Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 138

Clop, clop, clop.

“Never stop!”

Sibyric shouted with his usual cheerful voice.

The surviving Raider NPCs were charging ahead, driving the Golden Wagon.

Iyap, Hwarang, and I were closely tailing him.

Just because we succeeded in the raid didn’t mean we were in the clear yet.

We still had to exchange this gold for coin.

“Enemies to the right!”

As warned by one of the Raider NPCs, a party of five was sprinting toward us from the right.

Dust kicked up behind us, disappearing beyond the sunset-lit wasteland.

“Hwarang!”

Before I could finish my call, Hwarang had already kicked his horse into a gallop towards the enemy party.

Without Hwarang, this raid would have surely ended in failure.

That’s how crucial his contribution was.

If that guy had been born during the Wild West, he would have gone down in history as a legendary gunman.

Attacking from a galloping horse isn’t easy; the accuracy of ranged attacks diminishes.

You have to calculate both your speed and that of your opponent.

“Take them down! It’s the Cow King!”

In fact, the enemy party couldn’t land a single decent hit on us.

Even with their massive area spells, I dashed forward to deflect them with my sword, causing minimal losses on our side.

In contrast, every time Hwarang’s revolver fired, the number of enemy party members steadily decreased.

Bang-!

“Ugh!”

One shot, one kill. Unlike shooting from the ground, each shot demanded careful precision.

Soon enough, Hwarang had completely dismantled a party and returned to our side.

He wore a proud smile.

“Pick up the pace! We don’t have much time left!”

Sibyric was right; we didn’t have long.

Where was he moving the raided Golden Wagon? A Raider couldn’t just stroll into a typical town or village.

However, there was one place that even a Raider could enter.

A lawless land where raiders congregated and built a village.

[No Pain No Gain]

Unfolding the map, I saw a plethora of red dots marking our route.

These indicated the pursuing sheriff NPCs and players.

There were so many; it was almost like we were preparing for a large-scale battle.

“There it is!”

“Catch the Cow King!”

“Demon King of Thieves!!!”

I scowled at the shouting that reached my ears.

Accepting nicknames was never my preference, besides the last one.

The first time I was called Blood Demon King, I was a bit embarrassed. But what can you do? Exceptional people inevitably get nicknames.

So I accepted it.

But Cow King? Please, I just filmed an ad to be a good son!

“Yeo! Calm down!”

“This humiliation… I can’t stand it!”

“If you die, you’re going to jail!”

Ignoring Hwarang’s voice, I spurred my horse forward. I had already figured out the composition of the enemy party rushing at us from the other side.

No matter the job, in the game Deron, the only person who could beat me in a mounted contest was Hwarang.

“Hyaah!”

“You die, Cow-like… Gahk!”

I swiftly beheaded a cocky user who hurled insults at me.

The blade shimmered red in the fading sunset as I passed.

Swish-!

I didn’t even bother dodging their strike.

Their blade skills were so shaky they couldn’t touch me.

“I-I’m done for!”

“Demon King of Thieves! Look over here!”

I sharply changed the direction of my pony and swung my sword wide. The dark blade energy expanded, pushing back the remaining opponents, and I tipped my cowboy hat down a bit for my fans.

Striking a cool pose for someone who liked me wasn’t difficult at all.

“Wow! Cough!”

But the fact that death awaited remained unchanged. I quickly swung my sword and cleaved through the bastard’s chest.

A screenshot of my stunning figure would surely resonate in the afterlife.

“Y-you crazy…”

The guy I cleaved fell off his mount, disappearing into the red desert dust.

“There it is!”

“Catch them!”

The enemies’ pursuit didn’t end.

I bit my lip as I raced to rejoin the Golden Wagon.

Flashing a peace sign with both fingers at the worried Hwarang, I reassured him.

It was nothing to worry about. If you can do it, I can too.

Hwarang hesitated for a moment but then redirected his gaze, starting to unleash bullets toward the enemies.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“There it is!”

At that moment, Sibyric shouted.

Following his cue, I looked ahead and saw a rather ominously eerie village come into view.

Once we entered there, the Gold Rush would be a smashing success.

But—

“What the hell!”

Iyap shouted in a panic.

I felt the same. They were definitely crazy!

A multitude of players was blocking the path to the village.

Tanker users had planted gigantic shields firmly into the ground, staring us down.

Behind them, many ranged users were prepping their skills.

“Ha!”

At that moment, Sibyric rushed forward, whipping his arms like a whip.

Bang! Bang!

The path was obstructed, but the bullets flew in an arc, bursting the heads of the users blocking it in one blow.

Two bullets pierced through the heads of ten players.

However, despite taking down so many, Sibyric’s expression remained grim.

He hadn’t managed to deal with the tankers standing in our way.

The users who were holding their ground appeared unwilling to budge.

If we continued like this, the Golden Wagon would crash and break to bits.

I bit my lip and pondered. We had to clear a path.

This was something I had to do, not anyone else.

It was dangerous. I could get caught. But even if I got captured, if just Hwarang or Iyap could survive and get the Golden Wagon inside the village, the Gold Rush would be a successful operation.

“Hyaah!”

With a great shout, I charged forward on my pony.

“You crazy girl! You’ll die!”

“Chief!”

I could hear the loyal followers’ voices behind me. I knew I was heading to my death.

