Arcane Sniper

Chapter 977
Petyr’s fingernails pierced into the heart of an undead, unable to utilize any knowledge from its past life, to obey Pyrot-Cocri’s unconditional recall command.

“Haha! It’s useless! Unlike regular undead, the ones I created myself simply won’t —.”

Sizzle!

“—die— What’s going on!? How— You! That, that blood!”

“Buhihihihit!”

“Kyle! Brown! Elizabeth! Kill that bastard at once!”

Chiyou’s shout was accompanied by the thunderous sound of a gunshot, but by then, a pale purple flash had already erupted. Petyr, tearing a scroll, vanished swiftly from Peklo City.

“Received an order from Pyrot-Cocri and could do nothing?”

“Buhihihit, yes. It was entirely focused only on Pyrot-Cocri. I had never seen such a dazed expression on the director, even when he was alive.”

Listening to Petyr’s detailed explanation, Leeha and the members of Byulcho were deep in thought.

Something was definitely unusual about Peklo City being reduced to bone dust.

And they even referred to it as a ‘Fragment of Power’?

‘If she was summoning all undead, then that too must have been…’

It would empower Pyrot-Cocri.

Even capturing Pyrot-Cocri’s avatar had been so difficult, and now, not only had she fully resurrected, but had also begun absorbing the undead scattered everywhere?

“This is madness.”

Leeha muttered unconsciously.

“Then, you don’t know what happens next, Petyr?”

“Buhihit, of course not.”

Leeha could approximately guess. There probably hadn’t been much change in their plans.

They would have entered the ‘Abyssal Maw,’ leaving behind others who were unaware of the location, the very place where Ghibrid had awakened.

“Both the Demon King’s army and Chiyou have had their powers reinforced.”

Hyein furrowed his brow.

Leeha nodded in response. Jin Gonggong tilted his head slightly for a moment.

“The Demon King’s army has Pyrot-Cocri, but what does Chiyou have—”

“Kikit, Dark Elf. Considering the circumstances, there’s only one Dark Elf Chiyou might command.”

“—Ah! Kaztor!”

Every user present could easily perceive it.

That was the reason Leeha hadn’t bothered to explain.

The content of the deal between Chiyou and Le was the resurrection of Pyrot-Cocri and the transformation of the Dark Elf Kaztor into an undead!

Chiyou’s purpose was clear.

“Petyr, you mentioned that an undead can use all the skills from when it was alive?”

“Buhihihit! At least the undead created directly by Pyrot-Cocri had that capability. There shouldn’t be any changes in memories or technical aspects.”

“Dammit. I see.”

All the information related to “Arcane Sniper”.

That was precisely what Chiyou aimed for.

More than what Kidd and Luger knew, even surpassing Leeha’s knowledge in some areas, Chiyou would grasp the intricacies of Arcane Sniper.

“Ugh… What’s all this? They keep getting stronger while we took down Tiamat and received almost no substantial rewards.”

Bobae also expressed her understanding of the situation with a grumble.

Though they hadn’t received any rewards yet, the enemies had effectively claimed theirs, hadn’t they?

When Bobae spoke, everyone nodded in agreement, as if affirming her words, and Hyein laughed.

“Haha, isn’t surviving the reward itself? Gaining this kind of experience is the reward too.”

His statement left not only the users but even Leeha bewildered.

As the atmosphere grew tense for a moment, Hyein quickly coughed a few times and added, “If you only care about money, you might end up like I did before, right?”

With that, he threw in a self-deprecating joke about his own misadventures.

Although this topic was sensitive, especially for the existing guild members of ‘Byulcho’, Hyein used it mockingly to disparage himself.

Bobae’s voice grew louder at his playful jest.

“Really! When, when did I ever say I wanted compensation in money? Hyein oppa, don’t talk like, huh, like a monk! In a game, of all places! We survived, so the survivors should be generously rewarded! That’s what it means to crush the Demon King’s army again!”

“Kihihi, that’s right. A materialistic reward is just right for Bobae. Something like stats or attribute resistance―.”

“Biyemi-ssi~?”

“―Ki, kihihi! I take it back!”

However, instead of remaining tense, the atmosphere actually lightened and became lively due to Hyein’s comments.

Leeha also chuckled as he observed the bustling members of Byulcho.

With the undoubtedly empowered Pyrot-Cocri joining the Demon King’s army, Bluebeard and Ghibrid would wield even greater strength than before.

‘Perhaps just having all three of the Demon King’s Fragments could create a synergistic effect.’

As Kaztor revived, Chiyou would also acquire diversified methods for utilizing Arcane Sniper.

Regardless, they could not just sit idle.

More importantly, now was not the time for that.

Whoosh!

Next to Bobae, the radiating light purple hue symbolized Leeha’s new future as well.

“Tada! The guild master has arrived!”

“Kijung!”

“Kay, you’re here.”

Kijung appeared, striking a peculiar pose that did not fit the demeanor of a guild master at all. Maybe he already knew about the uproarious atmosphere here.

Even Shin Nara, who had been wearing a somewhat gloomy expression, blossomed into a bright smile upon seeing Kijung.

