Chapter 148 – Winters Chaotic Dance (5)

The Lord Officiator couldn’t stand. Rubble hit him right in the leg. He was miserable. His face contorted in pain. “Find an escape route me!” one of the Templars said. The other Templars examined the surroundings but they could only see the engulfing smoke.

“Please bless us o God,” chanted a Templar. The mist of smoke didn’t give them confidence. The fire that was crackling crept their way didn’t help them. But the Templars only shield against fear was their faith. If it wasn’t for that faith they would have longed despaired.

“There’s no way out, it’s another dead end, Sir!” The Templar said. The Lord Officiator looked at the Templar with a panicked expression on his face. “Then make one! Do you want to be fried and be buried under the burning rubble? I do not. God will never give up on us as long as we keep hopeful in our faith! So go on men!”

“Yes, Sir!” shouted the Templars. The Lord Officiator nodded his head. They kept on going until they reach this round hall. The building was one of the largest architectures of the capital. It was built as a hub for the government and acts as a fort.

“My Lord you are alive!” shouted a voice. The Templars hoisted their rifles at the direction. The Lord Officiator halted his men as the battered figure of a guard came to view. The guard was a familiar one. The Lord Officiator signaled his men and let the guard come. “You are alive, guardsman. I assume that you have news for us? Seeing that your risk your life coming into this inferno?”

The guardsman saluted. “Sir, I’ve come to inform you that Lady Dolce Astra of Alva’s skyship will be coming to our rescue!” Hearing that, the Lord Officiator’s face brightened. “Is that true? Haha, hear that men! Our faith has been rewarded! Hope kept us afloat!” He hollered at his men.

The Templars guarding the Lord Officiator heaved a sigh of relief. The guardsman continued. “Sir, I have something else to report.” The Lord Officiator craned his head back to the guardsman. “What is it, guardsman?” The guardsman’s face contorted. “When I receive the message from the Lady, I was one floor above them. They were still finding a way up when I spotted two of my colleagues. I tried following them but my path was blocked. I had to take another route and when I finally caught up with them. I saw Stan shooting him. Sir, I think Stan’s a traitor or possibly the one that did all of this.”

“Are you sure guardsman?”The Lord Officiator said. The Guardsman nodded his head. “The smoke may be thick but no one has that grey hair among the guards other than Stan, my Lord.” The guardsman inclined his head. The Lord Officiator could tell that he was not lying by the slight fury in his eyes. “You’ve done us proud, guardsman. We need to get out of this inferno before worrying over this traitorous devil.”

A gunshot suddenly rang. The guardsman who was talking to suddenly spun as the bullet hit his shoulder. The Templars hunkered down. One of them pushed the Lord Officiator down. They crawled through cover. The Templars slid their backs up and peeked.

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Another gunshot rang out. The Templar who was trying to peek almost got his head blown apart. “Enemy sniper!” shouted the Templar. One of the Templars pulled the guardsman away from sight. He ripped a fabric from his clothing and put pressure on the guardsman wound.

“We’re pinned, My Lord!” shouted the Templar. The Lord Officiator pressed himself on the wall. He looked from left to right. “Is there any way out other than this way?” The Templar gravely shook his head. “I am afraid that we would be burned and get toppled down by the collapsing ceiling, Sir.”

“Then one of us going to try and shook the bastard,” one of the Templar suggested. “Anyone have a bomb we can throw out there?” The Templars shook their heads. “Afraid not, we don’t carry any bombs. Not allowed.”

The Lord Officiator wanted to curse whoever told them not to carry bombs. “So what should we do? Wait for us to get seared and be buried?”

“I’ll try and get the bastard away. Someone cover me!” The Templar said. His fellow nodded and went into position. He gestured and counted before dashing away from cover and pointing his rifle at the sniper. The Templar was getting cover from his ally. The sniper was pinned down but he suddenly popped out of his cover and raised his head. The Templar thought he could kill the bastard. But to his surprised the sniper tilted his head to the right, dodging the bullet as if he could see it. The Templar was shocked by that sight. He tried to return fire but a bullet entered his forehead. He fell on his back. His eyes rolled.

The other Templar managed to reach the sniper. He pointed his rifle up and emptied his bullet. The sniper dive rolled out of danger. He landed heavily. The Templar reached for his pistol He aimed at the sniper and fired first. He thought that it was over. But despite that, the sniper evaded the bullet and shot back. The Templar got hit in the throat. He stumbled back and tried to return fire only to have his head blasted.

The Lord Officiator and the rest saw what happened. They were able to dash forward towards the Sniper. The Sniper pulled the lever of his sniper rifle. He caught the Lord Officiator and shouted:

“THIS IS IT FOR YOU LORD OFFICIATOR!”

The Lord Officiator trembled. The hoarse cold voice of the sniper said it all. The Lord Officiator could recognize the voice. It was far colder and seething with anger. It was different from the calm and welcoming voice that welcomes him every time he enters his office.

He felt like a fool. He didn’t bother with the guardsman because he thought that he was nothing. How could he bother? When the lad did his work well and was friendly. Who would have thought that the seemingly hospitable lad was actually scheming devil who has put them all in this fiery hell? He felt like he was a fool.