Matan’s Shooter

“Vampires-”

“The corpses have all disappeared along with the sun. Leeha-ssi’s friends have already left.”

There was a battle with the vampires, and it was already known that Prea had brought the corpse of a senior vampire.

‘The real issue here is whether it’s truly a senior-level vampire… but Prea’s information about the vampire deployment points seemed to be somewhat accurate.

The Eastern Expedition, including Alexander, utilized the daytime when the novice vampires couldn’t be active, proving this fact to some extent.

Even without getting too close, it was easily detectable with Baelifus’s magic.

Therefore, they had no choice but to comply with Prea’s request.

“Spirit of darkness! Are you going to release us now?”

“Today… vampires are coming this evening, right? Another scouting party.”

“Yes, ness.”

“Confirm that as well. I will inform the mystical creatures of darkness.”

“Kaaak! Finally! Finally, a contract with the mystical creatures of darkness!”

As Leeha sighed and replied, Prea cheered and jumped around.

Leeha was aware that Prea’s joy wasn’t solely due to the contract with the mystical creatures of darkness.

‘Prea mentioned that the spirit of darkness is the first in the shadow attribute spirit realm… Once she breaks the ice, it will be easier to find other shadow attribute mystical creatures, right? It’s not just about gaining one spirit. That’s why Leeha couldn’t hold back anymore, despite his reservations before.

“Well, even if Prea likes it, if the mystical creatures of darkness refuse, it’s over for her, right?”

“Oh my, how do you see me? Do you think that would happen?”

“I guess not. Phew, okay. Then, where are they now? Kaztor is probably already on the move to the East, and since Bluebeard and Chiyou joined hands, someone must be accompanying her. Who went?”

Let’s get some information.

Prea’s expression changed immediately upon hearing Leeha’s words. Before she could speak, Leeha added:

“They won’t accept an ‘I don’t know’ as an answer. Think quickly and speak as you know. If you don’t answer within 3 seconds…”

“Chiyou went by herself. Along with Kaztor.”

“-And then?”

“Is that the end?”

“… Liar. Chiyou went alone, really?”

“It’s true. Please check for yourself.”

Prea shrugged. She thought that strategically removing the dark circles under her eyes might not be a bad idea. It was easy to create a nickname and easy to hide her expression as well.

Leeha stared at Prea without saying a word.

Prea, in turn, met Leeha’s gaze head-on.

“So, where are Igor, faust, and Pyro hanging out these days? And what about Sasuke?”

Leeha was the first to speak after a while. Only then did Prea clap her hands in surprise.

“Oh! Oh! It was Chiyou who followed Kaztor, but others have seen him too.”

“That’s nice. Please keep me posted on that kid as well.”

– Mister Blaugin, keep a lookout around us.

– Yes, I don’t sense any unusual movements.

Even while speaking to Prea, Leeha inserted words only meant for Blaugin. It was a precaution against a worst-case scenario attack, but fortunately, no such attack came.

Prea did not respond in the same manner.

“Faust passed by here not too long ago. Seems like the number of Lich Dragons has increased.”

“… What?”

However, that was far from being good news.

“Bailephus is here, but Kidd, luger, you both need to provide support. Do you understand?”

“We’ve heard enough. We’ll do just fine even without you telling us to.”

“Double-check the number of Lich Dragons. Is it true?”

Leeha completely tuned out Luger’s whispers and effectively shut out Kidd, focusing solely on Leeha for the conversation.

The first urgent reason Leeha whispered to them was because they needed to be cautious with the presence of Faust and the Lich Dragons, but the second reason was due to the staggering number of Lich Dragons, which now totaled eight.

“Are you serious that there are eight Lich Dragons?”

“Of course! They are part of the ‘Divine Alliance.’ You seem to be out of touch with the news from the mainland, aren’t you?”

“I’m asking because it seems unlikely. While Minis’ Lark and Sunnara from Fibiel have crossed over, the surveillance isn’t as strict as before. Increasing the number of Lich Dragons unnoticed-”

“Oh my, do you really think only two countries have rare dragons in their territory?”

Prea didn’t falter under Leeha’s pressure. Instead, her one question left Leeha speechless.

Eventually, Leeha found himself speechless, facing Prea’s reversed intimidation.

‘Kraven and Shazrashian… Damn it.’ Among them, the most frustrating was Kraven. If it were Shazrashian, rumors of a dragon being ‘devoured’ would have spread due to his recent activities in the area. The fact that there were no signs of such an incident implied that everything had unfolded in the remaining country.

“I found out that they were heading towards Kraven with Phairo, so I secretly followed them. Wow, it was so cool!”

“Phairo… darn it!”

Leeha felt a bitter taste in his mouth and asked, “What do you mean by ‘cool’?”

“Yes! I don’t think I could have fought that well even if I summoned the fire elemental. I mean, enduring a dragon’s breath! And then putting a flame skill like a breath in the dragon’s mouth!? It was practically like taking down an adult dragon with one strike.”

Leeha wrinkled his brows, observing Prea’s boasting.

