The Final Boss Has Returned – Episode 130
“Finding Castle Boltha, which has hidden itself above the sky, is precisely what I wish to humbly request of you, my Sovereign.”
[A quest has been generated.]
[The Floating Castle Boltha]
[Rank: Legend]
Castle Boltha is a historic place that shared both the beginning and the end of the Steel Sovereign’s legend. Steel Sovereign Drakan made his name known throughout the world by usurping the throne of the Kingdom of Saxen located in Castle Boltha, and when he unified the entire world, it was the center of the world, and Drakan’s final moments were also met at Castle Boltha.
Castle Boltha, steeped in your blood and sweat, was reduced to ruins by the influence of the Great Cataclysm and, on top of that, flew away into the sky. Reclaim Castle Boltha, which has now become a floating castle where monsters roam.
It is time to return to the starting point of the Steel Sovereign’s legend.
[The quest cannot be refused.]
[You have accepted the quest.]
As expected, the legendary quest could not be refused.
I narrowed my eyes as I read the quest contents.
‘A floating castle?’
A floating castle!
It wasn’t common in works depicting fantasy, but it was a cliché that appeared from time to time. A land floating above the sky was something that didn’t exist in reality, so it was an element that could express the concept of ‘fantasy’ all the better.
But in Arde World, it was a story that had never appeared even once. To think a floating castle, which had never been depicted even in the countless legends passed down in Arde World, would appear here.
But the problem wasn’t the floating castle.
How on earth was I supposed to find a castle floating in the sky?
If it were on the ground, there would at least be some possibility, but scouring the entirety of the vast sky was nearly impossible in this world without satellites.
“How do I find that?”
The first principle of quest strategy.
It was obtaining clues from the NPC who gave the quest.
Staying true to that principle, I threw a question at Circe, and she answered me in a polite tone.
“I have already prepared a guide, so please do not worry, my Sovereign.”
Having said that, she took something out of thin air and placed it on the table.
It was a small stone fragment inside a transparent crystal orb filled with water, and the stone fragment floated inside the crystal orb, pointing toward the ceiling.
I checked the information of the item Circe had presented.
[Guide of the Firmament]
[Rank: Mystic]
[Category: Miscellaneous]
[Durability: 1000/1000]
[An item created when the witch Circe personally enchanted a fragment of a wall brick from Castle Boltha.]
[It always points toward the location of Castle Boltha.]
An item description that couldn’t be more concise!
But this item was precisely the key item that would be central to solving this quest.
Along with that, a question arose in my head.
‘They’re giving me the key item this easily?’
I opened the quest window and checked the rank once more.
The word written in the quest rank window was ‘Legend.’
And in Legend-rank difficulty quests, cases where an NPC handed over the key item immediately like this were almost nonexistent. It was no exaggeration to say that in 99.9% of cases, prerequisite quests were attached to make you run dungeons in circles just to create the key item, or to fetch rare materials.
But handing over the key item immediately?
There was only one such case.
They would tell me where the floating castle was, but getting there wouldn’t be easy!
‘Castle Boltha is a floating castle, so of course it’s in the sky.’
I recalled the obvious fact once more.
The floating castle Boltha was floating in the sky.
But Arde World was not a setting where satellites or space battleships existed; it was a fantasy world based on the fantasy we know well. Therefore, there were limits to the means of flying in the sky as well. Of course, since there were wyvern riders, the sky wasn’t entirely forbidden territory, but both flight magic and wyverns had limits to the altitude they could reach.
In other words, it was highly likely that Castle Boltha was located far above flyable altitude.
‘But that’s none of my concern.’
But to me, it didn’t really matter.
Because I could mobilize a Bone Dragon.
Even if the floating castle was at an altitude unreachable by wyverns or flight magic, a Bone Dragon could reach it.
But separate from whether it was possible, whether I could easily approach the floating castle was another problem entirely. Couldn’t flying monsters swarm near the floating castle? Gambling with just a Bone Dragon in the current situation, where I had no idea what dangers lurked near the floating castle, was too risky.
“What I have prepared is not merely the guide.”
Circe’s voice reached my ears.
She took out yet another something from thin air and placed it beside the guide.
It was a blueprint depicting something resembling a massive ship.
[Ancient Airship Blueprint]
[Rank: Legend]
[Category: Blueprint]
[Durability: 100/100]
[A legacy left behind by an ancient arcane civilization, depicting the design of a massive warship capable of flying through the sky using magical power.]
It was an airship.
And the moment I saw the blueprint, I realized the true objective this quest demanded.
‘It’s telling me to pour an absurd amount of money into this.’
It was gold!
The cost of constructing the airship would clearly be enormous.
A level befitting the quest’s ‘Legend’ rank.
