Becoming the Dark Lord

Yut moved at a full sprint through the forest, hunting river crabs. They weren’t exactly abundant, finding even three together felt like a miracle.

“Keep looking!” he shouted to Somchai and the others.

I’m at thirty-four kills. I need to be the first to hit a hundred.

He had already decided he alone would take the kills. If they split the count, they’d risk missing the treasure’s location. In his mind, this was strategy: he found the Guardian, and his men came along afterward to collect whatever they needed.

“Wherever that treasure is, we’ll run into others with four bracelets,” Yut told them. “Use the opportunity. Some of you still need the blue or the purple.”

They searched deeper into the forest until they found five dead crabs scattered in the brush.

Someone’s been through here.

Yut signaled for the group to spread out and keep moving. Then a distant yell echoed through the trees.

“What was that?” Maronp asked.

Another shout followed, this one in Thai.

“That’s one of ours! Check if anyone’s missing!”

Yut tightened his grip on his blade. Then he saw movement behind Somchai. Something like an arm… but wrong.

“Somchai!” someone shouted.

The limb wrapped around Somchai and pulled him backward in a blur. Yut’s expression sharpened, then he smiled and charged.

“You’ve got guts showing up here,” he muttered as he ran.

Somchai struggled as the limb dragged him away, then suddenly loosened its hold and slipped back into the foliage. Two elongated arms shot out again, striking with impossible reach. Their hands reshaped into blade-like forms as they lashed at Yut and Somchai. Yut blocked what he could, but the blows were unnervingly strong.

He seized one of the stretched limbs and yanked. A woman was pulled from the undergrowth, her body twisting midair. One of her legs extended like a coiling rope, hooking onto a tree branch with ease.

She laughed.

“Very clever,” she said, sliding across the branches with serpentine fluidity, her body stretching unnaturally.

“I know exactly who you are,” Yut replied.

“Oh? Do you?” she teased, coiling herself along a trunk.

“You’re Madison, aren’t you?”

Her smile vanished. “I don’t go around telling people my name.”

“One of the prisoners who came here warned me about you. After a little persuasion, of course.” Yut smirked. “I asked him everything about the dangerous ones and their skills.”

He pulled a stone from his pocket, channeled power into his [Ballistic Throw] skill, and hurled it. The tree she perched on shattered. Yut lunged forward.

“Come on, let’s play!”

Her arms shot toward him again. She moved fast, springing upward, her legs elongating until she towered over them. One arm snapped forward like a striking serpent, hitting one of Yut’s men hard enough to pull him off his feet as she laughed.

Yut pursued, but she vanished into the trees.

He clicked his tongue. “Coward.”

No one killed Yut’s men. That was his law. Back home in Bangkok, no one dared try. He made a mental note of the people he was going to kill: Ivor, The man with the mismatched eyes and now this woman.

***

Luke spotted two river crabs in the stream, large and tinted orange. He sprinted toward them. The moment they saw him, both spat high-pressure jets of water from their mouths. He dodged left, slipped under another burst, then leapt, driving his machete into one while slicing the legs off the other. They toppled over, and Luke finished them quickly.

[You have slain a River Crab — Lvl 56]

[You have slain a River Crab — Lvl 56]

He checked the count.

[River Crabs slain: 43/100]

Finding the creatures was a bigger challenge than killing them. Exploring this zone forces participants to run into each other. Probably the island’s way of making bracelet holders cross paths with the ones who don’t. Force more fights. He tore off a chunk of crab meat, dropped it into a pouch, and moved on. Luke was far from where he first entered the Second Zone. His pace had been relentless since arriving, and he still wasn’t slowing down.

If someone finds the treasure before I do, they might die later and it gets lost anyway.

Hours passed as he followed the stream, finally spotting more crabs. He trailed them for a while, waiting to see where they went. Eventually they disappeared into a cave, and Luke slipped in after them. His steps made no sound. Inside, he watched the crabs scuttle around a bend and drop through a hole in the ground.

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Perfect hiding spot for them. Five down there? No. At least ten. I might’ve hit the jackpot.

He kept moving through the cave, checking for more, until he reached a dead end. Something felt wrong.

It’s cracking.

The ground beneath him looked like the brittle surface of a frozen lake, thin, fragile, ready to give way.

The whole section is like this. Did they dig it hollow from below?

Luke stepped back carefully, returned to the hole, and threw himself down. He slid along a natural ramp until he splashed into cold water.

“Right under where I was standing.”

He sank into a subterranean lake, and the sight hit him like a punch.

Holy hell.

Crabs. Dozens of them. Maybe more. A massive tank full of them. His luck had actually paid off. Luke tore into them one by one. They swarmed from all directions, trying to surround him. More erupted from the mud at the bottom of the lake.

