Becoming the Dark Lord

Chapter 531: A God’s Expectations

Layla and the group set up camp outside the temple, in the courtyard. Several hours had passed since the bastard went inside.

"Master Luke is taking a long time," Charlie said.

They had fully settled in, tents and all. Layla still couldn't believe she was actually at the bottom of an abyss, that she had gone along with something this insane.

This is that bastard's fault. He always drags me into trouble.

Angie, meanwhile, stayed on alert, her eyes never leaving the temple door.

"That guy is really taking his time. He drags me into every dangerous mess imaginable, and when it's finally my turn to satisfy my curiosity and see what's inside the temple, he goes, 'chatty necklace, stay here,'" Artemis complained to herself.

Layla scanned what remained of the village, hemmed in by forest and the yawning darkness of the abyss. Just thinking about the snakes sent a chill through her.

I hate snakes. And forests.

Her gaze shifted to the bastard's pet, a kind of baby dragon. She had seen a dragon once right after leaving the tutorial, but this one was different. That one had four legs. This one only had two.

"How did that guy even find you, pet?" Layla asked.

"I'm not a pet, you skinny rat."

"Skinny rat? You might have tried to insult me, but being called skinny is a huge compliment."

The creature lay stretched out on a tree branch near the tent, always staring in the same direction.

"I was just trying to make conversation. You keep staring at the temple door. I figured I'd try to ease your worries," Layla said.

"Me? Worried about the human?" the creature scoffed. "I'm not worried about him. I don't care about him."

"Then why are you guarding the door he went through?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, skinny rat. I don't like the human, I don't like the food he makes for me, I don't like his sister, and I don't consider him my friend."

There wasn't much for Layla to do. Charlie was on watch and was clearly far stronger than she was. So they waited, hour after hour, until the temple doors finally opened.

They all stood, weapons in hand. But only the bastard came out. Not a scratch on him.

"My lord, did you find what you were looking for?" Angie asked.

"I did. Something far beyond what I expected," he replied.

"So what now, are we all climbing out of this abyss like spider-men?" Artemis asked.

The bastard started explaining that he would need to stay there a while longer.

"I still have some things to finish inside the temple to fully claim the reward. You'll see me going in and out a few more times."

"I hope you get what you want, Master Luke. Can we enter the temple to help you?" Charlie asked.

"Unfortunately, only I can enter," he said.

"That's fine by me. I'll wait as long as you need," Angie replied.

The others nodded in agreement.

"And me?" Layla demanded.

"Oh, right. You're here too, Layla," the bastard said.

"Yeah, bastard. I got dragged into an abyss because of you. Where does that leave me?"

"You're free to do whatever you want. Good luck trying to get out of the abyss," he said, already walking away from the temple.

"Hey, hey. I don't have wings, and I can't climb. I need to know how long we're staying here," she said, stepping in front of him.

"We'll be here as long as necessary," he answered, walking past her again.

"Wait, bastard. At least tell me what's inside the temple."

"A super ancient demon god conqueror so old that some gods don't even believe he still exists," he replied without stopping.

"Sure, bastard. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to lie," she said.

And with that, the bastard went down the temple steps, crossed the village, and headed toward the forest. Before leaving, he had muttered something about monster parts and cores.

***

Vaelor walked through the interior of his temple. It had been a long time since he'd truly gotten his hands dirty. These days, his existence was buried in meetings and bureaucratic decisions. His main body remained in another universe, left on autopilot. It would handle simple tasks there while the bulk of his consciousness stayed here.

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He lit several torches, adjusted the forging equipment, and began laying out everything he would need. He was about to do something he hadn't done in ages: create a Spectral Beast Core. He needed to feel the magic of the process again, to remember it in his bones.

It had been several Eras since I last taught this or forged a core like this myself.

Still, he would not let this opportunity slip by. The Primordial of Darkness himself would be judging his work, and Vaelor intended to impress him. He would make Luke Moon forge the most powerful core possible.

"What do you think of my son?" a voice asked.

It was ancient. Deep. So deep that for a brief moment Vaelor dropped the tools in his hands.

The Primordial of Darkness. He's here.

Standing at the entrance to the forge was the Primordial of Darkness himself.

What do I even say to him? Do I tell him I'm a fan of his legends? That his conquests inspired my own?

Vaelor was excited. Far more excited than he should have been. Still, he hid it behind a composed expression and forced his face into solemn calm.

"Sovereign, I didn't realize you were still here. I thought you had already departed," Vaelor said, bowing deeply.

He said son?

Vaelor replayed the Primordial's words over three hundred times in the span of a heartbeat. He hadn't misheard.

"If I may say so, I'm surprised that he is your son. Though that's foolish of me. Of course Azazel the Conqueror would have many children."

Azazel stepped fully into the forge. "No. I only have one. That one."

One?

Vaelor's thoughts nearly short-circuited. As he watched the Primordial casually handle his forging equipment, he swore to himself that if Azazel touched anything for too long, he would lock it away in a dimensional vault as a sacred relic. It would become his greatest treasure.

