The Final Boss Has Returned 194

Chapter 194

Epilogue (1)

“Ha, hahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!”

Eugene!

The moment I saw the notification that he had died, laughter burst out from my mouth.

Eugene’s corpse was already gone from before my eyes.

Only the glittering loot he left behind proved that he had been here.

Countless saints have left countless aphorisms regarding revenge.

Revenge is meaningless.

The best revenge is forgiveness.

Love your enemies.

If you are struck on the left cheek, offer the right cheek as well.

Things like that.

But unfortunately, I wasn’t a saint.

I was just a villain, like I told Eugene.

Therefore, I couldn’t think of revenge as meaningless, nor could I love my enemies, offer the other cheek if slapped, and even more so, I couldn’t think that the best revenge is forgiveness.

I looked up at the cloudy sky and laughed to my heart’s content.

My heart swelled with the fact that I had finally killed Eugene, avenged him as I had planned in the best-case scenario.

Who said revenge is meaningless!

Who said to love your enemies!

Revenge was the act that gave me the greatest satisfaction.

Of course, I wasn’t going to take away the wealth he had in reality, nor did I need to.

I knew.

The fact that Ard World was more precious to Eugene than the real world.

That’s why I took Ard World away from him.

So, it was okay to throw away the wealth of reality.

Anyway, all the achievements Eugene had made in Ard World would become meaningless and be denied.

“Truly, a day of unparalleled satisfaction.”

I muttered while laughing.

Countless chats are popping up in front of my eyes right now.

Countless chats are being endlessly updated, saying things like congratulations on the victory, well done killing Eugene, and that the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will come.

I took a deep breath while ignoring the chat window.

Eugene.

It was a day of immense joy to have gotten revenge on him, but I still had to finish the job.

The Final Holy War.

It was time to finish that quest and take the final steps to obtain the Mandate of Heaven in Ard World and, furthermore, the management rights of Miracle Entertainment.

Thinking so, I took a step forward with the Iron Blood Executor in hand.

“I’m going to the Grand Temple of Light.”

“Understood. Drakan-nim.”

Hearing Ignis’s voice answering as soon as I spoke, I fixed my gaze forward.

In the distance, the final destination, the Grand Temple of Light, shone white.

▄ ▄ ▄

Grand Temple of Light.

Built on the holy ground where the myth of the first Pope being chosen by the Goddess of Light is passed down, it is the Grand Temple that enshrines all the gods belonging to the Pantheon, and the sanctuary of light.

In that sacred place where hymns should be resounding, I, the Apostle of Darkness, have now entered.

[You have entered the Grand Temple of Light.]

Ignoring the notification window, I led the Over-Ranker Royal Guards, including Ignis, deep into the Grand Temple.

The interior of the Grand Temple was extremely eerie.

Occasionally, surviving priests or paladins would rush at me, reciting clichéd lines like ‘Apostle of Darkness, die!’, but they were dealt with by the Royal Guards before I even had to step in.

Just like that, I hummed a tune as if passing through a highway express lane, and reached the deepest part of the Grand Temple.

The Hall of Light, the grand hall where the statue of the Goddess of Light is located and where the Pope and cardinals conduct their business.

“The Pope died in the confrontation with Khalid.”

“There is no one in the Holy Temple of Light right now.”

As soon as I opened the massive stone door of the Hall of Light and entered, the Royal Guards beside me relayed information without being asked.

It was information I already knew, but I nodded and looked around the interior of the Hall of Light.

The Hall of Light.

The center of Pantheon faith.

I had been here a few times for quests in the previous game, and even in Second, set a thousand years later, the Hall of Light hadn’t changed much.

A giant statue of the goddess and the Throne of Light placed beneath it greeted me.

[The Dark God is excited to see the Throne of Light.]

[The Dark God urges you to sit on the Throne of Light.]

[All the Demon Kings of the Demon Court recommend sitting on the Throne of Light.]

Messages from the Transcendent Beings appeared before my eyes.

Looking at the notification windows, I slowly ascended towards the Throne of Light, made entirely of a transparent jewel, on the platform.

At that moment.

[The Goddess of Light is enraged.]

[All the gods of the Pantheon are furious.]

Pzzzt!

White sparks flew in front of me along with the notification window as I climbed the stairs.

However, the damage was minimal, so as I smiled and tried to take another step.

[The Dark God mocks the Goddess of Light who has lost her Hero.]

[The blessing of the Dark God is with you.]

[All the Demon Kings of the Demon Court ridicule the defeated Pantheon.]

