Becoming the Dark Lord

Julian Grimhart crouched in the brush near the wall, watching the battle unfold in the distance. He was in no hurry to get involved. Actually, watching was turning out to be far more profitable. His eyes followed Tobias, one of the members of the Reaper Court, as the man fought through the chaos consuming that part of the battlefield.

If Tobias fell there, he could become a new puppet. A rare prize. And after reaching Stage 3, staying in the event had proven far more profitable than Julian had expected. Across the area challenges, he had collected several useful corpses. Winning the event itself hardly mattered anymore.

Dear little sister Erza... I didn’t even need to make a single beacon to reach Stage 3.

All he had to do was place his second soul inside the body of a participant who had obtained the Beacons. And since that body had earned the right to advance, so had he. A simple trick.

As the fight continued, the situation grew even messier. Then Julian saw something that made him lift an eyebrow: a four-winged woman killing Tobias’s protégé.

“Ars.”

“Yes, my mistress,” the spear replied.

“I don’t need to remind you not to tell anyone what happened here, right? Not even my lord.”

“I won’t, my mistress. I am loyal to you.”

“Good.”

A moment later, the woman flew off, leaving only silence, blood, and a very interesting corpse behind.

Julian stared for another second before letting out a low whistle. “And then the Grimharts call me insane. Did you see that?”

The man beside him didn’t answer. He was Julian’s puppet: the participant who had completed all six Beacons of Stage 2 and served as his passage into the next phase.

“Not much of a talker, are you?” Julian said, entertaining himself.

He crouched beside the corpse. Back when it mattered, the boy’s name had been Jonathan. Now he was just an opportunity.

“That winged woman is insane even by my standards, and believe me, I know insane.” Julian’s mouth curled into a crooked smile. “I did have a mission. Go after Anne. Sadly, that’ll have to wait. I think I just found a better way to earn a god’s favor.”

He studied the body like a craftsman appraising a rare piece.

“You’ll do.”

When he touched Jonathan, Julian stored him inside the pocket dimension of his storage item.

“I found my new puppet. The only Laziurus vampire in our universe. How much would that desperate god and his church pay me to hand over this bloodline?”

In the distance, a tsunami was approaching. For most of the participants, it was the end. For Julian, it was his ticket back to Earth, or whatever his planet had become after being fused with other worlds. When the wave came, he smiled. And Julian was disqualified from the event.

***

Luke stretched his hand toward the red crystal. One touch. That was all he needed. One touch, and the event was his.

Then a sound cut through the air.

“Luke Mo—” Cadmus froze.

Something pierced the robot’s body. He toppled sideways and rolled across the tower floor, the light in his visor flickering erratically. A figure stood between Luke and victory, holding a sword wrapped in fire.

“Looks like we meet again, Demon Lord.” Maxwell said, the Hero of Flame.

The hero was here. Alive. Somehow.

“I watched your fight with Rhiannon,” Maxwell continued, spinning his sword. “Gotta admit, you’ve got balls, taking a swing at someone from that family.”

Cadmus lay collapsed on the floor. The robot looked dead. Luke did not think twice. He raised his hand and tried to touch the crystal. Maxwell moved too fast. A burst of fire exploded beneath his feet, and in the next instant, the blow hit Luke so hard it knocked the air from his lungs. He was launched out of the tower, hurled through the air, and crashed down onto the beach.

Pain exploded through his back, then the rest of his body. Sand stuck to his skin, his wounds, and his blood.

“That was a good fight,” Maxwell said, landing on the sand in front of him. “But you’re weak now. I can see it. You don’t have that invisible mana protection around your body anymore. Probably some power from that horn, the cloak, or some other bullshit. Doesn’t matter.” He smiled. “You’re spent. How about we pick up where we left off?”

“You’re like a fucking fly,” Luke said, forcing himself to his feet. “Always showing up at the worst possible time to get in the way. Now I get how Lucien feels.”

The punch still burned through him.

Maxwell came at him like a streak of fire. Luke tried to counter, but he was too slow. Another punch buried itself in his stomach, folding him over, and this time Maxwell grabbed him by the collar.

“You’re weak,” Maxwell said, much too close. “But I’ve still got a shitload of mana, pal.”

His fist slammed into Luke’s face. Then another. And with a heavier blow, Maxwell sent him rolling across the sand until he splashed into the shallows.

“WOW!” Maxwell shouted, grinning. “Holy shit, that was a beautiful punch. Damn, good thing you’re rank D. You can take a beating.”

