Season 3: Chapter 116: Tres vs. Almond (3)
Meanwhile, the think tank members all stretched their heads forward as if the monitor would suck them in.
"It's done!"
"Wow! We gained a lot!"
"Shouldn't we pull back now!?"
These individuals were supposed to watch the game calmly, but none of them could maintain their composure when their advancement to the finals was at stake.
"Aaah! Aren't we trying to gain too much!?" Water Dumpling screamed.
"It, it seems like it..."
The mounted archers had already inflicted significant worker damage at the highland base. From now on, they needed to keep their own soldiers alive and properly prepare for the next battle. That was certainly true in theory.
"Cookie thinks this is it."
Chi-Seung seemed to understand Cookie's choice.
"Look at the soldiers' condition. Their movements earlier... it's not their usual level."
"...!"
The agility, unity, and focus shown by the mounted archers when they first encountered the musketeers… No matter how skilled the Joseon archers were, that level of performance was something that rarely appeared even in practice games. And to show it in a decisive game...
'How?'
What made them so strong? No, who...?
"Almond is chasing Tres! He’s trying to prevent Tres from baiting the others! What do we do!? Aaaah!"
Water Dumpling frantically grabbed Chi-Seung's shoulder and shook him.
The screen showed Almond riding his horse. He intended to deal with Tres. Whether this was an order or his own judgment, no one knew.
'Crazy.'
Either way, it was a crazy decision. In a good way and a bad way, it was a crazy decision.
“Aah! Too many bullets are flying toward Almond...!”
“It's raining bullets!”
Almond was at the front of his team formation and Tres was almost parallel with his team, but spread out horizontally instead.
Naturally, the focus shifted to Almond.
Bang! Bang!!
Numerous gun barrels spewed fire. The smoke from the guns made it hard to see the enemy.
"!"
Almond was no longer on his horse, at least it looked like that from the angle.
“Almond with another circus move!”
As the excited commentators indicated, Almond hung on the opposite side and clung onto the horse with his legs. As a result, only his horse got hit and the other bullets went through empty air.
'He's perfectly reducing damage from ranged attacks while on the horse...'
Every civilization had an upgrade for horse armor. This feature made it quite hard to damage horses with ranged weapons. The performance of horse armor in the game was quite good, making it a must-have upgrade.
Thanks to this, Joseon could keep charging as long as they avoided critical hits just like what Almond was doing now.
Clop, clop!
As if nothing happened, Almond kept charging toward Tres.
“The Joseon soldiers are counterattacking!?”
The other mounted archers trailing behind began to provide cover fire.
“The Spanish soldiers focusing on Almond got momentarily distracted!”
The price for targeting Almond was a high one. They couldn’t respond as dozens of arrows showered them.
“Neeeeigh...!”
A Spanish soldier fell from his horse.
“One conquistador down!”
Almond didn’t stop and continued chasing Tres.
Chi-Seung couldn't help but be impressed.
'The battlefield dynamics have already changed.'
Even without fighting Tres directly, Almond had gained a lot. They had to fight on the battlefield that Tres had shaped, but Almond splashed paint all over it.
The dynamics of the battlefield shifted back in Joseon’s favor.
Almond didn’t stop there. He pulled out an arrow and held it in his mouth, grasping the reins with both hands. He was determined to catch up at full speed.
***
Clop, clop!
Tres turned around while riding. One figure continued chasing him, kicking up dust from afar. Tres recognized him.
'That bastard...'
It was Almond. The guy who made his teeth grind.
Grit...
'The one from the interview.'
Thinking about the interview still made Tres furious. Talking as if the Spanish Armada was nothing and not even considering them as opponents.
'I have to make it to the quarterfinals just to show that guy.'
From the quarterfinals onward, naval maps appeared. There, Spain's real power could be displayed.
Tres glanced sideways to measure the distance.
'He’ll be within range soon.'
Soon, Almond would come within his musket’s range. That guy wouldn't know the exact range of a musket since they didn’t have it as a weapon.
Tres planned to strike as soon as Almond reached the edge of his range. At that moment—
Ding.
[Lever Action Upgrade Completed]
The gun's performance had been upgraded and reloading became relatively easier.
A smile spread across Tres' face. The timing was perfect. He didn't even need to look back. He could sense it from the hoofbeats and his earlier judgment.
'Now!'
Whirl.
Tres quickly turned the barrel and loaded it, twisting his upper body abruptly.
“Tres turns around and pulls the trigger! The gun has been upgraded!”
Bang!
The muzzle flashed and blood spurted from Almond’s shoulder. It only grazed him.
“It missed?”
“Shooting while turning on a galloping horse isn’t easy!”
The commentators thought Tres had missed, but Tres didn’t think so.
'…!?'
Suddenly, Tres’ eyes widened.
Almond’s horse had slightly changed direction. That guy had dodged after seeing the attack.
"Huh?"
A fierce smile spread across Tres’ face.
"Yeah. You're something too."
[Kill]
Nacho's order came through to kill Almond.
"Hiya!"
Tres turned his horse. He abandoned the run-and-gun tactic with large movements since he wouldn’t catch Almond like that.
***
"Oh!? Tres is turning his horse?! He’s giving up on running away?!" OrangeKing shouted at Tres’ sudden change of course.
