Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Chapter 391: Fighting Baron Longform

The golden lights flickered after enduring Barons attack, but then returned stronger. Jack shot forth. Flanked by a hundred twigs, his punch shot out, sucking in the surrounding lava to release it in a massive explosion. Baron Longform was still weakened from the large-scale attack hed made; a hasty defense was all he had time to raise.

He was smashed and sent flying away, lost in the lava. He used the momentum to escape Jacks perception range. Jack remained on guard, focusing his perception on the space directly around him, capturing every minor change.

A tiny fluctuation.

Suddenly, Jack turned and punched the void. Space ripped apart right then, and Baron emerged, his own fist already shooting out.

Two fists collidedone purple and one gray. Space shattered. Both opponents were sent flying backBaron was stronger, but part of his energy had gone to teleporting.

However, everybody had a weakness. Longforms powers of regeneration were not too pronounced. After enduring so many attacks from the twigs and Jack, he was injured, one hand hanging limply in the lava. A tiny space bubble still flickered around him, protecting him.

I should have gotten the damn monkey, he said through gritted teeth.

Too late, Jack said, panting but with his body in perfect condition. Youre dead.

He clenched his fist. Power rose all around him, forming a massive purple phantom of a fist that even sucked in the surrounding space.

Baron Longform broke into the laughter of desperation. You think too highly of yourself!

Suddenly, something changed. In Jacks perception, Barons body had exploded with power. His life was slipping away, his cultivation was slowly falling, but it was not without gainall that energy, originating from the body of an extreme nine-fruit C-Grade, formed a large source of power behind the Baron.

At the expense of his own life and cultivation, he had temporarily achieved power far greater than normal.

A thousand years of my life and one fruit, Baron said. His silver hair was wildly fluttering in the lava, his silver eyes were glowing, his bare chest exuded wild strength. For the secrets on your body, it is worth it. Your Life Artifact will be mine. Your lucky chances will be mine. Your potential will be mine. Everything will be mine!

***

Arkenstals hands moved. A giant space spike appeared in the sky, falling over the dragon. It penetrated its skull. Hard bones splintered. The dragon roared one final time, then stopped moving forever.

Everyone remained on edge, panting. They were exhausted. Many were injured. Some were dead. Six cultivators had been lost in this battlefar more than Arkenstal expected.

Shit! he said breathlessly. I thought this would be easier!

Min Ling nodded, remaining silent. Arkenstal glanced at her. Ever since the start, she had conserved way too much strength. Several people had died because of this, including cultivators from her faction.

Why?

Suddenly, Arkenstals gaze flashed. With the chaotic attacks gone, space slowly repaired itself, allowing his perception to cover everything. He quickly counted the bodies, both alive and dead. Three were missing: Baron Longform, Jack, and the brorilla. The other two aside, Baron was a precious combatant. His absence was why the battle had been so difficult!

But Arkenstal didnt care much about the losses. Even if it was people from his faction, one cultivator less meant one less person to share the treasure with. The real question was

If those three werent here, where were they?

Min Ling! he roared. You want to steal the treasure!

Everyone had realized the absence of those three at the same time as Arkenstal. They all glared at Min Ling, drawing their weaponseven those from the Black Hole Church.

I dont know what is going on, she replied calmly. I had nothing to do with this. Lets rush.

They didnt need to be told twice. Everyone passed through space, instantly arriving at the bottom of the volcano, which had already collapsed. As soon as they arrived, Arkenstal noticed something off. The draconic twigs here were far fewer than he had seen last time.

That monkey he said, gritting his teeth. He easily connected the dots. Find them!

There are Dao fluctuations deep underground, a man said. They must be fighting something. The treasures final guardian?

Great! Lets go!

Arkenstal raised his hands, ready to tear space directly towards the origin of the Dao fluctuations. Just as he began, however, he sensed something. His face paled.

Careful!

***

Jack was horrified. Baron Longform was already stronger than he was. If he sacrificed part of his life and cultivation to increase his power even further, that could only be terrible.

Barons gray aura returned, completely different to before. It spread out to cover a mile. Every draconic twig cried out in pain, some folding over. Some hearts seized beating. They were unable to approach.

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Jack came under the suppression of this aura as well. His mind, his body, his soul, everything was suppressed. His power was limited to half of what it usually was. Primal fear clouded his mind, speaking of imminent, unavoidable death. At the same time, space locked down around him, much harder than it previously had.

Baron wasnt planning to defeat Jack. He was planning to kill him. The reason hed sacrificed his own life and cultivation for extra power was to ensure that Jack could not escape.

And, indeed, he could not. Space was tight around him, pressing down from every direction. Let alone teleporting, even moving was difficult. He was trapped.

Die! Baron shouted, punching out. That enormous source of power flowed into his hand, erupting out as a massive, gray shockwave. It took the shape of a fist. Everywhere it passed, space crumbled, lava was pushed away like air, and the Dao itself ceased to exist.

Behind the fist, Barons body deflated, losing most of its strength. He had bet everything on this one strike. The power of an absolutely all-out attack by such a character could be imagined.

Jack could already see his own death.

