Becoming the Dark Lord [LitRPG]

[Demonic Perception (Uncommon)]: Your demonic lineage sharpens your senses, allowing you to thrive in darkness. Perception is enhanced, making it harder for you to be ambushed in dark or concealed environments. At higher levels, you'll be able to detect magical distortions and invisible presences.]

"Thrive in the dark? That's perfect for an assassin."

The moment the notification vanished, Luke felt it—like something inside his mind shifted. He turned toward the far corner of the room where the torchlight didn't reach. As he focused, something strange happened.

"Okay… that's insane."

He wasn't seeing the darkness exactly. It was more like he was feeling it. Shapes and contours formed in his mind—blurry, pulsing outlines like a sonar or bat echolocation. Crude, but effective.

"There's probably a range, just like regular vision," he muttered. "But maybe it scales with Perception."

Then he noticed something glowing faintly in the corner of the corridor.

"A mana crystal!"

Just like the one from before. Big, faintly blue, and humming with energy. Luke felt a wave of relief. He'd been wandering this dungeon floor for hours, and finally—finally—he could keep moving up.

He bent to lift it. Despite its size, it was surprisingly light.

Then he froze.

Something was coming. From the darkness.

Luke dropped the crystal and rolled to the side.

"AAARGH!"

A skeleton lunged out of the shadows, rusty sword raised. Luke blocked with his kukri, steel scraping bone. The monster pushed against him, teeth clacking with each breathless snarl.

"What the—!"

He kicked the thing's leg, then shoved upward with the kukri, locking blades. He tried to stab—but it was bone. There was no flesh to tear. Just hard, dry, ancient calcium.

With a grunt, Luke slammed the skeleton against the wall and shoved the kukri into its skull. The thing collapsed, its bones scattering like dry firewood.

[You have slain a Cursed Skeleton – Lvl 7]

"Creepy bastard," Luke panted.

He looked at the broken skull—and then it hit him.

"Damn it. I could've tested the servant ability…"

He'd killed the skeleton on instinct, forgetting entirely about his new power.

"At least you didn't stink like the others."

'Clack... clack...'

The sound echoed through the corridor.

Luke turned.

More skeletons emerged from the darkness—three of them, their faces twisted in hollow mockery, their weapons ready. The sound of bone scraping stone followed every step.

"Something tells me you're not gonna let me leave with that crystal."

"AAARGH!" they shrieked in reply.

Luke hurled one kukri. It spun like a buzzsaw and shattered a skeleton's spine, dropping it instantly.

The second rushed with a rusty axe. Luke dodged low, extended his hand—his kukri boomeranged back to him, dragging half a torso with it as it reassembled in midair.

The undead crumpled on impact.

'Swoosh!'

Luke's instincts kicked in.

He raised his hand and caught something mid-flight—barely.

A crossbow bolt.

"What the—?!"

Someone had fired from the dark.

He hadn't seen it.

But he felt it.

That was Demonic Perception at work.

"Aaaargh!"

Further in the darkness, another skeleton revealed itself—this one wielding a crossbow. It yanked another bolt from its ribs and began to reload.

Luke readied his kukri to throw—

But the ones he'd already downed were stirring again. The bones were clicking, reassembling.

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One of them rolled its head 360 degrees before locking eyes with him.

"Aaaargh!"

They were pissed.

The skeletons surged forward with renewed aggression. Luke deflected the axe with one kukri, summoned the second, and slammed it into a skull. He shoved the other undead aside and plunged both blades into its cranium—one from each side.

Swoosh!

He dodged a sudden arrow, spun, and hurled both kukris in a single fluid motion. They spun, duplicated mid-air, and slammed into another skeleton. Bones flew in every direction.

"Damn it. You died too fast," Luke muttered. "I was gonna turn you into a servant."

He pulled up the system window to confirm the kills.

[You have slain a Cursed Skeleton – Lvl 7]

[You have slain a Cursed Skeleton – Lvl 6]

[You have slain a Cursed Skeleton – Lvl 3]

"That explains it. You were the weakest."

He turned toward the mana crystal resting at the end of the hall. Nearby, a door stood half-open.

"Should be fine to just take a peek. Never hurts to clear the room."

Luke walked toward it and pushed it open.

A curtain hung just past the doorway.

He stepped through.

"Oh."

