Becoming the Dark Lord

Luke was in his cabin, preparing more bases for underwater-breathing potions. The next Beacon phase was going to be dangerous. Even with an item that helped him breathe below the surface, if it ever broke, it was smart to have a backup plan.

At the same time, in the world inside his soul, he was still fighting the kraken. He ran along the riverbank, throwing knives. A long tentacle lashed toward him, and he answered with a knife that exploded on impact.

“Idiot,” he muttered, backing away.

In the water, that thing is way faster than I am. But right now we’re stuck in a stalemate. Too bad I can’t bring my gear into this astral world.

When he pulled his awareness back into reality, he saw Charlie making the bed after the night before. She had been a little annoyed with him.

“Charlie, I’m sorry,” he said. “That was the ninja woman’s fault. I didn’t touch her breasts. She was just messing around in the bath.”

Evangeline had apologized too, and Eleanor had immediately scolded her for it. Charlie stayed quiet, ignoring him as she straightened the bed.

So she really was using that super hearing...

Charlie kept working. With one casual movement, she lifted the bed with one arm, adjusted it, and set it back down.

How does that much strength fit in such a small body?

Charlie was slim, even if she had curves in all the places that counted. Still, it always caught him off guard to see someone like her carrying that kind of strength. She was stronger than he was.

She walked toward him without a word.

Even though she’s shorter than me, sometimes... she can be seriously intimidating.

She stared at him with her arms crossed. “Did you touch her breasts or not?”

“Of course not. That damn ninja woman? I’d sooner feed her to my shark.”

Suddenly, Charlie grabbed him and pulled him close against her chest. “Y-you can’t do that with any other woman, Master Luke. Okay? Only with me.”

“Of course,” he said, caught off guard. She was hugging him tightly.

When he looked up, her face was red.

“You can do it now... I know humans have their needs.”

“What?” he said.

”Shut up and don’t back out now,” Artemis said. ”Face this challenge.”

His vampire girlfriend wanted affection. Or maybe she wanted to spoil him a little too.

***

Luke was swimming deep beneath the ocean. The ship had stopped sailing.

He was wearing the item he had earned for clearing the last Beacon.

[Sunken Royal Knight Boots (Epic)]

A pair of dark blue boots once worn by the Royal Knights of Sunken. They symbolized the first step each knight took upon earning the title, as well as the next step they all aspired to reach: becoming one of the Royal Guards of the Sunken King. The boots were typically worn during missions across the ocean.

Their material was designed to improve movement in underwater environments. When submerged, the boots adjust and transform into swim fins, granting a 50% increase in swim speed and a 20% bonus to underwater mobility by reducing water resistance against the wearer’s movements. In addition, the swim fins reduce stamina consumption during swimming sprints.

Enchantments: [Aquatic Dash (Uncommon)], [Mana Repair (Rare)], [Temperature Regulation (Rare)]

Information:

Rarity: Epic

Rank: E

Type: Equipment

Requirement: Level 80+ in any Class or Race.

This Kraken Swim enchantment is ridiculously good.

[Kraken Swim (Epic)]: While wearing this scarf, the user can swim with far greater ease. Their body gains natural bursts of propulsion in the water, allowing them to turn in any direction at will and move with almost no drag or weight resistance, creating a fluid, effortless stroke. It also helps protect against the cold of deep waters. Stamina costs while swimming are reduced by 50%.

It was almost like becoming a sea beast himself. He could move freely through the water, and with the swimming gear he had gotten from the Beacons, he was fast, absurdly fast. Sometimes he barely even swam. He only had to angle his body forward and the water seemed to carry him naturally.

The ends of the scarf had transformed into squid-like tentacles, helping propel him onward. He was practicing, trying to master the item’s powers as completely as he could. Focusing on [Submarine Echo], he released a red pulse like sonar. It made him feel like a bat navigating in the dark. Luke was swimming through a cave.

A fish lunged at him. The scarf reacted on its own, stretching outward. The tentacles caught the creature, and Luke killed it with his kukri. When he returned to the surface, Evangeline was there too, swimming nearby.

“Your boot turned out to be really useful,” she said.

“Glad to hear it.”

She had inherited his old boot, an item he got back when he helped Eleanor complete the Phase 1 Beacon.

“Hey... sorry for causing trouble before. That wasn’t my intention,” she said.

“It’s fine. Want to explore the mountain down below with me?”

The two of them dove again. It was some kind of submerged mountain, so massive that its summit still broke the surface of the sea.

They explored together.

“That tentacle thing is actually pretty cool,” Evangeline said. “It’d be amazing for sewing.”

