An Unlawful Encounter

"I suppose this armor will have to do," remarked the Dark Lord, inspecting his steel armor and horned helmet, both painted a sleek black to suit his taste. The sword at his hip was unremarkable, but at least he had a weapon. However, something felt off. "Where is my cape?" he demanded, causing Iden to raise an eyebrow.

"Your cape, my Lord?"

"Yes, my cape! You know I cannot go out without it!"

"Of course, I understand... it's just that I thought we were pressed for time," the shapeshifter began explaining before being abruptly cut off.

"I am the Dark Lord, for Myself's sake! I must look regal at all times! Find me a cape. I am not going to some backwater village without one. Summon me a mount while you're at it," the Dark Lord ordered as Iden bowed and ran off to find a cape.

The master of darkness also realized that he needed to instruct his retainer to take on a better appearance. The frail-old-man look may have helped him in the past, but the Dark Lord could not have his personal advisor appearing so weak.

In the end, he managed to obtain his desired cape, a purple one that resembled the one he lost in his last battle. He rode on the back of a massive horse, strong enough to bear his weight. Iden was nowhere in sight, but the Dark Lord sported a new piece of jewelry, a black necklace with a blue gem at its center.

As soon as he could, Dark set off, following the path Iden had directed him towards. Due to his weakened state, he couldn't teleport to the village's location, but fortunately, it was only a few miles away from his castle. It had been founded half a millennium ago, and Jenna had settled there soon after its establishment, perhaps hoping to conceal herself in plain sight while waiting for his return. He wished she had taken control of the village in his name, as its proximity to his castle made it part of his territory, but he understood her desire to appear innocent. In the end, it didn't seem to have helped her, given that she had been killed.

The journey was mostly uneventful, which surprised the Dark Lord as he had expected to encounter demi-humans or monsters. According to Iden, the world had become more peaceful. However, the area surrounding his castle was sparsely populated due to the rumors that Iden had spread, making the Dark Lord unhappy that his domain was considered cursed and inhabited by spirits. While he was pleased that people didn't settle on his lands, he wished it was because they feared him and not a mere fairy tale. He was a difficult man to please.

As he should have anticipated, the road to the village was still not as peaceful as he had hoped. Suddenly, his horse stopped in its tracks and whinnied, rearing up on its hind legs and nearly throwing the Dark Lord off. Upon closer inspection, he found an arrow lodged in the middle of the road. The archer and his accomplices soon revealed themselves.

Dark sneered in disdain, recognizing the ragged leather outfits of the group as those of common human bandits. He didn't hate humans, he simply saw them as an inferior species, albeit all races were inferior to him.

"What do we have here? That's some nice armor and horse you got there, friend. Mind giving them to us?" One of the bandits stepped forward, brandishing a one-handed sword. Several other bandits aimed their bows at the Dark Lord while a few others armed with bladed weapons approached him.

One of the bandits spoke up with a smirk, "If you play nice, we won't hurt you."

Dark let out a sigh before dismounting from his horse. As his feet hit the ground, many of the bandits gulped at the sight of him. While on horseback, he appeared to be of average size because of the horse's own size, but now that he was standing next to them, the true size difference was clear. Despite this, they tried to maintain their bravado.

"I see the cape and helmet aren't enough to make you realize who you fools are speaking to, so I'll give you one last chance. I'm in a hurry and I don't want to waste my time with you," he said in a low, annoyed tone before removing his helmet to reveal his face.

"What are you supposed to be? Some kind of dark elf? Stop bluffing and give us all your valuables!" One of the bandits demanded, and the Dark Lord looked offended.

"Do you not recognize me? Have you not read your history books? I am the master of masters, the Lord of Darkness, the Ruler of Shadows, the Conqueror. I am the Dark Lord! And I am not a dark elf, fools!" he declared proudly, but the bandits looked at each other with blank expressions.

"Nope, never heard of you. Did you?" one of them said.

"Definitely not. The name sounds familiar though..."

"Isn't that the name of the big snake of the forest?" another added.

