The dust kicked up by the kobold sappers' bombs seemed to carry the smell of gunpowder, not to mention the reek of blood. But for the exhausted soldiers, it was one of the easiest smells on the battlefield to ignore.
At least, it was for Lieutenant Mia.
A veteran of the Shadowvale campaign, the young ranger lieutenant had become a rising star in the People's Army. Her marksmanship, honed under the tutelage of Brother Qu, the "Sniping Master," ranked among the top five in the army. This outstanding huntress had also personally foiled the old gnoll Manson's plot to send Murphy away through an astral rift.
In skill and experience alike, she was the kind of "promising talent" General Maxim would remember. Her rocket-fast rise from sergeant to lieutenant in just two months was proof enough.
But in a vast war machine like the Maginot Line, it didn't matter whether you were a rising star or a brand-new recruit. You had to obey orders, take your position, and hold it until the next command came.
That, of course, was exactly what the ranger lieutenant was doing.
At the center of the forward position personally defended by Lord Murphy, she and her ranger platoon held a rolling rise, shifting between several sniper nests to maximize their kills.
Now that Bloodhawk Claws had been issued to the People's Army, firepower was no longer a problem for the people of Transia. The automatic rifles had plenty of flaws, but against the vast numbers of armed kobolds, they could mow them down without a sound.
The biggest problem with the weapon was that it struggled to kill gnolls with their formidable vitality in a single shot.
That was especially true of berserk gnolls. Even a shot to the head or heart was unlikely to