Matan’s Shooter

“Huh?”

“What’s happening all of a sudden?”

Pei Wu, Hyein, and Lark were bewildered by the sudden change in the situation.

What was the light that suddenly pierced through Pyrot-Cocri?

It was an absurdly extraordinary shot to consider as a normal attack.

“It felt like something—something flashed! What was that?”

The attack itself disappeared immediately after hitting Pyrot-Cocri.

Because of this, raphael, who was focused on treating Argengmart, had no idea what had happened.

Rubini saw another shadow overlapping the flying dragon. There was no doubt that it was Leeha.

“Oppa!”

Ram Hwajung’s intuition, different from Kijung and Rubini, purely felt Leeha’s presence.

Even though there were countless differences in what the skill that hit Pyrot-Cocri was, where it came from, and how it was executed compared to the past, she believed.

Ram Hwajung ran to Argengmart and hugged him as he recuperated.

“He’s here.”

『Ha Leeha… Blaugrunn.』

The visibly exhausted silver dragon smiled faintly and looked towards the ‘flying dragon.’

Kijung couldn’t contain his laughter. The situation was still on the edge of defeat in practical combat.

But from now on, it would change.

“Ha! Did you see that? I said it would change! Whether one dragon or one person—it changes. Well, neither of them is an ordinary dragon or person anyway.”

Kijung already had the face of a person who had won the final bet.

“Kaaak— Kah, what!? What is this—what?”

Pyrot-Cocri looked at the hole in her chest with an expression she couldn’t understand.

“What is this!? I’m defeated by such a trivial—this trivial attack? No! That’s impossible!”

Shaking her head like a madwoman, she tore off her left arm.

As soon as it separated from her body, it turned into an unrecognizable mass of bones. She stuffed it into the hole in her chest and kept screaming.

“Attach! Attach, quickly! Attach! Fill up, I said!”

Even without one arm and barely able to maintain her balance, the girl, who was a Demon King’s Fragment, screamed wildly.

It was a grotesque yet somehow eerie scene that everyone watched with a stunned expression.

In the meantime, Lark’s analysis persisted.

“Is it like drawing the red line… It seems she can turn parts of her body into bones and use them to heal other parts. Pulling out an arm to fill the chest—it’s grotesque but…”

“It seems so. That would explain why attacks on lethal or instant death areas were ineffective—”

“Indeed, it might not have been ineffective due to the lack of holy power but because she was capable of internal recovery faster than the attacks.”

Lark’s assumption spread to Hyein and Pei Wu, forming a concrete hypothesis.

If her clone could do it, it was highly likely that Pyrot-Cocri’s main body possessed the same ability.

“Indeed… The Knight of the Rainbow.”

Lark was the first to notice it.

Hyein realized anew that the ‘Knight of the Rainbow’ standing beside her was a human widely notorious among the New Continent Paleons.

“Why—why isn’t it attaching? How come? What is this black thing anyway!?”

“Black thing?”

Kijung squinted, focusing on Pyrot-Cocri.

Although his vision hadn’t fully recovered, Pyrot-Cocri was close enough for him to see her clearly.

The hole in her chest was different from one caused by a conventional attack.

‘The wound surface… It’s as if something is squirming where the hole was made…’

Could the ‘black thing’ Pyrot-Cocri mentioned be that?

It seemed a bit too substantial to be smoke but still more gaseous than a fully tangible substance.

“Hurry—tear this, tear this thing out—”

*Bang*

Pyrot-Cocri’s head lost its support and dropped.

Only after the attack that completely severed her cervical spine were three gunshots heard with a strange resonance.

“Hyung, you were never an ordinary person, but now you’re even more unbelievable. Hahaha…”

Kijung, dragging his legs, stood in front of Pyrot-Cocri’s dismembered head.

“Wh— Why can’t— Why isn’t this attaching?”

“That… How would I know?”

Then he slowly raised his sword.

His mana was exhausted, his stamina was at its limit.

