Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 15

After a brief break, I logged back into the game.

I had just seen my mom, who returned home after work, so I knew I could focus on the game without any interruptions for a while.

“Is everyone in their spots?”

I gave smokers a generous 10 minutes.

When the party members returned, they all seemed satisfied.

“We’re resuming. Check your buffs. If anyone is low on potions, speak up now.”

We resumed the halted raid. The atmosphere in the party was quite good.

It was the first raid in Deron Online. It couldn’t be too difficult. However, facing monsters not with a keyboard and mouse but with actual weapons made the difficulty feel higher.

As we pushed forward, we encountered the fourth Named Monster.

[Trainer Big House]

This named monster was known for its high difficulty.

True to its name, it was accompanied by a large [Frost Wolf].

There were two strategies for this named monster. Two Sub Tanks would handle the wolves.

They just needed to hold onto them. The Main Tank would handle Big House, and all dealers would focus on Big House.

Since the named monster was just Big House, the moment its health dropped, the Frost Wolf would automatically go down too.

The second method involved taking out the Frost Wolf first.

While this minimized unnecessary patterns, it also meant longer raid combat times.

Longer battle times would see the dealers’ mana running low. Not being able to cast skills smoothly meant a drop in DPS, which would also prolong Big House’s enraged state.

The rage of named monsters was particularly dangerous.

It was better to keep the combat time short.

In this world, the raid party often chose the second strategy, but I went with the first one.

“Assign one healer to each Sub Tank and have them move the Frost Wolves as far from the named monster as possible. Dealers, ignore the Frost Wolves and focus on the named monster. Save your long-cooldown skills for when it’s enraged.”

“Aren’t we going to take down the Frost Wolves?”

“No, we’re not.”

I was the party leader of this raid. It was fine to question my tactics, but right now, everyone needed to follow my orders.

When recruiting, I had added a clause that anyone should refrain from questioning my strategy until the strategy was complete, no matter how weird my orders might seem.

The party members who remembered that merely nodded.

And then the battle began.

As I dashed forward, swinging my sword, the Sub Tanks led the big Frost Wolves to the corner as I asked.

Two healers placed by the Priest followed the Sub Tanks.

Since I planned to keep the combat time short, the strategy would wrap up before the healers’ mana ran out.

There were two classes specialized in aggro management; they were carefully chosen Sub Tanks and would fulfill their duties.

[Ahahaha! Foolish humans!!! I shall make you my prey!]

With a loud roar, a huge metal club swung down.

The weight of that powerful attack shook my body as it sliced through the air.

Clang!

The impact was transmitted through the shield in my hand. My vision shook violently. I was pushed back but didn’t fall.

I only let through the attacks I couldn’t block with minimal movement. The moment that metal club whizzed past my head, I swung my sword and cut my wrist.

A torrent of magic struck the trainer from behind.

The dealer line steadily whittled down the named monster’s health. Then, as its health reached 50%, a pattern was triggered.

[Behold!!! Show them the power of the Frost Wolf!]

As per the trainer’s command, the Frost Wolf activated its area skill.

But the Frost Wolf was quite far from the main party.

The dealer line felt no effect from it.

I quickly checked the raid’s situation. The first thing that caught my eye was the health status of the Sub Tanks.

The red Gauge Bar fluctuated as it decreased and then recovered. It was stable. I could relax a bit.

Repeating the same tactic from earlier, I blocked and dodged attacks, while steadily building my aggro.

As I held on, the trainer entered an enraged state.

[Graaaah!]

From here on, it would be a speed game. The trainer’s rage also riled up the Frost Wolf.

My demands weren’t too hard. The wizards saved their powerful long-cooldown skills and began unleashing them all at once.

The DPS graph surged and drastically shifted in rankings.

The standout was definitely a female wizard named Helena, showcasing overwhelming DPS.

Boom-!

The moment the trainer’s health hit rock bottom, its massive body collapsed helplessly.

I immediately checked for Drop Items.

Only two items of wizard-exclusive armor dropped.

Armor was an easy item to acquire, with average bidding prices set between 200 to 300 Gold.

This time was no different. The robe sold for 300 Gold, and the shoes went for 250 Gold.

“Now, only the final boss remains.”

We had sliced through all the Named Monsters. The last challenge was the enormous boss monster known as [Red Orc Warrior Cryer].

This giant red orc exuded a completely different aura than the ones we faced before.

The scars etched across its body were a testament to the countless battles it had fought.

