Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 501

“Hehe. Terly. Let’s take it easy.”

The power struggle continued briefly. Terly, familiar with the terrain, signaled his subordinates for help. However, only Gladiator No. 18 joined him. Amidst the chaos, another subordinate was fighting Prisca. Still, her addition was enough to separate Beomseok.

“Tch. I said let’s take it easy.”

“Hehe. I can’t do that.”

Terly smiled, not wanting to show weakness. But inside, he was uneasy. With his comrades falling one by one around him, he couldn’t face Beomseok with peace of mind.

“Now. You’re my opponent!”

Prisca, having finally defeated Callas, rushed over to take on Gladiator No. 18. This meant Beomseok and Terly could face each other one-on-one, potentially ending the match sooner.

Clang. Clash. Clang. Clang.

Amidst the ongoing chaos, the duel between Beomseok and Terly continued. Terly barely blocked the long spear with his shield and tried to evade by stepping back, but he couldn’t escape Beomseok’s continuous spear attacks.

Terly’s movements were completely blocked by the powerful offensive that seemed to dominate all directions. Fortunately, Beomseok was only pushing him back and not landing any fatal blows.

However, Terly soon wore a dumbfounded expression and knelt on the ground. Nikita, who had been facing Gladiator No. 23 behind him, had struck the back of his head with a short spear. Beomseok hadn’t been trying to defeat Terly all along, but merely driving him to become prey for his subordinate gladiator.

– Beeeep! Match over!

As Round 3 ended, Beomseok slung his long spear over his shoulder and wore a pleasant smile. This made the score 2 wins and 1 loss. It could be said that victory was within reach. Of course, if they lost in Round 4, the score would be tied, creating a dangerous situation, but Beomseok was confident that wouldn’t happen. Some of the main gladiators who would participate in Round 4 included Beomseok, Prisca, and Tiela.

Beomseok walked towards the dugout amidst the enthusiastic boos from the home fans.

“Hehe. Good work, Master.”

Diana’s expression, as she greeted him, was truly bright. She seemed to be confident of victory now too.

“Good work? It’s only natural. There’s no way our main force can’t beat the Ancient Warriors’ second string. Hehe.”

“That’s true, but with this victory, we can say that we’ve crossed one of the most important hurdles towards winning, reaching the 80% mark.”

“Hmm. I suppose so.”

Diana pulled his arm and led him to the bench.

“Now. Rest comfortably. You’ll be tired if you play two rounds in a row, so it’s better to rest now.”

“I guess I should.”

Beomseok sat on the bench and closed his eyes. With plenty of time, he planned to take a nap. The break time was very long because Round 3 ended so quickly. There was enough time to take a good nap.

– Round 4 is scheduled to begin soon, so both teams’ gladiators should come out to the entrance tunnel.

Shortly after, Beomseok got up again at the sound of the broadcast that rang in his ears. Then, he put on his gear and left the dugout again.

“Now. Everyone knows the strategy for Round 4, right?”

“Yes!”

“Then, let’s form the formation now.”

At Beomseok’s command, the God’s Knights gladiators, who were in the center of the arena, began to form a battle formation. However, looking at the completed formation, it was possible to confirm that it was somewhat different from other battle formations. The first and second rows were made up of four people each, but the third row was made up of three people, including the leader, Seiya, and Beomseok was standing behind them.

Normally, a battle formation consisted of 4 people in 3 rows with the leader in the center.

‘I’m looking forward to seeing how effective the modified battle formation will be…….’

The disadvantage of a battle formation was that it was very slow to change direction. Because they had to maintain a density that did not allow breakthroughs while turning, their movement speed was slower than that of other attack forces. In addition, they were defenseless against sudden surprise attacks by the enemy.

Therefore, putting the leader in the back was considered extremely dangerous, but the God’s Knights’ battle formation was exactly like that. However, Beomseok was confident in his own way. If someone had the ability to interfere with the opponent’s movement and block surprise attacks, there was no more stable formation than this.

If they came from the front, the opponent had to break through two layers of defense to reach the leader.

If Beomseok played his part perfectly, this round could easily end in a draw.

– Beeeep! Match start!

As the match began, the Ancient Warriors gladiators were slowly moving to the side. Having been gladiators for a long time, they knew the weaknesses of the God’s Knights’ formation well. If they could just get behind them, they could easily capture the leader, no matter how good Beomseok was.

