Chapter 49: El Maestre (4)

Chapter 49: El Maestre (4)

We passed a small dam and slowed down as we approached the northern part of the battlefield. I had pre-marked footsteps to break away downstream. We left these deceptive footprints as we moved along the water, and when we had to backtrack, we used the waterway to avoid leaving additional tracks.

Kyung-tae divided the troops in anticipation of contact with the enemy, securing the flanks and rear. They could be used to flank or encircle the enemy if necessary. The forward guard, which included me, consisted of 16 individuals, a size modeled after a troop of British special forces. This allowed us to engage the enemy separately as a full troop when needed.

That’s how we approached, and finally, the London First Battalion that entered my line of sight was indeed composed of the expected 16 individuals.

‘I knew it would be like this. They are still in their infancy.’

How could a paradigm shift overnight? Until trial and error and research were conducted, the inertia of the past would inevitably remain.

All personnel ranked at least Corporal had formed blocking lines of four individuals each, spaced sparsely. To someone approaching from outside this line, they revealed a vulnerable rear. They maintained the basics of camouflage and cover but nothing more. No matter how skilled the enemy was, the negligence of the rear guard at this point, even if they were pushed back, was inexcusable. It was a result of the exhaustion from the relentless pursuit throughout the day and overconfidence in superhuman strength.

I warned myself to stay alert.

Seeing enemies who were too easy to kill, I felt the temptation to capture one and interrogate them briefly to learn about the current state of the London Round Table, who was leading the government, and such information. However, it was pure greed. The situation was what it was, and treating them as nothing more than cannon fodder devil worshipers would be a mistake.

Above all, there was a high possibility that they didn’t even know about the existence of the Round Table itself. Their circuitry level was too low to be considered elite members of the Round Table. They were likely just innocent soldiers being used out of patriotism.

However, their innocence was not a reason for me to hesitate to kill.

After distributing our targets, we aimed at our respective marks.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom!

The gunshots were more like roars than mere shots. The unprotected parts of their body, the exposed necks, erupted violently from the impact of hunting rifle bullets, which were four times heavier than regular rifle rounds. While the kinetic energy was only double, the impact (stopping power) on the target was immensely different, and the ambush was decided in just 2 seconds.

The soldiers’ heavy footsteps trampled tall grass as they approached the bodies. The night, with only a crescent moon, was pitch black on the shadowy mountainside. All my subordinates, except me, wore night vision goggles, capable of infrared imaging.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.

“Hyungnim.”

I fastened the radio Kyung-tae handed me onto one side of my tactical vest. After wiping away the blood on the receiver, I put it on, and the orders and reports exchanged among the British soldiers came into my ears. Kyung-tae and I had also brought extra weapons from the British soldiers. Despite being heavily used and battered, these firearms had no traces that could be traced back to us. Furthermore, in terms of firepower and penetration, they surpassed the hunting rifles we had prepared. There were also explosive weapons like portable rocket launchers (LAW).

I received a large caliber sniper rifle as my share. It was regrettable that we didn’t have any camouflage gear (ghillie suits) since our main mission was not to ambush. Among the dead soldiers, four of them had miniaturized drone and controller sets, so I stashed them in our belongings. They might not be needed immediately, but their value as spoils of war was enormous.

“Let’s go.”

As I urged, I was already looking at the next target beyond the northern blockade line. I knew that even though I had used my telekinetic powers to block the gunshots, they would soon realize that a hole had been pierced. I had to kill as many as possible before that happened.

And then...

I hid behind a clump of trees, alternately looking at the ground and the sky. My subordinates immediately began to take cover as well. After a moment, a small aircraft flew by in the nearby airspace. It was an unmanned aerial vehicle (Raven) that could be launched by hand and patrolled at low altitudes.

We would shoot them down with magic and snipers as soon as we engaged in full-scale combat. For now, we left them alone for our ambush.

Once again, we resumed our movement. Despite being a tactical maneuver that emphasized stealth, it was a very fast pace, and we didn’t pay attention to noise. Even so, I had to endure my growing anxiety.

“En nombre del dios! (In the name of God!)”

A roar came from the other side of the mountains. The Knight Commander’s intensity exceeded that of a normal human, but even the sound of his voice showed signs of weariness. In the meantime, how much longer would the fake knights hold out? How much more room did I have left?

