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Season 3: Chapter 167: Fourth Era Battle (3)

Joseon had the advantage in the third era while the Vikings would be at the disadvantage. The third era would be the decisive point in the game, so why did Cookie decide to push the battle into the fourth era?

Surprisingly, it was because of a single player.

'To minimize combat.'

Almond couldn’t perform at his best in a non-dedicated capsule. His stamina had dropped and the amount of combat he could sustain had decreased significantly. He had to limit engaging in combat to two times or fewer per game, but this also depended on the battles itself.

Almond fought in almost three to four consecutive battles in the first game. Moreover, he had already fought once in the second game.

‘At that time, we would have lost if we didn’t fight.’

Forced into an all-out war, Almond had fought on the front lines in the second game. He could no longer be used as a combat unit. A strategic victory was necessary this time.

The time that Almond spent drawing his bow had to be minimized.

‘Mounted archery combat consumes too much energy.’

Moreover, Cookie had assigned Almond to be a Joseon spy. Although a Joseon spy could become a competent combat unit if desired, the chances of getting involved in large-scale battles were very low. That was their nature.

However, the role was still significant and optimized for the exhausted Almond.

[Move]

Cookie issued a movement command to Almond and his guide, Coffee. One Joseon spy and one assistant commander would take on this important mission.

[Infiltrate]

Their mission was to infiltrate the Vikings’ main base. If successful, Joseon would win this fourth era battle. If they failed, they would lose. Either way, Almond wouldn’t be involved in any major combat.

The archers would do the fighting. That was the purpose of Pyeonjeon.

‘This time, the archers were trained to focus on Pyeonjeon rather than mounted archery.’

Contrary to the commentators' expectations, Joseon had prepared this Pyeonjeon strategy. Of course, they hadn’t practiced this for the Vikings.

Cookie had repeatedly trained the archers with Pyeonjeon as a surprise strategy.

[Sniper Standby]

Whiz.

Cookie marked a specific location and issued a command to the Pyeonjeon unit.

The sniper unit led by Pang took their positions and pulled out their tonga (a thin wooden tube for loading the small arrows). Just like modern snipers, preparing to snipe with the Gakgung also required some preparation. They loaded small arrows into the tonga, took their positions, and stabilized their bodies.

Then, they aimed at the battlefield far away. There, the swordsmen unit stood face-to-face with the Vikings.

Clang!

The enemies also formed ranks to fight for the remaining resources in the central area. Red and blue dots all gathered there.

Rumble...!

Not only the swordsmen, but siege weapons also waited behind. If the Vikings advanced even further, they would be the first to fire. Using siege weapons against such personnel was inefficient, but these weren’t just ordinary siege weapons.

[Shin-Gijeon ×5]

Cookie had five Shin-Gijeon (Joseon-style cannon). This mass-killing weapon could fire hundreds of arrows at once. Being a mechanical device, it required a commander to control and aim with it.

Tension flashed in Cookie’s eyes.

“Hoo,” he exhaled lightly and scanned the map.

A massive army had gathered in the center.

The arena grew silent as the standoff continued. No one could open their mouths.

The tension grew taut between the two sides. It seemed so quiet that the slightest movement would break the thin barrier and plunge everything into chaos.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Either drums or heartbeats reverberated from outside. At that moment—

'It’s begun.'

Rumble...!

The Vikings charged.

“Attack!!!”

The red dots charged toward the blue dots with overwhelming momentum like a storm cloud rolling in.

Cookie immediately reached for the Shin-Gijeon.

[Load]

He aimed at the target location.

[Fire]

Whoosh!

The Shin-Gijeon ignited with flames.

“Charge!!!”

The Vikings screamed and charged. The Joseon soldiers who spotted the Vikings over the grassland felt afraid for a moment.

“When do we go?!” the Joseon soldiers asked and gripped their weapons tightly, “When do we go!?”

“Wait!”

Swish.

