The Forgotten Warlord: Return of the Lost Son

---Leon POV, Two Hours Later---

The tenth floor opened into a cavernous chamber of polished obsidian. Prismatic crystals clung to the ceiling like frozen light, bathing the space in a restless, shifting glow. Drawn in by the magical atmosphere, we had just begun to sink into the quiet magic of the vault when the serenity was shattered. A band of adventurers across from us was locked in a heated debate; their bickering over whether to rest or press onward echoed off the walls, effectively ruining the moment.

“I told you: pick up your equipment this instant and prepare to move out. You can rest once the dungeon boss has been defeated,” a pudgy noble snapped, his butlers nodding in unison beside him. “If you continue to defy me, I will have my grandfather execute your families—then you!”

“Sire, all we are requesting is twenty minutes to rest and eat. My men and the battle slaves have been on the march since six this morning,” the knight commander spoke, trying to reason with the brat. “If we challenge the boss now, I fear we will be unable to perform our duties.”

“Our lord gave us strict instructions this morning,” one of the well-dressed butlers interjected, his voice like ice. “We are to execute the young master’s orders without question. Now, prepare to set out immediately, or ready yourselves for the consequences upon our return to the surface.”

Unable to make the bullheaded noble see reason, the knight commander ordered his subordinates to prepare for departure. With exhausted sighs, the troops complied, their movements heavy and sluggish. As they shakily gathered their gear, Yunyun broke away from us and ran toward them.

“Please wait! If you challenge the boss in your current state, you’ll be wiped out!”

“Don’t tell me how to run my—”

The noble’s berating shout died in his throat as his eyes fell upon her. His gaze traveled downward, stopping on Yunyun’s voluptuous chest. A dark, hungry expression crept across his face, replacing his anger with something far more unsettling.

“Forgive my harshness, beautiful,” he purred, his voice dropping an octave. “How about the two of us get to know each other over some tea?”

Repulsed by the heat in his gaze, Yunyun pulled her robes tighter, shielding herself as she took a small step back. “I appreciate the offer, but I must politely decline.”

Unhappy with her response, the noble gestured to his butlers. At his command, they moved to seize Yunyun, their expressions blank and robotic. Yunyun leveled her staff toward them, the air beginning to hum with mana, when the noble spoke up again.

“I would strongly suggest reevaluating your situation, woman. My grandfather is Marquis Frampton. If you harm my subordinates or me, you and your family will be executed. Just come quietly; if you behave yourself, I may decide to spare them.”

Yunyun’s complexion went ghost-white. If it were only her life on the line, she might have struck them down, but the threat to her loved ones was too much. She looked for help from the people she was trying to save, but no one would meet her eyes. Her staff wavered.

Before the butlers could lay a hand on her, I stepped between them, meeting their advance with a ferocious glare.

“This woman is under the protection of House Aremus,” I stated, my voice low and dangerous. “Lay a hand on her, and I will see to it that your household goes extinct.”

Under my terrifying gaze, the butlers recoiled, slinking back to their master. To ensure their master got the message, I began to channel my magic. A twenty-foot sphere of raging flames erupted overhead, the inferno’s roar drowning out the silence. The intense heat surged through the room, turning the dark obsidian floor and walls into a dull, glowing red around us.

“Protect the young master!” the knight commander barked.

With shields raised, the knights and slaves hastily formed a barrier to protect him. As they closed ranks, their shields began to deform as the scent of singed hair filled the air.

“My comrade was willing to risk herself to save you. Instead of returning her kindness when your foolish charge threatened her, you ignored her,” I said, full of disdain. “Tell me, is there any reason I shouldn’t send all of you to oblivion here and now?”

With certain death looming overhead, the pudgy nobleman broke.

“I refuse to die in this wretched place! Protect my precious life with your bodies—that is an order!” He turned and fled.

Gutted by the cruel command, the men glanced back, looks of betrayal flashing across their weary faces. When they realized he was sprinting for the teleportation circle, the knight commander charged after him.

“Young master, wait! If you go into the boss room alone, you’ll be killed.”

“Everyone, follow him!” one butler commanded, his icy composure finally cracking into a panic.

Discarding their warped, useless shields, the group scrambled after the two men. They had barely piled onto the circle before it ignited; a flash of light consumed them, and then they were gone. When the radiance faded, the once-glowing runes remained dark—a sign that the boss room was now occupied and locked.

Quenching my fireball, I turned and gave my companion an apologetic look.

“I am sorry, Yunyun. Your kindness was wasted on those fools.”

“It’s okay…” Yunyun replied, her voice small and her gaze fixed on the floor. “But be honest—is there something wrong with me? I never seem to do anything right. I feel like all I do is cause problems for everyone.”

