After a hard-fought battle, the three-person team was left with two members, and Chongzong's stamina had been depleted.
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Not to mention continue fighting, Chongzong, who had just relaxed his tense muscles, could only stand by leaning against a tree at this moment.
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During the battle just now, due to the adrenaline rush, Chongzong hadn't felt anything unusual in his body temporarily. But after relaxing, various parts of his body started to ache.
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Arms, shoulders, thighs, ankles, back, every part of his body.
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Joints, muscles, bones, nerves, stabbing pains, soreness, cramps, all kinds of pain mingled together and struck. Chongzong was in so much pain that he couldn't open his eyes, had a splitting headache, and felt like rolling on the ground...!
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But he persevered, picked up the enemy's assault rifle as a crutch, and limped back towards the courtyard.
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Every breath he took required his full strength.
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As air entered his lungs through the trachea, which should have been a routine matter, every inch of his trachea was burning fiercely. Each breath made Chongzong's chest ache incessantly, but he had no choice but to keep breathing.
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Every time he exerted his legs, he felt as if there were several burning knives cutting through the nerves in his knees. Every movement caused a burning pain in his knees to spread throughout his body. Chongzong gritted his teeth in pain, almost unable to resist crying out.
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For Chongzong, the most relaxing thing to do was to rest in place and not to exert himself any further.
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With his current condition, he wouldn't stand a chance against those two.
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But he persisted in moving forward.
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He had the obligation to observe and understand the situation.
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He was the last effective force of the Manranyama Souren faction here.
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Obtaining information about Bai Yaxin's movements would be crucial for the future situation.
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In this way, Chongzong struggled to move a few meters.
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Then, he heard the helicopter starting its engine, and the rotor blades began to whirr.
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Immediately afterward, he saw the helicopter take off from above the trees, slowly climbing.
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—Did they really leave without waiting for their teammates?
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—Do they trust their teammates to win, or do they not care?
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Watching the helicopter fly away with only Bai Yaxin and two other team members aboard, Chongzong simply could not understand.
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It seemed that their mission was indeed only to rescue Bai Yaxin, and nothing else mattered.
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They would only get paid upon completing the task, and as long as they didn't die, it didn't matter if all their teammates died.
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In the past, the bald headmaster of the orphanage had described mercenaries to Chongzong in this way, but he hadn't believed it back then.
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He believed that people who acted together in the same team always had emotions.
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But that was not the case. Even mercenaries who operated in team formations had their own solo wanderers who teamed up with people.
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Teaming up just for the mission, then parting ways after it was completed.
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Just strangers.
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No emotional attachment.
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When they met on the battlefield, even mercenaries who had acted together and met before could still pull the trigger without hesitation.
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Today, Chongzong had witnessed it firsthand.
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The saying goes, you will never understand something unless you personally experience it.
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As the helicopter climbed higher, Chongzong slowly moved out of the woods.
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In the courtyard of the imperial palace, he could still see Kumo lying there, ignored by everyone.
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It was quite pitiful to think about.
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To treat a fellow as heartlessly as if they were disposable.
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Kumo was probably useless now.
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In Chongzong's view, the helicopter had gradually become a small coin.
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But he was unwilling to let Bai Yaxin go like this. Gripping the assault rifle in his hand, Chongzong had an idea.
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Although Chongzong wasn't familiar with firearms, he had learned some basic knowledge from the bald headmaster.
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The assault rifle in his hand was fully automatic, with an effective range of about three to four hundred meters.
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If luck was on his side, maybe he could have some impact on the helicopter's flight.
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Chongzong took off his jacket, used his sleeve as a bandage to tightly bind his hands to the gun's grip. This way, when he fired continuously, the lack of grip strength wouldn't cause the sight to waver.
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Then, Chongzong found a tree in a suitable position as a back support, sat down, leaned against the tree with his feet bent up to support the ground, held the gun in his hands, and aimed at the helicopter in the sky.
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And then, Chongzong pulled the trigger.
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The bullets in the magazine kept ejecting empty casings from the muzzle as if raining down, shooting straight towards the helicopter in the air.
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But they were just shots.
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The bullets fired did not provide any feedback.
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There was no sound of impact, and the flight of the helicopter showed no signs of instability.
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It seemed that they were beyond the maximum effective range, combined with the influence of the helicopter's wind, making hitting the target even more difficult.
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In the first place, using an assault rifle to shoot down a helicopter at this distance was a joke.
