Volume 1 Chapter 29.3: Focal Point
- Focal Point
Su smiled. His smile was full of brightness and gratitude. He gave the girl a huge thumbs up before turning around and walking towards the ruins and wilderness.
Only when Su's figure disappeared did Madeline slowly turn around. Her figure leapt into the air and disappeared towards the direction of the town of trials.
The wind became colder and colder. It was already winter.
"Wait for me. I will protect you." She knew what Su's final gesture meant. However, what she wished for might not just be protection.
Su supported himself against an ice cold rock as he gazed into the small town below that had already turned into ruins. Wind continuously blew past his body, forcefully infusing wisps of chilliness into his clothes. Su's body temperature had already lowered to the point where it was completely the same as his environment, so the wind wouldn't cause him to feel cold. However, Su still didn't like the cold because it made him uncomfortable. A lower temperature made his blood flow slower, as if both him, as well as even the world seemed to be slowly freezing.
Ten or so people appeared in Su's field of view. The two that walked at the very front were clearly experienced hunters. Their eyes were like an incomparably fine net that didn't allow anything past as they searched the wilderness for any suspicious signs. The group was rather spread out with close to a kilometer between each person. Among them, there were also two individuals who continuously stared into the two sides of the short mountain. They were clearly long-range sniping specialists, their eyes carefully scanning for possible sniping points.
Su felt the eyes of these two had swept over where he was hiding, but they shouldn't have sensed anything. Most of the time when a sniper searched for another sniper, they would have to rely on abilities like infrared sight. Su had already lowered the temperature of his own body to the same as the surroundings, and with a thousand meters between them, it was naturally difficult for them to detect him.
The hunters quickly entered the small town. In reality, this place could only be considered a village. Apart from some public buildings and a small church, there were only a few dozen houses. It was clear that even in the olden era, this wasn't a particularly flourishing place.
A few minutes later, the two hunters found an infantry pack within one of the houses, and upon opening it, they found that inside was a complete Black Dragonrider second lieutenant uniform. The hunters issued a signal, and the remaining individuals quickly entered the small town one after another. Six fighters separately occupied the highest points of the small town, locking down the entire town into their range of fire. A dragonrider that was wearing a field combat suit with a face of experience stood at the center of the town, looking over the second lieutenant uniform inside with a frown. Standing at his side was a youngster that carried a prince gatling gun. It was clearly the youngster that had a conflict with Su two days ago.
The man seemed to be roughly thirty or so years of age. On the right part of his chest was the crest of three daggers. This was the military symbol of a Black Dragonrider captain. There were a few points of similarity between his facial features and the youngster's, so there should be some blood relationship between them.
The uniform was left behind by Su. In the wilderness, a Black Dragonrider's uniform was far less useful than a specialized field combat suit, so after leaving Dragon City, dragonriders all liked to change into combat clothes that suited different environments. However, others would have their subordinates carry the uniform, while Su was a dragonrider without subordinates, so the uniform he took off could only be stored in a hidden place.
"Older cousin, why didn't Persephone give him a few subordinates? No matter how deep in debt she is, she can still transfer over some of her own subordinates, right?" The youngster asked. After experiencing the conflict back then, he already restrained the contempt he had towards Su. If anyone in his social circle were here, they would probably say 'why would a male pet need subordinates' or something of the sort.
The middle-aged was about to say something when a cold feeling suddenly crept past his heart. It was so fierce that he couldn't help but shiver. He immediately shouted out, "All of you, get down!" Meanwhile, he grabbed the youngster and charged into the house on the opposite side.
An slightly muffled gunshot resounded through the skies of the little village. However, the one that fell to this sound was a sniping specialist that occupied the bell tower of the small church.
The first gunshot was still echoing through the ruins when another gunshot sounded. Before the gunshot entered everyone's ears, the sniper situated in the second floor of a house collapsed. The insanely powerful bullets directly penetrated through the walls, bringing the lime plaster of the building with it as half of the individual's chest was blasted rotten. A badly mangled arm flew out from another window and fell into the small town's plaza.
"The bullet was fired from more than 1300 meters away!" When the youngster heard the gunshot, his face became somewhat pale. After entering the house, he leaned beside the window and looked outwards. When he did, the sniping specialist's arm just so happened to fly past his vision.
"It's 1410 meters." The middle-aged male corrected this youngster's inaccuracy. His face was extremely unpleasant to look at. After all, he was an ability user of the Combat and Mental Domains, and his strong suit was using firearms to launch an assault. Long range sniping was not one of his stronger points.
As such, one could clearly see that they had entered a trap without needing to analyze the situation too deeply.
