Season 3: Chapter 113: Destroy (3)
"Uratchaaa!" Tres shouted as he slashed down at a Joseon soldier's neck.
Slash!
"What did I say, Uno!? I told you something was off!"
He didn't know what caused this situation and didn't think about such things. He just dealt with what was in front of him. Because of that, Tres wasn't surprised.
"Stop running and shoot! Are those guns just decorations!?"
Bang!
Bang!
Following Tres's orders, gunfire echoed and a skirmish ensued. The ambush had turned into a one-sided massacre, but they were now putting up a fight.
'But there are too few of us!'
Uno also fought hard and swung his sword, but too many enemies swarmed them. The Spanish soldiers were already outnumbered and many had been stationed on the walls, making further resistance in this area impossible.
'But these guys... their goal isn't to kill us, is it?'
It became clear that the Joseon soldiers had a specific objective and eliminating the Spanish soldiers wasn't their goal.
'Well, we don't die easily thanks to the missionaries.'
The enemy’s destination was...
Uno quickly turned his head. He saw the castle walls and the gate at the end of his sight.
'The gate!'
The Joseon soldiers were heading for the castle gate. They intended to open it from the inside.
A chill ran down Uno’s spine. Reinforcements were coming. His mind raced.
Tres suddenly gave an order, "The gate! Block the gate!"
"What? Then, we’ll move out of the missionary's range..."
Maintaining the formation of their missionaries and musketeers was crucial, but Tres wanted to prioritize stopping the enemies.
Clip-clop! Clip-clop!
He rode his horse forward.
"Block it!"
His charisma made the soldiers follow. Not only the musketeers, but the unarmed soldiers with clubs also moved.
"Break through!"
They charged without the missionaries and broke their formation.
Slash! Slash!
The Joseon soldiers cut them down like radishes.
Uno shouted at the top of his lungs, "Dammit, we need to regroup! Tres!! The missionaries can't keep up!!!"
Fighting in this disordered state was exactly what Joseon wanted. It rendered the musketeers useless. The Spanish soldiers would die and the gate would open.
"Regroup for what? If we don't stop them now, it's over Uno!"
That wasn't wrong either, so Uno momentarily felt stunned.
"..."
Moreover, Tres made a convincing breakthrough.
Slash!
On horseback, Tres instantly cut down three or four Joseon soldiers.
'Can he really do it?'
Few could so effortlessly cut down infantry on horseback. If anyone could, it was Tres. However, the thought was fleeting—
Thunk!
Someone threw themself at the horse, targeting its legs.
“Neigh!”
Tres fell off his horse.
"Keep going! I've got this!"
The enemy mistakenly thought he had the situation under control. He had stopped the horse, but not Tres.
Tres, despite being unseated, sprang up like a monster and swung his sword.
Slash!
Blood sprayed and a head flew. The head rolled on the ground, still wearing the proud expression of having stopped Tres.
Blood covered Tres as he shouted again, "Dammit! Stop them!"
Another opponent stepped forward.
"Go ahead. I'll hold them off."
Thunk.
The next opponent was a large man wielding a crescent blade. His confident gaze mirrored Tres.
[Malatang]
It was Malatang. Tres knew him well as an ace among the Joseon swordsmen.
'Ho?'
Tres swung his sword at him.
Clang!
Sparks flew between their eyes.
"...!"
"!"
Whoosh!
Malatang's crescent blade swung down. Tres ducked lightly, dodging and sweeping low.
Swoosh.
Malatang lifted his foot to avoid it. Then, he stepped down again.
Thunk!
Malatang took a short step forward, applying force in a tight radius. With immense power, the broad blade of the crescent swung toward a difficult area to avoid.
Tres decided to block with his sword.
Thunk!
A heavy impact followed.
"Ugh!"
Tres rolled to the side.
'With this...'
The difference in their weapons was evident. Tres wielded the ornamental sword of an assistant commander from the first era while the enemy wielded a crescent blade from the third era.
