Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“What… what are you talking about? What opportunity?”

『Look closely. At least if you are someone who will continue my name- you should know how our Paldrin’s weather is like- kaa-』

Shaaa——!

Light began to emanate from the body of the White Reaper.

Along with it, his silhouette, enveloped in light, began to transform. Leeha saw it. The rifle connected to the White Reaper’s Ghost was also completely fused with his arms, made of soul.

It was no longer something like the Mosin Nagant. The White Reaper’s right arm had turned into a weapon boasting an enormous length of a rifle.

“Eikon…”

『Long ago, there was someone who taught our people the proper way to use firearms. I have somewhat recreated the techniques and records left by that person-』

undefined
“What? The use of firearms- no, records? Ah! Ah!”

The basic rifle in the world of Middle Earth is a musket.

Why did the White Reaper have a rifle beyond a musket? Light began to gather in the White Reaper’s right arm.

“Just a moment! Could it be- Could that person you mentioned be- His name-”

『It’s strange. Even the records of the techniques passed down, no one in our nation has even received his name. Only… it is said he was the marksman. And this technique is a very small fragment that he left behind…』

“Marksman!? I knew it! So that’s it!”

Why did the White Reaper’s Ghost seek out his own people?

What was the reason why the Paldrins wished for them to come here? In a way, they were another form of Dark Elves.

“《Matan’s Shooter》!”

Another nation possessing the records of the Matan’s Shooter.

undefined
However, it was not just about possessing the records, but the nation believed in developing and applying them to suit their needs.

『Tracking and reflecting all eyes and ice, a single bullet to kill the enemy, 『White Reaper』.』

“What is that?”

“Light… what skill is he trying to use now?”

After the joint knights orders of the Shazrashian Federation created a Body Shield and started charging, Giant users who had hidden on the sides of the main path could safely follow behind them.

Karelin, who had been advancing with the knights at the rear, was also observing the light.

Slightly to the left of the frontal iron gate, at a spot where the boundary watchtower was built in the past, white light was gradually intensifying.

“White light? Could it be the dragon from back then?”

Karelin remembered the monstrous dragon summoned by Leeha.

If Leeha were trying to summon it for something?

“No, back then Leeha didn’t showcase the dragon’s power. They just summoned it and that’s it. It might have been just an imaginary dragon.”

It could be something that only appears as an illusion without substance. Karelin, unlike his formidable physique, possessed a soft and flexible mind. As one of the users working for the Shazracian Federation government, having such thinking ability was natural.

While Karelin and other users remained silent, chaos erupted among the NPC knights.

“R-run, we have to run!”

“It’s an Human Flesh Hunter! There’s an Human Flesh Hunter!”

The NPC knights not only caused a commotion but also started retreating, even throwing down their shields.

“What’s happening!? Who’s retreating without permission, knights!”

“Sir! Th-that’s not it! That’s the Human Flesh Hunter’s technique!”

“We have to run, especially on a snowy day like this! We’ll all die, oh, gods!”

Karelin hurriedly chased after them, trying to stop their retreat, but the 1200s couldn’t calm down even as they fell to the ground.

The names they shouted spread quickly to the surroundings, and many 100s started to panic.

“Human Flesh Hunter?”

“Didn’t they say he’s dead?”

“H-Ha Leeha mentioned it, right? Isn’t there Ha Leeha here? If it’s the Human Flesh Hunter – then they must be the one who completely wiped out our knight squad’s communications!”

The murmurs grew louder. Karelin bit his lip.

From the beginning of the speech, the Shazracian president had not said a word about what was here.

Even if there was something, the order was simply to advance towards it.

Of course, now that all the users participating in the quest knew about it, it was still all they knew.

Except for a few individuals like Karelin, most people were unaware of the fact that there was ‘someone else’.

The decision to hide Ha Leeha’s name was to avoid alarming those who were in awe of his reputation, but was there a more resounding name present?

Was the Human Flesh Hunter a name with such strong power among the NPC knights?

Shouldn’t they have avoided hiding it from the start?

“The snow is falling! It won’t stop!”

“The surroundings were covered in ice, ice, and snow-”

“It’s here! The Human Flesh Hunter are coming, no, the 『White Reaper』 are coming!”

At that moment, a light erupted from the front left of the giants.

Despite furrowing his brow, Karelin did not turn his head.

A tingling sensation as if the pupils were burning in the light, yet as one of the responsible parties for this war, he had to watch the attack of the ‘Human Flesh Hunter’.

A laser?)

Then he had to despair.

The light was not just erupting. The emitted beam of light aimed at the united frontline knights’ barrier.

Below, even the White Reaper were watching the scene unfold.

Strictly speaking, what the White Reaper’ skill, 『White Reaper』, shot was not directly at the barrier. It was the ground a little further ahead of them.

As soon as the laser hit the snow-covered ground, it dispersed.

The dispersed laser hit the snow piled on the nearby branches, turning into smaller branches.

Even hitting a single snowflake falling from the sky caused it to split.

It hit the ice on the puddles, scattering.

Just after a single laser shot, it almost instantly became uncountable.

No one could perfectly predict the formation of tens, hundreds, or thousands of other laser beams disappearing in less than a second.

