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Chapter 170: Meet The Lords
🕑 Added 2023-04-20 17:36:00 +0000 UTCJack and his companions couldn’t sense the aftermath of the girl and the fat guy’s attack, but it must have been tremendous. The space monster horde had all but evaporated before them, sent flying by the giant palm or burned to cinders by the sun that erupted in their midst.
Thankfully, those people were so far away they were barely visible.
“As I was saying,” Gan Salin continued, “that’s Lady Priya of the Exploding Sun faction. One of the three Lords.”
“Exploding Sun?” Jack’s ears perked up.
“Your master was part of them, correct?” Salin asked. “Then, I suppose these people are possible allies. We’re in dire need of some.”
“Right.”
“The Exploding Sun are…less oppressive than the rest of them,” Nauja added, hesitantly. “I could work with them.”
“Or you could die,” Salin probed her.
“I’m a proud barbarian. I am not afraid of death. What’s that?”
Her finger was pointed in the distance. Far to the right of the Exploding Sun lady, something odd was going on. Jack had to squint to make it out. “Are the monsters fighting each other?”
“I don’t think so,” Nauja replied, staring intently. Her senses were the sharpest of the team. “It’s like the space monsters are fighting a horde of…beasts? I think I see a bear. And a bird. Maybe an eagle?”
“Maybe they’re animal-shaped space monsters.”
“Or summoned beasts,” Gan Salin intervened. Everyone turned to look at him. He continued, “If two of the Lords are pushing into Space Ring, chances are, so is the third. And she’s a summoner. This could be her.”
“A summoner?” Jack asked, eyes wide.
“Did you notice a guy riding a scaled lizard back in Village Ring? An annoying-looking guy? That was a summoner, too. They use beasts to fight.”
“It isn’t common, but not too rare, either,” Nauja added, her eyes hardening. “I’ve seen plenty in my ring. They like capturing dinosaurs.”
“I can imagine…” Jack’s voice trailed off. His eyes were still on the far-away battle between beasts and space monsters. In fact, calling it a battle was far-fetched. More like a slaughter.
The space monsters, their forms multicolored and easily visible, were ripped apart by the beasts. Before long, nothing was left.
“What faction is she from?” Jack asked. “This summoner Lord.”
There was a sinking feeling in his stomach. If she used animals to fight, could she belong to…
“It’s not what you think,” Salin said, chuckling. “The Animal Kingdom is animals. We actually despise summoners.”
“Oh, thank God.”
“However, the faction she comes from is even more terrifying. That’s Lady Minerva from the Hand of God.”
“The Hand of God?” Jack raised a brow. “I didn’t know they raised their own disciples.”
“Of course they do. They were formed to enforce the Star Pact, but that doesn't mean they aren’t a real faction. They have businesses, headquarters, training planets, disciples, elders… All the good stuff.”
“Then, are they the strongest B-Grade faction?”
Salin thought about it for a moment. “Yes and no,” he finally replied. “Technically, they possess the greatest military power, influence, and legal authority of all the factions. However, it’s not like they can ever mobilize fully. To create the Hand of God, every other faction offered some people and resources. As a result, they all have influence on the Hand of God’s internal processes, and the faction itself is a patchwork of several groups vying for dominance. If it ever went to war, there would be chaos.”
“But it’s already at war. Against the Black Hole Church.”
“That’s not the same. The Church is not part of the Galactic Alliance. Just a bunch of strong lunatics.”
“I see.”
As Jack was leaving Earth, the Sage had revealed he belonged to the Black Hole Church. He’d also helped Jack a lot during the Tournament. Were they really lunatics?
Plus, Master Shol had told Jack that the Church worshiped the Old Ones—or something like that. The Ancient ruins where he’d found the Life Drop also had hints of people—the Ancients?—worshiping the Old Ones, which made little sense.
Could things be more complex than they seemed?
Jack almost laughed at himself. Of course they were. The Black Hole Church was one of the strongest organizations in the galaxy. They couldn’t be just lunatics—it’s just that, up there, everyone utilized propaganda.
Thinking of those matters reminded Jack that, at the very end of the Tournament, the Hand of God had turned a blind eye as the Animal Kingdom bullied him. Technically, they were his enemyt.
He returned his gaze to the beasts, which were just finishing up the space monster horde. As a large monster tried to flank them, a burst of darkness swallowed it whole. When it receded, the monster was just flailing, shivering by itself in the darkness. The bear-shaped beast disposed of it easily.
