The Tale of the Sad Duck

An unexpected strategy.

There had never been a raid conducted in this way before, so all the party members stared at the fallen Lunaris with bewildered expressions.

,Wow…”

,Is this the end…?”

No, it couldn’t be the end.

The moment Goddess Lunaris fell, I was able to regain control of my body.

Perhaps because I had vomited blood all over myself, or maybe because I was judged to have died and come back to life, the effect of the transformation potion had worn off.

,Not yet! The battle isn’t over!”

Dogric, the main tank, said while raising his shield and glaring at one spot.

The place his gaze was directed at.

A secluded spot next to the altar.

That’s right.

Just because Goddess Lunaris had disappeared didn’t mean that Iona, the original named monster, had vanished.

The Moonlight Holy Sword in both hands.

Her bulging, muscular arms.

Even her twisted face.

Everything was saying it.

That Iona was furious right now.

[Ah… Lunaris-isiyeo…]

Thump!

Iona began to walk out, moving her heavy body.

A premonition that a new battle would begin.

Getting up from the floor, I started summoning ducks.

I wasn’t worried about what pattern would come out.

Because I had the invincible duck bomb.

Iona didn’t rush in right away.

She moved according to the set pattern and spouted the set lines.

Having some time meant that the healers could revive the dead dealers.

Quick-witted healers had been casting resurrection skills since Iona started spouting her lines.

Those who had fallen from vampirism were Helena, Snow Mage, and Yerin.

All three received resurrection skills and rose from their spots.

After being judged as dead, the three people’s bodies had returned to their original state.

Helena was looking down at her body and letting out a sigh of relief.

When everyone who had died was revived and the party had enough time to reorganize, Iona began to move.

[Dieeeee!]

Iona’s huge body rushing in roughly.

Dogric, standing in front of her, raised his shield and began to block all of her attacks.

Bang! Kwaaang! Taang! Bang!

Swift attacks that didn’t match her huge size.

The Holy Sword in both hands relentlessly pounded Dogric’s shield.

,Ugh!”

Dogric’s expression wasn’t good.

It meant it was hard to endure. His health was also fluctuating greatly.

The battle time had to be kept as short as possible.

,Come out!”

I shouted with my arms outstretched.

Immediately after, duck *kwaek kwaek* began to pour out.

*Kwaek! Kwaek!*

The healer who would restore my health was also waiting next to me.

I was able to summon 200 ducks in an instant.

*Kwaek! Kwaek! Kwaek!*

,Ducks!”

The 200 ducks faithfully followed my orders and began to charge towards Iona.

The appearance of ducks that didn’t match the urgent battle situation.

The ducks quickly ran out to both sides of Dogric, who was blocking the huge Holy Sword.

All preparations were complete.

Now it was time to give her a big hit.

,Take this!”

As if to relieve the sorrow of not being able to move, I threw the magic engineering bomb with all my might.

When the bombs, flying in a large circle, touched the ducks, a chain reaction of explosions occurred.

Boom-! Pububeobeobeong!

Health that was shaved off in an instant.

Aggro stats that soared in an instant.

Iona’s gaze naturally turned to me.

An intense gaze filled with fighting spirit.

I licked my tongue and cast an ice shield.

Nothing would change just because a monster moving with basic AI was staring at me.

[Kuwahhhhh!]

But.

Iona showed a different pattern from the other monsters that had appeared so far.

A straight charge.

She started charging, wildly swinging her Holy Sword as if to grind everything in front of her.

And that was towards me.

I laughed at the sight from inside the ice shield.

Thinking about the stupid monster’s AI.

But.

Dudududu!

The moment Iona’s sword, which had run quickly, touched the ice shield.

Pajijik-!

An ominous sound rang in my ears.

Immediately after, the accident accelerates.

The surrounding scenery slowing down and the sound gradually moving away.

I make eye contact with Iona from within the shattering ice shield.

The monster, who must have been a nun, was looking directly at me with fiercely burning eyes.

An invincible skill was pierced?

Then should I have chosen to avoid it rather than defend with the ice shield?

I frowned, expressing my doubts.

Inside the stopped time.

Only I am free in this world.

Think calmly. There is plenty of time.

The shield was definitely broken.

Even though there was still duration left.

That meant that Iona’s pattern surpassed the invincible judgment.

This was information that had to be shared with Dogric, the main tank.

If I’ve made up my mind, it’s time to move.

Seureureuk-

[…Eueooo!]

The sounds that had moved away returned first, and the surrounding scenery began to move.

The huge Holy Sword approaching before my eyes.

Ruby-colored ice fragments scattering into small pieces.

I checked the skill’s delay in that situation.

It’s back.

All conditions for using the next skill were met.

[Blink]

A wizard’s basic movement skill.

Activating a very overpowered skill that allows you to teleport a short distance.

Paaat-!

With a short flash of light, my moved body was behind Iona.

I avoided it. The moment I thought that, Iona’s charge stopped.

[I won’t let you get awayyyyy!!!]

A targeting pattern that I didn’t expect.

I frowned and ran quickly.

,Iona, don’t come forward! It’s a pattern with a higher judgment than invincible skills!”

I didn’t forget to warn about Iona’s pattern.

I didn’t know how long this bastard would chase me, but I was going to run away as much as possible.

