〈 Chapter 97: Underdog (2) 〉

*

‘The battlefield…’

The scenery in front of me changed.

What lay before me was an urban area.

‘Thank goodness.’

In the worst case, I had anticipated a landscape like a desert or tundra, where there would be almost no cover.

If it had been such a terrain, our chances of victory would have been virtually nonexistent.

For now, we had passed the first hurdle.

“Then please proceed according to the plan.”

We had only one strategy.

After all, our team’s resources were limited.

However, that strategy had been working well so far.

‘Even if the opponent is Team 1-A, it shouldn’t be different.’

We decided to reuse the strategy that we performed best.

With that, everyone except for Bell and me set off to carry out their roles.

The barrier that separated the battlefield was lifted, and the match began.

*

The state of the match was not particularly favorable.

(Sung Yoo-rang, I still don’t see any traces of their magician.)

There are two reasons why magicians are used as strategic weapons in mock battles.

The first is the destructive power and mass extermination ability of magic.

The second is that they force the opponent to allocate resources to deal with them, causing a loss of overall power.

Because of this, it was usually standard tactics to allocate some power to face off against the magician.

But Sigritt didn’t create a standoff and instead completely concealed their magician.

In that case, they likely didn’t allocate many resources in that direction.

I could be sure of this, as I was observing the situation with my own eyes.

‘Did they throw all their power towards us?’

Opponents were tightening their encirclement from all sides.

Of course, the target was likely Bell and me.

‘So this is their strategy?’

It was a strategy I had somewhat anticipated.

In our team’s tactics, the easiest target to attack was me.

Even without Sigritt, the opponents had used this type of tactic in the previous battle against Team 2-B.

‘The quality difference is clearly a problem, though.’

The opponent was Team 1-A.

Compared to the candidates from Team 2-B, there was a clear qualitative difference.

You could tell just by looking at the shape of the encirclement.

‘It’s quite systematic.’

Unlike Team 2-B, who had approached one by one with irregular encirclement tactics.

They were executing properly trained encirclement maneuvers.

It was impossible to extricate myself and Bell from this encirclement.

However, that didn’t mean I was planning to change the tactics.

“Keep searching for their magician over there.”

Leaving the magician unchecked was too risky.

In any case, we had to deal with the magician.

But I couldn’t send the three idiots, who had no resistance to magic at all, to handle the magician.

They had other roles to fulfill too.

“Where are you now, Trio?”

I couldn’t outright call them the three idiots, so I gave them the title “Trio.”

They liked that title, thinking it sounded impressive.

(I found the archer’s position. But there’s an enemy in between.)

Unlike the ‘tank’ squad that successfully broke through the encirclement, they still seemed to be inside it.

But that wasn’t an issue.

We had trained them for such situations.

“Don’t be afraid; break through. No matter how strong the opponent is, if you coordinate together as three, you won’t lose.”

In reality, saying they wouldn’t lose was an exaggeration to instill confidence in them.

There were plenty of guys on Team 1-A who could easily handle a 1 vs 3 situation.

But still, if there was one win condition…

‘They’re probably underestimating us.’

Those three hadn’t shown anything in the mock battles until now.

They could be considered a secret weapon of sorts.

And according to my strategy, I soon received communication.

(I won! Those swordsmanship class guys weren’t that great, were they?)

Three of them celebrating after defeating one.

However, I didn’t have the luxury to nitpick right now.

Their mission was not just to break through the encirclement.

“Then please control the archer as per our plan.”

Their direct fight would end with that.

If only two opponents grouped together, their chances of winning would drop drastically.

So now their mission was to control the opposing archer.

‘It’s okay if they can’t take out the archer directly.’

Just controlling them would be enough.

That way, I wouldn’t have to use Wind’s Power for defense.

Then it was all up to me and Bell.

‘No matter how many, it’s only four.’

Of course, they were much stronger than the opponents we had fought until now.

But that was only when evaluated with swordsmanship.

The basic compatibility between swords and arrows doesn’t change much.

“Bell, there’s not much different. We just need to knock them all out before they can close in on us.”

I nocked an arrow.

*

‘Using the same tactics…’

Sigritt scanned the battlefield through the eyes of the archery class candidate.

Of course, there was a difference from previous mock battles where the trio hadn’t been able to exert any power, and after a struggle, they managed to take down one knight from Team 1-A and break through the encirclement, but that didn’t significantly affect the overall situation.

