Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 178: History

Jack didn’t respond right away. He savored the words. “Invite me into Black Hole Church?”

“Yes,” the Sage replied. “You already know I’m part of it—though I hope you’ve kept this information safe. Dorman is one of us, too, as are many people across the galaxy. And we want you.”

To the side, Dorman nodded.

“Isn’t the Black Hole Church a terrorist organization?” Jack asked, crossing his arms.

“That’s what the Hand of God says. In truth, we are the good side here.”

“How so?”

The Sage smiled. “Because the galaxy—and the wider universe—is a palace of oppression. The offspring of misunderstanding, built on a foundation of irreversible disaster. We fight against the tyrants, hence we are deemed criminals.”

“That’s a lot of words to make no sense.”

The Sage burst out laughing. Jack reminded himself that, despite his appearance, this was a deeply charismatic man. He had to keep his guard up.

“What do you know about the Immortals, Jack?” the Sage finally asked.

“Not much. I know they made the System and were robots created by the Ancients.” Nauja had told him as much in the Forbidden Cave.

“Correct. Why did they create the System?”

“To defend against the Old Ones.”

“In more detail?”

Jack frowned. He felt like he was tested in school, but gave the Sage the benefit of the doubt. “The Old Ones destroyed the Ancients. In revenge, the Immortals created the System to start a crusade and push them off.”

“Aha,” the Sage said calmly. “You do know some things. That’s good; means I don’t have to overload you with information. But not everything is as you’ve heard.”

Jack raised a brow. “Oh?”

“I will explain. However, I am limited in what I can reveal unless you join us, so please bear with me.”

“I’ll try.”

“History, you see, is written by the victors. Many times, the truth is twisted… There were three main groups once: the Old Ones, the Ancients, and the Immortals. After the Ancients were destroyed—which wasn’t as simple as you may think—the Immortals indeed created the System and eventually launched a crusade against the Old Gods, pushing them to the fringes of the universe, outside System territory. However, the Crusade did not manage to kill a single Old God.

“You must remember, now, that the Immortals were created for the sole purpose of defeating the Old Gods. That was their core directive, and it remains so until today. As a result, their System is a menace to the world. You have felt its malice first-hand; it pits all living creatures against each other, uncaring about the number of sacrifices and mountains of pain. Its only purpose is to create strong soldiers against the Old Gods—and damned be everything else. That is quite the terrible ruler, wouldn’t you agree?”

Jack considered it for a moment. “This makes sense.”

After all, he had seen how the Integration worked. It was a meat grinder that killed a billion people to create one strong immortal. So far, everything the Sage had said was in line with what Jack knew.

“I’m glad,” the Sage continued. “For some people, that is fine. But not for us. The Black Hole Church is an organization created to dismantle the System, slay the Immortals, and restore peace in the universe. This perpetual war we are embroiled in is a remnant of the Immortals’ programming, which is stuck now, since the Ancients are gone. Someone needs to put them down.”

“Hmm.” Jack narrowed his eyes. “But the System is meant to protect us from the Old Ones, right? The gods you worship. If the System falls, won’t the Old Ones, I don’t know, annihilate us as they did the Ancients?”

The Sage’s face wrinkled into a sad, bitter smile. “As I said, that was not as simple as you believe. The Immortals have twisted history to their benefit. I cannot reveal much yet, but believe me when I say the Old Gods mean us no harm—or, at least, any harm they inadvertently cause us will be far less than what the System does on a daily basis. Between the Immortals and the Old Gods, the latter would be far kinder rulers—if they even bothered.”

“Hmm. I don’t know. You base a lot of things on stuff you don’t tell me.”

“That’s why I warned you. Unfortunately, I cannot explain fully. I do not expect you to believe me today. I am just planting the seeds of true knowledge in you because I believe you are a man of integrity. If you keep what I told you in mind, you will eventually discover clues that I speak the truth.”

