Becoming the Dark Lord

Chapter 570: Hunted in Blackwater

Luke and Zoe stared at the river. The water was pitch-dark. Five minutes passed before they saw movement in the distance, several people diving in, vanishing beneath the surface. Others, panicked, were harming themselves at the shoreline in desperation. They stepped back. Luke set down his bag, removed his bow, keeping only the machete. He pulled off his boots and jacket, anything that might get in the way.

"Don't tell me you can't swim," he said.

"I can. I'm just afraid of drowning."

"Afraid of heights, afraid of water. Wasn't your job supposed to be dangerous?"

"If I'm going to die here, I'd rather not go by falling apart on the rocks or suffocating," she muttered.

Luke stripped off his shirt. "If you use stamina as fuel, depending on how much you've got left, you can stay underwater for forty minutes to an hour."

"Are you still keeping this truce down there, Sariel?" she asked. "Or are we supposed to try killing each other underwater?"

"There are already too many people trying to kill us up here. We keep the truce, then split in the next zone."

"Good luck to both of us, then," Zoe said.

She shed the last pieces of her light armor, down to underwear, and dove in. She sank fast. Luke followed, dropping straight downward and focusing on [Demonic Perception]. The river was deep. Very deep. The only weapon on him was the machete strapped to his thigh. He kept descending. Despite its depth, the river wasn't wide.

It should be easy since it's narrow… but knowing this place, there's a catch.

Massive underwater plants blocked much of the way, giant strands of algae long as trees. Zoe swam ahead, using her sword's orange glow as a light source. She couldn't see in the dark the way Luke could. When she reached the bottom, she found nothing but a thick layer of silt.

Is that it?

She glanced back, just as confused. Then her feet touched the mud, and she was pulled straight down. Luke saw a sudden flare of light before the hole sealed itself like a curtain. Seconds later, Zoe burst back through the shimmering veil and motioned urgently for him to follow. Luke dove. Passing through the muddy barrier, he froze at the sight before him.

A massive cavern spread out beneath the island, a whole hidden biome. Everything glowed faintly: aquatic plants, drifting spores, great curtains of algae swaying like trees in a false breeze.

Zoe pointed toward the landscape, shrugging, as if to say she had no idea where to begin.

I can last almost an hour without breathing. Guess we explore.

They swam side by side deeper into the biome. For fifteen minutes they navigated through coral-like forests and algae trunks. Shapes moved in the distance, other participants swimming among the shadows. Some of the plants bore fruit, corn-like strands, and clusters of bright orange grapes that pulsed with bioluminescence. Zoe led the way. Eventually they reached a crater. At its center sat an enormous oyster. When it opened, instead of a pearl they saw…

The blue bracelet.

They circled the creature. It seemed dormant.

Charlie could've grabbed it easily with those chains of hers.

Zoe volunteered to retrieve it while Luke kept watch. The moment she lifted the bracelet free, the oyster snapped shut. Luke braced himself, forcing the upper shell open just enough for her to pull away. Then they retreated.

We need one more. Or are you planning to leave without me?

He spoke in his mind while gesturing underwater. Zoe extended the bracelet toward him, offering it. Luke shook his head. She slipped the bracelet onto her arm, then pointed at Luke as if saying, 'Let's go find yours'.

They moved through the flooded forest, half-swimming, half-wading. Bodies drifted in the water, leaving thin trails of red behind them. Luke signaled for Zoe to keep her eyes open. A moment later they spotted a creature shaped like a shark tearing into one of the corpses.

This place never disappoints.

Two of the creatures turned and swam toward them.

Fighting in water is a nightmare.

Luke grabbed the first by the snout and forced his blade in. Zoe rose behind him, her sword igniting in a bright orange glow as she drove it into the second creature. The wound hissed, bubbling as the shark thrashed. Once both were dealt with, Luke glanced at her sword as they swam onward. She had a flame-based skill. One that released a burst of fire, and another that heated the blade itself, useful for both damage and light.

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Between the trees, half-submerged, they found a massive oyster. It was empty.

Someone was here already.

They kept moving until they found another hidden among thick algae. Zoe pried the oyster open while Luke held it steady, stopping it from clamping shut. She pulled out the bracelet, and he fastened it to his arm.

[Bracelets Found: 4/6]

Just two left.

There were still two months remaining in the event. Which meant the last trials would be long, and brutal. They swam upward, but the algae around them suddenly began to writhe. One tendril slammed into Zoe, knocking her sideways. Luke blocked the next strike with his blade. He spun as he cut, but more tendrils reached for them like living ropes.

Zoe was yanked downward. Another strand wrapped around Luke's neck, tightening. He kicked away, only for another to snag his ankle. He sliced it off.

