Season 3: Chapter 309. The Battle for the Defensive Tower (2)

Currently, Joseon had a considerable advantage from a broader perspective. Workers had begun operations at Joseon’s multi-site while Rome’s growth was at a standstill. If things continued at this pace, Rome’s defeat was inevitable as they still struggled desperately to break through the entrance and turn the tide.

While Rome’s infantry possessed better equipment, Joseon’s defensive towers and the archers perched on them posed an issue. Rome couldn’t withstand them. In most cases, that would have been the end of it. However, the arrows being fired from the defensive towers gradually decreased.

“The arrows from the towers have stopped firing!”

“Charge!”

Rome’s main force, cautiously defending against the upper area, charged forward with all their might.

Boom!

Joseon’s barbarian soldiers blocking Rome’s path began falling one by one and the frontlines started to recede.

“D-Dammit!”

“What’s going on? Why aren’t they firing!?”

Pierre’s group and other Roman soldiers were climbing the defensive towers. The archers had no choice but to redirect all their fire toward the soldiers scaling the ladders as losing the towers would be catastrophic. This battle had shifted from a fight over Rome’s entrance to a struggle over whether the Romans could scale the ladders. Pierre had completely changed the dynamics of the battlefield.

But—

“A-Almond!?”

Boom!

Almond landed directly on their shields. He immediately swung around to the opposite side of the ladder and descended, positioning himself underneath the soldiers.

“Almond has descended! The defensive towers can resume fire! Hold on!”

From below, Almond began dealing free damage (damage without interference). One by one, Roman soldiers fell from the ladders.

“Wooooaaaahhhh!”

The crowd’s cheers and shouts from the soldiers blended together. The situation on the ladders began to affect the soldiers' morale on the frontlines. The pressure on Rome’s entrance intensified.

However—

“Woooooooaaaahhh!!”

A cheer erupted from the Roman soldiers.

Whoosh!

A Roman soldier had jumped down from the ladder with their spear pointed down directly toward Almond.

‘What the—’

‘No way.’

‘Is Almond—!?’

If that spear hit, Almond would definitely die. Even if it didn’t hit a vital spot immediately, the spearman would gain the upper hand and continuously thrust at Almond. At this rate, his death was certain. The spear would pierce Almond’s heart and Rome would finally seize the defensive towers.

***

When Almond began dealing free damage from below...

“The Roman soldiers seem to be on fire down there! Did they eat something spicy yesterday!?”

The commentators were in high spirits.

— LOL, did they eat fire noodles?

— The Roman soldiers are desperate!

— What is even happening?

— LOL, this is nuts!

The momentum seemed entirely in Joseon’s favor, but—

“H-Huh!? What!?”

The Roman soldier jumped down with his spear aimed downward.

“!”

Everyone’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“W-What is this!?”

“They’re sacrificing a soldier to stop Almond!?”

Rome decided to deliberately sacrifice a soldier just to eliminate Almond. An extreme judgment that no one, not even the commentators or the audience, had anticipated. The commentators fell silent again as quickly as this dramatic choice was made.

“!”

The Roman soldier simply passed through Almond as if Almond was a ghost.

“Uhhhhhh...!”

Thud!

The soldier fell to his death.

“Aaaaahhh! What—what just happened!? He just went right through Almond!?”

— ???

— LOL, was that a bug?

— What just happened?

— The importance of angles!

— Nice bug ^^

— LOL, this is too funny.

“Almond! That should’ve been a fatal strike!?”

The replay was quickly shown. The camera angle shifted. From the side of the defensive tower, it became clear. Almond had moved to the opposite side of the ladder at the last second.

“He switched to the other side of the ladder! He’s clinging to the inner side!”

Relative to the defensive tower, Almond was hanging on the inner side of the ladder.

— What is this!? LOL

— Is this some kind of weird dodge game?

— This is ridiculous!

“Honestly, it’s a bit absurd, but it’s hilarious! He just fell to his death like that!”