“Ah…”

It was beyond spectacular.

White Death.

And White Death. What emerged from the hands of NPC possessing the same level of skills, honours, and titles was a masterpiece.

Then a question arose: “How could you only kill 542 in 100 days?”

『Who said that? Ah, those Krabavi bastards might have reduced the numbers.』

It felt more credible that they had killed 54,200 instead of 542.

Why did the Giants of the past Middle Earth try to erase the name of the ‘White Reaper’ while using the title of ‘Human Flesh Hunter’?

How great was the fear instilled by that name itself. Leeha once again realized. The vanguard of the giant formation, which felt like moving a massive wall forward, was already in a state of collapse.

The effectiveness of stacking shield or barrier skills could only be demonstrated when targeting the vanguard knight’s division of NPC and the gigantic shield he held. It was impossible to block attacks from all directions, not just horizontally and vertically, but in all directions, preventing both planned assaults and random counterattacks.

“Is it over?”

『No, it can’t be over.』

“What? Just a moment ago… If you use that skill one more time-”

『Haha, didn’t I say? In my current state, I can only use it once.』

Leeha closely observed Shimo’s face. Although there was a hint of a smile, he certainly looked more exhausted than a while ago.

“Is your soul tired? Or perhaps, is your existence fading away?”

When starting the quest 『Revived White Reaper』, he mentioned that his existence wouldn’t last long. Maybe his current skill wasn’t just consuming NPC but utilizing a certain energy to maintain his soul.

Suddenly, Leeha felt urgent.

‘It might be related to the Matan’s Shooter. And the content could be much more detailed and sophisticated than the Dark Elf village.’

Who are the Paldrin? How are they related to the Matan’s Shooter? They said the records and techniques remain, but the names are forgotten. If one is a Matan’s Shooter user, it must be related to the countless encounters with ‘extinction’.

What about firearms like the musket? Could it be related to the ‘Matan’s Shooter’s rifle’ with skills embedded? And the skill shown by Shimo just now?

“Matan… A reproduction of the technique itself. Or, as Shimo put it – ‘Childishly’ reproduced.”

There were more questions than answers. At this point, one cannot simply let him disappear forever. And the one with the restless mind wasn’t just me. If Leeha slaughtered users, the White Reaper executed the NPC Knight Order, and the irrevocable penalty for not being able to resurrect would squarely place the responsibility on the commanders of this war.

As the user in the most criticized position by the president, their minds were even more restless than Leeha’s.

“Karelin…?”

Leeha saw Karelin walking alone towards them. Karelin already seemed prepared for battle, yet his expression was not that of an enraged gorilla. It was more like he was trying to hide his urgency with a calm demeanor. As he left footprints in the snowy field, Karelin gazed at Leeha and the White Reaper standing there.

“Ha Leeha!”

“Karelin, it’s over now. Further slaughter is meaningless-”

“I know!”

“…Huh?

While Leeha was taken aback, Karelin had already finished his rough calculations.

“We lost.”

The war was over. With a single unknown technology, the entire Giant Knight Order fell. If they were to rush madly while carrying the corpses of their comrades, would barely five people be able to reach their intended occupation site?

‘The dragon didn’t even appear. Ha Leeha only used the dragon once to escape from the Lemurian Palace.’

Leeha’s full strength has yet to be displayed. And even if Karelin used such a strategy, it would have been difficult to evade Leeha and the White Reaper’s sniping, and overcoming the well-prepared Blaugrunn would have been even more challenging. Additional casualties must be minimized.

He knew that maintaining order and gradually retreating with formation was the best approach. However, Karelin couldn’t retreat. He felt that taking a final gamble was better than shouldering the immense responsibility that would fall on him and surrendering.

“Therefore, I will not call this a battle for victory. It is not a confrontation, it is a negotiation. As it would end if Leeha were to shoot me. To put it bluntly, it was a loser begging the winner and losing even the last dignity.”

“What? That’s nonsense-”

“We fought twice until now! And I won both times, didn’t I? I know that war and battle are different, but I can’t retreat like this!”

Karelin nearly lost his temper. However, since Leeha had retreated twice in their previous encounters, it was a skillful maneuver based on nonexistent facts.

‘Indeed… to become a member of the Shazrashian Federation, you need such eloquence, right?’

Leeha looked at him. He could somewhat understand Karelin’s position. How angry he must be. How unjust he must feel. He would definitely think that he had been defeated without being able to unleash his full potential.

“What are you going to do?”

“I have adjusted the zero points. If I pull the trigger, it will all end, but…”

Karelin grabbed the trigger but did not pull it.

“You mentioned something to me from the beginning.”

“Right.”

“Instill that name in their minds as a symbol of fear… To do that, I shouldn’t retreat, right?”

『Avoiding a losing battle is also a way.』

While the White Reaper was saying so, his tone was light. Leeha smiled at him.

“You’re saying that even though you don’t really want me to retreat. Anyway, well… They have that kind of style, those… people who shoot guns.”

“What, what do you mean?”

“Hehe, I’ll be back. Jellypong!”

『Myong-!』

Koma disappeared, and Jellypong, who had been slowly returning towards Leeha, quickly rejoined him.