Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 226

You must block what you can, but avoid what you can.

However, always ensure that the boss’s back is exposed to the dealers.

That was the basic quality of a tank, in my opinion.

Kaaang-!

A tremendous shock coursed through my hand gripping the shield.

But I held my ground.

Though Shadow Yeo unleashed powerful attacks, my stance remained unshaken.

I hid behind my shield while checking the monster’s health.

It hadn’t even been 30 seconds since the battle began, and it already lost 5% of its life force.

Despite me, the main dealer, being out of action, the health bar was still going down at a rapid pace.

It was likely because I minimized the boss’s movement, increasing hit rates for ranged skills.

In fact, the DPS of the wizards had slightly increased.

The moment the boss’s health hit 90%, the first pattern finally began.

After a brief preparation stance, it charged toward the ranged dealers, right after unleashing an area attack pattern.

“Hah!”

There was not much I could do in this situation.

Swinging my sword to deal at least a light hit to the monster in its preparatory stance was all I could manage.

What happened after the charge depended on the party members’ skills.

Swaaah-!

When Shadow Yeo transformed into the form of a white dragon, the wizards quickly used Blink.

These were seasoned fighters with plenty of experience.

They could easily navigate through such patterns.

Boom-!

Black lightning rained down upon the form of the white dragon.

Returning to its original form, Shadow Yeo swung its demon sword, shaking off the remnants of lightning clinging to its body.

At that moment, Dogrik, who had been watching, rushed in with all his might.

“Hrgh!”

With the signature grunt of a middle-aged man,

Dogrik, now positioned as the sub tank, hurriedly gathered the aggro of Shadow Yeo and dragged it toward me.

Watching him closely, he seemed like a naughty uncle luring a child to perform something strange.

“…”

Isn’t that right?

It wasn’t just my opinion; the other party members were looking at Dogrik with similar expressions.

But Dogrik didn’t care about those glances.

He kept shouting while pulling Shadow Yeo toward me.

I took over the aggro from Dogrik as Shadow Yeo approached.

Thus, the battle with Shadow Yeo began anew.

The lower its health got, the more vivid the red aura emanating from it became.

The vivid aura signified that the Berserker’s dedicated passive skill was strongly activated.

Shadow Yeo swung its sword wrapped in red vitality and black magic.

Boom!

As time passed, the burden on the tank became significant.

I understood it well after firsthand experience.

No wonder the main tanks drained the healers’ mana so quickly.

Swish!

A thick wave of magic sliced toward my head.

I slightly bent my upper body to evade that attack, but the subsequent black magic grazed my shoulder.

The sensation of it brushing against my shoulder was light.

But the health loss was terrifying.

Even though it wasn’t a direct hit, it was still at this level.

If I let my guard down for even a moment, it could lead to the party’s annihilation.

I focused my mind and managed to dodge the incoming attacks.

Even though this was the first battle after the rank change, things were going relatively smoothly.

As the health of Shadow Yeo hit 50%, it entered the second phase.

“Now! Go hard!”

This was the opportunity while it was transforming.

Normally, when protagonists transform, it’s polite to wait, but this wasn’t some protagonist.

Just a simple monster wearing my appearance.

Nobody was going to wait idly for its transformation.

Crackle!

Black lightning gathered in the sky.

Shadow Yeo sank to the ground to complete its transformation.

It took 5 seconds for the transformation to finish.

During that time, Shadow Yeo would make no moves, making it as perfect a damage timing as possible.

After a torrent of storm-like skills rained upon Shadow Yeo,

The seated figure of Shadow Yeo stood up and lightning struck down from the sky.

Boom!

[Awakening]

The large horns sprouted from the demon’s arms and legs and head.

A face grinning with a sly smile scattered red glows in its eyes.

Though it wasn’t wearing the wing costume, Shadow Yeo looked close enough to a Demon Lord.

Now it was the real deal.

I swallowed hard as I watched the slowly approaching Shadow Yeo.

In that moment,

Shadow Yeo slammed the ground and swung its sword at me.

Kaaang-!

“Ugh!”

A short groan slipped out.

I was slightly pushed back by the powerful strike.

The force behind it was far stronger than before.

If I let my guard down, it would be over.

“Whoooaah!”

I activated [Provocation’s Roar] that the knight possessed.

As I let out a thunderous roar, a massive area appeared beneath my feet.

“Hiiyooo!”

If I couldn’t avoid it, I’d face it.

Using every buff available to mitigate damage, divine power fell from the sky and formed a sanctum around me.

As huge angel wings spread out behind me, a halo emerged above my head.

Just as the Death Knight has a transforming skill as a higher job class,

The Paladin also possessed a transformation skill.

In stark contrast to the Demon Lord growing closer to a demon’s form,

The Paladin’s transformation skill [Divine] makes the user’s appearance closer to that of an angel.

Bang!

Thud!

Boom!

Clang!

As swords clashed, divine power and magic mingled and spread in all directions.

While continuing the battle against it,

Suddenly, it retreated and reached out toward the healers.

That hand.