She was speaking through the Abyssal mask Luke had lent her.

“Back on Earth, that would’ve produced a lot of material for adult tentacle content,” Artemis commented.

The deeper they went, the darker it became. For either of them, that was not a problem. A few sea creatures drifted too close, but they killed them easily.

“These items tell pieces of this world’s history,” Evangeline said, looking at the bracelet she had won. “What do you think happened to everyone on this planet?”

Luke shrugged.

“Oh right, you can’t talk down here. For a second... I thought you’d just been ignoring me for the last ten minutes.”

Then they saw something moving below. A kind of roar rippled through the water. Luke used [Submarine Echo] again, sending out another sonar pulse. The red outline of something swimming through the dark appeared in his vision. He gestured to Evangeline.

“A bird?”

“He meant facehugger,” Artemis said.

Why didn’t you tell me I could talk underwater?

“You didn’t ask.”

Alright. Explain to her that there’s a Sea Guardian right below us.

***

Charlie was in the cabin, brushing her hair. It was always beautiful, but Eleanor and Layla had explained that she should start taking proper care of it with beauty products. They had already passed several halos scattered across the sea. All of them led to the challenge zone where that phase’s Beacons would appear. In theory, it was easy to reach. In practice, it would be dangerous, because a lot of factions would be heading there too.

“I still have a little more quiet time with Master Luke before we go after the next Beacon.”

She looked at herself in the mirror and checked her outfit. She was wearing the maid uniform Luke loved so much. Turning in place once, then again, she inspected every angle. When she left the room, she started on her usual tasks. On deck, Stephen was busy making his drinks. Eleanor was with Anne, learning even more about how to operate the ship.

“I don’t think there’s anything for me to do...”

She opened her system interface and looked at the free points she still had available.

Name: Charlotte Vespertilio

Level: 83

Race: Vampire

Rank: E

Class: [Blood Death Knight (Lvl 90)]

2nd Class: [Black Ash Fighter (Lvl 86]

Title: [Servant of the Dark Lord]

Bloodline: [Bloodline of Vespertilio]

Health Points (HP): 11800/11800

Mana Points (MP): 6170/6170

Stamina: 10019/10030

Blood Core: 87/100

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Stats:

Strength: 2017

Lethality: 544

Agility: 676

Dexterity: 266

Endurance: 1003

Vitality: 1180

Toughness: 637

Perception: 605

Wisdom: 617

Intelligence: 708

Willpower: 560

Free Points: 11

Class Skills: [Basic Weapon Handling (Common)], [Heavy Strike (Common)], [Basic Spectral Charge (Rare)], [Crescent Slash (Uncommon)], [Whirlwind Strike (Uncommon)], [Spectral Barrier (Rare)], [Doomblade (Rare)], [Mark of Doom (Rare)], [Force Infusion (Rare)], [Doom Explosion (Rare)], [Spectral Soldier (Ultra-Rare)], [Blood Bat I (Epic)], [Vampire Drain (Ancient)], [Blood Teleport (Epic)], [Sword Vampire Drain (Epic)], [Blood Frenzy (Epic)], [Familiar Blood Bond I (Epic)], [Blood Restoration (Ultra-Rare)]

Second Class Skills: [Advanced Hand-to-Hand (Uncommon)], [Steel Fist (Rare)], [Stunning Punch (Uncommon)], [Battle Roar (Uncommon)], [Concentrated Kick (Uncommon)], [Arcane Power Punch (Ultra-Rare)], [Fire Leap (Rare)], [Muscle Reading (Uncommon)], [Movement Echo (Uncommon)], [Flame (Common)], [Flame Fist (Rare)], [Flame Aura (Rare)], [Basic Levitation (Ultra-Rare], [Berserker Ashen Flames I (Ultra-Rare)], [Twin Meteor Fists (Epic)], [Body Flame Regulation (Uncommon)], [Wave of Ash (Rare)], [Ignite (Uncommon)]

Race Skills: [Demonic Servant Perception (Uncommon)], [Basic Bone Regeneration (Rare)], [Bone Endurance (Rare)], [Iron Bones (Ultra-Rare)], [Night Eyes (Uncommon)], [Blood Sensitivity (Uncommon)], [Enhanced Senses (Uncommon)], [Disease Immunity (Ancient)], [Poison Immunity (Ancient)], [Vampiric Reflexes I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Aura I (Ancient)], [Weak Vampiric Charm I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Leap I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Softfall I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Strength I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Regeneration I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Bite I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Beast Devour (Ancient)], [Blood Orb (Ancient)], [Vampiric Beast Senses (Ancient)], [Vampiric Will (Ancient)], [Vampiric Claws I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Satiety I (Ancient)]

Bloodline Skill: [Path of the Vampiric Beast (Ancient)]

“I still have eleven free points.”

