The Imperial Hunter Chapter 50 - El Maestre (5)

In this battle, I had two serious penalties. First, I must thoroughly conceal my presence as an archmage. Second, none of my subordinates should be captured or have their identities exposed. Even if my subordinates fall into the hands of the British forces, they could be potential clues to our organization’s headquarters. Even those with falsified identities and no official records were not exceptions.

Therefore, before my subordinates were deployed to this battlefield, each of them received a suicide bomb for self-destruction. These bombs were designed not only to kill but to damage the corpses significantly. However, it was hard to believe that these bombs would detonate promptly when needed. How many people could act without hesitation in their last moments? Furthermore, how many could destroy the bodies of their fallen comrades without hesitation?

I trusted my subordinates and the efforts I had put into managing them, but even with that, 100% trust was a mental luxury I could not afford.

Naturally, my command had to be cautious. I hoped that the enemy would cross the line of extreme fatalism and reach the point of no return.

Just a little more, a little closer.

I had confidence in myself. The gunshot I fired was buried under the trap’s explosion, and as long as the encirclement around the knights was problematic, their anxiety would only increase. Moreover, somewhere deep in this dark forest lurked an unidentified and unknown armed force, my army.

Additionally, by not launching an attack immediately after the trap detonated, the enemy had a basis for underestimating our size. If the size were sufficient, the standard procedure would be to attack simultaneously with the trap’s explosion. This situation was more like a guerilla warfare engagement against a large number of adversaries by a small number of specialized guerilla fighters. In reality, we were slightly outnumbered compared to the knights approaching us.

Whiiiiing-

A faint propeller-driven sound in a frequency range that ordinary people could never hear. The approaching British soldiers were reconnaissance drones, similar to the ones I obtained as loot from the previous ambush. Each of them cost a luxurious $200,000.

As soon as those expensive devices entered the effective range of a specific technique, they fell as if dead, just like the ones before. I retrieved them all with telekinesis, just as before, and stored them in my bag. The more samples for research and analysis, the better. Even the Chinese would go wild when they saw something of a completely different caliber than their downgraded versions.

The British soldiers, who lost $1.2 million in a moment, cautiously approached to retrieve the remaining drones. Some of them seemed hesitant. They must be fearful. They probably couldn’t even guess why all the drones fell simultaneously. These were state-of-the-art drones equipped with resistance to various interference, an unknown and uncharted territory for them, and the unknown was at the core of all human fears.

Observing them, I decided to deceive the enemy once more. If successful, the ambush would end in an instant.

“I will take another shot. Do not react.”

Brief responses came back to my words.

We needed to secure a firing angle. I quietly leaped and stepped on a tree branch eight meters high, then crouched down. As a result, the thickness of the canopy above my head decreased, so I slowly pulled other branches towards me with magical power/mana to prevent heat from rising.

Next was the telekinesis barrier for noise cancellation. However, this time, it wasn’t aiming for a comprehensive blockage. The noise-absorbing barrier in the non-visible area was constructed like a deep pot with one side open, allowing fragmented gunshots to pass through only diagonally forward.

After these preparations, my target was the one wearing the rank insignia of a Lieutenant, the commanding officer of the special forces unit. The insignia, discreetly attached with dark colors to prevent high-value target sniping, was a clear mark visible to my eyes.

My aiming was obstructed by numerous bushes and leaves that obscured my line of sight. Despite my slightly inferior marksmanship compared to my subordinates, my abilities as a sniper allowed me to compete at a normal level. Not being detected was indeed the greatest virtue of a sniper.

I waited for the moment when none of the British soldiers were looking at their commanding officer.

Bang!

The deafening sound reverberated, and a half-inch brass cartridge case ejected. My enhanced physique completely ignored the recoil, meaning that the immobility of the gun barrel resulted in a significant increase in accuracy. The 0.4-second travel of the bullet was enough to shatter the head of the British unit’s commanding officer.

“Sniper!”

The approaching British soldiers all collapsed as if a house of cards.

Indeed, heavy-caliber ammunition was excellent. Through the telekinesis assistant, the energy lost during the process, wouldn’t it be a fraction of the overall kinetic energy? Now I fired another shot towards the sky. Kwang! The muzzle flash sprayed from the gun’s muzzle was a flash of light, impossible to observe from the ground or the sky.