Bread raised her hand. The moment her hand fell, they would countercharge.

Bread's eyes turned toward the forest. The sniper unit would signal them.

‘Not yet.’

Still nothing. Bread kept her hand raised and looked to the right. At that moment—

Boom!

The Shin-Gijeon spewed red fire and unleashed hundreds of arrows toward the battlefield.

“The Shin-Gijeon is firing!”

“This is Joseon's all-out war! This is civilization warfare, barbarian fools!”

The commentators felt extremely excited by the spectacle of arrows filling the sky like fireworks. Even the Vikings were momentarily distracted.

“The Vikings are reacting!”

“They raise their shields overhead!”

The Vikings all raised their shields to the sky.

Thunk! Thunk!

Arrows struck the shields and made a loud noise. Some Vikings fell just from the impact. Still, the Vikings seemed to have successfully blocked the Shin-Gijeon’s firepower.

Then, Pang shouted.

Clang!

A flag was simultaneously raised.

“Fire!!!”

The sound of arrows firing filled the forest. The powerful bowstrings startled the birds from the trees, but this sound didn’t reach the Vikings’ ears.

The arrows arrived first.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

A hail of sniper arrows poured from the left. The Vikings who couldn’t turn their shields to the side instantly died while those who did still fell to the ground.

The small arrows boasted immense speed and penetrating power combined with the damage boost from full stacks of focus.

Crack...

The shields tore like paper and the warriors holding them scattered.

“Ugh!”

“How many...!?”

Whiz!

Only then did the sound of arrows reach their ears. Those who heard the sound were the lucky survivors. More than half had survived. In fact, all of them had survived thanks to their fourth era trait.

[Valhalla]

The Vikings stood up, covered in a white glow, and charged again. Their fourth era trait, Valhalla, had activated.

Was it just an illusion? A white glow emanated from one Viking’s back and formed wings.

Flash!

She spread her wings and shouted, “Let’s go to Valhalla!!!”

The white light enveloped all the Vikings, who began charging with tremendous speed.

— Whoa

— Wow

— Amazing

— Valkyrie buff

— Scary

This was the perfected form of the Vikings, warriors who knew no death.

“Ah, it’s that special unit called the Valkyrie, right? They get a defense buff and a speed buff! Plus, they have excellent combat skills!”

“Yes! The Valkyrie is a frontline leader who gives special buffs! Originally, this mythic female warrior is the one who leads Vikings to Valhalla!”

“Their role hasn’t changed! Follow their command and you go straight to Valhalla!”

— LOL true

— Exactly LOL

— Express train to heaven LOL

— Wow, that’s Jessie

— Viking units have such a romantic feel

— Cool

— Impressive

Buzz!

With their defense and speed buffs activated, the Vikings rapidly closed the distance.

However, Bread’s hand remained raised as the Joseon soldiers waited.

'Hoo...'

Bread steadied her breath. Facing the charging Viking army with their almost visible bloodlust didn’t feel pleasant.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Her heart pounded loudly.

‘Will it work?’

Doubt crept in. It always did in such situations.

‘If it doesn’t...’

Whistle!

At that moment, the signal from the falcon could be heard. The other assistant commander, Coffee, had used the falcon.

‘Almond has started.’

Coffee had sent this signal. Now, they could only trust the plan.

‘Now.’

Bread’s hand decisively dropped.

Clang!

“Attack!!!”

“Charge!!!”

Joseon's swordsmen charged and the Shin-Gijeon slowly retreated.

“The Vikings have siege weapons too! It’s a counterattack!”

The siege weapons prepared by the Vikings fired back.

Boom!

“What about the Pyeonjeon supporting fire... What?!”

“The Vikings’ Onager catapult is hitting exactly where the Pyeonjeon unit is!!”

The Vikings didn’t target the charging swordsmen, but the forest where the Pyeonjeon unit was hiding.

Crash!

