Becoming the Dark Lord

Luke had been running through the forest for hours, and he still had no idea where the system had sent him. He’d returned to the teleportation site several times, taking a different route each time. Nothing explained what had happened. Eventually, only one conclusion made sense.

“This isn’t Maine.”

The forest stretched as far as he could see. Valleys, mountains, ancient trees, and an endless sea of green that looked nothing like the place he was supposed to be. Standing atop a massive boulder, Luke studied the landscape in silence as the wind tugged at his cloak and his frustration grew.

“Did the system seriously send me to the wrong place?”

He climbed down and started pacing, replaying everything in his head.

“Was it when everything flashed red?”

The system had handled the teleport, not the hotel. It had been part of the event, their return to New Earth. But could the system botch a teleport?

Luke let out a bitter laugh.

“Yeah. It could. It’s already failed me once.” He rubbed a hand over his face and stared into the trees again. “The question is, where the fuck am I?”

[Your Familiar has been teleported near your location]

The notification appeared in front of him again. Luke had already searched for Franky, but figuring out where he’d landed had come first. Still, the message confirmed the snake was somewhere nearby. Assuming the system hadn’t screwed that up too. And considering where he was, that was no longer a safe assumption.

“At least that part worked. And I’ve got a lead.”

[Kingdom Core Conquest Quest]

The quest was the only useful thing the system had given him so far. As one of the event’s champions, he’d been granted a few advantages going into the New Era. This was one of them.

[Kingdom Core Conquest Quest]: Well done, Champion of the Sunken Realms. Upon returning to your world, you were granted a special Quest capable of tracking a Kingdom Core, one of the orbs scattered throughout New Earth. Conquer it, and you will become the rightful Monarch of its territory. A Kingdom Core can only be conquered by someone who possesses a High Nobility Title.

A number hovered beneath the notification. It rose or fell depending on which direction Luke moved. The quest worked like a proximity tracker for the [Kingdom Core]. All he had to do was follow the number. After he found Franky.

“Okay. I’ve got way too many things to worry about at once.”

“I’m still pissed, man...” Artemis muttered.

She was back online and downloading their memories from the hotel. Every few minutes, she made sure to complain about it.

“Luke, you had one job: bury your face in my tits and suck on them like a baby. And somehow, you still failed.”

“I don’t have time to be sexually harassed right now. I need to figure out where the hell we are.”

He closed the notification and started through the forest, calling Franky’s name.

“I’m being incredibly mature by not pointing out that your cosmic-level bad luck might’ve dumped us on some random planet. If nobody else lives here, we’re completely fucked. And lost,” Artemis said.

“Hey, at least I can talk to your Goddess Self now. She could help if things got that bad, right?”

“Even if you built her a temple and spent a hundred years making offerings, she still couldn’t just teleport you wherever she wanted.”

“I thought you gods were omnipotent.”

“We can’t just teleport people whenever we feel like it, man. Think about how many gods you’ve pissed off by killing their followers. If that were possible, they’d have dropped you into a volcano by now.”

“Right. Rules and system bullshit.”

“You’re from a newly integrated universe. That protects you from certain kinds of intervention. If this planet is inside your universe, and it probably is, forget divine help, buddy.”

“Because the universe is locked.”

“Exactly. Gods can’t act inside your universe until you establish at least one pantheon. Otherwise, they’d show up and conquer everything without breaking a sweat.”

Luke kept calling for Franky as he moved deeper into the forest. He felt something, a connection to his Familiar. It wasn’t a trail he could detect with his assassin skills. It was more like an itch at the back of his mind, as if Franky had already passed through the area.

“Guess Rank D really did strengthen the bond.”

The first beasts came for him after a while. Luke cut through them without breaking stride. Most were around level 50, nowhere near strong enough to threaten him. Then white particles began rising from the corpses.

[You have slain a Two-Tailed Fox - Lvl 53...]

[+21 Soul Energy absorbed]

[You have slain an Iron-Tusk Boar - Lvl 37...]

[+15 Soul Energy absorbed]

[You have slain a Black-Eared Fox - Lvl 41...]

[+16 Soul Energy absorbed]

[You have slain a Young Hill Boar - Lvl 22...]

[+9 Soul Energy absorbed]

...

That’s the Relic.

The particles drifted through the air for a few seconds, then shot toward him and vanished into the ring.

