Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 148

“Kyaaaaak!!”

The sword clattered away, knocked from his grip by the force of the blow. The 14th gladiator, his right arm numb from the unexpected impact, stumbled back, surprised. As he reached for the one-handed sword at his waist, Hestia’s blade flashed across his chest.

“H-How…?”

As the 14th gladiator succumbed to paralysis and knelt, Hestia confidently declared,

“What did you expect? Rushing at me like that is practically begging me to take you down.”

The 14th gladiator, watching her retreating figure, finally understood the strategy their coach had devised for the day. Even if he had exposed an opening in his haste, the fact that she had defeated him so easily meant she was a formidable opponent. With so many skilled gladiators in God’s Knights, they couldn’t guarantee victory even with all their main gladiators in the match. Naturally, their stamina would be severely depleted, making the upcoming League Cup and the match against Peace Griffins even more challenging. Since they planned to forfeit against a few teams anyway, choosing God’s Knights was the right decision. They had a 25-point lead over those teams, so even winning half of their remaining matches would ensure their ranking remained secure.

Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.

“Hestia, you’re here! Stop that 7th gladiator!”

Beomseok, engaged in a fierce battle against both the 7th and 11th gladiators, couldn’t have been happier to see Hestia’s reinforcement. Despite his recent improvements in stamina, facing two main gladiators from the Black Cats team was proving to be a bit much.

“Hey, watch out.”

The 7th and 11th gladiators, looking disconcerted, encouraged each other as they faced Beomseok and Hestia. However, they couldn’t easily block their attacks. Hestia, with her powerful strength and swordsmanship, pressed forward, while Beomseok supported her from behind, unleashing a series of deadly strikes.

The 7th gladiator looked back at their base with a desperate gaze. They were in a state of near collapse and needed support, but they themselves were in dire need of help. Realizing they were likely to lose this round, she exchanged a meaningful look with the 11th gladiator. It was time to execute the plan the coach had told them about.

‘What are they up to?’

Beomseok wore a strange expression at the sudden, aggressive attacks from the 7th and 11th gladiators. Their strikes were filled with force, but openings were appearing everywhere. It felt like they were squeezing out strength rather than using the natural power of their bodies. Such attacks, no matter how strong, could be easily countered. Forced movements always required preparatory actions, which presented an opportunity for their opponents.

He stepped aside to avoid the 11th gladiator’s sword aimed at his head and immediately slashed at her neck. Her sword was rotating wildly due to the forced attack, leaving a massive opening.

Thwack.

The 11th gladiator staggered and fell, a faint smile on her face. She had been easily defeated by Beomseok, but the plan was a success. Sensing something amiss, he quickly looked at Hestia, who was fighting the 7th gladiator. He wondered if their absurd actions had some other meaning. However, seeing the 7th gladiator easily falling to Hestia in the ongoing melee, he roughly grasped the situation.

‘These guys, could they be…?’

No matter how strong Hestia was, the 7th gladiator from the Black Cats team shouldn’t have been defeated so easily. In fact, based on their previous fights, the 7th gladiator was slightly superior to her.

The 7th and 11th gladiators were launching ridiculously reckless attacks and being easily defeated. Anyone who didn’t know the situation would have scoffed at their stupidity, but Beomseok, having heard about the Black Cats coach’s general strategy from Lucas, immediately understood their intentions. They were deliberately throwing the match to conserve their stamina, as their defeat seemed inevitable.

Infuriated, Beomseok threw his sword to the ground with force. Even if the coach had presented this as a mutually beneficial strategy, it was too much.

With a deeply furrowed brow, he turned towards the dugout even before the match was over. He knew that continuing the match was pointless. Just as he reached the tunnel leading to the dugout, the match ended. Erica, along with Hestia who had joined the main camp, had defeated the last remaining captain gladiator. Fortunately, this prevented Beomseok from being disqualified. According to the rules, a gladiator who left the arena during a match would be disqualified.

Diana rushed to meet Beomseok. She could sense that he was in a very foul mood.

