Chapter 149 – Winters Chaotic Dance (6)

The Templars returned fire. They fought with expertise yet the enemy could dodge their bullets. They were fateful but every aim and shot at his head. He evaded it. The sniper hunkered down behind cover. The firefight between them raged on as the fires burn around them.

The Templars protecting the Lord Officiator knew that their enemy was deadly. They couldn’t afford to be careless. The enemy was good with his gun and he had a better position than them. He also has a weapon that could fire repeatedly. Their rifle could fire continuously but it was inferior to the sniper’s rifle whose bullets come from a drum magazine. It could fire bullets and so far the sniper hasn’t reloaded. Not only that they could see that he still has three or more spare magazines strapped on his webbing of pouches.

There were many factors that their enemy had done. He made sure that he had every advantage he can get. The enemy was clearly not a fool. If he was then they wouldn’t be stuck in this nightmarish hell. They wouldn’t be trapped in a hallway with the fire slowly crawling towards them.

They had the numbers. But the enemy had the superior firepower and the single-minded focus. They were panicking. Their hearts were thumping furiously as they thought of many things. They thought how long until the ceiling above them collapses. They thought much time do they have until they get burned alive. The only thing that was keeping them from despairing was their faith and the promise of the skyship.

The situation was not ideal. The honored lady that they were waiting for could be long gone. The Lord Officiator was starting to think too. But doing so would surely put them in despair. They cannot allow themselves to think that so they kept on exchanging bullets at the enemy.

But the enemy knew what would happen. The enemy knew that he could never allow them to gain ground. The enemy lobbed a grenade at two of the Templars. They didn’t even notice the grenade until they were blasted up, their legs were torn as their guts were then spread on the floor.

When that happened the stalemate was finally broken. With the two of the Templars dead, he was able to take advantage of the situation and eliminate the panicked Templars. The Templars tried to fight back. But that explosion shook them. The wounded guardsman tried to raise his weapon only to be finished off.

The Lord Officiator gritted his teeth. He took the rifle from one of the Templars corpses and fired blindly. He couldn’t see anything and before he could even react. He felt something hit his hand. He dropped his rifle. He kneeled on both knee, shouting in pain.

He tried taking the rifle with his other hand but he only felt the sharp searing feeling of a bullet passing through his knuckle, passing through his wrist and scraping his forearm. He could only feel pain. He bawled as tears leak out from his eyes.

He heard a footstep. He looked up and saw the enemy. “Stan you are a wretched devil!”

“Maybe I am?” He said. He walked steadily toward the Lord Officiator while still pointing his rifle at him. “But do you know why I became like this? Why would I willingly kill this amount of people just to reach you? You must think that I am someone who was ordered by some politician or noble. Sorry, but this was all personal.”

“Personal?” shouted the Lord Officiator. “What did I ever do to you?!”

“To me?” he shook his head. “You didn’t do anything to me. You didn’t tramp upon me or anything like that. But, let me ask you. Do you know who Silo of Edawick was?”

“What?” The Lord Officiator didn’t get it first. But then he suddenly recalled the task he ordered a bunch of officials willing to do what he asked. “So that’s all? Did you want to take revenge for the bastard that killed himself? Are you mad? I didn’t even do anything than order them! If you want to kill someone then do it to the bastards who made the call!”

The Lord Officiator wasn’t able to see it. He only saw the heel of a boot. He felt his nose break. He holds it as he looked at Stan, who was seething with hatred.

“That was IT. If YOU didn’t order them to take Silo, they wouldn’t have gone to Silo. And he wouldn’t have died under the barrel of his own gun. YOU are the catalyst for all these! If you are wondering why I didn’t go after them instead, then you are a fucking idiot. Of course, I went after them! I tracked and killed all of them just to find who out was the bastard that ordered the whole thing! Now I finally reach you. Do you know how much self-control that I needed not pull the trigger on you?” he pushed his boot at the Lord Officiator’s throat. The Lord Officiator tried to speak but he cut him off. “You made me do this. You made a monster out of me. It might sound absurd that I did all of this just for a single friend. But if there is one thing that I stood for, it would be THAT NOBODY FUCKS WITH MY FRIENDS AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!”

He pulled the trigger. The Lord Officiator’s eyes widened as the rifle emptied on his head. The head of the Lord Officiator was mashed. There was nothing left.

He lowered his rifle. He was able to lower his shoulders. But then a bullet hit him right in the sides. He fell sideward’s. It hurt a lot but he endured as he rolled for cover. Although he has been dodging bullets left and right, it was all because he has been abusing his ability. If it was non-lethal his ability wouldn’t activate. So he made sure that he puts his vital parts clearly for the enemy to see. That way he could abuse the bullet-time effect and at the same time dodge the bullet coming towards. He had let his guard down. Still, he was able to keep firing. He was able to empty the last of his magazine and kill the attackers. Before he could try to escape from the place, the hallway where he lobbed a grenade crumbled. A beam lashed out and he was unable to dodge it. He got flung away and he landed on a balcony. It was not enough to kill him so his ability didn’t activate.

His focus crumbled. He could not see the floating words and he was feeling vertigo and a headache. He could at least recognize the snow falling down. He looked sideways and there he saw someone wearing a gas mask approaching him with a pistol that looked like the one he was using.