Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

There are times when one feels small. For example, when they’re surrounded by individuals greater than themselves.

This was partially how Jack felt as he sat in the center of the meeting room. It was small, yet imposing. Frescos filled the walls, depicting Old Gods in their moments of glory. Twelve chairs hugged the round wall, each framed by a carving of a particular Old God, one for each chair. That way, if someone looked at a person sitting in one of those chairs, they would see a stone halo surrounding their head, as if they were saints of that Old God.

Despite the chairs, there was a suspicious lack of a table.

The Arch Priestess sat in the chair before the Enas carving. It depicted a kind old man raising a hand, out of which tumbled a thousand peaceful embryos. It was supposed to signify him creating life. Jack found it creepy.

Elder Boatman’s clone sat before the carving of Axelor, illustrated as a ball of darkness swallowing the world. Elder Soresight sat before the Old God of Time, a rippling pond through which a man was portrayed in various stages of his life. Finally, Elder Heavencrash sat before a carving depicting various balls in the shape of a human. Each ball was supposed to be a planet, though Jack had no idea which Old God this was. He hadn’t asked.

As for Jack himself, he sat at the very center of the room, where the table would be if there was one. He was cosplaying as a projector. Once his clone reached System space and activated Immortal Commune, the images of the summit would hopefully be projected above the head of Jack’s main body in the center of the room.

For now, he was just sitting between four silent, A-Grade individuals. The pressure was mounting. It was a good thing his mind was hardened, or he might have made a fool of himself by sweating.

“How is it going, Jack?” the Arch Priestess asked. “The clone was supposed to be in position ten minutes ago. Did something happen?”

“The starship is just flying slower than expected,” he replied. “We should be arriving any moment now.” His eyes flashed. “Ah. Just did, actually. Now I’ll probably watch the Dao—”

His voice cut off as new light filled his eyes. Not all Dao Visions were tame. Some assaulted his mind, leaving him no choice but to view them immediately. The last one had been like this, and Jack had expected this one to be similar as well.

However, since they were already delayed, there was no time to carefully perceive this vision. Jack rushed through. He couldn’t accelerate the vision itself, but he could slow down his own perception. Since the vision only played out in his mind, slowing his perception relative to the vision would accelerate it, making it flash over in just a couple of seconds. All he saw was a massive explosion. He would review it again when he had the time.

A moment later, Jack’s eyes returned to the real world. He and his clone were fully connected—a slightly jarring experience, even now. The clone took a deep breath, then reached into himself and activated Immortal Commune for the first time.

Immortal Commune I: This skill has no tiers. It allows you to seek council with the designated Immortals through the System’s long-range communication network. Restraint is advised as this skill consumes significant System resources.

He didn’t know exactly how it worked. No one did. They just assumed, based on the context, a very good chance it could connect him to an Immortal currently in the summit. If not… They might be in trouble.

Jack activated the skill. He expected something grand. Instead, a new blue screen appeared in his face.

Hello. You have activated Immortal Commune. Please answer a few questions so we can connect you to the appropriate Immortal. What is the purpose of this commune?

Jack just stared at the screen. Whatever he expected, it was not this. His main body relayed the information to the Arch Priestess and the Elders, who began offering suggestions all at once.

“Silence,” the Arch Priestess interrupted the cacophony. She turned to Jack. “The only Immortal we know is certainly attending the summit is the Heaven Immortal. Say something that sounds of utmost importance.”

Jack nodded.

The clone looked at the screen and said, “I would like to discuss an issue of utmost importance with the Heaven Immortal.”

Please provide details.

“I have information on the Black Hole Church. I know their true plans, but I will only tell the Heaven Immortal.”

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Please wait.

Jack waited. The screen floating before him was surreal. As bloodthirsty and brutal as the System usually was, it now resembled a bot from customer support. Jack wondered if he’d ever get this image out of his head.

The Heaven Immortal has denied communication. Reason for denial was declared as, “I’m busy.” Would you like us to transfer your request to the nearest available Immortal?

Shit.

Jack tried not to panic. He was at the edge of System space somewhere in the Milky Way galaxy. The summit, from what he knew, took place in the Spiral Stair galaxy. The nearest available Immortal would not be there.

“Do not transfer the request,” he said, going out on a limb. “Inform the Heaven Immortal that this cannot wait. I stole secrets of the Church and am escaping. They will catch me soon, and I will be unable to communicate. I must speak to him right now.”

Please wait.

Jack’s heart was beating in his throat. If this didn’t work out, and they connected him to some random Immortal in some random galaxy, he wouldn’t be able to attend the summit. The Arch Priestess would have broken her word. According to her, that would have disastrous consequences, both for herself and the army as a whole.

