The Final Boss Has Returned — Episode 84
Changes were occurring in the sky as well.
[Kraaaaaaaaarah!]
Bone Dragon!
And the Arc Lich riding upon it!
The moment the two monsters appeared, the outcome of the aerial battle—which had already been at a disadvantage for the Northern Army—was completely decided in that instant.
Under the Fear unleashed by the Bone Dragon, the enemy wyverns' bodies grew sluggish, and by the magic unleashed by the Arc Lich, the wyvern riders had to meet their deaths.
As a result, the enemy wyvern riders who had been engaging in quite a bit of dogfighting until the Bone Dragon appeared were all cleaned up, and the aerial battle ended in a perfect victory for the Eastern forces.
‘So that's the Bone Dragon I've only heard of in rumors?’
Flyingman looked at the Bone Dragon—so enormous it couldn't be compared to a drake, reminiscent of an airship—and let out an exclamation inwardly.
If an undead dragon—not even a real dragon—was this powerful, just how tremendous of an existence was a real dragon?
Flyingman admired the Bone Dragon's grandeur and once again inwardly regretted that he hadn't been able to accompany Drakan on the Northern Expedition.
At that very moment.
Splash! Swoooooosh!
A warship was rising, cutting through the sea's surface.
A ghost ship!
The Ghost Fleet commanded by Ghost Admiral Nelson had finally appeared, having put an end to the undersea war.
Drakan's whisper pierced Flyingman's ears as he gazed upon that sight.
[Both the sea floor and the skies are finished.]
Drakan!
As he said, the merfolk had been completely defeated in the undersea war.
The Ghost Fleet!
It was because they hadn't anticipated that they would join the battle.
With the Ghost Fleet's intervention, the merfolk army whose superiority had been completely reversed into inferiority was defeated. Their guardian sacred beast, the White Whale, was entangled in the Kraken's lightning and met its death, and Merfolk Queen Siren was pierced through by the spear of the Fishman King Nereus and died.
Truly an overwhelming victory!
Fishman King Nereus, who had achieved a perfect victory against his old nemesis, the merfolk, was excited.
But all of this was merely the prelude.
The enemy fleet was still intact!
To completely finish the naval battle, they had to burn the enemy fleet to ashes.
[The prelude is over, so let's start the main game.]
Hearing his cold voice, Flyingman spurred his Red Drake forward once more.
Behind Flyingman followed the Bone Dragon and the wyvern squadron, as well as the Ghost Fleet and the fishman army beneath the sea.
* * *
The fleet was burning.
Black King Karun gritted his teeth as he looked at the Bone Dragon rampaging in the sky and the fishmen crawling up from the seabed.
The ships of the Vikings, who were called the rulers of the northern seas and masters of naval warfare, were all burning.
Of course, the Northern Army had sufficiently prepared anti-air forces, and ballistae mounted on each ship were responsible for the fleet's air defense. However, while they might have worked against ordinary wyverns, ballistae could not deal effective damage before the Bone Dragon.
Therefore, the Northern Army had no choice but to fall defenseless to the magical bombardment of the enemy aerial forces led by the Bone Dragon.
Boom! Crash!
The combat ships the Vikings took pride in burned, and the Vikings, rough sea warriors of the north, died futilely without even swinging their swords once.
The enemy aerial force, led by the Bone Dragon, ravaged the fleet as if the sky were their home. The Vikings couldn't suppress their rage and fired their ballistae, but because the Bone Dragon took all the ballista attacks, they could not land any effective hits.
Moreover, the enemy was not only in the sky.
Boom!
Swoooosh!
Fishmen persistently attacking the bottoms of ships from the seabed, the sea monsters they commanded, and finally, the Kraken rising from the depths to smash ships apart!
Attacked from both the sky and the sea, the Vikings panicked and were thrown into disarray. The depth charges, harpoons, and ballistae they had prepared were destroyed one by one in the chaos, and the Northern Fleet's warships began to sink one after another.
And that wasn't all.
Boom! Crash!
The existence of the Ghost Fleet, firing shells from afar, was enough to grate on the Vikings' nerves.
