The Final Boss Has Returned
Episode 119
[Revival of the Alliance]
[Rank: Legend]
—The ancient alliance was dissolved, and two thousand years have passed. Having undergone the Great Upheaval, the forces of darkness weakened so much that they scattered not only across Arde World, but even to other worlds.
However, following the Apostle of Darkness who appeared after two thousand years, the alliance has been revived.
Through your exploits as the Apostle of Darkness, the six races scattered across the world have all gathered under the banner of the ancient alliance, in accordance with the ancient covenant. A new Dark Territory was declared in the north, and the dark races were able to live peaceful lives within the Dark Territory.
While this is an encouraging achievement, it is not yet a stage satisfactory for an Apostle of Darkness.
—For the first time in two thousand years, the foundation has been laid for the forces of darkness to step into the light of day.
—Establish the Dark Council. Hold the Alliance Ceremony at the council, and declare that the Dark Alliance has been revived.
Then the entire world shall tremble before the name of the Dark Alliance.
[Quest Completion Conditions]
[Construct the Dark Council] [Completed]
[Declare the Revival of the Dark Alliance]
Dark Alliance!
The quest to activate the unidentified feature I had seen in the information window of the facility 'Dark Council' had finally appeared.
[The quest cannot be refused.]
[You have accepted the quest.]
As expected, I had no other choice.
A forcibly accepted quest!
Along with it, messages continuously rose before my eyes.
[We have confirmed the construction of the facility 'Dark Council' is complete.]
[Will you hold the Alliance Ceremony?]
Since one of the quest conditions had already been met, I was taken straight to the Alliance Ceremony.
"I shall hold it."
The moment my words ended, the entire black hall began to tremble.
Along with it, the center of the hall split apart and something rose up.
It was an altar bearing a black stone basin filled with swaying red liquid like blood, and seven stone goblets as well.
[The Alliance Ceremony shall commence.]
[Pour the Blood Wine into the goblets.]
I followed the instructions of the notification window and poured the red wine, swaying like blood, into the stone goblets.
After I filled them first, the leaders of each race followed, ladling out the Blood Wine from the basin.
When the Arch Lich, who was clearly in no state to drink alcohol due to the Undead King having descended upon him, finally scooped up the Blood Wine, a notification window appeared before my eyes.
[The Demon God of Darkness watches the Alliance Ceremony and smiles in satisfaction.]
[The Demon God of Darkness bestows a blessing of darkness upon the Blood Wine.]
Along with it, a black light that appeared to be the Demon God's blessing settled into the Blood Wine.
[Drink the Blood Wine imbued with the Blessing of Darkness, and declare the revival of the Dark Alliance.]
I checked the notification window and promptly drank the Blood Wine contained in the goblet.
A burning sensation slid down my esophagus, much like drinking strong liquor.
[You have drunk the Blood Wine imbued with the Blessing of Darkness.]
[All stats have permanently increased by 212.]
[The power of your Contract Skill has permanently increased by 10%.]
Watching the other leaders drink the Blood Wine, I spoke briefly.
"I declare the revival of the Dark Alliance."
The moment my words ended.
Rumble!
As the entire Dark Council shook, an overwhelming number of notification windows began appearing before my eyes at once.
[The revival of the Dark Alliance has been declared.]
[You have acquired the title 'Lord of the Dark Alliance'.]
[You have completed the quest 'Revival of the Alliance'.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[All stats have increased by 335.]
[The Faction system is now unlocked.]
[A Faction is the superior concept to a faction and the highest-level unit among all organizations existing in Arde World.]
[Users belonging to a Faction can receive various tangible and intangible benefits and buffs from that Faction, such as NPC affinity bonuses, item price discounts, and skill proficiency bonuses. They can also undertake Faction-exclusive quests or change to Faction-exclusive classes.]
[PK penalties do not apply between users belonging to Factions with a mutually hostile relationship.]
[The new Faction 'Dark Alliance' is now open.]
[Dark Alliance]
—The Dark Alliance refers to the ancient alliance formed between the Dark Empire that existed in the Mythical Era and the six races of darkness. After the fall of the Dark Empire, its existence was forgotten for a long time.
Over two thousand years ago, the former apostle, Saion, briefly rebuilt the forgotten Dark Alliance. However, it was soon dismantled by the attack of the Holy Alliance led by the Hero Leonhardt. Since then, the Dark Alliance was passed down only as a legend.
But now, the six races and the Apostle of Darkness have gathered once more in the Dark Council to declare the revival of the ancient alliance. Through this, the Dark Alliance has finally revealed itself again in Arde World.
—The Dark Alliance is a Faction under the protection of the Demon Subjugation Hall.
—The Faction of the six races belonging to the Dark Alliance, as well as all users with darkness-aligned classes, will change from 'Neutral' to 'Dark Alliance'.
—From now on, 'Necromancer,' 'Dark Knight,' and 'Black Mage' are classes that only users who have selected the Faction 'Dark Alliance' can advance into.
—From now on, the Faction 'Dark Alliance' can be selected during character creation.
[Having detected the revival of the Dark Alliance, the Pantheon has begun preparations to unlock the Faction 'Holy Alliance'.]
[All users except those with specific races or classes are currently 'Neutral', and will be given the opportunity to select a Faction for the next six months in real time.]
[Users who do not select a Faction even after six months in real time will have their Faction determined randomly.]
[Once chosen, a Faction cannot be changed. Please choose carefully.]
[A new possibility has opened in Arde World. Participate in a new history.]
Faction!
The RvR system I had anticipated was finally unlocked.
