Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Again, only a frictional noise resounded. Igor pulled his sword back.

Rippp!

Cheka’s cloak was torn, revealing his forearm.

It was, of course, not bare skin.

“A tonfa…? Were you hiding that all along?”

“It’s my preferred weapon.”

What encased his forearm and was gripped in his hand was a tonfa.

A short staff with a perpendicular handle, integrating both offense and defense.

The fact that it could block Igor’s sword was enough to prove its value.

“Certainly… it’s good for stalling time. But if you want to arrest someone, you need to catch them first.”

Igor didn’t know Cheka’s name, but he had already calculated how Cheka fought and what outcomes his fighting style would bring.

“What?”

“I mean I’m not interested in just killing you alone! Ka-ka-ka! Catch me if you can!”

Whoosh—!

He leaped away immediately.

Five users gathered nearby, thinking Cheka was stopping Igor and trying to record it, were cut in half in an instant.

Cheka’s expression twisted.

“You damn criminal— Stop!”

Cheka also jumped down from the second-floor rooftop to the ground.

The most gruesome game of ‘catch me if you can’ in the world started in Fiorenza City.

“Get out of the way!”

“He’s coming this way, move, move!”

“Ahhh, don’t push!”

The mere momentum of Igor charging through the streets turned them into chaos. The vague hope that they might escape if they ran far enough was shattered before they could take three steps.

“Ka-ha-ha-ha!”

Igor’s robe was completely drenched in blood.

He licked the blood droplets off his face, gaining buffs that increased his health recovery rate and movement speed.

“It was good as a Berserker, but this is the pinnacle!”

Swoosh…

“Oh! Quite fast, but such a weapon won’t stop me!”

Igor swung his sword towards the approaching sound from behind. Again, the loud sound of friction resounded.

“Cheka… Igor!”

Even without seeing, the 3rd ranker had become a greater monster who could sense distance through hearing and smell alone.

“What, asking me for a quick and painless death?”

“You should know that you have the right to remain silent and that you don’t have to say anything?”

“What? What kind of nonsense is this!?”

Igor swung his sword once more.

Cheka dodged without blocking with his tonfa.

Even with a close shave that left his clothes slightly torn, Cheka didn’t stop speaking.

“Anything you say may be used against you in court?”

“Ha! Do you think you’re a cop? Miranda rights?”

Igor laughed and glanced at Cheka.

Mana particles were swirling into Cheka’s body.

It felt unsettling, but at the same time, it fired up Igor’s competitive spirit.

“Without any coercion or promise of reward, are you willing to answer my questions of your own free will?”

“If I do? What can you even do?”

As Igor simultaneously slashed three nearby users, flinging their blood at another fleeing user, Cheka smiled.

It was a slight upward twitch at the corner of his mouth, but on his usually emotionless face, it was an expression of emotion.

“Fine. —”

“A skill? !”

Whoooooosh—!

Igor swung his sword.

The distance should have been impossible to bridge.

But blood droplets carried by the sword wind formed into a small tornado, shooting towards Cheka. It seemed like there was no weakness for the who had acquired a fierce long-range attack skill as well.

“.”

The flying blood hurricane evaporated instantly. At the same time, Igor felt his body become heavy as if weighed down by thousands of pounds.

『Abnormal Status: Restrained』

『Movement speed decreased by 40%.』

『Attack speed decreased by 40%.』

『Debuff: In flagrante delicto state.』

『When resisting a user or entity possessing investigative authority, overall attack and defense decrease by 30%.』

『Effect persists until the user or entity possessing investigative authority dies.』

『Target User: Cheka』

“Restrained? In flagrante delicto? What kind of wordplay is this? This kind of job—”

“It exists. In Middle Earth.”

Schwing.

Cheka closed the distance with Igor in an instant.

There was hardly any difference in speed compared to before.

However, compared to just a moment ago, when he felt sluggish, Igor’s overall responses had significantly slowed down.

“What the—”

Wham!

Cheka gripped the tonfa in both hands like police batons and began to swing them.

Each hit targeted critical points, making the attacks anything but trivial.

Most notably, when Cheka attacked Igor, his defense decreased by 30%, making each impact feel significantly heavier, even when blocked with his saw-blade sword.

“It certainly is optimal for stalling time! But you can’t kill me with just that!”

“That’s true.”

“What?”

“But that is also true.”

Igor used a skill targeting Cheka.

If his attack power was reduced by 30% against Cheka, he would simply enhance his sword.

The saw-blade sword coated in blood now looked even more menacing.

Swoosh—!

The swing of his sword was almost invisible to the surrounding users.

“Yeah, keep spouting your nonsense and die!”

The space ahead of Igor turned crimson, like red paint splashed everywhere.

“Didn’t you say it yourself?”

Cheka was not at the end of that attack. Unlike before, he had significantly increased the distance between himself and Igor.

“It’s the best for stalling.”

Igor quickly understood his true intention.

A user who had been chasing him without letting go suddenly increasing distance?

“… I see. Stalling. You were aiming for this?”

Two figures emerged from the shadows, approaching Cheka.

