Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

However, she knew the possibility of that was low.

Her guess was that Leeha or Prea would be the ones coming up.

How many of those bugs had come up? The Bransylvania Castle was much taller and grander than she had seen in the game.

“We’re almost there. The item’s heartbeat is getting faster. Just a little more and—”

Chiyou was startled for a moment and glanced down below. The sound coming from afar was clearly gunfire.

“How many shots were that? I couldn’t hear properly because of the echo.”

It was clear that Crowley and Prea had started fighting Leeha. How many shots had been fired? Were there no special skill effects sounds?

Chiyou listened briefly, but she couldn’t hear any more sounds. Thinking that the battle was still ongoing, she only quickened her pace.

“Crowley, what happened? What about Leeha? Who else was there?”

“Prea! Report the results.”

Chiyou’s eyes widened for a moment. She bit her lip and quickened her pace even more.

The words felt hollow. The fact that both of them had “logged out.”

“No way. This quickly? Not even 5 minutes— Who came with them? Dragon? No! To face Bluebeard, there must be at least a few more people outside?!”

Through the report of the deceased Yamato members, Chiyou roughly grasped the group below.

Leeha, the dragon turned human, Ram Hwajung. And another person whose identity was unknown.

Even if the four of them made it safely to the vicinity of the castle, didn’t Bluebeard show up?

At least two people must have sacrificed themselves to buy time from Bluebeard. Maybe even three.

Then did Leeha single-handedly defeat Crowly and Prea so quickly… Oh! That, that’s right, didn’t Le mention that he couldn’t enter this place?”

The quest description clearly stated that. Bluebeard said, ‘he cannot enter this place.’

So did all four of them recklessly rush into this place, ignoring Bluebeard?

“If that’s the case, it’s the worst. I need to hurry.”

Chiyou’s heart raced. But time was on Chiyou’s side.

One floor, another floor. And another one. What blocked the open staircase so far was a bright red door.

“Alright!”

She immediately opened the door.

Creak…….

Listening to the creak of the caught latch, Chiyou held out her mini lantern.

What she saw in her eyes was still the same dark room. But the difference now was at the far end of her sight, there was a chair and a mirror.

“Are you here?”

There was a woman sitting with her legs crossed on the chair. Although she seemed to be speaking to Chiyou, her eyes were fixed on the mirror. In the mirror, images of the inside of Bransylvania Castle were reflecting, showing everything happening outside.

“Bathory…nim?”

Upon hearing Chiyou’s feeble voice, the woman stood up. She was wearing a garment that could not be distinguished as underwear or outerwear, with a transparent skin so fair that it could be described as almost luminous.

Clack, clack, clack.

She walked towards Chiyou.

“Perhaps the light is unnecessary.”

The woman’s face, frowning as if the light from the mini lantern was disturbing her, caught Chiyou’s gaze. Next to her lips was a charming mole, and her slightly drooping eyes had long eyelashes.

“Of course,” Chiyou turned off the lantern and put it in the bag. As all light disappeared, Chiyou could no longer sense the woman’s presence. There was no lack of anxiety. Chiyou swiftly employed his skills: the social dance that could predict attacks, and the whisper of waves that could sense vibrations in the surroundings like a bat’s ultrasonic waves.

Given Bathory’s cautious nature, it was only natural for her to attempt to discern her intentions. How could this be? Yet Chiyou felt nothing. Despite hearing Bathory’s footsteps, pinpointing her location was difficult.

“I see the ramparts… What did you bring? Who is this coming up now?”

The voices echoed from all directions. In the pitch darkness, Chiyou could not fathom which direction to turn to respond.

“The Count requests your presence, Bathory-nim. Though Ghibrid has awoken, the current situation does not permit his involvement, so he seeks to borrow your power.”

I would not be told such a thing…

“Here, this is directly from the Count.”

Chiyou remained composed, presenting his own matter and slowly pulling out the letter handed by Bluebeard. Though he thought he extended it in any direction, in a flash, the letter vanished from Chiyou’s hand.

“Fine. At least one of the failure conditions is overcome.”

If that letter, Bluebeard’s Call, were to disappear, Chiyou’s quest would automatically fail. However, now that the item had passed into Bathory’s hands, the probability of that happening had vanished, Chiyou concluded.

Hmm. Along with a rustling sound, Bathory’s indistinct mutter was audible. With an excited heart, Chiyou organized various information in his mind. He did not know what the content implied, not even Chiyou himself. However, the success condition of the quest was convincing Bathory.

“They say she’s fearsome, so it won’t be easy. But that’s what makes it fun, right?”

Chiyou was also known among users as a cunning strategist. Bathory had the confidence to persuade her, no matter how she reacted, and lead her in front of Bluebeard.

“If you’re curious about the current situation, feel free to ask me anything,” Chiyou said, confidently speaking first.

However, the next question from Bathory was completely unexpected even to her. Do you like Le?

Chiyou mulled over the question from various angles.

‘What’s the intention behind it? What’s the meaning of that?’

Who is this Bathory? What were the expressions that Bluebeard used about Bathory?

But she couldn’t come up with an answer in that short time. She was also a master of sophistry. She knew that if a question couldn’t be answered, it was best not to answer it.

“Would I dare to pass judgment on the Count in terms of good or bad?”

Indeed… So that’s why you were sent first.

Feeling Bathory’s voice somewhat weakening, Chiyou felt relieved.

‘Choosing this approach is indeed the safest. Surprisingly, there seems to be no animosity towards Bluebeard, so persuading should be easy—’

Clang!

“Yes.”

