Aethercross-Real Game，The Borderland of Reality and Fantasy

Chapter 7: The Escape

In a sudden, dramatic turn, the mutant facing Sky had its head burst into a cloud of blood and toppled backwards, its demise only registering after the distant echo of a sniper rifle reached Sky's ears.

Meanwhile, Max was locked in a fierce struggle with four mutants he had previously thrown off. The other mutants, initially focused on Max, froze momentarily at the sound of the sniper fire.

Soon after, another blast from the sniper rifle echoed, and a mutant's chest exploded in a gory spectacle, sending it crashing to the ground.

The remaining three mutants, quick to react, instantly abandoned their assault, opting instead for a swift retreat from the battleground.

Max, seizing the moment, lunged at the nearest mutant from behind. With a swift motion, he drew his chainsaw sword from his back, its motor roaring to life. The blade whirred into a deadly blur as Max brought it down mercilessly. The mutant's tough, scale-like skin held for a mere moment before giving way to a brutal display of blood and viscera, accompanied by its final, agonized scream.

By this time, Emily had already reached Sky, pulling him to his feet and pursuing the last two mutants. A barrage of gunfire took down one, who stumbled and fell lifelessly to the ground.

Then, another sniper shot rang out, obliterating the final mutant's head in a gruesome shower of blood and brain matter.

Max's voice came over the team channel, commanding with urgency, "Eliminate any remaining foes swiftly. We need to open a route for the encircled squad to break free."

Luca chimed in, "The bandit forces are launching an assault on the city guard at three o'clock. Other enemies are rallying as well."

Without hesitation, Max dispatched two bandit soldiers ahead and then decisively instructed, "Emily, rush to the refugee guard unit. Set up a new comm link and integrate their channel with ours."

Like a gust of wind, Emily dashed across the battlefield, vanishing into the dense foliage ahead.

In a landscape devoid of mutant enemies, Max, alongside Sky, swiftly cleared the remaining hostile forces. Concurrently, a fresh threat emerged for the encircled team: bandits from the 3 o'clock position initiated their onslaught. The city's defense forces, responsible for safeguarding them, started reallocating some units to lead refugees towards Sky's location, while others continued to heroically withstand the enemy's fierce attack.

"Alert for high-energy signatures, anticipate heavy weapons strike!" warned Luca through the squad's communication channel.

The atmosphere was pierced by the ominous whistling of heavy artillery shells, casting a brief, eerie calm over the battlefield, only to be shattered by a massive explosion in the 3 o'clock direction.