Dusk (BL Light Novel)

[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: They don’t have any real DPS anyway, so leave the healing to the healers. We’re focusing on offensive ultimates.
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: When we focus fire, Kigal, you use Dilemma first. Then, depending on the fight, Core will follow up with his ultimate.
[Alliance] Kigal: Got it.
[Alliance] Core: Got it.
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: NicknameIsAllTaken, just keep an eye on the enemy Destroyer’s HP. Once you see a good opening, fire your ultimate and finish him off. There’s no Restart left now, so go for it.

Unless Gang Jaegyung suddenly managed to pull off another Restart, that plan was foolproof. But since all ultimate skills aside from Messiah shared a universal cooldown within the same class, there was no way Retaking a Class could use Restart just yet.
On the other hand, we still had two Restarts left. As long as we didn’t drag this out, we were in a good position.
We bided our time, waiting for an opening, and when it came, we unleashed our offensive ultimates. Kigal’s Dilemma hit first, dealing massive damage. Since Jeojajok’s defenses were already weakened, a few parties got completely wiped out. Their sustain was finally starting to crumble.

Meanwhile, our Priest Destroyer, EverythingFriedIsMyLife, was preparing to use his ultimate, and NicknameIsAllTaken was—
[Tribe] Viajok Commander NicknameIsAllTaken has cast Messiah at the Heart of the Breathless Land.
[Tribe] Viajok Commander NicknameIsAllTaken has slain Jeojajok Commander AfterWork.
Right on cue, NicknameIsAllTaken executed his ultimate, taking down the Jeojajok Destroyer Commander as planned.

If we kept this momentum up, we’d easily win. The battle was swinging heavily in our favor, and with our opponents’ main DPS now eliminated, our chances of victory surged.
But as the fight continued, I couldn’t shake a growing sense of unease. Things were going too smoothly.
The way Jeojajok was fighting felt off. Instead of focusing on survival, they seemed more intent on knocking us back and disrupting our formation. It was as if they were more focused on spreading debuffs than on actual combat.

That only made sense if they were still trying to spread the Virus for a Genocide combo. But with their Destroyer Commander dead, they had no way to follow up with Apocalypse. Even if Genocide triggered, SoraShell could just counter it with a healing ultimate, rendering it meaningless.
So why were they still so intent on spreading the Virus?
And why was Gang Jaegyung, who should’ve been trying to recover from a lost battle, still calmly tossing debuffs from the backline? Occasionally, he’d rush in with a defensive skill and then pull back just as quickly.

Something wasn’t right.
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: The fight area has gotten smaller, so maintain distance.
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: They’re still trying to trigger Genocide. Feels like they’re preparing something.
Despite my unease, I issued another warning, reminding everyone to keep their distance. Just then, EverythingFriedIsMyLife sent a welcome message.

[Alliance] EverythingFriedIsMyLife: I can use Apocalypse.
Perfect. If we could pull this off, we could end the battle right here.
I quickly formulated the final push in my head.

Core’s Decalogue was almost off cooldown. The plan was to ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) have Core use Decalogue first, bringing as many enemies as possible down to 40% HP or less, triggering the Omen debuff. Then, EverythingFriedIsMyLife would follow up with Apocalypse.
If all went well, Apocalypse would wipe out over half their remaining forces. After that, it would be a simple matter of mowing down whoever was left.
Easy.
I watched the cooldown timer for Decalogue and was about to type out the final order. But then, SoraShell spoke up in alliance chat.

[Alliance] SoraShell: Seriously, why does it hurt so much? I can’t figure out what’s hitting me. Is it the Dilemma DoT?
[Alliance] SoraShell: I’d check the combat log, but it’s scrolling so fast I can’t keep up.
Wait. What? SoraShell was still taking damage? But the Destroyer Commander was dead. There shouldn’t be any significant DPS left on the enemy side.
[Alliance] Precious: And yeah, about that. The enemy’s supposed to be weak, but healing is way harder than it should be right now.
[Alliance] Precious: It doesn’t feel like they’re lacking in firepower.
[Alliance] TargetSelection: Agreed.

Why the hell were they only mentioning this now? If the damage was that bad, they should have said something earlier.
But now wasn’t the time to get angry. I needed to pinpoint the source of the damage and fast.
I clicked on SoraShell’s status window and started analyzing his debuffs. According to the logs, the only damage over time effects on him were the Dilemma DoT and the Virus debuff from Gang Jaegyung.

But Gang Jaegyung was a healer. There was no way his damage should be this significant. And while Kigal was in Slayer stance, he’d only used Dilemma once. The DoT shouldn’t be hitting this hard.
But SoraShell had been complaining about the pain even before Dilemma was activated.
As I pondered the source of the mysterious damage, Gang Jaegyung suddenly rushed at me, using his defensive skill. It was almost as if he knew I was on the verge of figuring something out and wanted to distract me.

