Bang!
The shot from the barrel rang out, and the recoil was astonishingly powerful. Even with Noid's physical stats at 1.3, his body swayed slightly.
He didn't hit anything, but he didn't feel any regret, because firing while flying in the air without any support made aiming extremely difficult.
There was another reason, which was that he wasn't good at it—more accurately, he was a total amateur with a gun.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
It took three more shots before one hit its mark. On the closest helicopter, a follower hugged his right arm, which had been shattered by the sniper rifle bullet, and screamed in pain.
Bang!
Another round hit its target. This time, someone died. A follower was shot in the throat, and blood splattered throughout the cabin.
Noid lowered the gun to reload. Shooting a target over a thousand meters away wasn't easy. The few shots that hit could be attributed to his enhanced nervous system and senses.
After reloading the ten-round magazine, he continued to fire. This time, he wasn't so lucky, only hitting one. The lead helicopter had already closed the distance between them to 800 meters.
"Council member, can you shoot this thing?"
"I can, but are you seriously asking an old woman like me to carry this and shoot?"
"Don't worry, I'll hold it steady."
He knelt on one knee, his knee touching the mat. He rested the barrel of the gun on his shoulder, using his own body as a support.
The council member, though she called herself old and frail, didn't move slowly at all. She lifted the 15-kilogram sniper rifle.
"Hold on tight! I'm about to shoot!"
Bang!
The deafening sound of the gun rang out. The recoil hit the council member's shoulder, and it was painful. If Noid hadn't used his strength to support and hold the gun steady, she would have broken her shoulder bone with just one shot.
But the council member still fired, her eyes focused on the target as if she didn't feel the pain. Compared to physical pain, emotional pain was far more terrifying. Because of these people who abandoned their own kind to worship monsters, she had lost the only family she had left.
She wasn't a soldier and hadn't undergone standard training, but her husband was an excellent soldier, and her son was a modified human. From those two, the council member had learned about marksmanship. She wasn't a sharpshooter, but she was a lot better than a novice like Noid.
Bang!
The pilot was hit, and the helicopter spun out of control in the air, eventually crashing into a building. It became part of the ruins below.
"Success!"
"Haha! Die, you heretics!"
Noid reloaded another magazine. The helicopters fell like birds shot by a hunter, but after the third one fell, the council member couldn't take it anymore and had to stop. He gave her a low-grade healing capsule. This was met with her suspicion.
"What kind of medicine is this? It's not poison, is it?"
"Don't be ridiculous. It can reduce the pain."
She swallowed it. After what they had been through, she had cast aside her doubts. Most importantly, her son had chosen to trust this man, and her boy wouldn't have been wrong about a person.
After taking it, the pain did indeed visibly decrease. Even her aching back felt better. The council member was a little surprised by the effect.
Noid once again shouldered the gun and began to fire. He was starting to feel a sense of urgency, because the effects of the madness drug were beginning to wane. This signaled that the drug's effects were on a countdown. Once it wore off, he would be a cripple for a while. If the helicopters caught up then, it would be certain death.
Noid had also considered hiding in the structures below. But this place was too desolate, with not a single decent building. He wouldn't die, but the council member would likely be shot to death. However, this method was still useful.
"Man in black, head that way! I remember there's a city there. Once we're on the ground, they're no match for you, even if all of them charge at once."
"Got it!"
Noid changed direction. The council member had, of course, considered this method. She had witnessed his extraordinary power. He wasn't a modified human, yet he could kill a group of modified fanatics. The ordinary people in those helicopters would surely die if they faced him head-on.
Noid just hoped that the city was close, because the longer they took, the more the drug's effects would wear off.
He continued to fire the sniper rifle. At the cost of three magazines, he shot down another helicopter. But the remaining three were now within 400 meters.
They brought out several six-barreled guns, fixed together with round steel plates like a revolving cylinder, and with them, a full belt of ammunition. The barrels began to spin, and the sound of bullets was like a waterfall, with shell casings raining down.
"Damn it."
The mat weaved and dodged, but the joy was short-lived as a six-barreled gun was brought out on the second helicopter, and another hail of bullets came. Noid had to both control the small flying mat to dodge and hold the sniper rifle to shoot.
"I feel like I've become the main character in some action movie with explosions."
He muttered a few words. The sniper rifle in his hand switched to "rapid-fire" mode, and the bullets were replaced very quickly before being fired. The sense of urgency became more and more apparent. His body was now noticeably weaker, holding the gun was a struggle, and his whole body was beginning to sway.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ten consecutive shots were fired from the barrel, emptying a whole magazine. One of them, by a stroke of luck, hit the part connecting the blade to the body of the helicopter, and a small explosion occurred.
The helicopter's propeller broke, and it began to wobble repeatedly before crashing to the ground. An explosion occurred, swallowing all the followers inside.
"Two left..."
Noid was getting weaker. Pain and a burning sensation like fire began to appear in his muscles. The council member noticed his strange behavior and quickly grabbed him.
"What's wrong with you?"
"It's... just a... little... side effect... from the medicine..."
He spoke in gasps, as the pain had spread to his throat. The hand holding the gun began to tremble.
Another magazine was emptied, and another helicopter was taken down. The bad news was that Noid had used his body to shield against the bullets, and an estimated few dozen rounds from the six-barreled guns had hit him directly. The impact was so heavy that the A.T.A Power Armor disappeared and reverted to the regular A.T.A Armor.
The council member had no choice but to pick up the gun and shoot. The distance between them was now close to 200 meters. The flying mat performed all its weaving and twisting abilities, but it was still torn in a few places by bullets.
Without Noid holding it, the recoil of the gun broke the council member's shoulder bone. The gun fell. But with the close distance and her precise aim, the pilot's head in the first helicopter exploded like a watermelon. They both successfully took down another helicopter. There was only one last helicopter left.
Noid took out a paralyzing bomb, his hands trembling as he threw it directly toward the helicopter. Since both sides were moving at high speed, he didn't need to throw it too hard for the bomb to reach its intended target. Unexpectedly, one of the men inside peeked out, carrying a mortar launcher on his shoulder.
The mortar shell was fired. Noid's pupils constricted. In that instant, he threw something toward the council member. It was the activator for the low-grade modified energy shield.
The council member was enveloped in a translucent crystal layer. She only had time to realize what Noid had done. Before she could say anything, a loud explosion temporarily deafened her eardrums. The flying mat was torn into pieces, but its fragments could still fly for a while, keeping the two of them in the air at the same speed but separating them in two different directions.
The council member was still conscious, watching with wide eyes as she and Noid were separated. As for Noid, the armor on him was damaged for the first time. The breastplate, which had taken the direct impact from the explosion, was cracked, and other parts also had fissures. His consciousness had also entered a state of shutdown.
The followers, especially the one who had just fired the mortar, were laughing triumphantly at their victory. From the beginning of the chase until now, watching each helicopter get shot down had made them afraid, but luckily, victory had smiled upon them. Until this very moment.
The paralyzing bomb hit and shattered the helicopter's glass before activating. All creatures with a stat of 1.3 within a 10-meter radius would be paralyzed. This meant that all the followers in the helicopter were frozen in place, including the pilot. They were afraid but helpless to do anything.
Without a pilot, the helicopter plunged straight down, exploding in a fiery blaze and sharing the same fate as its companions.