Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 724

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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 194
64. The Elephant (2)
Sarang’s eyebrows furrowed.
‘What was that just now?’
They hadn’t followed the command.
I had clearly issued an order, but the soldiers hesitated.
‘What are they doing?’
I hadn’t anticipated a situation like this.
‘The national team doing this?’
What I was replaying in my mind was the early rush situation from moments ago.
Though it ended in Joseon’s failure, there had been a critical opening visible to my eyes.
If the Barbarian Soldiers feigned retreat while the Joseon Archers pressed forward, they could have dealt massive damage.
Yet only Almond moved as intended.
The rest all hesitated on the charge, and by the time they wavered, the moment had already passed. That brief opening was seized and squandered by Almond alone.
I issued a different command to the remaining soldiers—to detour around the gold mine.
That order alone was executed properly.
What was the difference?
Almond has no fear and doesn’t harbor particular doubts?
I don’t know.
I can’t understand what the difference is.
This never happened in solo queue.
Or even if it did, there was no significant difference.
The enemies were in similar situations anyway.
But Persia is different now.
They move as one.
Anyone can see they are a single team.
‘A team….’
My expression grew increasingly rigid.
Of course, even if a commander issues orders, they might not land properly.
But the opponent is different.
They move as one unified force.
Why aren’t we one?
“Do I have to go just because you say so!? Huh?”
“Hey. Woo-joo. Hold back. Just hold on….”
“I’m a dealer too! Damn it! I need investment too! I’m not doing this disgusting work! You bastard!”
Gulp.
I swallowed the bitter memory along with my dry saliva.
‘For now… the 3 o’clock era.’
The battle formation in the 2 o’clock era had already largely concluded.
Joseon needed to prepare for the 3 o’clock era.

* * *
The Mongolian Grasslands, Winter.
A place where the desolation of winter clung coldly to the earth.
With the grasslands nearly vanished, sheep were scarce, and deer were naturally few and far between.
It was a map where obtaining food through hunting was far from easy.
Meanwhile, Persia couldn’t hunt wild boar, the most food-efficient resource.
However, they possessed a faction bonus centered on agriculture.
[Blessing of the Muslims]
In exchange for being selective about meat consumption, the land receives a blessing. Agricultural efficiency becomes superior to other civilizations.
This applied not only to Persia, but to other Muslim civilizations as well.
Like farming itself, the agricultural bonus grew more potent as time passed, eventually enabling Persia to raise elephants even in this barren land.
Buuuuuuuh—!
Thud.
As the vibration of the elephant’s first step resonated across the field, the Persian audience’s cheers engulfed the arena.
“The elephant’s defense upgrade is already complete right now. This is… as I keep saying, Persia’s upgrades only take time and are essentially free!?”
“Ah… Can Joseon even pierce through this with the Gakgung’s firepower right now!?”
“The Shingi-jeon needs to come out.”
If the Shingi-jeon were available, it would be perfect against the elephant, but that’s an Age 4 unit.
There’s no way something like that could exist in Age 3.
“Then what’s the substitute?”
“Well, siege weapons would need to be produced first….”
Siege weapons dealt proper damage to the elephant.
This was because the elephant’s defense type was classified the same as ‘structures’.
However, Joseon wasn’t producing siege weapons at all.
They hadn’t even constructed a siege weapon production facility.
“Did they just exclude this possibility?”
Was this a play that excluded the elephant’s appearance? Caster asked, seemingly flustered, but King Gul shook his head.
That couldn’t be the case against Persia.
“That won’t be it. Rather, the Supreme Commander is reading this situation perfectly right now.”
-Supreme Commander lol
-Supreme Genius lol
-lololol
-What about Orbit Admiral?
-???: Cartesian coordinate system blah blah blah…
“Reading the situation perfectly when the elephant comes and there are no siege weapons!?”
“By stopping it without producing siege weapons… Joseon will have an opportunity.”
Siege weapons are expensive.
Not quite as much as an elephant, but they’re still costly units regardless.
Especially once related upgrades are pursued, the gold mines are quickly depleted.
“Joseon is aiming for a comeback. They’re increasing their soldier numbers to the maximum to block it. That’s why! Ah! Right! They’re withdrawing archers now!? This is it!”
Archers began streaming out from Joseon’s main base.
Instead of defending against the elephants, they were pulling back and launching an offensive into enemy territory.
“W-wait, if they withdraw that many archers, this could….”
