The Final Boss Has Returned 120

Chapter 120

Dark Alliance Revival!

The tangible and intangible benefits I gained through unlocking the faction system were numerous, but the most notable achievement was the joining of the Dark Church.

[Having heard the news of the Dark Alliance’s revival, the Dark Church emerges from the shadows of the world and heads towards Snow Castle.]

The Dark Church!

The group that had only existed in the description of the Dark Temple came to me on their own as soon as I revived the Dark Alliance.

“I never thought I would see the day the Dark Alliance would rise again in this land during my lifetime.”

The Dark Council.

In the building that symbolizes the Dark Alliance, I was greeting an elderly NPC dressed in black priestly robes, the Grand Patriarch of the Dark Church.

The Grand Patriarch continued to speak, gazing at me with an emotional voice.

“Now that the Dark Alliance has risen again in this land, it is time for our Church to spread the gospel of darkness throughout the world. Fortunately, thanks to the Apostle building the Temple in advance, we can resume the Church’s activities immediately without any delay.”

[Grand Patriarch Carlton’s loyalty has increased.]

[Hidden quest conditions have been met.]

[The quest ‘Dark Temple Reconstruction’ has disappeared.]

[The Dark God rejoices.]

[Level Up!]

Thanks to building the Temple in Snow Castle beforehand, I skipped the quest and immediately assigned Carlton to the empty Dark Temple, and the notification window I had expected appeared.

[New class, ‘Dark Priest,’ is now available.]

[Dark Priest]

[The Dark Priest is a class that exists on the opposite spectrum of a typical Priest.]

Dark Priests are priests of darkness who serve the Dark God and the Demon Kings of the Demon Court. Their dark holy magic includes typical buff and healing skills, but they also possess unique skills unlike typical Priests, such as protective barrier skills that absorb enemy damage and healing skills that restore allies with each attack.

The Dark Church and Dark Priests have been the center of Dark God worship and have been persecuted for a long time. However, with the declaration of the Dark Sanctuary and the revival of the Dark Alliance, the Dark Church has decided to establish its headquarters in the Alliance’s capital, Snow Castle, and to accept outsiders as new priests to revive the worship of the Dark God.

This is a class exclusive to the ‘Dark Alliance’ faction. Only users belonging to the Dark Alliance can change to this class.

The Dark Priest class change quest can be received at Snow Castle, where the headquarters of the Dark Church is located.

New possibilities have opened up in Ard World. Participate in the new history.

Dark Priest unlocked!

With this, the Dark Alliance also gained a usable healer class.

‘It’s a relief that the lack of a healer class has been resolved.’

Holy Alliance!

I already knew about their launch through the notification window that appeared earlier.

Excluding miscellaneous possibilities like hidden classes, there were three main healer classes in Ard World.

Priest, Shaman, and Druid!

If Druids and Shamans were hybrid classes that could also act as damage dealers depending on which skill line they specialized in, Priests were pure healer classes.

Since Priests were bound as a Holy Alliance exclusive class, there was a natural shortage of healers in the Dark Alliance, but with the Dark Priest now available, the lack of a healer class was naturally resolved.

If we hadn’t secured a healer class, ultimately, our population would have been inferior to the Holy Alliance.

After all, combining the three classes of tank, damage dealer, and healer was important in Ard Saga Second as well.

As I, having secured a faction-exclusive healer class, was erasing the notification window with a satisfied expression,

[The Conquest Lord Hive Mind has identified the dimensional coordinates of Ard World.]

[The invasion of the Broken World begins.]

A notification window overlapped and appeared before my eyes.

The Conquest Lord Hive Mind, the invasion of the Broken World, had finally begun.

▄ ▄ ▄

The Invasion of the Broken World!

The contents of this notification window, which appeared before the eyes of all users connected to Ard World, were simple, but the consequences were far from simple.

[Kieeeeeeeek!]

[Krrrrrrrrrr!!]

Dimensional rifts opened throughout Ard World, and countless monsters poured out from those rifts like rain.

Monsters released throughout the entire world, not just in one specific area!

However, if it had stopped there, it wouldn’t have been called an ‘invasion.’

The Hive Mind’s minions were monsters after all, and for users searching for experience points for leveling up, they were rather welcome entities.

However, the real problem wasn’t simply that monsters were invading, but that their bases were crossing dimensions and taking root in Ard World.

Colonies!

A large-scale forward base and production factory for monsters, where numerous Plants gathered, took root in each of the north, south, east, and west regions of Ard World, and three Colonies appeared in the central region, the heart of Ard World, endlessly pouring out monsters.

Along with this, users got the opportunity to personally experience the Great Cataclysm of 10 years ago, which the NPCs had tirelessly talked about.

“What the h*ll are these monster bastards!”

“They’re endless!”

Users were bewildered by the endless stream of monsters pouring out of the Colonies, and because a systematic command system hadn’t been established yet, the front lines began to be pushed back relentlessly.

On the other hand, the Hive Mind’s minions had a unified command system under the Hive Mind’s collective consciousness.

