Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Blaugrunn asked, noticing Leeha’s sudden seriousness.

“A greeting.”

“A greeting?”

“If we’ve received one, we should return the favor. That’s how human society works.”

With calm yet quick motions, Leeha adjusted the settings.

The 1/20 mm adjustments made rapid focusing nearly impossible compared to the past, but Leeha wasn’t bothered.

“I don’t need an 80x magnification for a 1.5km shot. I don’t need skills either.”

He readjusted the magnification so that Prea’s body filled the scope. Of course, his aim was always the head. This was not mere reconnaissance; it was a snipe.

Leeha opened both eyes. It had been a while since he last used binocular aiming, but it felt comfortable.

“Ignore wind direction and speed. Measuring distance…about 1,620m. No, 1,625m, wait, wood elves are taller than humans. Taking that into account, it should be 1,628m.”

With a deep breath…

“We’ve seen what you can do.”

And another sigh…

“Now it’s time to show you what I can do.” With the measurements down to the lm and the adjustments made for aiming completed, Leeha no longer needed to wait.

The only thing that moved was his index finger.

When Leeha’s finger pulled the trigger, a thunderous gunshot rang out from the walls of Juma City.

The time it took for the bullet to cross 1.5km was about 1.8 seconds, the massive amount of kinetic energy being felt before the sound.

Leeha watched the entire situation through his scope.

Prea’s body was sent flying backward by the shockwave, hitting Toon’s ankle and rolling on the ground.

Chiyou, startled, quickly hid her figure – a detail also caught in the scope.

The scene was immensely satisfying, yet Leeha felt a slight regret.

The bullet, aimed precisely at the forehead, unfortunately, did not exit through the back of her head.

“Indeed, a top ten tanker is different.”

Through the scope, a woman in a flaming skirt stood before Prea, glaring at Leeha amidst flames.

However, despite the fierce flames, the woman’s figure flickered.

Yet, her eyes remained fixed on Leeha.

“Is that Selena, as expected?”

Even while observing the subtle expressions of the top-tier fire spirit Selena, Leeha did not lose his smile.

“It’s a real shame.”

“Huh? What is?”

“If Black Bass’s ‘Enhancement’ had ended, I would have blown her away with one shot, top-tier or not.”

The flickering and pained expression meant what? The fact that she had sustained lethal damage was clear enough, so Leeha didn’t ponder long.

“Let’s see how the second shot does.” Having reloaded with a click, he fired immediately.

[Kahak-]

“Se-Selena!?”

The sudden impact followed by the high-tier spirit’s scream!

No sooner had Prea managed to get up than she hurried over in alarm.

“Hide! Leeha!”

Chiyou immediately hid behind Toon’s feet.

Anyone who had experienced one of Leeha’s attacks would instinctively react this way.

But Prea?

This was her first time witnessing Leeha’s attack firsthand. She could immediately tell the state Selena was in from the sparks before her eyes, but she couldn’t fully grasp what was happening.

[Prea, the barrier, quickly, a barrier-]

Hearing Selena’s fragmented words, Prea hastily concentrated her magic.

“No, Noes! Noes!”

Upon Prea urgently calling out the name, a giant rock formation appeared in front of Toon’s feet.

“Uwooooh-“It was a rock big and round enough to cover both Prea and Selena.

Thump! Crack^——-!

“-Hooo…..

And then, the rock shattered into dust, scattering in the wind with the appearance of Noes, the high-ranking earth spirit. It all happened in less than a second.

Confused by the situation she couldn’t understand, Prea shouted,

“Noes!”

If Noes had been even slightly delayed, the second bullet would have passed through Selena and shattered Prea’s skull.

“What!? What happened?”

[Hide, Prea. To think, such humans still exist-]

“Move back now! I told you to hurry! Move!”

Amid Selena and Chiyou’s urgent voices, Prea quickly regained her senses and leaped off Toon’s dorsum to hide beside Chiyou.

“Is this an attack? You mean Leeha attacked us?”

“That’s right!”

Even amidst the unprecedented attack by Leeha, Prea observed Chiyou’s grimace as she shouted.

So even she, who always maintained a poker face, would show such an expression in the face of an attack by Leeha?

[I’m sorry, Prea, I need to rest-]

With a hiss…

Only after burning the final flame, Selena returned to the realm of spirits.

“Selena!”

“What? Is she dead? A supreme spirit?”

“She’s not dead. But…

Since they reveal their presence in this world through the mana of spirit summoners, they don’t completely perish. However, given the circumstances, summoning them to this world again will be impossible for a while.

In her confusion, Prea didn’t share such details.

There was no reason to expose her weaknesses to Chiyou.

Even in the midst of chaos, they wouldn’t share all their information with each other—a method of conversation they had.

But normally, Prea wouldn’t have done so.

Her flustered demeanor now was evidently in contrast to the composure she usually maintained.

‘Was the clumsiness always an act? After all, a fool wouldn’t rise to a ranker’s position… Looks like she’s quite shaken this time?’

The attack by Leeha was that shocking.

Prea felt her mind become cluttered as she suddenly lost a high-ranking earth spirit and a supreme fire spirit.

‘What incredible attack power. If only I knew such an attack existed, Selena could have been prepared.’

She could have created an impenetrable barrier of fire, had there been time to prepare.

Had there been any leeway to prepare for the attack, she definitely wouldn’t have been caught off guard like this, Prea felt both surprise and regret at the same time.

