Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 353

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 2 Episode 73
27. Counterattack (1)
[Commander]
[An archer is hiding in the forest. Form an encirclement and tighten the net.]
The cavalry vanguard leader who saw the commander’s order was frankly dumbfounded.
“Why is our entire unit being mobilized just to catch one archer?”
Even he, a veteran knight of sorts, had never experienced such a situation.
He wanted to question the commander about the reason, but two-way communication was impossible in this game.
Only the commander issued orders unilaterally.
That’s why the commander’s competence mattered so much.
“Ah. I should have checked the commander’s ranking before coming in.”
The higher the ranking, the fewer absurd situations like this occurred.
However, once you reached the level of a veteran knight, the pay was so expensive that ironically, fewer places would hire you, so he simply rushed in without much thought.
Well, what could he do?
He’d already received his payment. Continuously refusing the commander’s orders could result in penalties later.
“Alright. Take your positions!”
Thirty soldiers quickly took their designated positions.
“The target is one archer! Close in!”
With his command, the cavalry began slowly advancing into the forest from all directions.
“There are footprints here!”
“There are broken branches too!”
Traces began to be discovered one after another.
‘I have a rough idea where the enemy is now.’
It was becoming increasingly certain where the enemy was located.
The veteran knight thought this and spoke to those in the vanguard.
“First line, dismount. Tighten with your spears.”
Since the area was densely overgrown, approaching on horseback could actually be disadvantageous, so he issued this command.
“If you thrust your spears forward and swing them, you’ll catch him.”

* * *
Swish. Swish.
The cavalry, following the Veteran Knight’s instructions, began searching for Almond by sweeping their long spears through the brush in various directions, knowing he was hiding somewhere nearby.
“What in the world is this…?”
“Tch.”
Even they couldn’t make sense of this operation.
They simply obeyed orders without question.
That’s when it happened.
A Soldier searching on the right flank flinched.
“!?”
He had spotted a human face among the brush.
It was Almond.
He lay concealed within the vegetation.
Instead of a greeting, he fired an arrow.
Whistle—
The arrow flew straight and pierced through his neck.
—Thud!
“Gack… ugh!”
Thump.
He collapsed without even managing a proper scream.
“…Huh?!”
Two Colleagues searching nearby noticed his death.
“H-here… gah!”
—Thud!
One fell while clutching his throat, an arrow embedded in the exact same spot as if the scene were being replayed identically.
The last one immediately thrust his spear toward where Almond was hiding.
Almond rolled his body away.
Thud!
The thrust spear only dug into the earth.
Almond pivoted and released his bowstring.
Whistle!
“Ugh!”
The Enemy collapsed in the exact posture of his forward thrust.
Three had fallen in an instant.

* * *
The Veteran Knight rode through the brush on horseback, surveying the encirclement.
He needed to see if the soldiers were properly tightening the noose.
‘There are so many trees, I can barely see anything.’
From his vantage point, it was difficult to directly observe whether the soldiers were performing well.
The forest was simply too densely packed with trees.
In this situation, there was no choice but to spend time circling around and watching carefully.
Then, to the east, relative to the center of the brush.
“…Hey. You there. Why are you just standing around?”
He discovered a section where the encirclement wasn’t properly tightening. One soldier even stood motionless with his spear thrust downward, head bowed.
“Damn it….”
The Veteran Knight immediately grasped what was happening.
“Hyah!”
Clop clop! Clop clop!
As he rode over, he found three dead soldiers.
“Three?!”
Each soldier was responsible for nearly twenty meters of the perimeter. Three dead soldiers meant a sixty-meter gap had opened in the encirclement.
“The encirclement is breached!”
The breach was to the east.
Toward the enemy’s main camp. The thug was planning to escape toward his own base.
But he had anticipated this and kept a cavalry unit mounted and ready.
“Pursue eastward!”
Whoooosh…!
He fired a signal flare arrow to the east as he commanded.
Thud thud thud thud!
The cavalry unit swiftly drove their horses forward.
Despite the forest terrain, they controlled their mounts with considerable skill as they galloped.
But no signal came back.
“We found no traces!”
“We don’t see any footprints or anything….”
The cavalry returned empty-handed.
[Doesn’t seem to be going east.]
The Commander transmitted visual information to the Veteran Knight.
“…Not that way?”
That’s when it happened.
Whoosh.
It was a faint sound, but the Veteran Knight’s ears, now heightened with tension, caught this alien whistle of air.
“Could it be….”
A sudden wave of dread washed over him, and he immediately galloped back westward.
And when he arrived at the scene.
“!”
Neeeigh!
The horse rears up wildly.
Two soldiers lie dead, arrows embedded in identical spots on their bodies.
‘This is insane. He didn’t retreat—he’s actually pushing forward!?’
Against all odds, he abandoned any thought of escape and instead chose to strike back at me.
This is no ordinary thug.
‘Impressive.’
He’s charging in fully prepared to lose all his equipment.
Thirty men surrounding and pressing down on a single opponent—this extreme situation.
Even now, he shows no sign of surrender. He’s giving it everything he has.
Even though he must know victory is impossible.
‘His mental fortitude is extraordinary.’
The Veteran Knight decided that if he was going to fight like that, I would give my absolute best as well, and he shouted.
“The enemy is still in here! His arrow accuracy is exceptional! He’s aiming for the neck! Wrap your arms around your necks! Those with shields, raise them!”

