Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“It’s a good-looking beast, isn’t it?”

Baring his fangs as if he wanted to sink them into Igor’s neck right away, the vampire displayed the same intention that Igor had.

“Kaka, ask away. We can make a bet on whether your fangs will pierce my neck first or your limbs will fall off first.”

From the perspective of dealing with ‘blood,’ vampires weren’t much different from berserkers. Unlike the ominous atmosphere between the two, the vampire facing Faust had a paler complexion and a smaller build compared to other entities.

“You’re a necromancer.”

“Yes. Being a vampire is new to me, so I still lack knowledge. Perhaps you use some kind of magic related to vitality?”

“Blood is often equated with vitality,” the vampire replied with a polite tone and a courteous smile.

That was enough for Faust to speculate on the characteristics of the vampire.

“The ability to consume vitality implies the ability to exude it as well… If the magic is related to vitality, it means not only necromancy but also curses, spellbinding, and sorcery such as warlocks and dark mages are possible. Basic attack skills related to blood would be similar to those of berserkers.”

What profession is associated with the hinting words, and what skills does that profession utilize?

Faust silently nodded his head.

Bluebeard gestured towards one of the vampires without a partner.

“Hey, you, go over there.”

Sasuke, who thought he would be paired off with someone, looked somewhat disappointed as another vampire walked out in his place due to his own decisions.

However, Bluebeard was completely indifferent to Sasuke, so there was no room for him to argue against it.

“Understand it as ‘forming a group and moving forward’ from now on, contractor of the Clan.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? Didn’t I say it earlier?”

As the vampire left alone near Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, Bluebeard chuckled instead.

“Huh?”

And as the vampire began to question back—

Siiiik!

Bluebeard’s staff cut through the air.

In the dim cave, the screams of the four echoed.

Igor, Faust, and the two vampires paired with them.

“Aaaah!”

“What-what’s going on – Aaah!”

The crimson aura escaping from the vampires flowed towards Igor and Faust. Seeing this, Bluebeard let out a sigh.

“Phew, it seems to work well even when I do it.”

“Contractor of the vampire clan! What’s this?”

“You agreed to this, didn’t you? I distinctly remember saying, ‘I will lend you my power,’ right? Hehe.”

One corner of Le’s mouth twisted upwards.

The lone vampire left could do nothing. Even as he watched his comrades, Igor and Faust, standing before him, withering and contorting more and more.

“You! Go to the other castle that Bathory built and awaken all the vampires there.”

“Yes, yes, yes? Em!”

Just the tip of the staff pointed towards him made the lone vampire unable to resist.

“Hurry up, even for just one day… we must finish everything before they rampage further.”

A sinister smile crept onto the lips with Bluebeard.

By the time the surviving vampire transformed into a bat and fled out of the cave, the vampires once paired with Igor and Faust were nothing but ruins, not a single corpse left behind.

“This is insane… what’s happening, Chiyou-nim!”

Watching that scene, a chill ran down Sasuke’s spine. He wanted to log out immediately and report to Chiyou, but he couldn’t.

“There, in Chiyou’s eyes.”

“Yes!”

“When Igor and Faust come to their senses, take them away.”

“Where… should we go? And what about Chiyou-nim-“

“Don’t worry about Chiyou. I’ll take care of her. Worried, are you?”

Bluebeard perched on Chiyou’s back as she lay still on the ground.

To Le, Sasuke was just that, a mere existence.

‘Uh… no, I’m not.’

If he rebelled here, Le might harm Chiyou. At least on Middle Earth, Chiyou had already logged out. Sasuke knew that her connection had been terminated just like a death penalty.

But what if Bluebeard did something here? What would happen to the ‘power’ Chiyou had just acquired, that she had yet to use?

Without certainty about that, Sasuke couldn’t possibly rebel against Bluebeard.

“Well, it seems it’s over now. Quickly, take them away.”

“Where should we go?”

Sasuke gritted his teeth and asked politely.

Bluebeard glanced at Igor and Faust for a moment and then raised his staff.

Swish. His staff pointed towards a wall in the cave. Sasuke knew it was not a sign to rush towards that wall.

“Understood.”

Although he couldn’t tell what Bluebeard was up to, there was no other way until Chiyou logged in.

“Igor, Faust, are you ready— huh?!”

Sasuke, who was approaching the two, suddenly stopped in surprise and stepped back.

“Wh-what—”

“Kaha… kaka-kak! What is this!?”

“Oh… Was this it…”

Standing in front of him were clearly Igor and Faust. However, they were not the Igor and Faust Sasuke knew.

“Igor, Faust,” Bluebeard called out, and ‘mind speech’ echoed in their heads.

“Haha, it seems I made a good choice coming this way after a long time.”

“Hoo, this is interesting. Very interesting.”

“What? What command did we just receive—”

“Haha, no time, let’s go!”

Bluebeard, who gave some sort of instruction to Igor and Faust, immediately urged them on. Sasuke led them away without further questioning. As long as Sasuke had the skill to hide their appearance while moving, it wouldn’t be easy to spot Igor and Faust easily.

“Well… it would be nice if the time is right… A pleasant gift exchange time, you know…”

Still perched on Chiyou’s body, Bluebeard took out a pocket watch from his pocket and looked at it.

“High Priest! You’re not going to shoot?!”

“No… I won’t shoot. Bullets are precious.”

“What… What do you mean? The danger is right in front of us!”

