The few remaining terrorists still capable of moving were shouting loudly, driving a jeep as they chased in the direction Tony had fled.
Seizing the opportunity, Atreus found the hiding Ethan.
Ethan, seeing that it was still only Atreus and the Black Canary, was incredulous, "Are we just going out like this?"
"What else would we do?" Atreus, under his mask, seemed to be smiling, making Ethan feel even more uneasy.
What gave Ethan some sense of security was that they had at least brought along some equipment he could understand.
The sexy secretary had been a bit over the top earlier, wearing a full set of level-six heavy body armor. It wasn't just a bulletproof vest—it included a tactical helmet, shoulder, neck, groin, and leg guards, as well as a waist belt. Every tactical module was fitted with bulletproof plates. On top of that, she carried a nearly half-meter-wide, one-meter-high PE bulletproof shield.
Seeing her carrying that shield and an MP5K submachine gun while protecting him, even giving him a desert camo helmet and a decent bulletproof vest, Ethan suddenly felt a lot safer.
Though, he was puzzled—where did the slim secretary get the strength to carry such heavy gear?
After all, any one of those bulletproof plates weighs no less than a kilogram. The whole set must weigh at least 30 kilograms!
Compared to her, Atreus was the real anomaly.
He was still in his suit and tie, only wearing a Kevlar vest with bulletproof plates over it.
At that moment, Atreus wasn't fighting alone; he seemed possessed by the spirit of John Wick.
This wasn't Afghanistan; this was *James Bond*.
Atreus led the charge, boldly holding two Glock G36 pistols with extended magazines.
The Black Mask wasn't omnipotent. It could only mentally control a handful of weak-willed terrorists, no more than ten at a time.
The valley was full of terrorists, all on high alert.
Even though Iron Man had lured away most of their forces, more than a hundred still remained, either searching for stragglers or helping their comrades injured by the explosions.
Getting in and getting out were two entirely different things.
No one expected Atreus to become... a one-man army!
Through the narrow eye slits of the ebony Black Mask, Atreus's state of mind was odd. It was as if the theme song from * Bond* echoed in his ears.
"IE.. Anantaa... Kimochi..."
Ahem! Focus!
In reality, as soon as he heard the first Arabic shout, the heads-up display on his retina switched to flashing red, signaling danger.
Following the flashing red arrow, Atreus spotted the terrorist raising an AK rifle towards him in just a tenth of a second.
From an outsider's perspective, it was clear the enemy had the upper hand. Atreus seemed doomed.
But with twice the agility of a normal person, Atreus found the enemy's movements excruciatingly slow, like watching in slow motion.
His Glock quickly aimed at the terrorist thirty meters away.
"Bang!"
The 9mm bullet traced a long arc through the air, whizzing into the terrorist's eye socket.
Though handgun bullets aren't as powerful as rifle rounds, a small bullet entering the brain can still easily make a bloody mess.
There was no scream of agony—the guy simply crumpled to the ground, dead without a sound.
But the sudden gunshot, coupled with the warning shout, was not something the constant explosions on the battlefield could drown out.
The remaining terrorists snapped to attention, searching for the enemy.
They should have been the ones with the advantage in numbers.
With their American-made rifles, they should have had superior firepower.
That's how it *should* have been!
But instead, they were met with unnervingly accurate gunfire.
Most people think handguns fire slowly, but here's a little-known fact: the latest models of Glock handguns can easily reach a theoretical firing rate of over a thousand rounds per minute.
In just a few seconds, Atreus emptied the 33-round extended magazine.
The result? An eerie silence on the enemy's side.
Meanwhile, Black Canary had just pushed Ethan's head down behind a large rock, crouching behind her bulletproof shield, peeking through its observation slit to assess the situation outside. What she saw was a mass of enemies collapsing.
It was like they were drunk, falling to the ground without curses, without screams of pain—just the occasional twitch of the dying.
Ah, youth. They fall asleep so easily, not even making a sound.
Black Canary was stunned, her body trembling in fear.
After days of combat training, she had come to acknowledge Atreus's hand-to-hand combat skills. But she never imagined that the one to take down *Black Mask* Roman would be Atreus himself.
In her mind, someone like this pompous rich kid wasn't supposed to get his hands dirty or possess such godlike combat abilities.
Now it seemed, his marksmanship surpassed even his hand-to-hand combat!
"Oh my god, what kind of boss did I get myself into!?"
Thanks to Black Mask's *Pistol Sharpshooter* skill, Atreus could instantly eliminate any enemy within fifty meters.
The advantage of dual-wielding handguns was that even while reloading one, the other could still provide fire.
"Click." The empty magazine dropped to the ground. Atreus's right hand lowered to his waist, and with a flick, a magazine flew into the air.
Magically, his hand was already there to catch it, slotting it into the pistol with pinpoint precision.
"Click!"
The brief pause in his right-hand pistol's firing was over, and it resumed spitting death without interruption.
From a distance, it looked like the terrorists were voluntarily sticking their heads out, offering their foreheads, throats, or temples to catch bullets.
Then there was the left-hand pistol...
For a moment, Atreus seemed to be bathing in a hail of bullets. In reality, it was the other side that was getting showered with gunfire.
If the other side had anything left to counterattack with, it would be the heavy machine gun that had just suppressed Iron Man.
"Tatatatata!" The dull, ripping sound of a large-caliber machine gun echoed through the valley.
Firing down from 150 meters, suppressing from high ground!
The 12.7mm bullets weren't just lethal—one shot could tear a person apart, and even 10mm thick steel couldn't withstand it. Atreus had to avoid the heavy fire.
Seeing Atreus dodge for the first time, Black Canary let out a sigh of relief. "So, my boss is still human after all!"
But it was just a brief pause.
The next second, Atreus darted out from behind the rock and fired a distant shot.
"Bang!"
A perfect shot!
At 150 meters, this was well beyond the recommended range for a handgun.
A 9mm bullet, with an initial speed of just over 300 meters per second, would have a noticeable trajectory drop, forming a clear parabolic arc at this distance.
It was practically like shooting an arrow!
But it hit!
When that 9mm bullet crossed the distance to the theoretical limit, a simple obstacle could have stopped it—a book, a button, or even enough body fat might have absorbed its remaining energy.
Unfortunately for the machine gunner, this didn't include the eyeball.
Another shot through the eye!
Atreus's shot silenced the machine gunner.
The entire valley fell into an eerie, relative silence.
"Ahhhhh!" A wounded terrorist suddenly sprang from a pile of exploded ammunition boxes, brandishing a machete and charging at Black Canary.
The secretary didn't even have a chance to react.
"Hmph!" With a cold snort, the terrorist was met with a shield to the face.
As he spun through the air, all he saw was a long leg flying toward him, kicking him three meters away.
While he was still airborne, Black Canary's right hand flashed with gunfire.
"Bang bang bang!"
The valley fell completely silent.
"Boss? Should we retreat now?"
Atreus paused before answering, "Stick to the plan."
He couldn't help but feel a little stunned—he had just noticed something strange.
Red, ethereal orbs appeared above the bodies of the fallen terrorists.
When he focused his mind on one of the red orbs, something magical happened—the orbs responded to his call, flying toward him and merging into his body.
Several of the red orbs even passed right by Black Canary and Ethan, but they remained oblivious.
Atreus was puzzled: could these be... like the red orbs from *God of War*?
(End of chapter)