Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

The war had slammed on its brakes. Two Greater Gods and Axelor stared down the Heaven Immortal’s enhanced form—a bunch of titans about to clash. Compared to their overwhelming auras, even A-Grades felt inconsequential, and Archons couldn’t help a deep sense of inferiority.

Jack shook his head as he spectated from a distance. Even if he went all-out, he couldn't even come close to these beings. He couldn’t even beat one of the extreme Archon lesser gods from before. Axelor was a step above them, the greater gods were a step above him, and the current Heaven Immortal was yet another step higher. Meanwhile, Jack was an early A-Grade. That was a gap no amount of talent could bridge.

Even the strongest Archons of either side were only at the level of lesser gods. When the big guns came out, all they could do was sit to the side and hope. As for the B-Grades and A-Grades fighting each other, that was just a joke.

The Arch Priestess shook her head in self-deprecation. She realized now that the only reason the Gods had summoned the Church was to hold back the Immortals’ army from creating formations to assist the Heaven Immortal.

The two armies came to a stalemate, warily glancing at each other as they both surveyed the battle. The Immortal army had originally held the advantage, but the Heaven Immortal’s transformation had sucked enough energy out of them that the two armies were now roughly evenly matched. There was no reason to fight. If one army tried to create formations and participate in the greater battle, the other army would just stop them, shedding blood on both sides for no reason. They might as well watch.

Even Jack was in the same position. The only one still moving was Brock, slowly spreading his golden aura over more and more of the Church forces.

“MORTAL CANNOT OVERCOME DIVINE,” one of the two Greater Gods said, its voice echoing with five undertones. It was slightly stronger than the other.

“My calculations indicate it can. I will prove it soon enough,” the Heaven Immortal replied. Its aura erupted, a clinical white expanse carrying extreme efficiency but little spirit. It charged into the Gods and blew them up in an explosion which filled the world.

Everyone in the two armies rushed away. Even the aftermath of such a battle wasn’t something they could withstand. They made significant distance before turning around to watch again.

The Heaven Immortal was nestled between the three Gods. Its white powers contained blue streaks in the exact same color as System screens. At the same time, its moves seemed to contain every single Dao, changing properties automatically to counter the Gods.

Axelor moved first. He conjured tentacles of darkness, swinging them at the Heaven Immortal, who conjured white shields to block them. Entropy was blocked by the concept of Infinity—it stood at a slightly lower level than Axelor’s laws, but a little extra energy made them evenly matched. The tentacles clashed into the shields and were repelled.

The two greater gods attacked right after. One unleashed what looked like a solar beam, while the other charged and straight-forwardly tried to punch the Heaven Immortal. The robot used a far too complex combination of Physical daos to block the beam, then twisted space to make the punch miss. In the same move, it unleashed a soul attack on both of them, sending them staggering.

“You are powerful yet incomplete,” it informed them. “I possess all Daos in existence. You do not. The victor is obvious.”

The Gods tried to fuse their powers, but there was something missing. In the end, the best the two greater gods and Axelor could achieve was to synchronize their attacks, but the Heaven Immortal conjured over a hundred different Daos in the blink of an eye and countered everything. Each of those Daos was demonstrated at the Archon level. Several clashes later, the Gods had been pushed into a definitive disadvantage.

“You cannot escape,” the robot said. “I am faster and stronger. You should surrender your cores. Persisting is pointless.”

The Gods roared. A massive energy beam as wide as a star crashed into the robot, which blocked it with a flat energy shield. The beam spread in all directions, impacting distant stars and shattering them, carving deep scars in the fabric of reality which took a long time to regenerate. The Archons of each army were working together to shield their people from the shockwaves—the Immortals’ army was retreating even farther away, cheering for their leader.

“Arch Priestess!” Archon Truth shouted. “We should run as well! It’s not safe here!”

The Arch Priestess did not reply. Her gaze was glued to the battle—specifically, Axelor.

Another exchange ended badly for the Gods. Jack, who spectated the battle, knew that nothing could change. These three Gods possessed great power but little to no variations. All they could do was use the same attacks over and over. The Heaven Immortal had copied the Daos of every B-Grade and above in its forces, as well as every powerful cultivator’s who had ever existed within the System—it possessed nearly infinite Daos and great control over them. Countering everything the Gods could throw at it was simple. The only way for them to win was to overpower it, but that was clearly impossible, as its strength was above theirs.

Jack’s stomach dropped. This is a losing battle, he realized. We lost. Nobody can beat that thing. Even I… I’m not even close!

He was currently at the early A-Grade, and consequent breakthroughs would take very long as his inner cultivators needed time to develop. By his estimations, he’d need to reach at least the peak A-Grade to be able to contend with the Heaven Immortal, and that would require centuries in the least.

Should I run away?

he thought, hating the idea. If he escaped—which he wasn’t certain he could do—he would be leaving everyone else to die. So many good people who believed in him. It would be a betrayal of his Dao, and would it ever recover?

