Season 2: Chapter 112. Third Era Battle (3)
Around five minutes ago, the veteran knight dismounted from his horse.
'It's not easy,’ thought Almond.
Although he succeeded in making the knight dismount, killing him wouldn’t be easy.
"He defends too well. Is blocking that easy?"
— This is such a bad matchup...
— Still, he can't approach the knight.
— Wow, the rapid-fire was crazy.
— Veteran knights are tough...
It would indeed be difficult. Even though Almond had the Joseon bow, he was a second era archer. He couldn't benefit from several upgrades in the third era. Defeating a top-tier unit like the veteran knight from the third era knight school wasn’t something that should happen.
This game was fundamentally an RTS game. The mercenary's skill was important, but what kind of units were summoned was equally important. The dynamics of the battle could change depending on the matchup and unit specs.
Even if Almond aimed for the seams in the armor with incredible focus and skill, the knight only needed to slightly dodge to nullify his attacks. It was much easier to simply prevent arrows from hitting the seams than to completely dodge them. That wasn’t difficult for an S rank veteran knight.
Clang!
Thud!
Arrows kept falling without producing any results.
The viewers expressed their frustration.
— If it were Raina, that guy would have been sent to Valhalla already.
— Noooo, second era archers are too weak.
— How can this be happening!!
As they said, the attack speed in LIL would have been too fast for this kind of defense to work. However, this wasn’t a fantasy game. It was a game based on reality. No matter how skilled the player, arrows couldn’t fly any faster than that.
LIL tried to maintain the balance between champions as much as possible whereas Civil Empire emphasized the hierarchy and matchups between units. This was the stark difference.
Civil Empire was a rock-paper-scissors game between cavalry, archers, and spearmen. Commanders could recruit javelin throwers, mounted archers, chariot cavalries, etc., but the basic structure went like that.
'Then...'
Almond realized he couldn’t kill the veteran knight with a typical approach.
'Let's get closer.'
Bang! Bang!
He kept shooting arrows while reducing the distance to the knight, who also willingly approached.
— Won't he die if he gets too close??
— Holy shit...
— Oh, but he's hitting the target though.
Thud!
Thump!
The knight, who easily blocked the arrows from far away, struggled with Almond's rapid fire as the distance closed.
The arrows couldn’t speed up, but Almond could shorten the distance. The time it took for the arrows to reach the knight gradually shortened and required a higher reaction speed to block.
Thwack!
Thud!
The enemy began to allow attacks to hit.
The knight’s reaction speed couldn't keep up with Almond's rapid fire, but the distance between them remained an issue. If they got too close to each other, the enemy would have the advantage. An archer couldn’t do anything if a knight started properly swinging his longsword.
The knight succeeded in entering within his longsword's range while keeping his health above 50%.
'Almost there.'
Almond could still shoot while retreating, but...
'This can’t continue.'
Almond was in enemy territory. He couldn't fight this knight all day long in enemy territory. He had to take a risk.
'I need to deceive him somehow.'
The knight blocked the arrows and thoroughly covered his vitals. In other words, Almond could win if he could prevent the knight from reacting so fast. He could win if he somehow created an opening to target the vitals.
Click.
Almond prepared two arrows to finish off the knight.
"Die, you pesky archer!"
The knight raised his sword to stab Almond and closed the distance, believing it was his victory.
Swoosh!
'The first one will be like usual.'
Bang!
Almond fired the first arrow.
'And the other...'
Rrrrring!
He didn’t nock the second arrow at the center of the bow, but almost at the very end. It left the bowstring and flew off too.
Bang!
The knight deflected the first arrow as if he had been waiting.
Clang!
The second arrow also missed.
"Hmph."
A smirk spread across the knight's face.
Swish!
The knight continued to block and brought down his sword. All of this happened in a flash.
Almond had shot two arrows in that brief moment and had no time left to dodge.
An icy blade pierced his shoulder.
Thump!
[HP: 25%]
His health instantly plummeted.
— Holy shit...
— Wow!!!!!
— Ahh!
The realism of Almond getting hit shocked the viewers. In the meantime, Almond pressed on further despite taking the hit.
"Just... a little more..."
Kachink.
He grabbed the helmet strap above the knight's armor.
