Matan’s Shooter

“Oh~ my? What is this?”

A strange voice echoed, but they had no choice but to focus on Rubini’s map first.

The map was drawing their attention more than the unbalanced groups before their eyes.

They couldn’t capture everything accurately from a distance.

However, they couldn’t possibly miss it up close.

Just as it had been with Toon and Ghibrid, there was a large red dot on Rubini’s map that seemed to have grown enormously.

“Then, that must be…”

“Pyrot-Cocri.”

Finally, they tore their eyes away from the map and looked at their target.

The girl-like entity in the middle, that must be Pyrot-Cocri.

And the number of male entities surrounding her in a protective manner was six in total.

Hyein was the first to notice.

“Six—”

“Formation! Moving out now, 〈Dinosaurization〉!”

Kijung was the first to act.

Having experienced the importance of preemptive strikes numerous times, he no longer hesitated.

At that moment, even at the far northern end of the Rope continent, the sun had set.

* * *

“Why are there six—”

“I won’t set up the field! 〈Holy Blessing〉, 〈Divine Sword〉!”

Before Hyein could say anything, Raphaela immediately supported Kijung.

In typical raids, it was common to set up a ‘continuous area healing field’, or ‘field’, and conduct battles within it. However, this raid was a small-scale one-party raid, and she decided to prioritize mana efficiency.

Kijung, being the tank, received an immediate defense buff, and Pei Wu, as the dealer, received an attack buff.

“〈Extreme Cold〉.”

Ram Hwajung also began casting magic immediately.

And Pyrot-Cocri didn’t just stand by idly.

“Annoying holy dogs, are they? Hey~, they want to play over there~? Keke!”

With her gesture, the five knights of the Yellow Dragon immediately assumed a defensive stance and charged towards Kijung and Pei Wu.

“Snap out of it! 〈Flying Dragon Kick〉!”

Of course, Pei Wu’s shout did not affect those who had already died and turned into undead.

However, what bothered him was having to face monsters that looked and moved exactly like his guild members.

Crack!

Even so, his strength lay in being able to deliver an upward kick that shattered a jaw.

With the sound of bones breaking, the monster’s body flew backwards, but that was it.

“Undead… It has to be completely destroyed.”

Despite its jaw being completely shattered and blood pouring out, it lunged back at Pei Wu.

This was the reason why players did not favor hunting undead.

Once something turned undead, it meant it was already dead.

In other words, it was difficult to completely destroy it with simple physical or magical attacks.

One needed weapons containing holy power or skills related to holy power, and if a vigilant healer was present, it was a manageable task.

“Then I’ll cast a holy power buff! 〈Striking Bless〉!”

Raphaela, noticing what was necessary from the single round of combat by Pei Wu, cast the appropriate buff.

“Thank you! Come on, rookies!”

Pei Wu dashed forward again, knocking down and luring his guild members.

“〈Dragon’s Eight Forms〉!”

“〈Hwangryong Kick〉!”

“〈Bai Su Arhat〉!”

“〈Vajra Palm〉!”

Was it the strength of a martial artist who had completed a second job change? Or merely the difference in skill between ranker Pei Wu and the other martial artists?

The five skilled individuals who could even explore the northernmost tip of Shazrashian, stronger than the western part of the New Continent, used their skills to chase Pei Wu, but he could handle them sufficiently.

Moreover, Ram Hwajung wouldn’t just stand by and watch.

“〈Jet Stream〉.”

This jet stream scattered extreme cold around the area.

She didn’t directly attack Pyrot-Cocri.

Being called a genius in Middle Earth’s play, she had no need for such simple attacks.

“Go.”

She knew well that she wasn’t the main focus of this quest.

It might have been a natural flow since recognizing the enemy as undead.

Pyrot-Cocri lost the chance to escape.

If she moved incorrectly and inhaled, it was certain her lungs would freeze immediately.

So, practically, Pyrot-Cocri was immobile, and if the path to her was clear thanks to Pei Wu?

『Pyrot-Cocri!』

It meant that a person clad in black armor could jump in right there.

“As expected! Those things were too poor in performance to be mere toys. It would have been better with this guy wearing the ‘Toon’ armor—or that cockroach-like guy over there! Or perhaps… an ice boy would be fine too?”

Pyrot-Cocri pointed at Kijung’s group with a regretful tone.

“Can you handle the one covered in Toon’s debris?”

Five individuals rushed at Pei Wu, while next to Pyrot-Cocri, a person wrapped in a robe still stood firm.

Thinking of him merely as a member of the Yellow Dragon Guild was Kijung’s mistake, but at this point, anyone would have thought the same.

Whoosh—!

He threw his robe and charged at Kijung.

If the path was clear between Pyrot-Cocri and Kijung, then it was evident that the one standing right behind Pyrot-Cocri also had a clear path to ‘Kijung’.

Although the sun had completely set, the twilight was enough to recognize his face.

『Waaah!? What, what’s this?! Why are you—』

When familiar voices and spells were cast, Kijung couldn’t help but feel horrified.

“〈Sol Blaze〉. 〈Corona Jet〉.”

It was Lee Jiwon.

In a non-ordinary state, while Kijung hesitated momentarily at the second-ranked runner’s charge, haein screamed.

“〈Reverse Gravity〉! Dodge, Kay!”

Rumbling——…!!!!

