Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

However, those were calculations that still hadn’t accounted for a few ‘variables’.

“Phew… The achievement ‘Butcher of 666 Beasts’ is quite unpleasant.”

Alexander, who had already unlocked the 〈Fusion〉 skill and arrived at the Red Zeppelin with Bailephus, interjected casually.

“What does that mean?”

Kidd asked.

Alexander, lifting his chin importantly, replied, “Ahem, it’s nothing. Just a record stating that I killed 666 vampires in the name of justice. Nothing much. Really.”

Luger glanced at him with an expression hinting he didn’t find it amusing.

“… Are you boasting about that now? Both you and Ha Leeha…”

It wasn’t just The Three Musketeers who had grown.

Alexander had single-handedly killed 666 out of the thousand vampires led by Chiyou. This was a remarkable achievement, enough to make Luger’s nose twitch.

Kidd realized he had to recalculate.

Considering Alexander’s growth attributed to this achievement, and the losses to Chiyou’s forces from losing 666 vampires, what then?

As Kidd’s lips curled into a smirk, he realized that the results of this battle, previously seen as slightly unfavorable, should now be seen as almost equally damaging on both sides.

While Luger and Alexander were engaged in a back-and-forth about who had killed more vampires and questioning each other’s skills, Bailephus approached Leeha.

“Is Chiyou dead?”

Bailephus asked as Leeha finally gathered his thoughts.

“No. Kaztor is dead… but Chiyou seems to be fine. I don’t know how that happened”, Leeha answered.

Bailephus nodded gravely.

“I see. In that case…”

“We should find and kill her quickly”, Leeha replied with determination.

It was not the time to worry about the next stage of Black Bass. They had overcome the 50% barrier, and the charging rate would no longer decrease. This meant they would surely find a way to reach 100%.

That was what mattered most to Leeha.

Upon hearing Leeha’s words, Bailephus said no more. He knew that any more discussion at this point would be pointless.

Ulrek was also silent for the same reason.

“Conversations can wait until we reach Laputa. Just remember, we can’t enter Laputa unless we are tied to the Red Zeppelin’s tentacles”, Ulrek warned quietly. Even NPC Browless, along with the users, was taken aback by Ulrek’s calm demeanor.

—If that damned dino brat had helped us… so infuriating.

—Yeah, if only he had cast something like Toon’s area-wide dispel spell.

—Didn’t they experience it in their country? All their actions and thoughts are based solely on logic and efficiency.

Although Luger and Leeha grumbled, they knew Kidd was right.

They had already predicted that no help would come from them.

They hurried down and entrusted their bodies to the tentacles. Just moments ago, they had fought at an unknown altitude, yet now they were on a serene flight.

* * *

The flight towards Laputa continued.

Not being restricted by terrain and with the Red Zeppelin’s considerable speed, following the moving island still took quite a bit of time.

On the flip side, this allowed Leeha’s group ample time to discuss the recent battle and future plans.

Kaztor was dead, and they knew something about Chiyou.

They also needed to consider the variable that Elizabeth had become a vampire. However, Elizabeth and Brown were merely hostages related to specific individuals.

Ultimately, the most frequently discussed topic was all related to Kyle.

“Hmm… This is going to be a tough fight. 『Arcane Sniper』…”

“Yes. We have confirmed the power of 『Arcane Bullet』.”

Leeha sighed softly at the end of his sentence. Kidd was the one who noticed what he was worrying about.

“Can we really say we ‘confirmed’ it?”

“Indeed. Damn it, all I saw was a flash. Ha Leeha, what did you see?”

Even Luger grumbled as he asked Leeha, but Leeha shook his head.

None of them had captured the moment Kyle fired the bullet at Elizabeth.

They had experienced ‘Arcane Bullet’ right before their eyes, yet they couldn’t ‘confirm’ how it had been executed or how it was fired, which was clearly frustrating.

Especially for Leeha who possessed the skill 〈White Reaper〉, which utilized ‘Arcane Bullet’, it was even more disappointing.

‘When Shimo used 〈White Reaper〉, there was a delay. The light gathered sufficiently before it flashed and was fired. Moreover, you could see the laser moving, splitting, and expanding.’

Although it was an extremely short time, they could clearly see the ‘light.’

The trajectory and traces of the moving light, the overwhelming intimidation as it split and instantly engulfed their vision.

Even though it was an inferior technique, 〈White Reaper〉 had enough special effects to be called ‘Arcane Bullet.’

But the original technique, Arcane Bullet, was fired in such a futile manner?

‘Black, did you see anything? Or should I say, feel anything?’

―Kuh kuh, chaos and destruction, and forgetfulness.―

‘Huh?’

―If I swallow everything, that guy makes everything spit out. Kuh kuh… he’s a guy who loves to waste. How troublesome.―

‘… What are you talking about? We’re talking about Arcane Bullet here.’

―Yes, imprinted One.―

Leeha tilted his head in confusion.

Could he really communicate with Black Bass? Both Black Bass and Leeha fell silent.

‘Spit out… what?’

―Life force.―

Leeha had to shake his head eventually.

