Becoming the Dark Lord

It was night when Luke and Charlie walked across the island.

“Charlie, you can pick anything you see,” he told her.

“Anything...?”

“Yes.”

“But what if it’s expensive?”

“I don’t even know how trading works here, exactly. But I’m hoping they take gold or random valuables.”

Charlie walked beside him, still holding his hand the entire time.

“What do you think of this hairpin?” the vendor asked.

They were standing at a small stall.

“I don’t know if it would look good on me,” Charlie said. “But it’s very pretty.”

It was simple, just carved wood.

Luke took it and pinned it into her hair. “Everything looks good on you. You’re already beautiful.”

Her cheeks flushed red.

“We’ll take it,” Luke said.

“And what do you have that’s worth trading?” the stall owner asked.

“Animal hides, beast teeth, and some very nice glass goblets.”

“Goblets? Really?”

Luke showed him one.

“Wow. These are good quality. Pretty durable too,” the man said.

In the end, the vendor accepted several of them. As they walked away, Charlie mentioned that the man had muttered he could make far more money selling them to the nobles living on the island.

“I guess some people still want luxury, even in a place like this,” Luke said.

They ended up at an open-air restaurant on the beach.

“What’s that?” Charlie asked.

“A special drink made with rum, pineapple juice, and coconut. It’s called a piña colada,” the server explained.

“It has alcohol in it, Charlie,” Luke said.

The server stepped away.

“Want a straw?” he asked.

“A straw?”

Luke pointed at his own drink, served inside a coconut. He used [Botanical Purification] to turn part of it into water, [Advanced Potion Crafting] to control how the mana flowed through the liquid, [Enhanced Telekinesis] to shape it, and [Transmutation] to finish the process. The liquid twisted into the shape of a straw and turned into glass. It was a double glass straw.

“That’s a straw? I didn’t know,” Charlie said.

“They’re not usually double. I made it like that so we could share.”

Luke placed the straw into Charlie’s drink, and the two of them drank from it together.

“I’m really enjoying this day with you, Master Luke... or rather, this night.”

“I’m enjoying it too, Charlie.”

“If you really are... then I want a kiss,” she said, her voice turning shy.

Luke lifted her chin gently.

“I-I was joking,” she said, but it was already too late. Luke kissed her.

“I get embarrassed in public, Master Luke,” she whispered.

“You didn’t like it?”

“I liked it... very much.”

***

A week passed. Luke was standing on the beach with the others. Out in the water, not too far away, a Halo shimmered.

“There’s still time for you to back out,” Layla said.

“We won’t,” Luke replied.

“We’ll be back in a few days. Or maybe not,” Evangeline said.

“Good luck to all of you,” Eddie said. “And thank you again for taking care of my daughter.”

They said their goodbyes. There were a little over ten days left before the end of Phase Four, but even so, there was still the risk of not making it out of the dungeon before time ran out and the Beacon’s teleport route closed.

“Fix the ship,” Luke said.

“Don’t worry. By the time you come back, it’ll be in much better shape,” Ulric replied.

Then the group headed into the water.

“So, Luke, are we getting help from your shark this time, or some other insane beast?” Evangeline asked as they swam.

“No. Not for now.”

He still had not defeated the kraken.

”You’re about to dive into an ocean abyss. Having your beast with you would be incredibly useful”, Artemis said in his head.

I need more levels before I can beat the kraken.

”At this rate, you’ll hit level one hundred first.”

Then I’d be Rank D. And yeah, part of me has already accepted that I’m going to kill that thing at Rank D. Or at least once my Assassin class hits level one hundred.

As they neared the Halo, they caught sight of the amazon guards in the distant watchtowers along the beach.

“I hope Triss comes back with good news about that tower,” Eleanor said.

Then they sank beneath the water. Only Luke, Eleanor, Evangeline, Charlie, and Anne were going. The others had stayed behind on the ship. They entered the Halo and emerged somewhere else. They had already made expeditions there before. Triss had arrived four days earlier, found Luke again, and then gone ahead.

”The fact that Triss is a hot amazon and you just happened to run into the amazon friends she was tracking with the Beacon locator is what I’d call either plot-level coincidence or your hot-woman magnet hitting maximum power,” Artemis said.

***

“Hello, Sabal. You’re late for dinner,” Julian Grimhart said.

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Sabal froze. His mind went blank with panic. For one terrible second, he thought he had stepped into a nightmare.

