**[Lene]**
**[Viewer Participation Content]**
**[New Dimension | 16 viewers online | 11:25:11]**
“Alright, good. I will tear apart all the creatures you cherish!!!”
This might be the last chance to challenge Albion’s subjugation.
Our party’s health and concentration are already at their limit.
No matter how much finding a special Easter egg lifted our spirits a bit, the fundamental fact that we are exhausted hasn’t changed.
In other words, from now on, we must endure a pattern from Albion that we’ve never seen before and defeat it.
“Everyone… I just realized something important…”
“Yes?”
-?
But before that, there was indeed one very important fact left.
The blizzard still swirling around shows no sign of letting up, and Albion isn’t moving either. This means that there might be a little more time before a new pattern starts, so if I wanted to solve my doubt, now was the time.
“I’ve been thinking… isn’t Skadi also an apostate…?”
“…Ah.”
─No, are you serious, you crazy girl?
-Stop with the concept play in this situation.
“This isn’t concept play; it’s something incredibly important…”
“This isn’t the time for talk like that?!”
Why isn’t anyone empathizing with me…….
**[Only I…]**
“Skadi… I really think it’s an apostate…”
ᅳᄉᄇ What an annoyingly consistent crazy person…
“I think it’s going to start again soon, so please stop saying strange things!!!”
“…00.”
If the rebungis are saying that much, should I just endure it here?
Yeah.
They say she’s a goddess lost in memory, right?
That means there’s no self-proclaimed cult or anything.
Hmm. So what should I call this?
Just like the elves in that world believe in Iah while also borrowing the power of the World Tree……
Skadi must be something like that.
Seeing that they both start with ‘ᄉ’, I think that’s correct.
From now on, your name is World Tree. Got it?
Thinking like this made my spinning head feel a little clearer.
**[Only I am the ruler of Niflheim!]**
With Albion’s roar, the blizzard so fierce that it obscured my vision gradually subsides. What appears is a crouched Albion and ten statues made of ice.
Their appearance is familiar.
During this climb of Rivagar, we had continuously encountered the harpy Hraesvelgr and the wolf Freki.
But they were only similar in appearance.
These ice sculptures literally felt different from those we had encountered while climbing Rivagar.
“Does that mean we have to defeat all ten of them…?”
Thinking back, something similar had happened before when we went to catch apostate demons.
The demon is scared of me but doesn’t plan to step in at all, only sending out his subordinates over and over again. In the end, I got my head smashed, though. Well, at least that guy is fighting himself, so that’s a bit better, right?
“…Let’s go.”
At my words, the four tanks took their positions in formation. As discussed beforehand, if the pattern of Albion changed after using the Tears of the World Tree, this was the formation we had planned.
It’s not particularly difficult. The tanks just need to hold on with the potions we provided, while the supporters invest their efforts into the dealers. The dealers will unleash every possible attack without dying.
It’s a pure dealer all-in strategy. Since this is our last attempt anyway, the plan is to whittle down the HP bar as much as possible. I’ll give minimal commands, letting everyone respond on their own—it’s a laughably impractical tactic. No, it’s almost an insult to call it a tactic.
If we succeed, it’s a huge win. If we fail, we give up—it’s a very simple operation, but fortunately, no one objected. I guess the other members realized that this was indeed our last chance.
“I’ll go first.”
With those words, I jumped with all my strength toward Freki. If I deal too much damage, the aggro will shift to me, but… I can manage to avoid that somehow.
Boom!
I slammed my warhammer down onto Freki, who was at the very front, feeling a heavy impact and solidity at my fingertips. As expected, he’s a raid boss’s guardian. He was much sturdier than the Freki I had hunted before.
Whoosh! Freki swung its claws. It was fast, but manageable in terms of speed. Of course, if other Frekis and Hresvelgr’s attacks came my way at this moment, it would be dangerous.
“Hey, don’t force your way in too much!”
Fortunately, the others were holding their ground well, so I didn’t think I had to worry.
“Ugh…!”
With a shout, I swung my warhammer down hard once again. I aimed for its head, then its body, and brought it down on its head with all my strength, evading its attack.
The claws of Freki sliced through the air.
I was too occupied to let that gap slip through. I immediately activated my strongest skill in terms of raw power, Impact Break. The head of the warhammer turned a deep red as energy gathered, and my body naturally readied itself as if being pushed by something.
Then, with all my strength, I jumped and slammed the hammer into Freki’s torso, causing a massive sound as Freki was smashed into the ground, causing the earth around to sink slightly.
However, it seemed the damage was insufficient; it still retained its shape. So, I swung the warhammer a few more times with all my might, and it finally shattered into shards.
Ah, that feels refreshing.
─That’s terrifying. ᄃᄃᄃ
As I read Lionel’s chat, I charged at Hresvelgr. Taking down the creature that was drawing aggro from the other members was a very simple task.
[What a pity for those insignificant creatures in front of that detestable goddess.]
As I took down all ten guards, Albion unfurled his wings, showcasing his might. I felt a slight push from the strong winds as I surveyed the surroundings. I couldn’t predict what kind of pattern would emerge or how it would manifest.
As I remained tense, a diamond-shaped transparent crystal appeared between Albion and me.
“What is that?”
The moment someone voiced the question, the crystal sparkled.
“…A shield!”
A brilliant flash shot out. The first to react to my words was the warrior standing in front. Without hesitation, he raised his shield against the crystal, and the flash collided with it.
The warrior was pushed back significantly. Thankfully, the shield didn’t shatter and kill him instantly, but his HP bar below his nickname dropped to nearly 70 percent. The warrior immediately drank a potion to recover his HP, but he was momentarily stunned by the unexpected damage.
[Die.]