Terly carefully ordered his comrades.

“Alright! Everyone knows what to do! First, focus on getting behind them. And if the formation falters, it doesn’t matter if it’s the front, just charge in!”

“Yes. I understand!”

The Ancient Warriors’ pursuit formation, which was rapidly moving from side to side and confusing the God’s Knights gladiators, suddenly moved forward rapidly. They had noticed that the opponent’s formation was slow to change direction. Now, if they brushed past the side and went to the rear, they could at least disrupt the God’s Knights’ formation.

“Go! Advance quickly!”

Irolita, who was moving quickly, stopped and deflected the spear attack coming from the front with her sword. She couldn’t possibly not know that it was Beomseok’s attack. In the meantime, the God’s Knights’ battle formation had finished changing direction and was blocking the Ancient Warriors’ path in a stable formation.

“Tch. It’s this after all.”

Terly gritted his teeth and pulled the formation back, staring intently at the God’s Knights’ battle formation. It seemed to have a big weakness, but at this rate, it would be impossible to break through easily. If Beomseok continued to interfere with their movement, it would be that much more difficult to attack the rear.

‘But it’s a bit difficult to go to the front……. Because we have to break through two layers of defense to reach the leader.’

One of the main factors that disrupted a battle formation was when the vanguard reached the leader’s location. If the leader was defeated, that round was lost. The side forming the battle formation had to choose one of two options here.

Either move the leader to the back or side, or maintain the formation as it was and have the leader block the vanguard. In the former case, the leader’s movement would cause the formation to collapse and be breached, and in the latter case, the leader would be in danger of fighting the enemy vanguard. Therefore, even in the latter case, if there were signs of the formation collapsing to some extent, the leader would be moved to the back and the division of the formation would be allowed.

However, the God’s Knights’ formation didn’t need to do that at all right now. The second defensive line could just deal with the vanguard.

‘Then, should we send a surprise attack team? No. That’s too dangerous.’

Terly shook his head immediately as if he didn’t like the idea. He thought that Beomseok could block three or four people sufficiently, and that he might even quickly annihilate the surprise attack team in cooperation with other God’s Knights gladiators nearby. If that happened, the Ancient Warriors, who were outnumbered, would have no choice but to accept defeat in Round 4.

Then, the fastest way to move through the side, like before, was the most suitable. Terly shouted to his comrades again.

“Let’s go again! Irolita, don’t stop this time!”

“Yes. I understand!”

After hearing her answer, Terly moved the formation back and forth, left and right, confusing the God’s Knights. And after confirming that the reaction was slightly delayed, he immediately ordered an attack.

“Now’s the time! Let’s go!”

Beomseok swung his long spear greatly towards the Ancient Warriors gladiators who were running quickly forward. But soon it was blocked by Leia and Irolita and was deviating from its trajectory. If they were breached like this, they would be giving up the rear where the leader was. But Beomseok was still not losing his composure.

Because the core of this formation was not just himself.

“Now!”

Soon, a long spear flying from the rear struck Callas’ shoulder on the side of the formation and passed by. It was Nikita’s surprise spear attack. Terly tried to stop the formation urgently after confirming that the formation was shaking due to this, but it was no use. Because the vanguard, including Irolita, was continuing to advance as they had already been ordered.

“Wait! We’ve taken damage! We have to retreat to recover!”

The Ancient Warriors’ pursuit formation, which had finally stopped, was providing the God’s Knights with a fragment of an attack. Their formation was very disorganized due to the sudden retreat order.

Not wanting to miss this opportunity, Beomseok shouted immediately.

“Enter Hammer Formation!”

At that moment, the gladiators standing in the front two rows of the God’s Knights’ formation, led by Eirene, all ran to the side and penetrated the Ancient Warriors’ vulnerable flank. Thanks to this, Irolita and Levia, who had been completely separated from the main force, looked at Beomseok, who was throwing spears, with bewildered eyes.

“What……. What’s going on?”

Irolita, who barely received the spear attack, quickly ran to the side with Levia. It was difficult for the two of them to face Beomseok and the three God’s Knights rearguard at the same time.

