Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Max’s voice, audible to Leeha, was that of someone in their late thirties, so at least 5 to 10 years must have passed.

“Who would tremble! Do you think there is a presence that would make me tremble?”

“There shouldn’t be. There won’t be anything stronger than you, the source of Matan, in this world.”

The source of Matan?

Is that what Zamiel is, the source of Matan?

“The source of Matan? Wait a minute. According to the legend passed down among the Dark Elves…”

Long ago, when God and the Matan made a bet, the power that the Matan used was none other than [Matan].

It was a device used to bind the magical power of God so that they could never descend to the mortal realm again, and to do so, [Matan] had to possess a power strong enough to turn even God himself into puppet.

In other words, [Matan] should be seen as the most powerful creation the Matan made, as the magic itself.

“Huh? What? Then if we calculate logically, is Zamiel not Matan? No, is it the name of the [Matan] created by the Matan?”

Whatever it was, one thing was certain: it was not just a simple observer.

“Well, even if you go there, Max, there won’t be what you want.”

“How do you know what I want?”

Max’s movements, which were swift, slowed down slightly. With Leeha inside Max, he could feel it properly.

The reason for the slowed movements was tension.

Max was anxious that Zamiel might catch onto his thoughts.

“The seventh power that God couldn’t use. The object that embodies it, that’s what you’re looking for. Do you think fools like Dark Elves would know about that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Max clenched his voice.

Though the words that came out of Leeha’s mouth were biting, he could at least feel one thing clearly.

“Max-ssi! You really can’t act!”

It was clearly a lie to anyone. Zamiel’s laughter echoed wildly in the dark forest.

“If that object exists, it might be able to drive me away, right? Huh? Well, okay, I can’t stop you anyway. But you’ve already taken five steps. Do you think you can finish with just one step to get what you want? You should at least take one step within a week to alleviate the pain!”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Hehe, if you take just two steps, you’re done! I’ll take your soul! Remember that clearly! Shwaaahhh!”

In an instant, something came hurtling towards Leeha.

=Now, even those of you watching, listen.=

“Ahhhhhh——!”

That was the last straw. When faced with the bizarre face, Leeha’s vision darkened.

“Ha Leeha-nim! Ha Leeha-nim!”

Blaugrunn shook Leeha to wake him up.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

“Haah, haah.”

“Ugh- What’s happening, what’s going on…?”

The three musketeers all stood up simultaneously, gripping their weapons tightly. However, the surroundings were nothing but Fibiel Palace, the Mage Corps’s Research Lab.

“What happened? Are you okay? We were shocked when you suddenly collapsed!”

“I collapsed?”

“Yes! What kind of magic was that?”

“Hmm, magic. Probably…”

“Memory replay. It was memory replay, Dragon.”

Kidd replied calmly to Blaugrunn. But from the way he nervously took off his hat, it was evident that he was also quite tense. Luger was still restlessly looking around.

Leeha confirmed while observing their reactions. It wasn’t just him who had synced with Max’s actions. They must have all experienced everything about ‘Max Hescok’ that they saw, heard, and felt.

‘Even the face of Zamiel in the end.’

Trembling, Leeha shook. It seemed as if he was quite shocked, like being startled in a horror movie.

“Damn! I wasn’t even surprised to see Uncanny. Ah, maybe that’s why I’m okay.”

Watching the contemplative faces of Kidd and Luger, Leeha could speculate that his level of Middle Earth’s resistance might have played a role.

“But did they replay memories from the past? How could that guy, Zamiel, recognize us?”

“I don’t know. Whether he saw us or it was just part of the setting. However, if he is considered as the source of [Matan]… it’s entirely possible.”

“Is it enough?”

When Leeha and Luger asked, Kidd nodded.

“Just think of Zamiel as an NPC, capable of surpassing all limitations set within Middle Earth. Matan, which can hit us no matter where we hide. The source of Matan, Zamiel, discovered us beyond time and space.”

Listening to Kidd’s response, Leeha was able to roughly understand the situation.

“If there’s something in Middle Earth that you don’t understand, think of it as a ‘game’. It was something Kidd had said before, and indeed, it was the most effective way Kidd could handle it.

After organizing his thoughts for a moment, the first thing Leeha spoke was this, “And well, there’s no need to hide it, everyone probably understood it, but still, about the ‘limit of footsteps’…”

“If you shoot more than seven rounds, it’s considered that the user will ‘disappear’.”

“Hm, isn’t it just about shooting up to six rounds and enduring?”

“Luger, did you just see the same memory as me? If you don’t use Matan for a certain period of time…”

“There seems to be a penalty. A tremendous headache. It would probably make gameplay impossible for the user, right?”

As pale as Kyle, who had.

Even though Leeha didn’t explicitly mention, it was the perfect information to firmly confirm the assumption that ‘Matan’s Shooter’ was Kyle.

“So, how are you going to explain that gun now?”

“What, what??”

However, what still remained incomprehensible was the true nature of the rifle.

