The Final Boss Has Returned - Chapter 67
[You have discovered the Castle of Bones.]
[First Discovery Bonus!]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[All stats have increased by 45.]
[Fame has increased by 3,330.]
[You are the first living being to set foot in the Castle of Bones since the Great Upheaval.]
[The Castle of Bones was once the capital of the ancient Northern Kingdom. The ancient kingdom, possessing an advanced magical civilization, had employed all manner of cutting-edge magic to build a splendid city at the world's end—a place thought uninhabitable by humans—all to flaunt their magical prowess.]
[However, after the last king of the ancient Northern Kingdom sacrificed the lives of his subjects to perform a forbidden grand ritual, all the capital's residents became undead. The various magical barriers and defensive mechanisms protecting the capital were also corrupted, permeated by dark magical energy.]
[Countless years later, in the Castle of Bones where only the dead now walk the earth, the Undead King sits upon the Skull Throne at its heart, overlooking the entire Land of Death, including the Castle of Bones, to this very day.]
I ignored the series of notification windows that popped up before my eyes and gazed beyond them.
A polar region devoid of a single tree, filled with nothing but snowy plains and blizzards!
And before me now stood a massive castle, towering into the sky.
'It's been a while.'
I smiled as I looked upon the panorama of the Castle of Bones.
The Castle of Bones!
This place had changed little between the past and the present.
Memories of six years ago, during the previous game, when I led the Iron-Blood Alliance's elite raid squad to break through the Deathlands and the Castle of Bones, came flooding back vividly.
At the time, we had succeeded in defeating the Undead King's right and left hands—the Archlich and the Black Knight Commander—but in the end, the raid party was wiped out during the Undead King raid, and the raid ended in failure.
But unlike when I had entered as an intruder, I was now clearly invited as a guest!
The feeling was remarkably fresh and moving.
["Enter the citadel. I shall permit it."]
Screeeeech.
With a sinister noise, the closed black drawbridge lowered over the moat, churning with toxic sludge. Without a word, I walked into the castle with my party members.
[Uoooooh.]
[Uuuuuuh.]
The interior of the castle was no different from the environment of the previous game six years ago!
An otherworldly spectacle of zombies, skeletons, ghouls, and death knights roaming between buildings blackened and broken here and there, while wraiths and bone wyverns flew through the sky!
Through a landscape that seemed to have materialized the very image of the underworld, I relied on old memories to enter the Skull Palace at the center of the castle. And finally, I was able to meet the Undead King once more.
The Undead King!
His true form was a massive skeleton standing three meters tall.
The Undead King, clad in black robes, sat upon a massive throne literally crafted from human bones and skulls. Contrary to his nature as an undead, his entire body was tightly bound by tree trunks and vines exuding a refreshingly vibrant blue light to an almost alien degree.
The legendary Archdruid Kazan from two thousand years ago!
It was the great ritual he had performed at the cost of his life, still binding the Undead King to this day.
The painful memory of the past, when I had been deceived by that sealed appearance that clearly suggested he couldn't properly use his strength and sent a raid party only to see them annihilated, tormented me once again.
As I arrived, blue ghost flames flared up in the Undead King's hollow pupils.
The Undead King moved his jaw.
["You have finally arrived. Contractor of the Demon God."]
"Why did you call me all the way here?"
["To hand over the unfinished Laevatein to you."]
Fwoosh.
As the bound Undead King moved his right hand, blue ghost flames flared up.
["The collection of a million cursed souls and their refinement into flames of resentment was completed long ago. All that remains is to absorb the essence of life."]
"It was a million, not ten thousand?"
I questioned the Undead King's words, and he kindly answered.
["I see you have heard the legends of men. It is only natural they would leave behind such tales, for they do not truly know Laevatein's real power."]
'So the legends I heard were wrong.'
I took his words in stride without much concern.
In the world of Ard, all records passed down as legends, myths, and history were mixed with fiction, truth, and exaggeration, just like in reality.
