Chapter 73
After the War!
I finished the broadcast and completed the task of disbanding and retreating the Northern Expeditionary Force.
The Northern Expeditionary Force, led by Changwang Rio, retreated pathetically beyond the horizon, and only after the last expeditionary soldier had completely disappeared beyond the horizon could I finally see the quest completion message.
[Quest ‘The War of Eternal Winter’ completed.]
[The Undead join the ancient alliance.]
[Quest objective for the quest ‘Apostle’s Path’ has been updated.]
[Fame increased by 6453.]
[All stats increased by 89.]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
……
[Level 300 achieved.]
[Achievement ‘Do you feel sleepy at your level?’ achieved.]
[Achievement ‘Winter Leader’ achieved.]
[Please receive the quest completion reward directly from the Undead King.]
[The Dark G*d smiles with satisfaction at you for successfully completing the quest.]
The always welcome level-up and stat increase notifications!
And achieving level 300 on top of that!
Not much left until level 380, the practical max level.
Furthermore, with breaking through level 300, I now have stats that wouldn’t be inferior to most Rankers, let alone High Rankers or Over-Rankers, and I was satisfied with that fact for now.
But as always, the quest completion notification wasn’t the end.
[You have briefly experienced your prime.]
[Due to the effect of the skill ‘Rune of Regression,’ the Legacy Level of the Legacy ‘Steel Monarch’ greatly increases.]
……
[Legacy Skill ‘Iron Blood Avatar’ unlocked.]
[Iron Blood Avatar]
[Legacy Level: Beginner Level 1]
[One of the three ultimate skills of the Steel Monarch Drakan.]
[This skill covers the entire body with Aura to gain armor-like defense, greatly increases all types of stats, provides buffs to allies, and debuffs to enemies.]
[A thousand years ago, during the endless war, Iron Blood Avatar was a technique that symbolized Drakan and a symbol of fear to enemies. Drakan, enveloped in crimson Aura, was literally invincible. The only person recorded in history to have overcome the Iron Blood Avatar is the Hero, Eugene.]
[Legacy Skill ‘Steel Rain’ unlocked.]
[Steel Rain]
[Grade: Legendary]
[Legacy Level: Beginner Level 1]
[One of the three ultimate skills of the Steel Monarch Drakan.]
[This wide-area ultimate skill summons clouds imbued with Aura in the sky and pours down a rain of swords made of Aura onto the ground. As long as the Aura clouds are maintained, the rain of swords can be used indefinitely.]
[A thousand years ago, in the endless war, Drakan was subjected to countless assassination attempts and was often outnumbered on the battlefield. However, each time, enemies died meaninglessly in front of the unleashed Steel Rain, and a river of blood flowed on the battlefield where the endless Steel Rain fell.]
Rune of Regression!
Not only did the levels of my stagnant Legacy, Legacy Skills, and Legacy Weapons increase all at once due to the aftereffects of experiencing my prime through that skill, but one of the three ultimate skills I possessed in the previous game was unlocked.
Of course, perhaps because the word ‘Legacy’ was added, the skill description and effects were quite different from what I used in the previous game, but since it changed to something closer to an upgrade rather than a downgrade, I was satisfied.
‘Should I have used Overlord’s Sword too?’
I smacked my lips as if I felt regret.
Overlord’s Sword! The most powerful ultimate skill I possessed, the only Mythical grade skill, and the reward for the Overlord quest!
I didn’t use it because I thought it wasn’t an opponent worthy of showing that skill, but now I was thinking that I should have used Overlord’s Sword too. Just then, a notification window appeared before my eyes.
[New race ‘Undead’ unlocked.]
[The path of the Undead, the immortal race that has returned by rejecting death, has opened!]
[The Undead, the creations of the Demon G*d and blessed by the Undead King, are the Undying who have defied providence. The lower the level of the lower Undead, the more crude their appearance, but as they level up and ascend, their evolution is limitless, gaining a body closer to a human or being able to resurrect even if their body dies.]
[The Undead have near-immunity to debuffs caused by the environment and various debuff skills such as mental deterioration, but they are very vulnerable to light and nature attribute attacks. They are resistant to dark attribute attacks, and the proficiency of dark attribute skills grows more than twice as fast as other races, possessing various and unique racial characteristics.]
[From now on, you can select the new race ‘Undead’ during character creation.]
[The starting point for the Undead is the Skeletal Castle at the World’s End.]
[New class ‘Necromancer’ unlocked.]
[The path of the Necromancer, the seeker who explores death and immortality, has opened!]
[Necromancers are closer to death than anyone else, and therefore they are seekers of immortality and death, more familiar with them than anyone else. They can create and summon Undead and handle poisons that inflict powerful and various debuffs. If they are equipped with powerful summoning catalysts or extreme poisons that can k*ll enemies with just a single touch, they have the potential to confront an army single-handedly.]
[The Necromancer class change quest can currently be received from Arch Lich at the Skeletal Castle, only for the Undead race.]
[New class ‘Dark Knight’ unlocked.]
[The path of the Dark Knight, who dominates the battlefield with fear and darkness, has opened!]
[The Dark Knight is a knight of fear who ravages enemies with powerful destructive power. They wield Dark Aura, refined from Dark Magic Power, which is quite different from the Aura wielded by ordinary knights, and they are a symbol of fear, scattering terror and carnage on the battlefield.]
[The Dark Knight is a hybrid class that possesses not only the skills of ordinary knights but also various debuff skills and utility skills such as life steal and mana absorption. They wield more destructive and powerful skills than ordinary knights.]