That posture.

It was definitely a familiar sight.

I quickly dashed forward, raising my shield.

“Ha!”

Boom!

I grounded the end of my shield and positioned myself in front of the healers as a safeguard.

My guess could be wrong.

An unexpected other skill might appear and annihilate us all.

Yet, I had no hesitation in this choice.

Swaah!

To my surprise, my expectations were correct.

The skill used by Shadow Yeo was [Death’s Grasp], possessed by the Death Knight.

A skill that pulls distant targets closer.

The rapidly shot demonic hand came flying toward the healers, but it was blocked by me.

I poured massive divine power over my shield.

“Haah!”

Kiiiing-!

The divine power that flowed from my body spread wide, creating a massive light shield.

The approaching demonic hand was blocked by the light shield, but it still didn’t give up and began to twist sideways.

If things continued like this, one of the healers would surely be caught and dragged away.

I bit my lip and shouted over toward Dogrik, who was nearby.

“Dogrk!!!”

In this urgent situation, I skipped the honorifics.

Dogrik seemed to recognize the dire situation and immediately responded.

“Yesss!!!”

“Sacrifice yourself instead!!!”

“What?”

“Hurry! Come over here and die!!!”

It was better for a sub tank with nothing to do to die than for a healer to fall.

Dogrik hesitated for a moment, but was startled by my shout and rushed over.

While forming a wall with the massive shield, I blocked the demonic hand from approaching the healers, but the hand wasn’t disappearing and was still shifting direction.

This pattern.

Someone had to be caught by that hand to end it.

Dogrik, who was observing, moved toward the wide-reaching demonic hand.

At that moment, the demonic hand opened up widely and grabbed Dogrik, who had been idling in front of it.

“Hrggh…!”

Creeeak!

A chilling sound echoed.

Contrary to my expectation that it would drag him before the boss, the gigantic demonic hand squeezed Dogrik’s body, turning him into a corpse.

There wasn’t even time for healing.

It was a one-hit kill.

Thus, Shadow Yeo caused one casualty while wearing a satisfied smile, retracting its demonic hand.

I watched that scene and retrieved my shield.

A tragic death.

Dogrik’s sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain.

“Hiyaaaaah!”

With a raw scream, I charged toward Shadow Yeo.

As I spread my angel wings behind me, my body lifted lightly, adding to my sprint’s speed.

Swish-!

Clang-!

Boom-!

Clang-!

The rapidly swinging sword exchanged strikes as we hurled our demon swords at each other.

The moment Shadow Yeo’s health dropped to 30%, the red aura spilling from its body deepened.

This was the feature of the Berserker that activated all power at low life force.

It was different from before.

Even though all my equipment was at the highest grade, it was becoming a struggle to hold on.

Let it flow.

Feeling the white pain surging up, I dodged the attacks.

Don’t overdo it; just endure.

This wasn’t a fight I was taking on alone. I must tread carefully to avoid a reckless ending like in VRS.

Even when I could strike, I absorbed shocks with my shield instead.

In that moment,

Finally, it unleashed its most powerful pattern’s preparatory stance.

“Wheel Wind!!! Get away!!! To the corner!!!”

We had to maximize the distance to survive.

Only the main tank needed to endure this pattern.

The melee dealers who were dealing damage around immediately ran off without looking back when I shouted.

Shadow Yeo, pulling its demon sword back, began to whirl its body with a low smile.

Every skill of the Berserker shot forth when at low life force increased in attack speed and range.

Since Shadow Yeo copied my skills, it too would receive similar effects.

Swoosh!

The crimson blades spread widely, covering more than half of the named room and starting to spin.

Tatatatadang!

“Uugh!”

I held my shield and blocked all the attacks, but my body was pushed back significantly, and my health began to drop at an unbelievable rate.

While I struggled to take all the hits,

One thing I had forgotten flashed in my mind.

No blades would form close to the caster of Wheel Wind.

In other words, if I got close, I could evade all attacks.

Of course, I had no certainty.

The skills being used by Shadow Yeo had been modified to be boss-exclusive, though they shared names.

Just look at the skill that instantly killed Dogrik.

But it was a gamble worth attempting.

I exhaled slowly and activated a buff to reduce damage.

Pah-!

A brilliant white light spread throughout my body, forming a shield, but its duration was extremely short.

I seized the opportunity and leapt beside Shadow Yeo.

“Hah!”

Ska-ska-sk!

As the rapidly spinning blades shredded the shield like a rag,

The sounds of clashing blades silenced.

“Huff…”

The shield may have disappeared, but my health remained unchanged.

This meant my gamble had been successful.

Shadow Yeo, scowling, continued spinning around.

As they said, the eye of the storm is calm.

From this perspective, it looks quite cute.

As long as the duration of Wheel Wind hasn’t expired, I found myself with a window of opportunity.

I sat down on the ground, snapping screenshots of Shadow Yeo.

The underwear Shadow Yeo wore was striped white and sky blue.

Just like the ones I wore.

Frowning, I changed the color of my underwear costume to white.