Naturally, it was right to escape in order to survive. However, there was no way Nikita would stand still. He immediately threw a surprise spear attack and stabbed the tip of the spear into Levia’s side, who had been watching Beomseok.

“Th, this!”

Irolita, who had barely escaped, looked at Levia, who had fallen to the ground, with trembling eyes. Following Callas’ partial incapacitation, Levia had been defeated as well, so she couldn’t possibly not know that the tide had turned in favor of the God’s Knights. Even though a considerable number of them were made up of second-string players, they had Beomseok, Prisca, and Tiela.

“Everyone, retreat to the back and reorganize the formation!”

Terly welcomed the returning Irolita and reorganized the formation. Since they had become disadvantaged due to the damage from the previous attack, they had no choice but to focus on defense.

‘Hmph. You’re going to defend? Don’t you know that’s the road to defeat? Good, I’ll do just that if you want. Hehehe.’

Despite being the perfect opportunity to attack, Beomseok maintained the battle formation as it was. There was nothing bad about it for the God’s Knights.

The current round record was 2 wins and 1 loss. If they didn’t attack here and drew, they would face Round 5 with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. The situation that would unfold at this time was too obvious.

If they didn’t want to lose, the Ancient Warriors would have no choice but to focus on attacking in Round 5. Then, the God’s Knights could easily defeat them with a stable defensive formation and take Round 5.

Naturally, there was no need to risk attacking in this round, even at the cost of wasting the stamina of key gladiators, including himself, and risking defeat.

“Alright. Let’s take it easy this round. Don’t get too heated up until they attack!”

A silence flowed through the arena for a while. Terly, realizing that the God’s Knights were aiming for a draw, was restless. He had hoped that the opponent would be emboldened by this advantage and attack, but unlike his wishes, they were not moving at all. If things continued like this, it was obvious that today’s match would be in danger. He had no choice but to worry.

‘But we can’t go. The current force is somewhat weak to break through the opponent’s formation. If this kind of damage happens just once, the match is over.’

Currently, two of his teammates had lost their combat power. No matter how he looked at it, an attack seemed impossible. In the end, he looked at his own dugout, unable to make a decision, and asked the coach for his opinion. Soon, the old coach shook his head. He seemed to be aware that attacking now would be even more dangerous.

In the end, Round 4 ended with both teams only exchanging glances and returning with a draw.

“Great! If we just get a draw in Round 5, we win! Then today’s match is as good as won! Hahaha!”

The team atmosphere became friendly with Beomseok, who returned to the dugout and laughed heartily. The gladiators who would participate in Round 5 were the strongest God’s Knights main force. With the battle formation available, a draw seemed easy.

Diana greeted him and said.

“But you have to be careful. If you make a mistake and lose, it’s like pouring ashes on a done meal [ruining something that was already successful].”

“Hehe. Don’t worry too much. Even if we make some mistakes, the Ancient Warriors can’t overcome the current unfavorable situation.”

“That’s true. And if Master protects the leader, Seiya, the possibility will be even lower.”

Beomseok glanced at Diana. It seemed that she was trying to prevent him from playing as a free-roamer [a player who isn’t assigned to a specific position]. After all, if you were to say the most worrying situation for the God’s Knights right now, it would be the leader’s absurd incapacitation. Certainly, for today’s victory, it was better for him to be in the rear.

“You want me to protect the leader?”

“Yes. For victory.”

“Then it’s no fun…….”

“But you did it in Round 4. I don’t think there’s anything you can’t do again.”

Beomseok, who licked his lips, nodded helplessly. No matter how much he was the owner, she was clearly the coach of the God’s Knights. He thought it was better to grant her request since it wasn’t often.

“Well. If you want it, I can’t help it.”

“Hehe. Then, while you’re at it, how about taking on the role of leader?”

“Leader? Hey. That’s not going to happen. It’s too boring.”

“But if Master is the leader, we’ll never lose. It would be even better if you went out as a Dual Shield [a gladiator with two shields].”

“Do I really have to do that?”

“Yes. Just for today.”

“Well. Fine. Sigh~”

Beomseok finally accepted at Diana’s earnest gaze. Anyway, being in the rear was boring in itself. There was no way he couldn’t be the leader.

============================ Author’s Afterword ============================

Everyone, have a great day. I’ll see you again tomorrow.