MMORPG: Birth of the World's Luckiest Player-Chapter 126: Twin Divine Steeds at Star Lake

Marcus turned toward the direction of the two thunderous whinnies, genuine astonishment washing over him the moment the sound hit. The sheer force behind those calls was staggering, powerful enough to ripple through the air like a shockwave. Beneath him, his Mythic Mount, the Violet Thunderwing Steed, screamed in distress and reared violently, its wings beating erratically as it stamped and twisted midair, refusing to continue forward.

Low, anxious cries rumbled from the steed’s throat, its muscles tense and unresponsive to his commands.

’A Divine Beast,’ Marcus thought immediately, a slow, satisfied smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Luck really was on his side today.

Just moments earlier, he had dumped the useless Wild Steed he had been keeping in his Mount Storage Slot, freeing up the space for the Violet Thunderwing Steed. If he had hesitated even a little longer, the Mythic Mount would have sensed those overwhelming calls, slipped out of his control entirely, and fled on its own. Divine or not, even Mythic creatures had instincts they could not suppress.

Calming the Violet Thunderwing Steed took far more effort than Marcus liked to admit, only then did the steed resume flight, inching forward toward the blue, six-pointed lake where the sounds had originated, though every beat of its wings carried visible hesitation.

Marcus leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowed. Whatever was down there, he had to see it for himself.

It didn’t help that he hadn’t equipped a saddle.

Without one, controlling a mount, especially a high-tier creature, was significantly harder. A proper saddle allowed a rider to guide movement precisely, maintain balance during sudden maneuvers, and issue commands without resistance. Without it, even the best mount could become skittish or disobedient at the worst possible moment. Any competent Knight understood this, which was why the Dragon Dynasty placed such absurd value on items like the Dragon-Horse Lyre.

’First thing I’m doing when I get back to Pegasus Citadel is buying a top-tier saddle,’ Marcus decided grimly.

Still, curiosity burned too strongly to turn back now.

What kind of creature could produce whinnies powerful enough to unsettle a Mythic Mount? His first thought was the Solar Celestial Steed, the Super Divine Beast rumored to have created Star Lake itself, but the idea didn’t quite fit. The calls hadn’t been singular. They were distinct, overlapping, clearly belonging to two different horses.

Could there really be two Divine Steeds here, both powerful enough to rival the Solar Celestial Steed?

The thought made his pulse quicken.

Marcus slowed his approach as the six-pointed lake came fully into view, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings. His Ring of Resurrection was still on cooldown for the day, but he wasn’t overly worried. As long as he stayed sharp, kept his distance, and remained ready to activate Run for Your Life, he wasn’t in immediate danger.

Opportunity wasn’t something you waited for. It was something you seized.

Even the greatest luck meant nothing without the courage to act. If he hadn’t noticed the Violet Thunderwing Steed’s agitation earlier, he would already be safely back in Pegasus Citadel. And if he hadn’t taken risks before, he never would have obtained a Mythic Mount in the first place.

Life was never easy, but effort had a way of turning impossibility into simplicity. More often than not, success made people realize that what once seemed insurmountable had only required persistence and resolve. In the real world, ambition was shackled by circumstances you couldn’t control, but Dominion was different. Here, ability mattered. Talent could be displayed openly, and dreams weren’t limited by anything except one’s own reach.

Lost in those thoughts, Marcus drifted closer to the lake.

Then the world seemed to explode.

A deafening boom thundered across the land, shaking the air so violently that even his mount flinched. From a dense thicket near the lakeshore, two massive figures burst forth in a spray of shattered branches and flying debris.

One was a radiant white steed, its entire body wreathed in pure golden light, blazing like a miniature sun. The other was pitch black, its form wrapped in a thick, shadowy aura that swallowed light itself, like the embodiment of night given flesh.

Marcus finally understood. They weren’t arriving, they were fighting.

The two Divine Steeds slammed into each other with terrifying force, their collision sending out shockwaves of raw energy that detonated across the ground. Sometimes they clashed with magic, light and darkness crashing together in violent explosions. Other times, they abandoned magic entirely, shrieking sharply as they charged headfirst, hooves and bodies colliding, tearing into flesh and drawing blood with brutal, primal ferocity.

Each impact was followed by a thunderous roar.

In mere moments, the battlefield around them was utterly ruined. Dust and shattered stone filled the air, the forest they had torn through was reduced to splintered wreckage, towering trees snapped like twigs, and the solid ground was gouged open with massive craters. Even bedrock cracked and burst apart under the relentless assault.

The devastation stood in jarring contrast to the serene, almost sacred beauty of Star Lake itself, as if two worlds were colliding at its edge.

