The Final Boss Has Returned
Episode 56
A fierce naval battle between Drakan and the Pirate Alliance, unfolding in the Eastern Sea!
The entire process was broadcast live on Ard Live via Flyingman’s real-time stream, and naturally, it also spread through the airwaves via JGN, a cable game broadcast channel owned by Jeil E&M.
Though cable game broadcasts had been called a dying medium after the emergence of Ard Live, their influence had not completely disappeared.
Rather, it was precisely because middle-aged and older viewers who did not use Ard Live often, as well as longtime viewers who had only watched TV since the days of the previous game, were far more familiar with TV that cable game broadcasts had been able to survive until now.
In any case, the naval battle in the Eastern Sea, broadcast through various channels, captured the attention of countless viewers interested in Ard Saga itself.
[King-class carrier, damn]
[As expected, take away his money and Drakan’s just a corpse]
[Money my ass;; from what I saw, it looks like the merfolk did everything?]
[For real, he should reroll as a merfolk. Looks hella fun]
[Merfolk are money too, what do you think?]
[Why would merfolk be money—go rewatch Drakan’s stream. The nerve]
[Action beam~ rest in peace, Samga Pirates~]
[Aah, this is the world of cold, modern naval warfare…….]
[Nice. Subscribing to Drakan starting today]
[Bro, don’t just laugh—please subscribe to Flyingman too, T_T]
A one-sided damage trade employing wyverns and merfolk!
The viewers laughed until their sides hurt and felt exhilarated at the sight of a naval battle where he struck the enemy from an overwhelmingly advantageous position.
The Pirate Alliance!
No matter what anyone said, they were the greatest villains of the East, and the viewers felt “cider” watching those guys die without putting up much of a fight, watching Drakan’s fleet one-sidedly crush the Pirate Alliance and claim an overwhelming victory.
[Gaaaaah!]
[Cider!]
A cool, refreshing sensation like drinking cold cider straight from the refrigerator with ice cubes in it!
The cider produced by Flyingman and the King of Merfolk, Nereus, under Drakan’s command received rave reviews from the public, and soon, expectations for the second round began to swell among the people.
If the appetizer’s cider was this refreshing, just how refreshing would the cider be for the main course!
Though Drakan had claimed an overwhelming victory, the decisive naval battle was not yet completely over.
It was only natural for people’s gazes to turn toward the battlefield where the next fight would take place.
* * *
The Pirate Archipelago.
Four rocky islands floating upon the Eastern Sea.
Though barren, they were located at the heart of the Eastern trade routes and had been infamous since ancient times as a pirates’ den. After the Pirate King Drake unified the pirates of the East, this island was transformed into the stronghold of the Pirate Alliance.
Among the four rocky islands, temporary buildings that had been haphazardly and chaotically erected on the central island—the only one with a spring of clear water—had been replaced with neat stone structures, and a fortress-like citadel made from the island’s abundant rock had also been completed.
Compared to proper fortresses or grand castles built on land, it was an embarrassing level; but regardless, the fairly impressive-looking stone citadel was one of the Pirate King’s prides.
The underground vault of the citadel overflowed with gold coins and treasures plundered from coastal villages and trade ships, and the harbor of the central island bustled with countless pirate vessels carrying slaves and loot.
Truly an island of gold!
Though there were those who coveted the island overflowing with wealth accumulated from piracy, they could not even sightsee in the waters before the Pirate Archipelago in the face of the Pirate Alliance’s mighty fleet and were forced to become fish food.
To the people of the Gasan Kingdom who suffered from the pillaging of Eastern users and pirates, as well as to the merchants passing through the Eastern Sea trade routes, the waters before the Pirate Archipelago were no different from a den of evil; and beyond the horizon of those waters, ships appeared one by one.
It was Drakan’s carrier task force, which had annihilated Cortes’s fleet without a trace.
“We’ve finally arrived here.”
Drakan—a man clad in black full-body armor standing on the spacious flight deck of the aircraft carrier, the flagship of Drakan’s carrier task force, the *Steel Wing*—muttered in a low voice.
A faint smile formed on Drakan’s lips.
From the Lawless Port recapture until now!
His first objective was to defeat the Pirate King and gain firm support from the Eastern users, and now that goal was flickering right before his eyes.
“It feels rather moving.”
Beside him, the female mage in robes, Sin Ha-yeon, looked at him with a bright smile.
Drakan looked at Sin Ha-yeon, who wore a smile at his side, and spoke.
“It’s all thanks to you.”
Sin Ha-yeon!
The capital she had invested to raise Drakan to his current position, befitting her name as a chaebol heiress, was truly enormous enough to leave one’s jaw hanging, and Drakan was well aware of that fact.
Without the wholehearted support provided by Sin Ha-yeon and Jeil E&M, he would not have reached this place in such a short time!
“I only did what I had to do, so hearing that makes me a little embarrassed.”
Upon hearing his words, Sin Ha-yeon smiled shyly as if embarrassed.
There had not been no opposition within the group regarding her enormous investment in Drakan.
The elders who had been her father’s retainers, kept alive only because dealing with them within the group was tricky, and the cronies of her younger brother and older brother, who had been spared because they were somewhat useful, had made a pointless fuss.
They said that investing this much money in Drakan when he was only generating this much profit immediately was no different from pouring water into a bottomless jar.
Of course, Sin Ha-yeon was not stupid, so she knew very well who was behind this opposition.
It was her father, Chairman Sin Hyeon-cheol, who had established Jeil Group after being practically driven out of the Simseong family.
‘Father, really. If you don’t like that your daughter is the successor, you should have said so directly.’
