Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Right now, Lotzak’s words are exactly that prediction.

However, Shin Nara abruptly interrupted.

“Weren’t you always against that, Lotzak! But why would you suddenly support such a cause…

” …I am a magic battalion commander who always puts national interest first. Maybe that’s a strange sight to you, Dean Shin?”

“That’s not it…”

Something seemed off.

Shin Nara could sense a disturbing scent as she watched Lotzak sway his head in denial.

The man who used to be against her, suddenly changing his stance?

‘Something’s fishy.’

The problem was that she still couldn’t figure out what it could be. Though the King often spoke sternly to Lotzak as if to keep him in check, ultimately, he mostly approved Lotzak’s proposals.

‘What on earth is he thinking?’

Nevertheless, this was the opinion Shin Nara strongly held.

In other words, the suspicion about Lotzak’s support alone wouldn’t be enough to reject the idea.

“Then, shall we move on to the agenda for the selection of the Knights division and the distribution of Sacred Knights’ troops, and also for dispatching our ‘key players’ from the Mage Squad?”

Lotzak slowly scanned the room. The meetings led by the magic battalion commander proceeded quickly and clearly.

‘At this rate, we’ll be able to operate in New Continent before the third wave hits. But…

Caught between joy and anxiety, Shin Nara couldn’t help but feel an unusual sensation.

“First Golden Dragon Squad, assemble! Prepare for the Three Hundred River Dragon Formation!”

Roar-!

At Pei Wu’s loud cry, the guild members of Golden Dragon swiftly mobilized.

From a bird’s eye view, you could see three hundred guild members forming a specific formation in a matter of seconds.

“Let’s block their assault first! First attack!”

“Kwaahaaah-!”

The beast charging at them, attempting to crunch the users with its teeth, was a wild animal similar to a hyena.

The fact that it was about the size of a mid-size SUV was surprising, but the users who had already experienced the first wave responded calmly.

And the users who hadn’t experienced the first wave? Most of them were just dumbfounded.

“Woah, damn! How can a dog be so big?!”

The most necessary thing to deal with these creatures, which are more aggressive than any monster in the Old Continent, was not defense or attack power, but ‘courage’.

“[Explosion Arrow]!”

Kwaaaah—!

Bobae’s exploding arrow was quickly aimed at the advancing monsters.

As the ground suddenly collapsed and the terrain destabilized, the monsters’ maneuverability significantly decreased.

“Oh, Bobae! You know how to fight! You’re pretty much born to fight!”

“Stop it, Leeha-ssi!”

As Leeha hastily pulled out her musket-pistol, Kijung raised his shield and stepped forward.

“Don’t think of it as a dog! Stay behind me-“

Grrr, Grrrr,

[Myong Myong!]

“First, hide your bodies-“

Grrr, Grrrr,

[Meeoowww]

“Kaheng!”Kijung quickly issued instructions to Leeha amid the chaos, but none of his words reached Leeha’s ears due to the incessant gunfire and indistinguishable noises.

The noise came to a stop, and before them lay a hyena the size of a medium SUV motionless on the ground.

“……Hyung?”

“Huh? What did you say?”

Kijung locked eyes with Leeha, who remained expressionless, his-nimble hands moving deftly and flawlessly between his bag and his musket-pistol.

“That…that gun! Isn’t it the one that used to take forever to reload?”

“Ah, this one? Hehehe… You’re right. It used to be like that.”

Leeha was fully enjoying his 100% synchronization.

The exact quantity of gunpowder to use, where the muzzle to insert the bullet was located, whether the pellets were appropriately embedded deep enough.

He no longer needed to visually confirm any of these details.

Due to his perfectly revived senses, coupled with the fine-tuned coordination of his hands and eyes, Leeha could feel everything with his fingertips.

‘Do top fishermen know the size and species of the fish they’ve caught by the feel of its bite?’

Would it be wrong to say that his current senses were almost similar?

Leeha’s confidence was soaring through the roof.

“A single hyena went down with four pistol shots and two Jellypong attacks. Kijung, I’m going first!”

“Hyu-Hyung! Where are you going?!”

Even as Kijung tried to hold him back, there was no stopping Leeha, who was now not just the successor of [Bullseye] but also [Rapid Fire].

“This Kidd, he’s been living in a world like this all along?!”

Taaaaang, taaaaang-!

He fired two grapeshot rounds, successfully stopping the charging ogre in its tracks.

And what came next?

“Jellypong! [Battle Mode: Agility]!”

[Roarrrrr-!]

Jellypong, who had been shielded by Leeha’s vest, popped out and quickly launched an assault.

The twelve elongated hands of Jellypong transformed into scaly sharp spears, piercing through the ogre’s limbs which were slowed, and in that same instant, the reloaded two shots of Leeha’s pistol left holes in the ogre’s forehead and neck.

“Come back!”

[Roar!]

Swish-!

Through the efficient interchange of grapeshot and bullets for barricading and penetrating power, coupled with the reliable shield and attack tool that Jellypong was.

“Hahaha, this is fun! This is really the bee’s knees! [Summon: Partner]!”

Whoaaaiiii—–!

And adding Blaugrunn’s magic on top of that?

“Ha, ha, Leeha?! I was in the middle of reading a book just now!”

“Now isn’t the time for books! Don’t go shifting into dragon, stay as you are, and let’s sync up! And no, syncing up does not mean kissing, you get that right?”

“Sigh, you suddenly call me and crack jokes like that, it really kills my motivation.”

Closing his book, Blaugrunn slipped it into his chest pocket and swiftly began to cast her spell.