The Alpha Mind, a massive biological structure rooted in the center of the Colony and an avatar of the Hive Mind, would issue commands, and the Swarm Lords and Unclean Ones who received those commands would carry out specific instructions, leading the monster army and ravaging Ard World.

Of course, Ard World didn’t just stand by and take their attacks.

The Holy Alliance and the Dark Alliance!

The two major factions that had recently been established immediately gathered their forces and launched a counterattack.

[Repel the Otherworldly Invasion Stage 1]

[Category: General]

[The Hive Mind of the Broken World has invaded Ard World. Reduce the number of the Hive Mind’s minions by even one to repel the otherworldly invasion and protect Ard World!]

[This quest is renewed daily.]

[Quest Completion Goal]

[Kill 30 Swarm Hounds]

The first thing distributed by both factions was the so-called daily quest, also known as homework!

It was an incentive to mobilize users for the war against the Broken World.

The daily quests started with the Swarm Hound, the weakest and lowest-ranking monster among the Hive Mind’s minions, and continued all the way to the Behemoth, the highest-ranking entity, with endless stages in between. It was structured so that users from low to high levels could defeat them and earn rewards.

Of course, that wasn’t all they had prepared.

Everyone knew that this level of countermeasures would only maintain the status quo.

The Colonies.

To destroy the factories that endlessly churned out monsters, allied forces were being organized for a full-scale counterattack by each faction.

▄ ▄ ▄

The North.

The heartland of the Dark Alliance and the location of the Iron Blood Kingdom, the first nation established by users in Ard Saga Second, and simultaneously a land where an eternal winter raged!

Even in this harsh land, just like in other regions, an Alpha Mind that had crossed dimensions took root, and a Colony unfolded.

However, unlike other regions, their misfortune was that the place where the Alpha Mind settled and spread its Colony was the domain of the Undead.

The Undead King!

The Northern Colony, rooted in the land where a monster that had reached the realm of a demi-transcendent being resided, immediately faced the wrath of the Undead King.

[Sweep away all those otherworldly vermin that are infesting my domain!]

With the Undead King’s command, countless Undead, too numerous to count, charged towards the Colony.

Undead!

As countless Undead, who, like the Hive Mind’s minions, knew no fear, surged forward, the Northern Alpha Mind witnessed for the first time in its numerous dimensional invasions that it was being outnumbered.

The clash of the Undead, endlessly swarming in and filling the horizon, and the monsters, likewise flooding in and covering the horizon!

Moreover, the entire Northern region, including the Land of Death, was under the direct influence of the Undead King’s power, and the Undead King put his specialty to good use.

That specialty was raising corpses as Undead.

The corpses of the countless monsters that perished in battle immediately rose as Undead, and their speed and numbers surpassed the number of monsters being produced by the Colony.

Furthermore, there wasn’t just the Undead in the North.

“From now on, I will be entering the Northern Colony Siege.”

Drakan!

He, who now held the position of the leader of the Dark Alliance, boldly declared the first Colony Siege.

“Those who want to participate in the siege, come to Snow Castle. I don’t need to say it anymore, but I always welcome everyone’s participation.”

And as a bonus, there was the now-familiar declaration of welcoming user participation.

And the users who heard that declaration naturally flocked to Snow Castle.

From the recapture of Lawless Port to the war against the North!

Drakan was a victorious commander who had never lost a single war he had commanded, and crucially, this was the first quest being summoned on a ‘faction’ level since the launch of the RvR system, so the enthusiasm for participation among users was even more fervent.

“Honestly, if you’re an Alliance user, you have to go to the Colony Siege.”

“Isn’t this why we joined the Alliance?”

“I heard the Alliance guys haven’t even formed their allied forces yet……”

“What are you talking about? I heard the Alliance guys are gathering now too?”

“We can’t lose to the Alliance guys!”

The Dark Alliance!

The newly introduced faction system instilled a sense of belonging in the users belonging to that faction, and this was the same for the users of the Dark Alliance.

It wasn’t simply helping with someone else’s quest, someone else’s business, but a quest to protect ‘our faction,’ ‘our alliance,’ so it was perceived not as someone else’s business but as ‘our business’ among the users.

On top of that, with the competitive spirit against the other faction, the Holy Alliance, the users of the Dark Alliance began to flock to Snow Castle like a tidal wave.

“Let’s go to Snow Castle!”

“For the Alliance!”

Countless users headed towards Snow Castle, each harboring their own desires, for the alliance, for rewards, and Snow Castle, which was already packed with new users as the starting point for human users belonging to the Dark Alliance, became completely overcrowded.

And Drakan, watching this scene, smiled inwardly with satisfaction.

“More people have gathered than expected.”

Shin Ha-yeon whispered this next to Drakan.

Indeed.

Neither Drakan, Shin Ha-yeon, nor even their highly competent dedicated support team had anticipated such a large gathering of users.

“Faction belonging……”

Drakan silently observed the bustling users of the Dark Alliance.

Faction belonging.

Thinking it was worth utilizing, Drakan climbed onto the platform that had been prepared in the plaza beforehand.

Now, it was time to begin the Colony Siege.