Matan’s Shooter

– “The previous Contractor has died.”

“Well, that’s not it. Hmm, you don’t have any memories before you woke up, do you?”

– “I do. That’s why I clearly remember. Hehe… The Contractor is dead.”

“No! Ugh, what’s the point of arguing with you, black? Anyway, we’ll see soon enough.”

Since he had deactivated 『Melding Breath』, Leeha could converse with Black Bass. The reason for deactivating the skill was simple.

*Buzz, buzz, buzz───────…*

Leeha raised his head briefly at the noise he heard during his conversation with Black Bass.

The feet—whether they were feet or tentacles was still unknown—of Househouse were spinning furiously above his head like the rotor of a helicopter.

Leeha, who had met them while in the Melding Breath state, deactivated the skill to approach them.

Although Leeha couldn’t understand their conversation, they could understand him.

Fortunately, the ‘destination’ was clear.

The locations where Luger and Kidd appeared in the Three Musketeers’ teleport were plainly visible to Leeha.

Therefore, he was able to request help, and now, he was being transported while clinging to Househouse’s feet—whether they were hands or feet was still unknown.

“They’re fast and, most importantly, they’re moving to a ‘safe zone without monsters’, so there’s nothing to worry about. Maybe the monsters are avoiding them.”

Initially, riding Househouse required considerable caution.

Due to the low-altitude flight, anyone on the ground would easily see Leeha and Househouse, exposing them to potential danger from long-range attacking monsters.

However, the ‘direction setting’ of Househouse was more accurate than Leeha’s 『Eagle’s Eye』 and 『Distorted Vision』.

“Do they have all the information on the New Continent’s monsters or something? How can they so brilliantly avoid every monster?”

They avoided monsters with minimal evasion maneuvers and moved mostly in a straight line.

Once Leeha confirmed that they could avoid the monsters multiple times, there was no more worry.

He just clung to Househouse’s feet and admired the monsters, sniping them as he pleased.

『Awakened Legendary Black Bass (1st Reinforcement—Magma)』

(Non-tradable)

Charge Rate: 36.52%

“Haha, so, capturing eight monsters raised it by about 3.1%.”

The average charge rate was more than a single vampire!

This solidified Leeha’s infinite trust and fondness for Househouse.

He conjectured that the prior achievements in the area were enough to assume the previous Engravers had taken care of most monsters, as there were no new achievements listed for monsters.

‘In the meantime, I brought up the topic of Elizabeth…’

How far had the Eastern Expedition gone? What conversations did they have?

Thinking about them, Leeha indeed brought up Elizabeth to Black Bass.

At least the previous Contractor who used Black Bass, and the reason Leeha found it hard to easily call Black Bass as “Bess”, was all because of Elizabeth.

The response he got was exactly “dead”.

“Elizabeth is dead… That can’t be. I definitely saw her alive. Black! So, are you saying she died at a point you know? You didn’t sense her being far away and say that, right?”

– I can sense from a distance with the current Contractor’s status, but the previous Contractor doesn’t matter.

“Oh? So you can tell my status? How?”

They connected with Black Bass.

Since Leeha never saw any system notification like that, his curiosity only grew.

However, despite his serious question, Black Bass just let out a sly laugh.

– Hehehe… I can know. You see, the Contractor’s blood is what I’ve tasted the most.

Was he joking? Was he serious?

Leeha couldn’t help but laugh hollowly.

“Am I supposed to believe these edgy lines or not? And why so creepy? When did you even taste my blood…”

Muttering skeptically, Leeha considered the possibility that Elizabeth might have died due to Kaztor’s pursuit being faster than expected.

‘Anyhow, since Black Bass said he can’t sense Elizabeth’s current state, it might not be that. Hmm… Did he just declare it “death” when Black Bass left her?’

Or was there something more?

*Buzz, buzz, buzz───────…*

“Ah! What’s going on, househouse?”

A sudden movement broke Leeha’s concentration.

Unlike the smooth flight while avoiding monsters, the sudden jerk was intense. But there was no need to ask or wait for an answer.

*Boom, boom, boom───────…!*

Although the light flashed briefly, the roar continued to be heard.

“It’s so predictable. That way! Please, go that way!”

It was precisely when Luger fired his first shot.

* * *

Leeha immediately inserted a magazine and opened the scope.

Judging by the faint sounds of explosions, the distance must still have been quite far.

Even after equipping his night-vision goggles and surveying the front, there was still nothing visible.

Alexander and Bailephus, along with Faust and Labattle, had already begun to soar higher than the low altitude at which Leeha was flying. Kidd, Browless, and Luger were also splitting in different directions.

“The direction itself is correct― but what’s going on? Did they find Kaztor?”

―The smell of decayed flesh and the strong scent of blood.―

“What?”

―I said it’s the smell of things that should have decayed and vanished. Hehe, this will be another new flavor.―

Black Bass gave a hint about the essence of the situation, but Leeha couldn’t understand it precisely at that moment.

It took another hour and twenty minutes of flight for Leeha to realize that the description was of a Lich Dragon and a Bone Dragon when he encountered Browless and three Adult Dragons.

Leeha did not call out to Browless.

He didn’t want to disrupt Browless’ concentration, who was busy evading the Breath attacks and the magic linked to those Breaths from the three dragons.

The important thing right now was to signal his arrival.

“Whew… The location of a dragon’s heart is limited. If Blaugrunn was here, he would know for sure.”

More than just shouting, it was crucial to prove it real.

“Ah… At least the most likely spot is here. This is the first shot, black.”

