**The Final Boss Has Returned - Episode 129**
**The Forest of Demons!**
A field known as the forbidden zone, even within the Great Forest—where unexplored regions stretched as far as the eye could see and high-level monsters roamed about without a care!
I was quietly staring at the boundary line of that field.
Beside me, Sin Hayeon and the Shadow Search Squad troops surrounded me as if to escort me.
The boundary between the general field of the Great Forest and the Forest of Demons was distinct even from afar.
Unlike the trees of the Great Forest, which boasted lush greenery, the trees of the Forest of Demons—clearly ominous at a glance—possessed ashen leaves and black trunks.
"We're almost at the Forest of Demons."
Sin Hayeon beside me spoke thus.
Indeed.
It was almost the Forest of Demons.
No matter how high-level a field the Forest of Demons was, there was no way to stop our current forces, which included the Shadow Search Squad—the Dark Elf elite troops.
Smiling, I led Sin Hayeon and the Shadow Search Squad into the Forest of Demons.
[You have entered the Forest of Demons.]
[Forest of Demons]
—The Forest of Demons is a forbidden zone located in the deepest part of the Great Forest, a place where even the indigenous peoples who have lived in the Great Forest for ages are reluctant to enter. Legends say a witch resides in the deepest part of the forest, but no one has ever actually seen the witch.
In the Forest of Demons, where an eerie atmosphere of unknown origin flows, twisted monsters dwell under the influence of an unknown power, and such monsters are commonly referred to as demons.
Beware the darkness of the Forest of Demons; it is a place where demons may leap out anytime, anywhere, without warning.
The moment I entered the forest, I squinted at the information window of the Forest of Demons that popped up, containing spine-chilling content.
The legend of the witch.
Seeing as it was clearly mentioned even in the information window, it seemed this was likely the right place.
The exact moment I was thinking that, looking at the forest and preparing to begin my search—
The air distorted, and a rift appeared.
At the same time, the Shadow Search Squad troops immediately took combat stances, and right as I, too, gripped the handle of the Executor of Ironblood—
someone appeared beyond the rift.
An NPC with the typical appearance of a "witch"—wearing a black pointed hat and black robes—revealed herself.
The witch NPC, notable for her beautiful purple hair cascading like a waterfall, appeared beyond the rift and immediately knelt on the spot before me, speaking to me in a trembling voice as if overcome with emotion.
"Kirke, commander of the Ironblood Alliance's 1st Magic Battalion, greets Your Sovereign."
I smiled at the words that spilled from her lips.
Kirke.
As I had expected, she was the true identity of the "witch."
I recalled six years ago.
Although countless NPCs had belonged to the Ironblood Alliance, Kirke was an NPC who had been with us since the early days.
The Sachsen Kingdom!
Even now, the days when I carried out the throne usurpation quest of the Sachsen Kingdom remained vivid in my mind.
At the time, Kirke had been the queen of the underworld who controlled the entirety of the Sachsen Kingdom's underworld, and she held a deep-seated grudge against the reigning king of the Sachsen Kingdom.
The very party responsible for attacking the witch village that had lived peacefully without harming outsiders and massacring all the witches residing there had been the reigning king of the Sachsen Kingdom at the time.
Because of such a past, Kirke was a key NPC and helper in the throne usurpation quest.
To the extent that the maximum value of her loyalty was included in the quest rewards.
Anyway, whether thanks to the quest or because her loyalty stat was fixed at maximum, she had devoted her whole being to me with a loyalty so fanatical that the word "fanatic" suited her perfectly.
And even now, after a thousand years had passed in the game, Kirke's appearance had not changed in the slightest.
Still wearing amethyst-like purple hair, a black pointed hat, and black robes, she knelt before me just as she had back then, revealing her loyalty.
[You have completed the quest "The Last Loyal Subject."]
[All stats have increased by 32.]
A quest completion notification appeared before my eyes.
As expected for level 380, the so-called max level, my level didn't rise despite completing a Legendary-grade quest.
I looked down at the kneeling Kirke.
Just like back then, unless I commanded her, she would remain kneeling forever without moving.
Thinking thus, I spoke to her.
"You may rise, Kirke."
Having heard my words, Kirke slowly rose from her spot.
"There is something I must tell Your Sovereign, but…"
Kirke, now standing, moved her purple lips thus and surveyed the surroundings.
Her gaze turned toward Sin Hayeon and the Dark Elves of the Shadow Search Squad.
"I apologize, Your Sovereign, but I believe it would be somewhat difficult to speak in this place."
I instinctively caught a clue to the next quest in those words.
"Then?"
"It is humble, but may I escort you to my home?"
Kirke's amethyst eyes turned toward me.
"Yes."
"Thank you."
As Kirke heard my words, she waved her right hand, and a wooden staff with an eyeball attached to its end—a gruesome sight—appeared in the air and was grasped in her hand.
As Kirke waved the staff, a rift appeared in the air.
Beyond the rift, a modest log cabin situated on an island in the middle of a lake was visible.
That was likely the "home" Kirke had spoken of.
