SWNOVELXO Chapter 180 - 5×5 Battle (2)
Chapter 180: 5×5 Battle (2)
A man and a woman crouched and lay low in the bushes.
Among them, the man kept chattering incessantly.
However, most of what came out of his mouth was swearing.
“Damn it! I must be crazy. I’m such an idiot!”
The one cursing in a low voice, as if he had really gone mad, was none other than Jerry.
Beside him, also lying down, was Pana Taylor.
Unable to bear Jerry’s annoyed muttering any longer, Pana slightly grimaced.
“Senior… I hate to say this, but could you please quiet down? It’s distracting.”
Despite her words, Pana’s face showed no hint of apology, and Jerry’s face twisted in irritation.
“Typical attitude of a 50th batch… No respect for seniors at all. Is this all because of that jerk? Is it?”
“……”
“You guys go wild just because Yuri does? Have you lost your minds? Should I call the 50th batch for a lineup? How about I make a big scene? Huh?”
Of course, Yuri and his group would definitely be absent from that lineup.
Pana mumbled inwardly, feeling that Jerry was taking his frustration out on her just because he couldn’t say a word to Yuri.
She glanced downward, looking at Jerry, who was growling fiercely.
After all, getting called to a lineup wouldn’t do her any good.
“…I’m sorry.”
With Pana’s apology, Jerry relaxed his frown and buried his head again, repeatedly muttering, “I’m crazy.”
Pana looked at Jerry with curiosity and asked, “If you regret it so much… why did you come this way? Why didn’t you go over there?”
“Damn it, I’m wondering that myself! Why the hell did I come this way?”
With a frustrated expression, Jerry flapped the white armband on his arm.
‘I must have been temporarily insane, yeah, that’s it!’
There were only eight members of the 49th batch in the White Army.
Among them was Jerry, who hadn’t been forced but had chosen to join the White Army of his own volition.
‘What the hell was I thinking… Damn it!’
It was clear that he had been under some sort of spell.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made such a foolish choice!
‘It must have been… ever since then.’
Jerry bit his lip as he recalled Yuri fighting the Demon King months ago.
Although abnormal, Yuri had managed to withstand the Holy Sword of the Demon King and, even though he had collapsed at the end, had somehow emerged victorious.
Perhaps it was that intense memory.
That’s why he chose the White Army.
And as he remembered, thoughts of Gunther naturally surfaced as well.
‘Gunther Ryder…….’
Gunther, who had inherited the strongest bloodline of the Sword Master, had been a monster trained from childhood through various martial arts, elixirs, and rigorous training.
It was a well-known story that he had demonstrated the Demon Sword at the Martial Dragon Competition during his first year.
Even back then, Gunther Ryder had already surpassed the average level of a fifth-year graduate.
Now that he was in his third year, his true abilities remained shrouded in mystery, leaving room for nothing but speculation.
One thing was clear: he should never be regarded as just another cadet.
‘Yuri is certainly remarkable… No, that guy definitely has the talent to be called a monster too. But still……!’
Could that guy really beat Gunther Ryder?
Regarding that point, Jerry couldn’t help but be skeptical.
‘Yeah, no matter how talented Yuri is… he won’t surpass Gunther Ryder.’
The time Yuri had spent meticulously building his foundation from a young age.
And the additional time spent in the Cradle.
Yuri was severely lacking compared to Gunther in that regard.
‘Of course, that time can be caught up with talent…….’
The problem was that the one he had to catch up with was Gunther, who had inherited the talent of the Sword Master.
Thinking of catching up with time through talent was challenging when the opponent was someone like Gunther, who possessed dazzling talent as well.
Upon reaching this thought, Jerry’s annoyance surged even further.
‘You crazy bastard, knowing all that, you still came to the White Army! You’re out of your mind!’
Indeed, it seemed like he was thoroughly under some kind of spell.
As Jerry continued to berate himself—
Szzk-.
He suddenly stopped moving.
“…Senior?”
“Shh!”
When Pana expressed her confusion, Jerry brought his index finger to his lips.
His face, which had been full of complexities just a moment ago, swiftly transformed into that of a well-trained soldier.
