Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Over there! There’s a red dragon!”

“If Leeha isn’t out yet, he might be fighting!”

“Understood. It was hastily formed, but it’s sufficient! We can get it! Healers, do a good job with the buffs! Dealers, don’t just attack recklessly, calculate the tank aggro well!”

The tank, clad in clanging plate mail, had been leading the users for well over 15 minutes.

“…It’s not there?”

“Where is the red dragon?”

“Huh? What? Where did it go?”

They couldn’t see anything. There wasn’t even a single Lava Golem in the vicinity, let alone a red dragon.

“There’s no corpse of Leeha either?”

“Wow, amazing. So are they possibly in a one-on-one fight?”

Someone tossed out those words carelessly. But it made the level 170 users wonder. A mixture of incredulity and genuine curiosity was evident in their thoughts.

“Further in! Let’s go further in!”

“Leehaaaa! Please include us tooooo!”

The users’ anticipation was strong enough to suppress their fear.

Just a while ago, these same users who were tormented by fear, now with a picnic-like atmosphere, roamed around the volcanic area in search of Leeha.

“That’s!”

Suddenly, Leeha felt as if space was shifting.

His surroundings were already different. But what was surprising was not the changed scenery or the forced spatial movement.

[I brought him.]

[…Really, Kuzgunak’sh’s Slayer. To think I’d sense the aura of a dragon slayer from such an insignificant creature.]

[Why did you bring him here? It would be much easier if I take him and seal him in a poison pit for 200 years!]

[You fool. Are you ignoring the elder’s opinion.]

[Who said that? Anyway, if we’re going to kill him as painfully as possible, leave it to me.]

To Leeha, it seemed like a giant stadium.

Though there was a hole in the ceiling, there was no sense of openness. Hundreds of chromatic dragons surrounded the ‘stage’ in the middle of the vast stadium, and on the stage stood Leeha.

‘There are so many! At least there are adult ones – no, some of them are even the Ancient level.’

The number of huge chromatic dragons was over thirty at a rough guess.

Despite being able to see the sky, the feeling of being overwhelmed didn’t fade.

[Leeha.]

Leeha felt a shock throughout his body. Someone had called his name.

Even though it was much quieter than the roars of the dragons around him, the energy contained within that voice was astonishing.

Leeha turned his head towards the dragon that had called him.

A long white beard stretched down to its chest, contrasting the rest of its pitch-black body.

[You killed Kuzgunak’sh.]

The being held an aura that could overpower others just by existing.

This was a first for Leeha who had encountered quite a few dragons. No, strictly speaking, it was the first time since Bahamut.

‘It’s incredible.’

An aura surpassing that of Bailephus and Kuzgunak’sh.

Leeha had an inkling that this black dragon was the ‘elder’ that the chromatic dragons had been muttering about.

In the current situation, where he couldn’t teleport, or fight, or even log out, the only way to survive was to negotiate with this black dragon. Leeha realized this immediately.

“… Yes, I did.”

[How was his end? How did he die?]

“Excuse me?”

[Did he give up on everything and accept death? Did he say he died for honor?]Leeha tried to look into the eyes of the black dragon, but he couldn’t properly find them. This was because, apart from the white beard, even his eyes were nothing but a deep black. Contrary to the red dragon who held a black pupil within a yellow one, the black dragon was utterly immersed in black.

‘How did he die…’

Leeha remembered the last moments of Kuzgunak’sh. He had perfectly collided the Dragon Heart Bullet from his Blaugrunn with Kuzgunak’sh’s Dragon Heart, and Kuzgunak had succumbed to its death. But something occurred during this event.

“….he did not give up or die for honor. Kuzgunak’sh he fought, struggling until the very end with me- and with Bailephus.”

“Hmm…” the corners of the black dragon’s mouth moved ever so slightly. It was a strange thing for Leeha. What was that smug expression for?

“What was your reason for taking his corpse?”

“Excuse me?”

“I asked, why did you take Kuzgunak’sh’s corpse?”

“I didn’t take it. Or looking at it from another perspective, I can’t even say I killed him.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? You’re not the one who killed him? I can clearly sense the energy of a Dragon Slayer coming from you.” The black dragon’s question resonated quietly and deeply.

A barrage of words from the chromatic dragons, all discussing innovative ways to kill Leeha, abruptly stopped.

“Yes, that’s true. But just before he was completely extinguished…. The Bluebeard ‘Le’ appeared and took his neck and corpse. I did manage to incapacitate Kuzgunak’sh, but I could not confirm if he had completely died.”

This was the truth.

It was known that a dragon would die if their Dragon Heart collided. He did collide it indeed, and Kuzgunak’sh was dying, but he was unable to confirm ‘death’!

Leeha calmly narrated only the facts. Therefore, the agitation among the chromatic dragons deepened.

“Le?! Why would Le…?”

“Why would the Bluebeard plot something?”

“I’ve heard rumors that respecting elder Kuzgunak’sh, Le had contact-“

“To think that he would actually… Her majesty-“

“Silence.”