Annoying bastard.
No matter. If our team was taking this much damage, we’d just have to kill them before they killed us.
I locked eyes with Gang Jaegyung and typed rapidly in alliance chat as we exchanged blows.

[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: Core, use Decalogue. Then immediately follow up with Apocalypse.
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: After that, go all out.
 
I entrusted the rest to Joongshim and Jeonbu and blocked Gang Jaegyung’s skill. While the standoff continued, the war reached its climax.

[Faction] Viajok Supreme Commander Joongshim has cast Decalogue from the Heart of the Lifeless Land!
[Faction] Viajok Supreme Commander Jeonbuchira says Jeonbuchim has cast Apocalypse from the Heart of the Lifeless Land!
A sharp warning sound echoed as Apocalypse detonated, and the kill log surged with names. While the instant death effect was devastating, the raw damage output alone was enough to wipe out nearly every player except for the tankiest ones.

Gang Jaegyung was about to be targeted next and eliminated. I silently offered my condolences.
And then, it happened.
Several buff effects rose above Gang Jaegyung’s character. The remaining healers had cast buffs on him.

At that moment, another notification appeared in the faction chat.
[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander accent has cast Tree of Life from the Heart of the Lifeless Land!
Similarly, one of Jeojajok’s surviving assassin commanders activated the Tree of Life, an assassin’s buff-type ultimate skill. The Tree of Life buff poured over Gang Jaegyung, and the Jeojajok healers continued to shield him with protective barriers until they were all slain.

...Wait.
Something felt off. I quickly activated the cursor and checked Retaking a Class’s buff window.
[Cliffoth - The target’s attack power and armor penetration are significantly increased.]

Cliffoth? An attack buff? Not Sephiroth, the defense and recovery buff?
Muttering the skill description to myself in a daze, I quickly pieced together Gang Jaegyung’s intention and lunged at him, casting a skill. There was a reason he had been showered with shields and healing from the healers.
The assassin’s enhancement-type ultimate skill, Tree of Life, grants the Cliffoth attack buff if “the target’s combined offensive stats exceed their combined defensive stats.”

The fact that he had received that buff meant that Retaking a Class’s offensive stats were currently higher than his defensive stats.
Retaking a Class, who was supposed to be a healer.
A healer whose defense was naturally high and whose offensive capabilities were limited by equipment alone had received the Cliffoth buff. That could only mean one thing — he had sacrificed his defense entirely to focus on attack.

And there was only one way to do that.
Engravings.
The moment I realized it, I smashed my keyboard and sent a message in the chat while charging toward Retaking a Class.

[Alliance] Honeybread: Focus fire on Kim Jijung!
[Alliance] Honeybread: All-in on Retaking a Class!
But Retaking a Class used a dodge skill to effortlessly evade my rush attack. Not stopping there, he used an emergency escape, putting even more distance between us.

Before the strike team could even ask what was going on, they rushed toward Retaking a Class after seeing my chat, but it was already too late.
[General] Retaking a Class: ^^
Just like I had done yesterday, Gang Jaegyung extended his life by stacking multiple shields. He looked at me and smirked. Then, his character raised one hand, preparing a skill motion.

[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Cailku has cast Decalogue from the Heart of the Lifeless Land!
[Faction] Viajok Supreme Commander Sora Godong has cast Mythos from the Heart of the Lifeless Land!
Sora Godong, sensing the danger, had activated Mythos just in time, but another Jeojajok sacred knight commander had cast Decalogue, applying a healing-immunity debuff that nullified the healing effects.

And then, a vial shattered in Gang Jaegyung’s hand, followed by a piercing warning sound that echoed through the battlefield.
[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class has cast Genocide from the Heart of the Lifeless Land!
[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class has defeated Viajok Commander Angel!

[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class has defeated Viajok Commander Identity!
[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class has defeated Viajok Commander For Everytime!
[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class has defeated Viajok Commander Triple Axel!

[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class has defeated Viajok Supreme Commander Joongshim!
[Faction] Viajok’s dominance begins to falter.
[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class has started a massacre.

[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class has defeated Viajok Supreme Commander Sora Godong!
...
[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class has defeated Viajok Supreme Commander Honeybread!

[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class has defeated Viajok Commander Jonnen Shrimp!
[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class has defeated Viajok Supreme Commander Ax!
[Faction] Viajok’s dominance has been suppressed.

[Faction] Jeojajok Supreme Commander Retaking a Class’s massacre has triggered the passive skill: Intimidation.