Becoming the Dark Lord

Chapter 565: Bridges of Martyrdom

Luke had been moving across the bridges for hours. Most of the chaos was deeper inside the forest, where people kept pushing in, desperate for bracelets. Below him, the river had calmed. Fewer crocodiles now, the water growing shallower the farther he went.

"A big bridge."

He lunged for it. It was one of the ones he'd used when he first entered this place. The moment he landed, he froze. An arrow hissed out of the foliage. Luke dove sideways, rolled, and dodged another volley. He deflected one with his dagger as it came spinning toward his face.

"At least one of them hit," a voice said as its owner stepped out.

Damn it.

He pressed a hand to his side. The arrow had nearly grazed him. Nearly. But not enough to stop it from getting in.

Please don't be poisoned.

"Children," a man called.

Luke realized the bridges around him were filling with people. A middle-aged man stood at the entrance, his tone almost sermonlike. "The system has granted you a green bracelet. Do not waste this chance. There is no sin in killing unbelievers."

"Yes, Father," the others answered.

Luke took one look and reached a single conclusion: he was screwed.

He bolted toward the exit. Out of arrows, surrounded, bleeding. Perfect.

A barrier flared into existence. A split second later, the man they called Father lit up, his entire body exploding with blinding radiance. Luke saw nothing but white and made a split-second choice: he threw himself off the bridge toward a lower one.

He landed on thorns.

"Son of a—!" He staggered up, bristling with sharp points from head to toe. "Thorn Mutation, right? Or some damn variant?"

The bridge was made of wood, after all. People were rushing toward him across the bridges, arrows cutting through the air.

"Brothers, we need to secure the green bracelet first! Then we deal with this heretic!"

"Yes, Brother Brad!" someone shouted back.

Luke sprinted along the bridge. A bigger man blocked the path, gripping a shovel like a weapon.

"There's no point running. Your destiny is to serve the Father!" he bellowed.

Luke charged straight at him, weaving past blasts of wind and earth fired by others on the bridges behind. He dodged the shovel swings and drove his knife between the man's legs, forcing a scream out of him.

"Here's my devotion," Luke said flatly.

The man cried out again. But before Luke could finish the fight, a golden sphere slammed into him and hurled him backwards. He caught a rope, swung for a moment, then dropped when he realized he was being boxed in.

"Thank you, Cindy. You saved him," he heard Brad say somewhere above.

Luke hit the water below.

I'm coming for every one of you when I get out of this.

The water here barely reached his knees.

"One way or another, the bracelet will belong to one of you, children," the Father declared.

Wish I had even one arrow left.

Luke ducked behind a tree trunk. Climbing back up wasn't possible, too many of them waiting above. Going deeper into the forest meant wading into deeper currents, and that wasn't an option either.

I'll have to circle around through the shallow area or scale the stone wall.

He pulled out the arrow lodged in him and checked it. Relief washed over him. No poison. He'd fled assuming there might be. Kneeling in the water, he let himself breathe for a moment.

"Where is he?" someone called from overhead.

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"Damn it, it's too dark down there."

Luke stayed completely still.

"Coward!" they shouted.

You all jumped me with a mob. Sure.

"No matter. Gabriel will retrieve the bracelet for us," the Father said calmly.

"You shouldn't have fallen down there, you wretch," growled the heavy man Luke had stabbed earlier. "You'll pay for that now."

Gabriel?

"Gabriel, wake up! Gabriel!" the Father shouted. "Your meal has arrived!"

Luke heard something. Movement below the bridges. Something big.

Gabriel Domínguez?

He plucked a thorn from his cheek. His other hand pressed against his wounded side.

He's really here?

A sudden instinct made Luke drop down, and he obeyed without thinking. He rolled aside just as a heavy mass crashed into the spot he'd been standing.

"Damn…" he muttered.

[Demonic Perception] had saved his life in the darkness. The tree beside him had a hollow at its base. Luke splashed through the water. A roar echoed across the flooded forest.

"It's him!" someone shouted above.

"Kill him, Brother Gabriel! Devour him!"

