Becoming the Dark Lord

Chapter 574: War for the Bridge

The notification appeared in front of Luke.

[Reach the end of the bridge and face the Guardian at the bottom of the abyss for the treasure to appear. Good luck!]

Everyone took off at once. No one was foolish enough to stand near the barrier, but the second it dissolved, they were already sprinting. The water that had filled the area up to their knees suddenly shifted, pulled inward by a powerful current feeding the center of the ruins. As the dome vanished completely, a massive pathway revealed itself, stone buildings shattered and fused with coral, moss, and barnacles, as if they'd spent centuries underwater. At the end of that descent, a circular waterfall thundered like a sunken version of Niagara Falls.

A mage floated above the crowd, staff raised, and summoned three massive spiked boulders, hurling them downward. Luke dodged one. When he glanced back, he saw far more people than he expected.

When did this many show up? Were they hiding outside the zone?

Whatever the reason, it was obvious the location had leaked. Dozens who probably didn't even have four bracelets were now rushing into the event. The water kept rising until it reached his waist.

Running through this is a stupid idea.

Luke climbed a half-collapsed stone building and sprinted across the rooftops. Arrows rained everywhere. Below, some participants swam while others scrambled up the buildings to do exactly what he was doing.

"Move it, losers!" someone yelled while blazing overhead. Dylan. His whole body burned like a comet as he flew past, launching fireballs behind him and blowing apart chunks of stone.

Then Luke heard familiar screams up ahead. Selmarines. Dozens of them. They burst from the water, crawling over walls, climbing the ruins, storming out of every crack and shadow.

"Fantastic."

He leapt into another building, rolled as he hit the floor, and kept moving. Fighting erupted right outside. Luke sprinted through the structure and jumped out a window into the next ruin.

Rooftops and open water are a waste of time.

He navigated window to window, crossing through each broken shell of a home. Far ahead, the mage was still floating, launching his boulders like a siege engine. Selmarines climbed through a window right in front of Luke, screeching to alert the others.

He answered with both blades, cutting them down fast, slicing tendons, crushing faces, then pushing through to the next house. Forced upward, he climbed to the next roof. Up there, a Selmarine blasted a jet of water into a participant, knocking the poor guy straight into the current.

"Out of my way!"

Luke spun, took its head, and kept running.

Something moved behind him. Instinct kicked in, he dove through a hole in the wall just as a net snapped through the air where he'd been.

"He went inside, brother!"

"I saw, sister. Let's kill him."

Not these idiots again.

Something rolled through the window, a black sphere glowing blue. Luke immediately bolted to the far side of the room. It detonated, shaking the entire ruin. More spheres flew in. He dove through a window as the house behind him erupted in an explosive blast.

A net snagged his leg midair, dragging him across a roof. Luke twisted, slashing the ropes apart with both blades. A woman lunged at him with a staff, striking hard, but he flipped back and avoided the hit.

"The Father wants your head, and we're going to bring it to him!" she shouted.

"And that's my problem how?"

Her partner hurled another bomb at Luke. He caught it midair and whipped it back at her. It exploded at her feet, but she charged straight through the blast without hesitation. Two more fighters closed in. Luke parried frantically, metal clashing as the woman spun her staff like a whirlwind. One of his blades slammed against a shield. Luke slipped back, then sprinted forward and kicked the shield upward. The man held firm, until Luke sliced his arm clean and the shield dropped.

Another blade came for him. Luke yanked the now-bleeding corpse into its path, using it as cover, then shoved the attacker back with a brutal kick. Another woman came leaping in, a round shield strapped to her arm as she charged straight at him. Luke rolled to the side, dodging the strike, then kicked her off balance. As she stumbled, he grabbed her shield and smashed it into her face. She went down hard, toppling backward into the churning water.

"Get out of my way," he snapped, and ran again.

It had become a full-on race toward the treasure, and Luke refused to lose. Selmarines caught up to the woman in the water and the others from Father's group who had fallen behind, dragging them into a fight.

