Matan’s Shooter

Chapter 807

“Lark-ssi! Where are you going?! Did you cast a buff? Spatial Lock?”

Shin Nara asked, chasing after him, but Lark ignored even that.

He only moved at a maddening pace, scattering rainbow-colored afterimages.

There wasn’t even a pale purple barrier.

This was because Shin Nara herself had pulled out a space confinement scroll in advance with great tension.

Lark ran and ran again.

He came out of the east gate of Juma City and ran south for a while before changing direction and running again for a few more minutes.

“Nara-ssi.”

Lark, who couldn’t resist Shin Nara’s urging, finally opened his mouth.

“Do you remember how I dealt with Bluebeard during the quest?”

“…… You anticipated he would come that way―”

“Of course, basic anticipation is necessary. But accurately pinpointing the location.”

Lark raised his sword.

Having run about 800 meters from Juma City to an open field, he suddenly swung his sword.

“It’s all thanks to this. !”

Puhwaaaa────────!

At the spot where the blue whirlwind soared, even in the dark night, there floated a pitch-black sphere.

“…… What is this…… A dragon—or a human?”

A split voice leaked out from there.

“I’ve got you, Kaztor.”

A bloody red aura had already gathered around Lark’s sword.

* * *

“Lotzak!”

Dame Shin Nara drew her sword and her body extended towards the sphere in unison, in less than 0.3 seconds.

“Oh, dame Shin? It’s been a while.”

Kaztor swung his arm without showing any signs of confusion.

It was a light motion in the air, just once, but six black spears shot toward Shin Nara.

“Kkwoook!”

She deftly deflected the black spears, twisting and contorting her body into the space.

“Ho, still impressive. The Sacred Knights really pick their people well.”

“Don’t mock me! I never liked you! Because of you— Sir Syndergard— !”

Zweeeeee!

Her sword aimed straight at Kaztor’s heart.

Kaztor briefly tilted his head, murmuring “Sir Syndergard?”

The tip of Shin Nara’s sword passed through Kaztor’s body and protruded out from his back.

“Kkuaaaagh!”

Kaztor screamed in agony.

“Oh, oh?! Nara-ssi!? Ni…ce?”

Lark was so flabbergasted that his grip on his sword slackened.

Of course, it was a desperate attack. From the leap to the thrust.

The series of connected movements could be considered as pushing the basics of fencing to their extremes.

But to work this easily?

“…… What?”

The surprise was the same for Shin Nara as well.

Not because her attack had struck, but because Kaztor’s face, after screaming in agony, had recovered its calmness once again.

“Tsk tsk, still a rookie. You have a bit of political and administrative power, but… your habit of losing control when you’re angry needs to be fixed, doesn’t it?”

“What the—ah?”

Only then did Shin Nara manage to shift her focus to Kaztor’s face.

Her sword was piercing through Kaztor’s body. No, it had ‘passed through’ it.

Her sword was not coming out of Kaztor’s body, but it had instead entered a tiny black space that suddenly appeared in front of Kaztor.

‘A kind of warp? The sword—entered here—and came out behind him?’

“Today, I’ll fix that nasty habit of yours.”

“Tch!”

Shin Nara tried to kick Kaztor’s body, but his magic was quicker. Just as he was about to grab her ankle, swinging his hand again.

“Hey, mage?”

“Hm—”

“〈Red—Sun〉.”

The red mana gathered at the tip of Lark’s sword exploded.

“Huh, arghhhhhhh—!”

“Kya!”

“Shin Nara!”

Lark supported Shin Nara as she fell to the ground.

“Lark! That—”

“Haha, if given the casting time, there’s no one who can beat me.”

He then quickly distanced himself from Kaztor’s attacking range.

Kaztor, engulfed in flames, was writhing in the air. Though he seemed to be flailing his arms wildly, he was precisely targeting Lark and Shin Nara, sending endless black spears their way.

“Arghhhhh! Damn it, who are you? The ‘Blue’ from before, and now the ‘Red’—what the hell are you?”

“Nice to meet you for the first time, chief Mage of Fibiel. I am Lark, from the Capital Defense Knights of Minis. This is our first meeting in person.”

Lark provoked the enemy with a sly grin.

Kaztor’s eyes flew wide open at his cheeky tone.

“It couldn’t have been you who cast this—this sword! That sword!”

“Hm?”

Though Lark intended to irritate Kaztor further, he could no longer joke around once Kaztor pointed at his sword.

“You know about this sword?”

Shin Nara had not seen Lark look this serious in a long time.

“Ugh, arghhh! Extinguish it. Put out these flames right now. Then I will tell you!”

Kaztor’s figure flickered irregularly.

Shin Nara tensed, thinking it was spatial movement, but it wasn’t.

As the Chief Mage of Fibiel’s appearance flickered in and out, what she glimpsed was a dark elf with pointed ears.

This meant Lark’s skill was dealing significant damage, enough to reveal Kaztor’s true form!

“Lark, no! Don’t stop! The attack—it’s working! If I can just finish it—”

“Except for me― Argh! No one other than a mage of my caliber could ever know! No, there’s no way a mere human race could understand from the start! Put out the fire now! I’ll tell you everything I know! At this level of ‘Red’, there’s still much you don’t know either!”

“… Damn it.”

Lark bit his lip and pointed his sword at Kaztor.

“Lark! Don’t you dare! If you cancel the skill now, I’ll never―”

Shhwaaaa…!

Before Shin Nara could finish her sentence, the fire on Kaztor’s body extinguished.

