Becoming the Dark Lord

Luke’s ship was moving again. They had taken the entire Sea Guardian corpse with them. They had to cut it into pieces just to haul it aboard.

“Our ship... won’t survive... much more damage like that,” Anne said.

“We’ll stop at the next island we find,” Eleanor said. “I’ll see what I can manage with Jack.”

Two days had passed as they kept following the direction Layla indicated. Once he finished his tasks, Luke returned to his lab. He sat down in the chair while, in the world inside his soul, his other body stood staring at the lake. Then Luke dove deep. Even from far away, the kraken sensed him and started coming.

Luke had conjured two knives, and [Demonic Predator Hands] was active. The kraken came in fast, showing him its mouth, or rather its beak, lined with teeth. The monster was ready to seize him. Then Luke pointed one hand downward and conjured a [Teleportation Pentagram]. He touched it and appeared on the lakeshore instead. Part of the kraken’s upper body rose out of the water. That section was more exposed, and Luke threw both knives.

[Knife Storm activated]

The kraken was hit.

[Shadow Mana Explosion activated]

The knives detonated. The monster seemed to actually feel that one, because it let out a sound before sinking all the way back down.

“Running?” Luke said, watching the creature’s outline through [Predator’s Mark] as it retreated toward the deeper part of the lake.

“The bastard’s smart. He won’t fall for that trick again. Still, at least I hurt him.”

He was using the dimensional space inside his soul to train. In there, mana was unlimited, and he could use his abilities without some of the usual restrictions. That included his witch spells, which in the real world required a wand or his magic ring. In there, he needed neither.

“I just wish I had my kukris.”

That was the downside. He did not have his magical equipment there, and his kukris were still his main weapons. Back in the real world, he kept working on healing potions and underwater breathing potions.

**Your profession [Guardian Botanist of Mother Freya] has reached Level 82! (+5 Strength, +3 Agility, +4 Vitality, +4 Intelligence, +12 Free Points)**

[You have reached Level 92! Half-Demon (Rank E)] (+2 bonus points to all attributes, +5 free points)

He had leveled up.

The more attribute points I gain, the stronger I get, and the better my odds of killing that kraken.

He stood and started walking through the ship.

I’m getting close to level one hundred. Eight more race levels, and I hit Rank D.

Along with an improvement to his Rank Skill, it would be another step on the road toward becoming something closer to a divinity, further away from the mortal thing he used to be.

When I rank up, my lifespan extends by another thousand years. That is... a very long time.

The version of him from five years ago never could have imagined that one day he would have the potential to live a thousand years.

“One race level at Rank E gives me ten extra years of life. So what does Rank D give?”

Then another thought hit him.

“And how many years would I gain if I ever reached Rank C?”

He kept walking.

“I’ll have plenty of time to kill you, Kraken.”

When he stepped into the kitchen, he found Eleanor and Evangeline there.

“Here. More potions,” he said, setting them on the table.

“Thanks,” Eleanor said.

“It’s been a while since I got any potions,” Evangeline said.

“And whose fault is that? I’m not staying alone in the same room with you for a while. Not unless I want to see my girlfriend furious again.”

“I apologized, okay? I felt bad about it.”

“Bad?”

“Very bad, okay? Eleanor even chewed me out,” Evangeline said. “She banned me from wearing bikinis. But in my defense, I just wanted to pull a prank.”

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“You do not pull that kind of prank,” Eleanor said.

“Look, I already walked around here in a bikini all the time. I just wanted to mess with Cinderella a little.”

Luke left the two of them there and headed for the deck. Layla was not there. So he went to her room.

“K-knock before you come in!” she shouted, and Luke promptly shut the door again. “Did you see anything?”

“I didn’t see anything,” Luke said.

“That’s a lie. You did.”

“Of course I did. I’m not blind.”

“Then why didn’t you knock?”

“Because this is Katarina’s room, not yours.”

He heard her huff in irritation from the other side of the door. A few minutes later, it opened.

“Here. Potion,” he said, handing it over. “And you look better with your hair down.”

“Sh-shut up.”

By nightfall, they spotted a glow far out across the ocean. As they drew closer, they found an island lit by dozens of torchfires.

“This is it. My father is here,” Layla said. “The locator disappeared.”

For a moment, real joy crossed her face. Then it faltered.

“W-w-what if he leaves the island right now? What if I don’t find him?” she asked.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find him,” Eleanor said.

“There are halos there,” Evangeline said as they neared the island.

They had already found a way to reach the next challenge. As they approached, they saw many people onshore with weapons in hand.

“They think we’re hostile,” Layla said. “Now what?”

