A sliver of unease crawled up the assassin's spine. He had been in this game for years, had killed countless targets undetected. And yet—something about the way this man in the helicopter locked onto him felt wrong.
It couldn't be a coincidence.
His fingers tensed on the trigger.
And then—
PFFT.
The suppressed shot cracked through the night, slicing through the air like a ghost.
A split second later, a hole the size of a bullet bloomed in the assassin's skull. His body went rigid, then slack—slipping from the tree branch, his lifeless form disappearing into the foliage below.
Noah didn't blink.
His rifle immediately shifted, barrel tilting just slightly—adjusting for wind, for distance.
Fifty meters away, the second sniper—hidden among dense leaves, blending seamlessly with the trees—felt something cold coil in his chest.
He saw his partner drop.
And then, he saw the rifle aiming at him.
"Impossible."