,Hiyahhh!”

Even though it was the body of a weak wizard, my health was higher than in reality.

I didn’t get out of breath even when running with all my might.

As expected, Deron is better than reality.

Even while having such useless thoughts, Iona’s pursuit continued.

Thump thump!

The ground shaking roughly.

The Holy Sword flying towards my body.

Every situation was telling of my death.

But not yet.

I didn’t give up.

If I didn’t have invincibility and Blink, I would just use Time Acceleration.

Kiiing!

The ultimate utility skill allowed only to wizards.

[Time Acceleration]

A huge clock-shaped effect spreading from under my feet.

Immediately after, the body’s time began to accelerate.

The mind also began to accelerate, following the changed speed of the body.

I felt a sensation as if something that had been misaligned clicked into place.

Shwaaa-

It wasn’t a long time, but I could do a lot.

I avoided Iona’s attacks and started summoning as many ducks as possible.

Kkwaeeeeek-

Five ducks with one slash.

Iona swung her sword a total of three times per second.

I leisurely dodged all of those attacks and continued to summon ducks.

My mana was quickly running out.

There was no time to use blood magic to use health instead of mana.

The end of the allowed time was approaching.

Seueueuk-

I dodged Iona’s attack to the right, but my body’s speed wasn’t the same as before.

The Holy Sword, brushing past the end of my cheek, slammed straight into the floor.

Kuoong-!

My body staggered greatly.

I bit my lip.

The duration of [Time Acceleration] was starting to run out.

But Iona’s charge was still not over.

It seemed like a pattern that wouldn’t end until it took the life of one target.

Then there was no choice.

But I couldn’t just take it.

The last one.

The moment the effect of Time Acceleration ends, I stop in my spot.

I don’t avoid the attack.

I humbly accept the attack flying towards me.

Shwaaa!

The Holy Sword being swung greatly.

The moment that huge piece of moonlight touched my shoulder, a transparent bomb fell onto the ducks I had prepared.

I’ll pay you back as much as I’ve been hurt.

Boom-! Pububeobeong!

At the same time as the explosion, my shoulder collapsed.

With a stinging pain, half of my body slumped down as if it were crushed.

Naturally, the opposite side also began to fall.

Iona’s gaze flew and stuck into the graying vision.

,Yeonaaaa!!!”

Death in Deron is light, but it seems to come a little special to Helena.

She was sad every time I died.

I died again.

How many times is this?

I started to worry if I would achieve the achievement of being a party leader and lying down.

But unlike my worries, Iona didn’t fall easily.

Another pattern that is activated when health falls below 50%.

Iona, whose body had grown even larger, emitted a surge of moonlight from her Holy Sword and annihilated the party members.

[Kyaaaaaak!]

Iona’s appearance, now losing even human language.

While frowning at that hideous appearance.

All the party members headed to the place where they were waiting to be resurrected.

,Ah… if we do this a few more times, we’ll be able to clear it, right?”

,I felt that way too… if we don’t die, that is.”

,The last pattern was a bit of a pain in the ass, right? She was shooting out weird sword energy, and it was so fast…”

,How about the wizards save their Time Acceleration skills until then?”

,And don’t use it for dealing damage?”

The party members were sharing their opinions for the strategy even before I arrived.

A good and desirable attitude.

I nodded and sat down next to Helena.

,Yeona…”

,Yeah.”

,Can’t you not drink that?”

,What?”

,That… weird potion.”

A weird potion, could she be talking about that toy potion?

But that was an item that had to be used for the strategy.

I shook my head and answered.

,No. I have to use it no matter what.”

,If only Yeoni didn’t use it…”

,Helena.”

,Okay…”

I know why Helena is doing this.

It must be hard to see my changed appearance.

But I didn’t want to create a situation where the entire party was harmed just for her sake.

,Okay… everyone, if you’re ready, let’s start right away!”

I gave them enough time to rest.

I clapped my hands and focused the party members’ attention.

And so, the trial began again.

But in the end, I couldn’t overcome Iona’s wall that day.

***

That evening, after the raid strategy time was over.

While leisurely lying in bed and reading the Deron Gallery, an announcement was posted on the Deron homepage.

Feeling uneasy, I clicked on the announcement.

[Temporary Maintenance Notice]

Hello, Adventurers.

Temporary maintenance will be conducted to stabilize the server and balance skills.

Estimated maintenance time.

2:00 AM – 3:00 AM (1 hour)

Patch details.

Maintenance to stabilize the server.

Magic Engineering Toy: Removed the ‘Magic Engineering’ tag from the Duck *Kwaek Kwaek* Summon skill.

I doubted my eyes the moment I saw the announcement.

This time, I had never explained or distributed the build to anyone.

But what was this?

A snipe towards me, an announcement that directly showed Deron’s malicious intentions.

,My… my ducks!!!”

I couldn’t help but scream.

I hated Deron so much for taking away the ducks I had.

While lying face down on the bed and screaming, I heard a banging sound from beyond the door.

I could tell who it was without asking.

There was only one person who knocked on the door like that in my house.

It was Harang.

[Shut up! You crazy bitch!]

,Ducks!!!”

*Kwaek kwaek*.

The ducks’ cries still lingered in my ears.

I hugged the soft pillow with tears in my eyes.