Arcane Sniper

Chapter 989

It hadn’t been for “Leeha’s” relentless tackle.

“What on earth are you doing… hm?”

Luger, who had just reached the summit, saw Leeha and “Kidd” lying on the ground together.

Seeing Kidd gripping his shoulder and Leeha still crouched down, Luger instinctively dropped to the ground.

He perfectly understood the situation.

“Kidd! Are you okay? Kidd! Damn, there should be an emergency potion―.”

Leeha rummaged through his bag to find a potion.

“… Oh no, surely not! Couldn’t it be dangerous?”

Turning his head in the opposite direction of where Leeha and Kidd had collapsed, Luger alternated his gaze between the two.

“They only even let me use a musket, which was infuriating enough― and now it’s using Black Bass just because it is Black Bass?!”

───!

Answering Luger’s frustration, gunshots were heard from afar. Luger calculated the distance based on the already significantly diminished noise.

“At least 4km― No, perhaps―.”

“It was near the stream. It might have exceeded 5km.”

Leeha, who was holding a potion bottle to Kidd’s mouth, turned to Luger.

Fortunately, this area was high ground, meaning no additional shots would come if they stayed low.

However, Leeha’s expression was not positive.

“Do you know what specs the Black Bass has, ‘Ha Leeha’?”

“I know. A shot from over 5km…”

The Black Bass was a sniper rifle.

Leeha knew even the real-world rifle that served as its base. An impossible 5km shot wasn’t unheard of.

If one controlled every aspect of the bullet and read all surrounding conditions, it was possible to hit a target 5km away.

“It’s not impossible. While it wouldn’t be easy… With the right ‘eyes’, it’s feasible.”

“How could a Black Bass have ‘eyes’…?”

“Scope.”

What had glinted just moments ago was undoubtedly the reflection of a ‘scope’.

If an item not part of the basic specs was equipped on a Black Bass, could that mean it was usable?

If items were accessible, then what about skills?

Leeha inspected Kidd’s shoulder again. Kidd’s wound was practically ‘severely grazed’.

If the Black Bass bullet had worked its full power, it couldn’t have ended like this.

“It’s a tank-buster sniper bullet caliber. If it’s within effective range, it should tear off your shoulder, even if it grazes you.”

However, this level of scratch indicated that the bullet had traveled the ‘maximum range’, losing much of its energy by then.

“The question remains whether the Black Bass can extend its effective range…”

Using skills like 〈Sniping〉 or 〈Joint Fixation〉 makes it achievable.

Yet the fact that it ended in such a minor wound?

It meant the Black Bass hadn’t used either of those skills.

“At least one thing is confirmed. The Black Bass seems incapable of using all my skills. It would apply its inherent skills, of course. And judging by the sniper skill, as demonstrated― it grazed us from a distance of at least 4.7km downhill to high ground. Nearly on par with me.”

Leeha mused as he said this. Luger chewed his lip listening.

It’s not the item or skills that mattered. What’s crucial is the possibility of a sniper rifle as over-technology and the skill to wield it.

Yet the over-technology remains intact, wielded with skill akin to Ha Leeha?

“… It’s like a practice for when you morph into a chimera.”

“The important part― but damn, the issue is facing such an opponent with a musket!”

Kidd remarked, managing to lift his upper body while clutching his shoulder.

Luger lashed out, “So is it fine that I turned into a chimera then!?” but Leeha ignored his outburst.

He had to contemplate the true meaning of the Black Bass quest.

Having obtained even the sacred blood of Ahlo, absorbing divine blood which even the enchanted bullet had not possessed― expecting to ‘inevitably’ pass the Black Bass trial quest? A carefree spirit? A sense of relief?

“… That’s overreaching.”

He should have realized it from the start.

Completing the simple condition of defeating the 〈Anthropomorphized Black Bass〉 was too straightforward.
It didn’t mean that at least one of the three had to survive. Even if two out of the three died, it didn’t matter.

It suggested that success would be acknowledged as long as one person was left to capture the Black Bass.

That was not consideration.

‘Even if a truckload of users armed with muskets came at us, it doesn’t matter―’

Confidence.

It was the confidence Leeha himself held and the confidence possessed by the Black Bass, which had copied Leeha’s patterns and skills.

‘If it turns out like this… how should we fight?’

The Three Musketeers only had muskets that, even with skill extensions, barely reached a range of around 300 meters against the enhanced sniper rifles with an almost 5km range, capable of causing severe injuries with just a graze.

If the distance was that much of a disparity, would using skills make any difference?

Under normal circumstances, the difference in power would be enough to make one give up.

“It’s true. If I become a chimera, I’d be in utter despair.”

“You overestimate yourself. I can win.”

“Shut up, Luger. You were the first to get scared and lie flat.”

“I have great survival instincts. Unlike someone who stupidly pokes their head up on a mountain top.”

However, these were not ordinary users.

Kidd listened to Luger’s sarcasm while pulling something out of his bag.

Spreading out a paper on the ground, Kidd began to draw with his left hand while using his right to stop the bleeding from his shoulder.

“Kidd, surely―.”

“This is what you call bravery, Luger. I’ve gathered all the necessary information.”

“Wow! You got all that in that short time?”

“Not all of it.”

Kidd began noting down necessary information succinctly.

From the topographical differences visible at the moment to the enemy’s direction based on his angle of attack, and even notable landmarks.

