Season 3: Chapter 290. Vanguard (3)

Thud! Thud!

Almond rode against the wind and glanced back.

‘This should be enough...’

Although they hadn’t completely annihilated the enemy archer unit, China’s archers could no longer function effectively. Now, he had to decide whether to continue pressing the attack or retreat to safety. His gaze swept over the Joseon soldiers. They all looked like they were on the verge of collapse, but at least they were still breathing.

“In that case, just a bit more...”

“Now! Get out! Please!”

“...”

From behind, Carrot practically begged for them to retreat. She knew exactly what Almond was thinking.

“They’ve reached their limit! We need to regroup!”

Riding at full speed, dodging spears, and shooting enemies was no easy task even in a game. While it could be possible with intense training, maintaining that level of performance for a prolonged period was impossible.

‘He expects everyone to do what only he can.’

From Carrot’s perspective, the soldiers were exhausted because they tried to keep up with Almond’s tempo. He set the battle’s pace since he led the charge, but no normal human could sustain that level of speed for so long.

“This plan was crazy from the start!”

From the beginning, she thought this mission was impossible.

“But it worked, didn’t it?”

Her frustration was met with Almond’s calm retort, leaving her speechless.

‘Still, we managed...’

Carrot couldn’t help but admire how they decimated the enemy archers. She knew better than to voice her admiration aloud, fearing it would only inflate Almond’s confidence even more.

‘Could we push it further?’

Despite her reservations, Carrot found herself considering Almond’s suggestion. His overwhelming confidence began to sway even her.

Thud!

Just then, a spear pierced one of the cavalry archers trailing behind and he fell from his horse, snapping her back to reality.

‘No, what am I thinking...’

The situation was far too extreme for such thoughts.

“No! We need to get out now!” Carrot screamed with all her might.

Her voice was filled with urgency.

“Okay.”

Nodding in agreement, Almond decided to heed his advisor’s warning. No matter how brilliant a strategist, he knew to listen to his advisors. With that, he slung the bow over his back, grabbed the reins with both hands, and raced through the maze in earnest.

“Hyah!”

Thud! Thud!

The cavalry archers quickly weaved through the maze toward the exit.

‘Huh?’

At the edge of Almond’s vision, a faint cloud of dust rose in the distance. Regular infantry hadn’t caused this.

‘Cavalry?’

An enemy cavalry unit was approaching. Their leader wielded a long polearm at the front.

[Guan Yu]

The enemy vice commander had entered the battlefield.

***

“They’re almost out!?”

“Can they really make it out of there!?”

“They’re actually going to escape!”

“Charging into the enemy ranks, taking out their archer unit, and then retreating...?”

— Wow

— No way, the game’s about to blow up, lol

— They’re really going to get out?

— Can’t they just block the exit?

The crowd began to buzz when it seemed like the cavalry archers would actually make it out.

“Oooooooh!”

“Are they getting out? They’re getting out!”

“Let’s goooo!”

Joseon would gain a significant advantage if the cavalry archers managed to escape. Of course, getting out wouldn’t be easy. Liu Bei began to close off the exits, moving his spearmen around to make it as difficult as possible for the cavalry archers to break through.

The cavalry archers couldn’t just charge straight into the spearmen’s formation like mounted infantry. They had to navigate the ever-changing maze and find a way out. To make matters worse, a pursuit unit had been sent after them. A path opened up for the pursuers while the fleeing cavalry’s path continued to close.

Fortunately, most of the enemy archers had died. The Joseon cavalry archers didn’t have to worry as much about being picked off by stray arrows coming from a distance.

“This is just going around in circles!”

“And now the enemy cavalry is chasing them down!”

The maze still confounded them, but now they also had to deal with the enemy cavalry unit on their heels.

“Guan Yu’s on the field! He’s one of the vice commanders! The Chinese vice commanders are usually like Tres from Spain.”

“Right! I’ve heard that they’re incredibly strong in combat!”