At that moment, a clanging sound rang out.

Contrary to Bathory’s demeanor, Chiyou sensed it clearly coming from a specific direction. When Chiyou turned her head towards the direction of the sound, a loud roar and rough banging accompanied it.

“Chiyou!”

“Hiyah!”

Tzaaah

Chiyou could see Leeha’s face clearly.

It was because amidst the perfect symmetry, there was a single glimmer of light.

“… A cute boy.”

Bathory was right next to Chiyou. Chiyou wasn’t surprised that she couldn’t read Bathory’s intentions. The light Leeha was holding was moving very subtly.

“I don’t know who they are, but let’s take them down together!”

Leeha hurled the fire and immediately shut the door. The moving flames followed a small line. The flame of the fuse being gradually extinguished. In Leeha’s hand were bombs made at some point.

“This is an in-” —

As soon as he opened the door, Leeha was filled with regret. But more than anything, I was doubting my own eyes.

Thoughts raced through my mind at an incredible speed.

“What in the world is that?”

Meeting Prea and confirming that there were no abnormalities here, it was a relief to have retrieved the Bifrost Potion.

Reaching the top floor triumphantly and igniting the bomb was also a good move indeed.

However, as he opened the door and hurled the bomb, the moment the flames illuminated the painting on the scroll, he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened.

“Wait, the gaping mouth— it looks like it’s aiming for Chiyou’s neck?”

Chiyou, startled by seeing me, and the ‘woman’ behind him, had her mouth wide open. The sharp fangs seemed poised to sink into Chiyou’s neck at any moment.

“Chiyou and an enemy? No, that can’t be right! Chiyou came all the way here to awaken ‘that,’ right?”

Above all, the atmosphere between the two wasn’t hostile. The expression on Chiyou’s face as he looked at me, and the one on the woman standing behind Chiyou, didn’t indicate an intention to fight each other.

What if I had opened the door just a little later?

Chiyou’s expression showed confusion about the situation he was in. Chiyou didn’t seem to be fighting ‘that,’ rather just being hunted, or…?

*Grrrooowwwwl…!

“It was prey. That was just a meal!”

By the time the explosion occurred inside, I could somewhat guess the identity of the other woman inside. The woman who was trying to sink her teeth into Chiyou’s neck. And the pallid skin. The movement to ‘eat’ Chiyou.

Several words swirled in my head: fangs, neck, vampire.

Blood.

“Blood Maiden! Bathory!!”

A cold shiver ran down his spine.

Surely, Chiyou had come here because of Bluebeard’s orders. But did he even know what role she was supposed to play here?

“Did he promise something in return? Even if he did, did she volunteer as prey, disregarding other sacrificial lambs, only because she asked for it? Did that woman go to such lengths? Even if she’s a Ranker, would he give up his life so easily?”

In a game, depending on what you might gain, you might sacrifice yourself once. If the conditions are exceptionally great. But that woman is Chiyou.

Considering the woman’s usual behavior, aah…

“She wouldn’t willingly give up her life because Bluebeard commanded it!”

In other words, Chiyou didn’t even know that he had been sent here as ‘prey’ by Bluebeard.

“What the hell is going on?! [Mana Clairvoyance]! I don’t have time to think about whatever this is anymore.”

When the heat and smoke had settled enough, Leeha swiftly opened the door and pulled the handle. Click!

As soon as one foot loaded heavily, Leeha aimed the crossbow, but the sight distorted completely by the magic used.

“What, what is this?”

Zhiing-!

What Leeha saw was the room filled with mana energy. It wasn’t an illusion caused by the heat of the explosion.

“Hyaaaah-!”

“Kryuk, Jellypong! Watch out!”

[Myoong!]

In an instant, Chiyou, rushing towards him, became clearly visible.

Although Leeha was unable to react, Jellypong pushed Leeha’s body with its tentacles to forcibly move him.

“I can see Chiyou clearly. But where is Bathory who was there just now? It’s not like she exploded. What happened? What’s going on?”

Did Bathory embrace the bomb, absorb the explosion, and die, causing Chiyou to retreat? However, there were no achievements to be seen. It was a dim room, but there was no sign of a lightened corpse.

At that moment, the mana energy filling the room gathered together.

“Umm, he was not a cute boy but rather a bothersome one.”

Leeha quickly recognized the figure taking a human form. Vampire mist form, it was a kind of skill.

“Hah, [Mana Vaporizing Shot]!”

A monster of an unfamiliar form using an unfamiliar skill had to be stopped. In a situation where an attack was imminent, Leeha immediately fired the bullet towards the ground.

The space was not very wide. Moreover, Chiyou and the presumed Bathory monster were relatively close.

“Within a radius of 30 from the impact point!”

As Leeha organized his thoughts, Bathory had already disappeared.

While focusing on Bathory, Chiyou attacked.

“What are you trying to do, argh.”

Chiyou’s attack was blocked by Jellypong’s tentacles.

“That darn tentacle item. Drop it and let me snatch it.”

“It’s not the time to blabber about that. Bathory disappeared.”

Despite Leeha’s provocation, Chiyou didn’t bat an eyelid. There was no clue from her expression to confirm that the monster present was Bathory.

“Damn it, I don’t want to fight with a smart person! [Gunblade Assault]!”

Hwiik-!

Along with using the skill, Leeha nearly unleashed the Black Bass. Of course, Chiyou wouldn’t get hit by such an attack. The mana blade gathered emitted a faint blue light, restoring some brightness to the interior of the room.

“Jellypong! [Battle Mode: Agility]! Kill Chiyou!”

[Myoong!]