She decided to put every one of them into Willpower. Other attributes would have been useful too, but she did not want to lose control to her beast side.

At level ninety in her knight class, a list of rejected skills had appeared, and she had chosen one she had passed over when she selected [Familiar Blood Bond I].

[Blood Restoration (Ultra-Rare)]: Not all healing is born from life, light, or mercy. This skill allows the Knight to sacrifice the blood still preserved within their own body to close wounds, restore damaged flesh, and sustain an existence that should no longer be moving. When activated, the skill consumes HP directly, transforming the blood within into fuel for regeneration. The more severe the wound, the greater the cost. This skill cannot be used if there is not enough blood left in the body, making it useless for fully dried corpses, skeletons, or undead with no flesh remaining. A cruel form of healing, not made to save the living, but to keep standing what refuses to die. Its effectiveness scales with Toughness and Vitality.

At least now I have some way to heal my own injuries, since neither Jack nor Anne can heal me.

For all her strength, overusing [Arcane Power Punch] was dangerous. It could injure her, even break her arm. And there were always the other wounds battle left behind. Charlie had natural rank-based regeneration, but it was slow. Beyond that, she only had [Vampiric Regeneration I], and that was more of a trump card than true recovery. It healed most wounds almost instantly, but the price was far too high: fifty Blood Energy. It was a secret weapon, not something to waste between ordinary fights. But with this new skill, she could at least mend smaller injuries now.

Once, she had been wounded in the stomach and had spent a long time with blood running from it. She had needed bandages and time until it healed naturally. Evangeline had helped stitch the wound, and Anne had helped too. Without them, Charlie would have had to spend a very long time with the injury left open before it finally closed.

In the kitchen, she decided to peel potatoes. Luke was very good at it with his daggers. Charlie was terrible at peeling potatoes. For something so simple, she was embarrassingly bad at delicate work with her hands. She had too much strength in them. She needed to learn better control, and better tactile precision too.

“I can do this my way.”

Smiling, she activated [Vampiric Claws]. Her nails lengthened into claws, and suddenly peeling the potatoes became much easier. Charlie usually avoided using her vampiric abilities around anyone other than Luke. No matter how minor the skill was, she still avoided it.

They already know I’m a monster, some kind of undead. Would they think differently if they knew I was a vampire?

The last thing she wanted was to cause trouble for Luke.

I am Charlotte Vespertilio. It still feels strange to say that name. I think of myself as Charlie. But I have a vampire surname. How did I even get it?

Charlie had learned how vampire names worked. They were only inherited when someone was turned by a pure vampire from that vampiric bloodline, the equivalent of royalty.

In the past, I was probably turned by a true Vespertilio vampire. Maybe even someone from their royal family.

She did not care much about her past. Whatever it had been, it had ended with her locked inside a coffin. The only thing she was curious about was what had led to her being imprisoned, and whether there was anyone out there who might come looking for her once they learned she had escaped.

***

The night was cold, and Alexander was walking through the forest.

“We’re almost there, miss,” he said, glancing back over his shoulder.

She was still behind him. “I’m truly grateful you found me, Alexander.”

She was beautiful, maybe twenty, twenty-five at most, dressed in torn clothes. He had found her wandering lost in the woods.

“Miss Blackwood, my cabin is just ahead,” he said.

She smiled. “Just Scarlett. You’re so polite.”

Alexander swallowed hard and turned back around. Calling her beautiful felt like an understatement.

Then the rain started.

“We’re here.”

He reached the cabin and pushed the door open. The moment they stepped inside, he hurried to light the candles. She stood off to one side, soaked through.

“Thank you so much, Alex,” she said. “I was lucky to find someone as gentlemanly as you. If I’d run into the wrong person... who knows what might have happened to me.”

He lit the last of the candles.

“Y-yes, of course, Scarlett. A woman as... beautiful as you shouldn’t be out here alone. It’s dangerous.”

He moved toward the cauldron.

“I’m hungry...” she said, almost shyly.

“I’ll heat up the soup. Don’t worry.”

Alexander rushed around the cabin, straightening things while the soup warmed.

“I... only have one bed, miss.”

“That’s all right... I’m afraid to sleep alone.”

The blanket nearly slipped from his hands.

“Nothing’s going to happen to you. I promise.”

She had told him beasts attacked her. When he found her, she had been shaking with fear.

