Tartarus had deep meaning when it comes to myths and legends but some could also connect the place to a fiery place where the dead are burned to a crisp. If one were to mention such a word in the present time, everyone would just laugh and brush it off as the existence of an absurd place is indubitably impossible.
But what about white and blue stars? They're hot enough to be considered 'Tartarus' in the myths and legends. That's how the solar system 'Tartarus' was named.
Located a couple of million light-years to the far right of the universe relative to Main Earth, Tartarus is home to the hottest blue star known to ever exist in the far reaches of the known universe. Because of that, the planets that revolve around it resembled stones being baked in an indestructible oven that continued to increase temperature. And that wasn't even the worst of it, the solar system was so hot that approaching space cruisers would melt in an instant as soon as they get near it. Of course, since people have a much lower melting point, they'd melt first before the space cruiser completely melted out of sight. And then the solar system would be how it once was. Throughout the years, Tartarus has remained the same and none dared venture in its proximity.
"So this is what they talk about when they say the 25th voyage... sigh~"
"Why are we going there? Wouldn't that be too risky?"
"How would we get in and out safely? We'll melt before we even realize it."
"Isn't this too dangerous? Upsilon-Chi won't survive. Its resistance is much lower compared to other space cruisers."
"Aren't there other expedition teams who are more capable than us? Why were we tasked with such an impossible mission?"
Captain Zed turned around upon saying the general idea of the mission. Even he was dumbfounded but the higher-ups have given the command and it was theirs to follow. Failure to do so would result in being questioned, possibly even being sent to trial for mutiny. There was no space for complaints and Captain Zed was perfectly aware of it. Of course, the higher-ups would have a way to get them in and out even though it wasn't specified yet. But then again, this is an ss-rank mission. Missions are ranked from F-Rank to A-Rank with A-Rank being the hardest. But missions on a different difficulty class are ranked from S-Rank to SSS-Rank. These missions are usually deadly, ninety percent of those who undergo such a mission are expected to die. But the rewards are also worthwhile as well.
That's why a lot of expedition teams usually take S-Rank missions as a last resort when they need some easy cash. After all, S-Rank missions are doable, but the mortality rate is through the roof.
A while ago, the mission to 912-Yggdrassil could be considered an F-Rank mission, and yet one member of the expedition team expired before they could even complete the mission. By the end, the mission ended up in vain.
"Captain, what are the details of the mission?" Aggro calmly asked despite the team's mumblings.
With a sigh, Captain Zed turned around and addressed Aggro. He kind of expected them to complain and violently react to his announcement but they were taking it quite well, considering that Tartarus is synonymous with instant death.
"Alcatraz, in the past, is known to be one of the most secure prisons on Main Earth as it is situated on an island by the coasts of San Fransisco Bay. But now, although this location doesn't exist on the Main Earth anymore, it still holds great meaning since a certain planet is named after it. Now you're all not first-graders for me to explain why I'm talking about Alcatraz, right?"
"Hellspawn," Aggro muttered. "There were rumors recently that Hellspawnescaped the Alcatraz... was that true?" The colors drained from Aggro's face as he spoke.
Hellspawn, just that name brought shivers down everyone's spine. Everybody knew that name and quite obviously, it is a name feared throughout the entire known universe. Hellspawn is of the Pyro-sync Class, one of the rarest classes of humans known to exist due to their specific attunement to fire. Pyro-sync Classes can withstand extremely high temperatures and they're considered the menaces of the universe. Pyro-sync Class can also somewhat control fire, heck, their bodies are fire-incarnate. But that's not why Hellspawn became feared. As far as anyone knows, there are a lot of Pyro-sync Class humans in the known universe and yet Hellspawn stood out from the rest of them.
Previously a part of the expedition team of the Main Earth (the specific team on which he was a part of was classified and no one has no knowledge of it), Hellspawn climbed through the ranks despite his unknown background, and pretty soon he became a captain fit enough to lead an expedition.
However, on their 25th expedition, something strange happened. Everyone on his ship died and all evidence pointed to him killing them. After all, he was the only one who's attuned to fire and everyone in his space cruiser died from burns one or the other. Although he didn't openly admit that he killed them, there was no footage and he was sentenced initially to the Abyss, at first. Upon ruling though, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Alcatraz instead where he was imprisoned in a fireproof cell.
But that wasn't the rest of it.
He escaped five times throughout his imprisonment, committing atrocious acts like killing an entire race off the face of the universe, destroying countless inhabited planets, committing mass genocide. No one knows why he does this, but some speculate that something must've happened in their 25th voyage which transformed him into a heartless monster.
And somehow, those theorists were right. Ever since then, something wrong happens in the 25th Voyage of an expedition team. Assuming they last that long, of course. Be it an awful emergency landing, or faulty equipment, something weird happens midway every 25th Voyage. That's why this number was deemed unlucky, no one wanted to participate on the 25th Voyage.
"Who in the known universe is Hellspawn?" Lev asked out of the blue, totally ruining everyone's heavy mood as he scratched his head, the fool he was.