Becoming the Dark Lord

A pistol was pointed at Layla’s face. The pirates had stormed the ship. Some spread across the deck, others blocked the gangway, and the captain kept his weapon raised with an annoyingly satisfied look on his face.

“You again,” Layla said, taking half a step back. “The pervert pirates.”

“I told you, we’re not perverts!” the captain snapped.

“You mooned us!”

“We mooned you to mess with you, not because it was sexual!” The captain huffed, genuinely offended. “The world’s gotten so boring these days. You can’t even moon somebody anymore without getting called a creep.”

“Because it’s creepy, you idiots!”

The captain blinked. “Why am I wasting time arguing about this? The ship’s ours now. Tie her up.”

“How did you find us?” Jack demanded, wand raised.

“You can’t attack people in port!” Layla said.

The captain gave them a wide, shameless grin. “And since when do pirates follow rules, right, boys?”

The pirates laughed, all of them wearing the same irritating confidence.

Layla glanced over her shoulder and spotted Stephen in the street, bottle in hand, strolling toward the ship like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Look over here, you idiot. Call for help or do some drunk magic and get us out of this.

She was practically screaming inside her own head, trying to make Stephen notice through sheer force of eye contact. Of course, Stephen just kept coming with the bottle in his hand, completely clueless.

“What do you want?” Layla asked, trying to buy time while keeping the pirates distracted.

Stephen stopped beside them, still drinking from the bottle.

“I came for Jack!” the captain said.

“What? Me? Why?” Jack asked.

“Not you! The other one!”

“Me, captain?” one of the pirates asked.

“Not you, dumbass! The other Jack!”

“Me?” Stephen asked, lifting an eyebrow. “How do you know my real name?”

“Obviously not!” The captain dragged a hand down his face. “What the hell? How many Jacks are there in this place? I’m talking about Sparrow!”

Jack leaned toward Layla and whispered, “Does he mean Luke?”

Layla let out a short, humorless laugh. “Of course. It’s that bastard again. It’s always his fault. Every time something screws me over, he’s involved somehow. He attracts evil.”

At that moment, a woman appeared beside Layla, calmly fluttering a fan.

“Plant girl, what’s going on here?” Erza Grimhart asked.

Layla nearly jumped out of her skin. The woman had come up behind her without making a sound.

“Who’s she?” one of the pirates asked.

“How’d she get past us? I didn’t even see her.”

Erza ignored them. Her eyes stayed on Layla, assessing the situation as her maids climbed the gangway one after another.

“These idiots are trying to kidnap us,” Layla said.

Erza resumed fanning herself, unhurried.

“Are you part of this ship’s crew?” Captain Thomas asked.

“We are,” Erza replied.

“Great. Then you’re kidnapped too.” The captain spread his arms toward his men. “Right, boys?”

The pirates agreed, some laughing, others brandishing weapons as if that helped with the intimidation.

“You ladies are screwed now,” pirate Jack said.

“Oh... are we?” Erza asked.

Captain Thomas stepped forward with a smile gross enough to make Layla’s stomach drop.

“A bunch of women kidnapped by pirates. You know what we’re going to do with all of you?”

“Something only women can give us,” one pirate said, licking his lips while staring at Layla.

She swallowed hard.

“What will you do?” Erza asked.

“We’re putting you to work cleaning our ship and cooking, obviously,” Captain Thomas said. “And hurry up, because we’re hungry. Well, boys, looks like we’re finally free from housework.”

The silence that followed was gorgeous.

One pirate took a staff to the face and hit the deck before he even understood where the blow had come from. Threads shot across the boards and wrapped around the other pirates’ pistols, ripping the weapons from their hands. In the same instant, more maids advanced with spears, surrounding the entire group with terrifying precision.

The laughter died right there. The pirates raised their hands in surrender. When Layla looked at Erza, she saw something she had never seen from that woman before: pure, explosive rage. Her elegant face remained controlled, but a heavy fury burned in her eyes.

“Well...” The captain swallowed. “I think we’re screwed, boys.”

“Take their heads,” Erza said.

The pirates dropped to their knees almost at the same time.

“Mercy, mighty lady!”

“We’re honest men just trying to make a living!”

“Yeah, we only came here for Sparrow, not you.”

“Shut up!” the captain hissed. “She might be Sparrow’s friend!”

The pirate froze, realizing it too late.

“Right. I didn’t think of that.” He quickly lowered his head. “What I meant was, terrible mistake, milady.”

Erza snapped her fan shut.

“Where’s your ship?” she asked, eyes cold. “I assume you sailed here. I want everything of value you own. And I want the ship too.”

