Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

As soon as the quest notification appeared, Ifrit swung her hand into thin air. Before her, ‘Koma’ and Ignis appeared together.

“Kiddo, why did you summon us again? Couldn’t you send the message in the spirit world?”

[Adding a snide comment every time! Just wait there, Ignis!]

“Say what you want, but I won’t fit into that bear-like body of yours.”

Ignis grumbled, spitting out saliva through his clenched teeth.

The vein popped on Ifrit’s forehead, making Leeha shudder at the sight.

They really are like oil and water.

I’ve heard about them from the Lord… but it seems to be worse than I thought.

Leeha suddenly remembered Bahamut’s words about the spirits.

Despite many discussions, Bahamut had scarcely mentioned Ifrit’s name.

‘Do the spirit kings of water, wind, and earth tolerate some degree of mischief?’

What about the dignified Poseidon he had seen in person?

The supreme spirits of wind and earth had considerable dignity as well.

But even the Fire Spirit King in front of him, and the high-ranking spirit Ignis, were like this… Even the mighty Bahamut couldn’t play tricks in the fire spirit world.

“Grrrrr”

[Alright, alright, were you worried? Here, our cute bear. Eat this.]

Ifrit held out a “Fire Flower” to Koma. However, Koma simply shook his head and looked at Leeha.

“Grrrr”

[Eat it already!]

“Grrrr”

Koma stubbornly closed his mouth and shook his head.

Seeing the huge bear, four times smaller than Ifrit, acting cute and behaving like a child throwing a tantrum over food, everyone looked puzzled. Then, a troubling thought crossed Leeha’s mind.

“Ah! Don’t tell me you not eating is because it doesn’t taste good?”

“Grrr! Grrr!”

Clap! Clap!

Koma clapped with his thick paws. Compared to the delicious food that Leeha made him, the Fire Flower was just a common plant. It was only natural that Koma didn’t find it appetizing.

‘What kind of NPC animal…’

Leeha recalled what Ifrit had said about the trouble she had with Koma in the spirit realm.

Could over-spoiling his palate lead to this kind of issue?

“Koma, just eat it for now. Once you eat it and get re-summoned, I’ll make you something delicious again.”

“Grr?”

As Koma tilted his head again, Leeha started to lose his patience.

He climbed onto Koma’s body, taking the Fire Flower from Ifrit’s hand.

“Don’t pretend that you don’t understand! Quick, eat! Eat!”

[Don’t force feed him-]

“Grrr- Grrrrr”

“Eat it, you bear!”

“But what if the bear closes its mouth and your arm gets chopped off!”

“Don’t worry! Wouldn’t Koma and I be soul mates? He wouldn’t eat my arm!”

Leeha tickled Koma’s cheeks and forcefully opened its mouth, reaching into it with the hand holding the Fire Flower.

This abrupt action turned Blaugrunn’s complexion a slightly pale blue.

As Leeha couldn’t move, Koma made a slight crunching sound as it chewed for a while.

“Grrr- Gulp!”

“He ate it!”

[He ate it!]

Leeha and Ifrit simultaneously cheered.

As Ifrit waved her arm, Leeha was immediately thrown off of Koma.

[Well done, human!]

“Phew, it’s finally done, isn’t it?”

[No! It’s just getting started.]

“What?”

Whirrrrrrrrrr———–

Fire suddenly engulfed Koma’s body. The creature flinched from the new flame, different from anything before. Ignis, who had been trailing behind the youngster, could no longer be seen.

“Whoaaaaa-“

“Bear seems to be in pain, y’know……?”

“Ifrit-nim!”

[Shut up and wait, human! I’ll reward you as much as you suffered!]

Ifrit promptly controlled the flames.

The wildly darting flames became gradually purer.

The color also slowly stabilized from blazing red to orange, and then to yellow.

“That’s intense heat.”

“So this is what quiet burning feels like.”

Both nervous Blaugrunn and Leeha felt a sense of calm. Finally, when Ifrit extended his hand again, the yellow flame seemed to gently wrap around the small creature’s entire body.

[Ignis. Become one with the contractor in your true form.]

That was the last word.

Grggrgrgr, as the lad began to transform, another notification window appeared in front of Leeha.

[The grade of the skill-Soul Link has increased.]

[Your intimacy with the fire spirit has increased by 20%.]

“That’s what uniting as one means! Are you ready, Koma?”

“Grrrr.”

“Blaugrunn-ssi! Buff him up! Let’s pump up our Koma!”

“Understood. [Haste], [Strength], [Hardness].”

Speed, strength, and hardness.

Three buff spells were cast in an instant. During this short interval, Leeha had also reloaded his two pistols.

Once the preparations were complete, there was no hesitation left in him.

“Koma! Your targets are those three chunky elephants! Feeling confident?”

“Grrrrrr…”

Koma assumed a low stance.

Was this what it would look like if there were werewolves? However, Koma, whose original form was a bear, boasted a more robust form than a werewolf.

Leeha shouted excitedly, not in fear but in pure thrill, towards Koma and Blaugrunn.

“Kill them all——

“Grrraaaaaaaa!”

“In a battlefield, excitement is a drug that invites death! Go slow, Leeha!”

Koma jumped out faster than the Bobae’s arrow. Following her, Leeha fired his pistols at the foes, and Blaugrunn backed them up with magic from behind.

The attack of the three Giga-Phants was so powerful that it could easily lead hundreds of users to their deaths. However, their inability to coordinate their attacks was a clear weakness.