“The rifle used by Max Hescok were similar to the ones used by Elizabeth. You bastard, what story did you hear from Elizabeth alone?”

“No, no! I didn’t know either! Really, I swear! I swear!”

“You must be aware to some extent that those words are true, Luger.”

“What? Kidd, did you know about this?”

Kidd stopped Luger, who was about to rush toward Leeha again. Kidd brought out a piece of paper from somewhere and started writing down people’s names.

Max Hescok

Rhonda Brown

John Holiday

“Do you remember?”

“Of course I remember. Maybe it was Zamiel? He pointed a gun at those three people… or created some similar situation.”

“According to Zamiel, ‘Max Hescok, the most curious one, picked up the gun and inherited the power of Matan’s Shooter.’”

Following Kidd’s question, Leeha and Luger answered in turn.

“Hmm. In that case, how about this perspective?”Kidd nodded confidently like the teacher who had given him the correct answers, and beside them, he wrote down more names.

Max Hescok / “Elizabeth”

Hescok

Ronde Brown / Kana Brown

John Holiday / Liss “Browless”

Holiday

Luger chased after the names with his tongue as Kidd hinted at something.

However, Luger could only look puzzled.

“No way.”

“That’s right. This is the full name of the trio from the older generation. Headmaster Browless prefers to use a middle name as a nickname.”

“What… Really? I didn’t know that? Earlier, you said Elizabeth was not a last name but Brown is?”

“Luger, did you know?”

“Of course.”

“These people? They knew but didn’t tell me!”

As Kidd rambled on, he extended his index finger to his lips, implying that it was not that they didn’t tell him, but that he didn’t make an effort to figure it out.

“What’s important is not that. What does the Trio mean, and what does the long-standing connection of these three people signify? In other words, the Trio does not simply refer to our generation and the one above.”

“Uh… you mean-“

“That’s right. Right now, it’s in Elizabeth’s hands. However, we should consider that there is a high possibility that Elizabeth cannot wield Matan. If that were the case, there would have been signs. But throughout my time learning from Brown, there were no peculiar signs from her.”

“Um? Luger? What did you learn?”

“It’s a secret! Anyway! If even those three who are close to the ‘ancestors’ have separate attributes like [Penetrate], [Pierce], and [Hit]!”

Honeycomb.

Luger swallowed his saliva before finishing his sentence.

It was the action of someone fully aware of the weight of their impending words.

“If one were to be a Matan’s Shooter, there must be some connection with the three attributes, right? Simply put, it’s probably the sum of these three attributes, allowing the use of everything and even gaining the power of Zamiel along with penalties!”

“… That’s right. That is the essence of being a ‘Matan’s Shooter’…”

The three fell silent for a moment. They still did not have a precise understanding of what Matan was or what the power of the Seven Shots meant.

However, they could anticipate the extent of the combined power of the three.

“So… from a point 51 meters away… Luger can shoot 96 rounds in 2 seconds with his piercing shots, right? If he mixes in shotgun-like rounds, how many shots would that be? Around 1,000 shots?”

Hence, Kidd could not help but chuckle.

“It’s not like using cheat codes in a game…”

There were three people starting to worry about whether the game “Middle Earth” would disappear.

These three people delayed time for a moment in imagining a brief moment of happiness (?).

Then, they came back to reality.

“So, we need to check.”

“Yeah. We should go check.”

“Go? Where should we- Oh, right. We should go. To that place we couldn’t visit in our ‘dreams,’ in the end.”

Is the “Matan’s Shooter” really that amazing? That remains to be seen.

If so, why did Max Hescok struggle so much and suffer so much?

They already knew through indirect experience that there is no pink future.

“Jamill said it was the power of God. He didn’t clearly confirm it was ‘the sword.’”

“Come to think of it, this is Middle Earth. There shouldn’t be a ‘[sword]’ here. No one has ever said what it is.”

“If it changes shape depending on the user… then the power of God could also be a variable. If there is no pink future? What if Jamill’s penalty is hindering the pink future? Then erase it!”

The fact that all three people had similar thoughts was simply a matter of nature. And what they all decided to seek next was united by what they needed to find.

“The power of God.”

Kidd immediately reported to the guard.

“I have found books related to Kaztor. I request permission to bring them out for investigation.”

Kidd’s request was promptly reported. It took about a day in Middle Earth time for approval to be granted for the books to be moved to the Dark Elf Forest and for all translated content to be retrieved.

The three musketeers, after that, each prepared and agreed to meet again after a short break.

The next destination is the Dark Elf Forest.

“Whew… it’s almost time for our appointment.”

Stretching, he gathered information from community sites. Opinions on the selection of the Azwun Pope were still the most heated, but there were quite a few stories related to Romero and discussions about exorcism as well.

Especially among the users near the new continent [Divine Staff], the name “Ghibrid” was starting to be mentioned.

It was inevitable.

During the Conclave period, all Cardinals were not allowed to leave the Ezwen Papacy, except for one exception: Master Kay, a Cardinal and Holy Knight, because he was the Cardinal of exorcism.