Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Certainly.”

Lumi and Bahamut exchanged light banter.

Swoosh───────────────!

“Wowaaaaa!?”

The moment mana burst forth from their bodies, Ha Leeha was sent flying.

『Mew, myomyo!』

Jellypong quickly planted its tentacles into the ground to withstand it.

In the blinding white light, Ha Leeha momentarily worried about Blaugrunn, but the Bronze Dragon had erected a barrier and was watching Bahamut steadfastly.

‘A mana collision strong enough for an adult-level dragon to need a barrier.’

In an instant, the cave turned stark white and was completely filled with ice.

Even the boundary that once marked the cave entrance had disappeared.

“Phew…”

Ha Leeha sighed in relief.

* * *

『Interesting, child favored by Elaim. I have heard Ifrit, Sylphid, and Noas talking about the World Tree.』

“Uh, ahem, thank you. And… I apologize for being rude when we first met.”

『If it weren’t for the Queen, I would have―』

『Let’s leave it at that, Gerda. There must have been reasons.』

『I understand.』

Gerda growled, almost as if she were about to whip Ha Leeha, but Lumi interceded.

『We shall meet again if the opportunity arises.』

“Yes. I look forward to it, Lumi-nim.”

『Myomyomyo─!』

While Ha Leeha and Lumi exchanged farewells, Jellypong, separated from Ha Leeha, cozied up to the Queen of Ice and Snow Spirits, showing affection.

『Yes, yes. It reminds me of Elaim’s childhood.』

It was a vastly different scene from when Gerda had seemed intimidating, and Ha Leeha watched with curiosity.

“I’ve set my alarm, but… if the ice breaks, will it alert you, Lumi?”

『Of course. We can’t let the Demon King’s Fragment run rampant.』

“Indeed. If you don’t mind, would you like to have some tea and chat? It’s been a while.”

Bahamut spoke to Lumi with a smile. Although Ha Leeha felt it was like witnessing a senior romance, Lumi demurely shook her head with a smile.

『You know very well that I cannot. Gerda, I must be going.』

『Yes. I’ll oversee the children’s growth here.』

『Do so.』

Lumi’s form slowly turned transparent and disappeared. Bahamut waved her goodbye.

Gerda then turned to Ha Leeha and spoke.

『Ha Leeha, if circumstances improve, can you visit us again?』

“Me? Me?”

『To prepare for the undead legion of Pyrot Cocri… your terror spirit could be very helpful. Also, for the children’s growth.』

“Oh? In that case, sure. Anytime.”

『Great. I’ll inform you of the location next time.』

“Yup!”

Besides learning about the conversation between Lumi and Gerda, Ha Leeha also realized that there was a place near the Northern Ridge where the ice and snow spirits lived collectively.

‘Maybe I can leverage this information to get something from Prea later?’

Although this thought involved using the information for his own gain (*cough* exploitation *cough*), it immediately sprang to his mind.

『Well then… Lord Bahamut. Thank you.』

“Don’t mention it. It’s reassuring to know you are protecting the North. I hope you continue to do well.”

Gerda bowed to Bahamut and, like Lumi, started to fade away gradually.

After the ice and snow spirits had all left, Bahamut also began dusting off the snow that clung to his attire.

“Is this settled?”

“It seems so. If Lord hadn’t come… Oh, just imagining it is horrible.”

As Ha Leeha jested, Bahamut laughed heartily.

Blaugrunn quickly joined in as well.

“Certainly. With Lord’s power, Pyrot Cocri is just—”

“No, Blaugrunn. Even if I can manage a Pierrot-Cocri alone, if Le and Gibryde start rampaging, it would be difficult for me.”

“Pardon?”

Bahamut was serious.

Ha Leeha thought that Bahamut’s words were not wrong.

‘When Bahamut comes to help me…’

It was only related to the Demon King’s Fragment. Why was that? Ha Leeha had pondered this question intensely for some time.

The conclusion he reached was, predictably, balance.

The choices and flow were left in the hands of the user in the game. However, maintaining balance was essential within it.

So, what kind of entity was responsible for balancing?

At least, it meant that the Leader of the Metal Dragons, who were assessed as good dragons, had taken on that role.

“Hmm, can’t we call upon the Spirit Kings? Like now.”

“It’s not that easy. They can only use their full power from the spirit realm here for a very short time. It would be different if they created a complete body here, but that is impossible. Didn’t you visit the Dragon Palace? Even the Spirit King of Water, who donned the role of ‘Sea God’ there, couldn’t use even half of his power.”

“Ah…”

“Thanks to that, teasing Ellie was incredibly easy.”

Bahamut chuckled mischievously again.

For Ha Leeha, it wasn’t a particularly pleasing story.

It shattered the expectation that he might be able to receive help from the Spirit Kings in times of crisis.

It seemed they could only provide minimal help, making it hard to consider it a “Trump Card.”

“Then, Blaugrunn, take good care of yourself and continue to hone your skills. It seems you’ll be back to your former self soon.”

“Pardon!? I—I’ll bear that in mind, lord.”

“Wha?! Lord Bahamut? What you just—”

Shwshhhh—!

Bahamut disappeared without answering Ha Leeha’s urgent question.

In front of the cave entrance, frozen solid, Ha Leeha and Blaugrunn looked at each other excitedly.

“Blaugrunn… finally?”

“Recently, I’ve been feeling the fullness of mana! It seems the time has come!”

Shedding the juvenile stage and entering the adult stage.

In Middle Earth, for an ordinary dragon, ‘age’ would be the top priority, but Blaugrunn was an exception.

“Finally… finally! Ha! At last!”

Ha Leeha screamed inside in joy numerous times.

The moment the full strength of an adult dragon joined, the power of the “Ha Leeha Division” would increase severalfold.