“Then, you are considered terrorists because everyone else obeys the System? Why would they do that, if it’s so evil?”

“Because they have power. The harsher a system, the kinder it is to those at the top.”

“Hmm. Okay. You still haven’t explained why you worship the Old Ones. From what you said, even if they aren’t evil, they are neutral at best, right?”

“Right. But we don’t worship all Old Gods. We worship Enas. The God trapped in the black hole. He is the one who views us mortals kindly and helps us. He is the one who harbors deep hatred for the Immortals and what they’ve done; if He is ever released from his prison, He will march with us. His power will twist the System and give us the strength to fight the Immortals on equal ground. Without him, our war is a lost cause. Their armies are simply too powerful.”

“So you want to release an Old One from his eternal prison.”

“Right.”

“You know how that sounds. It’s sketchy as fuck.”

“I am aware. As I said, I do not expect you to simply trust my words. After you leave Trial Planet, travel a bit. Ask around. See what horrors the System has inflicted on all worlds, and try to find proof of the Black Hole Church’s purported evil. They accuse us of things we have not done to twist the world against us, but all their supposed evidence crumbles before the wise eye. It is only meant to trick the naive and foolish.”

“...Okay. So you guys want to dismantle the System, which is an evil thing imposed on the world by unfeeling robot overlords. And to do so, you want to release a kind god from his eternal prison, where all the other neutral gods unjustly placed him?”

The Sage smiled. “Precisely!”

“Listen, man. I know you are trying really hard to make sense, but this all sounds very questionable to me. I don’t really distrust you, and I won’t reveal what you told me to others, but you understand my hesitation, right?”

“Of course. Take as much time as you like. If you ever find yourself agreeing with us, our doors will be open.”

Jack nodded. “Is that all you had to say?”

“More or less. I will be eagerly awaiting your response. In the meantime, we can help each other. Trial Planet is a dangerous place—and the greatest danger is other cultivators. If the opportunity arises, let’s save each other.”

“Wouldn’t you know already, Sage?”

“Hah. My eyes are not what you believe, boy.”

“Fair enough.” Jack chuckled.

“So. Any last questions before we head over?”

Jack thought about it. He looked to the side, where Dorman stood without a care in the world. He clearly knew about all this beforehand. Brock also waited calmly by Jack’s feet, trusting his big bro to parse through all the complex information.

As for Salin and Nauja, they were conversing with Poppy at the other side of the disc. Salin was gesturing animatedly, probably explaining something nonsensical.

Jack was dying to ask why the System was hunting down all remains of the Ancients, as had been revealed in the Ancient ruins. Even if everything the Sage had just said was true, it still didn’t make any sense. Unfortunately, asking that meant revealing his connection to the ruins, and that wasn’t a risk he was willing to take.

At the very least, he knew there were secrets. Things were not as they seemed. Maybe they weren’t as the Sage said, either, but at least Jack knew there was more than met the eye…somewhere.

“Just one question,” he finally said. “What’s the deal with you, Sage? You were in cahoots with the Church since very early on, weren’t you? They were the ones who fed you information about the Integration Auction. There’s no way you prophesied everything at the F-Grade.”

The Sage simply smiled, not revealing anything. Jack continued.

“You never told us about your Integration experience, either. I suppose they helped you. But why? How did you reach them—or they reached you—so early on? Was it dumb luck? Did their starship land next to the bench you were sleeping on? But, if you were a random person off the streets they picked to train, how did you become strong enough to fight on par with the rest of us? Why do you have such an odd, powerful Dao? There are so many coincidences surrounding you, Sage, and I know nothing about you. Not even your real name.”

The Sage smiled like there was a joke only he could see. “If I had a name once, it is now void. All I am is the Sage. As for how everything happened…” He winked. “I cannot reveal it yet. If you join us, then I will tell you.”

“Heh. Are you saying it’s a deeper secret than what you already revealed?”

“What I revealed was a history lesson. You cannot act on it. On my story, perhaps you could. No need to take chances.”

