The enemy was very cunning.
They would remain silent after the first attack until the next.
Did they retreat because the ambush failed? No, they did not. They were waiting for her to expose an opening.
Lorraine's mind raced with thoughts.
I understand that the attack was aimed at Armand, but the timing was just right.
Armand was a wealthy man, but he didn't deserve to have his life so blatantly threatened.
The other party's intentions were full of murderous intent, making it difficult to see this as an act aimed at his ransom.
They literally wanted Armand Jaycee dead.
So is he the man of a competitor? However, Armand has no current business projects, and he hasn't gone anywhere or done anything to earn people’s ire.
‘Whatever it is, it's dangerous. We've been attacked, and they're very good.’The bodyguards exited the vehicle and used it as cover to try and find the attackers, but it wasn't easy.
Silent bullets were flying from nowhere pierce the guards' foreheads one by one.
Even for the most experienced and battle-hardened bodyguards, seeing a colleague go down with ruler precision is enough to send a chill down your spine.
‘Shooting a guy right in the eyebrow, in the dark, in the middle of nowhere? What kind of vision do you have?’
Lorraine clicked her tongue as she surveyed the situation. It wasn't good.
Panic ran rampant among the guards. They didn't dare show their faces outside of cover. To do so would make them easy prey for the sniper.
And that's exactly what the enemy wanted.
-Swoosh.
Lorraine's vision caught a glimpse of whitish shadows moving.
Their main force was moving while the sniper was on their heels.
Their movements were so stealthy that Lorraine could barely make them out if she didn't focus hard enough. The blur was like a phantom moving in the rain.
The other guards might know in their heads that they were approaching, but they couldn't actually see them.
“Watch out, everyone! They're coming!”
Lorraine warned, but there was nothing more she could do.
As much as she would have liked to give further instructions, the enemies heard her shout and opened fire on her.
“Damn, that's one hell of a reaction!”
It's no wonder such a complaint came out of her mouth.
This isn't some street thug attacking, this is a well-trained group of people methodically applying pressure.
It would be the feat of the century if anyone here remained calm.
“Crack!”
“Thud!”
I could see blurry red spots in the rain, and then gunshots rang out and the guards fell one after another.
The bodyguards fired back, but they vanished into thin air like a mirage, just as they had appeared.
Meanwhile, those who were brave enough to fight back were pierced to the bone and turned into cold corpses.
They were cunning and didn't reveal themselves just because they had the advantage, nor did they try to force their way in.
Their movements were so precisely coordinated, like machines, that one wondered if they were fighting humans at all.
Even a hunter wouldn't be this serious with his prey, but the raiders were vicious enough to set my teeth on edge.
‘Where the hell do they come from?’
You never know when strange creatures will pop out of nowhere in Tirna, but it's a shame that she has to face them on their turf.
Death is raining everywhere and she can't tell if it's rain or bullets.
It doesn't take long for the bodyguards to be wiped out.
Lorraine and Armand were the only ones left.
Lorraine bit her lip. She'd trained hard for this, and it was all for nothing?
Even if they had been ambushed in bad weather, it was an unbelievable result.
But Lorraine took a calming breath and closed her eyes.
The moment she stepped outside, there was a good chance she'd be honeycombed.
She would have to hold out for a long time in the bulletproof car, but that wasn't an option. She couldn't hope that the soldiers would come to her aid in Tirna during the rainy season.
Lorraine's thoughts were interrupted.
Her eyes closed, her ears twitched, ever so slightly.
It's coming.
They were coming with silent steps in the rain, but Lorraine could feel them since her senses were heightened to the extreme.
The sound of breathing and calm footsteps, as if they were trying to kill someone, slowly tightened the encirclement without lowering their guns.
The acrid smell of gunpowder reached Lorraine's nostrils in the dank rain.
She could feel death on her skin.
It was a visceral sense of dread that should have frozen her muscles and shrunk her heart but Lorraine felt strangely clear-headed.
It was as if she had been transported back to an old, nostalgic time.