Thinking thus, I took a bold step toward the rift.
At that moment.
[You have discovered the Witch's Home.]
[First Discovery Bonus!]
[Fame has increased by 1,232.]
[All stats have increased by 34.]
[Witch's Home]
—A log cabin known only through legend, said to be the dwelling of the Great Forest's witch. The witch of the Great Forest waited here, again and again, for the sovereign she served for over a thousand years.
The Witch's Home is located on an island in the middle of a black lake in the deepest part of the Forest of Demons, and is protected by the witch's powerful barrier, so none may set foot there without the witch's permission.
Messages of first discovery popped up chaotically before my eyes.
'A thousand years.'
A thousand years.
It was the gap in time between the previous work and Arde Saga Second.
During all that time, Kirke had waited only for me.
'It's not like I'm Eugene, yet here I am getting needlessly sentimental.'
I thought as I looked at Kirke's profile beside me, serving me respectfully.
"Then, allow me to guide you inside."
When my gaze fell upon her, Kirke smiled faintly and took the lead to open the cabin door.
I entered the cabin under her guidance.
The interior of the cabin, which had looked small from the outside, was wide enough to rival a decent mansion.
It seemed spatial magic was applied to make the interior larger than the exterior.
I passed through a hallway densely hung with portraits depicting the Ironblood Alliance's emblem and the Iron Sovereign fighting on the battlefield—that is, depictions of myself—and finally reached a drawing room filled with lavish decorations.
Kirke seated me in the drawing room, excused herself saying, "I shall bring something to drink," and soon carefully placed a steaming cup of tea before me.
"This is tea made from mandragora planted a thousand years ago while waiting for Your Sovereign. I hope it suits your taste."
At Kirke's words, I drank the steaming mandragora tea.
The moment a spicy aroma similar to ginger tea spread through my mouth.
[You have consumed thousand-year-old mandragora tea.]
[All stats temporarily increase by 50%.]
[MP permanently increases by 100.]
[HP permanently increases by 100.]
As expected of thousand-year-old mandragora, I smiled in satisfaction as I looked at the messages granting permanent stat increases.
After all, stat increase notifications were always pleasant to hear.
"So, what is this matter you wished to speak of?"
I drained the mandragora tea and placed the cup on the table as I spoke.
It was time to properly extract the next quest from her.
"Do you perchance remember Castle Voltaha?"
The moment my words ended, a familiar place name spilled from her lips.
Castle Voltaha!
There was no way I wouldn't know that name.
For Castle Voltaha had been the capital of the old Sachsen Kingdom, the center of the Ironblood Alliance, and simultaneously the place where the final decisive battle against the revolutionary army led by Eugene had taken place.
The place that shared both the beginning and end of the previous work!
That was why Castle Voltaha was a place filled with both love and hate for me.
But why was the story of Castle Voltaha suddenly coming from Kirke now?
As my thoughts reached that point, a piece of information flashed like lightning and swept through my mind.
'In Arde World of Second, there was no place called Castle Voltaha.'
Indeed, the fact was that Castle Voltaha did not exist on the continent of Second.
I had thought it might simply be a name change or that it had been forgotten over the course of a thousand years, but seeing Kirke's question now, there might be more to the story than I had imagined.
"Of course I remember."
At my words, Kirke smiled and snapped her fingers.
And a video appeared before my eyes.
It was a cinematic video.
"Until just over a decade ago, Castle Voltaha remained safely in the central region of Arde World."
Along with Kirke's words, the image of Castle Voltaha was revealed in the video.
Though its appearance had changed somewhat, Castle Voltaha in the video still maintained its image as a metropolis like in the previous work.
A bustling metropolis teeming with people!
"However, Castle Voltaha could not avoid the aftermath of the great calamity that swept across the entirety of Arde World, known among the people as the 'Great Upheaval.'"
As her following words continued, the video's contents changed.
The Great Upheaval!
Countless rifts tore open in the air, and hordes of monsters poured out, ruthlessly assaulting Castle Voltaha.
The residents living in Castle Voltaha and the guards defending it took up arms against the monsters, but they were powerless to stop the endless flood of monster armies.
That wasn't all.
Rrrrrumble.
All manner of natural disasters, including earthquakes accompanied by deafening roars!
The calamities that struck Castle Voltaha turned it into ruins.
"But the disasters did not end there. An anomalous phenomenon caused by the Great Upheaval. That phenomenon caused Castle Voltaha to disappear into the sky."
Kirke's explanation rang in my ears.
Her words manifested exactly as images in the video.
Castle Voltaha, reduced to ruins after suffering all manner of disasters!
The ground beneath the castle began to heave, and soon the entire surrounding area, including the castle, flew up into the sky, its form concealed within the clouds of the sky.
"And so, Castle Voltaha transformed into a floating city swarming with monsters, and to this day, its whereabouts remain unknown."
With Kirke's final explanation, the video ended there.
Kirke's gaze and mine met.
She, meeting my eyes, slowly spoke to me with an incomparably serious expression.