An Opponent You Can't See

"Winston?" Kazuto muttered.

His eyes widen and quiver, and his mouth open in shock. It felt like seconds were minutes as his eyes laid locked, watching as Winston's body slowly descend back to the trench.

"Winston... yo-you're still alive, right?" Kazuto muttered, with not a single glimmer reflected from his eyes.

His mind has gone blank, as the gunshot that aroused fear felt nothing more but a small thud in the ear. He didn't know what to say, nor what to do. The only thing he could do was smile as he gripped tight to the slim hope that he was still alive.

He gradually pushed himself up away from the damped mud, murmuring Winston's name as the bitter smile turned into chuckles. However, before he could even fully stand up Adolph held his right leg.

"What do you think your doing!? Do you want to get yourself killed!!" Adolph warned him, his grip on Kazuto's right leg getting rigorous.

It was painful like a tight string squeezing ones veins until it could burst out, but Kazuto gave no bother. His eyes remained intact, watching blatantly back to the trench.

"Winston is still alive! I know it!" His voice quiver in desperation, convincing himself that his eyes deceived him.

Yet as Kazuto gaze further into the distance a dark mist began to consume them. It was getting harder for one's eyes to see, as even a little dim of light can barely be seen.

Kazuto panicked, as he kept on searching like a wild animal, but still he couldn't see. With no other option he looked back and shook his right leg, even to the point of kicking just to force Adolph to let go.

But it only made Adolph more annoyed, as his grip became even firm as he started to feel his fingers piercing through Kazuto's nerves.

Soon Kazuto could feel his leg turning numb, as the pain was becoming less bearable the longer Adolph holds. With an opportunity appearing right before his eyes, Adolph took it and pulled Kazuto back to the ground.

The mud splattered like liquid, covering most of Kazuto's uniform. Kazuto gently wiped his eyes off with mud as the first thing he saw was Adolph's horrifying glare staring right before his soul as he gripped his collar firmly.

"Listen to me you scum!! He's dead, and you have to accept what's right in front of you! Stop being delusional and stay here If you're not going to help us fight!" Adolph yelled, his voice shrill and piercing like a hungry lion ready to kill.

Kazuto gazed back looking towards Adolph eyes with a terrified expression, as his mouth was shut locked with no words to say.

Adolph scoffed, releasing his hands off Kazuto's collar and pushing him to the side as he took a deep breath trying to calm himself down.

Another gunshot later fired as what follows was a man screaming in agony in the direction of the trench.

"Damn it, it's no use! We're stuck! We have to kill that damn sniper or else we'll be shot for good as well," Adolph said as his gaze further to the ceaseless fog, pondering as he tried locating where the sniper could be.

An idea soon sparked in his mind, as he looked towards Hanz with a determined glare. Only expecting cooperation from his allies.

"Hanz! Give me your rifle," Adolph asked Hanz in almost an instant.

"What!? If you'll take my rifle I got nothing else to defend myself," Hanz anxiously protested as he gripped his rifle close to himself.

Adolph's glare turned into something more impatient, as he closed his eyes trying to compose himself as he looked at Hanz again.

"I'm gonna try to shoot the sniper! Just give me the damn gun so we can get out of here," Adolph insisted as a slight vien from his forehead appear.

"What about I'm the one who shoots the sniper instead?" Hanz suggested.

"No, you're accuracy isn't good enough! You're much better off using a machine gun rather than a rifle! So just give it to the damn gun already!"

Adolph burst out of anger as his hands turned into fists as his glare started to feel like piercing one's soul. Yet Hanz didn't gaze back in fear, rather he looked firm and vigilant as he watched the burning flames from Adolph's pupils.

"Both of you need to stop!" Gunther exclaimed, "Here, you'll have my rifle so Hanz can keep his. you could have just asked me." Gunther said, grabbing the rifle off his shoulder and giving it to Adolph.

Adolph took the rifle as quickly as it was given, with eyes so bitter as they remained glaring towards Hanz. But even with such a bitter look, he too knows fighting amongst each other would lead to no results.

He then laid the rifle to the soft mud as he aimed in the distant fog, taking a soft exhale as he pulled the trigger. A loud bang soon release from the gun, while Hanz, Gunther, and Kazuto covered their ears to reduce the pain of the loud noise.

The bullet soon pierced through the soft wet mud from somewhere in the field, as Adolph slowly gazed away from the iron sight and into the distance as he too doesn't know where he was aiming.

"Why did you do that for!?" Gunther asked, baffled as to why he just wasted a good bullet.

Another loud bang then came from their left, as the dead Elven body lying a few feet away from them was pierced in the head.

Both Kazuto and Hanz gazed in fear towards the corpse, watching the Elven skull broken into pieces without much of a problem.

"There's your answer and it worked like wonders. Now we can only hope that our comrades won't fire back," Adolph informed them, gradually pulling the handle bolt and releasing the cartridge as it flung itself to the mud.

Adolph then grabbed a clip from his pocket and placed it down to the magazine as he prepared himself to fire the gun again.

"How is grabbing the sniper's attention help us in any way!?," Gunther asked as his body laid uneasy trying to take cover from the mud.

"You'll just have to trust me," He smiled.

He then turned back and gazed towards them.

