Chapter 43: The Second Raid

Time passed, and the promised date approached.

I checked the raid members’ gear specs and nodded in approval.

It was clear they had prepared diligently for this day; most of their equipment was unique-grade Level 45 gear.

I, too, had prepared a special item for this day.

It was the headpiece of the field boss [Thunder Loss], which spawned randomly in the Level 45 fields.

[Thunder Loss’s Head]

The severed head of Thunder Loss, the storm-and-lightning dragon.

When submitted to the Knights of the Capital, the buff [Thunder Loss’s Roar] is applied to all players in the map.

Yeon: “Meet at the Capital before departure. I’ll activate the full-area buff.”

Before using the item, I summoned the raid members.

Through the raid interface, I confirmed that all members had arrived.

I handed Thunder Loss’s Head to the knights standing in the plaza’s center.

A tall knight carried the massive dragon’s head to a large altar in the middle of the square and placed it there.

Then, lightning struck from the sky, directly hitting Thunder Loss’s head with a crash!

The lightning didn’t stop there.

The flashing bolts illuminated Thunder Loss’s murky eyes, which began to shine brightly, scattering immense power in all directions.

Boom!

[Thunder Loss’s Roar]

• Reduces damage received by 10%.
• Increases all damage dealt by 10%.
• Duration: 2 hours.

“Wait, you’re using this buff right away? Aren’t we going to practice first? Shouldn’t you save it for when we’re sure we’ll need it?”

I shook my head at Harang’s question and replied.

“We’ll clear it on the first try. Without fail.”

I wasn’t worried.

There was no need to be.

This season’s raid design included a critical oversight by the developers of Deron.

They had overlooked the [Blessing of the Sun] buff introduced in the previous season.

This buff provided an enormous stat boost and damage reduction, allowing us to ignore most of the raid’s patterns.

It was obvious that most raid groups would clear the dungeon on their first attempt.

After confirming the miscellaneous buffs, we set off immediately.

Everyone followed me with a mix of nervousness and anticipation on their faces.

We arrived at our destination via portal: a region known as the [Corrupted Sanctuary].

The massive structure greeted us, partially collapsed.

Sinister black energy emanated from within, shrouding the entire building in an ominous atmosphere.

Even the sun, suspended in the sky, failed to shine upon this place.

The corrupted energy emanating from within was too powerful.

This was the site where we would undertake the Level 45 raid dungeon.

“Everyone, check your doping status. If you’re low on potions, speak up now.”

Everyone nodded silently with determined expressions, indicating they were ready.

“Alright, let’s head in.”

Just as I turned to lead the group toward the dungeon’s entrance, I felt an intense gaze from behind.

I stopped in my tracks.

Though no one said anything, their anticipation was palpable.

I bit my lip.

There was no need to dampen the mood.

To meet the expectations of the raid members, I leaped on the spot and jumped into the dungeon entrance.

“Wow, as expected of the raid leader! A perfect jump.”

“Whoa… amazing. That jump was incredible. You looked just like a rabbit.”

“Shall we head in as well?”

Embarrassing compliments poured in from all directions, making the tips of my ears feel slightly warm.

I turned around and glared at the raid members.

They, as if to mimic me, began hopping on the spot themselves.

“Cut it out, everyone. We’ll clear the path to the boss and conduct a quick briefing.”

I signaled to Dogrick, who stood nearby.

He was still clad in a massive shield and full plate armor, taking up the role of tank.

Since I had moved from the tanking line to the DPS line, he had stepped up as the main tank.

“Clear the path for us. You’ve checked the boss locations and map layout on the homepage, right?”

“Yes, I’ll get us through.”

In response to my words, Dogrick raised his large shield and began clearing the way forward.

The obstacles in our path were corrupted priests and paladins.

“Don’t hold back on using Blessing of the Sun. Apply it as needed, even while clearing the path.”

Initially cautious, the raid group started to quicken their pace as the elite monsters blocking the way were being cleared faster than expected.

The tanks at the front also realized that the incoming damage wasn’t significant and began pulling more monsters at once.

This was all thanks to the doping item, Blessing of the Sun.

How much time had passed?

Following the path to the right, we eventually reached a wide auditorium.

At the center of the hall stood a muscular man with his upper body bare, blood covering him.

An ominous aura seeped slowly from his clenched fists.

[Inquisitor Lava]

A boss that wasn’t particularly challenging aside from his charge pattern targeting healers and his occasional area-wide curse debuff.

“Briefing…”

Out of habit, I opened my mouth to brief the raid on the boss’s patterns, but I quickly stopped myself.

I had almost made a mistake.

Currently, no information about this raid dungeon had been revealed.

If I acted like I already knew the boss’s patterns, it would undoubtedly put me in an awkward situation.

“Actually, there’s nothing much to brief, is there? Since the patterns haven’t been disclosed. We’re the vanguard group, after all.”

I quickly corrected myself and glanced at the raid members.

They nodded at my words and raised their weapons, seemingly ready to take on the responsibility of being the vanguard.

“Let’s give it a try. Team leaders, make sure to record videos. We’ll analyze the boss patterns afterward.”

After finishing my instructions, I gave a signal to Dogrick, the main tank.

The first attempt against the boss began.

As Dogrick, shield in hand, began approaching, the Inquisitor standing at the centre of the room raised his head, his black eyes radiating a sinister light.

[Oh… ho… heretics have come to me…]

Once a devout servant of the Sun God, he now stood as a fallen figure, entirely consumed by corruption.

