Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 47

The executioner Crow seemed to have a pattern where he grew stronger every time he executed a player, as he wreaked havoc on the dealer line right after taking me out.

Just after the ranged dealers began to fall one by one, the sub tank rushed in desperately but was unable to fend off the now too powerful Crow.

Thus, this attempt ended in failure.

I think everyone was thinking the same way: that this time we could clear it.

I thought so too.

“Hmm… Crow, you got suddenly stronger, huh?”

“Probably, his stats increase each time an execution pattern is triggered.”

“Then we definitely need to survive. No, I think it might be better to take him out quickly right from the start.”

I briefly coordinated our thoughts with the party members and nodded in agreement.

Though Crow had shown an unexpected level of strength now, if the ranged dealers focused on him first, we could overpower him.

However, to execute this plan, we needed one more tank to keep Crow occupied.

I pulled out a shield that had been tucked away in my inventory.

It was a stroke of luck that I had prepared the level 45 unique shield just in case.

It would be impossible to tank a boss or dozens of paladins, but Crow, without a stack of executions, could easily be managed by me alone.

“Let’s try it out.”

I shouted as I grasped the holy sword, which I hadn’t taken out in a while.

During combat, I couldn’t swap out my gear, and I had to deal damage while wielding the holy sword and shield.

I also removed the orc ring, which kept my health low.

It was an unavoidable choice to avoid executions.

Once the battle with the boss started, time began to flow.

Aside from an occasional minor mistake, everything was going smoothly.

After the second black sun pattern, paladins emerged.

Once again, [Knight Commander Executioner Crow] made his appearance.

As the sub tank started dribbling with the paladins, I dashed straight towards Crow.

Clang!

As I charged, the moment we collided, he swung his sword. I raised my shield and deflected his powerful strike.

As the dark energy surged from the holy sword, I swung it back at him.

Clang!

Crow, being a paladin as well, possessed a shield.

The moment we exchanged blows, a blinding white flash shot in from afar and struck Crow’s head.

Ping-!

As the bullet ricocheted off his helmet, Crow’s body swayed noticeably.

I didn’t let that opportunity slip away.

My swiftly swinging holy sword hit Crow repeatedly.

Since the unique berserker passive wasn’t active, my damage was quite low, but I managed to disrupt his stance successfully.

I turned my gaze. The paladins that the sub tank was dribbling with had just been swept away by the wizard’s area skill.

If I could finish off Crow and funnel the damage into the boss, we could definitely clear this.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Crow, who had been staggered, suddenly began to exude dark energy and charged forward at an incredible speed.

He moved faster than when I used my charge skill.

“Um, ahhh!”

He quickly arrived in front of the archer.

Could it be that he had a pattern that reacted to range attacks?

Upon reaching the archer, Crow swung his sword with frightening speed.

The archer tried to roll on the ground to evade but soon went down.

The archer’s final moments ended with Crow’s execution.

Crow’s stats had risen.

The dark energy flowing from his body grew stronger.

“Everyone, don’t attack! Fall back!”

I shouted urgently, quickly dashing towards Crow.

I closed the distance in an instant using both my charge and jump strike.

Crow’s black sword clashed with my holy light sword, creating a bright effect.

To capture him, the melee dealers had to jump in.

“Wizards, all damage the boss! Thieves, stick to Crow!”

The instant the order was given, the thieves sprinted toward Crow using their quick mobility.

The wizards, following my command, ignored Crow and started pouring damage into the boss.

I was deflecting every attack with my shield and sword, but it was still tough.

I exchanged glances with the sub tank beside me.

It was a signal for him to take over the aggro.

As the sub tank quickly took over the aggro, I let out a sigh of relief.

Was it because Crow’s stats had risen due to the executions? He wouldn’t fall easily.

While I thought that he would eventually be taken down if we kept dealing damage, Crow’s use of protections and healing as a paladin meant he wasn’t going down without a fight.

Watching that, I planted my holy sword into the ground.

I intended to use an area buff to boost the dealers’ DPS.

[Proclamation of the Sun God’s Sanctuary.]

Boom!

A wide-ranging aura of sunlight began to rise into the sky.

At the moment the buff was created that raised all stats and continuously recovered health, Crow, who was swinging his sword at the sub tank, suddenly knelt on the ground and his formerly red name turned green.

[Ugh, this is…]

“What’s happening…?”

Crow’s attacks stopped. Our attacks were also not landing.

When a monster and NPC are hostile toward players, their names turn red.

On the other hand, when they are friendly, their names turn green.

So, the Crow kneeling down meant he had become friendly with us.

