Becoming the Dark Lord

The quake hit again, harder this time, and Luke ran for his life. But then Selmarines burst out of the brush. Four of them.

[Island Alpha Selmarine: Lvl 72]

[Island Alpha Selmarine: Lvl 72]

[Island Alpha Selmarine: Lvl 72]

[Island Alpha Selmarine: Lvl 72]

The island was tearing itself apart.

No time for this.

Clicking his tongue, he veered in the opposite direction, trying to circle around, but the creatures gave chase. More Selmarines emerged from every direction, drawn by the chaos. Dozens. And the Alphas were faster, gaining on him quickly.

“You’re supposed to be half fish, you bastards! Why the hell are you this fast?”

Two sprinted ahead of him and blocked the path. Luke had no choice. He drew his blades and met their charge. Fighting both at once was bad enough, but the other two flanked him, trying to strike with their tails. He dodged at the last second, and instead they slammed into each other.

Luke took the opening and struck one across the face.

[You have slain an Island Alpha Selmarine: Lvl 72] *88,111 IP earned*

He lunged at the next, driving a blade into the gill slit. The creature shrieked, and Luke finished it with a clean hit.

[You have slain an Island Alpha Selmarine: Lvl 72] *88,245 IP earned*

The remaining two leapt at him. Luke slammed into a tree, more Selmarines closing in around him, trapping him.

“If you want a turn, get in line!”

They roared back. The ground fractured under their feet. He was surrounded. And then, out of nowhere, a rush of flames swept across the clearing, hitting several of the creatures.

“Move!” Zoe’s voice cut through the chaos.

Luke didn’t hesitate. A geyser beneath him cracked open, and he jumped onto it just as it erupted, launching him high into a tree. He swung from branch to branch like a wild animal. Selmarines screamed below while he and Zoe kept running. Everything was breaking apart, fissures splitting the land, geysers exploding, entire chunks of the island sliding away.

“Oh, great,” he muttered.

Water surged in, dragging trees down as the vortex pulled harder. They sprinted across collapsing ground.

“We can make it,” he told himself.

A massive gap opened ahead.

“No, no…” Zoe breathed.

Selmarines chased them, some slipping into the vortex behind, others still coming. Their half of the island drifted farther away from the next.

“We’re done!” Zoe shouted.

Luke yanked out his bow, grabbed several arrows, and fired in rapid succession.

“We’re going to die!” she cried.

“We’re gonna make it!” he yelled back.

Wind howled. Geysers shot up in front of them. And then the abyss. The last strip of land gave way. Luke and Zoe jumped for the next section of the island. They didn’t make it. They fell until Luke snagged something. His arrow lodged in the cliff wall. A void of swirling ocean raged below. He held on with one hand and grabbed Zoe’s with the other.

“Don’t let me fall!” she screamed. “Please, don’t let me fall!”

The arrow began to crack. With a roar, Luke hurled her upward and dug his knife into the wall, climbing with sheer desperation until he reached the top.

“Goddamn…” he panted.

[Remaining Time: 0 Hours : 56 Minutes : 08 Seconds]

Zoe lay on her back, gasping, staring at the sky.

“I’m afraid of heights,” she said.

***

Luke stayed where he was until the timer finally ran out. Zoe kept close, hovering at a cautious distance.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

[The Purple Bracelet Challenge has ended! If you didn’t obtain yours, don’t worry. You can always claim one from someone who has it.]

Another notification appeared beneath it.

[In 24 hours, the Blue Bracelet Challenge will begin. Use this time to cross your current Zone and move toward the next challenge area. You are close to reaching the Second Zone.]

The ocean had swallowed that entire section of the island into the vortex. A barrier wall rose where the land had collapsed, separating the Zones. The wall shimmered, projecting the illusion of a forest where none remained.

“At least we get a break from this nightmare,” Zoe murmured.

Luke stood and started walking.

“You’re already heading to the next area?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“The last challenge lasted three weeks. Why rush?”

“Because I feel like it.”

He kept moving. “And you shouldn’t have come back for me. You almost died. When are you going to accept that only one person leaves this island? If your opponent’s in danger, let them fall.”

“Then why help me?” she asked quietly.

Luke didn’t answer immediately. “I wanted information. And I got it. That’s all.”

They walked in silence. No voices, no footsteps, nothing but the wind. The whole place felt emptied out.

Luke placed a hand on the ground. Sand. “It was soil before.”

They continued until Zoe spoke again. “Your back… that wound looks bad.”