The expression ‘spit out life force’ itself was unfamiliar and didn’t resonate at all.

“So, the existence of Arcane Bullet is still shrouded in mystery.”

“That might not be the case, dragon.”

“You’ve discovered something, Kidd?”

With a sigh from Bailephus, Kidd opened his mouth.

While everyone was fixated on the blinking light effect, the ‘brain’ of the Three Musketeers tried to approach from a different angle.

“Elizabeth’s rifle disappeared. It wasn’t lost or dropped… it literally vanished.”

What happened ‘after’ the flashing light? What happened to Elizabeth’s rifle?

As Kidd described, it did not break, disassemble, or fall; it simply vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

“Just as Kidd described. Bess… her posture didn’t change. Her finger was still on the trigger.”

Browless, who had the closest view of her, added.

Only then did Leeha’s curiosity pique.

Elizabeth’s suicide attempt posture had not changed.

If ‘Arcane Bullet’ had strongly struck her rifle to prevent her suicide attempt, her posture should have wavered.

It would have been like massive energy striking horizontally.

Yet, there was no change at all. How could that be?

“… Annihilation?”

Luger muttered a single word but then shook his head and corrected himself.

“No… deletion?”

Luger’s eyes slowly turned toward Kidd.

The look that said, ‘Are you thinking the same?’

Kidd didn’t avoid his gaze. He only nodded.

“Deletion? What do you mean? What are you talking about?”

Leeha hastily asked as he saw the two Three Musketeers making eye contact.

Kidd whispered in a voice low enough that Bailephus and Browless wouldn’t hear.

“Think of what Middle Earth is.”

“What do you mean, what is Middle Earth? It’s a world—”

expressed through a game.

Leeha couldn’t continue his sentence.

Kidd and Luger felt it vaguely.

Perhaps, the ability Arcane Sniper possesses, that authority, is exactly this.

‘Permanent deletion of the specified target?’

It doesn’t matter if you’re in a sealed room. Distance is irrelevant. It is not affected by terrain features.

Arcane Bullet doesn’t aim to eliminate everything in its path.

It only eliminates the target that Arcane Sniper is aiming for.

An effect that satisfies all these conditions?

There is no such thing. If possible, there is only one way.

‘Delete… what is this? A command? Hold on— Then what about 〈White Reaper〉? If it’s possible on a wide scale?

That means Arcane Bullet can also be possible on a wide scale, right?

The bullet is just one, but if you can adjust its ‘range’?

White Reaper splits upon impact with snow. There are definite conditions attached to its division and expansion.

Leeha got goosebumps. White Reaper was a degraded version.

If there were no such conditions, what would happen when 《Arcane Bullet》 was fired on a broad scale?

‘Everything within the range… deleted? Without any conditions or restrictions? This is absurd!’

Leeha was too shocked to continue speaking.

It was somewhat consistent with what Black Bass had said.

— Heh, spilling life away. What a waste.—

The meaning of deleting something through a command meant extracting the corresponding data from the game program called Middle Earth.

Seeing Leeha’s gaping mouth, Luger and Kidd couldn’t say a word.

“We need to recalculate.”

Kidd, who had thought that the exchange of fire wasn’t a gain or loss for either side, had to revise his thoughts.

In the suddenly chilly atmosphere, no one dared to speak first.

A dinosaur watched the humans, who were bound by Red Zeppelin’s tentacles and lost in their thoughts.

GM’s eyes gleamed.

* * *

『Guo-oo-ooo-oo』

“What?”

“What, what is it?”

How long had they been flying lost in thought? Red Zeppelin let out a heavy wail.

“We are almost there at Laputa. We will arrive within two hours.”

Of course, that act was like a signal announcing their arrival. Hearing Urec’s words, the users felt a bit more at ease.

“There won’t be any more obstacles.”

“I wonder what we’ll find in Laputa! Of course, there will be a perfect map of the New Continent, but what else?”

Alexander and Fernand began chatting in high spirits.

Although Luger and Kidd, who had somewhat grasped the identity of Arcane Bullet, remained gloomy, Leeha was a bit different.

It wasn’t merely because they were almost at Laputa that his expression brightened.

‘There must be conditions.’

Unlike Luger and Kidd remaining gloomy, Leeha knew.

He had heard from Francis, the 《Arcane Sniper》 who had passed on 〈White Reaper〉 to Panrind.

‘I can only teach you this, he had said. It wasn’t because of the characteristics of the snow-covered northern Shazrashian. Rather… it is more accurate to interpret that, in that moment, in that situation, the only Arcane Bullet they could use was that.’

If that wasn’t the case, wouldn’t Francis have passed on all the secrets of Arcane Bullet instead of just 〈White Reaper〉?

The fact that he taught a skill optimal for the current situation implies that every Arcane Bullet likely has some sort of penalty or that each Arcane Bullet comes with its own unique conditions.

‘However, it’s unlikely there’s just one Arcane Bullet for snowy fields, one for rainy days, or one for underwater.’

It might not be conditions related to terrain or climate but something entirely different.