Chapter 348: Intercontinental Archery Championship finals part-5

"Now, both of us have the equal amount of arrows, targets, time, and pressure. Let's see how you make use of this opportunity…" Sakura mumbled as she glanced at Hyori.

The technical official proceeds to tell the rules of the tie break while the staff members brought a ball launcher into the gymnasium and placed it 45 meters away from them.

"Both of you were remaining with 20 arrows each. The one before you is a ball launcher which is generally used to train goalkeepers but for now, it will be the one that decides the winner.

Every 30 seconds, a soccer ball will be launched towards the ceiling with a speed of 5 meters per second. That would mean, the ball will touch the ceiling in roughly 3 seconds. Within that time, both of you need to shoot the target with the arrows.

The match ends when both of you will be emptied of arrows. The total number of soccer balls is 100. So, you can choose not to shoot if you think you can't hit it. But, if you release the arrow, hitting the target will earn you 10 points, and missing it will earn you 0 points.

And the final reminder is that there are no separate targets for both of you. There will be only one single target.

In case the two of you managed struck the same target, the one who struck it first will get ten points and the slower one will only receive 5 points. Now, please get into your positions and get ready."

At first, Wil thought it would have been better if it's either ten or zero, but then, he wondered whether the rule was implemented to reduce the chances of a tie as much as possible.

*Whistle*

The first soccer ball has been launched towards the ceiling as Sakura and Hyori were ready to shoot.

*Swoosh* *Swoosh*

Both of them released the arrows at the same time.

However, before the soccer ball even moved up a couple of meters, it was pierced by one of the arrows, making it abruptly change its direction in the midway and crash onto the wall while deflating.

The second arrow that seemed slower than the first, missed its mark and struck the ceiling before falling onto the floor.

Hyori turned her head to stare at her opponent, displaying shock on her face. Not only Hyori, even the audience, as well as the judges, couldn't help but go into a daze for a few seconds.

Sakura finally displayed the full power of her specially designed compound bow. Hyori finally realized how much this opponent of hers is holding back until now. 

Meanwhile, in the soccer stadium, Scarlet nodded with praising Sakura, "Looks like she had mastered the falcon shot. Hyori's chances to win against her are less than 1%."

"Falcon shot?" Along with Hyori's family, even Rey, Mia, Silver, and Aster also looked at Scarlet, asking for an explanation. 

On the other hand, a memory from the past jogged in Wil's mind.

A few years ago, in a bull arena, Andrea was teaching him the arrow techniques.

"Today, I'm going to teach you the ultimate technique in Archery. It's called Falcon shot. It has very high requirements. 

The first requirement is that your draw weight should be at least 60% of your body weight.

The second requirement is that you should be comfortable enough to shoot a dozen arrows in a row without struggling.

The third requirement is that you should maintain perfect accuracy even in such conditions. Accuracy is more important.

Of course, you can lessen the requirement with a compound bow and even skip the requirements altogether if you were in a state of survival instinct but still, it's better to learn the hard way.

Once you achieve the three requirements, you should practice this grip. Look closely at my fingers…"

Andrea put the tail of the arrow between her middle finger and ring finger and then, brought all the fingers together like a fist as she drew the bow.

"This will help you drew more weight. Now, after you drew the bow, you should tilt the bow to anywhere between 30 to 60 degrees, depending on where you stand. It's better if you don't stand straight to the target.

If you are right-handed, then, you should move right, depending on the distance between you and the target. Sure, the distance will increase but at the same time, your arrow speed will also increase more."

As Andrea releases her hand, it cut through the air and made a hole in a target that's 3 inches in depth before disappearing from the sight.

Back to the present;

Before Scarlet gets to explain what a falcon shot really is, Junho from the commentary box revealed the technique to everyone else. Despite supporting Hyori, he still praised Sakura for unleashing such a technique which is very rare even in the world of Pro.

He further said that Sakura shouldn't use this technique too many times as it will take a heavy toll on her thin and petite body.

To everyone's surprise, Sakura once again fired the arrow in the same way as before... Her arrow zoomed like a lightning, piercing the soccer ball just like the first shot.

Once again, Hyori's arrow missed the target and she fell behind the score.

With 18 arrows left, Sakura gained a solid lead of 20-0.

Hyori's family and the supporters became worried for Hyori as she refused to shoot for the next three arrows, letting the score go to 50-0. On the other hand, Wil felt like it is a smart move.

Wil wondered whether Hyori has figured out the side-effect of this technique. He felt it would be better for her to wait until either Sakura make a mistake or shoot normally. After all, there are 100 soccer balls and only 5 have been launched. So, he hoped that Hyori wouldn't rush.

And soon, Junho's warning has been confirmed after Sakura had shot the 10th arrow. Her fair thin left arm shook for a couple of seconds because of overbowing. 

Until now, Hyori has yet to shoot her 3rd arrow. Now that she got the signal, she finally drew the bow for the next launch.

Meanwhile, Sakura kept an ice pack on her left arm and took a rest for the next minute, skipping the next two targets.

Hyori took advantage of it and shot the two of them successfully, reducing the gap to 80, although Sakura has 10 arrows left while Hyori still has 16 arrows in the quiver.

She thought Sakura will take 5-10 minutes at the very least. Between this time, she intended to score as much as possible as she realized the huge difference between the two of them.

Meanwhile, the commentator Wang and Pro-Archer Junho voiced their opinions about how Sakura is too reckless for not caring about the consequences. Commentator Yamamura wasn't able to defend her actions as he too agrees with them.

Just then, Sakura stood up from the seat and walked to the line. She raised the bow and placed the arrow between the fingertips. However, instead of using her left hand, she was grabbing the bow in her right hand and drew the bow with her left while waiting for the countdown.

Hyori wondered whether Sakura is feeling pressure…

*Swoosh* *Swoosh*

Both of the arrows once again released at the same time and once again, the result of the first bout has been repeated.

Looking at the stunned Hyori, Sakura smiled, "I forgot to mention that I'm ambidextrous."