What the hell…

More and more tendrils wrapped around his arms, legs, throat, dragging him under. Luke slashed through them as fast as he could, sinking deeper.

Where is it? Where's the source?

Then he saw her. A woman hiding in the kelp, a wand in hand, its tip glowing faintly.

A plant manipulator.

He swam toward her. She waved the wand, sending a surge of algae straight at him. Luke pushed through, cutting what he could, then Zoe appeared beside him, her incandescent sword carving a path. They almost reached the mage, but the algae pulled her away, vanishing into the dark. Luke tapped Zoe's arm and pointed upward. Fighting in a plant mage's domain was suicide, and they both knew it.

They swam toward the surface.

[Only 15 minutes remain. Currents will intensify.]

The water grew heavier, cloudier. Luke and Zoe used the cavern ceiling to guide their way back. When they finally emerged from the kelp forest, they reached a vast cave lit by bioluminescent plants. In the distance, shapes were swimming toward them.

That's not good. Not human.

Luke and Zoe pushed away from the approaching shapes, only to spot something above them. A humanoid creature… almost like a mermaid, but with an octopus-like tail instead of fins. More appeared, circling them with smooth, unnerving movements. Farther ahead, people were fighting, and losing, being dragged away by the creatures.

One of them dove down at Luke's leg. Its mouth opened wide, rows of sharp teeth closing in. Luke felt the bite but drove his blade into the creature's face, kicking away from it.

[You have slain Siren Selmarine – Lvl 62] *92,456 IP earned*

More of the creatures began to surround them as Luke and Zoe fought back, forcing them away. She had the advantage with her blade. Then the current shifted violently, dragging everyone downward toward the underwater forest. The creatures clung to anything they could reach.

And then the algae moved. Not again, for fuck's sake!

Luke grabbed one attacker by the neck, keeping it from biting him, and took it down. Two others dragged him lower. Through the murky water he spotted the creatures surging toward a plant mage hiding among the algae. The woman panicked, making the entire mass writhe around her.

Luke appeared behind her, struck once, then pushed away, letting the current carry him off. The mage flailed as the creatures closed in, her own algae turning chaotic as fear overtook her. Luke cut his way through anything blocking his path while others swarmed the mage behind him. Zoe broke free of the algae and swam upward.

They passed through the muddy veil, and suddenly a brutal current seized them. The river hurled them through the darkness, smashing them against branches and anything else in the way. Luke could only see brief flashes of Zoe's glowing blade as she slashed aside whatever drifted close.

Shit. Wherever this current is taking us, it can't be good!

They slammed together, Luke losing his machete as he grabbed onto a rock. Zoe clung to his waist. People rushed past them, helpless bodies swept along with terrified expressions.

Don't try to fight the current! He tried to tell her.

They held onto the rock while mud, branches, debris, everything, roared past them. Fifteen long minutes of chaos.

[The Blue Bracelet Challenge has ended! If you didn't obtain yours, don't worry. You can always claim one from someone who has it.]

Another notification followed.

[Enter the island's Second Zone and await the next announcement.]

The current abruptly weakened. Luke's stamina was dangerously close to empty, so he stopped using it to hold his breath. If it hit zero, he wouldn't even have the strength to swim. His breath held purely by instinct now, lungs burning. He glanced at Zoe; she was thrashing, hands at her neck, disoriented and running out of time. Her blade had dimmed, she no longer knew which way was up.

It would be the easiest thing in the world to let her drown here. One less dangerous opponent. Just… do nothing. Instead, he grabbed her hand and swam upward.

I don't even know if I'm going to make it myself!

He kicked harder, vision dimming, chest on fire. A quick glance back showed Zoe losing consciousness. Still he pulled her along. The surface broke over his head like an explosion of air. Luke inhaled sharply, dragging Zoe with him until they reached the shore.

"Damn this island," he coughed.

She was unconscious. Luke turned her, worked quickly, pressing, breathing, repeating until Zoe jolted awake with a gasp, coughing uncontrollably.

"T-thank you," she whispered, trembling. "I… I couldn't die like that. Anything but drowning."

He drew in a long breath.

"We lost everything," he said, nodding toward the river.

The sandy bank on the far side had collapsed entirely. They now stood at the edge of the Second Zone.

"My bow, my boots, my knives… your pack, your armor," he muttered.

Everything had been swept away.

"Fantastic," he added dryly.

She was still breathing fast. "At least you still have pants."

Unlike her, reduced to a bra and underwear. Rain slammed down in sheets, thunder cracking across the sky.

"Storm," Luke said.

"We should get moving," she agreed shakily. "Before other participants see us."