Tres was one of the strongest players among vice commanders. He was known for his sheer combat prowess as a brawns focused player. And China had two players like him.

“These guys are basically like Tres without the weaknesses.”

Unlike Tres, these Chinese vice commanders were also competent in strategy. Among them, Guan Yu was the more versatile.

“Yes, that’s how they compare according to the power rankings!”

“But honestly, who cares about power rankings now? Joseon made it to the semifinals!”

— Right, lol

— Was Japan low on the power rankings too?

— Joseon poisoned the power rankings.

— True, lol

— Haha, power rankings are trash now.

“They’re getting closer!”

“The maze feels rigged in Guan Yu’s favor! It’s like it’s moving to help him catch them!”

— Lol, a rigged maze

— Is this maze communist?!

— ROFL

The cavalry archers began to dwindle in numbers. It seemed like making it out alive would be too much to hope for. Just then—

“Huh!?”

Almond, at the head of the charge, suddenly turned his horse around 180 degrees.

“What!?”

He galloped through his own ranks, charging past the other cavalry archers. Carrot, following closely behind, quickly turned her horse as well. Then, Pang followed. Just like that, the entire cavalry archer unit reversed course.

“This— what?!”

“Just as the caster mentioned earlier, there’s a limited number of spearmen. The number of walls they can form in the maze is also limited! They’ve invested everything into blocking the front! The back is wide open!”

Spearmen couldn’t move as quickly as horses. They could only predict the enemy's movements in broad strokes and block them in advance. Suddenly, the cavalry archers turned in the opposite direction. This left the spearmen with no way to catch up. Even though Liu Bei gave them orders, it took time to execute. However, Liu Bei didn’t worry too much.

‘In that case...’

The pursuit unit was still chasing the cavalry archers from behind. If the cavalry archers went the opposite direction, they would collide head-on with the pursuit unit and the spearmen could slowly tighten around. Ultimately, Joseon’s archers would get caught in a pincer and be driven into a deadly trap.

‘A terrible decision at the last moment.’

The leader of the cavalry archers had made a very poor choice.

“They’re running into Guan Yu’s pursuit unit!?”

“Wait, is this the right move? Why are they charging toward the pursuers!?”

Moreover, it was the ironclad cavalry from the Liao dynasty under Guan Yu’s command. This special unit was highly resistant to ranged attacks and would be formidable foes. The cavalry archers headed straight into a deadly clash with them.

“Wait a second!? This...!”

At that moment, OrangeKing noticed something and shouted excitedly.

“Cookie! He’s finally moving!”

The Joseon army, which held their position all this time, finally began to move. However, they seemed to be moving in a strange direction.

***

Thud! Thud!

As he rode, Almond thought to himself,

‘This was the only way.’

It was practically impossible to escape through the maze. Liu Bei constantly changed the layout, making it even more difficult.

‘The rear is open.’

Amid all this, Almond realized that the rear was completely exposed. The maze had been designed to give Guan Yu’s pursuit unit a clear path.

‘In that case!’

They didn’t need to wander through the maze when a clear path existed behind them.

“Turn around!”

He abruptly changed direction. This would lead to a head-on collision with the enemy pursuit unit. It wouldn’t just be a regular clash, but a full speed collision like a head-on crash between a small car and a tank-like SUV.

“They’re coming! We’re going to crash!”

Even if they didn’t collide directly, merely brushing past the ironclad cavalry would put them at a disadvantage. The ironclad cavalry would sweep through them with melee weapons while the cavalry archers would have to aim and shoot each target individually.

Before the collision, the cavalry archers would have to shoot as many arrows as possible to reduce the enemy’s numbers. As the two forces were about to meet, the cavalry archers all drew their bows, ready to fire. The enemies gripped their massive polearms, preparing to strike. The ironclad cavalry was now within range.

“Fire!”

Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!

