Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 736
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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 206
68. Monster Warfare (3)
I never believed from the start that I could win this map with just an Age 2 rush.
While climbing the ladder and after receiving the crossbow bolts, the archery skill I displayed was truly exceptional, which did turn the battle variables in my favor.
However, the area where the infiltrating Joseon forces could operate was ultimately limited to ‘the fortress wall.’
No matter how much I harassed them here, the game wouldn’t end.
It’s the same as modern warfare. No matter how much the air force devastates a region, ground forces must be involved to actually seize and occupy that land.
But ancient fortress wall maps were treacherous—ground forces pushing in early could trigger any number of variables.
Uphill terrain, narrow entrances, high walls. There were simply too many obstacles that Age 2 technology couldn’t overcome.
Just as Mok-i held back nearly five times his troop count on the fortress wall stairs, Persia could do the same on the ground.
Of course, with Joseon forces on the fortress wall, one of those obstacles became favorable to my side, but that alone wasn’t enough to breach all the way to the main base.
Persia’s turtling expertise was formidable.
Moreover, this was the third fast archer rush.
The enemy commander Elifer was already warmed up from defending against early rushes.
If I had forced ground troops in to end it in Age 2, the odds would have been low.
So I prepared a different strategy.
I designed for Age 4.
I learned something from the last match. Against Persia, if I tried to end without seeing elephants, there really wasn’t much of a winning condition.
Persia has overwhelming efficiency in food and gold resources due to their civilization’s unique characteristics.
This is different from France, which simply mines gold quickly, or Rome, which has easier financial management.
They just don’t spend much money.
There are no upgrade costs.
So the later the game goes, the more advantageous it becomes—they can stay in one region for a long time.
Without depleting that region’s resources quickly, they spend almost nothing.
This is where Persia’s turtling strength comes from.
Even investing massive defense towers in one area becomes profitable.
Because they’ll use that region for a very long time without abandoning it.
And there’s no reason to spend money going forward.
So despite such powerful pressure in Age 2, Persia endured and even created expansions.
Even taking resource damage, they survive because they spend so little.
The moment when Persia finally has to spend big money.
‘Elephants.’
That was exactly it—elephants.
I focused on this point.
‘Ultimately, I have to kill the elephants to kill Persia.’
If all of Persia’s accumulated resources were invested in elephants, then eliminating them would cause Persia to collapse.
‘Trying to kill them before that just wastes resources.’
Before elephants appear, Persia doesn’t actually crumble easily.
Even taking resource losses, they still have money left.
Even fighting with the same number of troops, in terms of actual spending, Persia is essentially fighting with about half the army.
Even if Joseon won that battle, the financial loss would continue to mount.
From the start, the scales were tipped against them.
The moment the balance of those scales shifted.
That was when the elephants would emerge.
Mooooooo──
It was paradoxical.
Perhaps they were pouring everything into this moment for the elephants’ arrival.
Yet instead, they were driving themselves toward a cliff.
‘Perfect. They’re here.’
So when Sarang saw them deploy the elephants, I was actually timing something else.
The moment when the elephants would destroy the very fortress wall that had been protecting them.
Craaaaaash…!
Unable to endure the Joseon Archers standing atop the fortress wall, Persia made the choice to destroy it themselves.
To a third party, this would have appeared as Persia’s impulsive and sudden move.
But from my perspective, this was entirely calculated territory.
The reason I held the fortress wall to the end was to make Persia destroy it with their own hands.
I made it so they had no choice but to break it.
And once the fortress wall crumbled….
[Cavalry Charge]
Boom!
The countless cavalry positioned near the center of the map, waiting for orders, now surge forward.
The reason all reinforcement troops were converted into cavalry.
[Occupation]
To seize Persia in one fell swoop.
The tall, thick ancient fortress walls had vanished without a trace.
Now this massive cavalry charge could pour in from any direction.
Swoosh!
Bread, leading from the front, drew the commander’s sword and roared.
“Chaaaaaaarge!!!”
* * *
Age 4 already.
King Gul’s eyes widened in astonishment.
‘Just how fast are his commands?’
Even in the midst of this brutal battle, he’d advanced to Age 4 several moves ahead.
It was incredible multitasking.
But what truly shocked him was something else entirely.
The cavalry charge units gathered densely near Joseon’s main base.
The moment the fortress wall crumbled, they surged forward.
‘So this was the plan all along.’
Now I understood exactly why Joseon hadn’t sent reinforcements, why they’d refused to retreat from the fortress wall even at the cost of losing archers.
‘They were destroying the entire wall.’