The Caster was flustered by Joseon withdrawing archers from their main base to send against the enemy, but King Gul was thrilled.
“Joseon! This is why they didn’t deploy siege weapons! They increased soldiers instead! This is the winning move!? If they let more time pass like this, there’s no way out anyway! They’re secretly pulling troops to harass the enemy!”
In King Gul’s eyes, this was a winning move.
It was only possible because Joseon had an exceptionally large infantry force instead of siege weapons.
“They didn’t even deploy mounted archers! No crossbows either! Just pure soldiers! They’re sending some of those soldiers into enemy territory to disrupt elephant production!”
The Joseon Commander was preparing the most cost-effective defense possible.
Another notable aspect was the composition of the soldiers.
“Wait, but they deployed 30 swordsmen!? Wouldn’t archers be better for defense!?”
It was the highest proportion of swordsmen among all the Joseon compositions they’d seen so far.
“Elephants are nearly immune to ranged weapons, so you have to attack them with swordsmen. Instead of siege weapons! They’re sacrificing manpower! That’s it!”
They were all units designed to hunt elephants.
-Well drafted for cost efficiency
Are you switching people again? ㅋㅋㅋ Is it grad school?
Ah, so that’s how you block it – by switching people lol
Korean-style defense is crazy.
-Professor Choi’s form is insane~
“I think it’s a good judgment! Especially those archers going toward Persia now! If they infiltrate well and just kill the farming workers! It’ll disrupt elephant production!?”
There were several ways to stop elephants.
Cutting off the food supply was the most efficient.
“They can block up to five elephants advancing right now, but if more keep getting added beyond that, they might not be able to stop them. It could be a good strategy.”
“Ah. Joseon, but do they not even know there are five elephants!?”
The problem was that this operation was being executed under the assumption of stopping five elephants.
“Elifer manages resources so well that, well… it would be hard to imagine five gathered.”
That was right. Joseon would have had difficulty anticipating that five elephants could have accumulated.

* * *
Upon the fortress walls of the Joseon main base.
Countless archers were positioned there.
I was one of them.
I had been assigned to the defensive unit, not the offensive one.
My fellow first-line archers were all stationed nearby as well.
This meant the commander truly believed defense was the more critical priority.
In other words, the Joseon forces launching the attack now were merely tasked with disrupting elephant production—not with truly severing the enemy’s lifeline.
The real decisive point, then, was here at the Joseon main base.
“If we just hold this position, we’ll win.”
Danggeun murmured, gazing toward the distant horizon beyond the fortress walls.
Boom-boom-boom-boom…!
As if responding to her words, the tremor of the earth became palpable.
Then, across the vast plains that Mongolia boasted, a gray cloud rose into the sky.
“They’re coming.”
Thump-thump-thump-thump──!
With a thunderous pulse like a massive warship departing, the colossal form of an elephant crested the distant hill.
Even from this distance, its overwhelming size was undeniable.
The bizarre, towering creature—as if the gods had erred in determining its proportions—carried humans upon its back.
The arrowheads of those mounted warriors were aimed at the Joseon archers.
And the elephant’s massive tusks were directed at the Joseon fortress walls.
Boom!
Boom!
With each thunderous footfall of the elephant across the grassland, my heart trembled.
“Roooaaaaaaaaarrrrr!!”
A deafening roar erupted.
Whether from the enemies or the Persian audience, I couldn’t tell.
The distinction was lost.
“Here it comes!”
Pangeo raised his hand high.
Gulp.
I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry.
“Ready your arrows!!!”
Grrrr-crack.
Even the menacing cry of the gakgung bows sounded pitiful today.
Thump-thump-thump-thump──!
With the elephant’s roar, its tusks rose like towering spires.
Simultaneously, intoxicated by excitement, its pace accelerated, growing faster and faster.
Boom!
Boom!
The Joseon Archers watched as the elephant loomed ever larger in their vision.
“Huff…”
My breathing grew shallow with tension, and the white light nocked at the arrow’s tip burned brilliantly.
It was almost time.
Kuuuung─
Pangeo’s eyes gleamed with intensity.
“──FIRE AWAAAAAY!!”
TWAAANG!
The Joseon Archers released their bowstrings in perfect unison at the command.
A cascade of snow-white arrows surged forward like a waterfall.
Those mounted on the elephant raised their shields.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Those who couldn’t shield themselves in time, or those unlucky enough to have arrows slip through the gaps between shields, tumbled from the elephant’s back.
In some cases, comrades even shoved already-dead corpses off the beast.
