The Final Boss Has Returned 57

Chapter 57

The Merfolk, using Kraken’s legs as a pathway, continuously ascended the coastal cliffs!

However, the forces Drakan had prepared weren’t limited to just that.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

PantyWarrior, a man with a muscular upper body fully exposed, laughed from the back seat of a Wyvern Rider.

And it wasn’t just PantyWarrior.

Selected elites from the volunteers, along with all the streamers participating in this event, flew towards the cliffs on the backs of Wyverns. Soon, they began to land on the cliffs one by one.

“The feeling of flying is always refreshing.”

Among them was the beautiful woman with dark blue bobbed hair, Shin Ha-yeon, the main sponsor of this event and the de facto highest authority figure.

“Is everyone here?”

And of course, Drakan, the host and protagonist of this event, and Shin Ha-yeon’s partner, was also present.

Drakan scanned the clifftop.

Even now, the Merfolk were continuously climbing up the cliff using Kraken’s legs.

Drakan turned his gaze away from them and looked towards the opposite side.

In the distance, a small stone fortress came into view.

According to the information he had acquired, this fortress, named “Blade of the Tsunami,” served as the Pirate King’s residence. Moreover, it was fortified with various defensive facilities, including a defensive magic circle and fortress cannons.

Although it couldn’t be compared to a proper fortress or castle on land, it still had the appearance of a fortress and was said to possess a certain level of defensive capabilities.

‘But right now, it’s an empty shell.’

The Pirate King had concentrated his main forces and established a defensive line at the port to prevent a landing.

Strategically, this was a very rational and reasonable choice. Because, out of this entire damn rocky island, the only place where a landing was possible through normal means was the port!

Furthermore, the port was built on a small white sand beach nestled between cliffs, making it a natural fortress.

By simply blocking the narrow passage, it was possible to defend against a large number of enemies. So, for anyone with a brain, concentrating forces there was the obvious course of action.

That is,

If Drakan hadn’t used Kraken and Wyverns to land on the cliffs.

The fortress came into Drakan’s view.

The Pirate King.

He was there.

To go beyond being a promising prospect and reach an even higher level.

To rise from a chess piece to a chess player, the sacrifice he had to capture was right there in front of him.

Smirk.

Drakan smiled.

“The assembly is complete, Apostle-nim.”

A Merman approached Drakan and spoke.

Behind the Merman, numerous Merfolk troops were waiting.

“We’re also assembled and ready, Drakan-nim.”

Ignis, who was next to the Merman, spoke next, and behind Ignis, the streamers were waiting.

Drakan closed and opened his eyes as he looked at them, then pointed his finger at the fortress and gave a short command.

“Commence the attack.”

At Drakan’s command, the army began to move.

▄ ▄ ▄

Central Island.

The main port of the Pirate Alliance, given the simple name of Golden Port due to its overflowing gold!

Black, the leader of the Black Shark Pirate Crew, ranked 4th in the Pirate Alliance hierarchy, and in charge of the overall defense of the Golden Port’s landing!

He muttered as he looked through his telescope at the enemy fleet bobbing up and down beyond the horizon.

“Do those bastards even have any intention of landing?”

Golden Port was the only passage to the Blade of the Tsunami fortress where the Pirate King resided, and the only entrance to set foot on this island.

This meant that the enemy had no choice but to launch an attack here, whether they liked it or not.

However, the enemy fleet was only harassing them and hadn’t even attempted a landing.

Black once again raised his telescope to his eye and looked at the enemy fleet.

‘Considering their considerable strength, it’s possible that that idiot Cortes failed to carry out his operation properly.’

The strength of the enemy fleet visible through the telescope was considerable.

Moreover, there had been no news from Cortes, who had confidently set sail with 70% of the Pirate Alliance fleet!

Of course, this was because Drakan’s Carrier Strike Group’s Wyvern Squadron and the Merfolk forces had completely annihilated Cortes’ fleet through a coordinated air and underwater operation.

Thanks to this, the Pirate Alliance headquarters was unaware of the results of the naval battle in the Eastern Sea. When Drakan’s fleet appeared, they simply assumed that Cortes’ fleet had been defeated.

Of course, all three lighthouses and watchtowers built on the three rocky islands had been destroyed by the Wyvern Squadron, and all the pirates tasked with monitoring the distant sea from there were dead.

And although this information had reached Black’s ears, he had simply beaten the subordinate pirate who delivered this unbelievable report.

Wyverns!

They had to be kidding!

It was almost impossible to operate Wyverns, with their short range, on this island in the middle of the vast ocean unless they had a moving Wyvern base.

Perhaps they had seen a hallucination, or mistaken the bombardment that set the watchtowers on fire for something else.

Black lowered his telescope, thinking this.

‘It seems the legends about the Merfolk and Kraken were all true after all.’

The legend of the Merfolk and Kraken!

A legend that any pirate, or rather, any sailor, would have heard at least once. The legend that no one could stand against the Merfolk on the sea seemed to be true.

Otherwise, Cortes’ defeat, so devastating that no news had reached them, couldn’t be explained.

‘Are they trying to wear us down? I wish they would just land already.’

Just as Black was thinking this while facing the sea breeze blowing into the port,

“Captain Black!”

A voice calling him came from behind.

“What is it?”

As Black turned his head, the pirate who had come as a messenger shouted, gasping for breath.

“The headquarters, the headquarters is under attack. It’s Drakan! He’s here! The headquarters’ forces alone are not enough to hold them back! We need reinforcements immediately!”

“What?”

Black’s face contorted at the news.

The headquarters under attack! What kind of nonsense was this!