However, no one could match Leeha’s expression.

“Kijung-ah.”

“Hyung.”

The eyes of all the users, including Petyr and Biyemi, turned toward the cousin brothers. Leeha extended his hand toward Kijung.

Kijung rummaged through his bag and pulled out a small bottle.

“Buhihiht?! The ‘Holy Water Containing Ahlo’s Blood’?”

Petyr was the first to recognize the item.

As someone who had received a few drops from Kijung and experienced its effects, he had a particularly strong impression of it. Yet, he could not understand why Kijung was handing the item to Leeha.

Leeha took the item from Kijung.

『Holy Water Containing Ahlo’s Blood』

Effect: Grants a Divine Relic effect for one attack

Description: Among the many Divine Relics of the Ezwen Papacy, it is said to have received the most special blessing. The holy water, rumored to contain the blood of the main deity Ahlo, has been regarded as precious within the Papacy for generations. However, no one has ever confirmed whether it truly contains the deity’s blood. Regardless of the existence of the technique or magic to extract the blood of deities, all the church members of Ezwen understand that doubting divine grace is in itself a foolish endeavor.

‘The word ‘myth’ isn’t even in it.’

It was an item without a grade, and truthfully, an item that needed no grade whatsoever.

Since it involved the 『name』 of a being revered as a deity within Middle Earth, what need was there for something like a ‘myth’?

Leeha had looked at the item description and let out a wry laugh.

No one had ever verified it.

Doubting the words of a god itself was blasphemous, but since there was no way to verify it, everyone just believed in the efficacy contained in this holy water.

However, for Leeha, it became a completely different matter.

There was the Black Bass.

A predator that ravenously devoured blood and consumed everything.

Having been further activated by consuming the blood of Tiamat, the Black Bass could surely unravel the truth of this matter.

If only that could be accomplished!

“Thank you. I think… this will do.”

“Thank me for what? Haven’t I told you before? If hyung gets stronger, even the scraps are worth it for me. Haha.”

Kijung, somewhat bashfully, deflected his words, but the relationship between the two wasn’t entirely one-sided.

As much as Leeha thought of Kijung, Kijung also cared about Leeha.

In a mutually symbiotic relationship, just as Leeha was about to analyze the Black Bass.

A purplish light shimmered once more beside Kijung.

* * *

“Master Kay!”

“Oh, oh, Raphaela-nim?”

“What are you doing here― here? I told you to re-login as soon as possible!”

“Well― you see, something came up……”

“What could be more urgent than C9?”

Saintess Raphaela urgently sought out Kijung.

Seeing her unusually flustered, Kijung was momentarily taken aback.

Hadn’t he meticulously prepared for the election of the Nine Cardinals’ Committee?

“I-I apologize. But why are you so― is something wrong?”

Only a few days ago, thanks to the Tiamat incident, Kijung’s reputation was soaring within the Ezwen Papacy, which made it hard for him to understand Raphaela’s conduct.

“We’re going to lose! I mean, we’ve already lost!”

“Raphaela, calm down and speak clearly. What’s going on? There’s still a day left before the C9 announcement, right?”

Listening to Raphaela’s rambling, Leeha interjected.

If it’s related to the Ezwen Papacy, had something occurred that was so dire that even someone like her, comparable to Lark, had given up?

“We can’t… use that day meaningfully. The gathering of opinions from the church leaders will be over by tonight. At most by dawn. Tomorrow is just the formal announcement, and now… it’s too late to overturn the church leaders.”

It didn’t take long for Raphaela to convey what had happened during the ‘open forum of the Ezwen Papacy’ held two days ago.

The issue was straightforward.

“Did they ask for… evidence?”

“Yes. As per the explanation in Jannate’s Key, 〈The Spiritual Symbol Theory〉 has been a longstanding dominant thesis. Most NPC believers support it. Well… no one’s ever seen or recorded what supposedly is the ‘corporeal form’ of a god, so it’s a natural conclusion.”

“B-but― isn’t it strange? They have the Demon King’s Fragments! With those ‘fragments’ roaming the continent—why assume that god lacks a corporeal form?”

“On the contrary, that also paradoxically denies the material existence of a god. Extremists say, there’s no ‘fragment of god’ wandering around, is there? Divine power comes solely from faith. The 〈Physical Actuality Theory〉, suggesting that the Supreme God Ahlo has a form like humans and even resides at a specific location, with Jannate’s Key being the tool to meet this god… is considered, in some respects, an affront to the god. Understandably, it hasn’t been thoroughly researched and remains a minority view. Unless we can decisively break their absolute dogma… it’s going to be hard to win.”

The conflict between the dominant 〈Spiritual Symbol Theory〉 and the minority 〈Physical Actuality Theory〉 had turned what was initially an adventure-driven petition towards Laputa into an unwinnable battle.

Moreover, a resolution couldn’t possibly be achieved in a mere day.

Only one person, Leeha, showed a slightly different expression and tilted his head.

“In other words, if there was evidence… would that be enough?”

“Yes. Evidence, a witness, or proof. We can’t―.”

“No, I think it might be possible.”

“―W-what? Ha Leeha thinks so?”