Becoming the Dark Lord

Luke was in a vast forest beneath the ocean, a completely different biome. It almost felt like a river. The trees were thick and green, something like bamboo, except broader and heavy with leaves. Giant lily pads floated everywhere. Luke sat on one of them. There were people all around, along with dozens of small wooden boats.

“At least nobody’s killing each other here,” one man remarked to another.

“There’s a bunch of lunatics out there murdering people for no reason. Like just because we’re stuck in this event, they think it’s the literal end of the world,” the other replied.

“Wait, and it’s not the end of the world?” he said with a laugh.

Luke remained seated. Even without moving, he used Sariel’s Eye to scan the distance, searching for a familiar face.

Nothing.

“You there, the guy in the hood. What do you think of the event so far?” one of them asked him.

“Don’t come near me,” Luke said.

“Hey, relax. I’m not setting up some trap. Besides, we’re surrounded by people. If anybody tried something here, the others would kill them,” the man replied.

Luke said nothing. He just kept watching the area.

“Not much of a talker...”

They were waiting for the artifact challenge to begin. This one required a thousand people to be present in that forest. The problem was, there was no counter. No one knew whether the number had already been reached, or whether activation would be immediate once it was. Luke had been there for a day already. He was gathering information. And waiting, in case Charlie or Angie showed up.

“My name’s Randall,” the man said.

“And I’m Doug,” the other added.

A woman landed on the lily pad, making it sway beneath her weight. She was muscular, bronze-skinned, and had an axe strapped across her back.

“You can call me Triss.”

Doug looked past her and blinked. “Are those guys surfing?”

“They are,” Triss said.

A group of people were skimming across the water on wooden boards. Even though the surface was calm, they seemed to be using wind magic to drive the boards forward.

“Everybody survives with whatever they’ve got,” Randall said. “Have any of you gone diving in this area?”

“Nothing but sludge and algae,” Triss answered. “I didn’t see anything dangerous. It’s too calm. There are fish, though. I caught a few big ones.”

“And that fog.” Doug stared into the distance. “Feels like we really are in some damn river.”

“And the bottom? Did you go all the way down, Triss?” Randall asked.

“No.” She shook her head. “I have one rule. I don’t go deep. I hate depth.”

A wooden ship approached not long after. Luke watched it, mildly impressed. He had seen a few wooden ships in that region already, but this was the largest one so far.

“Triss, should we push farther?” someone called from the ship.

“No, Jacob,” she answered. “This is far enough. I don’t want to get too close to the fog.”

Doug let out a low whistle. “A ship, huh...”

“That’s the Black Wind,” Triss said, glancing back at it. “My group and I spent three months stranded on an island doing nothing. Got lucky, though. We had plenty of people with construction-related professions. And I used to serve in my country’s navy.”

“Are you taking people?” Randall asked. “I’ll do anything. I’m sick of rowing this damn boat.”

“Tie a rope from your boat to ours. We’re already dragging more than twenty. If you prove reliable, maybe eventually we’ll let you step on deck.”

“I should head for the so-called Main Island,” Randall said. “But so far I haven’t found a halo that takes me anywhere near it. I’ve just been following other people. Drifting alone at sea sounds insane to me.”

Some people nearby were selling wooden boats. The price was system items. Even though Luke had a few, none of them were worth trading away for that. He looked up at the ship again.

“I’m looking for some people,” he said, giving their names.

Triss shook her head.

“Haven’t seen any of them. But a lot of people are migrating toward solid land.”

“Just follow the giant wave when the tide rises,” Doug said.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I know,” Randall replied. “But for how long? Days? Months? Without knowing that, it’s hard.”

Luke thought about mentioning the Halo he had used to reach that location. It would have put them close to the shoreline of the Main Island, but the problem was that they would also find the Beacon he intended to claim.

So he kept quiet.

“When we have enough people willing to head for the mainland, you can hitch a ride with us. Fifty people, each in their own raft, is still better than trying to cross this ocean alone,” Triss said.

“And your ship?” Randall asked.

“We’re going to clear at least one Beacon and see if the reward is worth it. If it is, we won’t be heading to the mainland anytime soon.”

“I see,” Randall replied.

For some of them, the Beacon was a chance to get a powerful item and keep pushing forward. For others, it was simply a way to find something that might help them survive.

[The Artifact Challenge has reached the required number of participants!]

The notification appeared, and Luke got to his feet immediately.

“Well, here we go. Let’s hope this one’s easy,” Randall said.

“With a thousand people forced to participate? I seriously doubt it,” Doug replied.

Rain began to fall, hard and fast.

[100 Marine Artifacts are now available to be found, but be warned: reaching them will not be easy! The waves and the Selmarines will be obstacles.]

