Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Chapter 954

When the chimera realized that its arm and Kidd’s arm were attached and started shaking wildly, Kidd’s arm was no longer connected to the blade.

The chimera thrust its spiked arm forward.

Kidd countered by kicking upwards, sending the spike into the air. At that very moment, even as the spike soared skyward, Kidd’s leg remained near the chimera’s upper body.

From there, from Kidd’s ankle, the “Crimson Geckos” roared.

Tatadang──────!

The Crimson Geckos, merged with the protective gear, spewed fire.

Whether deflecting or blocking the opponent’s close-range attacks,

Or attaching to and detaching from the opponent’s melee weapons,

Kidd simply flowed naturally, entrusting his body to the movement.

“Kyaaahhh!”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The more wildly the chimera raged, slashing and stabbing, scattering flames randomly, the more Kidd’s movements became mercurial.

“…… Pei Wu.”

Watching the rapid battle between Kidd and the chimera, Ram Hwajung thought of Pei Wu. It was a reasonable connection to make.

He was subduing the target from close enough to feel the opponent’s breath, like a martial artist.

“Crimson Geckos,”

Using the adhesive limbs of the lizards, they could cling to or detach from any surface.

When there was only one Black Bass and one Cobalt Blue Python, there were four Crimson Geckos.

By attaching to the limbs of the user, they allowed subjugation of the enemy in close-quarters combat 『Rapidfire』.

『Accuracy』 was for long-range, 『Pierce』 was for mid-range.

After all, the range of control for 『Rapidfire』 was close quarters.

If one brought the muzzle of the gun to zero distance to the target, making the close-range gap entirely zero, how powerful would Rapidfire become?

And what did zero distance mean for firearms?

It meant bringing the muzzle right up to the target.

– Gagagaga…….

– Hold on tighter, Kidd!
– Just wait, we’ll align the shot.

– Kekekekeke! Good, good!

Kidd was dancing.

Now, with the Crimson Geckos, who kept their eyes open, pulling the trigger for him!

─, ─, ─, ─, ─, ─, ─…….

The chimera swung, kicked, slashed, stabbed, and leaped insanely but could not escape Kidd’s range.

Once attached to an enemy, Kidd did not fall off.

The faster the opponent’s reaction and the stronger the enemy’s attack, the quicker Kidd’s movements utilizing the Crimson Geckos became.

The gunfire did not cease.

The chimera’s painful screams were soon drowned by the next gunshot. The chimera’s flesh splattered everywhere.

At the same time, the chimera’s entire body was turning crimson with blood.

– Are you ready?

– Yes.

Even without a whisper, Ram Hwajung, who had been watching, knew. Given the battle pattern so far, the chimera’s next attack was predictable.

“Kyaaahhh―!”

Just before the pillar of flames erupted from its body, Kidd finally detached from the chimera.

If the skill 〈Flame Heaven Pillar〉 of Pyro had the same mechanism, summoning a pillar of fire to simultaneously target area and defend the caster,

“〈Ice of the Abyss〉.”

The chimera could never defeat Ram Hwajung.

After all, even the original Pyro had succumbed.

Crackle…….

.

Igor’s movements nullified Ram Hwajung’s skill, but there was nothing more the Chimera could do in its current state.

Despite wanting to struggle, the monster, whose lower body was already completely frozen, couldn’t move anymore.

The Chimera, partially frozen alongside the flames, had reduced in size by over 30% since it first appeared.

“Ggh, ah–!?”

Chunks of Chimera flesh, exactly 30%, gnawed off by Kidd and the Crimson Geckos, were scattered everywhere.

Ram Hwajung had already turned her eyes away from the Chimera to observe it.

“Disgusting.”

“Phew, that skill is even more disgusting.”

“… Pei Wu. Copycat.”

“Haha. It wasn’t copying. It’s based on pre-existing ‘martial arts’. Though, it’s more informal and has added flexibility.”

“Martial arts?”

Ram Hwajung tilted her head in confusion.

Kidd, removing the Crimson Geckos attached to his arms and legs and holstering them, responded.

“It’s from a movie before you were born, Ram Hwajung, so you probably wouldn’t know. The name of the original martial art is…”

Clang────!!!

As Kidd spoke, the Chimera and the ice pillar it was frozen in shattered entirely.

A white light emanated from Kidd.

Reveling in the leveling-up effect, Kidd whispered to Ram Hwajung.

Ram Hwajung, tilting her head, whispered to her unni.

Situation resolved, chimera dead.

After a moment’s contemplation, she added two more words.

Kidd. Gun-fu.

The whisper reported to Ram Hwayeon was soon relayed to Leeha.

* * *

‘Gun-fu, a rifle martial art? What is that?! No matter what, you should know how to fight! What kind of fight can a musketeer—.’

No, there was no need to fight. Leeha also realized Kidd’s combat principle at that moment.

This wasn’t Middle Earth. Strength or technique wasn’t necessary.

It only required the speed to react to the enemy’s movements.

In that regard, Kidd with 『Rapidfire』?

‘… Perfect. The attacks are handled by 〈Crimson Geckos〉, and Kidd’s body solely focuses on defensive movements? He was already a madman when it came to footwork before, but….’

