Chapter 84

Changes were also occurring in the sky.

[Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]

Bone Dragon!

And the Arch Lich riding on top of it!

As soon as the two monsters appeared, the tide of the aerial battle, which was already unfavorable for the Northern Army, was completely decided at that moment.

The enemy wyverns’ movements became sluggish due to the fear exuded by the Bone Dragon, and the wyvern riders had to face death from the magic cast by the Arch Lich.

As a result, the enemy wyvern riders who had been engaging in dogfights before the Bone Dragon appeared were all eliminated, and the aerial battle ended in a complete victory for the Eastern side.

‘Is that the Bone Dragon I’ve only heard rumors about?’

FlyingMan inwardly exclaimed as he gazed at the Bone Dragon, which was so massive it resembled an airship, incomparable to Drake.

If an Undead Dragon that wasn’t even a real dragon was this impressive, just how powerful was a real dragon?

FlyingMan, marveling at the Bone Dragon’s majestic appearance, secretly regretted not joining Drakan’s Northern Expedition.

At that very moment.

Splash! Whoosh!

A ship rose from the surface of the water.

Ghost Ship!

The Ghost Fleet, commanded by Ghost Admiral Nelson, had finally concluded the underwater battle and emerged.

As FlyingMan watched the scene, Drakan’s whisper reached his ears.

[The battles underwater and in the air are all finished.]

Drakan!

Just as he said, the Mermaids were completely defeated in the underwater battle.

The Ghost Fleet!

It was because they hadn’t anticipated their participation.

The Mermaid army, whose power balance had been completely overturned and turned into a disadvantage due to the Ghost Fleet’s participation, was defeated. Their guardian beast, the White Whale, was struck by Kraken’s lightning and met its demise, and the Mermaid Queen Siren was pierced by Merfolk King Nereus’s spear and died.

A truly overwhelming victory!

Merfolk King Nereus, who had achieved a perfect victory against his arch-enemy, the Mermaids, was excited.

However, all of this was ultimately a preliminary skirmish.

The enemy fleet was still intact!

In order to completely conclude the naval battle, they had to burn down the entire enemy fleet.

[The preliminary skirmish is over. Let’s start the main game.]

Hearing his cold voice, FlyingMan drove his Red Drake forward again.

Following FlyingMan were the Bone Dragon, the wyvern squadron, the Ghost Fleet, and the Merfolk army underwater.

▄ ▄ ▄

The fleet was burning.

Black King Karun gritted his teeth as he watched the Bone Dragon rampaging in the sky and the Merfolk emerging from the depths of the ocean.

The Viking ships, known as the rulers of the Northern Sea and masters of naval warfare, were all ablaze.

Of course, the Northern Army had prepared sufficient anti-air defenses, and the ballistae mounted on each ship were responsible for the fleet’s air defense. However, against the Bone Dragon, ballistae couldn’t inflict any significant damage.

Therefore, the Northern Army was helplessly exposed to the magic bombardment of the enemy air force, led by the Bone Dragon.

Boom! Crash!

The warships that the Vikings boasted of were burning, and the Vikings, the fierce warriors of the Northern Sea, were dying meaninglessly without even swinging their swords.

The enemy air force, led by the Bone Dragon, ravaged the fleet as if the sky were their home. The Vikings, unable to contain their rage, fired their ballistae, but the Bone Dragon absorbed all the ballista attacks, making it impossible to land a decisive blow.

Moreover, the enemy wasn’t just in the sky.

Thud!

Whoosh!

Merfolk persistently attacking the bottom of the ships from underwater, the marine monsters they commanded, and finally, Kraken, rising from the depths of the sea to shatter the ships!

The Vikings panicked and fumbled with the attacks coming from both the sky and the sea. Their prepared explosives, harpoons, and ballistae were destroyed one by one, and the warships of the Northern Fleet began to sink one after another.

That wasn’t all.

Boom! Crash!