But to ensure this gold was secure, my sacrifice would be necessary.

Boom!

At the moment a black lightning bolt crashed down from the sky, massive demonic wings spread behind me.

All preparations to fight were complete. It was time for a dangerous balancing act.

“Ha!”

With a brief shout, I began to sprint in a straight line.

The great black dragon enveloped me and my pony.

As I transformed with my pony into a black dragon, a powerful skill name popped into my mind.

人馬一? 인마일체 死龍疾走 사룡질주

What a wonderful naming sense! I couldn’t help but admire it.

But I didn’t shout the name out loud; that would be too embarrassing.

“Hyaah!”

Instead of calling out the name, I swung my sword towards the tanker user’s shield with a fierce yell.

As the massive black dragon form enveloped me, my pony took a mighty stomp against the enemy’s shield.

Crash!

“Ughh! Hold it!”

“Get out of the way!”

A battle began between those pushing through and those trying to hold back.

But we had the upper hand. They’d lost all their ranged dealers behind them to help.

I twisted the Dragon Slayer Sword – Black Flame in my hand.

As the black flames surged up the blade’s dark edge, it pierced through the massive shield and sliced across the opponent’s chest.

Slash!

“Ugh!”

The enemy lines began to crumble. I leaped into the fray, swinging my sword even wider.

Swish—! The shape of the black dragon expanded from the tip of my sword and severed the tanker user’s neck.

I had plunged deep into the thick of it. The moment I recognized that, a blinding light filled with divine power flew at me from all sides.

There was no clear way to dodge. Frowning, I kicked off my pony and leapt up.

“Yiing!”

The lone pony let out a sorrowful cry, getting pounded by the wicked Paladins and was then unsummoned.

It was a truly horrifying sight.

“There!”

“Attack the airborne!”

I could have briefly hovered using flight, but I decided against it.

There were too many ranged attacks flying at me from every direction.

I swung my sword, parrying attacks aimed at my vitals. At the same time, my body started to plummet downwards.

Thud, thud, thud—

The sound of the wagon was growing closer. Desperately stretching out my hands, I shouted.

“Come out!”

Since my pony had been unsummoned, I already knew who I’d be calling next.

It was Erlang.

“Erlang!”

Erland, dramatically arriving from the magical formation, looked at me with an expression of shock.

His eyes seemed to carry a sense of longing.

Without hesitation, I stretched out my foot and stepped onto Erlang’s back.

My foot connected. I was grounded.

“I’m off!”

“Meow!”

Kicking off Erlang’s back, I activated the dash skill. As the black aura enveloped me, I transformed into a black dragon, hurtling toward the approaching wagon.

Kaboom!

Success! We succeeded in the Gold Rush raid. If I could join the wagon now, I could grab the gold without heading to prison.

But—

Screech—!

A familiar sound rang in my ears, and my body halted in mid-air.

It wasn’t a stun or anything. It was the effect of a specific skill: [Time Stop].

The black dragon effect wrapped around me, and I froze as the golden-laden wagon rolled into the village.

[Gold Rush raid successful!]

[To conceal your identity, you must enter [No Pain No Gain] village.]

[Time limit 1 minute]

“This, this is…!”

The moment the message flashed before my eyes, the blurred clock-effect in front of me faded away.

“I… can’t move…!”

I couldn’t move. Time around me had completely stopped.

But there was still a chance. The time stop by the Chronomancer would last one second.

Soon after, the stopped time would flow again. If I could just make a break for it into the village…!

At that moment, the suspended time began to flow.

“Ah, nooo!”

But.

Screech—!

Once again, a peculiar sound echoed, and the clock effect scattered before my eyes.

I had stopped in mid-air for two whole seconds. The observing users nearby didn’t let the opportunity slip by.

“Get her!”

“Capture the Cow King!”

All the players rushing to catch the Raider began unleashing their skills.

The moment countless skills flew toward me, my health plummeted in an instant.

“Cough!”

The immortal skill activated, fixing my health at 1.

With that state, I had only three seconds left to move.

What I had feared had become a reality.

“He-Helena!”

Right, it was Helena who used the time stop skill on me.

Why? Why did she use the time stop skill on me?

Not too far away, there stood Helena with her staff aimed at me.

The moment the immortal skill activated, my body began to move.

But Helena didn’t miss her chance.

Screech—!

Once again, the time stop was cast.

Could it really be that she didn’t recognize me because of my brilliant disguise?

It was certain. She hadn’t recognized me.

Not saying a word and moving forward with the Gold Rush raid was the problem.

I hurriedly opened my mouth.

“He-Helena…”

But my voice never formed fully.

As the duration of immortality decreased by one second, the effect of her third time stop took hold.

Right after that, yet another clock effect materialized above me.

The fourth time stop skill.

With two seconds remaining on the immortality, I recalled one skill I could use at this moment.

The [Form Manipulation] skill of the Warrior class at rank 7, which allowed me to escape from all restraint states.

Now was the time to use that skill.

Slipping away—

As the time that had stopped began to flow, my body left behind a hazy afterimage, dropping toward the ground.

The air around me was filled with my afterimage, creating an illusion of two people splitting apart.

Immortality left me with one second.

Just one step remained until the Raiders’ village.

As time resumed, my body was sucked into the village, leaving behind a gauzy afterimage.