'Will it work? This is the only option.'
He had his doubts. A 180-degree returning arrow was possible in reality, but whether it had lethal power was questionable. Still, its destructive power could easily shatter a beer bottle...
'It should work as long as it hits. The game should recognize the damage.'
That was what Almond thought.
Meanwhile, the knight added more weight to his sword.
"Let go, you bastard!"
The blade increasingly dug into Almond’s shoulder and eventually severed his arm.
Swoosh!
[Amputation]
A notification popped up when a body part was severed regardless of damage.
[Critical Injury]
Almond lost his right arm, but it was the knight who fell.
Thud!
"... Ugh!"
The knight suddenly vomited blood and staggered before collapsing to the ground.
Thud.
An X-Crash arrow had struck the back of his head. It worked.
Then, Almond pulled on the knight’s helmet and precisely struck his exposed neck.
"Wow..."
Almond finally relaxed and loosened his grip.
"I guess it worked."
***
"This is insane!"
OrangeKing and his viewers marveled at the replay.
"What is this!? Did the arrow have a grudge and turn back!? I can't believe my eyes!"
— Backstab, lol. It was a chickicha shot.
— Insane...
— A 180-degree curve shot just for a kill?
— The arrow returned to Almond because it was made of Rainawood, right?
OrangeKing kept asking excitedly, "Come on! Kimchi! Does that really work?"
"I've seen something similar in the national competition before..."
Kimchi Warrior recalled an archer he met in the national competition who belonged to the Arab civilization. They weren’t well-known in Korea, but their nation also had a deep history of archery. Those specializing in combat archery and stunt archery often displayed 180-degree curve shots.
However...
"It's the first time I've seen it work."
This was the first time Kimchi Warrior had seen it used effectively.
It was like a power dunk compared to a regular dunk in basketball. There was no real difference.
A 180-degree curve shot was just a gimmick or a way to dominate the opponent psychologically. It was never actually used to deceive a real enemy.
This was the first time he witnessed a 180-degree curve shots actually used to kill an enemy.
"Did you say you've seen something similar? What kind of battles have you been fighting...?”
— What world have you been living in...? Brightwarrior...
— Really??
— There are guys like that too?
They continued discussing the replay.
"Huh!?" OrangeKing was startled as he looked at the live screen.
Loop’s fortress wall had steadfastly held until now.
"The wall!"
It finally started to shake.
Kaboom!
A giant boulder flew and smashed the wall.
"Ah! BornToB! He’s finally doing his part!"
While Almond bought some time, BornToB managed to advance to the third era and brought out siege weapons.
"The trebuchet! It's one of the rarely seen siege weapons. He must've been really desperate!"
Moreover, BornToB brought out a trebuchet. This long-range catapult could throw rocks weighing up to one hundred fifty kilograms over distances of five to six hundred meters. It boasted terrifying destructive power.
It only took two launches to reduce the wooden fortress wall to dust.
Kaboom!
"Ah! The wall! It's collapsinggggg!!!"
OrangeKing stood up in excitement.
The wall that had been unbreakable throughout the game had collapsed.
"Now, a lot of forces have amassed! BornToB! Make them all charge in! Chargeeee! Just sweep the enemy away!"
The army that had been loitering around the wall finally surged forward and shouted, “Waahhhhhhhhh!”
— BornToB. You... you've just been amassing an army, haven't you?
— OrangeKing, lol. Worthy of a general's voice, hahaha.
— Wow, so refreshing, LOL
"Now! BornToB is storming in as if avenging a grudge!"
He had nearly a hundred soldiers. They all stormed into the enemy base with torches and burnt all the houses and fields, destroying the enemy population’s shelter and food supply.
Fwooosh!
Black smoke scattered everywhere.
"Ah! It's all burning! Everything is on fire! Fireeeeee~~!!”
Total chaos ensued. Smoke obscured the soldiers’s vision and they couldn't distinguish friend from foe. They had to rely solely on their commander’s pings to fight.
"First of all, Loop has now deployed ten cavalry units, right?"
"Yes! And the recently produced veteran knight has joined them! But there are too many soldiers...! They’re hesitating to approach!"
