Chapter 10
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Mercenary Corps Formation (2)
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The day after the bloody purge ended, the Gold Hound had transformed into a different unit altogether.
The idle chatter from horseback and unnecessary movements had vanished.
In their place were only the dry dust kicked up by hooves and the faint clink of metal.
And the silence of the gunslingers, their eyes fixed solely on Jinwoo's back as he silently led the way at the front of the column.
'It worked.'
Jinwoo was satisfied.
Fear was the most reliable discipline of all.
To avoid being underestimated by these hardened ruffians who had seen it all, what was needed was a brutal public execution.
Of course, even after that, some of the thugs hadn't learned their lesson.
They had tried to steal Jinwoo's weapon that fired infinite bullets or ambush him in various ways.
'But those idiots overlooked one key fact.'
The Infinite Ammo Pistol was a bound item.
The clumsy pickpocket with sticky fingers panicked when the gun slipped from his grasp.
His face was filled with confusion right up until a hole was punched through his skull.
He had shot and killed several such mercenaries that way.
Thanks to weeding them out, what remained now were usable gems, Jinwoo thought.
And so, the mercenaries followed Jinwoo without a word of complaint.
Before long, the pass leading to Trinity Coastal City came into view.
As the echo-less canyon drew near, Jinwoo raised his hand to halt the column.
"Set up camp. Then all hands, assemble in the center."
At his command, the mercenaries moved with perfect precision.
There was no hesitation or wasted motion in their actions.
Fear of their leader's combat prowess and brutality, mingled with a subtle respect, drove these ruffians onward.
As the campfire roared to life, Jinwoo began placing small stones on the tattered map spread out before him.
"We've successfully outpaced the enemy. In three hours, the Trade Federation's escort convoy will pass through this canyon."
Tension rippled across the mercenaries' faces at his words.
"Their numbers total twenty-five. Ten cavalry up front, five in the rear. In the center, wagons carrying the abducted villagers, guarded by one special carriage. The remaining nine will surround them."
One mercenary swallowed hard and asked,
"Boss, how do you..."
"If I say I know, then I know."
Jinwoo cut off the question.
He pointed to a specific spot on the map with his finger.
"The escort commander's an infamous elf curse shaman, Silvanus. He'll protect his allies from the carriage with a powerful barrier spell. Most of your bullets will be blocked. Don't panic if that happens."
As they eyed him skeptically at this insight, Jinwoo stood.
"Take your positions now. On both cliffs of the canyon, at the spots I've assigned—don't move a single step from there. Until I give the signal, not even a breath."
Under his command, the Gold Hound began setting a massive hunting trap.
The gunslingers checked their revolvers and rifles, hiding behind rocks with a clear view of the canyon below.
Everyone held their breath, waiting for time to pass.
How much time passed? A faint vibration came from afar.
Soon after, just as Jinwoo had predicted, the Trade Federation escort bearing their flag appeared.
Front cavalry, central carriages, and surrounding guards.
The numbers and formation matched exactly what he'd said.
The mercenaries looked at Jinwoo with eyes shifting from shock to awe.
'No way... it was real!?'
'Does he have some secret intel source we don't know about?'
The mercenaries murmured in disbelief.
This man was something more than just a rich softie or a brute gunslinger.
One thought,
'He's a prophet or something?'
The enemy's size, route.
Even the commander's identity and abilities seemed spot-on.
A peek through binoculars showed pointed ears peeking from under the commander's hood.
Before this level of intel, betrayal felt like utter folly—they felt it in their bones.
"Our goal is rescuing the villagers and total enemy annihilation."
The convoy finally entered the deepest part of the canyon.
Right into their kill zone.
"Don't shoot the center—watch for stray bullets hitting the villagers. Aim."
From atop the cliff, Jinwoo whispered as he raised his hand.
Dozens of gunslingers quietly cocked their hammers.
Jinwoo shouted.
"Brightwood! Get down!"
The rope-bound villagers hurriedly ducked their heads.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!
A torrent of bullets in an instant!
Innumerable shots erupted from both canyon cliffs, turning the front and rear of the trapped Trade Federation convoy into beehives.
"Hiiing!"
"Gahk!"
"A ambush!"
Horse neighs and soldiers' death cries mixed. The canyon turned into a slaughterhouse of pandemonium in seconds.
"Hold formation! The enemy's above!"
Even in the chaos, a sharp voice rang from the central special carriage.
A male elf in black robes, his long white hair whipping in the wind.
Silvanus.
Jinwoo clicked his tongue at the sight.
'Ugly bastard.'
Cursing Providencia Softworks' shoddy modeling even as he stayed on high alert.
At his gesture, a translucent green mana barrier enveloped the carriage.
Mercenaries' bullets struck it and bounced harmlessly away.
"Foolish lesser races! Behold how gunpowder is powerless before mana!"
Silvanus glared up at the cliffs with contempt.
He slowly raised both hands.
Sinister black energy rose from his fingertips!
Jinwoo's pupils shook violently at the sight.
'That one!'
Back in [Rising West].
Silvanus' wide-area curse that frustrated countless players: Dissonance of Despair.
A horrific spell that eroded the mind the moment it was heard and drained life from all living things.
"Everyone! Plug your ears and hit the dirt now! It's his curse!"
Jinwoo bellowed at the top of his lungs.
At his prophetic warning, most mercenaries who remembered the bloody purge instinctively dropped and covered their ears.
