Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 628
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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 3 Episode 98
34. A Feat of Strength (2)
In the forest of the 2 o’clock region.
“Found them.”
Almond, leading the charge, muttered under his breath and drew his bowstring taut.
Grrrrk…!
His arrow aimed for the worker’s head.
Since they were merely workers with no real combat ability, a single headshot wouldn’t even trigger an alarm to the commander.
He released the string without hesitation.
Twang!
A Roman worker collapsed.
The sound of bowstrings echoed from other positions as well.
Twang! Twaaang!
The other Joseon soldiers were taking down the workers.
“Forward!!”
Pangeo shouted with his voice.
Well, the commander’s orders hadn’t been coming through since earlier.
This was unavoidable.
‘Cookie can’t always watch over this place.’
Even from Almond’s perspective, Joseon’s current situation wasn’t looking good.
So the battle at the 2 o’clock region would likely continue without orders for a while.
But that was fine.
The ten soldiers gathered here were already capable of independent combat through scrimmages and practice.
‘Besides, Pangeo is still alive.’
Since Pangeo survived as the leader, they hadn’t devolved into complete independent action, and the operation continued to succeed.
The Joseon archers advanced gradually, methodically eliminating the workers.
Twang!
Twaaang!
The workers harvesting wood were beginning to fall almost completely.
Moreover, they were all landing headshots in a single shot.
The enemy commander seemed not to have noticed for quite some time.
‘If Cookie isn’t paying attention to this place, the enemy won’t be able to either.’
Likely, the enemy was also focused on whatever battle Cookie was attending to.
But then─
“Ah…!”
One archer beside him let out a sharp breath.
Thud!
“Aaaaaahhhhh!”
A worker screamed. An arrow had struck his shoulder.
It was a miss.
“It’s fine.”
Almond dashed forward and lightly drew back his bowstring.
“W-wait, the enemy──”
──Thwack!
The worker’s head was pierced through, and he collapsed on the spot.
“I-I’m so sorry. What do I do… I think an alert just went out…”
The flustered archer’s ID was [Pekorino].
He was quite young. Almond had barely ever spoken with him before.
Almond tried to reassure him anyway. With only nine archers here, he couldn’t afford to lose even one person’s mental fortitude.
“It’s fine. It was going to happen eventually. How could you possibly land a headshot every time?”
“B-but you do it, sir.”
“Yeah. That’s exactly why I’m talking about you, not me… How could you possibly land a headshot every time?”
“…?”
“Nobody would’ve thought that way. It’s fine.”
“…!?”
hahahahahaha
lol
-Is this… consolation?
-A sophisticated psychological tactic to rouse him through anger, perhaps?
At this rate, it’s not going up but down lol
I’m going crazy lolol
“R-right… I understand.”
Either way, the other archer shook off his earlier mistake and stood up.
“Let’s go. If they send more reinforcements here anyway, that works in our favor.”
“But sir, you don’t really understand the strategy…”
“I understand this much!”
Almond suddenly bristled at the intelligence attack.
Hahahahahahaha
I’m dying laughing hahahahaha
-Hey. Is he sensitive about Hodu?
Pecorino’s said everything she needs to say lol Are you panicking? lol
Perfect, no doubt.
Ouch.
Pekorino was startled because he’d never seen Almond raise his voice like that before.
That made sense—Almond rarely showed emotional fluctuation while gaming.
‘Did I actually shake Almond? Could this be my talent…?’
While Pekorino entertained this absurd thought.
“Damn. You scared me. Hey. If we’re supposed to stay undetected, why are you shouting like that?!”
Pangeo approached and pushed both their backs.
“Let’s go. Move. Whoever comes, we just shoot them dead anyway! We’re committed now! We need to kill those gold mine workers. Run faster!”
At Pangeo’s urging, Pekorino and Almond rushed forward side by side.
Finding the gold mine didn’t take long.
Since resource placements were essentially the same everywhere, having a seasoned veteran like Pangeo meant most could be located quickly without the Commander’s help.
But the problem lay elsewhere.
Ting──!
A strange sound rang out, Almond thought in that instant.
──Thwack!
Pangeo’s side flew backward.
“Ugh!?”
Pangeo tumbled across the ground and bounced away.
Suddenly the forest erupted into chaos.
“Enemies!”
“Ambush!”
“Damn it!”
The Joseon Archers instantly flattened themselves into the underbrush or hid behind trees.
