Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

[Again… a… worthy… human.]

“Hmm?!”

Kidd’s head snapped up at the sudden voice.

Closing the distance with Manticore-Luger meant getting that much closer to the group of monsters. Kidd’s eyes now saw the form of a chimera again. He also knew well which monster stood bandaged at the forefront of those chimeras.

“Ghibrid?”

As Kidd mentioned ‘Ghibrid,’ 13 rounds of bullets were fired.

[But… Holy… The Manticore is… shrinking-]

Beyond the successive gunshots, Ghibrid’s voice was heard once more. All bullets hit their mark, yet Ghibrid suffered no damages except for holes in the bandages.

“Indeed, attack nullified. As rumored. But this skill-“

[Miss… first, miss… come back. You… later…]

Kidd attempted to use a skill, unless Ghibrid’s last words were not meant for him.

“Me? Later?”

At that moment, Ghibrid shrunk within the chimeras he led.

“Oh no! Are you running away from us!”

As Ghibrid disappeared from sight behind the dripping mass, Kidd could no longer continue the attack.

[Arghh! Are these brats running away! Kidd! There, Manticore! Take them all down!]

Kijung’s voice reached Kidd’s ears.

Kidd quickly looked up. Manticore-Luger locked eyes with him for a moment before flapping its wings towards Ghibrid and the chimeras.

“Wait! Luger-… No, listening is probably out of the question. This… foolish act.”

That’s not the real Luger; it’s a monster. It was obvious that they couldn’t communicate, but Kidd realized how flustered he was and composed himself.

The Manticore group, now fighting with Kijung, took a defensive stance around Manticore-Luger and headed towards the chimeras.

[Haa, haa, why didn’t you fire? Or wait, why did they suddenly turn back? It was like this last time too.]

“I don’t know.”

[You don’t know? Didn’t you see that Ghibrid was right in front of you, which caused your attack to fail?]

Kijung caught his breath and spoke to Kidd. The tone of the words seemed subtly eerie as if trying to dig out information from him, but Kidd seemed unfazed by it all. However, Kidd didn’t dislike Kijung. Wasn’t he the one who helped him solely focus on the ‘duel’? Fiddling with his tattered hat, Kidd spoke to Kijung.

“Perhaps you have something to do with it. Ghibrid’s nemesis might have been closer than you think.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Just tell Leeha everything. And add that I fought someone called ‘Luger.’”

“Huh? Oh, right! Earlier, what did ‘Luger’ mean?”

Kijung tried to press Kidd for more information, but Kidd didn’t share any further details. A sense of incompleteness and unease loomed over his mind, as if cut off in the middle of a conversation.

“Gahh-!”

Kidd accelerated towards the contaminated forest of the World Tree.

“Hey, wait! Answer me before you go! Wait! Kidd! What’s happening?”

Kijung tried to call out to him, but Kidd had already reached top speed. With the [Dinosaur Transformation], Kijung hesitated to pursue him but decided to let him go.

“Well… since he’s gone, all the looted items belong to me!”

There was a more important task at hand than mere profits – reporting Ghibrid’s tracks back to Ezwen.

“These people are insane. What… they created a land that looks like the surface of the moon?”

Looking at the even more desolate surroundings than before, Kijung shook his head. Could he have dodged such a bombardment? In such unfamiliar terrain, facing monsters capable of endlessly altering the landscape or turning the ground into a sea of flames, could he engage in a 1:1 battle? Sure, it could be covered with the help of [Dinosaur Transformation], but Kidd didn’t possess such a thing.

He was only fighting against them with his bare hands and four revolvers, or so the story goes. Most notably, the last words spoken by such a player were, “Is Hyung being restrained by such people?”

Kijung couldn’t understand that it wasn’t merely a form of restraint or a simple rivalry consciousness. What did asking Leeha to convey the truth mean? How much does Kidd acknowledge and consider Kijung? His mind had not grasped that far yet.

After thoroughly looting the corpse of the Manticores for evidence to be submitted, Kijung returned to Ezwen and sent a whisper to Leeha.

“Hyung! Kidd has something to tell you. Are you available now?”

However, there was no response. At that moment, within the Eternal Snow Mountain, two different factions recognized each other.

Whooooooo——-

Even as the cold wind howled, Chiyou took in a refreshing breath as if the air was invigorating.

“Indeed… the price of this body is quite something.”

Having caught her breath to a certain extent, the eternal ice began to brighten only now, signifying a significant rise. Yet, the journey towards the Bransylvania Castle was about to begin right at this point.

“Haha! Of course, of course! Making the obvious sound obvious, Chiyou! How much do you think have I invested in cold resistance ever since I was hit by the Ice Witch!”

Crowley spread his coat left and right, revealing vials of various colored potions lined inside.

Producing potions with various effects to the extent that even the creator Crowley himself was sometimes puzzled! Among alchemists, he had a distinctive outsider-like appearance and was the most famous.

“Well, how about it!? Impressive, right? Amazing, huh? Look at this!”

“Uh, yeah. Impressive. Amazing.”

Chiyou clapped her hands as she looked at Crowley, who approached her with his coat open.

Though she thought of him as a pervert and a weirdo, she couldn’t find any traces of it in her expression. Instead of that, after calming down Crowley, she just quietly looked at another supporter.

“Are you really okay without that over there? Even for the sake of our contract, it might be better to just take a sip.”

“Enough. Dealing with such unbelievable things is crazy. This slight cold! With spirit! With passion! With perseverance!”

Fwhoaaaaaah—!

Steam emerged from the body of another supporter.

Drawing out heat as if he would get burned just by touching it, he stared at Chiyou with fiery eyes.

“By the way, you just need to bring me there, right?”

He then pointed to the faint outline of the castle visible far away.