But to me, it was also the easiest solution.
Therefore, I smiled as I accepted the guide and the blueprint, putting them in my inventory.
“Thank you for preparing so thoroughly.”
“It is nothing. This much preparation is only natural for you, my Sovereign.”
Having received my thanks, Circe bowed her head politely, and I spoke to her.
“Are you coming with me on this floating castle expedition?”
Circe.
She had been a considerable powerhouse even in the previous game.
But now, according to the setting, over a thousand years had passed.
I had no idea how much stronger she had become over those thousand years. She might have grown strong enough to be at least an Over Ranker, or perhaps even on par with the Immortal King.
If someone like her were to tackle the quest together, clearing it would be as good as guaranteed.
“My heart burns fiercely with the desire to roam the battlefield with you, my Sovereign, but unfortunately, I cannot do so in my current state. The reason I have been able to live for a thousand years is that I assimilated my life with the ley lines flowing through this land; therefore, I cannot leave this land.”
I fell silent for a moment at her explanation.
I had anticipated one of two possibilities.
Either she was a suitable strong ally who could assist me by my side, or she had grown too strong to accompany me for some reason.
Unfortunately, she seemed to be the latter case.
“I apologize, my Sovereign.”
Her apology reached my ears.
Circe was bowing her head deeply with an expression that clearly showed she was truly sorry.
I looked at her and smiled faintly.
Because the image of Circe from the previous game overlapped with the sight of her now.
“No, there’s no need to apologize. I know your loyalty well.”
Loyalty values do not lie.
That is why I sometimes trusted NPCs more than users.
Hearing my words, Circe made a blank expression before soon smiling faintly.
“Thank you for recognizing my loyalty, my Sovereign. I shall endeavor to be your first loyal subject, now and forever.”
Hearing her words, I said I understood and rose from my seat.
Now, it was time to go carry out the next quest.
* * *
Airship!
Reproducing the legacy of the arcane civilization required an astronomical amount of gold, just as Drakan had expected.
Specifically, it was an amount about double the cost of building a dimensional gate; certainly a cost worthy of a Legend-rank strategy key item.
Moreover, the airship was enormous in size.
It was impossible to build an airship comparable in size to an aircraft carrier in secret, and Drakan had no intention of hiding the construction anyway.
Rather, he sought to deliberately draw the users’ attention through the public construction of the airship.
And that attention-seeking was successful.
“Is this the airship?”
“Drakan, is it true this quest has the sky as its background?”
“Haven’t you seen the video? Drakan said himself the legendary quest is about finding the floating castle.”
“A floating castle, damn. I want to go see it once.”
It wasn’t just the existence of the airship that drew the users’ attention.
Floating castle!
A land flying through the sky; that field, possible only in a fantasy world and impossible to see in reality, was also content that users paid attention to.
Of course, this too was possible because Drakan had revealed part of the quest contents to the users.
‘Things are different from the old days.’
Drakan thought as he watched the users’ attention focus on the airship and the floating castle.
Six years ago, back in the days of the previous game, it was unimaginable to publicly reveal the quest strategy process in real time or share information about quests or new regions with all users. Named users conducted quests privately, and only after succeeding would they sell the footage to cable broadcasters, and most ordinary users would only learn of the named users’ quest success or failure later through in-game rumors or notification windows.
To that extent, mysticism was the trend in the previous game.
Yujin.
The reason he could quickly gain popularity among users was that, unlike other named users, he did not insist on mysticism.
He revealed his quests to the entire world and shared the information he discovered with ordinary users without hesitation.
Veteran players, including Drakan, mocked Yujin, calling him a pushover, but in the end, Yujin succeeded in the World Revolution with the popular support of the users he gained through that.
Of course, Drakan hadn’t revealed the quest contents for such sentimental reasons alone.
‘These days, it’s a world where revealing things is more profitable.’
As Drakan thought, in the Second, it had become a world where revealing things brought more benefit to the users themselves.
The biggest difference between the previous game and the Second was the video platform represented by ‘Arde Live,’ and the video platform had a structure where the higher the view count, the higher the settlement amount received.
Simply put, an era was approaching where revealing information to draw aggro, whether in-game information or quests, earned more money than monopolizing it.
Therefore, entering the Second, mysticism was destroyed, and countless named users broadcast their own quests live or shared the information they discovered without anyone telling them to.
Solely for the purpose of view counts.
Of course, there were cases where truly important information was not shared, but compared to the past where such important information was monopolized by veteran players alone, it was truly like heaven and earth.
Recalling the topics about him that the users were focused on, Drakan smiled in satisfaction.
Not long after Drakan had revealed the airship construction and quest contents.
[Airship construction has been completed.]
The completed airship revealed its form.