Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 127: Deathmatch

"Here."

Oskar pointed at a place covered by half-person-tall weeds ten meters away and said softly.

Everyone looked over, instantly seeing that that place was indeed exceptionally concealed. Not only was it covered by vegetation, there was also a giant rock nearby shielding a portion of it.

Looking over from afar, one wouldn't be able to discover anything there.

The narrow stone cave entrance was hidden right within this pile of rocks, only able to accommodate the entry of two people.

Bahram carefully walked forward to take a look, discovering that a thin string was tied at the cave entrance at ankle height. Suspended on the thin string were two emptied Smoke Grenades. A few pebbles were also stuffed inside the Smoke Grenades. As long as one accidentally bumped into it, it would inevitably emit some activity.

He and Oskar used their small knives to cautiously and solemnly process this trap.

"Unless there is an urgent need, do not open fire."

Before entering, Oskar warned. His hollow echoes reverberated within the roughly excavated stone space.

"Be careful of friendly fire."Bahram followed by his side, while the small squad followed behind the two of them. Oskar took the lead and entered into the rocks.

They maintained one hundred and twenty percent alertness, going deep all the way along the narrow passageway.

Although the space didn't become wider, the continuously sliding crushed stone surface beneath them began to incline after a while, just as if they had climbed to the peak and then started moving downward.

Bahram depicted a three-dimensional map in his mind, allowing his train of thought to prevent claustrophobia within the passageway.

"We are very close to the core of the stronghold."

He said in a low voice, yet discovered that his own voice sounded taut and hoarsely piercing.

Right at the same time he spoke, the passageway also became wider. After a final push, the team finally crawled out of the low and narrow opening and arrived inside a complete tunnel, only that the inside of the tunnel was still filled with crushed stones and round gravel.

They crouched and passed through a pitch-black large mouth fully grown with sharp teeth, and arrived at an open area. The putrid stench that had existed ever since they started crawling smelled exceptionally thick and heavy here.

This was the smell of slaughter, the scent of a massacre, the stench emitted by a pile of corpses waiting to rot.

After standing up, Bahram gazed ahead, pausing for quite a while.

This tunnel was a slaughterhouse. The wall surfaces and floor were all paved full of dozen after dozen of the rotten remaining portions of the dead. Bodies were dismembered until completely unrecognizable. Skulls and femurs, vertebrae and ribs were scattered across the pathway.

Bahram's line of sight began to blur, and his stomach began to twist. The other people all around him began panting and dry heaving; only Haomo seemed unmoved.

"The Emperor save us."

Oskar said in a low voice. Dadd on the side murmured to himself; the contents sounded like he was praying.

Bahram forced himself to swallow down the smell of bile. He saw traces of violent explosions on the ground and rock bodies. It was very obvious that someone had used Grenades here—then these corpses perfectly made sense.

"Someone used Grenades..."

Oskar also saw those explosion traces.

"This bunch of guys are truly something else. In order to prevent leaking traces, they didn't even transport the corpses out, and just stayed with the corpses like this for four days."

Bahram wanted to ask Oskar what to do next, but a sudden gunshot interrupted him.

Subsequently, Oskar's hoarse voice rang out.

"Cease fire!"

It was Haomo. He was holding his gun high.

"I saw it! There's something there."

Oskar forcefully pressed the other party's weapon down.

"There's absolutely nothing there."

Everyone fell into silence, listening.

But the result proved that Haomo was right.

A piercing, angry roar came from within the cave, as well as the sound of boots stepping heavily on the ground.

"They're here!"

Haomo shouted. His voice sounded like a fragmented echo.

"Quickly find cover!"

Oskar swiftly issued an order, but no matter what he said next, the voice was completely drowned out by gunfire.

When everyone used their guns to open fire toward the dark places, Bahram and Haomo, who were not equipped with Night Vision Goggles, lowered their bodies to search for cover.

Oskar yelled commands loudly, but Bahram only heard the rough, impact-bearing roaring sounds when the rifles opened fire.

Quickly, two human figures first barged into everyone's line of sight.

Their attire looked about the same as Bahram and the others, but they possessed some simple armor, looking like they were torn apart and restitched anew.

Oskar looked at these armor plates and found them very similar to the armor provided by the trial. This group of people very likely got portions of armor through ambushes or other methods. This looked a bit troublesome.

They charged in, roaring and howling madly, turning this place into a world of noise and bullets.

Flashes of fire lit up the boys' fiendish faces from time to time like flashes of lightning.

Oskar also saw shields.

A team member fell. A hole was blown through his back and chest cavity. There was also another person who fell because of a knee injury.

Bahram hid behind a stone pillar as cover, opening fire with the gun in his hand, shooting swiftly, aiming hastily.

In the fierce exchange of fire, two attackers fell. One shot hit a head, while another shot struck another person's stomach.

Oskar, however, rapidly moved with a lowered body, checking the breath of the first team member to fall.

But he was already dead. Fresh blood soiled Oskar's boots and knees.

Dadd provided cover fire for Oskar, but his position was relatively poor. There were more than three guns shooting at his position.

A hail of bullets whizzed past his side. The bullets were so close they could make his cheeks feel a burning sensation.

At this time, Oskar heard a blurry mumbling sound come from behind him.

Turning his head, he saw that previous team member with the injured knee. Fresh blood surged out from above his forehead and flowed past his two eyes. Subsequently, his entire person knelt on both knees and fell to the ground.

The casualties of both sides began to increase. The opposing party also had a team member die behind cover.

The remaining people tried to withstand the surging defenders' offensive, but those people relied on the firepower advantage of their armor and shields to pin them in place.

"Hm?"

At this time, Bahram seemingly felt something and looked behind him, only to glimpse something at the position where they came from. He couldn't see clearly what it was, but without a doubt there was a silhouette there, a humanoid silhouette.

However, that silhouette was very tall, so tall that the other party had to bend their waist to pass through the passageway.

"Watch out!"

Bahram's voice carried a warning. Subsequently, something rolled into their team.

Haomo fell heavily to the ground, cursing continuously as he fell. Subsequently, he saw Bahram and a certain big fellow grappling together.

"He brought Grenades!"

Bahram roared as he brawled with the other party, subsequently drawing a dagger from his belt.

Out of all the equipment he had obtained, this dagger was actually his favorite equipment.

This knife was the most exquisitely fine and excellent blade he had ever used. It was made from excellent alloy steel, with a moderate thickness, its edges sharp yet not lacking luster.

He didn't know since when, but he had suddenly become very fond of the feeling of a dagger in his hands, as well as the warm touch of the black grip on it. But prior to this, he had never been a person who liked to brandish knives or play with swords.

The surrounding darkness seemed as if it had brought him to that dream again.

The same darkness, the same coldness, the same exhaustion.

The only thing that changed was that the enemies he faced were not those twisted monsters, but humans.

However, there was perfectly no great difference between the two at this moment.