The Support Ate it All

“Guaaaargh—!”

The Alpha Ogre charged straight at the disciplinary committee members the moment they appeared through the portal.

It seemed the lightning bolt Song Cheon-hye had thrown had effectively drawn its attention.

The ground trembled as the Alpha Ogre approached at a terrifying speed.

But even though they saw the creature, the disciplinary committee remained calm and acted swiftly.

The melee class members quickly formed a line to confront it.

Jo Byeok met the Alpha’s swinging log with a powerful fist,

Boom!

With a deafening crash, the log shattered into pieces.

Though Jo Byeok was thrown back by the impact, he effortlessly regained his stance and continued the fight.

Fzzzzzt!

Song Cheon-hye kept hurling lightning bolts as she began directing the committee members.

“We’ll chip away at it slowly without taking unnecessary risks.”

“This is a boss-level ogre, and it has the Blood Fury Pill. Be extra cautious.”

With that, I naturally handed over the command to Song Cheon-hye. My reputation still wasn’t the best after all.

From their perspective, I was just some unknown guy with a score in the 600-point range.

So at that moment, rather than stepping forward and provoking any unnecessary resistance, it was better to leave things to Song Cheon-hye who was one of the most skilled members of the disciplinary committee.

Of course, I had already informed her of exactly what needed to be done against the Alpha Ogre.

In short, I was playing the role of a shadow strategist.

“Raaaargh!”

After the log was destroyed, the Alpha Ogre swung its arms and legs wildly. It was trying to strike and kick the humans around it.

The melee class members dodged and neutralized its attacks,

while Han So-mi, Go Hyeon-woo, Geum Jo-han, and other swordsmen leaped forward and started slashing at the creature.

Slash, slash!

Shallow sword wounds continued to accumulate on its upper body.

The ranged classes attacked from the rear while also supporting the melee members.

Park Na-ri continuously cast wide-range healing spells,

While Kwak Ji-cheol and Jung Soo-ji used vines and mud to keep the creature restrained.

With twenty people working together, the Alpha Ogre which had been rampaging like a raging bull was finally held in place.

Of course, the earlier strike from my Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger was likely playing a significant role as well.

In addition, the cold air was gradually spreading throughout the creature’s body, so we would have the advantage as time went on.

However, it was still too early to be optimistic.

The second phase is still ahead.

The difficulty of a boss raid changed drastically at a certain point, which was referred to as moving on to the next “phase”.

In the case of the Alpha Ogre, when its health dropped below a certain threshold, it let out a tremendous roar and that would signal the start of its second phase.

Since this second phase was particularly tricky, we needed as much support as possible.

Once the second phase started, it was important to finish off the Alpha Ogre as quickly as possible.

Because the longer it dragged on, the worse it would get for us.

So how could we take it down quickly?

The key was to deal as much damage as possible before moving on to the next phase, or in other words, before it could let out that roar.

I pulled out a [Paralysis Scroll].

At that moment, Song Cheon-hye quickly exchanged glances with me and gave the order.

“Using the Paralysis Scroll! Everyone, get ready.”

Then she subtly asked me,

“…How long will it freeze it for?”

The effect of the Paralysis Scroll was to freeze the target for a certain period of time.

The duration varied depending on the target’s stats.

For example, it would last between 15 to 20 seconds on a Beheader Goblin.

For an Ogre, it was around 5 seconds.

So for a berserk Alpha Ogre,

“Just under two seconds.”

“Alright.”

A time that could be long or short, depending on how we used it.

We had to make the most of those 2 seconds.

“Graaa!”

Jo Byuk met the Alpha Ogre’s incoming fist with a fist of his own.

With a thunderous crash, Jo Byuk was pushed back.

However, before the Alpha Ogre could make its next move, I stepped forward and ripped the Paralysis Scroll.

Fwaaash—!

A bright light burst forth and enveloped the creature.

The Alpha that was bathed in flickering light froze in place.

Immediately, the twenty people surrounding it unleashed their most powerful skills.

Bum slashing its claws in a flash of light,

Go Hyeon-woo’s serene and focused clear stream,

Han So-mi’s cold and sharp sword energy,

Hong Yeon-hwa’s fiery arrows that flew like a phoenix,

Song Cheon-hye’s thick lightning strike,

Kwoooom—!

When the flurry of skills passed, the Alpha Ogre’s body was in tatters; not a single part was left unscathed.

Even its last remaining eye had been struck by Seo Ye-in’s sniper shot, leaving it completely blinded.

At that moment, the Paralysis Scroll’s effect wore off.

The creature momentarily staggered as it regained movement, took a deep breath, and opened its jaws wide.

Then,

“Graaaaa—!!”

It let out a roar with all its might.

The deafening high-pitched scream echoed repeatedly. It even overwhelmed everyone with its sheer force for a moment.

Of course, the Alpha Ogre’s intention wasn’t just to intimidate its enemies.

Thud, thud, thud,

Thud, thud, thud,

The sound of heavy footsteps quickly approached.

It wasn’t difficult to guess that the source of the sound was an ogre.

To make matters worse, there wasn’t just one set of footsteps.

From the left, from the right, and from behind.

There were at least three ogres that we could immediately identify, but there was no guarantee that this was the end of it.

The second phase is starting.

The Alpha’s roar had the effect of summoning all its kin in the area.

From the second phase onward, we would have to face not just the Alpha Ogre, but several ogres at the same time.

There was obviously no chance of victory if we faced them all at once,

We have no choice but to defeat them one by one.

As I had instructed, Song Cheon-hye quickly dispersed the group.

