Apocalypse: Infinite Breaker Online-Chapter 57: Tartarus & Sun Wukong

At that, Axir left, returning to the settlement.

On the way to the settlement, Axir decided to take a look at some places to see how people are doing.

The cultures of people from different areas were truly blooming in this new world.

Many people were converting to different religions due to the appearance of gods.

Axir watched the various settlements while passing by and observing them using Mana Field.

He couldn’t sense devil presense anyone, but his guts were telling him that the number of people accepting devil would only increase. He could not identify which people had sided with the devils in the various settlements.

One more thing Axir discovered was the boons.

There was some commotion in multiple settlements he watched, and the commotions were all about a God manifesting for individuals.

Axir saw multiple instances of people talking about it in different settlements, though he couldn’t find the said individuals who acquired the boons.

’Oh yeah, the game said that people would be invited to the territory of the gods if they were favored by a god. They must have left receive a boon.’

It was starting. Axir wasn’t sure how the Gods would pick people.

Would they pick based on their moral compass? Their talents? Their personality?

’It should be multiple criteria, maybe?’

He truly didn’t know and couldn’t speculate because, from what he had read about all the mythos, the Gods had quite a variety in terms of how they behaved.

And there were different tiers of gods.

Axir looked at the glowing option he had in his status.

He could choose a God Faction and acquire a boon from any God of that faction.

’What are the boons, anyway? Are they a type of card?’

The devil gave a deck to Entond, so a boon could be a card or a deck.

He was curious. But most of all, he was curious about the Origins of these factions that he could not choose in the list he was given.

[ Tier-0 Gods (The Origins)

Brahman.

—> Beyond Attributes. Cannot be worshipped directly without contradiction.

—> An immanent presence within all individuals. It represents the "knowledge" that leads to spiritual liberation, the "Self."

Adi Shakti.

—> Dynamic. Pool of Power. Womb of All Creation. All actions flow through her manifestation.

Pangu.

—> Dutiful. Silent. Self-Sacrificing. His existence permanently defines cosmic orientation.

Ame-no-Minakanushi.

—> Impersonal. Absolute. Never intervenes, yet everything aligns around him.

Chaos.

—> Indifferent, non-sentient, pre-conceptual. Does not act. Reality collapses into instability merely by proximity.

Ginnungagap.

—> Passive. Unstable. Yawning Void. Occures creation when opposing forces collide.

Nu.

—> Boundless, inert, eternal waters. The undisturbed state to which all fabrication inevitably returns.

’This is straight out of the texts of these mythos. The eternal truths that humans created to explain the reason for this world and our existence.’ Axir rubbed his chin. ’The game is usingthe history of Earth to create gods.’

’It created 100 pillars of despair to make the world chaotic by adding devils in the fray.’

’And it also created Void of Belief.’

Axir grinned. ’I have no reason to choose existing gods when it created the Void of Belief.’

He didn’t hesitate anymore and rejected the option altogether.

[ Are you sure you want to reject this opportunity? ]

’Do it.’

Axir blinked.

The option vanished.

His eyes blazed.

’Now this is better.’

Axir then made a turn and flew straight towards the Void of Belief.

He wasn’t sure if he would succeed. And purely by having this doubt, he knew he wouldn’t succeed in manifesting something out of the Void of Belief.

Because he also didn’t know what he wanted to manifest. Ideally, he wanted to manifest his own self. A complete idealistic self as his goal as well as his foundation.

[ Lord of the Depth, Tartarus, would like to converse with you. Accept?]

’Huh?’ Axir blinked. And then a spark of interest flickered in his eyes.

’Yes.’

Tartarus appeared. Wholly pitch black male figure with no visible linings except for the lapis blue energy outfit adorning him, and his starry dark blue eyes.

The surroundings changed as everything turned pitch black and cold.

"Human. You have the depth of an enlightened one. Would you like to become the extension of my presence by accepting my Prime Boon?"

’Prime Boon?’

[ Prime Boon means you will get a Unique Deck that can be modified and evolved with the help of the one who granted you the Prime Boon by acquiring and completing quests. ]

"Why me?" Axir asked.

"Why not you?" Tartarus asked back.

Axir wryly smiled.

"Who are you?" Axir asked. "How were you born?"

Tartarus blinked. "I was born of Chaos."

"How was Chaos born?"

"Chaos was always there. Chaos just stopped being itself, thus I and others were born."

Axir blinked. ’Classic.’

’Let’s see if I can see his status.’

