The Final Boss Has Returned
Chapter 122
The Northern Colony Conquest by Drakan and the Dark Alliance!
This Northern Colony conquest was, of course, broadcast live via Arde Live by numerous Jeil E&M-affiliated streamers participating in the raid, as well as on Drakan's official channel and JDG's official channel, and was also relayed through JGN and SBC Games.
Colonies had appeared in the world of Arde!
Though there were a total of seven colonies scattered across the world of Arde, not a single guild or user had publicly declared their intention to raid one until Drakan announced he would.
That meant even top rankers like Yujin and Five Eyes had yet to make an official raid declaration.
Yet in that very situation, Drakan had stolen a march on Yujin, declaring his intent to raid a colony first.
Since entering Second, it was truly rare—utterly unprecedented—for Yujin to be beaten to a "world first" in this type of world event.
Thus, it was only natural that the attention of all users was focused on the Northern Colony conquest.
[Just ordered chicken lololol, just wait]
[Waiting with popcorn for the raid.]
[Guys, how do you think this raid will end?]
[Obviously Drakan and the Alliance will win; you call that a question? lol]
[What are you talking about? Yujin hasn't even gone in yet and is still weighing things carefully lol Drakan's just recklessly charging in to draw aggro first fr, such a forced play for a latecomer]
[You're Coalition, aren't you? Coalition, you bastard~]
[Comments invisible to Alliance shills.]
Because Drakan had gathered every bit of aggro possible since before the start—beating Yujin to the first raid declaration and so on—the Arde Forum had become an utter warzone, with Drakan's fandom and Yujin's fandom, Alliance users and Coalition users, all tangled up in battle from the moment the announcement dropped until now.
Especially after the faction system was introduced, the number of users who felt a sense of belonging to their respective factions—the Alliance and the Coalition—had gradually increased, and as that sentiment began reflecting in their keyboard battles, the public opinion war grew all the more intense.
Alliance users argued that Drakan would surely succeed in this raid just as he had won countless major quests before, while Coalition users openly declared that Drakan's raid would fail.
Precisely because this was the first large-scale faction event held since the faction system's introduction, the inter-faction keyboard warfare was burning fiercer than ever.
[I won't say much. Unlike some people, I'm not exactly gifted with words.]
[Just as it has always been, I will be victorious in this war as well.]
[For the Alliance!]
Drakan went live on his official channel, and soon after, his speech stoking the Alliance's sense of belonging sent Alliance users into a frenzy.
[For the Alliance!]
[Fr, the Alliance is the faction of real men lol I ain't buyin' that coward Coalition stuff no way;;]
[Kuh, I'm feeling the Alliance high... Barkeep, another round of Alliance pride!]
[Ah... I should've logged in today.... Such a shame;;]
[Look at those Alliance shills running wild, disgusting;;]
[Calling the Coalition a coward faction? You senile?]
[Real men my ass, isn't he just charging in blindly? Fr, seeing him recklessly ram in and calling that a 'real man' lolol]
[Shills, laugh while you can. Wait till you see Drakan cut and run later, you might drop dead lolol]
The fierce fighting between Alliance users and Coalition users did not cease even after Drakan's Northern Colony conquest broadcast began.
But the moment the Alliance army breached the colony's defensive line, and the undead army pushed back the enemy with sheer numbers, and the Undead King swept away all foes with a storm of decay, and finally the Alliance's elite raid party including Drakan and Ignis charged in and cut off the Alpha Mind's breath—
At that sight, which they watched via the live broadcast, Alliance users erupted in unified cheers, while sighs spilled from the mouths of Coalition users.
[Did the first colony conquest clear just pop? lolol]
[Where'd those Coalition scrubs from earlier go? All cut and run?]
[When our Drakan does something, he gets it done. Ah lol]
[This is Drakan!]
[Isn't it hilarious watching those Coalition scrubs tremble? Having fun?]
[Ugh; we're entering an era of Alliance shill dominance;; Ugh, the worst;]
[Gotta turn off the Arde Forum.]
[lolol If being dominated stings that much, why don't your Coalition scrubs try raiding a colony too~]
[Fr, those Coalition coward scrubs are all mouth lol anyone would think they'd cleared three colonies already lolol]
Drakan—no, 'our Alliance'—had claimed victory!
At the fact that the Alliance, the faction they belonged to, had conquered a colony ahead of the other faction, the Coalition, even Alliance users who had never felt a sense of belonging before now felt a peculiar attachment.
Until then, unless Drakan's exploits and achievements directly benefited them as in the naval decisive battle, other users had merely evaluated them as 'amazing,' 'worth watching,' or 'cathartic'—but the success of this colony conquest was completely different.
Dark Alliance!
The feeling that everyone had won together under the same faction name further strengthened the solidarity among Alliance-affiliated users.
Of course, not everyone in the faction felt that sense of belonging, so there had been a minority of users asking, 'It's just a game, why so immersed?' or 'What's the big deal about factions?'
But wasn't one of the fundamentals of RPG precisely RP—that is, role-playing?
