Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 63 - 63 52 Continuous Pursuit and Lockdown

63: Chapter 52: Continuous Pursuit and Lockdown 63: Chapter 52: Continuous Pursuit and Lockdown “Fuck!

What do we do now?!” Matthews’ face turned ashen.

Snipers were almost always the focus of training within every mercenary group.

They were used both to deal with High Rank Transcendents and to suppress the opposing snipers.

As the saying goes among gunners, “Only a sniper can take out another sniper.”

With two snipers dead this time, both he and Andrea would definitely face criticism and punishment from the main corps, unavoidable.

“You’re the fucking Squad Leader of a mercenary corps!” Andrea erupted, losing all decorum as he roared, “And you’re asking who should do what?

Ask your mother!”

“What’s wrong with me venting, damn it?” Matthews retorted, “Don’t you give a damn that your snipers are dead?

What are we going to do next?”

“Call up the sniper reserves!” Andrea thundered, “If that doesn’t work, then the spotters will have to step up!”

At those words, the heart of every sniper in the reserves from the two mercenary groups raced with trepidation.

Dying gloriously on the battlefield was one thing, but dying under the watchful eyes of everyone in a sniper standoff was another.

Dying on the battlefield was often down to bad luck, but dying in a sniper duel…

that was purely a lack of skill.

It was utterly disgraceful to die there!

“See it clearly?” Aske picked up the beret from the ground, bullet holes and the smell of gunpowder evident on it.

“He’s strong,” Miel remarked.

“Scared?” Aske asked.

“No,” Miel answered.

“Then let’s go,” Aske decided.

“The reserves, you said?!” Andrea spoke up again, so the sniper reserves had no choice but to unwillingly come out.

Suddenly, one let out a yelp and pointed ahead, shouting, “Squad Leader?!”

Matthews and Andrea both looked and saw a man and a little girl roll to the windowsill with swift movements, picking up the sniper rifles left behind by Leon and Franz after their deaths, then cautiously moved along the wall.

The two squad leaders exchanged glances; Matthews’ gaze clearly asking, “Are they yours?”

Andrea shook his head, eyes fixed on Aske’s receding back.

He, of course, recognized the odd Squad Leader of The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps, but who was that pink-haired Half-elf girl?

Had she made an appearance before?

“Listen up, the tactic is pretty simple,” Aske, leaning against the wall, said to Miel with a smile, “I’ll toss my hat up to draw his single-shot attention, then we both peek out from cover.”

“When he shoots, there’ll be a muzzle flash, which you can use to find his position, and take him out with a precision shot.

Pretty good idea, right?”

Damn it!

Every mercenary present cursed silently.

Wasn’t this the same plan that got the two snipers killed just a moment ago?

“Good idea,” Miel, blissfully unaware of what the soldiers were thinking, said indifferently, “But at such a distance, I might not be able to catch the muzzle flash.”

“No problem,” Aske said with a smile, “If you don’t see it clearly the first time, we can look a couple more times.”

The atmosphere grew so quiet you could hear a pin drop, as everyone internally berated: Look a couple more times?

Do they think the enemy is their sparring partner?

“Hmm,” Miel nodded, looking down at the sniper rifle in her hands.

Aske pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Have you ever used a sniper rifle before?”

“No,” Miel shook her head.

“Fuck!

What the hell are these two?

Did you bring in comedians?” Matthews couldn’t help but blurt out, “Never used a sniper rifle before, and now daring to engage in a long-range shootout with Temple Knight Fengkexim from the Holy Temple?

Are they here for laughs?”

“Shut up!” Andrea snapped back irritably, “Squad Leader Aske!

Do your people need support?”

“Thanks,” Aske replied, “We don’t need it for now; let’s see how the shooting goes.”

“My God!

I must be seeing ghosts, some ridiculous illusion,” Matthews finally gave up trying to make sense of it all, his eyes rolling back in exasperation, his face a picture of total speechlessness.

Andrea’s expression was grim, and he said nothing, his hands propping up his body.

“Do you need to take a few practice shots?” Aske asked finally.

“No need,” Miel answered.

“Then let’s count down,” Aske nodded, “3!”

“2!”

“1!”

The green beret was once again tossed high into the air.

From atop the distant hill, Fengkexim pulled the trigger only to realize, after the fact, that the object thrown was that same beret.

Simultaneously, the figure holding a sniper rifle appeared from below the windowsill again, quickly aiming the barrel this way.

At the center of his cybernetic-eye, a row of bold red “WARNING” letters flashed.

WARNING!

FIRING-LOCKED!

(Warning!

Target locked on for firing!)

Without hesitation, Fengkexim rolled out of the way, as the bullet struck the ground where he’d just been, kicking up a plume of dust.

The lock-on warning was another function of his cybernetic eye implant.

Whenever an armed enemy appeared in his field of view, the eye’s built-in database would quickly analyze the firearm model and, using the angle of the gun barrel, create a corresponding virtual bullet path.

If this path pointed towards him, it would pop up a “lock-on warning,” urging him to move from his current position to avoid being hit and killed by the enemy’s gunfire.

After rolling out several meters away, he once again put his eye back to the sniper scope, swiftly aiming the crosshairs at one of the heads.

At that moment, the red lock-on warning appeared on his retina again.

There were two enemies; even if he and the other side fired at the same time, it was likely to be an equal exchange, not a favorable outcome for Fengkexim himself.

So he had to roll again, allowing the bullet to miss its intended location.