“Is something wrong, Sabal? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost,” Julian said, calmly cutting himself a piece of meat and eating it.

Out of all the Grimharts, only two inspired real fear in Sabal. The queen... and her grandson Julian. One was a tyrant. The other was completely unstable.

“Come. Sit.”

The table was laid out like a feast. Julian was not alone. Two other people sat there with him, both wearing the same look of fear and strain. They turned toward Sabal, silently begging him for help. But Sabal already knew. There was nothing he could do against that man.

“You got out of prison... Lord Julian.”

“In that regard, this event was a blessing,” Julian said with a smile. “And look at that, I found my jailers. Ah, you lucky bastards. I told you, remember? One day I’d get out, and we’d have dinner together like dear old friends, right after I tortured your souls inside out. Minor detail, really. Life has such entertaining little moments.”

Sabal thought about drawing his sword, but it would have been pointless.

“How did you arrange for me to be sent to this house? It wasn’t coincidence that they placed me here.”

“Sabal, I control the man in charge of this place. He’s my puppet, literally. I’m the one giving the orders here,” Julian said, laughing to himself.

“This guy’s insane, Sabal!”

“Insane? Oh, I’m insane?” Julian rose from his chair and stopped beside the man. “You know, I was very specific when I said, ‘Keep your mouth shut until I tell you to open it.’ I did not say, ‘Speak whenever you feel like it.’ Notice the difference?”

He picked up the knife from the plate.

“They say I’m crazy. But who’s crazier here? The madman, or the man who decides to disobey the madman?”

Then Julian drove the knife into the man’s throat, over and over, stabbing until blood sprayed across the table. Now only Sabal and Ernest were left.

“Sabal. If I remember correctly, I told you to sit down. Did you hear me?”

“I heard you. I’m sorry, Lord Julian,” Sabal said, taking his seat.

“He’s a smart one, Ernest. Don’t you think?” Julian asked, sitting back down and wiping the blood from his face with a handkerchief.

“He is... yes, sir.”

“Out of all the bastards in that castle, you were the one I liked most, Sabal. Even when I was locked up in there, you were always careful. Unlike our friend Ernest here. Remember that time, Ernest, when you all tampered with my dinner?”

Ernest swallowed hard. Julian plucked the dead man’s eye from its socket and set it on the plate.

“Now it’s my turn to return the favor. Enjoy your meal.”

“This house belonged to an old woman,” Sabal said.

“What did you say?”

“This house belonged to Mrs. Mildred. What did you do to her?”

“Sabal, do you really think I’m the kind of person who would kill a sweet old lady?”

Julian walked to a cabinet and pulled it open.

“Don’t worry. I only tied her up and threw her in here. See? She’s perfectly fine.”

“Fuck!”

“Please, he’s insane. He talks to dolls. Help me,” the old woman said the moment Julian removed her gag.

He shoved the gag right back into her mouth.

“Old ladies are so adorable. All that soft skin. And that almond smell. Pure and innocent.” He pinched her cheeks, then shut the cabinet again.

“I won’t drag this out, Sabal. I need you to do a few favors for me.”

“If it’s anything against Lady Erza or Anne, then kill me, you sick bastard.”

Julian smiled faintly.

“I have to admire your devotion to my family, Sabal. But unfortunately, going after Anne right now is exactly what my sister wants. That would be signing my own death warrant, and I’m really not in the mood to die. My plans include finding a lost legendary city, killing the Grimharts, killing the god P. Nowhere in that list does it say ‘die stupidly.’ Did you hear me list that option? Of course not, Sabal. I want something much simpler.”

Sabal unfolded the paper on the plate.

“This is just a list of supplies. And where exactly am I supposed to get all this?”

“How should I know, Sabal? If I knew, I wouldn’t be sitting here asking you.”

“What do you even need flour for?”

“To build a bomb.”

“A bomb? You’re really going to build a bomb?”

“A bomb made of flour? Sabal, how did you ever become military while being this stupid? Obviously it’s for that lovely old lady to bake me cookies while I work, Sabal. Just because I’m half doll doesn’t mean I don’t get hungry.”

“You’re insane.”

“I know. I should’ve added chocolate to the list. Who in their right mind wants cookies without chocolate chips? Not my fault, though. It’s not like cocoa is easy to find out here. But if you happen to see any, bring it. Add that to the list, Sabal.”

