Season 3: Chapter 59: Black Death (2)
Almond quickly ran with his short bow.
[Attack the Enemy Gold Mine]
A mission flashed in his view. All the archers running beside him likely received the same mission.
"If we penetrate the enemy lines, we'll catch a big fish!" Pang shouted from next to him.
He encouraged his comrades in his own way. The Civil Empire national competition shared many similarities to team sports. The moment the mind wandered, one could be overwhelmingly pushed back. Such a person was necessary.
Then, a multitude of people appeared. So many that they seemed like dark clouds rolling in.
"Aaaahhhhh!"
The French barbarian soldiers shouted to threaten them. Their shouting was meant to counter what Pang had done. This had tactical significance too.
"Crazy..."
"Damn, we’re blocked."
A few archers became frightened. Even if the barbarian soldiers only had clubs, there were too many of them.
— Wow, so intense
— So many, crazy
— Dang
"Blocked my foot, man! Just shoot! Do you think they can block arrows with their bare bodies!!" Pang roared.
The archers began to draw their bows. Among them, one in the lead had already fully drawn his.
Creak...
Almond's eyes widened as he targeted the heads of the enemies one by one.
'The first shot is important.'
Almond recalled a saying from Cookie.
'It directly affects the morale of the troops. Make it the most flamboyant and accurate shot.'
He released the bowstring as soon as he drew it and immediately nocked another arrow.
Thwack!
"Ugh!"
A French barbarian soldier was simultaneously struck in the head and fell.
Bang!
Another arrow quickly pierced another head.
Thwack!
"Ugh!"
Another French barbarian soldier fell.
Thud!
It all happened in an instant.
— Wow
— Whoa
— Amazing~
Almond shot a total of four arrows and four French soldiers fell dead.
'Insane.'
'Wow...!'
'We can break through.'
No matter how many barbarian soldiers the enemy had, having an archer who could quickly take down four at a time on their side was significant.
"Shoooot!" Pang screamed in response.
Fwoosh—
Countless arrows from Korea’s side adorned the sky.
A moment passed.
Ratatatat!
The rain of arrows struck the barbarian soldiers and they fell.
Following this, someone riding a horse passed by and shouted, "Turn them all into dust!"
It was the deputy commander of Korea, Coffee.
He led the way and shouted, "All archers attack!"
"Waaaah!"
Korea’s barbarian soldiers also rushed in. France's soldiers quickly kicked aside the bodies of their fallen comrades to clear the space.
"Hold on! We just need the knights!"
Contradictory commands echoed in each camp.
"Break through! The high ground is just ahead!"
Korea’s first major assault began. Nearly a hundred barbarian soldiers charged toward the same direction as the arrows.
"Waaaah!"
"Break through!"
Boom!
The two camps collided head-on. The club-wielding soldiers of Korea in white clothing and those of France in blue clothing began to brawl.
Thwack!
Thump!
The dull sounds spread in every direction.
"Aaaargh!"
"Die!"
"Move aside!"
Even amid this, the archery unit perfectly targeted only the enemies and provided support fire.
"Don't shoot straight ahead! Aim for their backs! Our troops are getting hit!!"
Although getting hit didn't mean their troops would die, the arrows would break without reaching the enemies. It would be a waste of time.
Bang!
The arrows traced steep parabolas, knocking down France's soldiers at the back of the formation.
Ratatatat!
***
OrangeKing shouted excitedly, "They’re dying left and right! Yaaaah! Civil Empire is so much fun!"
France tried to block with clubs against arrows. The situation was dire for them.
As OrangeKing said, they were dying left and right.
"You're not England, are you!? No shields! Move asiiiiide!" OrangeKing shouted excitedly.
It felt like trying to score a goal in the first half of a football game.
"If we break through here, it’ll be really tough for France!"
Even if only a few archers survived, they could inflict massive damage if they penetrated deep into the enemy lines. That was why they were so desperate.
Numerous clubs struck each other as the bloody battle raged on.