* * *
A grassland draped with dense brush.
A place where even the slightest crouch makes you invisible to your opponent.
Hidden in that vegetation, Almond murmured to himself.
“This spot is perfect. I thought I’d be at a disadvantage.”
I’d assumed that being an archer in such a densely forested area would put me at a significant disadvantage.
But there was a thicket of tall grass growing in the middle of the forest.
A place where even bending slightly at the waist makes you disappear from view.
The terrain is perfectly optimized for one-versus-many combat.
“Now I just need to pick off the stragglers separated from the group one by one.”
-Is he actually going to win?
-Civil Empire has randomly generated maps, so variables like this happen.
-The terrain here is completely favorable, he’s got this
-Looks like he’s already won
This is what sets the Civil Empire apart from other RTS games. Even when selecting the same map, only the overall concept remains the same. Every detail is different.
For example, a pond might suddenly appear in the middle of a forest, or there might be a wide grassland like this.
That’s when it happened.
Crunch—
Footsteps sound nearby.
Very close.
Almond quickly nocked three or four arrows he’d planted in the ground into his bowstring.
Crunch. Crunch.
The enemy is now five footsteps away.
‘I need to see him once and shoot straight for the neck.’
Whoosh!
Almond sprang to his feet in an instant.
His eyes swept rapidly left and right before fixing on a single target.
The opponent’s neck.
I release the bowstring I’ve been holding.
Swish—
The arrow flies.
Clang!
A strange sound rings out.
It definitely hit the neck, didn’t it?
“!?”
It bounced off.
It wasn’t a miss. I clearly drove it straight into the joint of the neck. It bounced off.
-wtf
-no way;;;
-damn it
‘Damn.’
If I miss even once, my situation becomes extremely disadvantageous.
‘Did he block it with his arm?!’
The opponent is protecting his neck with an arm guard.
He knows I’m targeting only the neck.
To make matters worse, he’s discovered me.
“Here! Search this area!”
‘Damn it.’
I crouch down again and slip into the dense brush.
Crash!
A giant wielding a mace bursts through the thick foliage.
The same one who blocked my arrow earlier.
-wtf
-scared me half to death
-terrifying
“Found you! You little rat!”
Damn.
My position is completely exposed.
Hiding now would be like a camel burying its face in sand.
‘I’d better shoot.’
I have to fire.
But the enemy is protecting his neck.
Then…?
My mind begins to race.
At that moment, the Giant raises his mace high, preparing to swing it with all his might.
Whoosh!
‘There he is.’

