Chương 2: I Saved the Hero(ine)

For a being of the ultimate evil, I knew remarkably little about what I could actually do.

"So, aside from super strength, what else am I packing? You need to make things clear so I can plan my reign of terror or whatever," I said, trying to sound like a mastermind.

"Yeah, yeah. Before that, first things first," Nyx muttered. She snapped her fingers, and the air crackled with static. The sky bruised into a deep violet, and a massive, glowing magic circle erupted on the grass in front of me. Bolts of black lightning danced between the clouds. It looked exactly like the high-level summoning spells I had seen in a hundred different anime. My heart hammered against my ribs. This is it, I thought. A legendary dragon? A hellhound? A cursed blade that can cleave mountains?

Then, at the very center of the swirling cosmic energy, a small wooden hut popped into existence with a pathetic poof. The lightning vanished. The sky went back to blue. The hut was about five meters wide and ten meters long. It was made of dark, sturdy-looking timber and had a single, lonely window. It looked less like a Demon Lord castle and more like a tool shed for a gloomy gardener.

"Uh... what's that?" I asked, pointing a trembling finger at the shack.

"It's your kingdom," Nyx stated flatly. I stood there, stunned.

"I'm the Dark Lord, right?"

"Yes."

"The only one? The big bad boss of Lycora?"

"Correct. The last one was killed recently." That did not sound good, but I would ask more on that later.

"So I'm the equivalent of a Demon King! I should be living in a sprawling gothic castle or a dungeon surrounded by a harem and elite subordinates!" I marched toward the hut, ready to vent my frustration. I gave the wall a light, petulant kick. CRACK. My foot went straight through the wood, leaving a jagged, splintered hole the size of a dinner plate.

"You idiot!" Nyx screamed. She dived toward me, grabbed my collar, and shook me like a ragdoll.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to conjure a residence out of thin air!? This is the only place we're allowed to have at the moment!"

"C-can't you just summon a better one?" I stammered, my head bobbing back and forth.

"Didn't you hear me? I can't," She dropped me onto the grass.

"You need to reach a certain Terror Level before I can upgrade your housing."

"Terror Level?" Nyx sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Right. I forgot I'm working with a total amateur. Try saying 'HUD.'""HUD," I repeated. A transparent, blue rectangle flickered into life in my field of vision. It looked exactly like a video game interface: NAME Milo Miles CLASS Dark Lord LEVEL 9999 TERROR LEVEL 1"Whoa! Level 9999? That's insane!"

"Lower your expectations," Nyx droned.

"Terror Level is the measure of how much Lycora fears you. The higher it is, the more residence tiers I can unlock and the more skills you can use."

"Skills?" I asked while staring at the number 9999. Try saying "SKILL HUD," Nyx said. I did as I was told, and another window appeared. SKILLS PASSIVE None OFFENSIVE None DEFENSIVE None SUMMONS None The excitement drained out of me instantly.

"Why is it empty?"

"Because your Terror Level is 1. Aside from the raw physical strength and durability that comes with your level, there's nothing for you to be proud of."

"So how am I supposed to terrorize people? Steal candies from children?"

"Your strength is enough to kill most regular humans in a single hit," she suggested, checking her nails.

"I told you, killing is off-limits! I'm not a murderer!"

"Then you're going to be a very popular Dark Lord, which is not good. Most of your predecessors were quite fond of the occasional massacre. If you want to stick to petty crimes, fine, but the Hero is going to find you in two days and one-shot you while you're still at Terror Level 1."

"What about you?" I asked, looking at her wings.

"You've got magic, right? You should be doing something else besides slapping me." Nyx looked genuinely offended.

"Excuse me? Are you calling me incompetent? I have more experience in terrorizing people than you have in... well, anything."

"Then help me out! Cast some scary spells! Make people tremble!"

"I have a full arsenal," she said proudly.

"Fireballs, chain lightning, ice lances."

"Perfect!" I clapped my hands.

"We'll fire those spells at buildings, avoid the people, and tell them the Dark Lord sent you. Total property damage, zero casualties. We get the Terror XP, and I keep my soul clean!"

"I refuse."

"Why? It's a flawless plan!"

"You think I'm stupid?" Nyx's voice scraped against the inside of my skull.

"You're asking me to do all the dirty work while you sit in your shed and relax!"

"Isn't that how it works?" I spread my hands.

"I'm the boss. You're the assistant."

"I am an assistant, not a minion. There is a difference."

"Hardly. Where I'm from, assistants pour coffee, open doors, sort out the schedule." I ticked them off on my fingers.

