NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 10: Try Not To Die.
No shouts. No cries—just pain, sadness, dread, hatred, and vengeance. All acts of the devil.
Derrick's teeth shivered slicing the air—not from cold, but from a terror he had not yet surrendered to.
His knees kissed the desecrated soil. Shivering hands clutched his hair as his watering eyes took in the sight of fallen bodies—not just comrades, but his gang. His lifetime brothers. Torn. Scattered. Massacred.
Memories of laughter, loyalty, and fire-lit nights played through his mind like echoes from moments ago. But now… they were all gone.
He lifted his gaze to the silver moon, now climbing into perfect alignment with the midnight sky—still, vast, and heavy with fate. But in his heart, only one thing remained: revenge, even if it meant crossing the most forbidden threshold.
His heart pounded, the rhythm loud in his ears. Heat surged through his veins. Every memory of that night flared in his mind like a curse set aflame. Yet his resolve did not waver.
"You caused this, Allen... and now we'll both pay for it with our lives," he whispered, head bowed, eyes dark, a wicked smile twisting his lips.
Derrick looked up at the moon again, and a single thought possessed him:
Elves draw power from the moon to become dark elves… I'll sell my soul to the devil—and I'll get paid with your head, Allen.
He raised a hand, fingers stretching like daggers aimed at his chest. Veins bulged as claws sprouted from his fingertips.
"Let the dark part of me rule."
SQUELCH—
"Arghhhh... Allen...!"
He stabbed himself, fingers curling around his heart as he tore it free. His bloodied hand held the still-beating organ, trembling with life. Then a beam of moonlight broke through the clouds, spotlighting his sacrifice.
It accepted his offering.
Kaelion, watching from beyond the walls, turned sharply as a bright pulse rippled through the air. His golden eyes narrowed in awe.
"Someone has awakened as a Dark Elf… in the forbidden way. Allen...don't die" he murmured.
Derrick's grin widened—his heart gone, yet something darker took its place.
A surge of shadow filled the space of his heart within him. Pain, betrayal, and darkness fused into a new core—one that didn't just accept the dark… it became it.
His eyes turned pitch black. His aura cracked the earth beneath him. And when he stood, something had changed—no longer man, no longer Derrick. This was vengeance incarnate.
His memories erased. Only one command remained, etched beneath his skull like a sacred oath:
"Vengeance is priority."
The air turned molten hot. Even the wind smelled like vengeance. His body covered in dark aura that surrounded him like a candle flame.
"Oath of Vengeance," he declared, his voice echoing like a demonic choir. His head twisted, his smile warped. Shadows exploded from him—not far, but dense, like a silent bomb.
And what followed was not an explosion.
It was rebirth.
The ten dead elves rose from the soil. Not alive—awakened. Bitterness and pain animated their corpses. Their eyes blackened, limbs stiff and broken. They moved like puppets driven by unresolved hatred.
But it didn't stop there.
The battlefield trembled. The rotten earth split open as souls emerged—those who had fallen here, cursed with vengeance. Shapeless at first, but matter rushed to clothe them: trees uprooted, soil rose, stone fused. Torsos made of trunks. Limbs of jagged rock. Tails formed from serrated leaves.
"HAHAHAHAHA…"
Derrick, no—Dark Derrick now—laughed like a cruel deity, fingers curling in a mockery of prayer.
"One last chance to repay your debtors, my friends," he said, watching his army of vengeance form. "Make sure you don't leave any debt without a scar."
The parade of the damned stormed into the night, their feet pounding the ground like war drums.
Derrick turned to the moon once more, whispering:
"Allen… you owe me."
---
Elsewhere
The night thickened into mist, blurring everything into a velvet black.
Allen walked behind Lilitu, her grip still firm on his wrist. His heart thumped—not with fear, but curiosity while unconscious ravien followed in front of then walking under the control of Lilitu's blood curse.
The mist wrapped around allen like a veil. Though his eyes remained open, he saw only darkness. He was like a blind man led by a demon.
Gradually, the air turned hot. A glow flickered behind his eyelids.
"We're here," Lilitu said with a smirk, releasing his wrist.
Allen felt the flare of light and blinked. At first, only an orange blur. Then it focused properly on his retina.
His eyes widened.
"Welcome to the Vampire Dungeon."
"This is—" he choked, his voice dry. He scanned the landscape.
The earth was cracked and molten lava. Buildings of demonic architecture pierced the terrain, roofless and exposed to the lithosphere above—no sky, just solid rock.
"Yes... this is underground," Lilitu confirmed.
The air reeked of charred bone and rotting flesh. Red-eyed vampires moved about—some monstrously large, others simple sized, a few winged like demonic bats.
"Move, young man!" a gruff voice growled from behind.
Allen turned, startled.
A towering vampire stood before him—muscular, dark-haired, with lava glowing beneath his skin and massive wings stretching from his back. Behind him, other vampires dragged grotesque monsters in chains—bloodied, barely alive.
Those are the same type of monsters that attacked the elves… now they're slaves or what?
The vampire ignored Allen, bowing before Lilitu.
"My princess. The Queen's dinner is prepared. But since conceiving the King, her hunger is... overwhelming. The monster population is thinning."
"How many per day, Thalvron?"
"Fifty and it's increasing day by day."
"Damn… looks like my upcoming brother is already troublesome," she smirked, glancing toward a guarded, doorless building. "If we run low… we'll find new sources."
"Understood, my princess."
"Take the elf with you...he will serve well for her nutrition." Lilitu smarked pointing at Ravien's unconscious figure.
"Yes my princess," Thalvron led the chained monsters toward the building taking Ravien in with him at the front line.
Allen watched, frozen, as the grotesque beings were taken one by one from steps that lead to the top of the building, Ravien leading them and vanishing into its inside first. Then followed the sounds—ripping, tearing, screaming. "RIP Ravien" he whispered
Vampires are the new threat. And monsters… they're vanishing to feed a queen. What kind of creature is she giving birth to? Allen taught
"So... you're a princess?" Allen asked, steadying his voice.
"Yes," she smiled. "Daughter of Lilith. First and strongest vampire of our reign."
That explains a lot, he thought. "Do pregnant vampires really need that much flesh?"
Lilitu chuckled. "Not really. But my mother's baby isn't a vampire. She's carrying the child of a four-in-one devil—planted from the seeds of the strongest Vampire, Goblin, Demon, and Werewolf."
Allen's soul froze.
Four-in-one?
"All those species exist... on this planet?"
"Yes, Allen," she said, amused. "The world is bigger than you think."
His mind raced.
Monsters going extinct. A hybrid born of chaos. Vampire. Goblins. Werewolves. And...wait... Demons.
King Eldrick knew? Damn him… of course he did, what will I expect from a demon.
"Allen… Allen!" Lilitu nudging him.
"Oh. Sorry. What's wrong?"
She smiled and took his wrist again.
"Come. There's something I want you to give me."
"As long as I don't get eaten," he muttered.
"Feel free," she said with a laugh, leading him away to where he didn't yet know.
Suddenly, a familiar green screen appeared, hovering before his eyes.
---
[New System Quest]
Quest 2: Form a link with Lilitu
Reward: New Ability – Devil's Taste
Penalty: Lose all gained abilities
[System Note:] You have killed two elves
Reward: Night Vision
Penalty: Vengeance awaits
Time is ticking… Kaelion's quest is still pending
[Try not to die, Allen.]
"More quests... more stakes… more danger," he whispered as he followed Lilitu into the unknown. His vision immediately became much more clearer.
"It's all getting interesting."