[The blessing of the Demon Court is with you.]

Notification windows from the Demon Kings and the Dark God of the Demon Court appeared before my eyes.

Simultaneously, black magic power slowly extended from my toes, gradually dyeing the white marble stairs black.

The blessings of the Demon Court and the Dark God had descended upon me.

Looking at that sight, I continued to walk towards the Throne of Light.

[The Goddess of Light is fu@#$$#@$#@]

[The Pantheon is @$%@$%@#$]

[The Light’s #$@$@#$]

[@$#%@%@#$%@$#%@#$%]

The higher I climbed the stairs, the more the letters in the Pantheon’s notification window broke down, turning into special characters whose meaning I couldn’t understand.

Every time I took a step, as the Pantheon’s notification window changed more and more into special characters, one step was dyed black.

And finally, when I reached the platform where the Throne of Light was located, the entire platform and the Hall of Light were dyed black, except for the transparently shining Throne.

I turned around.

In the blackened Hall of Light, I could see all the Over-Rankers who had followed me so far.

The King of Flames, Ignis.

The Axe King, Paul.

The Assassination King, Layla.

The Sword Emperor, Wu Jing.

The Divine Archer, Sharp.

The Dark Saintess, Elena.

The Fist King, MuscleMan.

The Snake King, Python.

The Ice Queen, Yume.

The Magic King, Rook.

A total of ten Over-Rankers, lined up in two rows of five, bowed their heads to me.

Seeing that sight, the days of the Iron Blood Alliance suddenly came to mind.

When I formed the Iron Blood Alliance and created the Guild Alliance to unify Ard World!

Back then, the key figures of the Iron Blood Alliance and the Guild Alliance gathered in the Hall of Iron Blood in the Steel Palace and swore allegiance to me.

And I sat on the Iron Throne and looked down on them.

Remembering those days brought a smile to my face.

Anyway, those were memories of the past, and I had no intention of repeating the ‘mistakes’ of the Iron Blood Alliance era.

As I had told Eugene, it was a blemish made by the foolish and stupid past me who was only obsessed with the small profits in front of him.

Thinking so, I sat down on the Throne of Light.

At that moment.

Notification windows popped up one after another.

[The Throne of Light reacts to the user ‘Drakan’.]

[All authority of the Grand Temple of Light is attributed to the user ‘Drakan’.]

[All authority of the Holy City is attributed to the user ‘Drakan’.]

[The Dark God urges you to declare a Dark Sanctuary.]

Looking at the last notification window from the Dark God, I said,

“I will declare a Dark Sanctuary.”

[Do you wish to declare a Dark Sanctuary in the Holy City?]

“Yes.”

The moment I agreed to the notification window.

Rumble!!

A deafening roar echoed, and the surroundings were dyed black.

[A Dark Sanctuary is declared in the Holy City.]

[The Dark Sanctuary spreads throughout the entire Central region.]

[Darkness descends upon Ard World.]

[Quest ‘The Final Holy War’ completed.]

[Phase 3, The Advent of Chaos, has ended.]

Notification windows began to appear endlessly before my eyes.

[Ending: Descent of Darkness]

[At the end of the chaotic era, the Apostle of Darkness, leading the forces of the Dark Alliance, the Outsiders, and the Aerial Mobile Fortress, directly attacked the Holy City.]

[Hero Eugene and the forces of Light fought desperately against the Apostle of Darkness and Steel Monarch, Drakan, but suffered a fatal blow and eventually fell.]

[The forces of Darkness finally became the victors of the Final Holy War.]

[The power of the Pantheon will weaken in Ard World, and the power of the Demon Court will grow stronger.]

[The light has faded, and darkness has swallowed everything. The Age of Darkness has begun.]

[But just as shadows deepen as the light becomes brighter, if there is darkness, light will return someday.]

[And, don’t forget.]

[In Ard World, endless challenges and struggles, as well as dungeons, adventures, and quests, are always waiting for you.]

[Congratulations. You have reached the ending of Ard Saga Second.]

And finally, the information window announcing the ‘ending’ appeared.

The ending of Ard Saga Second.

Finally, the goal of this quest and the end of Phase 3 revealed itself before my eyes.

I smiled as I read the ending.

Descent of Darkness.

An ending that perfectly suited the end of the revenge drama, and one that I was very satisfied with.

[Preparing ending rewards. Please wait.]

While the notification window was displayed, in a completely black space where even the Grand Temple of Light was no longer visible, I sat alone, and at that moment.

