The Final Gambit
The Albion Subjugation (3) [Lene] [Viewer Participation Content] [New Dimension | 16 viewers | 11:25:11]
[Fine. Then I shall tear apart every last one of those pathetic creatures you hold dear!!!]
This was probably our last chance to challenge Albion. Our party's stamina and focus had already hit their limits. No matter how excited we felt after discovering that special Easter egg, the fundamental exhaustion hadn't gone anywhere. In other words, from here on out we had to endure patterns we'd never seen before and bring the dragon down.
“Everyone… I just realized something really important…”
“What?”
But before that, there was still one truly crucial fact left to address. The blizzard was still raging with no sign of letting up, and Albion wasn't moving either. That meant we probably had a little time before the next pattern started, so now was the only moment to clear up my question.
“I've been thinking… isn't Skadi also a heretic…?”
“…Ah.”
“It's not roleplay, this is actually super important…”
“Now is really not the time for that!”
Why wouldn't anyone agree with me…
“Skadi… really does seem like a heretic…”
“It looks like it's about to start again, so please stop saying weird things!!!”
“…Ugh.”
Maybe I should just hold back since the chat was pushing back that hard. Right. They said she was a forgotten goddess, which meant she didn't even have a self-proclaimed order. Hmm. How should I put this? Just like how the elves in that world worship Ia yet borrow the power of the World Tree… Skadi feels the same way. Even their names both start with the same letter 'S,' so that must be it. Yeah. From now on your name is World Tree. Got it?
Once I thought of it that way, my dizzy head cleared up a little.
Along with Albion's roar, the fierce blizzard that had been blinding us gradually began to subside. What appeared was Albion curled up and ten statues made of ice. Their forms were familiar. They were the giant bird Hresvelgr and the wolf Freki that we had kept encountering while climbing Ribagar. But that was where the resemblance ended. These ice constructs felt distinctly different from the ones we had met on the mountain.
“I guess we have to take down all ten of them…?”
Thinking back, something similar had happened before when we went to hunt a heretic demon. That demon had been terrified of me and never tried to fight directly, only sending out its subordinates over and over. In the end its head got smashed in by me. Well, at least this one actually fights itself, so that's a little better?
“…Let's go.”
At my words, all four tanks moved into position. It was the formation we had discussed beforehand in case Albion's patterns changed after using the World Tree's Tear. There was nothing complicated about it. The tanks would just hold on however they could with the potions we'd given them earlier, the supporters would funnel all their support to the dealers, and the dealers would pour out every attack they had without dying. A pure dealer-all-in strategy. Since this was our final attempt, the goal was simply to shave off as much of the HP bar as possible. My instructions were kept to a minimum. Everyone would improvise and react on their own—an almost laughably simple tactic. Or rather, it was less a tactic and more a desperate charge. Succeed and we hit the jackpot. Fail and we give up. An extremely straightforward plan, but thankfully no one objected. The chat had also realized this was the last run.
“I'll go first.”
With those words, I leapt with all my strength toward Freki. If I dealt too much damage the aggro might shift to me, but… I'd just have to dodge that somehow. BOOM!
When I slammed my warhammer down on the foremost Freki with full force, I felt a heavy impact and solid resistance at my fingertips. As expected of a raid boss's escort. It was much tougher than any Freki I'd hunted before.
Whoosh! Freki swung its claws. Fast, but still at a speed I could handle. Of course it would be dangerous if the other Freki and Hresvelgr joined in, but—
“Don't force your way in too deep!”
The others were fortunately handling their own fights well, so I didn't need to worry.
“Hup…!”
With a shout I swung the warhammer again, hard. Head. Body. Then another full-power strike to the head before dodging its counterattack. The wind. Freki's claws slicing through empty air. I wasn't leisurely enough to let that opening slip by. I immediately activated Impact Break, the strongest skill I had in terms of raw power. The head of my warhammer glowed red as energy gathered, and my body naturally settled into the proper stance as if being guided. I leapt and brought the hammer down on Freki's torso. A thunderous crash rang out as Freki was driven into the ground, the earth around it sinking slightly.
Even after several more heavy strikes the creature still held its form, so I kept swinging until it crystallized and vanished. That felt good.
Reading that chat, I charged at Hresvelgr. Taking down a monster whose aggro was already on the chat members was simple.
Once all ten escorts were down, Albion spread its previously curled wings wide, displaying its majesty. Feeling the strong wind push against me, I scanned the surroundings. I had no idea what pattern would come next. While I was tense, a transparent diamond-shaped crystal formed between us and Albion.
“What is that?”
The moment someone voiced the question, the crystal flashed.
“…Shield!”
The warrior at the front reacted first. Without hesitation he raised his shield in front of the crystal. The flash collided with it. The warrior was knocked back hard. Thankfully the shield didn't get pierced in one hit, but his HP bar had dropped nearly seventy percent. He immediately drank a potion to recover, yet the absurd damage left everyone momentarily stunned.