A boulder, someone had actually thrown a boulder, hit the water nearby. It was bigger than Luke. And then he saw it. A towering figure stood ahead, nearly three meters tall. Built like an overgrown bodybuilder, shoulders broad enough to block the path. Muscles bulging, clothes torn. Blood smeared across the fabric. His body looked warped, off, wrong.

What the hell…? I've never seen a human that tall.

He stood about as tall as that orc general Luke had fought before. The man roared, and Luke bolted. Instinctively his hand reached for an arrow that wasn't there.

"Shit"

He ran through the area. Bodies lay everywhere. Some were missing chunks as if something had taken large bites out of them.

A cannibal. He's a cannibal.

Gabriel closed the distance with terrifying speed.

He's fast. Some kind of skill?

A piece of broken trunk came flying toward him. Luke dove aside as Gabriel charged, slamming into him and sending him crashing into the shallow water below. His bow and backpack went flying. Luke rolled away from a stomping strike that shattered the log beneath it. Reaching for a knife, he realized it too had fallen into the water.

Great. Empty hands.

The giant exhaled, eyes completely devoid of emotion. He looked at Luke with one simple word.

"Food…"

And lunged.

Luke slipped past a punch and struck back at his leg, then his stomach. It was like hitting a wall of pure muscle.

"You're trained, you bastard," he muttered, dodging again.

Gabriel's fist punched into a tree hard enough to make it shudder. Luke targeted joints instead, one, then another, landing fast, precise hits.

"No muscle there." He struck the side of the leg again, looped around behind him, and hit the back of the knee.

Domínguez grunted, stumbling. Luke kicked the leg out from under him and sprinted through the water. Spotting one of his knives, he snatched it up and turned toward a nearby corpse.

A quiver!

He tore one free and dashed toward his bow. Gabriel charged. Luke fired repeatedly. The giant raised his arms to shield his face and kept coming. Luke rolled aside and loosed more shots.

Then he sprinted forward, driving a kick into one of the arrows to push it deeper before stabbing into Gabriel's torso again and again, fast and relentless. His knife scraped across the man's forearms as Gabriel tried to block.

With a sudden twist, Gabriel hurled a corpse at him. Luke dodged, gathered stamina into his fist, and drove it into the giant's abdomen, sinking into the wound. Gabriel roared. Luke didn't stop, punch after punch until the giant dropped to his knees. Luke's rage took over. Strike after strike landed, each one fueled by fury.

Domínguez toppled backward.

"Help Brother Gabriel! He's losing!" someone shouted from above, following the sound of struggling.

"Brother Gabriel can't lose!"

Luke kicked Gabriel's head aside and sprang onto him like a wildcat, driving his knife down again and again until the giant stopped moving.

[You have slain a Human…] *4,553,121 IP earned*

"What's happening?! It suddenly got quiet!" someone called out.

"I'm right here, you bastard!" Luke yelled, scaling a tree. A man screamed as Luke's knife found its mark.

[You have slain a Human…] *84,274 IP earned*

"No way… he beat Gabriel!" another voice cried, just as an arrow dropped him.

[You have slain a Human…] *79,752 IP earned*

Luke sprinted across the bridges, firing arrows as he moved.

"Brothers, help me!" someone yelled, cut short as another arrow struck him.

[You have slain a Human…] *71,485 IP earned*

People fled across the bridges. Luke cut past several, taking them down and knocking others off into the rushing waters below.

"Kill him! Children, kill him!" Father shouted, seeing Luke drenched in blood and charging like a predator, lean and relentless.

Luke leapt toward him and drove his knife in.

The Father screamed. Lightning struck Luke from the side.

"Cindy! Heal me!" Father shouted as others rushed to shield him.

"You shouldn't have hurt our father!" the followers cried, no longer running, closing in around Luke.

"Oh yeah? Screw you and screw him. I'm killing every last one of you!" Luke snarled.

"I am chosen!" Father screamed.

Luke aimed an arrow at him.

"Kill him!"

But before the shot landed, a deafening rumble shook the air. Luke had just enough time to see every bridge collapsing beneath them as a massive wall of water surged forward. Then everything went dark.