While Danny was waiting, a short guy ran toward him along the trench.

"Captain, you're early." He panted, took the sack off his shoulder, and put it at Danny's feet. "Here's your ammunition."

"If I was hunting in the mountains, I'd have come back by this time already," Danny said carelessly. "How much ammunition for me?"

"30 bullets."

"So few..." Danny murmured. "b.l.o.o.d.y machine gunner."

The short guy was the youngest soldier in the army, only 16 years old. His name was Malt. He came to "protect" Danny.

Every sharpshooter was paired with a protector so that when enemies drew close, they could quickly suppress the enemies and won themselves time to run away or switch to bayonets.

Danny did not think that he needed a protector, especially not an underaged one. The reason he accepted Malt was that he could not turn down Karl Van Bate's implore. He had been neighbors with this Minister of Construction for years, and they had lived in the same street of the New District. Naturally, he understood that Karl viewed all the kids graduated from Karl College as his own children.

Since the sharpshooter's position was usually at the back, the protector was actually at a safer place compared with the soldiers at the front line. Danny knew that His Majesty hated his employees covering up or colluding with each other, so taking Malt as his protector was one of the few things that he could do without offending His Majesty.

Looking at Malt who was squatting there picking bullets, Danny could not help asking, "Have you thought of changing for another job?"

"Leaving the First Army?" Malt answered without raising his head, "No, I like it here very much."

"But this isn't a game," Danny said, raising his eyebrows. "We could be killed at the battlefield anytime. You don't have to take this risk. As a Karl College graduate, you're totally qualified for a job in City Hall. There you can work quite decently and earn more than here in the army."

"But I don't like running errands for the officials every day. I just want to hold a gun to protect His Majesty." Malt put the 8 mm bullets he picked before the trench. "Besides..." He suddenly paused and seemed to be blus.h.i.+ng.

"Because of Miss Nana?"

Malt did not reply, yet his cheeks reddened.

Danny could not help bursting into laughter. "At least half of the soldiers in the First Army admire Miss Angel. I don't think you even have a chance. Besides, her father is a baron. Even he currently doesn't have lands, his daughter isn't someone you can dream of."

"I, I'm not thinking like that," Malt said, craning his neck. "I'm satisfied as long as I can see her every day."

Danny shook his head and stopped persuading Malt. He knew how strong or stubborn one could be once he was in love. He himself was no exception.

Whenever he had time, the image of a green-haired woman would appear in his mind as soon as he closed eyes.

If she had not reached out to save him, he might have lost his life in the forest.

But at that time, she was still a minion of the demons', the embodiment of evil. Danny buried his affection deep in his heart and dared not to tell anyone. Unexpectedly, the second time they met, witches had been proved to be innocent. Consequently, she had moved into the Witch Building in the castle area and opened up various experimental fields in Misty Forest.

He could not enter the castle area as he wished, so whenever he was on a vacation, he would always pick up his bow to hunt in Misty Forest. He even decided that when he no longer served as a soldier, he would apply to the City Hall for the forest ranger job and take Misty Forest as his new home.

"Woo... Woo...!"

At that moment, he heard the blare of the horns.

It signaled the arrival of enemies.

Danny stopped his wandering thoughts and fixed his gun holder.

No matter what, he was still a warrior at the moment. He should fight to protect His Majesty and overthrow the church who was hunting witches.

As the sun rose above his head, a troop with s.h.i.+mmering armors appeared at the foot the mountain.

In order to siege the only road leading to the mountain, their defensive line was less than one kilometer away from Hermes. The moment the enemies went off the mountain, they had stepped into the First Army's cannons' shooting range.

Danny knew full well that Iron Axe would not miss any chance to strike the enemies.

As if to prove his thoughts were right, a series of dull roars burst behind him, which sounded like thunders coming from far away. Danny vaguely saw lines of shadows flying over his head towards the enemies.

The battle started without a sign.

From a distance, Danny could clearly see the landing points of sh.e.l.ls, where dust was sprung up like bunches of wildflowers. The enemies which were marching like a line of ants instantly went into a panic. That was a normal reaction, considering it was the first time they were stricken by opponents whom they could not even see. If it were for the mercenaries or militia, their morale could probably totally collapse after a few rounds of shooting.

But the troop of the church did not retreat. It began to accelerate. The soldiers seemed to be not as neatly lined as before.

By the time they got closer to Danny, they had suffered three rounds of cannon attacks. The combination of 50 field artilleries was enough to bombard continuously, which was a torturous experience to the enemies. Without war horses, they had to trod on this h.e.l.lish road on foot.

The G.o.d's Punishment Army, which was said to have prodigious strength, held big s.h.i.+elds upright and advanced in the front row. They formed a gray iron wall 500 to 600 meters away from the First Army's first trench.

But it did not mean much in front of bullets. As soon as a bullet hit a big s.h.i.+eld, it would break the s.h.i.+eld into pieces and threw the s.h.i.+eld holder on the ground.

"This isn't good," Danny said while shaking head. "I'm afraid they would be destructed before they even reach the first trench." He understood the First Army's fire arrangement: first, they took care of the enemies from 1,000-1,500 meters away with cannons; then when the enemies gathered before the wire fence, they swept the battlefield with machine guns; if the enemies got within 200 meters and began to rush forward, they used revolving rifles in close range combat.

"Why is it not good to destroy them?" Malt peered over the trench, standing on his tiptoe.

"Well, because then there'll be nothing for me to do." Danny collected the bullets he laid out into the waist pocket, lifted his gun, and prepared to leave.

"Where are you going?" Malt hurriedly pulled him.

"I'm going to the trench in the front row." Danny got rid of Malt's hand. "You stay here."

"I'll go with you."

"Don't follow. This is captain's order"

With these words, Danny bent over to walk along the communicating trench.

The sounds of landing sh.e.l.ls got louder and louder. At every dull cras.h.i.+ng sound, crumbs came off the trench walls and fell into his collar.

He then knew that he was approaching the forefront bit by bit.

After crossing three rows of trenches, before a new round of sh.e.l.ls landed, Danny stuck out his head to watch over the trench, regardless of the fact that other team members were looking at him confusedly. He could clearly see the big s.h.i.+elds of the G.o.d's Punishment Army, and even hear the enemies' desperate shouting and yelling.

He was about 300 meters away from the enemies.

This is close enough.

Taking a deep breath, Danny set up his rifle, aimed the sights at somewhere a little over a s.h.i.+eld, and pulled the trigger.

Accompanied by a crisp sound, some blue blood spilled behind the s.h.i.+eld, which, together with the s.h.i.+eld holder, fell to the ground, revealing the bewildered Judgement Warriors hiding behind.

Danny pulled open the bolt, took off the steaming bullet sh.e.l.l, and pushed the bolt back again.

The loading sound thrilled and exhilarated him.

"The first one," Danny thought.