More precisely, the Crimson Geckos used their attachment ability for detachment and reattachment, and to maximize this ability, Kidd had crafted the ‘supplementary defensive gear’ from the Bottleneck?

However, the extremely limited information delivered by Ram Hwajung allowed Leeha no further speculation.

The crucial fact was that Kidd defeated the synthetic Chimera created by Igor and Pyro, which meant he could now face the real Igor or Pyro given the chance.

“The real problem is over here!”

Booommm────────!

Booommm────────!

Leeha pulled the trigger towards the approaching Chromatic Dragons near Prea.

The Chromatic Dragons were charging madly at Prea. Even when the Metal Dragons tried to stop them, they couldn’t halt the fervency of the rampaging Chromatic Dragons.

‘Damn, we broke through the shield, but—.’

The Spirit of Wrath had empowered the Spirit of Destruction to pierce part of Tiamat’s shield.

However, Leeha and Prea’s plan had worked only to that extent.

The Spirits of Chaos and Might had no effect on Tiamat. Even the Chromatic Dragons influenced by Tiamat were unaffected by Chaos or Might.

In the end, the only method left was to directly strike Tiamat with the Spirit of Destruction, which had broken through the shield.

―The attacks aren’t landing! I can’t believe it, the Spirit of Destruction is giving up, saying its strength isn’t enough!

However, for the queen and mother of all Chromatic Dragons, attacks related to the dark attribute were practically null.

―Then just keep breaking the shield! If I can just fire—

“―That’s not easy either! More importantly― Tiamat’s tentacles are attacking—”

At the moment when Prea penetrated the shield and entered, Leeha also tried to shoot. If it were the Black Bass that struck at the core, surely there would be some way to do it. However, the shield was restored in an instant.

So quickly that Leeha didn’t even have a chance to fire a bullet.

Breaking the shield again wasn’t an easy task either.

Up to that point, Prea had been the ‘closest enemy’ to Tiamat.

Therefore, a new ‘defensive pattern’ of Tiamat, which hadn’t been seen before, was triggered.

Tentacles extending from various parts of Tiamat’s body attempted to ensnare the flying Prea.

‘Long-range with breath attacks, close-range with tentacles, and the shield regenerates insanely fast! It doesn’t even break with normal attacks!’

It was the same when making another hole in the shield to get out.

If he had aimed to shoot at that moment, he would have had to penetrate Prea’s torso and hit Tiamat.

Such a thing was impossible.

‘Damn Middle Earth! How the hell are we supposed to break this!?’

Cursing wouldn’t help.

In the end, Leeha had to recommend a retreat to Prea. However, while intrusion was easy, retreat was never simple in battle.

To ‘return alive,’ considerable effort was required.

Having noticed that Prea approached Tiamat, the chromatic dragons began focusing their attacks on Prea, a situation that persisted until now.

“―Hwayeon! How about that?”

“―Ah, not yet. Our guild members are continuously checking, but it’s not done yet! It seems almost complete, but the finishing touches…”

“―Damn it… We need that!”

Tiamat’s invasion was too fast.

Despite Bottleneck’s efforts, only Luger and Kidd’s items were completed. The item Leeha requested was still being crafted by all the Dwarves, even at this moment.

‘If only the Black Bass bullet hits, it should work somehow!’

But the location of the Dragon Heart was unknown. No, its very existence was a mystery.

Tiamat’s outer shell?

Normal dragon scales were tougher than most armor. There was no need to mention Tiamat’s scales.

‘Even dragon scales are still physical armor! Such things can’t block my bullets. Moreover, with a strike from the core…’

It would provide a direct shock to the Dragon’s Heart. If only that shield surrounding it wasn’t there!

‘Should I have used the skill granted by the Spirit of Destruction on that side after all!? Was it a mistake to destroy Le’s staff…?’

Regretting it now was futile.

Moreover, without his staff, Le couldn’t exert even half of his usual power, which wasn’t necessarily bad, but Leeha at this point wouldn’t know.

The problem remained how to overcome this situation.

Was there really no way?

“Damn it all! Eat it all up, eat it up!”

────────────!!!!

In the stifling battlefield where they had been constantly pushed back, Tiamat’s heads began to glow. Before Leeha could grit his teeth, the entire frontline started buzzing.

“Br-Breath! It’s breath!”

“How are we supposed to win this!? The story feels like we’re meant to lose, why should we even block this!?”

Panicked users were thrown into chaos.

How were they supposed to block this breath attack?

They had already suffered enormous damage from the sporadic mana chunks spewing out from Tiamat’s body, and now it was even using breath attacks.

Alexander and Bailephus hurriedly circled around Tiamat’s heads, but Kuzgunak’sh’s head showed no reaction.

“Hmm…”

『There’s no response. At this rate, all six breaths will be fired, Alexander.』

Bailephus spoke quickly, dodging the red dragon’s breath.

Bahamut, approaching from the opposite side, completely incinerated one of the red dragon’s wings with his own breath.

『Tiamat has completely subdued Kuzgunak’sh’s thoughts. Bailephus, we must find a way to provoke him.』

Listening to Bahamut’s hint, Alexander also steeled himself.