Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 129

131

Pee-eep!

– Yes. The match begins.

As the match started, the vanguard, led by Rapine, entered the city, their ankles submerged, and checked the crossing of the Muroba team’s gladiators. Behind them, the mid-tier gladiators followed, ready to provide support, and the rear, including the leader Mercy, closely followed, forming a formation. It appeared to be an ordinary pursuit formation. The Muroba gladiators, seeing this as a gift, were fully prepared to attack. Despite the clear difference in power, the Avand team chose a pursuit formation instead of a defensive one, leading them to believe they could easily win this round. The pursuit formation is a typical offensive formation that is highly effective in breaking through enemy lines, but conversely, it is vulnerable to enemy breakthroughs.

With a triumphant expression, the Muroba gladiators quickly moved left and right, looking for an opportunity to cross the river.

“Now’s the time! Vanguard, charge!”

For a moment, the Avand gladiators flinched, and before they could react to their movement, the Muroba vanguard gladiators jumped and attempted to cross the river. However, the gap they saw was a feint by the Avand team. They rushed in as if they had been waiting.

“Rapine, now!”

Instantly, the vanguard and mid-tier gladiators, except for Rapine, tackled the three Muroba gladiators who had crossed over, knocking them down. And the leader, Mercy, and the rear gladiators blocked the Muroba mid-tier gladiators who were following behind.

Rapine, held down by Illyes and a teammate, pinned down the target, Gladiator No. 7, and repeatedly struck the end of his chin with clenched fists.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Three accurate punches with full elasticity in her waist. The continuous powerful strikes in a situation where he couldn’t move caused Gladiator No. 7’s head to tilt strangely left and right. And after a while, a loud siren echoed through the arena, and the time on the scoreboard stopped. It was a signal to stop the match.

Rapine, thinking the attack had landed properly, gave a bitter smile and patted the shoulders of Illyes and the fellow gladiator who were holding Gladiator No. 7 tightly. In gladiator matches, where the rules are relatively simple compared to other sports, forcibly stopping the match like this rarely happens except when someone is injured. Clearly, Gladiator No. 7 had lost consciousness, and the sensor checking the wearer’s health status must have alerted the medical staff to his condition.

This was evident enough from the sight of the medical staff rushing out of the entrance tunnel of the Muroba team.

“Hehehe. Got him. Sent him off.”

The Avand gladiators, slowly getting up and picking up their scattered equipment, all sent bitter smiles towards the Muroba gladiators. It was to reveal that this injury was intentional.

At that moment, the medical staff who had just arrived took off Gladiator No. 7’s helmet and checked his condition. Then, they waved their hands at the announcer and put him on a floating stretcher. The Muroba gladiators, watching this scene, stared at the Avand gladiators with agitated eyes.

– This looks strange no matter how you look at it. The injury of Muroba team’s Gladiator No. 7 is not ordinary.

Following the commentator’s remarks, the announcer asked a question.

– Not ordinary? What do you mean?

– It seems like this injury was intentional.

– Why? It doesn’t seem like they broke any rules to me…

– Yes, that’s right. On the surface, there’s no problem at all. However, the tackle offensive and the fact that the rear gladiators, including Mercy, organically checked the opponent’s mid-tier crossing is very organized, but the attack on the downed opponent’s vanguard was too clumsy. They tackled him down, but why did Rapine drop her twin swords on the ground and only use her fists? If she stabbed Gladiator No. 7 in the abdomen with her sword, who couldn’t move, he would immediately be incapacitated and she could score a kill point. Moreover, if they had moved quickly, they would have had time to eliminate all the other vanguards caught by the other tacklers. Nevertheless, she kept punching him. And for some reason, Gladiator No. 7 was carried away due to injury shortly after.

The announcer swallowed hard enough to be heard. If they intentionally caused the injury, the problem became quite serious.

– So, the purpose of this tactic was to injure the Muroba gladiators?

– Well, I don’t know because I’m not Rapine, but the possibility is very high. The thing Muroba is most wary of right now is the occurrence of injuries.

– But, unless it’s an accident, you can’t injure someone by hitting them with your fists, can you? Isn’t that too much of an interpretation?

