Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 119: Seizing the Stronghold

"Charge!!"

Bahram began to sprint with all his might, in a situation where he had no time to look around.

The color of the sky had already thoroughly darkened. Every dark corner ahead of him seemed to show flashes coming from gun muzzles.

The only thing worth rejoicing over was that that machine gun hadn't been set up yet. Perhaps due to being overly nervous after being approached so closely, the two boys were forcefully fiddling with the bipod.

"Run like hell!!"

Bahram yelled to his men, putting all the strength he could use into his legs to bring out his fastest speed.

His muscles turned scorching hot. Cold wind poured into the lobes of his lungs, making them feel as if they were burning.

The bullets fired by the others landed all around him, but didn't hit anything.

There was no pain, nor was there any strong sense of impact. Someone suddenly cried out loudly; he had no time to discern who had been shot. Stopping at a time like this would mean certain death.

"Keep running!"He roared loudly, charging toward the opposing side with all his might.

Finally, that machine gun was still set up. The muzzle subsequently sprayed out a torrential stream, a hail of bullets churning the earth.

But Bahram had already reached a close enough distance. He crossed the machine gun's field of fire, his speed so fast he couldn't stop. At the same time a person pointed a gun at him, he did a sliding tackle and fell sideways to the ground.

By the time he raised his head, he happened to see Haomo plunging his dagger into the attacker's chest.

While the opposing party continuously screamed, the Gang's gold-medal enforcer used his empty hand to lift that person up, smashing him toward those few panicked people trying to drag the machine gun away. In an instant, he ruthlessly pulled out the knife, causing that person's screams to come to an abrupt halt.

A gunshot declared that another enemy remaining in the bunker had been eliminated. Robin was not only accurate with throwing knives, but his marksmanship was also exceptionally accurate.

In just a short while, this firepower point that had troubled them for a long time was thoroughly uprooted.

"Quickly! You guys hurry up and come up!"

Bahram hurriedly called for the team members below to come up to the relatively safe high ground. However, there were only heavy pants inside the walkie-talkie.

He immediately crawled to the edge of the bunker and looked over, seeing the others strenuously climbing upward. Yet two new bodies lay bleeding in the crushed gravel; one of them was still moving.

It was Ford.

Seeing his injured team member lying outside with his gaze, Bahram immediately wanted to run over to rescue the other party, but his wrist was grabbed by Haomo's powerful hand.

"Don't do anything stupid."

The other party lowered his voice and said:

"I can sense it. In the jungle, there are many guns pointing here... Do you know there is a type of tactic involving using the injured to lure rescuers into a trap? I fell for it once. That time, my face was nearly split open."

Haomo pointed at the shallow scar on the corner of his forehead.

"Haomo is right."

Robin rarely voiced an opinion.

"Less than ten seconds after running out, you would be turned into a sieve by bullets. I also cannot afford to lose another person. Think it over carefully."

"But he isn't dead yet."

Bahram said through clenched teeth, still struggling wanting to go up.

Perhaps having heard these words, Ford surprisingly endured the terrifying pain on his body and propped himself up, kneeling on one knee upon the ground.

Subsequently, he made a hand gesture toward the direction where Bahram was located. This gesture was a commonly used gesture in the Astra Militarum, and its meaning was also very simple.

He was to take over command.

This movement was enough to attract the attention of those shooters in the jungle.

They fired another hail of bullets. Ford's body continuously shuddered as it was torn open by the impact of the bullets, then fell forward into the bloodstained crushed gravel, completely motionless.

Finally, the remaining two individuals luckily climbed up to the edge of the high-ground bunker and regrouped with Bahram and the others, also bringing along a bloodstained flare gun and three flare shells.

Bahram roared. He grabbed his gun in one hand, his face flushed red and his eyeballs bulging.

"Where are they? I'll kill them, I'm going to slaughter them all!"

Haomo grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close, nose to nose.

"Calm down, Bahram. You are the team leader now! Your responsibilities are grave—"

Haomo stopped halfway through his words.

He heard the sound of orders being issued coming from the other end of the jungle not too far away. That side was quite a distance from here. Unless the previous attackers in the jungle were overconfident enough to disperse their manpower like this, there could only be one possibility.

More attackers were currently gathering.

Right now, they were just like a bleeding animal that had fallen into a river full of piranhas.

"Everyone, clean this place up. We are retreating into the stronghold."

Haomo said in a low voice, releasing Bahram.

The people of the team immediately got into their respective positions, patting down the corpses of the dead people on the ground all over. After taking all the ammunition and supplies, some people followed Haomo to the northeast corner of the stronghold, while the rest kept up with Bahram carrying the machine gun to go to the northwest corner.

At this time, some panicked commotion could still be heard inside the stronghold.

When the few surviving people appeared in his line of sight, Haomo waited a while to let them approach close. It was very obvious that they were preparing to leave the stronghold.

This was a very smart move. After losing the cover of the machine gun, they were unable to hold this place relying on the weapons on hand. They might as well decisively abandon it and find a safe place to lie dormant; perhaps there would still be turning points in the following days.

But what they hadn't anticipated was that Bahram's group was so audacious, directly slipping close to the vicinity of the stronghold without any prior warning whatsoever.

At this time, the color of the sky had already thoroughly darkened.

After those people had distanced themselves from all sturdy cover that could be easily reached, Haomo issued the order to open fire.

Bright flames erupted from the gun muzzles. Bullets flew toward those few blurry figures.

Miserable screams filled the air. Those who didn't die immediately wailed in pain.

Another three figures dragged the people on the ground and fled toward the other side.

"Let them go."

Bahram ordered, and also shot a pointed look at Haomo.

"We are here to undergo a trial, not to massacre. They have already failed; don't torture them. Furthermore, we cannot waste any more time."

Having said this, he walked back to the west entrance of the stronghold. There was an iron door here, not thick and solid; it opened with a single push.

Bahram turned on his flashlight, discovering that it was practically completely empty inside. There were only some grass mats, and a smoldering bonfire pile in the middle of the room. It was undoubtedly set up by the previous 'occupants'.

But now it benefited them.

"It's safe inside."

After going upstairs and inspecting it once over, discovering that it was similarly completely empty, but that several observation ports could see the surrounding activities, Bahram beckoned for everyone to enter the stronghold.

Subsequently, they closed the door and lit the bonfire.

Right now the team still had 6 people. Bahram arranged for them to form groups of 2. While resting at night, they would take turns standing guard on the second floor, using flashlights as searchlights, and setting up the machine gun, observing the surrounding activities at all times.

Fortunately, these issued flashlights were military-grade. Even if they were left on for several consecutive days, it wouldn't be a problem. So there was no need to worry about running out of batteries later on.

After a day of tension and torment, these boys finally had time to catch their breath. They began to eat their food while silently licking their respective wounds...