“This is it. Don’t relax just because it’s been an easy clear up till now. Check your buffs, and then we’ll advance.”

Confirming that the party members were ready, I walked forward.

The moment I stepped into the clearing, the red orc’s eyes glowed bright red.

[So, you’ve made it this far…]

“Wizards, save your Blinks. If you charge in trying to deal damage, you’ll miss the Charge Pattern. Sub Tanks, stay near the wizard line and grab aggro when it charges. Then the Main Tank will take over again.”

I sighed. Honestly, this boss wasn’t particularly difficult either.

Anyone could defeat a raid in a game once controlled by keyboard and mouse.

Even the most casual group could manage to clear the [Red Orc Empire] raid somehow.

“Let’s go.”

The battle began. Immediately, I dashed forward and swung my sword at its massive leg.

Swoosh!

A golden flash skimmed past, leaving a deep wound.

[Graaaah!]

I successfully grabbed the initial aggro, but the real problem came next.

This monster was a born fighter. In battle after battle, Cryer had honed his inherent orc instincts to perfection.

With the first hit, it entered a state of rage. Its size grew, and its attack speed skyrocketed.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

My hand gripped the shield tightly, shaking heavily. Misstep, and I’d be knocked down to the ground.

I immediately tilted my shield and swung my sword.

Bang!

The sword, wrapped in a golden gleam, clashed against Cryer’s massive blade.

A giant spark erupted, setting off my skill.

[Counterattack]

A skill that strikes back at the opponent’s attack.

It had a strict timing requirement, but I succeeded.

In that moment, a red effect burst forth as if blood was splattering, and I struck deeply across the orc’s chest.

“There’s no special timing for bursting out damage. Just go all out whenever the chance arises!!!”

Shouting after seeing the DPS graph barely rising, my party members began buffing and unleashing skills.

Boom!

The moment came. A gigantic blade slammed down on me, sending me flying.

The Charge pattern was triggered.

[You annoy me!]

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Cryer, having pushed me back, turned and started sprinting away.

The red aura igniting from its body flashed threateningly.

“Wizards in the charge range, use your Blinks!!!”

[Graaaah!]

As Cryer charged forward, its blade struck the ground, sending a massive shockwave.

Wizards that quickly responded to my command utilized Blink to escape the area, but not everyone was able to do so.

40 party members dropped to 39.

I immediately shouted to the healers.

“Don’t use Resurrection! Save the cooldown!”

My insides were boiling. How could someone die to a pattern that wasn’t even hard to avoid? I could feel my temper rising.

This was a speed that could have been easily responded to if I had focused.

But I had died. That meant I wasn’t concentrating on the raid.

The Sub Tank, Dogrik, positioned behind the wizard line, skillfully retained the boss’s aggro.

I charged in with a shout.

“Yah!”

Aggro shifted back immediately.

I led the boss away to create maximum distance between it and the dealer line.

The charge pattern can come out at any moment. I needed to keep distance between them so they could react.

After that, the charge pattern triggered three more times, and four more wizards lost their lives.

I noted the names of those who had died.

In my mind, each one received a yellow card.

Then, it happened. The boss’s health dropped to 50%, triggering the next pattern.

[Help Lord Krasia!]

The citizens of the Orc Empire sprang into action for their king.

Red orcs began pouring in from all directions.

“Sub Tanks!!! Handle the monster wave!!!”

I had placed the Sub Tanks by the wizard line. They effortlessly drew in the aggro from the oncoming elite orcs and began to spin in circles.

At that moment, the wizards started using Blink. It seemed like a tactic to dodge the orcs closing in on them.

But this wasn’t good. Using Blink at this time would prevent them from evading the boss’s charge pattern.

“Don’t use Blink!!!”

But it was too late.

Cryer immediately sent me flying, turning to dash towards the wizard line.

Boom!

Cryer, having charged quickly, slammed its massive sword down on the wizard line.

The shockwave turned ten wizards gray.

“Oh…”

One single hit from the boss’s pattern took out ten dealers.

This meant we weren’t dealing with the elite orcs quickly enough.

The battle dragged on. Without concentrated healing, the healers’ mana began to dwindle rapidly.

So far, a total of fifteen dealers had died. Their vacant spots became burdens for the other dealers.

To make up for the insufficient damage, they’d have to use more skills.

Mana was starting to run out, and we couldn’t handle the elite monsters. Healing was also dwindling.

The first try ended in failure.