Of course, in the midst of such chaotic warfare, the state of the Frostflight that Karun was aboard was not unharmed either.
An aircraft carrier that had lost all of its aerial forces was bound to devolve into nothing more than a massive target.
But it wasn't the Eastern aerial forces including Flyingman that were bringing nightmares to the Frostflight.
The Arc Lich!
It was because that monstrous entity, descending onto the deck atop the Bone Dragon, had summoned undead and unleashed a scene of hell upon the aircraft carrier.
From low-level undead like zombies, skeletons, and ghouls, all the way to Death Knights!
Undead possessing forces truly worthy of being called a legion answered the Arc Lich's call and seized the deck in an instant. In the blink of an eye, Black King Karun found himself surrounded by the undead.
“Drakan......”
Black King Karun muttered Drakan's name in a low voice as he swung his greatsword and smashed the head of an undead rushing toward him.
The naval battle was already lost.
He couldn't know what move Drakan had used, but Drakan had called forth undead forces, and the prelude had ended in a complete defeat for the north, contrary to expectations.
He had thought that while he might not know about the aerial battle, the merfolk would win the underwater battle.
Because Karun knew that objectively, the merfolk's forces were superior to the fishmen's.
That was why Karun had responded meekly to the enemy's attacks.
The enemy was superior in aerial forces, so they couldn't avoid taking damage entirely, but if they won the underwater battle, they could deal effective blows to the enemy fleet with their submerged forces.
It was the so-called strategy of sacrificing flesh to take the bone.
But contrary to Karun's expectations, the undead joined the underwater battle, and the merfolk suffered a perfect defeat. As a result, every strategy Karun had established was shattered from the foundation up.
Karun's gaze turned toward the Arc Lich.
Terrifying magical power flowed from the Arc Lich's body, its empty pupils burning with blue ghost flames.
Karun closed his eyes tightly, then opened them.
Arc Lich.
He had to survive now against a monster wielding power equal to or greater than his own—an Over Ranker who was clearly revealing hostile intent toward him.
The moment Karun gripped the hilt of his greatsword and cut down a Death Knight.
Kwakwang!
Eardrum-shattering explosions continued to thunder all around.
Splash!
Along with it, a wave as large as a house swept across the deck where he stood.
‘What?’
The moment Karun tried to assess the situation due to the wave that had suddenly swept the entire deck.
“So you're the outsider called Karun.”
On the deck from which the wave had receded, a fishman with golden scales shining, wearing a red crown, was tapping the deck with the spear in his hand and staring at him quietly.
Karun looked at that fishman's form and muttered in a low voice.
“Fishman King......”
Fishman King Nereus!
A powerful NPC known to possess power at the Over Ranker level, just like the Arc Lich!
Now that there were two combatants at the Over Ranker level, his chances of getting out of here alive had dropped to a single digit.
[Kyaaaaah!]
An enormous wind raged from the sky as if a helicopter were landing.
Kuuung!
The deck rumbled with it.
Bone Dragon!
The skeletal body of the dragon had landed on the aircraft carrier filled with corpses.
And from atop the dragon's neck, a knight in black armor leaped down lightly.
Karun's pupils trembled at the sight.
‘The Black Knight Commander.’
The strongest Death Knight, and a powerhouse on the same level as the Arc Lich and the Fishman King!
Even two powerhouses of the same level would have been overwhelming; now that one more had been added, it was safe to say the probability of him surviving this place was simply nonexistent.
Karun gritted his teeth.
It wasn't death, or permanent character deletion, that he feared.
In the previous game, he had been among the Ten Greats, and in the Second, as an Over Ranker—active at the pinnacle of Dark Gamers—he had amassed money so abundant that he couldn't possibly spend it all even if he died.
To the extent that even if he went crazy and deleted his character right now, there would be no problem whatsoever with making a living.
But what Karun feared wasn't something like his livelihood.
‘I failed to properly carry out his command.’
Eugene!
He wanted to protect the world that he had created.
That had been his unwavering conviction from six years ago, when he supported the World Revolution, up to now.