But some, drunk on victory, hesitated.
"That one's mine!"
The moment one mercenary aimed his rifle at the barrier and wavered.
Silvanus completed his incantation.
Woooooom!
A displeasure sound not quite sound, scraping directly at the brain—a foul low frequency echoed through the entire canyon.
"Kaaaaagh!"
Two or three who ignored the order spewed black blood from eyes and ears like fountains.
They clawed at their faces screaming before collapsing into withered mummies in an instant.
The survivors' faces went deathly pale at the sight.
"You idiots! Cover your ears and stay down!"
The battlefield plunged into chaos.
Mercenaries ducked to evade the curse waves, shaking their perfect encirclement.
'Doesn't matter.'
Jinwoo ignored it. The first volley had dropped the escorts flat.
He dashed madly across the canyon, his movements calculated.
Safe spots untouched by the waves—behind rocks, in depressions—were crystal clear to him.
Weaving effortlessly between death waves, Jinwoo closed the distance to Silvanus bit by bit.
"Covering fire! Disrupt his line of sight!"
At Jinwoo's cry, the mercenaries snapped to and fired desperately from scattered positions.
Finally behind a rock closest to the carriage, Jinwoo took position.
Time for the real showdown.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Silvanus dropped his barrier and hurled fireballs.
Countless flaming orbs rained down.
Jinwoo grinned.
Red Eye
Vision turns red. Magic crosshairs appear. Perfect interception and tracking.
The system window flashed, and his vision burned red.
Magic orbs overlaid with crosshairs.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Raining spells collided with mana bullets.
Boom boom boom!
Spells exploded mid-air with blasts, shocking the elf.
"Impossible! A mere human intercepting my magic!"
Red Eye and Infinite Ammo's infinite synergy unilaterally shredded his spells.
Jinwoo shifted his pistol's aimline.
Silvanus redeployed his barrier, but Jinwoo didn't hesitate.
Aiming at one single point.
"Alright. Let's see that fancy magic block this."
He pulled the trigger.
Endlessly. Forever.
Shoo shoo shoo shoo shoo shoo shoo!
No reloading.
Endless blue flashes poured out.
Bullets relentlessly bored into the curse shaman's sturdy-looking barrier.
Clang clang clang clang clang!
Blue flashes hammered one spot on the green barrier without cease.
Silvanus, who had maintained it leisurely at first, began to sweat coldly on his brow.
'What the hell? What is this guy!?'
His mana barrier was tougher than steel, but not invincible.
Each block consumed mana minutely.
He had to constantly draw more to fill the gaps.
Against a normal gunslinger, the brief reload window would let it fully recover!
Counterattack and wipe them out—that was Silvanus' winning strategy.
But this guy didn't stop.
Bullets poured like an infinite spring, pounding the same point without a second's pause.
The barrier's burden raced toward its breaking point.
"What are you!?"
Silvanus cried desperately.
The Dissonance of Despair waves from his feet visibly weakened.
No mana left for other spells while sustaining the shield.
"Why won't you stop? No reloading? How many bullets does that gun hold!?"
Finally, shock and incomprehension burst from him.
By his logic, this was impossible.
As if answering his scream, Jinwoo's muzzle blazed fiercer.
Shatter!
At last, unable to withstand hundreds of rounds, the barrier shattered like glass.
"No!"
Silvanus' eyes filled with horror, unable to believe his shield was broken.
He instinctively raised a hand for a final curse.
But Jinwoo's gun was faster.
Thwip.
All noise ceased. A small hole pierced the center of Silvanus' ornate robe on his chest.
He slowly looked down at his chest, then slumped emptily from the carriage.
Jinwoo approached. Tough life force—still alive.
Silvanus gasped blood from his mouth.
"Im... impossible! That can't be... an Atlas relic!?"
"None of your business."
The Eastern gunslinger approached indifferently and aimed at the curse shaman's head.
"Tch, Providencia bastards and their modeling."
"...?"
"Looks even uglier in reality. Male elf? Male elf? Ah, female elves here are potato-faced too."
"What are you..."
Jinwoo scowled.
An ugly elf deserved death.
Pop!
With the commander's death, the battle ended.
The few fleeing Trade Federation stragglers dropped weapons and scattered in panic.
"Run!"
Bang bang bang!
Jinwoo's follow-up shots blew out their backsides.
No survivors.
The mercenaries stood stunned for a moment before erupting in victory cheers.
"We won! We did it!"
"Long live the boss!"
Jinwoo ignored their cheers and headed to the villagers.
About a dozen huddled there, terrified.
He reassured them, then asked a surviving mercenary,
"This all of them?"
"No, boss! They said... most villagers were already loaded onto ships and sent to the docks warehouse in Trinity Harbor!"
As expected. Jinwoo nodded.
Everything unfolded just as he knew.
If left alone?
They'd end up swinging pickaxes in the Nomade Salt Mine.
Main Quest: Trade Federation Escort Annihilation – Complete
Linked Quest Generated: Prisoners of the Docks
Jinwoo gazed down the road leading to the distant sea.
There were still people to rescue.
And enemies waiting to be crushed.
He gave a low command to the awestruck Gold Hound.
"Regroup. Target: Trinity Harbor."
"You mean..."
To the mercenaries' quiet question, Jinwoo replied.
"Let's ransack a Trade Federation city."