Season 3: Chapter 207. The Monster Battle (4)
“They’re charging?!”
Swish...!
The path of light drawn by the commander appeared everywhere.
Thud! Thud!
The cavalry dashed between the legs of the giant elephants.
Slash! Slash!
Their swords relentlessly slashed the elephants’ legs.
— Wow...
— OMG!
— What’s this sudden awakening?
— Crazy..
“... This is!”
Whoosh!
The elephants kicked, but mostly missed.
“Is this even possible??!!!”
“Booouuuuu!” one elephant roared in pain.
Its health had almost depleted.
“Now I understand Best Yi Sun-Shin’s style! This person doesn’t retreat! When faced with an attack, they charge head-on! They believe they’ll win no matter what!”
“The soldiers are not retreating either! This creates so many combat variables!”
“Yes! This is the Korean style! You can do it!”
— Wow~
— This is insane!!
— So cool...
— This is a real girl crush!
— No backing down!! Hell yeah!
Eventually, an elephant wobbled and fell to the ground.
“One elephant down!”
“Oh?! But that’s the assistant commander down there!”
— Is it another jackpot for elephants?
— Huh?
— Rampage mode on~!
No matter how valuable an elephant was, it couldn’t be more important than the assistant commander. Moreover, more than five cavalrymen had been killed by the kicks. It would be a huge loss for Joseon if they killed the elephant, but lost their assistant commander.
Then—
Thud!
A giant tusk supported the falling elephant.
“Oh...!?”
“What is this?!”
Even the commentators didn’t know how this happened at first because they only watched through the close-up combat screen.
As the screen pulled back, someone on top became visible.
“... A-Almond?!”
It was Almond.
“It’s the reconnaissance unit’s uniform!!!”
“Yes! I saw him running from Joseon’s base earlier!! This is where it comes together!!”
Almond was in Joseon's secret reconnaissance unit.
“That’s why Best Yi Sun-Shin confidently charged in with the cavalry!!”
***
The battle between the elephants and the cavalry continued.
Thud! Thud!
Slightly behind the cavalry, a rider wearing a black robe approached. He had received the following order.
[Enter when the cavalry engages one elephant]
Joseon didn’t just fight to kill the elephant. They also fought to create an entry point for this one person.
Almond nodded and spurred his horse. His black robe fluttered as the scenery passed rapidly.
“Wow...”
He heard the shouts in the distance through the dust.
The elephants were charging at the cavalry. There were two elephants. One was close to the cavalry and the other circled at a distance.
‘Are they trying to flank the cavalry?’
Persia planned on using a classic sandwich tactic. While the cavalry fought one elephant, the other would circle and attack from the side. This would cause significant damage to Joseon’s cavalry no matter how well they fought.
Ping!
Almond received an order and a ping appeared on the elephant circling the soldiers.
[Seize]
He needed to seize it rather than attack because reconnaissance units could control any mount. They could even control enemy mounts as long as they had control.
Thud! Thud!
Almond gradually let go of the reins in his hands. The horse approached the elephant faster.
The reconnaissance unit also possessed increased movement speed, which applied to their mounts as well.
“There! Behind you!”
“What!?”
“Behind!!!”
He heard the Persian archers shouting on the elephant.
Creak.
Both sides drew their bows.
Whoosh!
Their arrows crossed each other.
[Shoot and move]
Almond immediately turned his horse after shooting.
Thud.
Persia’s arrows all struck the ground on the left side of Almond’s horse.
Bang!
An enemy archer’s head exploded from one of Almond’s arrows.
“Dammit! Where is he!?”
Almond’s horse moved closer to the running elephant.
The Persians struggled to see directly below them from high up. Almond clung closely to his horse and could hardly be seen from their perspective on top of the elephant.
Ping!
Almond received another order.
[Move and shoot]
Almond drew his bow again and squeezed his thighs.
Thud! Thud!
He reappeared.
“There, there!”
Almond had previously been on the left and now appeared on the elephant’s right side. One of his arrows pierced a Persian soldier’s head as they drew their bows.
Bang!
No one could survive a headshot from a reconnaissance unit with the composite bow, focus trait, and bonus range damage unless the target was a knight.
“Where did he go again!?”
The Persian soldiers couldn’t find Almond.
Whoosh!
They only heard the sound of arrows as he shot from unseen locations.
“Is this a crazy curve shot!?”
A soldier ducked his head to narrowly avoid an arrow.
“Huff... Huff...”
The soldier carefully drew his bow and tried to look further below on the right side of the elephant. He moved cautiously and half-crawled, but found nothing.
‘He’s not here.’
No one was on this side. Was the enemy on the other side?
He turned around to look and suddenly saw someone.
“!”
He hesitated to shoot because it was a Persian ally.
“Oh. You scared me. Why are you standing there? Move.”
The soldier nervously moved forward to check the left side.
‘... Huh?’
He saw bloody marks from a sword on the elephant’s leg to its back. It looked like someone had climbed on using shurikens.
“!”
Finally, the realization struck him that the enemy was a reconnaissance unit.
“You—”
He turned to shoot.
Thud!
Almond had already thrust a shuriken into his neck.
“Gurgle!”
Thud.
The corpse fell without needing to be kicked, simply falling off the moving elephant.
Now, all four Persian soldiers on the elephant had died and only Almond remained. He went to the front of the saddle and grabbed the reins.
“Booouuuuu!”
The elephant immediately changed direction.
***
“Ah! He disguised himself as an ally and fooled them as a fake!” OrangeKing exclaimed after watching the replay.