* * *
The Giant wielding the mace finally spots Almond.
Excitement and rage surge through him simultaneously.
‘This one bastard has been toying with us the whole time!?’
It was absurd that his colleagues had fallen to just this single Oriental man.
“Die!”
He swings his mace with tremendous force.
Boom!
The earth overturns completely. Tremendous power, but it doesn’t connect with his opponent.
The Giant doesn’t care.
If the Archer’s position is exposed, death is merely a matter of time.
“Hmph. Just surrender quickly… Huh?”
That’s when it happens.
Something feels wrong.
[Health 32%]
His health bar drops sharply.
He doesn’t know the cause.
‘What…’
As he focuses to understand what’s happening, he finally feels the strange sensation near his armpit.
“…!”
Three arrows are embedded there.
He had planted them the moment he raised his mace.
Whoosh…!
At that instant, the brush on the side rustles.
Whistle!
And the sound of an arrow cutting through air again. From the left.
He instinctively shields his neck.
But the arrow curves unnaturally, embedding itself in his ankle and behind his knee.
──Thud! Thump!
“Wh… Huh?”
[Health 0%]
He collapses in that very state.
Thud.
A dark shadow looms over him.
“…I might run out of arrows at this rate.”
Muttering thus, I pull out a usable arrow from those embedded in the Giant.
However, it appeared already damaged and unusable, so I discarded it back to the ground.
Only a few arrows remained in my quiver.
I gazed blankly into the empty air before muttering.
“More seem to be coming.”
Additional enemies were approaching.
Whoosh.
After concealing myself in the brush, I pressed my ear to the ground.
“About four of them.”

* * *
A Veteran Knight leading the Cavalry.
Upon hearing that the opponent had been completely located, he spurred his horse in that direction once more.
“This place….”
Seeing the grassland stretching out with dense brush, he found himself at a loss for words.
The terrain was far too advantageous for the enemy.
‘I might lose a few more soldiers.’
He could lose several more Soldiers. Though he thought as much, he harbored not the slightest doubt that the pursuit would succeed.
After all, the numerical advantage was overwhelming.
And shortly after.
“Found you! You little rat!”
A cry of discovery rang out.
A bulky Knight wielding a mace. He hoisted the mace high.
‘So he was found? That’s the one.’
The moment he first laid eyes upon the true identity of his quarry.
He believed it was now over.
“You three over there! Support that man!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Knights who had been searching other positions immediately rushed to the designated location.
No matter how formidable the enemy, he was merely a single Archer. Three Knights were charging at him alone.
And now that his position had been revealed, there was no way out.
Or so he thought.
But then—
“!?”
Boom!
The Giant wielding the mace collapsed first.
And one of the charging Knights unleashed a sword strike.
It was flawless in execution.
Yet the Archer evaded the blade by half a step and fired arrows point-blank at his vital points—three consecutive shots in rapid succession.
Thwack!
One of the three who had charged fell.
The other two joined half a step late and swung their weapons frantically.
Whoosh! Screech!
Only the innocent bushes suffered damage.
The enemy moved with calm precision, utterly dominating the field.
In that seamless sequence of dodging attacks and countering, there was no wasted motion.
The way he evaded with minimal footsteps was so perfect it bordered on beautiful.
Deflecting sword strikes while drawing his bowstring across the grassland reminded me of a beautiful harp player dancing in a meadow.
Once that performance ended, no soldiers remained on the field.
“….”
The Veteran Knight was speechless.
“It’s not some hack. That’s….”
That sensory precision of movement was something no unholy illegal program could ever grant.
‘Who is this person.’
He stared intently at the nameless Archer.
Whiiiiing….
The wind blew.
The grassland where Almond stood swayed and rippled. Their eyes met.
The Commander’s ping activated.
Piiing!
[All Forces Attack]
A red ping.
An absolute command.
Thud thud thud thud…!
The sound of Cavalry units searching elsewhere came galloping toward them.
‘Now it’s truly over.’
Though it was just a game, the Veteran Knight found himself thinking it was a shame to lose an opponent like this one.
The Knight confirmed that nothing remained in his quiver.
He would die soon.
The opponent seemed to think the same.
He began removing his plate armor.
Thunk. Thunk.
The pieces protecting his body fell heavily.
Wearing only light cloth armor, he picked up a sword that the Knights had dropped.
‘Hmm?’
And he faced the ten mounted soldiers charging toward him.
He was choosing to fight.
“Heh….”
The Veteran Knight was deeply impressed.
More than his skill, it was that unshakeable spirit even in this desperate situation.
‘I want to know who this person is.’
She’s clearly remarkable, but it’s a shame that now there are no arrows or hope left whatsoever.
Whoosh!
At that moment, the red-haired stranger knight brushed past his side.
The veteran knight momentarily mistook her for an ally.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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