Chapter 21
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Gang Sweeping Operation (5)
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"That guy, huh."
The new commander was different.
His expensive iron armor and ornate helmet decorations proved his high rank, but that wasn't what caught Jinwoo's eye.
As befitting an elite of the Trade Federation, the way he gripped the reins without so much as twitching, staring down the battlefield, was calm and intimidating—like the eye of a ferocious storm.
With just a few hand gestures, his troops shifted formation organically, like a serpent slithering forward.
'They just swapped out the head, and now it's a completely different army.'
The faint smile that had tugged at Jinwoo's lips vanished.
His finger pressed smoothly and without hesitation against the trigger.
"Doesn't matter. Dead is dead."
Click!
The bullet spat from the Hawk Eye sniper rifle slipped into the air like it was part of the atmosphere itself, muffled by the suppressor.
Thud!
The commander's head, which had been scanning the battlefield, exploded like a watermelon.
Thump!
The headless bulk of his armored body lost balance and crashed heavily to the ground beneath his horse.
The commander's pathetic death!
If these had been Dico's ragtag bunch, the formation would have crumbled right then, scattering in terror.
But the Trade Federation mercenaries reacted differently.
"The boss is down!"
"Assuming command!"
A short cry erupted, but there was no chaos.
The man who appeared to be the commander's adjutant, standing right behind him, stepped forward without a moment's hesitation.
He didn't even glance at the fallen commander's corpse as he drew his sword and thrust it toward the sky.
"All units, disperse! Pinpoint the sniper's position while advancing immediately to seize the village!"
A command as cold and unyielding as steel.
At his order, the clustered soldiers scattered with the precision of well-trained hounds.
Some sought cover behind nearby obstacles, while others advanced toward Jinwoo, laying down suppressive fire.
They had shed their most vulnerable clustered formation in an instant, shifting to the most annoying dispersed one for a sniper.
Jinwoo's eyes narrowed as he watched the scene through his scope.
'Elite troops, alright.'
Blowing off a couple of heads wouldn't stop their advance.
They were a true hydra—one head cut off, and another grew back immediately!
Just as they narrowed their encirclement on the village, ramping up the pressure...
To make matters worse, another problem erupted.
Kaboom!
"What the hell?"
A deafening roar tore at Jinwoo's ears as a small building near the village entrance's palisade was engulfed in an explosion.
Wooden shards and dirt blasted into the sky, and the shockwave sent several villagers on the barricade tumbling with screams.
"W-What is it?"
"C-Cannon fire!"
The panicked villagers' gazes fixed on the source.
And it appeared in Jinwoo's scope too.
In the rear where reinforcements were regrouping, a small cannon on heavy wheels belched black smoke.
The gunners bustled about, clearly loading the next shell.
'A cannon in a western? That's cheating!'
Jinwoo's brow furrowed deeply.
The arrival of a true siege weapon, leagues beyond a sniper rifle.
It even had a gun shield, making it tough to punch through with sniping.
If that thing kept firing, the village's flimsy defenses wouldn't hold.
It was only a matter of time before the villagers' will to fight broke.
'With that thing around, the defense fails.'
A warning alarm blared in Jinwoo's mind.
Quest failure!
That word meant more than defeat to him.
It was a stain on his perfect plan to get home.
It meant the board flipping due to an unforeseen variable.
Jinwoo realized he could no longer control the situation from the hilltop with sniping alone.
He immediately broke his prone position and rose to his feet.
His eyes locked on the flaming cannon and its guards.
"Guess I'll have to jump in a bit early."
Time to seize the initiative.
*
Jinwoo rushed to the sheriff.
His whisper cut precisely through the battlefield din into the old sheriff's ear.
"Sheriff! When I give the signal, blow the dynamite we set!"
He pointed to the detonator connected by wire, and the sheriff looked up.
"W-What?"
"Then, before the survivors recover, pour every bit of firepower into the entrance! Just tie their feet for 10 minutes!"
Before the sheriff could grasp his intent, Jinwoo spun and sprinted down the hill.
Whoosh!
His whistle brought a massive shadow bursting from the stable on one side of the village.
A battle bird resembling an ostrich but far bulkier, with savage, muscled legs!
It was Falcon.
"Kreeeek!"
Jinwoo leaped onto the charging Falcon's back without hesitation.
He gripped the feathers at its nape tightly and yanked the reins.
"Let's go!"
Falcon let out a short roar-like cry in response to its master's command.
True to its Pellicon nature, its movements were on another level from a horse.
Thud!
Falcon kicked off the ground with its two massive legs, leaping forward.
With the first bound, it lightly vaulted onto a low building's roof, shattering tiles as it charged down the slope.
While the enemies' eyes were glued to the main gate and the debris from the recent shelling...
Jinwoo began maneuvering along the village's edge, hugging the outer wall out of their sight.
"W-What the hell is that?!"
"A Pellicon! Someone's riding a Pellicon!"
A few spotted him and shouted, but Falcon's speed didn't allow them to aim.
It leaped from roof to roof, sometimes clawing into walls between buildings for vertical dashes.
The bizarre, gravity-defying movements threw the enemies into confusion.
And Jinwoo didn't miss that chaos.
Low on Falcon's back, he drew the Infinite Ammo Pistol from his hip.