— Did he steal the elephant? LOL!
— ??? Your elephant is awesome!
— Lol~
— I would surrender here.
— How long will they be toyed with? haha
“He quickly moved around on horseback and stole the elephant! It’s really possible!”
“The most impressive thing is the detailed orders. You can see this now from Almond’s perspective!”
— True.
— Impressive~
— The orders were great!
— Is she really a rookie? Amazing...
— As expected of Cookie’s pick.
“While we were watching the replay, Joseon’s cavalry and elephant have entered the enemy camp!”
Bread and Coffee’s cavalry reached right in front of Persia. They even had an elephant behind them.
“The Persian commander may know, but the soldiers might think the elephant is reinforcement!”
“Moreover, Malatang’s unit is still holding out near the Persian wall! They’ve been fighting for a long time!!”
— Wow.
— What’s this?
— How are they still alive? lol
— Really??
— God Malatang lol
— Why are they still alive? lol
“They’ve been fighting like guerillas, running here and there constantly bothering the enemies!”
***
Malatang had received this order before jumping off the wall.
[Stall for time]
Their unit’s purpose was to stall for time. That was the initial plan.
‘If I tell the soldiers this...’
If he conveyed this order to the soldiers, it would be too obvious that they were stalling for time. Then, the enemy would find it suspicious. They had to fight their best while stalling.
Malatang gathered the fallen soldiers for a guerilla war, hiding in bushes and ambushing the enemies.
“Huff... Huff... When will the reinforcements arrive!?”
Running away madly before returning to fight madly. Even in virtual reality, this exhausted the players. The constant repetition caused extreme mental fatigue.
“Reinforcements?”
Unfortunately, Malatang had never been told when reinforcements would come.
“I wonder if it makes sense for us to cut down soldiers in the enemy base one by one.”
“...”
That was true. In Civil Empire, they typically gathered together and attacked in one go. Defense was significantly advantageous compared to other RTS games, so winning with guerilla tactics was nearly impossible except in the very early stages. However, they had already reached the fourth era.
“Our equipment is still third era equipment.”
Malatang’s unit continued using third era equipment and their weapons gradually became unusable. As with all Civil Empire weapons, their weapons would disappear once the durability ran out.
Malatang didn’t know what to say.
“Our given order is to stall for time. We definitely have a role. There’s no time for doubts even if we have the advantage. Do you want to end up like the second game again?”
“... No.”
“Then, let’s stall. More and more.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Yes, sir!”
They received another order as Malatang boosted the soldiers’ morale and prepared to move out.
Ping.
[Attack]
“Huh...?”
All the other soldiers with Malatang received this order too.
“It’s an order!” Malatang raised his halberd and shouted, “Charge!!!”
They couldn’t delay executing the order.
“Charge!!!”
Malatang’s unit charged toward the Persian soldiers near the wall. They executed the order immediately with their boosted morale.
“What, what’s this?”
“Are they here to die?”
“They’re doing it again. Let’s kill them all this time!”
The Persian archers drew their bows and the special Anausha unit also came forward.
Clang!
Swords clashed as the soldiers collided.
Thud!
Thud!
Arrows struck and felled the Joseon swordsmen.
“Push! More!”
Slash!
Malatang forced his way forward, cutting down an archer.
“This is pointless!”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
An Anausha charged and swung twin swords at him.
“We have reinforcements coming.”
“What...?”
The Anausha claimed that reinforcements were coming.
“Booouuuuu!”
It was true. They could hear elephants from behind.
The long exhausting guerilla war was ending with elephant reinforcements.
Malatang’s expression visibly faltered.
‘What’s this? Didn’t they go to attack the multi?’
Malatang thought Joseon would send reinforcements or attack Persia’s multi, but they didn’t. If they had, those elephants wouldn’t be here.
He unconsciously lowered his halberd.
The Persian soldiers’ lips curled up. Even amid the fighting, their morale visibly surged.
“Dammit! Let’s die with the elephants!”
The Joseon soldiers gritted their teeth and swung their swords, thinking they had been ordered to die there.
The elephants approached rapidly and it felt like Joseon’s defeat was coming faster.
Then—
‘Huh?’
Boom!
It happened in a second. Something flashed and the Persian soldiers all disappeared.
“!?”
Both sides took a few seconds to comprehend what happened.
Persia reacted faster.
[Caution]
[Attack]
Caution and attack pings appeared on the elephant. The soldiers who hadn’t read the ping all disappeared already.
“It’s not ours!”
“Dammit, the reconnaissance—”
Persian infantry rushed out to defend.
Slash!
However, a lightning fast sword cut their throats.
The Joseon cavalry had arrived.
Malatang finally noticed the familiar faces of the cavalry soldiers below the elephant.
“R-Reinforcements!”
“Woahhhhhhh!!!”
“Swordsmen! All charge!!!”
With a tremendous shout, the swordsmen also ran toward the horses.
“Charge!”
The Joseon cavalry quickly breached the Persian main camp without walls. They opened the path and the swordsmen ran in like madmen, swinging their swords.
“Kill them all!”
Slash! Slash!
The disoriented Persian infantry fell in droves.
“Leave the rear to them! We’re breaking through to the town hall!”
Thud! Thud!
Joseon’s cavalry charged toward the town hall, the final bastion of the Persian commander. Numerous defense towers and barricaded buildings surrounded it. Three elephants also closely guarded the place.
“Crazy...”
Bread felt like a hero entering the final dungeon of the demon king’s castle.