Cosmic Ruler - Chapter 147

Chapter 147: Central Shrine IV

After some time, Ramis opened his eyes and looked around, feeling confused by the scorched and ash-filled ground. He soon heard the crackling sound of fire and turned to find Jake cooking a piece of meat over the flames.

Ramis’s lips twitched as he asked, “Were you cooking this whole shrine?”

Jake tilted his head in confusion at first, but then, glancing at the surroundings, he understood what Ramis meant. “No, just cooked some Infernals to ashes.”

Ramis nodded and, sitting down beside Jake, looked at the piece of meat on the barbecue.

“So, did you interrogate them?” Ramis asked, accepting the fragrant meat Jake handed him.

Jake nodded. “They were just scouts, the lowest of the low, not even worthy of entering the central shrine.”

Ramis, who had been eating, stiffened at Jake’s words. “You’re kidding, right?”

Jake shook his head and continued, “The central shrine contains three supreme legacies: Life, Death, and Soul. The leader among them has already taken other legacies. If he acquires these three as well, he will become immensely powerful.”

“Not to mention, he’s already a Count,” Jake said calmly. “With the legacies he’s acquired, even if we both fight at full power, we only have a 10% chance of winning.”

Ramis, noticing Jake’s calm demeanor, felt somewhat relieved and resumed eating. “You have a plan. So, what is it?” he asked.

Jake looked at him and asked, “What plan?”

The piece of meat fell from Ramis’s hand. He clasped Jake’s shoulders and shouted, “THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO CALM ABOUT THIS?”

Jake didn’t seem bothered and kept eating, much to Ramis’s dismay. “It’s not like getting worked up will solve anything,” he said.

“The leader, along with his 50-man elite squad, has already been inside the shrine for the past three hours. They likely have already taken the legacy by now,” Jake explained.

“So, what will I do now?” Jake asked nonchalantly.

Ramis fell to the ground, clutching his head and staring lifelessly at the sky. “I am sorry, Myre. It seems you have to die as a virgin bride,” he lamented, tears streaming down his face. He thought sadly, ‘Just how pitiful am I, having such a beautiful wife yet not even able to love her properly?’

Though Jake seemed nonchalant, his mind was already working on a solution. With the Authority of Transcendence, he processed millions of strategies every minute, trying to find an optimal way to counter the seemingly inevitable defeat.

As time passed, Ramis kept pleading with Jake to do something. Finally, Jake did—by kicking him into the Nyrina world.

“You should have done it earlier,” Nexus said amusingly.

“Don’t worry, you can do it, Jake,” Myne said, trying to encourage him.

“Just so you know, I won’t be helping you,” Astralium suddenly declared, causing Jake to momentarily pause. He resumed strategizing, this time considering only his own capabilities, without any external help.

Jake’s mind raced, formulating a plan that relied solely on his skills and resources. The pressure was immense, but he remained focused, determined to find a way to turn the tide.

******

After several more hours, the Central Shrine began to shine brightly. Gradually, each of the other shrines started to crumble, and the realm itself transformed, revealing a clear blue sky and lush green earth.

Jake observed these changes intently. Suddenly, the scene shifted again. This time, everything took on an ethereal quality, as if the very souls of the realm were now manifesting themselves. The entire landscape became translucent—the sky, the earth—creating an eerie and otherworldly atmosphere.

But once more, the scenery transformed. Everything began to wither, turning a bleak grey and white, devoid of life. The desolation was so profound that one could almost hear the whisper of death in the air.

Jake sighed deeply, his greatest fear materializing before his eyes. This was the dire consequence of the infernal leader acquiring the final three supreme legacies of Life, Soul, and Death.

“I hope my plan succeeds,” Jake sighed as he watched the Central Shrine begin to crack as well.

The doors of the Central Shrine shattered, and an Infernal emerged, bathed in nine-colored lights. His body radiated the hues of the Nine Elements, adorned with the powerful aura of the Nine Heaven King Legacy.

Jake’s eyes widened, not just at the sight of the Infernal leader, who had reached the peak Count rank, but also because of the sudden notification that appeared before him.

[Antagonist Detected]

[Quest: Kill or Enslave the Antagonist]

[Rewards: ????]

“It’s fucking raining bad luck today,” Jake cursed, feeling the odds stacking against him even more.

On the other hand, the Infernal leader looked at Jake and smiled.