‘Hmm, so that means that woman…

Prea glanced briefly at Chiyou.

‘She wasn’t interested in the Byulcho.’

Until now, it was hard to understand why she was so concerned about Byulcho. After all, Byulcho was the guild of a powerful elite minority.

‘Not just Byulcho but… was she observing Leeha to keep an eye out for them?’

While Prea pondered this, she was also wary of Chiyou’s reactions and concerned if Leeha’s attack might come from the side or if there was a way to attack them from behind.

As Prea was cautiously observing Chiyou, Chiyou wasn’t just standing still either.

Observing how the white-eyed spirit summoner would react and what she would do next was natural for Chiyou.

‘Even a swan casts a black shadow.’

It meant Chiyou also took an interest in Prea’s every move.

‘The more I see, the more interesting she gets. I should ask Sasuke to dig into Prea’s past. I’m curious about what she really wants.’

Different dreams in the same bed.

But in this case, at least Chiyou felt she gained more.

She recognized Prea’s capabilities, roughly understood her weaknesses, and found a way to weaken Leeha’s summons.

That was satisfaction enough. In the moment when she was still pondering the true nature of Prea’s identity, Prea herself inadvertently revealed a hint of her foolishness to Chiyou.

What more could she possibly want from this situation?

With that, Chiyou prepared for the third wave.Just when he thought he had secured the victory he sought, the very person who had thoroughly shaken Chiyou’s side was also releasing a chortling laugh.

“Haha, it’s like dealing with a ghost, I tell you. What popped out at the end, was it an earth spirit?”

“Noeanen?”

“Hmm, no. I’ve encountered the highest grade before; it wasn’t as splendid. Just a huge boulder, perhaps? Maybe mid or high grade? Anyway, it couldn’t kill Prea or Chiyou, and didn’t even touch Toon.”

Leeha focused his scope on Toon.

Toon appeared utterly unfazed.

Despite being an immense monster, it was impossible that Toon hadn’t felt the battle raging on right above its feet.

And yet, it looked like this!

‘Does it mean it can withstand any attack of mine? No matter how colossal the monster, is that even possible?’

In reality, Toon had withstood an attack. A dinosaur that lived even after a shot pierced through its eye socket. Were subsequent attacks within its tolerance?

Leeha, who had aimed at Toon’s forehead through his scope, could only sigh.

‘Elizabeth said before, if I fire a multi-warhead shot now…’

Leeha pondered deeply.

The fear of failing against a target already once failed resurfaced. Back then, he had not even reached half of his awakening.

And now, he was in his complete form.

This was causing him distress.

‘What if it dodges? That damned Toon, pretending to be doing something else but surely it’s watching us. It takes 1.8 seconds for the bullet to travel. Enough time for it to react.’

A closer sniping position was needed for the shot.

‘If I’m to do it…

It has to be from a distance where the bullet can hit within less than a second, assuredly and perfectly.

If the sniping fails after firing the multi-warhead missile, Toon might immediately start advancing towards Juma City. Then, the situation might not just be ‘The Third Monster Wave’ but could become ‘The Day Juma City Fell.’

The muzzle was precisely aimed at Toon’s forehead. His index finger perfectly touched the trigger.

A slight movement of his finger, and any kind of reaction could follow.

“Ha Leeha-nim?”

Should he pull the trigger? Could he pull it? Considering variables other than oneself, how much does the possibility increase? What about utilizing Blaugrunn?

After all, there were many rankers here. It is almost safe to say that nearly all of the Top 10 were gathered. Wouldn’t they be able to handle a frontal battle?

“….Ha Leeha-nim?”

Leeha’s index finger was slightly moving.

‘The Sacred Knights are also here.’

Besides the Sacred Knights, thousands of troops dispatched from Fibiel were not to be underestimated. The guerrilla capabilities of the Magical Battalion combined with Hyein’s space teleportation ability were also of an incredible level.

This was different from the last battle against the source of evil. Moreover, this time we also have the Matan’s Shooter, don’t we? Might it not be worth a try?

In Leeha’s head, endless simulations of the battle were running.

The outcome one bullet could bring, he couldn’t easily conclude his deep contemplation.

While Blaugrunn’s anxious voice buzzed beside him, Leeha, completely immersed in the world within his scope, could no longer hear him.

A single drop of sweat ran down Leeha’s sideburn, dropping off his chin.

And in that moment,

“Waaaah! What, what is that!”

Suddenly, a face popped out within the world inside the scope!

No, to be precise, it was the grotesque appearance of bulging foul scales!

To any ordinary person, it would have been shocking enough to involuntarily pull the trigger, but Leeha barely managed to stay his hand.

“Keke, it came and went, unable to hear the gunshot, I wondered what was happening… What are you doing here? I called out, but you didn’t answer, so I peeked into the scope.”

“…Biyemi-nim? And you are-“

At last, Leeha’s dilemma about Toon concluded. Or rather, he was forced to end it.

“Jijijan! Surprise—–!?”

“Petyr? Why are you…?”

Attempting to drape an arm around Biyemi-nim’s shoulder, Petyr, was met with Biyemi-nim’s temper flaring as she brushed the arm away.

“Shall we have a chat?”

Biyemi-nim said with a beaming smile.

“It seems like it would be a rather interesting story for Mr. High-Ha, don’t you think? Keke.”

“Buhuhuhuh, a surprise party, you say, a surprise party——!?”