Becoming the Dark Lord

Chapter 557: Forest of Assassins

Luke sprinted down the street, slipping behind rubble whenever he could. Most people had already fled into the forest. The place had turned into a killing ground, and archers had the advantage here. He dashed toward a massive building. The main hall was wide open, and in the center sat a single treasure chest. People had been getting weapons from chests like that.

Luke ran harder. The chest was inside what looked like an old restaurant, tables and chairs scattered everywhere. He caught sight of others hiding, crawling between the overturned furniture. Arrows started flying in from outside. Bodies lay near the chest, slumped where arrows had taken them down.

He grabbed a table and used it as a shield, rushing forward.

"The chest is mine, you jerk! I've been waiting here half an hour!" someone yelled.

Luke kept running, weaving past arrows. He shoved the table toward the entrance and slammed the double doors shut to block the archers' line of sight.

A man bolted for the chest. Two others rose from cover, sprinting after him.

"It's mine!" another shouted.

Luke snatched two arrows off the floor and charged. When the first man reached for the chest, Luke tackled him, knocking him down. With one of the arrows, he jabbed hard enough to stop the man from getting up again.

The other two froze.

"The chest is mine," Luke said. "If you want it, come take it."

They chose not to. Both backed off and ran.

Luke opened the chest while the downed man groaned, still trying to crawl. A blue light floated out, spinning like a slot machine, cycling through images bow, spear, whip, and more. Behind him, the man made one last desperate attempt to reach a nearby arrow. Luke pressed his foot against the arrow already lodged in the man and forced it deeper, ending the struggle for good.

[You have slain a Human…]

The chest chimed. The spinning projections slowed… and an image of a dagger appeared. Luke tapped it. A dagger materialized in his hand, solid and perfectly balanced.

"Perfect."

***

Luke ran toward the forest. Night had fallen. The day had slipped past so quickly he barely noticed it, too focused on surviving and hunting to track the sun. It didn't take long for groups to form uneasy alliances, temporary truces, packs of desperate people trying not to die. He reached a narrow creek and knelt, drinking quickly. The heat in this place clung to him like a second skin.

He soaked his shirt in the water; if he needed to ration liquid later, he could always wring out the fabric for moisture. A noise snapped through the trees. Luke climbed the nearest trunk, silent, settling into the branches. His dagger glinted faintly in his left hand. Below, a man was dragging a woman across the forest floor.

"A gift, yes… a gift," the man muttered. "They locked me in that place over a few little things. I was going to be there forever. But the system god freed me. Me and my friends. Now we're all on this island."

"P-please, I just want to go home," the woman whispered, trembling.

"This is our home now. God said so. The island is our home."

Luke dropped behind him like a shadow and drove the blade into the back of the man's skull. The body jerked, blood spraying as it toppled sideways.

[You have slain a Human…]

The woman screamed and bolted in blind panic. Luke opened his mouth to tell her to stop then didn't. She'd already given away his position to anyone listening. He moved on.

From a distance, he saw fire spreading between the trees, orange light flickering against the night. Something glowed in the sky above a village deeper in the forest. Not worth approaching. Not now.

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He wasn't gaining experience. No rewards, no progression everything was locked. The only resources worth fighting for were the chests, but every one he found after earning his dagger had already been looted.

An hour later, a scream echoed somewhere nearby. He went to check. A woman in a long coat stood in a clearing. Beside her, several men were suspended in thick webs, struggling helplessly.

"Naughty little boy," she cooed to one of them. "You weren't supposed to scream." She drove a spear straight through his chest.

Another man crawled out of a web, crying. "Please, let me go, please—"

Her jaw unhinged slightly and she spat a ball of silk, pinning him instantly.

"No escaping. The meat tastes better after you suffer."

Luke backed away quietly.

How the hell did she get skills? From a chest… or are power-ups unlocked some other way?

Enemies with powers had a massive advantage and he had no idea how many of them were out there.

***

Cindy had been running through the forest for hours. She was exhausted, shaken, and still trying to process what had happened. One moment she'd been a normal woman working at a consulting firm, and the next she had been dragged into this nightmare of a place. She'd been captured earlier, hauled to a creek by a stranger only to watch that same man drop lifeless when someone struck him from behind.

She hadn't been able to breathe since. A laugh drifted through the trees, low and unsettling. She froze.

Cindy didn't want to die. She forced herself forward, stumbling as she ran. One of her shoes had been lost in the struggle, and every step sent a spike of pain through her bare foot. The laugh came again, closer.

"Beautiful," a man's voice said.

He stepped into view a tall figure with a face marked by old scars. His expression twisted into something she didn't understand.

"Don't run," he murmured. "Please."

Her legs buckled. She sank to the ground with no strength left to flee.

"I'll take good care of you, sweetheart. Don't worry." He crouched beside her, brushing her hair with a familiarity that turned her stomach. "Ten years in solitary teach a man to cherish what's his."

"P-please…" Her voice cracked.

"I won't hurt you too much. That's the best promise I can make."

He moved toward her.

"No—!" she tried to scream.

"Quiet!" he snapped. "Why do you reject me? Is it because of how I look? Is that it? Why do you all—"

A sharp sound cut him off. His words strangled mid-sentence. He slumped sideways, collapsing on the forest floor. A spear jutted from his head.

Footsteps rustled through the underbrush. A man emerged elderly, expression calm, almost kind. He smiled at her as though they were meeting in a peaceful village and not a slaughterfield.

"Do not fear, child," he said gently, pulling the spear free.

Cindy couldn't speak. She couldn't move.

"I am a man who received a mission from God." His tone was soft, warm, almost rehearsed. He knelt in front of her. "Are you badly hurt?"

He carried a handmade satchel woven from leaves and cloth scraps. From it, he withdrew a canteen.

"Drink. If you dehydrate out here, you'll die long before any of the faithless find you."

To reassure her, he took a sip himself. "See? Just water."

She still didn't move, so he tipped the canteen carefully, letting water touch her lips.

"You must decide, Cindy," he said quietly.

"H-how… how do you know my name?"

"I know many things. God shows me what I need." He rose and extended a hand toward her. "Take my hand and live. Or stay here alone until another monster finds you."

More figures stepped out of the forest behind him. Ordinary people, frightened, injured, lost like her.

She screamed before she could stop herself.

"It's all right," the old man assured her. "They are just strays like you." He placed a hand on his chest. "I was once called Antonio Brandt. But you may call me Father."

With trembling fingers, Cindy took his hand.

"Children," the man said, looking back at the group behind him, "alone, you are weak. But if you follow the Father's guidance… we can move this island's game in ways none of them expect."

***

Luke checked the counter again.

Objective: Remain among the living.

Living Participants: 2492 / 2500

During the first few hours, the number had plummeted. Now it crawled downward at a sluggish, uneasy pace. Daylight had returned. Luke sat perched high in a tree, watching the forest breathe below him.

[Objective successfully completed!]

The twenty-four hours were up.

Next Challenge: Bracelet Collection!

This island is divided into three zones, each tied to a specific stage of the challenge. As each stage is completed, its corresponding zone will begin to sink into the ocean, pulled toward a massive vortex from which nothing escapes… and nothing survives.

Your goal is to survive for three months and collect six bracelets of different colors.

They will appear during Special Events that alter the island's environment, creating new dangers and new trials. At the end of the three months, only one person will be allowed to leave the island the one who gathers all six bracelets.

May the strongest among you survive. Good luck… and welcome to the Battle Royale.