Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

[Did you really beg for your life to Ha Leeha?]

[O-O-Onyx Elder! Just a moment! We need to hear what these children have to say.]

[Get out, Forele. I can’t consider you their protector. Shoblanc, Greenvogel, come forward immediately.]

The saintly green dragon who had been blocking the path of the green dragon, stepped forward. But there was no chance he’d be eaten by the black dragon.

‘Onyx.’

Leeha: Blaugrunn, do you know about Onyx among the chromatic dragons?

Blaugrunn: Eek! What’s happening that the name Onyx came up? Ah! Ah, that red dragon is probably ‘lava Turtle’ who’s almost at the very top of the adult class. Being close to being an Ancient…

Leeha: No, forget about them. Tell me about Onyx. What kind of guy is he?

Blaugrunn: He’s a black dragon. Among the chromatic dragons, he’s said to have lived the longest. If we only consider age, he’s even older than Bailephus. He was the last dragon to face the Lord before the Lord became a Platinum Dragon.

‘Good heavens……’

That means he’s almost the same age as Bahamut.

And it stands to reason that such an imposing presence comes from the black dragon referred to as Onyx.

Leeha: Any weaknesses that we could exploit?

Blaugrunn: Weaknesses of Onyx? Even the Lord wouldn’t know. Their final showdown was almost a tie.

Leeha: A tie?! With Bahamut?

Blaugrunn: Yes. He fought a tie with the Lord, who is the strongest metal dragon. Even among the chromatic dragons, he fought the parent like strongest red dragon of their time, and he won there too. He has been walking the path of absolute invincibility since then.

Bahamut is an equal match, and stronger than Kuzgunak’sh’s?! As far as I know, there’s only one creature of that caliber.

The black dragon Onyx, who is in sight, means he’s almost as strong as the Bluebeard Le.

Blaugrunn: There’s a slight rivalry with the red dragon because of something that happened in the past… But since they’re all chromatic dragons, there won’t be a problem.

Leeha: Damn…… we’re in trouble.

Blaugrunn: …What? Trouble? Leeha-nim, are you-

Leeha: -sigh, I’ll reach out if I survive.

Blaugrunn: O, Onyx, and, were you caught by Onyx?! Haha, sir! Haha, sir!

Blaugrunn kept groaning but it didn’t reach her ears by now.

‘Looking at that dragon, it’s almost like he’s the strongest. How do I get out of here…?’

White dragon Shoblanc and green dragon Greenvogel were sluggishly approaching.

[Tell me. What happened.] Onyx growled softly.

Feeling goosebumps from a quiet voice, the two Juvenile-class dragons started to defend their lives.

[…So Ha Leeha saved them in the end.]

[No, no, Elder! This guy didn’t accept our fight!]

[That’s right! To insult, to insult our chromatic dragon clan! This bad human purposely released us!]

Shoblanc and Greenvogel did their best to defend themselves, but to no avail. Above all, lying in front of Onyx, the elder of the chromatic dragon clan, was an absolute taboo.

No matter how roundabout the explanation was, the conclusion was the same.

Onyx, looking at Shoblanc and Greenvogel, raised his head. There, he saw trembling White and green dragon clans.

The parents of two Juvenile-class dragons couldn’t meet Onyx’s eyes.

“Just look at that. Correct? Even though chromatic dragon clans are rude, right! Didn’t I save these two? Then at least, huh? You should give me a chance too!”

Even in the middle of all this, he intervened in dragon affairs while hopping around.

In reality, his excitement and anger had long subsided.

But he thought they wouldn’t listen to him if he faced them calmly, so he had to forcefully raise his tension and open his mouth.

“Since I saved White and Green, the chromatic dragon clan has to save me twice too, that’s fairness-“

[Then, Haha, you should kill them.]

“-That’s not it… huh?”

“[Ha Leeha, you are ordered to kill Shoblanc and Greenvogel. And you two are to resist and fight with all our might, with the pride of the chromatic dragon clan. Remember once again that what’s important to us isn’t the hypocritical bravado of accepting death. Now resist.]

The elder of the chromatic dragons was raising expectations beyond expectation.

For them, who are a strange community of evil and chaos, could concepts such as ‘repayment’ or ‘grace’ even be established in the first place?

‘Are they insane…… they’re telling us to fight?’

Leeha lowered his gaze from Onyx.

The two dragons standing a bit ahead of him, White and Green – they were juvenile class dragons. Was he to fight them here?

‘I’m not a wizard nor a warrior.’ If it wasn’t for sniping or long-range attacks, he wouldn’t be able to participate in this kind of battle!

No matter how much he had the buff of the Dragon Slayer’s aura, the formation of the battle didn’t suit him.

“Wait. Wait a minute. Now, here… Are you telling me to fight those two dragons?”

“[Yes.]”

Onyx nodded as if it was natural.

Leeha could sense a peculiar nuance in the black dragon’s way of speaking. The current battle order was not to save Shoblanc and Greenvogel.

“[Elder! Shoblanc- and Greenvogel are still children!]”

“[Yes, please. Mercy. They did not want to fight, but to flee!]

“[Quiet… I am telling you to prove that. Fight.]”

