Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Great! Kidd! Shine the light on those bats with that flame—”

─, ─, ─, ─, ─, ─, ─……

“Your instructions are too slow. I’ll handle it myself.”

As a result, there was no issue with the Three Musketeers’ coordinated play.

In the fleeting moment when the explosion’s flames illuminated the bats, Kidd struck down exactly six more of them.

The unfortunate part was that only two of them actually died!

“Bailephus, can you estimate the number of enemies? From what I can roughly see—”

“It’s an enormous number. Has Chiyou managed to exert the full power of Bathory?”

“Damn it, yes. No matter how low we estimate it to be…”

The frantically fluttering bats were difficult to clearly ascertain.

However, combining Bailephus’s sense of the mana flow with Fernand’s and Leeha’s observations, the conclusion converged on one number.

‘About a thousand…’

Could they handle a thousand bats? Even using multiple warheads would only create a temporary firewall.

Leeha turned his head.

“Sir Ulrek!”

There was only one way to overcome this situation.

Utilizing the heir of Toon’s race, the third prince of Saur Land, and the owner of the Red Zeppelin. However, contrary to Leeha’s expectations, Ulrek’s expression darkened as well.

“Their approaching speed surpasses the Red Zeppelin’s flying speed.”

“What?”

“Unlike the other house-houses, this one cannot be recreated, and I must protect it.”

“Then, that means—”

“If we wish to reach ‘Laputa’ safely, we have no choice but to eliminate them.”

Mana particles gathered around Ulrek’s body.

The users’ eyes focused on Ulrek, expecting an attack spell. But the bright red mana emanating from Ulrek’s body only served to make the Red Zeppelin’s red color even more vivid.

As he said, Ulrek could only defend.

“Ji-em! What about the Ji-em on your side!? We can’t handle them all on our own! There are too many—”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do things like Sir Ulrek! I’m a researcher! I can increase the size, but if we revert to the original state from this one—let alone transforming both Ulrek and me, it’s impossible due to weight issues!”

Transforming into dinosaurs approximately 40 meters tall? The Red Zeppelin would lose balance and crash instantaneously.

Therefore, transforming both Ulrek and the Ji-em into dinosaurs was also impossible due to the weight problem.

From the beginning, there was only one answer.

“Alexander, Bailephus.”

“… I’ll try to intercept them as much as possible, but remember that there are an overwhelming number of enemies.”

“I understand.”

Sending out the only aerial combat force they had left was the only solution.

However, the expressions of Leeha and the others didn’t brighten up. Just as Alexander had emphasized again, the sheer number of enemies was daunting.

Moreover, what about the distribution of enemies lurking in the darkness?

────────────────!

『Let’s go, my partner!』

“It’s time to deliver justice.”

Bailephus and Alexander, beaming with light, flew towards the darkness.

‘Still…’

The vampires would eventually reach this place.

Leeha prioritized tasks. If they couldn’t fully intercept the enemies at the moment?

“Kyle! We must protect Kyle first! Senior Elizabeth, senior Brown!”

“Don’t worry! I won’t let that damn Dark Elf take our son again!”

“Headmaster Browless, I’m counting on you!”

“With the three of us here, do you think we’ll go down easily? Be careful yourself, Leeha.”

On the left side of the Red Zeppelin were Kyle, Elizabeth, Brown, Browless, and the Ji-em.

On the right side were Leeha, Kidd, Luger, Fernand, and Ulrek.

Since Ulrek and the Ji-em couldn’t participate in combat and Fernand wasn’t suited for long-range battle, four people on the left and three on the right had to fend off everything.

“Luger, Kidd.”

“We’re busy as hell, why call—”

“Use everything you’ve got. If you hold back, we’ll all die. 〈Multi-Warhead Shot〉.”

Leeha stimulated both Luger and Kidd, creating a small-scale fire net. Five vampires that were flying fell to the ground.

“Hmph, if I hadn’t held back, you guys would’ve been devastated! Even in this situation, what I can still do is—”

Boom!

“—the power of a war mercenary!”

Various kinds of explosive rounds came out of Luger’s bag. From timed fuses and delayed fuses to high-explosive ammunition, all types of rounds that could cause explosions created a light brighter than the stars in the night sky.

Kidd alternated between firing his Crimson Geckos and crossing his arms momentarily. Annoyed by this unexpected leisure, Leeha snapped.

“What are you doing, Kidd?! If you stop, our firepower drops significantly!”

Already short on people compared to the four on the left! However, Kidd had a bigger plan in mind than Leeha’s annoyance.

“This place… is uncomfortable for me to move.”

“What are you going to do if it’s uncomfortable? Because of the tentacles, you can’t move—huh? What the, what are you doing!?”

Kidd fiddled with the tentacle wrapped around his waist. To anyone watching, it looked like he was disengaging a safety.

“Fortunately, the main body of this thing isn’t filled with hydrogen, right?”

“You’re going to run around on the main body… from the top?”

He intended to untangle the tentacle, grab it, and climb onto the main body of the Red Zeppelin to shoot.

Leeha was utterly taken aback.

Luger complained, shouting, “Just shoot already!” but it wasn’t even heard.

“You know that 『Rapidfire』 isn’t done with your hands.”

“With your feet… damn it, fine. Then handle the top. After all, someone has to cover that area.”

Kidd grabbed the tentacle and climbed up.

It hadn’t been a few seconds since he disappeared from sight when a rapid popping noise echoed from the top deck of the Red Zeppelin.

‘Damn… that’s an incredible person.’

If he fell from there, it would mean instant death.

Teleportation was impossible, and users without flight skills would die without exception.

Despite that, he moved so boldly.

Leeha was newly impressed by his rival.

