Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Thud, thud, thud.

Ha Leeha felt a creepy sensation on his shoulder but fortunately, he didn’t strike back.

The presence he sensed moments ago started to move away with a swoosh, swoosh sound.

“Damn, that was close.”

He thought about how Jellypong would have retaliated immediately if he had acted hastily, and felt relieved that no one here knew him, then continued walking the path.

How many times had he bumped into skeletons, stepped on the robes of skeleton mages, and buried his face into the chests of zombies?

Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel began to appear in Ha Leeha’s sight.

Now that he could see properly, there was no room for mistakes.

Ha Leeha skillfully, but inconspicuously, mimicked the walking posture of the skeletons around him as he moved forward.

He managed to engrave the patterns around him into his memory and moved out of the corridor.

Hwaaaaa…

He found himself back in the grand hall he had seen earlier, the entrance descending into the underground chasm.

– Blaugrunn-ssi.

– Ha Leeha-nim! Where are you? What happened? Are you okay?

– Yes, I’m fine. Long story short, there’s an undead world below ground. It seems to be some sort of ruins.

– Ruins? Undead ruins?

– I have no idea. Could be from ancient civilization… By the way, I see a castle.

Ha Leeha avoided the undead around him as he spoke. As he approached the hall’s border, there indeed was a stairway leading downward as expected.

The visibility of the castle indicated that it was situated in the center of this enormous underground chasm…

– And also… if we are talking about just this underground space, it seems broader and larger than the Gorilia paleo’s underground city.

There were countless buildings surrounding the castle.

This place was a perfectly structured city inhabited by the undead.

Ba-bam!

An achievement window popped up in front of Ha Leeha’s eyes.

* * *

〈Achievement: First Discovery―Peklo City (S)〉

Congratulations!

You have discovered an uncharted location. The underground city known as Peklo, the “City of Shattered Souls”, is now open to you. Who created this place, where every undead exists? The collective behavior exhibited by the undead proves the existence of a higher controlling entity. Can you find the boss of Peklo City? Middle Earth is closely watching you.

Please proceed with caution.

Reward: 50 Stat Points

(This is an achievement with no Hall of Fame entry.)

“What the—”

Simple discovery achievements were rare, much less one worth 50 stat points and ranked S-class.

Was it because the cave he had entered was not important enough to trigger an achievement earlier?

“City of Shattered Souls? A place where every undead exists—”

Hooooooo…

A mighty roar echoed from afar, making Ha Leeha freeze.

The sound reverberated through the vast underground space, making it hard to pinpoint its source.

“What is that sound…? I’ve heard it before—yeah, that’s it! The ‘Eagle’s Eye’!”

However, it didn’t take long for Ha Leeha to identify the source of the sound. He maximized his visual zoom to look into the distant air.

Flying around near the castle was no doubt…

– Blaugrunn-ssi!

– Yes! I’m coming—

– No! Don’t come! Peklo City! The City of Shattered Souls! You can’t possibly not know this place! This is—

Ha Leeha swallowed hard before continuing urgently.

– A place where lich dragons fly! Do some research and contact me quickly!

Flying around the visible castle were not just one, but several lich dragons.

Ha Leeha quickly started descending the stairs.

What kind of place was this?

Who set up this enormous undead city, including lich dragons, and granted an S-class achievement just for discovering it?

“That’s it. This person…”

Was it the individual feared by Gerda, the top-grade spirit of eyes and ice?

A sense of foreboding pierced through Ha Leeha’s entire being, but he couldn’t stop now.

Blaugrunn’s whisper came back faster than Ha Leeha had anticipated.

– Ha Leeha-nim.

– You already found out?

– Come back immediately. I’m summoning you.

– What?! Why! No way!

– Peklo City, city Peklo! Do you even know what that place is!? Or how it even exists on the Ropaeo continent!? What on earth happened to the northern continent—

Blaugrunn’s voice was frantic.

For the first time, Ha Leeha heard such an anxious tone from Blaugrunn, as if chastising him.

– Why? What’s wrong?

– During the 2nd Human-Demon War, it was a place sought by numerous dragons, including the Lord, but never found.

More surprising than Blaugrunn’s frantic voice was Ha Leeha’s halted steps as he hurried down the staircase.

– The 2nd Human-Demon War?

– If Peklo City is indeed what I think it is, what I know it to be—

A place even Bahamut, the chief of the Metal Dragons, couldn’t find.

If anyone could hide from him, there were only three known entities.

One was Bluebeard.

And another? The other Demon King’s Fragment who had power equivalent to Bluebeard, Gibrid.

– There are three Demon King’s Fragments. Two have awakened. So this means…

As if confirming Ha Leeha’s thoughts, Blaugrunn spoke the answer.

– That place is the city created by the third Demon King’s Fragment. During the 2nd Human-Demon War, it tormented us with endless undead… The lair of ‘Pyrot Cocri’.

The necromancer who commanded all phantoms and undead.

The idol and king of all necromancers.

The one who killed all living beings and held them under her control.

Ha Leeha had heard that name before.

He found it in the archives about the 2nd Human-Demon War in the Royal Records of Fibiel.

‘It was definitely written there. Absolutely.’

Pyrot Cocri.

The horrific records associated with that name were abundant even from the brief moment Ha Leeha glanced through Elizabeth and Brown’s records.

‘Damn…’

An S-grade achievement wasn’t something you earned for nothing.

