Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

The signal for something gone wrong was to blow it short and sharp, three times.

“Uh huh-?”

This brief curiosity was cut short as the leader lost consciousness, logged out of Middle Earth with only that much of the memory left.

Of the eight mana nets that were supposed to be cast, only three had been deployed.

The Castilian Knights’ commander would undeniably be aware of this.

This was because the expanse of the delicate mana net unfolded in the air hadn’t even managed to fill a third of the Black Crane paleo territory’s area.

“What’s going on? Where- Who are the idiots not following the plan!” the leader of the Castilian Knights grimaced in frustration.

However, the knights, adhering to their principle of silence on the battlefield, found it difficult to respond immediately. Designed for the most secretive maneuvers and efficient combat, their reliance on hand signals and body language was proving to be a hindrance in this situation.

“Open your mouths, you morons! Speak up! What the hell happened!? Which squad messed up, and which one was it? Know that once we return, I’ll have your heads!”

Despite his roaring anger, nothing changed.

The plan faltering and the risk increasing was an unforgivable situation for him.

But what was even more unacceptable was the thought of failing so miserably at achieving the “Subjugation” achievement, especially when lesser knight orders had already obtained it.

Their only remaining option was clear.

Forward, ever forward. Now, they had to claim their achievements through sheer force.

“Charge! For-“

“Black Crane! Lead us all, let us give them a taste of their bloodied regret!”

Overpowering the commander’s voice, the resounding call of the Black Crane paleo tribe’s guardian spirit, huded, filled the air.

Black-

Crane!

What followed was, of course, an explosive festival of light!

As long as the skies remained open, nothing could limit the movements of the Black Crane paleos.

The Black Cranes transformed and soared into the sky.

They were not a tribe to avoid combat. Their ascension was solely to gain the acceleration needed for their descent!

“Rampage all you want, are you not primitives!

Not the Castilian Knights to be bested by you beastly fools!”

The commander of the Castilian Knights easily sliced through the beak of a Black Crane paleo charging at him.

Blood burst from the severed connection of nerves and vessels in the bird’s beak.

“Come at me, come at me!”

Another Black Crane paleo swiped with its fiery wings, which the commander parried with his sword, leaning back to dodge and counterattacking with the pommel of his sword against the Crane’s spine!

The commander proved his worth, defending against the attacks of three Black Crane paleos.

“Arrogance never ceases with humans! But, perhaps, that is the very nature of humanity!”

“Great bird-brain? Lucky me. I’ll take you down and correct this blunder.”

The commander raised his sword.

“Castilian Knights’ guardian beast squad, assemble! After we subdue this beast, we deal with the rest of these half-breeds!”

He confidently declared, eyeing Hudid with determination.

Though some squads had erred in casting their mana nets, it wasn’t as if there were no plans in place. With faith in their flight scrolls for aerial ascendancy, they believed they could have subdued a significant number of the Black Cranes. Above all, it was his confidence in being able to stop the mystical creature, hoodid, that had led him to devise this operation. He knew that if they could keep Hudid at bay, Joe, who had failed in casting the mana net, would work even harder to make up for his mistake.

“What are you doing! Spiritual creature defense team! Gather all at once!”

The paleos’ settlement was vast. It was, after all, their living space. Thus, the Knight Commander found himself unable to fully understand what was happening around him.

Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.

“The sound…”

Never take your eyes off the enemy you’re facing.

It was a sense of foreboding dire enough to break the knightly order’s primary teaching. How could there be no sound on such a battlefield? He looked around.

“Did you think we would be unprepared? I can’t begin to imagine how we’re going to return the humiliation inflicted upon us by beings like you.”

Flap-flap—

Hudid looked down at the Knight Commander with its wings flapping. However, the Castillan Knight Commander no longer had the strength to look back at Hudid. There were no more knights left around him.

The paleos, transformed into black cranes, were standing over their bodies.

“How… What…?”

His hands trembling, the Knight Commander took out his pocket watch again. It pointed to 19:47.

“Three hundred knights— in just 14 minutes… This makes no sense. We even had the numbers advantage. Not to mention, these were the elite of the elite! There must be something, something…”

“Burn.

‘Inferno’.”

“Ah- AAAAAHHHH!”

Hudid gave him no time to think any further. As flames engulfed the Castillan Knight Commander’s body, he rolled on the ground.

It took less than two minutes for the screams and the smell of burning flesh to spread through the paleos’ settlement of black cranes.

With a terrible noise, the leader of the Castillan Knight’s New Continent expedition turned into light.

“Hyung! Are there any humans left?”

“None. All confirmed dead. There’s another group of humans about 8 minutes away by flight, but it seems they have no intention of approaching.”

“They must be the ones on watch. They were supposed to relieve these fellows.”

“It seems so.”

Hudid clicked its beak, then, curiously, smiled.

“Speaking of which, isn’t there one human left?”

“Excuse me? Ah! Yes, that’s correct. Currently, there is one human remaining within our settlement, Guardian Deity.”

The big crane hyung of the paleos hesitantly nodded, then quickly affirmed. Hudid turned its head toward the center of the settlement, to the abode of the guardian deity—Hudid’s own dwelling.

“We have no more observers. You may come out, human.”

Looking at the large nest-like abode, hoodid called out to the human. In a place like the paleos settlement, where all _Human Affinity -100% had been achieved, the presence of a human?

