The Final Boss Has Returned — Chapter 142
"Good. Now that we've overcome the biggest hurdle in the negotiations, it's time to discuss the next condition."
It was Berda who flinched at Drakan's words.
Did this mean there were more conditions?
Just how far did he intend to squeeze them?
Berda spoke to Drakan with a stern expression.
"Let me say this in advance—we cannot accommodate demands such as giving you one more Myth-grade item."
A Myth-grade material item had not exactly been a loss.
But if he demanded yet another, it would be a clear-cut loss.
At Berda's words, Argen licked his lips.
As the one insisting on a solo raid, he desperately wanted these negotiations to fall through.
Hearing Berda, Drakan smiled.
"I'm not so conscienceless as that."
Berda's face stiffened at Drakan's words.
He was clearly mocking her, but the problem was that she had no ready retort.
Berda bit her lip, and Drakan turned his gaze away from her toward Yujin.
"Hey. Yujin."
"Yes, Drakan."
"I'd like to continue this cooperation beyond a temporary relationship, all the way to the Hive Mind raid. What do you think?"
Scarcely had Drakan finished speaking when silence fell once more.
He wanted to cooperate all the way to the Hive Mind raid!
Argen was shocked to hear those words.
'Cooperate all the way to the Hive Mind raid? Is this bastard trying to hitch a free ride on our forces?'
A free ride!
He intended to ride all the way to the Hive Mind without lifting a finger!
Argen had immediately seen through Drakan's dark ulterior motives.
But even so, there was nothing Argen could do.
Cooperation.
What a beautiful packaging it was.
To throw a wrench into a cooperation carried out in the name of the absolute value of user safety was no different from turning the court of public opinion among the users against oneself.
That was why there was nothing Argen could do.
Because Argen was one of the very people who knew firsthand how tremendous the power of the users was, having lived through the World Revolution.
'It's a more modest demand than I expected, but the problem is that there's no way this ends here.'
Unlike Argen, Berda was looking at Drakan with cold eyes.
He wanted them to continue cooperating all the way to the Hive Mind raid!
This was a condition that Berda could fully accept on her end.
Of course, distributing the raid spoils might become a bit of a headache, but conversely, since it meant adding combat power to the hunt for the unknown monster called Hive Mind, it also meant they could reduce the danger by that much.
But Berda knew well that Drakan was not a man who would end it here.
"That is something I should be the one to say."
And Yujin, sitting there among them, said to Drakan with a smile.
Yujin's words were filled with sincerity.
Hive Mind.
Yujin had been wanting Drakan to participate in the Phase 2 final boss raid.
Of course, strictly speaking, Yujin had wanted the participation of all Over Rankers including Drakan, but anyway, Yujin smiled at the sight of Drakan voicing his own thoughts first.
Drakan smiled back at Yujin.
"It's truly fortunate that we're on the same page."
As expected, Yujin was still an unchanging pushover.
Thinking so, Drakan brought up the next matter.
"And until the Hive Mind raid, I would like you to recognize the relationship between our side and your side—between Five Eyes and the Dark Alliance—as an alliance of equal standing."
Equal standing!
Berda's face hardened stiffly at those words.
Drakan.
It was because she had seen through his true aim.
'Had he been aiming for this from the very beginning?'
Berda's icy gaze turned toward Drakan.
Five Eyes and Drakan's Dark Alliance could never be equal.
Because the military power they possessed was as different as heaven and earth.
But Drakan was brazenly demanding an equal position.
But just as when the rights to the Myth-grade item had been wrested away, there was nothing Berda could do this time either.
Yujin.
It was because Berda knew well that one of the values he cherished above all else was fairness.
Every group, every guild possessed equal standing with one another.
That was what Yujin thought.
Of course, it was a very ideal and excellent thought, but the problem was that entering into relations with other organizations with such a mindset led to losses.
Of course, it was possible to form a relationship that was all show and no substance—where you raised the other party's position but did not grant them real power.
'There's no way the equal standing Drakan speaks of is simply a matter of appearances.'
But Berda knew.
Drakan.
That what he wanted was not simply a matter of appearances.
He clearly wanted a practically guaranteed equal standing, but once again, Berda had no means to stop Drakan.
"That is only natural."
Completely unaware of Berda burning with anxiety beside him, quite serious words came from Yujin's mouth.
Having equal standing was only natural!
A smile hung on Drakan's lips as he heard those words.
Truly, everything was going according to his plan.
"Good. Then I suppose the negotiations are more or less concluded. I look forward to working with you."
Drakan readily extended his right hand to Yujin first.
Of course, smiling and offering a handshake to Yujin was not something Drakan particularly enjoyed, but having received so much without reserve, he was presently in a generous enough mood to extend his hand first.
Yujin took the hand Drakan offered.
It was the moment when sworn enemies found themselves in the same boat.
* * *
Drakan and Yujin!
The two users representing their respective forces and both camps joined hands to capture Siyon Valley and raid the Hive Mind!