Would she blame him? Could they recover? Had his inability to convince a bot altered the entire flow of the war?

His spiral of worries was interrupted by a single word, ringing loud and clear in his mind.

“Speak.”

Jack paused. The voice carried grandeur and power, but also coldness. If the almighty System had a voice, this would be it. Jack knew he was speaking to the Heaven Immortal. The leader of the Immortals, the Hand of God, and the System. One of the most powerful entities in existence.

And he was thinking instead of replying.

“I carry the will of the Arch Priestess,” he said telepathically. “She is seeking to connect to the summit. Please permit.”

This was a phrase they’d planned beforehand. It needed to be clear and concise. Now that he’d spoken it, the Arch Priestess couldn’t be blamed if the Heaven Immortal denied her access to the summit. It wouldn’t be her fault.

Silence followed for a moment. Jack imagined the Heaven Immortal realizing it had been played. How would he react?

“Permission granted.”

There was no anger, no hesitation. The Immortals were emotionless. Instead of feeling rage at being tricked by Jack, or demanding an explanation it already knew, the Heaven Immortal immediately moved on. It was brutally efficient. Terrifying.

Jack felt the connection between them grow wider. From transferring only sound, it now included image. A metallic face appeared in his mind. It was completely featureless, with only the number 1 drawn on its forehead in red paint. From the back of its head, various little tubes spread out, disappearing beyond the edge of the projection.

Jack was face-to-face with the Heaven Immortal.

Without panicking, he transferred the connection to the main body. The main body then projected the scene above his head, while relaying to the Heaven Immortal his own surroundings—the Arch Priestess and the three Elders. To someone of Jack’s caliber, using his Dao to capture and project his surroundings was a trivial matter.

Receiving the image of the Arch Priestess, the Heaven Immortal widened its image further. Jack now saw the Heaven Immortal hovering over a flat disk of stone carved with complex, glowing runes. It wasn’t a language he recognized. Each rune was so small it was barely distinguishable, yet all together they covered the massive stone disk.

The disk floated alone in space, framed by distant stars. Bright blue light came from below, but not enough to be blinding. Five figures stood on the disk. One was the Heaven Immortal, with tubes coming from its back and disappearing into a dark fold of space. There were one more Immortal, sporting the number 6 on its forehead, and a handsome, human-looking cultivator in loose robes. This man gave Jack pause. He carried a heroic aura which was hard to ignore.

The remaining two people were, unexpectedly, space monsters. One was an extremely muscular humanoid covered in interlocking gray plates. While naked, it possessed no discernible genitalia. It stood at the same height as the Immortals and possessed a thick tail. Its human face betrayed both cunning and confidence.

As for the final member of this summit, it was a massive silver dragon. Its head rested on the stone disk, larger than all other members, while the rest of its colossal body floated behind it in space.

Jack couldn’t perceive the auras of these people through the projection, so he could only wonder how many were Archons. The Heaven Immortal certainly was.

“Arch Priestess,” the robot said. “You pulled quite the charade to avoid attending physically. Are you intimidated?”

“Only a fool battles on her opponent’s terms,” the Arch Priestess replied, her tone dismissing the Heaven Immortal. “Two overlords of the Space Monster World, it is an honor to finally meet you in person. Or, well, as in person as my projection speaking to your clones can be considered.” She chuckled. They didn’t. “I’ve worshiped your carvings as a child. Meeting you has been a lifetime wish.”

“Always nice to see a fellow space monster doing well,” the silver dragon rumbled. Its voice was neither cold nor warm. It sounded neutral.

The other space monster, however, spoke with daggers. “You have already framed yourself as inferior, Arch Priestess,” it said. ‘Now you’re just nailing your own coffin.”

“I don’t see you attending in your real body either, Overlord,” she replied calmly.

“I was never challenged. If I was, my real body would be here, as would my armies.”

“Then you’re a fool. One who just got lucky.”

Next to this Overlord, a puff of silvery smoke left the dragon’s nostrils. It seemed amused.

Jack was only now noticing the faint transparency of both space monsters. As the Arch Priestess had mentioned, they were clones, and not strong ones, either. If he had to guess, they didn’t want to leave the safety of the Space Monster World.

However, if they were the overlords of that world, that made them both Archons. Maybe not even average Archons.

It was interesting to Jack how outspoken space monsters were. It probably came with their bestial nature. They had started antagonizing and cursing at each other within the first minute of interaction. This would be fun if it didn’t concern the future of the universe.