Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 62 - 62 51 Sniper Duel

62: Chapter 51: Sniper Duel 62: Chapter 51: Sniper Duel “Matthews?!” Andrea’s expression didn’t change, but her voice seemed to squeeze through clenched teeth, “What are your men doing here?”

“Heh, of course, they’re here for that Holy Temple Knight wanted by the Church Court.” A small mustachioed man entered, a Great Sword and a Short Sword hooked at his waist.

Behind him, light armor warriors wielding sword and shields entered in single file, subtly confronting the Gothic Knights.

“Thinking of crossing swords here?” Andrea sneered, “Best two out of three, and the loser withdraws?”

“Don’t joke.” Squad Leader Matthews replied with a mocking tone, “Even if we win, would you Steel Cross really withdraw obediently?”

“Of course.” Andrea said righteously, “We Steel Cross always keep our word.

Unlike you Free Wind, who’ve often flip tables after negotiations.”

“Are these also mercenaries?” Nora asked softly from behind the crowd.

“Free Wind, a well-known mercenary group from the West Frank Kingdom,” Aske answered, “and a sworn enemy of the Steel Cross Mercenaries.”

“Of course, any large mercenary group inevitably has conflicts and grudges with each other.

After all, there are only a few big contracts available worldwide each year, and they fight fiercely for them.”

“Ah.” Nora took out a notepad and wrote it down, her interest in these mercenary anecdotes growing inside.

“If you’re not participating in the duel, then why are you blocking our way at the castle gate?” Andrea retorted, “Are you planning to corner and kill us here to monopolize Fengkexim’s bounty?”

Upon hearing this, the surrounding mercenaries started clamoring.

Matthews’s face changed slightly, and he scoffed:

“Don’t stir up discord.

We Free Wind haven’t stooped to attacking these freelance mercenaries.”

“It’s your Steel Cross playing the cunning game, huh?

The Church Court offered a 500-pound bounty on Fengkexim, and you’re offering just 5 pounds for information?

You really think of us as cheap labor!”

“Gentlemen!” Matthews turned to the crowd and declared loudly, “Anyone who discovers information on Fengkexim can come to our Free Wind Mercenary Group.

We’ll work together to surround and defeat Fengkexim, and a reward of 100 pounds will be shared!”

The crowd buzzed anew.

These freelance mercenaries usually grouped in threes or fives, and even a small team of five dividing a 100-pound bounty would get 20 pounds each, far exceeding what Steel Cross was offering.

As for joining the battle against Fengkexim, as long as the price was good, who here would fear death?

Those who feared death wouldn’t become mercenaries.

“Hahaha.” Andrea scoffed coldly, “Playing the traitor card again, aren’t you tired of it, Free Wind?

Last time in Bourges of West Francia, you also offered a 100-pound bounty, and all the mercenaries who provided information died in battle… Did their families ever receive that 100 pounds?”

“How dare you bring up Bourges?” Matthews immediately became enraged, “If it hadn’t been for your Steel Cross ambushing us outside, would those mercenaries have died innocently?

Those freelance mercenaries had no grudges against you, yet you dared to attack and kill!”

“Mercenary brothers who’ve already received 2 denars,” be careful that Steel Cross isn’t just being charitable giving you money.

Take care you don’t take the money and lose your life leaving!”

The two of them kept sarcastically belittling each other, filled with righteous indignation as they condemned each other, truly instigating and heart-piercing with every word and sentence, causing all the surrounding mercenaries to become confused.

Whose side should they believe?

“So exciting.” Medea said, arms crossed and a look of awe on her face, “I thought mercenaries were all brawny fellas with muscle for brains, but I never expected them to be capable of such deceit and scheming.”

“This is actually one of the more peaceful scenarios,” Aske said.

“If they were really playing dirty, the extent of their dirty tricks would beyond your imagination.”

“Like ambushing at the exit of a passage, waiting to slaughter a competitor after a mission; or pretending to be an employer, deliberately hiding the dangers of a task under guise of simplicity, then sending a competitor to their death.”

“And there are those who plant spies within a competitor’s team and silently create discord and division, ultimately overthrowing the leader and taking their place…

There are far too many cases like this.”

“Does it really happen like that?” Nora shuddered as she listened.

She felt incredibly naïve, almost like a delicate white flower, as Aske’s examples shattered her imagination’s limits.

“That’s why I keep to a small team,” Aske replied.

“With more people, various strange troubles follow, better to keep the team to around seven or eight people who all know each other well.”

The three of them whispered among themselves, whilst the argument on the other side finally reached a resolution.

The Steel Cross Mercenary Group members moved to the right, continuing to distribute the mercenaries’ payment.

Those from the Free Wind Mercenary Group stood to the left, clearly keeping their distance from the Steel Cross members.

Various unaffiliated mercenaries approached, inquiring about rewards and specific shares, with Matthews responding to each with a smile.

Regardless of the discord between the two large mercenary groups, for the unaffiliated mercenaries, it was a favorable situation.

Some quick-thinkers even planned to play both sides:

If they actually found a clue about Fengkexim, they’d first claim the five-pound reward from Steel Cross, then join Free Wind’s combat team to claim rewards from both sides.

A mercenary walked out of the castle gate, pulling out two newly received silver coins, examining them in the noon sunlight as if distinguishing their authenticity.

The next second, his head exploded out of nowhere, as if a miniature bomb had been planted inside.