'The Faction called the Holy Alliance will soon appear as well.'
I extracted several useful keywords from the flood of translucent information windows pouring down and organized them in my head.
Holy Alliance!
This was a name I had seen in the literature of Arde World.
The organization led by the Hero Leonhardt during the reconstruction of the Dark Empire was none other than the Holy Alliance.
Since the Pantheon side had begun preparations to establish the Holy Alliance, it was clear that the Faction called the Holy Alliance would soon reveal itself as well.
The RvR system was content that could only truly shine when there were at least two Factions, so this was only natural.
And the second keyword that caught my attention was the part about there being no PK penalties between users belonging to hostile Factions.
Of course, thanks to those unidentified bastards behind the Great Upheaval—whose name had now been revealed as Gehenna—the Pantheon and the Demon Subjugation Hall were still in a state of implicit ceasefire and cold war. Therefore, a hostile relationship would not be established with the Pantheon side's Faction immediately.
However, if I looked at this situation in reverse, if the phase progressed further and our common enemy, Gehenna, disappeared, then that would be when a hostile relationship between the two Factions was established, and ultimately, the chances of war breaking out were high.
The Pantheon and the Demon Subjugation Hall. Light and Darkness.
The reason these two forces, which had been itching to kill each other since the beginning of Arde World, had stayed still until now was precisely because of Gehenna, the public enemy behind the Great Upheaval.
'And that might just be the final phase leading to this game's ending.'
Ending.
The key to that place had finally been placed in my hands.
My thoughts having reached that point, I checked the notification window floating before me.
[The capital of the Dark Alliance is designated as 'Snow Castle,' where the Dark Council is located.]
[The summon point for human users who select the Faction 'Dark Alliance' during character creation is fixed to Snow Castle.]
After checking the information, I scattered the notification windows away.
Now was the time to gauge user sentiment regarding the addition of large-scale content called RvR.
* * *
The moment the Dark Alliance was unlocked.
Notifications appeared before all users, and the Dark Alliance instantly became a hot topic among countless users.
Faction system!
At the moment when users were watching the suddenly appeared RvR system.
Not long after the Dark Alliance was unlocked, a notification that another Faction had been unlocked appeared before all users connected to Arde World.
[The Faction 'Holy Alliance' is now open.]
—The Holy Alliance has been a breakwater and a lighthouse protecting Arde World from the forces of darkness from the Mythical Era until now, a secret society of light that has guarded the world from within the world's shadows.
However, now that the Dark Territory has settled in the north and the Dark Alliance has revealed itself, the Pantheon judged that the Holy Alliance could no longer be left in the shadows of the world. It was decided to open the gates of the Holy Alliance.
The Holy Alliance, now revealed to the world, shall protect the light against the darkness spread by the Dark Alliance.
—The Holy Alliance is a Faction under the protection of the Pantheon.
—The Faction of all users who selected the race 'Elf' or 'Dwarf,' as well as all users possessing light-aligned classes, is fixed to the Holy Alliance.
—From now on, 'Priest' and 'Paladin' are classes that only users who have selected the Faction 'Holy Alliance' can advance into.
—From now on, the Faction 'Holy Alliance' can be selected during character creation.
Holy Alliance!
The hostile Faction of the Dark Alliance had finally appeared.
With both Factions having appeared, the foundation for RvR was finally established.
[The Faction 'Dark Alliance' and the Faction 'Holy Alliance' are currently in a relationship of 'implicit ceasefire'.]
[Because a mutually hostile relationship has not been established between the two Factions, PK penalties apply between users belonging to the Dark Alliance and the Holy Alliance.]
[Because a mutually hostile relationship has not been established between the two Factions, mutual travel between the Dark Alliance and the Holy Alliance is possible.]
As Drakan had expected, a full hostile relationship had not been established between the two Factions.
This was because Gehenna, the public enemy of both Factions and a hostile force threatening the entirety of Arde World, still existed intact on the storyline.
Nevertheless, despite the hostile relationship not being established, users were wild with excitement at the appearance of new content.
Whereas the new races and new classes added so far were new contents added without touching the existing framework, the current RvR system and Faction content were truly contents that overturned the existing game's framework.
Since it was content that could not be found even in the previous game, it was only natural that users who always wanted new content cheered for the Faction system.
[Guys, which Faction are you choosing?]
[Isn't it obviously the Alliance where Drakan is? Do we even have a choice?]
[The Alliance crawling with chuunibyou patients keke. Don't join the Alliance, you'll seriously regret it. The Alliance where Yujin is is obviously the best. For real, I claim God Yujin!]
[Yujin trash think they're on the same level as Yujin just because they're in the same faction? Disgusting, right?]
[Ah, I won't even talk to the Black Cows choosing the Alliance keke. Well, Black Cows and humans can't communicate anyway keke.]
What focused users' attention even more was the fact that Drakan belonged to the Alliance and Yujin to the Holy Alliance.
Yujin, the undisputed top ranker, and Drakan, the only user standing at his opposite point, the rising star and deity of Arde World!
The fact that these two users belonged to opposing Factions as if they had promised to do so amplified the Faction system's popularity severalfold. The Black Cows and the Church of Infinite Yujin—the two fandoms—chose the Faction of their respective idols without question.
At that very moment when users were fiercely competing over the Alliance and the Holy Alliance.
[The Conquering Lord Hive Mind has pinpointed the dimensional coordinates of Arde World.]
[The invasion of the Broken World has begun.]
With that brief notification, the entirety of Arde World transformed into a battlefield.
Phase 2—the story of the Broken World had officially begun.