He didn’t need to consider it. Soon after he had the thought, he felt a tremendous pressure fall on him. His blood ran cold. The pressure wasn’t suppressing him, just stalking him like a predator. He had the feeling that, if he moved, he’d die.

The Heaven Immortal is watching me, he realized bitterly. It’s not stupid. It can let anyone else escape, but not me and Brock. We have the power to overcome it in the future—we must die today. If we try to leave, it will ignore the Gods and rush over here, killing our entire army in the process.

Is there nothing I can do?

He’d cultivated for such a long time, sacrificed so much. Yet, when it really mattered, all he could do was sit on the sidelines. He hated that feeling. Hated it so much. His mind spun with ideas, but all were fruitless.

***

The Arch Priestess ignored her subordinate’s pleas as she focused on the single strand of survival she could see. “You must do it,” she said. “Don’t you see? If you don’t, everyone dies!”

“MORTAL LIVES DO NOT CONCERN ME,”

Axelor replied. He was conversing with her mid-battle. His growing exhaustion and desperation echoed in his voice, making him sound like an old, sad whale. “ENAS HAS SINNED. HE MUST NOT RETURN.”

“Let him fix the problem he created!” the Arch Priestess pleaded. “If the two of you combine as well, you’ll be strong enough to take on the Heaven Immortal!”

“YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU SPEAK OF.”

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“Are you stupid!? You are about to die! Everyone is! How can you be so stuck-up that you don’t see there is no other choice!?”

“MIND YOUR WORDS, MORTAL.”

“Or what? You’re going to kill me? You’re already doing that!”

“I AM CONVERSING WITH MY SIBLINGS. WE WILL DECIDE.”

“Conversing? How stubborn can you possibly be?”

A beam of clinical white light cut into Axelor. A third of his body was shaved off, turning him from a sphere into a thick half-moon. His pained moan echoed through the universe. The stars flickered in mourning.

“WE HAVE DECIDED,” he said in the Arch Priestess’s mind. “WE WILL FREE ENAS. USE YOUR MORTALS TO DELAY THE HEAVEN IMMORTAL. DO NOT HESITATE TO SACRIFICE THEM.”

The three gods moved as one. The Energy God snapped its fingers, teleporting Axelor beside the black hole. It also locked down space around the Heaven Immortal. The Physical God stood between it and the black hole.

“Your last resort will fail,” the Heaven Immortal said. “It has been calculated.”

It turned into a ray of light which rammed into the Physical God. Tremendous powers clashed. The impact dislodged the void, momentarily robbing spacetime of meaning. The Heaven Immortal remained locked in place by the Energy God, but every distant cultivator felt their senses lurch.

Axelor waved his dark tentacles around the black hole. From a distance, Jack could perceive a forming barrier of entropy at a far larger scale than what he could accomplish. He instantly understood what was happening. Axelor was destroying the black hole, but he’d need some time.

“Cultivators of the Black Hole Church,” the Arch Priestess shouted. “Heed my command. Protect Axelor with your lives!”

Jack shot her a glance. He understood her meaning, which was why he could see the pain hidden in her expression. She was commanding them to throw away their lives, and she hated herself for it. Maybe that was why she was the first to charge towards the Heaven Immortal. A yellow-clothed arm blocked her way.

“We still need a leader,” Archon One Fist said, his back to her, his cape fluttering heroically. “Don’t worry, Arch Priestess. We came here prepared to lay down our lives for the future, for our disciples and descendants, for the cultivation world. This is what must be done, so each and every one of us will gladly lay down our lives. Isn’t that right, cultivators?”

“Yes sir!” the entire army shouted at once, Jack included. He looked around to find brave faces consigned to their deaths, wide smiles and fiery eyes. The sense of community which rose in him was hard to describe. These people were heroes, each and every one of them. He was proud to be here. His chest rose, and he released a battle cry, echoing everyone’s sentiments.

“CHARGE!” he roared, and the entire army sprinted towards the cataclysmic battle. Everyone operated at their best—formations formed unerringly, cultivators scraped for every hint of power left in them. Archons Great Silver and Truth were at the forefront, radiating their Daos in all their majesty.

“We need you still, Arch Priestess,” One Fist said. He turned around and gave her a dashing smile, alongside a thumbs-up. “Let us go first, okay?”

She did not respond. She’d loathed her mask, but today, she was glad for it. It hid her tears.

Thankfully, the Immortal army didn’t seem to willing to intervene. They knew that to approach meant suicide, and they did not possess the Church army’s resolve. Their side was winning, anyway—they watched from a distance.

The Gods stepped back to recover some power as the Church cultivators approached. The Heaven Immortal turned to them. “Why are you doing this?” it asked. “It will certainly end in your demise. You are miscalcula—”

He didn’t have time to finish. Great Silver and Truth got in its face and detonated their inner worlds. The explosion was as powerful as the all-out attacks of the greater gods, if not more, flinging the Heaven Immortal backward.

“I’ve spent my life pursuing the peak…” a voice drifted through the void. “At the bitter end, am I finally enough?”

