The Final Boss Has Returned
Chapter 73
After the War!
I wrapped up the broadcast and finished the work of disbanding and withdrawing the Northern Expedition Army.
The Northern Expedition Army led by Spear King Rio retreated beyond the horizon in a sorry state, and only after the last expedition soldier completely disappeared beyond the horizon did I finally see the quest completion message.
[You have completed the quest ‘The War of the Eternal Winter’.]
[The Undead join the Ancient Alliance.]
[The quest objective for ‘The Path of the Apostle’ has been updated.]
[Fame has increased by 6,453.]
[All stats have increased by 89.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
…….
[You have reached level 300.]
[Achievement ‘Can You Sleep at Your Level?’ unlocked.]
[Achievement ‘Guide of Winter’ unlocked.]
[Please receive the quest completion reward directly from the Undead King.]
[The Dark Demon God smiles with satisfaction at you for successfully completing the quest.]
Level-ups and stat increases were a welcome sight no matter when I saw them!
And reaching level 300 on top of that!
There wasn’t much left until level 380, which was practically the level cap.
Moreover, having broken through level 300, I now possessed stats that wouldn’t lose to any ordinary ranker, let alone high rankers or over rankers. I was satisfied with that fact for the moment.
But as always, the quest completion notifications weren’t the end.
[You have briefly experienced yourself at your prime.]
[Due to the effect of the skill ‘Rune of Regression’, the Saga Level of the Saga ‘Steel Lord’ increases significantly.]
…….
[The Saga Skill ‘Avatar of Iron Blood’ is unlocked.]
[Avatar of Iron Blood]
[Saga Level: Beginner Rank 1]
[One of the three ultimate skills of the Steel Lord Drakan.]
[A skill that envelops the entire body in aura to obtain defense comparable to heavy armor, drastically increases all types of stats, grants buffs to allies, and inflicts debuffs on enemies.]
[A thousand years ago, during the endless war, the Avatar of Iron Blood was the technique symbolizing Drakan, and to his enemies, a symbol of terror. Drakan, shrouded in a crimson-black aura, was literally invincible. Only one person in recorded history has ever breached the Avatar of Iron Blood—the hero who defeated him and became a myth, Yujin.]
[The Saga Skill ‘Rain of Steel’ is unlocked.]
[Rain of Steel]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Saga Level: Beginner Rank 1]
[One of the three ultimate skills of the Steel Lord Drakan.]
[A wide-area ultimate skill that gathers clouds infused with aura in the sky and pours down a rain of swords made of aura upon the ground. As long as the aura cloud is maintained, the rain of swords can be used indefinitely.]
[A thousand years ago, during the endless war, Drakan faced countless assassination attempts and was often pushed to numerical disadvantage on the battlefield, but every time, enemies died meaninglessly before the unfurling Rain of Steel, and on battlefields where the endless, falling Rain of Steel poured down, rivers of blood flowed.]
Rune of Regression!
In the aftermath of experiencing myself at my prime through that skill, not only had the levels of my stalled Saga, Saga Skills, and Saga Arms risen all at once, but one of the three ultimate skills I had possessed in the previous game had been unlocked.
Of course, since the term ‘Saga’ was appended, the skill description and effects had changed considerably from what I had used in the previous game, but rather than being a downgrade, they had become something closer to an upgrade, so I was satisfied.
‘Maybe I should have used the Conqueror King’s Sword too.’
I clicked my tongue regretfully.
The most powerful ultimate skill I had possessed, the only Mythic-rank skill, and simultaneously the reward of the Conqueror King Quest—the Conqueror King’s Sword!
I hadn’t drawn it because I didn’t think my opponent was worth showing that skill to, but as I was thinking that I should have drawn the Conqueror King’s Sword too if I’d known this would happen, another notification window appeared before my eyes.
[A new race, the Undead, is unlocked.]
[The path of the Undead, the immortal race that has denied death and returned, has been opened!]
[As creations of the Demon God and those who receive the protection of the Undead King, the Undead are the undying ones who defy providence. Lower-level lesser Undead possess crude appearances, but as they level up and ascend to higher ranks, their evolutionary possibilities are endless, such as obtaining bodies close to humans or being able to revive again even if their bodies die.]
[The Undead possess resistance nearly equivalent to immunity against environmental debuffs and various debuff skills such as mental debilitation. However, they are extremely vulnerable to light and nature-attribute attacks. They resist darkness-attribute attacks, and their proficiency in darkness-attribute skills grows more than twice as fast as other races, among various other unique racial characteristics.]
[From now on, the new race ‘Undead’ can be selected during character creation.]
[The Undead starting base is the Skeleton Citadel at the end of the world.]
[A new class, ‘Necromancer,’ is unlocked.]
[The path of the Necromancer, the seeker who explores death and immortality, has been opened!]
[Necromancers are closer to death than anyone else, and therefore more familiar with immortality and death than anyone else, making them seekers of undeath and death. They can create and summon Undead or handle powerful and diverse debuff-inducing poisons. If equipped with potent summon catalysts or extreme poisons capable of annihilating enemies with merely a single dose, they possess the potential to stand alone against legions.]
[The Necromancer class-change quest can currently be obtained from the Arch Lich at the Skeleton Citadel, restricted to the Undead race.]
[A new class, the Dark Knight, is unlocked.]
[The path of the Dark Knight, who dominates the battlefield with terror and darkness, has been opened.]
[The Dark Knight is a knight of terror who ravages enemies with overwhelming destructive power. Unlike the aura handled by ordinary knights, they wield Dark Aura refined from dark magic power, a symbol of terror that scatters fear and slaughter across the battlefield.]
