Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 285: Creating Ripples

Eva Solvig waited on her starship’s prow, gazing over the planet of Hell in its entirety. Her mood was sour. Shortly afterward, a leonine with hints of gray on his fur stepped through space to appear beside her.

“Commander,” he began, “this is—”

“Silence!” she interrupted him. “What went through your head, Artus? You knew we were looking for Jack Rust, but you didn’t think to inform us when he appeared on your planet?”

“It was my mistake, commander,” Artus Emberheart bowed deeply. He wasn’t completely subservient—the leonines never were—but he feared her nonetheless. He knew he’d messed up. “We thought we could apprehend him and present him to you as a gift.”

“So you thought it would be a good idea to waste the Hand of God’s resources to curry favor?”

“I would never dare, commander.”

“Not even for your personal grievances against him?”

Artus paused. A moment later, he replied, “Not even for that, commander. The leonines are many. The Hand of God, only one, and it has my unending loyalty.”

Eva sighed. First Huali, now Artus. These C-Grades were making her life difficult, one after the other. Perhaps she should just let them go to war and be done with it.

The leonine remained bowed while Eva considered the issue. “I scanned the planet just now,” she said. “No sign of them. I suppose you also completed your round.”

“Yes, commander. I personally flew over the planet’s surface to find them, but they have hidden well. I have my best D-Grades still looking.”

“Good. Keep them at it. Have them fly close to the ground and scan all caves across the entire planet. We must find them.”

“Yes, commander.”

Another sigh. Hell was a large planet—if they just sent D-Grades to scan it, it would take years, but there was a limit to how low she was willing to fall for a single D-Grade escapee. And even she could not command C-Grades into tedious menial labor. “I cannot stay here forever, Artus. There is only so much time I can devote to any single lead—even though I can sense this Jack Rust is hiding something. Spare no expense. Find them.”

“Absolutely, commander. I will suspend all prisoner hunting and enlist every immortal on the planet.”

“Good.” She looked in the distance, towards the void of space. “What are the chances they escaped already?”

“Small. We know they did not access any of our teleporters, and we already apprehended their accomplice. Furthermore, we have detected no major space ripples across the entire solar system, and we had tripled our amount of patrols.”

“That other person that appeared, the Sage… He used a high-grade spatial artifact. Are your subordinates trained to detect the spatial ripples of such devices?”

“They are not, but they are competent. I believe they would not miss it.”

She threw him a side glance. “For your sake, I hope that is the case.” She then turned around, her white cape following soullessly in the lack of wind. “Jack Rust is a wanted criminal with connections to the Black Hole Church. I expect you to throw everything you have at him the moment he appears, including yourself, and notify me so I can personally take charge of the situation.”

“You would act yourself, commander?” the leonine’s eyes widened. “Isn’t that improper?”

“Do you know best, or do I know best?” He cowered at her glare—he’d spoken out of turn. Still, she decided to do him a favor by explaining. “The item we suspect he’s stolen is of paramount importance. It is not impossible that the Church will send a full combat force to retrieve it. If that happens and I am not present, you will all die.”

She more sensed than saw Artus gulp. “Yes, commander. Thank you for your time.”

“Dismissed,” she said tiredly, and the leonine disappeared. So did she, reappearing in her private room inside the starship. She sighed again. This was supposed to be a short trip, but it was dragging on…

However, every cultivator who reached the B-Grade was in tune with the Dao. They had sharp instincts and intuition. And right now, the voice inside her was insisting that something was wrong with this man called Jack Rust. Even though she still had people monitoring Trial Planet, she was confident that the answer to the riddle hid with that man.

But why?

***

Maximus Lonihor teleported into a hall that would be crowded if it wasn’t enormous. Immediately, every other D-Grade in the room made way for him, bowing their heads in reverence. The only person who didn’t was Sapasun, the canine deacon who happened to be the Warden’s top disciple.

“Sup!” the canine said joyfully. He didn’t seem to mind the charred fur he was forced to wear as punishment for failing his mission. He put on a large grin as he approached the leonine. “How did it go, man? What did Master say?”

“Shut up and you’ll find out,” Maximus growled dismissively. These two weren’t friends. If anything, Maximus thought that a leonine’s top disciple being a canine was a disgrace. “Everyone, listen up!” he raised his voice to be heard across the hall. “We have our orders. Starting immediately, we spread out and scan the planet exhaustively until we find them. They’re probably hiding deep underground, so fly close to the surface. If you do locate them, do not engage—crush the projection stone we’ll provide you with to notify us.”

“Yes, sir!” every other immortal replied. Their voices shook the building—they were hundreds.

“Time is of the essence,” Maximus continued. “Until we find them, all prisoner hunting is suspended. So is your training. Rest minimally and spend all of your time searching. They must be found.”

At this, a wave of whispers spread through the gathered D-Grades, but Maximus was having none of that. With a snort, his aura enveloped the hall, pressing down on everyone’s head like the breath of god. “Am I understood?” he asked.

“Yes, sir!” everyone replied at once.

“Good. Go receive your projection stones and get started. Your team leaders will inform you of the area you’re responsible for. Dismissed.”

They didn’t need to be told twice. Immediately, every immortal in the room flitted away in the direction of the storage wards, where the projection stones were kept.

Well, almost every immortal. Sapasun remained. “Tough day, huh?” he asked.

“The orders go for everyone, Sapasun, you included. Get to it.”