“I guess.” Jack chuckled. From the very first time they met, the Sage had been a walking enigma. Now, even after growing tremendously and reaching the Space Ring of Trial Planet, Jack was stunned to realize that this man was even more enigmatic.

He was very curious to know the truth—but not enough to join an organization he knew next to nothing about based on an outlandish conspiracy theory.

“I appreciate the offer,” Jack said. “I promise to think about it.”

The Sage clapped. “Good! Now, let’s head back. I sense that Poppy is about to turn our canine friend into dog paste.”

They quickly returned to the others. As the Sage had said, Poppy—the twin-pigtailed djinn with the large mallet—was glaring at Gan Salin with her arms crossed. The canine, on the other hand, insisted on explaining why painting herself green would be better than blue.

“It’s camouflage!” he protested, opening his arms wide. “Picture this: You can hide in forests, in swamps, in the defecations of someone who ate too much spinach. Where can you hide if you’re blue? The sky? You are not a bird. The sea? You are not a fish. Clearly, being green is the better choice.”

“I will not paint myself.” Poppy’s voice was high-pitched, like a child’s.

“But why? If you just—”

“Salin,” Jack cut him off, laughing. “Let the poor girl alone. Nobody will paint themselves for you.”

“I— Bah. Fine. But when you’re in a forest and have nowhere to hide, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Poppy narrowed her eyes. “I won’t say that.”

“Are you guys done chatting?” Nauja said, stepping up to Jack’s approaching group. “If so, we have a ring to explore. Trials to find.”

“I have a suggestion about that,” the Sage said. “I sense you already found a Trial for…at least one of you. Brock, right?”

Brock nodded before anyone could stop him.

“The fates of the rest of you do not lie in Space Ring. Labyrinth Ring and Garden Ring hold greater trials than here, and I predict that all three of you”—he pointed at Jack, Nauja, and Gan Salin—“will find something there. Don’t waste your time searching the stars. Reaching Labyrinth Ring before the Lords holds far greater value.”

Jack considered it silently. Trials aside, this was a great place for leveling up…but he couldn’t just focus on that. Fighting the same enemies repeatedly would only stunt his growth. He had to keep exploring and delving ever deeper, reaping as many levels as he could in the process without slowing down.

Ever forward. That was the way of the fist, and the way of cultivation.

Nauja frowned at the Sage. “Are you saying we should forget about all the Trials here?”

“To find something better later. Remember: No Trial at all is better than a bad Trial. You should take the best you can.”

She bit her lip in thought—a habit she probably didn’t notice. She turned to Jack. “Can we trust him?” she asked directly, not caring about insulting the Sage.

Jack tilted his head to the side. “He did just help us. If the horde dragged us to the far wall, we’d need several days to make it back here. Plus…we’re old friends. I trust his prophecies.”

“Then, fine. Let’s do as he says and go directly to Labyrinth Ring. What do you think, Salin?”

Gan Salin jolted up, surprised she considered him. “Sure,” he said. “Let’s go where it’s most fun.”

“It’s not like there’s much left to see here.” Jack shrugged. He turned to the Sage. “I presume we’ll travel together in the next ring?”

“Not quite.”

Jack raised a brow. “No?”

The Sage laughed. “We can go to the next ring together. But the Labyrinth Ring is a peculiar one. Everyone is split up as we enter, so there is no guarantee we can find each other. Let everyone pursue their own luck, and we can meet again when the Garden Assault fights the labyrinth guardian. And don’t worry—you and Brock are considered spiritually bound, so you’ll probably go together.”

“Oh,” Jack said. “I didn’t know that. Then, sure. Have you also completed the quests of this ring? To find a Trial and defeat an Elite monster?”

“We have.”

“Great. Then, let’s go. The Labyrinth Ring awaits.”

“Labyring,” Salin corrected him. Everyone stared. He crossed his arms and said, “Well, I still find it hilarious!”