Stories where you tracked down Legend A to receive a quest only to find out it was actually about Content B were now so common they didn't even make for news!
Such was the game that there was even a saying about the attitude of a seasoned Ard Saga veteran: it starts with doubting and not blindly believing the information you acquire.
So, in a way, it was only natural that the information I had obtained about Laevatein would differ from the actual information.
["Regardless, I shall hand Laevatein over to you."]
Fwoooosh!
With those words, the blue fireball hovering in his right hand flew toward me, soon transforming into the shape of a sword and floating before me.
'Check information'
[Laevatein (Unfinished)]
[Category: Sword]
[Grade: Legendary]
[A sword created by the Undead King to oppose Mistilteinn, forged by refining a million souls into flames of resentment. It has not yet been completed.]
[To take life, one must know life. Should it absorb the essence of life, Laevatein shall transform into the legendary sword that truly incinerates all things.]
[Effects]
[Flame Attack Power +100%]
[Life Drain +80%]
[Random Curse on Hit]
[Summon/Dismiss Function]
[Wraith Liberation: Temporarily releases a portion of the million souls comprising Laevatein to serve you.]
Laevatein!
Indeed, it was a weapon that displayed tremendous majesty even in its unfinished state, befitting a weapon forged personally by the Undead King to oppose Mistilteinn.
I stored Laevatein in my inventory and looked at the Undead King.
"So, where do I need to go to find the essence of life?"
["A terrible realm overflowing with detestable life force, a place the undead cannot enter. The tree from which that hateful Kazan broke a branch to create the cursed spear, Mistilteinn. It is the Snowblossom Spirit Tree in the underground cave of the Winter Forest."]
The Undead King answered, his blue eye sockets flashing, and I smiled at his reply.
With the destination set, it was time to move.
* * *
Winter Forest!
Contrary to the field name that suggested biting cold winds, the dense forest of coniferous trees reaching toward the sky overflowed with vibrant life energy.
Unlike real-world conifers, they had white leaves befitting their name, which only made the scenery appear more mystical.
I had never been there, but I imagined this was what the forests of Finland—often seen in xylitol gum commercials—or the taiga of Siberia, seen only in photos, would feel like.
A forest with an atmosphere so inviting that, were this reality, I would have wanted to enjoy a forest bath while grilling barbecue in the yard of a log cabin!
But unfortunately, this was not reality; it was the world of Ard, and the forest teemed with just as many monsters as it did overflowing life force.
[Kroaaaaaaar!]
The ghastly roar of an ogre—now all too familiar—echoed.
And not just any ogre, but a Frost Ogre—known to inhabit only the northern regions, with snow-white skin and far greater strength than ordinary ogres!
But to the party members I had assembled, even that Frost Ogre was nothing more than a light lunch.
"Who wants to go this time?"
"I will go."
Though I was the party leader, the true ace of this party was none other than Sin Ha-yeon!
As she pointed at the ogre, Mabujang—the party's healer and handyman—leaped forward.
"Golem Summon."
As Mabujang chanted the skill's activation phrase and waved his hand, space distorted and a golem burst forth.
The golem was massive—its head alone larger than the giant ogre's. As it swung its fist down on the ogre, a satisfyingly crisp impact sound rang out.
It did not take long for the golem summoned by Mabujang to bring the ogre down.
[Party member 'Mabujang' has slain the Frost Ogre.]
[You have received experience points.]
[You have received 100 gold.]
Experience and gold rising steadily even while standing still!
I smiled in satisfaction as I watched the notification windows pop up in succession.
'So this is why everyone talks about bus rides!'
A bus ride!
Also called "carrying," it is when a high-level user forms a party with low-level users to funnel experience, items, gold, and the like to them.
However, in the previous game, I had always been at the forefront. I had driven the bus, but never been a passenger. Yet with this level of ride comfort, it seemed a bus ride was well worth taking.