Hyein, who had constantly doubted there were six from the start, barely managed to confront it.

“〈Blink〉.”

Although the reversed gravity stopped Lee Jiwon’s charge, the Magic Swordsman used close-range teleportation without a hint of hesitation.

“Lee Jiwon—well, come to think of it, yes! It’s caught on the map! It’s hard to see because it’s engulfed by Pyrot-Cocri’s circle—but there’s indeed another point much bigger than the five other dots.”

Rubini hastily checked the map again.

Pyrot-Cocri’s circle was so huge that it engulfed the peripheral circles, leaving one much bigger point than the five dots.

Raphaela also shouted hastily, and Kijung, with a puzzled face, realized the simple answer.

“That’s not Lee Jiwon!”

Knowing the answer, his face twisted.

『Hyung Hyein? Then what? It looks like Lee Jiwon—』

“No, it is Lee Jiwon… But he’s undead.”

An undead Lee Jiwon stood there.

* * *

Pyrot-Cocri laughed while watching the momentarily perplexed raid party.

“Kikihit! Seems like a famous one, huh? Well, it was so troublesome! How can you control if they don’t listen? Kept charging saying, ‘Nope~ Sol Blaze is the coolest when it’s Sol Blaze~’ making me waste my energy! And… must have recognized it for sure! Damn.”

She even imitated Lee Jiwon’s tone and voice as she mocked.

The last thing Lee Jiwon said to her was recorded and replayed by Pyrot-Cocri.

『“Kuh! Hyein hyung! Over here―”』

“Ah, got it! Then this time, 〈Triple Gravity〉!”

“〈Ice Spike〉.”

Hyein and Ram Hwajung cast their spells simultaneously, but Lee Jiwon’s judgment was faster.

“〈Blink〉, 〈Giga Spark〉, 〈Blink〉.”

In an instant, he evaded, using an electric-type skill on the ‘Ice Spike’ that was aimed at him, redirecting it precisely towards Ram Hwajung, before blinking again to charge towards Kijung.

Kaaaaang―!

At the same time, he swung his sword.

『Kuh!』

Despite three people being deployed to stop Lee Jiwon, who wielded his sword imbued with black electric energy, they struggled even to contain him.

Even after clashing swords and quickly parrying three times, Lee Jiwon managed to use a minor electric-type spell, leaving Kijung genuinely impressed.

‘I’ve never seen him fight seriously before― As expected― is he really ranked 2nd?’

Even with sufficient health and defense, Lee Jiwon’s attacks, combined with magic, penetrated Kijung’s tanking stance. He displayed agility that allowed him to dodge Kijung’s counterattacks, even while Kijung was using his dinosaur transformation.

Once, at the Demon’s base, when monsters overflowed, Lee Jiwon single-handedly stormed through the base, herding and confronting thousands of creatures. The only ones who could stand against him were the combination of Alexander and Bailephus. The gap between the 1st and 2nd rank was so significant that Lee Jiwon, in all his modesty, conveniently acknowledged Alexander because of it.

He saw Alexander and Bailephus as the only worthy matches to test his full strength.

Excluding the Alexander-Bailephus duo, he had almost never fought any user seriously.

Because they all died before even making him use his full power.

“〈Soul Link〉!”

The undead Lee Jiwon, slowed by triple gravity, looked at Hyein and shouted.

“Keuuh!? Soul Lin―”

With a flash of red, a gigantic frog appeared from the area Lee Jiwon indicated.

A grotesque creature without a face or front legs, it only had two massive teeth and thighs that looked ready to burst!

“Kyaa! Hyein! 〈Holy Strike〉!”

Raphaela hastily used an attack spell, but Lee Jiwon’s Soul Mate, ‘Hotchkiss’, had already pierced through Hyein’s thigh with its massive teeth.

“Aaaargh! Unable to use skills!? Mana tangled up – what kind of status effect is this―”

“Kihihit! What is this, what is this! This guy’s more fun as a toy than I expected!? Using Hotchkiss this way!”

Pyrot-Cocri clapped, seemingly seeing Lee Jiwon for the first time.

Had Lee Jiwon not used Soul Link when he fought with her?

However, Lee Jiwon’s Soul Mate, who possessed the ability to entangle mana, was a monster even Ancient Gold Dragon Bailephus had a hard time with.

Hyein, now rendered useless due to skill unavailability, barely managed to detach Hotchkiss with her staff, but that was it.

“Hye, hye, Hyein?”

Hotchkiss wouldn’t return instantly.

Facing it for the entire 30-minute duration of Soul Link while unable to use mana?

“Now― you better brace yourself.”

“I’ll handle it.”

Ram Hwajung stepped forward, raising her wand towards Hotchkiss, shielding Hyein and Raphaela.

“Pyrot-Cocri hasn’t even moved properly yet. Ram Hwajung, you should go with Kay―”

“Yeah. That’s why I’ll handle this.”

“―Huh?”

Hyein wanted to pull Ram Hwajung back, considering the worst-case scenario, but Ram Hwajung had something she could rely on.

“They’re here.”

As she spoke, the sky flashed.

───────────────!

When the silver light, brushing away the night’s darkness, burst forth, a gigantic Silver Dragon hovered in the sky.

『Pyrot-Cocri!』

“Let’s go. Arzenmacht. 〈Ice of Abyss〉.”

『I’ll freeze it!』

Phuuaaa────────ㄱ!