ACT 7 Second Coming of a Legend

Ark heard a solemn voice in his head.

-Truly immortal souls are those that don’t yield to hardships and adversity!

Ark couldn’t understand what was going on.  Although he could still think and see, his body was dead and turned to charcoal. So who was talking to the dead Ark?

‘W-who?’

-On behalf of the Creator and Destiny’s Mother who gave birth to all living creatures, I’ve been entrusted to take care of this Immortal Book.

‘Destiny’s Mother? The Immortal Book?’

Based on the information acquired from the Idea Maze, Destiny’s Mother was one of the game creators called Yuna. The fact that she was known as the Creator and Destiny’s Mother meant she was responsible for all the scenarios and NPC’s AI in New World. The AI was no different from the life of an NPC while the scenario was the NPC’s destiny.

–The Creator and Destiny’s Mother predicted that this world would be threatened by a dark future.But at that time, the life expectancy of Destiny’s Mother was already finished. Therefore the last thing she did was create me. And she said. ‘You will experience the world through many people’s hands from now on. If you watch the world and want to live in a world where countless lives are truly happy then entrust this book to a warrior when there is a period of darkness.’

Destiny’s Mother wanted me to ask the warrior. What does New World mean to you?

‘What does New World mean to me…..?’

New World was the next generation of an online game! When he started New World two years ago, he wouldn’t have needed to think about the answer. It was a method to join Global Exos and gain a stable income. However, New World soon changed to a method to make money.

‘What about now? Is New World still just a way to make money?’

He thought about it. He still believed those reasons a short time ago. But when he first heard that the Red Man was trying to revive the Dark Lord, the first thing Ark thought of wasn’t money but New World. He didn’t want to admit it but New World became like an actual world to him. Over the last two years Ark had met his summons, countless numbers of NPCs and users and experienced numerous adventures. The thing he was most fearful about was that all of those things would disappear in an instant. That’s right. New World wasn’t simply an online game to Ark anymore.

‘…..This is the door that leads to another world!’

Ark thought those words in his head. The Immortal Book was silent for a moment before speaking in a low voice.

–The Destiny’s Mother would be glad to hear that.

At the same time, the firmly locked Immortal Book opened. The book seemed to be engulfed in a windstorm and the letters flashed with light.

Kwa kwang, kwa kwang, kwa kwang, kwa kwang!

It was at that moment. There was an intense light and four people appeared in the north, south, east and west. There was a magician wearing white robes, a woman wearing silver armour and holding a sword, a middle aged man holding a spear and a priest wearing clergyman robes!

‘T-they are….!’

Ark’s eyes widened as he saw them. He knew two of them. They were Yggdrasil, the world tree from the Underground World and Yuzuria, the world tree from Seutandal!

‘Then the other two people?’

They must be the world trees of the two continents that surfaced before the Demonic World. The Immortal Book had summoned the world trees in each direction.

-…These guys!

Lucifer glared as he saw the world trees being summoned. In the past, Lucifer’s effort to destroy the world had been undone by the 7 heroes with the help of the world trees. In other words, the existences of the world trees caused great distress to Lucifer! But the red rays just went through the world trees. The world trees were only mentally summoned here. The world trees just ignored Lucifer’s reaction.

–I thought everything was over……

The world trees knew about the situation since their roots were stretched all over the world. But they couldn’t do anything even if Lucifer was restored and used the ultimate destruction magic.  The presence of the world trees was to maintain the balance of the world. They weren’t allowed to do any acts to change the history of New World. They were prohibited to openly act. But this was the ancient vision that the Creator saw! When Lucifer used the ultimate destruction magic in the past, the world trees were able to help because the 7 heroes were part of the ancient vision. But they lost their power after unleashing it and disappeared somewhere. Therefore the world trees had forgotten about the ancient vision. They appeared here thanks to the guidance of the Immortal Book. Yggdrasil looked at the Immortal Book with fascination.

–Then Ark is the one from the ancient vision that the Immortal Book selected.

That’s right. Ark was apparently part of the ancient vision that occurred hundreds of years ago.

-Is this the intention of Destiny’s Mother?

The 7 heroes stopped Lucifer hundreds of years ago when he used his ultimate destruction magic. All we could do was reduce the damage to the continent.