“What was that?” Jack asked, referring to the darkness. It felt familiar, somehow.
“I can see the summoner. She isn’t alone,” Nauja said. “There are two people behind her. One of them unleashed that darkness we just saw.”
“Pale skin, dark hair?” Jack asked.
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Jack slapped his forehead. “Is that Vocrich?”
“Vocrich?” Salin quickly squinted in their direction, but they were too far to make out. “Are you sure”
“Of course not. I can’t even see the guy.”
“Then…”
“Fear-oriented darkness magic. Peak E-Grade—since he’s with a Lord. Pale skin and dark hair.” Jack shrugged. “And that darkness felt familiar.”
Salin cupped his chin. “You know what? That might make sense. Vocrich was at the peak of the E-Grade, so he can join Trial Planet. He never displayed a Ring Conqueror title, either. And now that Earth’s Tournament is over, he’s probably relieved from his duties there. If he had any meaningful contributions to the faction… You know, it actually makes sense for him to be here.”
“We’re just theory-crafting now. It could be anyone,” Jack said, but his heart was clenched. Vocrich had personally sold him out. If that really was him, this Hand of God Lady would probably turn out to be trouble.
Then again, maybe not. Jack didn’t know exactly what happened between Galicia and Vocrich, and in any case, his enmity with the Hand of God was nothing before the hatred he shared with the Animal Kingdom. If fate made it so, allying may not be impossible.
Maybe he should look for a way to smoothen things between them. Having many powerful enemies at the same time was unwise.
“I’m surprised she’s even here, actually,” Gan Salin said, cupping his chin. “I thought she would go bananas like the other Hand of God members.”
“Bananas?”
“Little yellow fruits. Brock would love them.”
Jack gave him an empty stare.
“Oh, maybe you meant, ‘why do you say they went bananas, Gan Salin?’ A few extra words wouldn’t hurt you, would they?”
“Just get on with it.”
“Ugh.” Salin grabbed his heart. “Whatever you say, boss. The Hand of God went haywire about a week ago. They spread all over the rings, asking strange questions and looking for something. It’s the first time I hear that happening.”
Jack’s heart clenched. “Strange questions?”
“Yeah. They asked if anyone had seen anything unusual in the last few days, if there were any suspicious people, things like that.” He shrugged. “Nothing that concerns us, right?”
That wasn’t a rhetorical question. Salin may be partly insane, but he wasn’t dumb.
“Of course not,” Jack lied. “It’s just odd. I wonder what’s going on.” He turned his gaze back to the distant battles, hiding his thoughts.
Are they looking for the Ancient ruins? he wondered. Probably. The System gave all sorts of red warnings. Goddammit. At least they don’t know about me. And the voice in the trial said nobody can sense the Life Drop without special equipment.
This means I’m not in danger…right?
“By the way, not that I dislike peeping, but are we going to stay here long?” Gan Salin asked. “All of those Lords are heading deeper as we speak. They might come this way.”
“Right.” Jack snapped out of it. “Let’s run.”
I’ll just keep an eye out.
They left the glacial biome behind, jumping into the darkness. Space enveloped them. Jack carried Brock as they headed ever deeper. With every bubble they crossed, the light of the sun mushrooms dimmed until it was more twilight than blinding.
The Space Ring was two rings fused into one, so it was enormous. Even in a straight line, they had to cross two hundred miles of monster-infested darkness. Despite that, the group wasn’t beset by any hordes. Cultivators drew space monsters like moths to the flame, but Jack’s group alone was too small a presence.
In that sense, they were lucky. Since most delvers had waited for the Lords to start advancing—the annual Garden Assault—Jack’s group was moving at the front by itself, almost stealthily. The other cultivators came as a stampede, raising the ire of every monster in this section of Space Ring.
It wasn’t just the Lords, of course. Each of them was followed by many teams, dozens of cultivators, who sought to participate in the Garden Assault.
As a result, Jack’s team didn’t have to worry about space monsters. The ones they met were few and far between, all handled easily by their team of four—effectively three—even if they were at the late E-Grade.
On the darker side, this meant fewer levels.
Over their first fifteen hours in Space Ring—thankfully, they had little need for sleep—Jack rose by four levels, to Level 88. Salin got ten, stopping at Level 74, and Nauja got two, reaching Level 103. By that point, they were halfway through.
