Ch.35[Chapter 35] Preliminary Skirmish

“This is maddening. Nothing’s working.”

The commander of The Tentacle Explorer’s side, Yekaterina, sighed.

Her breath froze instantly upon contact with the cold air, scattering like smoke.

Yekaterina had attempted a sniper shot at Strelchi, hoping to break the enemy’s morale.

Given that Strelchi was larger than a bear, she could have inflicted significant damage by shooting anywhere on his body.

Above all, as an experienced sniper, Yekaterina possessed an effective trait on the battlefield.

[Trophy Head].

A trait that inflicts penetrating damage when firing at a designated target, and guarantees a critical hit if the target is a leader.

Thanks to this trait, which seemed to exist specifically for sniping targets like Strelchi, she had been able to secure advantageous positions in previous wars.

After all, the absence of an experienced commander would lead to a decline in the enemy’s overall morale.

However, never before had this trait felt so much like a burden.

All because of the anachronistic knight who suddenly appeared.

The shield-bearing knight who appeared out of nowhere deflected her bullet.

This happened because the effect didn’t apply to anyone other than her designated prey.

The Giant of Hundread Hands’ forces cheered at this dramatic scene.

Yekaterina bit her lip. She bit down so hard in frustration that her lip split and bled.

Strelchi is an experienced and capable commander.

Yekaterina knows this well.

Above all, this missed shot had the opposite effect of boosting enemy morale.

“Start firing at the top of the wall. Don’t aim for the wall itself, aim for the people on it. Mix in some bluffing to appear as threatening as possible.”

Yekaterina knew that Strelchi’s survival alone had already shifted more than half the momentum to the enemy.

But she wouldn’t say this out loud.

She just needed to create variables and twist the enemy’s intentions to find a path to victory.

…

Sir Dominic trudged through the snow.

Walking through snow that had piled up past his waist to his chest was exhausting and difficult, but Sir Dominic was plowing through it like a bull, moving steadily forward.

Sir Dominic wondered about this overflowing vitality, but the reason was surprisingly simple.

Among Sir Dominic’s traits, [Tanker] was one that fundamentally allowed him to fight longer and messier battles.

In other words, it was a trait that enabled him to fight better the more difficult the battlefield and the more physically challenging the situation.

Along with this trait, what Sir Dominic called a state of “happiness” also played a role.

Sir Dominic, who became “happier” the more pain he endured, was currently in a state where he barely felt any pain.

His “happiness” was a state where he could ignore physical exhaustion and force himself to act despite it.

“Hmm.”

But Sir Dominic wasn’t in a state to think about such complex matters right now.

A battlefield where he could properly fight after a long time.

And an emotion of happiness that made him feel almost insane.

“Hmm.”

Currently, Sir Dominic couldn’t think of anything but fighting.

This was why Sir Dominic could become a knight but never a commander.

However, the instincts of Sir Dominic in his happy state were as cunning and vicious as any beast or monster.

Sir Dominic instinctively knew that attacking the enemy’s main force would be suicidal.

He continued walking through the snow.

Toward the remaining two hills occupied by the enemy.

…

“The enemy has gone into stealth! Locate them with radar immediately!”

“Found them! 30 meters from the west wall! Looks like they’re planning to climb over!”

Strelchi frantically commanded the battlefield.

How long had it been since he felt like this?

In the previous wars, Strelchi had fallen to Yekaterina’s sniping and wasted precious time on revival.

In both wars, he had managed to revive just before the first war expansion, but by then he had to hand over command to the reinforcement commanders who arrived with the expansion.

But this time was different.

Ivan Strelchi shouted orders and pointed in all directions, dealing with enemies attacking from all sides.

Commanding after so long. A constantly changing battlefield.

Though psychologically exhausted, Strelchi smiled. He ran toward the western wall while issuing orders without pause.

He simply enjoyed the current situation.

After all, Strelchi was a beast who loved war.

Arriving at the western wall with a field shovel in his right hand, Strelchi delivered a convincing blow to the enemy strike team whose position had already been revealed by radar.

It was such an impressive persuasion that the target did a somersault while spurting blood from his neck.

“My father used to say, people need to be smart. That’s how you survive.”

In this battlefield filled with madness, Strelchi muttered while covered in splattered blood.

“He was right. With such soft heads, they can’t survive.”

Strelchi drove his sharpened field shovel into the crown of a stealthy rogue climbing the wall.

Just a little longer to hold out.

Just a little more.