The historic photo capturing the moment Yujin and Drakan shook hands was immediately selected as a best post on the Arde forums.
News that the alliance of the century had been concluded spread across the entire internet in an instant.
[The KMT-CPC cooperation tier, lol]
[Wow, those two are holding hands again;;]
[At this point, aren't they actually close?]
[What are you talking about? It's just a temporary alliance;]
[Just like they raided together before, this is just for show, real talk]
[Wow, I didn't expect it to go this way, lolol, this is hilarious lol]
[Popcorn time, real talk]
Anyway, however it came about, users who had grown sick of end-content without progress welcomed Yujin and Drakan's alliance with open arms.
The Primordial Plateau!
Hive Mind!
There was not a single user in Arde World who was not thrilled by the possibility of finally witnessing the end of Phase 2.
[Now we can see the real content, lol]
[Raid the Hive Mind, let's go!]
[Let me taste the air of the Primordial Plateau, real talk]
While everyday users were literally holding a festival over news of the two's alliance, the two guilds that had suddenly been left out in the cold—Xiongmao Esports and Simseong Iron Stars—were struck by a bolt from the blue.
Seocho-dong, Simseong Town.
Shouts were ringing through the skyscraper where Simseong Iron Stars was headquartered.
"Drakan joined hands with Yujin!"
Vice Chairman Sin Jeong-hyeok.
His eyes were bloodshot.
Drakan. The news that he had formed an alliance with Yujin, temporary though it may be, was enough to send him into shock.
The past Vice Chairman Sin, who had merely played the role of a financier and operated the Simseong Milky Way Guild, was different from the present Vice Chairman Sin.
The present Sin Jeong-hyeok had personally jumped into Arde World in order to catch Drakan.
Just as one must enter a tiger's den to catch a tiger, one had to enter Arde World to catch Drakan.
Having started the game in this manner, Vice Chairman Sin Jeong-hyeok was captivated by the boundless potential of Arde World.
Only upon seeing Arde World, which was no different from another world, could Vice Chairman Sin Jeong-hyeok understand why people were so obsessed with this game.
And because of that, the thirst for revenge smoldering in Vice Chairman Sin Jeong-hyeok's heart blazed even hotter.
It was because the Vice Chairman had realized that taking Arde World away from Drakan was the ultimate revenge.
Of course, it couldn't stop at simply eliminating Drakan.
Sin Ha-yeon. His ultimate goal was nothing less than completely toppling the tower she had built in Arde World.
'But frustratingly, the current situation makes it impossible to defeat them.'
The first thing Vice Chairman Sin Jeong-hyeok felt after setting such a goal was the gap in reality.
It was because he had finally realized that comparing the forces Sin Ha-yeon possessed with his own Simseong Iron Stars revealed an extreme difference in military strength that was truly like heaven and earth.
That was why he had needed to expand Simseong Iron Stars' influence in Broken World even further.
Drakan and Yujin had blindsided him from a completely unexpected angle and utterly humiliated the Vice Chairman himself.
"Didn't you say there was no chance those two would join hands?"
The Vice Chairman's sharp gaze shot toward the executives of Simseong Iron Stars seated in the conference room.
At his words, not only the executives of Simseong Iron Stars but even the two Over Rankers representing Iron Stars closed their mouths.
Drakan and Yujin.
It was because no one had expected the two of them to join hands.
Of course, everyone already knew that the two were not on such bad terms.
In fact, the two had done dungeon raid broadcasts together, visited the otherworld Broken World, and even traded items.
But that had been nothing more than a matter between the two individuals, Drakan and Yujin.
Everyone present knew better than anyone that the relationship between individuals and the relationship between organizations were matters of different dimensions.
That was why no one had conceived that Drakan and Yujin—no, Five Eyes and Jeil E&M—would join hands.
But the alliance of the two was reality.
"Boss. We didn't know Drakan would pull something like this either. I really thought he was crazy, you know?"
The first to speak in response to the Vice Chairman's grilling was Paul the Axe King.
"Excuses are unnecessary."
Sin Jeong-hyeok suppressed his anger and spoke at Paul's words.
Sin Jeong-hyeok was by no means stupid.
He knew very well that letting emotions dictate his actions would ruin everything.
"What we need right now is a countermeasure."
The moment Sin Jeong-hyeok spoke of a countermeasure.
The blonde beauty sitting across from Paul, Leira the Assassin King, spoke.
"How about forming an alliance with Xiongmao Esports?"
Xiongmao Esports!
Sin Jeong-hyeok's mind flashed with inspiration at those words.
That's right.
They weren't the only ones who had been humiliated by this alliance.
They were in the same boat.
Having thought that far, Sin Jeong-hyeok rose from his seat.
"It was a good idea."
"Don't mention it."
Watching Leira lower her head, Sin Jeong-hyeok issued an order to the chief secretary waiting beside him.
And just a few days later, news of a second alliance swept across the internet.
Xiongmao Esports and Simseong Iron Stars.
It was the news that the two guilds had formed an alliance.