The presence of the Ghost Fleet, firing cannons from afar, was enough to irritate the Vikings.

Of course, amidst this chaotic battle, the Frostflight, the ship Karun was on, wasn’t unscathed.

An aircraft carrier without air power was bound to become a large target.

However, it wasn’t the Eastern air force, including FlyingMan, that was giving Frostflight a nightmare.

Arch Lich!

It was because that monstrous monster, landing on the deck after riding the Bone Dragon, had summoned the Undead and unleashed h*ll on the aircraft carrier.

From low-level Undead like zombies, skeletons, and ghouls to Death Knights!

An army of Undead, literally deserving to be called a legion, answered the Arch Lich’s call and quickly took control of the deck. Suddenly, Black King Karun was surrounded by Undead.

“Drakan……”

Black King Karun muttered Drakan’s name in a low voice, smashing the head of an Undead charging towards him with a swing of his greatsword.

The naval battle was already lost.

He didn’t know what trick Drakan had used, but he had summoned an Undead army, and the preliminary skirmish, contrary to expectations, ended in a complete defeat for the North.

He thought the Mermaids would win the underwater battle, even if they were inferior in the air.

This was because Karun knew that objectively, the Mermaids’ power was superior to that of the Merfolk.

That’s why Karun had readily responded to the enemy’s attack.

Although the enemy had air superiority, they couldn’t avoid taking damage, but if they won the underwater battle, they could inflict significant damage to the enemy fleet with their underwater forces.

It was a strategy of giving flesh to take bone.

However, contrary to Karun’s expectations, the Undead joined the underwater battle, resulting in a complete defeat for the Mermaids. As a result, all the strategies Karun had devised were shattered from the ground up.

Karun’s gaze turned to the Arch Lich.

A terrifying magical power emanated from the Arch Lich’s body, its empty eye sockets burning with blue flames.

Karun closed his eyes tightly and opened them again.

Arch Lich.

He had to survive now against a monster that clearly showed hostility towards him, a monster with power equal to or greater than his own, an Over-Ranker.

The moment Karun gripped the hilt of his greatsword and cut down a Death Knight.

Boom!

A deafening roar echoed around him.

Splash!

A wave as big as a house swept over the deck he was on.

‘What’s this?’

As Karun tried to grasp the situation amidst the sudden wave that swept across the entire deck.

“You are the outsider called Karun.”

As the wave receded, a Merfolk with shimmering golden scales stood on the deck, tapping the deck with his spear, his red crown glinting as he gazed at him intently.

Karun looked at the Merfolk and muttered in a low voice.

“Merfolk King……”

Merfolk King Nereus!

A powerful NPC known to possess power equivalent to an Over-Ranker, just like the Arch Lich!

Now that they had two Over-Ranker level forces, his chances of survival had dwindled to single digits.

[Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa!]

A tremendous wind swirled in the sky as if a helicopter were landing.

Thud!

The deck trembled.

Bone Dragon!

The skeletal dragon’s body landed on the aircraft carrier filled with corpses.

And from atop the dragon’s neck, a knight clad in black armor suddenly leaped down.

Karun’s eyes trembled as he witnessed the sight.

‘Black Knight Commander.’

The most powerful Death Knight, and a powerhouse on par with the Arch Lich and the Merfolk King!

With two powerhouses already overwhelming him, the addition of one more meant his chances of survival were practically nonexistent.

Karun gritted his teeth.

He wasn’t afraid of death, of permanent character deletion.

As a member of the Top 10 in the previous game and an Over-Ranker in Second, he had accumulated enough wealth as a top Dark Gamer to last him several lifetimes.

Even if he went crazy and deleted his character right now, his livelihood wouldn’t be affected at all.

But it wasn’t his livelihood that Karun feared.

‘I failed to carry out His order properly.’

Eugene!

He wanted to protect the world Eugene had created.

That was his unwavering belief since he supported the World Revolution six years ago.