“A hundred?” Randall said.

Then golden lights began appearing all over the area. Even through the fog, they were impossible to miss.

“They’re in the middle of all that!” Randall shouted, leaping into a raft.

Triss’s ship began to accelerate. Oars slid out from openings in the hull, and people leaned into them, helping drive it forward. Triss jumped from the leaf and hit the water without sinking. She started sprinting across the surface. Doug was doing the same.

“Those water-walking boots of his are insanely useful,” Luke muttered.

Luke started running across the giant lily pad and leaped to another. One wave came in, then another. The water was growing rough. People riding boards started shooting forward at crazy speed, propelled by the current.

Then an arrow struck in front of them and exploded into a blast of wind, throwing everyone nearby backward. More arrows rained down, releasing bursts of air that disrupted the crowd. Luke stopped on top of a giant lily pad, the last one in his path, and realized the ones ahead had all been destroyed. Curses echoed everywhere as people fell into the water, while groups much farther ahead kept moving.

“Masked guy, there are people way too strong here,” Randall said as his raft pulled up alongside Luke. “I’m out. You should do the same. There’s no competing with monsters like that.”

The race for the artifacts had made one thing painfully clear. Some people had overwhelming advantages because of their skills.

“That’s not a problem for me,” Luke said, then jumped into the water.

“What do you mean?”

A second later, he began to rise back up. The Spectral Beast appeared and let out a roar.

“Holy shit!” Randall yelled, rowing hard to get his raft away from the octopus. Others nearby panicked too.

“See you around,” Luke said, then sank beneath the surface on the octopus’s back.

Far below, away from the chaos on the surface and the crashing waves, Luke clung to the octopus as it surged forward effortlessly beneath the other participants. He spotted a few people swimming with the same idea in mind, but the octopus was far faster.

The artifacts aren’t underwater.

The golden glow was not down there. When Luke broke the surface, he felt the rain hammering down. It was heavy. Fast.

The sound of it striking the sea, mixed with the crashing waves, was deafening. Around him, some of the participants were already fighting each other. Luke kept pushing through the swells toward the golden glow, and the moment he passed through the fog, he and everyone else there stopped dead.

“Thrukk! Trokk!” the selmarines shouted, raising their spears.

There were a lot of them. Mounted on sea beasts. And when they roared together, the sound rolled across the water like thunder. Dozens of blue lights flared to life in the sea. Halos activating. The selmarine army came pouring through, spreading out as they advanced. A horn blared. Two wooden ships surged forward and opened fire, cannonballs slamming into the selmarines.

“Those are sharks!” someone shouted.

The selmarines were riding four-meter sharks. Wooden boats came in from all sides.

“Shit! Sharks!” someone yelled while swimming.

“Let’s go, people!” Triss shouted from the top of her ship, pointing with her axe before leaping overboard with several others.

The human force crashed into the selmarines. Arrows flew in volleys and struck the creatures. The selmarines answered by blasting jets of water from their mouths. Luke took the octopus downward, slipping toward the depths. His beast could too easily be mistaken for an enemy if he stayed near the surface. As he moved beneath the battlefield, he could see the many halos glowing in the distance. Selmarines kept arriving without end, and some spotted him.

Controlling the octopus, Luke drove its tentacles out and seized several of them. The ones mounted on sharks charged with spears lowered, like knights on horseback. The octopus attacked. With a burst, it shot upward. For one moment it broke free of the water, drawing everyone’s attention, then unleashed a massive cloud of ink over the selmarines.

Luke went back under.

[You have slain a Selmarine Knight - Lvl 76]

[You have slain a Selmarine Knight - Lvl 76]

[You have slain a Selmarine Knight - Lvl 76]

[You have slain a Selmarine Knight - Lvl 76]

The octopus moved fast, grabbing enemies and flinging them upward while Luke struck with his kukri. Ten shark riders came at him together. The octopus met them head-on, wrapping its tentacles around the sharks. Luke sank deeper still, passing beneath the halos. The selmarines emerging from them did not notice him through the spreading ink.

Then he rose again. When Luke looked back, he saw war. Selmarines and humans tearing into each other across the storm-tossed sea.

There were more than ten ships now. Selmarines were climbing the hulls. He saw someone leap absurdly high into the air, then crash into the water with a punch. The impact sent a tsunami barreling into a cluster of selmarines.

“Everybody uses the weapon they’ve got,” Luke said calmly, heading for the artifacts.

There were no selmarines near them. At least, not many. When he reached the area, he saw more than ten Marine Artifacts resting atop stone pillars.

“Thukkk! Throm!” three selmarines cried out.

They were the only ones guarding the place. Each wore a priest’s mantle. Each carried a staff.