[I see… up until now…]

Crow clutched his head, mumbling something, then suddenly stood up.

The dark energy that had wrapped around him had disappeared.

Replaced by a brilliant aura of sunlight.

[To the one who possesses another holy sword, thank you for saving me. From now on, I will lend you my strength.]

Showering in radiant sunlight, Crow charged towards the boss at high speed.

The powerful attack that had been directed at players was now being unleashed upon the boss.

However, having switched sides, it seemed his attack power had been nerfed, as the boss’s health wasn’t depleting as swiftly as expected.

Instead, as a high-ranking paladin, Crow began sprinkling heals and shields all around, bolstering the raid’s stability.

[Argh! Crow! How can it be you!]

[Corrupted Solara, my sun lies within this heart.]

Though startled by the unexpected turn of events, I began to dash behind Solara, dealing damage alongside the others.

Time passed, and before long, Solara’s health hit rock bottom, and the giant dark giant fell to the ground.

Boom-!

[I can’t believe this… this is impossible… my, my power… the sun…!]

As the dark energy slowly began to drain from Solara’s body, Crow’s form began to fade away.

With the raid boss vanishing, Crow, the summoned being, was to disappear as well.

I raised the holy sword in my hand.

It seemed the developers had hidden an Easter egg within this world item.

“Wow… what just happened?”

“It seems like our party leader purified the named.”

“Is it some sort of Easter egg?”

[Server’s First Achievement Unlocked!]

The title [Restorer of the Sun] was sent to my mailbox.

The voices of the party members disbursed.

It must have been due to the achievement confirmation window that had popped up before their eyes.

Everyone was probably just standing there gaping, checking their achievements.

Guild chat began to blaze as the clearing message started to scroll across the world.

“Well then. Good job, everyone! We managed to clear it before 10 o’clock.”

I said as I checked the time.

I couldn’t help but smile. It was 9 o’clock now, meaning we had an hour until shutdown.

There would be no blunders like last time when auctions ended with disconnections.

“I’ll check the drop items and start the auction.”

I approached Solara’s corpse to check the drop items.

[Corrupted Sun Ring]

Strength +150 Agility +150 Unique

Max Health -10%

Bound upon acquisition

Level Requirement 45

20% chance to increase all stats by 15% upon attack.

One of the relics of the Sun God.

Corrupted by dark energy.

The malignant energy is too strong, rendering purification impossible.

[Brilliant Sun Shield]

Strength +70 Health +100 Unique

Max Health +15%

Bound upon acquisition

Level Requirement 45

Triggers [Sun’s Veil] that reduces all damage by 20% upon equipping.

The original shield used by the Sun Knights.

Endowed with the Sun God’s blessing.

[Weapon Blessed by the Sun God – Staff]

Intelligence +120 Mana +70 Unique

Intelligence +15%

Magic Attack Power +980

Bound upon acquisition

15% increase in all elemental damage

Level Requirement 45

A weapon blessed by the Sun.

Possesses powerful divine power.

[Orb of Corruption]

An item bound to Yeo.

An orb emanating evil corrupting energy.

Among the drop items, none stood out particularly for their performance.

However, as expected of raid equipment, they showed an overwhelming difference in performance compared to normal 45 level unique items.

It seemed the Orb of Corruption was likely the starting item for some hidden quest.

Noticing that it had been bound to me instantly, it looked like it was invisible to other players.

This orb surely had ties to the [Sun God Solara’s Holy Sword].

“I’ll start the auction.”

The first item was [Corrupted Sun Ring].

Worn by both warriors and thieves, it was auctioned off for quite a high amount.

The ring’s owner became Iyap.

He bought it for 2,500 gold.

I wanted to bid on it too, but my gold was insufficient.

It looked like I would have to sell one of the orc rings lying in my stash.

The next item up for auction was the [Brilliant Sun Shield].

As I had no intention of playing a tank this season, the two people who were tanking for the party started competing for it.

The result was that the shield was picked up by Dogrik for 1,500 gold.

Lastly came the [Weapon Blessed by the Sun God – Staff].

“3,000 gold.”

From the moment the auction began, Helena called out 3,000 gold.

No one else made a follow-up bid.

There was no rush to acquire this weapon. After all, it could be exchanged through raid coins.

With the auction concluded and the gold distribution settled, I found myself contemplating the [Orb of Corruption] that had entered my inventory.

I could now easily admit it: this world of Deron was vastly different from the Deron I once knew.

“Well then, everyone, great work! See you next week.”

I watched the backs of the party members as they disbanded, slowly moving the holy sword in my hand.

It seemed like I would have to scour all the maps related to the Sun God.