Marcus stared, his mouth slightly open.

"Hooooly guacamole," he muttered under his breath.

"That is insane."

The ease with which the two steeds wielded high-level magic left Marcus deeply unsettled. Their spells detonated with terrifying precision, and he knew without doubt that if he were caught anywhere near the blast radius, his body would be erased in an instant, not even ashes left behind. The power they displayed was on par with the Dark Arch-Sorcerer, the Double-Headed Raven King, one of the Demon Lord’s Eight Guardians.

That realization made his scalp prickle.

These were true Divine Beasts.

No wonder a single whinny had thrown Star Lake into chaos and sent countless mounts fleeing in panic. Star Lake was famous as a sanctuary for powerful mounts, but encountering two horse-type Divine Beasts at once was far beyond anything Marcus had expected.

Careful not to draw attention, he guided the Violet Thunderwing Steed toward a towering tree near the lake’s edge. The trunk was thick, ancient, and sturdy enough to support his weight. Once perched on a wide branch with a clear view of the battlefield below, Marcus dismissed the Mythic Mount back into his Mount Storage Slot.

Standing still, he focused entirely on observation.

The black horse immediately seized his attention.

Its coat was an absolute black, a depth of darkness so intense it felt as if it had been torn straight from the Demon Realm itself. A spiraling horn jutted from its forehead, constantly crackling with dark lightning that leapt upward in sharp, violent arcs. Its eyes burned with a haunting flame, mesmerizing and terrifying, the kind of gaze no sane creature would dare meet for long. Hellfire wrapped around its four hooves, scorching the ground beneath it and reducing everything it touched to ash.

A Nightmare King, Marcus realized, his breath catching slightly.

This was no ordinary Nightmare. It was a horned Nightmare, a Nightmare King, the legendary Fallen Unicorn King. According to the game’s description, Such creatures were said to exist only in the deepest, most dangerous regions of the Demon Clan’s territory.

According to legend, Unicorns were born aligned with the light. However, when some fell from grace and chose darkness, they tore away their own horns, severing their connection to the light and plunging fully into the abyss of the Demon Clan. These fallen beings became Nightmares, the most fearsome war mounts the Demon Clan had ever produced.

A Nightmare that retained a horn was something else entirely.

A horned Nightmare was a Nightmare King, the supreme ruler of its kind, possessing power that rivaled true Divine Beasts.

There were two widely accepted legends surrounding the origin of the Nightmare King.

The first claimed that when a powerful Unicorn King chose to fall, it found itself unable to discard its horn, as the horn was bound directly to its life force. Instead, the Unicorn King submerged itself within a Demon Pool in the Demon Realm for forty-nine days, absorbing immense quantities of Dark Demonic Energy. Over time, the light within the horn was completely erased, transforming it into a horn of pure darkness. From that moment on, the creature became immune to Light magic and was thereafter known as the Fallen Unicorn King.

The second legend told a different story.

It claimed that while many Unicorns fell and became Nightmares, some refused to submit to the Demon Clan or allow themselves to be ridden. These rebellious Nightmares ventured deeper into the Demon Realm alone, fighting constantly, training relentlessly, and absorbing Dark Demonic Energy until their strength reached terrifying heights. Eventually, a new horn grew from their foreheads, a horn born entirely of darkness and likewise immune to Light magic. These beings became Nightmare Kings, the strongest of their species, seen only in the deepest reaches of Demon Clan territory.

Whichever legend was true, one fact was undeniable.

A horned Nightmare was the apex predator among its kind.

On land, the Nightmare King’s strength was comparable to that of the Hell’s Cerberus and the Dark Demon Wolf King, two of the Demon Clan’s six great Divine Beasts.

To witness such a legendary creature with his own eyes, and here at Star Lake of all places, felt like a reward in itself. Nightmare Kings were infamous for being solitary, cruel, and violently combative. They were said to be completely untamable. Throughout the entire history of the Dreamland Continent, only the Demon Lord himself had ever succeeded in acquiring a Nightmare King as a mount, and even that feat was considered borderline mythical.

The Nightmare King’s power was obvious.

But the white horse troubled Marcus far more.

Aside from the intense golden light surrounding it and the dense aura of Light magic radiating from its body, it looked utterly ordinary. Its form was no different from that of a common horse, with no horn, no wings, and no outward signs of divinity. Yet it was fighting the Nightmare King to a standstill, meeting every charge, every spell, and every collision head-on without yielding an inch.

Marcus narrowed his eyes.

Anything capable of matching a Nightmare King could never be simple.

’Just what in the world is that white horse?’