They started talking amongst themselves while the Dark Lord looked more confused than ever. There was no way they had never heard of him, was there? The first bandit who had stepped up earlier approached the Dark Lord confidently.

"No one knows who the hell you are, but you could be a king for all we care and we would still rob you!" he said while his hair overshadowed the Dark Lord's eyes as he put his helmet back on. The bandit ran the tip of his blade across the taller man's armor while smiling smugly. "Your scary armor and size aren't intimidating anybody, especially not when you're surrounded… So play nice and give us everything you have. Last warning," he chuckled as the Dark Lord slightly trembled with closed fists. "Finally getting scared of us, big guy?"

The Dark Lord spoke in a low tone, "Who… Who do you think you are?"

"Huh?"

The Dark Lord's eyes blazed with fury. "Even though I just told you my name, you threaten me?" he repeated incredulously. Suddenly, he clapped his hands around the bandit's head and crushed it like a grape, blood spattering on his gauntlets. The other bandits gasped in surprise and shock. "You think a maggot like you can threaten the Dark Lord?! You're thousands of years too early for that, you brat!" he screamed, his rage boiling over.

"That bastard!" one of the bandits shouted.

"You'll pay for this!" another added as the rest of the group assumed combat stances, poised to attack him from all sides with swords and lances, while the archers hung back.

Pathetic. Fifteen men, hiding behind trees just to rob one or two travelers passing by. They were unfortunate to have met him, but he had no time to waste on worms like them. He finally released the flattened head, letting the corpse fall to the ground as smoke wrapped around his gauntlets and cleaned them.

"These cowards don't deserve to die by my hands, Iden. So hurry up," the Dark Lord commanded.

"As you wish, my Lord," the pendant he wore spoke, its shape shifting.

"What the hell is this?!" One of the men screamed in fear as the pendant transformed into a gigantic black bear.

The bear let out a fierce growl as it crushed two of the bandits under its massive paw, while two arrows bounced harmlessly off its fur. It then turned towards the bowmen and transformed into a snake as large as the bear, with black scales adorned with purple spots and a tail covered in sharp spikes. The bowmen were caught off guard and impaled instantly by its tail before being tossed aside.

"Take this!" One of the remaining bandits tried to strike Iden's neck with his sword, but the blade bounced off as if it hit steel. Iden's cold, red reptilian eyes fixated on the bandit, causing him to tremble with fear. "W-Wait… I'm sorry!" He made a vain attempt to beg for mercy before being swallowed whole by the snake.

"Damn it! That's a shapeshifter! Run!"

Of course, they tried to run now that they'd seen they were outmatched. They couldn't even face death and go with pride. Running was useless, naturally. Once Iden received an order from him, he would stop at nothing to execute it. The slaughter wouldn't cease until he told him to stop or they all died.

Although the earlier confrontation had angered him, the Dark Lord's face now lit up with delight as he heard the bandits' desperate cries and pleas for mercy. He didn't even need to watch the carnage unfold, knowing that Iden was having the time of his life shifting forms, turning into other races and finding the most efficient way to kill them.

The last remaining bandit crawled towards the Dark Lord, followed closely by Iden, who had transformed into a hulking gorilla-hedgehog with black fur and spikes on his back. "P-Please… Please…" The bandit begged for mercy, but the Dark Lord's surprisingly soothing voice cut through the chaos.

"Do you finally understand who I am?" he asked, his voice surprisingly calm.

"Yes! Yes, I do… We wouldn't… We wouldn't have attacked you if we knew, I swear!" He stuttered while trying to speak quickly. "I-I'll turn my life around if you let me go! I swear I won't-" He was abruptly interrupted when Iden's fist slammed against the back of his head. What happened next could only be assimilated to someone dropping a watermelon on the ground.

The Dark Lord scoffed again as Iden raised his bloodied fist. "If you thought I was trying to turn your life around, then you still clearly didn't understand who you were facing, you imbecile,"

There was no better way to celebrate the day of the Dark Lord's return than to make blood rain.