The Final Boss Has Returned 82

Chapter 82

As soon as the Simseong Milky Way Guild’s declaration of war video was uploaded, the internet exploded.

A large-scale, user-versus-user, all-out war!

The fact that Rio, of all people, was the one to throw the first punch against Drakan, whom he had clashed with in the north, brought about a huge issue that overshadowed all other topics.

[Honestly, Rio isn’t wrong. Drakan did what he did. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks lol]

[What kind of bullshit is that? Didn’t you see him kneeling in the interview before? What did Drakan do wrong in Second? Honestly, the northern winter was unavoidable, and look at him picking on that. Tsk tsk. Rio is pathetic]

[Welcome back, suckers~]

[Honestly, I might understand if it was Eugene-nim, but isn’t it a bit much for Rio to be saying that?]

[Seriously. He didn’t let regular users participate in the Undead expedition, and now he’s saying this. He’s scared, so he’s being pathetic]

[Honestly, it’s a fact that we can’t trust Drakan. I’ll have to participate in this expedition.]

[Isn’t Drakan going to upload a rebuttal video?]

Just as users were arguing back and forth about Rio’s declaration of war on the internet, Drakan uploaded a rebuttal video.

[I heard Rio dared to declare war on me. I will not make any excuses for my actions. No matter what I say, people will only believe what they want to believe.

However, I do want to say that it’s ridiculous for Rio to be talking about justice. If I had known he would spout this kind of bullshit after I showed him mercy and let him live, I would have just killed him from the start. The guys who blocked regular users from participating because they wanted to hog the Undead King for themselves are now talking about justice? Isn’t that nonsense that even a passing dog wouldn’t believe?

Besides, isn’t Eugene the one who protects justice in Ard World? Even Eugene isn’t saying anything to me right now, so I can’t understand why Rio is needlessly provoking me.

I don’t know much about justice or anything like that. That’s for Eugene to think about. What I can offer is victory. If you want to win, if you want to punish Rio for disguising his ugly greed as justice and deceiving users, and if you want a fun war, come to Lawless Port Granado. Come and join my side.

And Rio, there will be no next time for you. You will die by my hand.]

Drakan!

He precisely pointed out Rio’s weakness.

Execution of Justice!

That was the sole prerogative of Eugene, who held hegemony over Ard World, and Drakan correctly pointed out in the rebuttal video that what Rio was doing was a clear act of overstepping his authority.

He also justified himself by mentioning that Eugene, who protects justice in Ard World, had not yet imposed any sanctions on him.

Starting with Drakan’s video, streamers belonging to Jeil E&M simultaneously uploaded notices and videos stating they were heading to Lawless Port Granado. Soon after, Shin Ha-yeon stepped up and began to control the online public opinion on behalf of the Jeil Group.

From mobilizing Jeil E&M affiliated streamers to media manipulation, communities, and even SNS!

Under Shin Ha-yeon’s command, the Jeil Group’s all-out public opinion manipulation completely turned the tide of online opinion in Drakan’s favor.

Of course, it wasn’t just Shin Ha-yeon’s power alone that turned public opinion to Drakan’s side.

Drakan!

As he said, Rio talking about the execution of justice despite Eugene’s presence, and his past actions of restricting regular users’ participation in the Northern Expedition to keep the rewards for themselves, raised doubts among users.

Rio!

Was he really starting a war solely for the sake of justice?

As Drakan said, was he perhaps disguising his own greed and using other users as cannon fodder?

Moreover, it was an undeniable fact that Eugene had not imposed sanctions on Drakan, and in fact, the two seemed to have become closer recently, so public opinion did not easily tilt towards Rio.

As a result, just as many people were flocking to Lawless Port Granado as those heading north……

The Northern Navy, led by the Black King Karun and centered around Vikings and Merfolk!

And the Northern Army, with Changwang Rio at the forefront and warriors and Druids following!

The Northern forces were advancing towards Lawless Port Granado at an unstoppable pace, both by sea and land.

▄ ▄ ▄

[Dark Sanctuary]

[Grade: Legend]

-As an Apostle, you have incorporated the Merfolk, Undead, and Dark Elves, restoring half of the ancient alliance, and the Dark God is very pleased with your achievements in faithfully fulfilling the contract.

However, this does not mean that you should be complacent with your current achievements.

Half of the alliance has gathered, and sufficient power has been built, so now is the time.

East, North, West, Central, South, anywhere is fine. Become the overlord of a region and transform that land into a land ruled by darkness, a Dark Sanctuary, laying the foundation for the reconstruction of the Dark Empire.

The Dark God’s blessing and the ancient alliance will be with you.

Once the Dark Sanctuary is declared, the news will reach the races that have not yet joined, and they will join the alliance.

[Quest Objectives]

-Become the overlord of a region

-Declare a Dark Sanctuary

I logged into the game and laughed as I looked at the quest the Dark God had given me, right after the Dark Elf quest was completed.