“₹%#%#%%#…..Hmm, now you can understand, right?”

“I was wondering, where are the inhabitants of the Celestaria world?”

“Given the amount of killing aura around you, it seems you killed others to take all the benefits for yourself.”

“This means both benefits and trouble.”

The Infernal leader, maintaining a good distance, began to ponder.

The Infernal leader suddenly vanished, reappearing instantaneously before Jake. With a swift, brutal motion, he clutched Jake’s neck and lifted him off the ground.

“It seems I was just being paranoid about you,” the leader remarked coldly.

Dark, swirling tendrils of the Death Element began to seep into Jake from all directions, engulfing him in an inescapable grasp. The energy coursed through Jake’s body, rapidly disintegrating his flesh and bones, reducing him to nothing but ashes in mere moments.

However, as the ashes settled, the Infernal leader’s expression shifted from satisfaction to confusion. It was then he realized that what he had destroyed was merely a clone of Jake. The real Jake was still out there, watching and waiting for the opportune moment to strike back.

As the Infernal leader expanded his senses across the realm, seeking out Jake’s presence, the tension in the air grew palpable. With a surge of dark energy, he teleported instantaneously to Jake’s location, appearing before him with a menacing glare.

“So this is where you are now,” the Infernal leader growled, his black eyes locking onto Jake, who tensed at the sudden confrontation.

[Run, Jake!] Nexus’s voice echoed urgently in Jake’s mind.

Reacting swiftly, Jake invoked his Dimensional Shift ability. The Infernal leader lunged forward, his hand passing through Jake’s ethereal form as he shifted into another dimension. But Jake wasn’t done yet.

he activated the Authority of Akashic and used Falsify Sub skill and deleted his dimensional coordinate from this realm.

Reacting swiftly, Jake invoked his Dimensional Shift ability. The Infernal leader lunged forward, his hand passing through Jake’s ethereal form as he shifted into another dimension. But Jake wasn’t done yet.

With a calculated move, he activated the Authority of Akashic, tapping into its power to manipulate the fabric of reality itself. Using the Falsify Sub skill, he deleted his dimensional coordinates from the realm, effectively erasing any trace of his presence.

Confusion flickered across the face of the Infernal leader as he searched frantically for Jake, only to find him vanished from the realm.

“It seems he ran away,” the Infernal leader muttered to himself coldly, though a hint of frustration lingered in his voice.

“Anyway, the legacy that made the protagonist of Celestaria strong is already mine,” he chuckled darkly as he turned his attention elsewhere.

Despite his newfound power, the Infernal leader knew better than to launch an immediate attack on Celestaria. The memory of their previous defeat at the hands of the Celestarians weighed heavily on his mind. In that conflict, the sheer number of Monarchs aligned with Celestaria had proven insurmountable for the Infernal forces.

Recalling the world-shaking battle, the Infernal leader acknowledged the pivotal role played by the World Will Child and the overwhelming presence of Monarchs on the side of Celestaria. Their numbers had outnumbered the Infernal forces tenfold, leading to their eventual defeat and the loss of their own home planet to the Celestarians.

With these factors in mind, the Infernal leader knew that any attempt to attack Celestaria prematurely would likely result in another devastating defeat.

“Have any of you found any Celestarians yet?” Merrick asked his subordinates.

“The scouts are dead,” one of them replied grimly.

Merrick’s expression hardened. “Not even a single one?”

“Yes, all of them are dead. Not even a single one is alive,” the same subordinate confirmed.

Hearing this, Merrick fell into a contemplative silence. “There was an incident where a few Monarchs in Celestaria died by the hand of their own Director,” he mused inwardly. “I was planning to collaborate with her, but it seems I can’t now.”

With a resigned sigh, Merrick waved his hand, signaling for a subordinate to approach him with a device capable of communication beyond the realm.

“Close the realm,” Merrick commanded simply, his decision to abandon the plan clear.

Shortly after, a portal materialized, and Merrick and his followers stepped through it before it closed behind them.

Jake appeared, observing the spot where the portal had opened. “He seems like a true villain to me,” he remarked to Nexus.

Nexus nodded in agreement. “Yes, intelligent and cunning, unlike those who only appear for a few pages.”

Jake looked perplexed. “Why are you being happy about this? This is a bad thing for us,” he said, taken aback by Nexus’s response.

Nexus : “….”