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The Final Boss Has Returned 21

21

Chapter 21

Argan Village!

An ordinary rural village that could be found anywhere in the East.

The peaceful scenery of the village, with goblins, foxes, and wolves frolicking in the back mountains, was now completely gone.

Instead of the village, all that could be seen were endless barracks!

From the military tents to the temporary buildings made by cutting down all the trees in the back mountains, the endlessly stretched-out barracks showed almost no trace of the small rural village that once was.

If it weren’t for the sign at the entrance of the barracks with the Jeil Group logo and a dragon engraved together with the JDG flag, and the words ‘Argan Village’ written on it, no one would have known that Argan Village ever existed here.

“Is this Argan Village?”

“Yes, it is. Are you here to participate in the quest?”

Argan Village, transformed beyond recognition.

The sight caused slight confusion among the users who came to participate in the quest, but thanks to the JDG guild members patrolling the area in preparation for such a situation, they were fortunately able to receive the quest without getting lost.

At the heart of Argan Village, which had effectively become a military encampment.

Drakan was in the building that was originally used as the village hall.

“Wow, it’s really Drakan!”

“Can I take a picture with you?”

“By all means.”

Countless users surrounded Drakan as if they had met a celebrity!

Drakan, who had shared the quest with the users, kindly posed for pictures and responded to their requests.

Drakan!

The Steel Monarch!

The leader of the Iron Blood Alliance, the top-ranked player before Eugene’s era, the pinnacle of the giant guild cartel, and the star player who had built a towering reputation and written numerous legends in the previous game!

And now, many users wanted to see him, the legend of the past.

After all, Drakan was an icon of his era.

Drakan treated each and every one of those users kindly, occasionally cracking jokes and creating a friendly atmosphere.

“I heard he was a villain in the past? He seems like a decent guy.”

“Yeah, right? Maybe he’s a good person after all? Ah, I should upload this picture to SNS later.”

The users who met Drakan were generally satisfied, and as stories of his kindness spread through SNS and communities, public opinion about him gradually began to shift in a positive direction.

[(Screenshot) Met Drakan and he’s actually pretty cool lol Maybe he’s a good person? #ArdSaga #Drakan #IronBloodAlliance #QuestCertificationShot #CommemorativeShot #EveryoneToTheEast]

[Whoa, really? I thought he was a total villain?]

[Yeah, it’s true! I don’t know about the past, but he’s pretty kind now?]

[Title: I used to hate Drakan just for the concept……]

[But he was actually quite polite when I met him. I was surprised lol]

Public opinion was gradually turning favorable.

Furthermore, as the rumors of Drakan and JDG hosting a war event gained traction, ranked and named players active in the East began to join in to ride the hype and gain attention, causing the number of troops gathered in Argan Village to steadily increase.

The total number of users who gathered after the snowball effect began to roll exceeded Drakan’s expectations!

‘I didn’t know the power of SNS was this great.’

Drakan felt a renewed appreciation for the power of social networking services.

Six years ago, when he was actively playing the game, information about the game was mostly shared through internet communities like the Ard Forum.

The various bulletin boards on the Ard Forum were the main places where users communicated.

But not anymore.

Six years later, it was the era of social networking services.

It was a truly amazing world where anything could become a global topic within an hour through likes and shares, as long as it was posted on SNS, regardless of who did what, when, or where.

A world where if someone uploaded a picture of their kitchen, the entire nation could know the number of spoons in their house, as well as what they had for dinner that day, within 30 minutes!

Drakan was experiencing firsthand the revolution and fear brought about by the information dissemination of SNS.

‘If used well, it could be very useful!’

Social networking services!

Having grasped its greatness, Drakan summoned Ignis, who was in charge of troop control, the executives of JDG and its allied guilds, and the ranked players from the East who had joined the event, to the village hall.

Enough troops had gathered, so it was time to decide on the time of the attack.

▄ ▄ ▄

Lawless Port Granado.

Called the Lawless City in the previous game, this city located on the eastern edge of the continent was famous in both the original and Second as a gathering place for various criminals, outlaws, other evil-aligned NPCs, those ostracized from Ard World, and Chaos users.

A lawless zone where the law doesn’t exist!

A garbage dump where those rejected by Ard World ultimately end up!

The leader of this vast and chaotic city, where only the law of power prevails, was Jacques.