–But now……

-….. The embers of hope haven’t gone out yet.

Yuzuria nodded and looked at Yggdrasil, Yeosingwan and Changsha.

–I can’t think of any better situation than this one. If we don’t use the magic then Lucifer will just destroy the world using the ultimate destruction magic. I’d like to believe in them. If this is the darkness that Destiny’s Mother foresaw then we should unseal the book.

-Yes.

Changsha nodded. The world trees opened both hands and the Immortal Book floated upwards and shone intensely. Then a magnificent spell emerged from the mouths of the World Trees.

–In the name of the Great Creator, Destiny’s Mother……

–Using your great authority that created the fate of this world……

–Please show us your will……

-Great Revival, Grand Resurrection!

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

A giant waterfall of light poured down from the Immortal Book. Then the bodies of the attack squad turned to charcoal from Lucifer’s Apocalypse started changing. White skin appeared, their faces were restored and the body was formed. Ark’s skin that was as black as charcoal also returned to its original colour. At the same time, an information window appeared in front of Ark.

The Creator, Destiny’s Mother had an ancient vision and made the Immortal Book. The Immortal Book has its own will. After borrowing the magic of the world trees that maintain the balance of the world, the Immortal Book was able to create one miracle.

In the past, the Immortal Book was able to amplify the Holy Knight Ronian’s Shield of Fanaticism in order to block Lucifer’s ultimate destruction spell. A few hundred years has passed and the Immortal Book is once again eager to fight Lucifer. It amplified the Creator’s ‘Nursing’ and trigger the ultimate caretaker spell ‘Great Revival.’

All allies within 2 kilometres will be restored by Great Revival. The power of the Creator has been borrowed to create a miracle! You are the world’s greatest caretaker.

* Due to the success of miracle nursing, all stats increase by 10.

* The Affection stat increased by 1,000.

* Fame is increased by 1,000.

*Alignment to good increased by 200.

Your fame as a Caretaker has increased, so you will receive praises from many patients.

* As a title bonus, all stats will increase by 10.

*Fame increases by 1,000.

‘The ultimate Nursing!’

A miracle had truly happened! The Immortal Book was able to amplify the ability of the owner! Ark’s urgent wish was a chance to compete against Lucifer again so the Immortal Book had selected Nursing. The Immortal Book amplified Nursing with the Creator’s power and resurrected the attack squad. Thanks to that, all of the attack squad killed by Apocalypse had recovered. Ark also received an additional +20 stat bonus. But the Immortal Book’s miracle wasn’t over yet.

–The holy relic is needed! Or else the world created by Destiny’s Mother will become lost to chaos!

Yeosingwan reached out his hand and shouted. At the same time, a brilliant light appeared in the centre where the attack squad members were gathered.

“Isn’t that the Ark of Creation?”

Ark murmured as he looked at the light. Lariette was then pulled by an unseen force to the front of the Ark of Creation. The Ark of Creation automatically opened and a pure white light soared into the sky. It spun fiercely before being drawn into Lariette’s body. When the light entwined with Lariette’s body, her body became thousands of times larger. However, the image that floated in the black sky was different from Lariette. With black hair like obsidian, crystal clear eyes and skin as white as a snowfield, she was a surprisingly beautiful woman……no, it was the form of a goddess.

‘That face….. Such a thing!’

Ark belatedly realized something as he looked at the goddess. It was Yuna’s face that Ark saw many times when collecting information from the Idea Maze! So Yuna’s face wasn’t strange to Ark anymore. But he never imagined that he would see that face anywhere else in New World. But she had appeared from the Ark of Creation. The person emerging from the Ark of Creation….. Was Yuna.

‘That’s right. The Creator’s body had emerged from the Ark of Creation. The Immortal Book has talked about Destiny’s Mother many times. Destiny’s Mother was Yuna. That means Yuna created both the Ark of Creation and the Immortal Book.’

After thinking about it, Ark had a doubtful question. Despite suffering from an illness, Yuna had continued working until she died. Therefore Park Woo-seong wanted revenge for Yuna and revived the Dark Lord in order to destroy New World. Then why did Yuna make the Ark of Creation and Immortal Book that were the keys to stopping the Dark Lord? Why? Ark was thinking that when he heard something. The expedition members and demons had seen the scene of the goddess’ huge wings flapping before. But the light which burnt through the darkness didn’t appear this time.

