The Hunt in Shadows: Dae’s Close Call in K361

Dae went on the hunt again. His wounds from the last campaign were barely recovered from, his men having arrived from the hospitals, and the powder of the last battlefield still in his thoughts. But the lust for merit and the excitement of the chase lured him into the fight again.

The first lead led him to Kingdom 231, where scouts reported a small fortress with a modest 5 million soldiers. The defending commander, mid-tier warrior bowmen, was more famous for stubbornness than raw strength—a wall sitter who relied on defense equipment and tactical deployment. His wall was deployed with an even defense formation, enough to surprise careless invaders.

Dae threw out the first solo without hesitation. His infantry broke through the defenses, inflicting massive damage—3 million enemy soldiers were knocked out in the first blow. Surakin's banners trembled, but the castle was still standing.

The second solo broke through once again, this time crushing another 2 million soldiers. The walls creaked under the strain, and Dae knew he was almost finished with the task.

But then, in between those attacks, there was another, much tastier target on the radar. A castle in appearance only at low level—2.5 miilion total troops, with an enormous amount of T4 hidden underneath. His scouts guaranteed him: mixed wall lineup, but badly set up for actual resistance. The lord was Manors, a quiet, unassuming player from a weak alliance, who did not use formation tactics but just bulked.

Dae did not hesitate. One perfectly aimed solo strike sliced through Manors's formations like a hot knife through cloth. The enemy line was destroyed in one stroke. His men were reduced to ashes, his gates were smashed, and the city was silent. It was a clean, almost surgical kill.

But there was still work to be done. Dae returned to Surakin in K231, determined to take his lord and drive out the remaining soldiers. The third solo was decisive—Ironleaf's banner was lost, his lord was taken, and his army reduced to ashes. The hunt was progressing well.

But then came the true trial.

In Kingdom 361, news came to Dae of a target sitting out in the open—unbubbled and unguarded. It was Hardy, one of TwS's veteran Taiwanese alliance players, known for ferocious defense and fast counterattack. By the timing, Dae calculated that the alliance would be resting. It was a tantalizing but risky opportunity.

He charged in, struck with his first solo. The strike came hard but would not break the wall. That was when he saw the problem—this was no cursory sweep. Hardy's deployment was a heavy infantry-vs-bow wall:

1.5 million and a half Tier 4 cavalry as a counterattack

2.5 million Tier 4 cav to absorb damage

And an unbroken group of Tier 5 bowmen to rip apart attackers

It was a nightmare to break without coordinated rallies.

Dae wavered. He had been striking fewer targets lately, and this one was right in front of him. But the make-up of his troops screamed danger. "Am I on the brink of cutting my best troops to ribbons?" he thought. The risk of heavy losses gnawed at him. He paced along the edge of the battlefield, his hand hovering over the march button.

And then, suddenly, it happened—a dark spot on the map.

TSUI, one of the strongest of the Taiwanese coalition, dropped directly adjacent to Dae's location. This was not a friendly flyby—it was a subtle threat: We see you. We're watching.

In an instant, TSUI launched a mock scout, a playful but menacing gesture that said everything without saying anything: Touch him, and I touch you.

The air grew thick. Dae's heart raced. The arithmetic was simple—if he launched the attack then, Hardy's defenders and TSUI's counterattack would likely pay in the lord, the march, and perhaps even the rest of his hunt. The urge to finish what he had started burned inside him, yet the risk was absolute.

He flinched. The decision stung, but pride was not as precious as life. "Sometimes," he ground out, "the perfect timing is simply… bad timing."

As he backed away from K361, the battlefield fell silent once again. No flames, no chaos—only the harsh memory that sometimes even the greatest hunters must abandon the chase.

Reminiscences of the Day

It might have been improved. Dae had started strong, cutting throughboth targets, racking up kills and lords taken. But the encounter with the last target and TSUI taught him that no matter how well planned, there is always something the foe can do about it. The hunt was a dance of push and restraint, and today the restraint had won the final dance.

But it wasn't a loss. He left with victories to his credit, hard-won lessons to his name, and the knowledge that the next challenge might demand that same restraint—or reward its opposite.

For the time being, he returned to his comrades' camp. His hospital was full but not overcrowded. His soldiers, although tired, would be ready for the next march. Somewhere in the distance, the next victim waited, unaware that Dae's eyes would discover them soon enough.

The hunt never really ends.