"Some of them even flirt with their bosses." Nyx's face went from pale to a deep, dangerous crimson, and f or the third time today, or was this the fourth? I felt the world tilt. I smashed through the other side of the wooden hut, creating a second, much larger hole right next to the first one.

"Dammit! Why can't you just cooperate?" I yelled from the wreckage.

"Usually, the first girl the protagonist meets falls head over heels for him!" If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Nyx turned her back on me, pouting visibly. Then, a thought occurred to me. I still had the Eye of Love. It was cracked, sure, but maybe it was enough to fix her attitude. If I could just get her to fall for me, we could actually survive this. I reached into my pocket and gripped the Eye.

"Hey, Nyx! I've got an even better idea!"

"What? I bet it's another stupid—" As she turned, I held the Eye of Love out, pointing the cracked symbol directly at her with my most confident main character grin. Nothing seemed to happen, but then again, I did not know for sure if the artifact worked. Was there an indicator or something?

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice flat.

"Do you love me now?" I asked, my grin wavering.

"Yeah..." she said softly. She began walking toward me, her golden eyes softening. It worked! My heart soared. Finally, after twenty-one years of being alone, I had a beautiful soulmate who actually wanted to be near me, one that can fly and cast spells, too!

"I love you too, Nyx," I said, spreading my arms for a hug. Nyx sped up. She raised an arm, her expression turning intense.

"Milo, I..." Here it comes, my first girlfriend hug!

"... would love for you to go to hell!" The slap was so powerful I did a full rotation in the air. The Eye of Love flew out of my hand as I slammed through the wooden floorboards, effectively turning my kingdom into a pile of splinters.

"So… the Eye of Love didn't work because you're not a Lycora native?" I sat on the splintered floorboards, rubbing my swollen, throbbing cheek.

"Duh. Didn't Greg mention that? Plus, they need to see the eye in the middle for it to take effect," Nyx said, crossing her arms. She looked down at me like I was something she'd stepped in.

"Honestly, you are the worst Dark Lord I've ever seen. Lazy, cowardly, and you've got the brain of a pig to match."

"Actually, pigs are one of the more intelligent mamm—" Nyx raised her hand. I shut my mouth instantly. My brain had developed a Pavlovian response to her lifting her arm; the mere sight of it triggered painful flashbacks of flying through walls. I was supposed to be the Dark Lord. I was supposed to be the guy everyone feared. Instead, I was being bullied by my own assistant.

"Look, I would like to not die," I muttered.

"Is there really no other way to raise my Terror Level fast without, you know, murdering people?"

"Why don't you figure it out? I already gave you the most efficient solution. If you don't want to do it because of your spineless nature, then use that big pig brain of yours to find an alternative." She yawned and flopped onto the single bed in the corner.

"Wait, are you going to sleep? If you don't help me, you're going to get fired!"

"I don't care anymore. The pay's garbage anyway," she said, pulling the blanket over her head. Damn, she was useless. I stood up and grabbed the Eye of Love from the floor. The crack in the center had grown wider, a jagged line threatening to split the charm in two. I shoved it into my pocket and peeled off the heavy cult-leader robe. Without air conditioning, it would feel like a sauna in here if I were to keep wearing the robe.

With just a simple white shirt and long dark pants, I stepped out through the giant hole in the wall and looked around. I was in the middle of a vast grassland. Trees were scattered randomly across the horizon, looking exactly like a generic forest map from a mid-budget JRPG.

"Great. I have no idea where to go," I muttered. I considered going back inside to wake Nyx up just to ask for directions to the nearest village or town. Maybe I could destroy some food stalls or vandalize some properties to increase the Terror Level. BOOM. A massive explosion rocked the air. A column of thick, black smoke began to rise in the distance. It wasn't far—maybe a few hundred meters into a nearby forest clearing. I ran. To my surprise, my body felt light as a feather. I wasn't just fast; I was a blur.

My feet barely touched the grass, and I wasn't even winded. Level 9999 perks, I realized. In less than a minute, I reached the clearing. At the center stood a nightmare: a three-headed dog the size of a dump truck. Each of its heads had glowing eyes in a different color—Red, Blue, and Green. Its teeth were like daggers, and strings of sizzling drool melted the grass where they landed. In front of the beast were two girls.

One was a blue-haired warrior clutching a glowing sword; the other was a brown-haired mage holding a staff. They both looked… pretty. Especially the warrior-girl. She had long, light blue hair tied into a high ponytail, with soft bangs framing her face. Her eyes were bright blue. She wore a sleeveless black top with a high collar, fitted with a shiny silver chest plate. She also wore a pleated skirt. And on her elbow, I saw a purple-colored sigil in a shape I could not recognize. It was like a glowing tattoo.