"If he is your son, that explains many things," Vaelor said carefully. "I was… somewhat deceived in that contract. I should have used divine-grade analysis skills to examine every detail, but…"

"You underestimated a Rank E being," the Primordial interrupted calmly, studying the tools. "Do not make that mistake again, Vaelor. In every war I've fought, I treated the weakest enemy with the same respect as the strongest."

"I won't," Vaelor replied at once.

When the Primordial set one of the tools down, Vaelor had to restrain himself from snatching it up and carrying it straight back to his castle.

"You and Luke Moon will be working together for a long time," Azazel continued, a hint of amusement in his voice. "So perhaps, in time, you'll even find an opportunity to repay him with a small punishment, just enough to teach him a lesson."

"You're right, Sovereign. My apprentice smith and he will have to work closely together."

"A king is not a king merely because of a crown, but because of power," the Primordial said. "And a Conqueror is only a Conqueror if he commands an army worthy of his ambitions. Yet among all of that, there is something vital that many overlook. The smith."

Azazel snapped his fingers. The forge ignited on its own, roaring to life. "What use is an army without weapons? And what use are weapons if they are so weak your soldiers still die?"

Vaelor still did not fully understand how this universe treated demons, at least not within this dimensional layer. But if he wanted an apprentice here, and other smiths to spread his art, then placing them in service to the Primordial's son on his path of ascension was the best thing that could have happened. Something even more legendary than his own achievements.

I just hope you don't die during this fusion, Luke Moon.

All of these expectations would mean nothing if Luke Moon died prematurely at the very first and most important step. When the core was complete, it would be a gamble. Either he devoured it, or it devoured him.

***

Luke walked through the abyss alone, beyond the area behind the temple. This part of the chasm was unfamiliar to him, untouched territory. Vaelor had given him clear guidance. First, Luke needed more contact with beasts that lacked intelligence, and this place was crawling with them. He was meant to watch them hunt, feed, and fight. To understand the primal instinct that drove them.

He also needed to gather powerful ingredients. To learn how to extract the best parts of a beast. When monstrous serpents slithered toward him, he met them head-on with his kukris. One by one, the creatures fell.

[You have slain an Abyss King Hatchling - Lvl 68]

[You have slain an Abyss King Hatchling - Lvl 68]

[You have slain an Abyss King Hatchling - Lvl 68]

Luke studied the notifications.

Hatchling?

That meant somewhere out there was something far more dangerous. Something far stronger. He stared at the corpses and activated [Witch's Gaze]. A smile crept onto his face as his vision shifted.

[Witch's Gaze (Uncommon)]: The Witch channels mana into her eyes, sharpening her vision and attuning it to the energies around her. While the skill is active, she can perceive objects infused with mana, allowing her to identify magical items, hidden traps, concealed mechanisms, and disguised passages. When focusing on thin surfaces, the mana concentrated in her eyes can reveal faint outlines and shapes on the other side, though only partially. A Witch must always be observant and cunning; this ability reflects her innate curiosity and her talent for seeing beyond what is obvious.

The skill highlighted the most valuable parts of each corpse.

"Looks like finding powerful magical ingredients won't be a problem at all."

The Spectral Beast would inherit part of the power, or at least the ferocity, of whatever he used as materials. That was what the Demon Blacksmith had told him. Before attempting the fusion that would involve his own body, Luke needed to practice creating weaker fusion cores.

He took the eye out of the system inventory, the reward he had received for killing the Midnight King.

[Eye of Sariel (Unique)

Description: They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. This one is a shattered fragment of it. The Eye of Sariel carries the wounded remnant of a being that was once an archangel of immense power. Over time, its greatness crumbled, reducing it to a thief of bodies, desperate to continue existing yet incapable of understanding its own purpose.

Instead of guiding the lesser beings back to their home, Sariel chose to walk among them, taking what was never his. What he failed to foresee was that among those lesser beings existed something cunning, patient, and malevolent. A demon.

This eye is all that remains. Not redemption, only echoes.

Enchantments:

[Sariel's Identify (Unique)]: Sariel possessed an absolute gift of analysis, capable of seeing souls, systems, and hidden truths. The fragment preserved within this eye, though weakened, allows the user to analyze items and reveal deep information. However, the quality and depth of the analysis vary according to the complexity of the target, reflecting what remains of Sariel's true power.

[Rank Skill Devourer (Unique)]: Even reduced to a fragment, the eye retains a trace of Sariel's ancient hunger for knowledge and power. It can devour a Rank skill, absorbing its essence and claiming that power as its own.

Requirement: SoulBound]

Just the Eye of Sariel is enough to create a core. But if I can find the Abyss King, I might obtain another powerful ingredient.

He lifted his gaze toward the vast forest stretching through the abyss and made his decision. Opening his system interface, Luke tapped the level 70 skill notification for his class. Five new skill options appeared.