Becoming the Dark Lord

“How do you know so much about the city?” Luke asked.

“Because I’ve been there before,” Marten said. “And I made it back out. Not without losing a ship and some men.”

Others moved closer, members of Triss’s crew gathering to listen.

“Then why wait this long, with Phase 3 almost over, before deciding to go back?” someone asked.

“So all the brave idiots would go into the maze first and clear out the worst threats,” Eleanor said.

“Exactly. Which means things are much easier for us now. See?”

“But the Beacons are scarcer now.”

“It’s a trade-off. What would you rather do, hunt for Beacons in a place so dangerous that every few minutes something is trying to kill you, or search for one in a place that’s easier to navigate? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not interested in throwing my life away. I’ve only got one.”

“Tell us what you saw in the city,” Luke said.

“The city is a labyrinth. The fog isn’t constant, but it’s still dangerous when it rolls in. The moment you enter the city, the entrance seals shut. That’s how I got trapped in there,” Marten said. “After a while, my men and I had to abandon the ship and swim back to the island. I only have one ship left, and I have no intention of losing it.”

That was why he would be hitching a ride on Triss’s ship. Once they had settled on their strategy, they all set out together. Luke did not mention that his magic eye would help him avoid getting lost in the fog. He preferred to keep some cards hidden, especially from people he did not know well. Only Anne, his navigator, needed to know.

The three ships approached the city walls. Marten stayed aboard his own vessel. They would search for an entrance together, and once they found one, his ship would turn back after confirming that he had entered the city aboard Triss’s ship and Luke’s.

The man’s suspicion, his reluctance to get on Triss’s ship right away, at least worked in Luke’s favor.

Luke spent part of the time talking with Jack’s father, who would later return to the island on Marten’s ship. That ship was also carrying several curious people from the island who had paid to see the city up close, then planned to return and report back to their groups. Marten was profiting from that too, of course.

“It should... be here...” Anne said.

All three ships were close to the wall.

“Your entrance is gone!” Marten shouted from the other ship.

“Some other ship must’ve used it,” Evangeline said.

“Just our luck,” Eleanor muttered.

The ships kept moving along the wall, searching for another entrance. Luke went down to his lab area. Jack’s father was there, drinking.

“Still haven’t found the entrance,” Luke said.

“That’s what she said,” Jack’s father replied.

Jack pulled Luke aside. “L-Luke, I need to... tell you something.”

“Let me guess. You want to go back to the island with your father.”

“How did you know?”

“You just found out your father is in this event. It’s natural you’d want to look after him.”

“If you want me to stay and clear the Beacon with you, I will.”

“We already have a healer. Anne can handle it. Don’t worry.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Luke left the two of them to continue their conversation.

***

The three ships drifted close to one of the city’s entrances.

“Not exactly welcoming,” Evangeline said, using her fingers to trigger her binocular skill.

Bodies hung from the tops of the walls. What looked like monstrous seagulls were tearing pieces off them.

“So that’s our way in,” Luke said.

He, Eleanor, and Jack boarded Triss’s ship. Marten did the same.

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“Think we can send this one too, along with that other passenger? They’re father and son,” Luke asked Marten.

“I don’t see why not,” Marten said.

“I’ll see you soon, Luke. And try not to die,” Jack said in parting.

He and his father crossed over to the other ship.

“Now it’s time for you to cough up the rest of the information, Marten,” Triss said.

He had held some of it back. He was only willing to talk once they actually found the entrance. He had no intention of handing over everything he knew just to get discarded afterward.

“All in good time,” Marten said. “First things first, we’ve got a problem that may keep showing up in there. The Stalkers.”

“Just hearing that gives me chills,” Randall said.

“Stalkers are not the kind of monster you spot and shrug off. If any of you see even one of those things in the water, say it immediately,” Marten said.

The humanoid lizards.

“They’re different from the usual monsters we’ve dealt with in this hell. They’re rational,” Marten went on.

Luke already knew, but he listened anyway.

“I’ve dealt with them before. They move quietly, sabotage ships, snatch people without anyone noticing. One by one, my crew started disappearing every night until I realized it was them. Don’t wander around the ship alone, don’t go near the rails, and the obvious one, do not go in the water.”