Then, Albion began to move. So, I was supposed to face Albion while taking that kind of damage from the beam?
“What the… this is ridiculous.”
“Let’s back off for now…!”
At my words, the team immediately retreated, and after about seven seconds, another flash illuminated the area. This time, the warrior raised his shield again to block it, and since the warrior’s potion was on cooldown, the bard healed him instead.
“…It seems to be an attack every ten seconds.”
“What should we do?”
…Running away wouldn’t help at all. Albion was still approaching, and trying to gauge the range of that flash would be pointless.
“…Let’s split our forces. Six of us, including me, will form a separate unit to attack Albion. The rest can handle the crystal. If you can break it, great, but if not, just make sure to block the flashes aimed at us.”
All the members nodded in agreement, and the moment the third flash lit up,
“Let’s go…!”
The separate unit, starting with me, advanced simultaneously. The unit consisted of me, a berserker, a martial artist, a spear user, a wizard, and a spirit master—six members in total. The berserker and martial artist needed a strong tank to deal damage, while the spear user, wizard, and spirit master were chosen for their agility among the mid and back ranks.
As the main force reached right in front of the crystal,
[How insolent.]
We were now face to face with Albion.
“Tanks, make sure you don’t draw aggro towards the damage dealers. Damage dealers, if you attract aggro, create distance immediately. Spirit master, please assist where needed.”
“Understood.”
“Then, let’s begin.”
“Haah!”
At the same time as my shout, the warrior let out a powerful roar. It was an endless battle skill that taunted the monster strongly in proportion to the HP consumed.
[Kuoooon!]
As Albion howled and gazed at the warrior, the spearman and I scattered. The mage and spirit master began chanting spells, while the martial artist kept a watchful eye on the rear in case of unforeseen circumstances.
The spearman dashed to Albion’s side, starting to stab its legs with his spear, while I rushed to the back of the creature, using its tail as a path to climb onto its back.
“Renee?!”
“Don’t worry…!”
I brushed aside someone’s concern and swung my warhammer with all my might.
Bang!
The toughness I felt was on a completely different level from what I experienced earlier with Freki; it was a hardness that could hardly be thought of as skin.
Sure enough, dragons are dragons.
The ones I faced in that other world had incredibly tough skin as well.
But that doesn’t mean it can’t be pierced.
Maintaining my balance atop its swaying body, I continued my assault.
I struck the same spot over and over, dealing more damage, and thanks to the blessing of the World Tree, Albion’s HP bar began to decrease rapidly.
“I’ve almost shattered the gem!”
“Please come this way and join us…!” If we break it, it will be the end.
Hope began to take shape.
Despite the sudden raid, there was hope that we could defeat it with just this number of people.
“Wait, behind us!”
And that hope was shattered.
“Gah?!…”
It happened in an instant.
“There’s a gem appearing behind us!”
With someone’s scream followed by an explanation of the situation, I briefly paused my attack and looked at the main force.
And just as described, another crystal had appeared behind the main force.
It was an attack that could take away 70% of even the tanker’s HP.
Naturally, the dealers couldn’t withstand it.
The proof was that two of the dealers in the main force had already dropped to 0 HP.
“What should we do?!”
A warrior facing the gem in the center shouted at me.
…That kind of pattern is simple.
Crystals probably appear randomly at certain intervals.
If we break them within the time limit, there will be no problem, but if we can’t, it will become pure hell.
It was a mistake in troop placement.
We should have assigned one of the damage-dealing tankers, either the warrior or the martial artist, to that side…
I gave up. Failure.
Negative words swirled in my mind.
“…Don’t be ridiculous.”
To give up after coming this far is truly laughable.
There are a total of 8 people left in the main force.
Then…
“The jewels appearing in the future, send one from the main team to draw aggro! Please make sure we take as little damage as possible!”
“What?!”
“Those attacks can be avoided! If you’re focused, you can react! Draw aggro in a direction where the attacks aren’t coming from, and hold out for as long as possible! Once we catch Albion during that time, it’ll be over!”
If my internal clock is accurate, a new jewel will spawn every minute. There are 8 people left in the main team, so assuming no one dies until 8 jewels have spawned, we can buy 8 minutes. Albion’s current HP is at 70%. Considering Albion’s HP was at 80% when this pattern started… it means we can deal nearly 10% damage with just the special forces every minute.
In other words, the damage output is sufficient. If we just buy time, we can wake him up. I’m not considering any special patterns that might appear when the HP drops further. I don’t have the luxury to think about those things.
Just as I was about to swing the warhammer at its back once more:
-Link Good
—Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!
-??? What the hell is this?
-Dragon, so cool! Hahaha!
Just give up, just give up, just give up, just give up, just give up!
-What? Is the leader a girl????????
Countless texts blocked my view. My thoughts stopped for a moment, but I quickly gathered my wits and turned to check the viewer count of the stream, which was at 634. And it was increasing in real-time. Was the stream link spread across the community? I hadn’t considered that.
What should I do? The increase in viewer count is definitely a good thing, and to make money, I need to keep these people engaged. So, for now…
“I’m going to end the stream.”
-???????
―Huh?
-No, what the hell is that?
As soon as I said that and turned off the stream, the sentences that had been blocking my view disappeared. However, doing this meant my party members wouldn’t be able to hear my instructions either. Of course, I had told them to adapt as they saw fit, but I couldn’t know when an unexpected situation might arise. So, I immediately activated the voice chat feature, which I had never used in Newdi before.
…In an urgent situation, there’s no other choice.
“From now on, the aggro from Albion will be solely handled by the Berserker! Martial Artist, please deal damage as well!”
It was the time for the final gamble.
You’ve got to see this next! Do you want to meet again? will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
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