Blaugrunn shouted as he saw the monster rushing towards them. However, Leeha only aimed with Black Bass held up, without pulling the trigger.

“No. It’s not dangerous.”

“Wha—? Ah, dodge—”

Blaugrunn tried to use magic towards Leeha, but Leeha’s movements were faster.

Swish—!

Leeha easily dodged the monster’s attack.

“This jerk! Hand over the elixir!”

He gripped the Black Bass backward and slammed it down onto the unicorn’s head.

Screaaaam!

A clear and cheerful sound echoed throughout the plains of Shazrashian in the North.

Level 170, standing at 2.70 shoulder height and over 40 long, the ‘Frost-Laden Unicorn’.

“Bwaaah…!”

The mid-level Shazrashian giants, engaging in party play to hunt monsters, were hit by a single attack: stunned.

Then, Leeha hung the Black Bass over his shoulder and grabbed Toon’s claw dagger that glows.

“Elixer, hand it over, elixer! Hey, hey!”

He then lunged forward and sliced the staggering unicorn’s horn, chop, chop, chop… The giant users watching nearby looked on in a daze.

“What is he doing, anyway?”

“… A rogue? An assassin class?”

“He’s not even killing the unicorn, just cutting off its horn… what’s up with that?”

He successfully managed to cut off the horn without killing the unicorn.

As the blood glistened on the severed horn, the stunned unicorn regained consciousness but didn’t rush at him anymore.

“Wanna try more?”

“W-w-wait…”

Thud thud thud thud!

After the charge, the unicorn’s horn strike, the biggest attack, it turned around and bolted away.

“What are you doing? You almost scared me stiff!”

“Scared you? There’s still something else to be surprised about! Blaugrunn-ssi, do you think there could be anything threatening to me here?”

“Well, that’s not the only thing…”

He burst into laughter, looking at the worried Blaugrunn. Perhaps he had become too accustomed to living on the new continent. The monsters of the old continent didn’t even seem like monsters anymore.

“No, they do look like monsters. All frightening creatures look the same. But the change in himself from comparing the days of hunting in the old continent with now was the driving force of his confidence. But that’s not all.

He still had nearly 250 status points saved up.

“Still, be careful, please. In my eyes, you still look like you might fly away at the slightest breeze-“

“What? Are you saying that about me? Blaugrunn-ssi, have you seen me like that? Unless someone like Pyro and Crowley shows up, there’s no way an ordinary monster can pose a threat so don’t worry anyway.”

He was momentarily taken aback hearing Blaugrunn’s absurd concerns. In reality, battling the monsters here was much less challenging and difficult compared to fighting while climbing the Eternal Snow Mountains.”

What will happen to Pyro in the end?

Leeha briefly pondered what kind of emotions Pyro harbored towards him.

Could it be that even this time, he sees him as good as dead?

He will probably fan the flames of rivalry even more after witnessing Ram Hwajung’s incredible skills. Although if he engages in friendly competition from our end, it might help… But he’s not that kind of person.

How difficult is it to change a once alienated heart?

Perhaps, by recognizing Ram Hwajung as one of his companions, he might further stoke his animosity towards himself.

“Phew. Dealing with Crowley is quite burdensome.”

The same went for when they ascended inside the Bransylvania Castle. Crowley was more cunning than expected and had more potions than anticipated.

The reason Leeha could quickly deal with Crowley was simple: “Prea stood by my side until the end.”

Prea exposed Crowley’s trap, causing the formidable potions he unleashed to freeze in place.

As Leeha ulled the trigger towards Crowley while hearing his laughter, it was already too late. While the bullet would have pierced through Crowley’s head, Prea’s freezing power turned the tide by solidifying the potions pouring towards Leeha.

Prea: Damn it! You should have shot sooner! It’s dangerous to see ice forming! Alright, I’ve done my part, so logging out now~? Don’t forget about my points this time! For real! Got it?

Then, without giving Leeha a chance to stop her, Prea didn’t log out.

‘Even if she is revealed to be a spy, could it be that she preemptively logged out to avoid me asking her to come along? No, let’s not think poorly of her. She did her best.

At this level, trust should be a given.

Prea did her best.

“But, was that truly her best?

Shouldn’t the real best have been to finish the job of stopping Chiyou and me from ascending together?

Isn’t she still teetering between Chiyou and me?”

“Sigh, it’s so simple yet so complicated.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s about human affairs. Why does the White Reaper live so far away?”

“Huh? Let’s go together! There’s no interference here, so we can just fly!”

“Oh right, that’s true. Let’s hurry then.

‘Panlin de Choeupbeukbu,’ a part of the Shazrashian Federation to the far north…”

Shazrashian, a federation created by uniting several small kingdoms, where even at the northwestern end lies Panlin, a small region. The White Reaper’s map pointed towards that place.

If supplemented by Blaugrunn’s magic, Leeha calculated that they could arrive there before sunset. As the sun began to tilt after noon, passing through a few villages and nearing a cabin perched in the middle of the mountain, strange rumors were circulating in the capital of Minis.

“Oh, Alexander is dead! Alexander is dead!”

“When will the orders come? It’s so darn boring. Hmph! Has that thing we talked about been investigated and concluded?”

“Is it really concluded? If it had, we would’ve informed the commander first.”

“Ugh, how boring, so boring. I want to move on to the new continent quickly…”

Lark huffed, kicking his feet up on the desk. Given that he was handling the internal affairs of Minis after persuading the Minis King, he wasn’t in the best of moods.