Of course, if Eugene were to become corrupt like Drakan, Karun would readily turn his blade against him. However, for the past six years, Eugene hadn’t become corrupt, and Ard World was functioning well.

He accepted Verda’s request to k*ll Drakan and pretended to have no connection with her, all for the sake of protecting the current Ard World.

Because there was no one more untrustworthy and dangerous in this world than Drakan!

Verda wanted to clip Drakan’s wings, and Karun willingly became her hidden blade, aiming for Drakan’s wings.

But today, that blade was on the verge of breaking without even cutting anything.

Karun raised his head and looked at the three monsters pressuring him.

There was no chance of winning.

But there was a good chance he could take one of them with him to the underworld.

A life already thrown away, if he could just weaken Drakan’s forces by one, he could become a blade that breaks after cutting, even if it’s just a scratch.

The moment Karun made up his mind.

A spatial rift appeared next to the Arch Lich.

And from beyond the rift, a man in black armor walked out, step by step.

A low voice escaped Karun’s lips as he saw the figure.

“Drakan.”

▄ ▄ ▄

As soon as I passed through the portal created by the Arch Lich, the sight that greeted me was Black King Karun staring at me with a cold gaze.

“Drakan.”

A cold voice escaped Karun’s lips.

Simultaneously, the chat window in my view exploded with messages.

[Karun lol]

[Whoa, it’s Karun?]

[It’s been years since the World Revolution, seeing him on stream lol]

[What the heck lol]

[Gotta love a good brawl!]

[Wow, backstabbing right here. As expected of the Black King lol]

[Karun sided with Eugene during the World Revolution~]

[Really? Wow, enemies meet on a narrow road, as they say lol]

[This is so exciting;]

[Honestly, Karun can’t k*ll Drakan now. With the Arch Lich, the Black Knight Commander, and the Merfolk King present, even Karun can’t handle all three;]

[Agreed, Karun is totally screwed]

Black King Karun!

As a member of the Top 10 in the previous game, he was a long-time named user, so his appearance alone drew attention to the broadcast, and the chat window was filled with talk about Karun.

I tuned out the chat window.

Unless Eugene appeared, there was no need for me to pay attention to the chat window.

And given the content of the broadcast I was running, there was a high probability that Eugene wouldn’t join my stream, unlike usual.

I turned my gaze towards Karun.

Karun, as a member of the Top 10 in the previous game, was someone I was somewhat acquainted with.

Dark Gamer.

To be precise, in the previous game, most of the top-ranked players, including guilds, could be considered Dark Gamers, so the user who could be called the pinnacle of solo Dark Gamers was Karun.

Of course, unlike now, Dark Gamers back then weren’t mercenaries but players who made a living by selling in-game currency such as items and gold, so Karun similarly conquered high-level dungeons and sold or auctioned off items.

I even remembered purchasing a few items he had sold in the past.

Of course, those good old days faded when Karun supported the World Revolution and joined the Revolutionary Army, but in any case, his appearance remained the same as before.

A handsome man with a somewhat decadent aura, he stood before me, just like in the old days, clad in black armor and wielding a massive greatsword, his face expressionless.

“It’s been a while, Karun.”

I smiled as I looked at Karun.

At that moment, Karun’s lips twitched slightly.

Just like in the old days, Karun remained expressionless, but I could easily read his inner turmoil.

“I heard that the main activity of Dark Gamers in Second has shifted from selling items to mercenary work?”

As soon as I finished speaking, the chat window flooded with messages.

[Dark Gamer is such an outdated term lol]

[Clickety-clack, doesn’t anyone smell a previous game player here?]

[lol These days, Dark Gamers are just dungeon fillers, item sellers, and bus drivers, what’s so dark about them?]

[He would have earned more if he just streamed]

[Those kinds of guys have no sense, they can’t make money even if they stream]

[True. That’s why famous Dark Gamers either quit or became raid players]

The chat messages clearly revealed the changed perception of Dark Gamers, but that wasn’t what mattered to me.

“So, who hired you?”