Chapter 203: That’s Far

    June 14th, 625

    I kneeled by Nonnen as some of the other troops recovered from the shock of the gargantuan intestine. From our vantage point I could see most of what there was to see. For more, we’d have to circle around the area so I could get other perspectives.

    It was something I could do myself but Nonnen still wanted a couple other people besides me to collect their own intel. It was redundant but that was protocol and it wasn’t like I cared either way. I was doing the same amount of work regardless.

    Nonnen looked at me when I undid my stealth, “Are you fit?”

    “Of course,” I nodded, eyes still on the activity below, “How are the rest?”

    “They’ll be fine. I’ll be sending two scouts around the front and two more to travel a bit farther down the body, see if they can’t carve out a sample of the outer flesh. We’ll see if it alerts them.”

    “I’ll go around the front as well, get counts and see if I can’t find any more functions this intestine hides.”

    “You should focus on counting how many Scouts are in the area,” Nonnen looked off into the distance, scanning the area around the intestine, “I’m assuming this thing is heavily guarded, because I’m feeling an Authority 10 down there. You should see if it''s being watched just as tightly, kill anything that might spot our scouts, and don’t worry about going loud. There aren’t any Sovereigns and I can handle anything below that.”

    “Copy,” I nodded and looked over at him. Calling a Royal a Sovereign was just a quick way of saying they sat at Authority 12, but that still left the bold statement, “You can handle an Authority 11?”

    “Don’t think I’ve stopped improving just because I’m old.” He smiled, keeping his gaze on the distance, “I’m working on the Great Barrier, which has given me time to improve my skill. I’d say I’m on par with King Bloods, which means I can fight an Authority 11 Royal at least to a standstill even if I couldn’t win.”

    “I suppose. But are you sure you could sense a Sovereign if it were around?”

    “That heavily depends and we can never know for sure. I’m willing to bet on the chances, because if there really was one here, we’d be fucked either way.”

    “That is true.” I shrugged and reached into my 6th Star, making sure the weapons I wanted were there.

    After another few quick words with Nonnen, I was off. He sent out his scouts as well, a pair of knights and a pair of warlocks. I glanced over at them and noticed that they were wearing some environmental camo, ghillie suits, something I had worn all the way back in December. He had taken inspiration from it and decided to implement it specifically for scouts like these who needed concealment in this kind of unfavorable terrain.

    Their armor, as well as the armor of the rest of the platoon, was painted red. Like with the Steeds it was a cheap, easy, and simple addition that added to survivability.

    Since I got the green light and I had seen a few Scouts already, I didn’t mind using my M40. After making myself disappear and heading down the hill, I tracked one of the Scouts and found a good spot.

    I stopped and planted myself once I was within a reasonable range of about 400 meters. I laid down against the side of the hill and took aim, bending my knee and using it as a rest for the rifle. I found the Scout, no trees to provide cover and all the rocks already coated in the red biomat, making its figure obvious.

    Aerials were off for stealth purposes, so I couldn’t warn Nonnen, not that he needed it.

    I let out a breath and pulled the trigger, the rifle snapping back into my shoulder. I saw bloody mist explode out of the opposite side of the Scout’s head, the body dropping and the spiked wolves around it panicking when the explosion cracked through the valley.

    Now all the tens of thousands of monsters in the area were agitated, all of them pausing what they were doing and looking around for whatever caused that noise.

    Nonnen, and most of the Snow Doves, had learned to adjust to how I worked ever since I joined them. I made a lot of noise, which meant that once I started shooting, the enemy knew that we were here. However, that didn’t mean they knew where, which is why the Snow Doves had to become adept at the art of misdirection and concealment, taking advantage of chaos instead of breaking down under it.

    With that Scout dead our men would have an easier time moving. But there were more, so I repositioned, running while activating my boots to provide some well timed boosts to my speed. With my personal stealth, I moved far faster than the other soldiers who had to rely on visual obscurity instead of outright invisibility.

    I quickly relocated while finding my next target, planting down and acquiring another Scout when I was in a good position. The lanky body was centered over my reticle, and I pulled the trigger as soon as I was able.

    Another shot, another kill, another burst of adrenaline for all the Scourge around me. I relocated and found yet another target.

    One shot, one kill.

    I let back in another breath, my heart resuming its normal tempo as I opened my other eye, one looking through the scope, one beyond the scope.

    I could see that dead Scout, knowing the exact trajectory my bullet took to reach it, and I felt an incredible connection with my rifle. It felt like I had grasped its intricacies, like it spoke to me through the bullets it fired. I could feel the temperature of the barrel, the minute inaccuracies of the scope caused by the recoil of the gun, the slightly different properties of each bullet.

    I realized it once more, as if I hadn’t before. These guns, these weapons, weren’t just tools. They were spirits, not necessarily intelligent or sapient, but still alive. They weren’t hunks of metal, but something I could connect with through the power of my mind.

    It meant I had to treat them accordingly. I had to treat them knowing that I could sense and adjust for various inaccuracies or quirks. These weapons wanted to work with me just as much as I wanted them to perform.

    I felt the sheer focus overtaking my body, and suddenly I was motivated to continue shooting. I started finding other unique targets in the enemy camp below, picking out humanoid Royals or other strange monsters that looked strong.

    I sent out fully empowered rounds, knowing I had more than enough in my stores for it. Most of my targets were killed in just a single shot. Some were able to take two. What really impressed me was when I managed to hit the exact hole created by my first shot on a scaly lizard monster from around 960 meters away.

    Inhuman accuracy was what this was. I had long surpassed normal human capability a while ago, but this was really putting it into perspective for me. I wasn’t capable of conventional superhuman feats like jumping over mountains or lifting up 3 ton boulders, and I wouldn’t go flying through the sky with magic or casting mass destruction spells that made me look like a walking strategic missile.

    But the control I had over my body and the power of my mind enabled me to multiply the effectiveness of my guns and bring out their greatest potential lethality. I was someone who leaned into his strengths massively. I could dish out incredible damage, and every advantage I had helped me toward that end.

    I don’t know what came over me during this battle, perhaps I was inspired by the pressure from this intestine, as weird as that was. But now of all times, I was starting to feel just how far I’ve come.

    After a few hours of combat and causing chaos I retreated. The rest of the Snow Doves had gone back to the Steed, so I met them there.

    Even the scouts Nonnen sent had returned, so I was the last to arrive.

    I jumped in the Steed, getting a smirk. I saw Amira, the Brigadier to replace Miron, inside as well.

    “Have fun?”

    “I did, actually. I set some new personal records.”

    “Like what?”

    “My furthest shot yet, now sitting at 1870 meters. Now it’s time to shoot for the 2000 meter mark.”

    “Shit,” Nonnen shook his head, “That''s fucking far.”

    I smiled, leaning back into my seat.

    We went back to camp, tightening patrols since I had wrought havoc. We’d return to base in just a day or so since, now that I was here, collecting intel was a breeze.

    I also only had two more weeks left out in the field before returning to the Capital. I was quite excited to get back there and revolutionize the field of battle as this world knew it.

    At the same time though, I took a peek into my 6th Star.

    There were some new weapons and tools in there that were more than grabbable. I intended to get a hold of them within the week. Ultimately, my personal strength was what mattered the most. I couldn’t be unprepared should something happen while I was here, and while it never really left, my anxiety was beginning to rise. It had spiked when that Sovereign arrived, and it certainly wasn’t going down.

    I was counting the weeks until the big fight kicked off. It was a matter of when, not if, and I had a feeling that I’d be in for a fight just as much as everyone else.