Albion Subjugation (1)

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The screen was filled with system messages. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠There wasn't a single person in our party who didn't understand exactly what they meant.

“It’s a raid!” someone screamed, voice cracking with excitement.

Before our eyes, a white dragon soared through the sky—massive enough to blot out the heavens. Its scales glittered like ice, and its outstretched wings were breathtakingly beautiful, like living works of art. Compared to the Hresvelgr and Freki we’d encountered while climbing Ribagar, this creature was on an entirely different level. It truly lived up to its title as the Ruler of Niblord.

“First, we need to get into formation—!”

Someone shouted, but I thrust my right hand into the air, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Let’s all die together first.”

“…Excuse me?”

Every single viewer-turned-party-member stared at me in utter confusion.

“I’ll go first then.”

Since ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was completely serious, I didn’t resist at all when Albion’s attack came. I died instantly.

…I wonder if there’s a title for being the first player killed by Albion?

★

“Haa…”

“Ah, everyone’s here now.”

After confirming the last fallen viewer had respawned with a sigh, I gathered all the scattered party members who were resting in their own ways and slowly began to speak. The topic was, of course, the Albion raid.

“Since you all should still have your streams running, I assume you understand why I died right away?”

Thankfully, everyone nodded at my question. We weren’t gathered here as a proper raid party. We were a streamer and her viewers. In other words, I had zero information about any of these players except myself.

Attempting a raid in that state? It would be nothing but a waste of time and consumables. Right after dying, I’d made sure to tell everyone that there was no point in doing something so stupid.

The worst-case scenario would have been the system treating a full party wipe as giving up on the raid, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. We’d all respawned on the ridge just before the summit of Ribagar.

“Before we start talking… Mr. Rainel. I’m going to need to focus from now on, so I probably won’t be able to respond to chat for a while.”

“Hehe. Honestly, you’re regretting it a little, aren’t you…? Thinking you should’ve come with us…”

Satisfied with Rainel’s reaction, I turned back to the rest of the viewers.

“Then let’s start with simple introductions. First, I… can do pretty much everything except pure backline support. My class is Traveler. You all already know that, right…?”

Starting with that, the viewers began introducing their own classes and strengths one by one.

“I’m an Alchemist. I invested mostly in support skills rather than healing.”

“I’m a Swordsman who took a lot of tanking skills, so leave the tanking to me.”

After organizing the information, we had four tanks, eight damage dealers, and three supports—excluding myself.

I wanted to argue with Rainel’s comment, but I couldn’t find a single thing to say. Everyone, including me, was probably thinking the same thing.

This is bad.

The damage dealers weren’t the problem. The problem was the tanks and supports. To be precise, the ratio was completely broken. You needed more supports than tanks so they could take care of the tanks while also supporting the damage dealers… but we had more tanks. And one of the supports was an Alchemist who had focused on utility skills instead of healing.

No matter how I looked at it, we were severely lacking in support. It would’ve been perfect if we had three tanks and four supports…

“Umm…”

All the viewers’ eyes turned to me. It was only natural. After all, I was the one who had gathered them, and I was currently the center of this party. I had to make the judgment. I had to make the decision.

“First of all, everyone… you’re not thinking of giving up, are you…?”

Of course I had zero intention of giving up. How could I abandon such an interesting situation? But I couldn’t assume the viewers felt the same way. It was already past 3 a.m. On top of Niblord’s freezing environment, the combination of cold and drowsiness would make anyone want to quit…

“Not at all.”

“How could we give up on this?”

“We came all this way. Suggesting we quit now is a bit…”

Yeah, there was no way. The viewers gathered here were probably just as serious about New Dimension as I was. I already knew they wouldn’t give up. I’d only asked just in case.

“Then… can everyone please follow my instructions exactly…?”

Everyone nodded. And to them, I slowly explained the strategy I had come up with.

★

It took us two minutes after reaching the summit of Ribagar again for Albion to appear against the backdrop of the aurora. The roar was so powerful it made my head throb, but there was no time to be flustered.