“Enemy attack!” The first to give the warning was a Sword and Shield Warrior from Free Wind.

Including Matthews, everyone immediately rolled to the ground and scampered behind columns and walls for cover.

The Steel Cross Mercenary Corps reacted swiftly too, diving to the ground and crawling quickly to find cover.

The remaining unaffiliated mercenaries did not possess such high tactical quality.

The sound of shattering glass was followed by another standing mercenary’s head exploding, inciting a panic-filled scream in the crowd.

Some drew their swords in confusion, some blindly ran for the doors, and others instinctively looked around, attempting to mimic the actions of the large mercenary groups by also dropping to the ground, bewildered.

Continuing sniper shots rang from outside the castle, rhythmically firing two shots per second.

In the distance, on a mountaintop, Fengkexim lay in the bushes, holding the sniper rifle, steadily and rhythmically pulling the trigger.

Bullets burst from his sniper rifle, traveling long distances through the air to accurately kill the mercenaries escaping the castle one by one.

Soon, there was no one left standing outside the castle.

Fengkexim spat out the grass stem he was chewing on, his scarred lips curling into a mocking smile.

With a “bang,” the Gothic Knight behind the pillar fell to the ground.

The sniper bullet had penetrated the concrete column and shot through his neck.

The strong Frank man’s neck was half severed, revealing a large patch of flesh, spine, and trachea cross-section, as he convulsed on the ground and then fell silent.

At the very moment the gunshot sounded, Aske extended his Spirituality, sending Medea and Nora back to Fire Island and he himself performed a rolling slide to take cover under the stairs in a small space.

“This has to be the visual memory function of the cybernetic eyes,” he thought, gazing at the corpse in front of him.

The so-called visual memory referred to Fengkexim’s modified cybernetic eyes, which could record the tracks of enemies within its view.

Any enemies previously exposed to its visual field, even if they had immediately taken cover, were still “remembered” by the databank embedded in the eyes, and then the sniper rifle would calmly fire blind shots, the bullets piercing the cover to inflict casualties.

“Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!” Distant gunshots rang out again.

With the first shot, a mercenary hidden behind a wall screamed as his arm was shattered, hanging merely by skin;

the second shot missed, forming a pit in the limestone floor;

the third split the edge of a stone table, and the mercenary hidden behind it had his head blown off, his body limply slumping down.

“His cybernetic eyes have memory!” yelled Andrea, enraged, “We can’t go on like this!

Otherwise, even if we hide behind cover, we’ll just be his targets.”

“Why don’t you send out your sniper?” Matthews also roared.

“We do have a sniper!” Andrea glared, “Don’t tell me you don’t have one!

Each side send one out, stop hiding and wasting time—we’ll all die either way!”

“Leon!” Matthews turned and called.

“Franz!” Andrea also shouted.

Thus, the two Snipers crawled out from behind their respective covers, each finding a window to set their ambush, and took down the sniper rifles slung across their backs.

“I don’t like this feeling,” the Free Wind sniper Leon murmured, “the enemy is hidden while we are exposed, this is practically suicide.”

“Don’t talk ill-fired,” Franz reproached him, “I’ll throw a hat up to draw his focus fire, then we both emerge to shoot simultaneously.”

“You can deduce his position from just one response shot?” Leon scoffed.

“His sniper rifle is a Slaughterer III, can’t fit a muzzle suppressor, there will be a flash when he shoots,” Franz paused, then asked, “what Visual Sequence are you?”

“Visual II,” Leon gave a short laugh, “Are you the same?”

“Yes,” Franz said, “The moment he shoots the hat, we pinpoint the flash and shoot.

This is a duel between snipers—the quicker one survives.”

“Even though it’s an unfair duel, at least there’s a chance to win,” Leon grasped the crucifix around his neck, murmuring almost prayerfully, “Let’s do this.”

“Alright.” Franz took off the green beret from his head and took a deep breath, “Countdown.”

“3,” he said.

Gunshots echoed again in the hall, another mercenary was hit.

“2,” Matthews and Andrea also stood solemnly, their expressions grave.

“1,” Aske disappeared on the spot behind the staircase, reappearing in an instant with Miel.

The green beret was thrown high, and the two snipers abruptly emerged from the windows.

A gunshot rang out, and the beret was instantly shot away, flying over the staircase railing and landing in front of Aske and Miel.

Found him!

Franz and Leon’s pupils dilated sharply.

Through their sniper scopes, they spotted the fleeting flash atop the hill.

Both pulled their triggers simultaneously!

The next second, Leon’s body was flung backward.

The sniper bullet had hit his skull, flipping open the top of his head like a beer bottle cap.

Missed!

He had dodged!

Franz’s nerves tightened to breaking point, aware that their prior synchronized sniping had no errors, surely Fengkexim had rolled away after firing, preemptively moving from his original position!

Suddenly, he noticed a glint of light on the hilltop, which then vanished.

It was the reflection off the sniper scope!

His own scope immediately locked onto the light’s location, and he pulled the trigger again.

“Bang!” A blood hole appeared in Franz’s forehead, the sniper rifle slipping from his lifeless hand to the ground with a crisp sound.

In the distance on the hilltop, Fengkexim laughed coldly as he continued to reload, loosening the string wrapped around his finger.

On the other end, the string extended toward a tree branch, and shards of shattered glass from the broken lens cascaded down, rolling a few times on the grass.