Matan’s Shooter

“Ah! What is this!”

The terrifying scream of the chimera and the sound of its tentacles striking were clear. However, the battlefield, where nothing could be seen, turned into chaos in an instant.

“Abnormal Status! Is it blindness!?”

“Cure! Healers! Restore! Recovery! Cure! Anything, please— Ugh!”

The chimera’s attacks did not stop.

The manticores also continued their relentless assault without any issues.

Healers used every skill in their arsenal, trying to remedy what they presumed to be a status ailment, but nothing seemed effective.

On the contrary, flaming arrows flew, illuminating parts of the area, and effects from using other skills could still be seen!

It was only then that the users understood the situation.

‘It’s not a status ailment! It just got dark around us!’

Understanding the situation, users hurriedly shouted,

“Light! Bring out some light! Illuminate the surroundings!”

From that point on, irregular flickering started to appear here and there.

It was the same in the area slightly to the north of the central front.

“Do you seek light?”

At the sudden voice, one user at the front line quickly rummaged through his bag.

Darkness had a way of evoking fear.

“Of course! Damn it, even a lamp for now—”

He pulled out a lamp and lit it. In front of him appeared someone resembling a human.

If not for the distinctly Bluebeard on his face, he could have easily been mistaken for a user.

“Is that so? Sorry about that.”

Le in a rugged outfit reached out. Though he had no staff, he was gripping black tendrils with both hands.

Black sparks jumped from his hands, which were holding the tendrils barehanded.

As if slicing tofu with a kitchen knife, he cleaved the user’s upper body cleanly. The user dropped the lamp and died without even a final scream.

“You will never see the light again.”

With those final words, Bluebeard moved on.

To the Demon King’s Fragment, who had never been obsessed with light even when in the eastern part of the New Continent, this kind of darkness was no obstacle.

“Argh—”

“Screeeeaaam!”

“What is it!? What’s—ughh!”

Wherever he passed, screams followed.

Neither in confrontation with the chimera nor with manticores flying towards here, what was happening!

Bluebeard neither expressed any special anger nor stopped his attacks.

He just silently and calmly, as if it were his duty, sliced, slashed, and cut through humans, giants, and wood elves alike.

The skill effects of users and NPCs occasionally burst, but they could not capture Bluebeard’s form.

“Light the fire! Fire!”

“There’s something! There’s something around!”

“Our party’s wiped out! What is this? How did we lose a five-healer party!”

The panicked users gathered near the light, but it could only temporarily avoid the danger.

Bluebeard did not approach the torches and lamps that illuminated the surroundings completely or covered a fairly wide area.

“Where are they.”

With additional sneak attacks in the dark, Le’s eyes emitted a deep blue light as he fought, swaying the black tendrils with both hands.

From the center of the New Continent to the north, Le kept moving up.

Slashing and cutting, he was literally lighting up his eyes to find someone.

Fueled by an unyielding will never to give up!

After cutting down three giants, he swiftly leapt to slice another five giants and was about to move with quick movement.

Thunk.

“Uh?”

Bluebeard’s movement stopped.

He briefly showed a confused expression. However, the one more startled was the user who had managed to halt Bluebeard.

“Suddenly, what—ah? B-Bluebeard!?”

Karelin subconsciously released his grip and stepped back.

He had been running towards the ‘brightest burning light’ the moment darkness spread.

Naturally, that place was the central area, the dragon battleground.

That place, filled with breath attacks and skills, was far brighter than mere user skills.

The mission to stop the Chimera was being managed smoothly by the Daoist Brothers and the giant armored vehicle, so Karelin intended to lend his strength to matters related to Tiamat.

This was a complete coincidence.

While Karelin, moving through the central area of the new continent, clashed at close range with Bluebeard, who was mindlessly slaughtering, Karelin’s ‘Absolute Defense’ activated due to perceiving Bluebeard’s ‘Leap’ as an attack!

“How did Bluebeard end up here—is it fake?”

“You seem to be suffering from some form of exhibitionism. I’ve never seen such a vulgar outfit in my long Demon King’s Fragment life.”

Bluebeard let out a sinister smile as he watched Karelin retreat, but his smile soon faded.

“No, that sort of thing is trivial. You… how did you catch me?”

Bluebeard stared at Karelin with eyes burning blue.

Karelin’s throat quivered.

Despite having a body honed in wrestling, the Demon King’s Fragment before him, smaller than the ‘Giant race’, exuded an overwhelming presence.

‘This pressure… it’s the first time since the game began. This can’t be a fake!’

Whoosh—!

Bluebeard lunged straight at Karelin, attempting to swing the black stem gripped in his hands.

Any attack emerging from the darkness would be immensely powerful, rendering it nearly impossible to dodge.

As long as Bluebeard’s arm didn’t grab Karelin, that is.

“Again?”

“Damn, ugh—! This is real!”

