The Final Boss Has Returned
Chapter 50
[The Fishmen have joined the Ancient Alliance.]
[The quest objective for the quest ‘Path of the Apostle’ has been updated.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
…….
[Fame has increased by 3453.]
[All stats have increased by 30.]
…….
[As a quest completion reward, you may directly select one item from the treasure vault of Mano’s Palace.]
[As an additional quest reward, you are given the Abyssal Pearl. Receive it directly from Nereus.]
[The Demon God of Darkness smiles satisfactorily at you for successfully completing the quest.]
[The new race ‘Fishman’ is unlocked.]
[As one of the Demon God’s creations and a race blessed by Leviathan, the Demon King of the Sea, the Fishmen are a half-human, half-fish race that mainly lives underwater, but unlike mermaids whose lower halves are fish, they possess legs and can move freely on land as well.]
[As an aquatic race, Fishmen can move freely in underwater fields including the ocean floor, and receive stat bonuses in underwater fields.]
[From now on, you can select the new race ‘Fishman’ during character creation.]
[The Fishmen’s starting base is Daehwancho, the capital of the Fishman Kingdom.]
[New possibilities have opened in Arde World. Participate in the new history.]
The stat and level-up notifications that always sounded pleasant, and after the Demon Kings’ messages and reward items, what I saw was none other than the new race unlock message!
In other words, it meant that the races selectable by new users starting from now had increased from the existing three—Human, Elf, and Dwarf—to four with the addition of the Fishman.
This was an achievement that no one had ever accomplished across both the previous game and Second.
New class unlocks happened from time to time, but new race unlocks were a realm closer to speculation, and now that new race had been unlocked as a playable race.
‘I didn’t know a new race would be unlocked.’
I smiled as I looked at the message.
To some extent, I had expected to pick an item from the treasure vault as a reward.
Well, rewards for quests of this scale were usually like this.
Receiving the Abyssal Pearl, which had originally been the quest objective, as a bonus reward was unexpected, but it wasn’t a bad thing.
But what was important right now wasn’t my quest reward; it was the new race unlock.
New content unlocks were always welcome among users, and it was obvious that public opinion of me would improve even more for achieving the feat of unlocking a new race—something that no one, not even Yujin, had accomplished following the Black Mage!
I smiled in satisfaction at the feeling of fullness just from imagining it.
Right then.
[Lord Drakan.]
Sin Ha-yeon sent me a whisper.
[What is it?]
[The Pirate Coalition’s fleet has appeared on the horizon.]
As Sin Ha-yeon calmly explained the situation, I hung a smile on my lips.
That’s right.
Today was exactly the 23rd day in game time since I had started the Fishman quest!
In other words, it was the D-Day that those Pirate Coalition bastards had boldly declared before me.
[I’ll be right there.]
I cut the whisper and spoke to Nereus, who was kneeling and looking up at me.
“Nereus.”
“Yes, Apostle.”
“Enemies have invaded my base, Port Lawless. Mobilize the army immediately.”
“According to the alliance’s code! The Apostle’s enemy is the enemy of our Fishman Kingdom. I shall obey your command.”
Listening to Nereus’s immediate answer, I fiddled with the ring on my right hand.
Now, it was time to make those pirate bastards drink seawater until their stomachs burst.
* * *
Pirate Coalition!
Their notoriety of virtually ruling the eastern seas wasn’t gained for nothing.
Their notoriety stemmed from their mighty power, and their power stemmed from their mighty fleet.
The Pirate Coalition’s fleet!
That fleet was the very symbol of violence and terror that the Pirate Coalition possessed, and the reason they could rule the seas.
The great armada of the Pirate Coalition possessed might comparable to a nation’s naval power!
And now, the Pirate Coalition’s 2nd Fleet led by Edward, the Coalition’s number two, revealed its dignified form in the waters before Port Lawless.