Suddenly, something slammed into the ship hard enough to make it shudder. Every man aboard drew a weapon.

“Monsters!” someone shouted.

“Quite the welcome, and we haven’t even entered the city yet,” Marten said, drawing his revolver.

A monstrous fish had surfaced off the stern of Triss’s ship, with several smaller ones trailing it. In the middle of the chaos, Luke saw Charlie. She jumped from their ship, launched herself at the fish, her fist blazing, and killed the thing with a single punch.

“Who is she?” one of Marten’s men asked.

“She killed that thing with one hit?” said another.

Everyone stared at the water. Then Charlie came back up.

“Throw her a rope, you idiots!” Marten snapped.

Charlie climbed aboard.

“I’d feel a lot safer if she came with us too,” Doug said.

“She already is, idiot,” Randall replied.

Someone tossed Charlie a towel.

“I’ve never seen a woman that fierce and that beautiful,” Marten said, stepping toward her and reaching for her hand. “Pleasure, I’m Mart—”

Charlie gave him a look of pure disgust.

“Alright... clearly today is not my day,” Marten muttered.

“Told you his crew would be strong,” Triss said.

After Charlie had earned herself a few admirers, they said their goodbyes to the ship heading back toward the island.

“Now my men know I’m not walking into a trap alone. We’re all going together,” Marten said with a laugh.

Then the ship shook again.

“Another monster fish?” Doug asked. “Let our champion of fists take care of it.”

Then a roar shook the water itself, and an enormous creature surged up between the three ships, shoving them apart and throwing up a wave.

“By the gods!” someone shouted.

Everyone panicked, staring at the massive...

“A whale?” Luke said in the middle of the chaos.

It looked almost exactly like the whale he had fought once before, the same one he had later seen again near the area around Beacon Two. The whale convulsed, then opened its mouth wide, generating a current strong enough to drag the ships toward it.

“We’re going to be crushed!”

Luke jumped back onto his ship to help Anne. She was practically wrestling with the helm.

“Adjust... the sails!” she shouted.

Charlie and Layla ran for the rigging while Evangeline adjusted the speed pennants.

“Jack’s ship is too close!” Layla yelled.

Luke threw a knife.

[Telekinetic Boost activated]

[Shadow Mana Explosion activated]

The whale was hit inside the mouth and snapped it shut, breaking the suction vortex. That only made it angrier. It thrashed violently, twisting its massive body. Jack’s ship scraped hard against the wall.

“Damn it!” Luke heard Marten shout. “My ship!”

Jack’s ship spun wildly, barely escaping the whale’s tail, and then it was sucked straight toward the entrance to the city.

“Oh no...” Luke said.

The stone gate began to close.

“That’s it. We’re done,” Evangeline said.

“Move! Move! Get into the damn city!” Marten shouted from Triss’s ship.

They swerved around the whale as it churned the water in fury. Then it opened its mouth again, but this time instead of suction, it unleashed a blast of water, a wave crashing straight toward the ships.

“Hold on!” Eleanor shouted from Triss’s deck.

Luke heard the thunder of cannons from Triss’s ship firing. Anne fought the helm and forced it around.

“City...?” she asked.

“City!” Luke shouted back.

Their ship slipped through the entrance. Behind them, he saw Triss’s ship still struggling with the whale. Luke ran across his own deck and jumped. He hit the water and sank, summoning his Spectral Beast as he went. The shark appeared beneath him. At that same moment, the whale dove too.

In the dark water below, its eyes fixed on Luke with unmistakable fury.

What the hell... I think that thing is hunting me.

Luke shot back toward the surface.

“Man overboard!” someone shouted when they saw him.

A rope was thrown. He dismissed the Spectral Beast and climbed up onto Triss’s ship. The instant they entered the city, the wall behind them moved as if it were alive and sealed the entrance shut. All three ships were inside now.

“No. No, no,” Marten said on deck. “This all went wrong... my ship got dragged into this place too.”

Everything was unnaturally quiet and still. Then the fog began to roll in, and one by one the ships ahead started disappearing into it.

“What now, Marten?” Triss asked, staring at the buildings around them. They were full of holes, open, hollow, and empty.

“Now...” Marten said, “do not trust anything you see or hear. Even if it’s someone you know. Even if it’s someone who should already be dead.”