It was only visible because there were no obstacles in the line of sight, but the distance was quite far, not to mention the elevation, making the actual perceived distance even farther.

Chiyou nodded her head.

“Of course. If you safely bring me to that castle and fetch ‘it’…… about the person that Lord Pyro is thinking of.”

“Enough! I got it, I got it.”

Phew, Pyro suddenly softened his irritable temperament.

“The stronger the sense of competition, the easier it is to ignite the fire.”

Watching him like that, Chiyou grinned.

The reason she could pull in Pyro, who was a descendant of a hero and had participated in the expedition to the New Continent, was simple. It was because Chiyou noticed during the expedition and even afterward that Pyro had peculiar feelings about ‘a certain person.’

While various incidents unfolded in the New Continent, ‘that person’ gained fame with dazzling feats, but Pyro, who was supposed to shine with perseverance and passion, had not yet been able to play a role close to the lead. A person who wants to stand out more than anyone else.

Yet, someone who hasn’t had the chance to do so. What kind of emotions might such a person have? Chiyou accurately captured that.

“Huf, one must know that as they shine brighter, the surrounding darkness also grows… Well, it’s more convenient for me if that guy remains clueless.”

“Chiyou-nim! Someone is coming up from below the mountain! About four of them!”

Yamato’s urgent shout shattered Chiyou’s pleasant daydream.

Both Crowley and Pyro turned their gaze towards Chiyou, of course.

“What? Who? Here?”

“Yes, that’s right. Let me check for a moment. [Owl’s-]”

Shshoo—

In an instant, with a roaring sound, one of Yamato’s members vanished headfirst. Alongside a fierce, chilling sound effect, sprays of blood turned into a fountain of crimson in the moonlit night.

“Aaaah! W-what is this? What’s happening?”

“Kwaaaah?! An, an attack? A-a-attack? This has nothing to do with cold resistance!”

“Get ready for battle! Protect Chiyou-nim!”

Chiyou’s group was suddenly engulfed in panic.

Prea screamed continuously, Crowley flattened himself on the ground covering his head, and Yamato’s remaining five members hesitated and retreated while trying to protect Chiyou. Suddenly realizing the nature of the attack, they saw two people. It was probably…

Pyro pursed his lips and lowered his stance. At the same time, Chiyou, leading them, had a complete change in expression.

“Hey! Damn it! How could they be here-“

Swhish-!

She turned around swiftly, her eyes narrowed. How could Leeha be here? Where exactly is this place!

The foremost thought that came to her mind as soon as the attack occurred was the possibility of betrayal – someone among the people she brought along being a spy. She even went as far as considering that. Not here…? Is it because he’s not here?

Who? Who among those who know about this place

‘Sasuke? Sasuke- No, that couldn’t be true. Then is it just a coincidence? That damned dragon! Did it reveal this location to him!? Of all times!’

Even though she herself was in the picture, it was difficult to identify the culprit based solely on her expression.

Leeha: You’re not calling, are you?

Prea: Of course! How else would they evaluate my acting skills?

Leeha:…

Prea: …If you didn’t give me a heads up, I would have been totally caught off guard, that’s why I did that. Anyway, don’t make any slip-ups on the way up! You’re asking me to trust only you. Oh my! Chiyou looks extremely annoyed. I can see steam coming out of her forehead.

Leeha: Huh, I wanted to see her, but it looks like it’s not going to happen. Can’t we film a video? Hah! Well, in any case, I’ll rely on you on the way up as well!

Prea: Yes, don’t worry!

Chiyou was as sharp-witted as if she had a psychic ability, but as long as you were prepared, you could easily avoid it.

Before shooting the first bullet, Leeha sent a secret message to Prea, and she, too, was not an ordinary woman with acting skills. She skillfully deceived Chiyou with appropriate screams and acting, smoothly getting past her. Chiyou shook off her head full of confusion.

Why was Leeha here right now? That had become a secondary issue by now.

“Get ready, everyone! I’m sure those guys don’t know the ins and outs of this place yet. We should go up first!”

Understood!

Whether Leeha was there or not, as long as they went up first, it would be fine. With Yamaoto’s resolute answer, Chiyou’s group set off towards the Bransylvania Castle.

The thought that Leeha had accidentally arrived here, that was the giant trap that now ensnared her ankle.

“Let’s go up!”

“Okay! Let’s go! Ram Hwajung-ssi, Lord Arzenmacht, this is a place where cold resistance is needed, so get ready-“

“Get ready?”

Ram Hwajung was already prepared, and Arzenmacht looked at Leeha with a face that said, ‘What do you mean, get ready?’

Is he supposed to prepare for cold when dealing with a silver dragon that manipulates ice?

Leeha smiled mischievously while looking at Arzenmacht’s stern face.

“Oh! I just need to prepare myself.”

Then, she rummaged through her bag and quickly took out a small flask.

[Legendary White Reaper’s White Plague Potion]

Effect: Ice resistance +80% When ingested, induces the [White Plague] status

*Note: Abnormal Status maintained when ingested “

I can only communicate with messenger magic now, so I can’t speak. As I mentioned before, our goal is one! To arrive at Bransylvania Castle before Chiyou’s group. Of course, the best case scenario is to kill all those humans and reach there.

Leeha shrugged her shoulders, and Blaugrunn and Ram Hwajung nodded. The only regret was that they couldn’t assassinate Chiyou from the beginning. However, since Chiyou always stayed in the center of the group, even for skilled marksmen like Leeha, shooting her from this distance was a difficult task.

“Most importantly… if she used [Dance of Sociability] it will fail.”

If you can’t even create one victim from the initial shot, isn’t that a disadvantage? As long as there is a skill to predict attacks, targeting Chiyou as the initial target is a terribly risky move.