“Alright, then let’s head to where those guys are.”

“Understood!”

With just a brief mention, Blaugrunn prepared to teleport to where Luger and Kidd were.

“I think we handled the Pierrot-Cocri side… Oh yes, let’s check the achievements given by Snow Storm and Gerda.”

〈Achievement: Cold but Warm Spirits (A)〉

Congratulations!

You have been acknowledged by the spirits of snow and ice. Not only must you be adored by water spirits, but also maintain a certain level of intimacy with wind spirits to reveal these spirits! Especially if acknowledged by high-ranked spirits, it means you know innumerable spirits and maintain close relationships with them.

Even in the middle of a desert, they can create snow and ice if you wish. Though they may act cold, their hearts are warm, so please don’t judge them just by their appearances!

Reward: Intelligence +10, mind +7

Ice attribute resistance +10%

“Oho!? As expected, it gives ice resistance. It’s a shame there’s no Hall of Fame, but… 10% is plenty! Now it’s 100%! Muhahaha!”

The accumulated ice resistance was 90%.

Even severely enhanced status effects couldn’t affect Leeha much at 90%. So, 100%?

It meant that he could now resist all status effects related to ice or snow skills, except for the physical damage dealt by the actual magic itself.

“With fire, if it lacks a physical form, it’s zero damage. Probably, even if an Ice Spear flies at me, I’ll just get the ‘spear stabbing’ damage without any additional ice attribute damage, right?”

Thinking most of the damage from ice-related skills came from the additional ice attribute, even if there was some physical damage, it would hardly affect Leeha.

“Preparation is complete, Ha Leeha-nim.”

“Huh? Oh, alright then, let’s go.”

“Understood. Teleport—”

Wiiing—! Wiiing—!

“Huh, vibration?”

But it wasn’t the sound of whispers. It was a tremor.

A very faint but certainly palpable tremor shaking the whole body.

“Wait—”

Just as Ha Leeha’s face contorted,

Shwshhhh…!

They teleported.

* * *

“……What kind of face is that for someone who says it’s all resolved—”

“Did you eat dung?”

Kidd and Luger asked upon seeing Ha Leeha suddenly appear. Ha Leeha couldn’t respond to their questions.

What was that final tremor?

“……Something’s strange. Blaugrunn, didn’t you feel anything?”

“Me? No.”

“Ice! The ice— no, it definitely froze. What was that?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? Speak so we can understand.”

Even as Luger pressed him, Ha Leeha found it hard to open his mouth. What if what he was thinking was true?

“No, it must be. It has to be. While Blaugrunn is skilled at mana detection, there have always been targets he missed—”

Blaugrunn had even detected the faint mana of vampires and necromancers. The things that even such a Blaugrunn couldn’t detect were invariably just one. What meaning did that last tremor hold?

Watching Ha Leeha’s darkening expression, Kidd took out a crystal ball.

“We’re going to the Eastern Continent. Ha Leeha, you should come with us.”

Kidd hurriedly suggested as if he had caught on to something. Only Luger alternated his glance between the two of them, frustrated.

“These idiots! So what the hell are you—”

“Luger.”

“—Huh?”

“And Blaugrunn.”

“Yes?”

“We might need to call the Lord again.”

At Ha Leeha’s words, Kidd bit his lip.

Luger’s expression also began to change slowly.

“An alarm… rang?”

Luger asked.

“It was a tremor. A vibration that shook the whole body. The kind you feel unconsciously when you see something terrifying.”

“Ha Leeha! What do you mean by that? And why do we need to call the Lord suddenly—”

Blaugrunn was the last to realize. As a dragon, Blaugrunn couldn’t possess the ‘Achievements’ won by the Three Musketeers and thus couldn’t see any of the explanations.

Ha Leeha explained, looking at him.

“Pyrot Cocri may have already come out of the Peklo City.”

“What!? What do you mean by that!”

Blaugrunn jumped.

Ha Leeha shook his head and revised his words.

“No, strictly speaking, Pyrot Cocri probably hasn’t awakened. If that were the case, lord Bahamut would have known, and more importantly, he’d have immediately headed to the New Continent or somewhere else, instead of staying here. So what we have to consider is, like the description of the achievement, ‘an undead that her figment or her influence reached’…?”

When did it happen? When the Three Musketeers exited, talked to Bahamut, and summoned Lumi in that brief moment? Did she already finish preparing to send her figment out into the world at that time?

“Bahamut thought Pyrot Cocri was trying to lure him, didn’t he? That’s why he didn’t even enter. Should we assume that Pyrot Cocri predicted this far?”

If Pyrot Cocri foresaw that ‘Bahamut would not come, and even if he did, he wouldn’t enter her abode but would use a method to freeze the entrance’?

If we think that way, Pyrot Cocri must have sent her figment out before Bahamut even reached her abode entrance.

‘And then hid somewhere, erasing her presence… only to appear after everyone returned to catch me?’

What if he hadn’t teleported? What if Blaugrunn, the helper, hadn’t been there?

Would she have left Ha Leeha, who was left alone, alone?

What was it that she sent out, and what kind of power did it possess?

Blaugrunn looked uneasy as he watched Ha Leeha, who closed his mouth and organized his thoughts. Ha Leeha swallowed once before he managed to organize everything.

“What’s important is whether it’s a figment or an undead influenced by her… someone who can use a part of Pyrot Cocri’s power—”

A game of moves he couldn’t even begin to fathom.

The game played by the highest-level NPCs in Middle Earth.

Here on out, he’d have to flee from such beings.

He’d have to fight against such beings.

“Means it’s out in the world.”

The Three Musketeers shared the same feeling.

Because it meant that even though it was incomplete, they would have to face all three Fragments of the Demon King’s Fragment at once.