He then quickly gave a brief hand signal.
It meant to conceal their presence.
Rustle-.
Both of them suppressed their presence to the utmost and hid themselves deep within the bushes as if blending in.
After a while.
Tatatak-.
Individuals wearing blue armbands swiftly passed by the bushes where they were hiding.
Jerry’s eyes sparkled at this.
‘One, two, three…….’
He calmly counted the Blue Army members passing by in a line.
‘…Six.’
When no more members appeared after the sixth, Jerry’s lips curled slightly.
‘Yulia, you were right.’
Jerry inwardly praised Yulia as his mind wandered back to the strategy meeting on the Black Ship.
“Well, that’s quite a good feeling.”
Yulia had mentioned that a 1% miracle seemed likely to occur, to which Yuri smiled in response.
But only for a moment.
He wiped the smile off his face and looked at Yulia with a serious gaze.
“So, do you have a plan to actually turn that feeling into reality? Like a groundbreaking strategy?”
“…Not really.”
Yulia hesitated to give an answer, which was uncharacteristic of her.
Her hesitation indicated just how challenging the current situation was.
Sensing this, Yuri asked calmly.
“Then let me ask the opposite: what kind of strategy do you think they will use?”
This question prompted those gathered around to focus once again.
The hall became quiet.
In a situation that had naturally turned into a strategy meeting.
“…….”
After a brief silence, Yulia finally spoke.
“The Blue Army will follow Gunther senior’s strategy. No one in the Blue Army would dare to disagree with him. And Gunther senior’s strategy will be… quite standard.”
“Standard?”
“He’ll split the 150 members into 25 groups of 6 and try to attack all the strongholds. For sure.”
Yulia’s eyes were filled with strong conviction as she spoke.
Jerry and Pana stood up from the bushes.
Pana, who was staring intently in the direction where the six Blue Army members had completely disappeared, let out a small exclamation.
“It really is six of them. You accurately predicted the Blue Army’s strategy.”
“That’s why she’s called the Wise Yulia.”
Even though he hadn’t done it himself, Jerry boasted as if he had.
Seeing this, Pana smiled softly and showed an enthusiastic expression.
“This is a good start! Let’s move quickly for our reconnaissance mission!”
Jerry’s face crumpled instantly, and he snapped back in an annoyed tone.
“Scouts, my ass—more like errand boys.”
Even as Jerry grumbled non-stop, his legs were already on the move. Pana closely followed her complaining senior.
“Alright, good job. Go on now.”
“Yes, senior!”
Yulia watched as the 50th batch member, who had been acting as a scout, bowed his head and left.
As she etched the information the scout had provided into her mind, she took in the forest and the sky in one sweeping glance.
‘As expected, they came out by the book.’
Even though her prediction had been spot-on, Yulia didn’t feel any joy.
She knew all too well that this was just the beginning.
‘I’ve only managed to find and fit one piece of the puzzle…….’
And there were still countless puzzle pieces left to find.
“…Can this puzzle ever be fully completed?”
Yulia muttered to herself as she recalled the person who had gone off to find the key piece of the puzzle.
At the same time, she naturally remembered what he had said.
The prediction that the Blue Army would be divided into 25 groups of 6 members each.
Certain of this more than anything else, Yulia’s confident gaze made Yuri cross his arms.
“Hm, 25 groups of 6 members each… Wouldn’t it be better to focus on attacking just five strongholds?”
“They don’t need to do that. Their basic team members are overwhelmingly stronger than ours.”
“To what extent?”
“If my calculations are correct, to face one group of 6 average-skilled Blue Army members… we’d need at least three times that number.”
“…We need 18 people just to take down 6?”
“That’s the bare minimum. If we want to secure victory comfortably, we’d need 20… and if they decide to hold a purely defensive position, we might need up to 25 to break through.”
“…….”
Yulia’s assessment was one she could make because she had all the information on every batch from the 50th to the 48th—and all the cadets in the Cradle.
On the other hand, Yuri was at a loss for words, not having anticipated that the power gap would be this significant.
He finally understood why Yulia had called their strategy ‘standard.’
