Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“It should be. Although it’s uncertain since we only found this single shell, all three of them must have been here.”

Fernand asked cautiously, grinding his teeth as he answered.

Elizabeth herself had mentioned that Kyle was in bad condition. And she wasn’t the type to move without her child.

Listening to the responses stored by Browless, Kidd and Luger also had pained expressions.

“Bailephus-nim, can you detect the corpses of the lich dragons or anything similar?”

“No, though the intense flow of mana clearly indicates a battle, I can’t discern anything specific.”

“Isn’t it strange? There are no traces of Kaztor or Chiyou, but Faust and the lich dragons… Is it possible they fought against Elizabeth and Brown?”

Fernand, Bailephus, Alexander, and others who could remain emotionally unaffected felt uneasy about the present situation.

The first group to head towards the eastern part of the new continent was Elizabeth, Brown, and Kyle.

The second group to pursue them was Kaztor and Chiyou.

After Chiyou left, a considerable time later, the third group, Faust, and the lich dragons had set off. Their current expedition team was the last group in line.

“Did we miss them while coming here? If Kaztor and Chiyou changed directions—”

“That’s highly unlikely. At least, the Kaztor I faced in Ezwen wouldn’t do something like that.”

Kaztor only ever advanced straight toward the goal; he wouldn’t meander off the main path for any NPC.

With Kidd’s firm voice, Alexander halted his speculation.

Ignoring the second group while the first and third engaged in battle and they, the fourth, found the traces?

Then where did the second group go?

Why would the group most determined and powerful in tracking group one fall behind?

It was indeed a strange situation.

Breaking the confusion of the group, Luger spoke up.

“You’re too fixated on the pattern. Even you, Kidd, got deceived.”

“Hmm? What do you mean, Luger?”

As Kidd tilted his head in confusion, Luger gave him a sly smile.

“When you think of lich dragons, does only Faust come to mind? Don’t forget, Chiyou also has two of them.”

“… Ah!”

“Hmm?!”

“Yes, that’s right! Come to think of it, Chiyou does have two adult lich dragons!”

Fernand clapped his hands, agreeing with Luger’s words.

That indeed made more sense.

Group two, determined to find group one, finally located them. If the two factions fought and used the lich dragons as well!

“Brown and Elizabeth could have been battling Kaztor…”

Browless bit his lip and looked towards the east.

If the battle happened like that, which side would have won?

And what happened to their son, Kyle?

Just as it seemed Browless was about to rush off, Fernand hastily spoke again.

“What about Faust’s eight lich dragons? If Luger’s assumption is correct, where is Faust now?”

If their fourth group had found traces of the fights between the first and second groups, surpassing the third group which Faust belonged to, where was Faust now?

“Behind us…?”

Alexander turned to the direction they had come from.

At his simple action, Luger, Kidd, Fernand, and the others felt chills running down their spines.

“Bailephus-nim, is it possible to track ancient dragons or hide from each other?”

“Of course, it’s possible. But lich dragons shouldn’t be capable of that—unless certain conditions are met.”

“What kind of conditions?”

Fernand asked again, watching Bailephus frown.

“Only if the lich was an ancient dragon of power similar to, or greater than mine before becoming a lich would it be able to hide from me.”

“… So you’re saying it would have to be a dragon stronger than Kuzgunak’sh.”

“… Yes, partner.”

Alexander mentioned Bailephus’ “rival” with a bitter tone.

The topmost dragon that even gave the number one-ranked player a hard time!

If Faust possessed an Ancient red dragon stronger than Kuzgunak’sh, it wouldn’t be easy to deal with.

But how likely was that?

Considering Bailephus knew the lore of the chromatic dragons well, the possibility of Faust keeping such a dragon was slim. Thus, Bailephus quickly voiced a secondary possibility.

“If not, it means the one who turned the ancient dragon into a lich was extraordinarily powerful. If combined with its power, even if the dragon had less knowledge than me, it could surpass my abilities.”

“You mean, when Faust’s power is added.”

“That’s right.”

“So, it’s you after all. Haha, to think someone who chose to play as a mere lizard would end up creating the strongest lizard gang ever.”

Listening to Kidd and Bailephus’s conversation, Luger smirked and mocked Faust.

No one laughed.

“Golden lizard! What about the adults? You said seven out of eight lich dragons are adults!”

“How foolish, Luger. If just one could escape my tracking, it means that one could also obscure the other seven.”

“Damn it… utterly useless lizard.”

“Do not test my patience, Luger. Remember, my benevolence has its limits.”

Bailephus spoke with irritation in his voice, causing Luger to flinch.

Grumbling, he urged Browless.

“Director, what are we going to do? This isn’t the time for sentimentality. If we delay any longer, the lizard swarm will be upon us.”

“… I suppose so. Right now… Right now is not the time to think about friends—”

“Hmm!?”

“Ah!”

Bailephus and Fernand simultaneously lifted their heads.

They turned to look behind them.

Everyone present instinctively understood the meaning of such a simple move.

“No way…”

Kidd swallowed hard and rolled up his coat.

At the same time, he already had his Crimson Geckos in hand.

Though the speed at which he drew his rifle was so fast it was nearly invisible, no one, including Luger, had time to be impressed.

“Everyone, prepare for battle! They are coming! We have detected multiple auras of Lich Dragons!”

───────────────!

From the edge of the foothills they had crossed, a burst of light exploded.