***

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Luke watched Charlie handle a horde by herself. She wore a breastplate that would make any enemy with half a brain want to run. The armor was crimson, like metallic blood molded around her body. It was the skill Charlie had chosen at level 95 of Blood Death Knight: [Blood Familiar Armor I].

[Blood Familiar Armor I (Ancient)]: The [Blood Bat] can dissolve into liquid blood and leap onto its Blood Death Knight, covering them and forming a living breastplate made of blood. In this fused state, the knight becomes far more powerful, gaining a 50% increase to defense and a 30% increase to strength. The armor also inherits part of the [Blood Bat]’s powers, further increasing the knight’s combat potential. Additionally, any enemy that attacks the armor in melee combat will suffer cutting damage upon contact. In this state, the knight’s mind gains greater resistance to mind-affecting skills, while blood-type skills become 25% more powerful and mana cost is reduced by 10%. As an added effect, the blood of enemies who touch the armor will be absorbed, partially restoring physical damage the knight has taken. More than that, Familiar Armor can be activated even while the knight is transformed into a Vampiric Beast, revealing a monstrous superiority beyond even other Vespertilio vampires and placing them on the feared Path of the Alpha Vampiric Beast.

Charlie had also activated a skill from her second class, [Steel Bastion], making her even deadlier.

[Steel Bastion (Ultra-Rare)]: With [Steel Fist], by channeling a considerable amount of mana and stamina into your fists, you can unleash blows of immense power. These charged punches can break metal, shatter stone, and damage armor, making the skill formidable against both enemies and physical obstacles. Now, with this enhancement, the fists also become defensive tools like shields, capable of blocking strikes and explosions. In addition, the pugilist’s arm skin temporarily gains a thin layer of metal.

She punched the monsters flooding that part of the temple, holding back the horde alone. Every strike sent enemies staggering back or dropping beneath raw force. When only one monster was left standing, Charlie rushed in and finished it with [Vampiric Claws].

[Charlotte Vespertilio has reached Level 91! Vampire (Rank E)] (+2 to all stats, +7 free points.)

“Good work, Charlie,” Luke said.

Over the last few days, she had made solid progress. Her knight class had already reached level 98. As soon as she deactivated the fist skill, the thin layer of metal vanished from her arms. Charlie was sweaty, her face tired. It wasn’t exactly physical exhaustion. It was something else. Mental weight. [Blood Familiar Armor I] demanded a lot on its own. But Charlie had been trying to combine it with an active skill from her second class so she could gain experience in both during combat. Efficient, sure. Also draining as hell.

“You look beautiful sweaty, Charlie,” Artemis said.

The red breastplate came apart. First, it turned into liquid blood, running off her and gathering in the air. Then the liquid took shape again and became the tiny bat, Lulie.

“Whoa...” Charlie staggered for a moment, placing a hand over her chest. “It felt like I was carrying something really heavy, and then suddenly the weight was gone. But I’m getting better at it, Master Luke.”

The skill was powerful in several ways, but having enough mana to activate and sustain it was not enough. It demanded Willpower. Keeping something that powerful active for too long took a real toll on the mind.

“You already managed to use a second powerful skill together with it, but don’t overdo it,” Luke said. “Keeping the Armor active by itself is already worth it.”

“But I think I’m ready to use that skill combination you suggested.”

Luke crossed his arms.

The skill in question was a problem. Charlie had never used it before, and it was not hard to understand why.

[Blood Frenzy (Epic)]: The Blood Death Knight advances to the front line, but never without guarantees. When their body reaches 50% damage and bears deep wounds, the skill can be activated. The knight enters a temporary Frenzy state: all cuts cause bleeding, blood-type skills gain a 25% power increase, and mana consumption for all spells is reduced by 50%. However, the longer they remain in this state, the more their mind is consumed by rage, gradually reducing Perception.

For obvious reasons, it was risky for Charlie to use a power like that. The power boost was tempting. So was the brutal reduction in mana cost. The problem was the part where it slowly ate away at her sanity.

The skill had been left untouched for a while, until Luke thought of another possibility. Charlie had a skill chosen mainly to increase the little bat’s range. At the time, they had picked it for the usefulness of teleportation. But the skill also had a second interesting effect.

[Familiar Blood Bond I (Epic)]: The bond between the Knight and their Blood Familiar deepens, making the creature an even more loyal and powerful extension of its master. The familiar gains greater physical strength and efficiency in coordinated attacks and drains. The maximum connection distance increases to 20 meters, and both begin to share emotions and intentions, allowing almost instinctive communication even in the middle of battle. Additionally, the familiar awakens a special slot that allows the knight to share one Blood Death Knight class skill, transforming the bond into a true living weapon forged from blood and loyalty.

