Becoming the Dark Lord

They know Charlie is a Vespertilio? How?

A shadow slipped in behind him, nearly soundless. Luke caught it with his 360-degree vision, turned, avoided the strike, and threw a knife. The vampire took it to the face. The blade exploded. Luke leaped in, ready to take the head, but the instant his weapon struck the neck, it rang with a metallic sound. He twisted away from the counterattack.

The vampire was laughing. He was bald, dressed in black and crimson, a cape draped behind him. Every tooth in his mouth was sharp. His eyes were a deep, dark red.

A Count.

“I’m not letting my chance to become a Lord slip away,” he said. “But I’m going to enjoy playing with you first.”

His attention was already drifting toward Charlie. Then Angie hit him from behind. She impaled him and flooded his body with electricity. Charlie charged in with a punch. Luke came in from the side with his kukris, striking in a fluid rhythm as he carved into the Count. With a scream, the vampire opened his mouth and vomited a jet of dirt. It hit Luke, and the dirt was crawling, thick with larvae, worms, and centipedes.

The Count burst through the cloud and attacked with his claws. Charlie stepped in front of Luke. Her body was on fire, her fists too, and she traded blows with the Count while he laughed.

“I really want to see what special race skills you’ve got.”

He raised one hand. A floating drop of blood ignited into red fire and shot toward them. Angie drove straight through the flames. The Count turned on her, but Charlie surged in to throw another punch, and he dissolved into mist to avoid it.

A Count is dangerous. Way above a baron. As far as I know, barons are around level ninety. This one has to be over one hundred at least. Rank D.

Luke tightened his grip on the kukris.

Charlie was still fighting the vampire, whose claws tore at the air. Even when he missed, red talons slashed into existence in front of him.

I don’t have much mana left for Shadow Mana Explosion. But I’ve still got plenty of stamina.

Luke ran in and activated [Burst Throw], aiming for the vampire’s head.

[Telekinetic Impulse activated]

The kukri hit hard. The force behind [Burst Throw] sent the Count skidding sideways across the snow.

Luke pounced after him like a cat.

[Crimson Fang activated]

The strike smashed into the Count’s neck. Catching the kukri as it flew back to him, Luke flowed into motion and cut into the Count again and again. The vampire roared in pain, and Luke finally managed to sever one of his hands.

“Now, Charlie,” Luke shouted, conjuring a [Shadow Ball] and firing it straight into the Count’s face.

Charlie came in with [Arcane Power Punch] and drove a monstrous blow into him, sending the Count flying. Angie appeared, grabbed both Luke and Charlie, and took to the air. The moment they cleared the mist, she set them down on the bank of the half-thawed river. Eleanor, Anne, and Evangeline were already running toward them.

“The Count vanished,” Charlie said.

Not even her senses could find him now. No scent. No sound.

“What the hell happened to you people?” Evangeline snapped. “How did we suddenly end up in the middle of a war?”

The vampires were coming straight at them, sliding down the hill while some launched spells and arrows. Anne and Angie threw up mana barriers.

“You can still fight?” Eleanor asked, drawing a special arrow from her quiver.

“Of course,” Luke said.

And just like that, they were ready to meet the vampires head-on.

“This is reminding me of that insane tutorial,” Evangeline muttered.

The vampires were closing in around them when Luke spotted the count among them, walking at an easy pace while the others parted to let him through. There was not a single wound left on his body.

Did he use Vampiric Regeneration?

“My lord, we need your help capturing the Laziurus vampire,” one of the barons said as he approached.

The count frowned, puzzled, and looked at Charlie.

“The lich is being troublesome, my lord,” the baron added.

“Wait. The Laziurus vampire isn’t here?” the count said. “Strange. For a moment, I thought it was.”

He mistook Charlie for Jonathan. In that case, he doesn’t know she’s a Vespertilio.

“Send in the infantry barons. Use the blood net strategy. The lich is weak against close combat,” the count said.

“And you, my lord?”

“I’m going to recover the little Blood Energy I spent killing them. I’ll be there shortly.”

Luke gripped a knife and launched it upward with telekinetic force.

“Apparently he’s not planning to let us have a picnic,” Evangeline said.

“I have a plan,” Luke said. “Archangel tutorial strategy.”

They all knew what that meant. For a brief second, he glanced toward the river running between the islands.

If I had already subdued the kraken in my soul, this would be easier. I’d drag him into the water and let the Spectral Beast help me.