The mass of light, distinguished even in the twilight sky, was flying toward them.

* * *

“Breath! Dodge immediately!”

────────────……!!!!

A golden light erupted from Bailephus’s body.

The dignified ancient dragon, clad in golden armor, had returned.

『〈Absolute Barrier〉!』

At that moment, everyone had already gathered behind Bailephus.

“Starting with breath…?”

Out of necessity, their defensive actions, without any proper mages or healers, primarily consisted of dodging. Thus, to counter a wide-range attack like breath, they had no choice but to rely on Bailephus’s strength.

“Damn, how many? Kidd! Eight, right?”

“You can verify it too, can’t you? Moreover, you should be able to see Faust atop the largest one—… huh?”

“What is it!”

“The scale pattern has changed.”

It was no longer the Lizardia race with white scales of the past.

Having undergone vampirization and turning into leopard spots, Faust was glaring at them with bared fangs.

“Perhaps, could this be a side effect of becoming a vampire?”

In response to Kidd, Fernand added.

Except for Alexander, everyone was skilled at ‘seeing afar’, so confirming it wasn’t difficult.

Various colored breaths poured toward Bailephus, but the absolute shield of the ancient dragon blocked them all.

In the gap created by the paused breath attacks, Alexander rose and lifted his spear.

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear… My friends, it’s time to execute justice.”

『It is only we who can stop the atrocities of the necromancer. Rise, Alexander!』

“I will handle the ancient dragon and Faust. The rest of you, deal with the other dragons.”

Alexander, leaping onto Bailephus’s back, instructed his comrades.

“Wait! I can handle it with『Acht-Acht〉! Let me attack—”

“I’m going. Once I kill Faust and the ancient lich dragon, it will be easier for you all, so trust and wait for me.”

“Damn it!”

Luger voiced his anger at the command-like tone in Alexander’s voice, but the duo of Bailephus and Alexander ignored him and began to take flight.

Only Fernand, Browless, Luger, and Kidd remained.

“If it was Alexander, he could swiftly handle an Ancient…”

“First, we need to show our strength too. Luger! You’re to escort Guide Fernand.”

“Why me? Kidd should—”

“Your movements are too slow and exaggerated! Do you think you can dodge and confront seven Adult Dragons?”

Without even looking at Luger, Browless scolded him.

“Damn it…”

Even Luger knew it well.

In long-range bombardment or in a perfectly defensible state, combat would be fine, but it was impossible to use 〈Acht-Acht〉 at close range.

Now that the dragons had approached closely, he had only one option.

“Follow me, human Compass! I can shoot down those damned lizards without using any skills!”

“Yes, sir! Browless, Kidd, please be careful!”

Though Luger had yelled for him to follow, Fernand had already sped ahead, even after greeting the two preparing for battle.

Kidd chuckled as he stood next to Browless.

“How many can you handle?”

“The strength of a Lich Dragon depends on the Necromancer’s ability and whether it’s within the range controlled by the Necromancer. Do you know that?”

“Of course.”

Kidd was aware, as he had already been briefed by Leeha.

Browless smiled contentedly and then drew his weapon.

“I’ll take on three. Kidd, you handle two.”

“… That leaves us with two more.”

Kidd tilted his head curiously. At that moment, a loud cannon blast echoed from behind them.

BOOM────!

As Kidd flinched in surprise, Browless laughed heartily.

“Did you forget about that guy? He’s not the type to just run away when told.”

Browless would handle three, Kidd two, and Luger two.

It was an unrealistic allocation for seven Lich Adult Dragons, not just regular monsters.

Kidd swallowed nervously and asked, “Are you confident?”

It took at least three raiding parties to deal with even one Adult Dragon.

Each raid party consisted of 25 members, meaning nearly 80 people were needed to capture even a recently matured Adult Dragon. And that was the minimum.

Generally, it was recommended to gather five raiding parties, about 125 people, to raid ‘one Adult Dragon’, making their current division of roles unreasonable.

Of course, Browless knew this information too.

“Think of it as an opportunity, Kidd.”

“Opportunity… you say?”

“If they were Metal or Chromatic Dragons, it would be difficult to handle even two on your own. You’d incur the wrath of their kin. But what about now?”

Lich Dragons were already dead.

Undead Dragons wouldn’t be recognized as members of either the Metal or Color kin.

“There’ll be no better chance to freely hunt dragons. Move as quickly as possible!”

Kidd’s thigh muscles tightened in response to Browless’ half-encouragement.

“Yes, sir!”

Swoosh—!

The two 『Rapidfire』 ran toward the charging Adult Dragons.

Faust rode an Ancient Dragon, accompanied by Alexander, and Bailephus.

The seven Adult Dragons would be handled by Browless, Kidd, and Luger, who acted as support.

Despite the sudden battle in the eastern New Continent, they didn’t falter and divided their forces accordingly.

However, they overlooked one fact.

Faust was not the type to engage in losing battles.

Moreover, Faust wasn’t unaware of the existence of the eastern New Continent expedition, was he?

Would he reveal all his dragons without any strategic calculation?

“After all, hitting them with a Breath attack stops them from thinking. Even if Chiyou is annoying, she’s smart… Tch, don’t you agree, labatt?”

『Mmm…』

Faust mumbled, showcasing a smile of satisfaction mixed with displeasure as he grumbled.

Just recalling the event from two days ago caused his speckled Lizardia body to tremble violently.