In the game, the 'Eye of the Black Dragon' Ipian raid unfolded in a quite classic dragon raid format.
As soon as the battle started and Ipian landed in the fortress's courtyard, the vanguard heroes who had been waiting captured and held him.
While they held on,
Wizards and ranged dealers took positions on the fortress walls, deploying every device installed there, including various gimmicks, to pour out firepower.
How well the vanguard heroes could hold onto Ipian,
And during the time the vanguard heroes held on, how effectively the dealers on the walls could pack their attacks within the limited time.
If the vanguard heroes failed to hold firm, the dealers on the walls would be exposed to Ipian and become endangered.
Conversely, if the dealers on the walls failed to deliver proper damage, the vanguard heroes could not endure for long and would be annihilated.
All the heroes involved had to perfectly execute their assigned tasks for the battle to proceed smoothly.
This could truly be described as a classic MMORPG-style dragon raid.
There was a particularly advantageous point in this battle.'
The dungeon gimmick installed on the walls—an ancient mana cannon
In the game, it wasn't actually that great a gimmick. Fitting for an artifact used by the guards of the ancient Lake Kingdom,
Its power was decent, but it was hard to hit the target.
Even if a hero among our allies with a high accuracy score served as the gunner, the cannon's crude aiming performance meant...
The accuracy rate wasn't high.
Missed! A bad miss! I had to spit blood seeing such phrases filling the screen.
But now that we have him?
The universally acknowledged cheat character, Damien!
Bang! Bang! Brr-bang!
On the walls,
The reserve party led the charge, turning the cannon's direction inward to the fortress
A beat later, Damien followed, pulling the trigger, and the mana cannon repeatedly spewed fire.
And the mana bullets fired traced an intricate trajectory—hitting right on Ipian's head.
"What is this...?!"
Struck by the relentless bombardment, Ipian let out a flustered groan.
Of course, there was no time to overload the mana core like during the tutorial stage, so it wasn't as powerful as that mana cannon,
But it was fully loaded, and at least it definitely inflicted damage on Ipian.
"You insects...!"
"I will handle this."
Ipian's left head snarled, and the middle head squinted its eyes, seizing control.
The middle head opened its mouth precisely while being bombarded, preparing to shoot its breath.
But our side was not idle either. The vanguard heroes had already clung tightly to Ipian.
I shouted.
"It's the breath! Block it—!"
"Leave it to me!"
Responding to my cry, Dusk Bringar sprung from the forefront, kicking off the ground
Shshshsh!
The chain armor enveloping Dusk Bringar—[Lord of the High Tower]—transformed in her hands into a giant greatsword.
The crimson magic-infused greatsword swung upward from below, striking Ipian's lower jaw.
Blaze!
With immense heat, a magic-charged sword strike burst forth.
Even this attack did not severely damage Ipian, who ultimately released its breath. However, Dusk Bringar's powerful sword strike slightly lifted its jaw upward—
Boom!
And forcibly redirected the trajectory of the breath upward, protecting the heroes on the walls.
The black flame breath shot into the air, burning the sky. It narrowly missed, but the heroes on the walls screamed and collapsed to the ground.
As the middle head's breath missed, the left head regained control and glared menacingly at Dusk Bringar.
"Do not interfere, you half-dragon!"
The left head's mouth opened wide. There was no magic reaction; instead, the wind was rapidly sucked into its mouth.
'This pattern!'
I quickly planted the banner in the ground and yelled.
"It's the Dragon Roar! Take cover—!"
The next moment.
Kyaaaaaaaa-!
An ear-splitting, overwhelming roar filled the inside of the fortress.
It was far beyond a simple shout in volume. The roar created wind pressure that fiercely dug up the surrounding ground.
But, our side's vanguard heroes were all safe.
They had worn earplugs treated with magic beforehand, and hidden behind a magical barrier I had raised on the spot, they avoided the sound waves and wind pressure.
As the Dragon Roar ended, the magic barrier crumbled with a rustle. From behind it, the heroes calmly got up.
"These, these bastards, my roar...!"
"How can they react so quickly?"
As successive attacks were thwarted, the two heads seemed slightly flustered.
Then, finally, the last head... the right head, which had been dozing off, grumbled and took control.
"As always, these idiots... I'll handle it."
Kiiing!
The right head, still half-closed its eyes, scrutinized our vanguard heroes, and geometric magic patterns appeared in front of it.
Of course, we were prepared for this pattern too. I shouted.
"It's magic! Dearmudin, now's the time!"
"Leave it to me!"
Meanwhile, the mages who had been waiting on the walls placed their hands on each other's shoulders and prepared a joint magic spell.
Dearmudin, Junior, Bodybag, Chain—our frontline's most seasoned mages.
And King Poseidon, a merfolk king whose mana had become virtually infinite since becoming an avatar of the race god.
Besides these five, there were two more parties of mages. A total of 15 mages formed a line with their bodies and resonated their magic.
"The right head, rank 9 flame magic in preparation!"
"Starting with a rank 9, you sure are lavish, Lord Dragon..!"
Junior recognized the content of the magic, and Dearmudin laughed, his beard fluttering.