The Roman soldier’s seemingly sharp move had turned into a comedic failure because they were dealing with Almond.

“But wait! Another one!?”

“Rome won’t be the only ones looking silly now!”

Another Roman soldier jumped down to the side Almond had shifted to. This soldier also aimed for the inner side of the ladder.

“Another dodge!”

Almond moved back to the outer side, dodging again. However, his expression grew tense.

‘Wait.’

Almond realized something. Pierre hadn’t been aiming to kill him outright with these moves.

“But this delay...”

Even as Almond played this dodging game, someone rapidly climbed the ladder.

Thud.

Thud.

It was Pierre. He ascended with his shield raised above his head. The camera zoomed in on him, showing his expressionless face like metal forged into an impenetrable poker face. Pierre climbed the ladder with relentless speed.

Almond dodged another falling soldier, but Pierre continued to widen the gap. This time, the Roman soldiers who jumped didn’t fall all the way down. They clung to the ladder midway. As they climbed back up, they continued to delay Almond’s progress. Almond had no choice but to deal with them.

It was now impossible for him to fully protect the defensive towers. Pierre had been aiming for this outcome.

“W-Wait! At this rate—”

Thud!

Pierre’s hand appeared at the top of the ladder.

“!”

The archers’ eyes widened as they scrambled to fire arrows at Pierre’s hand, but they reacted too slow. Pierre hoisted himself over the top and slammed his shield onto the platform.

Clang!

The arrows bounced off harmlessly, sparking faintly against the shield. Pierre, equipped with his legionnaire spear and gladius, prepared for close combat.

“This is dangerous!”

Pierre wielded his gladius masterfully. The blade slashed through the lower legs of the archers.

Swoosh!

Slash!

A trail of blood marked where his blade had struck.

[Ankle Injury]

[Ankle Injury]

[Ankle Injury]

“Pierre! He’s using Achilles’ Slash!! He’s cutting through all of them!!!”

The archers, suddenly off balance, began to falter. Seizing the opportunity, Pierre climbed fully onto the defensive tower.

That was it. From the beginning, Pierre hadn’t cared whether Almond dodged or not. He wanted to eliminate Almond’s advantageous position from which Almond could leisurely pick off his opponents. While Almond busily evaded, Pierre had secured the tower.

It didn’t matter even though only one of Pierre’s subordinates managed to climb up with him. Pierre felt confident that he could completely take over the tower as long as his opponents were just archers.

“Ahhh! Almond! This happened while he was dodging those falling soldiers!!”

After clearing out the Romans below him, Almond quickly climbed the ladder again.

“They’re all going to die!!”

Almond looked up. The tower's roof loomed far away at the top of the ladder like a vanishing point.

‘It’s too far...!’

He didn’t have enough time to reach the top. No matter how skilled Almond was, he couldn’t overcome the time constraints. Meanwhile, the Joseon soldiers died one by one.

‘Should I shoot?’

He had to fire now, but didn’t have a clear angle. He couldn’t see the target’s position clearly for an arcing shot. He would have to shoot blindly and hope to hit.

‘Will it work...?’

He couldn’t transcend time, but he could transcend space with his arrow. As if deciding on something, Almond stopped climbing. He knew he couldn’t catch up.

Creak.

Drawing his bow taut, Almond leaned back until he was lying in mid-air.

“Haaaah.”

He couldn’t see his target, but he could predict their position. Pierre and one other soldier had climbed up. Initially, their backs would be facing Almond as they had just ascended. Where would their heads be? How far would the arrow have to travel before it dipped under the roof of the tower and hit its mark?

The arrow had to land directly on the top of one of their heads. That was all he could hope for—just one hit.

‘Pang is up there.’

Pang, an equally skilled ally, was also on the tower. He could handle one of the two opponents.

‘Can I trust him?’

No—he had to trust him. If Almond somehow managed to hit Pierre, Pang could handle the other.

“Gulp.”

Swallowing dryly, Almond released the arrow with all his focus. This release could decide the entire game. One arrow had already tipped the scales when he killed the cleric. This one could end it entirely.

