"Coast clear. We're moving out, sir!" said William after making sure no soldier lingered around the house.

"Hold on, lemme grab something first..." Hardt responded while opening a cabinet near the door.

William looked at what Hardt just grabbed, eyes widened in surprise. "Sir, that's..." His voice trailed off as Hardt stroked a sniper rifle on his hand.

"Never expected this thing to see the light once again. Funny how things worked out, eh?" Hardt said, still gently stroking his old partner.

"Sir, are you-"

Hardt waved his hand at William. "Save that question for now. Lead the way, son," he said. Still surprised, William just followed along, taking over the vanguard.

They moved as covertly as possible, hugging the wall and trudging through the shade before reaching the crossroad where William's horse laid dead right in the middle of the section. 'Your death will not go in vain, I promise,' William thought to himself as he glanced for the last time before continuing.

"That reminds me, sir," William broke the tension as they walked.

"Hm?"

"I'm not a native to Bruhl, so my knowledge is limited. Do you know where people should evacuate in case situations like this happen?" he asked.

"Well, well! Now that's smart, coming from a greenhorn like you! I was about to say the same thing, ye see, before-"

"Sir."

Hardt cleared his throat. "I-I think, the north street would be our best bet, if memory serves right."

"Alright, we'll go there. Instruct me from behind, please." William now walked slower, matching his pace with the old man.

Leaning from wall to wall, William and Hardt kept going for a while, sometimes stopping for the latter to catch his breath. Not a single soldier entered their vision so far, which caused William getting more tense.

'It's so quiet around these parts, maybe the town watch are having their last stand against those Empire bastards somewhere,' he thought. His minds proved true as they heard a gunshot near their destination.

William and Hardt nodded at each other before peeking through the side of the wall. Their gaze was met with total chaos enveloping the street. Carts and trucks were overturned everywhere. The road, once was a smoothly paved stone bricks, was now covered in blood. Heaps of corpses littered the road, civilians and soldiers alike. Sandbags stacked one after another, forming makeshift covers with only a handful of town watch members hiding behind it, and last but not least, the Empire soldiers, slowly thinning the resistance that lasted. The battle was obviously not going well for Bruhl.

As he scanned the crowd, William could spot a girl wearing red bandanna over her head amidst the gunfight, trying her best to maintain their foothold while covering the gate from any trespasser.

"HELP- Hmphh!" William almost shouted before Hardt shoved his mouth.

"Quiet! They don't know we're here yet, fool!" Glaring at the young boy, Hardt released his hand from William's mouth before leaning back into cover.

"S-Sorry... I saw the closest help and instinctively-"

"That pure naivety could get you killed, son! Get a grip on yourself!" Hardt said as he shook William's shoulder. The boy nodded slowly to his lecture.

'Guess he's a completely different person when it's time to fight, huh.'

"Tell me one thing that works wonder in a situation like this, son," said Hardt as he entered an empty house overlooking the street. He immediately went to the second floor without looking back at William.

Joining the Darcsen from behind, William could not help but to recall her sister's advice. "The element of surprise, sir."

"Verily! In moment like this, stay calm and make use of your circumstances to the maximum! For now-" Hardt raised his sniper rifle, releasing the safety pin. "-it is indeed the element of surprise."

"You're saying we should help them from here?"

"What, you prefer suicidal approach?" The old man grinned as he took aim.

"No, I mean you could stay as support fire from here while I go distract them personally. Wait for my signal, sir!" William shouted as he went downstairs.

Dragging a chair on the corner of the room to barricade the door in case a soldier flanked inside the house, Hardt could not help but sigh. His skill will be tested once again against the same enemy he faced years ago. Hardt made sure not to be spotted himself while scanning the surroundings with his scope. Before long, he could spot William, closing his distance against three soldiers closest to them from an alley. Raising three fingers over his head, William slowly pulled it one by one.

'Three. Two. One. Shoot, old man!'

BANG!

One of them slumped over. The other two froze as they watched their friend died, realizing their position was compromised even behind the frontline, never expecting a flank. Both looked over the direction where the bullet was shot, to which William make use as he jumped behind them from his cover.

"Empire bastards!"

A bullet went out from his rifle, scoring a shot over a surprised soldier. Before he could continue, the last soldier's body goes limp, this time by a bullet to the head. A perfect ambush, by William's standard.

Hearing gunshots behind their ranks, some of the soldiers looked back over William's position, now hiding behind the ruins of a destroyed building.

"Damn, they were behind us!?" said a soldier.

"Send some men to take care of our flankers! We can't let up our attack here!"

Some of the attackers that stormed the main gate dispersed. Surprised by this turn of event, a girl furrowed her eyes although deep down she felt slightly relieved. Many of her squad members were already injured guarding the gate, so any help was appreciated. Still, it seemed odd to her. The town watch only have a handful of old war rifles inside their armory, but that loud bang before was definitely a sniper rifle. Who helped them, then?

The girl moved behind sandbags, her twin ponytail hair hidden inside a red bandanna swayed as she crept forward. Her destination was a man wearing a cap on his head, one of town watch captains, as well as her friend.

"What now? Scared to handle those soldiers by yourself?" the guy said, his smirk lingered still.

