Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“…It’s insufficient.”

“Pardon?”

“Insufficient… We are lacking people to move.”

Even as Chiyou reported, Bluebeard’s expression remained unsoftened.

After Toon’s death, Chiyou, who had never once seen Le smile, was only worried about what kind of irritation he might show next.

“If there’s anything lacking, please let me know through me-“

“Don’t be ridiculous. While there might be few as good as you at moving behind the scenes, what I’m talking about is someone to lead the charge.”

“If you, the Count, would take the lead-“

“Then who would search for Pyrot Cocri? If only that Bathory fellow were here, I could trust him with this…”

As Bluebeard sighed, Chiyou bowed her head again.

“Bathory…? That’s a name I haven’t heard before. Heh, good.”

Even though she was disregarded by Bluebeard, one of the reasons she sided with evil was that general users couldn’t access information as quickly as she could.

“-Sasuke, investigate this character, Bathory. He must be very close to Bluebeard. Focus on data from the Horsemen War.”

“-Ah, got it, oka-san.”

“-If you find out quickly, I’ll overlook your slip-up with Lark. Hurry.”

“-Roger!”

If Chiyou realized that Leeha had come across the existence of this character, Bathory, first, she would be furiously outraged, but that was beyond her knowledge.

“So, when exactly do humans and mystical creatures clash?”

“The exact date hasn’t been determined, but it’s estimated to be within three days at most.”

“Within three days… First, confirm the exact moment.”

Just from what Bluebeard casually mentioned, Chiyou understood his intentions.

“Will you…personally make a move?”

“There’s no choice but to reveal the [Divine Staff] eventually. I wanted to delay making an appearance as much as possible…” Bluebeard indeed planned to act as Leeha had predicted.

The battle between the paleo and humans would be fierce.

If the prolonged battle involved significant forces from the nearby guards of the Divine Staff, creating a void in time and space? Bluebeard intended to exploit that opening!

Bluebeard continued to be deep in thought afterward.

“If we can’t seize the Divine Staff… then it seems we must resort to that.”

“Pardon? I don’t follow.”

“There’s no need for you to know yet. Anyway…”

Bluebeard stood up and walked towards a figure tightly wedged inside a red crystal, Ghibrid, tapping on the outer wall of the crystal.

“My friend, it seems you might have to look after your own welfare soon.”

Tap, tap, tap.

The eyes of Ghibrid, sealed within the red crystal, flickered open. But that was it; Bluebeard said no more.

Meanwhile, Leeha was facing another change.

It hadn’t been long since he resumed movement.

At least a day had passed since he first heard insults related to Lark, and he finally stumbled upon something.

“…A flying type monster…? No, what is that?”

※ ※

At least it wasn’t an ordinary bird.

“But, that tail- Should I even call it a tail? What is that?”

As he crouched lower beneath the bushes, observing them, she noticed their balloon-like dusky bodies and the tentacles dangling beneath them.

Leeha thought they resembled arms and legs. However, what was even more astonishing was that the two ends of the elongated tentacles, which extended to float above their bodies, were rotating at an incredible speed.

“Squids? It’s as if they’re using the two longest tentacles among their squid legs like propellers.”

A giant squid flying through the sky. That was the only way Leeha could describe them.

Compared to squids, their bodies were much rounder and significantly larger, resembling an octopus’s head in some ways, though their overall form followed such a pattern. And the grotesque appearance revealed only one fact.

‘The chances are high that they’re monsters. paleos…’

At least they looked somewhat human.

The advantage of moving with Jellypong was evident. Without worrying about obstacles ahead, Leeha could always observe the sky, which would have been impossible if Leeha had to look down and run; he would have been discovered by them immediately.

Cautiously, Leeha mounted subsonic ammunition and a silencer onto Black Bass. He wished to eliminate the risk factor in advance, but it wasn’t wise to make a move without understanding their identity completely.

“We can’t determine their numbers.”

They seemed to move as a group, but then they scattered, making it impossible to figure out how many were gathering or dispersing.

In such a situation, taking the offensive with the thundering Black Bass would be a disadvantage.

“Let’s go slowly, Jellypong.”

[Mong.]

Jellypong’s arms moved smoothly. Given their unknown level of danger, it was only natural to prepare for counterattack and offensive action.

‘Shoot rapidly with a silent skill. Since I can use camouflage, I should be able to survive at least one turn in the worst case.’

However, the more time he spent in camouflage, the greater the damage not only to Leeha himself but to all users across the new continent.

“Not many attack skills- Oh, right.”

As Leeha thought about avoiding the gaze of the unidentified flying species by hiding, something suddenly occurred to him.

“There were two more achievements…”

The four achievements he had earned by killing Toon. Two of them had already been confirmed, but the other two had not been inspected yet.

“It’s all because of that jerk Lark. Suddenly angering me— Surely, the name of that achievement was…”

Feeling awkward, Leeha cursed Lark before finally checking the achievement.

[Achievement: Fall of the Giant Monster Commander(S)]

Congratulations! You have liberated the human alliance from terror. The infinite number of monsters during the First and Second Human-Demon Wars weren’t what instilled fear in the human alliance. Nor was it the Demon King’s Fragment boasting otherworldly strength. What truly terrified the majority of the human alliance was the overwhelming appearance of the giant monsters of the Demon King’s Army! The Grand Commander of these giant monsters, the ‘Saurus’ Toon, was practically the embodiment of fear for the human alliance. But now, with the loss of their Commander, the organizational power of the giant monsters has disintegrated and their ranks have collapsed. The giant monsters, once the embodiment of terror itself, now fear you, the one who has toppled their Commander!

