Chapter 78
After clearly defining our relationship with Shin Ha-yeon, I held her hand and we set off again, referencing the map of the Dark Elf Kingdom.
Shin Ha-yeon was humming a tune, seemingly pleased, while I held the map in my other hand and continued walking towards our destination.
[Summon ‘Dice’ has defeated the Forest Ogre.]
[Experience points have been distributed.]
[You have received 1000 gold.]
Of course, Dice, the summon I received from the Undead King, was taking care of things like dealing with bothersome monsters and clearing the path.
Even if he wasn’t at the level of the Arch Lich or the Undead King who commanded legions of undead, Dice was still a fairly high-level Lich, capable of controlling a regiment-sized force of undead. Because of this, the undead summoned by Dice were taking care of most of the monsters, and Dice himself dealt with the high-level monsters, meaning there were practically no obstacles blocking my and Shin Ha-yeon’s path.
This was the reason why Shin Ha-yeon was humming a tune.
I unfolded the map.
If the map of the Dark Elf Kingdom given by the Undead King was accurate, we weren’t far from the border village of the Dark Elf Kingdom.
It was a distance we could reach within today, in game time.
I put the map back into my inventory.
Just as I was thinking that we could finish the quest today……
The space in front of me distorted, and a skeleton cloaked in a black robe appeared.
It was the Lich, Dice.
[Apostle-nim.]
“What is it? Did you find a Dark Elf?”
[That is correct.]
I smiled at Dice’s answer and continued pushing through the bushes.
After walking for a while……
“Human, from here on is the territory of the Dark Elf Kingdom. Turn back.”
Shin Ha-yeon and I finally encountered the Dark Elves.
They rose from the rustling bushes and aimed their crossbows at us!
Their dark skin, just like the Dark Elves depicted in other games, comics, and novels, their gazes fixed on Shin Ha-yeon, me, and my summon, the Lich Dice.
“Dark G*d’s Seal.”
I used a skill for the first time in a while, directing it at the wary Dark Elves.
Dark G*d!
The only contract skill he had given me, the Dark G*d’s Seal, manifested once again.
A black demonic symbol appeared on the back of my left hand, and a message popped up before my eyes.
[The Dark G*d smiles with satisfaction.]
Dark G*d!
Along with the message that he was satisfied, the Dark Elves lowered their arrows.
“That seal…… you are the Dark G*d’s Contractor.”
“Yes. I am the Dark G*d’s Contractor, and I heard about your situation from the Undead King.”
“The Undead King?”
The Dark Elf who appeared to be the leader of the group asked with a surprised expression, and I continued my answer naturally.
“Yes. The Undead King. He has also joined the Ancient Alliance now. Anyway, I heard that you requested help from the outside due to a disaster that struck five years ago. If you Dark Elves join the Ancient Alliance, I can resolve that disaster for you.”
“That is not something I can decide.”
The Dark Elf responded as if he were a public official sitting in a community center, saying it wasn’t within his jurisdiction, but I had already anticipated this, so it wasn’t surprising.
“Then I would like to meet the Queen. That’s something you can decide, isn’t it?”
“Follow me.”
After a brief conversation, I held Shin Ha-yeon’s hand tightly and followed the Dark Elf.
Now, it was time to meet the Queen and officially proceed with the quest.
▄ ▄ ▄
[You have discovered Night Haven.]
[First Discovery Bonus!]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[All stats have increased by 20.]
[Fame has increased by 2330.]
[Night Haven was the second largest city in the Dark Elf Kingdom and served as a gateway for the kingdom’s interactions with the outside world until the implementation of the isolationist policy two thousand years ago.]
[Over the two thousand years of isolation, the size of the city gradually decreased, but after the disaster that struck the kingdom five years ago, it became the kingdom’s temporary capital as the Queen and the Council of Elders took refuge there.]
Night Haven!
While enjoying the First Discovery Bonus notification I hadn’t seen in a while, Shin Ha-yeon and I were guided by the Dark Elves into a large stone building in the center of the city.
Inside the building adorned with intricate geometric patterns carved in stone……
There, I met Idun, the Queen of the Dark Elves, sitting on a stone throne.
Idun, with her shimmering silver hair resembling moonlight and her radiant beauty, opened her delicate lips.
“Are you the Dark G*d’s Contractor?”
“Yes.”
The moment I answered, notification windows flooded my vision.
[Quest ‘The Tragedy of the Dark Elf Kingdom’ completed.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[All stats have increased by 30.]
The quest was completed because I had fulfilled the quest objective of ‘Contact with the Dark Elf Queen.’
I smiled at the always welcome level-up notifications, looked at the Queen, and said,
“I heard from the Undead King. A disaster has befallen your kingdom. If I resolve it for you, will you acknowledge me as an Apostle and join the Ancient Alliance?”
“If you can resolve the disaster that is plaguing our territory and our former capital, I will gladly acknowledge you as an Apostle and join the Alliance.”
[A quest has been issued.]
