Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

On top of that… Lark too thrust his sword towards Bluebeard. It was a strangely harmonious and powerful combination of forces, but Bluebeard’s attack was faster than these three events.

Unbeknownst to them, the black tendrils blossoming from his staff were already latched onto Kijung.

“Heh, heh…” Kijung gasped for breath. The black tendrils had certainly latched onto him. But that was all they did. A white aura enveloping Kijung’s body was perfectly repelling the black tendrils emanating from Bluebeard’s staff.

“Damn it…” Bluebeard’s expression twisted. On the contrary, the slash that Kijung had put his entire soul into had clearly burrowed into Bluebeard’s shoulder.

Instead of blood, dark blue smoke seeped out from the wound. Le did not look at Kijung in front of him. Nor did he look at his own wound. He was simply concentrating his gaze on the sudden appearance of lights in the air, trying to understand their essence.

“You dared to touch my kin, Le.”

“Humph, so the earlier illusion had this meaning.”

The figure suspended in the air was an old man with a long white beard. Tears welled up in Blaugrunn’s eyes.

[Lord Bahamut!]

“I was startled, thinking you wouldn’t come!”

“I wouldn’t have come for any other reason. To show Le’s face through the hallucination, even knowing I’d be caught by such a trick, you’ve grown wiser.”

Bahamut smiled at Leeha. It’s in Bahamut’s nature, the leader of the metallic dragons and a platinum dragon himself, to remain neutral and not to meddle in the affairs of the current world.

That means even if Leeha had sent a message, he wouldn’t have come. But what if Bluebeard’s face was shown directly? There was something Blaugrunn mentioned when he met Leeha after the latter had killed Toon: Everything seen and heard by Bahamut’s illusion is transmitted to Bahamut.

In other words, the reason Leeha used the hallucination at the start of the battle was all a stratagem to summon Bahamut.

Seeing Leeha’s splendid smile, Bahamut nodded. Watching this sudden peaceful atmosphere, Bluebeard’s face morphed into something even more grotesque.

“Do you think you can stop me just because your attack succeeded once and now an old man on the verge of death has joined you?”

Whoooosh-! Emanating dark energy from his whole body, Bluebeard leaped towards Bahamut in the air. Or rather, he tried to leap.

“Where are you focusing?! And for someone who doesn’t know who he is, you’re the one with a face more rotten with mold!”

“Gah!”

Not even the Fragments of the Demon King could resist Lark’s “Nerve racking” skill. The moment Bluebeard looked at Lark with a face full of rage, his expression twisted even more.

Just when Kijung faced Le, and Le had his gaze stolen by Bahamut, everything seemed to freeze in time. Only one person was pouring all their strength towards Bluebeard.

Lark!

The bright red energy that Kijung had intended to protect with his life remained condensed on his sword.

“Let’s see if you can withstand this, [Red-Sun Strike].”

Nothing seemed to fly out. Originally, Bluebeard, who had tried to leap towards Bahamut, ended up rushing straight at Lark, but he couldn’t.

Suddenly, his body was engulfed in flames.

“That—”

A skill without sound effects, visible to the eye or not. However, as the bright red energy on Lark’s sword completely disappeared, Bluebeard was burning. That was enough to greatly shock Leeha.

“That Bluebeard… he couldn’t dodge.”

He could neither block nor evade it. And that wasn’t all.

“Grrrrrr, you damned wretch! That sword- that sword-“

“My lord!”

Chiyou rushed to his side in haste, but she was not equipped with a solution either.

“Use a skill, any water-related skill, quick!”

“You idiot! Do you think magic will solve this?”

Bluebeard retorted angrily at Chiyou, attempting to help him.

Everyone, including Leeha, could not hide their shock at the suffering Le endured. Leeha’s gaze naturally shifted towards Lark.

“What on earth is that?”

“Well, it’s the feeling that no living creature can escape the sun, if it’s alive. That’s actually true, too. Sigh,” said Lark, shrugging his shoulders and slumping to the ground.

His actions conveyed a confidence that the skill couldn’t possibly be countered.

“Aaaaah, Lark, Lark! I will remember your name!”

Bluebeard swung his staff wildly, hitting himself.

Le shouted Lark’s name while frantically beating his own body, looking nearly insane from his frenzy. However, this seemingly meaningless action was not without purpose; every hit made the fierce flames clinging to his body weaken a bit more.

“Isn’t there anything else?”

“Do you really think now’s the time to ask me that? Use that gun to do something―“

“Ah, right.”

Even Leeha, momentarily dazed by the destructive outcome of Lark’s skill, saw everything reverting to pointlessness and promptly swapped his magazine to fire at Bluebeard.

Bang— Bang— Bang—!

“Roaaar!”

Yet, Le managed to fend off Leeha’s attack amidst the chaos, showing a desperation far from his earlier defiance, though ultimately ineffective.

