Becoming the Dark Lord

Chapter 564: Bridges Above Death

Yut climbed along the face of the cliff.

"Isn't this dangerous, Yut? We're getting close to the wet zone!" Somchai shouted from below.

"Dangerous is not trying."

He looked down. They were incredibly high, the entire Green Bracelet region spread out beneath them. Only the distant treetops were visible, far below like a dark ocean.

"Those bastards must be killing each other down there, jumping from bridge to bridge," he laughed.

Yut had already secured his bracelet by luck more than effort. They'd run into some poor fool stumbling out with one, and Yut had taken it. But he had no intention of setting foot on those unstable bridges or risking his men. No, Yut had a plan. A plan that would solve most of their problems and get rid of a hefty portion of the competition.

"Use your damn brain, Somchai," he muttered as he climbed.

They circled the cliff, entering the rain-soaked territory that marked the challenge area. One slip here and the fall alone would kill a man.

"If any of you fall and the drop doesn't finish you, I will," he warned without turning.

When they finally reached a higher stretch of terrain, a narrow plateau with scattered forest, Yut stopped to catch his breath.

"A little geography never hurt anyone," he said, peering down the cliff. "Come on."

They kept moving until the terrain opened up, and Yut froze with a grin stretching across his face.

"I knew it. Bless the system, or God, or whatever this thing is."

Spread out before them was a massive dam, built of thick timber beams barely holding back an enormous reservoir.

Second Bracelet: Green Bracelet

One of the dams in this region has collapsed, flooding the forest. The only way to travel is across the wooden bridges. Search for one of the scattered green bracelets, but be careful: the new river system is filled with crocodiles that will attack anyone who falls in.

The bridges are fragile, and other participants won't hesitate to sabotage them. Good luck. The bracelet or death awaits.

"The sneaky system left a clue. There were other dams," Yut said. He crouched and picked up a rock. "In that case, we just need to destroy this one."

He considered himself perfect in combat. His primary class allowed him to wield Krabi krabong, and his secondary class was marksman. And by pure luck, one of the two skills he'd been allowed to unlock during this challenge happened to be one of his favorites.

[Ballistic Throw (Epic)]: A Siege Marksman cannot always rely on his weapons. Sometimes he must become the weapon. By channeling Stamina and Mana into a stone, he can throw it with devastating force, strong enough to punch a hole in a fortress wall. The more power stored in the rock, the stronger the impact. But be warned: overcharging may injure your arm.

He focused on the stone, feeding more and more power into it. The rock began to glow. Yut grinned as the energy built, feeling his muscles tighten, stamina and mana flowing into the stone until it pulsed like a living thing. When it was ready, he hurled it.

The stone shot across the air and struck the dam with a thunderous crack.

"Now every bastard down there is going to die!"

The dam ruptured.

"Yut, what the hell!" Somchai screamed.

"If any of you die, I'll kill you myself!" Yut shouted back, sprinting toward the edge as he laughed.

He leapt from the cliff, scraping his blade against the rock wall to slow his fall. As he dropped through open air, he watched the massive wave surge into the forest below. One dam after another would collapse now that the last one had fallen. With a single strike, he would wipe out the competition and collect the bracelets from the dead.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"That's how we do things in Bangkok, you sons of bitches!" Yut plummeted toward the forest, laughing wildly.

***

Luke darted across the wooden bridges. By midday, after hours of navigating the flooded zone, he finally understood just how dangerous the place really was.

Participants were cutting down bridges left and right, turning the path into a shifting trap. He couldn't return the way he'd come anymore. Climbing the trees wasn't an option either; they were slick and hard as stone, despite being covered in moss and old wood. Below, the river that had swallowed the forest churned with crocodiles.

He leapt from one bridge to another, swung underneath it like a monkey with his dagger clenched between his teeth, then dropped straight onto someone crossing the walkway below.

"No!" the person shouted, but too late.

[You have slain a Human…] *77,848 IP earned*

Luke sheathed the dagger and kept running. Three more people were visible ahead, each on a different bridge. He nocked an arrow and fired. One of the walkways snapped loose from its ropes, leaving its occupant dangling by one hand.

"You bastard!" the man yelled as Luke sprinted past.

Luke fired again, striking the man's leg. He slipped and plunged into the river, where crocodiles surged toward him.

"I don't get points for indirect kills…" Luke muttered as he ran.

My wire skill would've been perfect here.

Up ahead, he finally saw a bracelet. It hung from a vine at the center of four narrow wooden bridges, with crocodiles waiting below for whoever missed the jump. Luke raced across the bridges. A bolt of lightning shot toward him. He dove and rolled onto another bridge.

"You're the bastard cutting the bridges, aren't you!" the lightning user shouted.

"I guess I'm one of them," Luke replied.

Above him, an orange glow pulsed. He took off running. A fireball detonated behind him, tearing through the bridge. Luke hurled himself to the next walkway and fired midair. The fire mage screamed as he fell into the water, disappearing beneath the thrashing river.

Luke sprinted toward the bracelet. He fired another arrow, hitting the vine. The bracelet fell into the water and drifted away.

"You son of a—!" the lightning mage yelled.

"Go fetch it yourself!" Luke shouted back.

He spotted another bracelet nearby and rushed toward it, only to watch it vanish midair.

What?

The bridge beside him dipped slightly under a weight that wasn't his. Footsteps. An invisible opponent. Luke tried to draw another arrow.

Out. Damn it.

He ran across the bridges, tracking only the slight movements in the planks as they shifted under the unseen man's steps. Either the enemy's invisibility was better than anything Luke had dealt with, or his own missing skills were making everything worse.

And the rain wasn't helping. Of all the things he hated here, the endless rain was the worst, slapping against the water, drowning out the subtle sounds he needed to survive. Luke slashed through a bridge rope with his dagger. A shout answered him. A plank ahead bent downward. The invisible man was climbing up.

Luke threw a knife.

"Ah, shit!" someone shouted as a knife hung suspended in midair, caught on the outline of an invisible figure.

Luke threw another.

[You have slain a Human…] *133,848 IP earned*

He grabbed the dead man's arm as the body lifted slightly, still faintly shimmering. The guy wore both a yellow and a green bracelet. Luke tore the bracelets off and let the crocodiles finish what was left.

He slid the green one onto his own wrist and exhaled in relief.

[Green Bracelet acquired!]

[Bracelets in your possession: 2/6]

Finally got the damn thing.

"Try a taste of your own poison!" a voice roared. The lightning mage.

A bolt ripped into one of the bridge ropes. Another struck the second. The bridge began to fall apart beneath him. Luke dropped. He flung himself toward a nearby tree, burying his knife into the trunk to catch his fall.

Lightning ripped toward him. He scrambled up the tree, moving almost spiderlike around the trunk, dodging every strike as the mage tried to pin him down. Then Luke hurled a knife that hit its mark. He leapt to a neighboring branch and landed behind the mage.

"No, please!" the man screamed as Luke grabbed him.

"Please my ass!" Luke kicked him off the edge.

"Nooo!"

Crocodiles surged. Lightning flickered blindly across the water as the mage vanished beneath it. The river carried away whatever remained. Now came the hard part. He still had to figure out how the hell to get out of that maze of collapsing bridges.