Season 3: Chapter 310. The Battle for the Defensive Tower (3)

The situation seemed hopeless when Pierre and his ally entered the defensive tower. Almond was too far below and Pierre’s sword was too close to the archers above. In reality, it was almost a one-sided slaughter. Pierre’s shield pushed Pang into a corner and Pang seemed to be waiting for death. There wasn’t even an angle to fire an arrow. The massive legion shields blocked everything, leaving one’s mind blank.

“Pang! Is he pulling back his bow!?”

Then, Pang stood up and drew his bow. It looked like he was making one last desperate attempt, but even the commentators couldn’t see a way for it to succeed. There didn’t seem to be any angles available.

But—

“Ahhhh! W-What’s with the arrow!?”

Whoosh!

The arrow flew beyond the square boundaries of the defensive tower and curved back like a boomerang.

— ??

— What!?

— Huh???

— Whoa, this is insane LOL.

— Wait, what?!

Viewers who had watched the Fake National Team series a few times quickly realized what was happening. This was the same curved shot Pang had practiced in his early days, often resulting in mishaps. Back then, the arrow would often strike the unfortunate Latte, who had been positioned in front of Pang during training. This time, Latte wasn’t in the way. Instead, Pierre’s exposed back blocked the arrow’s path.

“!”

Thud!

The arrow, glowing with white flames, struck Pierre squarely in the back of his head.

“...!?”

For a moment, the commentators were speechless. A rare silence filled the broadcast, which didn’t happen often in such a fast-paced match. It was a testament to how shocking this moment was.

OrangeKing broke the silence and slammed the desk.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!”

— LOL

— OMG, insane!

— Unbelievable!!!

— What the heck just happened!?

“Pang! He’s done it! A 180-degree curved shot to resolve the situation!!!”

“And—wait! The soldier next to Pierre was taken out too! I don’t even know how that happened, but Pang has pulled off an incredible move!!!”

The broadcast cameras hadn’t captured everything that happened. They hadn’t anticipated Almond killing an unseen opponent while clinging to the ladder, so they hadn’t focused on that area at all.

“Pang! This player, overshadowed by Almond’s fame, was once Joseon’s best archer!”

“However, due to his age, he struggled to adapt to curved shots!”

“Yes, but look at this! He created an impossible angle and took out the enemy ace at the most crucial moment!!”

“He defeated the strongest ace in the current world rankings using the very technique he struggled with the most! Pang!!!”

— Amazing!

— So epic!

— Truly insane!

— Incredible performance!

Rome had been targeting three defensive towers. Out of the three, they had captured two but one remained under Joseon’s control.

“Joseon managed to hold onto one tower! And having even one makes a huge difference, doesn’t it!?”

“Ah, but they lost two towers, and all the archers on them died!”

Rome had been trying to capture the towers to dominate the battlefield. The arrows fired from the towers steadily pushed Rome’s forces back. Now that the towers were under their control, Rome’s momentum improved.

“Rome is now attacking the barbarian soldiers from behind! Joseon is being pincered!”

Even with fewer soldiers, an attack from both sides severely disadvantaged those caught in the middle. Historically, armies that fell prey to such tactics couldn’t fend off enemies from the left due to limited vision and other factors. Positioning was critical in warfare. Right now, Joseon’s positioning was unfavorable.

“Ahhhh! Now Rome is throwing spears from the towers!!”

Whoosh!

Long spears rained down from the captured towers.

“Still, the spears are slow, aren’t they!? It takes ten seconds to recover one!”

“Yes! Spear regeneration takes time!”

The spear's slower pace was a clear disadvantage compared to arrows, which could be fired continuously. Capturing the towers was never about using them effectively. It was simply about removing Joseon’s archers from them.

— Classic skill: "Throw Spear."

— Wait, was that actually a skill? LOL

— Spear recovery is the real skill here.

— LOL, this is insane.

Even at a slower pace, the spears had a noticeable impact. Rome gradually began overpowering Joseon.

Thud!

Thunk!

Spears thrown from the towers pierced one Joseon soldier after another. More importantly, the once relentless arrows fired by Joseon from the towers had ceased entirely.

“They’re losing ground! Joseon is retreating!”

The number of barbarian soldiers in Joseon’s army, once around 130, dropped below 100.

“WOOOOOOOAAAAAHHH!!!”

Cheers erupted from Rome’s side of the audience.

[Retreat]

Cookie ordered his forces to pull back.

“Joseon is retreating!”

“Ahhh......!”

“But they’re regrouping as they fall back!?”

They didn’t retreat far.

“Joseon is gathering below the one remaining defensive tower!!”

