Han received Canute's last report. He expressed no response after reading it.
"Let's start. Canute had been done in. He bought us some time."
Han could add up what had happened and his thought processes from the short report.
'He had probably suffered an injury. He judged that it would be better to run in the opposite direction to buy us time rather than rejoining us. This turn of events was only possible because it was Canute.'
If he had been a simple guy who strictly adhered to commands, he would have forced himself to somehow rejoin no matter the end result. If so, the entire squad would have fallen into danger. Canute always thinks and judges for himself.
"This is time that Canute has worked hard for. It's time to avenge his fall."
Jose and Kuro's condition had improved a lot. Kuro slowly began using his psychic powers once again. He dragged along the giant tree as they moved along. This scene had been perfectly recorded by the cameras.
"What in the world are they doing?"
"They cut a whole entire tree."
"It can't be…"
The second years watching the battle through the hologram began discussing amongst themselves. It was common for squads to use the geographical terrain in gun survival battles to oppress the others.
"It's a shield."
"It's possible because they have Kuro."
"It's better for Kuro to do that than to make him fight when he's such a bad fighter."
The instructors broke down the situation. This was their first time seeing this sort of battle tactic.
The gun survival battles were the most standard type of modern warfare.
In front of such an overwhelming weapon like the gun, there is no time to intervene with psychic powers.
"They've encountered the ninth squad!"
Someone shouted. Squad 9 and 13 stood across from each other. They were close enough for shooting distance.
"Kuro-!"
Han shouted.
Kuro gripped his hands into fists. The tree trunk floated and blocked the front. The bullets hit the tree, creating sparks.
"What's that?"
The ninth squad shouted, shocked. One tree covered all of the thirteenth squad. The moving shelter moved flexibly.
The thirteenth squad lowered their bodies and moved along with the tree. They peeked out shortly from above the tree one by one to check the situation.
No matter how skilled the ninth squad was at shooting, it was difficult to hit such a small mark in a short amount of time.
'There shouldn't be many members who have strong psychic abilities since they were picked based on marksmanship.'
Han mumbled. There was nobody in squad 9 that could interfere with Kuro's telekinesis.
If all four of the members were to use their telekinesis, it would be possible to stop Kuro. However, afterwards everyone would become defenseless.
"Damn, hide behind the trees. We can take cover as well. Let's drag out the time slowly. He will become tired eventually."
The ninth squad stopped shooting and hid behind the trees. Han poked Jose's side.
"Jose, start."
Jose's eyes glowed red. The forest burned. The area around the ninth squad burst into flames.
"This kind of fire can't touch….."
The ninth squad stopped mid sentence and closed their mouths.
The fire wasn't the problem. The smoke from the flame made it hard to see. They couldn't see where the thirteenth squad was at all.
"Move!"
The ninth squad escaped from the smoke.
While they were lost in the smoke, Han quickly approached his opponents.
Bang!
Han shot the first member of the ninth squad that popped out from the smoke. He fainted before he could utter another word.
Now, there were 3 people left in squad 9. They spotted Han and shouted.
"One enemy spotted! Fire!"
Han rolled on the ground and hid behind a tree.
"JOSE!"
Han shouted. Jose casted a ball of flame to produce gray smoke.
At this time, the ninth squad and the second year instructors realized the thirteenth squad's scheme.
'I see. Kuro and Jose weren't going to use their guns at all. They're basic supports. The only ones to fight would be Han and Canute. Canute had fallen so Han is alone, but in that situation…'
Han calmed his breath. The ninth squad couldn't do anything because of smoke and trees.
The only way they could proceed this battle was to kill Han so that they could proceed to kill Kuro and Jose.
Twang.
The ninth squad became shocked, the tree branch that were hiding behind broke for no reason.
It was Kuro. Kuro was hiding behind the giant tree trunk and broke the branches which the ninth squad was hiding behind.
'There you are.'
Han focused his ears, due to the smoke the both of them couldn't make out anything with their eyes.
Kuro, who had escaped from the smoke, let Han know of the ninth squad's location by breaking the branches of the trees they were hiding behind.
'I'm shooting by guessing most of the time, but just knowing which direction to shoot gives me the upper hand. In a smoke field like this, it doesn't matter that the other squad is made up of elite marksmen.'
Before the smoke had covered this vast area, Han had memorized the locations of the trees very well. He moved while referring to the map from his mind. He moved to flank the 9th squad, and pulled his trigger.
"GAA!"
A short yelp reverberated. Han consecutively shot his gun until he emptied his magazine. The other team began cursing from within the smoke.
"Huu, huu."
Han calmed his breath.
'I need to get out of this smoke.'
In a matter of moments the ninth squad had been reduced down to two members. It would have become disadvantageous for themselves if they were to continue fighting from within the smoke.
They judged that they must escape the smoke with any means necessary so that they could come up with a new plan.
The ninth squad looked to each other and nodded in confirmation before quickly dashing off.
They could be spotted right away the moment they escaped the smoke area. However, Han remained in the smoke, so they were not aware.
"Friends. You made it out well." Jose laughed and shot his gun.
There was more than enough smoke in the area now, so he could give all of his focus to shoot down his opponents.
He waited for the ninth squad to come out. When they managed to escape the smoke, they became easy targets for Jose.
Bullets flew from Jose's gun.
"Kugh"
"Haha, my shooting skills are so bad."
Jose mumbled and hid behind the tree. The ninth squad suffered an injury and became paralyzed. They mustered their last remaining strength to crawl to cover.
"Kuro, I leave the rest to you."
When Han left the smoke area, he hid himself behind the tree trunk that Kuro had stood up vertically. He snuck closer to the hidden ninth squad.
Han didn't let his guard down until the last moment. He kept his body hidden, and only peeped out the muzzle of his gun to hunt down the 9th squad.
"Th-those cheaters!"
A member of the ninth squad uttered their last words as their body convulsed from the shock. The last remaining member of squad 9 realized there was no more hope and volunteered to give up.
– Squad 13, winner.
The data bracelets rang and projected the message.