The Final Boss Has Returned 95

Chapter 95

[Welcome to Ard Saga Second, user.]

Upon connecting to the Ard World with that stiff message, I took a teleport gate from Lawless Port to the North.

Snow Castle, the central hub of the North.

Walking through the streets where the once snow-white walls had turned completely black thanks to the declaration of the Dark Sanctuary, I entered the Winter Palace, which was similarly stained black.

Passing the Undead guarding the palace, I entered the Hall of Glory and sat on the blackened ice throne.

“Regional Information.”

[North]

[Development Level: Intermediate Level 2]

[The northern region of the Ard World, bordered by the Skyreach Mountains and Monster Land.]

[Historically home to rough warriors, the Druids who are protectors of nature, and the warlike maritime people, the Vikings. The people are rough and gruff, but boisterous and very warlike.]

[Military: A] [The Undead King and his fearless Undead army are powerful. They are comparable to the Imperial Army, said to be the strongest in the world.]

[Economy: C+] [The economy is very poor.]

[Public Order: A] [Public order is maintained by fear. The residents are trembling in fear.]

[Culture: D] [Culture is poor. There is a lack of entertainment.]

[Population: 45,122,420]

[Funds Held: 121,612,343,210 Gold]

[Monthly Income: 21,123,750,000 Gold]

[Special Notes]

[Eternal winter has arrived. The seasonal change is fixed to ‘Winter’.]

[The land is barren. Population carrying capacity is low.]

[The residents fear you, the new ruler of the North who commands the Undead and monsters. Due to the residents’ fear, loyalty is temporarily increased.]

[Major Cities]

[Snow Castle] [Skeletal Castle] [Neverfreeze Port]……

The Regional Information window popped up as soon as the words finished!

The information window, which contained information on the entire Northern region, was exactly as I expected.

Especially the finances were a mess.

This was because the North’s funds, which should have been at least one hundred billion gold, had only sixty billion gold left.

‘It seems like Rio waged war.’

And I knew very well where the North’s poor finances came from.

War!

It wasn’t just any war, but a war where they had poured all of the North’s power, a war that was like an all-in bet in gambling, and they had lost.

War was a very expensive business and a gamble where you lose everything if you lose.

As I was contemplating while looking at the Northern information window.

A notification window appeared in front of me.

[You have secured sufficient territory and influence to affect the Ard World.]

[You can build a nation.]

[Will you declare the founding of a nation?]

It was the nation declaration notification!

Considering that traditionally the North had not been able to advance to a strong centralized state and remained at the tribal federation stage, if I established a kingdom in the North, it would be the first centralized nation built in the North in the Ard World.

Perhaps what Rio aimed for was also to build a nation in the North.

Just like in the previous game, the final goal to make a big splash in Ard Saga was to grow in size and build a nation.

Thinking so, I looked at the notification window and said.

“Declare.”

[Please name the nation.]

A name. In the previous game, because I usurped the throne of an existing nation through rebellion, there was no need to name the nation, and I used the name ‘Kingdom of Saxony’ until I unified the continent, but not now.

And more than anything, I already had a name in mind.

“Iron Blood Kingdom.”

I haven’t forgotten the pledge I made when I returned after five long years of tuna fishing on a deep-sea fishing vessel, watching Eugene’s interview at Busan Station.

Steel Monarch Drakan!

And the pledge that the Iron Blood Alliance would return to the Ard World.

So, the name of the country I would build was already decided.

Iron Blood Alliance!

I was going to spread the name that once dominated the world alongside the Guild Alliance throughout the Ard World once again.

[Are you sure you want to name the nation ‘Iron Blood Kingdom’?]

“Yes.”

The moment I answered the notification window’s question.

[The Iron Blood Kingdom has been founded.]

[Iron Blood Kingdom]

[The Iron Blood Kingdom is a newly established kingdom that encompasses the entire northern region of the Ard World, Lawless Port, and the Pirate Archipelago, and is the first nation established by an outsider in the Ard World after the Great Cataclysm.]

[The Iron Blood Kingdom, centered around the North where the Dark Sanctuary has been declared, is a newly established nation centered around the forces of darkness, including Black Magicians, Undead, Merfolk, Orcs, Vampires, and Dark Elves.]

[The capital of the Iron Blood Kingdom is Snow Castle.]

[New possibilities have opened up in the Ard World. Participate in the new history.]

[You are the first to establish a nation in the Ard World.]

[You have achieved the achievement ‘Father of the Nation’.]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

……

[Level Up!]

[All stats increased by 334.]

[Fame increased by 10345.]

[Acquired the title ‘King of the Iron Blood Kingdom’.]

[The Dark God is greatly pleased.]

[The Dark God sponsors 100,000 points.]

Messages endlessly poured in as soon as the Iron Blood Kingdom was established!

I smiled as I read the messages.

[Drakan-nim, congratulations.]

At that moment.

Shin Ha-yeon’s whisper reached my ears.

The fact that a congratulatory message arrived before I even told her about the founding of the nation meant one thing.

It meant that the notification of my declaration of nationhood had been displayed to all users connected to the Ard World.

Well, it was the same in the previous game, so it would be the same in Second.

[Congratulations, Drakan-nim.]

This time, the whisper was from Ignis.

I responded appropriately to the whispers that flew in and turned on Snow Castle’s Management Mode.

As soon as I turned on Management Mode, a holographic bird’s-eye view of Snow Castle appeared in front of me, and an information window popped up.

[Snow Castle]

[Development Level: Intermediate Level 9]

[The Castle of Snow, Snow Castle, has served as the central city of the North since its pioneering by the Archdruid Kazan 2,000 years ago. It is the largest city in the North and a fortress city with complete defense facilities.]