“Yeah. Those creatures did that.”

He opened his bag, then closed it again. His healing potions were ruined; the glass had shattered during the fight and everything leaked out. He dumped the contents onto the ground.

“Punctured canteen, food full of glass, broken potion. Great. Lost everything,” he muttered and let the bag fall.

He sat down, exhausted.

“How did you get separated from your friends?” he asked.

“Right before the Green challenge ended. They were escorting a group to a safe spot we found, a cave. My job was to collect bracelets from people who died in the tsunami. To help anyone who didn’t have one.”

“You’re insane for helping your competitors.”

“You’re insane too if you think that way. You helped me,” she countered.

He huffed a short laugh. “Yeah, fair point.”

Luke leaned back against a tree. Zoe opened her pack and tossed something to him, a cloth wrapped piece of smoked meat.

“I swear it isn’t poisoned,” she said, taking a bite of her own.

“I’m so tired I don’t even care.”

They sat eating quietly. Luke discreetly smelled the food first, then held it in his mouth a moment, testing for any strange taste. He no longer had the abilities that neutralized poison, but after eating so many different kinds in the past, he could still recognize the signs.

It was safe.

***

Night had fallen. The world around them was quiet, save for the wind and the distant sound of running water.

“What did you do before ending up on this island?” Zoe asked, breaking the silence.

They sat with their backs against the same tree, facing opposite directions, each covering the other’s blind spot.

“I don’t really know how to define it. Unemployed? Something like that.”

“You don’t know?”

“Let’s just say I made a fortune in a previous adventure. So I didn’t need to work ever again.”

“Oh, look at that. A rich adventurer.”

“But… I think I’m poor again, considering ninety percent of what I had was sitting in a bank somewhere.”

She laughed softly.

“Yeah, say goodbye to technology. Now a whole different world is waiting for us. For what it’s worth, I’ll be poor too. Not that I wasn’t already.”

He touched his neck out of habit. Artemis wasn’t there.

“I still have a barrel full of gold in my storage item. Hopefully the island gives it back when all this is over.”

“At least you’ll be able to buy drinks when you get out.”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“That’s what I’d do,” she said. “If I had money, I’d treat my friends. You should do that. After this hell, everyone’s going to need a drink.” ℴ

Only one of them would make it out alive, but talking about it this way kept things… lighter.

“What’s your name? You already know mine,” Zoe asked.

Should he give his real name? The same one everyone saw on the scoreboard?

“Sariel.”

“Well, Sariel, if Stage One of this event has been this hard, I keep wondering what Stage Two and Stage Three will look like.”

“You worked for a hero. Shouldn’t you know?”

“I worked for the Flame Hero, sure, but that doesn’t mean we were important. When the event notification appeared, we were as blindsided as everyone else.”

“Except for the World Kings,” he said. “They knew… they pushed the event early.”

“Yeah. Those guys run everything. Governments were basically their hostages.”

“And the heroes? Do the Kings control them too?”

“No. And we got lucky on that part. Every hero that appeared came from our side of the world. People who actually agreed to help their nations.”

“Must be a system thing.”

“Probably. Some kind of balance,” she murmured, staring up at the sky. “My friends and I were all curious about what Event 51 actually was. And now… being here… I never imagined it would be this.”

“You never found out?”

“No. If everything had gone as planned, one month before the event all the big names in government were supposed to meet the World Kings. But… that never happened.”

“Sounds like they played you.”

“Oh, those bastards knew the meeting would never happen,” she said with a tired laugh. “I hope wherever they are, they’re facing something even worse than we are.”

***

Luke and Zoe crossed the remaining stretch of land and reached the edge of a massive river splitting the terrain in two directions. It looked calm, at least on the surface.

“Looks like we’ll have to cross,” Zoe said.

This was the Blue Bracelet zone. The timer hit zero, and a notification appeared.

Fourth Bracelet: Blue Bracelet

At the bottom of the river, hidden among debris and natural formations, lie the Blue Bracelets. They rest among forgotten treasures, wrapped in thick aquatic vegetation and guarded by the dangers of the deep.

The depth, low visibility, and hostile environment make every movement a risk. The deeper you go, the fewer mistakes you can afford. You have one hour to locate and retrieve a bracelet. When the time ends, they will vanish along with your chance of obtaining one.

The river will not wait. The depths do not forgive. Dive, survive… or surface empty-handed.

[Remaining Time: 59 Minutes : 59 Seconds]