"Nacho has decided! Tres being tied down by Almond is a loss for Spain!"
"Right! Tres is an assistant commander! It's a problem if he’s tied down by one soldier!"
Tres had been heading east and now turned north. Almond followed and turned northeast. The distance between them quickly narrowed.
As soon as Almond got within range, he took the arrow from his mouth and shot it.
"Almond is shooting!?"
Whoosh—
The arrow flew with a sharp sound.
Tres leaned back and lightly dodged it.
Shwick!
— ???
— What the?
— Insane.
— What was that just now?
— Crazy.
"He dodged it!? This duel between the two of them is no joke!" OrangeKing exclaimed.
"Honestly, that arrow! If it were me, I'd just take the hit! It’s the arrow that Almond had in his mouth! I’d actually like that!"
"What!? OrangeKing, that's because you can't dodge it!"
— LOL
— Seriously.
— Pretending to take the hit.
— Really, a reward in the industry.
— If it was against Raina, he’d just take the hit.
— Scary how accurate facial recognition is.
"Tres is counterattacking!"
Tres quickly turned with his gun and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The muzzle flashed.
"Almond too!"
Almond also drew his bow.
Whoosh!
Tres dodged by simply lowering his head and turned his horse toward Almond. He couldn't afford to waste any more time.
Tres charged toward Almond from around two hundred meters away. The distance quickly closed.
"They're charging at each other!?"
Tres knew it would be hard to hit Almond before they got close, but he pulled the trigger anyway.
Bang!
Almond dodged by slightly twisting his body. The distance between them rapidly shortened to around one hundred fifty meters.
"They're both dodging everything!?"
"This is..."
"It's actually easier to dodge in a mounted shooting scenario!"
Almond drew his bow. This time, he fired rapidly without caring about the focus trait.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
"Almond with three rapid shots! And the targets are all different!? This is unavoidable—"
Clang!
Defying expectations, Tres dodged one and deflected two with his bayonet. At the same time, he tilted his gun to the side and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
"Did he deflect the arrows while simultaneously shooting!?"
— OMG
— Is he John Wick?
— Wow.
— My eyes can't keep up.
Thunk!
A bullet wound appeared on Almond's side.
"Aaaargh!"
— Did he get hit?
— He's hit.
— Wow, he's bleeding a lot.
— He already had more health.
Almond's upper body wobbled briefly. The distance between them kept decreasing. Now, it was about one hundred meters.
'Hah.'
Almond took a moment to steady his breath. The rhythm had changed from before. He stopped shooting arrows continuously and took a short break.
After a while, he pulled out three arrows and drew them slowly. He exhaled once.
The enemy would likely pull the trigger again in the meantime, but that didn't matter.
Almond’s bowstring groaned like a beast as he drew it into full draw.
Click!
He could hear the enemy finish reloading. The distance between them was no more than fifty meters.
Clop, clop.
Almond braced his legs against the stirrups, resisting the up-and-down rhythm of the horse.
The distance was thirty meters, twenty-five meters, twenty…
'Now!'
Almond's eyes gleamed.
Slick.
His right hand didn't move at all as if he wasn’t even on the horse when he smoothly released the three arrows.
Whoosh!
The enemy also pulled the trigger. The distance between them was fifteen meters.
Almond quickly nocked another arrow, not in the center but somewhere else.
The enemy's muzzle flashed. At the same time, another arrow flew and curved gently.
Whoosh!
"Aaargh!"
The distance between them was ten meters.
OrangeKing could only scream incoherently.
Bang!
An unexplained flash erupted between them.
"Both projectiles!?"
The arrows and bullets had canceled each other out.
"Was that intentional!?"
However, two arrows remained.
The distance between them was five meters. Only then did the arrows pierce Tres’ side.
Whoosh!
'!?'
Tres quickly twisted his body to deflect it.
'Huh?'
He couldn’t tell where the arrow came from or how it flew. One more arrow was still coming.
'What is this?'
Tres had never seen arrows fly like this before. He tried, but there was no way to move faster than an arrow inches from his face.
The distance between them was three meters.
Thunk!
An arrow deeply pierced Tres’ armor, hitting his heart.
The distance between them was only two meters now.
"!"
Click!
With his gun shouldered, Tres gathered his last bit of focus and pretended to shoot. Then, instead of shooting, he slashed with the bayonet at the enemy only a meter in front of him.
It all happened in an instant when their horses crossed paths. Almond leaned back as the bayonet grazed his throat. He lay back and drew his bow. No, it was already drawn.
[Focus]
A white hot arrow briefly reflected in Tres' pupils.
"!?"
Whoosh—
Their horses had already passed each other.
Tres’ back became fully exposed.
The golden, red, and black banner of the Spanish commander fluttered. The tri-color banner swayed, drawing a circle.
‘It’s familiar...’
Almond released the arrow while thinking it resembled something. The arrow flew straight like all the arrows he shot in his youth without any special skill.
It cut through the air and pierced the center of the tri-colored circle.
Thunk!
A faint cheer echoed from afar.
"Another hit! The lens just shattered! The youngest winner in the national championship! The youngest..."
Tres fell and rolled on the ground. The arrow had pierced through his neck and he definitely died.
Finally, the cheers struck Almond’s ears. He could hear them clearly as if someone was shouting right next to him.
"Whoaaaaa!!!"