“Master Luke, I think I’m ready to give Blood Frenzy to Lulie,” Charlie said, looking at the little bat. “After all these tests with the armor, I think it’s worth taking your advice and spending her slot on that skill.”

The idea had come when Luke reread Charlie’s skills and noticed something simple. And absurd: ’What if Lulie took Blood Frenzy and activated it while transformed into the breastplate?’

Charlie touched the little bat.

“It worked!”

[Familiar Blood Bond I Skill Slot has been used with Blood Frenzy]

“Jackpot,” Luke said.

It was a disgusting combination of skills.

“Now we just need to know if the 25% boost to blood magic and the 50% mana cost reduction apply to you.”

Even if the effect stayed limited to the armor, it would still be a huge advantage. [Blood Familiar Armor I] itself would have its mana cost reduced and its power increased, which would already make Charlie even harder to bring down.

“Either way, Charlie, anyone who fights you while you’re wearing that breastplate is going to have a serious problem.”

It was an ace up her sleeve. Not something to waste on weak enemies. But against someone strong enough to badly damage the armor, maybe even bring it close to breaking? Perfect. Exactly the kind of enemy Charlie would need more power against.

Berserker-type enemies are such a pain in the ass to fight. They always get absurdly strong right when you’re finally about to beat them.

Now Luke understood better why Triss walked around in clothes that left so much skin exposed. She had the barbarian class and probably a bunch of skills similar to [Blood Frenzy].

“Now I can’t wait to hit level 95 in Fighter and get a new skill,” Charlie said, excited.

“Same,” Luke said. “In my Witch class.”

***

The challenge timer was running out. Nothing truly dangerous had shown up over the last few days, so Luke decided to poke around the temple. The structure resembled a pyramid, ancient and heavy, with narrow corridors and walls covered in markings from a dead civilization.

Eleanor walked beside him, holding a torch while studying the drawings carved into the stone.

“You realize some governments would be very interested in what we’re seeing here, right?” she asked.

“In wall doodles?”

“Stories from other civilizations, Luke. Information is power.”

“I know a little about that,” he said. “I heard about a top-secret U.S. operation involving archaeology.”

Eleanor turned to him immediately. “Seriously? Damn. Can you tell me?”

“There was an enemy army hunting for an insanely powerful artifact. To keep it from falling into the wrong hands, our government recruited an archaeology professor. He was the only one who could find the artifact before the enemy got to it. Because if it really fell into the wrong hands, we’d all be in serious danger.”

“What? Really?” Eleanor’s eyes widened. “What operation was that? I never heard about it. And what happened to the artifact?”

“The idiot is telling you the plot of the first Indiana Jones,” Artemis said.

“Thanks for ruining it. I was trying to sound cool.”

“Come on, man. You already tried that one on Lady America.”

“Indiana Jones...?” Eleanor asked.

“It was a movie,” Luke explained. “Imagine James Bond, but for archaeology, and you’ve got Professor Jones.”

“Luke... you really like James Bond, don’t you?” Eleanor smiled faintly. “I remember that little school letter Evangeline read. You said you wanted to be a secret agent when you grew up.”

“Look, don’t remind me of that, okay? I made a mistake.”

“You did?”

“Yes. A spy should never write on a school assignment that he wants to be a spy. That probably closes a lot of doors.”

Eleanor narrowed her eyes, thoughtful. “Now that I think about it... isn’t your assassin class kind of espionage-based?”

Luke gave a dry cough.

“Hm... would you look at that. Something on the wall.” He pointed at the wall. “Hey, Cadmus, explain this to us.”

The robot floated over to him. “Did you call me over just to change the subject?”

“If you know why I called you, why ask?”

“Curiosity. I’ve noticed you tend to flee when cornered, especially by emotional topics.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You literally just did it,” Eleanor and Cadmus said at the same time.

Luke coughed again. “Explain this, robot.”

Cadmus floated to the wall and stopped in front of the drawing.

“It’s the same design as the idol,” Eleanor said. “The weird eye with the tentacle.”

Luke stared at the figure for a few seconds. There was something wrong with that symbol. Not just ugly or strange. Wrong.

“Is this what lives in the Abyssal Zone?” he asked.

“Many dangerous things live there,” Cadmus replied. “The deeper you go, the more dangerous it becomes.”

“You’re dodging the question,” Luke said.

“I learned from the best.” The robot gave a dry laugh. “Ha. Ha.”

“You need to work on your laugh...”

They kept moving through the pyramid’s corridors, torchlight trembling over the ancient walls. The drawings seemed to follow them, repeating eyes, tentacles, and shapes Luke wouldn’t call normal in any sane world.

“Do you think the old inhabitants accessed the Abyssal Zone?” he asked.

Cadmus did not answer. Somehow, the silence felt worse than any answer.