Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“The corpses have all disintegrated with the sunrise. Haiha’s friends have already left.”

It was already known that there had been a battle with vampires and that Freya had brought back the corpse of a vampire at the squad leader level.

‘Whether it’s really at that level is another question… But Freya did say that the vampire’s deployment point was mostly correct.’

Using the daylight, during which low-ranking vampires couldn’t operate, Alexander and the Eastern Expedition managed to verify some of this information.

Even without getting too close, they could detect them well enough with Baileyphus’s magic.

Thus, Iha had to listen to Freya’s demands.

“The spirit of darkness! You’ll release them now, right?”

“Today… you said another scout would come tonight?”

“Yes, Nes.”

“We’ll confirm that too. I’ll inform the spirits of darkness.”

“Finally! Finally, a contract with the spirit of darkness!”

As Iha answered with a sigh, Freya jumped in joy.

Iha knew it wasn’t just the contract with the spirit of darkness that made her happy.

‘They say the spirit of darkness is the first of the shadow attribute spirits… Once we open that door, finding other shadow attribute spirits should become easier. It’s not just about obtaining one. That’s the real reason I’ve been hesitant, but now I can’t avoid it.’

“Well, no matter how much you want it, if the spirits of darkness refuse, that’s it.”

“Oh? Do I look like someone who would let that happen?”

“Of course not. Alright, fine. But what about Chiyo? Where are they now? Kaztor must have already moved to the East, and since they’ve allied with Blue Beard, someone must have gone with them. Who went?”

Time to get some information.

Freya’s expression changed briefly after hearing Iha’s words. Before she could speak, Iha added more.

“I won’t take ‘I don’t know’ as an answer. Don’t think, just speak. If you don’t answer within three seconds—”

“Chiyo went personally. With Kaztor.”

“And?”

“That’s it.”

“…Lies. Chiyo went alone?”

“It’s true. You can check.”

Freya shrugged. Iha suddenly thought it might be strategic to get rid of the black sclera from her eyes. It would not only make her less easy to nickname but also easier to hide her expressions.

Iha glared at Freya without saying a word.

Freya met Iha’s gaze directly.

“Then where are Igor, Faust, and Pyro? What about Sasuke?”

In the end, Iha spoke first. Freya finally clapped her hands, pretending to be surprised.

“Oh! Oh! Chiyo did go alone with Kaztor, but I have seen the others.”

“That’s good enough. Tell me about that.”

“Blauegrun, keep an eye on the surroundings.”

“Yes. There’s no sign of anyone else.”

Even as Iha spoke to Freya, she whispered to Blauegrun. It was to prepare for the worst-case scenario, where they might be attacked right here, but fortunately, no such attack came.

Freya didn’t make any sudden moves.

“Faust passed by here not too long ago. There were quite a few lich dragons with him.”

“…What?”

However, that wasn’t good news either.

“With Baileyphus around, you guys better provide good support, Kid and Ruger. Understand?”

“I’ve heard those nagging words for over a decade. Even without you saying that, we’ll do well, so shut up.”

“Please confirm the number of lich dragons. Was it correct?”

Iha completely ignored Ruger’s whisper, effectively blocking him out, and spoke only with Kid.

The first reason for urgently whispering to them was that they needed to be cautious, especially with Faust and the lich dragons around. But the second reason was that there were a staggering number of lich dragons.

“Is it true there are eight lich dragons?”

“Of course! You’ve been so busy with the ‘Holy Union’ and everything that you seem to have no clue about what’s happening on the old continent.”

“I asked because it seems too unlikely. Even though Lark from Minis and Shinnara from Thiviell crossed over, the surveillance is still extremely tight. How could they secretly increase the number of lich dragons—”

“Oh? Do you think dragon lairs exist only in those two countries?”

Freya wasn’t intimidated at all by Iha’s pressure.

Instead, Iha was left speechless by Freya’s single counter-question.

‘Craven and Shazlashian… Damn it.’

One of them is in Craven.

If it were Shazlashian, where Iha had been active until recently, she would have heard rumors if there had been any dragon-related disturbances. The fact that there were no signs suggests that everything happened in the remaining country.

“I spotted Pyro heading towards Craven with them, so I followed secretly. Oh, it was amazing.”

“Pyro… Damn it!”

Iha cursed under her breath.

“What do you mean by ‘amazing’?”

