Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 254

Boom-!

A short explosion echoed from behind.

Immediately after, a faint groan slipped through the gaps of the explosions.

Someone must have stepped on one of the landmines set by the ducks.

As I expected, the enemy wasn’t alone.

It was a specific group.

And they were people quite familiar with PvP.

I furrowed my brow and scanned through the smoke rising from the blast.

With twin swords gripped tight in both hands, I crouched as low as I could.

The smoke was thick and cloudy, making their faces blurry, but my eyes were filled with negative emotions.

Right after the servers merged, most of the friendships from the Korean server were cleared away.

So, the group daring enough to attack me was narrowed down to just one.

“Kugh…”

The smoke from the explosion scattered with the wind.

And what was revealed was all too familiar.

The thief who stepped on the landmine was dressed in blue robes.

The exact appearance of the gear worn by a specific group.

The Exorcist Guild.

It was them.

I bit my lip.

I heard that most of the guild’s higher-ups were frozen, and the guild had essentially broken apart, but it seemed the remnants were still lurking around.

I recalled the Snow Mage who relentlessly tortured the remnants of the Exorcists until the very end.

She was right. I should have never stopped attacking until these crazed fools were completely wiped out.

Bang-!

Ping-!

The sniping aimed at me and Jupiter kept coming, but Jupiter calmly deflected all the ranged attacks.

“Blood Demon King…! Hurry!”

Without a word, I summoned ducks one after another.

I had no intention of fleeing. I was Yeo, the Blood Demon King.

“Jupiter.”

“Uh?”

“I’m going to cast acceleration on you, so please take care of those snipers.”

“But if I move…!”

“Do you think I need your help?”

“Well, um…”

“Who am I?”

“Blood Demon King…!”

“Let’s go.”

Jupiter seemed to hesitate for a moment but then nodded, biting her lip.

Now’s the time.

I struck the ground with the tip of my staff.

Kiiing-!

The top-tier buff skill that increases all action speeds for a brief moment.

[Time Acceleration] was activated.

This skill, which raises action speed to the maximum, allowed even a frail wizard like me to move with the same speed as a warrior character for just a moment.

Zat-!

In the instant the silver Paladin sprang off the ground, I too began to move.

I sprinted in the opposite direction of Jupiter.

My accelerated thoughts made time around me feel slower.

Only one person had appeared.

And due to stepping on the landmine, he was in a restricted movement state.

Realizing there were more landmines around, he crouched down, helplessly trapped.

“S-Spawn of evil!”

I felt his gaze filled with rage.

As I closed in on the Thief, he grinned wide enough to show his teeth, swinging his sword.

Of course, he must have found it amusing that a wizard approached him directly.

Swish-!

The blade sliced through the air, cutting downwards with intent to cleave me in two.

But it was slow.

I halted my legs. The moment my sprinting body was held back, my weight leaned forward from the momentum.

Whoosh-!

The tip of the sword grazed just inches away from my nose.

I felt a sharp sting, but I ignored it.

Now that his attack was over, it was my turn.

Quack! Quack!

The toy ducks I had summoned earlier.

I threw the toy towards the enemy.

A multitude of quacking ducks charged towards the enemy, flapping their wings.

But the attack didn’t end there.

For the ducks to strike the enemy, a final touch was needed.

Magic Engineering Bomb.

The moment I used the skill, translucent bombs spread out towards the front.

“What, this…!”

In that brief moment, the enemy’s expression shifted to one of panic.

Ducks and bombs? What a bizarre combination.

He appeared completely unprepared for what was about to unfold.

In that moment, my body began to slow down.

It meant the duration of acceleration was ending.

I immediately used Blink to dart past the thief and move behind him.

Boom-! Boom! Splash!

As I zipped past, the Thief User vanished in a massive explosion.

Upon confirming that even his corpse had been obliterated, I dashed forward.

There was no telling how many enemies lay ahead, so I couldn’t stop.

I charged vigorously into the heart of the forest.

Rustle-

I sensed many presences in the woods.

Just from the feeling of their gazes, there must have been over ten.

But this was good.