[The Disaster of the Dark Elf Kingdom]
[Rank: Legendary]
[The disaster that arrived through a rift in Moonlight City five years ago is still alive at the heart of the kingdom, threatening the Dark Elves.]
[Over the past five years, the disaster that has taken root in Moonlight City has steadily increased its power, and although the Dark Elves have fought fiercely against the advancing disaster, they have only managed to maintain the status quo.]
[Exhausted from the war with no victory in sight, the Dark Elves are losing hope, and the kingdom’s resources are beginning to dwindle.]
[If you help the kingdom by destroying the disaster and putting an end to this war, Queen Idun will willingly acknowledge you as an Apostle and join the Ancient Alliance.]
[Quest Completion Conditions]
[Destruction of the ‘Gate’]
[Reclamation of Moonlight City]
[Will you accept the quest?]
The main quest finally revealed itself!
I accepted the quest without hesitation.
“I will take care of this.”
[Quest accepted.]
Just as the quest acceptance notification appeared and I was sharing the quest with my party member, Shin Ha-yeon……
“Contractor, how do you plan to deal with them?”
Idun asked me.
I smiled at the Dark Elf Queen.
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and an army for an army.”
“An army?”
“I will summon the Undead King’s army.”
I smiled, thinking of the undead.
This was a good opportunity.
I needed to confirm the actual strength of the undead army.
The battle against the Northern Expeditionary Force had ended in one fell swoop, so it wasn’t sufficient as a test of their power. This battle would be the benchmark for gauging the strength of the undead.
Moreover, wasn’t the current front line in a stalemate due to the evenly matched forces?
In such a situation, the injection of additional forces was necessary to break the deadlock.
Idun’s expression hardened strangely at my words, but I didn’t pay much attention and called out to Dice, who was standing respectfully behind me.
“Dice.”
[You called, Apostle-nim?]
“I want to speak with the Undead King.”
[Your command will be obeyed.]
Upon receiving my order, Dice chanted an incantation, and soon his entire body was engulfed in blue flames. A sinister voice, completely different from Dice’s, emanated from his jawbone.
[You summoned me, Apostle?]
The Undead King!
He possessed a skill that allowed him to deliver his messages through the bodies of specific undead under his command, and he was now using that skill to appear before me.
“Undead King. As the Apostle of Darkness, I command you. Deploy your army to the Dark Elf Kingdom immediately.”
[What is the objective?]
“The destruction of the disaster that has plagued the Dark Elf Kingdom.”
[In accordance with the alliance agreement, the Apostle’s enemy is my enemy. I will obey your command. The undead army, led by the Arch Lich, will immediately cross the sea aboard the Ghost Fleet and head towards the Southern Great Forest. Before the army of death, the Dark Elves’ disaster will meet its demise.]
The Undead King readily accepted my command, and the blue flames enveloping Dice soon disappeared.
The skill had been deactivated.
The Dark Elf Queen’s face was filled with astonishment as she witnessed this, and I smiled at her.
▄ ▄ ▄
The Land of Death in the northern part of the Ard World.
The entire Land of Death, bustling with the recent surge in the undead player population, was a frigid zone ravaged by blizzards.
Eternal Winter!
The winter brought by Drakan had transformed the entire north into a frozen wasteland, but not all of the north was frozen.
The southernmost point of the Land of Death.
This area, the only part of the undead territory that remained unfrozen, housed a harbor.
Death’s Harbor!
This harbor, the home port of the Undead King’s pride, the Ghost Fleet, was unusually crowded with undead boarding ghost ships floating on the water.
The Undead King!
As soon as he received Drakan’s command, he immediately assembled a large undead army led by the Arch Lich and embarked them on the fleet.
[We set sail.]
After confirming that the last undead had boarded, the Arch Lich gave the order, and the ghost ships unfurled their tattered sails in unison. They began to swiftly navigate the cold waters of the northern sea and, after a long voyage, finally reached the shores leading to the Great Forest, their destination.
Soon after, an army of death, incongruous with the vibrant, verdant Great Forest, began its march towards the Dark Elf Kingdom.
The harsh environment of the Great Forest, known as the Green Desert, which would normally inflict environmental debuffs on the living, and the monsters that inhabited it, were all decimated before the undead army.
Finally, the first thing the undead army did upon reaching the Dark Elf Kingdom was to erect an obelisk, a structure that served as an antenna to receive the Undead King’s power and will!
[Clack, clack, clack.]
Skeleton workers carried construction materials, their bones clattering, while Liches inscribed magic circles on the walls of the buildings.
Unlike human workers, the undead never tired, so the construction continued day and night, and finally, when the obelisk stood tall in the middle of the jungle……
Whoosh.
A blue flame ignited at the tip of the obelisk like a torch, and the power of death began to engulf the jungle.
Trees withered and died, the ground turning barren in an instant!
Sitting on his Skeletal Throne in the north, the Undead King surveyed the Southern Great Forest, now under the influence of the obelisk, and sent a message through Dice, Drakan’s summon.
[We have arrived.]