“Genuine kindness is never a problem,” Roxanne said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Those who refuse to accept it are the actual issue.”

“Roxanne is right. Don’t change who you are at heart to cater to people like that,” I added. “The two of us like you just the way you are, flaws and all.”

A small, contented smile touched Yunyun’s lips. She looked toward the darkened circle and asked what we should do now. Since the boss room was in use, we had no choice but to wait. We sat together in the cooling obsidian chamber, sharing water and talking about our goals as we waited for the room to clear.

---Fifteen Minutes Later---

The teleportation circle glowed dimly once again. Given the party’s state when they entered, it was almost certain they had been wiped out. We shared a moment of silence for the poor souls who had sacrificed their lives for an unworthy master. When we finished, the three of us geared up and approached the magic circle.

“So, Leon, do you know who the boss of this dungeon is?” Roxanne asked, her fists clenched with excitement.

“It’s a King Slime,” I answered, my voice serious. “Don’t let the name lull you into a false sense of security. We’re talking about a monster twenty feet in diameter that can weigh upwards of two tons. If it lands on you… we will be scraping you off the floor.”

Steeling their nerves, we stepped onto the circle as the sigils flared into a blinding white. For a heartbeat, the world warped and stretched—a sickening lurch of gravity—before snapping violently back into focus.

The mesmerizing atmosphere of the obsidian chamber was gone, replaced by the dry heat of the afternoon sun. We were no longer underground. Instead, we stood in the center of a massive, ruined colosseum. Crumbling stone arches rose around us like the bleached ribs of a giant, and the floor beneath our boots was no longer polished stone, but a thick layer of blood-stained sand.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Before we could even get our bearings, the boss was upon us. I dove toward Roxanne and Yunyun, hauling them to the side just as the King Slime slammed into the sand where we had stood a heartbeat before. The impact sent a spray of dust and grit into the air, the ground shuddering beneath our boots.

“Why is it already here?!” Yunyun shrieked, her fingers digging into my arm in shock. “Miss Lucoa said they always spawn at the arena’s center!”

“That’s only if the previous party won,” I shouted over the gloopy roar of the creature, drawing my blade in a fluid motion. “If they fail, the boss will lie in wait to ambush the next group. Roxanne and I will hold its attention—you focus on carving a hole big enough to bring its core within our reach!”

Shaking off their shock, my comrades locked in. Roxanne and I broke into a sprint, flanking the creature from both sides while hurling insults and chunks of rubble to draw its focus. The King Slime let out a low, gurgling rumble, its body wriggling in hesitation before it finally spun, choosing to give chase.

As it bounced after us, the squealing thud of its weight caused the arena sand to jump with every impact. Once it was a safe distance away, Yunyun planted her staff firmly. As she started to chant, the air surrounding her shimmered with brilliant shades of orange and red. The temperature rose sharply, the intense heat already turning the sand beneath her feet into jagged peaks of glass.

“Yunyun’s spell needs thirty seconds to charge,” I shouted to Roxanne, recognizing the cadence of the chant. “Just before she releases it, I will pin the King Slime in place. Make sure you’re well clear when I give the signal!”

“Understood!” Roxanne replied, her voice steady even as the ground beneath us stopped shaking.

Glancing back, we found the King Slime was pulsating with visible frustration. Unable to catch us, it abandoned the chase to level the playing field. The massive creature compressed itself, its translucent body turning dark blue as it gathered power for a specialty move.

“Get ready! It’s about to launch a barrage of hardened spikes at us!” I alerted Roxanne.

Its body rapidly expanded with a wet, explosive snap, launching thousands of gelatinous spears in our direction. Roxanne moved with lethal grace, pirouetting through the hail of projectiles like a veteran dancer. I did not bother dodging; my energy blade buzzed through the air, bisecting the spikes with pinpoint precision. They were reduced to harmless droplets before they could reach my skin.

Furious that we had thwarted its attack so effortlessly, the King Slime’s body vibrated with intense rage. The creature lashed out, sending several barbed tendrils toward us at blistering speed. Roxanne leaped to the side to dodge as she had before, but this time the barrage veered off course at the last possible second, catching her by surprise.

She twisted away from most of them, but…

Thud!

One strike found its mark, burying itself deep in Roxanne’s thigh. Through gritted teeth, she slashed at the connection, but the King Slime jerked its appendage, dragging her across the sand toward its wriggling mass.