Yet still, the elephant charged forward relentlessly.
Now they were within the Persian archers’ effective range.
“Shields up!”
Whoosh!
Following the Assistant Commander Bread’s command, shield-bearing soldiers rushed in front of the archers and raised their shields.
Almost simultaneously, arrows from the Persian Archers rained down upon them.
Thwack…!
One shield even shattered from the impact.
It was because of their relentless rate of fire.
“With those numbers, they’re seriously no joke. Those small fry.”
Pangeo muttered from behind his shield, then raised his hand again.
“Draw again!!”
He meant for them to draw their concentration faction in advance.
“Aim properly at those on the elephant!”
“Yes!”
The elephant was now just before reaching the fortress wall.
“FIRE!!”
Whoosh.
Pangeo exposed himself above the shield and fired again.
Almond also seized every opening in the enemy mounted on the elephant and fired.
Thwack!
Several soldiers on the elephant fell once more.
This time it was more effective than before.
But the relief was short-lived.
“It’s, it’s ramming us!!”
The tusks of the leading elephant crashed against the fortress wall.
Boom──!
The entire world lurches.
The Joseon forces lose their footing and tumble like mollusks.
It felt as though they were standing atop a wave rather than a fortress wall.
“Get up! Get up now!”
“It’s right below us! Fire!”
The elephant’s head hide was so close I could see every grain of its texture.
Remarkably, the elephant’s back stood only slightly lower than the fortress wall’s height.
That’s how massive it was.
The Persian Archers mounted on the elephant’s back surged forward with nimble movements, burrowing into the fortress wall.
The elephant could even serve the role of a siege engine.
“Fire!”
“They’re coming up!”
“Push through!”
Both sides immediately drew their bowstrings toward each other.
Whistle!
Whoosh!
“Ugh!”
“Argh!”
“They’re coming up here too! They’re coming!”
Dozens of Joseon soldiers fell in an instant.
This was no longer a time to fight by command.
‘This position won’t hold.’
The fortress wall above the western gate was already overrun with Persian forces.
I had to retreat and fire from a better position.
Almond picked up a shield from a fallen shield bearer.
Then I bolted forward.
Thud!
Thwack!
Arrows embedded themselves densely in my shield, but it didn’t hinder my movement.
Thump.
After I drove the shield down like a stake.
I drew my bowstring again.
Creak.
Aiming didn’t take long.
I quietly released the string.
The arrow, blessed with about a second of focus, flew straight and pierced through a Persian soldier’s head on the fortress wall.
Thud!
“There! There’s also─”
By the time his head was pierced, I had already fired another arrow.
──Crunch!
The witness collapsed, becoming trampled beneath the feet of countless soldiers.
Numerous soldiers rushed past me, treading over those corpses as they charged forward.
“Kill them all!”
“Ahhhhh! Reinforcements!”
“Swordsmen!”
Joseon reinforcements. The swordsmen had been stationed on the other section of the wall and came charging down.
At this moment, Joseon reclaimed the top of the wall.
However—
“Wh…?!”
──Crash-crash-crash-crash-boom!
The wall crumbled.
All the soldiers standing atop it vanished from my sight in an instant.
As if they had never been there from the start, they all disappeared.
Instead, the gap was filled with blackish-gray dust.
And what revealed itself was gleaming white ivory.
Mooooooo──!
The western gate’s wall had collapsed. Pierced by ivory.
Boom!
As the dust cleared, a colossal gray figure cast its shadow.
It took its first massive step into Joseon’s main camp.
Boooom!
The ruined western gate was trampled and crushed.
‘It’s broken…’
Even I was left speechless, my mouth hanging open at the sight.
There had certainly been close matches before. Especially in scrims, Joseon’s main base had been breached countless times.
But I had never felt it collapse with such certainty and overwhelming force.
It didn’t feel like fighting people—it felt like fighting against a massive mountain.
‘This is…’
I drew my bow again, conviction settling within me.
‘I have to do something.’
If I couldn’t accomplish anything here and just took this blow, we would lose for certain.
Not just this match, but the next one too.
Ting.
Then, a command came down to me.
[Melee Weapon Usage]
Pings marked the numerous swords scattered across the wall.
[Attack]
An attack command followed.
Ping!
That order was unmistakably directed at the elephant itself.
Was it to kill the archers on its back?
No.
If that were the case, arrows alone would suffice.
[Elephant Hunting]
It was an order to kill the elephant, along with those riding it.

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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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