Unable to pinpoint the enemy’s location, they took cover first.
“Haa… haa….”
Pekorino and Almond hid behind the same tree, though it was a bit too thin to conceal them both.
“Th-this is pretty cramped. Shouldn’t we move?”
Ting!
Another strange sound pierced the air.
Crack!
A Soldier in front collapsed.
Now only seven Joseon Soldiers remained.
But Almond had identified the enemy’s nature.
‘Crossbows.’
Genoese Crossbowmen.
Rome’s elite unit wielding the finest crossbows crafted in Genoa.
“Brother, what do we do?”
“You go out. It’s your fault anyway.”
Almond answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“Wait, you said earlier it wasn’t my fault!”
“When did I?”
In fact, Almond had never said it wasn’t Pekorino’s fault.
He’d only said it was bound to happen eventually.
hahahaha
Pecorino ㅠㅠㅠ
-Pecorino’s crying lol
“Ugh… I-I’m going then.”
Pekorino made a strange sound—whether a whimper or a sigh—as he prepared to move to another tree.
Ting!
The moment Pekorino took a step, the enemy’s crossbow fired.
Almond already had his bowstring drawn taut, aiming.
Whoooosh──
Then, a thick bolt came flying through the brush.
The instant he spotted it, Almond released his taut bowstring.
──Clang!
Arrow and bolt collided mid-air, sparks erupting.
“Gasp!? Br-Brother! You didn’t abandon me!?”
Haha why are you getting all emotional about it lol
Isn’t that basically half-abandoned? lol
I deliberately sent it out to check the enemy’s location.
(Fact) I just used it as a ward.
Then, from far away, I heard Danggeun’s voice.
“Nine o’clock from the direction we were advancing! Left side!”
Almond immediately turned toward that direction and fired another shot.
Pekorino also shot in that direction and fired back.
But then, thud!
‘The sound…?’
The sound felt off.
The sound of kicking an empty can.
Ting!
Instead, another bolt came flying from over there.
Crack!
A tree fell down.
Perhaps because they’d discovered the position, none of the Joseon archers were hit by the bolt this time.
‘What is this. It sounds like only one person shooting. But they’re blocking attacks too….’
Hidden by the brush, I couldn’t see clearly enough to know for certain.
“Spam! Cover fire!”
Almond shouted as he charged forward.
“Yes! Ham!”
Spam and several Joseon archers unleashed a barrage of arrows toward the opponent.
With this, they wouldn’t be able to concentrate on Almond’s side.
‘Wait.’
But suddenly, an ominous premonition struck Almond.
Ting!
The sound of the enemy firing their crossbow again.
Normally, they wouldn’t be able to shoot this way because of the covering fire.
‘It’s aimed at me.’
Astonishingly, the bolt came flying straight toward Almond.
I couldn’t deflect it with arrows. I had no arrows prepared in advance.
Instead, Almond immediately spun around and dashed backward.
As if turning his back to the opponent and fleeing.
Thwack…!
-??
-What
-Gasp
-Did it hit???
A sharp impact struck his back, and Almond stumbled momentarily.
However, he quickly got back up.
“Hah.”
He had blocked it with the shield strapped to his back.
-Scary
-Insane
and lol
-But the shield got pierced??
-This is?
This luck is absolutely insane lol
The shield had blocked it, but the bolt had pierced through the shield.
The longsword strapped alongside the shield on his back had stopped the bolt at the last moment.
‘Wow. I barely survived that.’
Blocking it with the longsword was pure luck.
“Fire again! I’m moving!”
Almond discarded the pierced shield and sprang back up, charging forward once more.
“He’s approaching again!? It’s impossible!”
“It’s fine!”
The distance might have widened slightly.
If I got hit again while running, my armor could be completely pierced this time.
But there was no choice.
‘If I let them fire the crossbow again here, they’ll target someone else, not me.’
If they aimed at another soldier instead of Almond, the number of Joseon Archers would decrease further.
If the numbers dropped to around five, we couldn’t inflict meaningful damage.
Almond made his decision here.
He raised his index and middle fingers upward.
Click.
At that moment─
[Militia]
──Boooom!!
All of Almond’s armor burst apart, and he began accelerating at tremendous speed.
[Movement Speed Increased 150%]
[Piercing Power Increased by 150%]
-Scary
-Using it here?
-Ah!