Archon One Fist appeared before the Heaven Immortal, red cape fluttering, bald head and yellow suit looking out of place. He looked tiny as he shot out a punch. Space shattered in a deep groove, the undulations stretching out for light years. A fist physically met the Heaven Immortal’s chest and was cut short by a combination of Daos uniquely crafted to counter him. His fist went flying, cut off at the wrist. He chuckled. “Still not enough…” he muttered as a white hand backslapped him, sending him careening across the void.

“Foolish cultivators,” the Heaven Immortal said. “You’re miscalculating. You should run away.”

They ignored it. Dozens of cultivators flew at it, dozens of inner worlds detonating. It was fireworks. The entire galaxy lit up, the Church cultivators going out in a glorious blaze. Even the Heaven Immortal was pushed back, unable to deal with these explosions fully.

The people who’d detonated their inner worlds so far were a minority. Most cultivators arrayed themselves in solid formations between the Heaven Immortal and the black hole, a glowing golden aura pulsating over them and helping them fuse their powers. Jack and Brock were amongst them, as were the other young geniuses. For once, all of them stood side-by-side, ready to give their lives for the greater good.

“The young ones should stand at the back,” an elderly A-Grade said, stepping in front of Jack and the others.

“Senior!” he replied, but the old man just gave him a warm smile.

“Don’t rush to throw your lives away,” he said. “Wait your turn. If you can survive, our sacrifice will have been worth it.”

Jack wanted to reply, but the words wouldn’t rise through his throat. He watched the old man fly into the second wave of attack and detonate his inner world alongside another hundred cultivators, all in their waning years. Everyone else watched impatiently—not to escape, but to give their lives in turn. Jack got emotional.

“Even if we fail here,” he said aloud, “I want you all to know that fighting alongside you is my life’s greatest blessing.”

A woman laughed. “Those should be our words, Jack Rust!” Her words were followed by more cultivators speaking up.

“Right! Dying alongside you is a great honor!”

“Stand back, younglings. Some of us have waited our whole lives for this. Let us have our moment!”

Brock slapped a fist against his chest. “Bros…” he shouted, brorillian eyes getting teary. “I swear I will never forget you!”

“That’s more than enough for us!” the cultivators in the third wave replied as they, too, flew at the Heaven Immortal.

“Make me proud, disciple…” A familiar voice echoed in Jack’s mind. His eyes widened.

“Master Boatman!”

He glimpsed a dark-cloaked form hidden in the third wave of cultivators. A scythe teleported next to Jack even as the form under the cloak bloated, ready to explode alongside everyone else. “If you survive this, take my scythe to my descendants. Consider it payment for my tutoring,” were Boatman’s final words. He looked at Jack through his hood and warped his wrinkled face into a genuine, youthful smile.

More fireworks filled space. Jack forced himself to look, enduring the searing of his eyelids which would quickly heal. “I swear, Master!” he shouted, taking the scythe into his space ring.

“Why are you doing this?” the Heaven Immortal’s voice came distorted through the explosions. It didn’t sound hurt, only frustrated. “You are sacrificing yourselves! It is a bad move!”

A white hand parted spacetime, bypassing the explosions to appear before the army. Archon One Fist was waiting right there, his bloodied body overshadowed by a wide smile. “It’s because we are people, you idiot,” he said. “Now fuck off.”

He erupted in an explosion greater than even Great Silver’s and Truth’s. The Heaven Immortal was once again pushed back, releasing a roar of impotent fury.

“This makes no sense! I miscalculated nothing!” it roared out.

As the fourth wave of cultivators prepared itself, Jack looked back. The two greater gods were quickly recovering their powers. Dying before them felt undeserved, but he knew they’d need to be at their best to stand a chance against the Heaven Immortal, even after Enas returned. Even farther behind them, Axelor was done creating a barrier around the black hole. It was clearly straining him, the barrier so large even he struggled to keep it up. But it was working.

In the exact same process Jack used, the black hole had nothing to absorb as entropy flooded it. Infinite time passed. It grew smaller and smaller until a giant human hand emerged from it and grabbed its side. The hole warped under the strength of its grip.

“I miscalculated!” the Heaven Immortal shouted with almost self-hatred. It sent a rainbow-colored beam of energy towards the Church army, but the fourth wave of self-detonating cultivators blocked it successfully. By now, almost a third of the entire army had sacrificed themselves. Whoever remained swore to make their sacrifice worth it.

The black hole bent dangerously, then shattered like a pane of glass. Everyone held their breaths—the Gods opened their eyes from meditation, and even the Heaven Immortal paused to calculate the new arrival.

Enas was not a giant like the other Gods. Despite the hand which had appeared to crush the black hole, he was just a large, formless mass of green energy exuding deep exhaustion. It hovered there in the void.

“ASSUME A PHYSICAL FORM AND MERGE WITH ME, BROTHER,” Axelor said, his voice also tinted with exhaustion. “THE TIME TO RIGHT YOUR WRONGS IS NIGH.”

“INDEED IT IS,” Enas responded. Jack never had a strict father, but this is what he imagined it would sound like. It made Jack—and everyone else—want to stand on attention. It demanded obedience.