The rebuke from the black dragon halted the commotion among the chromatic dragons. Their mouths remained shut due to his overwhelming power.

“Wait, did they not know? Aren’t they chromatic dragons just like him?”

Leeha found this scene strange.

Shouldn’t they know better? It’s about their own kin, they couldn’t possibly know less than him.

“No, they could. Bahamut definitely said that he had cut ties with the chromatic dragon tribes… So that wasn’t a show, it was true?”

This was why the chromatic dragons had not taken any action against the formal complaint.

Kuzgunak’sh had now become a dragon without any relation to their tribe.

Leeha concentrated to remember the suddenly changed atmosphere.

“…..Le…. I see. Hehe, Kuzgunak’sh struggled until the very end.”

“Hm?”

Leeha raised an eyebrow. What could the meaning of the laughter from the black dragon be? At that moment, Leeha recalled what he’d heard about dragons.

They were not the metal dragons pursuing righteousness and justice. They were the chromatic dragons who valued chaos and individualism from the beginning. Therefore, stating that Kuzgunak’sh had accepted his defeat honorably and embraced his death would actually hurt them. Because, for them, struggling even a little more at the brink of death and showing even a little more selfishness were considered honorable.

“No, never mind. I’ve now found out what I was curious about. Kill him.”

So, this kind of reaction was expected.

For the chromatic dragons who didn’t care whether Kuzgunak’sh lived or died, there was only one reason to bring Leeha here.They merely wanted to know how Kuzgunak’sh died.And once they knew the reason?

There was no need for the Chromatic Dragons to respect Leeha.

“Huh? Wait! Wait a minute!”

At black dragon’s words, the dragons began to prepare(?). Despite Leeha’s ridiculous outcry,

No dragon was focused on him.

“I’ve answered your questions, shouldn’t I be rewarded or something! Damn it, you guys hear what you want and then try to kill me?! How discourteous of your dark hides!”

[…..Hmm?]

For the first time, Leeha saw where the black dragon’s eyes and eyebrows were. His face was heavily distorted, filled with countless emotions.

But even for Leeha, it was a forgone conclusion.

“You stupid lizards, always causing trouble and paying back kindness with enmity, always being raided by humans! Hey, there! Red dragon, who brought me here! You were on the brink of death! Did you know that? There were more than a hundred humans fighting in front of you! If you hadn’t escaped over here under the guise of fetching me, you’d be dead for sure!”

[…..Wow, such a spectacle.] It was a sight the dragons could not quite grasp.

Was there another such discourteous creature screaming atop the ‘altar’ encircled by at least thirty or more adult class dragons?

At least in the parameters of the medieval setting they understood, such a creature didn’t exist.

Leeha slowly turned in place, examining all the dragons.

His eyes caught something among the dragons who, despite pausing briefly, were still emitting an intimidating aura.

“You, you- you!”

It was like a lifeline thrown in darkness. He wasn’t sure. But there was no turning back now either.

In this moment where he couldn’t flee using Blaugrunn, this was Leeha’s only chance to grasp!

“Hey, you over there! The tiny white dragon! And you, green dragon runt! You two, remember me?”

Two dragons, showing a distinct size difference even among adult and ancient class, a juvenile class White and a juvenile class Green. At Leeha’s pointing, they flinched.

The dragons’ gazes followed Leeha’s finger.

[Huh?]

[Who… who is he talking about?] For some impatient dragons, colored spheres were beginning to gather.

Leeha was intending on using his magic immediately, thus he spoke even faster.

“Th-that, your names- surely… Sho, Shoblanc! Yes, Shoblanc! You’re it! And the green one over there, is it Greenvogel? Greenfogel? Right?”

In a life or death situation, everyone displays superhuman strength.

Leeha recalled the names of two juvenile class dragons he’d never heard before.

[Shoblanc.]

[Greenvogel. Do you know Leeha?]

The adult-ancient class dragons next to the two juveniles questioned them. However, Shoblanc and Greenvogel both shook their heads cluelessly.

[No, not really.]

[I’ve heard the name- from Uncle Kuzi. He did something terrible-]

“You, the youngsters! Don’t you remember, I once saved both your lives? You were trying to sneak Kuzgunak’sh’s lair and got caught by me. Back then, I could have easily killed you, but I let you go! Are you repaying kindness with revenge again?”

Their conversation was audible to Leeha as well. If he misses this moment, the opportunity will never return.

With all his might, Leeha tried to engrave himself onto the Chromatic Dragons.

Every single word from Leeha began to permeate the stadium, the expressions of the dragons became more severe.

Why were they curious about Kuzgunak’sh’s death? The Chromatic Dragons seeking evil and chaos don’t need a weak specimen.

And yet a human managed to do that to two juvenile class dragons?

The adult class Chromatic Dragons were all wearing such expressions.

[What kind of absurdity is he saying!]

[Right! Dad! Are you going to believe such a human’s words? I’ll just kill him-]

[Shoblanc. Greenvogel. Is this true?]

Just as the green dragon was about to exhale a breath after inhaling, the black dragon opened his mouth.