‘And even if they’ve broken through the encirclement, there’s nothing they can do.’

His forces had already formed a complete encirclement.

‘With this, the outcome is decided.’

He confirmed the three knights and one spearman tightening the encirclement.

It was impossible to defend against fireballs, which is why he hadn’t equipped them with heavy armor.

In an unprotected state, dodging a slow fireball wasn’t difficult.

‘Then that leaves only Sung Yoo-rang.’

Certainly, his archery was threatening.

He could likely overcome the advantages even if four guards rushed him at once.

But Sigritt decided to completely preempt that possibility.

He added one last trump card to the encirclement.

‘Though it’s a bit disappointing to end it this way…’

He had somewhat expected that.

He had served as a professor at the Hero Academy for quite some time, and even he had never seen a candidate like this before.

So much so that even the professors in charge of tactical education were curious about who had come up with such a strategy.

‘In the end, a candidate is just a candidate, huh?’

*

Whoosh.

An arrow left my hand.

The arrow flew towards the guy who still hadn’t noticed me.

Like last time, I thought I’d take out one before they discovered me.

With Wind’s Power enhanced.

It was an arrow aimed precisely at his neck.

But in that moment…

He swung his sword with abnormal speed.

The arrow I shot was helplessly deflected by his sword.

At the same time, he turned his head in the direction the arrow had come from and locked eyes with me.

“…Prepare for battle!”

I alerted Bell, who was casting a fireball, that my position was revealed.

There was likely no room for relaxation compared to earlier battles.

As if to prove that, the moment they detected my position, they quickly began to tighten their encirclement in a straight line.

I hastily nocked another arrow.

‘First, deal with the spearman.’

I had been too greedy just now.

I had thought to take out a seemingly skilled opponent through surprise, but I seemed to have underestimated them.

In that case, I couldn’t make the same mistake again.

Prioritizing removing the tricky spearman first was essential.

Twang.

The arrow departed from my hand.

The arrow imbued with Wind’s Power flew swiftly toward the spearman.

And then…

‘Huh?’

The arrow hit an invisible barrier placed in front of him and fell.

A magic shield.

That clearly indicated something.

‘What the hell.’

It seemed that Sigritt had decided to invest everything he had to catch me and Bell.

He had secretly mixed a Support Mage into the encirclement as well.

This was unexpected.

“Bell, can you make your fireball’s restraints faster?”

But she shook her head.

Her fireballs were missing due to how quickly the opponent moved.

Of course, it wasn’t her fault. Originally, she was in charge of dealing with heavy armor; I was supposed to handle opponents like this.

‘What should I do?’

Invested in us far beyond what was right.

This wasn’t how I had envisioned the situation, but I didn’t have time to panic anymore.

What I needed to do right now was certain.

(Tank, hurry back towards me!)

I hadn’t received news of capturing the magician yet.

But now that I had confirmed that no one was truly near the magician, I didn’t need the power of Yusera or Elsie.

Three idiots would be enough.

(Trio, you need to find the magician!)

This briefly wrapped up the adjustment of tactics.

And now, what I had to do was solely one thing.

Understanding that, Bell spoke up.

“Hurry!”

The moment the enemies had completely dropped their defenses, her role had practically ended.

Nevertheless, she continued to cast fireballs till the last moment.

To provide covering fire while I escaped.

“Thank you, Bell.”

If their target was to catch me, then I just needed to avoid capture.

If I could escape towards the direction where Yusera and Elsie were, there might still be a chance of victory.

Just as I was about to withdraw from that space.

‘What is this?’

Something unexpected snagged me.

‘A barrier?’

A barrier had formed around me.

It seemed like a rather skilled Support Mage was at work.

But I didn’t have the luxury of marveling at his skills.

There was no way to escape.

That meant only one thing.

I had to endure here until Yusera’s group arrived.

Could I manage that?

To be honest, it would be tough.

If I could at least use my sword.

But if I had to answer…

“Sung Yoo-rang?”

“It’s a barrier. I can’t escape.”

“Then…”

“Don’t stop casting. It’s not over yet.”

When have I ever measured whether something would work before I even started.

In fact, it was a better situation now as there was no penalty even if I died.

Whether it’ll work or not, I’ll find out by trying.

“We won’t know unless we give it a shot.”

*