All at once, the cavalry archers released their arrows. The arrows flew straight and true toward the approaching enemies, but—

“!?”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Most of the arrows were deflected by the enemy’s armor or even knocked away by the sweeping polearms. The angle of attack was too obvious.

“Keep firing!”

Almond ordered his troops to keep shooting until the very moment of impact.

Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!

‘At the very least, we need to block their vision.’

The arrows continued to fly, bouncing off the ironclad cavalry’s armor. It did minimal damage. However, the bright arrows covered in white flames obstructed the enemy’s vision.

Guan Yu grimaced as he swatted the arrows away.

“Forward! They’re like rats trapped in a cage! Annihilate them!”

It didn’t matter even with their vision obscured. In such a situation, they could cut down their enemies even with their eyes closed. Guan Yu didn’t slow his horse at all.

“It’s almost time!”

He shouted to his troops as they neared their targets.

“Now.”

The horses crossed paths.

Guan Yu shouted, “Cut them down!”

Almond shouted, “Duck!”

Two completely different orders rang out simultaneously.

Swoosh.

All the Joseon cavalry archers moved in unison. Carrot, Pang, and Latte followed Almond’s lead. The others also gritted their teeth and twisted their bodies.

“Ughhhhh!”

“!”

Everyone watching widened their eyes in surprise.

Whoosh...!

“...?!”

Everything seemed to move in slow motion in Guan Yu’s eyes. He couldn’t comprehend it. His polearm sliced through the air, but didn’t strike anything solid. Their blades only whooshed through empty space. The only casualties were a few soldiers who fell from their horses after colliding with one another. Apart from that, it was as if nothing happened.

‘How...?’

Guan Yu glanced at his polearm. Then, he understood. He had literally sliced through thin air. When he swung to strike the riders, they suddenly weren’t there anymore. Technically, their upper bodies weren’t. The Joseon cavalry archers had leaned over, hanging off the side of their horses. Guan Yu instinctively tried to turn his horse, but it was too late. The Joseon cavalry archers hadn’t just avoided the attack.

Thrum—

He could hear them drawing their bows from a blind spot. Guan Yu couldn’t believe what was happening. In less than 0.3 seconds, perhaps even less, the Joseon cavalry archers had avoided the attack and already prepared to fire back. This wasn’t a fighting game where frame perfect attacks happened, but it just occurred.

“!”

Thwap!

An arrow twisted and veered toward Guan Yu. He cursed with wide eyes as he watched the flaming arrow hurtle straight at him.

Boom!

White flames burst in front of his face.

[HP: 20%]

His health dropped drastically in an instant.

“Ugh!”

His body reeled as his horse bucked in confusion.

‘I need to... pursue them...’

Even amid the chaos, he tried to turn his horse. But—

“Argh!”

“Ugh!”

Others in his ranks had experienced the same attack. Unlike Guan Yu, who was a vice commander, they either fell or outright died and their bodies blocked the path for the rest of the ironclad cavalry.

Many of the Joseon cavalry archers, who avoided the polearm strikes by hanging from their saddles, managed to hit their targets where armor couldn’t protect them.

‘That many of them...?’

Guan Yu couldn’t believe that more than one person had executed such a precise attack.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

By now, the cavalry archers already stormed past them at full speed. They had no way of catching up. The path became wide open while his forces were stuck, unable to quickly change direction because of their fallen comrades.

In the end—

“Woooooaaaaaahhhhhh!!!”

With a thunderous roar, the cavalry archers broke free from the massive maze-like formation. Off in the distance, Joseon’s main force revealed itself one unit at a time from the hilltops.

‘We’re encircled?’

They had already surrounded the Chinese formation. If they wanted to attack more efficiently, they could have charged in with a triangular formation to scatter the Chinese forces. However, that wasn’t Cookie’s plan.

“Dammit,” Guan Yu cursed and realized the truth.

Cookie hadn’t just intended to break their formation. He intended to annihilate all 200 of them, turning this battlefield into their grave.