‘To stop the simultaneous attacks on 25 strongholds, we would also need to attack 25 strongholds, but that’s practically impossible for us.’
Even if predicted, there was no better strategy that the opponent couldn’t block.
There wasn’t a more textbook strategy than this one.
Yuri looked at Yulia and asked.
“So, is there no way?”
Another push for an answer.
Normally, Yuri would have racked his brains to come up with a strategy, but this time, he was entirely relying on Yulia.
He believed that when it came to strategy, Yulia was far superior to him.
And Yulia answered his trust with a response.
“It’s not that there’s no way…….”
“Oh, there is?”
“…But the chances are too low. Like I said earlier, it’s a 1% chance.”
“Better than nothing, so let’s hear it.”
“…Here’s my plan.”
Yulia pulled a small dagger from her belt and began sketching figures and numbers on the Black Ship’s floor.
Moments later.
The audience quickly recognized Yulia’s drawing as the structure of the strongholds.
Looking at the map of the strongholds she had drawn, Yulia began her explanation.
“First, we’ll form one group of 20 members each, making five assault groups in total. Once the quest begins, these assault groups will occupy the five lines closest to our starting point… Here, here, here, here, and here.”
Yulia’s finger traced across 1-5, 2-5, 3-5, 4-5, and 5-5.
Being the closest to their starting point, the five lines allowed them to arrive before the Blue Army.
There, they could secure a favorable position and establish a defensive line.
This would enable them to defend the strongholds effectively with just 20 members.
Hearing this, the audience nodded, thinking it wasn’t a bad idea.
Then, Theresia raised a question.
“What about the remaining 50 members?”
“They’ll act as disruptors and scouts.”
“Disruptors and scouts?”
“First, 10 members will pair up into teams of two to act as scouts. The goal of the scouts is to gather information on the status of each stronghold and the whereabouts of Gunther Ryder. Their mission is to avoid combat as much as possible and prioritize relaying information to our allies.”
“And the other 40?”
“They’ll form teams of 10, one for each line of strongholds. Their job is not to capture but to disrupt… essentially, just to buy time. That’s why it’s somewhat feasible. If they do their best.”
The room fell silent after Yulia’s final words, “If they do their best.”
Everyone understood what Yulia’s strategy entailed.
They also realized why Yulia had spoken in such a hesitant voice.
‘The strategy hinges on choice and concentration.’
‘…This is way too extreme, isn’t it?’
A strategy to focus all their forces on just one line, 5-line, to complete a bingo.
The problem was that if Gunther Ryder barged into their concentrated forces, everything would be ruined.
Furthermore, if even one of the four disruptor teams failed to carry out their task, the quest would immediately end in victory for the Blue Army.
As silence filled the room, Yulia let out a small sigh.
“Sigh… Based on my calculations, this is the only strategy that gives us a chance to win.”
Her bitter smile spread, casting a gloomy atmosphere across the room.
And then, at that moment—
“Nice!”
A particularly cheerful voice pierced the ears of the White Army members.
“The skeleton of the strategy isn’t bad! With a few tweaks, it could be much better!”
The audience’s gaze was drawn to Yuri, who was grinning as if he were the only one having fun.
Yulia’s recollection was abruptly cut short.
Bang-!
A sudden, dull explosion echoed.
And something flew toward her.
Szzk-.
The figure that slid and rolled on the dirt ground was none other than the scout from the 50th batch who had just left her.
Seeing him sprawled on the ground, seemingly unconscious, Yulia urgently turned her head in the direction from which the scout had come flying.
She soon spotted a red-haired young man, sheathing his sword as he walked toward her.
Yulia’s face hardened the moment she saw him.
‘…Michel Ang.’
He was quite a well-known figure even among the 48th batch.
He was nicknamed ‘Gunther’s Butler.’
Just like his nickname, he followed Gunther everywhere.
That meant……
‘If Michel Ang is here, then Gunther must be nearby too.’
Yulia’s gaze shifted beyond Michel Ang as—
Step, step—.
As if on cue, he appeared.
Walking leisurely as if strolling over a carpet laid out by Michel, a man emerged.
A groan-like murmur escaped Yulia’s lips.
“…Gunther Ryder.”