“Wow, rank 3 doing such dirty work, this is too much no matter what.”

“Igor! We will end your crimes in Pibiel and Minis now!”

“Kekeke… The and that Pibiel female knight. You think just the three of you can stop me?”

Cheka’s ploy from start to finish was simple—to buy time for reinforcements capable of stopping Igor.

“Well, strictly speaking, it’s not just the three of us. We brought some knights from our orders. Can you handle all of us?”

Lark, sinnara, and twenty knights from the Berthuer and Sacred orders arrived in Fiorenza City.

-We’ve arrived! It’s really just Igor alone… but is Haishah going to be okay? Maybe we should’ve gone over there?

-Don’t worry about me! Is this the correct way to the White Draagon’s lair?

-I’m holding Minis’ position secure. Don’t worry and don’t die.

As Igor growled, Leeha was approaching the White Draagon’s lair.

-Stop jinxing it. Just make sure you don’t put Nara in danger.

-I know better than you about that! See you later; if possible, alive.

‘Geez, so ominous to the end. That unnecessary comment—’

“Leeha-nim! Over there!”

As Leeha chuckled, a massive burst of fire shot skyward.

It wasn’t far.

“A breath attack!? Blaugrunn-ssi, quickly! Transform into your dragon form!”

“Understood!”

Woosh—–!

Blaugrunn immediately transformed into a dragon, grasping Leeha in his hand and taking to the skies.

Whose dragon could have launched that breath attack?

Leeha’s mind was a whirl of thoughts.

『For a Lizardia weak to mana to attempt such a thing, who are you?』

“Adults are known to be the most talkative. .”

『Do you think such a curse can bind my wings!』

“Alone, no… But now?”

Faust shrugged his shoulders.

A darker-than-night shadow poured from the pure-white Lizardia towards the White Draagon. The White Draagon swiftly attempted to ascend and evade, but five falling masses prevented its escape.

“Be gone, specters! Though I pity you, unrested dead, I cannot recognize you as kin! Hmmm—!”

The White Draagon unleashed its breath. A frigid breath akin to that of a Silver Dragon shot out instantly.

It was blocked by the smallest Bone Dragon at the forefront, taking the full brunt of the icy breath. While one Bone Dragon bore the brunt, the intent was clear to quickly reroute the other dragons around to overpower the White Draagon.

“Bonehead, even being a Dragon doesn’t mean you understand affinities… Ice on a creature of bone? Melt it down, go—Aaargh!”

If it hadn’t been for the unexpected impact from behind. Faust staggered as the flight of the dragons immediately slowed. Only one dragon kept moving as before, but it wasn’t enough for an effective combo action. The White Draagon shook off the one dragon’s pursuit and flew away.

“Bone Shield vanished? Suddenly what is—”

Then a gunshot sound followed. He hastily picked up a bony wand and cast a spell.

“B-Bone Shield!”

Bones scattered around gathered once more to protect Faust. It was a defensive magic designed to protect against any potential dragon attacks, but now it unexpectedly blocked the sniper’s shot!

“Faust—!”

“Haishah… you’ve already found out all of this? Eh?”

Haishah’s voice made him feel as if his blood ran cold. But he also felt his blood boiling with rage.

“Blaugrunn, Blaugrunn-ssi, you should throw me over there where Faust is!”

Blaugrunn, in his true dragon form, holding a caster Bronz Dragon, wasn’t likely to mistake Haishah’s intentions.

“Isn’t it kind of convenient, considering if there are Lich Dragons. The distance… probably a master succeeded in turning a weak dragon into a lich. The rest of the dragons were only able to be made into bone… but even that will make them difficult to deal with.”

If just the size was compared, the five adult-class dragons were larger than Blaugrunn, and among them was a Lich Dragon capable of skillfully wielding magic and its breath.

“So, Blaugrunn-ssi, please just buy some time by cooperating with that White one. In the meantime…”

Leeha swiftly changed the magazine of his weapon.

There was only one ultimate, best, and quickest way to resolve this battle.

“I’ll kill Faust as quickly as possible.”

To assassinate the caster controlling all undead dragons.

Blaugrunn fully understood Leeha’s plan.

“Got it. Whites are known as the least intelligent colors, but… not so much that they can’t understand the current circumstances. Besides, that Lich Dragon is something I need to handle myself.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Yes, Gustav here. Take care then!”

Blaugrunn’s face crumpled a bit.

Maybe worried that Leeha would recognize his expression, blaugrun fulfilled his request as intended. Literally, he threw Leeha with all his might.

“Aaaargh, throw me gently! Jellypong! Prepare to land, and !”

With a giant red flash, Leeha landed on the ground.

“I can do it. As long as Faust doesn’t run away—”

With the mobility afforded by Koma and Jellypong, Leeha couldn’t lose. Although the title ‘Shadow Hitman’ was active, Leeha’s firepower was like Black Mamba—a single bullet could blow away a Bone Shield.

Even though his attack power would diminish a bit now, if he combined multishot bullets, he was confident in destroying any of Faust’s defensive skills in one go.

Leeha increased his speed rapidly. He was only about 16 meters away from Faust.