Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Yet there Kidd was, standing beside him, having closed the distance without making a sound.

‘He’s grown again.’

Luger’s gaze swept over Kidd, then surreptitiously, he hid the “Kobalt Blue Python” behind his back.

Kidd seemed unaware of Luger’s action, his attention focused on their surroundings instead.

“The way this reward is meant to call users together… The monsters didn’t seem interested in destroying Juma,” Kidd pointed out.

“Hmm, you catch on quick. That’s right. I let two of them go just as an experiment, and they turned right back round after running towards the wall,” Luger grinned.

Kidd nodded, considering the smile on Luger’s face. As part of the Shared Quest, the penalty in the Monster Wave was to protect Juma from destruction.

If Juma was destroyed, the mana relay located in Juma would be destroyed, making teleportation to the new continent impossible.

Yet, in the Monster Wave that had unfolded, Luger and Kidd agreed that there didn’t seem to be an intent to destroy Juma.

“The monsters are designed to fight us?”

“More precisely, to kill us. For some reason… If they wanted to destroy Juma, it would have been faster for Toon to charge in. Isn’t that obvious?”

The bait of huge rewards drawing users in was for their deaths.

It seemed an illogical connection at first, but Luger and Kidd understood it.

This was a truth unknown to the other users. But the two had heard of it.

“Is this what Brown was talking about?”

“All that talk about blowing our heads off… He really did end up giving us valid information. Damn, I still can’t tell whether he’s on our side.”

Luger frustratingly kicked a rock that was at his feet.

What do they do if Brown’s information, which they had set aside because it was too incredible, was accurate?

Even more so for Luger and Kidd, who had yet to meet Elizabeth, wasn’t Brown a leading suspect for the Matan’s Shooter?

Kidd holstered his ‘Crimson Geckos’.

Worries aside, for now, they had to move.

With the enemy’s objective clearly revealed, there was no need to dance to their tune.

“We must inform Alexander.”

“No use. It’s better not to tell.”

But Luger held Kidd back.

“The more users gather here, the more dangerous it becomes.”

“Do you think those who have tasted experience once will stop coming? There’s nothing we can do. If we tell them not to come now, a fight will probably break out among the users. If you want to become a public enemy like that idiot Leeha some time ago, go ahead.”

With Kidd’s defiant words, Luger’s eyebrows twitched.

“So we just continue playing along. Knowing full well what the enemy wants.”

“Haha, Kidd. The die is cast. Users will continue to gather, and the number of dead will keep increasing. We must find our own way within this chaos.”

Luger was trembling with excitement.

It wasn’t out of fear. It was the thrill of a predator with its prey in sight. Hearing Luger’s words and watching his actions, Kidd gave a wry smile.

“The word ‘we’ doesn’t sound strange coming from your mouth anymore.”

“Shut up! Tsk.”

Luger and Kidd, who used to aim their guns at each other whenever they met, were now close comrades.

After meeting the Three Musketeers of the old generation, they realized that they, the Three Musketeers of the new generation, also needed to join forces.
“Haih, that fool is always missing when needed. Dammit.”

“I agree with that sentiment.”

It was a regretful event for them that one of the three musketeers was missing in a situation where they needed to work together.

The results of the first monster wave were spread across the community on the same day. The events that followed didn’t deviate by a single bit from Luger and Kidd’s predictions.

Users who hadn’t even reached level 150 started gathering at the new continent’s city of JumaJMA, even if it meant exhausting all their money.

While Luger and Kidd were hurling insults at each other, another movement was taking place near Malavita’s twisted World Tree Forest.

“Hehe, finally the signal is coming in. I was worried about what to do if there was no response.”

“Hoho, I thought it was quite fun though? When you and I had one-on-one PvP practices-“

“Shush.”

Biyemi and Petyr, who had faced Leeha, hid in the bush, focusing their gaze on the distance.

At first glance, it was just a place where weeds grew densely, neither a forest nor a plain. Occasionally, there were moving creatures, but they were the animals of the new continent that were not recognized as monsters, and only a few went by.

Anyone might ignore it, but what the former number one assassin and the current one saw were different.

‘The barrier is coming down.’

‘Surprise——?’

Swiiiiiii…

Along with Petyr’s little whisper, the original view shook. It was a fact that could be easily guessed that they had placed a skill for deception over it.

The real image of the place, revealed after the fake image shook, was something that Biyemi and Petyr could thoroughly expect.

‘Hehehe, I knew this would happen. I always knew. I have finally found it.’

‘Hehehe, it’s you indeed, Nguyen. Do you remember the old times? All the operations were your task-‘

‘Shh. Petyr, can you infiltrate? Nearby undead or those creatures – probably tamed monsters. If they catch us, it’s over. Go in first and find a route-‘

‘Oh, Nguyen, Nguyen, Nguyen! Have I ever been caught? It’s a problem if you think I’m the same person as before.’

Petyr stood up silently.

However, the height of the Miyaou race with quadrupedal locomotion was enough to get concealed by the weeds.

‘I am the deputy leader of the Midnight Circus! Deputy leader? Hoho! Hoho-Leader!’

Swish-!

