Becoming the Dark Lord

Chapter 550: The Beautiful Elf Goddess

Luke had picked a room and was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling while practicing telekinesis. The letter was tucked safely inside his pocket dimension.

Just as he was about to sleep, a presence slipped into the room. Artemis.

"You spent all this time with the little version of me, a construct born from my intelligence," she said, taking a seat in the chair.

"That stone? Yeah… I spent quite a while with that thing."

"That personality was sent to you raw, nothing more than an echo of my existence. She spent some time absorbing your knowledge so she could speak to you more effectively."

Wait. That personality… was something unique?

That explained a lot.

"Was she useful? Or were you so slow and limited that you managed to ruin something powerful I created?" she asked, expression stone-cold.

"She was useful. Very useful."

The goddess narrowed her eyes. "I'm considering discarding the stone you're using and giving you a new one, something closer to my real personality. A fresh version. No memories."

"Hold on… what happens to the Artemis in my stone?"

"She's just a construct. She would be erased. Equivalent to death."

"No. I'm keeping this one. I don't want a new one."

The Artemis he knew would simply be wiped out and replaced.

"This one is outdated. Inefficient," the goddess said, rising and stepping toward him. "Give me the stone, human."

Luke placed a hand over it. "I'd rather keep her."

"I wasn't asking what you prefer. I'm ordering you to hand it over."

"I'm not giving it to you. She's useful."

"Useful? The version I'd give you would be more strategic, better suited to helping you. You are a creature behind the curve, intellectually speaking, and you need all the help you can get to honor the blood you carry."

"She taught me archery. Helped refine my aim. I can still learn a lot more from her."

Her expression only grew more rigid. "If you don't give me that stone, I won't teach you anything truly useful."

"I don't care."

"The sovereign Azazel wants you to grow in power, and I will not fail him," she replied, dead serious.

Silence stretched between them. Then a sharp snort escaped. Not from him. From her.

The snort turned into a laugh… then full-blown hysterics.

What?

"Gods, you should've seen your face," she managed between laughs.

He stared at her, stunned, because what in the actual hell was happening?

Suddenly she grabbed him and crushed him into a tight hug.

"What—?"

"That's for all the times you slammed the pendant and shut me up," she said.

Luke's brain was still trying to catch up.

"It's me, idiot," she added.

"A-Artemis?"

"The one and only, hehe" she said, smug.

Reality hit him like a brick.

"You damned woman!" he shouted, pulling out of her arms.

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She sat on his bed while he paced across the room. "It's you, you menace, and here I was actually worried."

"Aw, I loved hearing how 'useful' I am. 'Please don't erase her, I beg you,'" she said, mocking his voice and laughing again.

"And what was that crap at the dinner table?"

"I have a reputation to maintain, you know. I'm very wise and highly respected here."

"How the hell can you be the Artemis from the pendant and the goddess at the same time? And since when do you have a physical body? I thought you were some soul trapped in a giant stone or whatever."

"Physical projection, dear. Gods walk around all the time. We can have touch, texture, we can even bleed in battle. But sometimes it's just a projection or a clone. Who knows?" She waved it off. "My real self, or whatever's left of it, is sealed inside a stone. But I can make myself real with my powers. You make knives out of mana, after all."

She'd played him like a fool.

Luke dragged a hand down his face. "I can't believe I treated you respectfully."

"And you know what? Luke, did you ever stop to notice something?" Her voice dipped into something suggestive as she leaned forward just enough to display her chest. "This entire time… I was a big-breasted elf."

He looked away. She was absolutely messing with him.

"So what?"

She moved fast, too fast, and murmured right against his ear. "So what? Please. Deep down I know I check every box on your little fetish checklist. I know everything you looked up on the internet."

He recoiled, but she grabbed him from behind and held him in place with goddess-level strength.

"Let go of me, you lunatic."

"You're going to sit on my lap. Right now. I suffered an entire cursed year in that tutorial because of you, and you denied me food every damn time I asked. I'm getting my revenge."

"I am not sitting on your damn lap."

She didn't care what he said. She dragged him down with terrifying ease, and suddenly he was trapped, seated squarely on the goddess's lap. She snapped her fingers and a maid outfit materialized in midair beside a butler uniform.

"We can play so many things here."

"I'm not doing any of your insane fetishes."

"If you don't, I'll cast permanent erectile dysfunction on you."

"That isn't even a real spell."

"I'm a goddess. I make it real."

Luke let out a long breath. "I think I preferred the general who wanted to throw me into a volcano."

Artemis froze, then shoved him aside and narrowed her eyes toward the door.

"Gali's coming. That man is sneaky as hell, but lucky for us, I'm a hunter."

Minutes later, a knock echoed through the room.

"You may enter," she said, stone-faced again.

Gali stepped inside in humanoid form, gray and imposing. "Lady Artemis. I've had the teleportation matrix prepared. You depart for the chosen planet tomorrow."

"Thank you, Gali." She glanced at Luke with mock disdain. "I will make the chosen one suffer through training, extracting every ounce of potential so he may better serve the Sovereign."

"Excellent," Gali replied before taking his leave.

The door shut. Artemis lifted a finger to Luke's lips, then pressed the other hand to her ear.

"He's out of my sector now," she whispered, finally sighing.

"You maniac. You pretend to be serious?"

"They have no idea how insane I actually am. It's hilarious. An eternal joke." She burst into laughter.

It really was disturbingly on brand for her.

"Waste time training you? Absolutely not. We're heading to a Vegas-type world and doing a full Hangover adventure."

"I actually wanted the training, idiot. And I'm starting to think the volcano guy might've accidentally taught me something useful."

"Relax. I'll teach you a thing or two about hunting. I'll help you get that eye under control for combat, how about that?" She grinned. "But first, take off your clothes. We need to resolve your virginity situation."

"What?"

"We've got hours until the teleportation window opens. Plenty of time for sex."

"I'm not doing that… with you."

"Why not?"

"Because no."

"You didn't want training? This is excellent training. A once in a lifetime opportunity. Do you know how many people would pay to sleep with a goddess? And not just any goddess, a goddess elf."

"I'm sure a lot…"

"Then come on. Get undressed. Unless… oh." She smiled like a predator. "Unless you have feelings for a certain someone and don't want to betray how she feels about you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Should I undress first, then?" she asked sweetly.

"You're just messing with me."

"I'm not. We could enjoy ourselves all night. What do you say?"

"I'm not doing that. Not here. And not with you."

"No one will interrupt us. And no one will ever know." She tilted her head. "I can even put on the maid outfit. Interested?"

Luke sat down in the chair.

"Well, well," she said with a triumphant smirk. "Seems I hit the mark. Someone's got feelings. You should admit it."

In the end, the two spent the entire night arguing while Artemis tried every trick imaginable to coax him.

***

"Good luck on your hunt, little cat," the gray man said.

Luke and Artemis stood outside the palace, perched on an island surrounded by endless sea.

"The teleportation matrix will drop us near a labyrinth," Artemis explained. She wore different clothes now, something fit for travel, and an elegant bow rested across her back. "We'll explore it all the way to the end. That's where the treasure should be."

They stepped onto the sigil together, and in the blink of an eye, both vanished into light.