The Final Boss Has Returned
Episode 168
After the Battle of the Black Plains ended in Drakan’s victory, the situation began to change rapidly.
Not only had Simseong Iron Stars been acquired by the Jeil Group, but this time, Xiongmao Esports had announced that it would continue the alliance relationship.
[Our Xiongmao Esports has decided to continue maintaining the alliance with Jeil New Media—which acquired Simseong Iron Stars—an alliance first formed back during the Simseong Iron Stars era.]
The alliance succession announcement made directly by Doje Ujing through the Xiongmao Esports official channel was all the more shocking for it.
As if that weren’t enough, Jeil New Media—which had already become a mammoth-sized force—and Xiongmao Esports had joined hands.
But that wasn’t all.
Drakan.
Through the ‘Faction Conversion Quest’ granted by his qualification as the Lord of the Dark Alliance, the factions of Simseong Iron Stars and Xiongmao Esports—which had belonged to the Holy Alliance—changed to the Dark Alliance, completely finalizing Drakan’s force integration.
Drakan immediately finished his expansion by declaring Dark Territories in the south and west.
Every region—north, south, east, and west, excluding the central region—had fallen into Drakan’s clutches in an instant.
[Wow lmaoo even Xiongmao switched sides lol]
[Well from Xiongmao’s perspective, they don’t really have any other options besides joining hands with Drakan, yep agree~]
[lol all regions except central are our alliance territory now lol]
[Alliance is the best!]
[For the Alliance!]
[But with the Xiongmao alliance on top of Jeil New Media, didn’t their force get insanely huge?]
[Yeah but they can’t beat Yujin-nim~]
[Yookwi, welcome]
[Is that Yookwi doing unpaid comment part-time? lol]
Users who saw that poured out various reactions.
Users belonging to the Dark Alliance and those from Drakan’s fandom, the ‘Black Ox,’ welcomed this expansion, but users from the Holy Alliance and believers of the Church of Infinite Yujin began to be wary of Drakan’s expansion.
Drakan.
He had already surpassed Rookie and Over Ranker and was slowly approaching Yujin’s position.
Of course, the central region was far larger than all the other regions combined, and even after integrating all these forces like this, the Dark Alliance’s military strength was only about one-third of the strength held by Five Eyes and the Holy Alliance.
Therefore, it was still not a situation where Drakan could fight Yujin head-on.
But even this much was enough; he had grown to the point of being a threat.
And this fact had, of course, reached the ears of Berda—the brain of Lightwing Guild and the person in overall charge of operations.
‘Really, you continue to pull off the unexpected, Drakan.’
Drakan.
What he had pulled off this time was something that had deviated far beyond Berda’s expectations.
Thinking about it logically, no one could have predicted that Xiongmao Esports and Simseong Iron Stars—who had been potential enemies—would end up on Drakan’s side after the war.
Even Berda had only expected mutual destruction at best; she hadn’t even imagined the two would join together to become one.
That was precisely why Berda had adopted ‘observation’ as her strategy while the two forces were at war.
But Drakan had turned such a ridiculous prediction into reality.
‘If we only consider in-game variables, this is an impossible event. But if real-world variables have intervened…….’
Considering only in-game variables, this was something that could not happen.
But if real-world variables were taken into account?
It was something entirely possible.
Just as Vice Chairman Sin Jeong-hyeok had merged the rival guilds Iron Ax and Shooting Star through the power of money, Sin Ha-yeon might similarly have acquired Iron Stars through the power of capitalism, and perhaps even maintained the alliance with Xiongmao Esports.
When her thoughts reached that point, Berda’s hands trembled.
In Ard World, Lightwing Guild and Five Eyes were truly the strongest.
There was simply no force that could oppose them.
The current forces of Drakan, Jeil New Media, and the Dark Alliance had grown large enough to land ‘a solid blow’ against Lightwing Guild in Ard World, but if it came to a head-on confrontation, the force Yujin had built was mighty enough that victory could be assured.
But that was not the case in reality.
The real-world power held by Lightwing Guild was utterly weak, pitifully so, when it came to opposing the true powers and established interests that dominated the real world.
Of course, Lightwing Entertainment—the real-world owner of Lightwing Guild—was a highly profitable company that generated considerable revenue, and Yujin too enjoyed a life that could be called wealthy, quite unlike his impoverished past, but that was all.
Compared to the upper classes and the chaebol who held the real world’s order in their grasp—whose wealth and power they wielded—the real-world strength possessed by Lightwing Entertainment and Yujin was no different from a toy.
‘But I never thought you would pull off something like this, Sin Ha-yeon.’
Berda’s gaze sharpened.
Even so, the reason Berda had predicted mutual destruction was because Drakan’s opponent had been Sin Jeong-hyeok.
Since the opponent was also from a chaebol family, and moreover one with whom relations were poor, she had never dreamed that the two forces would merge.
But Sin Ha-yeon had somehow managed to close the big deal to acquire Simseong Iron Stars, and consequently, the outcome was worse than if she had intervened in the war.
Berda shook her head after thinking that far.
‘If I don’t come up with a countermeasure soon…….’