With those words, Petyr’s figure disappeared. Biyemi made a sound of annoyance and cautiously moved for ambush.

‘Hehe, sure enough. How we even got here. We absolutely must not get caught.’

They had been hiding here for days.

Finally, it was the moment when the barrier had loosened. They understood well that a head-on confrontation was impossible.

Their single target was infiltration. Before the barrier was restored again, they had to infiltrate the fortress that appeared in front of them.

‘I know about the NPCs that recently disappeared from the old continent. The users know too. If we’re dealing with Undead and Tamed Monsters… Faust and YongYong. I don’t see their faces yet, but I can certainly tell whose village this is and how it was built.’

The lizard’s eyes sparkled.

Biyemi remembered the information that he had gathered over time, as he moved, crawling over the bottom of the weeds just like a real lizard would.

Those tasks that Biyemi could never have performed on her own.

However, if they joined forces with Petyr, and through the ‘Leader’ of the Midnight Circus, they could gather information as good as any guild’s.

‘I don’t know to what extent your strength has diminished over the last four years or how it has been distributed… but at least two things are clear. Your assination technique hasn’t caught my movement yet. If so, Chiyou…’

Biyemi felt confident.

He was confident he could accomplish the perfect revenge.

‘You have to die at my hands. I am a person who keeps promises. Hehe.’
A moment later, Biyemi, who observed Petyr moving, followed his path whenever he found a loophole in the guard.

It wasn’t a skill to create a clone or hide in shadows. It’s not invisibility magic, nor using a teleport scroll.

This was why they could become the greatest assassins. Their basic ‘physicality’ was optimized for assassination and infiltration.

Swoosh!

Despite the ironclad security maintained by Faust’s undead, Tamer Yong Yong’s pet, and guild members led by Igor of Czar, an aimless guard always shows a gap.

Petyr and Biyemi pierced through their alertness, which was like that of an insomniac monk, with ease.

Petyr: Yo-ho, yo-ho! This is not a village level! Isn’t the fortress is extremely large? Huh? Look at this woman! She abandoned Minis and established her own country!

Biyemi: This is not the time to marvel. Hehe, firstly, how the inside of the fortress is, the layout and placement of buildings-

Petyr: Puh-hahaha, I know, I know! You’ve planned the operation, but I always execute it first, right? You don’t have to say it! I’m looking for Chiyou’s residence. You know, you’re such a know-it-all.

Petyr and Biyemi split to carry out their missions. The harmony they had consistently maintained since the days of Nguyen and Petyr shone even now.

After about 40 minutes of collecting information while searching for Chiyou, Biyemi had to quickly hide, even stopping her breath.

Biyemi: Petyr, Petyr!

Petyr: Huh?

Biyemi: Do you see that?

Petyr: Puh-hahaha! What, what is that! It’s a complete surprise!

Petyr, who received Biyemi’s signal, was equally out of breath. But they weren’t the only ones.

Igor, Faust, and Yong Yong, who were top-ranked and distinguished outsiders who appeared, were all riveted, looking at the unusual present invading their fortress.

[Where is the woman?]

“Haha! Guess we’re not even on the list?” Snorted Igor with a down-to-earth voice as he stepped forward.

Although he usually boasts a masterpiece body that is second to none compared to any monster, it had no meaning now.

[Get lost, you’re insignificant than a toenail.]

“I think I’m a bit bigger than a toenail. If I was there during the total attack, you wouldn’t have been safe either.”

“Igor. Stop it.”

The person who restrained the growling Igor was Faust. Despite being on the same side once, Faust was uncomfortable with Igor.

The way he boldly steps forward in any situation, even though Yong Yong lauded it, looked like a mindless and inexhaustible advance to Faust.

“Was I wrong, dipshit? Is such a guy with only a big appearance scary-”

“Dipshit? If you call me that-”

[Dare you talk to me-]

“Ah, ah, stop! Enough〜 Hohohot, sorry. Our big guy was too rude. Igor? Can you not pick any fight when I’m away?”

The person who quelled the commotion in the central part of the fortress was Chiyou.

Every one of the complaining males held their tongues as she appeared out of nowhere, swaying her hips as she walked.

[Have you prepared what I asked for?]

“Yes. Oh dear, you requested such a peculiar thing. How am I to find a jar trapping a soul on this uncivilized land? Well~ I went all the way back to our homeland and finally~ finally~ brought it back. That too, with the help of our homeland’s people-”

[Enough with the noise, just hand it over.]

As Chiyou kept prattling, the bass voice echoed once again. Even though Chiyou had only taken a couple of steps, her sky was already dark.

Nevertheless, she continued walking. It was tens of steps ago when a shadow loomed over her, but she still couldn’t stand in front of ‘him.’

Click, click, click.

To capture even her walking posture, Biyemi and Petyr put all their focus.

Their objectives were simple and clear.

To inflict a death and humiliation upon Chiyou, Biyemi contacted Petyr, and Petyr decided to join hands with Biyemi to break through the ‘wall’ he faced.

But what’s going on right now?

What the hell is happening?

“Here you go. Toon.”

Why on earth is Toon, the second-in-command of Bluebeard, in Chiyou’s secret fortress she built on the New Continent?