The guards who were swept back in a fierce tide began to enter the building once more in a rush. They looked like ducks being chased by a temperamental dog. When blood began to spurt out of those who fell behind, they started to push and pull at each other, reaching the height of chaos.
Emil and Bell Man, who had entered the building, were worried. The captain and Mike, who were meant to be supporting them from the back, were silent.
This was their chance to batter the guards who Black Mamba had herded into the building in one fell swoop. If the guards regained their senses, they would be attacked in isolation.
“Damn it, did they leave the machine guns to the doctor, or are they all sleeping?” Bell Man complained as he rearranged his Minimi belt.
“But Sergeant, you work better with a machine gun than a scalpel.”
“I suppose. Since there’s nothing to put anyone under, after all.”
“That’s why people keep calling you a quack.”
“Yeah? We’ll see what happens when you’re hurt.”
“Hm, then all I have to do is remain uninjured.”
“Ha, says a b*stard who shoots machine guns with his mouth.”
Emil was someone who fought back word for word. His confidence had reached the ceiling after rolling around the battlefield for so long. Bell Man raised his hands in surrender, unable to get to the point.
“Look, Emil, I think we rushed in too far.”
“Don’t worry, sir. My partner’s watching us,” Emil replied to ease Bell Man’s worrying.
Black Mamba had told him to move around as he liked, so move around he would. He couldn’t trust the government, but he could trust his partner.
“Damn it, I should be able to see something to snipe,” Mike complained.
Habib’s mansion was ten to thirteen feet higher than the surrounding terrain. He wasn’t able to tell what was happening over the mansion’s red walls, which hid what was going on.
The captain’s heart was racing.
The two rookies and Bell Man had moved too fast. He hadn’t been able to mark the exploding point as they rushed in. He had to do that before he could move into position.
It was then that red flares were sucked into the mansion in rows.
“Woah, as expected of Black Mamba!”
“He’s something special.”
The captain and Mike’s faces brightened. Those were signals Black Mamba was sending after reading the flow of the battle.
The captain and Mike began to launch their rifle grenades at the flared points. Rifle grenades had to be launched after the grenades were attached separately, then the rifle was shoved into the adapter. The launching speed was slow, but its power was two times stronger than that of average grenades.
Rifle grenades could lack accuracy, but the captain and Mike were skilled snipers. One rifle grenade was launched every ten seconds. The guards’ barricades and watch points, which were stacked like barracks, began to shatter.
“One more, since I brought it anyways.” Jang Shin launched another highly explosive grenade at the barricades.
Crash— Bang—
A fire broke out as the barricades crumbled.
“Ya ila hi, harik! (No, fire!)”
“Akmidu-ilahi-ka bisruah! (Douse the fire first!)”
The members in the command post and the workers who were hiding behind the barricades jumped out. The chaos reached its highest point as civilians mixed with the guards. They couldn’t enter the building in fear of the explosions, and they couldn’t go outside in fear of being shot.
Tatatatata—
Emil and Bell Man, who were hiding behind the fountain, opened fire. Bullets didn’t discriminate against their targets. Soldiers, civilians, and workers fell to the ground without fail.
The guards were busy hiding behind obstacles rather than fighting back, scattering like ants.
“Damn it, the pig b*stard’s over there.”
“Eek!”
Blood gushed out of a commander’s temple. He was yelling while waving his curved sword in the air. The guards wouldn’t be able to dream of an organized fight for as long as a sniper was in action.
“Kill the heretics!”
“Hide, hide!”
The guards who saw Emil and Bell Man began to rush forward, shooting them at random. There was no way Black Mamba would leave them be, considering the entire battle was in his sight. The advancing guards rolled around the grass, unable to last even five steps.
“Sniper!”
“Hide!”
Even the bodyguards were busy hiding.
A group of soldiers rushed out of the main building.
They were the Jerero Tribe, Habib’s main bodyguards. Bullets started to pour out of the building to protect them.