“Yes! Even if I summon the fire spirit, I couldn’t fight like that. Can you imagine, enduring a dragon’s breath and then forcing a reverse breath attack on it? It was practically a one-hit kill on an adult dragon.”

Iha frowned at Freya’s exaggerations.

‘He must have merged with the vampire, resulting in some second-class job change that boosted his fire resistance? Is that how his trait manifested?’

It’s hard to understand for now.

The fundamental reason Pyro could withstand the dragon’s breath must be due to the obtained from the lava lizards.

What exactly did Pyro do for the lava lizards?

Though Iha usually assumed others could do things as easily as she could, in reality, it was that event that sparked Pyro’s inferiority complex toward Iha.

“Oh, by the way! Chiyo already took two of those lich dragons with her, so in total, there are ten now.”

“She took two with her…? Chiyo moved with Kaztor along with two lich dragons?”

“Yes.”

Iha tilted her head, not because of the two lich dragons Chiyo took with her.

They were likely dragons that Iha was already familiar with.

They were probably the ones that Faust and Igor created when they wreaked havoc on the old continent.

Why did Faust chase after them so late? Iha was curious about the ‘time gap’ between them.

Chiyo and Kaztor left some time ago. After a few days passed, Faust followed with eight lich dragons?

‘Could it be… an internal conflict?

Something is going on.

There was no doubt that something had happened. Whether Chiyo had done something public, Faust had other thoughts, or Bluebeard had given instructions to Kazutor, there was definitely something beyond what was apparent.

“Sir, I understand. It’s starting to get dark now, so please go into the Dark Forest.”

However, there was too little information to determine what was most likely to happen.

For now, let’s just deal with what was in front of us.

Praea hid inside the Dark Forest, and Iha waited for the vampires there.

“Mr. Blaugrun.”

“Yes?”

“Can you check for me? It’s probably a dragon lair near the Akraven country, so there’s a high chance it’s colored.”

“A rich dragon… you mean?”

Iha nodded.

I need to know. I need more specific information.

“Understood. Then shall we go back now?”

“Yes. Don’t worry about me.”

“I’ll figure out the type, grade, and number of dragons that became rich dragons.”

Blaugrun also soon entered the Dark Forest.

Praea would find Blaugrun and Iha parting ways, but Iha thought that it didn’t matter. When the sun finally set in Middle Earth and night came.

Bet-ye-ye. Bet-ia-ah

A strange alarm sound started to go off in Iha’s head.

Iha quietly lifted Black Bess.

were squinting.

Iha bit her lower lip lightly. The number of vampires fluttering and flying in the night sky was five.

‘Damn, I didn’t say there would be one!’

But there was no way there would be this many.

Iha still tried to doubt the true intentions of the bewildered Freya, but since she had already said everything she wanted to say, it was ambiguous to ask.

‘Even though Alexander and Bailipus were there – even if we were surprised, it was quite difficult to deal with 40 of them when there was even General Browless.”

Luger and Kid said nonchalantly, but Fernand told her the truth. Iha could picture the battle in his head.

They fought 8 vampires per person, but since there was an Ancient Dragon, one of the strongest 080s recognized by Iha, and the number 1 ranked one, Luger and Kid probably fought no more than 5 each.

But now?

‘I have to do this alone. Should I have sent Blaugrun a little later?’ It’s no use regretting it.

The distance between the bats is already about 800d, and if they have a skill related to night vision, they might have recognized Iha.

Iha aimed at the first vampire. “But you’re not as good as Bathory, are you? If that’s the case,”

You can’t beat me.

Haaaaahhhhhh… … .

The vampire Iha aimed at was the one in the middle of the formation flight.

When fighting vampires, especially considering the possibility that they’d use skills similar to Bathory, this had to be the ‘first bullet’.

“.”

No flames were sprayed from the muzzle of the Black Bess equipped with a flash suppressor.

Tuaaaaa———-……! Just a tremendous roar shook the area around the Dark Forest!

Iha no longer paid attention to the falling giant bat.

As soon as the bat in the middle died, the vampires’ evasive maneuvers, two each flowing to both sides, were definitely intelligent.

“Where! !”

~ 2:ㅋ>However, evasive maneuvers and three-dimensional maneuvers were the methods Iha had enjoyed up until now.

As soon as Iha confirmed that the giant bats also fought in an organized and strategic manner, Iha fired a multi-warhead bullet toward the location where the two on the left were facing. ‘It doesn’t matter if you notice that there’s a sniper.’

Detected