“We’ll split into teams of 4, 4, 6, 6.”

Song Cheon-hye promptly designated two teams of four and two teams of six.

The four-person teams mostly consisted of the members of the discipline committee, while one of the six-person teams included those who were relatively less skilled, like Baek Jun-seok, Kwak Jicheol, and Shin Byeong-cheol.

After sending off the three teams in different directions, only six people remained to face the Alpha Ogre.

Me, Go Hyeon-woo, Jo Byeok, Song Cheon-hye, Hong Yeon-hwa, and Seo Ye-in.

It was a team heavily influenced by my input.

This was the best option we had to wrap things up.

“Grrrr……”

Though it was staggering, the Alpha Ogre turned its body to face us directly.

Even though its eyes were blinded and it couldn’t see anything, it seemed to sense us through the monster’s unique instincts and sense of smell.

Jo Byeok and Go Hyeon-woo stepped forward before exchanging a few words with each other.

“So, we finally get to see each other’s skills. I had hoped it would be in a more competitive setting, though.”

“Haha, I agree. But for now, let’s focus on getting out of here alive. As long as we survive, we’ll have plenty of chances to compete, don’t you think?”

“…Indeed.”

Jo Byeok’s usually expressionless face curled into a slight smile.

The two then fixed their gaze on the Alpha Ogre and, without needing any signal, simultaneously launched themselves forward.

“Graaaah!”

As the two rapidly closed the distance, the Alpha Ogre instinctively stepped forward while swinging its huge arms.

Go Hyeon-woo redirected the trajectory of the first arm using his pure flow skill, while Jo Byeok struck the second arm aside with a powerful blow.

Boom! Boom!

Meanwhile, I reclaimed the command that I had temporarily handed over to Song Cheon-hye.

Then I gave orders to the three at the rear.

“Let’s finish this. We’ll keep it from moving.”

“Understood.”

“Alright.”

Song Cheon-hye raised one hand high as if she was pointing toward the sky.

Electric currents sparked from her fingertips before shooting up into the sky.

Fizzzzzzz,

The dark clouds above us crackled with growing intensity as thunder rumbled louder and louder.

“……”

Hong Yeon-hwa also began drawing a fire pillar magic circle beneath the Alpha’s feet.

The large circle was filled with geometric shapes and symbols and was glowing with a fierce red light.

Bang! Bang!

Seo Ye-in had positioned herself a short distance away and relentlessly sniped at the Alpha Ogre’s heart.

I couldn’t just stand by either, so I joined the front line.

I kept the Alpha Ogre in check to prevent it from moving out of position.

I used the storm clouds to lessen the impact on Jo Byeok and Go Hyun-woo,

And whenever the Alpha Ogre tried to step forward, I pushed it back with Wind Force.

Boom! Boom!

“Graaaah!”

As this pattern repeated, the creature seemed to realize who was the most troublesome.

The punches and kicks that had been evenly distributed among the three of us began targeting me exclusively.

Well, that’s convenient.

But I wasn’t about to be an easy target. Using the Thief’s Step, I easily circled around the creature.

As I continued playing cat and mouse with the Alpha Ogre, the dark clouds above became crackling masses of lightning, and the red magic circle on the ground was finally complete.

Song Cheon-hye shouted from behind me,

“It’s ready! Fall back!”

The three of us unleashed our attacks and then quickly withdrew.

In the next moment, a pillar of lightning struck down from the sky,

And a pillar of fire surged up from the ground to meet it.

[Heaven’s Retribution]

[Fire Pillar]

Fzzzzzzzzzzzzt—!!

Whoooooooosh—!!

We distanced ourselves and watched it from afar.

We prepared the next skill so that we could resume the battle with the creature at any time.

But fortunately, it seemed there was no need for that.

The magic of Song Cheon-hye and Hong Yeon-hwa faded away and the area that was scorched as if bombarded lay in ruins.

In the midst of it all, the Alpha Ogre stood frozen in place.

“Grrrrrr…”

Its body barely twitched as if it was clinging desperately to life,

Bang–!

Before Seo Ye-in’s final shot pierced its heart.

With that last strike, the Alpha Ogre’s body slowly tilted backward before collapsing onto the ground with a heavy thud.

“……”

“……”

Everyone stared at it in silence.

It seemed they could hardly believe the creature had finally fallen.

But as reality began to sink in, they let out sighs of relief.

Hong Yeon-hwa and Song Cheon-hye each spoke.

“We got it…!”

“We did it…!”

Rumble,

Just then, a distant roar echoed, snapping everyone back to attention.

Though the strongest Alpha Ogre had been defeated, the ogres it had summoned still remained.

To ensure our safety, we had to take them down as well.

Song Cheon-hye suggested,

“Let’s split into pairs again.”

“That sounds good.”

We split into three pairs and rushed forward.

But while the other two teams quickly took off, Seo Ye-in and I couldn’t move.

“What’s wrong?”

“0%…”

It seemed that her battery had drained completely after the series of intense battles.

With no other choice, I turned my back to Seo Ye-in.

“Let’s take down just one or two more ogres, then we’ll rest. Hop on.”

“……”

Seo Ye-in climbed onto my back and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I then launched myself forward with her on my back.

***

“Grrrrrr…”

The ogre couldn’t withstand the onslaught and collapsed onto the ground.

Sssssshhhh–

There were no more loud roars or heavy footsteps to be heard, only the continuous sound of pouring rain.

The one we had just defeated was the last.

As if to confirm this, a notification message appeared in the corner of my vision.

[Main Quest 1] (Completed)

[Starting calculation.]