-snap.
She hears footsteps in the distance, closer and closer.
The sound of puddles on the floor echoed from five directions.
Closing her eyes, Lorraine mentally pinpointed the other's location.
Not yet. Not yet.
She had to see the opportunity. Armand, sensing Lorraine's intentions, clamped his hand over his mouth and held his breath.
Not yet. Just a little more, just a little more.
They had closed the distance to within sight.
If they came any closer, they would be helpless.
-flash!
A thunderbolt raced through the dark clouds, bathed the world in blinding light.
It was the signal Lorraine had been waiting for.
‘Now!’
In a split-second burst of light, Lorraine scrambled to her feet and fired her rifle at the closest one.
Then, with lightning speed, she grabbed a pistol in each hand and fired at the other four, not even bothering to eject the shells.
BANG!
She fired so fast that the five shots almost sounded like one.
-KURRRRRR!
A crashing noise followed as the heated atmosphere expanded.
-Thud.
In Lorraine's vision, she could see her enemies falling. It was an exhilarating moment to finally put an end to the ghosts in the rainy season but Lorraine's expression was not happy.
‘I missed two!’
Only three of the five had fallen.
The other two twisted and turned in the heat of the moment, dodging the blow.
It was a perfect ambush, but it didn't work. Lorraine's skills weren't rusty but the enemies were that much better.
-Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!
In the distance, others opened fire. There were more troops in the rear than the five sent up front.
Sparks flew as bullet holes began to pockmark the hull.
In the brief moment she had to duck, Lorraine glanced at the fallen man.
The attacker wore a gray mask with a horizontal red streak across his eyes.
From the bullet belt around the upper body, to the multi-purpose pouch and grenades to the clothes visible through the rough-looking poncho reminded her of some Special Forces unit.
The question of what they were doing didn't arise.
All that mattered now was getting out of the immediate danger.
Lorraine ducked low and moved quickly to the driver's seat.
She tossed the blown-headed corpse out the wide-open passenger door and stomped on the accelerator.
“Hold on tight!”
Boom!
A plume of compressed steam containing ether water was blasted out from the rear of the vehicle.
This was what expensive vehicles were for: even after being showered with gunfire, she could accelerate in an instant with a single push of the accelerator.
-Boom!
The passenger door, which she hadn't closed, was ripped off by the car in front of her. But Lorraine didn't have time to think about that.
Getting out of here was her top priority right now.
The enemy must have realized this and opened fire. Armand screamed as bullets rained down on the back of the vehicle.
Like it or not, Lorraine jerked the wheel without taking her foot off the accelerator.
Driving at this speed in the rain was suicidal, but if she didn't do it, she was going to get shot. In a moment of crisis, she had to trust her animal-like driving skills.
-Boom!
The car lost its balance and began to skid precariously and sideways.
Lorraine immediately realized why.
‘That son of a bitch!’
The sniper had blown the first driver's head off but he also blew out the vehicle's wheels.
‘When I hear gunfire, it means he's close.’
The only saving grace was that the vehicle was rear-wheel drive.
The front tires lost traction, but she somehow managed to keep it under control.
However the sniper had no intention of letting go.
-Bam!
The rear tire blew out as well, throwing the car completely off balance.
Boom, boom, boom!
The car spun out of control and slammed straight into the exterior wall of a nearby building.
Lorraine's vision went white. The impact was not normal, as she was traveling at full speed.
Thankfully, the car's restraints were working properly, or she would have been killed.
Through her dizziness, Lorraine checked Armand's condition.
Flat on the floor of the back seat, he was unharmed.
‘We need to move.’
With trembling hands, Lorraine tugged at Armand's backside.
“Lady Lorraine!”
“Come on, come on. Now, we have to get away.”
Lorraine spoke desperately, even as her insides shook.
A few steadying breaths brought her back to her senses.
Her body throbbed all over, though, and her tinnitus still pounded.
‘Damn. I'll be in bed for at least a week when I get back.’
That was, of course, if she made it back alive.