“M-Master, what’s wrong? Why did you suddenly…?”

Beomseok sighed deeply and waved his hand as he entered the dugout.

“You don’t need to know. But who exactly is the coach of the Black Cats team?”

Diana, who couldn’t possibly not know the coach of a rival team, immediately replied,

“His name is Lobs.”

“Lobs? What kind of guy is he?”

“He was the coach of the Olles Warriors team within the Irs Central Government until three years ago. Then, last summer, he became the new coach of the Black Cats team.”

“Really? Why did he quit being a coach three years ago?”

Diana tilted her head and said,

“Well, I don’t know the details, but there was a major conflict with the management.”

“Why? Wasn’t his record good?”

“No. His record was quite good compared to the team’s squad. However, rumor has it that his opinions clashed with the management. The management wanted exciting matches that would entertain the fans to make money, but Coach Lobs insisted that he only needed to focus on winning, regardless of the means. Eventually, he drew the ire of the fans by playing extremely defensive matches that resulted in continuous draws, and the management ultimately issued a dismissal notice.”

Beomseok, sitting on the bench, frowned and said,

“So, he’s a results-oriented guy.”

“Yes, that’s right. But he’s a very capable coach, and the teams he leads always achieve good results.”

He was exactly the kind of person the Black Society would like. Their motto was simply ability. They couldn’t help but admire Lobs, who achieved his goals regardless of the means. No wonder Lucas had mentioned his coach so warmly during their call earlier.

‘Tch. Even if a pro is judged by results, I don’t want to lose to a guy like that… The problem is, even winning feels dirty. There’s no fun in fighting guys who swing their swords like that just to lose.’

Beomseok sighed deeply and looked at Agelia, who was sitting nearby, with a strange gaze. He had intended not to include her after hearing Chairman Lucas’s advice, but now his thoughts had changed 180 degrees.

In fact, the Black Cats team had used this absurd strategy because they were reluctant to fight them with all their might, but there was no harm in winning. If they could secure a win by fielding their second-string team, the Black Cats could reduce their stamina consumption and increase their chances of winning the championship.

Beomseok had no intention of losing, but he wanted to throw a wrench in Lobs’s strategy. Agelia was only fast, and her swordsmanship was worse than an amateur’s, so if they made her fight head-on, she would definitely be a burden to the second-string team they were sending out this time. If they played it right, they could lose the 2nd and 4th rounds and fight their main forces in the 3rd and 5th rounds.

At that time, Beomseok planned to exhaust the 7th, 11th, and 14th gladiators by toying with them for 20 minutes. Even though there were only three of them, they were all key players in the Black Cats team, so he could put some physical strain on them, even if it was slight.

It might be a petty tactic, but he had no other way to relieve the anger swirling in his head.

“Diana, put Agelia in next time.”

Diana glanced at Agelia and replied,

“Is that really necessary? Given the Black Cats team’s squad, we can win by pushing through with force. And Agelia was only brought in for her speed, which isn’t needed in the current situation.”

“I know. That’s why I’m not going to use her for her speed.”

Diana’s eyes widened. If not for her speed, then she was only good for being a sacrificial pawn.

“D-Do you mean to deliberately lose this match?”

“No. I don’t intend to lose this match. I just want to make this 2nd round difficult.”

“But why?”

“So we can fight the three main Black Cats players who played today twice. If we win this round, we’ll only get to fight them once.”

Diana looked confused. She couldn’t understand why he wanted to make an easy match difficult.

“Is there perhaps another reason you can’t tell me?”

“Yes, there is. So please.”

In that case, there was nothing she could do. Even though she was the coach, Diana, an elf under his command, couldn’t refuse his wish.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll do as you wish. But Master, you know that our team is strong even with the second-string players, right? Everyone except Agelia is at the level of a main player in the Area League. If the Black Cats team fields their second-string team in a normal way, without any tricks, we don’t have much chance of losing. They’ve put a lot of promising players into this match, and they’ll all be coming out in this round unless there’s an upset.”