[The Dark Knight class change quest can currently be received from the Black Knight Commander at the Skeletal Castle, only for the Undead race.]
[New possibilities have opened in Ard World. Participate in the new history.]
I was surprised as I looked at the notification window that popped up afterward.
The ‘Undead’ race unlocked!
This was, of course, an expected result.
Just like the Merfolk were unlocked when I completed the Merfolk quest, it was as obvious as day that the Undead would be unlocked when I completed the Undead quest.
So, the unlocking of the Undead wasn’t particularly surprising.
What surprised me was the unlocking of the new classes.
‘Dark Knight and Necromancer!’
The Dark Knight was relatively unimportant.
Of course, it wasn’t that the Dark Knight class wasn’t attractive.
A hybrid knight class with debuff skills, as opposed to the Paladin with buff and healing skills!
Plus, the class concept of wielding ‘Dark Aura,’ which just the name itself makes your heart race, was enough to capture the hearts of some users.
But the reason I said the unlocking of the Dark Knight wasn’t very important was because of the fact that the Necromancer was unlocked.
Necromancer!
The dark wizard who commands the Undead legion!
An exceptionally popular class that has been ranked in the top 5 most popular classes in countless games from the past to the present.
Of course, that popularity was the same in Ard Saga, so much so that in the previous game, Miracle Entertainment conducted a survey on ‘Which unreleased class would you like to change to?’ and ‘Necromancer’ was chosen with an overwhelming number of votes.
And now, that very class has been unlocked, albeit only for the ‘Undead’ race.
From the previous game to the present, I knew very well that countless people had struggled to obtain the ‘Necromancer’ class.
However, both in the previous game and now, the Undead King, who holds the key to the ‘Necromancer’ class change, was hostile to the users. He was a crazy b*stard who would k*ll any living being he saw, and therefore, no user had yet become a Necromancer.
Yes, not yet.
‘The North is going to be in an uproar!’
I instinctively knew.
That the North would be in an uproar over Necromancers.
Of course, it wasn’t just the North.
I recalled the time I poured money into rebuilding Lawless Port long ago.
The book ‘Research on the Ancient Dark Empire’ left behind by the previous Apostle, Sion!
After reading that book, numerous Ancient Dark Empire facilities were added to the list of constructible buildings, and the fact that there were buildings related to Necromancers and Dark Knights among them came to mind.
‘Among the facilities that weren’t activated before, there were the Catacombs and the Dark Knight Training Ground.’
Catacombs!
And the Dark Knight Training Ground!
If I could place Undead class change instructor NPCs in those buildings that couldn’t be properly activated because they lacked instructor NPCs?
‘Then you could change to a Necromancer and a Dark Knight in Lawless Port too!’
Lawless Port!
It was already in an uproar over the Black Magician, so if it became possible to change to the legendary popular class, the Necromancer, as well!
It was clear that a population b*mb would once again be dropped on Lawless Port, which was already developing at a dazzling pace.
A smile spread across my lips as I reached all the conclusions.
Just then.
[You have successfully completed the request, Apostle.]
The Undead King’s voice echoed in my head.
[Come to my castle. I will grant you a reward.]
As expected of a Mythical grade monster!
Perhaps because he was a monster who had reached the realm of a demi-transcendent being, even though he acknowledged me as an Apostle, unlike the Merfolk King, the Undead King was still speaking informally, although his tone had become somewhat polite.
Anyway, as soon as the Undead King finished speaking, a blue glowing gate appeared before me, and I headed beyond the gate with my party members.
▄ ▄ ▄
Undead King!
The majestic leader of the Undead was sitting on his skeletal throne, looking down at me with his pair of blue ghost lights still burning brightly.
“I have completed your request. What about the reward?”
I spoke, recalling the phrase in the quest completion message that said to receive the completion reward directly.
Of course, I had already received all the intangible rewards, including experience and quests, so it was time to receive the material reward.
[Before we get to that, I would like to have Levateinn back.]
The Undead King replied as soon as I finished speaking.
I mentioned the reward, and he wants to take an item right away!
Based on my long gaming experience, I could say that this was the moment of truth for choosing between rewards.
Usually, after completing a quest to repair equipment and going to the NPC, the most common repertoire is the choice between keeping the weapon or returning it and receiving a different reward. Sure enough, a similar choice of reward options appeared for Levateinn.
[Levateinn is a sword that holds the power of both death and life. If I have Levateinn, I can break this d*mn Druid’s seal, even if it takes some time. If I break the seal, it will only benefit you, Apostle. It won’t harm you in any way.]
The Undead King added when I remained silent.
The reason he wanted Levateinn back!
Surprisingly, it was because Levateinn was the key to unlocking the seal of the Grand Druid Kazan that bound him.
‘So it wasn’t just because he wanted the weapon.’
I thought, looking directly at the Undead King.
Undead King!
The power possessed by the Mythical grade monster, the Undead King, was undoubtedly immense, to the point where it straddled the realm of a demi-transcendent being.
If he were to be released from the seal and be able to roam freely, as someone who could command the Undead King as an Apostle, it would be as if I had a nuclear b*mb in my hands.
Of course, he said it would take time, so I didn’t know how long it would take, but it was still better to have a possibility than no possibility at all.
‘But that’s that, and this is this.’
However, apart from that, the fact remained that I had to offer the good item, Levateinn, to the Undead King.
As the saying goes, the truth of the world is give and take!
So, even if I had to give, I had to receive what I deserved.
Thinking that, I spoke.
“Empty-handed?”
