Season 2: Chapter 111. Third Era Battle (2)
The enemy commander Loop finally issued an evacuation order.
[Evacuate]
The workers ran in an orderly manner to the nearby guard tower and town hall.
Thud! Thud!
Meanwhile, Almond continued shooting arrows to reduce the number of workers as much as possible.
However, they all managed to evacuate successfully due to the proximity of the guard tower. All the guard towers reached full occupancy.
[Wooden Guard Tower]
[5/5]
The more workers inside, the faster its attack speed became. Now that it was full, arrows flew at about 2.5 times faster than its normal attack speed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three arrows instantly shot out and cut off Almond's path.
'This is bad.'
Almond had no choice but to stop. Not only did the guard towers pose an issue, but he would also come under attack from the town hall if he advanced any further.
[Town Hall]
[8/15]
The town hall's attack power differed from the guard towers. It would be difficult to survive if he carelessly entered its range.
'Let's go back. There aren’t any more workers left anyway.'
Almond decided to retreat with no more workers visible. He had dealt enough damage and had to prioritize surviving now. He needed to rest a bit out of the guard towers' range. He couldn't keep dodging the guard tower arrows forever no matter how focused he was despite ranking first in the survival challenge.
Almond started running to an area without any guard towers toward the forest.
Rustle...
As he entered the bushes, peace seemed to return for a moment.
"Phew."
However, this was a war game.
Clippity-clop! Clippity-clop!
The sound of horse hooves approached from a distance. A quick glance revealed a knight in shining armor riding a white horse. It wasn't just any cavalryman.
[Veteran Knight]
A veteran knight had joined the battlefield.
'So they finally built the knight school.'
Almond realized that the enemy had completed the knight school he kept obstructing.
The knight school was an advanced training building that could raise the mercenary hiring fee to one hundred gold. Even among the cavalry, those from the knight school were different. Each one who emerged from there was a veteran.
'Jessie was a veteran knight. That leader I faced off with before and the old man who wanted to teach me swordsmanship were also...'
Almond braced himself while recalling the veteran knights he had seen so far.
'I've never defeated a veteran knight before.'
Although he had killed many cavalrymen, he never actually killed a veteran knight.
A veteran knight he faced off with in the past used a mysterious swordsmanship and even ridiculed Almond by offering to teach him a lesson. Back then, Almond risked his life to barely knock the weapon out of the knight's hand.
'I had a bonus buff against cavalry before because I was a spearman that time.'
That was only possible because he was a spearman then.
Now, he was an archer and archers dealt less damage against knights. On the other hand, knights dealt more damage against archers.
Even if Almond struck a vital spot through the seams of the knight’s armor, he couldn’t be certain it would be a fatal hit. It was a battle on unfavorable terms.
Nonetheless, the knight kept approaching.
Clippity-clop! Clippity-clop!
'Here he comes.'
Almond prepared himself and the knight also got into a ready position.
The knight firmly gripped his long spear and seemed to roughly know Almond’s location. He set his direction and charged at full speed.
Almond steadied his breath and quietly drew his bow.
***
The commentators discussed the worker gap.
"The gap in workers has significantly reduced, right? There was a difference of thirty-seven workers, but now it's only five!"
The gap of thirty-seven workers had been reduced to only five.
A difference of thirty-two workers had been bridged as Almond hunted Loop's workers and BornToB continued to produce more.
"Moreover, Loop's workers aren't working!! They’re trembling inside the guard towers!"
OrangeKing praised Almond's efforts and lifted the mood.
"Oh, but this standoff with the knight! What do you think about this?!"
"The best thing would be to escape. Almond has done enough, so it doesn't matter if he dies. It's a shame to lose the Joseon bow," Kimchi Warrior suggested.
— LOL, that's too much.
— Well, now it's okay to die.
— That's a commander's judgment.
Kimchi Warrior continued to argue that Almond should run away.
"Plus, BornToB has progressed to the third era. Now it's the team's turn to do something. Waiting is also a skill."
It was a perfectly reasonable statement.
