Chapter 47: Chain Reaction
The Armored Titan sprinted at full speed ahead, with a large number of Survey Corps members chasing closely behind, the sound of hooves merging into a continuous roar.
Su Xiao stood steadily on the Armored Titan's shoulder, raised his gun, adjusted the angle, steadied his breathing, and fired.
Bang.
The bullet left the chamber.
Ding.
A crisp metallic collision sound rang out.
This shot could be considered a hit on the enemy, but the enemy did not fall.
The members of the Survey Corps would not remain passive targets forever. After Su Xiao shot and killed over a dozen of them, these guys unfastened the "Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear" from their waists, brought the two devices together in front of them to form a shield barely capable of covering their upper bodies.
Although doing so risked falling off their horses, it could save their lives.
Even so, the Survey Corps' original force of nearly eight hundred had now dwindled to just over six hundred.
Unable to easily shoot the Survey Corps members, Su Xiao was not rigid in his thinking. If he couldn't hit the people, he shot the horses.
With men and horses tumbling, even if the Survey Corps members didn't die, they would be severely injured and absolutely unable to continue the pursuit.
The Survey Corps' second combat power, "Mike Zacharias," had dropped out for this very reason. That guy had broken one of his legs.
After the Armored Titan had been sprinting for over an hour, Su Xiao had fired over two hundred rounds.
The Broken Elf in his hand grew hot, its durability dropping by one-sixth.
Su Xiao's marksmanship had clearly improved significantly. Compared to a human torso, a horse's body was much larger.
Bang, bang, bang...
After a six-shot burst, the Broken Elf spun a few times in Su Xiao's hand. His feel for the gun was getting better and better.
Six shots took down four horses. Those Corps members who fell either injured themselves or were knocked unconscious; none managed to catch up again.
Falling from a horse running at full speed was absolutely terrifying. Even if they weren't trampled by the companions behind them, breaking a few bones was inevitable.
Su Xiao waited for the Broken Elf to finish reloading. By now, Ani and the others were no longer tense.
Given the current situation, it was a pipe dream for the Survey Corps to catch up to them.
As long as they didn't run into the forest, the Survey Corps' "Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear" was nothing but scrap metal.
Two minutes later, the Broken Elf finished reloading. Su Xiao fired six shots in succession. This time, three horses fell, but one unlucky Corps member was hit in the head.
He continued waiting for the reload.
If Su Xiao's side was calm and sunny, then the Survey Corps' side was overcast with dark clouds.
"This absolutely won't do. We need to think of something."
Levi's forehead bulged with veins. He had never felt so stifled. If he had been defeated head-on, he wouldn't have complained, but now he couldn't even get close.
"How about we ditch the Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear? That would make us faster."
Petra Rall suggested, but she immediately vetoed her own idea. It was a stupid plan. Even if they caught up to the enemy after discarding the gear, how would they fight the Titans?
"If some of us ditch the gear and rush ahead to hold them off, the follow-up troops might have a chance."
Hange Zoë made a decision in the face of adversity.
"That won't work."
Levi immediately rejected it.
"Why?"
Hange Zoë looked at Levi in surprise.
"If the Commander were still alive, this would be a feasible method. But if the two of us give such an order, there will be problems within the Survey Corps."
Hange Zoë cursed in frustration, knowing Levi was right.
Discarding the "Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear" and charging forward was suicide. If she gave such an order, there would definitely be trouble.
Hange Zoë glared hatefully at Su Xiao ahead. His choice to kill the Commander first was too vicious, causing the Survey Corps to now be able to use less than half of its full combat strength.
The pursuit continued. Although Su Xiao could only fire six bullets at a time, the two-minute reload interval was enough to beat the Survey Corps back step by step.
After this pursuit had lasted for two hours, the Survey Corps was down to just over five hundred.
Continuous shooting had made Su Xiao's marksmanship more and more accurate. On average, six shots would take down four horses.
After the Broken Elf finished reloading, Su Xiao aimed at Hange Zoë.
That feeling of uncertainty—"aiming and hoping to hit"—had disappeared. Although Su Xiao was not yet a sharpshooter, he had mastered the basics of shooting.
His 21 points of Strength made his arms as steady as a rock, his 17 points of Agility made his neural transmission speed exceptionally sharp, and his 17 points of Intelligence plus Heart Eye greatly enhanced his perception.
With the support of these "hardware" attributes and high-intensity shooting practice, his marksmanship could at least guarantee he wouldn't miss the target entirely.
Hitting the bullseye every time was a dream.
He steadied his breathing. The already hot Broken Elf made Su Xiao understand that continuously firing over a thousand shots was impossible. His body could handle it, but the Broken Elf could not.
Bang.
The bullet left the chamber. A pale red bullet whistled past Hange Zoë's ear.
Feeling the hair at her temple being severed and the burning heat from the bullet, Hange Zoë instinctively ducked her head.
Bang.
Another shot.
Whoosh~ This bullet flew past the left side of the warhorse beneath Hange Zoë. The well-trained horse showed no reaction; as long as it wasn't hit, it wouldn't stop running.
Bang.
The third shot.
A crisp ding rang out. This bullet hit the "Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear" Hange Zoë held in front of her. The kinetic energy from the bullet caused her body to lean back, but her legs clamped tightly around the horse's belly.
Bang.
The fourth shot.
Pfft. A spray of blood erupted from Hange Zoë's lower abdomen. A fist-sized bloody hole appeared there.
"Ah!!"
Hange Zoë shouted, her legs gripping the horse's belly desperately, as if determined to die in the saddle.
Bang.
The fifth shot.
The warhorse beneath Hange Zoë let out a neigh, its body tumbling forward. The horse flipped half a turn in the air before crashing to the ground.
Survey Corps Acting Commander Hange Zoë fell from her horse, dropping out of the pursuit team.
This situation triggered a chain reaction. More than half of the Survey Corps members reined in their horses, stopping the chase.
Even their Acting Commander Hange Zoë had been defeated. They no longer wanted to pursue.
This was just an excuse. After being targets for two hours, these people's endurance was on the verge of collapse.
They weren't afraid of fighting Titans; they weren't even afraid of death. But this kind of one-sided battle where they couldn't fight back made them unwilling.
That Titan's pace showed no sign of slowing down. If this continued, they would all die.
The Survey Corps had gone from over eight hundred at the start to only about a hundred now.
It wasn't that the Survey Corps lacked strength. After traveling continuously for a day and a night, the horses' stamina was nearly exhausted. It was impressive that these warhorses had held out this long.
More than half of the remaining hundred or so were beginning to waver. Captain Levi, charging at the front, was their last psychological pillar.
Su Xiao also noticed Levi at the very front. He didn't fire immediately. He waited for the Broken Elf's six bullets to be fully loaded.