[Ending reward preparation complete.]

[AI Miracle is summoned.]

Before my eyes, a beautiful woman with long silver hair, dressed in ‘goddess’ attire, appeared, radiating light.

AI Miracle.

The artificial intelligence loaded onto the supercomputer known to operate Ard World and Ard Saga Second.

“Greetings, user Drakan-nim. I am AI Miracle. I have come to deliver the ending rewards. The ending reward for Ard Saga Second is the highest control and management authority over me, AI Miracle, and the controlling stake that allows you to exercise management rights over Miracle Entertainment, the developer of Ard Saga Second.”

AI Miracle explained the ending rewards to me in a beautiful voice.

The management rights, already well known through Sharp’s interview and Miracle Entertainment’s official announcement, were included.

However, the highest management and control authority over AI Miracle was something I was hearing for the first time, something that wasn’t mentioned in the interview.

But, well, it made sense that to manage the game, you would need the management and control authority over the supercomputer that handles the game’s operation.

“Will you accept the reward?”

Miracle asked and continued the explanation.

“If you accept the reward, not only will your biometric and personal information be registered as the highest administrator and controller of me, AI Miracle, but the controlling stake of Miracle Entertainment will also be inherited through your personal information.”

I hadn’t really thought about how management rights or control rights would be granted as an ending reward, but if they used the biometric and personal information registered in the game account information to handle it this way, it was certainly possible.

Ard Saga Second doesn’t even allow access to accounts with mismatched biometric and personal information, and no hacker in history has ever breached the security of Ard Saga Second.

Therefore, in Ard Saga Second, there were no cases of someone creating an account and accessing it using stolen personal information, or an existing account being hacked.

Thinking so, I looked at Miracle and said,

“I accept the reward.”

“Deleting the existing highest administrator and controller data, ‘Kim Hong-gi’. Deletion complete. Registering user ‘Drakan’-nim’s biometric and personal information as the new highest administrator and controller. Registration complete. Processing the inheritance of Miracle Entertainment’s controlling stake through user ‘Drakan’-nim’s personal information. Processing complete.”

At my words, Miracle looked at me with a stiff voice and said her final words.

“All ending reward acquisition is complete. Master. Will you log out now?”

Master.

Hearing the title that symbolized my acquisition of the highest management and control authority, I smiled and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Logging out Master. Have a good day. Master.”

With AI Miracle’s farewell, my vision completely turned black.

Ard Saga Second.

I had logged out of that virtual reality world.

I threw off the helmet I was wearing and pressed the button to open the capsule door.

Whirr.

The moment the capsule door slowly opened.

“Drakan-nim.”

The one who greeted me was the beautiful woman with striking dark blue bobbed hair, Shin Ha-yeon.

Shin Ha-yeon, with tears still lingering in her eyes, gave me her familiar eye smile and embraced me as soon as I got out of the capsule.

“I’ve been waiting.”

She tickled my ears with her sweet voice, which I hadn’t heard in a while.

“Yes. As I promised you, I’ve returned.”

I smiled as I looked at Shin Ha-yeon.

Jeil World Tower.

When we were preparing for our fake breakup there, I had kept the promise I made to her that I would return.

At my words, Shin Ha-yeon burst into laughter, then lightly patted her slightly flushed cheeks with her hand and took out a small box from her pocket and opened it.

Inside, a diamond ring was nestled.

“It’s a wedding ring. I picked it out myself because I was bored waiting, so even if you don’t like it, just wear it. We promised to get married when all this is over, you haven’t forgotten, have you?”

Shin Ha-yeon smiled and waved the engagement agreement I had written before our fake breakup with her other hand.

Looking at the agreement, which had legal effect with the lawyer’s notarization and the signatures of both parties, I smiled, carefully took out the diamond ring from the ring box Shin Ha-yeon was holding, put it on my left ring finger, and said,

“I haven’t forgotten.”

At my words, tears welled up in Shin Ha-yeon’s eyes.

With a smile mixed with tears, she came closer, kissed me, and said,

“I love you.”

“Yes.”

I replied to Shin Ha-yeon’s words, touched the still unfamiliar ‘wedding ring’ on my left ring finger, kissed her lips once more, then hugged her tightly, who was now smiling, and slowly let go. I then took out my smartphone from the desk.

Turning on my smartphone, I immediately found my parents’ phone number in the contacts and called them.

Hero Eugene.

I had promised myself that I would be a good son to my parents after I caught him and returned to the game, and now it was time to fulfill that promise.