Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

This was also a matter that had been discussed beforehand, so Alexander simply nodded slightly in response.

The users weren’t the same ones who had blindly charged in during the first total attack.

While a very detailed strategy was impossible due to the sheer number of people, the major guilds had already discussed general attack routes and key points to capture.

“Partner.”

[Is it alright if my attack is limited?]

“That’s enough. And aren’t you already casting? I want to see that ‘Matan’s Shooter’ too.”

Alexander spoke very softly.

Even Lee Jiwon, who had been attacked, couldn’t fully understand them, but a user with an Ancient-grade dragon as an advisor was different.

They knew what was in the Barren Land of Blooming, why Bailephus was so tense that day, and had a rough idea of the situation.

“A foe not fully grasped even by you… This is much more exciting than when we went to meet Bluebeard.”

Of course, even then, they knew less than what the trio had gathered.

Bailephus didn’t know much more than the basics about Matan’s Shooter, so compared to the data collected by the trio, it was almost as if they only knew the name.

[…Understood. Then let’s begin.] Bailephus, having reconfirmed Alexander’s strong will, cast the skill he had been preparing until now.

[[Complete and Absolute Mana Shell], [Enhanced Dragon Scales]]

Shwaaaaa…

The giant dragon’s scales glittered, and a semi-transparent yellow barrier sphere that completely enveloped them was formed.

Alexander raised his spear.

“Let’s go.”

Waaaaaaa———–

As Alexander began to move, Ron frantically whispered to various places. The second total attack had officially begun.

Luger had already disappeared, holding the [Cobalt Blue Python]. The first thing he took out was a desert-colored camouflage cloak.

Kidd mingled with the advancing crowd, all bullets loaded in the [Crimson Geckos].

And Leeha?

He took out a sheet of paper folded four times from his bag and checked the checkpoint once again.

‘It was good that I got it from Rubini in advance.’

The person Leeha had whispered to while waiting at the auction house was Rubini.

He thought she could transfer the map she created within a 5km radius onto paper.

Rubini fulfilled Leeha’s request without any compensation, allowing him to set up sufficient sniping points in the early stages of the Barren Land of Blooming.

Leeha: Blaugrunn-ssi! You’re not asleep, are you? You must respond immediately when called!

Blaugrunn: Really. Do you think of me as a growing teenager or something? I’m a dragon, even though I look like this-

Leeha: Alright, alright. Then let’s go!

Leeha also grabbed the [Black Bass], which he had been carrying over his shoulder, firmly.

Click-! A magazine snapped in with a crisp sound.

“Be especially careful of the beast-type aggro!”

“Armored-High Trolls are coming! Damage dealers, maintain your distance well!”

Rooooarrrr——-

Kwaaak! Kwaa-!

Beasts with three wolf heads and eight spider legs on a dog’s body ferociously charged.

Fighting against the instinctive fierce attacks of beast-type monsters, users soon found themselves facing fully armed high-level trolls swinging their weapons.

“[Cruel Bash!]”

Zwaak-!

The forearm of an Armored-High Troll was gruesomely sliced off.

Kyarat-! It spewed green blood, but by the time it had staggered a few steps, foam began to form at the severed limb, indicating regeneration had already started.

“Damn! It’s regenerating!”

“Wizards, what are you doing?! Cast a curse or something!” The difficulty in conquering the Barren Land of Blooming, despite lacking clear job distinctions like the users, was exactly this.

The existence of High-Trolls, which already had a healer’s role integrated into their bodies, made combat more complicated.

“[Recovery Reduction]!”

“Kyahahaaa-!”

The intelligent monsters in the Barren Land of Blooming didn’t miss the opportunity when the wizards focused on the trolls.

“Goblins! Don’t let the space get blocked! Before it’s blocked-“

“[Deep Sleep].”

“-Mages- Right!”

With scrolls in hand, pop pop pop! The small monsters charging towards them fell on the spot.

A warrior user, snoring, lightly finished off the goblin by cutting its throat.

“…Order from Ron-nim! Finish here and then move to the left wing to help!”

“Received!”

The users shouted energetically and concentrated on the battle with the Armored-High Trolls.

It was indeed a difficult battle, but not an impossible one for the well-prepared users.

‘But even during the first total attack, we had advanced this far.’

‘The difference this time is that the huge monster hasn’t appeared yet…

‘It should show up soon. That’s when the real game begins.’

Step by step, the users advanced, unable to relax their vigilance.

They knew well that this battle was not everything.

Strictly speaking, the conquest of the Barren Land of Blooming, the seventh demon stronghold, had hardly even begun.

“I’ll go and help for a moment.”

[Hm.]

Bailephus nodded, and Alexander leaped off his back. The spear in his descending hand sparkled.

“Kyarat? Kuwaaaa-!”

“Human! A sacrifice!”

The Armored-High Trolls, seeing Alexander fall, immediately raised their weapons. They expected him to impale himself on their weapons without any attack, just by the force of his fall!

“[High Dive Stab]”

But Alexander wouldn’t be caught by such a simple counterattack.

His seemingly effortless spear thrust was enough to split two Armored-High Trolls, even with helmets and armor, in half in an instant.

Gwaaaaaa———

Alexander landed in a bloody battlefield among the trolls.

Before the loud noise ceased, soot-like dust burst up. This excited the users.

“Alexander-nim has come to help!”

“Oooooo! Finish quickly, quickly!” The attack squads facing the trolls at the front increased their pace.

