Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Chapter 459: Punishment

The universe had fallen quiet.

Dozens of bodies littered the space behind Jack. They used to be overlords, emperors of the galaxy, C-Grade Elders and B-Grade Ancestors or Envoys. Now, they were all dead—slain because they made an enemy of Jack Rust. Because they pushed their enmity far past the point of reconciliation.

What goes around comes around. The Animal Kingdom had oppressed its constellation for a million years. Their widespread tyranny was bound to backfire eventually, and now they were destroyed. Without Elders and Ancestors to guide the faction, the Kingdom was left with only early C-Grade Enforcers. They were reduced to a C-Grade faction, and not even a particularly strong one. Moreover, the revolution against them was still ongoing—it was unknown how many Enforcers would survive.

It was even possible that, after everything was said and done, the Animal Kingdom would disband entirely.

This was a deciding day in the history of the Milky Way—the first time a major faction was taken down from the inside. It was also the day a new overlord appeared. Jack Rust had solidified his place as the galaxy’s strongest cultivator. Even if some Supreme Ancestor of an apex B-Grade faction could face him, no one doubted that in just a year or two, Jack’s strength would have taken another leap forward.

Jack Rust, Galactic Emperor.

After the battle broadcast was over, the world remained stunned. Large cities had fallen into inactivity. Elder Councils were convened in all major factions, and even Ancestors were called to participate. They needed to discuss how to handle this—figure out their place in the new world order.

The Milky Way had changed forever.

As the person in the center of all those changes, Jack didn’t care. He did not revel in his victory against the Animal Kingdom, nor was he relieved at temporarily being safe. The only thing he felt was hatred—a blazing dark bonfire which took his heart as fuel. His eyes carried death as he stared down his most hated enemy: Artus Emberheart.

Golden chains bound him, borne of the Dao of Brohood. Brock stood silent to the side, letting Jack approach, while Artus himself revealed a mixture of disbelief and bitterness.

He laughed. “Congratulations, Jack Rust! You finally win! You always win everything!”

“It’s not about winning,” Jack replied, flying closer. He only stopped when he towered over Artus, a titan staring him down. Coupled with his fierce air, it was like he would reach down and snap Artus’s neck in the next instant.

Yet, he didn’t do that. He didn’t just want to kill Artus; he wanted to make him suffer.

“Go ahead and try!” Artus laughed as if reading Jack’s thoughts. “You have already taken everything from me. My son, my honor, my faction… Even after I managed to restart my life, you only destroyed everything again. You are a menace, Jack Rust! I wish you’d never been born! At this point, there is nothing else you can do to me, no more pain you can inflict.”

Jack smiled, not responding. Artus kept going.

“You want to torture me? Try! There is no pain worse than what I’ve already been through. You want to utterly destroy the Animal Kingdom and kill my family? Go ahead! What do I care about them? Why should I care? They are the ones who exiled me. They never helped me deal with you. Let them die alongside their Kingdom like the ungrateful shits they are!”

The more he spoke, the more his ramblings turned from coherent speech to crazed ranting. It wasn’t just his Dao—his mind was broken as well.

But that didn’t mean Jack would show mercy.

“I do plan to destroy your lineage,” he replied calmly. “As for torturing you, however… I will not dirty my hands. Someone like you is not worth polluting my Dao.”

“Then what can you do?” Artus replied, laughing again. “You are powerless to hurt me! Useless, just like the day I killed your son! End my life, if you dare. Let’s bring this giant farce to a close!”

Jack felt intense hatred arise but held himself. “I will not hurt you, Artus Emberheart… However, if you think I’ll end your life, you are mistaken.”

“Hmm?” Only now did Artus sober up a bit. “What do you mean?”

“How long will these chain last, Brock?” Jack asked.

The brorilla raised a brow. “Indefinitely. They’re powered by ambient Dao.”

“Good. Can you bind him completely?”

“With pleasure.”

Before Artus could react, more golden chains materialized around him. His entire body was paralyzed—he could feel everything, but he couldn’t move a muscle. The golden color even seeped into him, imprisoning his soul and sealing his Dao. To his horror, Artus realized that he couldn’t move his energy at all—besides his tempered body, he was like a mortal.