Joseon had used the enemy’s own elephants to demolish the enemy’s fortress wall without a single siege weapon.
From the early rush to the hill tank strategy—everything had been designed with minimal resources to destroy the fortress wall.
‘Is this really a rookie?’
A live match. And the Round of 16 in an international tournament at that. If they lose this game, they go home.
Could someone truly be a rookie and execute a build like this in such circumstances?
‘Or is he just… a god?’
A tremor ran through his eyes again.
‘What’s happening to me?’
King Gul attributed his reaction to nationalist fervor and grabbed the microphone again.
“That was it!? Joseon’s been gathering forces for this the entire time!!”
“What!? But why now!?”
“Because the fortress wall just completely collapsed!!!”
“…Huh!? Y-you’re right!?”
-Insane
-Wow
-Crazy
-No way
-Right, insane
-Whoa
Gasp!
The chat exploded with exclamations pouring down the screen.
It couldn’t be helped.
They all had the same understanding of what Joseon had been doing since Age 2.
The moment Persia destroyed her own fortress wall with her own elephants.
The moment she spent her own resources demolishing her own defenses.
Joseon’s cavalry was ready.
In this moment where every thread wove together into one seamless tapestry, one couldn’t help but feel a chill run down their spine.
In this moment where all those currents converge into one, I couldn’t help but shudder.
I couldn’t help but anticipate what was coming.
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
“LET’S GOOOOOO!!”
Nearly eighty percent of the audience had risen to their feet.
Some clasped their hands in prayer, while others raised their arms high, riding the wave of excitement.
Thud-thud-thud-thud…!
Roughly eighty cavalry riders thundered forward, kicking up clouds of dust.
As they crossed the entire map, they rapidly approached the nine o’clock position.
“Mobility! Joseon strikes fast and withdraws fast, spending minimal resources! This is Choi Sun-sin’s Joseon! Siege weapons? They’re too slow! Use them wrong and they become siege toilets! I won’t use them!”
“At least against Persia, this strategy seems to be the right call!?”
Hahahahaha, you got me, hahaha
A toilet that wraps money is creepy.
-Who is he talking to?
Admiral Yi Sun-sin’s arrival is amazing.
Siege weapons are kinda like Leecher lol
“Right now the cavalry! If they charge in! The elephants are too slow! Too slow! They can’t block them one by one!!”
“Persia’s forces are currently scattered fighting Joseon near the fortress walls, and their formation is completely broken!!”
Persia had only recently finished their last battle.
Though their troop numbers were roughly comparable, they weren’t prepared to fight properly.
Moreover, they never imagined Joseon would charge at them with cavalry.
It was a perfect strategy by Joseon.
But then—
“Ah. But!”
Sometimes even a perfect strategy is influenced by luck.
Persia experiences several strokes of fortune here.
First stroke of luck.
[Elephant Movement Speed Research – Complete]
The elephants’ movement speed had suddenly increased.
“Ah… the elephant speed upgrade is done!?”
“This means….”
Second stroke of luck.
“Two additional elephants being deployed right now will collide with them!?”
Two elephants that had been carelessly ordered to the main base, carrying roughly ten soldiers on their backs.
Their path intersected with Joseon’s cavalry route.
“If the speed upgrade hadn’t happened, they wouldn’t have actually met!!”
With the elephants’ movement speed now approaching that of basic horses, the probability of them meeting skyrocketed.
“Uh oh…!”
In the end, they were revealed to Persia’s vision.
“Ah! I see! Persia has noticed!?”
[Full Speed Movement]
Elifer had already modified the elephants’ movement orders.
Kwaaaaaang!
The elephants charged forward with tremendous force.
“Ahhh! Ju, we’re meeting in the middle!?”
“This, this is Joseon! We need to evade! We absolutely must evade!”
“Cavalry against elephants is terribly inefficient! Especially since they’re speed-upgraded!! Everyone’s getting knocked over and it’s chaos!?”
Elephants were fundamentally strong against other mounts.
With their overwhelming size and durability, they could crush smaller mounts into helplessness in an instant.
“The elephants are entering at such, such a perfect position!?”
Two elephants pierced precisely through the cavalry’s flank and charged in.
Kwaaang──
Three or four soldiers flew from the tusks, and another three or four tumbled from the kicks.
Even if not all were killed, being removed from combat was the same result.
“Aaaaagh! Joseon! This is unfair! So unfair!!!”
-lol they’re actually mad irl
-ugh…
-that korean sentiment tho
-was that King Gul riding that horse just now?
-damn rng ruined the game
-lmao
Kuguguung!
Dust erupted high into the air from the violent collision.