This was because, when the Sun God fell, he, too, embraced the energy of corruption.

“Start dealing damage!”

The moment Dogrick firmly established aggro, a barrage of attacks began pouring in.

The characters, bolstered by numerous buffs, began exhibiting performances that far exceeded the developers’ expectations.

I also drew my massive greatsword and mercilessly stabbed it into the back of the boss.

The boss’s health began to drop rapidly.

In less than 30 seconds of starting the damage phase, the boss’s health had already fallen to 50%.

At that moment, black energy poured down from above, beginning to heal the boss’s wounds.

It was a healing pattern.

I immediately shouted.

“Heal! It’s a healing pattern! Warlocks, apply healing reduction curses!”

As soon as my order was given, a blackish-purple aura shot toward the boss.

It was the healing reduction curse cast by the warlocks.

The raid members reacted quickly.

The boss barely managed to recover any health before transitioning to the next phase.

When the boss’s health fell to 30%, it crouched its large body down on the ground, as if preparing to leap.

Should I call it out?

Or should I wait and see?

While swinging my sword, I carefully observed.

At that moment, the crouched boss suddenly sprang forward and lunged its fist toward the area where the healers were gathered.

Boom!

A massive shockwave erupted from the fist that struck the ground.

If we hadn’t been equipped with raid-tier gear or if this were our first attempt, that attack would have surely killed the healers.

However, the healers had also used Blessing of the Sun doping.

They managed to survive with just a sliver of health remaining.

Of course, not all of them made it out alive.

I immediately used my dash ability to chase the boss from behind.

With two healers down in this phase, five still remained, which wouldn’t hinder the progression much.

“Hiyaaahhh!”

I used a shout skill to gain aggro.

A high-pitched scream escaped my lips, and the boss’s attention turned toward me.

Without delay, I swung my sword and struck the boss’s body.

As its muscular frame staggered from the impact, I quickly turned and started running.

“Tank, take the aggro!

Healers, prioritize self-heals!”

Dogrick, who had already been running toward us, brushed past me and blocked the boss with his massive shield.

Immediately after, a thunderous roar erupted from his mouth.

“Uwaaahhhh!”

The boss’s aggro successfully shifted back to the main tank.

Meanwhile, ranged attacks continued to rain down on the boss.

[Ugh… my, my… Sun God…]

Before long, [Inquisitor Lava] collapsed.

The fight lasted 1 minute and 20 seconds.

Raid casualties: two members.

After finishing the first boss battle, everyone could sense it.

This raid might be easier than anticipated.

The first loot dropped, and an auction was conducted.

The loot included armor pieces for priests and mages.

The subsequent bosses we encountered were also dealt with smoothly.

This was all possible thanks to the game-breaking effects of Blessing of the Sun.

After defeating two more bosses, we finally arrived at the final boss.

A massive creature with gleaming scales, its body emanated a dark aura that rippled like waves.

[Corrupted Holy Dragon Sunforce]

Unlike the humanoid bosses we had encountered earlier, the final guardian of the raid was a massive dragon.

Cold sweat trickled down my face.

It wasn’t the difficulty of fighting the boss that overwhelmed me—it was resisting the urge to react instinctively to patterns I already knew.

My body would move on its own the moment I thought about it, forcing me to intentionally change my attack direction or pretend to fall to the ground.

“This one will be easy too, right?”

“This raid really feels simple. Maybe they crammed all the patterns into the final boss?”

It was true that the humanoid bosses we had fought earlier were easy.

But the one before us now had especially challenging patterns.

Flying patterns that took to the skies, corrupted breath attacks that dealt massive area-of-effect damage, and even a pattern that sealed healers’ healing abilities.

The occasional tail swipe pattern was equally troublesome.

It scattered melee damage dealers clinging to its back in all directions, causing a loss in damage output.

“We’re going in.”

After a brief rest, the main tank drew his shield and began slowly advancing.

At that moment, the holy dragon crouched and began emitting black light from its eyes, raising its head.

Rumble—

The air around us began to tremble.

Black heat started rising from the dragon’s maw as its chest swelled dramatically.

This was the precursor to a breath attack, a common pattern for dragon-type bosses.

My mind went blank.

A breath attack right at the start of the fight?

This wasn’t normal.

It was clearly abnormal behavior.

“Br-Breath attack! Get out of the way!”

A desperate shout burst from my lips, but there was nowhere to evade.

Breath attacks were supposed to follow its flying pattern.

The usual strategy involved waiting for the holy dragon to fly into the air and drop massive boulders onto the ground, using the fallen rocks for cover to avoid the breath attack.

“There’s nowhere to run!”

“To the corners! Head to the corners!”

As we sprinted to the edges of the room, the dragon unleashed a colossal breath attack.

Whoooosh!

The corrupted breath, burning black, engulfed the entire boss room.

Tank, healer, and damage dealer alike—everyone was wiped out.

The only one still standing was me, the sole berserker in the raid group.

“This is insane…”

I was the last survivor.

With everyone else lying on the ground, their avatars gray and lifeless, there was nothing a lone berserker could do.

Three seconds later, as my invincibility wore off, I too fell to the ground.

After reviving as a group, we attempted the fight again.

But every time, the holy dragon unleashed its breath attack the moment the battle began, annihilating the entire raid.

“This… feels like a bug,” Dogrick cautiously remarked, glancing around after another wipe.

I couldn’t disagree.

There was clearly a bug in the holy dragon’s pattern.