However, OrangeKing vigorously shook his head and shouted, "Oh, is that so!? Almond probably doesn't know that! He never really had that skill since the LIL tournament!"
OrangeKing was right. Almond had no intention of avoiding the fight with the knight.
Bang!
Almond shot an arrow and aimed precisely at the seam in the knight’s armor.
However, the knight riding the horse slightly twisted his body.
Clang!
The arrow failed to cause any damage.
"What happened? Did it miss!?"
Kimchi Warrior shook his head and explained, "He slightly twisted his body to avoid getting hit in the seams. Even a slight miss results in almost no damage. Just dodging like this is enough."
— Incredible.
— Can he really just block like that?
— Wow.
"That must make an archer feel so powerless, right!? Dodging an arrow just by twisting the body is something any skilled player can do."
"That's true. It's just a really bad matchup."
The knight had an overwhelming advantage in this one-on-one battle against an archer. Almond wasn’t an exception to this fundamental principle.
"Furthermore, Loop has completed all three stages of the knight's long-range defense upgrade. Even if you hit a seam, it’ll barely do any damage if it didn’t hit a vital spot."
"That limits Almond's targets too much! Oh no! Almond is shooting again!"
Bang!
Another arrow flew from Almond, but the knight skillfully received it with the sturdy parts of his armor this time.
Clang!
However, Almond didn’t just shoot one arrow this time.
"There’s one more shot!"
Another arrow also flew toward the horse.
Clang!
A slightly sharper sound echoed out.
"Oh, the horse moved too! The knight controlled the horse to receive the arrow with its armor!"
"Yes, the horse is also armored. This won't be easy."
"A lot of thoughts must be going through Almond’s mind."
— Wow...
— That's some skill.
— Knights are really good physically.
— Veteran knights are different.
— Damn... they're too good.
Contrary to OrangeKing's belief that Almond would have a lot on his mind, Almond simply kept shooting arrows.
Bang!
Bang!
Despite getting similar results, Almond didn't give up and shot more arrows as if trying to win by sheer volume.
"Ah! I misspoke! Almond loses when he thinks too much! Just shoot! Go for it! Will the knight dodge all of this?"
Countless arrows flew out.
Almond was fast even while moving around. Now, he stood still and shot an endless stream of arrows like a turret.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
"Ah! Is he trying to grind the knight down completely? It doesn't seem like he's aiming for vitals anymore! The knight is panicking too!"
Almond seemed to have accepted that he couldn't inflict any significant damage. He focused solely on shooting rapidly and the knight faltered because he didn’t know which arrow would target the vital spots.
"Wow! How many arrows is he shooting in a row? The bow will break!"
"Although bows are weak against humidity, they’re durable against continuous use."
"Ah... thanks for the information, Mr.Kimchi. Almond keeps shooting and shooting! Is this a reenactment of that armor-piercing scene from Kingdom?"
— Why isn’t it getting through? LOL.
— Mentioning Kingdom...
— Here ‘they’ come!
— How does OrangeKing know that?
— Does that even work?
OrangeKing mentioned the armor-piercing scene from Kingdom Age where Almond faced a similar situation. Back then, he kept hitting the same spot in the armor until it finally broke, but it was a different story this time.
"I know which video you're talking about, but that required a skill..."
Almond only pulled that off because of a skill called [Rapid Fire], which allowed him to shoot at a speed far beyond human limits. Moreover, the target wasn't human but an NPC that couldn’t dodge even though they were being shot continuously at the same spot.
"Right, this game doesn't have such skills. However, Almond keeps on shooting! Why? Almond probably forgot about why by now! Anyway, the knight is hesitating to approach!"
Thud!
Eventually, an arrow could be heard striking something and the horse desperately struggled.
"Is this it!? Ten times, no, a hundred times and the horse will eventually fall!"
— 100 times means it should be dead.
— LOL, it’ll reach the netherworld before falling.
— LOL, 100 times.
The camera zoomed in on the horse.
"What!? The horse's leg! Its leg has been chopped off! Is that even possible?"