“I’m sure Master will forgive me a few moments of delay. Besides, it’s not every day that I get to see our Head Disciple being so sour.”

Maximus paused. “Are you looking for a fight?”

“I would never,” the canine replied, laughing. “Just trying to make conversation.”

The leonine threw him a long, piercing glare. “The only reason I even allow you to speak to me,” he said, “is because etiquette dictates so. If it was my call, I would never let a lowly canine address me directly, let alone test my patience. Next time, I will break your limbs. Am I understood?”

He stared down Sapasun. He saw a flicker of resistance in the canine’s eyes, and he was fully ready to beat it out of him. Eventually, however, insanity gave way to reason, and Sapasun bowed his head to reply a strained, “Yes, sir.”

Maximus snorted. “Good. Now get to searching.”

Waving his claws through the air, he split space apart and walked through it. Sapasun would either follow orders or be punished appropriately.

***

Huali sat cross-legged in her private room, cultivating. The estate stretched below her window, while the forested valley underneath echoed with the efforts of people and animals alike.

A mental probe reached her. She sighed. “Come,” she replied.

Space split across from her as a short, stout man with sharp eyes and a wide jaw appeared. “Hello, Huali,” he said. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Monsoon,” she replied calmly. “What could be more important than a fellow Elder’s visit?”

He laughed. “Always the charmer. However, I must admit I come with bad news. Did you hear about your rogue disciples appearing on Hell and creating trouble for our faction?”

“I did. It is unfortunate.”

“You really should raise them better, you know.”

“I should.”

Monsoon gave her an indirect glance. “You don’t seem very concerned.”

“What is there to be concerned about? They have already left my tutelage. Even if I wanted to, I have no way of contacting them. Anything they do is up to them now.”

Monsoon smiled, without it reaching his ears. “I believe some may disagree. The Faction Leader has summoned us.”

“Us?”

“Yes. The Grand Elder of the Animal Kingdom tried to come in contact. Since we presently have no Grand Elder, they spoke directly to the Leader. I was ordered to come here so he could speak to us both at the same time.”

“I see.” She did not think this would happen, but it was within her expectations. The leader was a man who liked to keep the balance—he would not easily pick a favorite in this battle for the Grand Elder position.

They didn’t need to say anything more. They waited a few moments until an elderly-sounding voice rang inside both their heads.

“Huali, Monsoon.”

“Greetings, leader,” both thought back.

“What is this I’m hearing, Huali? You recruited a wanted criminal of the Hand of God who, along with your head disciple, is now slaughtering the immortals of the Animal Kingdom on Hell. How did you make such a mistake?”

“It was my lapse in judgment, leader,” Huali replied. “I take full responsibility.”

“You should. This is greatly harming our standing. The Animal Kingdom demands compensation.”

Her throat tightened. “Are we going to comply?”

The elderly voice snorted in amusement. “Of course not. The Kingdom is our enemy—why should we honor their demands?”

“You are wise, leader,” she replied, inwardly sighing in relief.

“If I may, leader,” Monsoon intervened, “won’t the Hand of God force us to make amends? If the factions could send rogue cultivators against each other, the galaxy would turn chaotic.”

“They might. Thankfully, the main perpetrator isn’t just a former disciple of the Exploding Sun, but also a wanted criminal to the Hand of God. Huali, I don’t want to know what was or wasn’t your idea. I want you to assist in capturing him. Give them any information you have. That young man has rendered us a great service, but we simply cannot stand against the Hand… The more we help, the less they will demand of us. This is a blessing in disguise. I hope you understand.”

“Yes, leader,” Huali replied without hesitation, because she did not intend to honor this command. The only way she could help was by surrendering Jack’s spiritual companion to the Hand of God, but she couldn’t stoop that low. Not to mention it wouldn’t help them much either, which was why they never really pursued that line of questioning.

Besides, she’d already hidden the presence of that brorilla from the Inquisitors. They thought he was with Jack—and the chaotic Outer Planet was better protection for that beast than anywhere else in the galaxy.

“Very well,” the elderly voice replied again. “I believe we have said everything that needs to be said, and we have not said the things that should not be said. Huali, you are in charge of this matter; don’t create any more trouble for our faction. Otherwise, even if you are elected as the next Grand Elder, I will personally reverse that decision. As for you, Monsoon, be the face of our faction for a little while. At times like these, we need a steady hand to stay the course while the other slaps our enemies.”

“Yes, leader,” both replied at once, and the voice withdrew, leaving them alone.

“Well, that’s that,” Monsoon said, shrugging. “I suppose the arranged duel is also canceled.”

“We’ll see about that,” Huali replied, a glint in her eye. “Even if Jack is a wanted criminal, he might be let off lightly when the Hand of God takes what they want. And even if he isn’t, I’m sure we’ll find a way to settle things.”

Monsoon caught her meaning immediately. “Shol cannot defeat Qian,” he said.

“Before, he couldn’t. But after this adventure on Hell…who knows.”

The two Elders stared down each other for a moment before Monsoon averted his gaze upward. “Time will tell,” he said. “I bid you goodbye, Huali. For the sake of our faction, I hope the Hand of God executes those criminals, as would be proper.”

“Of course, Monsoon. I agree wholeheartedly,” she replied, but her grin spoke the complete opposite.

With a step through space, Monsoon disappeared, no doubt to prepare some plan of his own to counter hers, while Huali settled down to meditate again. The gears had been set in motion. All she had to do was wait—and hope she’d bet on the right horse.