“A warm breeze and a ball of sunshine….. H-how wonderful!”

The attack squad were revived thanks to Nursing but they only regained 50% health. Therefore Roco had sung the songs of recovery as soon as she revived. While Roco was signing, Lariette had used the Ark of Creation and the goddess appeared. And when the light enveloped Lariette…..

“Ah!”

Roco’s singing voice emerged from the mouth of the goddess. It felt like hearing the sounds of elves singing sweetly in mysterious woods. The health and mana of all the allies around Kwarian recovered by a huge amount. At the same time, an information window appeared in front of Ark.

The power of the Creator who made this world in the beginning is contained inside the Ark of Creation. Because both light and dark were a part of the Creator, this power can be used for light or darkness. If used by a Holy Knight then it can be a blessing or a curse if used by a Ruin Knight.

When a Saint Knight calls upon the inner light (Sanctuary: Saint). When a Ruin Knight calls upon the darkness (Sanctuary: Devil).

The combination of Immortal Book and Destiny’s Mother has created one more miracle. The love of God will rescue the world.

* Saint Knight, Minstrel’s cooperative chain skill ‘Sanctuary: Holy Hymn’ was triggered.

Complete recovery for all soldiers within 10 kilometres!

-Ark, we believe in you.

The world trees became exhausted after using so much magic and gradually faded. The Immortal Book also broke down to single sheets of paper and scattered all over the place. However, the expedition forces already had no interest in the world trees and the Immortal Book.

“Everybody has been restored!”

“Our stamina has recovered!”

“This is evidence that we have God on our side!”

“We need to quickly exterminate the demons and help the attack squad!”

“All airships, recharge the magic gun and the Spear of Thor!”

“Iron armour fleet, open the muzzles of the guns and rush towards the demons!”

The expedition members who saw the complete destruction of the attack squad fought even more desperately after the miracle occurred. Thanks to the boost in courage and morale from Holy Hymn, they poured attacks towards the demon. Ark who was watching the counterattack also regained his vigour.

‘The flow has changed thanks to the Immortal Book!’

-Ugh, these brats….. They revived again?

Lucifer’s eyes finally turned towards them after the world trees disappeared. And the thousands of demons surrounding Lucifer rushed.

“All members make your formations and prepare for the collision!”

Ark withdrew and ordered Thanks to Ark’s miracle, the attack squad had another chance to fight Lucifer. However, the current situation wasn’t enough for him to shout with joy. There were currently 800 troops gathered around Ark. It wouldn’t be easy to deal with Lucifer with those numbers, let alone the thousands of demons. Previously they had been able to ignore the demons and focus on attacking Lucifer thanks to the flying boats. But the miracle hadn’t resurrected the flying boats.

‘We need to deal with the demons and Lucifer.’

If he just looked at this situation then he couldn’t do that much. But Ark believed there was a way.

-Kuwaaaah!

The demons used their claws and fangs.

“Arrow Storm!”

“My wrath shall be a lightning strike….. Chain Lightning!”

Arrows and magic flew everywhere. And it hit the demons who were jumping towards the attack squad. The demons hit by the attacks unexpectedly flew backwards. Hundreds of warriors flocked from the wreckage of a building and attacked the demons.

“Come!”

Ark grinned as he looked at them. Hundreds of warriors had suddenly appeared from the wreckage of the building. When a user died in New World, their body didn’t disappear straight away. These bodies remained in the building wreckage. And everybody was restored thanks to ultimate Nursing. Of course, Ark hadn’t expected a complete miracle even if ultimate Nursing was used. Ark was worried that the users wouldn’t access the game even if their characters were revived. But despite his worries, the revived attack squad had returned to the battlefield straight away. The reason the warriors were able to return to the battlefield was because they had been watching on TV. All gamers were focused on this battle. The attack squad warriors killed in battle were the same. They had been watching the game exclusive news when they saw ultimate Nursing and entered the game unit straight away.

“Hahahaha, I really did revive!”

