Dusk (BL Light Novel)

Grumbling under my breath, I checked the gear of the healers who’d volunteered and assigned them to the Cleansing and Healing teams. Meanwhile, in the alliance chat, the Commander players were coordinating their ultimate skill timing. Judging by the ongoing conversation, it seemed like everyone had the same thought as me — just because Genocide was a possibility didn’t mean it was a certainty.
[Alliance] Sillonti: Focusing too much on Genocide might backfire.
[Alliance] Sillonti: If he ends up using Restart instead, we’re screwed lol.
[Alliance] SoraShell: Yeah.
[Alliance] Kigal: He might be counting on that…
[Alliance] SoraClam: Especially since it’s Retaking a Class lololol.
[Alliance] MyNameIsAllTaken: LMAO
[Alliance] EverythingFriedIsMyLife: His IGN is too iconic lolol.
Looks like EverythingFriedIsMyLife managed to get his keyboard fixed after being stuck in English mode last week.

[Alliance] SoraShell: Anyway, like we discussed —
[Alliance] SoraShell: If Genocide goes off, I’ll cover with Messiah first, right?
[Alliance] Butterfly: Yeah, the most likely combo would be Genocide followed by Apocalypse.
[Alliance] Ax: That’s probably best. The shield from Messiah doesn’t count as HP, so the [Death] debuff will still land.
[Alliance] SoraClam: If Apocalypse goes off, I’ll use Restart right after.
[Alliance] SoraClam: But the Assassins will probably ult both me and Butterfly…
[Alliance] EverythingFriedIsMyLife: Would be nice if Slayer or Deep were here, but both are offline today.
[Alliance] MyNameIsAllTaken: Should I hang back and keep an eye on the rear?
[Alliance] SoraClam: Yeah, just keep watch once. That should be enough.
[Alliance] MyNameIsAllTaken: Got it. I’ll save a shot or two for sniping.
[Alliance] Core: Should I just pull back to the rear completely?
Core was one of the Commander users who usually played in the frontlines with me. Today, he was set to play as a Defender, but he was better at supporting healers as a sub-tank than going full offensive. And considering the enemy’s potential ultimate combo, it was safer to keep the healers protected.
I moved Core to the Healing team and replied.

[Alliance] Honeybread: Yeah.
[Alliance] Honeybread: That’s probably the best move.
[Alliance] SoraClam: Thanks, thanks.
[Alliance] Core: Swapping back to Paladin stance.
[Alliance] Honeybread: Cool. Adjustments done?
[Alliance] SoraShell: Looks like it.
[Alliance] Sillonti: Yep.
[Alliance] Sillonti: Let’s see what that Messiah skill can do.
[Alliance] SoraShell: LOL
Overall, the mood wasn’t bad. Adjustments were completed without a hitch, and everyone seemed calm, not overly agitated.
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: I’ve restructured the attack squads, so please check which squad and party you’re assigned to.
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: 1st Squad - Main Assault (Frontline, Initiation)
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: 2nd - Cleansing Team (Debuff/CC Immunity & Cleansing)
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: 3rd - Healing Team (Focused Healing for Commanders)
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: 4th - Assassination Team (Assassination, Aggro Ping-Pong)
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: 5th - Sniper Team (Sniping, Rearguard)
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: Remaining squads (Focused Fire, DPS)

Each squad had its standard role, but given how chaotic conquest battles could get, it was easy for people to get confused. That’s why I always used macros to remind them. It also gave people a chance to DM me if they wanted to switch parties.
While I was busy assigning the final spots, the clock ticked closer to 9 PM. I’d been staring at the alliance list so long my eyes felt like they were burning. Stretching my arms above my head, I opened the voice chat program and called Moon Seonhwa.
“Hey. Done assigning the parties?”

“Yeah. For now.”
If things got rough, I could always rearrange them mid-battle. For now, it seemed fine.
After closing the alliance list, Moon Seonhwa spoke up.

“So, we’re all set, but Retaking a Class is the problem.”
“Yeah… It’s frustrating because we have no idea what he’s planning.”
“What the hell could he have prepared…? I’m getting so nervous just thinking about it.”

“I hope it’s something we already anticipated.”
“You really think he’s that uncreative?”
Exactly. That was the issue.
As I smacked my dry lips, the time hit 58 minutes. The crafting users who’d been constructing the walls and watchtowers finally finished their work and teleported away.

[Whisper] DontSmokeOnTheRoad >> Honeybread: Good luck!
[Whisper] Hammer >> Honeybread: You got this!
[Guild] RomanticCat: Fight well~
[Whisper] BuildItAndBreakIt >> Honeybread: Expecting good market rates this week, haha.
The crafters, including DontSmokeOnTheRoad and RomanticCat, whispered their encouragements before vanishing.
Meanwhile, translucent objects started appearing across the battlefield — the Trace of Moonlight objects. If those were destroyed, Jeojajok would take control of that section of land.

