Matan’s Shooter

“Spirit?”

“… Was it the spirit of darkness?”

Ghibrid was genuinely surprised, but Bluebeard quickly regained his composure. Tiamat observed each of the individuals one by one, then nodded.

“Foolish creatures. It’s pitiful that we have to end Bahamut with the likes of these. Let’s go, Onyx.”

“Yes, my queen.”

She soon disappeared into the darkness with Onyx. The chromatic dragons followed her.

After they all vanished, Bluebeard’s expression started to distort in earnest.

“Faust!”

“Find Prea first. That damned Spiritualist!”

“I understand.”

Faust immediately bowed his head. Le, still with an angry face, looked at Ghibrid.

“Ghibrid. What about Kuzgunak’sh head?”

“… It’s not responding. It seems they have subdued it.”

“Damn it… Damn that woman—ugh—! No. Fine. That’s just right.”

Le forced a smile and pressed his hat firmly onto his head.

It was only after waving his staff in the air that he regained his usual demeanor.

“Well then, it seems Tiamat is prepared, so we should get ready as well.”

“I will gather the Chimeras.”

“We’ll need plenty. And Faust, you—hmm?”

“Yes, count.”

Bluebeard’s mouth paused as he was giving orders to Ghibrid and Faust.

Faust, cautiously lowering his head, waited for his reaction, but he remained silent for a considerable period.

“Count… my lord?”

“Heh, Faust, you prepare on your end. Create as many undead as possible. I need to attend to something.”

“Yes, my lord! I will make sure to…”

Before Faust could finish speaking, Bluebeard disappeared from sight with an impressive leap.

Faust, who was about to guess where Bluebeard had suddenly gone, shook his head.

“As many as possible, huh…”

To match the number of undead displayed in the quest window, he had to keep moving.

Prea couldn’t know about Tiamat’s departure or the conversations between Bluebeard, Ghibrid, and Faust.

The spirits of darkness had all been eradicated by Tiamat.

“I probably won’t be able to bring their stories any longer. Bluebeard must have noticed—”

“Indeed!”

Leeha nodded as he listened to Prea’s story.

If Bluebeard made up his mind and prepared, no matter how powerful the spirits of darkness, they wouldn’t be able to get close to him again.

Still, Leeha deduced a few things from Prea’s story.

– That Tiamat and the Demon King’s Fragment did not get along well.

– That Lark was not currently active.

– That Shin Nara could summon Lark without hesitation at Onyx’s request.

‘And Onyx’s mention of “when the time comes”.’

How did their expressions look?

If he could have seen it, his predictions would have been more certain.

‘Nara’s swift reaction… as if she was waiting, and why would Lark log out at such a critical moment?’

As Leeha’s thoughts continued to spiral, Prea, with a nervous look, asked him.

“Do you not suspect me?”

“What?”

Leeha tilted his head at her sudden question.

What was this all about?

As Leeha looked puzzled, she seemed even more flustered.

“Th-that, my story! There’s no guarantee it’s true! The Dark Spirits might not actually be dead… Just, uh, is that it?”

Could it be that they wouldn’t even try to confirm or question the truth of the story presented so suddenly?

What Prea wanted to ask was that very point.

No matter how much they trusted each other 100%, this situation was on a whole different level.

Things had progressed so rapidly that even Prea, who usually maintained her composure, felt uneasy!

“Hehe, yes. That’s it.”

“But what if I betray you in this situation―”

“If we’ve decided to trust each other, we trust.”

Leeha nodded at Prea once more, adding with a smile.

“If a sniper doesn’t trust their spotter, how can they pull the trigger?”

There was no need for a second view.

What was needed for an efficient, perfect, and complete shot came from trust.

Prea completely crumbled at Leeha’s words.

* * *

After finishing his conversation with Prea and briefly stopping by Ram Hwayeon’s fortress, Leeha headed directly to the central part of the New Continent. ℞аꞐöＢĘŚ

Already, many users and NPCs were gathered there. Kijung, who had been busy organizing the front lines, looked at Leeha and smiled.

“Hyung, you’re here?”

“Wow, you’ve gathered this many already?”

The emergency contact network spread by Ram Hwayeon hadn’t been confined to just online.

If there were users logged out, their acquaintances would be contacted, and they would be called in offline immediately. This quick system ensured that rankers and key users were continuously arriving at the central part of the New Continent.

“They haven’t been caught yet, right?”

“No. There were a few sightings of Chimera movements, but they weren’t directed toward us. They’re probably regrouping.”

It was Rubini who answered Leeha’s casual question directed at Kijung.

The scroll she handed over could map and observe over quite a distance, but it wasn’t as good as her direct skills.

“Hello, Rubini-nim.”

“Hello, Ha Leeha-nim.”

When Leeha greeted her awkwardly, she bowed slightly.