His eyes stained blood-red.
Time slowed. Every motion in the world traced clear trajectories in his vision.
Pew! Pew-pew-pew!
The bullets from his muzzle gutted the enemies.
"Argh!"
"Gah!"
Piercing one man's ankle dropped him, tangling the soldiers behind into a heap.
"Gurk!"
He punched through an enemy hiding behind a thin wooden wall, wall and all.
Another bullet grazed a helmet with a sharp crack. No defense possible!
To the victims, it felt like dozens of invisible ghosts firing from all sides.
Their gazes scattered, shots firing into empty air.
Jinwoo used the pandemonium as a shield to bypass their encirclement.
To break the weakest link!
Right then.
Kabooooom!
The second cannon blast rang out.
This shell struck the village entrance dead-on, ripping a massive hole in the flimsy palisade.
Wood splinters and bodies flew into the air.
'Now they're opening the path, huh.'
Jinwoo read their intent perfectly.
Next came the charge.
'Knew this was coming, so I held one back.'
He'd do exactly what Dico had done earlier.
Jinwoo pulled a flare from his pocket and fired it skyward.
Fwoosh!
At the red streak's signal, the sheriff bellowed with grim resolve.
"Now! Light it up!"
Kabooooom!
A massive explosion swept the entire village.
The dynamite Jinwoo had pre-planted detonated in a chain reaction.
The enemy vanguard, just pouring through the freshly breached line, vanished into a colossal fireball.
"Fire! Pour it on before they recover!"
With the sheriff's desperate cry, every surviving gun in the village spat flames.
Rat-tat-tat!
All enemy eyes and firepower refocused on the main gate once more.
"Damn it! Another trap?!"
"Don't falter! They're just rabble!"
A perfect diversion. Every gaze locked on the explosion site.
Jinwoo had orchestrated everything for that moment.
'Rear's wide open, idiots.'
He spurred Falcon into the dust cloud.
Toward the still-smoking cannon, Falcon shot like a blue arrow.
He spotted enemies oblivious to his presence.
The gunners smugly loaded the next shell, waiting for their comrades to breach the weak barricade.
Victory was in the bag—evil smirks bloomed on their faces.
"Haha! Our cannon's the best. What do these hicks know?"
"Damn right! We blocked the gang, but against us? No chance!"
No one realized disaster was charging at their backs.
"Kyaak!"
The first scream came from an outpost sentry on the battery's edge.
Pew!
"?!"
Just before blood sprayed from his throat, his comrades glimpsed a massive bird racing along the hill ridge—with a rider atop.
And muzzle flashes exploding like lightning.
"Over there! Fire!"
The mercenaries guarding the gunners whipped around, rifles raised.
Before the target entered their sights, Falcon had already veered behind a boulder.
"Damn it! How's it so fast?!"
Pew!
Instead, a bullet from the opposite side pierced a soldier's shoulder.
"Other side! Shit, which way?!"
Chaos spread like a plague.
Jinwoo circled the battery on Falcon, constantly shifting position using cover and terrain dips.
Popping up from the hilltop.
Diving into low brush to fire.
Emerging from rock crevices on the far side.
'Good, Red Eye stamina's recharged!'
The world slowed to a crawl once more.
Jinwoo read every incoming bullet's trajectory, directing Falcon on perfect evasion paths.
Piercing an aimer's hand.
Knocking away an enemy rifle.
Blowing off a commander's jaw.
"Argh!"
Terror gripped them.
Caught in bullets from every direction, they cowered, clutching heads instead of guarding the cannon.
"You bastards! Turn the gun! Blow that thing away!"
The gun commander finally lost it and screamed.
The gunners fumbled to swivel the massive barrel.
"Dump the shell! Load grapeshot! I'll kill 'em!"
A loader crammed in a canister packed with heavy iron balls.
Hit by that, no corpse left behind.
The maw of death, turned from the village toward Jinwoo—that instant!
'Gotcha.'
Exactly what Jinwoo had waited for.
He spurred Falcon straight at the cannon, in a dead line.
"He's insane!"
"Fire! Fire now!"
Gunners hastily adjusted aim and primed the cannon.
But Falcon's speed defied common sense.
Riflemen fired desperately at the charging Jinwoo, but Falcon weaved cleverly inward.
'And I've got this.'
Jinwoo drew his last dynamite bundle from his pocket.
Lit the fuse.
In that split second before loading and firing!
Jinwoo leaped from Falcon's back.
As his body arced through the air, the dynamite flew from his hand—sucked precisely under the barrel, between the wheels.
"N-No!"
Despair bloomed on the mercenaries' faces as they saw the lit fuse.
Jinwoo's body hit the ground.
He rolled to absorb the impact—and almost simultaneously...
KABOOOOOOM!
A roar dwarfing all prior blasts shook the battlefield.
Rumble!
The Trade Federation's prized steel cannon twisted like taffy, vaulted skyward, then shattered in a horrific burst.
Gunners and guards vanished without trace in the blast.
A brief hush fell over the field.
"Went a bit overboard."
The overwhelming firepower aimed at the village was gone.
Jinwoo dusted off, mounted Falcon swiftly, and headed back to the village.
"Time to hit the rear."