Becoming the Dark Lord

In front of Luke lay the dark sea. It was night. The moon shone overhead.

[Dungeon Challenge 3: Face the Sea Guardian in its own territory.]

[Time Remaining: No limit.]

The door shut behind him, leaving him no choice but to enter the water. There was not even a ledge to stay balanced on. Everything around him was dark.

“We’re screwed,” Artemis said. “The little robot just gave us a whole lecture that basically boiled down to, ‘Finding a Sea Guardian means you’re absolutely screwed,’ and now the challenge is to fight one of them. So yeah, Luke. Good luck.”

“I was only providing information,” Cadmus replied.

“Is there some fast way to kill one of these things?”

“I cannot answer that.”

Luke sank beneath the surface. He was inside an arena, a gigantic aquarium boxed in by the limits of the dimension. Even so, it felt like a real ocean. A real, dark, dangerous ocean.

“Just a warning, Luke Moon. These creatures are highly sensitive to disturbances in the water. There is a strong chance it already knows you are inside its territory,” Cadmus said.

In that case, a stealth attack is probably off the table.

He summoned his Spectral Beast. The enormous shark appeared, and Luke climbed onto its back as it descended.

If I can’t hide my presence, there’s no point trying.

The shark kept diving, deeper and deeper, while Luke scanned everything with his right eye. Eventually, they reached the bottom. It was a place of endless sand dunes beneath the sea. The shark glided forward while Luke watched every direction.

The dunes blocked his view of whatever might be hiding behind them. He decided it was better to stay close to the seafloor. Floating higher in the water meant exposing himself to attacks from every angle. Down here, the dunes might limit his sight, but they would limit the enemy too. For several long minutes, Luke and his shark moved through the sand ridges at the bottom. He held two throwing knives ready in his hands.

Cadmus, how big is a Sea Guardian?

He had not seen the creature anywhere. At one point he reached the edge of the map and started turning back.

“I cannot give you an exact measurement. But as I said before, they are creatures that grow without any apparent limit, at least according to known biological standards. Eventually they migrate to the Abyssal Zone. It is also possible some migrate toward the colder side of the planet. My knowledge is restricted in certain areas.”

So there’s no chance this thing is, by some miracle, the size of a Stalker, right? Because if it is, finding it is going to suck.

The robot laughed.

“Do not worry. Their size is not that small.”

“That bastard is laughing. I’m nervous over here,” Artemis said.

Then Luke caught movement in the murky water. He zoomed in with his right eye, but it was already gone. Luke felt the shark grow restless, turning sharply as it searched in every direction. His beast had sensed something. It was far more attuned than Luke in this environment, its instincts built for the water. He chose to leave the beast in autonomous mode.

Then suddenly the ground beneath him exploded.

Sand blasted in every direction. A roar came from below, deep and massive and powerful enough to shake the water around him. Luke made the shark activate [Torpedo Charge], shooting forward to evade.

[Predator’s Mark activated]

He managed to place the mark on the creature.

It came out of the ground! That bastard was hiding in the sand!

“My records have been updated. Yes, a Sea Guardian is capable of burrowing into sand and concealing itself to ambush prey. Be cautious of that, Luke Moon.”

“You’re telling us this now?” Artemis snapped.

Luke was moving fast, seeing nothing but dunes being torn apart behind him and something coming straight after him. He made the shark angle upward. Something was chasing them. Fast. Fast enough to zigzag through the water without losing speed. And when Luke finally saw what the Sea Guardian looked like...

“Xenomorph. I can’t believe we actually nailed it,” Artemis screamed.

The monster roared.

“The Sea Guardian also uses sonic panic attacks,” Cadmus said. “And the sound serves as a form of echolocation.”

The creature was enormous. Part of it was long and eel-like, but with fins like a shark, pale white in color. The main body looked more like a spider. Or worse. Like a gigantic facehugger.

“Don’t let that thing lay eggs in us, Luke!” Artemis shouted.

The parts that resembled spider legs drew in tight against its body, sleek as a diver cutting into water, and then the creature exploded forward with terrifying speed.

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“Up! Up!” Luke shouted to the shark.

With [Torpedo Charge] activated, the shark shot upward and burst out of the water, launching high into the air. The Sea Guardian came after them, rising with a roar. For a split second, Luke saw all six of its reddish eyes locked on him. He threw two knives charged with [Shadow Mana Explosion].

[Knife Storm activated]

The two blades split into sixteen. They struck the creature’s head and detonated one after another. Luke and the shark crashed back into the water and sank fast. The guardian came after them immediately. They veered aside.

Luke jumped off the shark, drew a kukri, and drove it into the monster’s flank. At the same time, the shark surged forward, dragging him by the thread while Luke ripped the blade through the beast’s side.

[Crimson Fang activated]

He carved into it and pulled away fast. The roar that followed was not pain. It was scanning. Tracking him more precisely. Trying to predict his movement in the water. The Sea Guardian spun with shocking speed. Its serpentine body whipped the surrounding water into a current that slammed into Luke and threw him off balance. The moment it lunged for him, the shark flashed past, jaws wide, swallowed Luke whole, and accelerated away.

[Soul Infiltration activated]

Luke’s vision shifted. Now he was seeing through the shark’s eyes while his own body remained protected inside its mouth. Guiding the beast from within, he drove it forward at full speed. Behind them, he could feel the Sea Guardian in pursuit.