In a thick forest like this, I had the advantage.

My small frame was good for hiding.

Quack! Quack!

I started summoning ducks again.

Before the enemies could move, I planned to turn this entire forest into my domain.

The number of summoned ducks reached thirty.

I laid landmines on the backs of the ducks, spreading them everywhere.

Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!

The ducks had a unique trait.

If there is a user nearby, they loudly plea for attention.

Which meant that wherever their quacks echoed, there were enemies hiding.

Quack! Quack! Quack!

I detected the enemies moving through the quacking of the ducks.

However, the ducks had a very short lifespan.

Eventually, the summoned ducks vanished after burying the landmines beneath them.

My mana was running low. Summoning ducks and placing landmines repeatedly had taken its toll.

Even potions were on cooldown.

I checked the dwindling cooldown of the potion and thought of Jupiter.

Her time to act was limited.

Since she had used Time Acceleration to protect me, only about thirty seconds remained for her actions.

I had to quickly deal with these foes and rush to help Jupiter.

If only I had a Summon Order at a time like this.

My sub-character, Princess Yeo, rarely logged in except during raids, leaving no Summon Order items in the inventory.

Not to mention, there were no Cash Coins left.

I was short on funds after buying the new lingerie costume that recently came out.

I scanned for the movement of the enemies and asked for help in the guild chat.

Princess Yeo – [I’m being attacked by the Exorcist Guild right now. Please help! (Coordinates included)]

I sent the message along with the coordinates, so the guild members would come rushing.

Closing the chat, I concentrated.

A burning, intense pain.

The bright red flames seared my brain, drawing out every single sense to a razor’s edge.

Rustle-

I heard the sound of something brushing through the grass from a distance.

It wasn’t a natural breeze. It was the enemy.

And there was more than one moving through the foliage.

The enemies were approaching me while circling around.

They must know my hiding spot.

But I stayed still.

There were many Magic Engineering landmines laid around me.

Scattered wide like a spider’s web.

Boom!

Kaboom!

Bang!

Victims of the landmines started to appear.

But they didn’t die. It couldn’t be helped.

It was a low-tier class skill. Even if they took a hit that injured their ankle and reduced their speed, they couldn’t instantly kill a max-level character.

“Landmines!”

“Just charge! The demon is alone!”

“We’re separated from the Fallen Paladin!”

The situation was dire.

I bit my lip and used Blood Magic.

A crimson effect surged from beneath my feet.

After all, a wizard dies with just one hit.

It was the right decision, even if it meant exhausting my remaining health to take down more enemies.

I noticed the cooldown of Blink returning and burst out of the woods.

Immediately after, a barrage of ranged attacks began to rain down.

In that brief moment, I scanned through the air to gauge the approximate enemy count.

Fifteen attacks were aimed directly at me.

Which meant there were over fifteen enemies hiding in this forest.

Also, using the directions of those incoming attacks, I figured out their positions.

Quack! Quack!

While running, I summoned ducks.

The ducks spread out to form a giant circle around me.

The enemies’ attention would be diverted to the ducks, but they didn’t seem to be overly concerned.

Pah-pah-pah-pah!

As I dashed behind a large tree, countless skills rained down, smashing the tree apart.

Without hesitation, I used Blink to move behind another tree.

To the enemies, it must have appeared as if I had vanished in an instant.

“Did she die?”

“Find the body!”

“She didn’t die! The outlaw index hasn’t increased!”

Shouts echoed from every direction.

I had grasped their locations.

Quack!

I stirred the scattered ducks, shaking the foliage.

Though it was a tiny sound, it momentarily distracted the overly excited enemies.

I directed the ducks deliberately to adjust their movements.

They wouldn’t know.

That the quacking of these ducks was a funeral march heading towards their deaths.

Quack!

The enemies all gathered.

I placed my hand down on the ground and kept summoning ducks.

I exhausted my health to the limit. Every ounce of energy directed towards summoning the ducks.

I drank a health potion and summoned again.

Eventually, the count of summoned ducks reached fifty.

Go!

Quack!

The legion of fifty ducks charged towards the cluster of enemies.