[You have slain a River Crab — Lvl 56]

[You have slain a River Crab — Lvl 56]

[You have slain a River Crab — Lvl 56]

[You have slain a River Crab — Lvl 56]

[You have slain a River Crab — Lvl 56]

[You have slain a River Crab — Lvl 56]

…

[River Crabs slain: 59/100]

The numbers kept rising, and the crabs just kept coming.

***

Luke sprinted through the forest.

[River Crabs slain: 100/100]

He followed the glowing orange marker pulling him forward.

[Proceed to the location where the Treasure Guardian lies asleep.]

If this thing is actually sleeping, the mission should’ve been “steal the treasure.” With my stealth, I’d have it done already.

The terrain shifted into shallow water, barely above his ankles. Trees grew farther apart, creating a swampy plain dotted with broken stone pillars and the ruins of old stone houses. A deep, constant roar of water echoed from somewhere beyond.

[The Treasure Guardian event will begin once 50 participants have entered the area.]

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” he muttered.

Meaning if anyone shows up, I can’t kill them until the count hits fifty.

“Great. Perfect. Love this island.”

He jogged toward one of the ruined houses. If he had time to burn, he might as well scavenge.

***

A full day passed. Luke stayed inside one of the stone husks while more people trickled into the zone. No one knew how many were left before reaching the required fifty. Participants settled in around the area, though everyone avoided actual conflict.

He had found what seemed to be the event’s focal point, a mirrored barrier dome in the center of the ruins. Some tried hitting it with weapons, but it didn’t react. Indestructible. All they could do was wait. Night fell. A group of six had made a campfire and seemed determined to hold a loud, drunken celebration. They’d clearly found some booze in their chests and were roasting chunks of river crab.

Luke perched on a rooftop, bored out of his mind. Part of him expected someone to eventually take a cheap shot at his head, and part of him thought that might even be entertaining. But everyone just sat around, waiting.

“Shut up already! You’ve been talking nonsense for hours!” someone shouted from the darkness.

The leader of the six paused his laughter, glanced back, and smirked. “Then come make me shut up, friend. I’d love that.” He returned to his conversation.

A man stepped out from the shadows, walking straight toward the group. Luke and everyone else watched him. The way he carried his hammer made it clear something was about to happen.

“You!” the hammer-wielder shouted. “You killed my brother and stole his bracelet!”

The leader ignored him.

“You coward!” the man yelled, his skin flickering with power.

The five companions around the leader stood, weapons drawn.

“You’ll need to be more specific,” the leader said calmly. “I’ve killed a lot of people on this island.”

“You stole his green bracelet and murdered him! I’ll end you!”

“Let him try,” the leader said with a dismissive gesture.

“But Dylan—”

“I said let him try.”

The five stepped aside.

“Come on then,” Dylan taunted. “Avenge your little brother. Or are you just as weak as he was?”

The man charged.

Dylan’s fist erupted in flames and a figure appeared between them, silent as a shadow, holding two one-handed crossbows, each aimed at one of the would-be combatants.

“I’ve been waiting an entire day for the fifty of you to gather,” the masked stranger said calmly. “Both of you have full bracelet sets. If one dies, this event gets delayed.”

“He killed my brother!” the hammer-wielder shouted.

“I don’t care,” the stranger replied. “But if either of you dies right now, I will kill the other myself. So choose: die now against both of us, or wait for the event to start.”

The hammer man froze. Slowly, he lowered his weapon.

The figure with the twin crossbows stared at Dylan. “Put out the fire on your fist.”

“And if I don’t?”

“I’ll break your arm and your leg. Yours, and the five idiots standing behind you. Want to test it?”

The flame on Dylan’s fist flickered out. He burst into laughter. “You’ve got style. But I want that reward too. So stay alive for a few more hours.”

The man lowered both crossbows, clipped them to his belt, and turned away.

“What’s your name?” Dylan called after him.

“Austin Rawlins.”

“Well then, Austin Rawlins, I’ll be waiting for you to come break my arm once the event starts.”

Silence settled over the area.

***

It was nearly dawn when two people approached the house where Luke sat eating a piece of fruit.

“Remember us?”

“No,” he answered without looking at them.

“You killed Brother Gabriel and injured the Father.”

“Oh, you’re from that crazy group. Yeah, I remember. Is that Father nearby? I’d love to pick up where we left off.”

Both scowled. “You’ll pay for killing our brothers. We’ll see you in the challenge.”

They turned and walked off. Luke briefly considered taking them out right then. But honestly? He just wanted the event to start.

***

Hours later, the notification appeared, and the countdown neared its end.

[The Treasure Guardian Event will begin in: 5 seconds]

[4 seconds]

[3 seconds]

[2 seconds]

[1 second]

The massive glass dome dissolved, and the sound they’d heard earlier, rushing water, roared into a deafening cascade. What had been hidden revealed itself: a colossal crater, a waterfall on the scale of Niagara Falls.

[Reach the end of the bridge and face the Guardian at the bottom of the abyss for the treasure to appear. Good luck!]