Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 135

A region filled with towering rock mountains.

This was precisely where our operation would commence.

I stood on top of a high rock mountain, arms crossed, keeping an eye on the distant road.

Sibyric and Hwarang approached me.

Sibyric occasionally followed Hwarang around, throwing out pointless questions.

“Say, what’s your favorite drink?”

Just like that.

Hwarang stiffened his expression and turned his head away. It was clear he didn’t want to answer, but Sibyric seemed to enjoy Hwarang’s cocky demeanor even more.

What a truly incomprehensible old man.

“Hmm…”

Sibyric, arms crossed like mine, gazed into the distance and posed a question to Hwarang and me, as if it was an afterthought.

In fact, it felt more like a casual mutter than a real question.

“We really can’t go back now. Is that okay?”

It might have been a comment tied to his past.

But I didn’t care. My interest lay solely in gold.

I was a heartless raider, a fearsome Demon King of Thieves with my eyes set on gold.

“I won’t go back.”

“Hmm.”

As soon as Sibyric nodded to my words, a blurry message appeared before my eyes.

[From this moment, communication with all players excluding party members is prohibited.]

[All NPCs in the Ruthless Wilderness area are hostile and on guard against you.]

[Damage taken from ranged attacks is increased by 100%.]

[You will be unable to use major facilities in the city.]

[Upon death, you will no longer be able to resurrect through skills, and natural resurrection will send you to jail instead of your respawn location.]

[Maintaining the raider status for an extended period will result in permanent loss of favor with NPCs.]

Nodding as I read through the numerous penalty notifications that floated before me, I confirmed what I had already seen in the content guide.

In truth, there were plenty of other penalties for raiders, but those were additional options that came into play only upon successful raiding.

So for now, I needed to focus solely on looting gold.

“I like that spirit.”

With that, Sibyric glided down the rock mountain, his leather boots kicking up a cloud of dirt.

Through the hazy dirt rising up, the figure of our target slowly revealed itself.

A long line of wagons, surrounded by numerous NPCs galloping alongside them as if they were on guard.

Seeing that made me frown. The number of escorting troops was excessive.

It seemed the players who discovered the gold had once again spent an enormous amount of money hiring NPCs.

That was, after all, the usual way. Being raided meant losing all the time and investment put into it.

Of course, there was a system in place for insurance against raider attacks, but it only allowed you to retrieve a fraction of your investment.

It was about time to move.

I jumped off the massive rock mountain just like Sibyric did.

Hwarang’s gaze extended behind me.

In this operation, Hwarang would act as a sniper, raining bullets down on those approaching from below the rock mountain.

I, along with Iyap and the Snow Mage, needed to rush out and lure the group of wagons engaged in the Gold Rush.

“Let’s go!”

From halfway up the mountain, I leaped, summoning a large magical formation.

And there appeared a pony, its fiery mane swirling around.

“Heeey!”

The moment I mounted the pony, Sibyric was already charging ahead.

The speed of the horse he rode was astonishingly fast—faster than the top-tier mounts. I smacked my tongue in awe as Iyap and the Snow Mage approached me.

“Demon King!”

In the Snow Mage’s hand was a red mask.

“What’s this…?”

“Shouldn’t we hide our identity?”

That was a good point. I nodded and accepted the red mask.

The mask exchange was smooth even while riding a galloping horse.

I tied the mask around the back of my head, covering my eyes.

With this, no one would ever recognize my face.

“Heehee-”

Once I decided to engage in wicked deeds, even my laughter turned sinister.

This had started as a deed to repay Helena’s money, but right now, I had to fully enjoy this moment.

Forget the pressure of repaying my debts; it was time to become the ultimate Demon King of Thieves.

“Hyah!”

As Sibyric made a wide turn, he drew his revolver and began firing at the side of the transport wagon.

Bang-! Bang-bang-! Bang-!

His wildly swinging arms sent bullets on strange trajectories, piercing through the heads of the escorting NPCs.

The bullets curved. It was a technique that a standard archer like Hwarang did not possess.

“It’s a raid!”

“They’re raiders!”

This time, the targets of the raid were, thankfully, player users from the Human Clan faction.

The members of a sizeable guild glared at me with furious gazes.

What were they planning to do by glaring like that? Was there anything they could do at this point?

I raised my sword with a smug expression.

Swish—

The swordplay atop the galloping pony was natural. It was thanks to the combat experience I had accumulated riding the Wolf Urrang and Windwalker for a long time.

“Go!”

“Heeey!”

The small pony faithfully obeyed my command as it charged forward, shaking its head as if releasing the pent-up frustration from not having appeared in battle for so long, resembling the charge of a buffalo.

“The Cow Demon King!”

“The Horse King!”