“White flag?” Evangeline suggested.

“White flag,” Eleanor agreed.

But before she could raise it, something burst out of the water. Women armed with spears landed on the deck, and more of them followed, surrounding the group.

***

Jonathan arrived at a cabin in the forest. Blood stained the floor where Scarlett had killed and devoured the man. In one corner stood a figure in an immaculate suit, untouched by dirt, not even wet despite having just come in from the rain. The man wore a mask that covered his entire head, a mask made of shattered mirror.

He was called Narrator, and every time Jonathan looked at him, a chill ran down his spine. Narrator’s voice was calm, cold, merciless, and somehow welcoming all at once. It was strange to listen to. Pleasant, yet treacherous.

“You’re late, Jonathan,” Scarlett said. She was a vampire, but not of Jonathan’s bloodline.

“Good evening again, Mister Jonathan,” said the Narrator.

Perched on Scarlett’s shoulder was a red hand with claws and a single eye in the back of it. It was Scarlett’s Blood Familiar, the one she called Little Brother. The two of them belonged to an organization called Looking Glass. From what Jonathan had gathered, they were obsessed with books. Tobias had not explained much when he left Jonathan in their care.

“So these were the dangerous hunters?” Jonathan said with a mocking laugh as he looked around the cabin. “What is this stuff? The Three Little Pigs? Little Red Riding Hood?”

He laughed again. “You’re kidding me. This is the guy we’re after?”

“There are many kinds of Hunters, not only vampire hunters, Mister Jonathan,” the Narrator said. He was not a vampire like Jonathan or Scarlett.

His master, Tobias, was busy, and Jonathan would be meeting him soon. But he wanted to bring results with him. The lich was demanding, and Jonathan wanted to show just how powerful he had become as a vampire.

“I need to find one of the bishops from the hunters’ church and bring back his head. I’m done wasting time chasing a sack of meat hiding in a shack on some island,” Jonathan said, irritated.

“And our objective is to find an Apocrypha. You see, our goals are aligned, Mr. Jonathan,” the Narrator said.

“Little Brother and I want to kill the hunters too,” Scarlett said. “Have a lovely feast with their blood. It’s so much fun pulling a hunter’s intestines out.”

“I fail to see how tracking down some idiot who reads Little Red Riding Hood helps us. What was that fool, level ten? Pathetic,” Jonathan said.

Scarlett’s face tightened with irritation. “Stop saying the name of that book. I hate that story.”

Jonathan stepped on the Little Red Riding Hood book. “You people are seriously obsessed with children’s stories. I can’t believe I wasted my time.”

“For some, ignorance is a blessing. For others, it is... merely ignorance, Mr. Jonathan,” the Narrator said, stepping closer.

Jonathan moved back and watched him stare down at the book. “Have you ever read Little Red Riding Hood, Mr. Jonathan?”

“Do I need to?”

“Do you know the story? Yes or no?”

“Of course I do.”

“Tell it.”

Jonathan clicked his tongue and turned away. “I’ll go after the bishop myself.”

“Tell the story, Mr. Jonathan,” the Narrator said from directly in front of him.

He had appeared there. And though his tone remained calm, there was nothing welcoming in his voice. The man was dangerous.

“A little girl wearing a red hood goes to bring sweets to her grandmother’s house and decides to take a shortcut through the forest. She meets a wolf or something, then runs off, gets to the grandmother’s house, finds out the wolf ate the grandmother and was pretending to be her, and in the end a hunter shows up and saves the day. The end,” Jonathan said with open contempt.

“As I said. Ignorance, Mr. Jonathan,” the Narrator replied. “Little Red Riding Hood was a vampire. The hood helped her endure the sun, and the color red was merely a touch of irony from fate. She lived away from the city and was bringing blood to feed her vampire grandmother. The wolf was one of the enemies of vampires, and the hunter... ah, the hunter was there to kill both the vampire and the wolf.”

The Narrator raised a hand and pointed one finger at the book on the floor. “So, my dear and deeply ignorant Mr. Jonathan, the children’s stories you dismissed may hold far more knowledge than you realize.”

Then he left the house, and Scarlett followed him.

“I know where the one we’re looking for is,” Scarlett said. “That man came into contact with him.”

“Perhaps we truly did end up in the event region where the Apocrypha may actually be found. Or more than one,” the Narrator said.

“More than one? What is an Apocrypha? A book?” Jonathan asked.

“A book?” the Narrator said with a faint laugh. “No, Mr. Jonathan. It is not a book.”

“Then what is it?”

“An Apocrypha is a...”

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