Matan’s Shooter

What kind of gaze did Kyle have right now?

Why did Kaztor, beyond the shimmering haze, seem like he was smiling?

‘Kaztor and Brown having a conversation… How is that possible?’

A story only progressed with the presence of a user. Whether the user understood it or not, comprehended it or not, was never given any consideration.

‘To make us listen to the NPCs’ conversation? … That can’t be it.’

Middle Earth wasn’t such a kind game. So then, why now?

Leeha turned his head to look at Alexander. He was still repelling the horde of vampires.

‘Yeah, their numbers have reduced considerably. It’s hard to tell exactly, but they’ve definitely decreased.’

The number of vampires Alexander had killed up to now must have been substantial. But could they really have diminished ‘this much’?

From the moment they entered the cloud, the vampires only maintained a distance without approaching. That, too, was strange.

It wouldn’t have been any obstacle for Leeha with his “Distorted Vision”, but it certainly would limit the visibility of the other musketeers.

In the dark night, with dark-colored bats entering a cloud, it was natural that they wouldn’t be detected until they got quite close.

This place would’ve been the perfect spot for an assault.

So why didn’t they approach? What’s the reason?

“Right. Kyle can hit me. If he can shoot the 《Arcane Bullet》, then I’m nothing. You can ask directly. No matter what I do, it’s no problem to kill me. Isn’t it, Zamiel?”

“Don’t provoke Kyle, Kaztor. You lost. No matter what you do, you can’t… beat our son.”

“Heh, right. That’s why I called it a blessing. To obtain the power to move all of Earth at a young age.”

“Shut up!”

Elizabeth shouted.

A blessing? This was not a blessing. The entity controlling Kyle had just changed from Kaztor to Zamiel.

If Kyle fired all the Arcane Bullet, his existence would be obliterated; if he didn’t shoot, he would be in such extreme pain that he couldn’t sustain his life.

“Still, you’re right. I can’t beat Kyle. That’s why I never intended to beat him in the first place.”

“What?”

Kaztor shrugged.

“I don’t need to win.”

It was a fleeting moment.

So brief that it didn’t even register in Leeha’s “Distorted Vision.”

Something flew from in front of the Red Zeppelin.

It was a bat.

A bat that had just begun to transform into a human form.

By the time humans realized what it was, it was already behind Elizabeth.

“Because I just need to win.”

At that moment, Leeha knew. This was all part of a grand scheme.

Using a thousand vampires merely to herd the Red Zeppelin.

Dividing the forces to obscure his true objective. Setting up a peculiar movement to alert the presence of a commander, then planting Kaztor there.

And then, he himself, moving with the main group that pretended to target the lower half of the Red Zeppelin, accelerating forward to the cloud where he had already entered and waited.

All were just steps for this moment.

‘If it weren’t for the clouds, I would have noticed… No, it wouldn’t have mattered if there were clouds or not. Because the spell Kaztor used was “Dark Cloud.”‘

Leeha could infer the effect of “Dark Cloud.”

The problem was that even though his thinking process worked, his body didn’t move.

The result of the operation that Kaztor carried out, going as far as to be the bait himself, had just revealed itself.

Chiyou bit into Elizabeth’s nape.

* * *

“Huh?”

“What?”

No one managed to finish a sentence.

For the first reason, they couldn’t grasp the situation.

Why was Chiyou there? The Vampire Queen’s movements, exploiting the ‘gaps of consciousness’ that many users, including Fernand, had, were inherently unpredictable.

Trying to ‘react after seeing’ something that moved faster than the speed of perception was impossible.

“Bl, block—”

**New Elements and Characters:**

카즈토르 (Kaztor, he/him)

자미엘 (Zamiel, he/him)

엘리자베스 (Elizabeth, she/her)

“Chiyou―”

“Ann d―”

None of the NPCs, including Leeha, who had barely grasped the situation, could finish their sentences either.

“aaaaaaaargh―!”

The moment Chiyou’s fangs dug into Elizabeth’s neck, a scream erupted from the left side of Red Zeppelin, swallowing everything.

Chiyou, while biting into Elizabeth’s neck, rolled her eyes furiously. Was there anyone targeting her?

“Damn it! Chiyou!”

The moment she saw Leeha’s Black Bass, she pulled away from Elizabeth’s neck and shouted.

“Freeze! If anyone moves, this woman will melt away by the morning sun.”

Chiyou yelled, wiping the blood off her lips.

After silencing everyone with her initial shout, she quickly continued.

“If you want to test the influence a Vampire Queen has over vampires, if you want to see Elizabeth die, go ahead and move.”

She asserted that her words were not a threat but a certainty.

It wasn’t difficult for someone experienced in handling people like her to stop everyone on Red Zeppelin.

“Argh, aargh!”

Elizabeth, bound by Red Zeppelin’s tentacles, struggled, unable to break free.

Neither Brown nor Browless could approach her while Kyle grabbed other tentacles and moved his body.

“M… mom?”

“D-d-—Don’t come closer, Kyle!”

Elizabeth kicked at Kyle, pushing him away.

Could the pain be so intense that she had to kick away her precious son?

Kaztor chuckled. Over a hundred bullets from Browless had been fired in an instant, but none touched him.

As the gunfire ceased, Elizabeth’s struggle also ended.

She dropped her head and breathed heavily.

“So, Elizabeth? How does it feel to be reborn as a ‘vampire’?”

Chiyou covered her mouth with her hand and let out a small laugh. Elizabeth, slumped completely, turned only her head toward Chiyou.