“What did you do to me?” he asked, roaring. “What did you do!?”

“We sealed you,” Jack replied calmly. “Now you cannot escape, you cannot move, you cannot contact others, and you cannot even take your own life.”

Artus felt a hint of panic. To cultivators, who had extreme control over their bodies, taking their own life was extremely simple. It served as a mental guarantee—no matter what, they would never experience anything worse than death because they could kill themselves whenever they wished. Even when Artus spoke about torture before, it was only to mock Jack—he planned to end himself as soon as this conversation was over.

To his horror, however, Artus realized he no longer had that option. His Dao had shattered completely, rendering him incapable of communing with the world, and the little energy which remained inside his soul had been sealed by Brock, as had his body. The only part he could still move was his face, but it was useless. Even if he bit off his tongue, that would be a laughable injury to his C-Grade body.

Artus didn’t fear death or torture. However, this sense of losing control… This, he feared. It terrified him.

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“Let me go!” he screamed. “Kill me if you dare! Kill me like I killed your son!”

Jack gave a dark smile. “You do not deserve the same fate as Eric. The two of you are not on the same level. My son was avenged, he was loved, and he will be remembered. As for you… Nobody will care about you, nor will there be anyone left to remember you.”

Artus screamed, struggling to escape, but how could he? Though he’d once reached the late C-Grade realm, his current strength barely qualified him as a C-Grade. There was nothing he could do against Brock’s restraints.

Jack waved a hand, wrapping Artus in a spatial distortion and hiding him from sight. Living beings could not enter space rings, but Jack had reached the level where he could easily simulate a similar effect.

“Will you come with me, Brock?” he asked.

Brock raised his gaze. “To the end of the world.”

“Good. That’s exactly where we’re headed.”

The Trampling Ram arrived beside them. Nobody spoke to congratulate Jack—they could all sense the palpable darkness in the air. Jack and Brock boarded the starship. Before that, however, they spread their perception over Animal Planet and destroyed every single teleporter on it. Nobody could escape until they returned.

Then, they teleported.

The Trampling Ram pierced through space in silence. The void turned heavier wherever they appeared, then almost sighed as they left.

“Jack,” Nauja spoke hesitantly. “Do you maybe want to—”

“No.”

She fell silent. A couple hours later, the infinite stars around them began to abate, replaced with endless darkness. Bright shapes lingered in the far distance—some were shaped as spirals, others as eggs. They were galaxies.

Animal Planet was close to the edge of the galaxy to begin with. After a few hours of teleporting, they’d reached it. Behind them lay stars—ahead, darkness.

Jack stepped outside the starship alone. He waved his hand, and space distorted beside him to reveal Artus Emberheart, completely immobile. He could neither speak nor move. Only his eyes, which remained perfectly still, emanated hatred.

“This is the edge of the galaxy,” Jack explained. “Billions of light years of emptiness. Nothing exists here. No life…and no death.”

Artus’s eyes remained still, but a hint of realization was beginning to grow in them. A bit of horror.

“You are not too old, Artus,” Jack continued. “C-Grades can live for ten thousand years. You look in your fifties—you have maybe five thousand years left? Four? That’s a decent amount of time. Cultivators pursue immortality, you know. They yearn to spend more time in this world, enjoying everything it has to offer. You, on the other hand, are about to experience a very different fate.

“In your current state, you cannot move or act in any way. You cannot struggle. You cannot try to escape. All you can do is perceive and think. I hope your mind is an interesting place, Artus, because it is all you will know for the rest of your long, long life. I will push you into the endless darkness—in there, you will be nothing but a speck of sand. Nobody will ever find you. If you are extremely lucky, you might chance by a space monster in a century or two and be eaten. If not, you will spend your remaining years alone, immobile, and helpless, floating through empty darkness.”

Jack smiled to Artus’s increasing horror. “Aren’t you glad you cultivated to the C-Grade, Artus?” he asked. “You get to survive without food, water, or breathing… How fortunate of you. Enjoy your new life. This”—his eyes darkened—“is for my son.”

Jack reached for Artus’s back and pushed him forward. He watched as Artus floated towards the darkness, unable to scream or cry.

