Matan’s Shooter

TL: xLordFifth

ED: 

“…They reacted! Everyone is on the move, ignoring the terrain and obstacles!”

“As expected. They’ve transformed and are flying towards us. Now, everyone, stay well hidden! If it gets dangerous, tear up your scrolls!”

“I should be fine, but what about Leeha-nim—?”

Rubini, who had distanced herself a bit while hiding her body, was checking the map and informing Leeha. The time until she raised her head again was about 3 seconds.

“Ha Leeha-nim… where is Ha Leeha-nim?”

In the air, there was only the colossal illusion of Bahamut. From the top of the towering Redwood, Rubini’s forlorn voice echoed.

Ha Leeha’s figure had already vanished, hidden in the act of scanning the map and alerting Leeha. Only the immense illusion of Bahamut lingered in the empty space.

Leeha: Please continue talking! I am listening!

“Yes, yes! They’ve all started moving, including Hudid.”

Leeha: Okay, preparing to engage.

Leeha pulled out the magazine from Black Bess, checked the cartridge, and reinserted it. While normally, he would have replaced the four remaining rounds in the magazine with new ones, at this moment, he didn’t have the luxury for that.

“I need to save every bit. I need to set up the mana relay tower quickly and visit Bottleneck-ssi.”

After receiving reports from Rubini that the distance between them and Hudid was gradually closing, it wasn’t long before Leeha could see a group of entities darkening the sky at the edge of his vision.

Hudid and the black crane paleos were weaving through the air.

“Black Crane! What’s that?!”

“Bl-Black Crane! Unidentified entity!”

The approaching black cranes hesitated for a moment.

Even from a distance, the majesty of Bahamut was enough to impress those who were seeing a dragon for the first time. The mere appearance of Bahamut was intimidating enough for the creatures witnessing him for the first time.

“Guardian deity, since the identity of that unknown being is unclear, it might be-“

“No need for that. It’s a dragon. A presence comparable to ours beyond the continent. Don’t be entangled by appearances such as their inflated size. Fulfill the duties as the eldest.”

“Black… Crane.”

The black crane near Hudid responded in a low voice. If Hudid himself acknowledged it as a “similar existence,” then it meant the creature was more than a match for a greater guardian.

While it was evident that ordinary palaeos like themselves couldn’t confront such beings, the NPCs among the paleos couldn’t refuse the command of their guardian deity.

“Black Crane! Hudid will join us! Let’s bring down the oversized coward who dared to insult our Guardian Deity!”

The black cranes roared together in a deafening, quacking sound. Though it was a noisy spectacle, the unity of nearly three hundred black cranes carried an undeniable sense of fear and force.

[Do these insignificant creatures dare to hinder me! Hudid, the stupid fool! Remember your own appearance before falling into the hands of Bluebeard, Le, or else! That alone is the only way for you to escape-]

Fwaaaaah!

[-with your life!]

A blast of white flames erupted from Bahamut’s mouth. As it was just a projection attack, the fiery image in the sky was sufficient to quell the heightened morale of the black cranes from moments ago.

The additional effect of provoking their Lesser Folk Guardian was a bonus.

“Do you think I fell victim to Le, Dragon? I encountered him just two months ago! He fled after losing to me, leaving his tail behind! How dare you, an insignificant creature, spout such nonsense to me, the mightiest being of the Redwood!”

“Hu, Hudid-nim?”

Hudid burst out shouting. Though the distance was considerable, his voice carried well enough to reach the location of Bahamut. The initial position where I had summoned Bahamut, appropriately shifted in the direction I’d chosen, was a location that should naturally be heard even from the location where Hudid had originally been.

“A month after the black crane paleos said they encountered Bluebeard, he must have arrived on the New Continent two months ago. But did they really fight?”

Furthermore, Bluebeard fled after losing? Leeha pondered for a moment, but he had to shake his head soon.

“Is it memory manipulation, or more than just corrupting the mind, maybe even inducing hallucinations? Like the sea god experienced. If so, then his divine power holds abnormal conditions, not just simple mental contamination.”

By this point, Leeha had to acknowledge the tremendous ability of Bluebeard. If Hudid had won, the testimony of the black crane paleos couldn’t have matched up.

Using his viewpoint as the reference, Leeha positioned Bahamut’s projection about 2 o’clock. Hudid and the black crane paleos created a scenario where they blocked his line of sight, facing Bahamut at 10 o’clock.

In other words, Hudid, Bahamut, and Leeha formed a triangle with each vertex. The distances between the three vertices were around 1.5 km each. It meant that it was enough to observe them with his scope.

The feathers between Hudid’s massive right wing contained what the captured black crane paleos had testified to—the source of contamination, Bluebeard’s cap.

The distance between Hudid and Bahamut was gradually closing. Opportunities wouldn’t come often.

When all the black cranes around Hudid went out for the attack, that is, the interference minimized the obstruction between Leeha and Hudid.

‘Additionally, Bahamut must disappear as an illusion. The most confusing moment for them would be when these two situations overlap.’

Before Hudid and the black crane paleos realized that Bahamut was an illusion and just before they began searching their surroundings—a moment of ‘confusion and panic’!

At that moment, Leeha instinctively knew it was the perfect time to shoot.

However, the confusion would be brief, maybe around 3 seconds at most. Hudid and the black crane paleos would move, but the straight-line distance between them and Leeha wouldn’t change significantly.