When that time came, Strelchi could put down the burden of command that he had already enjoyed enough, and rampage more joyfully.

…

“Ptui. Why do we have to stay here anyway?”

The rat beastkin spat, chittering.

There were two beastkin on the left hill.

They each held a crossbow and a bow, sitting in the shade of a large oak tree planted on the hill, chatting.

“An enemy special forces team might come. We need minimal defensive forces to prevent losing the hill.”

“Come on, if special forces do come, could mercenaries like us really stop them?”

The owl beastkin turned his head 180 degrees to look at the rat beastkin.

His large eyeballs with small pupils stared as if he might devour him, but the rat beastkin, being an old friend, knew this was just a habit when he was bored.

“You’re the same. Waiting here until the war expansion? Is this why we signed up as mercenaries?”

The rat beastkin spat on the ground again. It was a habit of his, being naturally impatient and thoughtless.

“Don’t I know you? You spin your head 360 degrees when you’re bored. You must be so bored you’re doing it now! So let’s just leave right now! Even if the enemy comes—”

The rat beastkin’s rapid-fire complaints stopped abruptly as he looked at the owl beastkin.

The owl beastkin was no longer turning his head.

In the darkness created by the cloudy sky and tree shadows, amidst snow piled up to their necks, a red head had fallen.

The rat beastkin’s eyes met with the monster’s emerald eyes glowing ominously beyond the owl beastkin’s neck, which was now beginning to spurt blood.

“Hmm.”

The monster’s eyes curved like the bow the owl beastkin had been holding.

…

[(ALL) The owner of Hill 1 has changed. The Tentacle Explorer → Giant of Hundread Hands.]

The Giant of Hundread Hands looked at The Tentacle Explorer writhing in frustration beyond the horizon.

From the explorer’s writhing appearance, the giant predicted that the tide of this war had turned in his favor.

The Tentacle Explorer had far superior momentary concentration and battlefield understanding compared to the Giant of Hundread Hands, with a strong tendency to seek quick resolutions.

However, the Giant of Hundread Hands excelled in prolonged battles through sustained concentration from his fifty heads.

The difference was whether to win comfortably in the late game through early advantages, or to endure the early game and aim for a reversal later.

That was the extent of their difference.

Until now, The Tentacle Explorer had gained advantages through occupying more hills for overwhelming point acquisition and forcing ability usage through continuous pressure.

But this war was different from before.

Despite starting late and occupying only two hills, both sides had accumulated similar points.

The explorer’s hill was unexpectedly captured.

With variable upon variable, the advantage tilted toward the giant from the beginning.

But he couldn’t relax yet.

Although the opponent’s late-game concentration might be inferior to his own, they were a Star tied to him as a rival.

Above all, with superior battlefield understanding, new strategies could emerge at any time.

That’s why the Giant of Hundread Hands chose to gradually apply pressure with an eye on the future, rather than trying to finish things now.

[(BLUE) Star Giant of Hundread Hands initiates the first war expansion!]

[(BLUE) In 20 minutes, Giant of Hundread Hands’ Stage 2 will connect!]

And that choice was determined by what he could do best and was most familiar with.

…

Damn it. The Tentacle Explorer mentally cursed with all sorts of profanities while glaring at the battlefield.

Where did it go wrong? Where?

The Tentacle Explorer quickly scanned the entire battlefield and noticed the variables that differed from the previous war.

He had been careless from the start. His strategy of blocking the enemy’s offensive once and then advancing, like last time, was thwarted by the opponent’s new space defense strategy.

It was also different from before that the enemy commander survived thanks to the help of a newly joined individual, and he hadn’t expected there would be someone crazy enough to try to recapture a hill alone.

All these variables combined to create the current situation.

For someone strong in the early game like himself to hand over the advantage so early.

Though the situation was desperate, The Tentacle Explorer hadn’t given up yet.

The war was still long, and there were plenty of opportunities through war expansion.

Thinking this was the turning point between victory and defeat, The Tentacle Explorer pulled out his hidden card.

[(RED) Star The Tentacle Explorer takes out the Book of Enlightenment from the bookshelf!]

[(RED) Star The Tentacle Explorer attempts to accelerate war expansion through the Twisted Enlightenment trait!]

[(RED) In 10 minutes, The Tentacle Explorer’s Stage 2 will connect. Due to Twisted Enlightenment, energy required for revival increases by 20%!]

He had been saving this hidden card for the late game, in case the battle wasn’t decided by then.