He dove. A sharp plunge downward. The monster followed instantly. And just as it was about to catch the shark, Luke activated [Torpedo Charge]. The shark shot back up and burst out of the sea. Luke kept making it dive and leap, dive and leap, breaking the surface again and again while they escaped the pursuit. Midair, he slipped out of the shark’s mouth and hurled a knife upward with [Burst Throw].

When the knife dropped, he activated [Telekinetic Impulse]. The instant they hit the water again, the guardian was already there, lunging to seize them.

[Knife Storm activated]

Eight blades cut through the water from above and slammed into the Sea Guardian. Even underwater, the impact hit hard. The guardian roared and sank, leaving trails of blood behind it. Luke watched the creature descend into the sand below. Then, as it disappeared beneath the ocean floor, [Predator’s Mark] stopped warning him of its location.

“Son of a bitch,” Luke muttered from the shark’s back. “I hit that thing with some of my strongest skill combinations, and it’s still alive.”

The creature had stopped bleeding. The blood trail was gone. Luke’s shark, on the other hand, was injured already, and it had only taken a few spinning strikes from the thing’s body. He brought it down close to the seafloor, staring across the dunes.

“If it backed off and disappeared, it’s because my last hit actually hurt it. Or it’s just setting a trap.”

As the shark glided over the dunes, Luke held a kukri in one hand and a throwing knife in the other. Then a dune behind them exploded. The monster burst out, dove straight back into the sand, surfaced somewhere else, and came at them head-on.

“Down. Down!”

He switched the shark to autonomous mode and dropped lower, hugging the sand dunes as they fled. It was the Sea Guardian’s territory, but Luke chose to stay there anyway. The shark weaved through the dunes while the guardian smashed straight through them.

Luke activated [Cursed Weapon] and kept hurling knives enhanced with [Telekinetic Boost] while the shark dodged and ran on its own. The massive creature was closing in. The shark burst out of the water. The Sea Guardian did not follow. It waited below. Luke dismissed the Spectral Beast, threw a knife upward, then, as he dropped back toward the water, activated [Demonic Predator Hands] and plunged down.

The beast came for him. Luke dropped fast, spinning as he descended. Kukris met claws. The Guardian opened its jaws and tried to lock him down between its talons. Steel clashed as Luke kept turning. The magical acid coating his blades bit into the creature, and when it lunged in to devour him, the knives came down with [Burst Throw], and Luke drove forward still spinning.

One of the monster’s claws was severed. Luke summoned the Spectral Beast again just as the Guardian rushed him. The creature spun with terrifying speed and smashed Luke with the pointed end of its body, sending him flying through the water. Then it lunged again. And was hit from above. The shark activated [Torpedo Charge] and slammed into it, biting furiously.

The impact drove the Guardian downward. Luke was yanked by the thread connecting him to his beast, and the three of them plunged toward the bottom while the monster thrashed, trying to turn. With a roar, the Guardian twisted, creating a vortex, then came zigzagging straight for Luke. The shark bit the thread, yanked Luke away, and swam hard while the Guardian tore after them.

Luke gripped a knife and poured as much mana into it as he could while the beast closed in, enraged by the loss of one of its claws, roaring through the water. The shark burst out above the surface.

Luke followed a second later. And the monster came after them like a fish chasing bait. With a shout, [Demonic Predator Hands] active, Luke threw the knife the instant it hit forty percent stored mana.

[Shadow Mana Explosion activated]

The blade struck the Guardian in the face and detonated. The creature crashed back into the water, its roar cut off halfway through. Luke was hit in the back, not by the monster, but by his own shark, shoving him toward the Guardian as he drew both kukris again. With a yell, Luke launched himself at the beast and slashed into it.

Both of them screamed, Luke and the monster together, and the creature spiraled downward toward the seafloor while the shark stayed on its tail, biting again and again, dragging it down.

Luke’s kukri flashed red.

[Crimson Fang activated]

Then came the impact. The monster slammed into a sand dune and burrowed into it before finally stopping.

[You have slain a Sea Guardian - Lvl 118]

Your class [Demonic Predator] has reached Level 86! (+10 Lethality, +7 Perception, +6 Agility, +6 Vitality, +6 Intelligence, +5 Endurance, +8 Free Points)

Your class [Demonic Predator] has reached Level 87! (+10 Lethality, +7 Perception, +6 Agility, +6 Vitality, +6 Intelligence, +5 Endurance, +8 Free Points)

Your second class [Arcane Witch] has reached Level 71! (+12 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom, +7 Perception, +6 Willpower, +5 Agility, +3 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +10 Free Points.)

Your second class [Arcane Witch] has reached Level 72! (+12 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom, +7 Perception, +6 Willpower, +5 Agility, +3 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +10 Free Points.)

Your second class [Arcane Witch] has reached Level 73! (+12 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom, +7 Perception, +6 Willpower, +5 Agility, +3 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +10 Free Points.)

[You have reached Level 83! Half-Demon (Rank E)] (+2 bonus points to all attributes, +5 free points)

[You have reached Level 84! Half-Demon (Rank E)] (+2 bonus points to all attributes, +5 free points)

And then...

[Challenge completed!]

[You have cleared the Phase 1 Beacon Dungeon!]

[The exit has been unlocked!]

[Your reward is available in the chest!]