If the Castillan knights who had just died could hear it, they would have been shocked to death, but the other black cranes showed no sign of objection.

“Huhuuu… Did anyone notice, by any chance?”

“Your strength is something we recognize, but our power is by no means weak.”

“Of, of course! When did I ever say that Lord Hudid and the rest of you were weak?”

The human who stumbled out of Hudid’s nest, momentarily flustered by Hudid’s playful teasing, then tapped the butt of their weapon lightly and asked.

“Did you not hear a ‘Sound’, by any chance? Plus, I was a bit embarrassed because my body emitted a white glow a moment ago—no, not level up, but you know what I mean.”Our ears are quite sharp. It was so minute that it was almost imperceptible to us, so you need not worry, Leeha-nim. Moreover, in a battlefield like this, no human would concern themselves with such a small amount of light, especially if they are as skilled as you said, Leeha-nim.”

The reason the Castilla Knight Order, even with their numerical superiority and their well-planned strategy, failed was because of one factor they could not have anticipated—the existence of the Shadow Hitman, Leeha!

“Is that so? Well, I did experience it during the test, but just in case. Hehe.”

Leeha gave a cool smile, glancing alternately between the tip of his rifle, black Bass, and the small bullet in his right hand.

The combination of a newly invented silencer, finished just this morning Middle Earth time, and subsonic bullets, reborn under the hands of Bottleneck,-hyungught about an outcome beyond imagination.

“Never thought it would be used in such a manner.”

Leeha reflected on the recent days he had spent fighting and exchanging blows with Bottleneck.

“Is this the final version?”

“I’ve tested it, but it’s hardly sufficient. It’s essentially an extension of the barrel, isn’t it? If it’s even slightly misaligned by 12mm, the bullet could shatter this silencer.”

Precision work, such as what’s needed to create an item where the horizontal and vertical alignments are perfect, was nearly impossible without mechanical presses, especially in a world lacking such machinery.

The more integral a piece is to connecting with a firearm, like small tooling not made of mere iron, the greater the demand for precision.

“Hmm, it looks a bit different from the drawing I made.”

“If I made that wing-like part any bigger, it would actually increase the noise. That’s because the elements that need to escape would not hit the wings but escape through the holes between them.”

“Well, since Bottleneck-ssi made it, I’m sure it’s reliable. Shall we start the test then?”

“But it’s not that simple! And even though the noise is reduced, it’s still not satisfactory!”

Bottleneck shook his head in embarrassment, but Leeha was undeterred.

He immediately attached the silencer to the end of Black Bass. The well-crafted item fixed with a pleasant snap.

The test site was next to Bottleneck’s smithy in Gaza City.

Leeha aimed the rifle at a tree branch he chose as an arbitrary target. The distance was merely 80 meters.

‘Let’s fire a shot.’

Phahaang—–!!

The branch Leeha aimed at disappeared without a trace.

At least the accuracy at close range was satisfactory. Most importantly, he was pleased that the silencer remained intact.

The fact that the path for the bullet inside the silencer matched precisely with Black Bass’s barrel meant, “See, I told you the sound is still loud. Is there no way to reduce that damned air-burst sound?”

“Hehe, that’s what I was saying. This alone won’t suffice. But, it’s impressive for what it is. This level of sound wouldn’t carry farther than 2 meters.”

“Wonderful?”

Leeha nodded to himself. The sound of gas expanding and pushing air, similar to a sonic boom, had a high probability of being heard beyond 1 meter.

“In a battlefield full of gunfire, it might not be heard, but this is Middle Earth. The sound, akin to the popping of a sonic boom, would be quickly picked up.”

The noise wasn’t loud, but its unique characteristics meant there was a high risk of detection. But what if the distance exceeds 1.56 meters? Beyond 21 meters? Or even beyond 3 meters?

Leeha was confident. A special sniper attack that could annihilate multiple enemies would certainly become possible.

“What use is being kilometers away! If that’s the range, the bullet’s speed would take priority, so there’s no need to worry! Wasn’t this made for close range effectiveness?”

“Ah, that’s the point. Did you forget what I mentioned? There’s something else that needs to be added.”

“Something else?”

“Yes. The process must either reduce the bullet’s propellant or lower the bullet head’s weight. [Subsonic Bullets].”

Because the bullet is sent flying too quickly, the gas moves through the air, pushing it outward.

Meaning, if the bullet can’t be sent out too quickly, the gas will naturally lose its force.

After losing its force, if the moving speed is less than Mach 1, a sonic boom would not occur.

Leeha had told Bottleneck this at some point, but it seemed certain the latter, consumed with his work on the silencer, did not remember.

To Leeha, just having made a reliable silencer was satisfying enough.

Improving the bullet would be quick work with Bottleneck’s skill.

Of course, what Leeha did not know at the time was that perfecting the improved bullet would require countless trials and errors.

The creation of the subsonic bullet with reduced speed was accomplished only this morning, after an additional day’s work.

Hardly had they finished this task (?) when news arrived from Blaugrunn, left in Juma City for intelligence gathering.

-Leeha-nim! The Castilla Knight Order will move to the Black Cranes paleo Tribe this evening!-Nice! … But wait, this evening?
-Yes. I’m not sure of the exact time, but it’s definitely tonight.