This was an opportunity.

A chance to turn the tables completely!

Originally, I would have swallowed the Gasan Kingdom and become the overlord of the east, but plans are always fluid.

If the Northern Alliance’s goal was to abandon the useless north and seize the eastern lands, they would have definitely mobilized all of their forces. In that case, the current north would be practically undefended.

What if I take over the undefended north and declare a Dark Sanctuary?

The other three races would immediately join the alliance, and Rio wouldn’t be able to handle my exploding power!

Besides, since Rio’s target was me, he would be like a dog chasing chickens only to end up looking at the roof, after bringing his army all the way to the east.

Thinking that, I slowly walked towards Lawless Port Granado.

And in the port of Lawless Port Granado, three massive aircraft carriers and countless warships covering the horizon were anchored.

I saw familiar faces standing on the podium, excluding Ignis, who was in charge of defending Lawless Port Granado, and some streamers belonging to Jeil E&M.

Starting from Shin Ha-yeon, to FlyingMan, PantyWarrior, and Queen Honey!

Looking at the countless regular users beyond them, I stepped onto the podium and spoke.

“I won’t waste words. I will throw all those Northern remnants approaching Lawless Port Granado into the sea to become shark food. Let’s show those who dare touch me, Lawless Port Granado, and the east what we’re made of!”

As soon as my speech ended, cheers filled the entire port.

Listening to the cheers, I boarded the flagship of the fleet, the aircraft carrier ‘Steelwing.’

The war was starting now.

▄ ▄ ▄

The Northern Fleet!

Among the Viking fleet sailing through the waves towards the east, one particularly large warship stood out.

It was the ‘Frostflight,’ the flagship of the Northern Fleet and an aircraft carrier.

The vast deck of the Frostflight!

A man in black armor stood there, with a greatsword on his back, gazing at the horizon.

The man who was helping Rio at Verda’s request!

He was Karun, the Black King who had reached the pinnacle of Dark Gamers.

‘Drakan chose a naval battle, huh.’

The Black King Karun was analyzing the information he had just received.

Drakan. He abandoned Lawless Port Granado and boarded the fleet.

He chose a naval battle.

Of course, the Northern Fleet’s power was relatively inferior to Drakan’s fleet.

However, it wasn’t to the extent that it would significantly affect the outcome.

Even though they had three aircraft carriers, they also had one, and unlike the naval battle, they were thoroughly prepared for anti-aircraft defense to counter the Wyvern squadron.

And if they had Merfolk, they had Mermaids.

Moreover, the Mermaid Kingdom’s national power was superior to the Merfolk Kingdom’s!

If they could win the underwater battle, it wouldn’t be impossible to inflict damage on the enemy fleet.

Trading flesh for bone!

That was the strategy the Black King Karun was aiming for in this naval battle.

Of course, if Drakan were to deploy additional forces, the outcome would be uncertain, but the main force of the Northern Army was the ground forces anyway.

If they focused their main strength on the navy, even if they lost the naval battle, it would be beneficial from the perspective of the overall grand strategy to weaken their forces here.

Moreover, compared to the other side, which only had the Merfolk King as an Over-Ranker-level powerhouse, they had two, including the Mermaid Queen and himself, so they had an advantage in that regard.

Drakan.

He didn’t know what he was thinking, but he deployed Ignis to Lawless Port Granado.

‘Of course, if they bring in the Undead, the situation will change……’

The Undead!

The Black King Karun knew their power to some extent.

However, there was usually a value called ‘Contribution Points’ consumed when a user mobilized the forces of another faction.

And Verda estimated that Drakan would have used up almost all of his Contribution Points to move the Undead army to the Southern Great Forest.

It was only natural, since he had transported a large Northern force all the way to the south and used them for the quest, so a tremendous amount of Contribution Points must have been consumed.

And since Drakan didn’t have time to perform more Undead-related quests to accumulate Contribution Points, Verda’s plan was that the probability of the Undead participating could be ignored.

Karun looked at the horizon.

After the naval battle that Drakan had waged, the paradigm of naval warfare in Ard World had completely changed.

With the advent of aircraft carriers and Merfolk forces, it was now an era of engagements taking place beyond visual range.

Only aircraft carriers could counter aircraft carriers, and to win a naval battle, one had to invest more money.

The so-called Red Queen effect!

That was what was happening on the seas of Ard World.

And this was the reason why Changwang Rio had squeezed out resources and secured support from Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok one last time to build an aircraft carrier.

Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok, driven by his wounded pride, supported Changwang Rio’s words that he would finally behead Drakan and bring down JDG, and in the end, they succeeded in building at least one aircraft carrier.

Karun stared at the churning sea with cold eyes.

Now, beyond the horizon, in that sea, the preliminary skirmish that would determine the outcome of this naval battle would begin.