"No, I heard a sniper rifle being shot somewhere."

"Oh, was there any? I didn't hear anything different. Maybe they had a sniper stationed all along, then!?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Noce, if they did have a sniper, we would've been an easy target to him long ago. I believe it's a separated friendly unit. Some of us have to check it out, and quick!" She tried to jump over the cover, but Noce managed to grab her hand.

"Bad idea, girl! You're risking your life over an unknown third party!"

"Unknown!? You mean their help distracting some of those soldiers was nothing!?" She brushed off his grip before taking the attention of her own squad. "Guys, on me! Incognito!" she shouted as she disappeared to the alley, followed by a handful of town watch members.

"Alicia!" Noce shouted, but no one replied back. He sighed as a bullet almost hit his protruding head. "Damned Imperials!"

William started to regret his decision. He expected only a handful of soldiers to chase him down, but it turned out quite a lot were on his trail. He panted hard as he hid under a cart on an alley, unsure where his chasers would come from. Hearing many footsteps behind him, he held his breath without realizing.

"Where's this damn flanker!?"

"Watch your head too, guys. I think they mentioned a sniper as well on the hit list."

"Shit, no! I don't wanna die here!"

"Then use your head before he blows it first! Stop talking, keep moving!"

The crowd nearby finally dispersed. William crawled out under the cart and ran over the direction where Hardt was hiding before. Hoping no harm would befall to him just yet, William forced his feet to run faster. Things were getting out of hand faster than he anticipated. They were more perceptive as he initially expected.

As he closed the distance, he had to take detours more often as the area was getting more infested with Empire soldiers. All of those interfering eyes glared every single windows they deem suspicious, and some already laid their view upon the one with Hardt on it, now hiding from sight. Praying for his backup's safety, William sneaked through the hot spot directly, taking more risks along the way.

Eventually he could see the house. The front door was already wide open.

"Dammit," muttered William as he rushed inside.

He expected the place to be deserted, but there were limp bodies inside the house, luckily not resembling an old person of sort. William could hear metal clashing on the second floor as he tiptoed. Reaching the room where Hardt was, his eyes opened even wider. The old Darcsen he once almost suffocated before now stood firm on his spot, unfazed. The knife on his hand was soaked in blood against a soldier. His opponent tried to stand straight, but his injured leg caused him to stumble a bit. Seeing an opportunity, Hardt lunged forward, punching the soldier straight in the right arm through the gap between his vest. The soldier screamed in pain before being muffled by Hardt's hand.

"Silence! I wish not to kill, but if you force me then I will!" Hardt said as he landed a jab on the soldier's head, knocking him out.

The old man who once already lost hope and ready to die just an hour ago had turned into a killing machine right in front of William's own eyes. His jaws followed suit with his eyes, wide open all this time.

"And you- Oh, William, my boy! Almost mistook you there, son!" His knife's ready to be thrown across the room, Hardt stopped immediately realizing it was his ally this time.

"...Let me... breather... whoa..." William's feet finally gave out. He let his body fell to the floor due to fatigue and shock. His breath was ragged and unsteady, but his consciousness was clear as crystal. Just imagining that knife hitting his head made him shudder. "Are all snipers... this bloodlust all this time?"

"What?"

"N-Never mind, sir. Just thought you were done for the moment they stormed the house," William said amidst his breathing.

"Ha! I'm just a humble Darcsen, that's all."

'Which part of this is humble at all!?' William thought to himself.

Before he could calm himself, he heard footsteps downstairs, reaching the stairs.

"Damn, they don't know when to stop!" said Hardt as he reached for his sniper rifle. "C'mon, Will! Stand up and help me out here, son!"

"Wait, someone's here! Excuse me?" A feminine voice came midway through the stairs.

Right when she said that, the girl revealed herself from the stairs, her gun aimed at Hardt. The sun beamed upon her red bandanna as Alicia eyes widened, seeing two unknown faces.

Both Hardt and Alicia exchanged glance at one another, albeit never releasing their grip on their weapons. "Sir, are you-"

"Yes! He... He helped us all here so lower it, girl!" William interrupted her as he regained his composure.

Hardt, albeit reluctant, lowered his weapon along with Alicia. Not too long after, the squad which this girl named Alicia led by finally reached the second floor, hearing the ruckus they caused.

"You didn't evacuate?" she said as she walked over to William.

"More like I could not. Everything went downhill while my sister and I were busy visiting windmills and we got caught in the crossfire. Is the town watch not escaping as well?"

"Uh, no I can't." Alicia shook her head. "I'm helping the local militia holding the last gate, buying time for civilians."

"Ah, the militia? For real, young girl?" Hardt scratched his chin, narrowing his eyes at Alicia.

"Yes, sir. My name's Alicia Melchiott, sir... Um..."

"Hardt. That's all you need to know for now. Then let's get moving, shall we?"

Hardt went down the stairs, followed by looks of disgust and awe from the militia members on Alicia's squad. William sighed a bit as he observed the sneering ones. "Prejudices, prejudices. Figures."

"They can't help it after seeing his hair. Please forgive them," Alicia said, sighing as well.