Everyone had charged out running, with only Han left to defend the flag. The sigh had come out automatically.
"Well, it can't be helped."
It was better to take a step back rather than cause discord within the team. He sat down and blankly stared at his messenger.
-About eight people from the west army and our defenders have initiated an attack at the upper route.
– The same situation at the middle route. About ten people are approaching.
– The same at the lower route. About seven people.
It was easy to send support to the lower and upper paths via the middle route. It was pretty common to arrange the most troops in the middle route.
"There should be about 5-6 rangers as well. Last time it had been all-in tactics, but this time he's choosing to arm himself with both the spear and the shield, Jose."
Han mumbled.
-The assaulters of the lower route, charge! There's no time to waste!
Although his voice couldn't be heard, the urgency was plainly visible.
The key elements of Karlheinz' battle tactics would be his swiftness. He must be quicker with his assaulters than the enemy rangers.
'If Jose had split his team of rangers equally between the two rocky terrains, it would be Karl's victory. However, if his ranger team works together… it's highly likely that he would be faster than our assaulters.'
Han quietly gripped his wooden spear.
"Then I must take responsibility as a sweeper and block their path."
Upon his words, the rocky terrain defense team sent him a message.
– This is upper rocky terrain defense. There are six rangers who managed to break through, we only managed to block two. There are four rangers heading your way!
-This is the upper route defense team, unable to send backup due to enemy attack!
– This is center route defense, we're unable to send back up as well. Our defense team is too little. We have no military troops to send over. Quick, lower route assaulters!
Currently, the Eastern Army only had an upper hand in the lower route. In other paths, there was only a minimal amount of defense stationed.
"Huu."
Han began to stretch and warm up his body. He sent a message. His data bracelet transferred his voice message into text format.
"Sweeper here. I'll try holding them up as long as possible."
-Sweeper here. I'll try holding them up as long as possible.
"Hola! Amigo!"
Jose hopped over from the rocky terrain, and greeted. Behind him, three others followed. Jose had decided to gather all his rangers and break through together.
He had chosen to sacrifice some of his numbers in order to reach the Eastern Army central base faster.
"Jose, are you the lead commander?"
Han smiled and spoke with a light heart. Jose and his rangers encircled Han while drawing closer.
"I'm the lead commander. I thought you would be the Eastern Army lead commander, but I guess not. Who was the idiot that left you to be the sweeper?"
The best troops were usually assigned to be the rangers of the team. The sweepers penalty was too steep, while defenders' solo efforts were usually unremarkable.
"Ask me later. I don't think you have the luxury to chit chat, Jose."
"I know. I'll make your end quick, Han."
Jose gestured an attack signal to his team. They prepared their attack formation while encircling Han.
'A light attack would be enough to kill me. Sweepers have the worst stamina.'
Han scanned his surroundings. All the rangers were those with high agility within class B. To top things off, Jose was one of them.
'What to do.'
Han made a large sweeping motion with his spear to buy some time. Han ranked the best in close combat within class B. Everyone was already aware of this and didn't dare to carelessly attack.
"Rush in, let's go."
Jose commanded the rangers. Two people might fall to their deaths, but this tactic was worthy of trying. Three rangers all came running toward Han at the same time.
"Jose!"
Han shouted hysterically. Jose didn't fight Han and instead jumped over to the flag post.
Bam!
The ranger struck Han's shoulder with their wooden sword. His battle uniform turned into a dark shade.
Han kicked off the enemy rangers, and violently swung his spear. All the rangers were pushed back.
"Sorry, but the only victory factor to this mock battle is this flag. I don't have the free time to beat you up."
Jose smugly smiled.
Jose made a calm and logical decision. He cared about benefits more than pride. He had decided to block out Han from his strategy all together.
'I never thought Han would be the sweeper. I shouldn't ignore the fact we could still lose, even with a 1:4 ratio.'
Jose captured the flag and sprinted to the rocky terrains. Han tried to chase after him, but the remaining rangers blocked his way.
'My stamina will run out if I continue to ignore these rangers. What to do?'
The rangers closely encircled Han so he had nowhere to escape. Han widely opened his eyes. Jose was getting further and further away. He took a deep breath.
'Kuro had done it before. I can do it too!'
Han's iris flashed with blue light from the sudden rise of psychic energy.
Within class B, most youths were not skilled enough to use their psychic powers during battle. The rangers understood this already, but they couldn't help but feel nervous.
'All I need to do is support the part I lack just a little bit. The rest I can do with my own strength.'
Blood flowed out from Han's nose. He was using more psychic energy than he was capable of. His head ached with intense pain.
"HAAA!"
Han let out a deafening roar and coiled his arm backwards, and catapulted his spear through the air.
WWooong!
Han added some strength to aid his throwing power and fine adjusted the throwing arch with his telekinesis. With just a little fine tuning, his spear flew a frightening distance.
SWwwoosh!
It seemed like the wooden spear was slicing the air into two. The spear howled as if it carried Han's anger. The spear hit Jose's center back with perfection.
Jose, who had been running, fell and tumbled down from the unexpected attack. His spine hurt like it had been shattered even though he had the battle uniform on.
Ding.
The battle uniform sensor rang, causing Jose's uniform to turn pure black. Jose could've handled the attack if he were a defender, however the system calculated that a ranger wouldn't have enough stamina to survive the attack. Flabbergasted, Jose peered behind him. The flag he lost hold of started rolling downwards.
'Nobody taught us javelin throwing during weapon mastery lessons!'
The students that died could not talk or communicate so he could only complain to himself in silence.
The rangers were taken aback upon Jose's death. Jose had died from a single surprise attack.
In that brief moment, Han rolled on the ground and escaped outside the encirclement.
"After him!"
The rangers shouted.
Han grabbed the flag that had fallen next to Jose's body. He began to run in sporadic directions.
"His body also has a limit. His movements are getting slower. Nevertheless, he's dragging out the time very well.'
Jose could only stamp his feet in anger. A dead comrade could not send messages nor speak.
Snap!
A ranger had attacked Han's legs. Han's body tipped and went tumbling. He had reached his stamina limit. Just a light touch would send him to his death.
"This is the end! Han!"
The rangers cheered in elation. They easily attacked Han's body.
Ding!
Han received the notification of death. The rangers grabbed the flag to return to their base. However, it was too late for the rangers to return now.
"Damn! We wasted too much time here."
The rangers who grasped the situation looked to Han's body. They took too long trying to catch him.
"WAAAH!"
The Eastern Army assaulters came running when they spotted the rangers. They had already captured the Western Army's flag. Their fighting spirit were at their highest. The Eastern Army members planted both flags into their central base.
-Eastern Army Winner!
A message projected above the gymnasium. An announcement rang all over the battle ground.
"It's the Eastern Army's victory!"