The Final Boss Has Returned - Episode 90
“I declare it.”
The moment a low voice flowed from the mouth of Drakan, seated upon the ice throne.
[A Dark Territory has been declared in the North.]
[The power of darkness spreads throughout the northern region.]
A notification window popped up for every user logged into Arth Saga Second.
Dark Territory!
The foundation for the reconstruction of the Dark Empire and the land under the influence of the dark Transcendents belonging to the Demon Subjugation War!
That land of darkness had finally manifested in the Arth World after more than two thousand years.
*Rumble!*
Snow Castle, the stronghold at the heart of the North.
A black pillar of light descended from the dark clouds gathered in the sky above it.
And what the black pillar of light enveloped was none other than the Winter Palace!
The color of the outer walls of the Winter Palace, engulfed by the pillar of light, was dyed black in an instant.
Drakan sat upon the ice throne, now being dyed black, watching the once-pure-white Glory Hall turn pitch black before his eyes, while looking at the notification window that had appeared before him with an impassive expression.
[You have completed the quest ‘Dark Territory’.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
…….
[Your level has increased.]
[All stats have increased by 340.]
[The Demon God of Darkness is greatly pleased.]
[The Demon God of Darkness wishes to impart the Contracted Skill ‘Dark Chain’ as a quest completion reward.]
[Will you acquire the Contracted Skill ‘Dark Chain’?]
The first thing to appear the moment the Dark Territory declaration was completed was the quest completion notification!
Following the ever-sweet notifications of level and stat increases, what caught Drakan’s eye was precisely the skill acquisition notification.
Contracted skill!
Seeing the skill that appeared next after the stigma skill proving his identity as the contractor of the Demon God, Drakan nodded his head.
“Acquire.”
[You have acquired the skill ‘Dark Chain’.]
[Dark Chain]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Proficiency: Beginner Level 1]
[Summons a chain created from the power of darkness. The summoned chain can be used to bind enemies or for various other purposes.]
Having read the skill description, Drakan immediately recognized its utility.
*‘A CC skill.’*
Dark Chain!
This skill was exactly as Drakan had surmised—a CC skill, or in other words, crowd control.
*‘I was just in need of a CC skill anyway. Perfect.’*
The moment Drakan closed the skill description window with a satisfied smile.
A notification window flickered before his eyes once more.
[The Undead answer your call.]
[The Merfolk answer your call.]
[The Dark Elves answer your call.]
[The Orcs answer your call.]
[The Vampires answer your call.]
Drakan’s eyebrows twitched as he read the messages saying that two races not yet allied, as well as the three already joined in the alliance, answered his call.
That was because the dark races that needed to be acknowledged in the quest ‘Path of the Apostle’ numbered six in total.
One race was still missing.
As if sensing Drakan’s thoughts, one final notification window flickered before his eyes.
[No response from the Lycanthropes.]
No response!
Staring at the “No response” notification that was neither rejection nor acceptance—one that felt like a program that needed to be force-quit—Drakan clicked his tongue.
*‘Aren’t Lycanthropes werewolves? What the hell are they doing?’*
While Drakan pondered the lack of response, five spatial rifts appeared simultaneously in the Glory Hall, now completely dyed black.
Signs of life stirred from within the rifts, pierced black as though symbolizing the color of the Demon God.
The first to appear was the Merfolk King!
King Nereus of the Merfolk, bearing golden scales, immediately showed respect to Drakan upon emerging from the rift.
“I greet the Apostle.”
Following the Merfolk King, the being that walked out of the rift was the Arch Lich, attending in place of the Immortal King who was sealed upon the Bone Throne!
However, seeing as the Arch Lich’s entire body was engulfed in blue flames, one could easily tell that the Immortal King had descended upon the Arch Lich’s physical body.
*[Dark Territory... a name I have longed to hear.]*
Following the Immortal King, who had manifested by borrowing the Arch Lich’s body, was the Dark Elf Queen, Idun.
“I heed the Apostle’s call.”
The Dark Elf Queen, her silver hair fluttering, bowed respectfully to Drakan with an expressionless face.
Drakan acknowledged their greetings while looking toward the two rifts from which no NPCs had yet appeared.
At that moment.
An Orc appeared beyond the rift.
An impressive Orc with bulging green muscles, a height exceeding three meters, fierce eyes, and scars etched all over his body walked out of the rift, a glaive slung across his back, and looked at Drakan as he spoke.
“Are you the one who called me?”
“I am.”
“I am Botan, Great Chieftain of the honorable Orcs!”
Great Chieftain Botan!
The apex of all Orcs living in the Heaven’s Threshold Mountain Range stretching across the North and Central regions, their supreme chieftain, and the mightiest Orc Warlord!
He had appeared in response to Drakan’s call.
“Great Chieftain Botan, do you acknowledge me as the Apostle and join the ancient alliance?”
Upon hearing Drakan’s words, Botan knelt on one knee right there.
“According to the traditions passed down from the ancestors of our ancestors, from generation upon generation, now that the Dark Territory has manifested in reality, all Orcs including myself shall acknowledge you as the Apostle and join the ancient alliance.”
The moment Botan’s words ended, notification windows streamed up before Drakan’s eyes.
[The Orcs join the ancient alliance.]
[The new race ‘Orc’ has been unlocked.]
[Orc]
[A powerful combat race that has survived without losing its belligerence even among the monsters of the Heaven’s Threshold Mountain Range.]
-Orcs are belligerent battle-maniacs who value honor, struggle, and glory in battle. Their basic physical abilities, excluding magic power, are more than double those of Humans, and they receive additional class bonuses and growth bonuses for Warrior-class jobs and the Warlock class.