“Alright! Now Kidd will block the attacks from above!”

He shouted to encourage the users and NPCs, but the situation didn’t improve. In fact, the distance between them and the vampires had now reduced to 500 meters.

Alexander and Bailephus were still intercepting them with light, but a vampire wasn’t an ordinary monster.

The group of vampires being intercepted slowed their flight speed or made sudden turns to trap Alexander and Bailephus.

Even if they died, they aimed to delay the next attack as much as possible for the entire group!

‘I thought they weren’t ordinary monsters, but still—no, and more importantly…’

Could they move like that with just the vampires?

Such coordinated actions, as if being directed from a command and control center, weren’t natural.

‘Chiyou.’

The queen of the vampires was somewhere on this battlefield.

Within the bat swarm that still appeared to number a thousand, with no apparent change in their numbers, Leeha had to find her.

But Leeha had no time to spare.

“Leeha! Leeha!”

“Huh, what?! What’s wrong?”

Luger’s face was half-lit by the explosion. He was pointing at a spot even amidst the chaos.

Below the flames, the swarm of bats was flying.

“Below! There’s a group moving below as well! These bastards plan to attack us and then go for the underbelly of the Red Zeppelin!”

“Damn it!”

Even though they were already dealing with enemies from the front and both flanks, not to mention from above which even required Kidd’s intervention, now they had to worry about below as well?

‘No, actually, below might be the most troublesome!’

If the split bat swarm attacked the users hanging from the tentacles and squeezed through them?

If they used magic while maneuvering evasively from below the Red Zeppelin? Either way, none of the current or previous generation of the Three Musketeers could shoot recklessly.

Missing or even hitting the bats might cause direct damage to the Red Zeppelin.

“We have to block them! Starting from below! Stop the ones coming from below first! 〈Cluster Missile〉!”

“I know that!”

Leeha and Luger fired at the same time. As they got closer, the shapes of the bats became clearer, at least to Leeha.

Luger, who had been exposed to the continuous light of explosions, didn’t have the time to adapt his eyes back to darkness.

The Cannoneer, who still couldn’t see where the enemies were approaching, openly displayed his frustration.

“Damned bat bastards! 〈Acht-Acht〉!”

Luger finally deployed a skill with extreme recoil.

Using such a heavy skill with just a single tentacle wrapped around his waist was a risky decision, but he had no choice.

“Kidd is doing it, so I can’t just sit and do nothing!”

Lagging behind 『Rapidfire』 who was running across the deck of the Red Zeppelin was worse than death.

“Luger! If you do something unnecessarily dangerous and the attack delay gets longer, it’s a bigger loss! Carefully, make the explosion―”

“Ha!”

Leeha’s words were ignored from the start.

“It’s my first time using this too, but… I’ll show you what real penetration is, Ha Leeha.”

At least Luger seemed to be following Leeha’s commands properly.

Do not let the bats approach the Red Zeppelin.

By any means necessary.

“Kekeke… I gained about half when we captured the Lich Dragon. I wondered where I could get the other half. Little did I know, it could only be from a 『Pierce』 stronger than mine.”

“What? What are you―”

“I know it’s absurd, but enjoy your absurdity too. 〈Railgun(磁界射出砲)〉.”

The cobalt-blue python that was enveloped by a light blue Acht-Acht began to deepen in color.

Bzzzzzzzz─────….!

The barrel of the gun became longer.

However, it narrowed and took on a sleeker shape.

Leeha couldn’t properly understand what Luger was saying. The visual stimuli were stronger than the words.

‘I’ve seen that somewhere before―That’s not the Acht-Acht.’

Anti-aircraft guns were at least meant for human use.

What Luger was holding was not a barrel that a human could normally handle.

“Naval gun…? Wait a minute! Back then! You were dazed not because you were confused―a skill window, it was because a skill acquisition window popped up!”

Luger laughed as if agreeing with Leeha’s words.

A cannon as long as those used in World War II protruded from below the Red Zeppelin.

Only then did Leeha understand Luger’s words.

The reason why he was standing blankly after his 『Pierce』 duel with Kyle ended.

It was not because he had lost focus. His focus was in perfect alignment.

‘That too―that cobalt-blue python…?!’

He was looking at a new skill acquisition window.

Hearing Leeha’s exclamation, Luger laughed.

“Yeah. The snake who hates losing more than dying told me. But this isn’t a naval gun. Keke, the sniper who boasted all the time can’t seem to know about technology unknown to the Korean military.”

Luger implied that it was decidedly different from the crude naval gun, a fact that could easily be inferred from the name of Luger’s skill.

“What, what’s all the fuss ―”

“Do you know what a gun that uses electromagnetic fields to shoot bullets is called?”

Leeha saw that expression on Luger’s face after a long time.

An arrogant face filled with confidence.

It was the very expression Luger had when he first saw Leeha.

Luger must have also seen that expression on Leeha after a long time.

A face that screamed, “It’s impossible, can an attack like this be real?”

It was the very expression Leeha had when he first saw Luger.

Both of their emotions intersected.

Luger laughed, as if his lungs would burst, and Leeha shouted the name of Luger’s weapon from reality.

“You madman! Railgun! Who uses such a thing! It’s totally overpowered―”

Bwoooooo────────k!

“Arghhhhh―!”

『Roooaaarr….!』

Luger and the Red Zeppelin roared simultaneously.

The recoil transmitted through Luger’s body to its tentacles made the entire body of the Red Zeppelin stagger in the air.

“Kuh…!?”

Kidd, who was rampaging on the upper deck of the Red Zeppelin, couldn’t help but lose his balance for a moment.

“What’s going on!”

Kidd shouted downwards.

―Luger fired! This is completely insane―