The fountain began to break apart. Bell Man and Emil pulled back their heads, unable to move. Two RPG shooters aimed for the fountain in a kneeling position at their momentary ceasefire. The others rushed for the front gate and poured out their bullets together.
Black Mamba had no reason to lose a prey that had revealed itself. He sniped the RPG shooters without fail.
“Agh!”
A shooter who had his chest shot decided to surrender and died without pain. The other shooter wasn’t as fortunate. A piece of shrapnel that had bounced off the launcher sliced off the left side of his face.
“Ahh, it’s the Kanma!”
There was no one who chose to help the guard, who rolled around the grass clutching his bloodied face. All the remaining guards were far too busy hiding themselves at the shout of “Kanma.”
Jang Shin, who was aiming for the main building, suddenly felt torn.
If he killed the b*stard called Habib, Black Mamba’s reputation would be hurt. Suddenly, a group of soldiers running towards them filled his vision.
“Fine, you guys have it.”
Phewwwww—
A bright orange flare of light brightened the dark.
Bam—
It landed between them, living up to his nickname of Explosives Devil. The shocks and flints erupted with a 65-foot radius.
Four who were in the center of the blast had their bodies ripped to shreds, while the guards on the outer ring were swept away by the aftershocks. Bang— Bang— The grenades with delayed explosions piled on and swept away the rest of the guards. It was the concentrated fire that the captain had emphasized.
“Kanma, Kanma!” hollered someone at the top of their lungs.
The remaining guards ran for their lives, hiding behind decorative rocks and trees. They were able to avoid the machine guns, but they met a worse fate. Their heads exploded from the shots that came from nowhere.
It hadn’t been three minutes since Jang Shin blew apart Habib’s front gate, but the guards were already on the brink of extermination. The 40 or so civilians had also died. The mercenaries’ attacks were swift and strong.
Craaash—
The high-explosives grenade that Jang Shin had launched reached 30 feet away from Habib’s office on the second floor, on the dot. A part of the second floor’s terrace crumbled. This was the Explosive Devil’s sly attack. Jang Shin was planning to lure the hyena out of its den.
Another was launched through the first-floor window.
Baaang!
Red flames began to spew out of the window. Following the recoilless cannon, rifle grenades began their concentrated fire on the main building. The guards who were watching the battle unfold plastered against the windows, and screams echoed through the explosions.
“What?!” Habib woke up from his drunken sleep after drinking too much Arrack.
He could hear the unending shouts and explosions.
‘Is this a dream?’
Bang—
The building shook. He could hear someone’s groan from afar.
“What is this?” Habib leaped to his feet and looked for his subordinate.
“Guro! Guro!”
Habib’s subordinate, Sergeant Guro, was on the grass. Blood gushed out of the hole in his chest. It would be nothing but a fantasy for the sergeant, who was entering rigor mortis, to answer the call.
“Where did the b*stard go?”
When the gunshots and explosions continued, he picked up his rifle and slammed his way out the door. Upon walking onto the terrace, Habib’s jaw hung open.
The sky was filled with explosions and gunshots. Grenades and bullets were pouring in from all ends. The searchlight was burning fashionably, illuminating all sides. Even the watch boxes were on fire, filling the air with smoke. Corpses lined the guards’ units and the front garden. They were all his guards.
‘Is this a dream?’
Habib pinched his own cheek out of reflex.
It twinged. Was this reality?
It was hard to accept the scene before him. Who in all of Paya would dare attack him?!
“Hamas! Hamas!”
The soldier who was shooting from the terrace ran over. He was in uniform.
“Sir, I’m here.”
“Command the guards. The enemy’s smaller in number. Concentrate both our people and our firepower.”
Captain Hamas saluted, then jumped out.
“Damn it, all the useful ones are dead. Fcking Kanma.” Habib gritted his teeth. All his talented commanders like Ahmud and Musta had been killed by the bstard called Kanma.
“Butler, butler!” There was no reply.
“These b*stards, where are they all?”
Habib was on the brink of going crazy.
Two corpses on the grass jumped out at him. He ran down the stairs.
“Guro! Mesud!”
They were his subordinate and butler.