"To be able to directly confront magic used by an ancient legend—as a mage, could there be a more glorious moment?"
Chooo!
Above the heads of the mages preparing the joint spell, a huge magic circle was instantly drawn.
It was as if reflected in a mirror... remarkably similar to the magic circle used by Ipian's right head.
Seeing this, the right head's half-opened eyes widened.
"What ... the same technique?! How..!"
"It's a bit tacky to say it myself."
Junior blurted out.
"I'm good at observing and copying!"
"Don't talk nonsense, how could a human possibly—"
"Sure, your magic is sophisticated. But it's too old-fashioned. It's not so hard to use on the spot!"
Ipian's right head and our mage party almost simultaneously completed their magic.
"Don't be so angry, Mister Dragon. Next time I write a paper about this incident... ."
Dearmudin looked ecstatic as he extended his staff forward.
"I'll mention you in tiny letters at the very bottom!"
Thwock!
The fire pillars shot by the evil dragon and the humans collided in midair.
Ipian's right head, which had been dozing until just recently, unleashed magic wrapped in fierce rage and hatred... and our 15 human mages gritted their teeth and followed suit with their joint magic calculation.
'What happens when two magics of the same attribute collide?
Looking up at the two fire pillars antagonizing each other in the sky, I quivered with excitement.
'We thoroughly tested this in Stage 4!'
The higher level, the stronger side gets absorbed.
So, what if... the levels of both sides are equal?
'They cancel each other out!'
Crrraaash-!
In midair, the two clashing fire pillars, after a struggle... suddenly vanished as if they never existed.
Ipian's right head let out a voice of disbelief.
"Such a thing... it's absurd?!"
The Black Dragon Legion's magic attributes are fire and wind.
And on our side, there are mages who counter both attributes.
The mages combine their powers, adjust their levels to be equal through joint magic, and King Poseidon supplies the mana for casting.
'In the game, it was much simpler to cause cancellation just by filling up the number of mages...'
In reality, more complex theories, principles, and implementation processes are needed.
'The minute and difficult parts are for the practitioners to handle, anyway!'
We completely neutralized the magic!
"Ugh! We did it."
"Ah, boy..."
The mages staggered from a collective overload in their magic channels.
Ipian, too, had its magic flow temporarily halted, and its entire body stiffened. The magic counterattack caused both sides to simultaneously stun each other.
During this time, our vanguard heroes clung to Ipian's body and slashed with their swords, while Damien on the walls continuously fired the mana cannon, accumulating damage.
'Things are rolling properly!'
I nodded my head.
Ipian's three heads alternately use patterns: mainly breath, Dragon Roar, and magic.
Among these, the middle head specializes in breath, the left head in Dragon Roar, and the right head in magic.
The pattern we need to actively counter is the magic.
'Breath is merely to be dodged, and Dragon Roar to be blocked, but... with magic, we can use cancellation to exchange stuns.'
We could counter with [Elemental Disassembly], but that would be too much for Junior to handle.
On the other hand, calculations show that everyone can manage to continue countering with joint magic cancellation throughout the battle.
Though it's a lengthy explanation, it ultimately boils down to this:
Avoid or block the other patterns, and only the mages cancel out the magic pattern to exchange stuns.
And when Ipian is stunned and reveals an opening, the other heroes consistently accumulate damage.
Thus, the role of the mages in this battle is crucial, and they are indeed putting themselves through hell.
By cancelling out each other's magic and recovering, the next magic pattern arrives and the process of cancellation and stunning repeats endlessly.
"I'm, getting dizzy..."
"I'm starting to feel dizzy, Prince Ash! Is this covered by workers' compensation?!"
"Of course, it's covered so keep enduring and push through!"
Once more the pattern cycled, and once more the mages groaned as they blocked the magic.
But what can we do? If the mages fall, this raid is over!
'Of course, there's a limit to how long they can endure, so...'
We need to decide the battle as quickly as possible!
Fortunately, the other heroes were doing their jobs very diligently.
The vanguard heroes clung desperately to Ipian's body and began pounding away with their weapons.
"How dare you lay hands on my body!"
Ipian, bursting with rage, attempted to unleash large-scale attacks on the close-range heroes, but,
Bang! Bang! Boom-!
With ghost-like timing and insane accuracy, a succession of mana cannonballs flew in—landing incredible headshots one after the other.
As the barrage continuously shook the head, even the mighty evil dragon could not withstand the continuous rigidity. Thanks to that, its wildly swinging claws and tail were either easily dodged by our heroes or leisurely blocked by Evangeline and Torkel.
"It's light!"
"Not light at all, actually..."
Evangeline boasted as she blocked a claw, and Torkel groaned as he blocked a tail.
"Like annoying gnats...!"
Finally, thoroughly infuriated Ipian aimed at Damien, but this time the vanguard heroes rushed in and planted their attacks in its body.
"Kuilan!"
"I got it, sir!"
Lucas, who charged ahead, jammed a blade of light between the scales, and right there, Kuilan struck it with a clenched fist.
For the first time, a crack wide opened on the armor-like hard scales.
"...!"
The eyes of the vanguard heroes gleamed like those of a predator spotting a weakness.