“If you turn me… into a vampire…”

Blood trickled from Elizabeth’s lips, not a side effect of becoming a vampire but as a result of the NPCs’ anger turning to blood.

“Oh my! I suspected she wasn’t an average human. You’re the only one here who understood my actions.”

Chiyou looked genuinely surprised. But her surprise didn’t hinder her main plan.

It was like looking at a child who had answered a quiz correctly.

“Ah…! Could it be?”

Leeha was listening to their conversation.

Though Chiyou’s voice was small under the hum of Red Zeppelin’s flight, the intent was clear – what Chiyou was aiming for was evident.

Chiyou clung to the tentacle.

While the tentacles did not bind her as unqualified, it wasn’t a problem for a Vampire Queen who could already fly.

“Did you just realize it, Ha Leeha? If you had seen through my plan beforehand, you wouldn’t be human.”

Leeha trembled.

Was this part of Chiyou’s plan all along?

From the start, or maybe since the time Kaztor and Chiyou first met Elizabeth, Brown, and Kyle?

What was more troubling was that Leeha thought, ‘If it’s Chiyou, it’s possible.’

Kyle had already broken Kaztor’s curse.

What were the chances that Kaztor would rush to Kyle and cast the curse again?

Would Chiyou target Kyle? Undoubtedly, she would want to have Kyle in her grasp.

Chiyou’s greed was decipherable, but the method was not, leading to the current situation.

“‘Arcane Sniper’… can only be human…”

How could Kyle, now free from the curse and capable of shooting magical bullets, be controlled?

“Hehe, that’s right. Vampires can’t be ‘Arcane Sniper.’ Right, Kaztor?”

“Yes, exactly. Just as no matter what I did, I couldn’t fuse with Zamiel.”

Turn Kyle into a vampire to control him?

Arcane Sniper can only be human.

If Kyle became a vampire, who knows what would happen? If he lost his qualification as Arcane Sniper, Chiyou wouldn’t achieve her goal.

If Zamiel’s gun were to fall to the ground, neither Chiyou nor Kaztor could pick it up here.

Arcane Sniper can only be ‘human’.

Then, to take control of Kyle, to manipulate him, what method would they use?

Kaztor had used a curse for that.

They tried to manipulate Kyle by imposing a penalty that required their presence for Kyle to shoot the Arcane Bullet, putting him in a state of abnormality to control him.

In other words, from Kaztor’s perspective, it was an attempt to grasp everything through complete subjugation.

And Chiyou?

“Now, Kyle-niim~? If you don’t want to witness the death of your beloved mother… would you come over here, please?”

What she was pursuing could be seen as an involuntary cooperative relationship. In other words…

It was a plan to take his mother hostage and threaten him.

Chiyou could understand it because she had seen the relationship between Elizabeth, Brown, and Kyle and heard their conversations.

How much did Kyle, whose mind wasn’t completely sound, rely on his mother?

Who was the only person he trusted to sustain his childlike mental state?

She knew that if she could grasp that, Kyle would just become a ‘follower’ level accessory.

Finally, everyone present could understand Chiyou’s grand scheme.

Roger and Fernand couldn’t close their dropped jaws. Kidd and Browless were acting the same.

Both men’s lips had turned pale.

“Damn…”

Leeha was lifting the Black Bass, but his muzzle was shaking.

Who should he aim at, exactly?

Chiyou? Or…?

How could he overcome this situation?

By shooting Chiyou? Or…?

What was the best course of action?

To prevent Kyle from falling into the ‘enemy’s’ hands, what immediate action was required?

Knowing that point, Leeha couldn’t act.

“Liza…”

Fortunately, the level of the NPCs was significant.

Elizabeth and Brown had reached the same conclusion as Leeha.

“Honey… I’m sorry.”

Brown closed his eyes instead of worsening the forthcoming situation.

And Elizabeth acted swiftly.

Clink.

She pulled back the bolt and pointed the muzzle under her chin.

“No! Don’t―”

Bang─────────…!

Before Chiyou could stop her, Elizabeth pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed for a long time.

Elizabeth had chosen suicide.

* * *

The smoke from the muzzle dispersed into the air.

“… Huh?”

“Honey? Honey?”

Brown, who had closed his eyes and lowered his head, hurriedly raised his head. Why was he hearing Elizabeth’s voice even after the gunshot had echoed?

Brown didn’t see it. But all the users and NPCs present who hadn’t closed their eyes saw it.

“Mom…”

The gunshot hadn’t come from below Elizabeth’s chin.

Smoke was rising from the muzzle of the gun held by Kyle, who was dangling by tentacles.

“Ka-Kyle… Don’t tell me, don’t tell me now—”

Elizabeth couldn’t clearly grasp the situation. The users around her were the same.

They had only one basis for their guess.

Apart from the gunshot, there had been a ‘flash of light’ and Elizabeth’s gun had completely disappeared.

“Kuhuhu… Haha! Indeed! As expected of Kyle! As expected of Zamiel!”

Kaztor laughed like a madman when he saw the scene.

Chiyou, too, exhaled in relief while trying to hide her surprised expression.

Why had Elizabeth’s gun suddenly disappeared? There was only one reason.

“Just now… I didn’t see it, but that was…”

“The ‘Arcane Bullet’! That Kyle used that precious shot to save his mother! Well, it would have been more troublesome if Elizabeth had died, so it’s a relief.”

Kaztor stopped laughing.

Chiyou quickly subdued Elizabeth.