I summoned the Fourth Scourge in Warhammer

Chapter 160 Let's go for a sniper duel, I have a rocket launcher!

Driven by the suicidal, all-out march of the Legion of the Dead, the main force of the human expeditionary force arrived at the gates of Gelbrin, the capital of the Tau Empire's homeworld, at an astonishing speed. Without any rest or pre-battle mobilization, Commander-in-Chief Wendell Gage's order was summed up in one word: Attack.

The wheels of war turned with a deafening roar, and the magnificent city defenses were reduced to dust amidst the fury of the Titan cannons.

However, this time, the players acted unusually, choosing not to follow the Titans' central army group during the siege. The reason was simple: the Tau Empire clearly considered this area a crucial defensive stronghold, concentrating the vast majority of its orbital cannons and heavy firepower, relentlessly unleashing a barrage of fire on the Titans' and Astronautical Army's armored forces' advance. That area had already become a death zone of constant bombardment, and while the daredevils were fearless, they didn't want to repeatedly perish in this meaningless barrage, which offered no advantage to the battle.

As for the left wing, the vanguard role was primarily undertaken by the Great Astartes. The Emperor's Angels naturally encountered the most elite forces of the Tau Empire—elite Fire Warriors clad in XV-8 "Crisis" combat suits. Fighting these optically stealthy, highly mobile, and heavily armed individuals in the complex ruins of a city was hardly a good option.

Therefore, after a couple of tentative attempts, the highly proactive players unanimously and comprehensively turned their attention to the relatively weak right flank.

This choice allowed them to successfully evade most of the heavy artillery fire and advance rapidly through the complex urban terrain, quickly becoming the fastest-moving and deepest-penetrating force in the entire human expeditionary force into the heart of Gelblin.

In the city's labyrinth of ruins, the company of [Assimilation Completed] was rapidly traversing in combat formation. Suddenly, he saw a player quickly approach their company commander.

"Company commander, where are we? Why haven't we encountered the enemy yet?"

Because the commander-in-chief is essentially a mobile Easter point, the identities of junior officers within the Deathbringer Legion are far more concealed than in any other Astral Army. Outwardly, all Deathbringers wear identical full-body armor, with no insignia distinguishing officers from soldiers. A company commander blends into the ranks like an ordinary soldier, and no one will ever salute him.

Logically speaking, there was nothing wrong with this player's behavior; he had simply asked a question, and there were quite a few people in the team whispering among themselves. But for some reason, at this moment, [Assimilation Complete] suddenly felt a bad premonition.

The company commander lowered his voice and replied, "We're almost in the middle of the city. What's wrong, itching to take a hit?"

The player chuckled without saying a word, but the expression on his face spoke volumes.

“Don’t worry, the Tau people won’t just let us advance and cut off their retreat,” the company commander patted his shoulder and said. “I estimate we’ll soon encounter the Tau Empire’s blocking forces…”

Before he could finish speaking, the company commander's judgment and his ominous premonition of "assimilation complete" came true simultaneously.

A nearly imperceptible beam of energy ripped through the air, striking the company commander precisely in the spine. The immense impact snapped his neck, sending his helmet-clad head flying through the air in an arc. The company commander's headless body swayed twice before crashing to the ground. He immediately went back to see the battalion commander.

"Enemy attack!"

The players, experienced in ambushes, didn't even need orders; they instantly scattered into squads and found cover. Amidst the chaos, [Assimilation Complete] heard [BUG] cursing beside him: "Damn it! They can't see our IDs above our heads, how did they know that was our company commander?" "Maybe we were just unlucky; the company commander just happened to be chosen as the first target," the squad leader casually remarked from behind cover.

"No, after thinking about it carefully, I'm afraid it's not a coincidence." [Assimilation Complete] After a moment of contemplation, he rejected this explanation.

These words immediately drew the attention of everyone in the squad. The squad leader asked, "Why do you say that? Didn't many people in the company just make more obvious noises about whispering to each other?"

“But they were all talking to people from their own squad,” [Assimilation Complete] calmly analyzed. “Only the company commander had someone deliberately leave his squad and travel a distance to talk to him.”

"Holy crap, this is insane!" The players in the group immediately sensed something was wrong. "Do they have to nitpick about such small details?"

"Sh-!"

Just then, a whistle came from deep within the ruins. The players immediately looked in the direction of the sound, trying to spot the enemy, but they only saw some blurry human figures moving swiftly and incredibly fast among the distant ruins. The enemy was clearly trying to increase the players' psychological pressure through this horror movie-like technique.

However, this method is clearly ineffective against players—especially when they have heavy firepower.

Grenades, hand grenades, and heavy logging rifles immediately unleashed indiscriminate firepower on the areas where the ghostly figures appeared. Explosions erupted incessantly, instantly suppressing the elusive figures and rendering them immobile. But this seemed to be exactly the enemy's objective; the moment the heavy gunners exposed their positions, deadly energy beams shot from various sniper positions, accurately striking them.

It must be admitted that the enemy's strikes were extremely precise. Considering the previous incident where their company commander was precisely sniped based on a single minute detail, it's clear they had encountered an exceptionally skilled hunter unit.

However, for the player, the only somewhat useful target of the enemy's precise strikes is the company commander who just died. As for the heavy gunners who were precisely targeted... well, let them fight. These obvious positions that require sustained output will never be filled by key figures like squad leaders or platoon leaders; you could fight them for another year without any problem.

That being said, the men going to their deaths certainly wouldn't let these treacherous snipers get away with sniping so easily.

"Damn it, are you trying to snipe us?" another player in the squad who was already prepared roared, suddenly hoisting a rocket launcher from behind cover and aiming it at one of the energy beam sources.

"Come on! Let's snipe each other!"

Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. The rocket roared out, trailing a fiery plume. Of course, he, who had leaned out, was immediately struck in the head and died on the spot. But in the last moment before losing consciousness, a crisp kill notification sounded in his ear, bringing a satisfied smile to his face.

(End of this chapter)