"Aaaaah! But! The players from France are fighting back well!"
"Typical of a European civilization! We’re not easily breaking through as expected!?"
— Ah damn…
— Please just dieeeeee
— Damn, so tough
— Wow, so persistent
— Their formation is damn well set
No matter how many died, their ranks quickly refilled organically. France's players systematically blocked the entrance quite well.
Korea charged again. Once again, all the remaining barbarian soldiers in the rear hammered into the enemy lines like a mallet.
“Push themmmmm!”
Boom!
Once more, the two camps collided forcefully.
Now was the moment. A gap had appeared in the enemy's defense.
"A gap! A gap has opened!!!"
The gap was quickly being closed again, but a few archers started to run for it.
"Ah!? The archers are joining in too!"
"This is our last chance!"
A real all-out battle was taking place between those determined to break through at all costs and those determined to block at all costs.
“Ahhhhh!”
Thump!
Eventually, a Korean soldier made it through the gap. Spam, the largest among the archers, managed to push his way to the front.
However, the French soldiers blocked him and he got stuck.
"Ah! He’s getting blocked!? He's stuck!?"
"No... this isn't a bug, right?"
Spam was tightly wedged between them. Could this also be considered a gap?
"An archer has gotten stuck! Can't something be done there!?"
The French soldiers started to beat his buttocks.
Thwack!
Thump!
Spam shouted while getting beat, “Aaaaaah! Almond Ham! Come on!”
Almond quickly dashed forward after the signal.
"What, what are they trying to do!? Almond was the only one left shooting arrows and now he’s also running!"
"Is it because the situation is too urgent!?"
It seemed like Almond was charging in now too, but this felt different.
Whoosh—
He jumped toward Spam.
"He, he's jumping!?"
Thump!
Almond stepped on his back and soared.
"Almond!?"
Tap.
He perfectly landed inside the enemy lines.
OrangeKing screamed, "Aaaaaaaack! He's in!!"
— Dinosaur got roasted lol
— Wow, damn amazing
— Is this gonna hurt them a lot??
— Insane dang
"One archer at this time!? This is huge!? Who knows what will happen to the workers!? Ah, France is really getting beat by the second era archers!?"
"And that fast second era archer is Almond!"
"That's right! Almond isn’t just any fast second era archer! He's like the plague of the medieval age!! All the workers are dooooomed!!!"
— Plague Almond lol
— Plague of the medieval age lol
— Medieval COVID dang
— OrangeKing sheesh lol
— Black Death lol
— Lmao
— Europe's demise
— Damn lol
***
After Almond, another person also succeeded in crossing the defensive line. It was Pang.
"Hey! Let's go together!" Pang shouted from behind as he ran.
— Wow, old man Pang!
— Ooh
— He followed, wow
Having even one person successfully infiltrate was painful enough, but it was even worse with two.
The French commander's pings went off wildly. Several of the enemy barbarian soldiers broke off from the defensive line to find them.
"Kill them! Enemy archers have crossed over!"
They targeted Pang, who started running late. However, Almond's bowstring was already trembling.
Whiz—
"Ugh!"
Thump!
An arrow from Almond pierced the leading soldier’s forehead. Ultimately, he fell and rolled on the ground.
"Ugh...!"
More arrows also struck the ones following in the same spot and they all fell.
Thwack!
Thump!
One person managed to block Almond's arrow with a club.
Thud!
"Ha! You shoot pretty well!"
Now that Pang had some breathing room, he shot too.
"I can shoot too! Headshot!"
Thump!
Two of Pang's arrows lodged into the enemy’s torso.
"...!?"
"That was just bait, buddy!"
Misled by Pang calling for a headshot, the French soldier fell with a look of disbelief.
— Lol
— Is this the fisherman?
— Wow~
— Isn't this how you get in??
— This game is going really well
Pang sprinted back to Almond and shouted, "Great! Great! I survived! Let's head straight to the workers!"
"Yes!"
