Arcane Sniper 722
Ram Hwayeon didn’t think for long. How many simulations had already run through her head?
Ram Hwayeon smiled faintly and extended her hand, which Leeha grasped in return.
“… This time, I’ll have to do it myself. Alright, I’ll accept it.”
“Yes, thank you very much, ran Hwayeon.”
Ram Hwayeon’s face turned a shade of red for no reason.
They both knew that such an opportunity to subtly hold hands with Leeha was just the beginning. It was regrettable that Leeha hadn’t noticed the subtle signals at all.
“The eldest daughter of the largest conglomerate group in Hong Kong, Ram Long, being the leader of the 〈Partisan〉. Though there’s a slight difference in nuance… Given that she was preoccupied with such thoughts, it was natural that she couldn’t feel the touch of the hand she was holding.
Even after that, the old continent remained busy for quite some time.
Cardinal Romero, who became “Pope Urban II”, sent personal letters to the kings of each country, requesting large-scale new continent dispatch forces, with Leeha’s plan at the forefront. Due to this, even Pibiel, which was already preparing, had to urgently organize troops, as well as Minis, Shazrashian, and Kraven.
Leeha also had meeting after meeting with various spirits, including Koba, the head of the Western paleo tribe of the new continent, to introduce Ram Hwayeon and familiarize her with the operation, leaving no time to catch a breath.
“Huuu… Finally, I’m near where Hows-hows is located.”
Luger had enough time to pass through the Dark Forest and reach the place where Elizabeth and Brown were located.
“Of course, it wouldn’t be here. I know that.”
Luger pulled out the Cobalt Blue Python and inserted a bullet. He wasn’t here to look for traces of Elizabeth and Brown.
‘Hows-hows. The couriers of the new continent. I’ll use them to track Elizabeth.’
Where could they have gone? It was obvious when you thought about it.
No matter how fast they moved, could they have traveled just by walking? Luger’s thought was different.
“Ugh… Kyle is with them.”
A group containing someone with a frail body can’t move quickly. Given that, what could they have chosen to do next?
“Traveling using Hows-hows. The problem is those creatures… Unfortunately, those oddly shaped drone creatures don’t communicate with humans.
A new species that uses a language humans can’t understand but seems to understand nonetheless—perhaps their intelligence surpasses that of humans.
‘That doesn’t matter. The important thing is—hmm?’
Luger, who believed that pointing a gun at something would make any conversation possible, had no choice but to hide for now. Ugh… I smell something. What’s that?
The vicinity of the Hows-hows ‘depot’ had a different atmosphere than usual.
Luger cautiously peeked out.
“They definitely said there were several places Hows-hows used as headquarters. They said those places don’t change easily. It’s a waypoint for users in the eastern part of the new continent. But now… there were no Hows-hows creatures to be seen here.
Could they have moved to another depot all at once? That seemed inappropriate.
As Luger held his breath and looked around, a peculiar sound reached his ears.
It came from the air. However, it wasn’t the characteristic tentacle sound of Hows-hows, which rotates like a helicopter’s rotor.
Flap… Flap… Flap…
The sound of something much larger than a bird flapping in the air. Luger raised his head abruptly.
“What in the world!?”
What was flying above the trees was a monster Luger had never seen before.
It had the head and body of a lion without a mane and wings like a bat’s membrane.
Their sizes varied, but the smaller ones had scorpion tails, while the larger ones had tails resembling snake heads, flying through the sky.
“There are not just one or two. These are monsters I didn’t see the last time I came. Have new monsters spawned all of a sudden? Or did Brown clean up the surroundings last time?”
Usually, Luger would have said, ‘A new creature, huh? Spit it all out and die!’ and fired, but now, he had to remain quiet.
His animal instincts were telling him so.
Although they were new monsters, they were undoubtedly dangerous.
“There are many of them. Just from the fleeting shadows, there are more than twenty. I have no choice but to bypass them. As carefully as possible.”
Luger lowered his stance while watching the sky.
His intention to move quietly and avoid making any noise was shattered in an instant.
Crack… Crack! Boom…~
The sound coming from afar was definitely not normal noise.
Should he consider it the sound of footsteps? However, Luger didn’t want to think about it.
It sounded more like the noise made by a giant machine bulldozing through the forest itself than footsteps.
“This isn’t a place where construction or anything similar would occur. And suddenly, in a place where even large monsters don’t inhabit?”
The difference from the last time was too stark! Could it be that things change so much depending on whether Brown and Elizabeth are present or not?
Luger didn’t think so. It was natural to suspect a connection between the absence of the Hows-hows creatures and the sudden appearance of these monsters.
“〈Hawk Eyes〉”
Luger wasn’t an heir to 『Accuracy』, but he had at least one skill related to scouting.
Activating Hawk Eyes, which provided enough effect, albeit less potent than Eagle Eyes, he caught sight of a ‘group’ in the distance.
“That… What is that…?”
However, Luger couldn’t put it into words. They were monsters of shapes he had never seen before. Monsters walking right next to him had different shapes and colors, making it impossible to identify what they were made of.
“No, I’ve seen them before. Not exactly the same, but I’ve definitely seen them. Those must be…”
Luger swallowed dryly. They were monsters he had encountered once on the ‘old continent’. Their appearance was like a random mix of various living and non-living things or monsters and flora and fauna.
