Season 4: Chapter 150. Knights vs. Paprika (3)
The first clash between Paprika and Cheese had the whole server holding its breath. Even the Union couldn’t hide its anticipation.
“Y-Yes! That’s it!” Donuts clenched his fist in delight as the invaders climbed back out of the pit.
He was openly cheering for Paprika.
— Traitor Donuts...
— Cheese will remember this
— LMAO man doesn’t even hide it anymore
For him, the prestige of the Knights would skyrocket if they won. They would be hailed as the saviors of Cheese. That political power would crush the Union, so he rooted for the invaders no matter how much the chat mocked him.
Then, it came.
[Volcano]
Shrimp began to channel his ultimate as volcanic fire swelled beneath the Radish House. The ground heaved, ready to erupt.
FWOOSH!
A streak flew in from nowhere.
CRACK!
The arrow slammed straight into Shrimp’s head.
“What the!?”
The Volcano fizzled, and the ground deflated like a punctured balloon. Before anyone could process it, Shrimp’s listless body fell sideways like he had lost his balance.
THUD.
He toppled from his own block tower and slid down like a puppet with its strings cut. It didn’t seem like anyone had interrupted him. He just died standing up. It was an instant kill.
“He’s d-dead...?” Even Donuts swallowed hard.
BANG!
Another Paprika fighter collapsed.
BANG!
Then another fell. One corpse followed an arrow every time. The truth soon became clear. Each arrow pierced the same weak point, their exposed throats beneath their helmets.
“Arrows...?”
— Holy shit
— It’s happening
— ARCHER META UNLOCKED
— This server is done for
The chat exploded across every stream.
“Y-You’ve got to be kidding me.” HornRamen could barely speak. He knew exactly whose handiwork this was. “Almond, you bastard... You really pulled that out?!”
— LOL he actually did it
— Bro wants this win more than life
— In a healing game, he whips out a bow...
— Almond’s idea of healing = headshots
***
Even as spectators reeled, Paprika panicked harder. Shrimp hadn’t even realized what killed him. In Survival Craft, bows were considered novelty weapons. They were clumsy, inaccurate, and a joke. To land a clean headshot on the first arrow was impossible.
Shrimp thought it had been some hidden magic. Maybe Cheese had its own special class. He never found out the truth as his body vanished into the pit, and his death became clear.
“Sh-Shrimp!” Black Pepper cried out before she could stop herself.
BANG!
Another ally dropped. Their vaunted obsidian armor meant nothing. One after another, Paprika’s elites toppled over and helplessly slid down from their pillars back into the inferno.
FWOOSH!
The flames roared higher with every falling corpse, the heat waves radiating outward. The lackey Knights stood dumbstruck.
“This... this can’t be.”
“Gr-Great Lord... G-Great Great Lord...”
— HOLY FK
— GREAT GREAT LORD ALMOND
— Arrows OP confirmed
— He’s not just a Lord... he’s the Great Great
— This is PEAK
Above it all, Almond loomed with his bow drawn. His arrows gleamed in the firelight and made him look like the executioner of fate itself. Amid the carnage, both friend and foe alike became speechless.
‘Too easy.’
Almond’s face remained calm, almost expressionless. From his perspective, this was simply target practice and nothing more.
The invaders had stacked their blocks straight up to escape the pit, leaving themselves with no room to move. All it took was a single stagger or knockback to send them tumbling into the flames below.
To Almond, they were stationary targets with oversized bobble-heads.
‘It’s the same as archery practice.’
Each head was no different from a target circle on the range. If he could hit tens in real life with all the variables of wind and nerves, then this controlled game world was child’s play. He yawned without thinking as he drew his next arrow.
“Waaaaaah!” Black Pepper’s voice cracked, nearly breaking into sobs.
She had no idea what was happening.
“Get down! Everyone down!” Orange shouted desperately.
If they lay flat on their blocks, maybe they could survive. To everyone’s surprise, the tactic worked.
Thunk!
The arrows stopped raining down.
Almond lowered his bow.
‘Oh?’
He had been aiming for their exposed necks beneath their helmets. With them prone, their weak point disappeared.
“I-I’m alive! Who’s left?”
“Parsley here! I’m alive!”
“Salt’s alive too!”
“Olive too~!”
One by one, the survivors raised their voices.
Finally, Orange raised his hand. “Orange is alive too~!”
THUNK!
An arrow struck his helmet.
“W-What the?!”
It didn’t penetrate, but Almond kept firing anyway.
THUNK! THUNK!
Each shot rattled against Orange’s oversized head as he squirmed on the block.
‘What is he doing!?’
The chat roared.
— LMFAO Almond bullying Orange
— Stop griefing the poor guy...
— This isn’t archery, it’s whack-a-mole
“Block it! Build blocks around us!” Orange yelled.
The Paprika players scrambled to expand their platform, slapping blocks down as they crawled. If they could fill the pit, then they could fight on level ground again.
“Crawl! Stay low!”
Even then, Almond’s arrows relentlessly pinged off Orange’s helmet.
Finally, Black Pepper crawled forward and reached out, only to touch a boot.
‘Oh... right.’
Most of the Knights weren’t archers, but infantry. By filling in the pit, Paprika had given those infantrymen a path straight to themselves.
“Hahahahaha!” Radish Servant rose to his feet with a gleaming sword. “Look at you now, invaders! Pathetic!”
— YESSSS
— The reversal!
— LMAO they gave the Knights a free bridge
“W-Wait! Wait!!” Still prone, Black Pepper raised her hand. “Let us reveal our identities first!”
“What...?”
“We, we were told to reveal ourselves!”
Gasps rippled through the Knights and the viewers.
“You don’t recognize me, Sweet Radish? Have your eyes gone rotten? It’s me, your sister!”
“Sister... Black Pepper?”
“That’s right!”
The chat erupted.
— HUH?
— Wait what
— Holy shit, it’s her??
— Production twist of the century
One by one, the Paprika players stood and tore off their robes.
[Paprika_BlackPepper]
[Paprika_Salt]
[Paprika_Parsley]
[Paprika_Olive]
They were all former Treevy streamers and traitors. Finally, Orange pulled himself upright.
[Paprika_Orange]
“I am Orange...!”
THWACK!
An arrow instantly nailed him. He toppled off his block and died before he could finish his line.
The chat fell into hysterics.
— ?????????
— Almond pls...
— Nobody told him about the script
— LMAOOOO Orange didn’t even get his reveal
At that moment, notifications chimed across the server.
[BlackPepper has started streaming!]
[Salt has started streaming!]
[Olive has started streaming!]
[Parsley has started streaming!]
...
[Orange has started streaming!]
Orange’s channel only lit up after he respawned in Paprika Village.