The Final Boss Has Returned 35

Chapter 35

The video began in the depths of the ocean.

A peaceful underwater scene with colorful coral, seaweed, and schools of fish frolicking!

However, the peace of the seabed didn’t last long.

Because a war was taking place in the ocean.

The Merfolk, a humanoid race that seemed to be a mix of marine life and humans!

And the Mermaids, a race with the lower body of a fish and the upper body of a human!

These two races were currently engaged in a fierce battle in the depths of the ocean.

“Push back the Merfolk! Drive them out and dedicate the eastern sea to the Goddess of the Sea!”

“Kraken! The Kraken has appeared!”

Mermaids and Merfolk, riding sharks and sea turtles, were fiercely engaged in combat!

At that moment, when the clear seawater was stained with red blood and the corpses of the dead were scattered everywhere……

Something massive appeared in the distance.

A gigantic body reminiscent of a mountain, so vast that its end couldn’t be seen!

Ten enormous tentacles, each as colossal as its body, glistening with suckers!

The Merfolk’s guardian beast, the Kraken, had revealed itself.

As soon as the Kraken appeared, it swung its tentacles, slaughtering the Mermaids, but the general commanding the Mermaid army remained unshaken by the Kraken’s might and said,

“As expected. Deploy Scylla. It’s time to sever the Kraken’s lifeline!”

The moment the Mermaid general finished speaking,

A powerful current surged from the edge of the sea.

Mermaids and Merfolk staggered as a sudden whirlpool engulfed the battlefield.

Soon, a giant shadow loomed over the battlefield.

It was a monster in the form of a colossal sea serpent.

Commonly referred to as a Sea serpent by the humans on land!

It was classified as a sea monster, but its appearance was far from that of an ordinary Sea serpent.

Not only was it twice the size of a normal Sea serpent, but more importantly, it had six heads!

That’s right.

The six-headed Sea serpent, Scylla, one of the two guardian deities of the Mermaids, had personally appeared to defeat the Merfolk’s guardian beast, the Kraken.

Kraken and Scylla!

The two legendary monsters of Ard World finally clashed in the depths of the ocean.

The Kraken spewed ink breath and tried to bind Scylla with its tentacles, but Scylla was not affected by the Kraken’s attacks.

No, on the contrary, it attacked the Kraken’s tentacles with its six heads, inflicting wounds, and counterattacked with its breath.

The victor of this monstrous battle was Scylla.

The guardian beast Kraken, mangled beyond recognition!

Seeing this, the leader of the Merfolk army, presumably the Merfolk King with shimmering golden scales, gritted his teeth and shouted,

“Retreat! We retreat!”

Now that the Kraken, the guardian beast of the Merfolk, had fallen, they had no chance of victory.

Scylla, having defeated the Kraken, roared and began to massacre the Merfolk army. The Merfolk, having received the order to retreat, began to withdraw at high speed, and the Mermaids slaughtered their fleeing remnants.

The leader of the Merfolk army, watching this scene, said in a solemn voice,

“I will buy us time.”

“No! Father! I will stay.”

“I forbid it, Nereus. You will retreat with the Kraken and plan for the future.”

The leader of the Merfolk army, no, the Merfolk King, said so and perished. Nereus, leading the remnants and the wounded Kraken, retreated from the battlefield.

The video ended with the scene of the Merfolk King, who had been buying time for the retreat with his suicide squad, being killed by the Mermaid general, and the Mermaid army entering the massive underwater city that appeared to be the capital of the Merfolk Kingdom.

▄ ▄ ▄

“They pushed our guardian beast to the brink of death. Fortunately, it managed to survive, but the wounds it sustained that day were so severe that it’s currently in a coma.”

As the video ended, Nereus’s voice was heard.

“And because of that, I am now the heir to the throne, but I cannot prove my qualifications to inherit the throne by receiving the recognition of the guardian beast, nor can I ascend to the throne because the capital of the kingdom, as well as the territory, have been taken by the Mermaids.”

Listening to Nereus’s explanation, I felt the outline of this quest gradually taking shape.

Regardless, Nereus continued his explanation.

“Therefore, I cannot participate in the ancient alliance, as I have neither the qualifications to inherit the throne nor a kingdom to rule. However, if you can solve this problem, the story will be different.”

[A quest has occurred.]

[Revival of the Merfolk Kingdom]

[Rank: Legend]

[Nine years ago, the Mermaid Kingdom, which ruled the northern sea, took advantage of the lingering chaos of the Great Cataclysm to launch a large-scale invasion of the Merfolk Kingdom, which had been a thorn in their side.]

[The then Merfolk King, Neltarius, bravely countered the Mermaid Kingdom’s invasion by summoning all the forces of the eight Merfolk tribes, including the guardian beast Kraken, but the tide turned when the Mermaid Kingdom deployed Scylla, one of their two guardian deities.]

[In the battle nine years ago, the Merfolk Kingdom was ultimately defeated, the eight tribes were scattered throughout the seabed, and the prince became unable to inherit the throne.]

[However, only the rightful king of the Merfolk Kingdom is eligible to participate in the ancient alliance!]

[Heal the Kraken to certify Nereus’s qualifications, unite the eight tribes, reclaim the lost territory of the Merfolk Kingdom, and revive the Merfolk Kingdom to make Nereus the true Merfolk King.]

[If you do so, the eight Merfolk tribes and Nereus will gladly praise you as their contractor and join the ancient alliance, recognizing you as the Apostle of Darkness.]

[Completion Conditions]

[Recognition of Nereus’s qualification as Merfolk King]

[Restoration of the Merfolk Kingdom’s territory]

[Will you accept the quest?]

