Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 158

“Hyah!”

With a loud battle cry, I swing my sword.

The dark magic extending from my sword slices through the Fallen Lunaris, the final boss of this dungeon.

“How many rounds have we done?”

“Five rounds. Was tanking difficult?”

“Nah.”

Chatting with Arthur, I check the dropped items.

[Glowing Transcendence Stone]


[Purified Moon Fragment]

As expected, the drop rates for the Transcendence Stone and Moon Fragment were 100%. After five rounds, we could split up the dropped items evenly.

I distributed the items to my party members while checking the time. A lot of time had passed since the start of the quest to clearing the dungeon.

We did encounter some annoying characters along the way, but overall, today was not a bad finish.

“Ugh…”

Chloe, our healer, seemed incredibly tired, rubbing her eyes and letting out a long yawn.

It wasn’t just her. Iyap also shook his head slightly, looking a bit worn out.

It was an unspoken sign that we couldn’t keep going through the dungeon anymore.

“Arthur, isn’t it about time to leave?”

“Yeah.”

It’s a shame, but today comes to an end. I shifted my gaze to Helena. If she was okay, I could keep going.

But Helena also shook her head, looking tired.

Well, everyone is just so weak.

“Thanks for your hard work, everyone. Are you all able to come back tomorrow?”

It was tough to even call it ‘tomorrow’. The clock pointed to 1 AM.

“Hmm. What time tomorrow?”

“When did we start our quest?”

“Was it around 7 or 8?”

“Then let’s meet around that time. Keep your schedules open.”

“Sure…”

Chloe and Iyap nodded in response and headed toward the dungeon exit.

I asked Arthur, who remained behind.

“Are you good too, Arthur?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

And just like that, Arthur also made his way towards the dungeon’s exit.

Now, only Helena and I were left.

I extended my hand to her.

“Let’s head out too.”

“Oh, okay…”

Though in this virtual world, Helena’s hand was warm and soft. I began to understand why she kept fidgeting with my hand.

Iyap and Chloe, who were walking ahead, vanished into the pillar of light, with Arthur following right behind.

Now it was our turn.

At that moment, a small message popped up at the bottom of my view.

It was a message sent to Iyap, Chloe, and Arthur.

All three were urgently sending messages that kept refreshing.

Arthur – [Yena, don’t come out.]


Arthur – [Absolutely not.]


Iyap – [Guild Leader, please just log off.]


Chloe – [Don’t come out!!!]


Iyap – [You shouldn’t come out.]

What could possibly be going on?

I tilted my head in confusion and closed the message window.

When they say not to go out, it makes you want to go out even more.

“What’s going on?”

“Everyone is telling me not to come out?”

“Hmmm…”

I shrugged off their messages as unimportant.

With that, I left the dungeon with Helena.

The bright pillar of light enveloped us, and just like that, we had returned to the entrance of the dungeon.

Gradually, my hazy vision began to restore.

“Ugh…”

At that moment, I sensed something flying in from afar.

Even though my vision wasn’t fully restored, I could hear it. Not only that, but the sharpened senses I had developed in the dungeon were reading the movement of the wind around me.

An attack aimed at my head. It was from a distance.

The icy chill indicated it was definitely a wizard’s ice arrow.

Without hesitation, I swung my sword to slice the ice arrow.

Crash!

As expected.

The ice arrow I cut exploded in the air, scattering cold ice shards all around.

Just after, my vision fully returned.

The first thing I noticed was the gazes directed at me from all around.

Through the swirling ice fragments, Exorcist Guild Members became visible.

“It’s Lucifer!”


“Lucifer has appeared!”


“Beware of the wicked demon’s temptation! Even the Radiant Knight Arthur has fallen!”

All around me were enemies, filling the space to the point I couldn’t count them all.

It looked like there were over 100, and just thinking about the enemies lying in ambush deeper in the forest was dizzying.

I couldn’t see Iyap, Chloe, or Arthur anywhere.

I calmly opened my mouth.

“Where are my party members?”

“Are you talking about that demon and the fallen knight?”

A familiar man stepped forward to answer my question.

Andersen. The crazed dual-wield warrior.

With a pair of swords in each hand, he trembled ominously.

“I delivered divine punishment.”

Crack—!

He made a cross shape with his dual swords. Andersen grinned widely through the overlapping blades.

“Amen.”

The cross formed by the swords slowly vanished.

He laughed as if he were having the time of his life.

His teeth shone white below his lips.

Death in Deron is light. Anyone can experience death anytime, anywhere.

So, I was used to it. The death of those around me didn’t feel heavy.

It should have stayed that way.

Creak—!

The sword in my hand began to tremble. The ground beneath my feet was deeply carved.

Heat rose in my head. It felt different from entering acceleration mode. It was an heat brought forth by pure rage.

“Yena.”

My head throbbed. It felt like hot water was being poured into my head from all directions.

My vision went white.

“Hehehehe!”