France could no longer allocate soldiers to pursue them. If they lost a few more, the Korean soldiers would completely overrun their last defensive line.
This allowed Pang and Almond to enter France's main base without shedding any more blood.
***
OrangeKing shouted, "France! Emergencyyyy!"
— Player entrance~
— Is it really an emergency?
— Lol
— Wow, are we really going to win this??
It wasn't just OrangeKing’s voice that grew louder. The spectators watching via the all-dive system cheered excitedly.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Although their numbers were few, their cheers sounded tremendous. The situation greatly favored Korea.
"The two players need to remain calm now!" the caster urged the players to stay calm.
"If Almond and Pang manage to kill enough workers mining gold, France might not be able to produce any knights!!!"
"Yes! Knights need money to be produced! They won't fight just for honor!?"
If they managed to kill enough workers, it could change the flow of the entire game. Or the game could just end.
"But! France also set up defensive towers! They originally built them early on to counter Korea’s tower rush! That might be able to stop the harassment!?"
The problem was the existence of defensive towers that the enemy set up even though they were deceived.
Near the gold mines, a tall wooden tower could be seen.
"Ah...! Can two archers handle a defensive tower!?"
"No! In this case! They should avoid it! Even if it's slower, they need to go around and ensure that they inflict damage!"
Humans couldn’t fight buildings. The only solution was to bypass the defensive tower.
"But they can’t see it from their line of sight, can they?!"
However, they didn't know the location of the defensive tower yet since they were on the ground.
"The chief commander needs to ping it so they can avoid it! Korea’s deputy commander can also use Falconry to briefly light up the area!? That way they can spot the defensive tower location and go around!"
Ping! Ping!
Just then, pings from the Korean chief commander appeared and revealed the defensive tower through Falconry.
"Ah! As OrangeKing was just saying, a ping has appeared on the defensive tower!"
"This way, they can also find the best route while going around!"
They could still head toward the workers after taking a long detour around the defensive tower. Such a route was being planned.
Dong!
[Royal Knight - 1%]
The production of knights finally began in the French camp.
"No! OrangeKing! But the production of royal knights has started!?"
"What! How did they gather resources so quickly?!"
OrangeKing looked around in surprise.
"Ah! They sent workers to the gold mines while giving up food resources!"
France had shifted their priority to gold while sacrificing other resources.
"Doesn't giving up food cause problems in replacing dead soldiers!?"
"It does! But one royal knight is worth ten soldiers! It's a good decision for France!"
"Ah! Now it’s 3%!!"
[Royal Knight - 3%]
France's commander made a good decision to start producing royal knights, but that wasn't all.
[Basic Archer - 63%]
They also started producing archers and bows. One enemy soldier who would become an archer was rushing to the weapons production area.
"Archers are coming out too!"
France's archers were weaker than the Joseon short bow archers, but they could still defend the base.
"France plans on moving soldiers between the town hall and the defensive tower to defend the base! They just need to hold out until the royal knights come!"
"Ah... will they make it?"
Korea faced quite a dilemma.
"If we can't control the gold, more royal knights will keep coming out! Then, the advantage of advancing to the second era first will disappear!"
"Everything will become futile!"
If Korea couldn't stop France’s knight production, their strategy so far would become meaningless.
Then, it happened.
Ping!
[Route Change]
The route that Cookie planned had changed.
"What!? Has Cookie noticed something!? The route has changed!"
"Will it be a smart move?"
"But it's strange!?"
The new route headed toward the defensive tower.
OrangeKing realized that it wasn't just the route that had changed.
Teeing!
[Attack]
"It’s not a ping for them to avoid it! It’s an attack ping!?"
The defensive tower had been marked with an attack ping for the two archers to attack it.
"If they can neutralize the defensive tower, it won't take long to start harassing the workers! That’s surely what they’re going for!"
"Is that possible!?"
"Almond has to do it!"
— Ultimately, it's up to Almond~~
— Cookie = Born to be lucky lol
— No lol
— Will this work?
— But it seems like a good decision, there’s no other choice