Two girls, one monster. Was this it? My hero moment? If I saved them, would they fall in love with me like the damsels in videogames or manga? The beast let out a triple-harmony roar. The shockwave was so powerful the trees groaned and my ears rang. The mage girl was sent flying, hitting a tree trunk before sliding down, unconscious.

"Mel!" the warrior girl screamed, turning toward her friend. It was a mistake. The green-eyed head opened its maw and fired a beam of emerald energy. The warrior reacted with lightning speed, blocking the blast with her sword, but the sheer force overpowered her. She was blasted backward, skidding across the dirt until she lay still, her consciousness fading. Shit. What do I do? I looked at the dog. It was massive. Way bigger up close than it had looked from the brush. What if my super strength wasn't enough?

What if Level 9999 wasn't the cap? What if that thing was Level 20, 000? The dog began to prowl toward the warrior, a low growl vibrating in its three chests. My feet started moving before my brain caught up. One slow, quiet step back. Then another. She's the Hero, probably. Or some warrior-class adventurer. She knew what she signed up for. People like her die in the line of duty all the time, right? That's just… how this world works. I took another step back. I just got here. I don't even know her name.

Nobody would blame me. Nobody would even know I was here. One more step. She's strong. She'll probably wake up at the last second and pull off some clutch move. Heroes always do, right? That's how these stories go. Even as I thought it, I knew I was lying to myself. She wasn't getting up. Her sword had stopped glowing. She was going to die in the next ten seconds, and I was going to walk away pretending I hadn't seen it. Moments ago, I had thought of becoming the hero, yet here I was.

Walking away after being intimidated. I turned my back fully and started walking. Faster now. Don't look. Don't think. Just keep moving. And then, somewhere between one step and the next, my old life caught up with me. I remembered the guys in high school who invited me out, and how I had brushed them off because I was too bitter to admit I couldn't afford the movie ticket.

I remembered the old woman at the crosswalk; how she'd asked for help, and I had pretended not to hear because I was in a hurry to get home and play video games. I remembered Ivy. Our last meal together. How I had spent the entire fifteen minutes complaining about myself without once asking how she was doing. How she'd held my hand anyway, because she was a better person than I had ever bothered to be. My footsteps slowed. My life hadn't been tragic because of bad luck.

It had been pathetic because I had chosen to be small. I had pushed the world away every chance I got, then turned around and complained that I was lonely. Deep down, I had always known. I stopped walking. If I kept going now—if I left her—I would still be that guy. The truck, the afterlife, the new world, the Dark Lord title, none of it would matter. I would still be Milo Miles, the kid who got out of his own way for nobody. Greg had said it himself, back at the Afterport. Chronic complainer.

High levels of negativity. Was that really all I was going to be? Even in death? Was I going to fumble this second chance? Behind me, the dog's growl deepened. The girl let out a small, broken sound—half a word, maybe a name. She was trying to crawl. She couldn't even lift her head. My fists clenched so hard my knuckles cracked. Maybe I'll die. Maybe Level 9999 isn't enough. Maybe that thing is Level 20, 000 and it'll bite me in half before I land a single punch. I took a slow breath. …

But I would rather die trying than live as that guy for one more second.

"To hell with this," I hissed. I turned around. I didn't think. I didn't plan. I just ran. I channeled every ounce of self-loathing I had accumulated over twenty-one years into my legs and screamed at the top of my lungs.

"GRAAAAAAAHHH!" The dog's three heads snapped toward me. It didn't attack; it just stared, seemingly confused. That was my chance. I wound up my arm and swung my fist with everything I had. I aimed right for the beast's central chest. My fist connected; i felt like hitting a solid wall of granite. The dog recoiled a few inches, but there wasn't a scratch on it. No broken ribs, no yelp of pain. Nothing. I stood there, frozen, positioned between the monster and the warrior-girl.

My fighting stance was shaky, and I could feel my knees trembling. It didn't work, I realized, my heart dropping into my stomach. My Level 9999 punch did zero damage. Well, this was it. If I was going to die, at least I would die a heroic death. It was a much better way to go out than being one-shotted by the Hero.

"I won't let you hurt her," I croaked, trying to keep my voice from cracking. I was prepared to fight to the bitter end despite knowing the outcome. I would lose, the dog would chop my head off, and I would die. Maybe this time, if I was given another shot at life, I would ask Greg for a more competent and obedient assistant. The dog stared at me. Its three sets of eyes widened. Then, it let out a tiny, high-pitched whimper, turned tail, and bolted into the forest like it had just seen the devil himself.

I stayed in my awkward fighting stance, bewildered.

"Wait... what?"