"Right now, nothing is visible! Commanders should start marking pings! It's chaos on the ground!" Kimchi Warrior shouted.
Unfortunately, Loop started marking pings first.
Ping! Ping!
[Attack]
Loop's pings appeared in several places and his cavalry charged toward the archers.
"Loop and his cavalry are attacking the archers. He's trying to fight with the best matchup."
A total of ten calvary units and one veteran knight joined the battle.
"Their formation changed!"
[Charge Formation]
The ten cavalry units formed a spear-like formation and charged.
Rumble rumble!
"BornToB should come up with something."
BornToB responded.
[Retreat]
The archers moved back.
[Join Forces]
The spearmen stepped in front of the archers. Then, they formed a crane wing formation capable of swallowing the charging formation.
[Crane Wing Formation]
Snap!
The spearmen took their positions and encircled the incoming cavalry to stab them from all sides. The plan was to envelop and destroy the enemy’s spear formation.
Then, Loop changed the formation.
[Single Line Formation]
Clatter! Clatter!
The cavalry moved uniformly and spread their formation sideways.
BornToB also reacted.
[Triangle Formation]
The spearmen in the crane wing formation transformed into a formation capable of breaking through single enemy lines.
"Wow! BornToB! Great judgment!"
Amid the intense formation battle, neither side had any room left to back off.
"Ah! It’s an intense formation battle between the two commanders!!"
Boom!
The two formations collided.
Waahhhhhh!
Shouts and roars erupted. Black dust swirled and sparks flew as iron clashed against iron. A fierce battle raged.
"Finally! Finally, they're going in! The triangle formation is completely crushing the enemy's straight-line formation!"
"Plus, the spearmen are properly marking the cavalry with archers supporting from behind! Isn’t that perfect!?"
"What a beautiful team fight! The enemy’s only hope is the veteran knight, right?"
As if they heard that, numerous archers fired volleys toward the enemy's veteran knight.
[Volleys]
"Archers! Volley fire incoming!"
Whoosh!
The leading archer simultaneously shot multiple arrows.
Clatter clatter!
No matter how elite the knight was, countless arrows would be fatal.
“Neigh!”
The knight instantly became a porcupine and staggered in confusion.
"He fell off his horse! He's strong enough to survive even after being hit like that!?"
The veteran knight continued fighting even after falling from his horse and cut down dozens of spearmen.
However, even the veteran knight couldn’t prevail against the overwhelming numbers.
"They're getting pushed back! Loop is getting pushed back! There's such a big difference in numbers now! Just a while ago, there was a thirty worker difference and absolutely no hope!"
"BornToB kept producing soldiers and Loop focused on development, but Almond stopped and delayed his development! Now, Loop is lacking in both development and soldiers!"
The tides of war had shifted due to Almond buying enough time.
"And now the trebuchet! Fire away!"
Boom!
The trebuchet hurled a massive boulder that crashed into the veteran knight and cavalry.
"A direct hit!"
As OrangeKing said, the tides of war had changed. The cavalry and veteran knight collapsed in exhaustion.
"The boulder says what!? 'I've come to end this war!'"
Now, it was a one-sided slaughter.
The leading cavalry started collapsing after being pierced by spears from all sides and the fleeing cavalry became porcupine targets full of arrows.
Thud!
[Surrender]
Eventually, Loop surrendered.
"Wowwwwww! Victory!!!"
"I can’t believe they won..."
"Right?! It's a big turnaround! Almond! BornToB! And Loop, the stream sniper bitch! It was truly a great match!"
Almond finally achieved his first victory in his promotion match.
— Stream sniper bitch, lol.
— He finally said it, haha.
— He really wanted to say that, lol.
— Wow, that was fun!!
"Just two more wins for the final promotion, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Ah. Everyone, I just received news that a new video has been uploaded on Almond's channel while waiting for the queue!”
OrangeKing wanted to boost his YouTube revenue, so he was very enthusiastic about advertising.
— ??
— Are you commentating on YouTube too?? LOL.
— Already?
"Yes. The title is...” OrangeKing hesitated for a moment and read the rest. "... Why the World Bows Down Before Korea's Archery?"
— WTF.
— Isn’t this the scene where Almond climbs over the wall?
— LOL, are they insane? Hahaha.