Among the 2nd Fleet’s ships advancing with massive sails unfurled, cutting through the calm sea, the one that stood out most was the giant warship positioned at the center, seemingly twice the size of the other ships.
With a carved statue of a broken skull attached to its bow, this giant warship was none other than the flagship of Edward, the Pirate Coalition’s number two, and the 2nd Fleet’s command ship, the *Broken Skull*.
The deck of the *Broken Skull*.
A pirate came running frantically toward Edward, a bald man watching the front while facing the sea wind, and shouted.
“Lord Edward!”
“What is it?”
“A report from the lookout! The Black Tower, the Black Tower doesn’t have a white flag raised!”
“Is that so?”
Having received the report, Edward stared ahead once more.
Thanks to advancing as fast as possible, Port Lawless had already drawn close enough to be visible to the naked eye.
The black spire piercing toward the sky, the Black Tower, and the harbor of Port Lawless came into Edward’s view.
Edward narrowed his eyes and looked at the spire.
The white flag signifying surrender existed nowhere on the Black Tower.
Seeing this, Edward clicked his tongue.
“So he ultimately rejected the carrot and chose the stick. The Contractor of the Demon God. Foolish despite his appearance.”
Drakan, the Contractor of the Demon God!
The new master of Port Lawless had rejected the incomparably generous proposal offered by the Pirate King Drake.
If so, only one ending remained.
A sea of fire!
That’s right.
Having rejected the proposal, a sea of fire at Port Lawless was the only ending permitted to Drakan.
The Pirate King was generous, but he never showed mercy twice, and was a cold-hearted man who eliminated any adversary that bared its fangs at him.
Because he was such a man, Drake could rise to become the leader of the Pirate Coalition.
Edward’s blood began to boil.
At the end of the day, he too was fundamentally a pirate!
Edward felt ecstasy in plundering and arson, so the future that would soon unfold could only be satisfying to him.
Imagining Port Lawless burning and pirates looting atop it, Edward shouted.
“Prepare the cannons and landing boats! Let’s show our Pirate Coalition’s fury to Port Lawless and that Contractor of the Demon God bastard who rejected Lord Drake’s generous proposal!”
The very moment the pirates began moving in perfect order at Edward’s command.
*Swoosh! Swoosh! Splash!*
The calm sea suddenly churned as if a storm had come, and between the waves, gigantic tentacles shot up.
Pirates looking at the shadows of the massive tentacles shooting toward the sky fell to their spots, paralyzed with terror.
“K-Kraken! It’s the Kraken! Th-the Kraken has appeared!”
A pirate drenched in fear shouted with a trembling voice.
The Kraken!
The legendary monster passed down among sailors of Arde World had revealed its form in the waters before Port Lawless.
* * *
The Kraken!
At the appearance of the legendary demonic beast, the pirates of the *Broken Skull* froze in place.
They say sailors tend to be superstitious.
And the sailors of Arde World were no different.
No, because it was a fantasy world where monsters and magic actually existed, the sailors of Arde World were even more fanatically superstitious.
And for the sailors and pirates of Arde World, the appearance of the Kraken was a situation more than sufficient to instill terror beyond anything else.
Of course, the fear flowing from the Kraken’s body also inflicted status abnormalities on the pirates.
“Don’t panic! Attack! I said attack!”
The first to break free from the shock was Edward.
True to his notorious reputation, Edward brandished his war hammer, the Skull Crusher, and browbeat the pirates, and only then did the pirates come to their senses and raise their weapons.
Right then.
*Crackle! Boom! Crunch!*
Along with a thunderous roar as if the world was collapsing, blue sparks flew from the Kraken’s tentacles and soon became lightning that struck straight toward the deck.
Countless lightning bolts too numerous to count pierced the *Broken Skull*, and the deck immediately became a scene of pandemonium.
“Guaaaargh!”
“S-save me!”
“Th-this is madness! The sea is enraged! The Demon King of the Sea is enraged!!”
Pirates dying from lightning strikes and flames clinging to the ship!