“Ah. Joseon! Your cavalry formation just broke! But shouldn’t the rest still charge forward!? Don’t engage the elephants! You need to penetrate the main base!”
The flank was broken, but the vanguard still charged ahead.
Under normal circumstances, that would have been the right call.
However, the Joseon cavalry turned their heads to face the elephants.
“Eh!? Are they fighting!?”
That’s right.
Joseon had never intended to avoid the elephants in the first place, had they?
Perhaps Persia’s discovery of them wasn’t Persia’s fortune.
Shing!
Bread and Coffee simultaneously drew their swords.
It was Joseon’s fortune.
“Ah! Joseon has something to rely on! They do! Those cavalry breaking away and charging over there!? That….”
“Ahhh!?”
* * *
A deep breath escaped me.
Watching the massive gray creature across the sandy plain, Bread recalled that moment.
「Cavalry against an elephant?」
It was when I had been practicing against Persia with Cookie.
Cookie had insisted that Cavalry Charge could take down an elephant, and we’d begun the practice.
Of course, it wasn’t against an actual elephant controlled by a Persia player, just an AI opponent for training.
「Right. If you just get the path right… you can charge through near or between the legs and deal multiple hits with your blade in an instant.」
He was saying to charge while slashing at the running elephant’s legs.
The fact that cavalry would be charging in the opposite direction of a running elephant was already nothing short of a suicide attempt.
「This is far too dangerous.」
I had clearly answered that way back then.
「In actual combat….」
*Shing!*
Yet now, I drew my blade.
[Cut Along the Path]
The command was given.
There was no choice.
“Chaaaarge!”
“Yaaaaah!”
My platoon followed behind on horseback, while Coffee’s platoon headed in another direction.
With the elephant between them, the two platoons split as if divided in half.
*Clop clop! Clop clop!*
I had to draw the path…
The elephant and cavalry were charging straight at each other.
The distance was closing at an incredible speed.
In this situation, the assistant commander had to draw the path. So the soldiers wouldn’t be confused. So they wouldn’t collide with each other.
But that couldn’t possibly be easy.
No, it was impossible.
My hand wavered anxiously through the air, moving back and forth.
I couldn’t grasp where to draw or how it would form.
That was when it happened.
*Whoooosh!*
A beam of light descended, and the path was drawn.
Between the legs!
Half of my platoon would charge between the legs, the other half circling around the outside to slash.
“T-There!?”
“This is….”
The soldiers assigned to go between the legs panicked.
“Just go!”
She drew a second sword in addition to the Commander’s blade.
Then she glanced briefly to her right.
Her eyes met Coffee’s.
He nodded.
Keep going as planned.
Bread refocused her gaze forward.
Whoooooosh──
“!”
The piercing sound of wind rushing past her ears.
Boom!!
The elephant’s massive legs.
Like a colossal concrete pillar being hurled by a typhoon, it bore down upon them.
Yet the cavalry wedged through the gap and charged forward, swinging their blades.
“Keep going! Charge forwarrrrrrrrrr!!”
They cleaved through the tempest.
Shhhhwack!
Some soldiers misjudged and were sent flying by the elephant’s legs, while others survived.
Shhhhwack!
Shwack!
They all swung their swords like madmen.
Bread roared at the top of her lungs, wielding her blades in both directions.
“Keep charging! Don’t stop──”
Shhhhwack!
Her sword danced, trailing crimson blood.
‘What?’
Then her vision suddenly went dark.
Thud.
“─Ugh!?”
The world inverted as she tumbled, and in the distance her horse flipped upside down and thrashed.
It was her own mount.
Crash.
[Health 15%]
Rolling through the dirt, her health drained away.
Fortunately, she hadn’t died.
‘I have to get up.’
She quickly pushed her upper body upright.
That’s when it happened.
Whoooooosh──
The elephant’s ivory rose like a white tower toward the sky.
Then, slowly, it tilted downward.
“Falling…?”
The elephant was collapsing. Its massive shadow drew ever closer to Bread.
‘I killed the elephant, but…’
I had taken down the elephant, but I was going to die. There was no time to dodge.
In this brief moment, I could only blame myself.
An Assistant Commander’s life was not merely one life.
‘This is a losing trade.’
Boom!
A heavy thunderous sound erupted.
“!?”
The elephant had definitely collapsed.
Yet I remained unharmed.
Why?
Buuuuuu──!
Another elephant.
The tusks of another elephant were supporting the falling corpse.
‘What is this…?’
I looked up.
The rider atop that elephant was not from the Persian army.
It was Joseon.
‘Almond?’
It was Aamond.
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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
—————