Her father, Chairman Sin Hyeon-cheol, had consistently disliked her from the very beginning until now.
The position of group chairman should be inherited by the son!
That was the philosophy held by Chairman Sin Hyeon-cheol.
However, it was simply because she had sent her far less capable older brother and her good-for-nothing younger brother to their deaths in the literal blink of an eye, so quickly that even she herself had not had time to act, and had even reduced him—the chairman himself—to a figurehead and half a scarecrow, that he had no choice but to resign himself to the current state of affairs.
In the midst of this, the investment in Drakan, whose short-term return on investment was low, must have been a tempting bait to raise a rebellion.
And Sin Ha-yeon mercilessly purged those who had raised the rebellion, having been instigated by her father.
And since she had drawn the sword of purge anyway, she demoted her father from being a half-scarecrow with only the title of “Chairman” to a complete backroom old man.
Thus, Chairman Sin Hyeon-cheol’s final rebellion was suppressed absurdly, and she took complete control of Jeil Group through this bloodshed.
Thanks to that, her image in high society had suddenly transformed from a mutant to a hardliner, a villainess, and even an ominous figure like a praying mantis or a black widow, but she did not bat an eyelash at such rumors.
“On the contrary, I am sorry that I could not provide even more support to you, Lord Drakan.”
Sin Ha-yeon understood the essence of support very well.
An investment in Drakan was, on the surface, an investment in a promising streamer, but that was merely the shell.
This was, in essence, politics.
From narrowly the users playing the Second in Ard Saga, to broadly the people watching Ard Saga-related content on Ard Live, to those interested in the Ard World!
The politics of capturing the public opinion of all those people was the true essence of the investment in Drakan.
And investment in politics generally appeared inefficient on the outside.
That was why Sin Ha-yeon had no intention of sparing her investment in Drakan just because short-term profits were not coming out, as the purged people had argued.
After all, the money she was pouring out now was nothing but a drop in the bucket compared to the rewards that would return once Drakan’s rebellion succeeded!
“Is that so?”
Drakan’s eyebrows twitched at Sin Ha-yeon’s words.
“Yes.”
“Then how much more can you do for me?”
At Drakan’s words, Sin Ha-yeon smiled again.
Had it been anyone else!
They would surely have spouted undeserved words of modesty while watching her reaction, or declined saying it was fine.
Only he could make such a request so naturally before her, who was feared by the establishment as a black widow and a villainess.
And Sin Ha-yeon liked him for that.
“Anything that can be done with money and power.”
The power held by Sin Ha-yeon, who had become the de facto ruler of the entire group, was beyond common sense.
The wealth of Jeil Group, accumulated through confectionery and food businesses, department stores, distribution businesses, cable channel operations, K-pop, multiplex cinemas, and the production and distribution of various content including dramas and movies, was truly enormous, and the power of Jeil E&M, a leading force of the Hallyu wave that grew day by day, was increasing with each passing day.
To Sin Ha-yeon, who held all that tremendous wealth and power in her grasp, the cost of investing in Drakan was no more than a drop in the bucket.
“I like it.”
At Drakan’s response, the smile lingering at Sin Ha-yeon’s lips deepened.
It was because his words that he liked it pleased her.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Since I’ve received the money, I ought to earn my keep.”
Drakan replied upon hearing Sin Ha-yeon’s words.
At his words, Sin Ha-yeon’s eyes sparkled.
Drakan!
He always produced results exceeding the money she had invested.
She could say without hesitation that she had never regretted choosing Drakan as her partner.
Even if she had provided this level of support to another ranker or streamer, they would not have produced results comparable to the current Drakan!
This current achievement was a result that only he could accomplish.
Therefore, she had made the best choice.
Sin Ha-yeon thought so as she looked at Drakan, and Drakan smiled and gave an order in a whisper.
And soon after, Flyingman and the wyvern squadrons, having received Drakan’s command, kicked off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier and soared into the sky.
* * *
Though the Pirate Archipelago consisted of four islands, only the central island had an environment suitable for people to live in.
The remaining three islands were merely small rocky islets too embarrassing to call islands, and the Pirate Alliance had built lighthouses on these three small rocky islets that also served as watchtowers.
And now, those watchtowers built on the rocky islets were suffering from an untimely raid from the sky.
Boom!
With deafening roars, the watchtowers burst into flames!
Leaving that sight behind, Drakan’s carrier task force cut through the waves toward the central island, then stopped.
“As expected, not only have they built defensive lines at the harbor, but the pirate scum’s defense forces are swarming like ants.”
Drakan muttered this while surveying the enemy camp through a telescope from the flight deck.
The central island was a natural fortress with rugged cliffs made mostly of bumpy rock, and as such, the only facility where ships could dock was a single small white sand beach formed between the rocks.
The pirates had built a harbor on that white sand beach, and by the Pirate King’s orders, they had constructed defensive lines equipped with cannons at the harbor.
It was a situation where, no matter who looked at it, conducting a landing operation in this state would inevitably result in heavy losses!
However, Drakan had no intention of foolishly ramming his landing force into a fortified harbor and fighting a head-on battle of strength as the Pirate King wished.
“Nereus.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“We proceed with the prepared operation.”
“I shall obey your command.”
Having received Drakan’s order, Nereus leaped from the flight deck into the water and submerged. Moments later, the sea near the coastal cliffs opposite the harbor rippled, and Kraken’s massive tentacles surged up, hooking over the edge of the coastal cliffs.
Immediately after, numerous merfolk began climbing up from beneath the sea, scaling the Kraken’s tentacles that connected the sea and the top of the cliffs like a ladder.
The moment the real game to capture the Pirate King began at last.