[The Dark Knight is a hybrid class equipped not only with ordinary knight skills but also various debuff skills and utility skills such as vampirism and mana absorption, utilizing skills more destructive and powerful than those of ordinary knights.]
[The Dark Knight class-change quest can currently be obtained from the Black Knight Commander at the Skeleton Citadel, restricted to the Undead race.]
[A new possibility has opened in the world of Arde. Participate in the new history.]
I looked at the ensuing notification windows in surprise.
The Undead race unlocked!
This was a result I had naturally expected.
When I completed the Merfolk quest, the Merfolk were unlocked, so the fact that completing the Undead quest would unlock the Undead was as obvious as fire.
Therefore, the Undead being unlocked wasn’t particularly surprising.
What surprised me was the unlocking of the new classes.
‘Dark Knight and Necromancer!’
The Dark Knight wasn’t particularly important relatively speaking.
Of course, that didn’t mean the Dark Knight class lacked appeal.
A hybrid knight class with debuff skills, the opposite of the Paladin who possessed buff and healing skills!
Furthermore, the class concept of wielding ‘Dark Aura’ that made one’s heart surge just hearing about it was enough to captivate the hearts of certain players.
But the reason I said the Dark Knight’s unlocking wasn’t particularly important was none other than because the Necromancer had been unlocked.
Necromancer!
A dark mage who commands Undead legions!
A career of unrivaled popularity that had ranked within the top five in popularity in countless games from the past to the present.
Of course, that popularity was no different in Arde Saga, to the point that during the previous game, in a survey conducted by Miracle Entertainment regarding ‘which unreleased class do you want to class-change into,’ ‘Necromancer’ had been selected in first place by an overwhelming margin.
And yet precisely that class had been unlocked, albeit restricted to the Undead race.
I knew all too well that from the previous game until now, countless people had struggled and fought desperately to obtain that single class called ‘Necromancer.’
But whether in the previous game or now, the Undead King who held the key to the Necromancer class was a hostile faction to the players. He was a madman who killed every living thing he saw, and because of that, no player had yet become a Necromancer.
Yes, not yet.
‘All hell’s going to break loose in the North!’
I instinctively sensed it.
That a Necromancer craze would sweep through the North.
Of course, it wouldn’t be just the North either.
I recalled long ago, when I had poured money into rebuilding Lawless Port.
The book called Research of the Ancient Dark Empire left behind by the former Saion!
After reading that book, numerous ancient Dark Empire facilities had been added to the list of constructible buildings, and I remembered that among them were buildings related to Necromancers and Dark Knights.
‘Among the facilities that hadn’t been activated before were the Catacombs and the Dark Knights’ Training Ground.’
Catacombs!
And the Dark Knights’ Training Ground!
If I could station Undead class-change instructor NPCs in those buildings that hadn’t been properly activated due to the lack of class-change instructor NPCs?
‘Class-changing to Necromancer and Dark Knight will be possible in Lawless Port too!’
Lawless Port!
If it becomes possible to class-change into the legendary Necromancer, already renowned for causing chaos as the Black Magician class!
It was certain that another population bomb would drop on Lawless Port, already developing at a blinding speed.
A smile formed on my lips as I reached all these conclusions.
Right at that moment.
[You have successfully completed my request, Apostle.]
The Undead King’s voice echoed in my head.
[Come to my castle. I shall bestow your reward upon you.]
Truly a Mythic-grade monster!
Perhaps because he was a monster who had half-ascended to the realm of transcendents, unlike the Merfolk King, even though he acknowledged me as his Apostle, the Undead King was truly something else—his tone had merely become slightly more polite, yet he was still speaking down to me.
Anyway, the moment the Undead King finished speaking, a gate glowing blue appeared before my eyes, and I headed beyond the gate with my party members.
* * *
The Undead King!
The imposing leader of the Undead sat upon a skull throne, looking down at me with a pair of brilliantly blazing blue eyes.
“I completed your request. What about the reward?”
I spoke, recalling the message in the quest completion window that told me to receive the completion reward directly.
Of course, I had already received the intangible rewards such as experience and quest rewards, so now it was time to receive the material reward.
[Before we speak of that, I wish to reclaim Laevateinn first.]
The Undead King replied the moment I finished speaking.
I mentioned the reward, yet he immediately said he wanted to take an item!
Judging from my long gaming career, this was the moment of a binary reward choice.
When you finish a quest repairing equipment and go to the NPC, the most common repertoire is whether to keep the weapon or return it and receive another reward. Sure enough, Laevateinn had appeared in a similar binary reward choice.
[Laevateinn is a sword that simultaneously harbors the power of death and life. With Laevateinn, I can break this damned Druid’s seal, given enough time. If I break the seal, it will benefit you, not harm you.]
When I remained silent, the Undead King added a word.
The reason he wanted to reclaim Laevateinn!
It was surprisingly because Laevateinn was the key to breaking the seal of Archdruid Kazan that bound him.
‘So it wasn’t simply because he wanted the weapon.’
I looked straight at the Undead King and thought.
The Undead King!
The power possessed by the Mythic-grade monster Undead King was undoubtedly tremendous, to the extent that he was half-leaning into the realm of transcendents.
If such a being were freed from his seal and could roam freely, then as someone who could command the Undead King in the name of the Apostle, I would rise to a position tantamount to holding a nuclear bomb in my hands.
Of course, since he said it would take time, I didn’t know how long it would take, but the fact that there was at least a possibility rather than none at all was undeniably advantageous to me.
‘But that’s that, and this is this.’
However, separate from that, it was also true that I had to hand over the excellent item called Laevateinn to the Undead King.
Wasn’t the eternal truth of the world give and take?
So even if I was giving something, I had to receive something in return.
Thinking thus, I spoke:
“Empty-handed?”