Atop the deck that had become an inferno in an instant with the pirates’ terrible screams, massive tentacles descended.
*Splash!*
The Kraken’s tentacles wrapped around the entire ship with the sound of waves!
Seeing that spectacle, blue aura surged around Edward’s war hammer, the Skull Crusher.
“That damned squid bastard!”
Flames sparked in Edward’s eyes.
This giant sailing warship he was standing on, the *Broken Skull*, was his other half and his pride.
But now, some monster that jumped out of the sea was trying to destroy his ship entirely.
Edward could never forgive it—no, that giant monster that had suddenly appeared.
“I’ll kill you!”
With a face dyed deep red with rage, Edward gripped his war hammer and exuded a terrifying momentum as he tried to attack the Kraken’s leg—at that very moment.
*Splash!*
A wave as large as a house crashed onto the deck.
“What the hell?”
Edward frowned at the wave that suddenly covered the deck, and soon after, his expression was filled with shock at the figure appearing from within the wave.
Half-human, half-fish, wearing a red crown and gleaming golden scales—a Fishman that would only appear in legend had now appeared before him.
“Human with the most powerful energy in this vicinity. So you’re the one called Edward.”
Riding the wave onto the deck, the Fishman King Nereus smirked.
A spear was gripped in his hand.
“Fishman?”
“Indeed. Human. I am Nereus, the rightful king of the Fishman Kingdom and leader of the eight Fishman tribes. Consider it an honor to face me!”
Having finished his introduction, Nereus thrust his spear, billowing with aura, directly at the bewildered Edward.
Seeing the spearhead flying toward him, Edward gritted his teeth and raised his war hammer to deflect Nereus’s spear.
Both Edward and Nereus were powerhouses on par with Over Rankers!
Spear and war hammer clashed, and with each exchange of offense and defense, sparks of aura flew and shockwaves erupted, but as time passed, it was Edward who was increasingly at a disadvantage.
Because his strongest asset—himself—was tangled up with Nereus, and though the remaining pirates were fighting desperately, they couldn’t stop the Kraken’s tentacles.
Moreover, every time waves crashed, Fishmen pouring onto the deck kept them in check, and the *Broken Skull*’s forces had already reached their limit.
“You damned bastard!”
Cornered, Edward spewed curses and tried to cast ‘Skull Explosion’, one of his most powerful skills, but his will couldn’t be fulfilled.
*Crunch! Crack!*
Because the Kraken’s massive leg had finally managed to completely wrap around the *Broken Skull*, tearing through the pirates’ resistance.
“N-no!”
Edward screamed upon seeing that spectacle, and Nereus looked at him and replied mockingly.
“It is!”
The moment Nereus’s answer fell, the Kraken put strength into the leg wrapped around the *Broken Skull*, and the *Broken Skull* lived up to its name and broke apart.
Of course, the *Broken Skull* wasn’t the only one in trouble in the waters before Port Lawless.
The other pirate ships belonging to the 2nd Fleet were in the same situation.
The Fishmen crawling up from beneath the sea attacked far beyond the pirates’ expectations, and the pirates panicked, unable to respond properly.
They might have been prepared for a naval battle, but they had never experienced such an unheard-of battle where enemies surged up from the seabed to attack the ships, so this was only natural.
Thus, countless pirates died in vain at the hands of the Fishmen.
Moreover, the problem wasn’t just the Fishmen.
The troops of JDG who had sortied aboard ships anchored at Port Lawless were attacking the pirates amid the confusion.
Among them, the user who stood out most was none other than the Flame King, Ignis.
Every time Ignis swung his hand aboard the ship, flames surged onto enemy vessels and engulfed them in fire.
*Swoooosh!*
The Kraken that had smashed the *Broken Skull* surged up with the waves and scattered lightning, smashing other ships as well.
The Pirate Coalition!
Their legend of invincibility above the seas, their myth of naval supremacy—this was the historic moment that myth finally crumbled.