The Final Boss Has Returned
Chapter 35
The video began in the deep sea.
A peaceful underwater scene of brilliant coral, seaweed, and schools of fish darting about!
But that peace on the ocean floor did not last long.
Because a war was unfolding beneath the waves.
A humanoid race, the fishmen, seemingly half-human and half-sea creature!
And a race with the lower body of a fish and the upper body of a human, the merfolk!
It was because these two races were currently waging a fierce battle beneath the sea.
“Push those fishmen back! Drive them out and dedicate the Eastern Sea to the Goddess of the Sea!”
“The Kraken! The Kraken has appeared!”
Merfolk and fishmen riding sharks and sea turtles, locked in fierce combat!
Red blood spreading through the clear seawater, corpses of the dead strewn everywhere—at that very moment.
From afar, a massive form appeared.
A body so gigantic its end couldn’t be seen, reminiscent of a mountain!
Ten massive legs befitting its enormous body, their suckers gleaming!
The fishmen’s guardian beast, the Kraken, had revealed itself.
The Kraken immediately began slaughtering merfolk by swinging its massive legs, but the general commanding the mermaid army spoke without faltering at the terrifying presence.
“Just as expected. Deploy Scylla. The time has come to sever the Kraken’s breath!”
The moment the mermaid general finished speaking.
From the end of the sea, a powerful current surged.
Fishmen and merfolk alike staggered in the sudden whirlpool that engulfed the battlefield.
Soon, a gigantic shadow was cast over the battlefield.
It was a monster in the form of a gigantic sea serpent.
Commonly referred to by surface-dwelling humans as a “sea serpent”!
It was a marine monster categorized as such, but its appearance was far from that of an ordinary, commonly known sea serpent.
It was several times larger than a typical sea serpent, but more than anything, it possessed a staggering six heads!
That was right.
A sea serpent with six heads—one of the two great guardian divine beasts of the mermaid race, Scylla—had personally revealed herself to defeat the Kraken, the guardian beast of the fishmen.
The Kraken and Scylla!
Two monsters that had only appeared in the legends of Ard World finally clashed beneath the sea.
The Kraken spewed an ink breath and bound Scylla with its legs, pressing down on her, but Scylla was not harmed by the Kraken’s attacks.
No, on the contrary, she attacked the Kraken’s legs with her six heads, wounding it, and counterattacked the Kraken while unleashing her breath.
The victor of that monstrous battle was Scylla.
The guardian beast Kraken was destroyed so horrifically that one could barely stand to look!
A fishman presumed to be the leader of the fishman army, his golden scales gleaming, clenched his teeth and shouted.
“Retreat! We retreat!”
Now that the Kraken, the guardian beast of the fishmen, had fallen, they no longer stood a chance of victory.
Scylla, having defeated the Kraken, roared and began massacring the fishman army. The fishmen who had received the retreat order began withdrawing rapidly, and the merfolk slaughtered the stragglers.
Watching that sight, the leader of the fishman army spoke in a grim voice.
“I shall buy time.”
“You cannot, Father! I shall remain.”
“I forbid it, Nereus. You take the Kraken and retreat. Seek a future for our people.”
The leader of the fishman army—no, the Fishman King—spoke thus and perished, while Nereus led the remnants of the army and the wounded Kraken off the battlefield.
The Fishman King, buying time for the rearguard to retreat, met his death at the hands of the mermaid general. The video ended with the final scene of the mermaid army entering the massive underwater city that appeared to be the capital of the Fishman Kingdom.
* * *
“They drove our guardian beast to the brink of death. Fortunately, it barely managed to preserve its life, but the wounds it suffered that day were so severe that it is currently in a moribund state.”
As the video faded, Nereus’s voice was heard.
“And because of that, though I am currently the successor to the throne, I cannot even prove my qualification to inherit the kingship without receiving the guardian beast’s recognition. The royal capital, not to mention all our territory, has been seized by the merfolk, rendering me unable to ascend the throne.”