– Well, that’s true, but they may have used other methods in secret after diverting attention with a big punching performance. For example, the tacklers holding Gladiator No. 7 might have secretly used joint locks.

However, as a detailed replay screen appeared, the commentator became speechless. All the tacklers did was hold Gladiator No. 7’s arms and shoulders to the ground with their knees and hands. With this action alone, it was impossible to assume that Avand had committed a foul.

And after a while, the cause of the injury sent by the medical staff was a concussion. There has never been a case of intentionally causing a concussion in the history of gladiatorial combat. Gladiators mainly used swords, so they were not very skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

– Ah. I don’t think so.

– Y-yes, that’s right. It seems I misjudged.

Soon, as Muroba sent out another replacement gladiator, both sides formed a formation in front of the city as if nothing had happened. As Round 1 resumed, it flowed into a boring pattern. It was because the Muroba team couldn’t dare to attack.

Currently, Muroba has three key gladiators injured, all of whom were drafted from one World League professional team. If another injured gladiator occurred, the team would have to carry out the spring league with four key players missing. They were already struggling at the bottom, and they couldn’t sacrifice any more of their affiliated gladiators for a useless match that could relegate Muroba’s regional government’s pride, the World League gladiator team, to the Central League. This would not only be a loss for the professional team but also cause a lot of damage to the national team. Relegation means the outflow of many key gladiators.

Moreover, this injury seemed intentional no matter how you looked at it. However, it wasn’t a foul, so they couldn’t argue. Right now, the only option for the Muroba coach was to avoid the match.

Wow! Wow!

Round 1 ended in a dull draw, but the fans cheered and supported Avand team’s key players. Right now, the matches against Ionic and Landnic also ended in a draw in Round 1, so if things continued like this, reaching the World Cup final qualifying round was not just a dream. However, there were still many rounds left, so they were not letting their guard down.

“Everyone did well. Come inside and rest.”

With Clark’s praise, Avand’s key gladiators went to the bench with high spirits. Rapine, the star of this tactic, wiggled her ears and came to Beomseok’s side, fidgeting. She was waiting for her master’s praise. Beomseok, who knew this, stroked her hair and said.

“Good job, Rapine. Thanks to you, the Avand team has gained a big advantage. Now Muroba’s offensive will become very dull.”

“What do you mean? I just threw a few punches. Hehehe.”

“Hehe. But the problem is that they’re punches that no one can throw.”

While a friendly conversation between master and servant was taking place, Clark called Beomseok.

“Oh Beomseok. Come here.”

He patted Rapine on the back, got up from his seat, and walked towards the coach.

“What’s the matter?”

Clark looked over the arena from afar and said.

“What do you think of this arena’s terrain? Since the city passes through the center, it’s very disadvantageous for the attacking side, right?”

Of course. Beomseok had also failed to cross the river during league matches and had a hard time a few times, and once he lost the match with his key players. It became really difficult to manage the game if the opposing team was determined to check them. So, he went to the city hall a while ago to ask them to change the terrain, but he was notified that it was impossible due to the national team’s circumstances, and he had given up.

“Yes. A big gap is created when the attacking side crosses the river, so the same situation as last round happens frequently. So, it’s not easy for our Gods Knights team, which uses this as our home colosseum.”

“So, I’m thinking of changing the terrain, what do you think?”

Beomseok looked at him with a puzzled expression. This Lima Colosseum is not only the home stadium of the Gods Knights, but also the main stadium of the national team. It was made into a terrain that was advantageous for weak teams like this so that the relatively weak Avand national team could use it.

But the national team coach was proposing to change it, which he couldn’t understand. If it wasn’t for the wide city in the center in the last round, the strategy using Rapine wouldn’t have succeeded so easily.

“What’s the reason? Wasn’t the terrain originally made like this for the convenience of the national team?”

Clark nodded. But now the situation had changed 180 degrees. As Dragon Knights advanced to the Central League, skilled gladiators were flowing into the national team, and gladiators like Beomseok, Rapine, and Oscar from Gods Knights would continue to be added. In other words, it was necessary to create a terrain that was advantageous for strong teams.