Leeha exploited this weakness, and when Blaugrunn cast his [Dig] spell to create a pit, their movements faltered.

Simultaneously, Leeha’s lead shots drilled into the eyes of their staggering enemies.

A small coordinated move against the Giga-Phants, but a noteworthy one to halt their charge.

It made such a strong impression that it was indelibly etched in the minds of all the users who came to fend off the second wave of Zugma City!

Yet, the [Leeha Squad] was not done.

Their power exceeded Blaugrunn’s magic and Leeha’s perfect close-range sniping skills. What truly amazed the users was the arrival of the [Soul], who was bigger than Igor, stronger than Igor, and more brutal than Igor.

“Graaaaahaha!”

Boom!

Koma, who held Ignis within his body and spouted flames, looked as though he himself had formed a protective shield.

The sudden heat caught the Giga-Phants off guard, and although they wildly swung their trunks, they were no match for Koma, enhanced with buffs.

Nimbly dodging their flailing trunks, Koma performed a jump on their faces, concentrated the heat wrapped around his body to the tips of his hands, and scorched the elephants’ eyes completely.

Boom! Whoosh!?

“Grrr, grrrrr…”

Despite being tossed around by the thrashing giants, Koma skillfully landed on another Giga-Phant nearby, stabbing his hand into its hide.

Then he started to run swiftly from the back towards the buttocks.

“What the…?”

“Is he tearing the hide with his hands?”

The average users gathered here couldn’t even pierce through the Giga-Phant’s skin despite using their strongest cutting skills. But, for Koma who reached master level and had the power of Ignis, this was simply child’s play.

After mangling the face of one, sprinting as though pulling out the vertebral bone of another, Koma charged straight towards the next Giga-Phant.

Sensing something hot approaching despite being blindfolded from Leeha’s sniping, the Giga-Phant wildly waved its six sharp tusks.

“Grraaaaaaa!”

“Boom! Boom!”

The kid did not dodge.

Rather, he ‘resisted’ the hit from the elephant, which was more than 30 times his size, flaunting his presence even more.

“That’s impossible!”

“He’s not a dragon, how can he block that with his hands!”

“Nice, Koma, nice!”

Contrary to the astonishment of the other users, a single cheer reached Komas ears. The encouragements that weren’t Darhani’s made Koma muster his strength.

“Grrrrrrr…!”

Boom!

For a moment, a sound echoed, letting the users fighting in the defense of Zugma City hear a strange noise.

It was a deafening noise, similar to that of a rotten tooth being pulled out at a dentist.

The Giga-Phant’s scream was drowned out by the blood gushing out of the place where a tusk had been pulled out.

Boom————–

Despite furiously rampaging from getting a tusk pulled out without anesthesia, the Giga-Phant was no match for Koma.

Koma, who carried the flame of Ignis all over his body, moving it to the part he wanted to attack and strengthen, quickly accumulated that flame at his fingertips and pierced a hole in the Giga-Phant’s leg. Then, he moved that flame to his foot and ran up the Giga-Phant’s body, creating a large wound. The Giga-Phant tried to fend off the attack from behind by writhing its entire body, but couldn’t shake off Koma’s sharp claws.

“How marvelous… Even with the combined power of Peiwu-ssi and Tale-ssi, such movement – or could it be Nara-ssi, or even more?”

The agility, destructiveness, and even the sharpness, a triple threat demonstrated by the new kid, surprised even Leeha.

“Graaaaaaaa ——!”

When the flame once again burst from Koma’s fingertips, the last Giga-Phant was soon reduced to ashes.

Groan…

The fallen Giga-Phant stirred up a huge cloud of dust.

Beyond the cloudy visibility, the imposing silhouette of Koma standing next to the three gigantic corpses caught the eyes of the users.

Often, when people are too astounded, they can’t even utter words of surprise.

Curiosity towards this unknown specimen had already disappeared.

The only thing left on the users’ faces was a complex expression mixed with awe and fear.

[Level Up.]

A radiant glow emanated from Leeha’s body. Only he held back the laughter while watching Koma’s exploits, leaving Blaugrunn with a puzzled expression.

“Isn’t he too strong after all?”

“Well, his level is 330. It’s natural! He may even be higher than Alexander!”

Of course, the level and even the rank of the contract spirit has increased.

Since breaking through the level 300 barrier was unprecedented for a summon(?), demonstrating such a level of power was the expected outcome.

Of course, this still wasn’t the answer that Blaugrunn wanted to hear.

“While the body of the bear was somewhat of a solid foundation…it’s not entirely his power that made him that strong.”

“Huh? What? Oh, right!? Yes! That’s right! Without Blaugrunn-ssid’s buff, he couldn’t have become like that.”

Leeha immediately recognized what was going on in Blaugrunn’s mind and promptly patted him on the back.

Even though it was almost like receiving a deep bow, being praised was enough to soften the young man’s heart.

“If I transform, I might draw more attention than that bear… but since it’s your request, Leeha, I’ll stay as I am.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s correct. If he stands out too much, it would rather be a problem for me. Please hold back for a while.”

“Tsk. Alright. Since it’s your request, Leeha, I have no choice.”

Only after being treated(?) did Blaugrunn’s face return to its usual state.

While Leeha and Blaugrunn were chatting, Koma brushed off the dust and trotted towards them.

His return to them was nothing less than a victorious march.

Faces filled with awe and fear turned into thrill and cheer.