shattered. A few attacks flew at the meteor from below but they were like toothpicks thrown at a giant. The meteor crashed into the fortress, breaking through its roof and nailing into the ground. A large shockwave spread from the point of impact—the fortress was demolished, the houses upturned, the cultivators sent flying. A wave of dust rose to submerge the city, and the flags of the Animal Kingdom were ripped apart by the wind, fluttering wildly in pieces.

The entire city was destroyed in the blink of an eye. Most people hadn’t even realized there was someone attacking. Hundreds of D-Grades were instantly killed.

Jack knew that, while this place looked like a city, it was actually the Kingdom’s main training area for D-Grade cultivators. There were barely any innocent people down there, all soldiers of the enemy. The only exceptions were the prisoners held inside the fortress, but Jack had made the conscious decision to strike regardless.

The prisoners here weren’t many—most were running around the planet as animals to be hunted—and, even if he didn’t kill them directly, he wouldn’t be able to save them in the little time he had. They were doomed to stay here and be tortured by the Animal Kingdom for some time more. Therefore, he believed their sacrifice was worthy—by greatly accelerating his leveling speed, he could save many more of the millions of people dying to the Kingdom every day.

Level up! You have reached Level 343.

Level up! You have reached Level 344.

Level up! You have reached Level 345.

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Level up! You have reached Level 346.

Only four levels… he thought, sighing. It was less than he’d hoped for. The average C-Grade would be happy to get four levels in a decade, but to Jack, this speed was much too slow.

There wasn’t much he could do about it right now.

It had been less than ten seconds since Jack entered Hell’s atmosphere, yet the prison was already destroyed. He didn’t have much time left—his job was done. He instantly turned around and flew back into space, teleporting rapidly to escape faster.

No matter how quick their reaction was, even if Eva Solvig was waiting right by a teleporter, there was no way she would arrive within the first minute. However, to ensure success, Jack had resolved to stay here for half a minute—go in, destroy the city in one strike, rush out. Simple and clean. It would be impossible for anyone to catch him unless they were already waiting here.

Jack rushed in the direction of the Trampling Ram.

Suddenly, space solidified before him, interrupting his series of teleportations. Jack’s danger sense acted up. Without thinking, he flew to the side, barely dodging a spear which appeared in the space he previously occupied.

“Hmm,” an elderly voice rang out. “Good reflex.”

Jack tensed up. He hadn’t sensed anyone nearby. A figure stepped out of the void ahead of him—as easily as a child stepping through curtains.

It was a leonine Jack hadn’t seen before. He reeked of age and death. His fur had fallen off, leaving only white patches, and his skin was so wrinkled it seemed fake. He was small, too, shorter than Jack, as if old age had shrunk up this once majestic leonine into the size of a child. Gazing into his eyes, Jack found them pale and muddied—like he could barely see.

This person, whoever he was, gave off the impression that he just barely clung onto life. Yet, he did—and despite his appearance, there was nothing weak about him.

Jack’s danger sense acted up. His hair rose. Something inside him screamed to be careful because this decrepit old leonine was a genuine threat to his life—a feeling he hadn’t experienced since he faced Eva Solvig.

“It’s just like the young to be overeager,” the leonine said. “Attacking Hell… What wonderful recklessness.” His voice was weak, yet it easily spread through the vacuum of space. He sounded joyful—and partly bitter.

“Who are you?” Jack asked. He scanned him at the same time.

Leonine, Level ??? (B-Grade)

Faction: -

No faction? Is he not with the Animal Kingdom?

The level wasn’t visible, as it never was for people of a higher Grade, but Jack could still use his Dao perception to gauge the old man’s strength. It was tremendous—even greater than Eva Solvig’s, though shriveled up by old age just like his body. At his peak, he was probably at the peak B-Grade tier. Now, he possessed the strength of a normal late B-Grade cultivator.

But even a late B-Grade wasn’t someone Jack could necessarily match.

“I guess you could say I’m nobody,” the leonine replied, chuckling. “If my name still existed, I would be Travelus Lonihor, pioneer of the Milky Way and one of the founders of the Animal Kingdom. For an old man like me to return just to deal with a boy like you… It is a bit unsightly.”

Jack was dazed. Founder of the Animal Kingdom? As far as he knew, the Kingdom had been founded shortly after the System arrived at the Milky Way, almost a million years ago. Was this old man claiming to have lived that long? B-Grades could only live for a hundred thousand years at most. What was going on?

Wait. He mentioned he has returned from somewhere… Could it be he was revived!?

Jack was unfamiliar with the concept of cryogenically-maintained Supreme Ancestors. It wasn’t something people tended to share. He naturally arrived at wrong assumptions, but whatever the case, he didn’t dwell on it too much.

There was no time to chat. He needed to escape quickly. His mind quickly analyzed the situation: This old man had solidified space to stop his teleportation. Their Daos of Spacetime were at similar heights—or, at least, the old man wasn’t too far off. Jack could probably outrun him, but that didn’t mean he could escape. He’d already approached the Trampling Ram. If the old man discovered that, Jack would be placed in the same conundrum as last time, when he needed to protect the ship or let it leave alone. There would be no time to teleport away.

He needed to defeat this old man quickly.

Jack no longer bothered with speaking. His aura rose. Waves of purple whipped at the surrounding space. His cloak fluttered wildly, and a condensed aura hugged his body, making him resemble a devil warrior. He didn’t know if he could win, but he was ready to go all-out from the very start.

Facing this display of power, the old man was unbothered. “Pretty good for a C-Grade,” he said. “Let me stretch these old bones.”

The void split above him. Divine radiance rained down, an amount tremendously vaster than anything Jack had ever witnessed. It hugged the old man, completely hiding his appearance, and the silver light morphed into shiny plate armor. A lance appeared in the old man’s hand. His aged face seemed to recover a hint of vigor, while sets of wings unfurled from his back one after the other.

Eight white wings flapped majestically, showering the world in radiance. Even a fifth pair of wings was faintly visible, just a shadow which hadn’t yet materialized. Meanwhile, a dozen divine warriors appeared around the old man, each possessing strength at the early B-Grade.

This was the Lonihor family’s angel battle form—the same technique every single member of the Lonihor family had used so far. By now, Jack knew this was a cultivation technique originating from the Black Hole World, but this old man seemed to comprehend it to a greater extent than anyone Jack had ever fought before.

Jack had read the description of this technique—whose original name was Art of Divine Providence—at the Black Hole World. The practitioner could manifest two wings at the E-Grade, four at the D-Grade, six at the C-Grade, eight at the B-Grade, and ten at the A-Grade. There was even the theoretical level of twelve wings when one became an Archon.

This old man hadn’t reached the A-Grade even in his prime. Yet, he could manifest a shadow of the ten wings. That was a testament to his great talent, unfathomable power, and deep understanding. It drove home how this decrepit old man was one of the greatest talents to ever grace the Milky Way galaxy, the founder of a B-Grade faction and interstellar empire, a pioneer of cultivation who’d ushered his entire species into a million year-long era of prosperity. This was a hero returned from the dead—and Jack was asked to cross an entire Grade to fight him.

Jack was fighting for his life. There were many weights on his shoulders. Yet, despite all that, he found himself fired up at the prospect. The man before him was a legend—he was late-game material. And Jack was about to take him down.

“I have half a minute, old man,” he growled. “Bring it on.” His aura erupted, and he charged.

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