LS 127

[Raid] SoftRiceCake: Is this guy insane or what;;;

[Raid] PrettyHealerHyung: [crying emote] Me too… ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I’m locked up ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Dohee let out a deep sigh. He thought he was out of sighs, but apparently not. The Demon Hunter had a remarkable talent for squeezing them out in new and creative ways.

4Evil, who got hit by the chains fired from the Demon Hunter, was the first to be imprisoned. The debuff spread to Noodle and Yeojin, who were nearby. Then it chained to Healer and Tando, and soon after, every single member of the raid got caught in the imprisonment pattern.

“If even one person gets hit, does it just spread to everyone?”

― What is this, the flu? 4Evil didn’t even cough.

Yeojin grumbled, but there was nothing they could do. Every last raid member was frozen in place.

― How do we get out of this? The boss is still attacking like a maniac!

While the party was immobilized and couldn’t do a thing, the Demon Hunter continued its attacks as if nothing had changed. Thankfully, the shield and heal skills they’d cast right before getting locked up were still ticking, so no one had died yet, but at this rate, it was only a matter of time before a wipe.

“What the hell are we supposed to do?”

No sooner had Dohee spoken than a system alert popped up.

[System] An ‘Ancient Tombstone’ buried underground has emerged.

[System] Destroy all ‘Ancient Tombstones’ to release the imprisoned state.

― What the hell, this bastard’s crazy.

Noodle’s curse came out naturally. No one bothered to stop him. They were all thinking the same thing.

“What do we do now…?”

Moonhyuk whispered beside him. He must’ve taken a few hits before getting locked up, because his health was already down to a quarter. Dohee quickly scanned the map. Two tombstones had risen near the boss, ones that looked like they’d break with a single hit. The problem was…

“There’s no one left to break them.”

Not a single raid member was free to act.

― Ugh, I think I’m about to die.

Yeojin’s voice was filled with frustration, but no one had a good answer. Still, as the saying goes, when heaven falls, a hole to crawl out of opens somewhere, and miraculously, the Human raid had just such a hole.

[Raid] Oreckthat: Just gotta break both tombstones!?

[Raid] Oreckthat: Oreckthat will save you!!

[Raid] Oreckthat: Go, my CutiePartyLovely Dragon!!! ଘ(˵╹-╹)━☆

They all burst out laughing in disbelief.

“What the hell is that?”

― That lunatic Oreckthat….

― Is that supposed to be the dragon’s name…?

While the rest of the team was baffled, the results were undeniable.

Oreckthat’s class, Dragon Knight, uses a dragon as a summon. In other words, he could control both his character and his dragon simultaneously. And luckily, even though all raid members were immobilized, the summoned dragon was not.

The absurdly named dragon flew to the boss on Oreckthat’s command and unleashed a breath attack at the tombstones.

[Raid] Oreckthat: Behold the Call of the Dragon! (✪ ᆺ ✪=)ﾉ

[Raid] SoftRiceCake: LOL I hate how funny this is but it’s working

[Raid] PrettyHealerHyung: That’s great and all but… that name though… ㅠㅠㅋㅋㅋ

The Dragon Knight has a skill called “Call of the Dragon” which allows their summon to breathe fire on a designated area. Even in this critical moment, Oreckthat had everyone cracking up.

[System] All ‘Ancient Tombstones’ have been destroyed.

[System] Imprisonment status has been lifted.

It should’ve been a badass moment, but for some reason, it just made everyone laugh even more. Moonhyuk was shaking beside him, trying to stifle his laughter.

― He has a special talent for ruining his own cool moments.

Yeohoo said it, and everyone agreed. The chat was flooded with laughter. Dohee cast buffs on the raid as they charged the boss again, and glanced at the chat:

[WakGG donated 1,000 won!] Go, CutiePartyLovely!! ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

WhoShootsArrowsTheseDays: LOL this is killing me, who even says stuff like that anymore

CutiePartyLovely: Changed my username real quick, yep

googuen: lol is this a clown raid or what

5kWorthyFishCakeSoup: Human raid team fr feels like they only recruit weirdos

SsusA: for real lol

ByeByeByeBye: But seriously, the way the Warlord held aggro, and Yeojinhae’s awakening skill, the supports’ Batienjine skill, and now the dragon thing… definitely proves having a mix of classes makes it easier.

imyourman: Yeah, I thought the devs were spoon-feeding us with the “bring different classes” tip, but turns out you need more than just supports. You can’t just walk in with six Moon Masters and expect to win, lol.