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Chongzong could only smile bitterly in helplessness.
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It would be a miracle if he could bring it down.
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At that moment, the helicopter had climbed to a sufficient height and started flying towards the Erimaruyama Palace, flying outwards.
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"...Sigh." (Chongzong)
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Ancient people sighed at the vastness of the sea, and the backwardness of ancient navigation technology made the sea seem unconquerable.
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Now, as Chongzong watched the helicopter gradually disappear into the distance, he also felt a sense of powerlessness.
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It was just too far beyond his capabilities.
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After Bai Yaxin flew away, the plan to capture him today had also fallen through.
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How many lives had been lost needlessly in this Eijiro Castle today?
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Even in such a situation, they still couldn't bring Bai Yaxin to justice?
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Confronting the police so openly, attacking them, killing police officers, and yet still having no way to deal with him.
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How dark had Kyoto become to reach this point?
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This was where Chongzong truly felt disheartened and powerless.
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When you play by the rules and realize that your opponent can change the rules as they please.
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Your opponent is the one who set the rules of the game.
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What victory or defeat could there possibly be?
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Just as Chongzong was sinking into despair, a black shadow streaked across the sky, heading straight towards the helicopter.
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Immediately, at a distance of more than ten meters from the helicopter, there was a sudden explosion.
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A dazzling flash, followed by flames, then grey dust billowing and spreading.
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The shockwave from the explosion affected the helicopter, as if an invisible hand had pushed the aircraft forcefully, causing it to tilt severely and be pushed several meters before stabilizing.
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Then, another black shadow flashed through the air, this time in a parabolic trajectory, landing above the helicopter. Once again, a few meters away from the helicopter, an explosion occurred.
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This time, the helicopter was pushed down several meters, surely making the people inside quite uncomfortable.
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And this time, Chongzong finally saw clearly.
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Those black shadows were arrows.
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Arrows loaded with grenades on their tips.
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There must have been a timed automatic explosion set on them before being fired.
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This way, even if the arrows didn't hit the helicopter, they could still explode near it, causing damage to the helicopter through shockwaves and fragments.
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Such a skill required extremely precise control of the arrow's trajectory, as well as good control over the distance and the arrow's speed.
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Only one person could achieve this level of expertise in Chongzong's mind.
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"This is Ito Shinran, calling Chongzong Uesugi." (Ito Shinran)
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Just in time, the voice of Ito Shinran came through Chongzong's wireless communication device, pulling him out of the abyss of despair.
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"This is Chongzong Uesugi, go ahead." (Chongzong)
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"I'm relieved that you're still alive." (Ito Shinran)
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Ito Shinran's words were not very pleasant, but Chongzong knew he meant well.
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In fact, Ito Shinran was known for not speaking much.
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"I'm glad to see that you're all still alive. Are Miss Yui Uesugi and Miss Yunai also alright?" (Chongzong)
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"Yes, they only suffered some superficial injuries, nothing serious." (Ito Shinran)
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"Those two arrows just now, did you shoot them? Very impressive!" (Chongzong)
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"That's not important. First report on the situation of the people on the helicopter." (Ito Shinran)
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Ito Shinran disregarded Chongzong's praise directly.
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But his approach was correct at this time.
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The helicopter was moving away every second, and the effective range that the Tenshukaku could cover was limited.
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"On the helicopter, there's Bai Yaxin and some of his bodyguards." (Chongzong)
"Alright, I will arrange for them to have a 'safe and sound' landing." (ItoShinran)
After saying this, ItoShinran cut off the wireless communication.
Within seconds, Chongzong saw another arrow flying across the sky like a shooting star, tracing a beautiful parabolic path, and then diving straight towards the helicopter like a falcon swooping down on its prey from a high altitude of ten thousand meters.
This time, the explosion occurred closer to the helicopter.
The heat wave and shockwave generated at the top of the helicopter dealt another heavy blow to the helicopter that had just regained stability.
And that wasn't all.
Several successive fragment impacts finally took effect.
The fragments from the arrows and grenades seemed to have damaged the helicopter's rotor, causing the helicopter to tilt unnaturally, and a few seconds later, black smoke started emanating from the rotor bearings.
Gradually, the helicopter's lift became unsustainable, and it began descending along a diagonal path.
And the descent was right towards the Erichimaru residence.
ItoShinran successfully left Bai Yaxin, who had already ascended to the sky, once again inside the Nijo Castle.
