Season 3: Chapter 328. Stimpack (2)
Almond attacked the legs of the legions as he maneuvered behind them to target the priest. It was an incredibly complex tactic to execute in the heat of battle, yet Joseon’s front-line archers pulled it off.
"Ack!"
"H-Heal!"
Despite the priest’s healing, the relentless attacks on their lower bodies reduced their mobility to that of turtles. Even so, the legions refused to let their formation collapse.
"Hold the line! Watch the flanks!"
"Don’t worry about the front!"
These were no ordinary soldiers. They were Rome’s elite first-string legions. Among them, Enzo stood out as second only to Pierre in skills.
To Enzo, this was clearly a feint. Although the attacks seemed to focus on the legions, the real target was undoubtedly the priest.
"He hasn’t fired yet!"
Enzo’s eyes darted around as he raised his shield.
"Right side!"
Right side? Enzo turned his head, and there he was.
[Almond]
Almond was sprinting with his bow already drawn.
‘Here it comes.’
Enzo stepped back, focusing entirely on Almond. Another soldier quickly took his place, raising their shield to cover the gap.
Creak...
The tightly drawn bow aimed directly at Enzo.
‘... Now!’
Thwang!
With a final leap, Almond let loose his arrow. Any other archer would have faltered while running and firing, but Almond was different.
Enzo gritted his teeth, his eyes still locked on the arrow.
‘I have to watch it.’
This was no ordinary arrow. It would be unpredictable and deadly coming from Almond.
Whoosh!
The arrow curved like a snake, slicing through the air. The moment it flew, both the Roman and Joseon crowds held their breath.
Gulp.
Enzo swallowed hard.
‘I have to watch it... until the end.’
It wasn’t about predicting the trajectory. He had to react in real-time. His eyes flickered.
‘Top left.’
Enzo raised his shield sharply, bracing himself by stepping back.
‘Please... move faster!’
To Enzo, his own movements felt agonizingly slow. Human arms couldn’t outpace an arrow. However, shields were larger than arrows and required less movement to block.
‘I can do this. I can...!’
Enzo gritted his teeth, swinging his shield with all his strength. The impact reverberated through the metal.
Thud!
"!"
Enzo had blocked the arrow. He had deflected a seemingly impossible shot with his shield.
"Woooaaahhh!"
"Aaaahhh!"
Cheers erupted from both sides, jubilation from Rome and disappointment from Joseon. The arena felt electrifying with palpable tension, but there was no time for celebration.
Almond’s onslaught continued.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
‘Another one. It’s coming again!’
The rapid-fire barrage was relentless like a raging storm. Enzo dodged and deflected with everything he had.
Thud!
A second arrow struck.
Thunk!
And a third arrow followed.
"Enzo! Enzo! Enzo!"
The Roman crowd chanted his name louder with every block. However, the situation felt far from triumphant for Enzo.
"This is insane..."
He was nearing his limit. The arrows’ trajectories were impossible to predict, and Almond had unparalleled accuracy. Every arrow seemed to hone in on the priest.
‘What kind of monster is this?!’
Thud! Thunk!
Despite Enzo’s best efforts, the gaps between blocking and the arrows’ impacts grew narrower. Eventually, it would be too late, and the priest would be struck. Then—
"!"
Thwack!
An arrow struck Enzo’s side.
[HP: 64%]
"Yes!" Pang cheered.
It was his arrow. He had fired in the split-second openings created by Enzo’s frantic shielding.
Enzo yelled in desperation, "Priest! Heal!"
The priest immediately began healing.
[HP: 83%]
Enzo ordered a retreat.
"Fall back!"
The legions moved toward a building for cover, deflecting arrows as they went.
Thud! Thunk!
The arrows kept coming with each deflected by a shield.
Enzo, drenched in sweat, panted heavily, "Ha... ha..."
His exhaustion was evident, yet he wore a faint smile because he had stalled long enough.