He walked toward Luke as Luke struggled to stand.

“I’ll admit, I’m shocked. You went over that waterfall. You were supposed to die in the Abyssal Zone.”

“I’m hard to kill,” Luke answered, rushing forward without his kukris. The blades had fallen somewhere out of reach.

Maxwell dodged his punches with a bored look. Then he caught Luke’s hand. “You’re way too slow, man. Your body’s wrecked. Whatever you did when you used that badass armor, it clearly came with a price.”

He drove another punch into Luke’s face. “And I doubt you actually fell into the Abyssal Zone. You probably found a way out before that. There’s no way anyone survives those creatures.”

When Maxwell tried to hit him again, Luke slipped aside. Then he dodged another blow. Maxwell was physically stronger. He had a fighter class, after all. But Luke still had reflexes, instinct, and a stubborn will to keep breathing.

“Fuck, you’ve got good reflexes,” Maxwell said. “Honestly, I’m surprised you’re still standing after those punches. Makes me happy.”

Luke dodged, buying seconds he didn’t have. Then he rolled to the side, threw sand into Maxwell’s eyes, and ran toward the tower. There was only one way to end this: win the event, disqualify everyone else. Maxwell included.

But with a flame-wreathed leap, the Hero of Flame landed in front of Luke with his arms crossed.

“Come on, man. Did you really think I’d let you climb up there and touch that thing?”

Maxwell lunged with another punch. Luke dodged the first, but not the second.

“Man, I’m glad you came back from the dead,” Maxwell said. “I’m gonna beat the shit out of you. You screwed me. Killed my soldiers. Do you have any idea what kind of crap I had to make up to explain how they all died?”

Luke wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. “Bring it, asshole.”

“You got it, boss.” Smiling, Maxwell lit his fists on fire. “You’re fun, you crafty son of a bitch.”

“In my defense, I didn’t kill all your soldiers. Zoe’s still breathing.”

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Maxwell attacked too fast. Luke retreated, dodged, and at the right moment, rolled through the sand until he reached his kukris. The blades returned to his hands like they’d been waiting for him. He cut Maxwell’s arm and fell into the familiar rhythm, dancing with the blades, searching for gaps in the armor.

“Little shit!” Maxwell snarled, looking at the scratch on his arm.

He slapped one blade away and sent it flying, but Luke used the opening to slam his forehead into Maxwell’s face. Then he ran. Not to the tower. To the sea.

Luke dove in and sank. The magical scarf guided him through the water, pulling him forward fast as he activated the aquatic power of his equipment and put on the Abyssal Mask. Behind him, Maxwell dropped like a torpedo.

“What’d you think, dumbass?” Maxwell’s voice echoed underwater. “That just because I’m the Hero of Flame, I wouldn’t go in the water?”

His fists were covered in a layer of metal, and he charged.

“No,” Luke answered. “I just wanted to drag you out of your comfort zone.”

With what little mana he had left, Luke gave the scarf a command. Its ends attacked Maxwell, trying to bind, cut, delay, anything to slow him down. Maxwell answered with brutal punches while Luke tried to drive his kukris into the gaps in his armor. Maxwell’s body began heating up, even underwater.

They kicked each other at the same time and broke apart.

Luke swam deeper.

“You think I don’t know what you’re gonna do?” Maxwell shouted. “You’re gonna try to swim to the other sea and get yourself disqualified!”

Luke sped up, but Maxwell shot past him like a projectile. The fire around him died almost immediately, but the momentum still carried him through the water and put him ahead.

“I’m not letting you live, man. You’re a Demon Lord. My golden ticket to unlocking a power from my title.”

Maxwell flared with intensity, wrapped in a hot, violent aura. “Today, I’m gifting humanity a demon’s head.”

Then a massive eye appeared behind Maxwell.

Luke’s eyes went wide.

Maxwell saw Luke pull back and laughed. “That’s right, run, little shit!”

Only then did he look behind him. A dark silhouette approached from the depths, immense, warping the water around it.

Leviathan!

Maxwell panicked. The silhouette opened a huge mouth. Then its body slammed into both of them. It was not a Leviathan. It was an enormous whale.

[Queen Sperm Whale - Lvl 172]

The fucking whale.

The same creature that had been chasing Luke since Stage 2 of the event. The impact shoved them upward as the monster released a deafening song, powerful enough to rattle his bones.

