Arcane Sniper

Chapter 964

“Huh, you’ve improved a lot. A lot indeed, Chiyou.”

“Improved a lot? Do you still think so…? Haha.”

Chiyou openly provoked. Bluebeard, who had been frowning, ended up laughing instead.

“Haha! That’s right. It’s not that you’ve improved a lot; you were already like this from the beginning. I just didn’t notice it. Isn’t that right?”

No matter how angry he was, he never showed it.

He was the kind of person who would swallow his pride and shake hands with his enemy if there was something he absolutely needed to obtain.

“I should be grateful to the count for pretending not to notice. Haha. So… is it possible?”

Only after hearing Le’s response did Chiyou stop provoking.

As much as Le needed Chiyou, Chiyou also needed Le.

Pyrot-Cocri was a newly awakened Demon King’s Fragment. It was reasonable to assume that an earlier awakened Demon King’s Fragment would have more information and power.

So what about Le’s strategy?

Le was almost the number one target Chiyou was most cautious of, so it was unlikely that such a smart AI wouldn’t realize.

In other words, claiming that Le couldn’t do anything about Pyrot-Cocri’s power was a ridiculous excuse.

In reality, after a brief contemplation, Le nodded.

“Alright. Convincing Pyrot-Cocri is simple. So, what do you want to do with that power?”

“I want you to create a fully independent undead that is completely separate from Pyrot-Cocri, you, and all other Demon King’s Fragments including Ghibrid.”

As soon as Chiyou finished speaking, Le laughed.

His mouth stretched wide, almost reaching his ears. The bizarre appearance made his lower face look like one giant mouth.

No matter how human he appeared, a Demon King’s Fragment was never truly a human.

“Huh. So it’s him.”

Chiyou was startled by Bluebeard’s words but didn’t show it. Le glanced at Chiyou’s face and nodded.

“Alright. I accept.”

“Of course, you know it’s only possible when Tiamat goes on a rampage, right?”

“Yes, yes. Of course. Both Ghibrid and I have to intervene. We need to deceive that old Bahamut.”

Listening to Le, Chiyou stood up. She extended her hand toward Bluebeard.

“Will this be our agreement?”

“As long as we know that breaking the promise benefits no one, that constitutes an agreement.”

Le stared at Chiyou’s extended hand for a moment.

He carefully shook her hand. Chiyou was delighted with Le’s final test.

If he didn’t attack even in such a defenseless state, then their plan would surely proceed.

Even after that day and when the war had officially begun, Chiyou waited for the battlefield to ripen sufficiently until the absolute beings would injure each other, preparing for any unexpected variables.

At the end of the long wait, the moment she moved was when Bahamut blocked Tiamat’s breath.

Receiving real-time information from the battlefield through Sasuke, shinobigumi, and Yamato, Chiyou finally stood up.

“Let’s go. We have debts to settle too.”

“Ha, I thought I’d go mad from waiting.”

“Do you need me to face the dragons, too?”

At her words, Igor and Pyro stood up.

Brown, Elizabeth, and Kyle, who were with them, also began to move.

“Oh my, isn’t that obvious? Did you think I would kill the dragon guarding there with Kyle’s bullet?”

“What? You’re not going to shoot?”

“Pyro, you’re even dumber than I thought.”

“Ugh—.”

“Haha, it’s understandable! Only those with nuclear weapons would come up with such an idea, Pyro.”

Even Igor understood Chiyou’s intention and mocked Pyro, which was a surprise.

“Nuclear weapons? What’s that now—.”

“You—dumb—fool. Nukes are scary not because they cause great harm when used.”

“Then?”

Pyro asked calmly, without showing any anger at Igor’s words.

When Igor smirked, Chiyou nodded, mouthing “Correct.”

“The key point is that possessing it allows for any negotiation. Of course, the more you have, the stronger it becomes. Haha! I don’t know how many shots of Arcane Bullet you have, but shooting them at an Ancient Dragon is sheer madness!”

“Well, even if Kyle goes with us, that’s only for the worst-case scenario. Now that the lecture is over, shall we go? It’s not urgent, but we need to move quickly.”

All members, including Chiyou, teleported simultaneously.

It was possible because they had been hiding in the west, north of the New Continent, even before the war broke out.

* * *

The first to move was Zelreja.

“Mm? Zele—.”

“Kurpke, sir! 80 meters ahead, debuff!”

“〈Area Slow〉.”

The Ancient Copper Dragon, Kurpke, promptly executed Zelreja’s command without any question or resistance.

As the area-based slow skill was realized at the point Kurpke indicated, Zelreja swung their sword.

It was a moment when the faint purple light flickered in a place where there was nothing but a few snow-covered rocks.

“Kiieeeee─!”

The collision of metal against metal made an unpleasant screeching sound.

The shockwave was so strong that the snow on the ground was whipped up into the air, yet the one who blocked Zelreja’s sword was laughing.