After two consecutive rolls, Fengkexim exhaled a heavy breath and was about to take aim again when the red warning alert popped up once more on his retina.

WARNING!

FIRING LOCKED!

This is fucking ridiculous!

Fengkexim quickly rolled away.

The moment he dodged the firing from the opposite side, the lock-on warning popped up again, forcing him to leave his position.

No, this isn’t right!

Fengkexim, forced to dodge repeatedly, finally realized such a terrifying ability to continuously lock-on…

It had to be Temple Knights on the other side!

Or a sniper of similar high rank!

He had to get out of their range as soon as possible!

As Fengkexim rolled, he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye and realized the sniper position he had chosen was terrible; the nearest safe zone was more than a dozen meters away.

And yet, he could only keep on rolling and dodging, or else, with the enemy’s firing speed, he feared he would get his head blown off as soon as he stood up.

Inside the castle, Aske propped the sniper rifle’s buttstock against his shoulder, firing at a pace of one shot per second towards the distance.

The gunman opposite seemed as though he had fallen silent, having not fired back at all thus far.

Behind cover, the mercenaries exchanged looks, quickly realizing something was amiss, their eyes filled with confusion.

“This…” Matthews couldn’t believe it, suddenly clapping his hands in excitement, “Could it be that Fengkexim has run out of bullets?”

“Idiot!” Andrea cursed without any courtesy.

“Do you see it clearly?” Aske continued to fire single shots and asked.

“I didn’t see any muzzle flash,” Miel said after a moment of silence, “But I saw someone rolling around on the mountaintop.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Aske said in a hurry, “That’s the one, shoot him.”

Miel showed a speechless expression.

You’ve already pressured him to the point where he can’t even shoot back, can’t we just finish him off directly?

But she seemed to have realized that Aske was giving her the chance to practice real sniper combat, so she silently adjusted her gun’s aim, estimated the lead on the target’s evasion, and placed her finger on the trigger.

A gunshot rang out, and Fengkexim’s left arm flew up.

The bullet hit his left shoulder, causing his entire left arm to jolt upwards.

He quickly rolled to the left again and finally ducked behind the slope of the mountain, disappearing from the sniper’s view from the castle.

“He’s escaped,” Miel retracted her sniper rifle, “I only hit his left shoulder.”

“What a pity.” Aske said this, then braced against the windowsill and jumped out, “Chase!”

Miel immediately followed suit, vaulting over the windowsill.

Leaving the mercenaries in the castle, each displaying a mixture of stupefaction and disbelief on their faces.

“Wait, he took our team’s sniper rifle!” Matthews exclaimed in alarm.

For crying out loud, that’s what you’re concerned about!

Andrea stood up vehemently from behind cover, furiously roaring in frustration:

“What are you dumbasses staring at!

Chase!!!!”

Aske and Miel burst out of the castle and quickly entered the lush woods.

“Get Mia out here,” Aske said and then teleported Miel back to Fire Island.

A few seconds later, Mia was teleported from Fire Island to the Real Plane, her gaze swiftly scanning the surroundings, she asked, “What’s up?”

“There’s a sniper on the mountain, he’s our target for this pursuit,” Aske quickly stated, “Did Nora tell you about it?”

“She did, the Church Court fugitive named Fengkexim, right?” Mia nodded her head.

“That’s right,” Aske confirmed, “The Thief Guild should have had tracking training, right?

I’ll lead you there.”

He took Mia and, after roughly ten minutes, they finally arrived at the mountain top.

“Oh dear, has this place been plowed by bullets?” Looking at the pockmarked and bullet-riddled ground, Mia’s eyes widened in amazement.

She bent down and picked up a piece of a metallic limb, “What’s this?”

“Mechanical limb,” Aske explained, “Fengkexim’s left arm was blown off by Miel’s bullet.

See if there’s any trace we can follow?”

“Hmm.” Mia looked around and announced, “Found it.”

She pushed aside the underbrush to reveal footprints underneath, “Looking at these uneven footprints, they must be left by Fengkexim.”

“Because his left arm was shot off, it caused an imbalance in his body, making the right footprints noticeably deeper.”

“Hurry up,” Aske urged.

“Don’t rush me!” Mia rolled her eyes, “Tracking is a delicate task, you know?

Last time, to steal something from a noble, I followed him for three whole days!

Even when he went to the toilet…”

“Keep talking; before Steel Cross and Free Wind catch up,” Aske said expressionlessly.

“There are other competitors?” Mia was taken aback, “Why didn’t you say so earlier?

This way!”

She led Aske down a small path, quickly rushing forward, and they chased for several hundred meters.

“This isn’t right,” Mia suddenly said upon reaching an open space in the forest, “These footprints are all over the place, it’s possible he took a detour to lead us astray on purpose.”

“Keep it up,” Aske encouraged.

“You say that as if it’s easy,” Mia complained while walking circles around the footprints, measuring the depth, examining the direction of the flattened grass, and checking the bark of the surrounding trees.

“It’s definitely this way,” she pointed in a direction, “Hmph, trying to cover up his footprints… he can’t fool me, Mia.

When it comes to playing in the mud, he’s still too green!”

Is that really something to be proud of?

Aske silently retorted.

“About how much further, can you estimate?”

“Judging by the moisture of the mud, around five to six minutes ago,” Mia answered.

“Good,” Aske said.

Then, he suddenly teleported back to Fire Island.

The next second, he brought everyone back to the real world.

“Up ahead is the BOSS!” Aske announced to the group, “Let’s quickly go over the strategy!”