“Not this thing again!” Maxwell shouted.

The whale launched them up, ripping them both out of the water. Just below, its mouth opened, ready to swallow them. In the air, Maxwell blasted jets of fire from his hands and shot away. Luke, on the verge of being swallowed, planted his foot on the edge of the creature’s mouth and launched himself out at the last second.

He crashed onto the beach, still in the shallows.

“Shit!”

He’d had more than enough of being swallowed by sea monsters. The whale released another song, something between a scream and a roar, and attacked. Lightning raced across its body and exploded through the water. Maxwell swam toward the sand, but the discharge hit him. He was thrown away, shaking. Luke was caught by the shock too and collapsed, his entire body locking up in pain.

The creature leapt over them, thrashing onto the beach like a stranded nightmare. Maxwell answered with jets and fireballs, barely escaping the whale’s enormous mass. Then, with a shout full of pain and rage, Maxwell summoned a tornado of fire and hurled it at the whale.

The explosion was massive.

Luke dragged himself through the water, trying to reach the sand. The water boiled around him. His skin burned with it. His body was partly scorched, on top of being electrocuted, but the strongest smell of burned flesh came from the whale.

“Fuck...”

The creature was down. Part of its face had been ruined, not by Maxwell, Luke realized, but by a bite mark. A huge bite, made by something even larger. Something it had fought in the Abyssal Zone.

“Fucking whale,” Maxwell said, staggering. Shock marks covered his body. “This is the thing that almost knocked me into the Abyssal Zone that day.”

Luke grabbed a kukri and rushed straight at the hero. A fireball hit him before he could get close. Luke dropped to the ground, coughing. Something inside him felt cooked.

“If I killed that whale,” Maxwell said, raising his hand, “I can kill you too.”

Behind him, the whale’s lone eye opened. Pure hatred burned in its gaze. It roared, a song so loud the entire beach trembled. Maxwell screamed and clamped both hands over his ears. But it was not just sound. It was a mental attack.

Luke, however, felt nothing. Sariel’s eye. It’s immune to this, unless it’s divine level.

While Maxwell screamed in agony, Luke ran, grabbed the kukri, and went straight for the kill. Before he could reach Maxwell, the whale leapt. At the same time, it activated another power. The sand and earth around them began getting sucked into the water in a violent whirlpool. Luke dug in his feet and tried to hold on, but he was being dragged anyway. The whale opened its mouth, ready to devour everything.

Then Maxwell was caught.

Luke kept moving forward, running like he was on a treadmill, until he managed to jump out of the vortex. The whale screamed and thrashed. A moment later, it spat Maxwell out. The hero hit the sand, ruined. Wounded, broken, his face almost unrecognizable, one arm gone.

The giant sperm whale stared at Luke. For a moment, neither of them moved. The creature’s only eye narrowed. They were enemies. Real ones. Ridiculous, maybe. But real. It had hunted him across the ocean, followed every beacon he made, and attacked without rest, even throwing him into the Abyssal Zone. All because, on some random day during the event, Luke had entered its territory and wounded its eye. He knew it. It was as if the whale were transmitting all of it with that stare.

Then the sperm whale seemed to snort. And smiled. After that, it fell onto its side and didn’t try to attack him again. In its final moments, it simply let itself die.

Luke collapsed backward. His body had reached its limit.

A cough caught his attention.

“Bitch-ass whale,” Maxwell muttered.

He raised his only remaining arm. His hand, missing several fingers, ignited and aimed at the whale, which no longer seemed to have the strength to react. Its fight was over. Before Maxwell could fire, Luke drove the kukri into his chest.

This time, deep.

No armor trick.

No escape.

Then he twisted the blade. “Now you die.”

Maxwell choked. He tried to bring his hand to his chest, maybe to cauterize the wound, but it was too late. His heart had already been destroyed. Maxwell fell sideways onto the sand, shaking, his breath coming apart.

“M-my brother... knows about you,” he said, his voice broken. “I can die... but he’ll put it together. And when he does, everyone’s gonna know what you are.”

Luke laughed. “Fuck it. Let them.”

[You have slain a Human - Lvl 132 (Hero of the Scorching Flames - Lvl 124 / Sabertooth Fist - Lvl 102 / Hot Fabric Engineer - Lvl 91)] 471,887,124,445 earned (+10% Area Points Bonus)

“My list of enemies is already long enough.”

Something stirred inside Luke.