“That’s right. But the situation has changed. Starting with Dragon Knights’ advance to the Central League, the Avand team is gradually becoming a strong team. The current terrain may be disadvantageous to our national team in the future. So, I’m thinking of changing the terrain a bit, what do you think?”

Beomseok had no reason to oppose it at all. Currently, the main force of Gods Knights is the strongest in the Avand region. There was no need to fight with a disadvantageous terrain.

“I have nothing to lose if you change it.”

“Hmm. Really? That’s a relief. Then there’s no reason for the city to oppose it. So, how should we change it?”

Beomseok, looking at the wide city in the center, put his chin on his hand and said.

“Well, it would cost a lot, but how about getting rid of that city?”

“Not only the cost, but we can’t get rid of that city because we don’t know how the future situation will change. We can’t just fill it with land and then ask them to dig it up again because the situation is not favorable. And according to the regulations, the terrain can only be changed once every four years.”

Well, it wasn’t like making the military do pointless work, and they couldn’t keep telling the city what to do. And even if they didn’t get rid of the city, they could create a terrain that was advantageous for the offensive team.

“Then let’s build a bridge. Then the attacking side can attack all at once without breaking the formation, so the disadvantageous situation will be greatly reduced.”

Clark nodded in agreement. It was still difficult if the defending side blocked the entrance of the bridge, but it could be said that it was a much more advantageous terrain for the attacking side than jumping across the city.

“That’s right. A bridge would be appropriate. Okay, then shall we suggest it to the city together?”

“Hehehe. I’d love to. But when are you planning to do it?”

“Well, the sooner the better. How about doing it as soon as this national team match is over?”

Beomseok tilted his head. The league started about ten days after today’s match ended. It could be said that the time to build the bridge was tight. And if they successfully advanced to the World Cup final qualifying round, the current terrain could be extremely advantageous for the Avand team.

“But is the construction period possible? The league match will be held ten days after this match ends. And if we advance to the World Cup final qualifying round, only stronger teams will gather, so the current terrain will be advantageous.”

Clark chuckled. The reason he was trying to change the terrain of the Lima City Colosseum now was not to win in the final round, but to allow the national team gladiators to learn how to fight against strong teams that would come out in the final qualifying round in a new terrain. Rather than hurriedly changing the terrain around the next World Cup, this would further increase the chances of advancing to the finals.

“Wouldn’t it be okay? If we build the bridge with prefabricated steel bridges, it would only take a day. And if our Avand team were to participate in the final round, would there really be a match that our team could win? Most of them are strong teams like Muroba, and even if there are weak teams, they are teams like Ionic, so it’s difficult for Avand to survive here. In that case, it’s better to use it as a training ground to prepare for the next World Cup.”

“Well, that’s true, but there’s no need to give up on the final qualifying round in advance, is there? We might get lucky and pass and advance to the World Cup finals.”

“Of course, you’re right. There’s no reason to give up in advance. But in order to advance to the World Cup finals, we need to win. Even if all six games end in a draw, the score is only 6 points. There are hardly any examples of such a team passing the group stage. If we only draw in a situation where we have to win, what will we do if we meet a strong team that is playing in the finals at this home stadium?”

Then there was no solution. The opposing team had no reason to cross the river recklessly, so in the end, Avand had to cross. Then the outcome of that match was obvious. The terrain of the home stadium, which is advantageous for carrying out a draw strategy, would hold back the home team.

“Of course, but will such a thing happen easily?”

“Didn’t a similar case happen today? If Ionic defeats and wins against the Landnic team in the next round, we have to cross over and defeat Muroba. Otherwise, there’s no final qualifying round.”

Beomseok closed his mouth tightly as if he had nothing to say. To win this match, they had to take at least one round. Fortunately, the Round 1 strategy dulled Muroba’s offensive, but if a situation arose where they had to cross over, that wide city would definitely be a big obstacle.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

Oh. Lotte won today. It’s a shame for SK, but it’s no fun if it ends too quickly. After all, the most fun thing about the playoff game is the scene where both teams fight fiercely in the last game. Hahaha.

Then have a good day. I’ll see you at the same time tomorrow.