The Final Boss Has Returned 96

Chapter 96

Having finished all my tasks in Management Mode, I closed the window floating before my eyes.

With this, the cleanup of the North was, for now, complete.

‘It’s about time I head to Monster Land.’

My next destination was already decided.

Monster Land!

It was time to find the place called “Wolf’s Den,” where the Lycansrope tribe had made their last stand.

Should I go alone, or should I call others? Just as I was contemplating the strategy in my head……

A black bat flew from the open gate of the Hall of Glory and transformed into a handsome man with a pale face, kneeling before me.

It was Nosferatu, the Blood King, leader of the vampires.

“Apostle.”

Nosferatu’s voice echoed through the Hall of Glory.

“I have a request.”

“What is it?”

I sensed the scent of a quest from Nosferatu’s words, and he continued speaking.

“For the past two thousand years, our vampire tribe has lived in the shadows of the world, hunted by humans. However, now that you, Apostle, have completed the Dark Sanctuary, if you would grant us permission, our tribe wishes to settle in the Dark Sanctuary, ending our nomadic life.”

Nosferatu recited the facts I already knew from the notification window that appeared when the vampire tribe joined the alliance.

I silently gazed at him without saying a word.

“But for our tribe to settle securely, we need to implement a legendary barrier, the ‘polar night,’ that will eternally shroud our base in darkness, a place where only night reigns.”

And finally, Nosferatu got to the main point.

“We have already acquired the theoretical knowledge and basic materials needed to implement the polar night barrier. However, there is one thing, the Twilight Stone, that our tribe could not obtain on our own. I humbly beseech you, Apostle, to find the Twilight Stone. If you do, our entire tribe will pledge loyalty to you, beyond the duty of the alliance, with a ‘Blood Oath.'”

The moment Nosferatu finished speaking……

A notification window appeared before my eyes as if on cue.

[A quest has occurred.]

[Polar Night]

[Grade: Legendary]

Since the failure of Apostle Sion’s attempt to rebuild the Dark Empire, for the past 2,000 years, the vampire tribe has led a nomadic life, wandering across Ard World without a fixed base, avoiding hunters and the Inquisition of the Church.

After 2,000 years, the Dark Sanctuary has finally been fully realized in the North, and the vampire tribe can finally end their life as wandering recluses.

However, for the vampire tribe to fully settle in the North, they need the mythical barrier magic, Polar Night, to protect them from the curse of the sun.

Along with the Necklace of White Nights, passed down through generations of Blood Kings, the Twilight Stone is needed as the core of the barrier to complete the Polar Night, the protective barrier magic of the vampire tribe.

During their long nomadic life, the vampire tribe has gathered numerous materials, but they could not obtain the Twilight Stone, the core of the barrier.

The Blood King wishes to entrust this matter, upon which the survival of the tribe depends, to you.

Will you accept the quest?

The vampires, who, despite joining the alliance, have not been unlocked as a playable race, unlike the orcs!

The additional quest to unlock this playable race has finally revealed itself.

I frowned slightly as I looked at the description window.

‘Twilight Stone?’

Twilight Stone!

It was an item I had never heard of, even though I had played the game countless times since the previous installment and was well-versed in all the myths and legends of Ard World.

Moreover, since the quest completion condition was fixed on the words ‘Twilight Stone,’ I couldn’t skip the quest by buying any random materials like I did with the Kraken Revival quest.

“I accept your request.”

[Accepting the quest.]

I decided to accept the quest for now.

Regardless of the quest reward, it was advantageous for me to unlock the vampires as a playable race.

Moreover, if my guess about the ‘Faction’ opening written in the Dark Council was correct, unlocking a new race might become even more important in the future, beyond simply forming favorable public opinion by opening up new content.

“Thank you, Apostle.”

Nosferatu bowed his head and expressed his gratitude as I accepted the quest.

I looked at him and said,

“Do you have any clues about the whereabouts of the Twilight Stone?”

It wasn’t like finding a needle in a haystack, but I needed to gather information to find the Twilight Stone unless it was written in the quest information window.

Of course, I had a competent dedicated support team and JDG who were willing to cooperate, but that didn’t mean I had to rely entirely on them for everything.

I had to do my part.

And I knew very well from my long experience as a veteran player that the basic clues to start a quest should be obtained from the quest-starting NPC.

Actually, it wasn’t even veteran experience; it was common sense for any user playing Ard Saga.

“I’m not sure, but I heard a rumor.”

And as expected, a clue emerged from Nosferatu’s mouth.

“What rumor?”

I asked Nosferatu, and he continued his answer.

“A few years ago, there was a rumor that a man named Hero Eugene obtained the Twilight Stone from a dungeon.”

And I was shocked to hear the clue I had just obtained.

Wait, why is the Hero appearing here?

▄ ▄ ▄

In the conference room on the top floor of the Jeil Content Hub building.

There, I sat with Shin Ha-yeon and Ignis, verifying the truth of information that I didn’t want to believe was real.

“The information that Hero Eugene obtained the Twilight Stone has been confirmed to be true. It was a Legendary grade material item obtained as loot after defeating the boss monster ‘Predator of Darkness’ in the dungeon ‘Tomb of the Eclipse,’ which Hero Eugene and the Lightwing Guild raided a year ago in real-time.”

Hero Eugene!