The only surviving tower became their rallying point. Arrows raining from the remaining tower quickly took down the Roman infantry attempting to follow them.

“WOOOOOOAAAAHHH!!!”

Cheers now erupted from Joseon’s side of the audience.

“It’s like Almond is saying, ‘We still have one tower left!!’”

— Legendary statement: "One tower left."

— LOL, "We have land, not pride."

— Truly epic.

“Almond and Pang are holding the line and buying precious time!”

“And this alone makes it hard for Rome to venture outside!”

Rome could physically leave the area, but doing so would be risky. The barbarian soldiers gathered beneath the tower would attack any workers trying to leave.

“Also, Rome’s resources are nearly depleted! If they exhaust everything, there’s no hope of building a multi-site!”

“But wait!!”

While Rome’s resources dwindled, Joseon was still holding steady. After all, they had established their multi-site earlier.

Thud.

[Defensive Tower - 0%]

“Ahhhhhh!!!”

Another tower began to rise near the tower defended by Almond and Pang.

“They’re building more towers!!”

“What!? Is Gangnam full!? Move to somewhere else! It’s not land we lack. It’s pride!!!”

— LOL

— New towns are popping up everywhere!

— Build away!

— What an age of romance.

Joseon’s multi-site was operational, steadily supplying resources, and maintaining a stable worker count. With their long-term outlook, they could potentially reach the third era or continue building more towers.

“And this isn’t over!?”

They could even demolish their base entrance and push outward if needed.

[Demolish]

Boom!

“Joseon has reopened their base entrance! And the soldiers inside have been fully equipped and trained!!”

A line of fifteen archers and ten swordsmen capable of facing Rome’s legionnaires emerged from the base.

“With this, it looks like Rome will be completely trapped!!”

If all these forces had been deployed, Rome wouldn’t be able to leave. The game would effectively be over.

“Is Joseon about to take this game!? Are they really this strong!!?” the caster, overwhelmed with excitement, shouted in disbelief.

“Joseon is executing their plan perfectly! They’re saying, ‘We’ll trap you and then advance to the third era. This land is all ours. We’ll take it at our own pace!’ It’s a brilliant prioritization of strategy!”

Rome could’ve possibly gotten another chance if Joseon greedily pushed for a quick third era or additional multi-sites.

“This seems like an easy decision from the outside, but making such a judgment is incredibly difficult for the commander with limited vision under all the psychological pressure and strategies at play!”

“But Cookie is absolutely on point today!!”

Commanders often felt uneasy staying in the second era as it meant halting development and increasing the risk of being outpaced. Even great commanders often faltered at this stage, but Cookie wasn’t repeating past mistakes.

“Cookie’s motto today is to choose only the 100% guaranteed options! If not, he’ll pick the next closest thing! He’s flawless today!!”

“Cookie’s condition is not just 100%. It’s at 200%!!!”

Joseon's soldiers advanced as resources flowed from their multi-site and they gradually reclaimed the defensive towers.

“Joseon has reclaimed two towers!”

“And their resources keep flowing while Rome’s are completely dried up! Ahhhh!!!”

Some would say Joseon simply got lucky. The same map from their previous encounter had reappeared and favored Joseon’s strategy, but Cookie had created this luck through careful planning.

“Joseon is pushing forward again!!! There’s no stopping them!!!”

Rome had no resources left.

The broadcast displayed both commanders’ faces. Their expressions subtly revealed their contrasting emotions.

“WOOOOOOAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Cheers erupted from Joseon’s side.

[Surrender]

Rome declared their surrender.

“WOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

“Victory!!! VICTORYYYY!!!” OrangeKing leaped up and screamed.

The caster waved his arms wildly in celebration.

“Joseon delivers a decisive blow to Rome in the first game of the finals!!!”

“Yes! Cookie is telling everyone, ‘This isn’t the team you faced in the preliminaries!’”

“That’s right! This isn’t the same team from the preliminaries! Same map, same opponent, but the situation is completely different!!! Their skills and determination have reached new heights!!!”

[Victory]

The scoreboard declared Joseon’s victory.

==== ==== Joseon: 1 Rome: 0 ==== ====

The players emerged from their capsules. The broadcast camera zoomed in on the Joseon players. Their faces appeared on the giant screen. Joseon had defeated Rome for the first time. Although Joseon had pulled off countless upsets, none of the players seemed overly excited over one of their greatest yet.

Cookie maintained the same expression he had when he entered the match as if he hadn’t just achieved an incredible victory. Almond was the same and quietly headed back to the waiting room without even glancing at the audience.

And thus, the first game concluded.

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