The enemy fleet hadn’t even attempted a landing yet, so how could the enemy have reached the fortress!

Had they climbed the treacherous coastal cliffs?

“Are you joking with me right now?”

After the report about the appearance of Wyverns, now this attack on the headquarters!

Just as Black was feeling irritated by hearing another unbelievable report,

“L-Look at this!”

The messenger took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Black. Black’s face hardened as he checked the contents of the paper.

An order!

It bore the Pirate King’s personal signature, and written in his handwriting was the order to send reinforcements to the fortress immediately, as the enemy forces were attacking the Blade of the Tsunami fortress.

“This is insane!”

Black was shocked.

He was currently blocking the only possible landing point, so how on earth had the enemy infiltrated the island?

Had they somehow found a legendary large-scale gate magic spell? Or had they really climbed the cliffs en masse?

Countless thoughts flashed through Black’s mind due to the current surreal situation, and he shook his head.

As someone who had lived his entire life as a cunning pirate on the battlefield, Black quickly made his decision.

The important thing now wasn’t how the enemy had infiltrated the island. The enemy had already landed and was launching an offensive on the empty headquarters, the Blade of the Tsunami fortress.

Black instinctively realized it.

The enemy fleet bobbing up and down beyond the horizon was a deception tactic to conceal their landing operation.

The enemy’s main force had already landed.

Now that he knew the enemy fleet was a deception, there was no need to keep this large force at the defensive line.

Black folded the order and put it in his pocket. Soon, all but a minimal number of the Pirate Alliance forces defending the line headed towards the main fortress.

▄ ▄ ▄

The Aircraft Carrier Steelwing.

On its flight deck, Isaac, the Vice Guild Master and main tank of JDG, who was in command of the remaining forces excluding the task force that had ascended the cliff, was observing the enemy position through a telescope.

“As Drakan-nim predicted, the enemy forces are withdrawing.”

“The Apostle-nim’s predictions are always accurate.”

Nereus, the Merfolk with the red crown, standing next to Isaac, replied.

“Now that the forces have all withdrawn, it’s time to proceed with the landing operation. Let’s proceed as planned.”

“Understood.”

Nereus smiled and shook the spear in his hand.

“Ocean’s Wrath.”

The moment Nereus’ low voice escaped his lips,

Woooong!

A small vibration emanated from the Ten Thousand Year Coral Crown on Nereus’ head.

Woooong!

The vibration that started from the crown soon grew large enough to shake the entire ship, and the sea, which had been calm without a single breeze, began to churn.

The Merfolk King. The ruler of the eight Merfolk tribes, and the king of all things in the sea!

That title wasn’t just for show.

Having received the blessing of the Sea Devil King and the recognition of Kraken, the Merfolk King possessed the power to freely manipulate the sea – although there was a penalty of a long cooldown time depending on the scale and power.

And now, that power, Ocean’s Wrath, finally revealed its might against the Pirate Archipelago.

*Cwaaaaaash-! *

A gigantic wave, as large as a house, no, larger than a building, instantly engulfed the Golden Port, where only a minimal force remained.

“W-Wave! Tsunami! It’s a tsunami!”

“Kyaak!”

The pirates in the low-lying areas, among the few remaining, were unable to escape the tsunami and were swept away. The defensive line that the pirates had solidly built was completely destroyed by the tsunami.

But the pirates’ misfortune didn’t end there.

“W-What’s that!”

“Merfolk! The Merfolk have appeared!”

Merfolk!

They had successfully landed on the ground, riding the tsunami.

“Kill the humans! It’s the order of the Apostle-nim and the King!”

“Die! Humans!”

The Merfolk, who had successfully landed amidst the tsunami, all drew their weapons. They began to attack the pirates, who were unable to regroup due to the tsunami, and soon a chaotic battle between the Merfolk and pirates unfolded on the coast.

However, the pirates’ true misfortune was just beginning.

Cwaaaaaash!

While the chaotic battle raged on the coast, cutting through the current, Drakan’s Carrier Strike Group, which had approached the port, finally initiated the real landing operation.

“Prepare the landing craft. We will commence the landing operation now.”

At Isaac’s command, landing craft carrying numerous users descended from the ships belonging to the Carrier Strike Group and began to advance towards the coast.

“We’ve finally begun the main landing operation on the Pirate Archipelago, hyungnims. Please subscribe, like, and donate generously!”

“You pirate bastards. Let’s wipe you out from the East this time!”

“I’m going to take a commemorative photo and upload it on SNS when this is all over!”

“Never Again War! Never Again War!”

“To be on the same battlefield as PantyWarrior-nim!”

Whether it was the ambition to eradicate the Pirate Alliance, the desire to gain attention by posting on SNS, the greed to increase Ard Live’s subscriber count, the simple desire to enjoy the thrilling content of war, or even the fan sentiment of wanting to be with their favorite Ranker!

Thus, countless users, each burning with their own desires, gazed at the Golden Port.

And the pirates, who should have been preventing this large-scale landing of users, were caught up in the battle with the Merfolk vanguard and were unable to mount a proper counterattack.

Bang! Kwabang!

Furthermore, the pirates were completely disoriented by the supporting bombardment from Drakan’s ships in the distance, raining down on the port.

“Uwaak! Bombardment!”

“Help me! Please save me!”

Just as the pirates’ morale was completely crumbling under the bombardment and the Merfolk attacks,

“It’s the Pirate Archipelago!”

“Let’s kill the pirates!”

Starting with the first landing craft reaching the shore, numerous users began to pour onto the white sand beach.

The Pirate Alliance!

This was the moment the signal flare for their downfall was fired.