Seeing her demurely respond while tucking her hair behind her ear reminded Leeha of Ram Hwayeon.

‘What if she misunderstands again, thinking I did something?’

Leeha wanted to avoid any more absurd misunderstandings.

It was unfortunate for Rubini that it wasn’t entirely a misunderstanding.

As Leeha looked at Rubini’s map depicting the eastern part of the New Continent, he suddenly noticed something else.

The forest of the Corrupted World Tree was marked with a small tree, and the map was filled with countless tiny dots around it.

“Seeing it like this, there are so many.”

“Of course! Not only our Byulcho guild but also the guilds responsible for defense in the central New Continent, and the Ezwen Paladins are all here!”

“The central part is this vast? Who’s next to us?”

“That’s the ‘Sacred Alliance’. Over there are the Berturu Knights, and the guilds from Minis and Kraven are all lined up. Oh, and of course, there are Palaios mixed in as well.”

“And on the opposite side is the Sacred Knights and the Shazrashian Federation―”

“Of course. The Giants led by Karelin are also massive.”

Leeha marveled at the string of dots extending north and south.

To muster such a defensive line so quickly was impressive.

‘Their control is phenomenal.’

Ordinarily, this would have been even more widely spread.

The initial plan was to first grasp the enemy’s movements and then deploy thick and short defensive lines at probable points of attack.

“This isn’t even the full number. It’ll be twice as thick as this.”

“Ah, Hyein-ssi.”

“Hello, Ha Leeha-ssi.”

Hyein approached Leeha, who was examining the map.

Leeha understood what his words implied, but Kijung did not quite grasp it.

“Wait, hyung? How can it get thicker?”

“The regular users haven’t arrived yet.”

They did not expect overwhelming help.

However, if even users under level 200 gathered in the hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands!?

What if they could at least handle a few chimeras, a manticore, or even a single chromatic dragon? Wouldn’t that be of great help to the defense forces?

“Ah! Right. Ram Hwayeon-ssi was—huff, no, um, well! Anyway! Those users!”

Since Ram Hwayeon was the one who first planned and executed the strategy, Kijung wanted to praise her, but he couldn’t get the words out.

―”Be quiet. Don’t talk nonsense, Kijung.”

Leeha glared at him, whispering a threat(?) in his ear.

“Now that it’s come to this, we have no choice but to aim for a double win. I mean, in some ways, we might even call it luck.”

“Raphaela-ssi? What’s up?”

Raphaela had somehow slipped up beside Kijung and Leeha.

When Leeha asked her, she gave a mischievous smile that didn’t quite suit her saintly nickname.

“Hehe, Master Kay’s selection of C9. There are a lot of Paladins here, and in such a large-scale battle, a huge number of healers, and thus adherents of the Ezwen Church, will be affected. If Master Kay and I stand out—”

“Indeed!”

“That’s why you’ve been so quiet lately!?”

“Haaah! Did Master Kay not think of that? I didn’t mention it because I thought he already knew!”

Leeha’s admiration and Kijung’s surprise burst out simultaneously. Raphaela sighed in response to Kijung’s reaction.

“How did someone like you become a guild master? The guild master of a guild as famous as Byeolchosa is so clueless—”

“Even with such a guild master, it runs fine, so could you please not concern yourself with other guilds, saintess?”

As Raphaela grumbled, Bobae approached her.

Although there were no monsters around, she was gripping her bow tightly with both hands.

Her face was smiling, but the bulging veins on her hands showed her real feelings.

“Do you think I want to meddle? But it’s necessary because someone who’s supposed to represent the Nine Cardinals Committee is behaving this way.”

“Hoho, I’ll do fine. Who do you think my boyfriend is? Right, Kijung-ssi?”

Bobae walked up to Kijung and linked arms with him. Raphaela’s face hardened a bit.

Hyein and Leeha watched the scene unfold.

The two men quickly exchanged signals.

― “Kijung, I’m leaving now. Good luck.”

Then they discreetly slipped away.

Seeing Leeha move, Hyein also twirled his staff and began to leave the scene.

― “Hey, hyung! Help me! What’s going on!? This isn’t even Bobae-ssi’s assigned area, who called her here?”

― “You reap what you sow. What’s this about not cheating? Only you thought that. Haha, anyway, take care of the defense line! I’ll check the other areas!”

― “Wait! Hyung—where is Hyein hyung going now?”

The defenses at the center of the New Continent would be secure(?).

Enough troops, seasoned from battles with chimeras, manticores, and the like, had been deployed.

‘They won’t be able to surprise us this time. We have enough participants.’

They were well-prepared.

The latest intelligence from Phaera would prove its worth immediately.

Thinking of Tiamat’s main form still made them nervous, but now they had to suppress such feelings.

‘If they move within ten days… we have a chance to win.’

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