Farmboy becomes King with the Lust System

Byun let out a low, impressed whistle. "Woah…" he muttered under his breath, watching the tendrils of smoke curl away from the first shadow wolf's fading form.

The principal didn't look back at him, his eyes narrowing slightly as he turned to meet the next one.

Without hesitation, Kine's hands flared with a concentrated glow, the air around them heating with the sheer intensity of his light magic. He released another burst, this one cleaner and sharper than the last.

The beam cut through the second wolf like a blade through paper. The creature gave a strangled howl before collapsing into nothingness, leaving behind a faint smear of cold air.

The third wolf lunged for him, claws outstretched, its red eyes blazing with unnatural hunger. Kine didn't move until it was a breath away.

At the last moment, he snapped his wrist upward, flooding the space with a piercing ray that struck the wolf mid-leap. It froze in the air for half a heartbeat before exploding into motes of shadow.

Byun clicked his tongue, shaking his head with admiration. "So… that's why my dad wanted you to come with me, huh?"

Kine gave him a sidelong glance, his mouth twitching like he might smile, but he didn't. "You're just figuring that out now?" he said dryly, brushing his hands together as though to clear away the magic. Then he turned, scanning the dim corridor ahead. "Come on. We're not done yet."

They continued walking, their boots crunching on ground that felt almost too real for a place like this. The air was still thick with darkness, but it shifted now, no longer entirely suffocating.

Byun's earlier absorption of the shadows seemed to have carved a thin path of clarity through the rift.

That was when he noticed it, a shape on the distant cliff to their right. It was subtle at first, almost blending into the jagged edges of the rock, but then the silhouette moved. A humanoid figure stood there, tall and thin, with a crown-like curve to its head.

Byun slowed his steps. "Principal… we're being watched."

The principal followed his gaze, but before either could call out, the figure melted away into the darkness, leaving no trace behind.

Kine's jaw tightened. "Keep moving," he said, his tone sharper now.

They climbed a gradual slope, the terrain shifting beneath their feet until it leveled out into a ridge. From there, the view opened up and Byun's breath caught.

A massive, black basin stretched out before them, and in the center of it rose a fortress. It wasn't built so much as grown from the darkness itself, jagged spires curling upward like claws.

A faint pulse of sickly light throbbed from within its walls, beating slowly, like a monstrous heart. Even from here, the magic radiating from it felt wrong.

"That's… not friendly," Byun murmured.

They started toward it, winding down the ridge and into the basin. But before they could get far, the sound of metal striking stone echoed from the shadows to their left. Then to their right.

From both sides, six armored shadow warriors emerged, their steps perfectly synchronized. They moved in formation, shields raised, blades drawn, soldiers who had clearly been trained and commanded.

Byun tensed, feeling the way the air thickened with their presence. "This isn't just random spawn… they're organized."

Kine didn't respond, only stepped forward and raised both hands. A brilliant flare of light erupted from his palms, flooding the space in a wave that melted through the first line of armor. The metal hissed and dripped away like wax, exposing writhing shadows beneath.

One of the soldiers broke formation, turning to retreat into the darkness. Byun didn't even think , his own shadows lashed out, curling around the warrior's legs and yanking it back. It thrashed, but his grip only tightened.

"Hold it," Kine said, stepping up. His light dimmed into a focused glow that swirled in his hands, twisting into a ritual pattern. Byun felt the magic shift, not destructive this time, but invasive. The principal pressed a hand to the soldier's helmet, and the light sank in.

The shadow soldier convulsed, and Byun's vision blurred. Suddenly, he wasn't standing in the basin anymore.

The world around him had shifted into a cold, oppressive hall of black stone. A towering figure sat upon a throne, draped in an aura of darkness that writhed like living smoke.

A crown rested on its head, the same curved silhouette they had seen earlier. Its voice was low and commanding as it spoke in a language Byun didn't know, but somehow understood. Orders. Directives. Troops kneeling before it, ready for war.

Then the vision snapped away, and the basin returned. The soldier crumpled to the ground, its form unraveling until it was just smoke again.

Kine exhaled slowly. "The Shadow Monarch," he said, almost to himself. "He's rallying an army."

Byun rubbed at his temple. "Yeah… and it's not for fun."

They pressed on, stepping into what Kine called the Dead Zone. The ground here was littered with skeletons. some human, some… not. A few were twisted into unnatural shapes, as if warped mid-death. Some still twitched faintly, the remnants of shadow magic keeping them from true rest.

Byun nudged a skull with his boot, the brittle bone cracking under the pressure. Rusted weapons and shattered armor lay scattered everywhere, the designs too familiar to be coincidence. They were from his world.

The air grew colder as they walked, the faint hum of the fortress growing louder. In the distance, shapes moved, massive, hulking things with bone-white frames and wings like torn sails.

Byun squinted. "What… are they doing?"

They got closer, and he realized. The beasts weren't born, they were made. Skeletons were being dipped into vats of liquid darkness, the bones drinking in the magic until their forms warped.

Spikes erupted from their limbs, wings sprouted from their backs, claws elongated into blades. Around them, shadowy engineers worked methodically, fusing parts together like craftsmen building siege weapons.

Kine's expression hardened. "They're breeding them for our terrain," he said quietly. "Wings for our cities' rooftops… claws for stone walls… armor for gunfire."

The biggest of the creatures was already complete. It stood in a wide clearing, towering over everything else.

Its body was a fusion of shadow and bone, veins of glowing light threading through its frame like captured lightning. The air around it thrummed with power, every heartbeat sending a ripple through the ground.

Byun stared. "That's… the heart, isn't it?"

Kine nodded. "The rift's focal point."

Byun swallowed, his shadows curling instinctively around him. "So… we break that… and this place dies?"

Kine's gaze stayed locked on the beast. "Yes. But it won't let us."