Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“We’re not even geared for a dragon raid right now… Hmm… Keke.”

Kijung: Leeha, these guys are making bold claims about doing a dragon raid, can you believe it? I’ll just… Ah! First of all, let me just relay exactly what I heard, Leeha: Understood.

Hiding any sense of unease, Leeha followed behind the knights wandering around Juma City.

Of course, it wasn’t Leeha who was doing this in person.

“Certainly, [Marking] is pretty useful. But an adult dragon level? Could it be… Right now, it’s Blaugrunn, who has polymorphed into a bug, flying around them and listening in!”

Leeha was checking their location from at least 30 minutes away, following the knights through Blaugrunn’s ‘live-broadcast.’

“Virtue managed to pull it off, didn’t they? Still, I doubt nations of the same alliance would backstab each other.”

“We’re not on the same level as those guys. We might have more numbers, but it still feels risky. I mean, what if other players around us see what we’re doing?”

“That’s the plan! The Kantus Knights will control the surroundings first, then we take our turn. After that, while we’re keeping watch, Kantus goes for it. Did you even listen during the briefing?”

“Shh. I’m just worried, you idiot. We’ve barely achieved the [Subjugation] achievement even in the Old Continent.”

Leeha abruptly stopped.

Leeha: What did you just say?

Blaugrunn & ???: It’s the Subjugation feat, Leeha. These guys might… Ah! Ah! If you’re connected, you should say something! Hurry over with the [Divine Staff]! Virtue Knights are going for the Subjugation feat!

Both Blaugrunn’s and another inner voice reached him at the same time.

Amidst the confusion and noise, Leeha’s thoughts were quickly honing in on the answer.

The [Subjugation] already achieved by the Virtue Knights, and the systematic and confident methods ‘apparently known’ by the knights from other orders.

Combining the two, there was only one conclusion.

Subjugation success… Moreover, they’ve spread the method! Not just spread, but the knights who heard it are confident enough in their success- is there really such an effective strategy!?

Leeha thought of the Red Goat paleos, his body trembling.

[Subjugation] is an act much more difficult than any raid, and the fact that the [Virtue Knights], who have only arrived in the New Continent recently, have already accomplished it!

“How could they perfectly analyse the Red Goat paleos’ attack patterns and movements, without even being near the Divine Staff to analyze it, to the point of instilling confidence of success even in ordinary knights without Lark’s sword?”

Could such a thing even be possible?

Leeha pondered for a moment before sending a private message to his friend.

Leeha: Kijung, I’m following those guys saying they’re going for it? I’ll confirm with my own eyes then come back.

Kijung: Eh? What? Who’s doing it?

Leeha: It’s not Virtue, some other knights, but it seems they got something from Virtue. I’ll check their attempt at Subjugation and come straight back, so wait for me.

Kijung: Wait, hold on! Ah! Then shouldn’t we be the ones going! If we’re going to stop them–

Leeha: No… Right now, stopping them isn’t the priority, Kijung.

Kijung: Then what?

If the method passed by Virtue doesn’t work, then we’re lucky. We’d just need to keep an eye on Virtue then.

But what if the method works?

“Every knight order might start going wild. The only way to fundamentally stop it is- no, above all…”

Isn’t Leeha also a gamer enjoying Middle Earth?

Naturally, he was curious. What method did Lark and Virtue use, having only arrived in the New Continent not long ago?

In essence, how exceptional was Lark’s ‘insight,’ even merely as a fellow gamer, this piqued his interest.

Kijung: Anyway. I’ll go and report back, so tell everyone to wait. Just seeing one team succeed will be enough; it won’t take too long.

“Ah, understood.”

As Leeha wrapped up the secret conversation with Kijung, Blaugrunn was briefed on the situation on the ground.

“Leeha-nim, these bastards, have come near the Red Goat paleo village. We’ve also confirmed contact with another knight order.”

“Understood, I’ll be there shortly.”

“It’s likely those people are the Kantus Knights.”

Given their location and the circumstances, the strategy to achieve the [Subjugation] achievement was imminent to commence.

“Blaugrunn-ssi, please check if anyone nearby is using magic like invisibility detection. If not, prepare to cast invisibility magic on me as soon as I appear.”

“You’re coming in person?”

“Yes. I need to see it with my own eyes.”

After finishing the talk, about 15 minutes later, Leeha safely arrived at Blaugrunn’s site and successfully went into hiding.

Then, for approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, they witnessed the downfall of the Red Goat paleo village.

“Did we really do it? With just one knight order?”

“Yes. It was much more systematic than conquering an ordinary dungeon. The movement of closing in from all directions, the division into teams from 1 to 8, detailing down to minutes and seconds what actions must be completed, there was no disruption in the organic flow or real-time responses.”

Although the recording feature was activated, it was uncertain to what extent their actions were recorded due to a scroll that prevents recording.

Fortunately, Leeha had just returned from seeing it firsthand.

Without watching the video, just by spreading out the map and explaining, most of the Sacred Knights and officers could visualize the narration in their minds.

“Aibex did put up a fight, but it was indeed… unfit to protect their ‘guardian deity’ since most of the Red Goats had been subdued. The part where Youngblood cried out in grief was particularly distressing to me.”

Leeha sighed.