“This… this filthy human!”

Shin Nara slapped Lark across the face.

Her slap was so strong that it almost turned his head, but the shocked expression on Lark’s face showed who was hit.

“N-Nara?!”

“And yet you canceled the skill?! That was such an important NP―”

“I didn’t extinguish it!”

“―C― What?”

“As if I would―”

Flap… Flap… Flap…

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings was heard.

Both Lark and Shin Nara turned their heads toward the direction of the sound.

Even if it were just the noise, they couldn’t help but look. The flames on Kaztor’s body had indeed vanished.

However, they weren’t extinguished.

Flare──────…!

Hovering in the air was a column of ‘Red-Sun’ fire. It meant someone removed just the fire stuck to Kaztor’s body.

“No way… you…”

“What― A familiar face― Wait, you― Over there! Who are you!”

Lark and Shin Nara recognized the figure controlling the flames in midair.

The figure, who had wings of fire webs attached to the back, spoke to Kaztor.

“Are you that mage?”

“Hmph, showing up late as usual.”

“Shut up and follow me. I’m not in a great mood.”

Saying that, he turned around. Kaztor started flying again, trying to follow him.

Lark and Shin Nara couldn’t stop them.

“Stop, Kaztor!”

“Wait! Py― Pyro!”

All they could do was call out the disappearing names regretfully.

Lark gripped his sword tightly.

‘A person who knows about my sword… Moreover, someone capable of removing ‘Red-Sun’.’

Where Kaztor and Pyro had disappeared, the users summoned by Shin Nara and Lark arrived one after another.

Among the crowd, Ha Leeha’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Ha Leeha had a whisper conversation with Shin Nara and Hyein, who had been sent to support the site, including Lark.

The main points were that Kaztor appeared, Igor and Faust wreaked havoc even before that, and the fact that Lark’s ingenious skill hit the mark but was controlled by Pyro.

“Kaztor eventually made it to the new continent… Damn. I wasn’t expecting much, but I had some greed. No, did it at least pay off proportionately?”

Lark’s skill worked.

That fact was the most important thing to Lark at the moment.

Although Lark did not specify the exact skill name, Ha Leeha could easily guess what skill Lark used.

“〈Red-Sun〉. Must be the one that hit Bluebeard before.”

It was an attack that could make even a Matan Fragment suffer.

Even though Kaztor was an excellent magician, if he was directly hit by that attack, he wouldn’t have walked away without damage. What was surprising was the fact that Kaztor was struck indiscriminately without even being able to control it.

“While it’s annoying that every good point has a bad point, it seems the two guys struck by 〈Red-Sun〉 have joined forces.”

Who was it that managed the fire that even Bluebeard couldn’t handle at will?

Bluebeard couldn’t control that fire instantly.

Kaztor reportedly said it was as if he couldn’t even extinguish it himself.

“Pyro… Crazy bastard.”

The one who controlled it was Pyro, a pyromancer and successor of a hero.

There were testimonies about his wings, his skin color, and appearance changing enough to be visible under the moonlight.

“Not satisfied with just joining forces— or maybe because he won too easily back then.”

He had completely become a vampire, which meant he had joined the side of the demons.

What happens if an successor of a hero receives the demons’ power?

“The successors of heroes generally inherit the power of NPCs who played an active role during the Second Great War. They are the characters most opposed to the demons, growing through quests and likely inheriting their items. Would their achievements or titles be revoked?”

Middle Earth?

Ha Leeha shook his head.

Middle Earth’s system wouldn’t force anything just because one chose a side.

“He would still be an successor of a hero. A successor of a hero, a vampire, and a subordinate of Bluebeard? It’s like he’s acquired all the unique paths in Middle Earth.”

Just being an successor of a hero changes how one grows and the growth rate compared to general classes.

What about becoming a vampire on top of that? Igor, faust, and Pyro should be seen as different categories.

“I’ll catch him faster next time.”

〈Achievement: Cutting Through the Wind (A+)〉

Congratulations!

You have successfully cut through winds over 40 meters per second and precisely hit your target. Even in the winds that make it hard to stand, enemies will fear your persistence in targeting them. To amplify that fear, we present a small gift.

Rewards: Strength +6, agility +6, intelligence +6

10% Reduction on projectile influence by wind direction/speed

You are the first to register the achievement 〈Cutting Through the Wind〉.

The first three registrants of the achievement will be recorded in the Hall of Fame, and an additional 200% of the existing effect will be applied.

Effect: Strength +12, agility +12, intelligence +12

20% Reduction on projectile influence by wind direction/speed

An achievement gained as an extra reward for clearing the quest had an option to partially ignore wind direction/wind speed.

Combined with the 〈Piercing Gaze〉 skill, this achievement compensated to some extent for the lack of the Harpy Hat Ha Leeha wore in the past.

“Wait, what about Chiyou? Isn’t Chiyou also a successor of a hero? Ah! Wasn’t it a different NPC active in the Second Great War?”

There were times Ram Hwayeon collected information about Chiyou through ‘The Holy Grill.’

Chiyou was an successor of a hero with the class “Dancer”.

She actually participated in the New Continent Expedition under that pretext.

The difference from Pyro was that the previous-generation hero was not an NPC active in the Second Great War.

“That’s right. It was said something about a war with Fibiel and being a heroic assassin for Minis. Gosh! But still, she’s an successor of a hero. Should I see her differently from Pyro? I’d feel relieved if I could just take a look at those characters’ profile windows – huh!”