[Tartarus, Lord of the Depth]

Lifeform Rank: 2nd Sphere.

Power Level: 86 million Pulses.

’Huh? The devil’s Lifeform rank was also 2nd Sphere. Although the difference in Power Level between them is quite big.’

The devil had 13 million Pulses of Power Level.

’They are lifeforms. So the game really just manifested the gods of Earth as lifeforms and gave them all the powers according to their mythos?’ Axir was curious.

But the game wasn’t going to answer him since it didn’t answer him after all these internal questions in his mind.

[ Handsome Monkey King, Sun Wukong, would like to converse with you. Accept? ]

Axir blinked.

And grinned.

’Accept.

Suddenly, half of the world around Axir turned cloudy and golden.

Sun Wukong manifested adorning warrior-like golden outfit, riding on his cloud and holding a crimson staff with golden patterns.

"Oi, oi. Don’t accept Tartarus’s Prime Boon. You are someone who wishes to express yourself, while this gloomy guy is all about punishment, darkness, and judgment."

Sun Wukong floated before Axir, grinning. "You are more like an unrestrained storm that is merely acting like a wind gust."

"You are more like me! Here, accept my Prime Boon, and we’ll have fun together."

Axir blinked.

[ Sun Wukong, Heaven’s Equal Great Sage ]

Lifeform Rank: 2nd Sphere.

Power Level: 93 million.

’Sun Wukong is stronger in Power Level than Tartarus? Interesting.’

"I have a question. According to history, you were created with inspirations from the tales of a Hindu deity called Hanuman when Buddhism spread from India to China. And then the journey to the West was written, where you travelled to India with your master and fellow disciples, facing trials and all that for 14 years to attain Buddhist scriptures. You earned redemption by protecting the monk and completed the journey to attain enlightenment."

Sun Wukong grinned. "Yesh!"

Axir turned to Tartarus. "But you are older and more primal. So why is Sun Wukong stronger in Power Level?"

Tartarus and Sun Wukong looked at each other.

And then both of them looked at Axir.

"No idea."

Axir wryly smiled.

"Lad, don’t ask such questions of us." Sun Wukong laughed. "We were manifested just recently. However, we have profound knowledge of everything from when time began in this plane of existence."

Tartarus nodded. "We pursue individuals according to our nature and concepts. This is the instructions in our beings. So, would you like to accept my Prime Boon?"

"Looks like he won’t accept our Prime Boons." Sun Wukong laughed.

Tartarus nodded. "It seems so."

"Sorry, folks." Axir grinned. "You both are right about me regarding the attributes you saw in me. But I don’t believe in gods."

"I believe in friends, though. The situation around existence seems tricky, but now that you exist, it will be fun, I suppose."

"Maybe." Tartarus nodded. "The reality feels...fragile."

"Don’t scare the lad like that." Sun Wukong grinned. "Well, we know more than you that we can’t speak. But we do not know the future. And our existence is tied to the people of this planet."

"If you survive, we survive. Gods in name we are, and despite here we are, the world does not belong to us." Tartarus smiled and nodded. "Farewell. I shall choose someone else."

At that, Tartarus vanished.

"Good luck, lad. This great sage will also resume his search for a fun company."

Sun Wukong drifted away into the horizon as the scenery returned to normal.

Axir’s eyes glinted. ’Well, that was informative.’

’They don’t know about the future. They are a lifeform. They have Power Level.’

’So they can fight. Get stronger. And die, too, I suppose.’

’What is this Infinite Breaker Online planning this time?’

Axir asked the question in the back of his mind as he flew towards the Void of Belief.

He wanted to experience it once, even if he was going to fail.

Soon, he arrived at the location by flying at his full speed using the artifact card, Airbending Boots.

The exotic phenomenon of the whirling void looked at him as if it were an eye.

[ Entering the Void of Belief means you will not be able to join any God Faction. There is no guarantee that entering the Void of Belief would drive reality to manifest the god born out of your ideal. ]

Axir moved forward.

There was no hesitation.

But just then, something happened.

[A tale has been borne out of the belief. Player Gilga has successfully manifested King Gilgamesh and acquired the first Prime Boon among the players of Earth. ]

’Huh?’ Axir blinked, his eyes focusing on the Void of Belief.

It was stirring up with golden radiance.

And suddenly, a person clad in golden armor emerged, followed by a handsome and tall man with regal presence, with a crown on his head and a sword in his hand.

[ King Gilgamesh ]

Lifeform: 2nd Sphere.

Power Level: 22 million Pulses.