Listening to Nereus’s explanation, I gradually felt the outline of this quest taking shape.
Regardless, Nereus continued his explanation.
“Therefore, as I now possess neither the qualification to inherit the throne nor a kingdom to rule, I cannot participate in the Ancient Alliance. But if you can resolve this matter, the story will be different.”
[A quest has been generated.]
[Revival of the Fishman Kingdom]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Nine years ago, the Mermaid Kingdom ruling the northern sea took advantage of the chaos of the Great Cataclysm that had yet to fully subside and invaded the Fishman Kingdom, which had been a thorn in their side, leading a massive army.]
[In response to the Mermaid Kingdom’s surprise attack, the Fishman King of that era, Neltarius, mustered the armies of the eight fishmen tribes, including the guardian beast Kraken, and bravely faced the invasion. However, when the Mermaid Kingdom mobilized Scylla, one of the two great guardian divine beasts, the tide of battle turned.]
[In the battle nine years ago, the Fishman Kingdom was ultimately defeated. The eight tribes were scattered across the ocean floor, and the prince was reduced to a state where he could not inherit the throne.]
[But only the rightful king of the Fishman Kingdom holds the qualification to participate in the Ancient Alliance!]
[Restore the Kraken to verify Nereus’s qualification, unite the eight tribes, reclaim the stolen territory of the Fishman Kingdom to revive it, and make Nereus a true Fishman King.]
[If you do so, the eight fishmen tribes and Nereus will gladly praise you as the Contractor and join the Ancient Alliance, recognizing you as an Apostle of Darkness.]
[Completion Conditions]
[Recognition of Nereus’s Qualification as Fishman King]
[Reclamation of Fishman Kingdom Territory]
[Will you accept the quest?]
The quest window appeared almost before Nereus had finished speaking!
I looked at the quest contents and felt my common sense fly out the window.
‘Have I ever seen such a crazy quest?’
The belly button is bigger than the belly!
It was no coincidence that a proverb passed down from our ancestors since ancient times came to mind.
Of course, I had guessed there would be a quest ever since Kalid spoke of the fishmen, and watching the quest disappear when the Lighthouse of the Abyss was completed had confirmed it.
But I hadn’t predicted it would be at this level.
The quest I had received this time was, though a Mythic-grade quest, ultimately a sub-quest!
I had suspected a Mythic-grade quest would be difficult, but I never imagined its sub-quest would be at this level…….
They proposed that I join the alliance, yet the kingdom was ruined, the tribes were scattered, the guardian beast was in a moribund state unable to awaken, and the prince himself was a mere successor who couldn’t even prove his qualification.
Revive the guardian beast, prove his qualification, gather the tribes, and finally reclaim the old territory ruled by merfolk, and then they’ll join the alliance! ……Is that it?
The quest contents themselves were shameless beyond compare.
If this were reality, this was a situation where slapping that Nereus back and forth for making such a preposterous proposal wouldn’t suffice!
But unfortunately, Ard Saga was a game, and quests in games were like requests where NPCs hung sweet rewards as bait to make users solve problems they couldn’t do themselves, found too difficult, or simply found annoying and bothersome.
As I had said at the meeting earlier, to achieve victory in an all-out war against the Pirate King,
and further, to stand tall as Yujin’s rival through the ultimate goal of the Oracle Quest—the revival of the Dark Empire—I was fated to have no choice but to clear this damned quest.
[The Demon King of the Sea is watching you.]
[The Demon King of the Sea is urging you to accept the quest.]
[The Demon King of Destruction is looking at you.]
…….
[The Demon God of Darkness is watching you.]
The Demon Kings’ messages continuously refreshing in the corner of my vision were a bonus!
Moreover, the Demon King of the Sea, who was presumably deeply related to the fishmen, was urging me through messages to quickly accept the quest.
I looked at the quest window and thought.