“Y-you cowardly demon brat!”

H-how did these guys recognize me?

I shot a bewildered glance at the Snow Mage.

I had concealed my nickname, guild name, and title.

I even wore a red mask that hid my face, topped off with a cowboy hat that obscured my horns.

It was a perfect disguise.

“I am not the Horse King! I am the Demon King of Thieves!”

“You crazy girl, what a bizarre theme again!”

There were a total of ten users escorting the Golden Wagon.

Among them, one who wielded a sword charged at me.

“Are you challenging me to a duel? Accept it then. Consider it an honor to die by my hand, the Demon King of Thieves.”

“Dieee!”

Impatience colored his movements, and his sword bore that urgency as well.

A sword is swung with the heart; if the heart wavers, so will the blade.

Clang!

The moment our swords clashed, a powerful shockwave emanated.

I hadn’t anticipated he would have that much strength behind his blow.

I lifted my lips in a smirk and spun my sword.

Clang!

The dark-hued blade displayed strange maneuvering, gnawing at the opponent’s sword.

The vibrations transmitted through the sword would be considerable.

“Ugh!”

The opponent’s body shrank back significantly as I pressed closer, eyes gleaming.

It was then. Behind the opponent I faced, I spotted the movement of the remaining enemies.

The motions from their waists were incredibly swift.

Just then—Bang! The gunshots rang out in quick succession.

As soon as the enemies began firing, a white pain gripped my head.

Once I entered into an extreme state of focus, my vision expanded widely.

With my accelerated mind, I was able to read the trajectories of the incoming attacks.

Clang! Clash! Thunk-!

Desperately swinging my sword to deflect attacks, I managed to evade some, but not all.

“Ugh…”

Bullets sent numerous wounds piercing through my arms and legs.

It felt grievously painful due to the debuff increasing damage from ranged attacks by 100%.

I grasped my bleeding arm and stepped back.

“Haha! The Cow Boy retreats!”

“Wow! The Horse King is fleeing!”

It was just a strategic retreat.

But the Human Clan players began taunting me as if they had achieved victory in this battle.

It was humiliating. How did Jupiter, that sparrow, endure such taunts every single time?

What a remarkable figure.

Bang! Bang-!

As I took a step back, Sibyric steadily reduced the enemy numbers.

With each swing of his hand, he would take down two enemies at a time with his hookshot.

Clomp- Clomp- Clomp-

Bang! Bang-bang-! Bang-!

The raiders expertly pushed the enemies into position.

Just like a shepherd dog herding sheep, they were forcefully herding the Golden Wagon towards the area with the rock mountain.

The users sensed something was amiss and attempted to change the wagon’s direction, but it was already too late. If they hastily turned the wagon now, it would surely smash against the massive rock mountain.

The opponent’s wagon entered the rock mountain. At that instant, Sibyric looked up at the sky and let out a long whistle.

Whistle-!

That was the signal. The other raiders hidden atop the high rock mountain revealed themselves, starting to unleash bullets.

Of course, Hwarang was among them.

Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!

“It’s an ambush!”

“Protect the wagons!”

The movement of the wagon came to a halt. That was the moment I had been waiting for.

“Let’s go!”

Using potions and bandages to heal all my wounds, I charged straight towards the wagon.

Alongside me were my loyal subordinates, the Snow Mage and Iyap.

“Demon King! Let’s mercilessly steal the enemies’ gold! We’ll laugh at them with an utterly wicked smile!”

“Heehee!”

“Heehee!”

I leaped off the horse, sharing an evil laugh with the Snow Mage.

Even though the number of enemies was overwhelmingly large, I had no worries. We had Hwarang, the dead-eye sharpshooter with us.

He would never let me die.

“Cover me, Hwarang!”

It was the moment I was racing out in sheer excitement.

From inside the enemy’s wagon, something was suddenly shot out.

Bang-!

Clang-!

With a frantic movement, I swung my sword and barely managed to deflect the attack.

But at that moment, the Snow Mage, who was running alongside me, collapsed to the ground.

“Ugh…”

“Snow…?”

The Snow Mage had a hole in her head, and her body was turning gray.

Gray was a color that symbolized death in Deron.

“D-Demon King… W-we’re… ropping the loot…”

Those were the Snow Mage’s last words. She was dead.

I stared blankly at her lifeless body, my gaze trembling.

In that instant, the tent inside the wagon parted, and a man stepped out.

[The Coming Dawn]

[Victor]

Just like the Named NPCs among the raiders, a Named NPC existed to secure the Gold Rush, and Victor was such an NPC.

Victor, the Coming Dawn, was one of them.

“It’s been a while, Sibyric.”

Victor flaunted his revolver with a bright smile.