Albion began moving as well.
…So we were supposed to tank beams that strong while fighting Albion?
“What the…”
This was ridiculous.
“Everyone, fall back a little…!”
The chat members immediately retreated. About seven seconds later another flash erupted. The warrior blocked it again with his shield, and since his potion was on cooldown the bard healed him instead.
“…Attacks every ten seconds, huh.”
“What do we do?”
…Running away wouldn't accomplish anything. Albion kept advancing, and trying to figure out the beam's range was pointless.
“…Let's split up. The six of us including me will form a strike team and attack Albion directly. The rest of you handle the crystals. It'd be great if you can destroy them, but if not, just make sure to block any beams heading our way.”
Everyone nodded. The moment the third flash appeared—
“Let's go…!”
The strike team and I moved at the same time. Our six members were me, the berserker, the martial artist, the spearman, the mage, and the spiritist. The berserker and martial artist were needed as high-damage tanks. The spearman, mage, and spiritist were the four most mobile members from the mid and back lines. By the time the main group reached the crystal—
—we had also closed in on Albion.
“Tanks, keep aggro off the dealers as much as possible. Dealers, if you pull aggro, back off immediately. Spiritist, support wherever you think it's needed.”
“Got it.”
“Then let's begin.”
“Haaaa!”
At my signal the berserker let out a powerful roar. It was Endless Battle, a skill that taunted monsters based on HP consumed. The moment Albion roared and locked onto the berserker, the spearman and I split off. The mage and spiritist began chanting while the martial artist stayed in the back to cover any unexpected situations. The spearman ran to Albion's flank and started stabbing at its legs, while I dashed straight to its rear, used its tail as a path, and climbed onto its back.
“Lene?!”
“Don't worry…!”
Shrugging off someone's concern, I swung my warhammer with all my might. BOOM!
The impact was on a completely different level from the Freki earlier. The hide felt impossibly hard, nothing like normal living flesh. So dragons really were dragons. The ones I'd fought in the other world had ridiculously tough skin too. But that didn't mean it was impenetrable. Balancing on its shifting body, I kept attacking. I struck the same spot over and over, letting the system's bonus damage for repeated hits stack with the World Tree's blessing. Albion's HP bar began melting away at an alarming rate.
“We're almost done breaking the crystal!”
“Once it's down, join us right away…!”
The end. Hope was finally in sight. Even with this sudden raid and limited numbers, we could actually clear it.
“Wait, behind us!”
And that hope shattered in an instant.
“Aaaagh?!”
“Another crystal appeared behind us!”
At the scream and explanation I paused my attacks and looked toward the main group. Just as described, a second crystal had formed behind them. An attack that could strip seventy percent of a tank's HP. Obviously the dealers couldn't survive it. Proof: two of the main group's dealers already had zero HP.
“What do we do?!”
The warrior facing the central crystal shouted at me.
…This pattern was simple. Crystals would spawn at random locations at set intervals. If you destroyed them in time there was no problem, but if you couldn't it became literal hell. A mistake in positioning. I should have sent one of the high-damage tanks—the berserker or martial artist—over there instead…
Giving up. Failure. Negative words swirled in my head.
“…Don't make me laugh.”
Giving up after coming this far? That was actually funny.
There were eight people left in the main group. So—
“Every time a new crystal appears, send one person from the main group to pull its aggro! Make sure the beams don't hit us as much as possible!”
“What?!”
“I can dodge that attack just fine! If we stay focused we'll react in time! Pull the aggro in a direction that doesn't send beams our way and hold out as long as you can! We'll finish Albion before then!”
If my internal clock was right, a new crystal would spawn every minute. With eight people left, if no one died until eight crystals appeared we could buy eight minutes. Albion's current HP was at seventy percent. Considering it had been at eighty percent when this pattern started… that meant the strike team alone could deal nearly ten percent damage per minute. In other words, we had enough damage. We could clear it if we just bought time. I wouldn't consider any special patterns that might appear at lower HP. There was no room to think about that.
The moment I raised my warhammer to strike its back again—
Countless lines of text filled my vision. My thoughts froze for a second, but I quickly snapped out of it and checked the viewer count: 634. And it was still rising in real time. Had someone posted the stream link on the community? I hadn't even considered that possibility.
What should I do? More viewers was obviously good, and if I wanted to make money I needed to keep them around. So for now…
“I'm ending the stream.”
The moment I ended the stream, the messages that had been covering my vision disappeared along with the last few chats. But now my party members wouldn't be able to hear my instructions either. I had told them to improvise if needed, but unexpected situations could arise at any moment. So I immediately activated the voice chat feature I had never once used in New Dimension before.
…It couldn't be helped. This was an emergency.
“From now on the berserker will handle all of Albion's aggro! Martial artist, focus on dealing damage too!”
It was time for the final showdown.