I charged forward to reach her, my blade a blur as I obliterated the fresh barrage of tendrils launched to intercept me. As I cut through the final spike, I caught sight of her face—a raw mixture of pain and terror. In that instant, the colosseum vanished. My vision blurred, and an unfamiliar, haunting scene played out before my eyes.

---Flashback---

Surrounded by a sea of faceless corpses, I was locked in a desperate dance with a horde of Barons of Hell and Marauders. They were monsters pulled straight from the DOOM series, a franchise I had loved in my past life.

Cutting them down with ease, my body moved with fluid grace and instinctual lethality. Yet, for every demon I brought low, two more surged forward to take its place. I was winning every duel, but I was losing the war of attrition.

As I was slowly being pushed back, a feminine cry of pain rang out to my right. I turned, and my eyes fell upon the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen. Her auburn hair and stunning face were caked in fresh blood from an Argent Spear embedded in her shoulder, yet her emerald eyes sparkled with defiant rage.

“Get your hands off my wife!” I roared, the words tearing from my throat before I could even process them.

With a single, unholy swing of my blade, I bisected every opponent before me and rushed to her side. I leveled her assailant with a rage-filled headbutt, giving her the opening to wrench the spear from her flesh and channel a desperate flicker of healing magic.

“Thank you, dear…,” she wheezed, her legs buckling as she struggled to remain upright.

She gave me a heartfelt smile, but it quickly contorted into concern as she reached for my chest. Looking down, I realized my torso was a mangled, bloody mess.

“Your regeneration is failing,” she stated, her hands trembling as she tried to mend the ruin of my body.

“Save your strength,” I said, gently pushing her hand away. I looked into her eyes, the roar of the horde fading into the background. “Death is already a foregone conclusion for us. Let us only hope our sacrifice buys our son the time he needs to escape.”

Turning to face the next horde, I was blindsided as a red-armored mech surged toward us at ludicrous speed. I couldn’t even raise my blade before the Dark Lord himself crashed into me, sending me tumbling across the bridge. I caught myself and lunged forward to counterattack, only to come face-to-face with the All-Black sword. In one blurring motion, Davoth drove the cursed steel through my chest.

“Beloved!!” she screamed, unleashing a frantic barrage of spells that broke harmlessly against his armor.

“You fought well this day, Lost Son. Out of respect, I will permit your fleeing vessels to depart this place safely,” Davoth spoke, his voice a cold rumble as he withdrew the blade.

Every ounce of strength vanished. I collapsed onto the deck, my body a useless weight as I watched helplessly. Davoth turned and seized her, hoisting her into the air by the throat. She thrashed, her fingers clawing at his gauntlets in a desperate, failing bid for freedom.

“Unfortunately, I cannot afford you the same mercy I gave your husband,” Davoth stated, beginning to walk away with his prize. “You will serve my cause, whether or not you do so willingly.”

Unable to breathe, her struggles slowed as the darkness took her. With the last of her strength, she reached out toward me, her expression one of abject horror. She didn’t know what lay ahead, but she knew instinctively that it was a fate far worse than death.

---Flashback End, One Second Later---

My vision darkened for a heartbeat, then snapped back to the present.

I was back in the colosseum, but the helplessness was gone—replaced by unyielding resolve. I dove into the next wave of projectiles to reach Roxanne. A split-second before I intercepted the threat, the world slowed to a crawl. The flying shards of gelatin moved at a snail’s pace, yet I moved unimpeded. I didn’t question the sensation; I simply embraced it.

With a blurred wave of my energy blade, I eviscerated every incoming attack. I reached Roxanne in a flash, severing the barbed tendril and scooping her up. With her safely in my arms, I made a hasty retreat as the world sped up back to its natural rhythm.

“Gravity Bind!” I roared, casting the spell over my shoulder without looking back. A massive black sphere of mana crashed down onto the King Slime, pinning its two-ton mass into the sand. “Do it now, Yunyun!”

Seeing Roxanne was safe, Yunyun cracked a relieved smile and poured every ounce of her mana into her staff.

“Hellfire Eruption!” Yunyun proclaimed, her voice echoing through the ruins.

A pillar of black and purple flames erupted from the sand, engulfing the trapped boss before rising into the sky like a ray of dark sunlight. At the center, the King Slime let out an agonizing roar as its body boiled. Internal pressure built until its exterior ruptured in a series of violent, steaming explosions.

I set Roxanne down beside Yunyun and charged toward the suffering creature. With a powerful swing of my blade, I split the pillar of hellfire in two, my blade driving dead-center into the slime’s glowing core. The flames dissipated as quickly as they had arrived, and our opponent let out one final, pathetic burble before vanishing into a puff of dark smoke.

Join the Discord group: .gg/YTYN36rRzZ

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!