Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 431

433

“Everyone, retreat!”

The order came unexpectedly from the leader gladiator of Horror Veresuz. Retreat was not a common tactic for this team, which primarily focused on offense. However, in this situation, it was unavoidable.

The front was blocked, making it difficult to cross the river, and Beomseok, Tiela, and Riza were launching deadly surprise attacks from the surrounding forest, already taking out two of their comrades. To avoid an absurd defeat, they had to leave this place, and the only way was to retreat.

A throwing star flew past the 12th gladiator, who was quickly backing away, with a sharp whistling sound. She managed to dodge it, as she was wary of her surroundings, but she couldn’t block the arrow attack coming from the opposite side. She was too focused on the throwing star to notice Tiela’s sniping attempt hidden in the forest.

“Alright. Reorganize the ranks!”

The Horror Veresuz gladiators, having escaped the iron bridge, retreated almost to the stands and formed a battle line. This was to prepare for a charge as soon as the God Knights emerged.

Losing three comrades, this tactic wasn’t entirely foolish, but their instincts were always geared towards attack, so they couldn’t help it. Horror Veresuz’s growth strategy was to maximize the excitement of the matches through exhilarating offensive battles.

This had made their popularity almost equal to that of the championship-winning teams, generating huge revenues. No matter how much they were pushed back by the God Knights in terms of power, they couldn’t abandon their offensive instincts for money.

“Alright. Let’s prepare to charge as well.”

Beomseok, having emerged from the forest, joined the main force. Riza and Tiela also returned, standing in their respective positions, ready to attack. The formations of both teams, with their sharp points forward, were gradually closing the distance, looking for an opportunity to attack.

Although tense, Beomseok’s gaze was free of anxiety. He didn’t think the God Knights, who had qualitative and quantitative advantages, would lose even in a head-on collision.

“Charge!”

The first to attack was Horror Veresuz. As expected, Beomseok smiled and gave the order to attack in response.

“Let’s go!”

Soon, the gladiators of both teams clashed in the middle ground, wielding their weapons and engaging in a fierce battle.

The main force at the forefront was, without a doubt, Tiela. She led Shaila and Rapine, breaking through the center and tearing apart the Horror Veresuz formation. Following behind, Beomseok and Yoshia, along with their mid-tier comrades, pushed hard, successfully dividing the enemy formation.

‘Damn. At this rate, we’ll all be taken down!’

The leader gladiator of Horror Veresuz gritted her teeth as she saw their formation scattered. She fully realized the power of the God Knights. With the addition of powerful offensive options like Tiela and Yoshia, the God Knights had been reborn as a completely different team that they couldn’t handle. Left with no choice, she gave her comrades a final order.

“Everyone. Target the enemy leader!”

The Horror Veresuz, split into two, made a wide detour and rushed towards Agelia, the leader. They were attempting a last-ditch assassination of the leader.

She was currently ranked as a C0-level gladiator, considered the only weakness of the God Knights. However, Agelia was ranked C0 not because of her weak combat power, but because her survival rate was not low at all. It was due to her dual shields and quick feet. And beside her were powerful guardian gladiators such as Seiya and Rezaris.

Soon, Horror Veresuz’s surprise attack failed, and they were instead surrounded by the vanguard and mid-tier gladiators of the God Knights, who belatedly joined the battle.

“Take them all down!”

Beomseok commanded everyone while rushing towards the 9th gladiator. She desperately blocked Beomseok’s first attack, but was struck in the waist by Tiela’s sword strike, who followed up, and knelt on the cold ground.

Excited, the audience jumped up and roared.

“Well done, God Knights! Finish off Horror Veresuz!”

“Now’s your chance! End the match quickly!”

The power of the Beomseok and Tiela pair was immense. The Horror Veresuz gladiators were easily defeated by their combined powerful strikes. And the encouraging fact was that Tiela took most of the credit. She had already scored 6 kills in this round alone.

In the end, Horror Veresuz couldn’t hold out any longer and knelt miserably before the power of the God Knights. While the leader, the 1st gladiator, was being defeated, the only damage the God Knights suffered was Seiya’s arm being disabled by a surprise attack.

– The God Knights have become too strong. Especially the combined attack of gladiators Oh Beomseok and Tiela is terrifying. The Horror Veresuz gladiators are being cut down in an instant, and there is no countermeasure.

