Matan’s Shooter

“The remaining members are…”

『It’s just me and Pei Wu—but I’m—』

Shuoooong—!

In that moment, Kijung’s 『Dinosaurization』 was undone.

“—about to be like this…”

“Ahaha! I knew it! I knew you couldn’t maintain that Toon’s shell for too long! Haha! I expected this!”

Pyrot-Cocri clapped her hands joyously.

Despite being struck several times by Quidam and Petyr’s attacks, as well as Arzenmacht’s skills, she still remained in robust condition.

On the other hand, in Kijung’s group, neither Kijung, who could no longer transform into a dinosaur, nor Pei Wu were left capable of much.

Those two were virtually the entire fighting force.

“Since I’ve lost many precious toys, I guess I need to make some new ones. Who. Would. Be. Good.?”

Pyrot-Cocri pointed alternately at Kijung’s group.

With the glimmer in her eyes of a child choosing a toy, she started to approach slowly.

“Master Kay…”

Rubini sidled up to Kijung.

Although Kijung momentarily found it strange when Rubini poked at his side, his gaze soon changed.

“Pei Wu, do you have any attack skills left?”

“Yes, but—”

“That probably won’t last long either. But it will definitely last at least five seconds. Raphaela! Can you focus your healing on me?”

“Kay! You’re not planning to?”

Hyein had figured out which skill Kijung was going to use.

But it was risky.

“No! If you die, we’d lose our tank. Then the Pyrot-Cocri raid—”

“There’s no other way. Raphaela! Can you focus healing on me?!”

“Well, I’m currently restoring the dragon—its body is poisoned with cadaver toxin and the ongoing damage is immense! I could direct healing toward you, Master Kay, but it would be limited to once. Interrupting healing twice might leave the dragon…”

Interrupting Hyein, Kijung asked Raphaela, but Arzenmacht’s state exposed to 『Corpse Explosion: Death Throes』 was critical.

If there had been any healer other than Raphaela, the “Saint”, the ongoing damage would have likely already killed them.

“Hm~ What are you planning? Do you still have some fun tricks up your sleeve?”

“I do. Hoo, hoo. Pei Wu, are you ready?”

“I will do my best.”

Seeing mana particles gather at Pei Wu’s feet, Kijung steadied his breath.

Paaat—!

He finally pointed his sword toward Pyrot-Cocri.

“Without Toon’s shell, you can’t do anything, oppa… are you confident?”

Pyrot-Cocri’s face showed confidence even with the sword pointed at her.

Kijung didn’t respond to her question. However, he needed to shout.

“Five seconds tops! Five seconds tops!”

“Kay, Kay? What are you suddenly shouting about…?”

His unexpected exclamation left not only Hyein but also Raphaela and Pei Wu momentarily bewildered, but Kijung, finally composed, readied himself for what was to come.

“One! Come forth! 『Sacrifice』!”

────────────……!!!!

The sword Kijung held erupted in light.

Pyrot-Cocri immediately recognized what the light was.

“Gaaaah! Damn it! It’s Ahlo’s Handcuffs!”

Through her distorted voice, another voice was heard.

“Damn it, I knew it was suspicious ever since Doctor Doom was around! We can’t hide perfectly—anyway! Let’s do this together! 『Red—Sun』!”

Lark, who came rushing through the bushes, wielded a sword already glowing red-hot.

Lark’s mightiest attack skill struck the immobile clone of Pyrot-Cocri.

“Aaaaaaaahhhhh!”

Fiery flames roared as she screamed, but her body wouldn’t move.

Just like a witch being burned at the stake, she had to watch while unextinguishable flames consumed her body, unable to do anything.

“Who from Red—! Who did this—!”

“Screaaaam, it’s wearing off so fast! Hurry up, Pei Wu!”

“I’m coming now—! 〈Ultimate Technique: Dragon and Tiger Strike〉!”

shot toward Pyrot-Cocri like a flick of a finger.

However, to other players, it didn’t look like Pei Wu was charging at Pyrot-Cocri.

“Whoa, is that a second job skill?”

Wrapped in green scales resembling an Oriental dragon and a tiger with golden fur, both struck Pyrot-Cocri simultaneously.

“Youuuuu guys—!”

The combined roar of the dragon and tiger shattered Pyrot-Cocri’s bones.

“Never, everrrrr!”

Attacking the burning enemy was no difficulty for Pei Wu, who neither missed nor failed to counter.

“Unforgivableeeeee!”

There was a clear sense of animosity in Pyrot-Cocri’s voice amidst Pei Wu’s attacks.

“Pei Wu! Are you almost done? Hyein, what about teleportation?”

“I still… can’t use my mana. And how did Lark get here—”

“This is crazy, Master Kay—”

“It’s wearing off! 3 more seconds, Pei Wu!”

“I’ll turn you into toys!”

Kijung’s 〈Sacrifice〉, which was expected to last at least five seconds, lasted longer than anticipated.

Although Quidam and Petyr’s attacks were effective, it wasn’t sufficient to completely destroy Pyrot-Cocri’s clone.

“Fe, Pei Wu! You need to come back now! If you also become undead, we’ll be annihilated!”

“Gah!”

Heeding Hyein’s anxious advice, Pei Wu made a grand leap backward at exactly 2.97 seconds.

As Pyrot-Cocri’s eyes flipped and charged at the dragon and tiger, Pei Wu canceled the skill immediately.

