Thwip!
Thanks to the specialized suppressor, the sniper rifle's report was reduced to a mere whisper—a soft puff of air that would be entirely swallowed by the night unless one was standing inches away.
The round found its home directly in the center of the target's forehead. For a man accustomed to tracking high-speed, erratic prey, dealing with stationary human targets was child's play. One shot, one shattered skull. No second round required.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Immediately following the first kill, Thien Anh recalibrated his optic, firing in rapid succession. His acquisition speed and trigger discipline were staggering; in the span of a few breaths, three more insurgents had collapsed.
To sow further chaos and shatter the enemy's psychological resolve, Thien Anh reached out while firing and pressed a detonator for a pre-planted directional mine.
KABOOM!
A localized earthquake rocked the ground, accompanied by a deafening roar. Seizing the moment of the enemy's paralysis, Thien Anh resumed his long-range execution.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Three more corpses slumped. By now, the enemy numbers were dwindling, but the survivors had finally pinpointed the sniper's location. They scurried into tactical blind spots beyond Thien Anh's line of sight, forcing him to shift his position.
With his twice-mutated physique, Thien Anh possessed an agility and explosive power that defied human limits. Even burdened with heavy ordinance, he leaped and pivoted across ruined rooftops as silently as a phantom in the night.
Swiftly, Thien Anh seized a new high-ground vantage point. However, the insurgents were not entirely incompetent; recognizing the threat, they retreated into a narrow corridor within Sector D to find cover. Through his observations, Thien Anh confirmed they carried no heavy weaponry, aside from a few hand grenades.
He immediately relayed a signal to Thien Thanh via the comms, ordering Thien Lang to the frontline. Thien Thanh transmitted the command instantly, and within seconds, Ki's gargantuan silhouette materialized beside him.
Thien Anh moved to a lower elevation to coordinate with his spirit beast. He assumed the role of providing suppressive fire, pinning the enemy down within the narrow crevice, while Thien Lang utilized his superior velocity to launch a close-quarters assault. The moment an insurgent showed even a sliver of skin, Thien Anh's fire made them pay the ultimate price.
Caught in this pincer movement, the insurgents fell into terminal despair. Seeing Thien Lang charging, they frantically hurled grenades to halt his advance. But they had grievously underestimated the intellect of a Tier-3 beast. Long before his sapience had fully awakened, Thien Lang had been subjected to Thien Anh's grueling bomb-evasion drills. Now, with his sharpened intelligence, those grenades were mere toys to him.
Seeing a grenade lobbed his way, Thien Lang nimbly leaped backward, waiting for the blast to dissipate before resuming his momentum. The enemy attempted a ruse, rigging a grenade above the main entrance, hoping he would trigger it upon entry. However, Thien Lang didn't funnel himself through the obvious path; he pivoted toward the window.
With a frame larger than a forest bear, a single ton-force swipe was all it took to send the steel window frame flying. Thien Lang surged inside like a grey hurricane.
The insurgents opened fire in a panicked frenzy:
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
A thick curtain of lead crisscrossed the confined space. Thien Lang employed his honed bullet-dodging maneuvers, utilizing steel desks and filing cabinets as cover while moving in a mesmerizing zig-zag pattern. Every round missed, biting harmlessly into the stone walls.
In a few heartbeats, the beast had closed the distance.
"ROAR—!"
The authoritative howl shook the foundations. Thien Lang tore through the crowd like a demon. He pounced, shredding through flesh; a single bite was enough to sever a man in two. A powerful swipe sent heads spinning from shoulders in an instant.
For those who posed less of a threat, Thien Lang simply used his massive kinetic mass as a battering ram. With the weight and momentum of a freight truck, the impact pulverized bones and liquefied internal organs instantly. Those struck were hurled across the floor, frothing blood, their breathing reduced to terminal gasps.
Having cleared the room, Thien Lang didn't halt. He reared up on his hind legs like a great bear and slammed his forepaws into the dividing wall.
CRASH!
The thick brick wall collapsed, leaving a massive jagged hole under his staggering strength.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The moment the wall breached, the enemies in the adjacent room unleashed a volley at Thien Lang's head. However, a sight of pure horror froze them in their tracks: every round that struck the beast's head ricocheted off the metallic vulture-feather armor, unable to leave even a single scratch.
Thien Lang bared his ivory fangs, his eyes shimmering with the light of the reaper.
The game was over.