‘If it were a quest to shoot Hudid, it would have been incredibly easy. The target to hit is the hat. Its diameter is probably within 30 cm.’

‘But this damn game wouldn’t be that generous. At this distance and with that size, missing could mean game over, right?’

Smaller than a human head, there’s even a possibility that missing might plunge the bullet into Hudid’s torso. Though it’s not a headshot, penetrating near the heart might still result in an instant death judgment.

So, Bahamut would disappear in 3 seconds. A distance of approximately 1.5 km.

The target is a tiny item under Hudid’s right wing, similar to a human hat. The sniper difficulty is close to the maximum.

‘Whew, ignore wind direction and speed. Adjust the click.’

Click, click, click.”

“And then, I pull the trigger. The heavy sound of a bullet resounded, and the loading sound echoed as the bullet was loaded into Black Bess.

At the moment when the distance between Hudid and Bahamut narrowed to within 1 km, Leeha finally moved.

“Go. [Black Crane].”

“Black crane! 

“Black Crane! In the form of burning spikes! Charge!”

Gwaahhiiii—^_I

One by one, flames began to ignite on the bodies of the black cranes. Shortly after, a flaming V-shape was formed heading towards Bahamut. The flight speed was gradually increasing.

‘Haah… black cranes swarm in motion. Hudid is stationary. During hovering, there’s a possibility of changing direction… Target locked.’

Gwaahhh—꽈•Aaaa—

[There’s no match for the impudence of these creatures! Even if it means having two lives!”]

“Dragon! You thought too lightly of the strongest being in the Red Wood! Don’t you know that unless it’s an opponent like Aibex, my children’s assault cannot be stopped!”

Hudid shouted from his place. The distance between the black cranes and Bahamut was already within 300m.

I wasn’t even blinking. There was no need to look directly with my eyes at the moment of collision with Bahamut and the disappearance of the illusion.”

“[Come at will! Creatures like you—]”

Gwahhhh—j

The black cranes were undoubtedly brave. Their flaming, spear-shaped large-scale assault collided magnificently with Bahamut’s body.

Shwaaaahh…!

Of course, they couldn’t know the reason their forms disappeared in a dust-like manner shortly after.

“Left? gwah•Ack?”

“Black Crane?!”

“This creature—Dragon using sorcery tricks?!”

Flap—Flap—Flap—

—!

The moment of their confusion and panic, along with the pitiful flapping sounds of the black cranes and Hudid, was when a sudden deafening noise occurred.

Baaaaaang——

No, precisely before the sound occurred, something had scraped and passed beneath Hudid’s right wing.

Thud—!

The bullet just grazed the hat, barely touching Hudid’s main body. Through the scope, Leeha could see the blue-bearded hat beneath the right wing disappearing.

‘Good Shot!.

’

The fact that his instincts were still sharp delighted Leeha.

“Ha Leeha-nim!”

“Phew, it’s been a while since something quite intense happened. I haven’t been sniping much lately, so I thought-“

While enjoying Rubini’s exclamation, Leeha suddenly felt something strange. The blue-bearded hat turned into dust, scattering in the wind.

Certainly—!

“…But why isn’t it over?”

However, there was no time to be puzzled as the quest completion notification did not come.

Just as Leeha predicted, Hudid and the black cranes’ panic lasted only about three seconds. The original plan required Hudid to regain his senses and Leeha to have the leisure to mention the ‘real enemy’ to him after the panic subsided.

However, Hudid did not recover his composure, and the panic ended!

Moreover, before there was time to be perplexed, the direction of the noise was pinpointed by the beast-like Paleos.

“Children, over there!”

Paaahhh—!

“Black Crane! There’s a hidden sorcerer!”

“Kill them! The red goat tribe is using magic!”

Flutter, flutter, flutter!

The Black Drummies, which had been gathered where Bahamut was, swiftly changed direction. The sudden increase in speed, combined with Rubini’s shouting, confused Leeha.

“Ha Leehanimg! Quest completion rate 50%!”

“What?”

“The quest window shows a completion rate of 50%!”

“50% – damn it! In that case-“

Using mana freezing and musket pistols, Leeha had captured the black crane paleos, and they were not lying. They just hadn’t grasped the whole picture.

“-There’s another one somewhere, right!? Where-“

Leeha immediately raised Black Bess. The plan had already gone awry.

Plan B? There was no Plan B for this situation. Escaping was an option at any time, but once the opportunity was missed, it would be challenging to create a similar situation again.

“-In that case, first, [Mana Evaporating Bullet>]”

The cooldown for Mana Evaporating Bullet was 30 minutes, and it had long since been reset.

Leeha immediately raised the scope. Should he shoot the approaching Black Drummy swarm from the 2 o’clock direction? Leeha’s choice was not that.

Hudid must not die.

However, to find another blue-bearded hat, it was necessary to neutralize him.

“Don’t die, please!”

He had to worry about such things even as he pulled the trigger!

Leeha’s scope was slightly lowered compared to before. What he aimed for was Hudid’s outer leg, specifically the “tip of the claw”!

“The difficulty just went up, damn it!”

Tukwaaaaang—

By the time the roaring sound was heard, Hudid could suddenly feel the wind blowing under his feet. The air pressure created by Leeha’s bullets passing by sent chills to his liver.

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