Chapter 23: Book of The Apocalypse!
Shock swept across many of the guild houses all around the country as people became aware of what was happening in Riverdale. The guild masters all came to the same realization the moment they saw Jason on TV. This was another opportunity for them to gain a strong member.
The stronger guilds in the city all began sending representatives to the hospital to try and have a conversation with Jason, and even the guilds that weren't in the city began sending in calls from all over the country as they tried to get through to Jason as well.
Jason was completely oblivious to all this as he sat in his mother's hospital room and waited for her to wake up.
He fingered the tooth-type dagger that he received as a Drop from the Moonlight Wolf Boss while his eyes ran across the gifts he received from the system for completing the Red Gate.
——
+1000 Free Points [Exhausted]
+1 Orange Key
First Page of the [Book of The Apocalypse.]
——
Jason had already used the 1000 free points, but the Orange Key and the page were still available. Jason first opened the description for the Orange Key and read through it quickly.
——
[Orange Key: A trans-dimensional artifact capable of opening a Gate into an Orange-grade Gate. This key can only be used once by the user at a specified location.]
Location: Earth [Latitude: 40.8397 Longitude: -73.8383] [New York Subway]
——
Jason blinked at the location he received, and his brow furrowed in confusion.
'New York Subway?'
Jason was surprised when he saw where the coordinates led. The system wanted him to go to New York before he could use the key. Jason lived in Riverdale, and it was far enough from New York that he would need to get on an inter-city bus!
Jason frowned, but he didn't allow that to bother him much. As he was now, he didn't even know if he was strong enough to handle an Orange Gate. From what he read online, the Boss of an Orange Gate was an Eldritch Rank, and it needed at least five B Ranks or one A Rank to defeat it.
That meant, to handle both the Boss as well as all the other monsters in the Gate, you would need to have a high-level B Rank guild with one A Rank and multiple B Ranks, or a low-level A Rank guild with multiple A Ranks in it!
It was completely different when compared to the Disaster Rank Boss in the Red Gate.
'But I shouldn't have to worry about that, should I? I have the Legion.'
Jason realized suddenly that he was still thinking like a normal person. He was no longer normal because he could feel the presence of an entire army of monsters just waiting for him to summon them.
He was a one-man guild with more than thirty soldiers above C Rank.
Even if he went into an Orange Gate right now, he would manage somehow.
Jason decided that he wasn't going to waste any time. He needed to become strong as quickly as possible, so once he was sure that his mother was alright, he would go to the Orange Gate. He turned away from the Orange Key and finally looked at the other reward. He had been putting this off for a while because he didn't know what to make of it. The title [Book of The Apocalypse] was dreadful enough to make anyone weary, and Jason was no different.
He opened the tab and he narrowed his eyes as he began to read.
——
[The Book of The Apocalypse]
[Entry One]
Hello, Jason.
If you are reading this, that means you have received your birthright and claimed your place as the King. You are now old enough that placing the weight of this knowledge on your shoulders will not seem cruel.
I choose to remain anonymous, for both our sakes.
You should know by now that you are not fully human, nor are you like the other humans. You possess a genetic superiority that allows you to grow and evolve far faster than any creature.
But you were weak, so I had suppressed that ability until now to keep you safe.
There are powers present in the vast Primordial Expanse beyond anything you could have imagined, and ten years ago, those powers interacted with our world for the first time in the form of Gates.
More than a portal leading into a dungeon, the Gate serves as a pathway into other worlds. A pipeline created by the Primordials for worldly conquest.
I have gone ahead of you to delay their arrival, but there is no stopping them. Sooner or later, they will arrive, and you will be tasked with protecting your world from them.
I leave you these messages both as a warning and as a guide for your growth.
No one who has fought a Primordial has lived to tell the tale, and no world targeted by a Primordial has survived the conquest. Yet, I know that you are capable of standing strong against them.
I am certain that a Primordial has made contact with people in your world, and they walk amongst you.
You must find subjects and allies that you can trust to watch your back, and other than them, trust no one, believe no one.
Hold your cards close to your chest and grow in power until the time is right. Then, when they least expect it, let your power descend upon your enemies with the force of a thousand suns. That is the only way to protect those you hold dear.
That is the only way to protect your family.
Find the woman known as Katerina Ford and inquire about the journey she and the other four took into the Green Gate. Her story will lead you in the right direction.
Remember: Trust no one.
——
Jason's hands were tightened into fists as he read through the information on the screen again and again.
The knowledge that it gave him wasn't enough to make him feel any form of despair. In fact, Jason's mind was calm as he ran through everything rationally and he knew that there was a lot of work to be done. If these Primordials had already made contact with their world, that meant there were humans on Earth actively working towards the end of the world.
While the others were trying their best to survive, the traitors were trying to make sure no one would survive.
Jason accepted this easily, and he knew he would have his work cut out for him in the future, so that wasn't what was making him feel some tightness in his chest. Instead, it was the way the message was written that made him weary.
Jason asked a question:
"System. Who wrote this Book?"
[The system does not possess knowledge of that.]
"Then who gave you access to this book?"
[The Book of the Apocalypse was already present in the System database during Assimilation.]
"I need something. Anything at all about this book."
[Searching...]
[Searching...]
[Search Failed.]
[I apologize. I cannot find any knowledge of the author or origin of this book. It believes it was intentionally omitted from history in order to protect their identity.]
Jason felt a chuckle escape from his lips. Anonymous my ass. Jason didn't need to be a genius to know exactly who wrote this book: it was his father.
Jason's father disappeared ten years ago without telling anyone where he was going, and Jason hated the man ever since, but Jason could have never guessed that this was what his father had been up to. He went to fight a Primordial.
'Honestly, what the hell are you, Dad? What the hell am I?'
Jason put his hand on his face as he calmly looked through the message again. It felt like he was learning about his father for the first time all over again. His father was just a normal person in Jason's eyes, someone who made sure he took care of his family's needs and protected them from trouble.
Until he left, Jason's father was his role model, and Jason didn't think there could be any human alive with more honor than the man. That was why it hurt so much to see him leave like that.
Being betrayed by your hero hurts more than being stabbed by your enemy.
But at this moment, Jason realized that he had been wrong. His father didn't just leave them for no reason. He had been trying to protect them all this time. Even when he wasn't with them, he was still working towards protecting them. Jason took in a breath and huffed before his eyes narrowed into a hard glare.
He was going to become strong. So strong that even the Primordials would fear him. He would go out there and find his father, and he would bring him home. That would be his mission.
——
New Mission [Time Limit: Long Term]: Locate Richard Marc and return him home
Richard Marc has been missing for ten years within the Primordial Expanse. Locate his whereabouts and return him home.
Rewards
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???
Personal Gratification