Becoming the Dark Lord

“You’re unlucky.” the woman from earlier said. This time she wasn’t alone. Several heavily armed people stood with her, armored from head to toe.

Luke vaulted up to a branch, drawing his bow midair. The forest was dark, but one of them lifted a staff and a soft light bloomed.

“It’s fine. The light doesn’t travel far,” the woman assured.

“My name is Amelia.”

“I’m Zoe.”

“George.”

“David.”

“Elijah.”

The five of them introduced themselves in turn. Luke studied their equipment carefully. Two wore full heavy armor, helmet and all.

“So what now? I introduce myself and sing a campfire song with you?” he asked dryly.

“We were setting a trap to ambush those bastards,” Zoe replied. “We’re hunting the worst people in this place.”

“We’re assistants to the Hero of Flame. We were part of his team before the event started and we got separated.” Amelia added.

“Hero? Serena?” Luke asked.

“No, she’s the Heroine of Light. From the United States. Are you American?”

Guess I slipped.

“I don’t care where I’m from. I want to know why the five of you came to talk to me.” He kept his bow steady.

Zoe lowered her weapon. “We need to join forces. We have to hunt down the criminals and the dangerous ones here. We can’t let innocent people die.”

Luke didn’t relax. He dropped from the tree and landed a short distance away.

“And why would I waste time helping you? Didn’t you read the island challenge? Only one person leaves alive.” He pointed at each of them. “Whoever I help now will try to kill me later. Same goes for you. That friend standing next to you will come for your throat when the time comes.”

He turned away. “Stop wasting time walking around like a pack. Either split up or die together. Either way, if you eliminate each other, things get easier for me.”

“So why save Amelia when she pretended to be helpless?” Elijah called out.

“Because I was in a hurry. Nothing more.” Luke disappeared into the brush.

“You know we can’t just let these people run free. You have to help!” someone shouted as he slipped out of sight.

“Idiots,” he muttered under his breath, putting distance between them.

As he ran through the undergrowth, Luke opened the leaderboard.

User Rankings! These are the participants with the highest point totals and therefore the greatest chance of winning the challenge!

1st Place: Ivor Aaberg: 5,011,001 IP (Bracelets Found: 1)

2nd Place: Gabriel Domínguez: 3,111,872 IP (Bracelets Found: 2)

3rd Place: Yut Saeten: 2,541,239 IP (Bracelets Found: 1)

4th Place: Austin Rawlins: 2,099,172 IP (Bracelets Found: 1)

5th Place: Luke Moon: 2,082,605 IP (Bracelets Found: 1)

Gabriel jumped from fourth to second? That point increase was absurd.

***

Two weeks had passed since Cindy arrived on the island. Traveling with Father Brandt’s group had been the smartest choice she could’ve made for survival, and she knew it. Slowly, she started to understand who he truly was, as well as the people who followed him. Father Brandt had been in prison, yes, but he wasn’t like the other criminals roaming the island. He and his loyal followers had been imprisoned unfairly, accused of terrorism in the past. Brad was one of them, a gentle young man who frequently helped her.

“You need to eat, Cindy,” Brad told her as he offered the bowl. “Tonight the Father wants all of us to enter the Green Bracelet Area together.”

Cindy glanced toward the line of trees ahead. The next zone of the challenge was a dense, dark-green forest where rain never stopped falling. A permanent storm. At least it meant access to water again, since everything outside that place had long dried up.

“I’m worried,” she admitted. “It’s going to be dangerous in there. So many people are after those bracelets, and there won’t be enough for everyone.”

“Father Brandt will help us get one. You have to trust him, Cindy.”

She checked to make sure no one else was listening. Most of the group was busy with tasks, and the rest waited in a soup line.

“Brad, all of us who were rescued by your group… we’re really grateful,” she said.

“You should be grateful to Father Brandt,” he replied.

“How long… have you all known him?”

“We grew up hearing stories about him. I’ve known him my whole life,” he said with a smile.

There was something everyone avoided saying out loud, and she finally pushed herself to voice it. “But Brad… you know that only one participant leaves this island alive.”

“Father Brandt has a plan, Cindy. You just need to trust him, even if you don’t understand.”

After that, preparations were finished and the entire group began the march toward the Green Bracelet zone.

Cindy crossed a wooden bridge suspended high among the trees. The whole place was a maze of walkways connecting trunks thicker than buildings. Below them, the forest flooded into a violent river. Falling didn’t look survivable.

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As she walked, Cindy pulled up the leaderboard.

“Gabriel Domínguez…”

He already had the green bracelet, and his points had skyrocketed in the past week. Which meant he was killing everyone he encountered inside the zone.

“A brother, Cindy. Nothing to fear,” said a voice beside her.

She jumped. Father Brandt had approached silently.

“A brother?”

“He converted to our cause in prison. My partner in solitary confinement. Well, his cell was next to mine,” Brandt said with a soft laugh. “Those government men tried to silence me by throwing me into isolation, but their mistake put me next to the gentlest soul I’ve ever met.”

“Is he… a good person?”

“A very good one. He suffers from gigantism. By all medical logic, he should’ve died years ago. But the system saved him.”

Father Brandt continued walking across the bridge.

“I’m the only one who can approach Gabriel safely, Cindy. Stay close to me if we find him. His diet is… a bit exotic.”

***

A chest had fallen from the sky. Luke was sprinting through the forest like a madman. He still wasn’t inside the next challenge zone, but he was close. Less than two weeks left to find the bracelet or take it from someone who had. Breaking out of the treeline, he reached a village of tall buildings, similar to the one that had crashed earlier.

