The Final Boss Has Returned
Chapter 158
“Phase 3?”
Phase 3, the Advent of Turbulent Times.
The very man who pulled that trigger, Vice Chairman Sin Jeonghyeok, was now standing at the Great Forest’s border, his face contorted in a frown.
Behind him stretched an endless line of Simseong Iron Stars troops and Xiongmao Esports reinforcements, who had been preparing to commence their attack simultaneously with the declaration of war.
“What the hell is this…….”
“The path to the ending has opened, Boss.”
When Vice Chairman Sin Jeonghyeok trailed off, Paul, the Axe King, standing beside him, added to his words.
Sin Jeonghyeok’s eyes narrowed at those words.
The fact that Ard Saga was a game with an ‘ending’ had been common knowledge even before one started playing the game in earnest.
Yujin had watched the previous game’s ending and received a reward of 100 billion won!
Sin Jeonghyeok still remembered the news that had caught the attention of even non-gamers because of that amount.
“This is going to be a headache.”
Sin Jeonghyeok’s brow furrowed.
Sin Jeonghyeok.
What he wanted was simply a straightforward war.
A swift and precise war to eliminate Drakan before the aerial mobile fortress was completed.
But the opening of Phase 3 was something that surpassed his desires.
A sudden piece of ending bait.
He had never expected that bait tempting enough to sway nearly every user in Ard World would be thrown out……. It was beyond Sin Jeonghyeok’s expectations.
“But we can’t back out of the war now, Boss.”
Paul said so to Sin Jeonghyeok.
He was right.
At this point, they couldn’t act like it hadn’t happened.
They weren’t the only ones who wanted war.
Drakan.
He undoubtedly wanted war as well.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been encroaching on territory bit by bit under the pretext of ‘pioneering’ the Great Forest.
Even if they offered Drakan a ceasefire, the chances of him accepting were slim.
Since war had already been declared, they had to see it through to the end with Drakan.
“Very well.”
Hearing Paul’s words, Sin Jeonghyeok organized his dizzy thoughts.
Anyway, as Caesar said, the die had already been cast, and the Rubicon was right before his eyes.
Now, only one option remained for him: to cross that river.
Having organized his thoughts thus, Sin Jeonghyeok spoke in a low voice.
“Tell them to attack.”
Sin Jeonghyeok’s order was instantly relayed down through Paul, the Axe King, and Leila, the King of Assassination, and soon the waiting Iron Stars army charged in unison toward the Great Forest.
It was the beginning of war.
* * *
Upon the churning sea.
A grand fleet was moving across the endlessly stretching sea, where nothing was visible in every direction but the horizon.
A grand fleet composed of countless escort ships surrounding an enormous aircraft carrier, whose massive bulk immediately caught the eye, was cutting through the sea majestically.
Among them were also the ghost ships of the undead fleet.
And the flagship of that grand fleet, assembled from warships of all kinds, was precisely the Steel Wing.
The Steel Wing, the naval flagship of the Dark Alliance.
On its wide deck, Drakan was furrowing his brow.
‘Phase 3?’
A semi-transparent information window about Phase 3 was floating before Drakan’s eyes.
Normally, he would have simply read the contents and dismissed it, but Drakan had yet to close the window.
Because the information about Phase 3 was that shocking to him.
‘The path to the ending has finally opened, but the problem is the method.’
Drakan read the information window once more.
He had already known that the path to the ending had opened.
The problem was the method.
Only a hero who unifies the continent and quells the turbulent times may ascend to the throne.
Drakan felt a sense of familiarity from this sentence.
‘It’s exactly like the Conqueror King Quest.’
The Conqueror King Quest he had undertaken in the previous game!
The quest that presented the absurd goal of unifying the continent and the objective of Phase 3 were completely identical.
‘It came out too soon.’
The problem lay in the fact that Phase 3 had appeared far earlier than he had anticipated.
He had yet to gather sufficient forces to oppose Yujin and Five Eyes.
In such a situation, the appearance of Phase 3 momentarily shook Drakan.
After brooding, Drakan raised his hand and dismissed the floating information window.
Because worrying wouldn’t suddenly resolve the current situation.
‘I’ll need to advance the plan a bit faster.’
The plan to fracture Five Eyes.
Thinking that he would need to speed up a plan that should have been carried out slowly, Drakan shifted his gaze to the horizon.
The sea wind, which he had long grown weary of, enveloped Drakan’s body.
* * *
Those shaken by the news of Phase 3 were not only the parties involved in the war.
The summit of Ard World and top-ranked player.
The Hero, Yujin.
He too was shaken after receiving the information.
The Lightwing Entertainment building in Gangbuk, Seoul.
The conference room there was brightly lit, and all members of the Lightwing Guild, including Yujin, were gathered there.
Though there were only five members, these were the very people who were the de facto rulers capable of determining the fate of Ard World.
“Phase 3 has finally opened.”
In the silence, it was none other than Yujin who first broke the stillness.
“That is correct.”
Berda nodded at Yujin’s words.
Phase 3, the path to the ending.
Ever since the start of Ard Saga Second’s service, the path to the ‘ending’ that Yujin and the Lightwing Guild had been aiming for had finally opened—a matter of grave importance to the guild.
“This time, too, I absolutely must be the one to see the ending.”
Completely unlike his usual indecisive self, Yujin’s eyes shone with determination as he looked around at his comrades.