The announcer nodded at the commentator’s words.

– Yes. That’s right. Especially the achievements Tiela has made in this round are very encouraging. She has already scored 6 kills in the first round. We’ll have to see the Ancient Warriors match today, but based on the current results, she will likely surpass Levia, who was ranked 11th, and reach the threshold of becoming an S-class gladiator.

– Hahaha. This is interesting. Tiela may soon be re-ranked as an S-class gladiator. Her former team, Forest Elves, and other teams that targeted her must be quite jealous.

– Ah. Yes. Anyway, Tiela’s transfer seems to have been a great success. In her former team, her performance was greatly restricted due to conflicts with the coach, but now she has come to the God Knights, who fully support her. Moreover, she has fixed her chronic weaknesses, so it remains to be seen how high Tiela will rise in the future.

– Hahaha. Yes. I’ll look forward to it too.

The God Knights team members, who returned to the dugout triumphantly amidst the cheers of the fans and the praise of the commentators, sat on the bench and rested. As expected, the first round ended so quickly that there was a high possibility that the starters would play in the second round as well.

However, unlike usual, Diana replaced everyone except for Tiela, Yoshia, and Jelsomina, along with a few other gladiators, with the second string to prepare for the second round. Currently, the God Knights have a total of 28 available players. Although the number is still small compared to other teams, they had enough reserve power.

If the opportunity arose, it was necessary to let promising players participate and gain match experience. The second-string players were valuable resources who would become the main force or substitutes for the God Knights in the future.

After a long break, as the gladiators who would participate in the second round headed to the entrance tunnel, Beomseok approached Diana.

“Hehe. Diana. Horror Veresuz seems to be in a hurry.”

The reason Beomseok smiled was because Horror Veresuz sent out their main force in the second round. It was understandable because they needed a victory, but he didn’t feel anxious. The God Knights gladiators who participated in the second round were not easy opponents either.

“Yes. I was already expecting it. In order for Horror Veresuz to gain points through this match, they need to win at least one round, but as you know, the first round ended too quickly.”

“But we won’t lose, will we?”

“Well, I don’t think we’ll lose at least. Because our God Knights are strong.”

Currently, the God Knights’ power consisted of Beomseok at the S1 level, and Tiela, Shaila, Nikita, Yoshia, and Rezaris at the W0 level. Riza, Kazella, Seiya, and Bertia were at the W1 level, and Rapine, Oscar, Jelsomina, Jermia, Iphis, Herse, Cathy, and Eirene were at the W2 level.

In addition, Rebecca, Matilda, Violet, Renka, Reimei, Hestia, and Venus were at the W3 level, and there were only three C0-level gladiators: Emma, Agelia, and Rin.

There were a total of 18 gladiators above the W2 level participating in today’s match. Even though they were second-string, they couldn’t possibly be pushed back by Horror Veresuz, which mainly consisted of W1 to W2 level gladiators. No, with some W0 level or higher gladiators such as Tiela and Yoshia included, they were superior in terms of power.

Of course, even if the main force was largely absent, the possibility of defeat was not very high.

“Hehe. I guess so. Besides, our home is not an easy place.”

“Yes.”

After that, as the match began, Beomseok watched the screen. He was curious to see how Tiela would perform without him. It was only when she performed well here that her true value would be revealed.

‘Good. Not bad.’

The Horror Veresuz team was currently stopped on the plain, waiting for the God Knights to enter. They seemed to have bitterly realized how reckless the initial iron bridge attack was after their defeat in the first round. In response, the God Knights’ main force had emerged from the iron bridge and formed a battle line, and Tiela was crouching in the forest, preparing to snipe.

A moment of silence flowed. Both teams were only watching and had stopped moving. The God Knights had no reason to attack as they had formed a battle line, and Horror Veresuz could not easily launch an offensive because the opponent’s power was slightly superior to theirs.

“Horror Veresuz. What are you doing! Where did that boldness to only charge go!”

“Kekeke. Did you become cowards after losing in the first round!”

The audience’s jeers were poured out on Horror Veresuz. The more passive side was the God Knights, who had adopted a battle line, but the home fans never jeered at the cheering team that was fighting well.

Soon, Horror Veresuz slowly began to advance, approaching the God Knights’ main base.

“Alright. Everyone be careful. You never know when a sniper will come.”