“I don’t have any extra clothes. And everything I do have is wet. Do you mind if I take it off?” she asked.

Alexander looked at her. “No. It’s better if... you do. You could catch cold.”

He started searching the cabin for another bowl. The place was a mess.

When he glanced sideways, he saw her covering her chest with her hands. “D-do you have something I can wear?”

For a few seconds he could not answer. “I do.”

He hurried to grab one of his shirts and handed it to her. She changed quickly. The shirt was loose on her, and Alexander did not really see anything. For one bitter second, he cursed himself for giving her one that was too large. Scarlett sat down in the chair.

“I’m still freezing,” she said.

“This damned island has those strange trees that make the air cold. There are islands nearby where it even snows. This place is hell,” he muttered.

“Do you have a blanket?”

“I do, but only one.”

“Would you... mind sharing it with me when we sleep?”

“Not at all,” he said.

Alexander kept stealing glances while stirring the soup.

Then she looked at him.

“Do you want to see what’s inside me, Alexander?” she asked.

“What?” he said, pouring soup into a bowl. For a second, he thought he must have heard her wrong.

“I asked... do you want to see what’s inside me?” she said, spreading her legs a little wider, though the oversized shirt kept her covered.

Is this really happening?

“A girl needs someone who can protect her. You want to protect me, don’t you, Alexander?” she said, smiling. Her canines looked strangely sharp.

He swallowed and stepped closer. “I do.”

“Then go ahead and look,” she said.

Alexander moved closer, and when he crouched down to look between her legs, a red hand shot out from the darkness beneath her shirt and grabbed him by the throat.

“Oh, did you like what you saw, Alexander?” she asked with a smile, her sharp teeth lengthening.

He tried to speak and could not. Then she lunged. Pain exploded through the side of his head. The red hand released him, and Alexander collapsed to the floor, screaming and clutching the side of his face.

“My ear!”

Scarlett rose and planted her foot on him.

“You taste awful,” she said.

Alexander tried to push himself up, and she drove him back down, pressing a heel between his shoulders. The force was overwhelming. He felt something inside him give.

“Stay where you belong, worm,” she said.

Alexander cried out. She grabbed his arm, and a second later he was screaming again.

“Still disgusting,” Scarlett said, grinding him into the floor. “You’re going to learn what my insides are like. My stomach, specifically.”

Then she burst out laughing.

“You’re going to see my beautiful interior.”

“What do you think, Little Brother? Should we show him my insides?” she asked.

A red liquid slipped down between her legs and gathered itself into a crimson hand with a single eye. It crawled across the floor like a spider, walking on its fingers.

“I agree, Little Brother. He’ll make an excellent soup.”

“No, please,” Alexander said, staring at the thing as it approached.

“Bad meat needs strong seasoning,” Scarlett replied.

***

Alexander was dead. Scarlett was cleaning her teeth while Little Brother skittered along the ceiling.

“You took too long to kill him,” said a figure as he entered.

The man wore a suit, and his face was hidden behind a mask that covered his entire head. The mask was made of shattered mirror. It was her friend, Narrator.

“A vampire has needs, little Narrator,” Scarlett said.

Little Brother dropped from the ceiling and landed on her shoulder.

“Needs... is that so?” Narrator said, glancing around the cabin.

“I didn’t touch anything.”

“I believe you,” Narrator said.

Then he pulled a book out of a drawer. “Well, look at that. How ironic. Little Red Riding Hood.”

He tossed the book to the floor. Fury flared inside Scarlett.

“I hate this book!” she shouted, stomping on it. “I hate this book!”

Little Brother lifted his tiny fingers, fidgeting in concern.

“It’s alright, Little Brother. I’m better now.”

Little Brother seemed to sigh in relief, even without a mouth.

“What did we learn?” Narrator asked.

“I’m still digesting him,” Scarlett answered.

She was the best at that. Her friend Narrator loved keeping her around, unlike the rest of the idiots in the organization, who thought she was too unstable, too psychotic, too insane. But Narrator was kind. Sometimes he scolded her, sure, but he was still fun to be around. He even brought ice cream for Little Brother, who adored it.

“He wasn’t a hunter,” Scarlett said.

One of her vampiric skills let her absorb the memories of the victims she devoured.

“But he was working with one.”

“The Vampire Hunters are moving more efficiently in this phase of the event,” Narrator said. “Now they’ll all be able to gather in one place. Finding the Apocryphals is going to get harder.”

Another person approached and stepped into the cabin. Also a vampire.

“You’re late, Jonathan.”

Fun fact: There’s some Scarlett art over at that other place.