The ending of Ard Saga Second.
Only Dr. Kim Honggi and the five people here knew the secret hidden within the ending reward: the succession of Miracle Entertainment.
“I can’t hand Ard World over to someone else.”
Yujin said so, steeling his own heart.
Inheriting Miracle Entertainment didn’t simply mean taking over a company.
It meant inheriting all rights to Ard World itself, including the super AI Miracle that operated Ard Saga Second.
And Yujin wanted to achieve the ending accomplishment, inherit Miracle Entertainment as a reward, and continue protecting the purity of Ard World as it was now.
Because Yujin believed that if Ard World fell into someone else’s hands, especially into the clutches of a major corporation, the purity of this beautiful virtual reality world would undoubtedly be tarnished.
The succession of Miracle Entertainment.
That was Yujin’s ultimate goal, an area he could never concede.
And finally, that ultimate goal he desired had appeared before him, and Yujin intended not to miss it this time.
“Currently, a war has broken out between Drakan, Xiongmao Esports, and Simseong Iron Stars. Phase 3 appears to have been triggered by this war.”
The one who spoke after Yujin was Berda.
Berda calmly presented her analysis of the current facts.
Hearing that information, Yujin said,
“Berda, what do you think we should do?”
Berda’s face flushed slightly at those words.
Lately, Berda had been clashing with Drakan and suffering losses each time, and she had been seething with anger whenever they clashed.
She had been anxious, wondering if Yujin was disappointed in her constant failures, if she was being a burden to him.
But with that question just now, she felt all her accumulated anxiety melting away like snow.
‘As expected of Lord Yujin, you are so kind.’
Feeling her cheeks burning hot and her heart pounding as if it might burst, Berda answered in a voice that trembled slightly.
“For now, I believe it would be best to observe the situation.”
Remaining neutral!
That was precisely the answer Berda gave.
“Why?”
The one who questioned in response was not Yujin, but Sharp.
Sharp.
She, who had golden hair even in reality, looked straight at Berda.
Berda smiled at Sharp.
Because she already knew well that Sharp always found fault with her proposals for no reason.
Having spent over six years together, it would have been stranger if she didn’t know.
“Xiongmao Esports, Simseong Iron Stars, and Drakan. All three are our potential enemies.”
Xiongmao Esports.
Simseong Iron Stars.
And Drakan, JDG, and Jeil E&M.
These three forces were all potential enemies of Yujin and Five Eyes.
‘Especially Drakan, he is the most dangerous enemy.’
Berda swallowed those words.
Drakan.
He was deceiving and fooling not only Yujin but the whole world with his meticulous and cunning conduct and media play.
Berda thought that there were few people in this world who knew his true intentions, herself included.
“If potential enemies are fighting each other and exhausting their forces, we have no need to intervene.”
Berda concluded simply.
Reap the spoils!
That was the very core of the neutral strategy Berda was advocating.
Though all three were potential enemies, a war had broken out that happened to involve all three forces.
It didn’t matter who won this war.
Because it was obvious that both winner and loser would suffer tremendous damage.
“But Drakan could win.”
Once again, it was Sharp who raised an objection.
“Drakan, that man. Hate to admit it, but he’s a master of war, isn’t he? What if he wins without much damage?”
Sharp added.
Except for Yujin, all members present disliked Drakan.
But that didn’t mean they underestimated or belittled him.
Drakan.
They all knew painfully well what a terrifying man he was—a capable and ruthless man to whom the nickname ‘Conqueror King’ suited perfectly, a veritable incarnation of war.
If their luck had been even slightly lacking during the World Revolution back then.
It would have been the Lightwing Guild that was defeated. Drakan and the Iron Blood Alliance, along with the Guild Coalition, might still be ruling Ard World.
That was how much Drakan and Yujin’s confrontation in the previous game had been a close fight—not one-sided, but a battle where the outcome was uncertain.
And from the perspective of Sharp, who remembered that all too well, it was questionable whether things would flow exactly as Berda said.
Berda smiled at Sharp’s question.
“They have Xiongmao Esports over there. That means Chinese users, renowned for their sheer numbers, are hostile to Drakan. Furthermore, Vice Chairman Sin Jeonghyeok holds a grudge against Drakan. Even if he loses, he will sink his teeth into Drakan until the very end.”
Berda said, looking alternately at Sharp and Yujin.
“According to information analysis, the forces of both sides are evenly matched, and their will to wage war is also abundant. Even Drakan himself cannot be certain of victory in such a situation, nor can he conclude the war without significant damage.”
Yujin nodded at Berda’s words.
Calling Drakan an ‘enemy’ was slightly uncomfortable, but with his ultimate and non-negotiable goal before him, he was someone Yujin would inevitably have to cross swords with someday.
Yujin had enough sense to know he couldn’t help Drakan, setting aside all personal feelings.
In that sense, Berda’s proposal was reasonable, and there was nothing particularly problematic about it, so there was no reason for Yujin not to accept.
“I think we should do as Berda suggests.”
Not long after that answer left Yujin’s mouth, the Lightwing Guild and Five Eyes chose to remain neutral and observe this war.
But neither Berda nor Yujin knew yet.
The fact that Xiongmao Esports had already betrayed Simseong Iron Stars, and that the aerial mobile fortress Voltaha was on the verge of completion.