“Anyway, I’ve already died once. Nothing is frightening anymore!”

It wasn’t just the effects of being revived. Even without the morale +50% effect of the Ark of Creation, their morale was already incredibly high.

“This is our strategy! Our opponents are thousands of demons and Lucifer. But the demons have formed tight formations around Lucifer so attacking recklessly is suicide. Therefore you will split into units of 10 people to deal with the demons.  But this mission isn’t to kill the demons! It is important to avoid Lucifer’s attack. Always watch for movement and stay as far away from Lucifer as possible!”

“In other words….. Keep running?”

Shambala frowned after hearing Ark’s command. Ark laughed and nodded his head.

“That’s right.”

“What if Lucifer uses that destruction magic again……”

“He can’t use that magic now.”

Ark laughed at Shambala’s words. That’s right. No matter how much the attack squad avoided Lucifer, it would be impossible if he used Apocalypse. It was a cheat like magic that destroyed all enemies in a 2 kilometre area! If Lucifer used Apocalypse again then the attack squad would be completely wiped out. The Immortal Book had scattered so there were no more miracles. However, Lucifer’s Apocalypse was also a one-time only magic. That’s because Ark knew the conditions to use Apocalypse through Skill Penetration. Lucifer had to pay 50% of his health in exchange for triggering Apocalypse. And Lucifer had already sacrificed 50% of his health. Meanwhile the attack squad had decreased his health by 1~2% before he used the magic so his present health was 49%!

“If he uses Apocalypse in that state then he will die before us.”

“But we won’t be able to win if we keep on running.”

“Who says we’re only running away?”

“Didn’t you say it just now?”

“You’re just running away until I wipe out the demons.”

“What? Wipe out all the demons? You alone? Even if you died and revived, isn’t that too much?”

Shambala looked at him with perplexed eyes.

“Huhuhu, just watch as I use my skills to beat the demons.”

Ark laughed and raised a finger.

“Summon Demon, Curio!”

“Oh! Master, you’re alive?”

Curio asked as he appeared in front of Ark. Ark grabbed Curio’s neck firmly and shouted.

“Let’s get started. Vampire skill, use Entrusted Volumes!”

“Ohhhh! Entrusted Volumes!”

That’s right. This was the special move Ark had prepared before escaping from the labyrinth.

“I have to fight against the Red Man in order to prevent the Dark Lord’s resurrection ceremony. There is no guarantee I can win against the Red Man with my power now. Then I should consider a special knockdown attack.”

The Entrusted Volumes skill surfaced in Ark’s head. It was a technique that gave a lot of bizarre effects impossible to be found elsewhere. Despite that, there were two reasons why Ark didn’t utilize the power of Entrusted Volumes properly. It consumed 500 health and there was no guarantee that he could get the effect he desired. In fact, didn’t the founder of this technique die because he used Entrusted Volumes in a decisive moment?

“But if I use the right timing then Entrusted Volumes could show an enormous effect.”

So Ark had studied ways to trigger the effects of Entrusted Volumes. Since Entrusted Volumes was influenced by properties, alignment and environment, the probability was only 60~70%. Ark had been halfway to giving up when he accidentally found a surprising way to settle the problems with Entrusted Volumes. It was Curio’s ability to absorb skills! That’s right. Curio could absorb a skill when he used Blood-sucking. If Ark triggered the necessary effect from Entrusted Volumes then Curio could absorb that effect using Blood-sucking. It was why Ark pulled Curio to a corner after defeating Maseutyu. It was to preserve a knockdown effect of Entrusted Volumes. That’s why Ark had released Curio’s summoning while on the verge of death. If Curio died then the skill he registered would fly away. Now was the time to see the results of that effort. When Curio used the skill, an information window appeared in front of Ark.

* Results

【Properties】: 【Alignment】: 【Environment】:

The attack method chosen is‘Mimic.’

Curio’s 1st stored skill: Entrusted Volumes (Mimic)! Ark had accidentally discovered the Mimic effect during his testing. The Mimic effect was quite strange and fascinating. When Mimic was used, Ark could return the last attack he received at 80% of the power. And the last attack from Lucifer before he died……

Apocalypse is the last destruction spell that Lucifer used. The skill was be used 5 minutes afterwards.