The Final Boss Has Returned
Chapter 30
The Black Mage Class Change Quest.
The fact that the class change quest for a new class could be undertaken in Lawless Port did not simply mean that users desiring to become Black Mages would flock to this city.
Magika, the Magic City of the Central region, where mages undertook their 2nd and 3rd class changes.
Following the mages, it was a place where countless magic skill books, magic materials, and other essential goods for mages were traded.
Going forward, Lawless Port would serve the same role for the Black Mage class, and Black Mage users would have to come and go through Lawless Port whether they liked it or not.
In other words, it was no different from having secured a continuously incoming user population, and it was the same as saying that the value of the city called Lawless Port had risen.
“I had originally only intended to pay for reconstruction costs, but my thoughts changed once the Black Mage class change quest was opened.”
“The value of the city itself has risen, so of course that’s only natural.”
Sin Hayeon burst out laughing at my words.
“Yes, that’s right. Of course it should be. I thought as much, so I thought I’d use this opportunity to develop Lawless Port into the greatest port in the East—no, the greatest port in Ard World. What do you think?”
“Wasn’t it going to turn out that way from the start?”
I smiled as I looked at Sin Hayeon.
“Because to bring him down, merely being the best port in the East won’t be enough.”
“It seems you and I are of like mind as well, Lord Drakan.”
Sin Hayeon continued in a gentle voice.
“I’ll make a donation. Please open the management mode.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to do this as an investment?”
I questioned her at her mention of a donation.
Donation and investment!
The two concepts were clearly different when it came to managing a territory.
Both involved drawing external funds into territory management, but while investment required giving returns proportional to the invested capital—such as vested rights or contribution points—a donation was, quite literally, an act of simply handing over funds without any compensation whatsoever.
And Sin Hayeon was now stepping forward not to invest operating funds, but to donate them free of charge without any compensation.
“That amount of money is, to use Lord Drakan’s expression, just pocket change.”
Looking at Sin Hayeon, who was still smiling faintly, I smiled back.
She was right. To Sin Hayeon, this amount of money was indeed pocket change.
But even if it was pocket change, there was no way she would do something without gain.
She must have believed that this kind of investment would ultimately return to her as profit.
Without another word, I opened the territory management window and shared it with Sin Hayeon. Soon after, a message appeared before my eyes.
[‘Hayeon’ wishes to donate 500,000,000 Gold to Granado, Lawless Port.]
[Will you permit the donation?]
The gold she had offered to donate was a whopping 500 million gold!
If one calculated by the gold exchange rate of 10,000 won per 1,000 gold, it meant pouring a whopping 5 billion won of real-world money into city reconstruction funds.
‘She’s bolder than I thought!’
Thinking so, I accepted her donation, and soon I could see 500 million gold added to the territory management window.
That wasn’t all Sin Hayeon gave.
“Also, we’d like to establish a JDG branch in Lawless Port, is that alright? In exchange, JDG will help maintain security in Lawless Port.”
“I don’t mind.”
To think that not only would they establish a JDG Guild branch in Lawless Port, but they would also take charge of security—it was truly no different from a giving tree.
I smiled as I touched the facility management section of the territory management window.
Now, at the very moment I was about to pour money into full-fledged city development!
[The Demon God of Darkness bestows an oracle upon you.]
A message appeared before my eyes.
The Demon God of Darkness. It was a notification that he was bestowing another oracle quest.
* * *
[Legacy of Darkness]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Two thousand years ago, Saion, who was both the contractor of the former Demon God and the Apostle of Darkness, gathered the six races known as the Six Children of Darkness in an attempt to re-establish an ancient alliance and revive the Dark Empire. Saion dreamed of a world where those who believed in the Demon God could live in peace, but his plan was shattered by Leonhardt, the Hero of that era, who saw through it.]
[Saion, who met a tragic death beneath the hated Hero’s holy sword, left behind a legacy that had slumbered for two thousand years in the deepest part of the Black Tower’s underground, within a hidden vault that only the Demon God’s contractor could enter.]
[Now, the time has come for his will to be passed on to you, who have inherited the contract of the Demon God.]
[Settle Saion’s legacy and carry on the will he left behind.]
Saion, contractor of the former Demon God!
His name, mentioned in the previous oracle quest, had appeared once more.
‘Looks like the scale is about to get serious!’
I read the quest contents and speculated on future developments.
Saion, the Apostle of Darkness.
Leonhardt, the Hero.
I knew the names of these two NPCs very well.
No, they were names that any user who had played the previous game would know.
The tales of Hero Leonhardt’s adventures were an indispensable part of the legends passed down in Ard World, and it was because Yujin had inherited that very Hero Leonhardt’s class.
Their battle, which took place across all of Ard World, had left behind legends and traces that remained throughout the vast world to this day, with countless quests, dungeons, and events set against the backdrop of their legend.
I myself had completed several quests based on the legend of Saion and Leonhardt, so there was no need to elaborate on their fame.