[Dark Lord’s Relic]

Sins Absorbed: 1/7

Soul Energy: 244/1000

Relic Skills: [Soul Reservoir], [Living Relic], [Sinbound Will], [Relic-Borne Authority], [Dark Lord’s Bond]

Sin Manifestation: [Wrath of the Usurper]

Sin Curses: [Protection of Wrath]

Good news: the reservoir fills fast. Bad news: I still have no clue what Soul Energy actually does.

[Soul Reservoir]: The Relic absorbs Soul Energy from enemies slain by the Dark Lord. The absorbed energy is stored within the Relic and can be used to fuel powers, skills, rituals, and future functions awakened through the [Tree of Knowledge].

Soul Energy: 244/1000

Luke studied the message for a few seconds.

Maybe once I fill the reservoir, I’ll get some clue about the Sin Manifestation.

[Wrath of the Usurper]: Required conditions must be fulfilled before this power can be used.

That might be exactly what it needs.

Whatever the Relic was building toward, it could wait. Franky came first.

[[Cloak of the Arcane Witch activated]

The cloak materialized around his shoulders. Luke’s body became nearly weightless, and he exploded forward. With a single leap, he cleared the treetops and shot into the sky. From above, he used his angel eye to survey the region.

He raced across the treetops, launching himself from one to the next as he scanned the terrain. Valleys and mountains surrounded him, but far in the distance, a thin brown line cut through the endless green.

“Finally. A road.”

Luke changed direction and headed for it. When he reached the road, he followed it for several minutes. His connection to Franky felt stronger there.

“Franky, are you around here?”

[Spell Grimoire activated]

The black grimoire materialized in his hand.

[Message activated]

“Franky, if you can hear me, stay where you are. I’m coming.”

The spell had one obvious drawback: he couldn’t hear a response. He didn’t even know whether the message had gone through. He’d only used it once before, to contact his mother. And he couldn’t exactly practice on Artemis. She was a goddess.

“Fine. I don’t have a choice. Franky comes first.”

Franky could fly in his Wyvern form. He could already be miles away.

“I just hope the idiot stayed close to where he landed.”

“We’re talking about Franky, man,” Artemis said.

Luke followed the road. The sensation told him Franky had come this way, and the [Cloak of the Arcane Witch] let him keep up the pace without tiring as quickly.

Wagon tracks. Carriage ruts. This road had been in use for a while. The people who returned after Stage Two couldn’t have built a trade route this fast.

That left one possibility.

I must be on the New World continent. If that’s true, I just need to find Camlann and teleport back to the U.S.

He activated [Soul Infiltration]. The fragment of his soul was still with Angie. But all he saw was darkness.

Luke stopped. What’s going on? I can feel that Angie’s alive, but everything is black. Am I too far away from her?

The skill had worked with Serena even after Luke had traveled a massive distance during the event.

Maybe this really is the worst-case scenario. Maybe I’m on another planet.

He shoved the thought aside and picked up the pace. After half an hour of sprinting and leaping through the wilderness, Luke reached a roadside village. He stayed hidden among the trees and watched. The people looked human, at least.

”Yeah, Luke. This place is medieval as hell. There’s a guy shoveling horse shit, people loading fruit onto a wagon... You are definitely not in Maine,” Artemis said inside his head.

Definitely not.

”It finally happened. Your bad luck just hit a whole new tier of disaster. We’ve been isekai’d.”

Stop talking shit.

”Wanna bet, man? We got dumped into some random fantasy world.”

Luke removed his armor, bracers, and anything else that drew too much attention. His usual getup didn’t exactly scream friendly: a dark pirate cloak, a scarf covering the lower half of his face, and kukris sheathed at his sides.

I saw a few people carrying weapons. So that part probably won’t look too strange.

He changed into a simple, worn set of clothes from his storage item, something he’d worn when he lived aboard the ship. Once inside, he looked for a tavern. A few people glanced his way, but no one seemed alarmed. Travelers probably passed through all the time.

Luke took a seat at the bar, ordered a drink, and listened to the conversations around him. The people wore simple clothes. Some were covered in road dust, others in the grime of manual labor. The air smelled of firewood and beer. He heard talk of roadwork, mines, and new trade routes. Nothing about the event. Nothing about New Earth.

He ordered another drink and decided to test the waters.

“Rough event, huh? I’m still recovering.”

The bartender gave a distracted grunt.

“You know... things got back to normal pretty fast afterward.”

“Event?” the man asked, finally looking at him.

”Oops,” Luke, Artemis said.

“Never mind. Must be more tired than I thought.” Luke took another drink and went back to watching the room.

Luke went still.

”Artemis, these people were never in the Sunken Realms.”