It was unfortunate I couldn’t use Time Acceleration, but the enemies weren’t scattering.

If anything, they seemed to think I had fled and began to chat among themselves with expressions of disappointment.

Quack! Quack! Quack!

It was then that the unusual legion of ducks arrived among them.

The ducks landed and quacked loudly, pleading for playtime from nearby enemies.

Now!

I lunged forward, tossing a Magic Engineering Bomb.

Swish-!

Boom-! Boom! Boom-!

After the initial explosion, a series of chain explosions erupted.

The whole forest trembled as trees and clumps of dirt scattered in every direction.

The enemies didn’t even have time to scream.

I looked around to check my status.

Remaining mana: 13.

Remaining health: 22.

I was in a state where ‘having squeezed everything out’ would be an appropriate description.

One misstep, and I’d die.

“Haa…”

I sighed and pressed on.

Crossing the traces of explosions that left no corpses behind, I headed in the direction Jupiter had dashed off to.

The cooldown for the mana potion was slowly returning.

That meant Jupiter wouldn’t be able to move any longer.

I had to hurry.

The Exorcists didn’t just kill the enemies they labeled as evil.

They humiliated them in front of everyone.

That was their execution method.

Finally making it to the other side of the forest, I noticed scattered corpses carelessly lying around—clearly the work of Jupiter.

Bodies bore gashes from swords across their chests, and dented skulls from blunt weapons lay embedded in the ground.

All signs of a Paladin’s close combat.

The corpses stretched deep into the woods.

After following the trail of bodies for a while, I finally spotted Jupiter.

Surrounded by the scattered corpses of the Exorcist remnants, she stood there, gasping for breath.

It was clear at a glance.

She had pushed herself beyond her limits.

Jupiter’s dim gaze flickered over me, but it seemed she didn’t recognize me and faded helplessly.

“You filthy heretic… this is where it ends.”

Before Jupiter stood a man soaked in blood from head to toe.

I had never seen him before.

It must have been a new member since all the guild’s higher-ups were frozen.

He advanced slowly like an executioner, wielding a massive two-handed sword.

He realized something.

That Jupiter, gasping for breath, had her sword pointed away from him.

Surveying the surroundings, he checked if any enemies remained.

There were no enemies that crossed his senses.

In fact, that meant Jupiter had fought her way through all these foes to reach this point.

Time must have been short.

After all, Jupiter’s time was extremely limited.

Having walked this far, the cooldown for the mana potion returned.

The sweet scent filled my mouth, restoring my mana.

Slowly, cautiously, I summoned the ducks.

When thirty ducks were summoned, I decided to use the skill I had been saving.

Kiiing-!

A massive clock-shaped effect spread from beneath my feet.

A fraudulent skill granted only to wizards.

The Chronomancer’s [Time Stop].

“Wh-What…?”

The man slowly raised his sword, but he stood frozen in place.

He wore a puzzled expression, as if he couldn’t grasp what had just occurred.

I moved towards the enemy alongside the ducks.

“I have stopped time.”

Quack! Quack!

The time I could stop was merely two seconds.

One second had already passed.

The enemy remained motionless.

Only I and my ducks could move in this vicinity.

As the summoned ducks began to latch onto the enemy’s body, I scattered the Magic Engineering Bombs towards him.

Swish-!

That was the end of my two seconds.

Even when the bombs made contact with his body, the enemy showed no reaction.

At this moment, it was my own time.

I wouldn’t waste even a single second killing the enemy.

“I-!”

The moment time began to flow again, the enemy let out a brief cry of despair.

Boom-! Boom! Boom-!

The enormous chain explosion surged up, completely overturning the spot where he stood.

Dust from the explosion began to fall back to the ground.

Without a word, I walked over to Jupiter.

The [Idle Mode] indicator floated above her head.

It meant she had left the game, leaving only her character behind.

Just like she had during the tournament.

“Guild Leader!”

“Blood Demon King!”

The guild members arrived roughly two minutes later.

I sat down beside Jupiter with a silent smile.

I intended to wait right here until she returned.