How many times had they wanted to rush out and help? Especially during moments when the paleo village’s mystical creature, Aibex, was being attacked, Leeha was almost ready to draw Black Bass. However, Leeha couldn’t move carelessly without checking the state of their strategy completion.

“To capture that mystical creature so easily? They said it was at least of Adult Dragon grade.”

“Then, it must be feasible. Close to Adult Dragon grade as it might be, the members of the knight order have either experienced dragon raids or are well-versed with dragon raid strategy videos.”

“Hmm… Still, suppression is a bit different from killing.”

It was Shin Nara who answered Kijung’s question. Leeha looked at her, feeling it natural for her to think this way.

“You’re right in this case, Kijung. The goal isn’t to kill, but to suppress. The creatures have burrowed somewhere specific.”

“Burrowed? Where?”

“The mystical creature is the guardian deity of the paleo tribe… and considers all paleos as its children, remember?”

“Ah, right. That was the case.”

Leeha took another deep breath. Lark has an unidentified secret weapon, a sword.

Yet, another knight order, without such a special item and having nearly 200 members, could so easily conquer the mystical creature. The reason they were 100% confident in conquering the mystical creature!

“They targeted that. Lark knows well that they are designated as ‘life forms between beasts and monsters’.”

“… What does that mean? How is that related?”

“Could it be…! Leeha-ssi, are you saying-“

Hyein, who had been silently listening, suddenly stood up. Setting aside the admiration for his quick thinking for a moment, Leeha opened his mouth, looking at his face filled with astonishment.

“What reaction can a parent, whose children are taken hostage, possibly have?”

Leeha said this while glancing around.

Except for Hyein, who had been previously acquainted with the concept, it didn’t take long for the rest of the group to grasp the true intention behind his words.

“What, what? What does that mean?”

someone stuttered in confusion.

“No way! You’re saying that works on paleos!? How could- How is that even-”

“I wasn’t entirely sure myself. But it’s clear now. At the beginning of the raid, Aibex fiercely resisted and wiped out a significant number of the knights. Of course, thanks to the strategy provided by Virtue, it was the ‘defense-specialized knights’, wielding shields larger than their bodies, who held Aibex at bay, buying time. Meanwhile, the rest of the knights, divided into groups of eight, succeeded in subduing all the paleos transformed into Red Goats. And at that moment…”

Someone swallowed their saliva upon hearing Leeha’s Tale.

“Aibex stopped moving. It seems likely there’s a rule embedded, ‘When all subdued paleos are subdued, the supernatural being ceases to resist.’”

Monsters might not cling to their offspring with such intensity—if we were talking pure beasts, perhaps. But for beings like humans or elves, who live in communities yet exist as individual organisms, the scale of hostage-taking like the paleos wouldn’t normally be effective.

Such tactics are only viable amongst those peculiar life forms that exist between monsters and the 1/480 standard beings!

Leeha had an intuition that the merfolk and Sea Gods residing in the Dragon Palace within the Sea of Dawn had a similar relationship.

“Hold on – just a moment. How did Lark know to tell the other knights about this? Without experience, how could he identify such a systemic vulnerability? Are you saying he figured that out on his very first attempt at a raid? What about prior analysis? It wouldn’t be possible in regular dungeon raids, let alone a never-before-attempted ‘paleo Subjugation’ so easily-”

Hyein pressed Leeha for answers, though Leeha himself didn’t know more.

What he saw was merely the raid tactics of ‘other knight orders’ that heard the strategy from Lark and Virtue.

Only Lark himself could know where he learned it and how he was confident of its success.

“Even so, catching and subduing those Red Goats without letting a single one escape, not even one getting away, is no easy feat. At least, the effectiveness of that strategy seems legitimate…”

“… You think he’s that amazing, Tale hyung?”

“Hmm. To have withstood Toon’s attack alone speaks volumes. It’s a pity his temperament is not as exceptional as his potential as a martial artist.”

Tale was impressed. Revolutionary strategy, confidence, and the skill to make it happen.

“Still, surviving Toon’s attack, kinda feels like luck, doesn’t it? The combined attack by Ram Hwajung and Leeha hyung that blew off an arm, and ah, let’s not forget I had…drained some strength using [Sacrifice]. He wouldn’t have stood a chance alone.”

someone said, mixing admiration with a touch of envy. Not exactly pleasing words for Kijung, the guild master of Byulcho, to hear.

Of all the people, Kijung was among those least willing to acknowledge Lark’s prowess.

“I don’t like that guy.”

“The problem is the seed that displeasing man has sown is starting to spread.”

Shin Nara sympathized with Kijung’s sentiments, but criticizing or condemning him wouldn’t change anything.

“Right. Even if we make Virtue promise not to spread the strategy anymore, what’s the point? Others already know it. If they go ahead…”

It would essentially make fools out of all the knights stationed to guard [Divine Staff].

After all, weren’t all the knight orders here upon the Pope’s request and directed by royal command from their respective kingdoms to secure and protect [Divine Staff]? Any actions related to ‘subjugation’ essentially boiled down to an act of selfishness; an ‘as long as it’s not me’ mentality.

“Using Toon as much as you like might be possible, but stirring things up now will only bring chaos.”

Leeha muttered, grinding his teeth as he looked at Toon’s shadow. It was within a distance he could shoot at any moment.

Real or illusion, a single hit would reveal its nature.

But what if the shadow Leeha targeted, assuming it were an illusion, simply disappeared?