He had no skills left, and more importantly, he barely had any energy to move.

But the enemy was in a similar state.

The grayish body, flailing around, had already fallen backward, and the head, rolling on the ground, couldn’t even speak properly.

In that case, Kijung could handle it well enough.

“What!? Black― Black Bass? Your name is Black Bass?”

As Pyrot-Cocri’s eyes widened as though she had figured something out, Kijung gripped his sword with both hands and struck Pyrot-Cocri’s head.

“May you never wake from your eternal slumber. Haaah!”

The eerie sound of the sword piercing through bone echoed, and at the same time, light burst forth from the bodies of Kijung, Raphaela, Hyein, fayou, and Ram Hwajung.

From afar, another light was emanating in the night sky.

Bababam—!

The sound of achievement fanfare rang simultaneously in the minds of the six.

* * *

– Eong-ah. I’ll contact you after dealing with Pyrot-Cocri.

– Kijung…

– This is our chance. The clone is gone, and the five of us are all in good shape. Given Lubinu-nim’s guidance, we can’t afford to delay any longer.

-Alright. I’ll move as quickly as I can.

Crack!

Breaking the statue of the twenty-third vampire was weighing heavily on Leeha’s mind.

Kijung was waiting for his help.

He couldn’t join the party, but he could definitely be of assistance.

‘Just being able to detect Pyrot-Cocri would be quite helpful… but.’

Leeha opened Black Bass’s item window.

〈Awakened Legend: Black Bass (1st Enhancement―Lava)〉

(Non-tradeable)

Additional Effect―3: Awakes at 30% charge

Sleeps at less than 10% charge

Current Charge: 23.33%

‘It charged an additional 8.15%. Judging by the location Prea provided, there’s another vampire den nearby. There are about thirty vampires there too.’

Each vampire charged around 0.35%.

Even if the number was slightly less than Prea’s information indicated, handling that place would suffice to achieve a 30% charge.

Could he get there in time?

Leeha envisioned a virtual battle considering the current strength Kijung possessed and Pyrot-Cocri’s combat pattern.

“It’s not easy…”

Even adding Arzenmacht would barely balance it out to a 5:5 ratio.

If Pyrot-Cocri created other ‘undead’, the variable would likely work in favor of the Demon King’s Fragment.

– Blaugrunn?

– Yes?

– Please patrol around Arzenmacht. Don’t stick too close.

– Now?

– Yes. I do feel a bit reassured since Arzenmacht is there…

Several thoughts crossed Leeha’s mind.

‘I can’t give them any space. I fight within my range no matter what.’

Going now might not provide much help anyways.

Ultimately, the only way Leeha could become a variable on ‘Kijung’s side’ was by awakening Black Bass through a 30% charge.

‘And attack Pyrot-Cocri before she detects me.’

What kind of power would a 30% charged Black Bass possess?

More importantly, if today, which had just dawned, completely passed, it would mean a whole day in real-time.

‘If we go past midnight, the charge rate will drop.’

In the end, the only way Leeha could help was to wipe out the vampire den, achieve a 30% charge before sunset, and then find a sniping spot to shoot Pyrot-Cocri whatever may come.

Of course, finding a ‘sniping point’ was impossible without knowing where the battle would take place.

In general cases.

Unless you had a ‘mobile sniper platform’ like Leeha.

– Since Blaugrunn is nearby, I can always use Partner: Summon and go there.

– Even if you come, joining the battle isn’t advisable. It might be better to inform the Lord instead?

– Yes, of course, we should do that. I know better than anyone that I can’t do this alone. Ah! And if you find Arzenmacht and battle ensues… absolutely!

Leeha emphasized to Blaugrunn several times.

– Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely! Do not intervene before I arrive. Got it?

– Understood. I’ll head out immediately.

― Okay. I’ll try… to get there as soon as possible.

After sending Blaugrunn to the vicinity of Arzenmacht, Leeha headed towards the vampires’ lair utilizing Jellypong.