Listening to the experience notifications, I threw a question to Ignis, who was beside me.
"How much further to the destination?"
The destination!
The Undead King had only vaguely said the Snowblossom Spirit Tree was in an underground cave, but the moment the keyword "Snowblossom Spirit Tree" appeared, the support team in reality had already latched onto it, collecting and analyzing information to pinpoint the exact location.
The place leading to the underground cave named the Druid's Rest, where the Snowblossom Spirit Tree was located, was the Lake of Snow at the heart of the Winter Forest, and our party was currently heading there.
"We are almost there."
As Ignis said, it wasn't long before our party discovered the lake.
The scenery of the beautiful lake seemed to reflect the winter-blue sky itself!
I smiled as I looked at the lake.
It was now time to proceed with the quest in earnest.
* * *
[You have entered the Druid's Rest.]
[The Druid's Rest is a secret place where the tomb of Archdruid Kazan's remains lies, and where retired druids spend their final years waiting to return to the embrace of nature.]
[Do not cause disturbances in this sanctuary, where the Snowblossom Spirit Tree—said to have grown from his staff—stands in the center, above Archdruid Kazan's remains. You shall taste the fury of the druids.]
The Druid's Rest!
Just as the support team had specified, the true nature of this cave at the bottom of the lake was closer to another massive field spread out underground than a mere cave.
In this place with floating orbs of light and druids accompanied by the fierce beasts they commanded, Drakan and his party members swiftly cut down all the druids as they advanced toward Kazan's tomb, where the Snowblossom Spirit Tree stood.
"To defile the Druid's Rest! The wrath of nature shall befall you!"
The druids spat out curses as their final words and transformed into experience points and items, while Drakan's party cut down the enemies at a rapid pace, finally reaching their destination.
"So that is the Snowblossom Spirit Tree!"
The Snowblossom Spirit Tree!
In the center of the rest, where the giant tree said to have grown from Archdruid Kazan's staff stood, water imbued with life force trickled and flowed.
Drakan smiled as he looked upon the sight, but soon discovered an old man meditating beneath the giant tree, bearing the impression of a venerable monk, and wiped the smile from his lips.
'Once this battle is over, I can rest a bit.'
Drakan and his party members had been hunting nonstop to reach the spirit tree.
Watching him, Drakan took out a potion from his inventory and drank it.
[Strength temporarily increases by 10%.]
[Mana temporarily increases by 25%.]
Countless messages popped up the moment he drank the potion!
It was a doping potion personally crafted by Mabujang, the alchemist.
At that very moment, when Drakan was temporarily inflating his stats through the doping potion.
"Who are you lot, to disturb Lord Kazan's eternal rest?"
Flash.
The old man sitting beneath the spirit tree, the former Master Druid Hellun, opened his eyes and roared in fury.
Hellun's gaze, brimming with rage, swept over Drakan and his party members.
Hellun was enraged.
The Druid's Rest was the sanctuary of sanctuaries, a place where retired druids took their rest to return to the embrace of nature. Moreover, it was where the remains of Kazan, the greatest druid, lay.
Yet these outsiders had not only rudely invaded repeatedly but had even slain the druids.
This was something he could never tolerate, not merely as the one in charge of the rest, but as a druid.
"The wrath of nature shall—"
At the very moment Hellun was about to unleash the boiling rage in his heart upon the unwelcome guests.
"Flame Chain."
Chains of flame erupted from the ground, binding Hellun's limbs.
Ignis!
He had used a binding skill.
Drakan smiled as he looked at Hellun bound by the flame chains.
He had no intention of listening to all of the enemy's lines this time either.
Fwoosh!
As Drakan channeled his aura, the flames of Laevatein grew even more intense.
"Steel Storm!"
Starting with the storm of aura unleashed by Drakan, the skill attacks of fire and ice poured forth by Ignis and Sin Ha-yeon struck Hellun's body directly, and Hellun roared in fury.
"Y-you cowardly bastards!"