Beomseok nodded with a calm expression. God’s Knights didn’t have a deep roster of gladiators yet, but thanks to their efforts, they had filled the number of gladiators they could send out with decent talent. There was no way they could lose to the Black Cats team’s second-string team, which included many promising players.

“I know that. That’s why I’m telling you to include Agelia.”

“But it would be more certain to tell the kids to lose on purpose than that method. Should we do that?”

He immediately shook his head. If he told the gladiators to deliberately lose for the sake of his goal, he would be no different from that Lobs guy. Once they were in the match, they had to do their best. The reason he was angry was because the 7th and 11th gladiators hadn’t fought properly. Until then, he had just been annoyed at being manipulated by others.

“No, there’s no need to go that far. Anyway, include Agelia and try to create the weakest possible squad.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Diana returned to the coach’s seat and began to write down the list of players for the 2nd round. Since this round was a gladiator composition for defeat, she formed the squad with the least skilled team members as much as possible.

And soon, the 2nd round began. The audience cheered loudly as they saw the God’s Knights’ second-string team entering. They were expressing their delight at the reappearance of Agelia, a local celebrity. The announcer in the arena was also giving detailed explanations to inform the viewers gathered in front of the TV of the current scene, pouring out his enthusiasm. Although she had left the athletics world, she had once been recognized by the locals as a promising athlete who would conquer the world’s athletics scene.

– It’s Agelia! That Agelia has appeared here at the Lima City Coliseum, not the Lima City Stadium today.

Agelia, who had been walking with a slightly awkward expression, didn’t forget her star instincts and waved to the audience and the hovering bird cameras with a skilled gesture. The cheers grew even louder, and many fans who knew her called out her name and expressed their affection.

“Hahaha. Agelia! Do well today!”

“You absolutely can’t lose!”

However, none of these people thought that Agelia would be active today. They knew through news articles that her swordsmanship skills were greatly diminished. They recognized her participation as just a fan service from God’s Knights.

Some time later, Agelia, standing in the center of the arena, gripped the two-handed shield in her hand tightly and stood behind Venus. When Beomseok wasn’t around, she was the one who taught her two-handed shield techniques, so she was unconsciously relying on her. She couldn’t help but feel nervous about her first gladiator match.

“Venus, please take care of me.”

“Yes, Sister. I’ll definitely protect you, so don’t worry.”

Beeeep!

With the start of the match, both teams clashed on the bridge. The pushing and shoving continued, but in the end, it was God’s Knights who gained the upper hand. They successfully pushed the Black Cats team off the bridge and completed the crossing.

At that moment, the Black Cats team’s formation split into two. It was a deliberate division, not a breakthrough, so the vanguards of God’s Knights retreated without rushing forward. They might be forming an ambush team to strike the rear.

“Everyone, protect the captain and watch out for ambushes!”

As expected, the Black Cats gladiators wore disappointed expressions and regrouped into one formation. The biggest weakness of God’s Knights’ second-string team was Agelia. It was a gamble worth trying for the Black Cats.

Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.

The two teams clashed head-on again, engaging in a fierce battle. However, contrary to Beomseok’s intentions, God’s Knights’ second-string team gradually applied pressure and led the battle to their advantage. It seemed that their inherent skills were unavoidable.

After a while, the Black Cats’ second-string team fell one by one, and eventually, the victory of the 2nd round also went to God’s Knights.

‘Tch, there’s no helping it. I’ll just have to mess with them in the 1st round.’

However, even this didn’t go as Beomseok wanted. All of the 7th, 11th, and 14th gladiators he had been targeting were excluded from the 3rd round’s roster. He didn’t know if it was because they thought there was no more possibility after two losses and wanted to preserve their main forces, but Beomseok had no choice but to get even more angry. Soon, the 3rd round turned into a frenzy, and the Black Cats team was brutally crushed to the point of being pathetic.

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

Everyone, have a comfortable weekend. I’ll see you again next time.