[System] Movement within the Ateliena region is temporarily disabled.
[System] If the Trace of Moonlight is destroyed, the respective territory will be seized. Proceed with caution.
The warning messages popped up, and with 30 seconds remaining, the countdown began. We stood behind the wall, maintaining some distance from each other, moving idly to pass the time. The Snipers stationed on the watchtowers had their bows drawn, ready to snipe.
[Battle] Commander: Activated the True Avatar of Night skill.
[System] Commander: By activating True Avatar of Night, the user will not gain Fame for the next 120 minutes.

[Tribe] Commander Honeybread has descended upon the Heart of the Breathless Land as the True Avatar of Night.
With 10 seconds left, I and the other Commander users activated our Avatar skills. The enemy Commander users did the same, including Gang Jaegyung.
Alright. Let’s see what kind of dirty tricks he’s been cooking up. And while I’m at it, I’ll crush that smug face of his. I closed my eyes and smirked, imagining Gang Jaegyung’s crestfallen expression after losing to me.

[3]
[2]
[1]

[0]
[Breathless Land: The Jeojajok faction begins to advance.]
[Defend against the attacking Jeojajok and destroy the Trace of Sunlight to reclaim the resource rights.]
The battle had officially begun, but the field remained eerily quiet. The only sound was the dull echo of Jeojajok forces hammering away at the walls in the distance. They had to break through the walls to engage us directly, so all we could do for now was prepare and wait. The Snipers stationed in the watchtowers were the only ones with anything to do at the moment.

The walls stretched from Base 25 to Base 45, but the enemy wouldn’t waste time breaking down every inch. They’d focus their attacks on a single entry point, and we had to determine where that would be. Once they breached the wall, we’d unleash all our AoE skills to take down as many of them as possible.
Time dragged on as they chipped away at the walls. Meanwhile, our party chats were full of idle chatter, some users dancing in sync to kill time.
Then, the sound of the walls shattering grew louder. One of the walls was visibly shaking under the onslaught.

[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: Hold position.
Everyone stopped goofing off. A tense silence settled over the field. I clicked on the wall to check its durability, watching as the percentage steadily dropped.
At 1%, I gave the order.

[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: Check your buffs and doping.
[Alliance Commander] Honeybread: The moment the wall falls, unleash AoE attacks at the entrance.
No sooner had I given the order than the wall shattered, and a swarm of Jeojajok players poured through. We unleashed our AoE attacks from behind the line, hoping to wipe out a chunk of them in one go, but unfortunately, that expectation fell flat.
[Tribe] Jeojajok Commander Knight has cast Pian of Good and Evil at the Heart of the Breathless Land.

The Pian of Good and Evil skill, which grants a shield to all faction members based on the caster’s current health, absorbed the entirety of Viajok’s attacks, reducing our offensive strike to nothing. Frustrating, but at least we forced the enemy tank to blow his ultimate. Small victories, I guess.
Under the cover of the shield, the Jeojajok tank line surged forward, charging toward Viajok’s frontline. If we let them push us back now, it’d be over, so we had to hold our ground and prevent them from bulldozing through.
Finding their advance blocked, the Jeojajok players redirected their assault to the watchtowers. The Snipers stationed on the towers had a strategic vantage point, allowing them to pick off enemies safely. If a headshot landed, it could drop a player to low health or outright kill them, making it imperative for the attackers ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) to dismantle the towers quickly to prevent further losses.

While the tanks held the line, the Assassins cloaked themselves and slipped into the enemy ranks, targeting the rear. It was a viable play since they had a return skill that let them escape back to the main formation after dealing a blow. The job of the Assassination Team and Melee DPS was to disrupt the backline, take down squishy dealers or healers, and then retreat, causing chaos while drawing aggro.
“I’m heading in.”
“Got it.”

Among them, Moon Seonhwa, who was currently in her Avatar form, had no trouble drawing aggro. She could kill several players and get out, though she’d return with her health nearly drained. That’s why the Healing Team was stationed behind the frontline, focusing primarily on healing the Commanders.
Meanwhile, the Casters bombarded the enemy formation with AoE skills, chipping away at their overall health pool and forcing their healers to burn more mana to keep them alive. Once a target was marked with a 1-mark indicator, all DPS would focus fire, and the healers on the other side would frantically pump heals into the target to keep them alive.
The more concentrated the firepower, the more intense the healing would need to be, thus forcing the enemy healers to drain their mana reserves faster. This was the standard tactic in conquest battles: deplete the enemy healers’ mana reserves to the breaking point, then launch a full-scale assault to shatter their lines.

If the Melee DPS did their job right or if we successfully focus-fired the right targets, we could force multiple healers to burn their resurrection spells, further draining their mana. It was a vicious cycle — and it always ended with the healers getting milked dry.
And right when both sides were draining each other’s healers like a swarm of mosquitoes sucking blood, Moon Seonhwa returned via the Shadow Exchange skill, her health bar almost entirely depleted.