The British soldiers, upon hearing the sound, were completely focused in the wrong direction. The skewed spread of the gunshots led them to misjudge the direction and distance of the sniper. The Lieutenant’s head, shattered into pieces, did not provide any help in guessing the direction.

The only clue they had to guess my real position was the bloodstains. The evidence of blood was sprayed with the force of 20,000 joules from heavy bullets. However, those who were confident of two gunshots did not consider examining the blood splattered in the darkness. Only the medical officer urgently approached to confirm the officer’s death and shook his head.

“Get ready.”

I ordered over the radio as I collected the telekinesis assistant. Tick, tick, tick. Pulling the trigger to the very limit just before firing. I decided to continue sniping from the tree. Using magic for direct hits in a situation where I couldn’t ensure the complete annihilation of the enemy was forbidden. It would be folly to provoke the Round Table in such a manner.

The fallen enemies were busy communicating on their radios, and two large drones, which appeared to have been launched by the upper unit, flew toward the expected sniper location. However, they found nothing. About five minutes passed, and the once seventy-plus British soldiers slowly got up. They assumed an uncomfortable posture, with thick armored shields (body bunkers) in front of them. The speed at which they descended the slope to confront the lumbering monsters was even more terrifying. The darkness grew larger as they faced it. They were now fighting against the darkness.

Hoo…

I struggled to control myself with slow breaths. The palpitations racing through my head were so tense that they could be felt through my hearing. It was more like a slight throbbing sensation due to the light pain. Despite having induced this situation, it disrupted my previously steady breathing.

Indeed. The majority of the enemy was now fully exposed. Unlike when they were cautiously guarding all sides, their shields and cover were now useless in our line of fire. The armored plates of their body armor did not cover their sides, and as the enemy descended the steep slopes on all sides, they were at a higher altitude than us. I put an end to my patience as a hunter.

“Fire!”

A corner of the enemy formation was swept away instantly. More than twenty were killed or incapacitated by the first shots. I kept pulling the trigger frantically, without the slightest pause. The semi-automatic rifle’s maximum rate of fire, with the heavy-caliber sniper rounds, killed two lieutenants and severed the arm of a sergeant while shattering the knee of a corporal. One lieutenant was hit by crossfire from my subordinates and his body exploded into three pieces.

Phew!

The sergeant, who had tried to support the man whose knee was shattered, was hit in the abdomen by my shot while he was writhing in pain. The deeply penetrated body armor saved the sergeant’s life, and in panic, he vomited and crawled back, leaving his subordinate behind. Kwang! After changing the magazine, my shot pierced through the tailbone of the man who was in pain. He collapsed in agony. The slanted trajectory of the bullet disrupted the tip of his internal organs. I chose not to end his life; he needed to be kept alive to waste the enemy’s attention and resources.

Our ambush site was being heavily pounded. Each powerful counterattack round broke branches, smashed rocks, and created piles of dirt. Despite their reflexive return fire, they unleashed near-constant shots. In such circumstances, we wouldn’t have stood a chance if we had engaged them purely in a firefight.

However, we had completely dominated the initiative, and my subordinates poured their maximum firepower into the shadows. The difference in strength on the battlefield was exponentially amplified. If the enemy had been only slightly stronger, they wouldn’t have dared to respond to our attack in the first place.

Still, while casualties continued to mount among us due to injuries, the enemy’s resistance became even more precise, now in seconds. With telekinesis alone, I could defend against flying bullets, but using that much force would cause the ballistic trajectories from our side to be refracted, making it difficult. It would result in both sides wasting ammunition amid the cacophony. Unless we were buying time, it was meaningless.

A subordinate on the left front urgently warned.

[2 o’clock, LAW!]

“Ignore it!”

The flash from the portable rocket launcher. I quickly projected my telekinetic power with superhuman reflexes.

Then the explosion. An unseen force resisted the rocket’s warhead, and several bullets affected by the same force curved and veered off course.

I scolded my subordinates over the radio.

“Remember what you’ve been taught! I’m here!”

There were two means to counter explosive weapons. Flame suppression and locally acting high-density telekinetic fields. What I just used, the latter, was sufficient to deflect grenades, mortars, or rockets. My subordinates had also received education on these principles.

‘But the real battle is different.’

My magical support occurred in realms beyond common sense. Until you gained experience, you knew it, but you didn’t really know it.