Though it was impossible to figure out their original forms, that was precisely the ‘feature’ of these monsters!
“Chimera. The most intact being is probably the one leading those Chimeras.”
The Chimeras seemed indifferent to whether there was a forest or not. They just kept walking straight.
If there was a tree, they crushed it, if there was a rock, they corroded it, if there was an animal, they devoured it. At the forefront of those Chimeras was the only recognizable monster.
『A… Human…?』
Wrapped in bandages, it looked at Luger and spoke.
“Words? A talking Chimera? Are you the leader?”
Luger swallowed. His instincts already presented the ‘result’. In the sky was an unknown flying monster. Ahead was an incredibly powerful monster and an unidentifiable group.
He was in the new continent’s eastern region, where spatial movement was impossible.
‘I won’t be able to leave this place. I won’t be able to escape from that unknown monster.’
“But that doesn’t mean I can run away. I need to at least land a blow to feel less regretful about dying.”
Luger moved quickly.
After removing the originally inserted bullet, he rapidly pulled out a new type of bullet from his bag and loaded it into the barrel.
The new attack method that had surprised Leeha and Kidd in the temporary settlement of the Dark Elves wasn’t limited to just ‘skills’.
“Let’s see how much you can take. The distance is merely 180, set the timer to 0.18 seconds.”
Click!
With a slightly different loading sound than usual, Luger raised the barrel.
“I was told that I don’t need to hit it further, because 『Pierce』 aims to shatter the enemy and even burn its guts. Die. 〈Wing Stabilizer: High-Explosive Incendiary Shell〉”
The bullet, accompanied by a backwind, split as soon as it was fired.
The small bullets that emerged from the single bullet had little wings, ensuring they did not lose propulsion and charged towards the direction of the energy!
Naturally, with a flight time of just 0.18 seconds and a detonator explosion built-in, it was impossible for human eyes to track the bullet’s trajectory.
What Luger and the surrounding living creatures saw was just one thing.
Luger pulled the trigger, something was fired with tremendous momentum, and an enormous curtain of fire swept over the front, immediately!
“Ha ha ha! I already know that you guys are weak against fire!”
“Screeeeech—eeek—”
“Were you planning to attack from the air? How dare you target me! 〈Gun Enhancement: Anti-Air Cannon Bazooka〉”
Another enhancement system of Luger’s that not even Leeha and Kidd had seen.
An attack mode of 〈Cobalt Blue Python〉 specialized for flying monsters evolved from field artillery and howitzers!
“Dieeeeee!”
Gunfire, gunfire, gunfire—
Luger fired haphazardly towards the sky.
Due to the curtain of fire generated in the front, the Chimera couldn’t approach, so there was nothing else for him to worry about.
“You bald-headed lion bastards, you dare challenge Luger—”
『Usable—』
“What the…?”
Rrrrrrr, amidst his frantic firing towards the sky, Luger saw a bizarre scene.
The curtains of fire he had seen at the edge of his vision began to be extinguished with a tremendous force.
“W-What? Incendiary shells can’t be extinguished with mere water or ice element skills…”
These special fires couldn’t even be extinguished by magic of water or ice attributes, the very shells he received from Brown!
Luger looked ahead in disbelief.
But he had no more words left. The bandaged mummy-like monster didn’t use water or ice element magic.
“That body… no, I sensed it from the first sight. You—”
Looking at the ‘jet-black lump of flesh’ forming inside the completely burnt bandaged human shape, Luger realized what the monster in front of him was.
“Ghibrid… a Demon King’s Fragment, 〈Chimera Nest〉.”
Ghibrid walked towards Luger, unconcerned about the fire. The flames in its path were all absorbed into its body.
『I will… personally… combine—』
“Personally? You will personally face me? Ha! What an honor. I’ll give you what Bluebeard got, 〈JagdPanzer Cannon—”
Swish—! Just when Luger was about to turn the barrel and use the skill, his face contorted.
He had been too focused on Ghibrid before him and had failed to sense the fast-approaching flying monster behind him.
“Ugh, what is this…?”
『Fusion of Manticore (Scorpion) begins.』
『Abnormal Status: Poison (Enhanced) applied.』
『1? decreases by 10% every 10 seconds for 2 minutes.』
『Abnormal Status: Paralysis (Enhanced) applied.』
『Unable to move for 5 minutes.』
‘A Manticore— no, what is this… without a healer around, I’ll just die!’
His vision blurred immediately after being stabbed. This meant the attack itself did not cause severe damage!
However, in the current situation with no one to help, the status ailments were fatal.
『Upon death, fusion with surrounding organic/inorganic materials occurs.』
『Upon Fusion with Manticore, special abilities are randomly determined.』
“Fusion? So Chimera Syndrome isn’t made by Ghibrid himself. Special abilities? Copy of—”
Despite experiencing this perplexing situation for the first time, Luger quickly grasped the reality.
Due to the poisoned state, his vision rapidly darkened.
『From Manti—— Ora…』
Through his darkened vision, Luger saw the approaching figure of Ghibrid.
Though his hearing was gradually failing, Luger could hear something landing next to him with a flapping sound.
“Get lost, Ghibrid— do you think I’ll die? I can explode you right now.”
『Good will—』
Dozens of mouths appeared on Ghibrid’s body. All of those mouths were laughing. They seemed satisfied with Luger’s words.
(Continued…)