But there was no time for regret. The count remained where he was. Angie rose into the air with her spear beside her blue clone, then drove straight down to skewer him. The count smiled and caught the spear in one hand.

“Too slow.”

Then the spear burst into red fire.

The count jerked his hand back. “My fire? How do you have that power?”

It was the same red fire the count had used in the fog. Even Luke was caught off guard.

“I’m assuming she’s on our side,” Eleanor said.

“She is,” Charlie replied.

They split apart. The count screamed, his eyes turning an even deeper red, and four spider-like legs erupted from his back. Eleanor started firing arrows. The count broke into a run, only for a huge shadow to rise from the ground and lash out with multiple arm-like tendrils to seize him.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“That all?” he asked.

“It’s not over,” Luke said, pointing at him.

A yellow arrow slammed into the count’s face and exploded in a burst of golden light.

“Nice shot, Angie.”

“That wasn’t me.”

The sky filled with arrows. They rained down on the vampires, followed by the thunder of explosions.

“There’s another army coming,” Charlie said.

“Another one?” Eleanor asked.

A figure landed between them and the count. Farther off, where the vampires were fighting, Luke saw a huge wave of fire tear through the battlefield. Soldiers came pouring out of the forest.

“We meet again,” the count said, staring at the figure in front of him.

“Serena?” Eleanor said.

The heroine was there. And Luke recognized the soldiers’ uniforms.

Vampire Hunters.

The vampire army was suddenly under attack from all sides.

“The cavalry’s here, Eleanor,” Serena said.

She charged the count. But the count gave ground, sprang back, and escaped in a long leap.

“Coward.”

“Don’t take it personally. I still have a job to finish.”

And with that, the count surged away, chaining teleporting bursts together as he rushed toward the vampires. More hunters kept appearing. A lot more.

“Eleanor,” Serena said.

What timing.

Luke was still trying to understand how he had ended up in the middle of a war between two armies.

“Well then, heroine,” said a voice.

Lucien and Curtis approached through the snow.

“I’m curious why you came into my territory with an army.”

“Because a dear friend of mine was coming here, and I heard you were killing anyone who approached this place. So, Lord Rhiannon, that’s your answer.”

“I only kill those who are hostile toward me.”

“Answer me something,” Luke said. “Why were you calling that wanted criminal from the Reaper Court a guest?”

Serena’s hand tightened around the hilt of her sword. “Tobias. You saw him?”

“I did,” Luke said. “I was on my way to kill this guy when the lich showed up, and the two of them were clearly on friendly terms. I’m curious how exactly that arrangement works.”

Serena’s gaze sharpened. “Is that true, Lord Rhiannon? You’ve been in contact with a criminal of that level?”

“What I do or do not do is my business. That said, before he is a criminal, he is my guest. I will not tolerate anyone trying to hunt him on my land.”

“And why would you protect a criminal?”

“Because I do not follow the laws of your country. I follow the laws of my kingdom. And there, only the queen has the right to judge me and condemn me,” Lucien said. “I’m leaving now. And thank you for coming to clean up the world’s filth, heroine.”

The two of them started walking away.

“We’re not done with our fight,” Luke said.

“And you want to continue?”

“I don’t see any reason not to.”

Lucien drew his sword of ice. “You may have destroyed that shield meant for children, but this sword of mine, this one made of ice, you didn’t even crack. If you don’t have the strength to do that, then I have no reason to fight seriously. So yes, I’m ending this here. It isn’t worth it.”

“That’s because I wasn’t focused on breaking your sword,” Luke said. “I was more interested in cutting off your head, destroying your heart. Something a little more practical.”

Lucien gave a faint laugh. “Use my tower to reach the Beacon below it. If you make it to Stage Three and get in my way there, then I’ll continue our fight from where we left off. But you won’t like how it ends.”

Then Lucien turned and kept walking.

“Good fight, fire knight,” Curtis said without looking back, and the two Rhiannons disappeared into the snow.

“Angelica?” Evangeline said, staring at Angie as she came to a stop beside Luke. Her eyes widened for a moment.

Luke had never seen her look like that before.

Damn. I’m going to have to explain a few things.

“I have to go. Stay here,” Serena said, taking off toward the battle.

“Alright. I need to tell you all something,” Luke said.

“I am Angelica, and I’m not, both at once,” Angie said to Evangeline.