The fully armed high-level trolls seemed to feel as if they were being attacked from all sides.

“Kyarit?! Kag!”

“Block the front- Block the fro- Kyah!”

“No! Behind, behind, behind- Damn it!”

The power of three attack squads pushing forward from the front, comprising 75 users, and the attacking force of Alexander alone from behind were nearly equal.

[Indeed, a worthy companion of mine.]

Bailephus watched from above and smiled.

Boommmmmm——!

Boommmmmmm——–……!

[Huh?!]

And at that moment, a powerful impact hit the hemisphere surrounding Bailephus.

A long, bell-tower-like rumbling sound cut across the battlefield.

Although mixed with various noises, the sound was loud enough to reach everyone’s ears.

“It’s real… What kind of attack is that!”

“Where’s Halihali? Halihali-?”

“Halihali was back there just a moment ago!”

The users were clearly overpowering the monsters until now, but their expressions turned grim.

The attack on Bailephus was a signal that the ‘real’ battle was about to begin.

[To think such power could come from just two shots… Alexander!]

“Hm. According to plan.”

[Understood.]

Bailephus moved swiftly.

He was in a state of complete and perfect defense with the barrier and enhanced scales, but he couldn’t indefinitely withstand the attacks.

Shwaaaaaa——–!

Even during flight to cause disruption, Bailephus could feel the attacks brushing past his ears.

Despite executing perfect evasive maneuvers, like zigzagging, sudden stops, and accelerations, the sounds of impact, ‘boom’, ‘boom’, were intermittently heard.

[To react to my movements from this distance… But I still have many tricks up my sleeve.]

Predicting the direction of the attacks wasn’t difficult, but Bailephus couldn’t counterattack.

As pre-warned to Alexander, the magic shielded everything inside and outside the barrier, preventing all attacks.

To obtain near-perfect defense, he had to sacrifice the ability to attack!

However, this limitation applied only to ‘attacks’.

Bailephus quickly cast illusion magic.

Another Bailephus appeared in the air, and the real and fake Bailephus split in two directions, widening the distance across the battlefield.

[Caiaaaaaa——-!]

[Caa, caaaa?]——-

The roar of Bailephus’s duplicate was indistinguishable, sending shivers down the spine just by its appearance.

To avoid being detected as unable to attack, Bailephus attempted even more dazzling movements.

And all these movements were being observed by Leeha.

Lying prone at his first sniping point marked on the map given by Rubini.

‘Sure enough, it was like that. If an Ancient-grade gold dragon takes the bait, it’s a relief for us.’ Luring the attention of the users so they wouldn’t have to worry about the unseen ‘Matan’s Shooter’.

‘But… Is it really okay for Bailephus to move that far away?’

Leeha, watching the dragon move away, couldn’t shake off his unease.

Bailephus, the most dominant presence here, capable of the most brilliant and powerful attacks, was moving almost to the point of exiting the battlefield. If he was only used as a bait?

Suddenly, a dizzying sensation flashed through Leeha’s mind.

Especially since Kidd’s words echoed in his memory.

‘He said they were adept in battle. That’s right – it was the same during the 12th Inma War! It’s not just about shooting well. If they are skilled in strategy and tactics – Bailephus must return! Huh!’

Leeha had to turn his head away, closing his eyes.

Paaaaaaa-

A red light exploded in the middle of the battlefield.

It was a light of overwhelming intensity, far surpassing Leeha’s soul link. And the users, including Leeha, knew what this light signified.

“Woah?! It’s blinding!”

“Shield your eyes! Be ready to react immediately!”

The light was so intense it penetrated their closed eyelids. The users could feel their hearts pounding.

After the light vanished and the users started to open their eyes one by one, Leeha realized.

‘Yes… As expected. It’s not that Bailephus has drawn away the attention. This is-‘

Bailephus being drawn away from the battlefield was not because Brown and Elizabeth were luring him away.

Rather, it was more likely that Brown and Elizabeth had forced Bailephus out of the battlefield.

“Uh, uhuhuh, uhuhuh!”

“There, there! That’s it!”

As evidence, right in the middle of the battlefield of the Barren Land of Blooming, the flower of the Ma demon had bloomed.

A monster nicknamed a dragon, yet not a dragon, delivering terror.

The dinosaur-like creature ‘Toon’ roared.

[Resisted the ‘Fear’ status effect.]

‘Fear?!’

About 33 meters tall.

Would it feel like a Tyrannosaurus without wings?

But it wasn’t a mediocre appearance. Instead, Leeha found the same fierceness in Toon as in Kuzgunak’sh.

Bluebeard ‘Le’s second-in-command, hence the nickname ‘dinosaur’, was something Leeha could feel.

“It’s fear!”

“Release the upper limit! Quickly!”

“Wrong! The resistance to fear isn’t breaking!” Leeha, grateful for resisting fear, quickly scanned Toon.

‘Even a Tyrannosaurus in the movies wasn’t more than 10 meters tall.’ Toon, though reminiscent of a Tyrannosaurus, was overwhelmingly massive. Not just in height, but also the length from head to tail was significantly enlarged.

However, one difference was the length of the arms.

Unlike the small forelimbs of a Tyrannosaurus in the movies compared to its body, Toon had arms like a dangling orangutan.

Arms reaching the ground, at least 15 meters long.

Each sharp claw at the fingertips was larger than most users.