“And you’re really going to let me walk out of here alive and free?”

“You’re smart, Sabal. You know that if you betrayed me, I’d find a way to slip away. And sooner or later, I’d come back to repay the favor with interest. So the question is very simple, Sabal. Do you want to stay alive or not?”

Sabal folded the paper shut.

“Excellent, Sabal. I just need one extra favor. It’s difficult for me to move around the side of the city controlled by the Church of the Dawn. And I’ll be busy making a few puppets and playing captain here, you understand, spying and gathering information on the other settlements from our kingdom. So I need a small favor.”

“What favor?”

“Right this very moment, there are two heroes hunting a Vampire Count in this archipelago. What I want is simple, Sabal. When the church collects the corpse, bring it to me.”

“You want me to... steal the body?”

“I was very clear.”

Julian went back to eating.

“By the way, Ernest, it’s rude not to eat something your host prepared with such care.”

Sabal knew it now. His life was in Julian Grimhart’s hands. He was trapped inside the man’s games. There was no way he could tell anyone. Julian might be watching him in a dozen different ways, and Sabal knew that if he betrayed him while Julian was still roaming free, even his family might end up paying the price.

“Oh, and one more thing, Sabal,” Julian said, setting a children’s book down on the table. “What do you know about Little Red Riding Hood?”

***

Lord Damian slipped on his robe and stepped out onto the balcony.

“What a colorless place. It could use a little beauty, don’t you think, Alastair?”

“It is no Paris of ours, my lord.”

Damian paused for a moment. “Our guest is arriving.”

He glanced toward the women. They all considered themselves his brides. They rushed to dress him.

“Take me with you, Lord Damian. Let me stay at your side.”

“No, choose me, Lord Damian. I want to be part of the dinner too.”

“Choose me, Lord Damian.”

He stepped up to one of them, took her by the chin, and studied her face.

“You’ve chosen me, Lord Damian?”

He caressed her cheek, twirling a strand of her hair between his fingers.

“None of you possess what is required to be called My Bride,” he said, and stepped away.

“But I tried so hard to look beautiful,” another protested.

“I am beautiful. Please choose me, Lord Damian.”

“And me. I did everything for you. I gave you my whole family. I killed them all for you.”

“It was not enough. Do more for me,” he said, moving toward the door.

“Please, Lord Damian. Just a little longer. Let us remain in your presence a little longer.”

Then the door closed in their faces. Alastair saw him exhale.

“Defective.” And his lord kept walking.

“None of them have what it takes, Alastair. Not one true woman among them.”

“You will live forever, my lord. In time, you will find her.”

“My muse will need to be perfect. Beautiful enough to match me in that portrait,” he said, gazing at a painting in the corridor, one that showed him with a rose between his lips.

They resumed their walk through the castle.

“And the hunters?”

“The vampire hunters have grown more active. The current phase of the event gathered them together, unfortunately.”

“What rotten luck, Alastair. Our residence happens to be in the very city all the halos are sending people to,” his lord said with a soft laugh. “I thought I would rest here while my little ones feasted elsewhere.”

“I fear, my lord, that your rest may be interrupted. There are heroes in this event who will certainly come here, if they have not already.”

“If that happens, I will kill whichever unfortunate hero arrives.”

“We do have one small problem. The Heroine of Light is in the same region of Sunken Realms as we are,” Alastair said.

His master gave a quiet laugh. “How curious.”

Light was troublesome for the undead, but the Heroine of Light was worse. Much worse for vampires. People said vampires suffered a weakening debuff in her presence, similar to the one caused by sunlight, and she also dealt bonus damage to beings weak to Light. Meaning if a vampire faced her, he became half as strong while she became twice as dangerous.

“Do you think she is beautiful, Alastair?” he asked casually.

“Perhaps. I am not certain.”

“I wonder what a heroine tastes like.”

“I imagine her blood is rich with light-radiance. It would certainly burn.”

“That is not the flavor I meant, Alastair,” he said with a quiet laugh. “Perhaps my promised bride will not be easy to win. A heroine, maybe?”

His lord was obsessed with beauty.

“Let us see whether this Heroine of Light is beautiful. Perhaps I should step into the center of this chaos after all. They are trampling my garden and crushing my roses.”

When they reached the door, it opened on its own.

“I told you our guest was arriving.”

“Damian,” said the hooded figure.

“Tobias. How have you been?”

Their visitor was a lich.