Lorraine got out of the car with Armand.
She headed straight for the alleyway, partly to outrun them, but mostly to get out of the sniper's line of sight.
“Hmph! Hmph! Lady Lorraine, are you okay?”
“I'm fine, just keep running.”
Lorraine led Armand through the rainy alleyways.
Her head was dizzy and she couldn't tell where she was, just instinctively heading in a direction that would take them away from their enemies.
“Who the hell did this.......?”
Armand was about to say when a whitish shadow emerged from the alleyway opposite.
It was just in time to almost meet them around the corner.
Lorraine drew her pistol like a ghost and fired.
-Ta-ta-tang!
The rapid-fire bullets slammed into her opponent, two in the chest and one in the head.
It was a Mozambique drill designed to go beyond the double tap and definitely finish the opponent.
The enemy wasn't caught off guard. He had Lorraine's reaction time, but he was outmatched.
His body was armored, but his head was not. The gray mask was durable enough, but not enough to postpone death.
Behind her fallen opponent, she could feel the other's gaze.
As Lorraine aimed her gun at it again, it launched itself at her.
A hand was swung from the inside out, knocking the muzzle away.
She squeezed the trigger, but fired into thin air.
The other man pointed the pistol in his left hand at Lorraine's sharp nose.
Lorraine lifted her leg and slammed it into his shin, then twisted his wrist around her pistol grip with her right arm.
His fingers loosened and the pistol fell to the floor. Lorraine kicked the pistol away from him with her toes but he wasn't finished.
He struck again. Mask to mask, they clashed, and the distance between them grew.
As Lorraine reached for the trigger, he had already drawn a dagger from his waistband and was stabbing at her.
The distance was too close. Lorraine watched the dagger's trajectory, then ducked low and snaked her hand around the man's forearm.
In an instant, the joint snapped.
The creature didn't scream, even though its arm was broken. Lorraine hadn't expected that, either, so she snatched the dagger from its limp arm.
As it flailed and struggled, dagger after dagger slammed into it. It was an astonishingly precise and quick move.
He will not survive, for I plunged the last into the carotid artery at the nape of his neck.
“My God.”
Armand was dumbfounded by the carnage that had taken place in less than five seconds.
He knew Lorraine was strong, but he'd never seen her in combat this close before.
The Lorraine he knew was a sniper, and he had no idea she was this good in close quarters.
The way she fought was amazing; she was brutal with her hands. It was as if she had learned only to kill her opponent with certainty.
Whether it was or not, Lorraine glanced back with sharpened senses.
Her sniper rifle was pointed at Armand's head as he watched.
“Lady Lorraine?”
A shot rang out as Armand asked in surprise.
It was Lorraine who fired. Armand checked to see if he was still alive. Luckily, he wasn't dead.
Only then did he realize that Lorraine had shot over his shoulder, behind him, at his pursuer.
Now that he was alive, Armand turned to Lorraine and said.
“Thank you for saving my life...... kerchuck!”
Armand's words were unfinished because the bullet that entered the back of his head came out of his mouth.
At the same time, a bullet blew off the scope on Lorraine's rifle.
“Boom!”
Shrapnel splashed and hit the mask.
The mask, which had just been beaten to a pulp, cracked and shattered.
Armand, her client, was dead but before she could react, another bullet pierced her right shoulder.
“Gasp!”
The force of the bullet sent Lorraine flying backwards.
As she did, the presumed enemy sniper walked over.
“What a surprise, I never thought I'd see you here.”
The sniper in the gray visor mask recognized Lorraine and saluted.
Unlike the other masks, where the eyes were single, this one had a round red lens on one side.
Lorraine glared at him, her face contorted with pain.
“You, who are you?”
“Isn't that a harsh response for an old comrade-in-arms?”
The sniper laughed, then pulled the mask off his face.
Lorraine's eyes widened at the sight of his exposed face.
The man with the scarred face smiled a twisted smile.
“Why? Are you not glad to see an old comrade you betrayed?”