Indeed, the one entity who knew what Leeha wanted the most was the bronze dragon, Blaugrunn.

“[Haste]”

A green light shimmered from both Blaugrunn and Leeha’s bodies.

Having experienced buffs that increase health or defense, this was Leeha’s first experience with a buff related to speed.

“It’s insane! Ahahaha, this is cool!”

“You’re just faster, it doesn’t decrease any damage taken, so be careful.”

“Sure thing! I’ll be careful!”

Meanwhile, the grapeshot spread around was quite effective.

Though it was just one shot, it was enough to interrupt the rhythm of the monsters preparing to attack.

It made the monsters pause as if momentarily stunned!

For users who had to fight tooth and nail against each monster, it was as good as a cheat code.

“Let’s do this, let’s go, go!”

“Sheesh, there’s no stopping you, I swear.”
Blaugrunn clung tightly to his high-strung partner, swept along as if by a runaway train.

Monsters had become more diverse and slightly stronger than in the 11th Wave, but the surrounding players found them easier to handle than before.

There came the second wave, sprinting from a distance! While smaller than Toon, these giant monsters that were otherwise unseen in the old continent naturally gravitated towards Leeha.

“Boom!”

“It’s Giga-Phant! Remember how last time a single one of them shattered our defences!”

“Hey! This time three Giga-Phants are coming!”

“Fall back!”

If what came before were mid-sized SUVs, this time it was elephants larger than 25-tonne dump trucks. Leeha was unafraid, even as three Giga-Phants galloped in full throttle, each brandishing six tusks.

“Come on, come on, bring it on!”

“Leeha, are you out of your mind?”

“Crazy? In this type of battle, gaining the initial momentum is vital.”

“-Sigh. Understood. There’s no stopping you, Leeha.”

Blaugrunn gave up his attempt to grab Leeha’s sleeve and shook his head. He wouldn’t be able to stop him anyway, as Leeha’s argument made sense.

“Do you think you’re the only one with a beast? 《Soul Link》!” About 500 meters in front of the perimeter wall of Juma City, an explosive red flare intertwined with yellow burst forth.

“Argh!? What’s this?”

“It’s an explosion! Someone just used an explosion skill here!”

“So bright! What kind of skill effect is this strong?”

Players scrambled to shield their eyes from the blinding light. Leeha had used the Soul Link skill, known for its strong visual effects, but now it was even more intense.

“Haha, quite a spectacle!”

[A Soul Link skill has been activated.]

[Your soulmate will be summoned for 60 minutes.]

[Soulmate’s current level is 66.]

[Boosted to 125% of user level.]

[The current level of the enhanced soulmate is 330.]

Leeha looked over the notification message. He felt the power coursing through him.

‘Hehe! I’ve Koma! Koma jumped into the Master stage. At an overwhelming 330 level! Even Toon should be vulnerable to this power!’

Not only had his level drastically increased, but his summoning time had also doubled. This allowed him to join forces with Koma for a full hour.

Koma was now four times stronger than before, and his summoning time had doubled from 30 minutes to an hour, granting Leeha an incredible amount of power.

“Considering how challenging it was to obtain the [Fire Flower], this level of effect is expected! Right, Koma?!”

Grr, Grr-!

In appearance, Koma was no different from before.

A giant bear with deep fur was blowing his nostrils at Leeha.

The reason Koma still looked unchanged was that he hadn’t used any skills yet.

Leeha had yet to command him.

“Turn into a Fire Bear! Crush all those approaching baby elephants!”

Roar!

Koma exploded into flames. He had once turned into a ‘Fire Bear’ with the help of the intermediate Fire Spirit, Salamander.

But now?

With the help of the high-level Fire Spirit, Ignis, Koma was no longer the old Fire Bear.

Roar-!

Koma’s enormous roar echoed throughout the surroundings.

Even players who were busy fighting monsters were startled enough to look around.

And the alarming sight wasn’t just about the roar.

Creak, Creak-!

Koma’s flesh started to transform amid eerie sounds. It was only natural for all eyes to shoot towards this change.

“What… what is that?”

“Has a giant monster already infiltrated?”

“No way, that just popped out of nowhere! It… popped out? A summon?”

“I’ve never seen such a summon! Is it a spirit?”

What first caught the eye was the gigantic size! Although Koma had been sufficiently large to carry Leeha before, this transformation made him even bigger.

To hold Ignis, it was not enough to have strong resistance to fire alone. It was imperative to have a robust body too. This reinforcement was possible thanks to the Fire Spirit King, Ifrit.

Alongside turning gigantic, Koma was also engulfed in intense flames.

The fiery red flames wrapped around him, eventually turning yellow.

“I feel like I’ve seen that in an animated series where they collect dragon balls to make a wish!?”

“Saiyan transformation…”

“Shush!”

With the appearance reminiscent of a character from a specific animated series, Koma was emitting tremendous impact with yellow flames.

“Isn’t that… a beast-human?”

Becoming much bigger and shrouded in unnatural flames, ‘Koma’ was impressively standing on two feet.

Its skeletal and muscular system had transformed into a humanoid structure. Thus, Koma was no longer a ‘bear’.

It looked like a complete Beastman, able to use its front paws as hands and stand on two feet.

“I’ve only seen it twice before, but I still can’t get used to it.”

“Me too. Where did that unsophisticated bear who liked eating and napping go?”

“Grr?”

At Blaugrunn’s sigh, the newly reborn ‘Koma’ let out a low growl.

The one responsible for such a fantastical transformation was indeed the Fire Spirit King, Ifrit.

‘Who knew he would do such an absurd thing.’