◈ Episode 474. Monarch? Beyond (1)

The system message was broadcast throughout the radius of the Dragon Cry’s echoes. Meaning that it was safe to say that virtually every player on the Arcana continent had heard it.

“Dragon Lord Dark Dragon Lee Hoyeol……?”

“What, Lee Hoyeol’s class was Dragon Lord?!”

“Class? So the Dark Dragon is just a modifier or something?”

“I don’t know about class or anything, but isn’t it amazing? Whether he’s a Dragon Lord or a Dark Dragon, it’s a whole different level from a Dragon Knight, Skal, I feel sorry for him.”

“More than that, did you see them? They just flew into the sky!”

Three Dragons.

And a single Dark Dragon, larger than all three of them combined, streaked through the skies above the Arcana continent, a spectacle that some had even recorded.

He pressed play and the dragons came alive on the screen.

“Wow, that’s a good shot……. What a waste that this is the Arcana continent. If it were real, we could have a live stream to show the world how amazing this is.”

“Well, we could go back and upload it to NetTube.”

“Yeah. It doesn’t have to be live, it’ll get tons of views.”

Let’s see, the title of the video didn’t need any fancy packaging.

It was just the message that came to mind.

‘Dragon Lord Dark Dragon Lee Hoyeol’ would be enough.

“Well, shouldn’t someone in the world know about this?!”

A moment of conversation that would make ‘someone’ cringe.

“Hey, I thought the meeting was over?”

Finally, the executives of the Holy War Alliance emerged from their makeshift barracks. Apparently, the roaring Dragon Cry had energized them as well.

“You guys look different when you come out than when you went in.”

“Of course! The Commander-in-chief joined us, right?”

“Isn’t that right? His mere presence is comforting.”

Dawn’s set effect.

The morale, which had reached its peak, was beginning to take effect.

But it wasn’t a false sense of security.

Even if no one else noticed.

‘……Nam Taemin, you shouldn’t be so relaxed.’

Nam Taemin, who was making a promise to himself, whispered softly.

“Hyung.”

“Eh?”

“Commander-in-Chief. Mr. Hoyeol, he is not different from usual, right?”

He suddenly said something.

“Well, it’s true, I’m still not used seeing him to having long hair.”

Nam Cheolmin burst out laughing.

Literally.

Hoyeol hadn’t changed except for the long hair.

Taemin nodded at his trusty older brother’s words.

“Yeah. If you say so, it must be.”

……Yes.

But whose smell was that foreign scent he smelled that day? The Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Hoyeol, said it was just because he wasn’t used to the newly acquired skill.

‘I wonder if it’s really just the effect of a simple skill.’

Grandfell Claudi…….

Hereafter omitted.

What does that long name mean?

Barbarian.

Is it simply an effect of an ignorant class?

If not, is it because they are blood relatives?

“Something’s bothering you?”

Nam Cheolmin could read the concern on his brother’s stiff face.

Of course, he didn’t ask for details.

If it was something he could share, Taemin would have.

He would have been the first to tell Cheolmin.

Nam Cheolmin shrugged his shoulders.

“I guess I’ll have to work harder for this.”

“……Suddenly? Hyung, what?”

“Nothing.”

So the only thing he could do for his brother.

As an analyst, all he could do was give his best.

He pulled out his tablet and went over the plan again.

“Think about it, Taemin. Unlike the usual rampage of demons and giants, the goal of this battle is simple, right? If we succeed in the Great Monster Raid, that’s it.”

Nam Taemin immediately understood the meaning.

“If that’s the end, then what happens after that……?”

“Yeah, we’re free to do whatever we want, right?”

“What if we don’t succeed, we can go to the other side?”

“Sure, if you’re sure you won’t be a burden.”

“That’s unconditional!”

Interrupting the brothers’ conversation was.

The other two pillars of the Great Alliance.

Hisagi and Leonie.

“We’re going to have to work on this, Leonie-chan.”

“Do what?”

“We’re going to have to break out of our shells somehow in this Great Monster Raid if we don’t want to be left behind by the Taemin Army, which is forging ahead on its own. Let’s go knock on Anomaly’s door together.”