[It is the capital of the newly established Iron Blood Kingdom.]

[Its symbolic importance as the capital has further increased the importance of Snow Castle within the North.]

[The value of land near Snow Castle is rising.]

[It is the capital of the newly established Iron Blood Kingdom.]

[Military: A] [The Lion’s Army is very powerful.]

[Economy: B] [It has the highest level of economic power in the North.]

[Public Order: A] [There are not many people with the audacity to commit crimes in front of the Undead.]

[Culture: D] [The culture that the residents can enjoy is very poor.]

[Population: 522,420]

[Funds Held: 62,343,210 Gold]

[Monthly Income: 1,750,000 Gold]

[Special Notes]

[It is the central hub of the North and the capital of the Iron Blood Kingdom. Due to the capital buff, the construction speed of facilities is temporarily increased by 10%.]

[There was minor damage to the walls and major facilities due to the siege. Facility repairs are required.]

[The residents fear you, the new ruler of the North who commands the Undead and monsters. Due to the residents’ fear, loyalty is temporarily increased.]

[View Major Facilities]

[Walls – Most infrastructure is intact.]

[Training Ground – Minor damage.]

……

Overall, the Northern region was underdeveloped, but the fact that even the city I chose as my capital had a lower development level than Lawless Port was truly a serious issue.

I first turned on the facility management window and checked all the facilities that needed repair.

[Total Repair Cost: 5,000,000 Gold]

[Do you wish to proceed with the repairs?]

Unlike Lawless Port, the repair costs were surprisingly low because I didn’t burn the entire city down during the siege.

“Proceed.”

[Proceeding with repairs.]

[Estimated Total Repair Completion Time: 7 days]

[Once the repairs are complete, Snow Castle will be restored to its original state.]

I waved my hand to dismiss the repair progress notification and immediately brought up the list of constructible buildings.

[Catacombs] [Grade: Mythical]

[An underground cemetery where Necromancers reside and explore immortality and death.]

[Unlocks Necromancer Class Change Quest (Excluding Undead Race)]

[Necromancer related item trading]

[Distribution of Necromancer Class Skills]

[Dark Knight Order Training Ground]

[A place of struggle and training where young recruits awaken their Dark Aura through bone-breaking training to become true Dark Knights.]

[Construction Cost: 30,000,000 Gold]

[Estimated Construction Time: 10 days]

[Unlocks Dark Knight Class Change Quest (Excluding Undead Race)]

[Distribution of Dark Knight Class Skills]

[Black Ring Society Branch]

[A branch of the Black Ring Society, created by a gathering of Black Magicians. Black Magician class change is possible, but you must go to the Black Tower in Lawless Port to purchase intermediate or higher skills and items.]

[Unlocks Black Magician Class Change Quest]

[Black Magician related item trading (Below Intermediate Level)]

[Distribution of Black Magician Class Skills (Below Intermediate Level)]

[Dark Temple] [Grade: Legendary]

[A temple dedicated to the Dark God, a center of faith towards the great darkness, and a place where Dark Priests reside.]

[Unlocks Dark Priest Class Change Quest (Inactive)]

[Unlocks Faction: Dark Church (Inactive)]

[Praying to and making offerings to the statue of the Dark God can grant blessings.]

[Unlocks Dark God related quests.]

[Grants combat power bonus in the surrounding area to specific races and factions.]

[Dark Council] [Grade: Legendary]

[A place where members of the ancient alliance, who formed an alliance with the Ancient Dark Empire during the era of the Ancient Dark Empire, gather to hold meetings and discuss the future of the forces of darkness.]

[Council of Darkness: Allows real-time video conferencing with the leaders of allied races and factions through magic communication crystal balls.]

[Unlocks Faction: Dark Alliance (Inactive)]

I selected the useful buildings from the list of constructible buildings.

First, the Catacombs and the Dark Knight Order Training Ground!

These were buildings that could allow characters of races other than the Undead to change classes to Necromancer and Dark Knight.

Originally, I had planned to build them in Lawless Port after receiving support for the class instructor NPCs from the Undead King and completing the Dark Elf quest, but thanks to Rio’s declaration of war, the construction plan was delayed, and I hadn’t been able to build them yet.

They were buildings that were originally planned to be built in Lawless Port, but now that I had taken over the entire North and Snow Castle had become the capital of my kingdom, it was much better to build these buildings in Snow Castle rather than Lawless Port for the development of the North.

Moreover, the popularity of the casino in Lawless Port was increasing day by day, and it was becoming even more developed in connection with the Pirate Archipelago, so it would be fine to leave it as it is for the time being.

As for the Dark Temple, although I hadn’t found the related quest yet, its functions were decent, so I had to build it.

What caught my attention more than that was the function of the Dark Council.

‘Faction?’

This was because the word ‘Faction’, which I had never seen before in the system, had appeared.

If it was a faction, it would have been written as ‘Faction’, but there must be a reason why it was specifically written as ‘Faction’.

Judging from the fact that the Dark Alliance would be unlocked, it could be a word that meant an ancient alliance, but the meaning of ‘Faction’ attached to the front was a word that even I, who had played Ard Saga countless times, couldn’t even begin to guess.

However, based on other games, I could speculate that ‘Faction’ was a concept that encompassed factions, a higher level of something, and that I might have found a clue to the competition system between factions, commonly referred to as ‘RvR’ in games.

If the RvR system was really added to Ard Saga Second, perhaps the expansion of power I was planning would turn out to be even more advantageous for me.

Thinking that far, I smiled and checked all the facilities to be built.

[Total Construction Cost: 90,000,000 Gold]

[Do you wish to proceed with the construction?]

“Proceed.”

[Proceeding with construction.]

[Development level has increased due to a large-scale development project.]