The Final Boss Has Returned 151

Chapter 151

Hive Mind!

As the final boss of Phase 2, the Hive Mind endured for quite a while against an onslaught that was more akin to war than a raid. It was comprised of the strongest elite forces, including Eugene and Drakan, with no distinction between users and NPCs.

The Hive Mind thrashed about, utilizing not only Judgment of Will but also various unimaginable skills materialized from its mental power!

However, in the current situation where all the forces of Ard Saga Second were concentrated in one place, a situation unprecedented in the entire history of Ard World, such struggles of the Hive Mind were meaningless.

In the end, the Hive Mind met its demise thanks to the struggles of the Over-Ranker suicide squad, led by Eugene and Drakan, who had infiltrated its very core.

The sight of all the Over-Rankers, including the Lightwing Guild members, united for a single goal was undoubtedly a spectacle that would never be seen again.

[You have defeated the Hive Mind.]

“Damn it.”

Drakan let out a sigh as he looked at the system message that appeared before his eyes, announcing the death of the Hive Mind.

Even though Drakan had experienced all sorts of battles, both on land, sea, and air, since the previous game, this was the dirtiest and most difficult raid in his entire gaming life.

The location where the Over-Ranker suicide squad was standing was the Heart Chamber.

This room, made of red flesh, where the heart and essence of the Hive Mind were located, was littered with tentacle clusters here and there.

“I didn’t know it would be this much. If we had challenged it with just the two of us, we might have invited disaster.”

Eugene muttered these words with a look of exhaustion, the first time he had shown such an expression in Second.

Eugene.

As he said, the Hive Mind was a formidable enemy among formidable enemies.

Before entering the raid, both Eugene and Drakan believed that they could succeed in the raid itself, even without the assistance of Xiongmao and Simseong, albeit at the cost of some losses. However, when the lid was opened, that expectation was brutally shattered.

Despite securing numerical superiority by mobilizing an unlimited number of general users, the Hive Mind’s main body was not an easy opponent.

In addition to the basic attacks materialized from mental power, there were acidic and poisonous fluids pouring out from its body, tentacle clusters, and even monsters parasitic within its body!

The suicide squad, as well as the entire assembled force, had to overcome the risk of annihilation several times due to the Hive Mind’s resistance, which utilized everything it had.

But that was all over now.

Hive Mind.

Because it had finally fallen.

[Calculating Hive Mind Raid Contribution.]

Soon after, another notification window appeared before the eyes of all the Over-Rankers present.

Hive Mind Raid Contribution!

Since it was a raid that had finally succeeded after overcoming numerous obstacles and was the most difficult raid in the history of Ard Saga, the distribution of rewards was naturally determined by the raid contribution, which was bound to attract everyone’s attention.

[Contribution is up!!]

[Who do you think will get 1st place in contribution?]

[Drakan-nim, right~?]

[The sucker is here lol]

[A true sucker;;]

[Honestly, I’m a sucker too, but I don’t think Drakan-nim will get 1st place;]

[Eugene is 1st place, no matter how you look at it, he’s really in the celestial realm;;]

[2nd place is practically the best in the human realm lol]

Of course, this entire situation was being broadcast live to users worldwide through Ard Live. So, the users who had breathed a sigh of relief after preventing the destruction of Ard World immediately latched onto this fresh topic and began to debate the contribution rankings.

A small number of Drakan fans claimed that Drakan would be in 1st place for contribution, but such claims were not widely accepted.

Eugene!

The performance he showed in this raid was so impressive that the words ‘as expected of the top ranker’ came out naturally.

Even users who were usually opposed to Eugene or his malicious fandom, the Infinite Eugene Church, had to acknowledge his performance.

In this Hive Mind raid, Eugene unleashed all the power he had hidden until now.

Because he couldn’t have succeeded in the raid otherwise.

Whenever the golden blade of the holy sword wielded by Eugene flashed, enemies would fall like leaves in autumn. The scene of him fighting without holding back, using not only ‘Hero’s Strike’ and ‘Solar Manifestation,’ which he had already shown in the Valley of Origins strategy, but also the remaining two ultimate skills, ‘Avatar of Radiance’ and ‘Ultimate Light,’ was truly reminiscent of a real hero of light, something you would only see in a fantasy novel.

Whenever the raid party faced the crisis of annihilation, Eugene was the one who mostly took on the responsibility of finding a breakthrough. Through this raid, Eugene was able to solidify his position as the top ranker in front of all the users, proving why he deserved the title.

Therefore, the 1st place in contribution was not even a topic of discussion, and the users’ interest was focused on the 2nd place.

2nd place in contribution!

The rank that could be called the strongest in the human realm, excluding the insurmountable Eugene!

The chat room was filled with heated debates over who would take that 2nd place.

[2nd place is obviously Drakan-nim, right? lol]

[Besides Drakan, who else can claim to be the strongest in the human realm?]

[Are you ignoring Sword Emperor now?]

[Honestly, Sword Emperor’s performance was better than Drakan’s;]

[The strongest class among Over-Rankers is Sword Emperor, but look at these suckers blinded by Drakan, talking nonsense lol]

[Wu Jing was the best. He showed the demeanor of a Great Nation user.]