“……What does this mean?”

Leonie was stunned for a moment.

Then, the Holy War Alliance scattered to their positions.

Not overlooking the weight of Hoyeol, who alone carried the weight of a continent.

But including Nam Taemin.

No one in the Holy War Alliance.

It was not possible to advance to the south of Antonium, where Hoyeol was located.

A view that could see a thousand miles.

Players acting as scouts.

They saw the Great Monsters on the horizon.

No, they’d caught sight of the Great Monsters.

“Wait. Those bastards, something’s wrong!”

The threat of a multi-boss raid was looming.

*

AAU Korea Branch.

Unfortunately.

Reality and the Arcana continent were two completely different worlds.

We couldn’t exchange information and news in real-time.

Sung muttered softly.

“If you’re the General Manager of Yusra, I’m sure it’s possible…….”

Mr. Yusra was the General Manager who could open a portal by himself and go in and out of reality and the Arcana continent. Talking to him in real time would be like lying down and eating rice cakes.

“He wouldn’t have time for that.”

Lee Hoyeol, Yusra’s general manager and player.

He’s not above bragging about his accomplishments.

Ever since he made his appearance.

Didn’t He ever lose his original intention?

Yoon Soogyeom replied.

“If he wanted achievements or something, he would have made the player ranking information public first, because there’s no way to intuitively prove his strength than rankings.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“Well, he does believe that levels are just numbers in the first place. Okay, enough about the General Manager, who is still working on it……. So what does everyone think?”

The conference room.

The two weren’t having their usual banter.

Emergency Update.

A big one, and one that could put food on the table.

The AAU members’ eyes were more energized than tired.

Isn’t it inevitable?

Yoon Soogyeom smirked.

“Hyunjoon, you’ve changed since you tasted the Magic Tower water, haven’t you?”

It was AAU, a group that was strangely treated as a villain.

I couldn’t really complain about that.

It was true.

But.

“Do you see it, senior?”

“Yeah, you’re a real eyesore, aren’t you?”

“I’ve been treated as a guest of honor at the Magic Tower, I have to work hard!”

With Hoyeol taking over as the general manager of Yusra.

AAU was also organized into the Holy War Alliance.

The negative reviews of the past began to fade away.

“Well, we have to do something about it!”

“The players are fighting four times as hard as we are, and I want to help them in any way I can. They put us in the same boat with nowhere to go.”

“That’s right, it’s better now than when we’re on the road!”

“……Hyunjoon, that’s a bit much.”

Even Yoon Soogyeom disagreed with Sung Hyunjoon’s last words.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t trying hard.

Perhaps because of that, the meeting turned out to be productive.

“As you know, boss monsters are different. Even if they’re the same level as normal monsters, their health is on a different level. It makes sense. They’re the kind of monsters that require dozens or hundreds of players of similar levels to take down.”

“Yeah, the directing that goes along with it is also considerable.”

“Yeah, they basically change the field.”

If so, it was natural to have one concern.

“At least 1,000 levels. Well, if it’s just one, how can tens of thousands of people rush in to offset the level difference, because there’s no business in quantity, but if it’s more than one……?”

Yoon Soogyeom replied heavily.

“They might crash into each other.”

Once the developer of the Arcana continent biography.

It was an idea he could only come up with because he was an employee of AAU.

Sung stuttered.

“That’s right, isn’t it? Having more than one boss monster in a field was a taboo even back in the days of Arcana Continent Biography because we don’t know what the consequences would be if their influences clashed!”

Sung nodded in agreement.

“So, isn’t that setting also vague? Like, the Great Monsters are so strong that they recognize each other and avoid each other by themselves……?”

He might be right.

“If he wasn’t in the update history.”

“If it’s him……?”

“Oxidin, Lord of the Great Monsters.”

Sung’s guess was sharp.

Boss monsters might have an instinct to avoid each other.

But what if they were moving under orders they couldn’t refuse?

Yoon pursed his lips ominously.

“Maybe……. taboo from the Arcana continent’s pre-electric era has already been broken, and what consequences that will bring, is anyone’s guess.”