"Huff. Puff. You guys are too far in."
Rome’s reinforcements were on their way.
***
The commentators shouted with excitement.
"Almond! Just how long can he keep up this barrage? He’s relentlessly targeting the priest!"
"And Enzo keeps blocking them! Is this the legendary Roman shield at work?"
— Unstoppable force meets immovable object!
— This is giving me a headache, wow.
— How does he block all that?
From their vantage point, the commentators fully grasped the stakes of the play.
"This is Enzo’s super save! If Joseon pushes too far now, it could cost them dearly. The priest is absolutely a broken unit in the second era!"
"Exactly! With healing and speed buffs, the priest shouldn’t even be allowed in this era! Its presence is what’s keeping Rome afloat!"
"But if the priest had died, it would’ve been game over. Instead, Rome has bought themselves another turn!"
OrangeKing pointed to a distant part of the map.
"Those legions from earlier, they’ve been flanking this entire time. I thought it was risky, but now it could work!"
Rome had deployed newly created legions not for direct combat, but to circle around Joseon’s forces from the outside. This maneuver aimed to catch Joseon in a pincer attack.
— Turtling for the win.
— I can’t believe this is happening.
— Pierre’s spirit lives on!
***
Almond sprinted madly while firing his arrows.
‘Huh?’
Even he realized it.
‘How did I get this far in?’
Roman structures surrounded him on all sides. Before he knew it, he had reached the heart of Rome’s base.
Ping!
[Danger]
A danger ping appeared. Behind him, outside Rome’s base, four newly created legions appeared.
‘What? Why are they there?’
They weren’t supposed to be in that location. That was the opposite direction of Rome’s main base. Almond couldn’t fully comprehend the situation, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. The enemy was already charging with their shields raised and spears aimed at him.
‘What should I do?’
The area was flat terrain and the legions moved much faster than archers. If he didn’t shoot first, they would eventually catch up. The other archers began to panic.
"We’re surrounded! Dammit! What the hell happened?!"
"Focus on the ones behind us! We can’t push forward because of the priest!"
The archers turned around and began to retaliate.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The shields blocked their arrows.
"Screw it! Curved shots!"
Pang tried firing curved shots, but the Roman soldiers were ready.
Thunk!
They anticipated the tactic and blocked it with ease.
"Huh."
The Roman soldiers were well-trained for situations like this. The distance between the two sides narrowed. One legionnaire with long, flowing black hair charged ahead of the others.
Almond shouted to Pang, "Get back!"
‘Huh?’
Thwack!
A spear suddenly pierced Pang’s stomach. It was Pierre’s spear.
Thud.
Pang collapsed.
Almond and Pierre locked eyes. Pierre twirled his spear nonchalantly before raising his shield. He had never lost in a head-to-head confrontation.
Pierre roared, "Charge!"
Bang!
The soldiers shouted fiercely as they charged.
"Waaaaaah!"
For a moment, Joseon’s forces faltered. Two more archers fell to thrown spears, and two others were caught and killed as the legions closed the distance.
Almond managed to shoot another arrow, but it wasn’t enough. He only managed to take down one soldier.
‘This is different...’
Facing the legions head-on on flat terrain was a nightmare for the archers.
Pierre charged straight at Almond. When he reached him, Pierre swung his sword casually. Almond raised his bow to deflect the blade.
Clang!
‘I can’t hold it steady.’
The key to close-range archery was to deflect the sword with the bow while firing an arrow. However, Pierre’s sword vanished the moment it was blocked, only to thrust again from another angle.
Whoosh!
Almond twisted his body just in time to dodge.
"It’s over."
Pierre moved as fluidly as a dancer. Before Almond could react, Pierre’s blade swept down from above.
Slash!
[Death]
Almond was struck. His vision turned black and white, and his spirit began to rise above the battlefield. He could see everything from this vantage point, but Almond’s gaze remained fixed on one figure.