“Hahahaha! What is this!? It’s a Steel Dragon from back then!?”

“Lowlife, I’ll tear you apart!”

Although Igor’s mouth was laughing, his eyes were tense.

Chiyou was also tense, albeit for slightly different reasons.

“Oh my… Reacting even before teleportation is done? Are dragons that agile?”

They had just arrived after executing the teleport.

Despite intentionally maintaining some distance, why was the dragon already swinging its sword first?

Had it not been Igor, even Chiyou would not have been able to withstand such an attack.

“Hahaha, still, I doubt you can tear me apart with just this!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We haven’t even started.”

Zelreja pressed her sword, made from her tail, against Igor’s serrated blade. The sound of breaking and shattering came as the serrations began to snap off.

Igor’s expression worsened.

The main issue was that it was not nighttime.

Despite being an Adult-class Steel Dragon, its physical combat capabilities were on par with an Ancient Dragon!

From the perspective of ‘Vampire’ Igor, facing such a powerful opponent during the day, when his stats were weakened, was not favorable.

Moreover, this area was already under the effects of the Copper Dragon’s skill.

With his lowered stats and an additional debuff, Igor, who stood 283cm tall, was being pushed back by Zelreja, who was around 170cm.

Igor glanced at Chiyou.

Understanding that further contest of strength was pointless, he chose his only option.

“Chiyou, finish it quickly. 〈Blood Consume〉.”

Blood vessels burst from various points on Igor’s forearms.

His arms, veins bulging and turning blue, looked abnormal, as if his capillaries had all ruptured.

Even Pyro had never seen Igor use such a skill before.

It was the kind of berserker skill usually reserved for dire situations, where they would rather perish together.

The skill, which momentarily increased his stats explosively while consuming his HP, was one Igor only used when he was at a low level or had guild members from Tzar to transfer HP to him.

“Hahahahaha! But getting a Steel Dragon’s tail is worth this much, isn’t it!?”

Wham!

Igor leaped backward in an instant.

Zelreja pursued without hesitation, but Igor’s sword had already been swung.

Zelreja leaped to the exact spot where it followed.

“You insolent fool.”

Of course, it wasn’t like Zelreja couldn’t react.

Moreover, it was still an area marked by the Copper Dragon’s slow, making Zelreja’s retaliatory sword strike even faster.

“〈Bloody Jet〉!”

“True strength doesn’t come from such trickery!”

*Whizz.*

The sound of wind was heard.

No user had clearly seen Zelreja’s movements.

At the time Pyro was casting a skill to aid Igor, it all happened in less than a second.

“If it weren’t for the slow, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Igor frowned. Only the person affected knew this truth.

────────────!!!!

A sound was followed by a gust of wind.

The wind snapped Igor’s saw-blade sword in half.

For close-range combatants, maintaining equipment durability was essential. Igor had always kept his items in top condition, yet a single strike from the Steel Dragon had led to this outcome.

“Igor! 〈Flame Lance〉!”

Pyro quickly fired a skill in shock.

However, Zelreja effortlessly nullified all of Pyro’s fire lances with a kick.

It was a move that illustrated that she felt no need to use her sword against such a simple skill with a short casting time.

“Oh my…….”

Chiyou genuinely admired it.

Though she no longer felt tense, her expression had worsened a bit.

“Elizabeth? Brown?”

So it was finally time to use this card?

Just as Igor was being pushed to the point where he could barely breathe, three gunshots rang out.

Igor fell on his butt and hastily got up. He realized that Zelreja’s attacks had finally stopped as he caught his breath.

It was only natural since Zelreja had already returned to near Kurpke.

“Kurpke!”

Two bullets were slowly falling in front of Kurpke.

As if covered in sticky glue, the bullets were crushed as they hit the ground.

“They’re stronger than expected, but it doesn’t matter. More importantly, Zelreja…….”

The Ancient Copper Dragon put a gentle hand on Zelreja’s shoulder with an amiable smile.

“You should worry about yourself first.”

“I sincerely apologize. I thought I dodged it, yet—it landed there.”

It was Zelreja who ended up getting hurt.

Seeing the blood gush from her shoulder, curphke cast a healing spell.

Igor, Pyro, and Chiyou were all shocked. They hadn’t accurately gauged the trio’s abilities, so it was inevitable.

“…… You guys―.”

“Did you really hit it? Despite everything?”

“Who…… shot that? Was it an Arcane Bullet?”

Out of the three shots, one managed to hit the dragon.

That too, the Steel Dragon, whose movements even Igor couldn’t handle?

Elizabeth and Brown’s gun barrels were pointing to the same location. The direction of the barrel belonging to Kyle was different.

“No. It wasn’t an Arcane Bullet. And I didn’t kill on purpose as I thought it shouldn’t be killed just yet…….”

Kyle, holding a much longer gun barrel than his parents, gave a faint smile.