Season 3: Chapter 234. Leader (2)
The Joseon archers followed Almond's command and ran blindly. Suddenly, they heard others also running around them in the forest. The hidden Japanese swordsmen waiting for their turn now hastily moved.
“!”
Pang noticed first with his sharp senses.
“To the right!”
Swoosh!
He quickly stopped and shot an arrow.
Clang!
Sparks flew as a swordsman appeared and blocked Pang's arrow. However—
Thud, thud, thud!
Thanks to Pang's alert, the other archers noticed the swordsman and unleashed a volley of arrows. The swordsman fell and instantly became a pincushion.
After that, the Japanese side went all out.
“Charge!”
A seemingly endless number of swordsmen rushed at them.
“Dammit!”
“There are too many!”
The number of enemies felt overwhelming. Naturally, even if Japan produced swordsmen slowly, they could produce at least twenty swordsmen compared to the ten archers Joseon sent by ship. The archer squad inevitably faced a numerical disadvantage.
Almond shouted, “Break through!!”
“!?”
“This way!!”
He gestured and ran in one direction. The archers, believing it to be a command from the commander, followed without hesitation.
“Ugh!”
“Ahh!”
Slash!
Several archers were caught and fell to the ground, but they had no other choice.
“We can break through!” Almond kept shouting.
The archers had no choice but to follow him. They trusted that he knew something.
A swordsman charged at Almond.
Clang!
Almond blocked with his bow. Then, he immediately nocked and released an arrow.
Thud!
The arrow pierced the swordsman’s chin and his corpse collapsed onto Almond's shoulder.
“!?”
The other swordsmen widened their eyes in shock. An archer had just easily taken down one of their own in close combat.
“I’ll take him!”
Another brave swordsman lunged at Almond with his sword. Almond kicked the previous corpse and blocked the sword.
Slash!
The corpse took the slash and fell, revealing Almond with his bow aimed.
Thud!
Two arrows struck the attacking swordsman’s forehead, turning him into another corpse.
“Wow!!”
The audience, as well as the archers, cheered loudly. Seeing an archer take down two swordsmen in close combat greatly increased their morale.
“We can do it!”
“Almond was right! We can do it!”
The archers realized this was the close combat archery Almond had talked about. Bows weren’t just for long-range combat. They could also be deadly up close. However—
“Argh!”
Slash!
An archer attempting close combat archery like Almond fell to the ground.
“Lies...”
Unfortunately, the other archers didn’t hear his last words.
“Charge! Kill them all!”
They were too busy running forward and engaging in full combat against the swordsmen. The fallen archer’s weak voice had been drowned out by the enemy’s battle cries and footsteps.
“Let’s go!”
“We can do it!”
The Joseon archers continued running forward believing they could succeed and clashed directly with the swordsmen. If Best Yi Sun-Shin had seen this, she would have been horrified by the decision.
Thud! Thud!
Yet Almond, at the front, continued to skillfully mix archery and melee attacks. He took down several swordsmen and kept moving forward.
“What is this!?”
“Dammit...?”
“Why are they charging!?”
From the swordsmen’s perspective, it was a bewildering sight.
***
The commentators were equally wide-eyed at the scene.
“Joseon! They’re just breaking through!? Again?!”
They expected the archers to pick off the enemies one by one. Instead, the archers charged en masse.
“They’re like bulldozers that only know how to go forward!”
— lol
— If this is the plan, they should’ve brought swords lol
— Insane
“Is this Best Yi Sun-Shin? Her decisions are beyond normal reasoning!”
OrangeKing couldn’t fathom that this could be Almond’s independent decision.
— lol
— Will this work?
— They’re all dying???
“The losses are huge! Only ten of them made it here...”
Such a risky decision was too significant for a leader to make alone. Moreover, this had been an immediate response without much deliberation. It had to be a command from the commander. That was the logical conclusion.
“They’re getting wiped out at the back!”
In an instant, only five of the original ten archers remained.
“Even so, Almond! Almond is still moving forward!?”
“It’s working, but it seems like only Almond can do it!”
Spam, Latte, and Carrot barely kept up behind Almond.
“Oh no! Latte is down!”
Latte fell and Pang was also eventually caught and slaughtered.
“They’re advancing!”
Amid all this, Almond continued to lead them at the front.
“He’s killed many swordsmen! This must be the right move, right!?”
“Maybe he just wants to scout the main base’s location?”
Thud!
“Almond! He kills another swordsman point-blank with his bow and uses the corpse as a shield! Then, he shoots again!”