[-Zhong-]

[1 second]

Except for some Chinese users mentioning Wu Jing, most users were divided into two factions.

Sword Emperor Argen!

The strongest user among Over-Rankers and the 2nd place user who was infinitely close to 1st place, holding the title of ‘Strongest in the Human Realm’ until now!

Would he, who wielded swordsmanship close to the divine, take 2nd place?

Or would it be Drakan, the rising sun, the leader of the Dark Alliance and former top ranker, who was already destined to challenge Eugene’s hegemony?

At that moment, while the viewers were fiercely battling over the ‘Strongest in the Human Realm’ topic.

[Calculation of Hive Mind Raid Contribution has been completed.]

The raid contribution calculation was finished.

[It’s here!]

[Is it up?]

[Is the 2nd place revealed?]

The results of the raid contribution ranking, which not only the members of the suicide squad but also the entire world was focused on!

The ranking was finally revealed along with a notification window.

[Hive Mind Raid Contribution Ranking]

1st Place. Eugene (25.36%)

2nd Place. Drakan (11.34%)

3rd Place. Argen (8.54%)

…….

Thus, the 2nd place in contribution was given to Drakan.

[11%!!!]

[Kyaa, as expected of Drakan-nim!]

[The strongest in the human realm is Drakan-nim from now on.]

[Sword Emperor’s contribution is just 8% lol]

[Sword Emperor lol, the guy who was comfortably picking up scraps next to Eugene lol]

[Honestly, didn’t Sword Emperor get to that position by riding Eugene’s coattails?]

[Seriously, I heard Sword Emperor was just a small-medium guild master in the previous game?]

[It’s good to see the Sword Emperor fanboys who were acting so arrogant get put in their place lol]

[Our King Drakan-nim can just beat someone like Sword Emperor without even using an Awakening Skill~]

With that, the chat room practically exploded.

Drakan!

The fact that he had beaten Sword Emperor in the contribution ranking didn’t just mean that he was one rank higher.

Strongest in the Human Realm!

The strongest Over-Ranker!

It meant that the title that Sword Emperor had held until now was practically in Drakan’s grasp.

‘Damn it.’

Argen, looking at the results window, felt his insides burning black.

Drakan.

Argen knew very well that Drakan had shown extraordinary super plays throughout the raid with his overwhelming physical abilities, as he had seen and heard it all happen right next to him.

But to think that he would be pushed back in the contribution ranking!

This was a result that Argen had not anticipated.

‘I didn’t expect it to be this much.’

Argen’s gaze turned towards Drakan.

Of course, strictly speaking, the match between them wasn’t completely decided by this one time.

However, the problem was that this contribution ranking was already being broadcast worldwide, and all the users would perceive this ranking as a generational shift of the ‘Strongest in the Human Realm.’

‘I need to finish the quest as soon as possible.’

Argen recalled the Mythical grade quest he had been secretly progressing with, hidden even from the Lightwing Guild.

Although it had been temporarily delayed due to the Broken World, that Mythical grade quest was also nearing its end.

Once he completed that quest, he would be able to reach the EX rank that he had been dreaming of.

Argen soothed his bitter heart with that thought.

Regardless of what Argen thought, Drakan was looking at the contribution ranking results window without paying any attention to his gaze.

‘As expected.’

Unlike the chat room, which was practically throwing a frenzy of a celebration, Drakan wasn’t very fazed by the contribution results.

Because it was something he had already expected.

Sword Emperor Argen.

Drakan was well aware of the fact that he had nicknames such as the strongest Over-Ranker and the strongest in the human realm.

However, Argen was ultimately lacking in overall physical abilities compared to Drakan.

As pointed out in the chat room, the reason he was able to climb up to this point was not because of his physical abilities, but because he had grabbed onto the sturdy lifeline called Eugene and grown comfortably while receiving scraps from him.

‘A greenhouse flower can’t beat the tenacity of a wild weed.’

Drakan smiled as he thought that.

Although Argen had grand modifiers such as the strongest Over-Ranker, he was still an ‘Over-Ranker’ just like himself.

The difference between Argen and Drakan was literally just a few sheets of paper stacked together.

Of course, if ordinary Over-Rankers, who were considered top-class users, were to have a real battle, even the difference of a few sheets of paper would be significant. However, Drakan’s overwhelming physical abilities, which allowed him to fight on par with Eugene, became the means to easily bridge that gap.

‘I didn’t even expect the 1st place anyway.’

What Drakan was concerned about wasn’t Argen, but something else.

Drakan’s gaze turned towards Eugene, who was smiling brightly.

Eugene.

In this raid, Drakan realized that the gap between him and Eugene was greater than he had anticipated.

Of course, since Eugene had revealed all of his skills without reservation, Drakan had a rough idea of what Eugene’s power would be like.

However, the performance Eugene showed with his overwhelming physical abilities, cheat skills, and the Mythical grade item, the holy sword, was truly horrifying from Drakan’s perspective.

‘But I’m getting closer and closer now.’

However, Drakan wasn’t disappointed by that.

The Legacy Quest!

The Aerial Mobile Fortress Voltaha!

He was almost certain that once he completed that, he would be able to reach the EX rank.

Eugene.

The moment he reached the same position as Eugene was the right time to begin the grand scheme of rebellion.

Drakan smiled as he thought that.