Chapter 426: An Unfortunate Letter

Chapter 426: An Unfortunate Letter

Two months ago...

Artus Emberheart was in a terrible mood. His mortal enemy was back in town but kept not getting caught. It made Artus feel useless. Like he was fumbling his only chance.

He was currently resting inside the Hand of God starship he commanded. Endless stars stretched outside the window, yet he couldn’t care less.

Suddenly, a knock came on his door.

“What?” he barked out.

A trembling voice responded. “Sir... There is a message for you, sir.”

“I’m busy! Fuck off!”

“Sir, it’s... It’s an important message from the New Cathedral, sir... The coordinates of Earth-387 have been discovered.”

Artus had been about to lash out at this useless underling, but he paused. “Earth-387? The planet of Jack Rust?”

“Yes, sir! You had asked to be notified immediately if that happened! I rushed here to let you know!”

Artus remained frozen for a moment. This was like a dream come true.

When the Hand of God occupied the Cathedral, they naturally took control of the Cathedral’s teleporter as well. That teleporter connected to all Church outposts across the universe, but there were obviously failsafes. The locations and frequencies were all encoded—moreover, even activating the teleporter safely required certain secret procedures, so it couldn’t be used.

The only ones who knew those codes were the Arch Priestess of the Church—its highest leader—and Elder Shield, who’d managed the teleporter but had died in the battle for the Cathedral.

Since then, the Hand of God had assigned experts to decode the information, but they never expected anything. It was just too complex a task, and every teleporter entry was encoded in a unique manner. Even decoding one destination every thousand years would have been a good result.

But those experts had already decoded a destination? And it was the Earth-387 that Artus was desperately searching for? This was almost too good to be true!

However, if he received this report, it had to be.

“Hahaha!” Artus laughed out loud. “Luck has finally abandoned you, Jack Rust!”

He flashed outside his cabin, grabbing the underling by the shoulder with a strong grip. “Tell me more,” he commanded, madness glinting in his eyes. “Has anybody visited that planet?”

“Not yet, sir...” the underling replied, fear clouding his face. “The matter was reported to Envoy Solvig, who respectfully asks you to use the frequency and occupy the planet in the name of the Hand of God.”

As the man spoke, he handed over a sheet of paper containing complex teleporter frequencies. The name “Earth-387” was written underneath.

Artus laughed again. He snatched the piece of paper and, without giving the underling another glance, teleported away. He barely even watched where he went—his mind was too preoccupied imagining Jack Rust’s face when he found out his planet had been destroyed.

Eva Solvig had commanded Artus to occupy the planet, but he wasn’t planning to obey. Jack was his mortal enemy. He would just destroy the planet and claim they’d put up resistance. That was reasonable.

Plus, by assigning this task to him, Eva had tacitly accepted such an outcome.Fịndd new updates at novelhall.com

After a series of short-range teleportations, he reached a large-scale teleporter only half an hour later. He used his authority to cut the line and input the frequencies into the teleporter directly. Light flashed, and he was gone.

Space warped around him, in much the same way his soul did. Artus couldn’t contain himself. He spent the teleportation period laughing. The tables had finally turned in his favor. He was heading to Earth!

Artus had met Jack Rust before—he would never forget that man’s aura, and he could tell that this boy carried a hint of that same aura. It was Jack Rust’s son.

Artus’s eyes widened. He laughed out loud. “What a great gift you gave me, Jack Rust!”

Artus abandoned his attack. The gathered energy caused a backlash inside him, but he didn’t care—instead, he directed the entirety of his power towards that boy, no longer caring about enraging the other two C-Grades. Before he even reached the teleporter, Artus made a grasping motion and the boy flew towards him as if pulled by gravity. It yelped.

“NO!” Two voices came from above, accompanied by a shrill scream from deeper inside the forest. A D-Grade, dark-skinned woman flew towards the boy like she’d gone mad. A large brorilla followed her. Yet, these two were weak. As for Dorman and Huali, they could not attack in earnest or they’d blow up the entire forest and kill everyone. And, without using real power, they couldn’t stop him.

Streams of power fell towards Artus, attempting to distract him and save the boy. Artus laughed. He let the attacks land, let himself get bloodied all over. He raised a hand to protect his vitals and let it be cut off from the wrist. This would permanently weaken him, but so what? His Dao had already cracked. He was never going to advance again. All he cared about was causing Jack Rust pain, and this little boy was his ticket to achieving just that.

“NO!” the sky rained shouts yet again, but there was nobody who could stop Artus. A dazed Eric Rust fell into his grasp. Artus flew into the teleporter and activated it, whisking them both away. Screams filled Artus’s ears like music.

He was heavily injured, and he would need to spend even more power to ensure this mortal boy arrived safely at the other side of the teleportation...but it was all worth it.

Jack Rust had taken everything from him. Now, he would pay.

***

Jack was frozen from the soul up. The chaotic space storms around him disappeared, as did the powerful enemies pursuing him, leaving only Artus Emberheart and Eric Rust.

His own son had been taken hostage. This was...unbelievable.

“Hahaha!” Artus laughed madly. “How does it feel, Jack? Your own son being in the mercy of another. You, powerless to stop me. This is perfect!” He tore the tape covering Eric’s mouth, letting him release a terrified scream.

“Dad!”

Eric wore tattered blue robes. His hair was dirty, his cheeks marred by tears, and his eyes sunken as if he’d been like this a while. He hadn’t started cultivating yet—the only reason he survived in the vacuum of space was a Dao shield conjured by Artus. The moment it went down, Eric would die instantly.

It was also Artus who’d used his powers to spread Eric’s voice through the void, letting it reach Jack’s ears.

Hearing it, Jack was completely and utterly stupefied. His panic subsided, turning into cold terror matched with calmness, and a powerful instinct surfaced from deep within his soul. He had to save Eric—no matter what.

How did this happen? he wondered as his mind turned somber. Have they conquered Earth? Do they have my family? Or just Eric?

One part of his mind said that if they had everyone, there was no reason to just bring out Eric. Another part couldn’t shake off the fear.

“I know you can hear me, Jack!” Artus shouted from outside the Animal Abyss. “Come out or I’ll kill your boy!”

Eric could hear this as well. His little eyes widened as he only just realized what was going on, and his fists balled up. He stubbornly shut his mouth—even with things having reached this point, he didn’t want to endanger his father.

But it no longer mattered.

Jack knew that going out there was suicide. He knew that, even if he did go and surrender himself, the chances of saving Eric were nearly nonexistent. But he still had to do it, because if he ignored the death of his own son, he wouldn’t be human. He wouldn’t be a Fist.

With steady steps, he exited the Animal Abyss. He now hovered in the void. Darkness was behind him, and invincible enemies at the front. Yet, Jack stood brave and tall, not cowering in the slightest. His many wounds were badges of honor.

“Release my son,” he commanded. “You can have me.”