‘Saion, the Apostle of Darkness!’
The heroic tales of Leonhardt passed down throughout the continent!
In that story, Saion, the Apostle of Darkness, appeared as a great villain who sought to seize Ard World in his hands, bearing the ambition to reconstruct the Dark Empire—the evil empire said to have vanished in ancient times, using the Demon God’s creations—and to establish a dark dominion over all under heaven.
Against him, Hero Leonhardt slew Saion alongside other heroes and crushed his sinister plot!
That was the main content of the Leonhardt legend.
And the quest that had just appeared before me was exactly about settling such a legacy of Saion and inheriting his will.
And I already knew Saion’s will.
‘Saion’s will. According to legend, the scheme he established was the reconstruction of the Dark Empire. If so, the end of this oracle quest must be none other than the reconstruction of the Dark Empire!’
The Dark Empire.
A nation that had existed in the Mythical Era so long ago that counting the years was meaningless according to the background setting.
A dark nation said to have been founded by the combined strength of believers who worshipped the Demon God and the Six Children of Darkness, a nation said to have ruled over half of Ard World!
And the nation that was eventually defeated and destroyed by the offensive of the Alliance of Light, backed by the support of the Pantheon of Myriad Gods, in the Great War of Gods and Demons that brought about the end of the Mythical Era—the very nation whose defeat caused the forces of darkness to hide in the shadows of Ard World thereafter!
However, the era when the Dark Empire existed was the only time when the forces of darkness could walk boldly in the light. For that reason, countless people throughout the history of Ard World had attempted to rebuild the Dark Empire... but each time, they ended in failure.
The Demon God’s Apostle, Saion, was the most famous among those who had attempted to rebuild the Dark Empire, and the one who had come closest to success.
And now, I was the one who would undertake the Dark Empire reconstruction quest of this era.
‘And that means I’ve become the protagonist of Ard World’s main story, and Yujin—that bastard’s true, full-fledged nemesis!’
A smile formed at the corners of my mouth.
Ard Saga Second!
This game was fundamentally one that pursued an extreme open world and complete freedom.
Literally another world identical to reality!
But that didn’t mean the Ard Saga series lacked a main story.
Like other games or fantasy novels, Ard Saga had myths about how light and darkness fought at the beginning of time, how the world was born, and so on. And the stories that continued from those myths could be called the main story of Ard World.
The Dark Empire. And the story of the Hero who opposed it rising as the main story of Ard Saga Second was precisely what I predicted.
Of course, in ordinary novels, games, or movies, it was only natural for a villainous faction like the Dark Empire to be defeated in the end, concluding the story with an ending where good triumphs over evil.
‘But it’s different in Ard Saga Second.’
Ard Saga Second!
One of the ideals this game pursued was perfect freedom.
In other words, while it was called the main story for convenience, the process and ending were not predetermined. Ard World possessed the freedom and branching points to change the story’s progression and conclusion depending entirely on the capabilities of the participating users.
Not the triumph of good over evil, but the triumph of evil over good!
It meant that a world where darkness triumphed could be created depending on my efforts.
That was the complete freedom pursued by Miracle Entertainment, the creators of Ard Saga Second, and it was also the reason the developers at Miracle Entertainment did not intervene in the game.
‘I’ll definitely make it so!’
I thought of Yujin, that bastard, and clenched my fist with a trembling hand.
Ard World was a world with infinite freedom and an open world more realistic than reality, but because of that, conversely, it was as unequal as reality.
There were those who could become protagonists, those who could become supporting characters, and those who could become extras.
Just as it was difficult for a dirt spoon to reach the same position as a gold spoon no matter how much they struggled in today’s world, Ard World was no different.
Physical specs!
Luck!
Hidden pieces!
Without even one of these three, one could not become a protagonist in Ard World.
And because the majority of users found it difficult to possess even one of them, they remained in the position of extras.
And among them, I had finally been granted the opportunity to become a protagonist.
The protagonist of the main story!
That role had returned to me!
That fact was important.
Now, not only in reality but also in the game’s main story, I had become Yujin’s adversary, just as I had six years ago.
To defeat him, I first needed to rise to the same position!
That was exactly my thought.
Because a proper fight could only be established between opponents of the same class.
Therefore, to have a proper fight with Yujin, I absolutely had to rise to the same standing as him.
Just like Yujin, who had received the Rebellion Quest six years ago.
And once I completed this quest, I would truly be able to become his nemesis.
I smiled.
“Did something good happen?”
Sin Hayeon, who had been watching me, spoke thus.
I stared at her and formed a pleasant smile.
“Yeah.”
A good thing!
That’s right.
This was a good thing for me.
Yujin!
Because I had finally found the starting line of the path of vengeance leading to that bastard.
“It’s a very good thing, so you can look forward to it.”
I said so and sprang up from my seat.
Now, it was time to go check the underground of the Black Tower.