He was a Ranker user who inherited the legacy of the “Butcher of Outsiders,” one of the high-ranking members of the Pirate Alliance, and the captain of the Butcher Pirate Crew, a pirate crew formed by users.

The heart of Lawless Port.

There, a single black spire stood tall.

Until just a decade ago, this spire served as the headquarters of the Black Ring Society. Now, it was occupied by Jacques and the Butcher Pirate Crew, serving as the governing body of Lawless Port.

At the top of the black spire.

In the gloomy meeting room, originally used as the elders’ council chamber of the Black Ring Society, the executives of the Butcher Pirate Crew were gathered.

The executives of the pirate crew had faces full of worry.

Amidst them, the Butcher of Outsiders, Jacques, a man who appeared to be in his early thirties, seated in the most ornate chair, opened his mouth.

“Just how many have gathered so far?”

“According to the scouts, it seems to be over 50,000 in total, including both NPCs and users.”

Hearing the answer from the pirate crew executive, Jacques felt a splitting headache.

50,000 users gathered!

Moreover, even now, the number of users participating in the quest was increasing in real-time, watching SNS, communities, and videos, and some of them were even Rankers. It was enough to give him a headache.

“Drakan! That bastard is tripping me up again!”

Jacques felt his stomach churning.

Lawless Port had no proper walls, no systematic defensive magic circles.

Because there was no need for them.

Whether NPC or user, there was no one in the world daring enough to provoke the Pirate Alliance in the East!

Furthermore, even the Hero Eugene had declared that he wouldn’t interfere with the Pirate Alliance, so it was practically as if there was no immediate threat.

Of course, there was a kingdom that ruled the East, just like in other regions.

The Gasan Kingdom.

That kingdom was the ruler of the East.

However, corruption was rampant in the Gasan Kingdom, and the Pirate Alliance had established a mutually beneficial relationship by bribing the high-ranking nobles of the Gasan Kingdom and handling their dirty work. Therefore, the Pirate Alliance held an unrivaled notoriety in the East.

The reason Jacques joined the Pirate Alliance was precisely because of their powerful influence.

He still hadn’t forgotten the events of the past.

‘I messed with a low-ranking guild member of the Iron Blood Alliance, and that bastard Drakan mobilized the Guild Alliance, resulting in me being endlessly hunted down and ultimately having to quit the game!’

Jacques recalled the painful past from long ago.

In the original Ard Saga, Jacques enjoyed his hobby of PK, roaming Ard World alone.

He felt pleasure every time he massacred helpless users and plundered their items.

The more PK karma he accumulated, the more restrictions were placed upon him, but he didn’t care.

He had already reached the rank of Ranker, so most pursuit squads couldn’t catch him.

The Iron Blood Alliance!

That is, until he mistakenly provoked that low-ranking guild member.

At first, he thought, ‘What could possibly happen just because one low-ranking guild member died?’

However, Drakan declared maximum retaliation for the death of the low-ranking guild member, and as Jacques experienced the ruthless revenge of the Iron Blood Alliance and the Guild Alliance, he realized something.

The notoriety he had built as the Butcher, his position as a Ranker, meant nothing in the face of overwhelming power!

As expected, numbers are king. There’s no fighting against a swarm! He learned that truth the hard way.

Learning from that experience of quitting the game, Jacques joined a faction as soon as Second was released.

The Pirate Alliance!

Joining the faction that dominated the East, Jacques thrived with the backing of the Pirate Alliance. He rejoiced in the wisdom of his choice and didn’t hesitate to engage in looting, arson, and PK.

Just like in the previous game, Jacques enjoyed PK’ing users and listening to their pleas for mercy. He also recruited similar Chaos users into the Pirate Alliance, eventually forming the Butcher Pirate Crew.

Recently, he had been living a happy gaming life after becoming the lord of Lawless Port, one of the key strongholds of the Pirate Alliance.

Moreover, Ard Saga Second was a hardcore game!

One death meant permanent death, so the weight of death was incomparably heavier than in the previous game. Thanks to this, the thrill Jacques felt from delivering that heavy sentence of death was immense, incomparable to the previous game.

That is, until Drakan appeared.

“Reinforcements! What about the reinforcements?”

An army estimated to be around 50,000 strong.