The middle-aged man's group had followed clues to this small town, which seemed to be the rest point Su left for himself. However, it was actually a trap, a trap used to kill his pursuers. What left people feeling especially cold was that this trap made full use of the contempt others had for Su. The middle-aged man began to ask himself what he would have done had any other dragonrider's rest point been found after following that individual's traces. He definitely wouldn't have casually sent in all of his personnel and stay in one place for so long.
The small town's terrain wasn't that complex. With Su occupying advantageous terrain and the two snipers immediately eliminated, it could be said that the conclusion of this battle was already set. The best course of action was to immediately withdraw from the other side of this small town. That way, they would be able to increase the distance by 2500 meters, which should almost guarantee their safety.
Tong tong tong tong! The gunshots of a sniper rifle continuously sounded, and the fighters fell down one after another from the housing rooftops. Cries of alarm continuously sounded within the small town, and the fighters continuously looked for safe ground searching for the sniper in an utterly confused manner. However, Su's speed was just a bit too fast, to the point where it wasn't like a sniper's. As soon as someone peeped through a crack, they were immediately greeted with a bullet. The fragile walls of the small town's housing couldn't provide any protective cover.
The muscles on the middle-aged man's face continuously throbbed. Each time a gunshot sounded, it felt as if it struck against his heart. In a short period of time, Su already fired thirteen rounds and killed at least eight. When he saw the second sniping specialist meet his end earlier, the middle-aged man had already given up on bringing anyone that had been shot back alive. The power of the bullets the other party used didn't leave behind any chance of survival. These were all his own subordinates, and with each death, not only did it represent the fall of his own team's strength, it also meant that he had to pay a large amount of compensation for their families.
Even though he was born within one of the three great influential families, the middle-aged man and this youngster all had the bloodlines of collateral relatives, so the amount of resources they could make use of from the family was extremely limited. The sixteen man team was something that the middle-aged man poured everything he had gathered over the past ten years into making. Now that half of them were shot dead by Su with seemingly no difficulty, how could he not feel as if his heart was being twisted about?
He originally wanted to help his cousin vent some resentment and conveniently curry some favor with the glorious General Rudolph. After all, everyone knew that Rudolph and Persephone had engaged in a fierce struggle. After returning, Rudolph had spent a full fifteen days in recovery, so one could see just how intense the battle from back then was.
Black dragonriders assessed the army rank extremely accurately. A captain's overall strength was usually many times greater than that of a second lieutenant, let alone comparing a captain with more than ten subordinates with a second lieutenant without any. However, this place was less than ten kilometers from the edge of Dragon City, and from what the middle-aged male was used to, their pursuit this time had just started the process of searching for clues and traces. After all, this place was too close to Dragon City, and from time to time, there were patrols going around.
However, he never expected Su to be so ferocious, actually using a place like this as an ambush spot. Moreover, he first shot dead his two sniping specialists, completely changing the situation of the battle. These forceful actions made it so that there was no room for peaceful talks.
Two more muffled sounds rang out one after another. The first bullet opened up a large hole in the outer wall of a little house in front of the middle-aged male, and the second bullet entered through this hole and blasted apart the floor of the second level. As dust erupted everywhere, wooden fragments seemed to blow out of the windows together with the dust. An incredibly nimble figure made his way out together with the smoke and dust, and as soon as he landed on the ground, he immediately bounced back up, and like a leopard, he rushed towards another building to take refuge in. The middle-aged male's mind relaxed. This was the most powerful subordinate under him, as well as a specialist in sudden and violent assaults. This was a subordinate he had to pay an enormous price to obtain.
The middle-aged man suddenly leapt out from where he was hiding and sped towards his own subordinate. His left arm condensed a clear blue radiance, a defensive shield that could slow down the momentum of the bullets. In reality, facing the might of So's powerful sniper bullets, this level of defense didn't provide any decisive use. After all, even though every single dragonrider received anti-sniping training, unless absolutely necessary, who was willing to face the bullet of a sniper, especially a sniper like Su?
However, he truly couldn't lose his most competent subordinate.
When the middle-aged man was still a few meters from the subordinate, he suddenly heard a sharp hiss. This was the high frequency sound released released as the bullet flew over. It was faster than sound waves, and only after special listening training could one hear it.
His subordinate was also an anti-sniping expert. He suddenly lean towards the side and pounced outwards. Then, with a roll, it seemed like he was just about to reach the edge of a house to hide behind. However, right at this time, large amounts of blood bloomed from all of the subordinate's body, and his entire body left the ground, flying into the air. Only after spinning a few times in the air did he fall heavily onto the ground. When his body landed on the ground, there were already no signs of life. More than half of his waist was already missing!