WhoShootsArrowsTheseDays: ?? Why are you suddenly grabbing Moon Masters by the collar ㅡㅡ

PieceByPieceDdatdadda: Still, Warlords and Dragon Knights are popular enough that most raids have one or two, right? Shouldn’t be hard to recruit.

StrongestSupportInTheUniverse: If you just get a good support… Demon Hunter’s actually doable!!

Vachat: Getting a support is like reaching for the stars, what are you talking about lol

StrongestSupportInTheUniverse: No fixed raid for “StrongestSupportInTheUniverse” yet! Feel free to message me in-game anytime~^3^

Vachat: This ain’t the job board, you lunatic lol

3383818vss: But seriously, I can’t believe that worked lol, look at that dragon do work

Ytai: Dragon Knight’s HP and defense are way too low tho ㅠ

IAmTheDragonOfThisZone: Yeah but aside from that, Dragon Knight’s a solid all-rounder DPS. Good damage, good utility, decent everything.

WhatTheYu: Low defense and you’re calling it an all-rounder, lol

IAmTheDragonOfThisZone: Just… let me have this, please….ㅠ

The raid party, worn out from so many tries, had a surge of renewed energy. Thanks to Oreckthat’s ridiculous but well-timed display, the mood had lifted at the perfect moment.

“Let’s keep steady with the damage. Supports and healers, just focus on keeping the DPS alive. No idea what kind of mechanic will pop up next, but… probably nothing till 30 bars. Everyone, stay sharp.”

Though the raid had just been laughing moments ago, they quickly regained focus and resumed chipping away at the Demon Hunter’s health. The newer, stronger patterns had the group groaning in pain here and there, but they were getting more used to it and whittled the boss down quickly.

“…Wait, didn’t the upper body change color too?”

Dohee was maintaining buffs while checking the health bar when Moonhyuk suddenly spoke up.

― Now that you mention it, I think it did.

Yeohoo agreed. Dohee narrowed his eyes and carefully watched the Demon Hunter, who was firing bullets in all directions. Just as Moonhyuk said, the white glow had spread to the upper body. Previously, it had only affected the lower half, but now the entire body except the face was glowing.

“You’re right. But nothing seems to have changed otherwise?”

― Doesn’t look like it.

After Tando’s reply, Dohee asked again.

“What about DPS?”

[Raid] SoftRiceCake: Damage is still going through fine!

[Raid] 4EvilPrettyGirl: Doesn’t seem like anything’s changed

“…Okay, we’ll keep going for now.”

The boss’s appearance had changed, but nothing else had. They kept attacking as before, but Dohee couldn’t help frowning. Once he noticed it, he couldn’t unsee it.

Regardless, the team pressed on. No one had died yet, not a single DPS lost this time. That was a first. Dohee struggled to calm his racing heart. He glanced at the clock.

It was nearing 9 PM. If they cleared it now, it would be the fastest first clear in Sword of God raid history. Less than twelve hours total. Ceno’s raid was close behind, but Human was still in the lead. The end was finally in sight. There might be one more mechanic left at most. If they could overcome that, they just might pull off the clear.

“Coming up on 30 bars. Stay focused.”

The HP bar was dropping fast, approaching the 30-bar threshold. The team began watching closely, bracing for anything unexpected. The pace of damage slowed slightly.

“Don’t waste time on adds, just burn the boss.”

Feeling anxious, Dohee urged the DPS to push through.

But contrary to their worries, the HP bar dropped from 30 to 20 without any new mechanics. Then, as it reached 10 bars, Moonhyuk spoke again.

“Uh? Its head changed color too.”

Dohee quickly checked the boss. Now the Demon Hunter was entirely covered in white light from head to toe.

― Damage is still going through.

Yeohoo gave a quick update. Dohee nodded, but his hands trembled slightly from the rising tension.

― We’re almost there, damn it. Demon Hunter, you bastard, come on!

Noodle muttered through gritted teeth.

Nine bars. Eight. Seven. Six. As the numbers dropped, Dohee’s heart pounded harder.

Three. Two. One… and finally, zero.

“Done!”