For Leeha, who knew where the vampire horde was hiding, it posed no problem.

“Jellypong, a bit faster! Let’s arrive before sunset!”

『Myongmyong!』

There was no time to waste on battles.

More importantly, as he had already ventured deeply into the eastern part of the New Continent, he would need time to reach the ‘Central New Continent’ where teleportation was possible even after clearing out all the vampires.

‘No matter how short… Ugh, damn it.’

Even with maximum utilization of Jellypong, it was still a journey of around 12 hours. Leeha found himself at the doorstep of the vampires’ lair, contemplating.

Was there no way to travel a bit faster?

『Myong! Myo-myong!』

“Already?”

The first stroke of luck was that, thanks to Jellypong’s three-dimensional maneuvering, they arrived at their target by shortly after noon.

Leeha cautiously entered the cave.

There were twenty-nine statues gathered.

“That’s enough.”

Click―!

The only thing left was to deal with them quickly!

Counting the number of vampires he dispatched, how many times did he pull the trigger?

Given that he had kept his item window open, he could tell perfectly.

Just as he destroyed the eighteenth vampire statue and shattered the nineteenth vampire statue.

Black Bass has awakened.

― Ah… Ahhhh…!

Amidst a drowsy and husky voice, Black Bass finally awoke.

According to Middle Earth time, it was just past 2 p.m., just before Kijung’s group encountered Pyrot-Cocri.

Upon concluding his nostalgic reunion(?) with Black Bass, Leeha started moving immediately.

Even if he moved as fast as possible, it would be past midnight by the time he reached the central part of the New Continent for teleportation.

That was Leeha’s second stroke of luck.

“Jellypong, can you throw me?”

『Myong?』

“To the highest place, with all your strength!”

『Myo, myo-myong!』

“It’s alright. It’s alright. We’ve done this once before. Go to the mountain top and throw me.”

『Myong! Myong!』

No matter how fast Jellypong moved, nothing could be faster than teleportation.

Nothing could surpass the speed of instant transportation, which required no travel time.

So, in a place where teleportation didn’t work, how could he move quickly?

“〈Snipe〉, 〈Joint Fixation: Upper〉. Jellypong, are you ready?”

『Myo-ooooooong―』

Jellypong wrapped its tentacles around the trees at the mountain top, then used another tentacle to pull itself with all its might.

It was akin to a ‘giant slingshot’ utilizing Jellypong’s elasticity and the sturdy trees.

“Let’s go!”

『Myoohoooo―!』

Bang──────!

With Jellypong’s roar, Leeha’s body soared into the sky.

No matter how fast a human moved, it couldn’t compare.

As he shot towards the peak, Leeha raised Black Bass. However, he wasn’t aiming at any specific point.

‘Maximum range 7,000m. It will be affected by wind direction― but it’s still faster than walking!’

He instead aimed at a slightly higher angle, taking an arched trajectory as he whispered the skill’s name.

“Nothing’s faster than a bullet. 〈Ghost in the Shell〉.”

He had confirmed that it worked in the eastern New Continent.

A skill that allowed him to move to the ‘bullet’s impact point’ with a single shot.

The Black Bass skill with a 5-hour cooldown was already active, and that one shot saved Leeha more than 10 hours of travel time.

* * *

― So, that’s how I got here. It was just past sunset when I arrived at the central part of the New Continent. Blaugrunn was around Arzenmacht starting from an hour ago. I teleported to him and flew here immediately. It would have been better to arrive a bit earlier, but I didn’t have the chance for contact; I had to shoot as soon as I saw him― tch.

Leeha carefully explained how he managed to get there.

Though he left out the details about the vampire hunt and Black Bass, it was enough to convey that ‘it had been an immense struggle to come all the way from the eastern New Continent to here.’

The problem was that, despite his explanation, everyone just blankly stood around.

TL’s Corner:

Imo, this is one of Leeha’s best moments.