"Gunther, Hanz, I want you to go to the small crater over there and use your helmets as bait for the sniper to shoot," Adolph requested, pointing his finger towards a small crater in front of them made by the artillery strike a few hours ago.

"What about you?" Hanz asked as he was preparing himself to crawl towards the crater.

"I'll go to the other crater to our left. There I'll try to spot the sniper. Hopefully I'll get better visibility in that crater than here." Adolph replied as he also prepared himself to go to his location. "If you feel worried I assure you I'll kill the bastard before it gets us,"

Hanz looked him in the eye for a moment with not even a single flinch coming from his pupils. Assured, he nodded as he looked in the distance.

"What about me?" Kazuto asked.

"You'll stay here and don't move a muscle!! Don't even try to intervene 'cause I can only see our plans failing because of you!" Adolph yelled, his calm and collected tone instantly becoming harsh and ruthless.

Kazuto gazed down feeling a little gloomy as he couldn't make himself look at them in the eyes.

They then gaze at their respective positions with their expressions completely firm, waiting in that dark midst for the sniper to shoot another bullet. And that bullet came.

Another noise from the rifle was echoed, as the bullet pierced another dead Elven soldier a few feet away, piercing its neck and severing it from its whole.

With the signal echoed, Adolph hurriedly run towards his crater and dropped down to the ground with only six seconds used. The same goes with Gunther and Hanz, but they were behind Adolph's record by only two seconds.

"What now!?" Hanz asked, his eyes were darting in adrenaline.

"We need to attract the sniper's attention like what Adolph did a while back," Gunther huffed as he aimed Hanz's rifle down to the ground and pulled the trigger.

A loud bang soon took hold as Hanz removed his helmet from his head and placed it to the muzzle of the rifle. Slowly, they push it up to the open field, exposing it.

A rifle then fired from the far left, with the bullet completely piercing the steel helmet like it was made of cardboard and paper.

Horror and fear indulged both Hanz and Gunther, as they gazed through the broken helmet. A big hole had centered into it which was enough to fit three fingers.

Nonetheless, it was a good price to pay as Adolph saw a small spark only a few meters away from his location. Adolph hurriedly took aim to where the spark came from, with his finger ready to pull the trigger.

"This is for my comrades!" Adolph hissed as he pulled the trigger.

A loud noise soon heard from fields of corpses and mud, as the bullet flew through the fog on the far left.

With no time to lose Adolph hid himself back to the crater, waiting for the elf to fire back. But seconds have passed and a long silence had consumed the fog, there were no cries nor movement of winds. It felt still, like peace was achieved.

"I think.. I think I killed him," Adolph muttered, as he waited for the sniper to retaliate.

He waited for ten seconds more and no retaliation occurred. Adolph felt relieved but somehow still feeling a little tense.

He slowly pushed himself up trying to get a glimpse to the far left, but before he could even get up a bullet pierced to the ground only a foot away from his head.

He dropped back to the ground, with his heart pounding in a sudden close encounter with death, as he held the rifle close to his chest with his breath getting heavy.

"Gunther! Shoot another bullet anywhere from the far left and distract him with another helmet of yours!!" Adolph yelled.

Gunther nodded after hearing the shout, slowly crouching to get a better view. However, before he could take aim, Hanz grip his right shoulder.

"He said just shoot another bullet anywhere to the far left, there's no need on peaking your head and aim!" Hanz uttered, worried as his eyebrows furrowed.

"What difference does it even make if I take aim!?" Gunther asked.

"Your life! You'll lose your life!! You gotta remember we're fighting a sniper here!!" Hanz yelled.

Hanz then took the rifle from Gunther's hands and aimed the rifle to the far left without even peaking, pulling the trigger with not a single thought where the bullet could fly.

Gunther hurriedly pulled his helmet from his head and put in the tip of the rifle, and again they slowly pushed it up to the open field.

"This might be a slim chance that the sniper will take the bait again, but I have no choice but to hope he'll take it!" Adolph muttered.

Another loud noise soon scattered the fog and dust, and again the helmet was completely pierced like before. However this time Adolph saw the spark as clear as glass. With a small grin, he took aim to where it came from and determined it.

With no hesitation, he pulled the trigger and the bullet flew right through the midst.

Like the speed of sound, the bullet sliced through the sniper's neck, exposing it to the elements as he couldn't even talk. His esophagus began to drown him by his own blood as he began to gurgle.

He tried scooping it out of his larynx, even scratching and squeezing using his own hands, turning his fingers as red as rose just to taste the sweet relief of air. His eyes tremble trying to escape death, but it was no use.

The elf could no longer breathe, his lungs became a pool of blood as he laid down to the ground, hopeless as his eyes slowly shut closed.

Nonetheless, Adolph couldn't see all of this happening, the land was still full of midst and there's no determining if the elf was still alive or not. He shook, not pondering about it anymore as he hurriedly dropped down to the ground and waited for a sniper to retaliate.

He waited for a minute and not a single hush of wind coveted. Adolph crouched up feeling a little hesitant, nonetheless trust in his skill prevailed.

When he finally stood up the sniper still didn't retaliate. Adolph sighed, relieved knowing it was over, but there was still a small bit of anger he had to deal with first.