Arcane Sniper

Chapter 990

The musket bullets struck the head but did not result in an immediate kill. Leeha could not forget the sound of “clang” as the bullet ricocheted off.

Fortunately, even if it did not cause instant death, the damage was enough to induce unconsciousness.

Among the Three Musketeers, there was a member specialized in movement speed. As the pterosaurs plummeted, Kidd had already reached their landing site.

Kidd placed the muzzle of a musket pistol against the heart of the pterosaurs, still unconscious, and fired.

The Three Musketeers nodded as they saw the heart pierced and the monsters finally turning to ash.

With four firearms dealing 233 damage each, the Three Musketeers could efficiently take down two monsters with over 40,000 HP.

Leeha’s proposal was built on such confidence and skill, but Kidd disagreed with him.

“However, if our attempt to converse fails, the retreat will not be easy. And if Black Bass arrives, we will be in trouble.”

Kidd rejected Leeha’s proposal once more. Leeha did not intend to persist stubbornly. Kidd’s judgment was indeed rational.

Not all the dinosaurs were bipedal predators like those from Toon or Saur Land. Some were quadrupeds with massive defensive plates on their backs, while others had four horns on their heads.

They appeared heinous, but since they were not fighting each other, Leeha thought of the possibility. However, considering the risk of failure, it was not something to challenge recklessly.

“If you want to test the teleport scroll, go ahead. If the crystal ball doesn’t work, you’ll be the first to die.”

The teleport scroll randomly sends the user to a location. Creating some memory locations through a crystal ball and using them to navigate is fundamental in Middle Earth.

However, this place was a virtual site created by Black Bass. In a state where remembering a location was impossible with the crystal ball, the three could not use the teleport scroll indiscriminately.

If used and they ended up in the middle of a monster-infested area, the quest could end abruptly.

“Tsk, no sense as usual. Anyway, engaging Black Bass head-on will be difficult… Ah! Perhaps we should find another race to cooperate with. There should be dwarves or elves, right?”

“Even if they exist now, this isn’t the ‘actual past’. It is a test area created by Black Bass, and it’s unlikely they’d be helpful.”

“Ugh, that’s also true.”

The three put their heads together in contemplation. They had arrived at the location with the dinosaurs but were unsure how to proceed.

“How likely is it that Black Bass will arrive at the location you pointed out, Ha Leeha?”

“Although I haven’t seen precisely, Black Bass will likely mimic my appearance and move in the patterns I’ve used before. There is an 80% or more chance it will be at the place I initially pointed out. There are two more sniper points, but considering we must arrive today and the link with the surrounding terrain, the sniper difficulties are much higher. There’s no need to risk such places given our bullet range limit of 1 km.”

There were only a few spots from which the dinosaur herd’s current location could be sniped. First and foremost, since Black Bass’s perspective involved firepower superiority, it likely wouldn’t move to points with low success rates.

“Assuming it used that ghost-type movement skill, it might be nearly upon us. Damn it, if it had ‘Mana Clairvoyance’, even random decoys would be ineffective…”

Luger alternated between looking at Kidd’s map and the location Leeha pointed out. It was the hill beyond the lake where the dinosaur herd had gathered, visible from the Three Musketeers’ perspective.

“If it’s already arrived and using ‘Camouflage’, it would be even worse—but it probably isn’t the case now. Moving directly with ‘Ghost in the Shell’ has its limitations.”

The journey down included more than just battles. Black Bass would naturally use ‘Black Bass’s skills,’ as Leeha figured. With every skill utilized, it could potentially arrive at a similar time to Leeha’s group.

However, since the skill teleported based on the impact point, ‘Anthropomorphized Black Bass’, which couldn’t use Jellypong or the partner dragon’s power for long-distance moves, offered them a small piece of fortune in their misfortune.

“But complacency is no option. We must arrive within 40 minutes…”

Leeha assessed the current position, Black Bass’s approaching sniper point, and the dinosaur herd.

“We need to find a breakthrough.”

It was never going to be an easy challenge. However, failing to achieve it meant the quest was doomed to 100% failure.

Luger, Kidd, and Leeha started extracting everything from their bags. Strategy was their only chance to level the firepower disparity.

“But if it’s any combat pattern I’ve used even once, Black Bass will remember it too. What should I do? How?”

How do you deceive an enemy that won’t fall for the same trick? Leeha realized it would be difficult with the current approach he had always fought with.

Therefore, they needed to deceive, and deceive boldly. To do that, Leeha had to be ready himself.

“I have to die.”

Leeha looked at Kidd and Luger.

Kidd, who had been observing the movements of the dinosaurs and devising a path, and Luger, who was crafting a dummy, widened their eyes in surprise.

“W-what do you mean?”

“Leaving the back to the hyungs and stepping out first by yourself~ Is that what you mean? Puhaha!”

Luger burst into an artificial laugh. His eyes did not smile at all.

This was because he noticed that if Leeha were to be eliminated, the remaining two would not be able to succeed.

However, Leeha was serious.

“To kill, I have to die.”

One by one, slowly, Leeha began to unravel his thoughts.

It was, so to speak, akin to a game of go-stop left on its own.

The enemy could utilize the skills and abilities Leeha possessed. However, unlike a typical go-stop game, the difference lay in possessing pieces of different kinds.

One side held cha車 and po包, while the other held jo卒 and sang象, creating a chessboard of absolute disadvantage.