Much better than wasting my time fighting them.

Far ahead, Dylan blazed across the rooftops, hurling fireballs in every direction.

How many skills does this guy have? First the flaming fist, now the flaming body, levitation, and fireballs? Did he actually get all four skills?

Luke kept running along the rooftops until a scream cut through the chaos.

"For my brother, you bastard!"

The hammer-wielding man burst upward. Dylan dodged midair, but the hammer still released a burst of wind and sound that sent him crashing into the water. Both he and the hammer man fell behind. Luke didn't stop.

Selmarines shot up from the water, spitting jets before dropping back down. Luke leapt, landed on one, took it out with a clean strike, and kept running. The water here was shallower. Glancing back, he saw nothing but chaos ripping through the village, collapsed buildings, half-submerged structures, shattered stone. Ahead of him, the massive bridge leading to the waterfall drop.

I'm close.

A sharp sound sliced through the air beside him. Luke dove behind a rock as a bolt slammed into the water, hissing steam.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

That thing is red-hot?

Another bolt smashed through the rock he'd used as cover, forcing him to sprint out. He scanned the area. People were running everywhere, some dropping as arrows found them. Luke broke to the side and sprinted. Another bolt shot toward him, and he deflected it with his machete.

"Found you," he muttered, rushing the shooter.

Austin Rawlins stood hidden behind a pillar. He raised his second crossbow and fired. Luke twisted midair, closing the distance in a heartbeat.

"You're quick," Austin Rawlins said, dodging aside. Luke's blade slashed across his chest. Austin conjured a dark sphere in his hand and hurled it downward.

Luke backed off immediately. A cloud of black mist erupted, disorienting even his heightened senses. Dangerous. He retreated several steps. Austin's silhouette finally cut through the haze, both crossbows raised.

When he has to reload, I move.

But then both weapons glowed purple, wrapped in swirling black smoke, and shifted into two silver western-style revolvers.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

"Surprise," Austin Rawlins said, aiming straight at him.

Purple-laced bullets tore through the air as Luke ducked behind the pillars. Every shot chipped off chunks of stone.

"You turned your crossbows into revolvers? Seriously?!"

"It's an epic skill. I'm an assassin. I need the right tools."

Assassin with two revolvers? I don't have that. What kind of stolen-ass power is that? This guy unlocked an epic skill, and I got fucking Botanical Purification.

Austin advanced, firing nonstop, dropping anyone who so much as peeked into view. Anyone close to reaching the bridge was immediately targeted. He flicked both guns, instantly reloading them with glowing rounds, and started firing again. Luke spotted a fallen archer and lunged toward the bow, but his instincts screamed. He rolled away just in time.

"Very lucky!" shouted a familiar voice. Yut Saeten. "So, you bastard, you said you were coming for me. Well, here I am!"

Yut charged, blade swinging. Luke met him, steel clashing as he parried with both machetes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Austin sprint toward the bridge and step onto it.

"That guy is about to grab the treasure while you waste time with me," Luke said.

"I'll just kill him and take it for myself!" Yut laughed, blocking blow after blow.

Luke clicked his tongue, shifted his grip on his blades, and unleashed a rapid flurry. A sudden whistle cut the air, both men jerked back as a black arrow tore between them. When it struck the ground, it hit with the weight of a falling anvil, carving out a small crater.

What is that thing made of?

"Oh, is that you, Ivor? Still not giving up on killing me?" Yut called out, amused.

Luke ducked behind a chunk of rock as more heavy arrows slammed toward Yut. He scanned the flooded buildings until he spotted movement inside a half-submerged house.

The archer's over there.

No time to waste. Luke rushed Yut again.

"That's more like it!" Yut shouted, meeting him head-on. Luke deflected his strikes with blistering speed.

Yut swung hard. Luke dropped low, rolled aside, and grabbed him by the torso.

"Shoot here!" Luke yelled.

The archer fired. At the last possible second, Luke shoved Yut forward and dove away. The arrow hit Yut square and launched him off his feet, sending him crashing into the ruins.