The information from the Blood King Nosferatu, that he possessed the Twilight Stone needed to complete my quest, turned out to be true after being verified by the support team.

“So, it’s true……”

I laughed in disbelief as I heard the information.

That unbelievable information was actually true!

‘No wonder it’s a Legendary grade quest.’

Based on my long gaming experience, the most orthodox strategy intended by the quest was undoubtedly to raid the treasure vault of the Lightwing Guild’s Guild House where this item was likely stored.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for the quest difficulty to be a ‘Legendary’ grade.

The problem was that the Lightwing Guild’s Guild House was located in the capital of the Holy Kingdom, the terrestrial base of the Goddess of Light and the Pantheon, where all the light of the world gathered, a place that was practically the antithesis of me, the contractor of the Demon God.

Simply visiting the capital of the Holy Kingdom wouldn’t be a big deal.

But to commit a crime there, let alone raid the vault of the Lightwing Guild, the number one guild in the world?

It was something you couldn’t do without being crazy.

First of all, putting aside the feasibility, if I even attempted such a thing, I would be bombarded by public opinion, and the tower of public trust I had painstakingly built would crumble completely.

So, clearing the quest this way was impossible.

Then I had to find an alternative.

“If that information is true, then we need to negotiate with that human.”

The alternative was negotiation.

And if the negotiations failed, I would have to find a way to obtain a new Twilight Stone.

“What can we offer Eugene?”

One of the basics of negotiation is exchange.

Just as you need to give to receive, you have to pay the price if you want to get something in return.

“We have more than enough money.”

Shin Ha-yeon immediately replied with a smile at my words.

Money!

As she said, I had an enormous amount of money, almost beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

Of course, it wasn’t my money, but Shin Ha-yeon’s money, but as long as our blood oath relationship continued, her money was as good as mine.

And most things in the world could be solved with money, but the problem was that Eugene was clearly a person who wouldn’t be easily swayed by money.

Moreover, as evidenced by the war with the North, Verda was still subtly wary of me, so the negotiations were bound to be more difficult than expected.

“Anything else?”

“There are a few Legendary grade equipment and material items in JDG’s warehouse. If cash doesn’t work, bartering could be a good option.”

Bartering after cash, huh.

Not a bad card.

After all, the Twilight Stone was only crucial to me; to them, it would be just another one of many Legendary grade material items.

“Is there any information on what the Lightwing Guild wants these days?”

“No.”

Team Leader Lee answered my question.

Finding out what the other party wanted was also one of the basics of negotiation, but to think they didn’t want anything!

Well, it was understandable, considering he was the one who held the hegemony of Ard World, practically the victor in Ard Saga Second.

It wasn’t good news for me, but anyway, after roughly checking our cards and theirs, I ran a few simulations in my head.

What should I offer in the negotiation, and what should I receive?

I prided myself on being one of the people who knew Eugene best in this world, and I knew everything about him, from his personality to his smallest habits.

The reason I knew this was obvious.

Eugene, he was the target I had to defeat and take revenge on, so I needed to know everything about his every move.

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat. I needed to know him well to be able to take him down.

In that sense, I put myself in Eugene’s shoes and considered all the scenarios and possibilities, including negotiations, and finally, after finding the optimal negotiation plan, I smiled.

“I found a way. We’ll start negotiations with Lightwing right now. Team Leader Lee, contact Lightwing Entertainment. Tell them we want to purchase the Twilight Stone.”

“Understood.”

Team Leader Lee nodded at my instructions and immediately made a call, and soon the reply came back.

“They want Drakan-nim to come to Lightwing Entertainment in person.”

I chuckled at those words.

It was obvious that they were trying to engage in a petty power struggle.

This kind of dirty and childish attempt to gain the upper hand was definitely not Eugene’s idea, but Verda’s doing, without a doubt.

“Tell them I’ll go. Right now.”

Since they were cutely trying to engage in a power struggle, I had to respond by pushing forward the negotiation time.

Team Leader Lee nodded at my words and made another call right there, and soon the answer came back.

“They say they will arrange a meeting.”

After hearing that, I stood up and said.

“Shin Ha-yeon.”

“Yes, Drakan-nim.”

Shin Ha-yeon, called by me, smiled.

Her eyes seemed to find the current situation interesting.

“And Ignis.”

“You called?”

Ignis responded politely to me as usual.

I looked at Shin Ha-yeon and Ignis looking at me and said,

“Both of you will come with me to Lightwing Entertainment right now. Follow me.”

“Yes!”

“Understood.”

Leaving Shin Ha-yeon, who stood up and subtly linked her arm with mine while busily texting on her smartphone, I went down to the first floor of the Jeil Content Hub building with Ignis behind me.

And there, the Bentley that Shin Ha-yeon always rode in was neatly parked right in front of the building entrance.

“Welcome, Executive Director-nim, Drakan-nim.”

Secretary Kim, Shin Ha-yeon’s chief of staff and closest confidante, bowed politely to Shin Ha-yeon and me while wearing sunglasses.

Shin Ha-yeon looked at him with an expression that seemed to ask for praise and whispered to me.

“I had him prepare in advance. Did I do well?”

“Yes.”

Looking at Shin Ha-yeon smiling at my answer, I got in the car with her and Ignis.

Now, it was time to set the stage in earnest.