“Agh, b*stards!”
There was obvious pain in Habib’s scream. Both were his childhood friends, friends who had followed him out of home at the age of ten.
Habib’s head began to whirl after seeing reality. Who were their attackers? He could guess a few suspects from certain leads.
“Guh, Abduhl! You f*cking swine!”
Habib always blamed his enemy, Abduhl, for everything. Abduhl was the main VIP of the dovish faction that Tombye led. Abduhl’s forces had suffered the most in his quest to track down the French special forces. He always accused Habib of intentionally wasting his forces, which was also true.
Habib, who had lost a major part of his forces to the French special forces, also whittled down his opponent’s army. Of the 260 who were sacrificed in the Battle of Djourab Erg, 220 were Abduhl’s subordinates. Abduhl had the right to rampage.
Abduhl was someone who continuously pointed out Habib’s failure in the Makumbo plan at the peace conference. There was no one but Abduhl who would attack him.
The b*stard had pushed forward with a full-front assault when his claims didn’t fall through.
“You dirty b*stard! I won’t be done in like this.”
Habib’s imagination didn’t even consider the Ratel team. He only gritted his teeth and planned to get rid of Abduhl.
FROLINAT wasn’t a coalition based on ideals and moralities In the first place. It was a gathering of combined powers, something power-hungry madmen needed. And since there was no loyalty or camaraderie, a sudden betrayal wasn’t strange. Even so, he hadn’t known that they’d seriously send a hitman.
“That fcking sht!”
The guards’ commander ran up to the second floor while Habib gritted his teeth. Blood was dripping down his left arm.
“My Grace, you must escape.”
“Muhammad, who are these b*stards?”
“I don’t know, but you must run. There’s no time,” Muhammad shouted back at Habib’s shout.
“You rtard, get your sht together!” Habib kicked Muhammad. “Call the second base camp and tell them to move out.”
Muhammad, who was kicked by Habib, ran to the office and picked up the phone.
“Muhammad! The invaders are few in number. Tell them to send one company here, and mobilize the rest to send to Ahbdul. I don’t need his corpse. Tell them to bring his head!” Habib shouted.
Habib was someone who had aged on the battlefield. He could guess the number of invaders by the gunshots. There was barely a task force of invaders within his mansion, yet there were over 70 of his guards. All they had to do was press back the invaders. What he needed was Abduhl’s capture.
Habib had never encountered Black Mamba, leading to this miscalculation.
He had pulled the trigger on FROLINAT’s downfall with a single misjudgment.
“My Grace, I’ve reached the second base camp. They’re sending three companies to Abduhl’s house, and one will arrive here in 20 minutes.”
“Too late, too late, tell them to get here by motorbike or camel or whatever!” Habib roared back at the guard commander’s report.
“What’s the problem out there?”
Habib opened his eyes wide. He had sent Hamas, but the explosions and gunshots hadn’t lessened, unlike his hope.
Jang Shin was hiding his body in the machine gun camp in front of the searchlight. He could see Habib’s outline clearly.
“I suppose that b*stard’s the Habib guy. If not, it’s fine.”
Psssssh—
Habib threw his body to the side at the sound of a high-speed explosive.
Bang—
The shell crashed through the office window, as though its entry had been measured with a ruler, and exploded inside. Habib, who was 65 feet away from the explosion, bounced out of the terrace. It was a launch to capture Habib that only Jang Shin would have been capable of.
Habib was unable to regain his senses after landing on the grass. He felt as though he was floating down amid vibrations. Habib woke himself by slapping his own cheeks harshly.
He saw an unrealistic figure of Muhammad twitching on the ground without either of his legs. Habib clenched his teeth. This had far surpassed anything his mansion’s guards could deal with.
He ran through the grass on his swaying legs. He could reach the underground bunker if he ran just 100 feet ahead.
An emergency bunker had been built 16 feet underground his mansion.
It had strong concrete walls that were two-feet thick and foot-thick metal doors on the outside. If he entered the bunker, he could hold out until the reinforcements arrived.