Reward: Dominion over Giant Monsters +50% (This achievement does not have a Hall of Fame.)

“Hehe, grade S, but what? No effect? No points either?”

Leeha was bewildered. In Middle Earth, where it was almost expected to receive stat points for a decent achievement grade, it was surprising to find a grade 6 achievement without any stat influence. Dominion over Giant Monsters? Is it similar to affinity with mystical creatures? But if it’s an achievement without a Hall of Fame, what’s with this ambiguous 50%, exactly?”

Having toppled the Grand Commander of the giant monsters, it should have straightforwardly given stat points, something like +50 points! Additional damage to large monsters +1000%! That was what Leeha had hoped for. But the scanty reward numbers and the ambiguity amidst them would normally have bewildered him. Very, very much so. But currently, he was not bewildered. Why? Because he had Lark, who infuriated and confused people even more.

‘Should I be grateful for this?’

Thanks to Lark, Leeha could look at the content of the achievement without being too flustered. It’s a S-grade, and it’s not supposed to be meager when he obtained it by killing Toon.

‘The only thing left is that there must be some secret hidden within the content of the achievement…,’

Leeha nodded and closed the achievement window.

“Alright! Whatever, I’ll unravel it some other time! Not now.”

And then promptly opened the next window.

[Achievement: Supreme Rule Over Emotions – Fear Domination(S)]

The oldest and most powerful emotion, ‘fear’. By leading ‘Toon’ to death, you have inherited all the dignity and achievements related to the fear he had accumulated over time. By dominating fear, your name alone will stop a crying child, and a single roar will cause all to tremble in fear. I hope and wish that you will use this might on the right path.

Reward: Stat Points 75

One-time Skill: Spirit Contract

Resistance to [Abnormal Status: Fear] +100%

(This achievement does not have a Hall of Fame.)

“Eh? Wait, Jellypong! Stop for a moment.”

[Mong?]

Dominating fear? Leeha read the description in the achievement window again. He was too delighted by the fact that all four achievements from killing Toon were S-grade to even feel the confusing emotions.

“Spirit…? Why would a spirit suddenly come up here?”The text mentions inheriting the power of Toon and makes references to a spirit. Could it mean that the spirit is related to Toon?

“Skills, skills!”

Leeha quickly opened his skill window. A consumable skill that vanishes after a single use caught his eye.

[Spirit Contract (Fear)]

Description: Those who inherit the power of Toon can forge a contract with the terror spirit. The grade of the spirit is determined by affinity.

Effect: Summon the terror spirit

Mana: 1

‘The terror spirit… really? Could it be that all my suffering was because of this?’

Was it because of the terror spirit? Leeha found himself feeling somewhat baffled.

“When I sniped for the first time, the moment I gouged out its eyes. Was it at that very first moment of eye contact with Toon that the terror spirit clung to me? No, that would be an [Abnormal Status], right?”

If it were an abnormal status, surely a notification window would have appeared.

Even if not, just as Leeha had seen other mystical creatures, he should have been able to see the form of the terror spirit.

“Hmm… suspicious. A consumable skill without any grade or level.”

Does inheriting the power of Toon mean something as sudden as being drenched in darkness?

While looking at the simplistically written skill description, Leeha shook his head slightly.

Even amidst his curiosity and agitation, Leeha knew how to make the best decision.

“I’d like to try it right away… but they’re watching. That’s a bit of a problem.”

Observing the unidentified things still flying in the sky, Leeha decided to close the skill window for now.

If he were to trust this description and use it, that time would have to be when he was completely safe.

“Heh, but my resistance to [Abnormal Status: Fear] is quite something. As expected of a 5th class reward!”

This was the type of skill most used by warlocks and the sorcery profession.

‘Now that I think about it, when I caught- no, when I say it like that, it sounds weird. When I caught that fire bear, there was a set effect from the items that came out of it.’

Recalling his faint memory of resistance to terror and flame, Leeha smiled as he observed how much he had changed since then.

I’ve definitely become stronger.

Certainty about his own growth.

That was what reduced the fear towards the unidentified creature.

“I’ve even earned the achievement for dominating terror, so I can’t just sleep on it. Let’s go again, Jellypong. First, to a place where we can see where those things land.”

[Mongmong!]

If he chose to, he could avoid it. But Leeha had a reason for heading that way.

“If there are societal life forms there… it’s likely a place where teleportation is possible.

Though he hadn’t found Elizabeth yet, if Leeha found an area where teleportation was possible, he intended to save it in the crystal ball and return immediately.

-Whoa,-hyung, Lark’s here again. Isn’t he just insane?

-What’s the situation with the paleos?

-About three mystical creatures have gathered. Judging by their speed, it looks like all of them will gather by tomorrow or the day after.

Having already made contact with Rubini, Kijung was avoiding the paleo groups as much as possible and fighting to destroy the monsters gathering for the 4th wave.

However, since yesterday, the one who appeared as a spoiler was none other than Lark and the Virtue Knights!

‘What in the world is ‘public good’? They clearly said you can’t attack the paleos… So why the heck is he dragging the paleos to interfere with Kijung’s group?”

Leeha furrowed his brow. He had heard something from Kijung.