Thunk...!
The raised crescent blade gleamed fiercely to finish Tres off.
Then—
Bang!
A bullet struck Malatang's shoulder.
"Ugh...!"
The musketeers began to fire again. Tres saw this as an opportunity and tried to dash forward, but Malatang had already switched stances.
Swish—
'That, that stance?'
Uno shouted at Tres, "No! Tres! Come back!"
Uno had been watching from a distance and could see it.
'If he goes in, he'll die...!'
Malatang had taken on a perfect counter-stance and prepared to take down Tres even at the cost of his own life. If the Spanish assistant commander died, they could not be revived. It was a beneficial trade.
"Retreating now is insane. Just a bit more pressure..."
Ting!
A loud sound echoed in Tres’ ears and he stopped abruptly.
[Retreat and regroup]
An order suddenly came in from Nacho.
***
The situation had turned around.
OrangeKing shouted as if in anguish, "This can't be! Cookie-sama, I just realized it!"
— LOL
— For real
— Daddy Cookie!!
— If this was all planned, it's legendary
— Wow lol
"Was it intentional to get converted!?"
"It seems so!"
"No wonder it seemed so easy! Honestly, I didn't understand! Why weren't the Joseon soldiers inside the siege vehicles converted!?" the caster asked for further explanation.
OrangeKing explained Cookie's trick and the caster couldn't help but be amazed.
"So, you mean this wasn't by coincidence but by design!?"
It wasn't just the caster.
— Wasn't it just luck??
— Wow
— Insane lol
— That was a strategy??
— That's too much
This was a common reaction when witnessing a high-level strategic battle. Was it luck? Was it a fluke?
However, even a randomly kicked ball that resulted in a soccer goal required the movement to dismantle a defender's mark and the confusion created by the passing route just before was also the result of practice and design.
"Yes! Of course! It was absolutely planned! They even upgraded the transport expansion and pretended that some soldiers were fleeing! That's why the enemy thought all the soldiers had run out of the siege vehicles!"
— Of course it was all planned, lol
— So many newbies, smh
— Soldiers hiding and then coming out, how is that a coincidence? lol
— Now you understand! Father!
"Wow! That's amazing!?"
"But this alone won't break Spain's resource cycle in the highlands!"
"Right?! This isn't a magic show!"
"They need to do something more... Oh!?"
At this moment, the observer switched to a wider view.
"!"
The number of mounted archers charging in could be seen.
The commentators became wide-eyed.
"Were there this many mounted archers!?"
Even with two dead in the middle, eighteen still remained.
Now they could understand why the Joseon soldiers charged in at full speed.
"Ohhh! Father Cookie! Now I get it! This is why!!"
— How many times will you realize? lol
— Stop realizing, Father OrangeKing!
— The goat... this is what it means...
— Wow
— Insane, how far did he see ahead?
***
Meanwhile, the Joseon mounted archer unit continued.
"Keep running!" Pang shouted from the front, "Get inside the castle gate!"
They needed to get past the solid castle walls and the seemingly immovable gate.
Almond and all the other soldiers naturally felt puzzled, but Cookie's [Attack] signal clearly marked the location inside.
Initially also puzzled, Pang immediately charged under the absolute command.
Almond had no choice but to charge as well.
"Hyah!"
He sped up without a word.
"There are musketeers on the wall!"
Click!
The musketeers aimed their guns at the mounted archers.
"Don't shoot! There's no time! Just dodge and run!"
First and foremost, they prioritized speed and just kept charging.
— Whoa
— What is this?
— Is this right??
In this game, commanders didn’t fully share their strategies all the time because they didn’t have enough time. Sometimes, they intentionally didn’t do so and it could seem like they were throwing the game. However, one could never assume their intentions.
"If one person tries to throw the game, it's trolling. If everyone does it, it's a team fight."
Takoyaki's words reminded Almond that the basics of a team game was unity.
"Right."
