Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“That’s not it, Luger. It seems you still haven’t heard from Ha Leeha.”

“Hmm? Ha Leeha? What do you mean?”

Fernand asked, seeing the somewhat shocked expression on Bailephus’ face.

Luger hurriedly opened the teleportation window with the Three Musketeers to check Leeha’s location.

“That rascal is already in the Eastern Region? Without even saying a word—”

“That means he too is in a hurry. My friend, we must visit the Eastern Region as soon as possible and then return.”

“… May I ask what’s going on, dragon?”

Bailephus asked urgently, and Browless posed the question to him. There was, of course, only one reason for the Ancient Gold Dragon’s haste.

“Pyrot-Cocri has awakened. No, rather, Le has figured out the location of Peklo City.”

* * *

“What… what do you mean? How did you—”

“It seems that Pyrot-Cocri’s clone, which had come outside, was captured by the Holy Knight of Ezwen.”

“Are you talking about Master Kay?”

“Yes. The Holy Knights, led by Raphaela, organized their team and, with Ha Leeha’s assistance, succeeded in dealing with Pyrot-Cocri’s clone.”

Bailephus obtained all the information through Bahamut, Blaugrunn, and Arjenmatt. In actuality, new data had been added, but the Gold Dragon laid out the story step by step. Listening to his Tale, every user, including Browless, had to show a stunned expression.

“Leeha… ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha!”

“A white ray? What is that? I thought he had no attack skills?”

“That was already ages ago. Haven’t we always known that Ha Leeha’s state changes so drastically within just ten days?”

“Damn it! So, Kidd, are you going to admit it? That Ha Leeha, the accursed fellow, took down Pyrot-Cocri’s clone? And not with an ordinary attack, but by shooting a laser?”

Luger stomped out in anger, but Kidd only shrugged.

When a Gold Dragon mentioned it, it meant everything was already over, so there was no point in arguing. Luger understood this and could only get more frustrated.

“It seems we need to speed up. Until now, we’ve slightly extended our route to avoid Faust and the Lich Dragon’s trail…”

Fernand brought this up to gauge the opinions of the expedition members. Their pace had considerably slowed since listening to Leeha’s advice.

They had to periodically check the location of Laputa, forcing them to stop their march, and they needed to set routes to avoid the Vampire Necromancer and the eight Lich Dragons equivalent to his second job.

“That’s right. Luger, you mentioned that Leeha already entered the New Continent’s Eastern Region?”

“We don’t know when he started, but he seems to have passed the Dark Forest…”

Luger nodded in response to Browless’s question.

Bailephus looked at Luger, his mouth agape.

“What’s this? Even a Golden lizard showing such an expression—”

“Dark… the Dark Forest? Ha Leeha finished hunting Pyrot-Cocri in the Lope Continent just last night! Even if he started immediately, only about 17 hours could have passed—”

“What? W-What did you say?”

W-What? Luger stammered, barely able to pronounce the words, revealing his bewilderment.

But no one mocked him.

Even the ‘Pioneer’ Fernand stared at Bailephus with wide eyes.

“No matter how fast one flies, that’s… It’s not even a teleportation-enabled region! Even if we move the shortest distance, it would take days to reach there…”

Everyone knew this fact.

Perhaps it was fortunate.

Had they known that Leeha started at nearly midnight, effectively meaning he moved about 13 hours — 4 hours less than their estimated 17 — it would have caused even more confusion.

“It would be reasonable to join forces…”

“We can’t afford to be caught up. Find the path faster, human compass!”

“I was going to do that anyway, so stop nagging!”

Under Luger’s scolding, Fernand immediately used the Compass Skill. Bailephus’s eyes also turned sharply focused again.

“Hmph, always an impressive friend. Don’t you agree, partner?”

“Hmm… we can’t let him take the credit for killing Kaztor. I will be the one to deliver justice to him.”

The matter concerning Laputa had to be set aside for now.

Leeha’s exploits were news that could stimulate all the powerful beings across Middle Earth.

“Let’s go, Kidd!”

“Hmm, he’s not even accepting whispers. His concentration must be at its peak.”

“Damn it, he’s probably trying to scare us again. Let’s go, let’s go!”

Luger nudged Kidd’s behind with the barrel of his Cobalt Blue Python, urging him forward.

Kidd, annoyed, flapped his coat as he started to walk.

Following Fernand’s direction, everyone began to run.

* * *

Shin Nara bit her lower lip as she looked at Lark.

Lark, seeing her anxiety, remained silent.

“They say you sent Lepanto, Velaid, and Yenua to the eastern continent this morning, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“You did all of this without telling me—using Fibiel’s NPCs for the second human-demon war—on top of capturing Pyrot-Cocri on your own…”

Why didn’t you tell me?

That was what Shin Nara wanted to ask, but she couldn’t muster the courage to say it. She knew that if Lark questioned why he should have told her, it would hurt her even more.

“Up until yesterday, you didn’t mention anything!”

“It was because of what happened yesterday. As I said before, we only caught Pyrot-Cocri last night. During the conversation with Ha Leeha, we decided on a mutual plan using Fibiel’s NPCs. I didn’t inform you because I couldn’t predict how things would go.”

While Lark didn’t proactively offer excuses, he answered all her questions calmly.

This nonchalant attitude only fueled Shin Nara’s frustration.

“…Then why isn’t Leeha responding to any messages?”

“I don’t know. He hasn’t replied to any of mine either. Maybe he’s busy?”

His cheeky response and audacious demeanor made Shin Nara even more agitated. Lark knew this well.

Despite knowing her feelings, he couldn’t bring himself to say what he truly wanted to say.

Listening to Leeha troubled Lark, just as listening to Lark troubled Leeha.

What should he do going forward?