‘That guy...’
It was Pierre.
***
"Ah, it’s a total wipeout. Honestly, we’d need to crunch the numbers to figure out whether this was a net gain or loss. Both sides suffered a complete wipeout once."
It was hard to determine if Joseon’s second era push had been worthwhile. They hadn’t inflicted damage on the enemy workers or managed to retreat with survivors.
"Yes, while there wasn’t much damage to workers, they did manage to wipe out the first wave of legions and gain map control. That’s a significant outcome."
Joseon now had much better map vision, which allowed their barbarian soldiers to hunt effectively.
"Yes, and it’s created a noticeable gap in resources, particularly in food."
"Exactly. But wow, Best Yi Sun-Shin’s aggression is terrifying. Once they commit to an attack, it’s like a blade to the throat. Imagine how terrifying this must be for Anto."
"Yes, but Anto’s current strategy honestly doesn’t seem fearful at all."
OrangeKing was referring to Anto’s hidden strategy of a stealthy expansion.
— What the heck is that?
— This is ridiculous.
— They expanded in this chaos?!
— Their vision is limited. This is nuts.
"Anto managed to find a gap in Joseon’s attack and built an expansion!"
Anto had noticed a small weakness in Joseon’s offense.
"The map, Rugged Mountain Ranges and Highlands, has several spots suitable for expansions. It’s hard to locate them all."
"Since Joseon already used their falcon during combat to scout, they’ll need time for it to cool down. Anto seems to have taken advantage of that."
Joseon had used their falcon ability for early combat scouting. The cooldown wasn’t over yet. Anto exploited this to secure an expansion.
"Rome might still be delayed in reaching the third era, but once they get there and priests come into play..."
Rome’s resources would skyrocket.
"Exactly. If that happens, the resource gap could widen significantly. Of course, Joseon will probably act before then. And speaking of which—"
[Joseon - Third Era]
Joseon skipped expansions and rushed straight into the third era.
— Wow.
— Alpha move.
— Multi-bases? Only cowards do that.
— Incredible.
"Joseon has reached the third era! As expected, they’re incredibly fast."
"Yes, now that they’re in the third era, they’ll need to use their new units to accumulate more advantages."
"I’m curious about what build they’ll choose... Let’s see."
— Joseon needs to expand eventually. Resources here are limited.
— They’ll probably harass with third era units and expand later.
— But what can they use on a mountainous map? No cavalry here.
Typically, Joseon relied on the mobility and harassment potential of mounted archers in the third era. They were especially effective at targeting workers and challenging to counter. However, mounted archers struggled on rugged mountainous maps.
"In this case, siege weapons and longbowmen are common choices."
"Exactly. It’s usually either mounted archers or longbowmen."
— Siege and marines!
— Yeah, siege weapons seem ideal.
— But they’re expensive, so Joseon might need to expand soon.
Best Yi Sun-Shin made an unusual choice.
[Special Arrows: 1%]
The upgrade was for Pyeonjeon. This third era faction upgrade specialized in ultra long-range attacks. However, its difficulty made it an uncommon choice.
"Whoa, Pyeonjeon?!"
Given Joseon’s recently improved archery skills, the choice made more sense than before.
"Great choice. While the abundance of trees might be a concern, the highlands are mostly flat."
Despite the rugged terrain, the map wasn’t densely forested. This made Pyeonjeon a viable option.
"Exactly. It all depends on how Almond uses it. Wait—what?"
The next move was even more surprising.
[Militia - 3%]
Joseon began upgrading militia units from the second era.
"Wait, what? Rome won’t see this coming!"
The militia upgrade removed all armor, trading defense for extreme speed. It was as niche as the Pyeonjeon upgrade and comparable to a suicide rush.
— Militia?!
— Wow, haven’t seen that in ages.
— This is crazy. It’s like a kamikaze strategy.
— What?
— Stimpack marines, Joseon-style.