Red, hot stones flew out and burned the forest. Perhaps those inside the forest also died.

“Archers are too weak against those Onager catapults! They’ll be instantly wiped out! Ahhh...!”

The Joseon swordsmen clashed with the Vikings even though they suddenly lost support from the sniper unit.

“A close combat battle without Pyeonjeon support!? This is bad!”

“Many Vikings haven’t used Valhalla yet! This is...!”

The moment the front lines collided—

Slash!

Jessie swung her greatsword and cut down two soldiers at once.

“Ugh!”

The Vikings with dual axes split the Joseon swordsmen’s heads and bisected them.

Thunk!

However, the swordsmen retaliated and also killed several Vikings. Their polearms pierced the Vikings as blood scattered.

Slash!

“Stay focused! Take out as many as you can!” Bread shouted while riding her horse.

This all-out war even involved assistant commanders.

Axes flew from somewhere and smashed the horse's head.

Thunk!

“Ugh...!”

Horses were almost immune to ranged weapons, but throwing axes weren’t considered ranged weapons. This was why the Vikings weren’t weak against cavalry.

“Neigh...!”

The horse spewed out blood and fell, throwing Bread off.

“Protect Bread!”

“Guard the assistant commander! She’s fallen!”

The front-line swordsmen charged. Their polearms could no longer be seen under all the blood. However, the blood on their weapons floated into the air.

“?!”

It flew back to where it belonged as the Vikings killed by the swordsmen rose again.

“To Valhalla!!!”

“Charge!!!”

The revived Vikings slaughtered the Joseon swordsmen. The Vikings who resurrected from behind swung their axes and regained health, yet the front-line Joseon swordsmen countered skillfully with their polearms.

[Berserker]

The berserker trait activated and the Vikings’ axe swings noticeably quickened.

Clang! Clang!

The polearms bounced around pitifully.

Thunk!

Thrown axes struck the swordsmen’s necks.

“Argh!”

Malatang fell and died.

Facing these resurrecting, high-health enemies in close combat was madness.

“Dammit...”

Bread stood up and was about to curse.

Slash!

Jessie’s greatsword cut her throat. Assistant commanders couldn’t be revived after dying.

The Vikings’ front-line combat power was beyond imagination. This was a clear defeat for Joseon.

“Ah! The battle is falling apart!!”

“Joseon, will they go to a third game!?”

“Joseon is falling!!!”

The Vikings roared victoriously and trampled the Joseon’s corpses. They continued chasing after the Shin-Gijeon.

They had already captured and burned one Shin-Gijeon.

The fallen Bread stared at the flames in frustration as her spirit ascended.

“I... actually want to win.”

A voice confessed a shameful secret. It was Do-Joon. He spoke as if he had committed a great sin.

“But I couldn’t say it.”

“Then why did you speak like that?”

He always said he felt satisfied just making it to the main tournament.

“Everyone is struggling.”

“...?”

“No one wants to take this game that seriously. They find it pathetic and annoying.”

Bread shook her head. No, wanting to win while competing was natural. Why hide it?

“Your whining is more pathetic. If you’re so upset, win next time.”

“What...? Next time? You said you were getting a job?”

“I got rejected everywhere. Don’t cry.”

Her words didn’t fully reflect her heart. Bread also wanted to win because her teammates wanted it. She wanted it too.

Bread closed her eyes tightly. She couldn’t bear to watch the end.

‘I thought I had a slim chance.’

She, the assistant commander, knew best. If they lost here, the third game would be hopeless. The biggest differences between strong and weak teams would start showing in long matches.

Joseon couldn’t sustain a situation where their first line grew exhausted and the second line had to take over. They were bound to lose.

The hope that seemed within reach started to disappear. Falling from a high place hurt even more, but—

‘What?’

White wings appeared.

‘I haven’t fallen yet.’

Wings that seemed to say this shimmered before her eyes.

Buzz!

The white light enveloped Bread.