The gladiator that Horror Veresuz was paying attention to was, of course, Tiela. Her archery was the best in the world. If they were careless, they could be sniped and suffer great damage.

Moreover, Tiela was in the forest, making it difficult to send a marker. She was skilled in jungle warfare, so sending someone would be like sending a delicious prey. But they couldn’t safely send three or four people. That would weaken the main force, and they wouldn’t be able to withstand the God Knights’ all-out attack.

Seeing Horror Veresuz’s hesitation, Seiya gave orders to everyone.

“Everyone! Change to a pursuit formation!”

Changing the formation abruptly in a situation where the enemy was approaching was a rather dangerous attempt, but she didn’t hesitate at all. Gladiator matches were a battle of momentum. If the opponent was intimidated, the end of the offensive would be weak. In times like these, they had to push the opponent by attacking.

“The God Knights are changing their formation. Charge!”

An arrow landed precisely under the feet of the Horror Veresuz’s vanguard gladiators, who were running out all at once. Tiela had imprinted her presence on them as they moved hastily. In the meantime, the God Knights, who had finished changing their formation, launched an all-out attack.

“Charge boldly! We can win!”

The two teams, mixed together, engaged in a fierce battle. However, with the God Knights gaining momentum, Horror Veresuz began to be pushed back. Taking advantage of this, Tiela, who was hiding in the forest, quietly pulled the bowstring and locked on to the 7th gladiator, who was slightly sticking out to the side.

Without fail, an arrow that flew quickly with a bounce accurately struck the 7th gladiator’s right chest. The 1st gladiator gritted his teeth as he saw her eyes slowly stiffening with an absurd look.

He knew that Tiela’s specialty, sniping, had begun. But as of now, there was no way to stop her. There was someone on the team who could handle archery, but it was difficult to engage Tiela in close combat.

There was a big difference in archery skills, and the opponent had a cover called the forest. Still, there was no other choice. If they left her alone, they didn’t know what kind of damage would occur.

The 1st gladiator shouted to the 4th gladiator.

“You deal with Tiela!”

“Okay!”

The 4th gladiator, pulling out the bow hanging on his back, bounced out. However, he was hit directly in the abdomen by an arrow that flew in succession and slowly collapsed forward. While the 1st gladiator was at a loss, the God Knights’ main force unilaterally charged, finally breaking down the Horror Veresuz formation.

“No! Maintain the formation!”

However, it was difficult to recover a formation that had once collapsed. Soon, Oscar widened the gap even further by wielding a greatsword, and the formation was completely divided by Rapine and Nikita’s swift entry.

Soon, the Horror Veresuz team’s gladiators, shrinking from the continuous barrage of arrows, were surrounded by the onrushing mid-tier gladiators of the God Knights and began to fall one by one. It could be said that the result of Tiela’s power, the synonym of terror that surpassed Prisika at home, was unfolded in the Rima City Colosseum.

“Go! Go!”

Beomseok, who was in the dugout, clenched his fists and shouted, encouraged by his team members’ performance. He was encouraged by the fact that Tiela was putting on a good fight on her own, despite his concerns. With her performance, Horror Veresuz was collapsing completely.

Diana, with a pleasant smile, approached and said.

“Now. Even if Master rests, we don’t have to worry about home games. Tiela is doing so well.”

“Yeah. Now I can rest a little easier during the season.”

Beomseok was replying with a bright expression. He had been continuously tired from contributing to the team’s victory.

In particular, he suffered considerable physical loss due to performing recklessly in matches against strong teams. So he often took breaks during the season, but he was disappointed more than once because the team did not get good results. But with Tiela’s addition, he was able to enjoy his vacation with peace of mind when he met a weak team at home. This would definitely be a great help to the God Knights’ challenge for the championship in the future.

“Well, then, Master. Let’s go welcome our victorious team members.”

As soon as those words were spoken, the cheers of the fans echoed in the stadium. The God Knights had won this second round as well. Beomseok and Diana went out to the entrance to greet the hardworking team members.

On this day, the God Knights easily defeated Horror Veresuz with a set score of 3 wins, sending them home, by winning even in the 3rd round in which Beomseok participated.

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

It feels like summer is going away now. The weather is getting cooler, and the students are complaining about the start of school. Hahaha.

Then everyone have a nice day. I’ll see you again tomorrow.