That was the only word that escaped his mouth.

Skeletons. Everywhere. Armed to the teeth. Axes, swords, shields, bows—dozens of them.

"Aaaargh!"

They all screamed at once.

Luke activated Assassin's Dash, vanishing in a blur as arrows flew past where he'd just been. He retreated down the hall, then hurled both kukris with a snap. They duplicated mid-flight and ripped through the first wave charging out of the room.

He reached into his knife holster and smirked.

With all this extra mana now, he could afford to go all out.

Six throwing knives left his hands in a rapid-fire burst, each one splitting into two mid-air. Blades filled the hallway like shrapnel. Bones shattered, ribs cracked—several skeletons collapsed, fully dismantled.

But two more emerged—each wielding a square shield and a long spear.

They raised their shields in unison, holding their spears level, advancing like a trained phalanx.

Behind them, archer skeletons notched arrows.

Luke knew he couldn't let the spear units close the gap.

He hurled more throwing knives—useless. They bounced harmlessly off the shields.

His kukris snapped back into his hands.

"Aaaargh!"

The shield bearers charged. Luke launched both kukris at one of them—mid-air, they multiplied. Four blades slammed into the shield at once, shattering it. The skeleton tumbled backward.

Luke blinked behind it using Assassin's Dash, finishing it off with a dagger driven straight into its skull.

The second one lunged.

Luke parried the spear with a kukri, redirecting it into the stone wall beside him. Then he ran up that very wall, flipped off it mid-air, and brought both blades down on the skeleton's exposed side.

It shattered into a pile of bones.

Only the archers remained.

They fired.

Luke ran toward them, eyes tracking every arrow. His boosted Perception let him follow their trajectory like slow-motion. Even the ones flying from total darkness glowed in his mind, outlined by his Demonic Perception.

He was faster.

Sharper.

Deadlier.

And it was their turn to fall.

He dodged incoming arrows and deflected a few with his kukris. With a flick of his wrists, he threw both blades—they spun mid-air and duplicated. Like bowling pins, the skeletons were knocked down and scattered across the room.

Without slowing, Luke grabbed six throwing knives from his holster and let them fly. In mid-air, they split into twelve, raining down like death itself. Bones clattered and cracked as skeletons collapsed.

His kukris snapped back into his hands.

He stepped into the room.

Only two remained, both armed with rusted swords.

"Perfect."

He danced between them, dispatching both with clean strikes. One blade to the neck, the other through the cranium.

Silence fell.

A silence filled with fractured bones, splintered skulls, and a floor littered with the remains of the undead.

"Well... that was tense."

Luke exhaled and nudged a few skulls aside with his foot. The room was dimly lit. Dust blanketed old furniture, broken chairs, and cobweb-draped shelves.

But then—something caught his eye.

A broken bookcase, just barely askew.

"Wait... is that...?"

He stepped closer and peeked through a gap.

There was a hallway behind it.

"A secret passage," he whispered.

Luke began pushing the shelf aside, but paused. His eyes swept across the room again.

This whole place reeked of setup.

A small, hidden room filled with heavily armed skeletons?

Whatever was on the other side of that corridor... it was either dangerous, or worth it.

Maybe both.

He exhaled slowly, then moved the shelf just enough to slip through. No sense in clearing the whole thing and risking another undead swarm.

Kukris in hand, he crept forward, checking every step, every brick in the wall, every inch of floor for traps.

At the end of the narrow hallway, a faint glow flickered.

Torchlight.

Luke pressed his back to the wall and leaned forward to peer around the corner.

A small room.

Candles arranged in a circle.

And in the center… a coffin.

Closed.

Bound in chains.

"Shit..."

He pulled back.

Coffins and ritual candles? Not a good sign.

No way in hell.

He glanced again. The room was empty. No enemies in sight. Just that one ominous casket, sealed and waiting.

What the hell's inside?

Luke turned to leave. Curiosity wasn't worth dying over.

Then—

BAM!

A dull thud echoed from within the coffin.

He spun around instantly, kukris raised.

Something was inside that damn thing.

BAM!

Another impact.

But still the coffin remained sealed, wrapped tightly in chains.

Luke narrowed his eyes.

Is there... a powerful monster trapped inside?

A spark lit in his mind.

What if I use the servant skill… on whatever's inside that coffin?