Thud!
Another swordsman fell with arrows embedded in his forehead. Dead swordsmen lay scattered along the path that Almond had taken.
“A red carpet is laid out behind Almond! It’s bright red!”
— lol
— Truly a star
— Insane combat skills
— Almond is giving it his all~
“Almond was always impressive, but his concentration right now is superb! It’s like you can see the determination in his eyes!”
Indeed, as the battle continued, his gaze only grew more intense.
Whoosh!
He dodged a sword and fired an arrow past it. Then, he blocked the next strike with his bow and shot another arrow simultaneously. All these actions seamlessly connected. Without blinking, he executed perfect maneuvers one after another.
“If Almond escapes this, even just one of them should be enough to scout!”
Many archers had fallen. Their fate had been sealed upon entering the forest. However, if Almond could escape, scouting would still be possible.
At that moment—
“Oh no! Honda is charging in!”
Honda, who had been in a different direction, now rushed toward Almond.
“A battle between aces!?”
***
‘Just a bit more.’
Thud!
Another swordsman’s head exploded with a burst of white. Almond leaped over the corpse and continued running.
‘I think I see something.’
Another swordsman blocked his path and swung a sword. Almond blocked with his bow.
Clang!
Simultaneously, he shot an arrow.
Thud!
Two arrows pierced the swordsman’s chin and he fell. Almond jumped over the body.
‘I need to see something.’
His eyes scanned the surroundings. Then—
“Argh!”
“?”
He heard Spam’s scream from behind. Turning around, he saw Spam rolling down a slope. Spam had already died.
“!”
Only then did he realize that Carrot was the only one left beside him.
“Ha... ha... Is this really the commander’s order?”
Carrot looked heavily wounded with blood stains all over her clothes.
“No.”
“Ha. I knew it,” Carrot chuckled bitterly and glanced at the approaching swordsmen.
“I’ll take at least one with me.”
She threw herself at the nearest swordsman while firing arrows.
Thud!
Several swordsmen turned their attention to her. Now, Almond was alone.
‘What?’
Something flashed in his vision.
Whoosh—
Almond’s eyes widened by threefold as he caught the glint of a sword. Everything seemed to slow down.
‘How did I not see this?’
He strained to look down as a sword came thrusting from a blind spot. The one holding the sword was Honda, the enemy ace.
“Be careful of this man’s movements. He’s always played a crucial role whenever Japan penetrated our lines.”
Chi-Seung’s warning echoed in his mind. Almond had watched Japan’s matches multiple times in preparation for this battle. He braked with all his might and swung his bow. His body moved slowly as if underwater, and his bow approached the sword.
‘Just a bit more...’
The bow finally touched the sword.
However—
“!”
Slash!
The sword cut across Almond’s left cheek. This was considered a hit.
[HP: 32%]
“Phew!”
He exhaled, his eyes returning to normal. The world resumed its usual speed.
Crash!
Almond and Honda clashed and fell, their positions switching.
‘Did I trip?’
He had likely stumbled while trying to dodge.
Honda, trying to exploit a blind spot, had also been thrown off balance by Almond’s counter.
‘Should I run?’
Almond scanned his surroundings. No other swordsmen were in sight. Perhaps it was just Honda. If so, he could evade Honda and move just as fast as a swordsman with the mountain tribe trait.
‘Now...’
He needed to conserve energy with more fighting to be done.
Almond glanced at his right arm. It felt fine, but he had a bad feeling. Like a CPU running beyond capacity, breaking through all those enemies had strained him. However, the game wasn’t over yet.
The most he could achieve from this was locating the enemy base or disrupting some workers. None of that would end the game. He needed to be more efficient with his energy, but...
“Wow!”
He heard it.
“Dae— Hanminguk!”
The crowd cheered and the drums pounded.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!
The air was thick with excitement and everyone expected something great.
Honda stood up slowly. He didn’t charge from a blind spot this time. He carefully adjusted his stance as if inviting Almond to a proper duel.
Almond remembered that he wasn’t just fighting to win the game. He wasn’t just a streamer.
‘That’s right.’
He stood up straight.
Creak—
And drew his bow.
“Hoo.”
He took a deep breath and remembered that he was a national representative. He didn’t want to avoid a direct confrontation. No excuses, no advantages, no evasion. He wore the national emblem and was the leader of Joseon’s archers. Flames flickered in his eyes.
‘Come at me.’
Thwang!
An arrow flew toward Honda. At that moment, Honda charged forward.
“Wow!!”
The crowd's cheers reached their peak.