The merger between Simseong Iron Stars and JDG was already spilt water, and she lacked the power to scoop it back up.
Therefore, she couldn’t just stand there in a daze, shocked forever.
She had to set up a countermeasure.
‘Now Drakan will slowly begin to reveal his ambitions; the only moment to strike at his nape is now.’
Berda’s eyes gleamed.
Drakan.
Berda knew his ambitions very well.
It was clear that he wanted to defeat Yujin and once again become the master of the world.
And Berda had no intention of handing Ard World over to Drakan.
The ‘Ending’ that would come from seizing hegemony over Ard World, and the hidden rewards behind it—for the sake of those, she had to prevent the dreadful event of the Mandate of Heaven falling into the hands of someone like Drakan.
Fortunately, Drakan had made a huge mistake this time.
Only the Eight Great Guilds possessed forces mighty enough to aim for the Mandate of Heaven in Ard World!
But this time, Drakan had not only merged and allied the remaining three of the Eight Great Guilds—excluding Five Eyes—but even converted them to the Dark Alliance.
He had bundled the ‘enemies’ into one place.
Moreover, the goal of this Phase 3 was precisely the unification of Ard World!
Since Yujin had also decided to exercise some flexibility in order to see the Ending, if Berda herself worded it well, it might also be possible to declare war on Drakan first.
‘Consolidating your forces—that shall be the greatest mistake you have made, Drakan.’
Berda smiled as she thought that.
Turning a crisis into an opportunity.
Just as they say, a crisis is an opportunity; thanks to Drakan unifying the forces into one, Ard World’s complicated power structure had solidified into a bipolar confrontation—Drakan versus Yujin, Holy Alliance versus Dark Alliance—and a shortcut to the Phase 3 ‘Ending’ had opened up, where she could eliminate all enemies in a single war.
Of course, Drakan had likely done this to build a force to challenge for hegemony, but he had clearly failed to foresee that it would become a noose tightening around his own neck.
If the Holy Alliance and the Dark Alliance went to war now, it was obvious that the Holy Alliance—with its overwhelming power—would be victorious, and Berda was not so foolish as to refuse a feast laid out before her eyes.
As her thoughts reached that point, the smile hanging on Berda’s lips deepened.
Now, finally, only the task of expelling Drakan—who had been a thorn in her side—from Ard World remained.
Just as Berda thought that and tried to rise from her seat.
Vrrm!
Berda’s smartphone, which had been placed on the desk in the darkened conference room, rang.
Berda picked up the phone and checked the screen, and her expression immediately stiffened.
[(Exclusive) A certain famous user ‘A’ of Ard Saga Second. ‘Controversy’ over playing the field.]
It was the moment the dagger thrown by Drakan pierced through Berda’s spine.
* * *
The CEO’s office of Lightwing Entertainment.
Though it was called a CEO’s office, this space used as Yujin’s personal quarters now had an uncharacteristically frigid atmosphere.
“Is this true?”
Sharp.
One of Yujin’s colleagues, an Over Ranker elf archer user famous for the nickname Divine Bow.
And one of the three colleagues who had feelings for Yujin, a woman famous for being a ‘tsundere.’
Her expression was extremely fierce.
And Yujin, receiving her question, fell silent.
“I-I asked if it’s true……. Yujin.”
Sharp spoke those words and placed a tablet computer on Yujin’s desk with trembling hands.
Displayed on it were articles about the playing-the-field controversy, the comment reactions below them, and the numerous rumors branching out from them, all laid bare.
[Who’s user A?]
[C’mon, who doesn’t know that?]
[Obviously it’s that person lolol]
[So who is that person?]
[Open your notepad]
[It’s Yutjin]
[Wow lol they must not be afraid of getting sued lol]
[What’s with this IP? First time seeing this IP lololol]
[You must be from Asgard lol]
Of course, the article had come out saying anonymous user A, but rumors that this user A referred to Yujin had spread like wildfire and were already taken as established fact.
From Ard forums to SNS to Ard Live!
The entire internet was boiling over with talk of the playing-the-field issue.
And Yujin’s face hardened as he saw it.
“This is…….”
A rumor.
He couldn’t say that.
Of course, as a top ranker in Ard World, it wasn’t as if there had been no slander attempts against Yujin.
It had been common for absurd rumors to circulate, and each time, Yujin had thoroughly explained why they were false and even taken legal action.
But this time, he couldn’t do that.
Because the article was true.
Yujin.
It was an undeniable fact that he had chosen to stand by while knowing the feelings of three people.
“Why can’t you answer?”
Sharp bit her lip as she watched him.
The truth was, she already knew.
That Yujin was delaying his answer because he was not used to lying.
Because she was his colleague and someone who had loved him, she knew this better than anyone else in the world.
A bitter taste began to rise in Sharp’s mouth.
Yujin bit his lip.
Sharp.
She was his colleague and one of the people who liked him; he couldn’t lie to her.
But if he told her the truth, it felt as if the scenery he had protected all this time would crumble down.
Cold sweat began to pour down Yujin’s forehead like rain.
Sharp watched Yujin like that and remained silent, and after a long silence, Yujin barely managed to speak.