Moreover, the participation of JDG, a member of the Top Ten Guilds, and the Over-Ranker, Flame Emperor Ignis!

This was an overwhelming force, capable of instantly trampling a city like Lawless Port, which lacked even walls.

It was to the extent that even calculating the difference in power between them was meaningless.

Therefore, the only thing Jacques and his gang could rely on were the reinforcements from the Pirate Alliance.

A battle they couldn’t win without reinforcements.

That was the current situation in Lawless Port.

“I heard they’re coming now.”

“Who?”

Just as Jacques asked the question.

Boom!

The meeting room door burst open, and someone appeared.

“Long time no see, Butcher Jacques!”

The being that emerged from the door wasn’t human.

Its entire body was covered in green scales, a creature that looked like a cross between a lizard and a human.

It was a Lizardman.

The Lizardman, with a large, impressive scar running vertically across his left eye, walked swaggering into the meeting room, flashing his sharp teeth.

Seeing the Lizardman, a smile spread across Jacques’s face.

Jacques immediately jumped to his feet.

“Assault Captain Riach, what brings you to this humble place!”

Assault Captain Riach.

Ranked third in the Pirate Alliance and the Pirate King Drake’s left-hand man!

Known as “Death’s Cog,” he was a legendary pirate who held unwavering loyalty to the Pirate King who had freed him from slavery, and who always led the charge in every battle, securing victory.

“I heard that the remnants of the Black Ring Society, who were hiding like rats in a rural village, have shown themselves and are colluding with outsiders to attack Lawless Port.”

Riach flicked his tongue and grinned, his hideous face contorted in a smile.

Lawless Port!

The Pirate King Drake was well aware of the importance of this port.

The Pirate King Drake hadn’t formed the Pirate Alliance simply to engage in plundering.

While the profits from looting, murder, and arson were certainly important, their primary source of income was the tolls collected from controlling the trade routes of the Eastern Sea!

And the various smuggled goods, including stolen goods, that came through those trade routes.

Smuggling!

That was the true purpose of the Pirate Alliance’s establishment and the source of the vast wealth possessed by the Pirate King Drake.

And Lawless Port was the final destination of the smuggling routes managed by the Pirate Alliance.

All the stolen goods and smuggled goods that came in by sea arrived here, and through the black market in Lawless Port, they were sold throughout the continent.

Smuggling and the black market!

The Pirate King had no intention of handing over a strategic location with two crucial sources of income to just anyone.

Sending Riach, the third-in-command and his left-hand man, held that meaning.

“But now that I and the White Shark Assault Force have arrived, you can rest assured, Jacques. I’ll grind all those vermin to dust with this cog!”

Riach drew the greatsword he carried on his back and let out a chilling laugh.

Death’s Cog!

His weapon, bearing the same name as his title, was a deformed greatsword with one side of the blade entirely composed of jagged, saw-like teeth, truly living up to its nickname.

‘With Riach and the White Shark Assault Force here, we will win this war!’

Riach and the White Shark Assault Force.

Death’s Cog Riach was a superhuman rivaling an Over-Ranker, and the White Shark Assault Force was an elite unit directly under the Pirate King, each member possessing strength comparable to a Ranker, capable of taking on a hundred enemies single-handedly.

If they could lure the enemies into Lawless Port using the White Shark Assault Force and engage in urban warfare……

If they could utilize the haphazardly constructed buildings and labyrinthine alleyways of the city to wage guerrilla warfare with a small, elite force, turning it into a muddy brawl!

Jacques was confident that they could win this war.

Having thought that far, Jacques looked at Riach and smiled back.

He imagined himself, victorious in the upcoming war, defeating Drakan and JDG, and finally seizing the glory that would follow.


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(🇰🇷)The Final Boss Has Returned

🇰🇷)The Final Boss Has Returned

끝판왕이 돌아왔다
Score 7.4
Status: Ongoing Type: Author: Released: 2020 Native Language: Korean
Drakan, a former top-ranked player and Guild Master of the Iron Blood Alliance, returns to the virtual reality game Ard Saga Second after six years, driven by a burning desire for revenge against Hero Eugene, the player who defeated him and brought down his guild. He finds himself in a drastically changed world: the game has been reset, a new Legacy System allows players to inherit the achievements of their previous characters, and the rise of Ard Live, a real-time streaming platform, has revolutionized the game’s economy and social dynamics.

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