“Despite landing many critical hits—even destroying vital points, the enemy doesn’t die. Unless we have more power from 〈Striking Bless〉…”

“Does that mean the undead itself has no vital point?”

Pei Wu shook his head, struggling to recall the sensation in his fingertips, while Lark swiftly analyzed the situation.

Even undead minions she’d created needed divine power to be subdued; defeating Pyrot-Cocri with mere physical attacks was impossible.

“As long as we can’t extinguish Red’s—”

“Screaaam! Put out this damned Red’s fire!”

As if answering Lark’s words, light flashed from Pyrot-Cocri’s body.

“… By heavens, no matter how undead—”

“How can we defeat it?”

Raphaela covered her mouth in astonishment.

Pei Wu felt as if all the blood drained from his body.

“Hooo… Such a poor performance.”

Previously one, her body now divided into three parts.

Lark’s strongest skill had only affected one of them.

“Why? What happened? I can’t see—”

Rummaging through his bag, Kijung shouted in panic.

A side effect of 〈Sacrifice〉 had left him with only 1 HP, rendering him blind.

The remaining Pyrot-Cocri’s parts were fusing together, while the burning part was left to sizzle away.

Kijung’s inability to witness this dreadful sight was, in some ways, a blessing.

“She shrank in size. Her appearance looks much frailer than before—”

“To put out the Red’s fire, she chose to sacrifice part of herself. Damn, and to think my skill could only weaken her by a third of her power.”

Hyein and Lark deduced the meaning behind Pyrot-Cocri’s transformation.

Unfortunately, this did not provide a solution to their predicament.

Although Pyrot-Cocri’s power had weakened, the question remained: how would they continue the fight?

Their original members hadn’t recovered and Kijung was now in a critical state.

Should they take on Pyrot-Cocri, weakened by Lark’s skill and Pei Wu’s combination, in this condition?

‘No, only two more undead will emerge. I must prevent the worst-case scenario of Pei Wu becoming undead. It’s better to have her escape…’

Since Hyein had already experienced how irritating Lee Jiwon had become as an undead, it was imperative to prevent another Ranker from turning into an enemy.

“We should have… called for more helpers. Even if Chiyou found out, it would have been better…”

“What about Bahamut? Rubini, do you know the location of any dragons nearby—”

“No… there aren’t any.”

Raphaela was mechanically casting heals on the Silver Dragon but had already lost her battle will.

When Hyein reacted to the word ‘helpers’ and asked, rubynee shook her head.

The fortunate part was that the space wasn’t sealed.

It meant they could flee anytime should the need arise.

That was Hyein’s final option.

But if they did, Pyrot-Cocri would have more freedom and roam around unstoppably.

Ultimately, they wouldn’t be able to stop her, and Bluebeard’s side, including Chiyou, would learn about her existence and location.

‘Still, we must survive. Even if we stay, we will all turn into undead, and Pyrot-Cocri will move again afterward anyway.’

If choosing to fight only buys a few hours, they needed to flee immediately.

His rational mind had already finished all calculations.

Seeing Red retreat, Lark had also come to the same conclusion.

The strategy of tailing Cheka to glean the fruits of victory had become an empty pursuit.

“He… Hehe. As expected, it was a tough quest. I knew it wouldn’t be easy—”

Kijung expressed his disappointment by cutting off his words.

With narrowed eyes, he barely looked in the direction of Pyrot-Cocri, but it was not a fightable situation.

The damage he had received could not simply be fixed with a few potions.

“A creature using the shell of Toon and the cuffs of Ahlo… Agile cockroaches, dragons, ice children, they’re all fascinating, but you have been the most amusing. So, I’ll turn you into my toy first.”

Pyrot-Cocri’s clone walked toward Kijung.

He walked toward her as well.

“Kay!”

“I’m… still a tank after all.”

Though his gaze toward Hyein was unstable, Kijung did not hesitate to stand in front of them.

At that moment, rubynee, who had been watching the map with a prayerful heart, shouted.

“Dr-dragon! It’s a dragon!”

“What!? Bahamut? Is Bahamut here?”

“No, it’s not as big as Bahamut— but it is— definitely a dragon!”

“Bailephus?”

“No, no! It’s not that either! This dragon is… smaller!”

Hyein, Lark, and Pei Wu each offered guesses, but Rubini only shook her head.

The three men soon hung their heads.

If it wasn’t Bahamut, what use was any other dragon?

But unlike the dejected men, there was one who raised his head.

Kijung began to laugh as if he was releasing something stored deep in his chest.

“… Ha… Haha!”

“Why are you laughing? Do you think a single dragon will change anything?”

As Kijung laughed, Pyrot-Cocri also put on a sneering smile.

Kijung and Pyrot-Cocri had drawn close enough that she could hear all the words coming from behind him.

“Ahaha! It’s fine! Everything will change! Not just because of the dragon!”

When Kijung shouted manically while laughing, Pyrot-Cocri shook her head.

“Kik! If it’s not because of the dragon, then what—”

Kijung took a breath and raised his head.

Then he shouted loudly.

“Fire, Leeha hyung──────!”

“What—what? Ah!? Toys!”

Pyrot-Cocri suddenly raised her head and turned around.

In the night sky, the brightest light was neither the moon nor the stars.

A light brighter than either pierced through Pyrot-Cocri’s body.