Rat-a-tat-tat──!
I dashed toward the bushes where the enemies were hiding in an instant.
“Here!”
Shing!
Almond drew his longsword and slashed through.
Crack!
Beyond the cleanly severed bushes, the true form of those thugs was revealed.
“!”
Iron Tortoise.
That was my first impression.
-A phalanx?
-What the heck is that
-Shield wall scary
-Wow that’s insane lol
‘Such perfect organization.’
If the Spanish forces were wild beasts acting individually, Rome was a complete living organism.
Especially this shield dome tactic—it was nearly impossible to execute without perfect teamwork.
Even the slightest deviation in movement would cause shields to collide or gaps to appear.
Yet they even considered the convenience of the crossbowman firing from within.
It was no exaggeration to call it a living, armored monster.
Click.
From within that monster’s carapace, the loaded crossbow’s prod snapped into position.
The bolt was aimed directly at me.
‘Here it comes.’
I widened my eyes.
I had to focus. One moment of carelessness at this distance and I’d be hit.
I needed to see where he was aiming.
‘The heart!’
Twang…!
The sound of the crossbow firing echoed out.
I dodged to the left.
Whoosh─
The bolt grazed my collar.
The bolt that flew past shattered an innocent tree behind me.
──Crash!
“You… you dodged?! At this distance?!”
Beyond the hidden helmet, the Roman soldier’s blue eyes widened in shock.
They were close enough to see each other’s eye colors.
He dodged a crossbowman’s shot from that distance?
It was no accident.
Being professionals themselves, they could clearly recognize that Almond had deliberately evaded the bolt.
“Stab that bastard! Run him through!”
Sensing the danger, the shield wall surged forward, attempting to impale Almond.
But then, covering arrows rained down.
Thwack-thwack-thwack!
“Arrows! Incoming!”
Clang! Twang!
Joseon arrows embedded themselves in shields or ricocheted away.
“Damn it! Where did that bastard go!?”
“What?”
“That guy who came up front before! I can’t see him!”
Almond had vanished from their sight.
The critical weakness of this perfect spherical shield dome formation.
The helmets already restricted vision, and with shields blocking everything, there was virtually no field of view.
This is why the tactic required extensive training.
“Never mind! We just need to hold this position! Crossbowmen! Shoot anything you can see!”
It was sound judgment.
If we maintained the shield wall like this, we would win.
We could successfully defend the 2 o’clock expansion.
The crossbowmen inside would keep firing bolts, albeit slowly.
We couldn’t breach this shield wall.
The Gakgung wasn’t a crossbow—it couldn’t pierce armor, let alone shields.
Even drawing with full concentration, shields were impossible.
“Right! Just shoot anything visible! Even with full concentration draw, shields can’t be pierced!”
But Almond was different.
He had activated the Militia faction.
Though rarely noticed, the Militia faction provided buffs beyond just movement speed increase.
‘Piercing power increase.’
One of the Roman soldiers recalled that faction bonus.
“No way! That bastard used Militia too!? If he uses full concentration draw with that, the shields will break!”
The shields would break.
But surprisingly, even that wasn’t a problem.
“What… if they all used Militia, the shields might break, but they can’t pierce our heavy armor!”
Even with shields broken, they couldn’t penetrate the Roman Heavy Infantry’s armor beneath.
“So just maintain formation──”
So maintaining formation was all that mattered.
The moment that conclusion was reached.
──Twang!
Almond released the bowstring.
Rome’s forces had completely lost track of Almond’s position.
“!?”
Whoosh!
Because of that, they couldn’t comprehend the situation for a while.
They hadn’t even anticipated it.
Why an arrow burning with white light was illuminating the interior of the shield wall.
Rather, they couldn’t accept it.
“…What?”
That arrow had pierced through the microscopic gap between the shell plates of this iron-clad monster, penetrating straight through the crossbowman’s skull inside.
And that same arrow had even pierced through the neck of the shield soldier positioned behind him.
“….”
Silence fell among Rome’s forces for a moment.
…Thud!
One of Rome’s shields that had been blocking Joseon’s arrows head-on toppled forward.
With the shield gone, the exposed soldier cried out urgently.
“J-Jen! Block in front!”
Block it. Lift it up. They shouted desperately.
But there was no chance for that.
“Fire!”
Boom boom boom!
The arrows from Joseon’s archers came raining down in unison through the gap where the shield had fallen away.
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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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