Leeha moved the first piece.

* * *

Near the lakeshore, the dinosaurs still gathered.

The late afternoon sunlight shone upon the diocese of them. Although it wasn’t nighttime yet, round objects occasionally poked out between the trees and plants from where one could comfortably observe the dinosaurs.

They were in peculiar places to be regarded as fruits.

Some protruded near the base of trees, while others, of the same species, protruded roughly 175cm above the ground.

Considering the overall size of the plants, it was as though the fruits had grown in absurdly low positions.

If a clueless person were to witness it, it would have made for a perfect trap for them to be startled, but the likelihood of them falling for such a trap was slim.

Just as the Three Musketeers had feared, the dummies that slightly poked their heads out to imitate a human head were largely ineffective.

Until just moments ago.

Bang—!

With a rough sound, something lodged itself into the tree trunk.

Bang────────!

Soon, the sound of gunfire echoed. Just before the gunfire and just before the gaping hole appeared, someone dashed out from behind the massive tree trunk.

The person, with somewhat reckless strides, began to run toward the dinosaurs gathered by the lakeside.

However, the distance from the forest to the dinosaurs was roughly 300 meters.

Although relatively short, it was too far to evade from Black Bass, a bolt-action gun. Reloading took less than a second.

Bang────────!

The moment the second gunshot was heard, the running figure’s head seemed to explode. More precisely, the fruit shell that served as a helmet bounced off.

The astonishing point was that there was ‘nothing’ where the helmet had been knocked away.

Like the body had vanished, as soon as the helmet disappeared, his clothes dropped to the ground.

There was one reason the person’s run had seemed awkward from the start.

『Myo, myongmyong―!』

Jellypong, who stretched tentacles to mimic limbs, awkwardly ambled with nothing on his head, stumbled toward the lakeside, leaving all garments behind on the ground.

“Such a foolish trick…”

Black Bass frowned momentarily, but Leeha had not broken his promise not to use it defensively.

The issue was that Black Bass had fired two bullets, and one had struck Jellypong’s helmet precisely.

That was the reason why Black Bass had frowned.

The Three Musketeers would undoubtedly decipher the wealth of information contained in just those two hits.

“Sniping distance 2.2 km, azimuth angle around 23 degrees, elevation angle approximately +4 degrees, location identified, responding!”

Bang─────────!

Kidd shouted with all his might, but his voice was immediately drowned out by the musket’s gunshot.

Black Bass’s bullet was shot in an instant towards the direction of the billowing white smoke.

However, upon reflection, there was no need to respond. What was the point of shooting from a distance greater than the maximum range of a musket?

Why did people who had tried to conceal their presence by minimizing mana deliberately reveal their location?

────, ────, ────!

The white smoke continued to rise at regular intervals.

Was it possible for such rapid firing to be executed at such brief intervals when the shooter remained unidentified, hidden behind the forest and trees?

Could the Three Musketeers pull off something like this? It seemed improbable.

“Is it the Crimson Gecko Bearer… Kidd?”

Black Bass quickly realized that this was all the work of ‘one person’.

It was a ploy to make it seem like several people were firing meaninglessly from this location. The question was, would the Three Musketeers engage in such an ‘obvious’ ruse?

“Kaahhhhh—!”

“Kiiiiii!”

“Bwoooooooong—!”

Kidd had not aimed his shot at Black Bass, who was 2 km away.

While it undeniably served to catch Black Bass’s attention, Kidd’s primary goal from the start was singular.

“Let’s drive them out!”

The shooting was to incite chaos among the dinosaurs!

In a world where the concept of firearms did not exist, the eruptions of white smoke with thunderous sounds from different locations was an unfamiliar and shocking event for the prehistoric creatures.

* * *

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Kidd had shot rapidly while running through the forest to direct the dinosaurs on ‘the path they should run’.

As the dinosaurs ran, something began to dangle on their backs, shoulders, and behind their thighs.

“Eliminate mana and hide behind the dinosaurs. Hehehe… Mana Clairvoyance would be pointless. Mana Clairvoyance Deactivate.”

What was a decoy, and what were Leeha and Luger? It was certain that they could not be distinguished properly with Mana Clairvoyance.

If a significant amount of retained mana had already been used, they would appear fully integrated with the nearby dinosaurs.

Moreover, if decoys were attached to various parts of the dinosaurs’ bodies, black Veth would have no choice but to spend considerable time searching for the humans attempting to shield themselves with the dinosaurs’ bodies.

Since the dinosaurs were already heading towards Black Bass’s direction, the more time he spent, the closer the humans hiding behind the dinosaurs would get to Black Bass.

“It’s a good strategy. Bearers.”

If Black Bass had been foolish, the plan would have certainly succeeded.

But Black Bass was not an ordinary NPC. What reason was there to expend unnecessary effort against creatures startled by mere musket fire?

“Multi-Warhead Shot.”

Whoooosh────────k!

Moreover, he possessed an overwhelming skill in firepower, so there was no reason to waste it. Fifty small bullets were shot out in an instant, raining down on the dinosaurs’ path.

These bullets, larger than the sound of the musket’s gunfire and moving at a speed that the prehistoric creatures could not even perceive, were enough to evoke greater fear than the white smoke rising from the forest.

“Groooarrr!”

“Bwoo, bwoooo—!”

The dinosaurs began to scatter in disarray, panicking.