Almond let go of the arrow.

Fwip!

It flew toward an unseen target.

Pang frowned. Pierre’s arrival had turned the tower into utter chaos.

‘This guy is an expert.’

Rome wasn’t known for its defensive towers or early-game archers. Instead, their players excelled at assaulting towers and the archers atop them. From the moment Pierre started climbing, his expertise was evident. He first raised his shield to block the view, protecting his upper body, and then slid his blade underneath to strike. It was a seamless combo that Pang reacted to, but the other archers couldn’t.

The archers lost their balance. What followed was the current grim scene.

Swoosh!

Clang!

Arrows ricocheted off shields and the gladius slashed through the archers. One by one, they fell. Rome’s massive shields now dominated the battlefield.

‘These shields cover every angle.’

It wasn’t just the shields. It felt like an entire mountain was pressing forward. Despite being at a disadvantage, Pierre’s every move radiated confidence and certainty.

“Gulp.”

Pang instinctively stepped back. He didn’t know how to counter this. In the meantime, another archer fell.

Swoosh!

The archers were doomed when the melee infantry climbed up the tower. That was a basic principle of battle.

But—

‘No.’

Pang refocused his gaze on Pierre’s head. His head barely peeked over his shield as it moved up and down, back and forth.

‘Basic principles? Screw that. Would Joseon even be here if we followed the basics?’

By conventional standards, archers on a tower invaded by melee units were as good as dead. But if things had gone as expected, Joseon wouldn’t have made it to this point in the first place. Pang wouldn’t even be standing here to see Pierre.

“Hoo.”

Creak.

Pang took a deep breath and drew his bow.

Ssshhh.

He shifted the bow to an extreme angle, pulling it as far as possible.

[Focus]

A white glow began to gather.

‘One shot.’

Pang knew he only had one chance. He couldn’t take down both enemies.

‘Just one. I only need to take down one.’

If that one was Pierre, it would be worth it.

‘Just like that time... if I shoot like I did back then.’

He recalled a memory.

***

“Ah, come on! Pangi!”

During curve shot practice, Latte yelled in frustration from beside him.

“How the hell do you make an arrow spin 180 degrees and come back to hit me!? Every single time!”

***

With a faint smile, Pang released the arrow.

Fwip!

He unleashed an unconventional skill with that shot. The arrow soared with powerful momentum, aiming for Pierre’s shield. Not the center, but the edge past the shield's side, exiting the frame of the battlefield entirely. It left the screen, defying even the game’s logic.

“...?”

Pierre didn’t pay any attention. He was too focused on the fight to notice an arrow that had clearly missed. He didn’t notice the one who had fired it. Pang, the original leader of Joseon’s archers, wasn’t one to miss from such close range. Pierre realized this too late. A mere 0.1 seconds too late. That tiny delay was enough.

“What—”

Boom!

A white light flared behind Pierre’s head. His shield dropped to the side, revealing his face fully for the first time. Pierre’s dilated pupils reflected Pang, and their expressions matched perfectly.

‘It... worked!?’

‘That actually... worked?’

As Pierre collapsed, his stunned gaze lingered on Pang.

“Pierre!”

The remaining Roman soldier reacted, thrusting his spear toward Pang with astonishing speed and focus. Pang had only managed to take down one enemy. He had no chance against the second.

‘I’ll die, but taking out their ace is worth it.’

Pang accepted his fate, but that fate stopped just before the Roman soldier reached him.

Clink.

The spear trembled in front of Pang’s forehead. The Roman soldier widened his eyes and his open mouth froze in shock.

“... What the?”

Thud.

The soldier collapsed forward with an arrow lodged in the back of his head. Confused, Pang looked behind the fallen soldier. No one was there, but moments later—

“Huh? What’s this?”

Almond climbed up the ladder. Was it because he was a streamer?

Seeing the two bodies, Almond drew his finger across his throat and muttered, “Pierre... out!”

“???”

It seemed he thought he had made the kill.