Chapter 1003 The Final Stretch (Part 1)

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Frozen Kingdom

Shin and the others were currently recuperating at the Frozen City when the mages suddenly noticed the sudden change in their surroundings. The mana mixed in the air was constantly getting restless as if something big was about to come.

Not long after, they saw a silhouette floating right above the city, seemingly overlooking everything.

When the group noticed that person, they quickly picked up themselves from the ground and went into formation to get ready for battle.

All of them seemed to be full of wary as they could sense the overwhelming power coming from the owner of the silhouette. There might be a considerable distance between them and that person, but they could tell that they were powerless in front of them.

That person seemed to possess a power that could hold the world in their hands. Something that they could only feel from absolute existence.

Among the group, the ones who had the most reaction were Leonard, Arthur, Cloe, and Zero. They were all representatives of their respective NPC organizations, so they already met a powerful being that could make them completely powerless. And those supreme beings were the current leaders of the organizations that they represented.

Right now, they could feel that the person floating in the sky was at least as strong as those absolute beings.

Seeing their anxiousness, Shin chuckled a little before saying to them. "You guys can relax a little. He is indeed the Ruler of this land, the Vampire Primogenitor Dracula, and the final boss we must defeat."

"But that is for the latter, what we really need to worry about right now is Immortal and the Guardian Dragon that he is planning to corrupt," he added while stretching his waist.

"Can't we just go and stop him from doing that? We know where the Guardian Dragon is currently sealed," said Leonard with a frown.

"I've already explained it earlier, we need him to awaken the dragon to complete Arthur's Empire Quest. Moreover, without that dragon, we can't defeat that boss later at the extension of the quest," replied Shin while pointing at Dracula.

He turned and raised his head at the sky before continuing. "He is probably lifting the curse of the kingdom right now, so Immortal must be making his move too. Let's go!"

"Do we already have the method to stop Immortal from corrupting the Guardian Dragon once it awakens? It will be a huge headache if we fail at the most critical moment," said Black Hand, voicing out his concern.

Hearing those words, Shin and Cloe suddenly laughed before Leonard pointed at Arthur. "Immortal may have a pretty solid plan, but trust us when we say that there is no one more knowledgeable about dragons than this guy."

Leonard might not know the exact plan that Shin and Arthur were cooking, but he was confident that they would be able to pull it off.

Shin, on the other hand, smiled mysteriously. The Plan B that they prepared might not have happened the way they wanted it, but it would still progress toward the same outcome they had planned, without a doubt.

Arthur was also confident about it. He was even wearing an excited look on his face. Shin could read the meaning behind that expression as he was very familiar with this brother of his. He was sure that Arthur was planning to directly snatch the dragon from Immortal.

As for how exactly Arthur would do it, Shin needed to learn. But this particular dragon fanatic must have a plan of his own. He would definitely not let such an opportunity of contracting another dragon fall into the hands of someone else, especially if they were his opponents.

Not long after, the group immediately noticed the change in their surroundings. It might not be clearly visible but the mana in the air was slowly moving toward the sky where Dracula was standing.

And when the Vampire Primogenitor spread his arms wide, the mana started moving toward him like crazy. They were pouring from every direction like tidal waves in a violent sea.

Shin stared and watched the scene in the sky for a moment before turning his head at the others and signaling them that it was now the time to move. "Let's go! This should be the final stretch before we face the final boss."

Lawless, who was walking right beside Shin, stretched his arm in a lazy manner before commenting. "Finally! This is about to end. This is the longest quest that I've done since I return to the virtual world."

Hearing his words, Shin could not help but turn to the side and asked. "Since the time you come back? Does that mean you've experienced a quest far longer than this one from other games?"

This time, it was Arthur who answered him. "We've only spent a few days or a little over a week for this quest in in-game time. It is practically much shorter than the quest that we are clearing before in «True Era» Online."

"In that game, you will experience what real questing is. You will spend months, if not a year, clearing a high-difficulty quest," he added with a smirk.

This was Shin's first time playing a virtual game, so he was not that knowledgeable about those events, especially when this was an MMORPG game. His experience could not compare to any players within their group.

Of course, if it was about abilities on clearing those quests, his battle prowess in particular, then he still could be ranked one of the highest among them. Only a handful could be compared to him even if it included the other experts of the game.

The group chatted as they walked towards a part of the city. Shin was leading them as he already knew where they were headed.

******

Meanwhile, Immortal was currently walking inside a long tunnel alongside Rust.

He already achieved his main goal of coming here, but adding more to it would not hurt, so he was heading toward the place where the Guardian Dragon was currently slumbering.

As for how he was going to do it, relying on his Doom Knight would do the trick. He spent quite a lot of resources activating the 'Records of Undead' earlier when capturing the 'Demon of Slaughter' and even more resources at turning it into one of his unique undead monsters.

The Doom Knight was currently leading them like a faithful servant.

Controlling it would be impossible unless he properly brainwashed it. And turning it into a loyal servant would be even more troublesome. Immortal spent almost everything he had just to achieve it, but the rewards that he got in return were more than satisfying.

And with him acquiring a Doom Knight, his unique quest of getting a secondary combat class was finally complete. This boosted his strength to a whole other level and increased the number of his trump cars even further.

The current appearance of this Doom Knight was somewhat different from its original form, the 'Demon of Slaughter'. Unlike the savage, and monster-like appearance that it used to have, it now looked like a human knight clad in pitch-black armor.

Aside from its wings, the half-human and half-dragon form that it used to have could not be seen. But the armor that it was currently wearing resembled the hard scales of a dragon, boasting its absolute defense.

Its greatsword was also present. It was not much different from its previous form. Aside from its size being slightly smaller, there was not much difference between the two swords.

Immortal was confident that no one could pose a threat to him right now. In terms of individual strength, he would probably be the strongest within the game because of his overwhelming army of undead alongside the unique and special ones in the mix.

"Rust, go stand in the entrance. Tell me immediately if those guys arrived," said Immortal, instructing the Shadow Queen walking slightly behind him.

"Yes, Sir!" replied Rust before stepping back and melding with the dark. Her stealth was pretty high level. If someone didn't know that her class was an archer, then they would think that she was an assassin or other thief-related class.

On the other hand, Immortal continued to walk forward until he reached the end of the tunnel. This long tunnel led him to a huge hall that was a hundred meters tall and tens of meters wide.

Sitting right at the center of the hall was a huge creature sealed in ice. It had a monster that resembled a huge lizard covered with snow-white scales. Its body was currently curled up while the wings on its back were currently folded and enfolded its body from both sides.

It was hard to completely gauge its size, but given that it was sitting at tens of meters in height in that position, it would not be hard to imagine how huge it actually was.

Such a huge and unmoving body sealed in ice made it look like a frozen statue.

With the sealed dragon as the source, the entire hall was currently covered by smooth and mirror-like ice. The temperature within the hall was very low that it could freeze anyone who dared to step on it.

Fortunately, Immortal was currently being protected by his Doom Knight, giving him the ability to enter the hall. That Doom Knight was also the reason why he was able to arrive in this place without encountering any trouble.

Immortal admired the whole place for a couple of moments before turning to his Doom Knight and ordering it to start awakening the Guardian Dragon.

An impatient look was currently present on his face as he could not wait to get his hands on yet another powerful trump card.

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