*

Southern Antonium.

[Achievement: Ride the Dragon, King of All Things]

[Effect : Increases proficiency with all mounts to maximum]

[Duration: Passive]

I stood stiffly atop the head of the Dark Dragon and looked around.

Behind me, the Behemoth’s maw still gapes open in a vicious fashion. In front of me, the Great Monsters are slowly revealing themselves. And finally, beside me.

“Krrr.”

There are still Dragons who have not yet escaped the influence of evil……!

Now that’s a chilling thought.

One dragon would have been enough to make me try to pretend like I was not doing anything wrong.

But there are three.

‘……I’m not sure I can handle them if they attack.’

So naturally, my gaze shifts.

‘Dark Dragon. How did you do it?’

To the Dark Dragon, my legend materialized.

I did give up the Dragon Lord’s throne to you, my alter ego.

I didn’t expect much, to be honest.

My Dark Dragon legend is too much of a bubble.

But it’s clear that the power of a legend depends purely on how far it reverberates……. So it seems that the Dark Dragon is fully capable of handling the Dragon Lord’s abilities.

Of course.

“Do not weep, my kin.”

Even the Dark Dragon snout was grandiose, befitting my alter ego.

“The earth doesn’t want rain yet.”

……Yes, when dragons cry, it does rain.

I thought they were crying in a different sense.

Anyway, you’re amazing, Dark Dragon.

You’re not a hidden class for nothing.

The King of All Things.

The power to make a dragon follow you, even one that’s been driven insane by evil, is something to behold, even if all three of them are Hatchelings. It’s why I’ve declared myself the Great Monster of the South, single-handedly.

Flickering Vision.

[The Great Monster, the ‘Tortoise of the Great Armor’, appears on the Arcana continent].

[The Great Monster, ‘Mythical Horse’, appears on the Arcana continent].

[The Great Monster, ‘Serpent of the Sunrise’, appears on the Arcana continent].

The Great Monsters reveal themselves.

Each of them is bigger than most hills.

It was strange to see them advance in such a friendly manner. But that would be Oxidin’s [『Anomaly』], who was reborn as a tyrant.

That’s why I went out alone.

To crush that arrogant Oxidin’s eccentricity head-on.

I parted my lips.

“Isn’t that funny?”

I’m glad no one’s listening, I thought.

“To command no one’s respect. The self-proclaimed lord of the monsters. But even that is extremely crude.”

So much so that if someone was listening, a controversy over his personality would be raised.

You don’t hold back on the harsh words, Grandfell.

But for once, you’re right.

‘I have to do at least this much’

Why have Oxidin and the Great Monster gone on the rampage?

As a new dark side of the Arcana Continent, it was intended to turn all VR players of the Arcana Continent into enemies. That must be the direction of the update Raymon Sean wants.

So I had to destroy it.

‘I had to destroy it so that he wouldn’t have any more false ideas.’

Raymon Sean is already no different from a demon.

No mercy, of course.

Not to mention the intensity of the punishment.

‘So, who’s the Great Monster?’

Krrrrrrrr!

The ferocious Dragon Cry echoed across the continent.

A Dragon, the king of all things, who has lost his senses.

A giant turtle, a horse, and a snake.

Do you think it’s right to call yourself a Great Monster?

‘And what?’

Hidden class, Tyrant?

I don’t know what you’re capable of.

Whatever it is, can it outperform a Dragon Lord, Hidden Class?

‘Because this is a whole new level of difficulty.’

And finally.

Oxidin, if you’ve only just stepped into the realm of the Anomaly.

I am already the 『Great Master of Anomaly』.

“Keep silent.”

So even if it’s disappointing.

Don’t even think about begging to learn from me, Oxidin.

There is no place for you in my pulpit.

Yes, the discipline that begins this hour is not for you.

“Remember.”

The three dragons closed their mouths.

To the young hatchlings.

I chanted as if teaching.

“Stand upright and witness.”

To the young dragons, I said…….

“This is the posture of a king overlooking all things.”

You’re instilling good taste, Grandfell……!