Chapter 116: So Many Towers!
The Blade Master chased, the Archmage ran. Both had boots, so neither could catch the other.
The live chat started buzzing.
"Wow, isn't this Silent a tentacle monster? Why aren't you doing anything?"
"Are you stupid? You're an Archmage getting chased by a Blade Master. What the hell are you supposed to do?"
"Human can't beat Orc. No chance!"
"Damn, the Archmage is about to die!"
"Ooh, a sliver of health and he's back in town. Good thing he bought potions and a group heal at the shop. He's recovering!"
"The Blade Master is looking for the Archmage's position! He's sneaked into the Human base!"
"Human's second hero is out already, the Mountain King!"
"He stunned the Blade Master! Surrounded! The Blade Master has to use Town Portal Scroll too!"
The streamer was commentating enthusiastically, and the audience was thoroughly enjoying the show.
The atmosphere had been intense from the start, so naturally the viewers were hyped. Many fans even went to other streams or forums to spread the word, and the crowd kept growing!
"Human is expanding! But why are they still spamming Footmen and Peasants? The Orc's Wind Riders are already out!"
"Throwing down towers first? Are they planning to drag this into the late game against the Orc?"
"Oh no, the Orc found the expansion!"
"This is looking bad for Human!"
"Damn, the Arrow Towers are built? The Blade Master chased the Archmage too deep and used up his Wind Walk!"
"Shit, the Blade Master is surrounded! Holy crap, the Blade Master is surrounded, can you believe it!"
"The Blade Master is dead!"
"This Mountain King is way too much of a threat to the Blade Master!"
"The Orc isn't giving up. The Shadow Hunter is leading the main army, trying to kill this low-health Mountain King!"
"They can't kill him! This Mountain King keeps circling the towers. His positioning is way too damn slick!"
"Damn, the Orc is retreating, and the Mountain King picked off another Wind Rider. That's a huge loss!"
"Seriously, even a top player can't stop this Silent?"
"Don't panic, it's still early. Human just has a bunch of basic units and a few Arrow Towers on an expansion. The Orc can expand too. This is definitely going to be a bladder-buster match. No one knows who'll win yet!"
The battle fell into a stalemate.
Wan Feng wasn't stupid either. After charging the Human expansion and getting nothing out of it, he stopped forcing it. He focused on farming creeps, leveling up, and saving for higher-tier units, hoping to crush the Human with a tech advantage before they could convert their expansion's economy into military power.
"Building more towers? Damn, that expansion already has seven Arrow Towers!"
"He's opening another new expansion up top! Throwing down three towers right away! Wow, what kind of shameless tactic is this!"
"He's still building towers! There's no end to it!"
"Look, Human is skipping mid-tier units and saving for Gryphon Riders!"
"Double Gryphon Aviary spamming Gryphons! Damn, Human is so rich, it's terrifying!"
"The Orc is saving for Batriders."
"I feel like Wan Feng is in trouble!"
The Orc player was panicking too, but panicking didn't help. The Orc's main army was still using a standard composition: Blade Master, Shadow Hunter, Grunts, Wind Riders, Spirit Walkers, and Batriders. It was strong in a fight, but Human simply refused to fight in the open field!
Human just had the Archmage and Mountain King, along with a bunch of the crappiest Footmen, but backed by Arrow Towers, the Orc couldn't break through. Plus, Human had an expansion and plenty of gold. They bought Town Portal Scrolls, health potions, invulnerability potions, and whatever else they could, and with the endless Arrow Towers, they could fly to whichever expansion the Orc tried to attack. It drove the Orc crazy.
At first, it seemed like the Orc could win, but once Human's double Gryphon Aviaries started spamming Gryphons, the momentum shifted hard toward Human.
"The Orc is expanding too!"
"But Human's Gryphon flock is coming over! Those Burrows are like paper, gone in two hits!"
"They're hitting the base!"
"The Blade Master used Town Portal Scroll, but the Gryphons all flew away, dammit!"
"Damn, this is so hopeless!"
"Why isn't Wan Feng building towers?"
"Build what? Orc towers aren't the same as Human towers. Besides, the enemy's Gryphon flock is already out!"
Wan Feng was clearly panicking too. His opponent was like a porcupine covered in spikes. His Orc had a mouth full of fangs but nowhere to bite!
Human now had three expansions, each defended by at least eleven or twelve Arrow Towers, while the main army was a massive swarm of Gryphons and Dragonhawk Riders.
In a straight-up fight, it was still possible. If the Batriders were used well, there was a chance to win. But Human wouldn't fight! The Gryphons flew all over the map, frantically destroying Orc expansions. Under magical attacks, the Burrows and Arrow Towers at the expansions couldn't even be built. Every attempt was a loss.
Charge the Human expansions? That was even more ridiculous. With endless Arrow Towers and Dragonhawks and Gryphons in the sky, how could they charge?
If it were anyone else, they'd probably have mentally collapsed and quit by now. But Wan Feng was a top-tier player with solid mental fortitude.
The Orc main army moved out in full force to force an expansion!
There was no choice. The main base's gold was almost depleted. If they didn't expand soon, they'd be completely broke.
But just as the expansion was halfway built, the Human army arrived.
The live chat got excited. Anyone could see this was the decisive battle. If the Orc expansion was destroyed, the Orc was finished. If they could hold it, the game was still playable.
But Human didn't charge. Instead, they started building towers right at the entrance of the Orc expansion.
Mini-towers were thrown down, and the Peasants behind them started hammering away furiously.
Even the streamer commentating was stunned.
"Damn! Silent is building towers right at Wan Feng's doorstep! Holy crap, is he insane? The Orc has a fully upgraded army too! Can he even get those towers up?"
"Huh? Wait, why isn't Wan Feng reacting? He didn't see it! Oh my god, he only has part of his army defending the expansion, and his focus is on the Blade Master!"
"Human's towers are out of vision! He didn't see them! Oh my god! Eight towers are already up and upgrading!"
"He's spotted them, spotted them! Finally! But it seems too late! Force destroy! Charge! Damn, they can't win!"
"The Orc is retreating, and Human isn't chasing. They're just building more towers forward! Wow, this is way too cheesy!"
The live chat was stunned too, spamming "Never seen such a shameless person!"
Human now had a huge advantage, but this Silent still wouldn't charge. He gave no opportunity, just building one tower at a time, planning to steamroll the Orc expansion!
Now the Orc army was completely blocked in. Behind them was the expansion, ahead was the Arrow Tower formation and the Human main army. Human wouldn't fight, just pushing forward one Arrow Tower at a time.
"Wan Feng isn't waiting anymore! He's going all in! The Blade Master even popped Blade Storm! There's hope! Spin, spin, spin! Ah, they can't win! No choice, the Blade Master used Town Portal Scroll."
"With that recall, the expansion is gone!"
"Silent's Peasants built a Human base right there, turning the Orc expansion into his own!"
"Wow, this expansion is now Human's most terrifying one. A full twenty-four Arrow Towers!"
Through the streamer's commentary, the audience could feel the Orc's despair.
But Wan Feng still didn't type "gg." His Blade Master was already level 6, and he really didn't want to give up like this.
"Human is moving again. Is this the end of the match?"
"No, the Human main army isn't heading to the Orc main base! ...Huh? They're taking a bunch of Peasants to the center of the map?"
"Uh... they're building towers again!"
"Wow, that's a lot of Arrow Towers. Let me count... thirteen, sixteen... Looks like they're planning to build twenty-two Arrow Towers!"
"What the hell are they doing? There's nothing in the center of the map. Why build so many towers? Blocking the path?"