The quest itself had no time limit.
Naturally, the scale of the quest seemed comparable to the Lawless Port Recapture Battle, if not larger—so much so that it would be stranger if it had a time limit.
But I had my own time limit right now.
‘I spent 7 days of game time building the Lighthouse of the Abyss, so I have 23 days of game time left. I must finish all quests within that time.’
23 days!
That was the deadline given to me.
If I failed to resolve the quest “Revival of the Fishman Kingdom” within that time, not only my future plans, but the achievement of my ultimate goal of surpassing Yujin would clearly become uncertain.
‘If Team Leader Lee mobilizes JDG’s forces as promised, we might be able to manage a defensive battle for Lawless Port against the pirate coalition’s fleet, but that won’t be enough to catch up to Yujin.’
I retraced what I had said during the meeting and smiled.
Yujin!
To defeat him, I couldn’t grow in an ordinary, safe, and secure manner.
Just like six years ago—like him, when he challenged me who stood at the pinnacle of the Guild Alliance and the Iron-Blood Alliance!
No, even further back in the past. Like the underdog days before I became a top ranker, back when the concepts of the Ten Strongest and top rankers didn’t even exist yet—when I had fiercely competed with other users to seize the top spot!
That was how I had to adventure.
High risk, high return!
I reminded myself once again of that law that any player of Ard Saga knew.
Conversely, this was an opportunity to catch two rabbits at once—the Pirate King and the fishmen.
The difficulty was a bit nasty, but this much was merely cursing-worthy—still within the realm of being worth attempting.
Of course, it would look impossible to others, but I had done similar crazy things to clear the Conqueror King quest in the previous game anyway.
Above all, Yujin had also completed the Rebellion Quest, deemed impossible, won a war expected to be unwinnable, risen up, and finally defeated me.
To defeat a Yujin like that, I too had to accomplish a feat similar to his.
And the moment to create that feat was right now.
Having organized my thoughts as such, I looked at Nereus and spoke.
“Then, I shall resolve that problem for you.”
[You have accepted the quest.]
[The Demon King of the Sea applauds.]
[The Demon King of the Sea has sponsored you 10,000 points.]
[The Demon King of Destruction looks at you and smiles.]
…….
[The Demon God of Darkness is watching you.]
[The Demon God of Darkness has sponsored you 10,000 points.]
Demon Kings’ messages and point sponsorships pouring in the moment I accepted the quest!
While I was looking at those notifications, Nereus’s gaze fixed upon me.
“Now we are getting somewhere. To resolve this problem, you must go into the sea. However, as a human of the surface, you will need preparations for the unfamiliar underwater environment. Once you have finished all preparations, summon me using the Light of the Abyss, just as you called me the first time…….”
“No, there is no need for that.”
I cut Nereus off in the middle of his lengthy speech.
“What do you mean, Contractor?”
When I cut him off, Nereus asked back in a voice filled with doubt.
“I finished preparations long ago. Let us depart for the seabed right now.”
I smiled, fiddling with the Heroic-grade item equipped on my right index finger, which possessed every option that facilitated underwater activity.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. I’m someone who prepares thoroughly.”
I answered with a smile to Nereus, who asked again with an expression of disbelief.
I had decided to adventure while taking risks.
But that did not mean throwing myself into unknown fields, dungeons, or quests without any preparation whatsoever.
Prepare for the worst!
Because I had deeply engraved in my heart the maxim that the more thoroughly you prepare, the fewer worries you have.
“Then, very well. Let us depart at once.”
At my words, Nereus nodded, and I began climbing onto the shell of the giant sea turtle together with Nereus before the eyes of countless users.
The moment I arrived on the turtle’s flat shell, I heard the sound of waves churning.
The sea turtle began submerging into the water.
I smiled as I saw the dark blue waves of the night sea approaching.
The remaining time was 23 days of game time!
Within that time, I would complete the quest and return to the surface with the fishmen.