As Leeha tried to reload, Bluebeard rushed him, leaving no time to pull the trigger again.

“Coming here, unable to even protect yourself, Le.”

Luckily, Bahamut was present. The moment his hand emitted a white light, Bluebeard was blown against the wall as if hit by a tremendous force. The flames intensified once more.

Bluebeard hastily struck his own body with his staff again.

“Haha! Lark! Holy Knight! And Bahamut!”

Below the blazing fire, a sizzling sound could be heard. When Leeha locked eyes with the flame-engulfed Bluebeard, he involuntarily stopped pulling the trigger, a chill running down his spine.

“Fine. It was fun. Just remember, I had no choice but to do this,” he claimed.

Le, previously engulfed in rage, now smirked through his burning visage.

“What do you mean, ‘no choice’ -“

“Chiyou! Let’s go back!”

“Where to!”

Whoosh—!

Although Bahamut quickly sealed the space, Bluebeard and the Demon King’s Army users had already vanished.

None, not even Bahamut, could accurately locate Bluebeard. Seeing Bluebeard through a hallucination but reacting too late was because he had already taken control of the space.

The power that even made Bahamut hesitate signified that, at least in terms of ‘space,’ Bluebeard had the advantage.

“Ahhh, they’re gone,”

Leeha, Lark, and Kijung all slumped down simultaneously.

“Whoo… But it really hit hard. Maybe I do have a knack for being a DPS?”

Holding his swords tightly, Kijung still appeared in disbelief, staring blankly into the ether. In Middle Earth, Master Kay became the first user to inflict damage on Bluebeard through a ‘normal attack.’

Middle Earth wouldn’t just stand by after witnessing this.

“Looks like an achievement worth noting. I wonder if Lark thinks the same.”

Leeha smiled upon seeing Kijung’s face, which had lit up in laughter after staring blankly into space for a moment. Lark, momentarily lost in thought, quickly composed himself, making the situation feel even more unjust for Leeha alone.

“Wait, could it be that ranged attacks just don’t work on him? Judging by Lark’s skills and Kijung’s attacks having effect-“

“Roooaaarrr.”

[Mongmong…]

What exactly is Bluebeard’s pattern? Is there a system setting that allows him to automatically dodge all ranged attacks? If that’s the case, does it mean that only melee users can deal damage to Bluebeard?

Despite Leeha’s attacks being no less powerful or swift than those of Kijung and Lark, not a single one had hit its mark, while those two managed to land effective hits.

As Leeha’s thoughts spiraled further, he was approached by Koma and Jellypong.

“Ah, Koma! Jellypong! You did well. You did so well. Are you hurt anywhere?”

[Do you worry more about the dogs than me, Ha Leeha-nim?]

“Of course, Blaugrunn’s got a thicker hide. He’s much stronger than them.”

[Cough, well… That’s true.]

“Then, shall we revert to human form—no, just stay like this for now. It’s better if we head back with the Lord later.”

“Why’s that?”

At Blaugrunn’s question, Leeha glanced at Lark. Would Lark realize that this dragon is actually in human form as Blaugrunn?

‘With his level of perception, he shouldn’t be unaware. .’

Yet, knowing for a fact and merely suspecting are worlds apart. At this moment, Leeha felt more inclined to keep his cards close.

“Are you alright, Ha Leeha?”

“Yes, Lord. Thank you for your help.”

“It was only natural. If it concerns Lei, it’s obvious that I would come.”

Bahamut descended to Earth and approached Leeha. His movement, fluid as if using a moving walk, momentarily made Lark flinch.

“In times like these, it’s clear…”

Bahamut muttered something about a significant nemesis possibly being involved, likening the situation to dealing with an archrival, perhaps a metal dragon from the same grand lineage.

Their short exchange was keenly observed by Leeha, who could sense the undercurrents of their conversation.

“That would be expected, wouldn’t it?”

Bahamut flashed a comforting smile. To his surprise, not only Leeha but also Kijung were astounded.

What exactly was the sword’s identity? How could Bahamut be so sure that Lark was not an ally of the Demon King’s Army?

“Do you know about this sword?”

“You’d probably know more than me. But still, what’s your relationship with Ha Leeha? Friends? Or as humans say, ‘comrades’?”

Lark’s teasing tone dropped lower as Bahamut let out a chuckle.

“Friends? Me, with that human—”

“Well, the concept of ‘comrades’ might still apply, Ha Leeha-ssi, wouldn’t you say? After all, we’ve fought back-to-back.”

“Quiet. There’s still a mountain of things I haven’t finished with you.”

Leeha sharply responded to Lark’s comment. Indeed, not everything had been settled yet. They had managed to protect the [Divine Staff], but there were still mountains of issues left unresolved.

“Well then, to the one who wields the Sword of Light and Color, let me offer a piece of advice. The same goes for my kin.”

Ugh…

“Are you serious? If you knew what this person has done, you wouldn’t be saying that.”