It’s not that kind of malicious broadcast

Chapter 32 – GetDevoured Will Make It Work Somehow

The Holy Knight, draped in a blue mantle and armed with sword and shield, was more wary of the sky than the enemy in front of him.

Two archers, stationed on sturdy spires, were dominating the battlefield, raining deadly arrows unchallenged.

It felt like being an infantryman helplessly bombarded by artillery. A moment’s lapse in vigilance could lead to a fatal arrow, a constant fear gnawing at him.

Fighting under the strain of anticipating arrows at any moment was no easy feat. And the Warrior in front of him seemed well aware of the Holy Knight’s torment, continually throwing feints to disrupt his focus.

The Holy Knight’s teeth ground together as the Warrior pretended to swing his double axe again, only to retract it playfully and backpedal.

He couldn’t count how many times it had occurred, but now the Warrior was taunting him from out of range, balancing the axe reversed on the ground with one finger.

Anger surged, and just as he aimed to close in on the Warrior at the end of the taunt—

A piercing beep and a flash of red flickered briefly in the Holy Knight’s vision.

He swiftly dodged left, barely catching the sight of a massive arrow impaling the spot where he had stood.

Far more despairing than the spent ranged foresight ability was knowing that archers had already marked him.

Those filthy archers always prioritize archers-mages-warriors-paladins.

For them to target a shield-bearing Holy Knight meant that allied mages were already driven back.

The balance had to be restored quickly. With that in mind, he pressed forward towards the Warrior, but—

-Thunk

An arrow loosed by an archer struck his shield with a thunderous clatter, effortlessly turning his forceful charge into a laughable failure.

Having seen the arrow at the last moment, he barely raised his shield in time, yet the impact nearly buckled his back leg.

Archers wielding bows over 2 meters long were akin to walking ballistae.

For a Rogue or Mage, an arrow could deal fatal damage anywhere but the limbs.

Regretting his hasty attack, he tried to reform his stance despite his unresponsive arm—

But couldn’t change the fact that he had wasted over 2 seconds due to that single arrow.

And those 2 seconds were an opportunity the Warrior, with deadly eyes and a massive double axe, wouldn’t miss.

-Bam!

Seeing the double axe raised high, the Holy Knight hastily crouched back behind his shield, feeling the breath knocked out of him as if struck by a drum.

His allies were already losing ground in the center. If he fell here, this battle would be over.

He needed to pull back and create space to counterattack while his opponent prepared another strike—

-Thunk

Another arrow forced him to reposition his shield, doing everything he could to avoid the immediate critical hit.

Bound in place like a scarecrow, he was an easy target for the Warrior.

-Bam!

An overhead strike, aimed to split his shield and him in half. The Holy Knight’s knee buckled, and the bottom of his shield dug into the mud.

The Warrior, like a batter winding up to smash a baseball, saw the immobile shield and prepared a sweeping attack, putting all his strength into it.

A perfect strike in every aspect except for the need to stand still and concentrate his power. If he could block it with his shield, he might survive, albeit with a broken arm.

But his left arm, holding the shield, no longer responded. Perhaps it had already broken on the second impact.

Realizing his imminent death, the strength drained from the Holy Knight’s grip.

His heavy one-handed sword dropped to the dirt just as the Warrior’s massive axe cleaved through his armor, tearing his body in half.

Five minutes into the battle. The second death of the Holy Knight, signaling the defeat in the central stronghold skirmish.

***

『InsideOut has been defeated!』

『Valentine (Warrior) → InsideOut (Holy Knight)』

Even as the hope of victory dimmed, Ark, frantically casting spells from the Blue Spire held by her allies, couldn’t let go of hope.

Partly because she dreaded facing a demotion match if they lost this game, but also because, somewhere in her heart, a faint hope had grown that ‘GetDevoured would make it work somehow’.

However, objectively speaking, the situation was dire.

The enemy, the Red Team, had brought an extreme early-game composition of 2 Holy Knights, 2 Warriors, and 2 Archers.

The two Holy Knights, equipped with aggressive traits, pushed the line, while both Archers, outfitted with longbows, bombarded them with maximum firepower. The Warriors, after hunting 4-5 groups of neutral mobs in the underground to gather the minimum required experience points, jumped into the central skirmish.

Within just 3 minutes of the game starting, the central skirmish begins, and this strategy could overwhelm any composition with sheer firepower in the first engagement.

If the opponent brought a lax composition without proper front-liners, like 2 Mages, 2 Holy Knights, 1 Priest, and 1 Rogue, it was all the better.

The powerful spells of the Mages were still on cooldown. The Rogue would be wandering the underground, shouting things like ‘Hold on, guys.’

Supported by the Archers’ bombardment, the two Holy Knights on the Blue Team who dared to call themselves the frontline would be shredded like paper, the panic-stricken Priest mocked as the center was taken.

Once the two Archers moved to the central spire they controlled, it was game over.

A dual longbow Archer duo, once they secure the center, has no weaknesses.

Although longbows are heavy, significantly reducing movement speed and preventing the selection of evasive traits, posing a high risk until they take position—

Once they are set up, they can bombard from the central stronghold to the vicinity of the enemy stronghold with ridiculously high damage and unrivaled deterrence.

=The Red Team has captured the central stronghold!=

‘We have to move now.’

Right after the central stronghold was taken.

Surely, the two Archers would be just starting to leave the Red stronghold, dragging their heavy bodies towards the central stronghold.

“Holy Knight with me to the underground. If we don’t take out the Archers, it’s over.”

『ArcEuthanizeYou (Holy Knight): On my way』

“Rogue joining?”

『CravingWarmAmericano (Rogue): In a moment』

A timer started ticking in Ark’s mind. If the Archers with longbows had started moving right after securing the center, they had about a minute left before they reached the central spire.

It was a tight window to ambush them in the underground path between the Red and central strongholds.

Running from the safety of the spire to play the unwanted role of an assassin, Ark and the only available Holy Knight quickly traversed underground and successfully emerged from behind the enemy.

“What the hell is this.”

What greeted them in the underground tunnel was not helpless Archers but two fearsome Warriors.

Warriors lunged at them, activating acceleration traits and swinging their axes to cut down the Mage as if they had been waiting for this moment.

The Holy Knight quickly positioned himself in front of the Mage and raised his shield to form a defensive line, but—

-Thunk

-Thunk

『ArcEuthanizeYou (Holy Knight): $@*& Archers』

The very archers they aimed for were leisurely providing suppressive fire from somewhere. There was no time to waste on cursing.

“When the next arrow comes, I’ll use Emergency Escape.”

『ArcEuthanizeYou (Holy Knight): ㅇ LOL』

Frantically moving her hands to form the seals for her spells, trying to control the Warriors with CC while knowing somewhere in her mind that this resistance was futile.

In a situation where she had to constantly be aware of the arrows, the Holy Knight, already battered and drained of stamina, struggled 2:1 against Warriors swinging their axes from both sides.

Using Emergency Escape would only save Ark herself. Without time to halt the archers’ advancement, their chances had dropped below 10%.

The time for another volley was approaching.

With gritted teeth, Ark kept glancing skyward to time her Emergency Escape,

『Band has been defeated!』

『CravingWarmAmericano (Rogue) → Band (Archer)』

『ChiefRogueKiller has been defeated!』

『CravingWarmAmericano (Rogue) → ChiefRogueKiller (Archer)』

Following two completely unexpected announcements of victory,

『CravingWarmAmericano: Push the center』

A calm command came through.

TL’s Corner:

Come from behind win by GetDevoured.