Of course, if Eugene fell like Drakan, Karun would have been willing to turn his blade back on Eugene at any time. But over the past six years, Eugene had not fallen, and Arde World was functioning well.
Accepting Berda's request to kill Drakan, and acting as if he had no connection with Berda on the outside—it had all been for the sake of protecting the current Arde World.
Because there was no existence in this world as untrustworthy and dangerous as Drakan!
Berda had tried to clip Drakan's wings, and Karun had willingly become her hidden blade, aiming for Drakan's wings.
But today, that blade was on the verge of being broken without having cut a single thing.
Karun raised his head and looked at the three monsters pressuring him.
There was no possibility of winning.
But the possibility of taking one of those three with him to the underworld was more than sufficient.
It was a life he would discard anyway; if he could shave off even one of Drakan's forces, he could become a broken blade that had at least cut something.
The moment Karun resolved himself so.
A spatial rift occurred beside the Arc Lich.
And from beyond that rift, a man in black armor walked out with heavy steps.
A low voice flowed from Karun's mouth at that sight.
“Drakan.”
* * *
The moment I passed through the portal created by the Arc Lich, the sight I saw was Black King Karun looking at me with a cold gaze.
“Drakan.”
A cold voice flowed from Karun's mouth.
At the same time, messages began rising furiously in the chat window in my sight.
[Karun lololol]
[Omg it's Karun?]
[How many years since the World Revolution since he's been on a stream lolol]
[What's going on lolol]
[Gotta admit, the fight's gonna be epic!]
[Wow, backstabbing here. Truly the Black King lololol]
[Back in the World Revolution, Karun fought on Eugene's side~]
[For real? Damn, they say enemies meet on a single-log bridge, so I guess that time is now lol]
[This is thrilling itself;]
[Honestly, Karun can't kill Drakan right now. With the Arc Lich, the Black Knight Commander, and the Fishman King there, it's impossible for Karun to even face those three;]
[Agreed, Karun seems totally screwed]
Black King Karun!
Known as the Lone Wolf Karun in the previous game, he had been a named user for so long that his mere appearance drew aggro on the stream, and the chat window was filled with nothing but talk of Karun.
I stopped paying attention to the chat window.
Unless Eugene appeared, there was no need for me to particularly care about the chat window.
And given the nature of the stream I had turned on, it was highly likely that Eugene, unlike other times, would not enter my stream.
I turned my gaze toward Karun.
Karun, as he had been one of the Ten Greats in the previous game, was somewhat acquainted with me.
Dark Gamer.
To be precise, in the previous game, the majority of high-ranking gamers including guilds could be called Dark Gamers, so the user who could be called the pinnacle of solo-active Dark Gamers was none other than Karun.
Of course, unlike now, Dark Gamers at that time referred not to mercenaries but to users who made a living by selling in-game goods like items or gold. Thus, Karun had similarly cleared high-level dungeons to sell items or put them up for auction.
I too recalled having purchased a few items he had sold in the past.
Of course, those good times too had faded when Karun supported the World Revolution and joined the revolutionary army, but either way, his appearance was the same now as it had been then.
A handsome man who somehow exuded a decadent aura, he was looking at me with an expressionless face, clad in black armor and wielding a massive greatsword, just like in the old days.
“Long time no see. Karun.”
I looked at Karun and smiled.
In that moment, the corners of Karun's mouth trembled slightly.
Just like in the old days, Karun was still expressionless, but I could easily read his inner turmoil.
“In the Second, the main activity of Dark Gamers changed from selling items to mercenary work, right?”
The chat window shot up at a rapid pace before I even finished speaking.
[Dark Gamers? That's ancient history lolol]
[*Clack clack clack* Where's that prequel fanboy smell coming from?]
[lol These days Dark Gamers are just seat-fillers in dungeons, item sellers, and bus drivers—goons. What 'dark'? Dark my ass]
[He should've just streamed, he would've earned more]
[Those guys have no sense, they couldn't earn money even if they streamed]
[True. That's why famous Dark Gamers all quit or became raid runners]
The chat's contents blatantly revealed the changed perception of Dark Gamers, but to me, such facts weren't important.
“So, who hired you?”