‘Has some kind of state similar to the secondary job advancement occurred through the fusion with the vampire, thus increasing fire resistance? Is that how the characteristics manifested in that direction? It’s difficult to understand at the moment.

The fundamental reason why Phairo could withstand the dragon’s breath was most likely due to the 『Fire Flower』 obtained from the Lava Lizards.

What did Phairo do for the Lava Lizards there?

Leeha thought that because he found it easy, others would too, but in fact, that incident was the trigger for Phairo to feel inferior to Leeha.

“Oh, right! Since Chiyou took two Richt Dragons, it counts as twelve in total.”

“The two taken…? Chiyou took two Richt Dragons and headed with Kaztor?”

“Yes.”

Leeha chuckled, raising his head. The two Richt Dragons taken by Chiyou weren’t arbitrarily chosen.

They probably had a high chance of being dragons that Leeha ‘knew’.

The dragons that Faust and Igor had raised when they were active on the old continent.

Why did Gustav chase after them belatedly? What Leeha was curious about was their ‘time difference’.

Chiyou and Kaztor had left a long time ago. Only after several days did Faust set off with Richt Dragon of Yuede.

‘Could it be… an internal conflict?

There must be something happening.

As much as something obvious happened, there was undoubtedly something beyond the visible events.

“Got it. Now that the sun is setting, make your way into the Dark Forest.”

However, with the lack of information, it was too difficult to determine what situation was most likely to have occurred.

First, deal with the current situation at hand.

Prea hid her body in the Dark Forest, and Leeha waited for the vampires there.”Blaugrunn-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“Can you confirm something for me? The chance of encountering a Dragon Rare Elite near the Amacraven nation is high, right?”

“A Lich Dragon… is that what you mean?”

With a nod, the questioning figure continued.

I need to know. Clearer information is necessary.

“Understood. Shall we head back now?”

“Yes. Don’t worry about me.”

“I will gather information on the types, grades, and numbers of dragons that have become Lich Dragons.”

Blaugrunn also soon ventured into the depths of the Dark Forest.

Prea might notice Blaugrunn and the inquirer parting ways, but that didn’t seem to matter to the latter. Eventually, when the sun completely set in Midl Earth, night fell.

Bet-yeah, bet-ia-ia.

A strange alarm began to ring in the mind of the inquirer.

Quietly, the inquirer raised Black Bass.

『Seeing Eyes』 were silently looking.

The inquirer bit their lower lip slightly. There were a total of five vampires swooping down from the sky.

“Damn it, I didn’t say there would be five, did I!”

There was no mention of there being this many, indeed.

The inquirer tried to doubt Prea’s intentions still, but given that everything was disclosed beforehand, they hesitated to scrutinize further.

“Even with Alexander and Bailephus there—yes, they were caught off guard, but facing 40, including Browlyss’ commander, was quite a challenge”, luger and Kidd said nonchalantly, but if Fernal had told the truth, the inquirer could also envision the battle in their mind.

Since each of them faced eight vampires, it wouldn’t have exceed five for Luger and Kidd, considering that one of the 80 strongest vampires recognized by the Ancient Dragon and the inquirer, ranking first, joined the fray.

But now?

“I have to do this alone. Should have sent Blaugrunn a little later.”

Regret was futile.

The distance from the bats was already about 800 meters, and if there were any skills related to night vision, the inquirer might have recognized them. Leeha aimed at the first vampire.

“But you guys won’t be any better than Bathory. In that case, you can’t beat me. Ahhhhh……”

The vampire targeted by Leeha was among those flying in formation. When facing vampires, especially considering the possibility that they might use skills similar to Bathory’s, the “first shot” had to be the Mana Evaporation Shot. No flames were emitted from the black barrel of Black Bass equipped with acidic ammo. The deafening roar just stirred up the area near the dark forest.

Leeha no longer paid attention to the falling giant bats. The vampires, upon realizing that the center bat had died, expertly maneuvered in pairs of two, dodging intelligently.

“Where! Dual Shot!”

Nevertheless, evasion maneuvers and spatial maneuvers were the methods Leeha had always enjoyed. Once he confirmed that the giant bats were also engaging in organized and strategic combat, ihana aimed Dual Shot towards the position the two vampires avoiding in the left direction. Even if they realized there was a sniper, it didn’t matter. Each shot of Dual Shot currently dealt about 38,000 damage. With a 15% additional damage from the accumulated achievement “Unending Discovery of Bloodlines”, each shot now amounted to approximately 44,000 damage.

With a total of 44 shots unleashing attacks of 50,000 damages each, it was impossible for the two vampires to dodge them all. From a distance, the vampires’ screams could be heard, but Leeha’s muzzle was now facing toward the right. The two vampires were completely turning around in the direction they had flown from. Leeha aimed at one of the two falling giant bats. The wind speed and direction encountered by self from the ground and by the flying opponents in the air were not the same. However, it didn’t matter to Leeha.

“Woosh!”

Distance approximately 830. The body length of the giant bats was about 1.7 meters, and the wingspan reached 10.5 meters. Considering its weight, inertia-induced sway, and the range of movement influenced by wind and shape… Leeha could calculate everything in his head.