Not only Onyx but the dragons believed to be the parents of Shoblanc and Greenvogel were pleading. The fact that they were pleading itself felt strange to Leeha.

‘On the contrary, this is.

Leeha himself was anticipating the disadvantage of the combat, but were Onyx and the other dragons presuming his victory?

In other words, they are having Leeha kill Shoblanc and Greenvogel to destroy the concept of repayment of favor, and after that…

‘They plan to kill me as well.’

What did I do wrong?!

Do they perceive me as a dangerous individual? Has the black dragon, which is close to Bahamut, recognized my strength?

Although it was a flattering guess, Isn’t it more precisely a bad situation if my life could disappear at any moment?

“That’s nonsense! There’s something wrong! Why do I have to fight with these children in the first place? I just came to use ‘Fire Flower’ and ‘lava lizard,’ that’s it! Where did the red dragon who brought me here go? You said it! I haven’t invaded your territory yet!” Although it paused for a moment, Leeha raised his voice again.

He couldn’t back down. If he followed Onyx’s intentions, he might be logged out for real.

One should always resist until the end.

The situation can always change.

[“…’Fire Flower’?”]

Onyx’s steely face lit up at that.

[“Lavartel.”]

[“Yes, elder.”]

[“Does the ‘Fire Flower’ remain?”]

[“No, it does not. We don’t have anything like that near our lair. And we’ve never seen ‘lava lizard’.”]The red dragon, who had brought Leeha, hastily lowered his head. Onyx hummed and turned his head slightly, but that was it.

[That’s likely. The “Fire Flower”. It’s been almost five hundred years since I last saw it. There’s no way it can be found now. I’ve never felt its energy in this land.]

Onyx said so, glaring at Leeha.

You dare mock me with such foolish words? That expression was now recognisable to Leeha as well.

However, it was Leeha who was surprisingly flustered at Onyx’s reaction.

‘How many years?’

Five hundred years?

Leeha seriously considered using the “Key of the Spirit Realm” to meet Ifrit.

Why on earth does he want me to find an item I haven’t felt since five hundred years ago?

‘Are you crazy? World Tree was talking about eight hundred years, and now it’s five hundred years?’

Seeing Leeha’s reaction, Onyx snorted a chuckle for the first time. But it was not a laugh of joy. He simply laughed in disbelief at Leeha’s expression. [What a foolish human. To think that the Fire Flower still remains in this land… Useless prattling-]

“No, no! It’s true! I heard it from the Fire Spirit King, Ifrit! He told me to fetch the Fire Flower! Even being a Fire Spirit King he wouldn’t have asked me to find something that doesn’t exist!”

[Ifrit? Ifrit said that?] Onyx’s face showed surprise once again.

[He wouldn’t lie…]

Shoblanc and Greenvogel, facing Leeha, were in a dilemma of whether to attack or not, and were just observing Onyx’s reaction.

Like a candle in the wind, Leeha was wholly utilising the system of the Middle Earth.

‘Ah, damn! This feels like walking a tightrope for my life.’

It wasn’t much of a loss even if he died now.

Because Onyx’s words had provided a ‘hint’. What does the absurd setting of five hundred years mean?

Thanks to becoming accustomed to the nonsense requests of quests requiring unobtainable items, he sensed something.

‘Bahamut knew that there was no World Tree in the old continent. Mana measurement can reveal many things.’

That is, Ifrit mentioned he could sense the Fire Flower even though Onyx had not seen it in five hundred years. There’s only one place where it could be.

‘The new continent.’

They just came first because it was the only place in the old continent that had flowing lava.

It was threatening to risk his life, but still, Leeha had discovered an essential hint.

[Okay, you will go fetch the “Fire Flower”.]

“Yes, Indeed.”

It should have been a moment to cheer ‘Yes!’, but there was no need to rush under the subtly shifting atmosphere. Onyx’s black eyes reflected light and sparkled.

[I will tell you how you can survive.]

‘God forbid…’

Leeha swallowed his saliva. As expected, a hologram window appeared in front of his eyes after a while.

“That, so what you’re saying is… You didn’t accept the deal with Onyx, did you?”

“If I hadn’t accepted the deal, would I be here now?”

“Lord, Lord! Making a deal with Onyx, it’s better to make a deal with a devil!”

Blaugrunn, who was pulling his hair and roaring while hearing Leeha’s story, was sighing at Blue’s lair as Leeha distanced himself from the square of the coloured dragons.

“Haah… Well, it’s a lie to say I had no choice, but there was something I achieved.”

Although Blaugrunn was saddened, Leeha was not a fool.

Since he had heard about Onyx’s true nature from Blaugrunn, he was able to make a deal to a certain extent.

Of course, not wanting to die was the first reason why he accepted the quest.

“Obtained! There’s nothing to be gained by making a deal with the coloured ones! If our Lord finds out-“

“I think Bahamut would like that.”

“He shouldn’t! Our lord- I mean, lord! Our Lord won’t be pleased! Our Lord likes Leeha the best among humans, but this news will make him turn his back on you!”

Despite Blaugrunn’s panicked shouting, which involved calling Bahamut as ‘mentor’ in his confusion, Leeha carefully examined the quest window.