―Just shoot already.―

“〈White Reaper〉.”

Activating White Reaper.

Beginning unification with the chosen rifle.

The rifle has rejected the user.

Unification with the chosen rifle failed.

『Final Unification Rate: 55.5%』

The unification hadn’t changed.

Although he had experienced this with Pyrot-Cocri before, the disappointment didn’t vanish.

“Strictly speaking, it hasn’t fully awakened.”

Despite the trace of regret in his thoughts, his breathing remained steady. The sniper’s scope must stay unwavering when aiming at a target.

White Reaper (Limited) was fired.

────────────……!!!!

Boom―!

The fanfare of achievement was just a bonus.

Indeed, the heavens helped those who helped themselves.

“What’s this? A 7.3% increase? Now that I think about it, the color seems peculiar― does this mean that each dragon’s unique characteristics are actually their ‘species’ itself?”

With one shot, Black Bass was charged by 7.3%.

Although he momentarily fell into a panic, his hands moved swiftly.

Before the Adult Dragons, who were distracted by Browless, could notice Leeha, he had already reloaded and fired.

Twokwooooooooooo…………!

The inherited attribute was 『Accuracy』.

The action was 『Rapid Fire』.

The destructive power was 『Pierce』.

As if containing everything from the Three Musketeers in one shot, Leeha’s bullet destroyed another Adult Dragon’s heart.

It was a puzzling point for Leeha.

Lich Dragons and Bone Dragons were different from ordinary dragons.

Unlike before, when he used another heart as ammunition to destroy it directly, it was possible with common attacks on Adult Dragons, which is why many users undertook raids of that level.

But was it ‘this’ easy?

That was precisely what left Leeha speechless.

“Ha, I planned to shoot once and then fire a multi-warhead shot… but why…”

To put it bluntly, Leeha was surprised by his own strength!

“How did I become this strong?”

When the white light burst forth from Leeha’s body, the charge rate of the Black Bass had already reached 49.99%.

Unlike Leeha who blinked, the muzzle of the Black Bass flashed rapidly.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

* * *

“… So… you captured two?”

Luger glared at Leeha.

Leeha shrugged and handed over what he had looted. Two scales of different colors glittered in his hand.

Looting was essential, no matter how urgent the situation was!

This story was common among all three members of the Three Musketeers.

“Yeah. It was close. Luckily, the heart was exactly where I aimed, otherwise, I don’t know what I would have done. Househouse is quick but pretty timid. If the dragons had rushed in, it would’ve run away immediately.”

“Captured two… with just two bullets?”

“Uh, was it two bullets? Ah! Yes, it was two.”

Leeha responded with a bashful smile. As Kidd averted his gaze from Leeha to look at Browless.

Was it really just two bullets?

Did you see that attack?

Is Ha Leeha that strong?

Kidd’s eyes held many questions, but Browless discreetly avoided his gaze.

Browless, who cherished all of his three disciples, was programmed not to let any one of them appear particularly strong or noticeable.

Thus, avoiding the gaze itself was an answer to Kidd’s question.

Kidd looked at Leeha again.

Leeha faced them with a smile, unaware of why Luger and Kidd reacted this way, or of their struggles, which only aggravated the two further.

But what could they do by getting angry?

Kidd sighed deeply and muttered.

“Well, if I had aimed from the beginning, I wouldn’t have needed a single bullet.”

“What nonsense is that, Kidd? Are you saying you’ve reached a point where you don’t even need to use guns? Well, it’s the same for me. If I’d known the power of the 〈Acht-Acht〉, the dragons would have bitten their tongues and committed suicide―”

“That’s not what I meant, and Luger, you don’t need to know.”

Despite Luger’s outburst, Kidd did not provide an answer.

The fact that each person secretly knew at least one thing the others didn’t, maintained a delicate balance among the three.

“Amazing, Ha Leeha. That your… strength has already reached such a level.”

Bailephus marveled sincerely.

However, Leeha noticed how Bailephus quickly glanced over Black Bass.

Leeha smiled and thanked him.

“With Leeha’s help, we can increase our pace. Fernand, can we prepare to leave immediately?”

“Ah, yes! Of course. Now that I think about it, there’s no time to chat and laugh.”

“… Because of that cartridge?”

Leeha had not only been talking about himself.

Riding Househouse with Browless, he had heard enough to guess their current situation.

“Um. Bailephus.”

“Yes. I’d like to recommend a good rest for everyone, but please bear with it for now. 〈Mass Recover―”

“Bailephus, partner.”

“Hmm? What is it, Alexander?”

As Bailephus began to cast his skill, Alexander spoke.

“Have you ever seen… Faust’s corpse?”

“Corpse? No, I’ve never seen that of the Necromancer.”

“His mana?”

“Mana? I do not feel it. Why do you ask?”

Alexander frowned at Bailephus’s answer.

He had clearly seen Faust fall, and while the other users moved to help Browless, he intended to check Faust’s corpse first.

“… There is no corpse. Not only did I not find a single drop item, but also no trace other than Labatt’s corpse.”

However, that was impossible.

“Are you saying… he didn’t die?”

Fernand asked with wide eyes. Bailephus replied as if it couldn’t be.

“Alexander, partner. Did you not clearly see the ash-gray shadow falling off Labatt’s body?”

“That is precisely the problem, Bailephus. The last skill he used, if it was 【Dead Pretence】…”

However, Alexander could understand.

Though it was mere speculation, it seemed plausible.

Could a Necromancer kill themselves?

Having turned into a vampire, could he have killed himself while also remaining undead, turning himself into an Undead?