Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Shin Nara’s rapid thrusting did not stop at just once.

Though a large monster, its body structure was essentially humanoid, making targeting its weak points no issue. A quick thrust pierced through both knees and severed the muscles behind them, rendering the ogre unable to walk any longer.

The Sacred Knights charged in at that moment.

They started their attack steadily and heavily, effectively disabling the ogre’s shoulders in the process.

The time it took to incapacitate it was merely around 3 seconds.

Compared to other players, the battle waged by the Sacred Knights and their leader, Shin Nara, was evidently of a different speed and dimension.

“It seems like we’re getting close to the end, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, Dame.”

Standing beside Nara was Cyndergaard.

He, too, had shown remarkable feats, having volunteered as a dispatch knight. This was evident as the Sacred Knights’ symbol, a white cloak, was now soaked red.

“Nara! Are we all set?”

“Yes, Bobae.”

Members from Byulcho approached them.

As always, the wave began at dawn and started to calm down by dusk.

“Phew! It was intense even with the Sacred Knights here. It would have been a disaster without their support this time.”

Kijung shook his head at the significantly reduced number of players.

With each wave, the difficulty had been increasing dramatically.

Despite the largest participation, the third wave had the smallest number of survivors compared to the second wave, proving just how crucial the role of the Sacred Knights and other knight orders’ fire support had been.

“Still, it’s a relief that we’re safe.”

“Right. The interval before the fourth wave should be longer. The way it’s going, the dead players won’t have time to respawn before it begins.”

“Well, we’ll find a way when the time comes,”

Nara said with a smile, wiping the blood off her sword.

“What way?” Kijung tilted his head, and Hyein showed a tired smile.

“Exacty. Once word of Fibiel’s dispatch knights’ achievements spreads across the old continent, Minist, Kraven, and Shazrashian won’t sit idle. They’ll surely send in troops. If knights and magic squads comparable to the capitals’ defense forces are dispatched, it will definitely be easier than this time. From Fibiel’s perspective, they’ve deployed national troops and suffered some losses in their knight order. They can use that to assert their claim over the new continent’s shares—”

In essence, Fibiel had emerged as the champion of this defense.

It was an undeniable truth, and no other country could object. After all, it was Fibiel’s knights who were on the frontline.

This meant the later participants were naturally drawn into the leading competition. Decisions wouldn’t take long to be made.

If the fourth wave didn’t happen tomorrow, other countries’ knight orders would arrive before then, according to Hyein’s judgment.

“Ah, I see—”

“Exactly, Hyein-hyung!”

“I thought so too, Bobae-ssi!”

“Don’t lie, Kijung. There’s no way you could’ve thought of that.”

“Hey! What do you think of me as?!” Kijung and Bobae playfully bickered.

Nara watched them with a mild smile before turning her gaze to Hyein.

His prediction was indeed remarkable. Neither she nor Lotzak had expected precisely that, had they?

But unlike Nara and Lotzak, who almost entirely lived within the palace walls, Hyein was virtually an outsider. Yet, he could make such accurate assessments of the situation.

“Hyein, that’s impressive.”

It was only natural for Shin Nara to express admiration.

“You flatter me too much.”

Hyein shook his head modestly, but Nara’s eyes sparkled as they stayed on him.

Tale surveyed the surroundings, becoming orderly, with a content smile and then remarked,

“By the way, I haven’t seen Leeha around this time.”

“Ah! Bobae, wait a moment!”

As Kijung stepped back, Bobae finally stopped his teasing.

“I think Leeha will be here soon? It sounded like the battle was wrapping up.”

“Right, I suppose the nation might be too eager to see it, but unsurprisingly, because he’s a responsible person. I thought he might appear once the Wave was over.”

“Even Biyemi-ssi disappeared at some point, huh? Hmm, I wonder what he’s been up to these days.”

“How can you, as the Guild Master, not know the whereabouts of your guild members?”

“Well, asking Biyemi-ssi about anything is a bit awkward, you know. His location does show up, but I need to check first—”

Suddenly, Toon’s roaring interrupted Kijung’s words.

As usual, the corpses of the players vanished into thin air, a phenomenon that no longer surprised anyone.

“My goodness, how fascinating.”

“You’ll get used to it after experiencing a few Waves. Oh, and usually, it’s better not to touch the dropped items. It causes nothing but fights and chaos among the players over them.”

“Do you think I’m the sort to be greedy over such things?”

“Exactly. There wouldn’t be any item that catches your eye.”

It might have been different during the first Wave, but now, all that remained were ‘junk items’.

Knowing the high risk of death, players began carrying all sorts of junk items in their bags.

It was a trick in hopes of dropping non-equipment items upon death, which, surprisingly, was quite effective.

Toon’s roar signified the end of the Wave, and around this time, there was always a large gain in experience.

While others were either shocked at the experience gain or were discussing the level-up effects, only Kijung felt dejected.

‘As soon as Bobae and Nara meet, the topic of the conversation always changes drastically. But really, what could Biyemi be up to? And why hasn’t Leeha come to see Nara?’

Although Kijung could not be certain of Biyemi’s activities, as a Guild Master, finding out the location of a guild member was not a big deal.

“Hmm… Huh?”