The quest window appeared as soon as Nereus finished speaking!

Looking at the quest details, I felt my jaw drop.

‘What kind of crazy quest is this?’

The tail wagging the dog!

It wasn’t a coincidence that the proverb containing the wisdom of our ancestors, passed down from long ago, came to mind.

Of course, I had expected there would be a quest ever since Khalid mentioned the Merfolk, and I was certain of it when I saw the quest disappear upon the completion of the Abyss Lighthouse construction.

But I hadn’t anticipated it would be of this magnitude.

Although this quest was classified as Mythical, it was still just a sub-quest!

I had expected the Mythical quest to be difficult, but for the sub-quest to be of this level……

He proposed joining the alliance, but the kingdom was destroyed, the tribes were scattered, the guardian beast was in a coma and couldn’t wake up, and the prince himself was just an heir to the throne who couldn’t even prove his qualifications.

He’d join the alliance if I revived the guardian beast, proved his qualifications, gathered the tribes, and finally reclaimed the old territory ruled by the Mermaids! ……Seriously?

The quest itself was utterly shameless.

If this were reality, slapping Nereus back and forth for making such a ridiculous proposal wouldn’t be enough!

But unfortunately, Ard Saga was a game, and quests in games were usually requests for players to solve tasks that NPCs couldn’t, or found difficult, or simply didn’t want to do, by dangling the sweet bait of rewards.

As I had said in the previous meeting, I had to clear this damn quest to win the all-out war against the Pirate King.

Furthermore, to achieve my ultimate goal of surpassing Eugene by reviving the Dark Empire, which was the final objective of the Divine Quest!

[The Sea Demon King is watching you.]

[The Sea Demon King urges you to accept the quest.]

[The Demon King of Destruction is watching you.]

…….

[The Dark God is watching you.]

The messages and point donations from the Demon Kings that kept popping up in the corner of my vision were a bonus!

Moreover, the Sea Demon King, who was likely deeply connected to the Merfolk, was urging me to accept the quest through messages.

Looking at the quest window, I thought.

There was no time limit on the quest itself.

Naturally, since the scale of the quest seemed similar to, or even larger than, the Lawless Port Recapture Battle, it would have been strange if there was a time limit.

But I had my own time limit.

‘I spent 7 days in game time building the Abyss Lighthouse, so I have 23 days of game time left. I have to complete all the quests within that time.’

23 days!

That was the deadline I had.

If I couldn’t complete the quest ‘Revival of the Merfolk Kingdom’ within that time, my future plans, as well as my ultimate goal of surpassing Eugene, would become uncertain.

‘If we mobilize JDG’s forces as Team Leader Lee guaranteed, we might be able to defend Lawless Port against the Pirate Alliance’s fleet, but that won’t be enough to catch up to Eugene.’

I smiled as I recalled what I had said during the meeting.

Eugene!

To defeat him, I couldn’t just grow normally, safely, and steadily.

Just like Eugene, who challenged the Guild Alliance, the Iron Blood Alliance, and me, who stood at the top, six years ago!

No, even further back in the past. Like the underdog I was before I became a Top Ranker, fiercely competing with other players to reach the top back when the concept of the Ten Strongest or Top Rankers didn’t even exist!

I had to take risks.

High risk, high return!

I reminded myself of the rule that every Ard Saga player knew.

Conversely, this was an opportunity to catch two birds with one stone: the Pirate King and the Merfolk.

The difficulty was a bit messy, but it was manageable, even if it was frustrating.

Of course, it would seem impossible to others, but I had done similar crazy things in the previous game to clear the Overlord Quest.

More importantly, Eugene also achieved the seemingly impossible Rebellion Quest, winning a war that was predicted to be unwinnable, and ultimately defeated me.

To defeat Eugene, I had to achieve a similar feat.

And the moment to achieve that feat was now.

Having made up my mind, I looked at Nereus and said,

“Then, I will solve that problem for you.”

[You have accepted the quest.]

[The Sea Demon King applauds.]

[The Sea Demon King sponsors you 10,000 points.]

[The Demon King of Destruction watches you and laughs.]

…….

[The Dark God is watching you.]

[The Dark God sponsors you 10,000 points.]

Messages and point donations from the Demon Kings poured in as soon as I accepted the quest!

Nereus’s gaze fixed on me as I saw the notifications.

“Now we’re talking. To solve the problem, we need to go underwater. However, as a human from the land, you will need to prepare for the unfamiliar underwater environment. Once you’ve finished your preparations, use the Abyss Light to summon me, just like you did before……”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

I interrupted Nereus’s lengthy explanation.

“What do you mean, Contractor?”

Nereus asked in a puzzled voice when I cut him off.

“I finished my preparations long ago. Let’s head to the seabed right now.”

I smiled as I fiddled with the Hero-grade item on my right index finger, which possessed all the options to facilitate underwater activities.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I’m a thorough person.”

I smiled and answered Nereus, who asked again with an incredulous expression.

I had decided to take the risk and embark on this adventure.

But that didn’t mean I would blindly throw myself into unknown fields, dungeons, or quests without any preparation.

Be prepared!

I deeply engraved in my mind the adage that the more thoroughly you prepare, the less you have to worry about.

“Then, very well. Let’s depart immediately.”

Nereus nodded at my words, and I began to climb onto the back of the giant sea turtle in front of countless players.

The moment I reached the turtle’s flat back, I heard the sound of waves surging.

The sea turtle began to submerge.

I smiled as I watched the waves of the dark blue night sea approach.

23 days of game time remaining!

Within that time, I would complete the quest and return to the surface with the Merfolk.