Andersen let out a twisted laugh. Unable to stand it any longer, I stepped forward.

In that moment, a sensation flashed before me like a premonition of the future.

A blue projectile whizzed right beside my face.

The instant I realized the fact, my body moved.

Bang—!

Clang!

The swiftly swung sword deflected the blue bullet.

It was a sniper attack from an archer user. Given the precision aimed at my eye, had I been hit, I wouldn’t have escaped instant death.

“Eh…?”

Andersen’s laughter disappeared.

The other exorcists who had been laughing along with him wiped their grins from their faces.

I let out a sigh seeing this. My breath felt hot too.

It was like my blood was boiling.

I am also a gamer who aims for role-playing. I thought that many events in role-playing, at times spiraling into uncontrollable battles, were part of the experience.

Games are just games. I didn’t want to get angry.

However, the guys in front of me had definitely crossed the line.

“Did you say divine punishment?”

“Eh…?”

“Games are pretty fun, huh?”

“Game…?”

Andersen replied foolishly, his eyes blank as I stepped closer.

At that moment, something else flew at me again.

A quick flash of blue. It was another sniper shot.

Clang!

This time, the result was no different. I swung my sword to deflect the bullet.

“Yena. I’m going to use the Summon Order.”

“Okay.”

The opponents had brought all their guild members. So, we would respond accordingly.

“Stop them from using the Summon Order!”

“Long-range! Rain the magic sniper shots!”

“Purify the wicked demon!”

I protect Helena as she stands in front of me, reading the trajectories of all incoming attacks.

Immediately after, my body began moving instinctively. I moved from above to below and sideways, minimizing my movements to block all attacks.

There were too many. They were overwhelming. I felt like my head was about to burst into flames. It felt like hot water was being poured on my burning gaze.

Boom!

“I-I…”

I couldn’t block everything. So, I took them with my body.

My frozen arms and legs went limp. The flames clinging to my body burned hot, blinding my sight.

However, my gaze remained fixed intently on Andersen.

Boom—!

Just then, a pillar of light began to fall behind me.

Guild members responding to the Summon Order used by Helena started to descend.

“Guild Leader!”


“Demon Lord!”

Iyap, Chloe, and even the Snow Mage.

Most of the players who were logged in flew toward this spot.

“Hah, hah…! The demons have opened the gates of hell!”

Healing poured over me. The fact I could withstand so many attacks was largely thanks to the Transcendence Stone Helena had lent me.

My health rapidly recovered. With my cleared vision, I glared at Andersen and the Exorcist Guild behind him.

They claimed they were looking for a demon. Well then, I was willing to become one.

My gaze lightly shifted to observe my health and mana below, as well as my ether value.

3,820.

The ether value restricts the skills users can use.

My gaze quickly scanned through the job skill window.

The icons of usable skills were glowing.

As my sight landed on the skill labeled [Awakening],

I noticed it was a transformation skill usable by the Demon Lord, with an effect that increases all stats by 30% during its duration.

And the flight skill was a bonus.

To use the Awakening skill, you need an ether value of 3,500.

In other words, that means I could use this Awakening skill right now.

I raised my hand to the sky.

Immediately after, a pitch-black lightning struck down upon me.

Crackle!

The power of the demon Azathoth began to infuse me. The demon’s blood flowing within me swirled violently, morphing my arms and legs.

Crack—

The horn that had slightly sprouted from my head began to grow repeatedly.

Slowly lowering my hand that had been stretched toward the sky, I noticed the pitch-black hand covered in stiff fur.

The claws that had sharply sprouted were definitely not human.

“Th-that figure…!”

It felt like I had regained my lost power.

Taking a step towards the flustered Andersen, my long limbs took on a demonic shape.

Flap!

The delayed emergence of demonic wings enveloped the surroundings. They completely obscured the moonlight shining down from above.

“I can’t comprehend this. To wear such a wicked demon’s form with the blessings from God…!”

“Comprehend?”

“Y-Yeah. Wicked demon… if you could. If you could repent right now…”

“I didn’t seek comprehension, you madman.”

“M-mad…?”

“Die.”

I spoke the word death. It was a heavy and cold feeling.

With Andersen’s panicked expression as the last sight I saw, I swung my Demon Sword at him.

The dark magic extending from the sword spread out, engulfing the sky.

Clang!

“C-Cough! W-What power is this…!”

Andersen barely managed to block the attack and let out a groan.

Panic began to glimmer on his face.

Seeing that, I tightened my grip on my weapon.

This was different from before. The 30% added stats created an enormous difference.

Creak—!

“Gahhh…!”

“D-Destroy Andersen!”

The Exorcist Guild members screamed and rushed out, but Helena and the Snow Mage quickly extended their staffs, unleashing skill after skill.

The enemy’s interference was cut off.

“Guhhh…!”

It was a resemblance to the first time we met.

I pressed down even harder as I pinned him down.

Crack—!

Andersen’s body was flattened under the pressure.