Karelin caught Bluebeard’s arm in a sliver of time he couldn’t even perceive. Forcing Bluebeard to halt his swing, Karelin hurriedly released his grip and stepped back.

He had no choice.

Only twice.

He had reacted to Bluebeard’s attack only twice.

Moreover, both times, he had grabbed Bluebeard’s body, not the ‘weapon’ Bluebeard held, yet his vision was steadily turning reddish-black.

‘My HP is decreasing rapidly.’

Feverishly opening and closing the character window to restore HP was not unusual for those in close-combat roles, a fact Karelin was well aware of.

After just two instances, his vision was nearly halved.

Given that one of those wasn’t even a proper attack by Bluebeard, he guessed he could only withstand one more.

‘One more block, and I’ll be in a critical state.’

Karelin glanced at Le.

Bluebeard now bared his teeth.

Although his eyes weren’t smiling, the sight of his gaping jaws horrified Karelin.

“Finding and tearing apart Ha Leeha can wait. There’s an interesting one here.”

“Ha Leeha?”

“Ha! That’s right! Perverted giant, you know Ha Leeha too? Even better.”

Bluebeard dismissed one of the black stems held in his left hand.

“Where is Ha Leeha now?”

“I don’t know. Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Good. My specialty is getting answers from those who claim they don’t know.”

Bluebeard licked his lips with his tongue.

To Bluebeard, a ranker like Karelin seemed no more than a morsel.

A proud wrestler couldn’t possibly stand idle in such a situation.

Despite the fear of death, Karelin did not back down for that very reason.

“Come at me, you old lunatic.”

“Huhuhu, alright. Though I could say the same about a raving exhibitionist… Enjoy—”

“Attention! Karelin broadcasting!”

As the personal emissary to the president of Shazrashian and a beacon of aspiration for giants unlike Igor, Karelin shouted.

Karelin wasn’t ashamed to utilize the surrounding environment.

“Bluebeard is hereeeee! Everyone concentrate and attack in one go while I hold him! Don’t miss this chance!”

As soon as he revealed his identity and drew attention, he shouted,

“It’s Karelin!”

“Bl-Bluebeard! Is it really Le!?”

“Damn! Does hitting him even once give experience points!?”

In Shazrashian, there wasn’t a single user who ignored Karelin’s cry.

“For someone so cocky, aren’t you being cowardly?”

“Cowardly? You must be mistaken, Le. Have you ever heard the saying, ‘a rat in a jar?'”

Karelin tightened his thigh muscles.

Only about 40 minutes had passed since the battle began.

There were still many chimeras to fight, but it was clear that those coming after would handle them.

If he could die with Bluebeard, the temporary lack of command or loss of power would be more than compensated by the gain.

So, let’s die together.

If they died together, it would be fine.

The moment he captured Le, no skills would be able to save him. He wouldn’t be able to counterattack.

Moreover, the number of giants slowly surrounding Le had already reached dozens. Even if just two of the axes striking from all directions hit his skull, it might shatter the Demon King’s Fragment.

For all of this.

‘I’ll die.’

Karelin had steeled himself for death.

Le was observing Karelin’s determined expression. He didn’t move hastily. It was undoubtedly different from ‘usual’ Le.

Whether he got captured or not, he usually could double the number of surrounding giants in less than a second.

By separating their upper bodies from their lower bodies.

“Tsk, having to get excited dealing with these idiots. Ha Leeha’s absence makes me even angrier. If only I had it….”

Looking at his empty hands without a staff, Le clicked his tongue.

But he didn’t step back.

The moment Bluebeard charged at Karelin, the battle would commence.

The surrounding users kept a reasonable distance from Bluebeard, ready to leap in at any moment.

The darkness still hadn’t dissipated.

With Bluebeard’s appearance, users focused on him, and chaos on the front lines increased.

Then suddenly, there was light.

“Got y—”

“Ah, no! It’s not Bluebeard moving!”

It was a sudden burst of light that made the lamp unnecessary.

Some users, mistaking it for Bluebeard’s movement, stepped forward first.

“See you next time, exhibitionist.”

“Let me catch y—”

Before Karelin could say anything, Bluebeard turned toward the giants who had taken a few steps toward him.

As soon as the tightly-held siege formation wavered, he found a gap and escaped. Passing the giants and slashing occurred almost simultaneously.

“—can’t… catch… you… It’s… fortunate, I suppose.”

Le had vanished.

Karelin sighed as he looked at the spot where Bluebeard had stood, having quickly slipped away.

Even if prepared for death, there was a sense of relief in surviving.

He looked at his palm. Karelin knew about Bluebeard’s previous actions.

‘Until now, very few have exchanged blows with him. And the reason for that is quite simple…’

His unbelievable agility.

No one could keep up with his speed, which was swift enough to toy with users.

But what about himself?

Looking at his tingling palm, one thought crossed his mind.

‘What if I could catch Bluebeard?’

But the thought didn’t last long.

In the now brightly lit battlefield, there was someone who caught everyone’s attention more than anything else.