Leeha watched Kidd’s work with a contented smile.

“Much better than Luger.”

“W-What!?”

“What I realized here is that, Luger, you’re nothing without the ‘Cobalt Blue Python’, right?”

Up to that point, it was Kidd who had displayed overwhelming competence, Leeha noted, and Luger offered no rebuttal.

He briefly panicked, thinking Luger would pull out a gun when his hand went into his bag, but that wasn’t the case.

Moreover, Luger was an undeniable member of the Three Musketeers and the first user to become the heir of the Musketeer hero.

He wasn’t a fool.

“Damn it… Did I think it was just late or something. It was strange from the start. The quests of Middle Earth were never going to be easy. With just the resources we have, we could never beat the Black Bass. We’ll have to use everything we can gather locally.”

“My goodness… Did you gather all this on your way up here?”

“Did you think I’d feel like I’m on a picnic like you? Or did you think I’d fallen behind because it was too hard― surely not.”

“It sure seemed like it―.”

“Shut up.”

Luger intertwined tough plant stems with hard nut shells.

After binding the stems, which bent like wires with difficulty, he tied it to a nearby tree.

“What’s that―.”

Then he took off his hat and placed it on the nut shell.

In this ecosystem where everything was gigantic, the nut shell was just about the size of a human head.

Leeha understood Luger’s intention.

If long-range combat was impossible and getting closer wasn’t an option?

“We have to make throwing, setup weapons and decoy dummies. Each of these baits will reduce our distance from the Black Bass by 100 meters.”

If they fooled it once, it would allow for a safer approach.

Even Kidd stopped drawing the map to look at Luger with a smile.

The Three Musketeers didn’t give up. Despite the overwhelming disparity in firepower, they were preparing to overcome it.

Leeha nodded as he watched them.

If he had been alone, he might not have prepared so quickly. But now, he had them.

Once instincts and knowledge had set a course, all that remained was to steel his mind.

“Alright. Even though I don’t like the idea of capturing myself… let’s start the hunt.”

“I think I now know who ‘didn’t’ do anything.”

“I did too! I found the river? And if Black Bass is me― that is, using my attribute exactly!”

Leeha quickly scanned the map drawn by Kidd.

The current mountain peak they were on and the river nearby where Black Bass had moved. If he knew all the terrain here?

“As a sniper, I know best where a sniper would like.”

This could be turned to their advantage.

“Well, since it’s Black Bass, he won’t be easy to catch… For now, let’s head this way.”

At the spot Leeha pointed to, only two simple words were written.

『Dinosaur』

“Did you even hear what I was saying? Over there is―”

“Yeah. I heard you. And Luger also said we have to procure everything we can locally. This kind of thing is for special forces, not snipers… but there’s no choice. Black Bass will come this way.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he’s expecting us to move down here.”

Kidd, who had asked Leeha, and Luger next to him tilted their heads in confusion. However, in Leeha’s mind, a simulation was already underway.

Black Bass would know about the existence of the dinosaurs.

‘Since this whole space is something created by Black Bass.’

He had invented the dinosaurs. It would be natural for him to calculate that the Three Musketeers would discover such conspicuous life forms.

So, what next?

Where would the humans threatened by sniper fire from kilometers away go next?

‘A place where they can hide themselves.’

A location among various nearby creatures where they can take refuge.

If Black Bass has finished considering that the humans will come to the dinosaurs’ settlement there?

While Luger and Kidd looked at the point marked 『Dinosaur』 on the map, Leeha was observing a different spot next to it.

‘He will come to the sniper point that offers the best view of that area.’

The next battle would probably occur around that vicinity.

“We need to go this way before sunset.”

“Let’s go.”

“We can’t waste days on this kind of quest, hurry up.”

Leeha, Kidd, and Luger began to descend the mountain in the opposite direction.

* * *

Amidst the dense plants, flowers larger than a human head had grown.

Despite being flowers, their dark colors made the three real heads sticking out among them hardly noticeable.

“Isn’t it possible that they might understand us?”

“It’s safer to consider them as unintelligent creatures. Compared to those in Saur Land, it’s as stark as the difference between the civilized and the barbaric, isn’t it?”

All three utilized their Eagle’s Eye or Hawk Eye skills to analyze the distant monsters.

The distance to the dinosaurs was approximately 800 meters.

Leeha wanted to try cooperating with something, but Kidd flatly rejected the proposal.

“Hehe, now I see why other users look down on you. Holding onto hope until now, it’s as if you forgot the pterosaurs we encountered on the way down?”

“That was just a monster. Anyway, who said they looked down on us?”

“The pterosaur from earlier seemed to look down on you. Hahaha!”

Leeha angrily retorted to Luger, but Luger didn’t even flush at Leeha’s indignation.

‘Damn bastard. Sometimes he’s like a knife, cutting right to the quick. Sharply, unnecessarily sharp… Well, thanks to that, spotting monsters was quick.’

It was a sense that could only be described as olfactory.

It was evident that Luger, the rearmost person, had been the first to detect the assaulting pterosaurs due to that sense.

Even though it was a musket whose attack power wasn’t corrected by agility stats, the three weren’t flustered.

Matching the head of a pterosaur flying towards them, piercing with its beak, was by no means an easy task, but they managed it.

Each handled one pterosaur, as Luger and Leeha aimed their muskets at their heads.

Although the rushing monsters had acceleration that posed a significant threat, the environment here was unforgiving.