“I’m still trying to imagine how that would’ve gone if we’d had to fight that powerful vampire without you. And sorry, but I have absolutely no idea who you are,” Eleanor said.

“Don’t worry,” Angie replied. “If things had gotten worse, I had a support team ready to help us.”

“A support team?” Charlie asked.

A group emerged from the forest, dressed in black. Among them was a beautiful woman in a provocative red dress. Anne’s eyes widened, and a smile spread across her face.

“Hello, assassin. You really are full of surprises,” said Erza Grimhart. “I was delighted to learn that she serves you too, alongside the knight.”

***

Eleanor sat in one of the hunters’ forward outposts in the forest. They had been brought there after the clash between the two armies. The vampires had withdrawn, scattering back into the forest and the ruined city beyond. Serena had lost track of the count.

“I want to sleep for twelve hours straight. What a day,” Eleanor said, sitting down beside Evangeline with a mug of soup in her hands.

Her usually lively friend had been quiet for the past few hours.

“What’s with you, Evangeline? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Evangeline had both hands pressed to her head.

“Angelica... it’s her...”

“I never knew that Angelica from Haven, even if I’d heard about her. Was she really that important to you?”

Luke had told them a story too insane to be true, but it was so insane that it could only have come from him. He claimed he had helped bring the angel from the tutorial, the one he had killed, back to life by using Angelica’s body as a vessel.

“Remember when I told you... about back in the tutorial... that I kind of had a crush on someone?”

“I remember.”

“It was Angelica...”

“Oh.”

Eleanor had no idea what to say.

***

Alastair was in the forest with his lord, Damian. It was one of Count Drakar’s vampire camps. The heir of the Laziurus bloodline had escaped.

“You set me up, Damian,” the Count said.

“I set you up? Why accuse me, my dear friend?” Damian replied. “I gave you the lich’s location. You were the ones who failed to kill the target.”

“You gave me a location, yes. A location where, mysteriously, within minutes, two heroes and an army of hunters appeared. We know each other too well for this kind of game, Damian. You want me gone.”

“And why would I want to get rid of a rival Count who, if he grows strong enough and manages to kill his own lord, would make such an excellent business partner?”

“Because you’re you.”

“That wounds me. But look, Drakar. If I truly wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have helped you escape through the forest from the heroine.”

“But now I’m supposed to feel grateful and owe you even more favors. I know how you think, Damian.”

“And if you know me that well, then you know I collect my favors with interest.”

The meeting ended shortly afterward. Alastair and his lord walked through the forest beneath the pale light of the late-night moon.

“My lord, as your right hand, I feel I should be aware of all your plans, so I can help you. Instead, I remain in the dark and can’t even decide how I might be useful,” Alastair said. “That said, I need to satisfy my curiosity. Did you really orchestrate all that?”

Damian stopped walking.

“Yes and no. I leaked the location of the attack through those church members who were captured and turned into blood slaves. Then I left them in strategic places where they would be easy to rescue. Once the rescued ones were taken back and reported what they knew, the fools in the Church of the Dawn thought they had a tremendous advantage. After that, I only had to improvise a little with our lovely spy so they would follow the trail and arrive at Tobias. It would have been magnificent: Tobias fighting the Count, and then the Church killing whoever survived. But I never would have guessed Hero Serena would be there.”

As always, his lord had layers upon layers of plans.

“And why did you help Drakar escape? You could have simply left him there to die.”

“Because, Alastair, today is a very special day. I found what I’ve been searching for.”

“And what would that be, my lord?”

“My future fiancée, Alastair. Who else?” his lord said with a sigh. “In the middle of all that chaos, I saw her. That woman is perfect. Large, flawless breasts, a face with breathtaking beauty and just the right touch of wildness, a slender body, and blond hair so beautiful it looked like strands of gold.”

He began walking with more energy now.

“I saw her there, stained with blood and battle, in the snow, drenched in sweat, fighting, and still she was the most beautiful woman there. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and I know women very well, Alastair.”

“Don’t tell me... it’s the heroine?”

His lord laughed.

“Were you listening to anything I said, Alastair? I said hair so beautiful it looked like threads of gold. The heroine doesn’t have that. And she’s a nine at best, Alastair. But that woman is singular. While I was spying on all that chaos, I ended up focused only on her. I heard someone say her name during the fight. I believe it was... Charlie.”

Fun fact: there’s new artwork of Erza for this chapter over at that other place.