Where’s the damn chest?

He needed to move fast. Climbing onto a rooftop, he spotted it in the center of the village. He bolted toward it. A noise caught his attention, and on the opposite side someone else was running for it.

“Damn it.”

Two more people showed up. One raised a wand, and the area around the chest turned crimson, smoke curling off the ground.

The first guy reached the edge, touched down, and immediately jumped back screaming, “It burns! It burns!”

Then an arrow shot in from afar and detonated. Luke dove into a nearby building. Peeking out, he saw the man who’d reached the chest lying still, only part of his body intact enough to recognize. He was already gone.

Hope the idiot didn’t destroy the chest.

He checked again. At the top of a distant building, a white glow flickered. A second later, an arrow launched toward another house and exploded. Luke searched his quiver. Only five arrows left. Clicking his tongue, he rushed out of the building. Five new contenders were sprinting across the village, scrambling for cover. Luke picked one and fired.

[You have slain a Human…] *66,784 IP earned*

A glowing arrow streaked toward him. He dove inside a wooden house as the ground behind him erupted.

I really miss my knives.

Someone burst into the same building. Luke took off running. The intruder raised a wand, sending a red orb flying toward him. Luke darted aside and fired back. A circle on the floor lit up beneath him; he threw himself out of its radius and loosed another arrow.

[You have slain a Human…] *83,784 IP earned*

Grabbing what arrows he could salvage, he glanced toward the rooftop.

“Great. Now that guy has everyone pinned down.”

He was down to three arrows. One had snapped when the mage fell. Luke sprinted outside and kept moving. He fired one arrow, then another, and dashed toward cover. A house exploded behind him. He retreated just as a bolt shot past. Someone below was aiming his way.

“You people come from everywhere!” he shouted, ducking behind a stone pillar.

“The chest is mi—” The man was cut off as another explosion rocked the street.

Luke climbed a wooden building, using window frames as footholds. Reaching the top, he found the archer aiming downward. The moment he loosed a shot, Luke leapt to his rooftop. The archer swiveled and fired at him.

Luke jumped again, closing the distance, drawing his knife. He had no arrows left. The archer fired repeatedly, but Luke kept advancing until he reached him.

“I’m not dying here, you bastard!” the archer screamed, swinging his own blade.

Luke blocked with his dagger and countered, pushing him back. They clashed again and again on the narrow rooftop, both fighting for footing. The archer made a desperate jump to another building. Luke followed. Midair, the archer twisted, aiming a glowing arrow at him.

“Damn it!” the archer yelled.

Luke was too close for him to fire safely. They crashed onto the next roof. Luke knocked the bow aside, but the arrow still glowed in the man’s grip.

“Oh, come on…” the archer groaned, trying to throw it away.

The arrow detonated. The roof gave way beneath them as they fell through. The man was screaming, badly hurt. Luke didn’t hesitate; he ended the struggle before the archer could recover.

[You have slain a Human…]*346,541 IP earned*

“Holy hell…” he exhaled, catching his breath.

He took the archer’s quiver. Eighteen arrows. Then he walked to a window overlooking the chest and fired a long shot.

[You have slain a Human…] *68,841 IP earned*

“The chest is mine.”

He descended, reclaimed his arrow from the fallen body, checked the backpack for anything useful, and opened the chest.

[Explorer’s Boots (Uncommon)]: A pair of boots ideal for forest exploration. They offer excellent grip and adapt to a variety of terrains, helping prevent slips or falls.]

Luke rushed into a nearby house. His current boots were worn down. He switched them out without a second thought.

***

The green zone was close. Luke had taken the risk of starting a small fire; hunger was louder than caution at this point.

I just want one decent night of sleep in this cursed place.

He’d barely slept properly since arriving on the island.

User Rankings! These are the participants with the highest point totals and therefore the greatest chance of winning the challenge!

1st Place: Ivor Aaberg: 5,011,001 IP (Bracelets Found: 2)

2nd Place: Gabriel Domínguez: 4,337,675 IP (Bracelets Found: 2)

3rd Place: Yut Saeten: 3,107,239 IP (Bracelets Found: 2)

4th Place: Madison Sullivan: 2,881,605 IP (Bracelets Found: 2)

5th Place: Austin Rawlins: 2,734,172 IP (Bracelets Found: 2)

Ivor, still hogging first place as always.

Once he finished eating, Luke moved far away from the glow of the fire. He managed a few hours of rest and filled his stomach. He had no idea how long he’d go without food or sleep inside the bracelet zone, so he took what chances he could.

When he finally reached the area, he heard heavy rainfall long before he saw anything. The forest dipped into a lower section, and soon he reached a network of wooden bridges. They stretched across the treetops while the ground below was submerged beneath flowing water. The forest had turned into a flooded maze.

Luke immediately cupped his hands and drank the rainwater. His thirst was sharp. He filled all four of his canteens, used [Botanical Purification] just in case, and drank again. His backpack held his essentials, even some smoked meat. He ate a little more, then continued along the wooden bridge.

A mission notification appeared.

Second Bracelet: Green Bracelet

One of the dams in this region has collapsed, flooding the forest. The only way to travel is across the wooden bridges. Search for one of the scattered green bracelets, but be careful: the new river system is filled with crocodiles that will attack anyone who falls in.

The bridges are fragile, and other participants won’t hesitate to sabotage them. Good luck. The bracelet or death awaits.

“Crocodiles? Wonderful. Haven’t missed those at all.”

A plank cracked beneath his foot. And something massive shifted in the water below, waiting for him.