Jack stayed there for a few minutes, observing the ever more distant leonine. He felt empty inside. This was just punishment for Artus’s crimes—the man definitely deserved it. However, acting like this also polluted Jack.

The heart shaped one’s actions, and one’s actions shaped the heart in turn.

Jack gave Artus a final glance, watching him steer deeper and deeper into the darkness, then turned around and approached the starship. “I want to spend some time alone,” he said. “Don’t follow me.” Then, he teleported away, following the periphery of the galaxy.

A few moments later, when he was certain they could no longer perceive him, he suddenly changed course. His body angled towards the galaxy, heading deeper. He could sense exactly where he was and where he wanted to go.

There was something he needed to do, but it was something which brought him fear. He wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing. All he knew was that his hatred was too great, and that he’d once taken an oath he could not bear to violate.

He did not want this to be seen by the others—especially Brock.

Reaching into his space ring, Jack removed the starship he’d been given by the Black Hole People. It hadn’t seen much use, since they had the Trampling Ram, but it was perfect for just himself. He flew into it and teleported away.

Stars passed by. The starship teleported over and over, heading deeper into the galaxy. A few hours later, it approached a familiar area—the one he’d just been in. Animal Planet appeared in the distance. Jack performed a final teleportation, appearing over it and stashing away the ship. His aura erupted—a tremendous wave which submerged the planet.

Jack had once vowed that the name Emberheart would cease to exist in the galaxy. He could sense that fulfilling that oath would scar him permanently, but he saw no other way. He couldn’t go forward, and he couldn’t go backward. He hated himself—but he would still do this. For Eric. His son needed to be avenged, and this was the only way Jack knew.

The only way to quench his hatred.

In fact, Jack would have liked to do this in front of Artus Emberheart. The only reason he hadn’t was that he needed to lure Brock and the others away so they wouldn’t see this side of himself. Now, they wouldn’t have rushed here as fast as he did. Though the Trampling Ram could travel faster than his little starship, they had no reason to return so quickly—they probably remained at the edge of the galaxy for a while, discussing various things. That relieved him greatly.

As for why he didn’t want them to see this… He didn’t dare consider it. Even he had a limit—he wasn’t strong enough. The pain was agony. The hatred, endless. He needed to complete this task. To end this, once and for all.

I can allow myself one misstep, he thought. I’ve earned this.

Animal Planet was not a war camp like Hell or Earthen Gemini. It contained regular cities, with merchants, children, old people, animals… All sorts of innocent creatures who’d never seen the harsh side of the Animal Kingdom. It also possessed two moons—one was the home of the Lonihor family, and the other the home of the Emberheart family.

Jack didn’t plan to destroy the entire planet. However, starting today, it would only have one moon. The name Emberheart would cease to exist.

He appeared over the Emberheart Moon. His aura fell down, laced with killing intent. He readied his fist.

A few hurried figures flew up from the moon—some elderly Enforcers of the Emberheart family. “Wait, Overlord!” they cried out. “There are children here! Innocent people! Take our lives, but please, show mercy for them!”

They were panicking. To them, Jack was a god of destruction about to kill everyone. They were even willing to give up their lives to protect their children.

Jack found that admirable. However, he only shook his head. “An eye for an eye,” he said. “This is for my son.”

They shouted many things, but Jack wasn’t listening—he no longer knew what he felt. The world was hazy and dark.

His fist came down. A hundred mile-wide meteor appeared, easily able to shatter the entire moon, and it radiated a Dao so intense it was unstoppable. The elderly Enforcers cried out and banded together in a futile attempt to stop it. There was nothing that could be done anymore—millions of innocent leonines would be slaughtered.

The meteor came crashing down.

A golden light appeared out of nowhere—the phantom of a massive staff, smashing into the falling meteor and shattering both. The elderly leonines were pushed away by the shockwave. A storm blew over the moon below.

"That's enough!" a voice bellowed.

Brock stood in the ruins of Jack’s attack, his staff extended, staring him down. Though separated by hundreds of miles, they felt as if standing face-to-face—and Brock’s expression was dark with rage. He shouted, "Shut the fuck up!"