Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 248

“Y-You cowardly Blood Demon King…!”

“The world of competition is merciless.”

I said coldly to Jupiter, who clung to me pitifully.

A race from the Capital City to the dungeon had begun.

Until just before the finishing line, we maintained similar speeds, but just before reaching the destination, I jumped off Aurelangs’ back and used Blink.

Naturally, my body arrived first at the destination, so I could say that the outcome of the competition was my victory.

Of course, Jupiter refused to acknowledge the result.

“Y-You coward… so cowardly… definitely the evil Blood Demon King…!”

“Enough already. Let’s just enter the dungeon.”

Honestly, I didn’t care who won or lost this race.

I had only one goal.

The special Transcendence Stone that drops in the dungeon.

“I’m sorry… Ruphelius…! I’ve lost again…”

Jupiter, clearly frustrated by her defeat, clung to her white pony and started whining.

I crossed my arms and waited for Jupiter.

I had no intention of interrupting her role-playing.

How long had it been? Jupiter approached me after recalling her white pony.

From her expression, it seemed a small smile had crept onto her face despite her earlier frustration.

“Shall we go in now?”

“W-Wait a moment… I need to check the dungeon’s layout…”

Jupiter said, rummaging through her pocket.

What came out was a small notebook.

I peered over and skimmed through her notes.

[★Guide to the Crystal Cave★]

Go right, break through, and check the quests of the party members.

If there are quests, head to the room with the NPC and talk to them.

(Very important: A tactic to appear as a skilled Paladin tank)

Here, it’s necessary to defeat the Named Monsters in order to unlock the door to the final boss.

“What is this…?”

“I took the liberty of writing a strategy from the internet just in case… Don’t worry, Blood Demon King. I know this dungeon very well…”

Jupiter said, staring intently at her notebook.

I stood there, seemingly dumbfounded.

“Hey, Jupiter.”

“Just a moment… I’m almost done reading.”

“No…”

Her enthusiasm was good.

But this dungeon was one that beginners of the main quest would normally tackle.

There was no need for a strategy for over-leveled users like us.

We could just rush in and hit the Named Monster, and it’d explode on its own.

Thud!

“Okay… perfect.”

But I kept my mouth shut.

Jupiter’s expression was too serious and filled with anticipation for me to say anything.

“Let’s go.”

With that, Jupiter, looking confident, began to walk the path.

Her steps were quite cautious, and her gaze was actively scanning the area ahead.

As I followed, we soon encountered the first monsters.

The [Crystal Lizard], adorned with crystals all over its body.

In fact, these creatures were more akin to dragons than lizards.

“Enemies!”

Jupiter pulled out her shield at the sight of the Crystal Lizard.

She then charged at the enemy.

“Hyahhhh!”

Thud thud thud thud—!

The heavy thumping of Jupiter’s feet echoed loudly through the Crystal Cave.

I sighed at the sight before me.

I knew Jupiter had little party play experience, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.

If it weren’t for us, two over-leveled players, the entire party would have been wiped out.

“Hyahhh!”

Swish-!

Crack!

Swish!

“Evil lizard monsters!”

Since the battle had already begun, there was no helping it.

I fired Ice Arrows and Fire Balls at the lizards that were clinging to Jupiter.

Swish-! Smash-!

The fighting time lasted about 20 seconds.

We took down five monsters in total.

Jupiter, who charged ahead, killed two, while I handled the remaining three.

It wasn’t difficult. It wasn’t dangerous.

Of course, it wouldn’t be. The Ether grade in this dungeon was very low.

But if it continued like this, it would be quite problematic.

“Hmph…!”

Jupiter was smiling satisfactorily as she looked at the fallen enemies.

I frowned and called out to Jupiter.

“Jupiter.”

“What is it, Blood Demon King?”

“Did you not look up any basic videos about tanking?”

“Is that even necessary? If there are enemies, we take them down. That’s all.”

Just as I thought. Jupiter had only researched how to navigate the dungeon, without understanding her role in it.

I nodded, recalling the times we had done dungeons together.

The incomprehensible actions she displayed back when she was a certain character stemmed from her lack of knowledge.

“Jupiter. We’re just the two of us. If you charge in like that in a higher-level dungeon, it’ll be troublesome.”

“Mmm…”

“Let me teach you how a tank should go about in a dungeon.”

“But you’re a wizard right now…”

“Just quietly follow me and watch.”

“I understand…”

Jupiter nodded gloomily at my words.

Seeing her made me smile slightly.

She’s a quick learner, so she’d absorb what I taught her in no time.

“First of all, it’s good to walk slowly. When you don’t know what monsters are where in the dungeon, that’s what you should do.”

I praise what deserves praise.

And I correct any mistakes by informing her.

That was all it was.

“Now, forward.”

As we entered the right passageway, we soon encountered Elite Monsters again.

Once more, the ones that appeared were the Crystal Lizards.

“Enemies…!”

“Actually, with our specs, we don’t really need to worry this much, but I’m informing you because I think you don’t know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Monsters that appear in the dungeon are primarily Elite Monsters. They are stronger than the ones in the field.”

“I know that.”

“Then why did you charge in recklessly!? Just listen. Normally, a typical spec party wouldn’t be able to face a group of Elite Monsters like that.”

“That’s true…”

“So we only need to pull in as many as we can handle at a time. This process is called pulling.”

Pulling…

It means drawing the monsters towards oneself.

“Look over there.”

I extended my hand to point at the spot where the lizards were gathered.

This time, seven Crystal Lizards appeared.

But not all seven were bunched up together.

Three were clustered on either side, with one wandering in between.

This was a perfect situation for me to demonstrate.

“Facing all seven Elite Monsters at once isn’t easy, not even for a party of five. So we need to pull them in three at a time.”

I said as I created a small Fire Ball above my hand.

Then, I threw it at the three lizards stuck to the right wall.

Whoosh-!

Boom!

Kyieek!

The lizard hit directly by the fireball, along with the ones nearby, began charging at me.

Three of them came rushing towards me.

The others, who were three walking nearby, didn’t perceive me and remained still.

“Take this!”

Thud!

I swung my staff and smashed the head of the closest lizard.

The other two met similar fates shortly after.

“Did you see that?”

“Oh…”

“But even if you pull like this, there’s something you need to keep in mind. That’s those wandering lizards over there.”

My explanation wasn’t done yet.

I pointed to a slowly crawling lizard.

“That means the perception range is constantly changing. What do you think would happen if I pulled three lizards while that one was nearby?”

“That would be…”

The monsters’ perception ranges are interconnected.

In simpler terms, if I pulled three lizards and that wandering front lizard was too close, the rest that overlapped in their perception range would come along.

Showing it is quicker than explaining.

When the roaming lizard neared, I cast a Fire Ball and threw it.

Boom!

Kyieek!

This time, four lizards reacted.

The remaining ones quickly charged at me.

“Do you get the gist of it now?”

“I understand…!”

I nodded at Jupiter’s words and smashed the heads of the rushing lizards.

Crack! Crack!

“But, Blood Demon King. What should we do when we inevitably have to face all the monsters at once?”

“Good question. In that case, you need to use each class’s crowd control abilities to exclude some monsters from the fight.”

“I see…!”

I covered the basics.

I took a step back and said to Jupiter.

“Now you try.”

“Umm…!”

The small girl paladin nodded to my words and boldly stomped forward.

Her back looked quite reliable compared to before.