He should have realized it when he got an S-grade achievement just for “discovering the place”, unlike when he killed Toon or completed his second job change.

Why was the top-grade spirit stronger than the top-grade spirits of the four classical elements, Gerda of Ice and Snow, trembling in fear?

Ha Leeha cursed as he stared at the massive city before him. It was a moment when the phrase ‘no options left’ precisely suited the situation.

** * **

– Oh, oh, what should we do? Blaugrunn? What do you think we should do?

– Hurry, get out of there!

– But if I go out now…

He regretted missing this opportunity.

Of course, Ha Leeha had his own reasons for feeling this regret.

– … What if Pyrot Cocri hasn’t awakened yet?

– What?

– Luger! You heard about Luger finding Bluebeard first, right? Luger said that when he found it, it was sleeping in a bright red crystal ball. So if it’s in that state now, there’s still a chance.

Luger’s report went only that far. The truth was known only to Luger.

He couldn’t exactly tell the Ezwen Papacy that his attack had ‘triggered an effect’ on Bluebeard, making it seem as if it awakened.

– Are you serious? If Pyrot Cocri were awake, it would have ripped Ha Leeha into twelve pieces and turned the ripped pieces into undead—

– Exactly! See, it hasn’t appeared before me! If it hasn’t awakened yet, my attack might work. I might be able to seal one of the Demon King’s Fragments again! And if Blaugrunn comes, it’ll be even more certain! Or, if we call Lord Bahamut!

Ha Leeha felt his brain accelerating.

Sudden ideas formed a series of logical flows.

Starting from the premise that Pyrot Cocri wasn’t awakened yet, he wondered if there might be some way to completely destroy or strengthen the seal on the Demon King’s Fragment.

Blaugrunn couldn’t argue against that.

As Blaugrunn himself had said, if Pyrot Cocri were fully awakened, it would have sensed the presence of a ‘living being’ infiltrating the undead city of Peklo City. It would have appeared before Ha Leeha immediately upon sensing something unusual.

– Couldn’t we do it? A crisis can become an opportunity, Blaugrunn.

Among the three Demon King’s Fragment, the only one that was fully active was Bluebeard.

Gibrid was still in the process of recovering strength.

Yet, just one not fully recovered Gibrid made life incredibly difficult for all users and human NPCs.

If, in such a situation, Pyrot Cocri awakens, it could lead to the defeat of the Sacred Alliance and the Human Union.

‘Moreover, this is the Old Continent. That would be the worst.’

All the strongest forces of the Four Nations of the Rope Continent were dispatched to the New Continent under the name of the Sacred Alliance.

Even if they found Bluebeard and Gibrid, if Pyrot Cocri in Peklo City awakens?

Facing the Demon King’s Fragments rampaging on both the New and Old Continent would be extremely challenging.

‘So we must kill it now. Or at least strengthen the seal. Ensure it never awakens again, burying this entire underground city.’

It was impossible for Ha Leeha alone.

But wasn’t there a being with enough power to make the impossible possible?

– I’ll report to the Lord. But remember, never fight it alone. Contact me immediately when you find Pyrot Cocri.

The King of the Metal Dragons. Perhaps the Platinum Dragon Bahamut could do it. It might easily handle even an unawakened Demon King’s Fragment.

– Phew… Okay. Got it. Let’s start again.

Ha Leeha twisted his neck, cracking it.

The sound of the vertebrae cracking was audible. Warming up as a skeleton was undoubtedly abnormal, but there was no time to worry about such a triviality now.

‘Character window.’

Name: Ha Leeha / Race: Human

Job: White Reaper / Level: 257 (20.37%)

Title: Shadow Hitman / Achievements: 169

HP: 11,090(7,763)

MP: 3,765

Stats: Strength 864(+779)

Agility 4,295(+1,570)

Intelligence 615(+399)

Constitution 431(+305)

Mentality 253(+155)

Remaining Stat Points: 352

‘I could use these stat points.’

The recent S-grade achievement awarded him a whopping 50 points.

In total, the accumulated number was 352. Excluding the S-grade rewards, he still had over 300 stat points left.

‘I intended to use them judiciously when needed… not even knowing the prerequisites for White Reaper.’

He would have moved without a second thought under normal circumstances.

But given the place and the opponent, he knew better than anyone that it would be foolish.

‘105 points into Agility. That makes it 4,400 agility, making it a total of 44 rounds of Multi-Warhead Shot. And 147 points into Mind. Total Mind is 400, and full MP is a total of 5,235.’

A near-instant 1,500 MP boost was an overwhelming stat allocation.

Even if a single use of the Multi-Warhead Shot didn’t work, he could use it twice in succession and still have enough MP left for an additional Mana Vaporizing Shot.

Despite this insane stat boost, he still had 100 stat points left.

Ha Leeha considered investing the remaining points into Constitution but soon dismissed the idea.

‘Jellypong can block 50,000 damage. Even if I invest 100 points in Constitution, if Jellypong disappears, I’m dead.’

He’d have to endure the attack of a Demon King’s Fragment.

So he decided to save the stats for now.

‘This place is recognized as a city, even in minute stat adjustments.’

He adjusted the distribution in detailed stat allocations, initially set for coordination of hands and eyes, to significantly boost movement speed.

If he could dodge even one attack from Pyrot Cocri, it would be far more effective than investing 100 points into Constitution.