It was strange for an arrow to chop off a leg.
"Ah. That's an X-Crash arrow," Kimchi Warrior explained.
"X-Crash?"
"Yes, it's an arrow with an axe-like tip instead of a traditional arrowhead. It has less penetration power, but great destructive power. If it hits an unprotected part, it can sever it just like that," Kimchi Warrior calmly added. "It's designed to cut through blood vessels and muscle nerves, making it the perfect arrow for hitting something like a horse's leg."
"Then it’s a perfect use for it!"
"Yes, it was a good choice."
Thump.
Finally, the horse fell and the knight dismounted.
"Does a knight have to walk all the time now after falling off a horse? Moving like that seems too slow."
"No, knights wouldn't be worth much if that were the case. Being dismounted in battle is very common. After a few seconds, they can summon another horse."
"Ah, I see."
"Yes. Right now, he's probably just running to the forest because it’s on the way."
"Ah, the knight! He's sprinting! He's tired of blocking arrows!"
Perhaps the knight felt frustrated by the relentless onslaught of arrows. He suddenly started sprinting forward.
Clang!
Clang!
He kept sprinting despite the arrows continuously hindering him.
“Arrrrgh!” the knight screamed.
"He's really mad! For real!"
— LOL.
— So authentic, LOL.
— Almond really knows how to infuriate people.
— That’s terrible gameplay!
Thud! Slice!
The knight ran haphazardly and began taking damage from the arrows, but he didn't care and kept running.
[HP: 90%]
[HP: 80%]
His health kept decreasing.
[HP: 70%]
"The knight is almost there! Almond, how will you respond?! Oh?!"
The knight slashed down with his sword when his health dropped to 70%.
Whoosh!
Almond had steadfastly held his position so far, but rolled to the right.
Swish!
The sword sliced through the air and Almond’s bow rang out twice.
"Did Almond just shoot two arrows while rolling?!"
Thud!
Both arrows struck vital spots.
"Both of them hit?!"
"Engaging in close combat was effective because the knight had no time to dodge."
[HP: 50%]
The knight's health dropped by 20%. He hesitated to approach any further after losing half of his health and covered all his vitals with his gauntlets and small shield.
"Wow, the veteran knight suddenly has good anger management?"
Almond also paused and maintained the standoff.
"Almond's situation isn't good either. He has nowhere to run at the very edge of the map!"
He had nowhere to run and fighting seemed meaningless with the knight shielding all his vitals.
Then...
"Oh! At the edge of the screen, another knight from the knight school is rushing there. Is that also a veteran knight? Has Loop saved up this much money?!"
When it rained, it also poured. Another veteran knight had appeared.
"Will it work out? If the veteran knight retreats to join his partner, Almond is a dead man!"
The knight had a surefire way to win if he joined the other veteran knight to hunt down Almond.
Almond couldn't climb over any wall alone, so he would essentially be a dead man if that happened.
However, the veteran knight didn't choose the surefire way to win.
"Enough with the talk! They’re just going for it! It’s a one-on-one match! Are they really going for it?!"
Perhaps the knight was tired of showing a shameful performance?
Rustle.
The knight facing Almond adjusted his blade and suddenly sprinted.
Almond responded by shooting his bow.
Bang!
He fired two shots.
Clang!
The knight halted his sprint and reverted to his stance to deflect an arrow. The other arrow flew over his shoulder.
"It was a feint! He deflected an arrow and went in...!"
The swordplay that deflected the arrow continued into a slash.
Thud...
The longsword struck deep into Almond's shoulder.
“Dieeeee!” the knight shouted as he pressed down with all his weight.
Crunch...
"No! It’s a direct hit! Almond can’t dodge anymore!"
Almond couldn't do anything. Eventually, a critical choice had to be made.
Slice!
Almond's arm fell.
"What!?"
And a figure collapsed.
Thud...
However, it wasn’t Almond. It was the knight who fell.
— ??
— What?
— What happened?
— He had a lot of health left...
The fallen knight had an arrow in his neck. It was an X-Crash arrow.