Becoming the Dark Lord

“Luke Moon?”

“Hero of the Flame?”

Gunslingers ran down the narrow street, close enough for Luke to hear the sharp crack of their boots against stone. Maxwell raised a finger to his lips, signaling for silence. He was hurt. Not scratched. Not singed. There was a deep gash across his stomach, and blood had darkened the fabric beneath his armor.

Keeping low, Maxwell pointed to a broken window across the street. Luke waited until the footsteps faded, crossed first, and slipped into the abandoned building. The Hero of the Flame followed right behind him, moving heavily, one hand pressed to his abdomen. Then he sank to the floor and leaned back against the wall.

“Those damn towers nearly killed me,” Maxwell said, his voice low and rough.

Luke moved to a gap in the wall and watched the street. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing, Luke Moon.” Maxwell drew a deep breath. “I’m tracking a man named Casper. He’s an Executioner.”

“Executioner?”

“That word probably doesn’t mean much to you.” Maxwell closed his eyes for a second. “But it’s a rank in the Order of the Gunslingers. Recruit, Shooter, Patrol, Executioner. That’s the ladder. Casper’s an Executioner, and that puts him high up. They’re war criminals. Mercenaries. They sell death like any other service.”

Luke kept watching through the opening. There was no immediate movement, but that didn’t mean they were safe.

“We need to move. I can’t stay here.” He looked at Maxwell. “Can you walk?”

The Hero of the Flame pushed himself up with difficulty. “My storage item broke when that beam hit me. You got a healing potion on you?”

“No.”

“Great. Perfect day.”

They left through the back and moved between ruined buildings. Luke took the lead, slipping through the shadows, alert to every corner, window, and rooftop. Maxwell, on the other hand, wasn’t exactly built for stealth. Even wounded, there was something about him that made every room feel too small to hold him.

When they entered another building, both of them stopped to listen. Outside, the gunslingers’ movements came and went like an organized swarm.

“I can feel heat near me,” Maxwell said. “The street around us is clear.”

Luke checked every corner of the house, pressing his ear to the walls, the floor, the space near the windows. He tried to separate wind from footsteps.

“These guys barely make a sound when they move,” Maxwell said. “Assassins.”

“I know.”

“You shouldn’t be here, Luke Moon. How did you end up in this place? Where are your friends?”

Luke glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “And how did you end up here?”

Maxwell let out a short, humorless laugh. “How do you think? I’ve been following these bastards since the phase five city.”

“By yourself? How did a rowboat catch up to a ship?”

“Rowboat?” Maxwell turned to him, offended. “You think I use a damn rowboat?”

“A ship, then? Running one alone sounds unlikely.”

This time, Maxwell actually smiled. “I have a hot air balloon. I’m the Hero of the Flame, after all.”

Luke went quiet for a second. A balloon. Of course.

Once they confirmed the next streets were safe, they started running. Luke had already moved away from them once and made noise in another part of the city, throwing knives into crystals scattered across buildings to pull the gunslingers away. For now, the distraction seemed to have worked.

As they moved, Maxwell explained what he knew. He had come by ship with his group, tracking the gunslingers from far away. Their vessel had anchored off a remote island, and he had flown alone by balloon to reach the city.

“When we realized we were close to the edge, I flew almost a full day to get here,” Maxwell said.

“All that for one guy?”

“It’s not every day we get a chance to take out a criminal at his level. Nobody knows where their organization’s headquarters are in the New World.” Maxwell braced one hand against the wall before continuing. “I thought they came because Casper was after the Beacon. My plan was to wipe them out while Casper was trapped inside the dungeon dimension. But apparently, he didn’t come for the Beacon.”

Luke’s eyes narrowed. “Then why did they come?”

“They spent an entire day setting traps around the city and organizing near the gates. There are ships there too.”

They came ready for war.

“And you can’t beat this Casper?”

Maxwell gave a low, tired laugh. “He’s an Executioner. Rank D. And he has an army with him. So, no. I’m not as powerful as you think I am.”

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Luke moved closer to a window and scanned the higher points of the city. Broken towers, uneven rooftops, the ruins of old structures. Perfect places for someone to wait with a weapon trained on them.

“There’s a sniper somewhere in the city,” Luke said. “A headshot like that would kill anyone. But I’m lucky. They don’t want me dead.”

Maxwell narrowed his eyes. “They came here to ambush someone. And you’re the only one here. What the hell did you do to get an assassin organization’s attention?”

“I don’t know.”

“Great answer. Very reassuring.”

They crossed another street and hid inside a smaller building. From there, Maxwell started helping with the route. His thermal perception picked up heat through walls, enough to catch hidden bodies and nearby patrols.

Luke ran the options through his head. No way through the city entrance. The wall’s our best shot.

“With a sniper loose, I can’t get the balloon in the air,” Maxwell said. “One shot through the balloon and we’re done. But if we take that guy out, we can escape.”

“Escape by balloon?”

“Afraid of heights?”

“No.”

“How much do you weigh?”

Luke stared at the Hero of the Flame. “What?”

“The balloon. With all your gear, are you heavy?”

“It’s light gear.”

“Good. Then pray they don’t spot us before the balloon climbs.”