Almond didn't draw his bow. He just lowered his head and continued charging. He thought it would be good to shake the horse's head a few times to dodge the incoming attacks, but the Joseon mounted archers received a very clear command.
[Full Speed Ahead]
They continued charging straight in at full speed.
Bang! Bang!
The musketeers began firing and the thick smell of gunpowder spread out.
Two mounted archers fell and flew off their horses, but that didn’t matter. Sacrifices had to be made.
Pang shouted, "Open up! Damn it!"
— Do you think they'll open it because you shout? lol
— What is this?? lol
— Are they going to crash into the gate?
They would get massacred if they didn't get inside that gate or they would have to stop and turn back. In that time, the musketeers would reload and shoot again, killing everyone.
Clip-clop! Clip-clop!
Still, they kept charging with only one command in sight.
[Full Speed Ahead]
Almond briefly looked at his comrades charging alongside him. Next to him were Latte, Spam, and Carrot.
They met each other's eyes. It was subtle, but clear.
'Charge.'
Everyone's eyes said the same thing. Even though they probably didn't understand the full picture. Only a few more strides from their horses and they would crash into the gate.
"Open it! Lee Wan-Yong!!!"
At that moment—
Miraculously, the gate opened.
Boom!
Next to the gate stood Malatang.
— ?!
— ???
— What, what is this?
— No way lol
— Indeed, a name that sells the country...
— lol
— ??? Came to sell the country.
— Sold even Spain... name value GOAT
— Huh???
***
"It's opening!"
The charging mounted archers instantly swept past Malatang.
Whoosh!
"They perfectly passed through in just one second after it opened!"
"Wow! Perfect timing with a swoosh!"
— The timing is insane
— Perfectly timed
— Wow
The spectators cheered.
"Woooaaaahhhh!"
The mounted archers’ entry carried huge significance in this game.
"This battle is very important! This is the last batch of soldiers that Joseon can muster!"
"That's right! Joseon has no resources left to advance to the fourth era!"
Joseon had exhausted all resources to produce mounted archers. They intended to end the game here.
"Meanwhile, Spain still has a strong economy! They've regrouped with missionaries and musketeers, ready to fight!"
"But! They probably didn't expect this many mounted archers!?"
"They wouldn't have known! We didn't know either! Cookie's ability to scrape together resources is truly like that of a black company!?"
— This is a K-corporation
— We grind people...
— Cookie, were you a professor somewhere? haha
— lol
— Black company North Korea, lol
Click!
The musketeers took formation and aimed their guns at the mounted archers. Behind them stood missionaries ready to act as healers. Their two assistant commanders also prepared to flank and disrupt the enemies.
"Spain's formation is perfect!"
Regrouping had paid off for them and Spain now formed a perfect battle line.
Clip-clop! Clip-clop!
The mounted archers charged through in a single file line.
"The Joseon soldiers are moving in a single line!? Are they sacrificing the front to save the back!?"
"They might just be in a hurry!"
They wouldn't all die from gunfire, but they were at a disadvantage to shoot back. Joseon's formation was not ideal.
"Spain has longer range! They need to be careful!"
"They’ll start firing any time now!?"
Click!
Spain signaled for an attack and the musketeers pulled their triggers.
"Surely the front will die... Huh?!"
Swish—
All the mounted archers' upper bodies disappeared below their horses.
Pew!
The bullets whizzed through the air, hitting nothing but empty space.
"!?"
"...!"
— Whoa
— What?
— Wow
— ??
— Holy
Hanging onto their horses with just their legs, the Joseon mounted archers continued charging.
"This is circus level acrobatics!"
"Are they going to keep charging like that!? It's hard to shoot, let alone land a hit!"
Now, their formation changed when they moved within the range of their bows. Like a single organism, the eighteen mounted archers in a single line started coiling like a snake.
The scales of the snake stood up.
Grind...!
Their taut bowstrings made beastly noises, glowing with a white light.
[Focus]
They fully charged their shots with the focus trait and simultaneously released their arrows.
Whoosh!