‘I knew this wasn’t an ordinary sword…’

The keyword for the second job transition was Dragon Slayer.

Lark had received some tips from Leeha about the requirements and the guidance he could expect.

It was clear that he didn’t have an NPC to act as a mentor.

‘No, to be precise… this sword itself is the mentor.’

It wasn’t a human-shaped NPC.

Just as Leeha was certain that Lark’s sword would transform into an Ego Sword, Lark also had a similar hunch.

Even though he had never seen an Ego Sword, nor heard that Leeha’s Black Bass had become an Ego Weapon, Lark’s logical deduction was sufficient to reach the conclusion.

However, the current sword remained silent and did not respond regardless of how much he called for it.

Leeha’s words and Bahamut’s advice resonated with him. Lark needed to become stronger himself.

The silver lining was that, while there was no one to teach him, he had grasped a way to grow stronger on his own.

The unfortunate part was that although he knew how to achieve it, he lacked the time to execute the plan.

‘Bluebeard holds the key to awakening Tiamat… If there’s a chance for it to happen, Chiyou likely knows about it. This, too, must be kept a secret. I need to disappear as quickly as possible. Today, a day of chaos like this, is the perfect opportunity…’

He couldn’t assemble a large team.

Even if he tried to gather a few elite members, those fitting the ‘elite’ title in Lark’s view were scattered far and wide.

Moreover, he doubted that many would step forward to help even if he asked.

Venturing alone was the worst option.

As Lark lowered his head and gripped his hair in frustration, Shin Nara erupted in anger again.

“So, what is it?! Now you’re too scared to talk? What happened to the ‘Fibiel-Minis Joint Investigation Team’? Weren’t we supposed to share information and collaborate constantly? You’re all talk but don’t follow through when it counts?”

Lark raised his head silently.

He looked at Shin Nara, who was brimming with life even in her rage.

Though startled by his gaze, Shin Nara didn’t stop talking.

“I may not be as perceptive as you, but I’m a top-grade administrator in Fibiel! How dare you… how could you…”

Her voice quivered, on the brink of tears.

Lark smiled as he looked at her.

Perhaps he had been making things too complicated.

He had forgotten that the key sometimes lay right beside the lock—darkness hid under the lamp.

“Nara…”

“What?! What excuse are you making now? I don’t want to hear it anymore! From now on, just―”

“Nara-ssi.”

“―Whether you do well or not, I don’t care―”

“Let’s go together.”

“―What…… huh?”

Who else had been so genuinely angry and worried for him? When had a woman shown him such favor?

Lark smiled a little and said to the flustered Nara.

“It seems I’ll have to leave the New Continent for a while. Let’s go together.”

“Together―where? For what?”

“I’ve always been curious about the names of my skills. 〈Red―Sun〉, 〈Blue Hurricane〉, 〈Embracing Green〉, and 〈Clinging Yellow〉. I thought the skill names came from the colors because it was a rainbow sword, but that’s not it. Somehow… isn’t it common sense that a rainbow consists of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet?”

“Wha… yes?”

Shin Nara stared at Lark with a blank expression.

What on earth was this man babbling about out of nowhere?

“So, I couldn’t figure it out. There are no 〈Orange Dragons〉, 〈Navy Dragons〉, or 〈Purple Dragons〉. Ah, that’s the very trap of Middle Earth.”

Lark drew his sword and raised it.

Shin Nara quickly scanned the rainbow-like trail following the tip of the sword. The colors were indeed those of a rainbow.

However, it felt as though the range of colors was more diverse than in a typical rainbow or light spectrum.

“Defining a rainbow as seven colors is limited to certain countries and cultures. Oh, I remember now! One time, Bahamut said it, didn’t he? 〈Seven but not seven lights and colors〉. As expected of a Middle Earth-level NPC. If they already know everything, can’t they give proper hints―”

“What are you saying? Right now, what kind of nonsense― I’m tired of these word games―”

CAAANG―!

“Kya!”

Shin Nara was startled but quickly drew her sword and reacted.

However, Lark had not intended to attack Shin Nara.

Instead, he had thrust his sword into the ground.

“Nara-ssi. Let’s go catch them. Just the two of us.”

“Catch what… just the two of us?”

What did he mean by just the two of them?

Shin Nara asked Lark as if spellbound.

If she summed up everything Lark had said so far, there was only one conclusion.

“Red, blue, Green, Yellow… all the Chromatic Dragons.”

Did that mean they needed the experience of exterminating all existing Chromatic Dragons to catch the Queen of the Chromatic Dragons?

‘From there, no assumptions or guesses can reveal anything. There’s only one thing left to do.’

Try everything they could.

From a gentle smile, through an unexpected monologue, to burning eyes.

Shin Nara didn’t stand a chance against Lark’s ever-changing rhetoric.

While Leeha headed to the eastern part of the New Continent.

While Lepanto and the missing warriors from the 2nd Human-Demon War pretended to launch an attack to draw Chiyou’s attention.

While Sasuke’s actions led Chiyou to learn of Pyrot-Cocri’s existence.

And while the Eastern Expedition learned that Pyrot-Cocri’s clone had been slain.

All of this happened in a single day, nearly making Chiyou’s head explode.

In the chaos of that day, when she couldn’t pay attention to anything else, two high-level users affiliated with the Sacred and Virtue Knights disappeared from the New Continent.

Of course, she didn’t notice this fact.

* * *

Around the same time.

Leeha was also entirely focused.

Huuu, huuu, perfect. Jellypong, keep going.

Leeha believed he continued to speak.

To reach the eastern New Continent at the fastest speed and in the shortest time, he could not afford any interference.

Using the most optimal skill, 〈Melding Breath〉, Leeha couldn’t even hear his own voice.