“You’re not going after your target?” Luke asked.

Maxwell looked down at his wound. “I lost my healing potions, and I’m injured. I cauterized the cut, but I’m pretty sure some bones broke when I got hit. I’d rather not die today.” He paused. “Although I might still try to burn their ship. But I’m not trying that until I’ve got some altitude.”

They started running through the streets again. They were already far from the area with the heaviest movement, but Luke did not relax. The whole city felt like a trap waiting to snap its teeth shut. They entered a partially destroyed house. Luke went straight to the window and watched outside.

“You still haven’t answered me,” Maxwell said. “Are you alone? Is Eleanor with you? If one of your friends is out there, we need to find them.”

“I’m not alone. My group scattered after the palace collapsed.” Luke did not take his eyes off the street. “You take the balloon. I’ll stay and find him.”

Maxwell froze. “Are you insane?”

“If your balloon gets away and they see it, they’ll think I left.”

“You don’t know that. The best move is to find the rest of your group and get everyone out by balloon.”

“Can it carry us?”

“Depends. How many of you are there?”

“Including me and Eleanor, about six. Can your balloon carry that many?”

Maxwell stared at him for a moment. Then he sighed and smiled. “My intuition says you’re lying. There’s no group here with you.”

Luke finally looked at him. “Mine says you’re lying too.”

Maxwell’s smile did not fade. “Then I guess we’re both right.”

Gunfire tore into the house. The windows shattered one after another, blown apart by precise sniper shots. Luke threw himself aside, but there was no time to figure out where every shot was coming from. Something flashed through the broken window.

A man in a black-and-yellow cloak slipped through the opening like a shadow. He wore a yellow skull mask, and the revolver in his hand was already aimed. He fired. Luke dodged on reflex, but the sniper shots kept tearing through the house, slicing through wood, stone, and dust. The assassin advanced in rhythm with the gunfire, and an orange-bladed sword appeared in his other hand, hot enough to warp the air around it.

Luke knocked a revolver shot aside. In that same instant, a sniper round slammed into his back. The impact stole a fraction of his movement. Just a fraction. Enough. When he tried to stop the sword, he was too late. The blade cut through his arm and severed it in one clean, burning stroke.

Before Luke could retreat, Maxwell was already there. The Hero of the Flame launched himself forward with a burst of fire from his feet, closing the distance in the blink of an eye, and drove his sword into Luke’s chest.

“This is where you end,” Maxwell said.

The sword flared. Luke tried to break free, but the explosion came first. The impact tore through his chest from the inside, blasting open a hole where his heart should have been. Fire spread through his body, devouring muscle, nerves, and organs in a suffocating flash.

Luke fell to his knees. The world went muffled, like someone had shoved his head underwater. His vision failed at the edges. His severed arm lay on the floor, still gripping the kukri.

“Contract complete,” the assassin said.

“Thank you for your service, Casper,” Maxwell replied.

Luke tried to breathe, but the air wouldn’t go in right. His body was trying to shut down.

“Good thing those towers didn’t kill you, Luke Moon,” the Hero of the Flame said.

For one moment, it looked like the end.

Then Luke stood.

Casper took a step back. “Hey—hey, hey. What the fuck is this? How is this guy alive?”

Maxwell watched him with an almost satisfied calm. “Impressive. He must have a lot of HP. Still, he’ll be dead in under a minute.”

Luke lowered his gaze to his own chest. There was a hole where his heart had been destroyed.

“Who needs a heart, right?”

Casper tilted his head. “What the fuck… this guy’s not normal.”

[Horn of the Darkness Demon activated]

Power flooded Luke, bringing with it a deep, cold, almost absolute calm. Whenever he used the horns, he restrained that power. He did it to keep their influence from swallowing his mind completely, to avoid seeing everyone around him as inferior creatures. Not now. This time, Luke let some of it in.

[Demonic Predator Hands activated]

[Cloak of the Arcane Witch activated]

The severed arm moved across the floor, pulled by telekinesis, still clutching the kukri. It slid through the air toward Luke, and he fit it back into his shoulder. [Bones of Mother Freya] did the rest, joining the bones with brutal pressure.

Luke flexed his fingers. “Good as new.”

Casper reloaded the revolver with quick, practiced motions and drew his sword again.

“So, Maxwell? You want to make a new contract or not?”

Maxwell stared at Luke for several seconds.

“Now it all makes sense. You’re a demon.” He raised his sword, flames beginning to lick along the metal. “A normal vampire wouldn’t trigger Serena’s Sensor skill at full power. I assume a normal demon wouldn’t either. But a Vampire Lord could trigger that power…”

Maxwell smiled. “Which means you’re a demon with a noble title. A lord? If that’s true, I just got very lucky. Killing you is going to pay beautifully.”

“Who said you could?”

[Dark Blood] closed the hole in Luke’s chest, covering the destroyed flesh like a living shadow. The empty space where his heart had been stopped mattering.

Maxwell lifted his sword. “I’m offering a new contract. Casper, help me kill Luke Moon.”

Casper spun the revolver in his hand, and outside, footsteps began to approach.

“Contract accepted. My gun, and every gun outside, is yours again.”

Then the fight began.