Orcs grow centered around tribes and revere the strong. The more brave and mighty a warrior you become, the more numerous Orcs will gather under your command.
Become the leader of a tribe. Ascend to the position of Warlord. Go further and become the conqueror of the Heaven’s Threshold Mountain Range. The war cry of the Orcs that commands the Heaven’s Threshold Mountain Range shall follow you.
Orcs can now be selected during character creation.
The Orc race’s starting base is Karakorum Fortress in the Heaven’s Threshold Mountain Range.
[The new class ‘Warlock’ has been unlocked.]
[Warlock 呪術師]
-Warlocks of the Orc race have traditionally foreseen the future of the tribe and served as its spiritual pillars. They tattoo those who enter the battlefield with markings containing shamanic meaning, communicate with the spirits of ancestors, and borrow their strength using catalysts to fight.
-This is a class distinct from Druids, a hybrid class that is both warrior and mage, capable of blessing themselves and charging onto the battlefield.
-An exclusive class of the Orc race. Only characters whose race is ‘Orc’ can change into this class.
-New possibilities have opened in the Arth World. Participate in a new history.
Addition of a playable race and a race-exclusive class!
At the exact moment Drakan was reading the information window for the expected result.
From the last rift, accompanied by a gloomy aura, a handsome man with pale white skin, crimson pupils, and wearing a black tuxedo appeared.
“Vampire King Nosferatu greets the Apostle.”
The sovereign of the vampires and the ruler of all vampire clans!
Vampire King Nosferatu!
He had appeared and bowed his head before Drakan.
[The Vampires join the ancient alliance.]
[The vampire clan has lived hidden in the shadows of human society while being hunted for a long time, and because they continuously moved their base at set intervals to evade the pursuit of Hunters and the Inquisitors of the Holy Order, they have no fixed base.]
Drakan’s eyebrows twitched at the message that popped up along with him.
He had expected the Vampires to be unlocked as a playable race, but an unexpected message had appeared.
*‘It seems an additional quest is needed.’*
But only for a moment; Drakan soon realized through his accumulated game experience and intuition that unlocking the vampire race required an additional quest.
[The objective of the quest ‘Path of the Apostle’ has been updated.]
A notification appeared before Drakan.
Drakan opened the quest window.
He had received the acknowledgment of five out of the six races written in the quest objective.
Only one remained: the Lycanthropes who had given no response.
“Does anyone here know the whereabouts of the Lycanthropes?”
A brief silence fell over the Glory Hall at the words of Drakan seated upon the blackened ice throne, and soon Vampire King Nosferatu spoke in a respectful voice.
“If you speak of those wolves, all news of them was cut off immediately after the Cataclysm. No one knows whether they ascended to the heavens or sank into the earth; their whereabouts are unknown. However…….”
“However?”
“During the Cataclysm over a decade ago, the dimensional barrier temporarily collapsed, and taking advantage of that rift, a dimensional overlap phenomenon occurred between another dimension and the Arth World. While monsters from another dimension poured into the Arth World, the opposite was also true.”
The opposite case.
Having heard that keyword as well, Drakan clicked his tongue.
Because he was certain of what would come next in Nosferatu’s explanation.
“So what you’re saying is, the Lycanthropes crossed over into another dimension?”
“That is correct.”
Another dimension!
A world other than the Arth World!
The existence of other dimensions, or other worlds, had already been confirmed through various anomalies including dungeon gates and rifts.
In such a situation, some users, including “Analysis King,” a famous issue creator and analyst of Arth Saga Second, were almost certain of the existence of “Dimensional Content.”
They speculated that it would not be a tiny subspace like dungeon gates, but a world equal to, or even greater than, the Arth World that would be implemented.
And today, due to Nosferatu’s words, Drakan realized that this speculation was the truth.
Dimensional content!
No one knew what form that content would take, but the fact remained that it existed.
And in order to receive the Lycanthropes’ acknowledgment, complete the Path of the Apostle quest, and ascend to the position of the Dark Apostle, he absolutely had to cross over into that other dimension.
“Is there any clue about the dimension they crossed over to?”
“This is all there is.”
In response to Drakan’s question, Nosferatu took something from within his clothes and held it up with both hands respectfully, offering it to Drakan.
Drakan rose from his seat, descended the stairs, and received the item Nosferatu was presenting.
It was a necklace.
From the necklace suffused with a violet aura, a sinister energy flowed.
[Corrupted Moonlight Stone Necklace]
[Grade: Legendary]
[The royal symbol passed down through generations of the Wolf King’s lineage, the rulers of the Lycanthrope clan. It contains the power of the full moon, strengthening the abilities of the Lycanthrope race, and is a sacred object that allows one to borrow the moon’s power to return to optimal condition no matter the circumstance.]
[Currently in a corrupted state after being exposed to an unknown power following the Cataclysm.]
[The unknown power and the full moon’s power contained within the Moonlight Stone are clashing with each other, rendering it unstable.]
[Item Effects]
[Magic Power +100] [Strength –100] [Agility –100]
[Unusable effect.]
[Unusable effect.]
[Unusable effect.]
Item effects that were essentially a dud for a legendary-grade item!
But that wasn’t what mattered right now.
*‘It’s a quest item.’*
Drakan realized it the moment he saw the item.
This wasn’t an item made to be equipped.
It was a type of key item necessary to clear a quest that would appear later.
If his guess was correct, the corruption could be purified during or after the quest was completed.
As Drakan was thinking this, a notification window rose before his eyes.
[A quest has been generated.]