A flock of draconic twigs rushed for the gray fist. Their bodies flared with golden light, thirty-six of them combining to form three golden shields in a row. The fist rammed into them. All shields shattered. The twigs broke apart, their bodies instantly losing all life. They hadnt even had time to scream.

Big Bro!

A brorilla appeared in the path of the gray fist. His entire body was covered in soft golden light. He raised a book, flipping it to the page of a brorilla holding a shield, then his other hand smashed a golden staff into the fist, pouring everything he had into it.

The fist paused for just an instant before breaking through. Brocks Staff of Stone was snapped in two. He was sent flying far away, vomiting blood from the impact. His golden light weakened dangerously.

Thankfully, he knew he could not block this attack, so he had kept his body out of the fists direct trajectory. Otherwise, he would have died on the spot.

Brock and his twigs had managed to weaken the fist by around two tenths of its original power. However, it remained extremely powerful, and there was nothing left to stand between it and Jack.

Facing this absolutely overwhelming attack, Jack didnt have false hopes. If he was struck, his body would shatter and he would die. No amount of tempering could save him. He could not escape, either.

All he could do was meet it head-on.

At that moment, Jack gathered every ounce of power in his body. His fist shone so brightly it was about to explode. However, before the might of Barons all-out attack, this power was nothing but a joke.

He dug deeper. He needed more power. He needed more power!

On the eve of death, Jacks mind erupted with potential. A spark was born, spreading over all his unrealized insights. The results of his past few months of meditation ignited, turning into smoke. Some was dark blue, and some was blackspace and death.

Under the power of his despair, all that smoke crashed together, scrambling in the hopes that something, anything would be born.

Space and death combineda hopeless union. These were two very different Daos. How could they result in anything?

Jack had come up with nothing. There was no breakthrough to be made. His insights were just not enough. His current power was also not enough. The gray fist was approaching. He needed more powerbut he didnt have any.

He roared, smashing out a Meteor Punch with all of his power. Light and sound were sucked inside. It was the strongest strike he had ever unleashedbut it paled in comparison to Barons gray fist. He could not stop it. He would do his best.

Even at the last moment, as he punched out, his mind never gave up. He kept scouring everything, looking for a path to survival. His entire life passed by his eyes. He saw himself on Earth, inside Trial Planet, at Hell, on the Cathedral.

His thoughts moved by themselves, surrendering to Jacks deepest instincts. Suddenly, he saw a striking scenehe was standing next to a starship, watching a distant star explode. In his desperate desire for power, his mind had retreated to the greatest power hed ever seen displayed.

The memories of that event flooded back. Hed once spent months meditating on the supernova, but it was not meant for himhe had only achieved a small fusion into Meteor Punch.

But now, as he thought back to it, something was different. His horizons were wider. He knew so much more.

He understood space. He understood death. And suddenly, all those past realizations sprang to life, and Jack could finally see past the mysteries.

The supernova was the death of a star.

Space and death.

He recognized it now. All his insights into those two Daos, which hed forcefully galvanized before, now ignited on their own. They went up in flames. Their smoke evaporated. A series of realizations sparked in Jacks mind, each leading to the next.

And, as all those insights combined with his old ones about the supernova, they suddenly combined together, forming a perfect whole.

Jacks eyes saw a whole new world.

The gray fist kept coming, promising his death. Jack completed his swing. Sound and light were dragged into his fist, but they never exited. Suddenly, his fist was a whirlpool, a bottomless pit of energy. The lava fell inside. Even time and space were sucked in. They formed a tiny core.

The concentration of energy was so intense, so potent, that Jack had to release it or his entire body would explode. He roared in silence. His fist made contact with Barons.

SUPERNOVA!

The world fell away. The entire cavern shattered. Tons of stone fell from the ceiling, while the nearby lava evaporated. The sea of lava and the ground shook for a hundred miles around them. A new sun had been born underground, destroying anything and everything around it.

A path of destruction was cut directly from the point of collision to the surface, breaking through everything in its path and shooting into the sky as a column of blinding light.

Jacks arm had disintegrated from the shoulder down. He was filled with pain and empty of energy, a lamp without oil. The entire front of his body had been charred black, a gruesome sight. In this state, even maintaining a shield against the lava was a struggle. He could only remain conscious thanks to the Life Drop.

Baron Longform was in a slightly better state. Even with Jack developing Supernova at the last moment, Baron had remained slightly stronger. His body was burnt. His skin was flaking. His fist had shattered, and his silver hair had evaporated.

However, he had also burnt his life and cultivation to release this strike. Such a technique carried a terrible backlash. His entire body was in pain, almost paralyzed. He was in no condition to keep fighting.

Both combatants were out of the fight. As for Brock, he had been close to the impact, looking at it directlyhalf his fur had been seared from the heat, and his eyes only saw white. Coupled with his previous consumption of energy, he could barely maintain consciousness.

The draconic twigs were better off, since they were highly resistant to extreme temperatures, but they were scared out of their minds. Half of them had perishedthe rest had run away as fast as their fern wings could carry them.

Jack struggled to remain conscious. He tried to raise his fist. Facing him, Baron Longform also tried to gather his remaining energy. Both were thinking the same thing. One of them had to die.

At that point, however, space split open between them. A dozen people walked out, easily parting the lava. What the hell is going on!? Arkenstal roared.