Space Ring was a tricky place. With all its bubbles, biomes, and trials spread around, it sounded like something that would take a long time to explore. In reality, the first half was picked clean. There were no natural treasures to find, no trials to complete. Any trial still available was either low-quality or extremely niche.
Compatibility was a big concern when it came to trials. They altered the cultivator, offering insights or assistance on a specific path. To someone cultivating a different path, this could actually be harmful. Even if you were on a compatible path, a low-quality inheritance could give you benefits that accelerated your current growth but became problems later on.
Therefore, just finding a trial meant nothing. You had to grasp its contents beforehand and decide whether it was suitable for you.
This was all insight that Gan Salin gave them on the way. Apparently, the first Ring Quest of Space Ring, completing a trial for any member of your team, was not easy.
Throughout their trip so far, the group had stumbled upon several trials, none suitable for any of them. Most were empty, too, already claimed by someone else.
However, there were tens of thousands of bubbles. By now, the group had traversed dozens, carving out a path through space that was uniquely theirs. As they passed the halfway mark of Space Ring, they finally chanced upon a bubble that hadn’t been visited in ages.
The air was dense here, rich in oxygen. A small hill rested in the middle of a grassland, with vines crawling all over its surface. Jack spotted a small rabbit chewing on the roots.
“Incredible,” he said, staring at the little animal. “A rabbit. Here. How many centuries, how many millennia has its family spent in the darkness, in this mile-wide bubble?”
“Come here, little buddy,” Gan Salin said, stepping forward. The rabbit approached and sniffed them. Indeed, its family line hadn’t seen cultivators for a thousand generations. They did not know to be afraid.
Thankfully for the rabbit, Gan Salin didn’t intend to harm it. He picked it up and hugged it, petting it between the ears. The rabbit seemed shocked. A moment later, it kicked its way out of his arms and rushed into a hole in the base of the hill.
“That was cute,” Nauja admitted.
Salin smiled. “Animals indicate a healthy biome. Healthy means untampered. And untampered means riches for us. Hurray!”
He threw his hands in the air.
“Hurray,” Jack followed half-heartedly. Brock did, too, but with great excitement. Nauja simply stared.
“Can we focus?” she asked. “Those Lords are delayed by the hordes, but they’re still after us.”
“No worries. This deep in the ring, stumbling upon others is unlikely. If we run into a Lord here, that’s just bad luck. The next ring is where everyone will converge.”
Since the bubbles were safe—space monsters couldn’t enter, and there were no dangers inside—searching was quick and easy. It took the group only a few minutes to realize that the natural treasure here was the fruits of the vine. There were two of them, one on each side of the hill, radiating a strong, metallic life force.
They were red and pumped full of juices.
“Blood Dao,” Nauja said, inspecting them. She plucked one off, holding it between her thumb and index finger. “Too bad none of us cultivates it.”
“Look at the bright side,” Salin said. “We can sell them off. I don’t think they’re strong enough for immortals, but they should fetch a good price.”
These berries were similar to the Fire Ice Lotus that everyone had fought for during the Integration Auction. Perhaps not of the same quality, but still very useful. They contained naturally grown hints of the Dao.
“There’s two of them,” Jack said.
“Can I have one?” Nauja asked. “A tribe close to mine has someone with blood Dao. This could help them.”
“Sure.” Jack nodded. “Salin, want the other one?”
“Okay,” the canine quickly agreed. “You get first dibs on the next one. We’ll probably start finding things from now on.”
“I hope so…” Jack said, turning to the darkness beyond. The light of the sun mushrooms had already dimmed to the point of moonlight on Earth. Even deeper into the ring, it gradually dimmed even further, to the point where the deepest reaches were completely dark.
The far side of Space Ring—the inner side—wasn’t covered in sun mushrooms, as the outer side was. As a result, the deepest reaches of the ring were pitch-black. It was where the greatest trials and treasures waited, as well as the greatest dangers. According to Gan Salin, the darkness hid even D-Grade monsters.
The only exceptions to the darkness were a few distinct columns of light—the exits to the next ring. Each exit was surrounded by a small amount of sun mushrooms that projected a wide beam of light through the darkness, like a beacon. That way, anyone wanting to reach the next ring could do it without braving the total darkness.
But that would mean losing out. And Jack didn’t feel like losing out.