Kijung’s eyes widened as he scanned through the guild and friend lists.

“Great job everyone〜”

“I almost died just following along with a light heart.”

“Haha, but it was fun, right?”

“Ugh… I’d absolutely refuse that kind of ‘fun.’ Do you know how much effort it takes to summon Selena again?”

Chiyou and Prea returned to the fortress, their light-hearted voices filling the air.

Although Prea had returned to her former self, Chiyou showed no particular reaction.

After all, she had already figured out Prea’s true nature.

‘Pretending to be scared, huh.’

While Chiyou indulged Prea’s fussing, she inwardly scoffed. Her white eyes were utterly unmoving.

As Chiyou and Prea entered the fortress, and Toon followed, a barrier was erected again.

The first to welcome their return was, of course, Sasuke.

“Welcome back.”

Behind him stood Igor, with a saw-toothed sword on his shoulder, and the radiant lizardia and Faust, their eyes gleaming.

“Ha, you’re later than us. We finished way before you.”

“Way before? It was only a five-minute difference. Can you really say that?”

“Blame your slowpokes for not being able to work faster. It was unavoidable.”

“Shut it, Igor. If you had been a bit more cooperative, gathering souls would have been much easier.”

“Quiet, worms. How many did you collect, Necromancer?”

“I have absorbed the souls of one thousand seven hundred and thirty-five people.”

“Hmm.”

Toon nodded in satisfaction.

Was it necessary to absorb the souls hovering around the corpses of players alone?

Accelerating the process naturally led to the PK-ing of players.

After being assigned the task of soul absorption, Faust reported to Chiyou and worked with Igor to accelerate the process.

‘Considering those two failed to cooperate once, it’s unlikely they’d easily work together again.’

As Chiyou predicted, the two were still at odds with each other.

However, despite their disagreements, they were excellent pieces who brought significant results to their assigned tasks.”If we add what we gained from the Wave today-“

[Bring me the jar.]

Though Toon did not expressly say so, the harvest was by no means insignificant.

The amount far exceeded 50,000, nearly reaching 80,000, indicating that the souls of many users had been gathered.

“What will happen to the souls over the limit? Maybe there’s something else you can do with them?”

[The souls can’t be preserved for more than 3 hours anyway. You know that.]

It had been one of the first things Chiyou had heard from Toon – that the souls had to be placed in the jars within three hours.

Of course, Chiyou remembered it.

But she had ventured the guess that Toon might know a way to utilize the extra souls, perhaps by converting them into stats.

‘In the end, even Faust couldn’t find Bluebeard. But if we fill up five jars, he will surely show himself.’

The moment Toon, holding the jars, moves towards Bluebeard, that’s the moment to track him closely.

This thought wasn’t unique to Chiyou.

Faust, Igor, and Czar had a similar plan, having experienced a significant increase in stats through Bluebeard.

“Hehe, understood. Sasuke? Bring out the jar.”

“Hah. [Disenchantment: Unseal]!”

Sasuke’s hands moved swiftly.

One of his sorceries involved handling items like the jars, which couldn’t fit into a bag, so Chiyou trusted Sasuke with their storage.

Moments later, with a boom, five jars appeared.

[Everyone, step back.]

Toon’s massive foot landed in the center of the fortress.

Some users frowned at the sight of him opening his mouth wide and starting to extract souls above the jars.

‘Even if it’s just graphics, must they depict the vomiting of human souls like that? Really… can’t get used to it.’

Chiyou, too, covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve and stepped back a few paces.

The souls, pouring out like black smoke, naturally started being sucked into the jars.

The fourth jar quickly filled up.

And then the fifth jar was immediately overflowing! Tension subtly began to flow through the watchers.

What would happen when the jars were full?

Toon moved swiftly, as large as he was.

The concept of his stride was beyond imagination, and he could even conceal himself using a skill similar to invisibility.

What if he only used them to collect souls and then just disappeared? They would end up like a dog chasing chickens, only to stare at the roof.

-Everyone, be on your guard.

Upon Chiyou’s command, the users on Chiyou’s side nodded, steadying their hearts, determined not to miss the moment Toon started to move.

‘More, more, more—’

The souls gurgled as they were sucked into the jar.

It was clear to the surrounding people that the souls were almost full, naturally escalating the tension.

Chiyou, Igor, Faust, Prea, Yongyong, Sasuke!

And not just them – the agents of Shinobigumi, the outsiders of [Yamato], and even the normal NPCs trembling in fear, all focused on the scene!

Yet another group of people was watching the same object.

Of course, their intentions were entirely different.

“Collecting souls, you say? This Wave… The purpose of this event, so—”

“Heheh, Ha Leeha surely is quick-witted. I suppose this much is enough for you to understand, right?”

“Buhuhuhut! We’ve infiltrated their fort a total of 14 times so far. Judging by the number of jars filled, this time it’s certain.”

Biyemi and Petyr relayed everything related to the Wave, as well as Toon and Chiyou’s relationship and the conspiracies beyond that, to Leeha.

Leeha had doubts about the unusually reciprocal Wave events, considering they were not typical of Middle Earth, so their story seemed quite plausible.

Of course, the final decision had to be seen with one’s own eyes.

Meanwhile, Leeha imposed one condition.