The Cartel knights had been running and fighting for at least 16 hours. If they collapsed, it would make hunting on our side more difficult. Perhaps the British army was just taunting the prey to accumulate combat experience. Even if they were in a state where they could end the hunt at any time, it wouldn’t be strange for them to do so.

New enemies came into view within normal line of sight. Once again, there were 16 of them. My subordinates quickly took positions at the signal, even though it would only take a few seconds to distribute the targets.

“Relay to the command. Team 4, move 40 meters in the 8 o’clock direction. Team 5, move 20 meters in the 2 o’clock direction. No, no. Halt. Yes, that’s it. Take cover there and watch the 12 o’clock direction. Next, Team 5-2, prepare the grenade launcher...”

Fine-tuning of the company-sized unit in 4-member teams. Just speaking made me breathless. Kyung-tae and the others, numbering 64 in total, executed the rapid-fire instructions flawlessly, without a hint of error. Precise directions and distances. There was no room for distortions in direction and distance perception, which were common in the field.

Four British soldiers had approached their comrades’ bodies, maintaining a tactical yet very quiet approach, securing the area. Our prepared wide-area trap was the backup explosion point.

‘Only four.’

The number of casualties entering the kill zone was lower than expected.

We maintained silence, concealed, so the British Staff Sergeant leading the team had given a hand signal to his subordinates to keep their gun muzzles up on the body armor bunker, in the same posture as before. It meant to examine the corpses. The corporal who was in charge of the rear area carefully moved forward to inspect the closest corpse.

“...Bloody hell.”

A voice too quiet to hear distinctly, but I could read the shape of the lips, and it was a curse. It was natural for them to utter an exclamation of surprise when all the bodies were so thoroughly destroyed. The corporal carefully examined the remaining scars on the bodies. It was an attempt to determine the weapons we were using and their numbers.

‘They seem rather cautious.’

The corporal’s touch was cautious yet experienced. The caution of the prey was uncomfortable, so I prepared the captured large-caliber sniper rifle.

“This is a command. I’ll take the shot. Do not fire until I give orders or we are under attack.”

As I issued the order, those close by understood with a silent nod, and those farther away sent short acknowledgments. Despite using radios with frequency-hopping capabilities, minimizing communication was still a good practice.

Now I had a virtual sight trained on the upper torsos of the targets. There was already a heavy armor-piercing shell loaded in the chamber. In terms of kinetic energy alone, it was more than five times the large-caliber rounds I had used earlier for hunting. I was considering where to hit when I decided to aim for a corpse instead of a person, given the slow speed of the heavy shell. It didn’t matter which side I hit; the bomb just needed to explode. As I adjusted my breathing and focused, my heart rate increased. Not actually increased, but other sounds faded into the distance.

Kwaaang!

A sound faster than the shell. And a flash faster than sound. The elite foes reacted to the latter.

“Enemy...!”

The sergeant, who was about to shout, was engulfed and torn apart by the flashing light. Even just the fact that he did not turn into complete shreds indicated an extraordinary physique. His ability to utter a single syllable was remarkable reaction speed and judgment in itself, but all of that uniqueness evaporated with a single extensive explosion. Inside a trap designed more to kill the enemy with shrapnel than pressure, everything softer than steel was broken or torn apart and scattered. Naturally, human bodies were among them. Bodies torn apart and entangled in different directions by explosions left grotesque shadows in the flickering light.

Then, dark silence returned.

Shh–

I once again urged my close subordinates to maintain silence. It was partly a plea to myself as well. Not to hurry. This was the fastest way.

Finally, the Cartel knights began to appear in my vision. Inside the swaying encirclement, they seemed to instinctively discern the direction they needed to go. In other words, they came to me rather than me finding them.

How resourceful these people were.

If they surrender willingly, based on their resourcefulness, the Knight Commander might let me kill them personally. In a way, it was my way of showing respect to the opponent. It was, in essence, a matter of courtesy.

Author's Thoughts

Disclaimer:

This novel is a work of fiction! While it may incorporate elements inspired by our "real" historical world, including historical events, settings, and cultures, it is important to note that the story and characters are entirely products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, living or deceased, or actual events is purely coincidental. This work should be enjoyed and interpreted as a work of fiction and not as a representation of historical facts or reality.

Also, if you find some error in translation please do let me know by tagging me (@_dawn24) in our Discord server. Since this series is kinda hard to translate. But I'll try my best to make it at least readable :)

Enjoy reading~!