The explosive firepower thrown or fired by the British soldiers erupted outside the deadly lines of unseen force. Kwaang! Kwa-kwa-kwang! Each avoided explosion, each rumbling of the earth, made my view tremble.

I focused solely on defense, restraining my desire to fire back. Not one bullet, not one grenade, not one rocket could be missed. Even with the use of visual emphasis on specific information, it was not an easy task. This was the battlefield, an environment where sensory overload was easy to happen. Occasionally, heart-pounding moments arose.

About fifty seconds passed as we exchanged fire. The surviving enemies had completely cleared their front lines, and if we continued like this, casualties on our side seemed inevitable. I clicked my tongue. I made a tactical decision to retreat.

“Fall back and take a detour to the rear!”

In less than a minute of intense assault, we had achieved remarkable results. If we continued to press on, we might end up in a dire battle situation. It was more reasonable at this point to withdraw and find a new path.

As Kyung-tae and the others suppressed and fought in a predetermined order, I raised the four remaining rounds of the anti-material sniper rifle into the sky.

Kwaang, kwaang, kwaang, kwaang!

However, not a single shot hit the bulky drones approaching from a high position. My concentration had been affected, likely due to my excitement from the battle, leaving my breath ragged. After changing the magazine, I once again collected hydrogen-filled explosive devices and remotely detonated them, causing an aerial explosion.

Fwhoosh, ku-rur-rur! A white, round shockwave swept through the night sky in the mountains. Amidst the cacophonous sounds of the black forest being swept away by the winds, the storm of fallen leaves raged fiercely. The drones, swept up in the tempest, were forcibly thrown thousands of feet up from their original altitude.

Come down and try again.

My thoughts as I led my subordinates to withdraw. However, glancing at the sky from time to time while descending the steep slopes, the drones that had barely survived the destruction dared not lower their altitude. Even amidst my breathlessness, I felt a satisfying rush. Yes, how many eyes of yours had I devoured so far? If I lost any more here, my tracking and surveillance capabilities would be severely compromised. This also meant a significant reduction in command and control capabilities.

Moreover, the penalty was not unique to me in this hunting ground. Since the Knight Commander, whom I had cornered, was now breaking through the encirclement, they could not afford to chase me with full force. They couldn’t focus solely on their previous prey.

They have two options left. Either they let me slip away and get bogged down in the quagmire, or they abandon their secret mission and start by capturing and killing the Knight Commander.

However, I foresee the latter as impossible. From what I’d seen, these magic-ignorant and “carefully crafted” abilities were by no means the elites of the Round Table. They were likely soldiers who pledged allegiance to the nation and accepted new powers.

But could those ancient monsters in the Round Table Cabinet, who were ignorant of magic and had been “carefully crafted,” really care about some mere soldiers’ lives? Such a notion was utter nonsense.

In a world where magic power was exhausted, the Masters of the Round Table were merely the treasury of the monarchy and the British government. They had a large expenditure but were too valuable to be discarded, like a curse. Even as the abilities became more and more worthless over time, their pride remained unchanged. Even before their apprentices betrayed them, they were like that. I couldn’t imagine how they would have been treated after their most valuable relic was stolen.

So, to think that they would be generous and understanding to the government was ridiculous. The relationship between the Round Table and the government would be thoroughly antagonistic, and therefore, there would be no compromise with the demands of the old monsters.

Or maybe, assuming I accumulate a huge debt, could a compromise be possible? Offering a bigger payment as compensation. But would the British government be willing to make such a choice?

To patriots, the lives of these soldiers were a preferred cost-effective product for the politicians. As a versatile consumable, they provide excellent efficiency for the cost.

While the reconnaissance capabilities of the British forces had diminished, I succeeded in re-entering the battlefield, leading my subordinates and making a significant detour. As a result, the situation in the hunting ground, now back within sight, perfectly matched my earlier expectations. The bewildered British soldiers, unable to respond effectively to either side, and the frenzied beasts taking advantage of their confusion to break through the encirclement. Reinforcements were urgently ascending from the opposite side of the road now. The clash between the battlefield and politics was clearly evident in the enemy’s command.

Ah, can there be anything more delightful?

Now it was time to clear the path for the armored brutes. I focused on turning the secondary hunting ground into the best hunting ground possible.