Therefore, the so-called 'over-immersion' that some spoke of was precisely the foundation of RPG, and especially since Arde World was referred to as literally another world—indistinguishable from reality—the immersion of users playing Arde Saga: Second was higher than any RPG game released to date, and accordingly, just as many users rejoiced in the Dark Alliance's victory as if it were their own.
As a result, the minority of users who had sneered at faction attachment as 'over-immersion' were forced to hide their presence from the Arde Forum after receiving their fill of insults like 'wannabe-cool hipsters' and 'tryhard freaks.'
Thus, in stark contrast to Alliance users being swept up in a festive atmosphere, the mood among Coalition users was like a funeral.
Although the Holy Coalition and the Dark Alliance had not yet entered into full-scale hostilities, there were virtually no users unaware of the hostile atmosphere flowing between the two factions.
Therefore, users of both factions unconsciously regarded each other's faction as rivals.
When the Alliance succeeded in the colony conquest first in such a situation, not only did this inter-faction rivalry and competitive psychology completely surface, but it exploded on the spot.
[What on earth is Yujin doing?]
[Ugh, an era of Alliance dominance, this is so overboard;]
[Fr, why isn't Yujin stepping up at a time like this?]
[The Coalition army recruitment notice dropped a while back, but no schedule yet.]
[Wait a bit; Yujin isn't some pushover, he's not the type to abandon a colony;]
[No but Yujin IS a pushover, who's saying he isn't?]
[It's more suspicious that he's sitting still with Five Eyes at his disposal;]
Such complaints from Coalition users naturally turned toward Yujin, the Coalition's representative user who had remained silent until now.
While Drakan, the Alliance's representative user, boldly committed the Dark Alliance's full force and JDG to wipe out the northern colony, what the hell was Yujin doing?!
The central region had three colonies rooted there, unlike other regions, but precisely because the central region possessed vaster land and more resources than the east, west, south, or north, that number was by no means burdensome.
Rather, considering the tremendous forces Five Eyes could mobilize—known to be on a completely different dimension from the lower four of the old guard guilds—and the powerful card that was Yujin, it wouldn't have been strange if Yujin, not Drakan, had succeeded in the first colony conquest.
Yet in reality, Drakan had succeeded perfectly in the raid first, so Coalition users' resentment was swelling to the brink of explosion.
Of course, the Church of Infinite Yujin, Yujin's fandom, was waging a public opinion war and desperately shielding him to quell this discontent, but the ignited fury of the enraged Coalition users knew no end.
The sentiment of Coalition users quickly reached Berda's ears through Raiden, the head of the Church of Infinite Yujin, and realizing the situation was more serious than expected, Berda devised a plan to put out the urgent fire through a meeting.
And not long after the Lightwing Guild's meeting, on Arde Live—
Yujin's official channel.
The broadcast of the largest channel on Arde Live, boasting a whopping 100 million subscribers, went live for the first time in a while.
As soon as the live broadcast began on Yujin's official channel without warning, countless people began entering the stream, and soon a handsome man appeared on the other side of the screen.
It was Yujin himself.
[First, I would like to offer my apologies to the users for the delayed announcement.]
[First, I will speak regarding the plan for this central colony conquest that many users have been curious about. I, as well as our Lightwing Guild and Five Eyes, have been gathering preliminary information on the colonies, preparing with the goal of ensuring the maximum safety of general users participating in the Coalition army during the raid, and we have been establishing an operation to raid the three colonies in the central region simultaneously.]
At the words that soon burst from Yujin's mouth, users of all factions were simultaneously shocked.
Yujin!
The reason he had been silent all this time was because he had actually been devising an operation to raid all three colonies rooted in the central region simultaneously!
Moreover, at Yujin's statement that they had been carefully gathering information and devising a raid plan while meticulously considering the safety of general users, Coalition users erupted in cheers.
[As expected of Yujin!]
[Kuh, I'm going all-in believing only in Yujin.]
[Yujin-nim....... please forgive me for letting my faith in you waver.......]
[I screenshotted all those Alliance spies cursing Yujin earlier, gl hf]
[This is the Coalition!]
[Five Eyes is going in!]
[You can beat me to death but I'm Coalition till I die~]
[Won't those Alliance shills rushing in all excited and bragging get hit by the backdraft?]
[Fr, why were they acting all high and mighty calling Drakan a real man with just one? Lol, gotta make sure everyone knows they're shills lol if he's a real man he should be clearing three at once, no? Ah lol]
Even as Coalition users' chats and donations flooded in like a tidal wave, Yujin looked at his viewers with a calm expression and voice and spoke.
[In one week from now, simultaneous offensives will begin on the three colonies, and that day will be the day the central region is liberated from the otherworldly army. I apologize once more for the delayed announcement, and I will end the broadcast here.]
One week later!
At Yujin's announcement, which nailed down even the exact timeline, Coalition users went wild once more.
And Alliance users picked fights with those Coalition users, saying that they had still been the first to clear a raid.
And so, once again, keyboard battles between Coalition and Alliance users began exploding across the entire internet.
Drakan.
The RvR system that he had first flung open was now firmly settling into Arde Saga: Second.