“Everyone, get to your positions…!”

“Fall back…!”

Albion, who had been ruling the sky, dove straight toward the ground with a roar. The attack itself was a simple charge, so we managed to avoid a direct hit by shifting our formation back slightly. But the intense shockwave that followed slammed into our entire bodies.

After the shockwave—strong enough to be mistaken for a blizzard—passed, Albion spread its wings wide once again. It looked far more massive on the ground than it had in the air. This really brought back memories… It almost felt like I was back in that other world.

“I-it’s coming from the left! Tanks, make a wall! Everyone else, get behind them…!”

Even while feeling a surge of excitement at the familiar sensation, I calmly observed the situation and gave orders. Of course I didn’t know Albion’s exact patterns. I was simply watching its movements, predicting its behavior, and choosing the best possible action.

A horrible scraping sound—skkrrrrt—echoed as ice shattered. The culprit was obviously Albion. Its tail smashed through the icy boulders at the summit of Ribagar and came hurtling toward us.

The two tanks each used their best defensive skills. The Berserker’s Blood Veil and the Warrior’s Shield Guardian created thick protective walls. Albion’s tail collided with them.

The stalemate lasted only a moment. The pure white shield remained completely unscathed. But the crimson blood barrier began to crack slowly, and the tanks were gradually pushed backward.

“Support them!”

“On it.”

Right before the blood barrier shattered, a brilliant multicolored light erupted from the backline at my command. The skill was the Sage’s Stone—one of the most broken skills that could copy any party member’s skill. There were several restrictions, but its performance was undeniable.

The Alchemist chose to copy the Berserker’s Blood Veil. The blood-red barrier that had been on the verge of breaking restored itself completely. And perhaps because Albion’s power had weakened, the two tanks holding back its tail were no longer being pushed back.

“Now—go…!”

Countless spells filled the sky. Spears, greatswords, and warhammers accelerated forward. The damage window would probably last five seconds at most. But that was more than enough. It was enough time for everyone here to unleash their strongest attacks.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

With each deafening explosion, Albion’s HP bar began to shrink. Compared to the total length of the bar, the damage was tiny. But just confirming that damage actually registered was enough to boost our morale.

And the one who performed the best among us was the Berserker tank. If the Blood Veil wasn’t broken during its duration, it would absorb the blood back and grant the caster a buff proportional to the damage taken. Considering it had been pushed right to the brink of breaking, the buff must have been enormous.

Well, it was only possible thanks to the Sage’s Stone, the broken skill that synergized with everything.

“Switching frontline!”

I called for a rotation right as the damage window seemed about to end. The Warrior and Berserker nodded and immediately retreated, while the Swordsman and Martial Artist who had been waiting stepped forward.

The strategy I’d come up with was simple. If having too many tanks was the problem, then we just had to reduce the number of tanks on the frontline. We’d keep two tanks in the back and rotate them every pattern. This way, the tanks who used their skills could rest and recover cooldowns, while the ones on the frontline received proper support.

Of course, in the grand scheme of things, it meant two people were essentially on standby… but there was no helping it. This raid hadn’t been planned from the start. We had no choice but to make the best of the situation we were given.

After the expected five-second damage window ended, Albion spread its wings wide, and translucent circles appeared beneath our feet.

“Something’s coming! D-dodge…!”

The moment I noticed, I threw myself toward an area without a circle. An ice spear immediately shot up from the exact spot I had been standing.

Thud!

“Ah?”

But not everyone could avoid the sudden pattern. Three damage dealers and two supports died. The three dead damage dealers weren’t a catastrophic loss, but the two dead supports were an absolute disaster. To make things worse, the Berserker and Swordsman had also been impaled by ice spears, probably because they were in the middle of rotating.

“Yeah…”

I readily agreed with Rainel’s comment, then ordered the remaining viewers not to use any consumables. We fought Albion with everything we had until the very end. From the moment I died last until the entire party was wiped out, it took about two minutes.

★