Luke snatched a bow and quiver off a nearby corpse and sprinted toward the bridge. The archer gave him a quick hand signal of thanks before Luke disappeared into the chaos. The stone bridge ahead was crowded. Behind him, Dylan's voice roared, followed by a scream and the unmistakable thud of another body hitting the ground.

"Move!" Dylan shouted.

Luke didn't look back. The bridge was ancient, narrow, and lacked rails. Below it, white mist churned where dozens of waterfalls crashed into a hidden abyss. He pushed on and reached the end.

[Leap to reach the Treasure Guardian's arena!]

The notification flashed before him. Three people stood hesitating at the ledge, staring down into the mist. Luke pulled an arrow and fired.

[You have slain a Human…] *278,994 IP earned*

He shot the second.

[You have slain a Human…] *447,741 IP earned*

The third turned just in time to hear Luke say, "Not my fault you stood in the way."

A single slash dropped him.

[You have slain a Human…] *411,852 IP earned*

And with no hesitation left, Luke stepped off the edge and let himself fall into the void.

"You've got style!" someone shouted behind him as Luke plummeted. Dylan. His hands were blazing. "But I've got more!"

Fireballs rained toward Luke, exploding in midair as he dodged. They plunged together through the misty veil. Dylan's whole body ignited, and he laughed while launching even more flames.

Luke twisted, slipping between the blasts, but they started detonating closer and closer.

"Damn it," he muttered. He spun, drew an arrow midair, and fired.

Dylan recoiled with a shout. "My eye, you piece of—!"

"Shove your style somewhere useful!" Luke yelled, firing again. Dylan blasted himself downward with a burst of fire, shooting past Luke at high speed to escape.

They kept falling until Luke finally saw what waited below. He lunged, grabbed Dylan's leg, his palm burning from the contact, and yanked him off balance. Both crashed into a deep lake, vanishing beneath the surface.

The current tore them downstream. Dylan struggled upward, but Luke seized him, dragging him back. One arm locked around Dylan's throat, the other striking with quick, brutal efficiency until the fight left him completely.

[You have slain a Human…] *3,223,444 IP earned*

Luke let the current take him for a moment, gauging which way was up and which way was the lakebed. Dylan hadn't carried weapons, just fire magic, and water happened to be the perfect counter. He oriented himself when a pair of large glowing eyes flared open in the depths below.

Nope.

He shot upward as fast as he could. Breaking the surface, he swam to the nearest bank and hauled himself onto broken wooden planks. Some kind of ruined village.

"That was intense," he breathed, glancing back at the height he'd fallen from.

He had jumped without a plan, no idea how he'd survive the landing or what waited at the bottom. But after everything he'd faced in his life, abysses almost felt familiar now. Further ahead he spotted several bodies on the ground, victims of the chaos above. Then came a sound he recognized instantly, the crisp click of revolver cylinders spinning.

He dove aside just as gunshots hammered the spot where he'd been standing.

"You've got good reflexes," Austin Rawlins called out.

To Luke's left, the lake began to churn. Something enormous rose from the water. He looked between the emerging silhouette and the distant shooter. He reached for an arrow… and felt nothing.

What? Don't tell me I lost everything when I hit the water.

A bullet shattered the rock beside him. Luke sprinted.

Fuck, I'm just unlucky.

A deep, resonant roar shook the air. Luke turned to see a giant crab hauling itself fully out of the lake, water cascading from its shell as it advanced. He was trapped in the middle, between Austin Rawlins and the Treasure Guardian.

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Fun fact: on Patreon, during this arc, I'm using the end of some chapters to show artwork of characters who have appeared in the story, like Allison, Anne Grimhart (Erza's doll-maid sister), Eleanor, Evangeline, and others.

I'm also showing artwork of a few characters from this arc, like the gunslinger Austin, Yut Saeten, and more.

Anyway, just a little fun fact. There's also artwork of some characters, like Charlie, on Discord for anyone curious.