[The Fruit of the Sin of Wrath is receiving your sacrifice...]

[Sacrifice completed successfully!]

The system screen opened to the Dark Lord title section.

[Creating the Fruit of the Sin of Wrath...]

The tree on the screen began to glow, and one fruit started taking on a red color that grew brighter and brighter.

Luke ignored them and approached the whale.

“Thanks for that, whale. You don’t understand a word I’m saying, but whatever. Guess we’re even.” He took a deep breath, his whole body aching. “We both survived the Abyssal Zone. And you... for longer than I did.”

He turned and started walking toward the tower. Behind him, the whale sang something. Maybe agreement. Maybe it was just cursing at him. Luke could not tell. Every step up the tower hurt. When he reached it, he touched the red crystal.

[Tower Claimed: 6/6]

A massive notification appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations, Luke Moon! You have won the Sunken Realms Integration Event!]

[Preparing your Reward...]

More notifications appeared, calculating points and granting bonuses for each claimed tower. Luke ignored them all. Instead, he bent down and picked up Cadmus, who lay broken on the floor.

[Warning: All other participants have been automatically disqualified!]

[People on the Island: 1]

[Warning: The quest “Tomb of the King” has been unlocked and is now available. Hurry, the world is collapsing and the tsunami is coming!]

[Warning: The two seas have met. Entering the water will now disqualify you from the event.]

“Luke Moon...” Cadmus’s voice glitched.

Luke looked down at the robot in his arms. “You’re still alive?”

“For... a little longer. The Tomb... near the beach. Easy to reach. I can feel it.”

“Then let’s go. I’ll take you.”

The robot could no longer float. As Luke descended the stairs, the light in Cadmus’s small visor dimmed.

“I do not think... I will make it to the end of this quest,” Cadmus said.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve sensed someone else in the tower.”

“It is all right... I was already dead anyway. Haha.”

The robot’s usual laugh came out weak, full of static.

“Still. Dead or not, dying sucks,” Luke said.

“If you carry my remains, you will still keep your promise.” Cadmus’s voice dropped even lower. “Farewell, Luke Moon. Be good to your wife, Lady Charlie... and never take relationship advice from Artemis.”

“I’m still here, Cadmus,” Artemis said.

“You give him terrible advice...” Cadmus replied. “One woman in your life is enough, Luke Moon. Do not be... greedy.”

For a moment, Cadmus’s visor glowed brighter.

“I’m sorry... my son. I failed you as a father,” the robot said to himself.

And Cadmus died. Luke stood there for a moment, holding the broken body.

“Goodbye, Cadmus. In your own weird way, you were my friend.” He let out a slow breath. “And I agree with you. Artemis gives terrible advice.”

Still carrying the robot, Luke reached the beach. Ahead, he saw a tiny island near the one he stood on. On it rose a dark green pyramid.

“That’s the Tomb of the King. Right fucking there.”

When he looked back, he saw the tsunami approaching. A timer ran in front of his eyes. That was how long Luke had to reach the tomb.

“Cadmus, you almost made it. You were with me here for nine months. And I’m sorry. This was my fault. You missed it by a few minutes.”

He stared at the island. “A few fucking minutes.”

As he approached the water, the notification appeared again.

[Warning: The two seas have met. Entering the water will now disqualify you from the event.]

Luke stared at the message. “You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s right there, System. The tomb is right there. You were letting me enter the water a few minutes ago. Now you care?”

With the little mana he had left, he tried to activate the witch cloak.

Nothing.

“I’m so close. Damn it. I’m literally right next to the fucking island.”

“That is how challenges like this work, Luke,” Artemis said. “It would not be much of a challenge if it were not challenging.”

“You’re telling me I missed my chance to go to the tomb just because I didn’t save a few hundred mana points?”

“Yes. I am.”

Frustrated, Luke stared at the tiny island.

“You won the event, man,” Artemis said. “That alone is an incredible achievement.”

Luke had won. He felt like he had failed.

“I wanted to keep my promise to him. He saved me from that leviathan.”

Artemis’s voice softened a little. “Wherever he is, I bet Cadmus would understand. He would say, ‘Do not worry, Luke Moon. Given your usual bad luck, I should have predicted this exact outcome.’”

Artemis mimicked Cadmus perfectly.

Luke huffed a small laugh.

“Wherever he is, he really would’ve said that.”

Then a song rose from the beach. Luke turned. The stranded whale stirred in the sand.