Chapter 571

Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter] Chapter 571

From a human’s perspective, it was an object as large as a bathtub, difficult to move alone. However, compared to Toon, it was no larger than a mere eyeball.

Still, as if not wanting to miss even a speck of dust, Toon carefully examined the jar at his feet.

“Not bad, right? It’s much sturdier than what you guys used in the second Human-Demon War. It’s made from plundering the magic units from the Minis Kingdom.”

Chiyou opened her mouth, carefully watching Toon.

Toon only grunted in response, not engaging in Chiyou’s words.

[Is everything else the same?]

“Of course. If you can’t trust from such a sample...we can’t work~ together.”

Chiyou ended her sentence with a hint of playfulness, but Toon expressed no particular emotion. Instead, Yongyong, who was standing next to him, glared at Toon with jealous eyes.

“But why do you need these? Five jars that can hold ten thousand souls each. If they are all filled, that’s a total of fifty thousand, isn’t it? It won’t be easy to collect fifty thousand souls, but I’m more curious about what you will use the energy of these collected souls for.”

[No need for you to know.]

“Ah, come on. We even signed a contract. Give me a hint. Is it related to Le-”

[Do not utter the Count’s honor with your filthy mouth.]

Toon’s demeanor changed instantly.

Even Igor, who stood behind Chiyou, twitched his muscles dangerously, reaching almost for his sword.

“-I apologize for my rudeness.”

Chiyou’s gaze momentarily faltered, but she did not let her inward annoyance show.

She had often endured such treatments in Minis for the sake of information.

‘But I can be curious, right? You couldn’t consolidate the city with the last wave, so naturally, I have to think it has something to do with the Count, right?’

[It doesn’t require the Count’s power to overthrow your city of pests. I alone am enough.]

Toon said proudly, with Chiyou responding with a smile.

Claiming to overthrow the city, and having enough power to do so, yet not doing it?

There is a hidden meaning at odds with the surface-level interpretation.

“So, it seems that collecting souls has nothing to do with the Count, but it’s related to you, isn’t it?”

[.......]

Toon didn’t speak anymore. However, his silence was enough for Chiyou to understand. Why was Toon collecting souls?

Her information network had significantly weakened, but she had heard enough about the second total attack on the location where Toon and the

“Arch Matan’s Right Hand” had been.

‘They said they infused power into Toon to collect souls, right? That ‘purple beard’ gave Toon a mission. But if it’s not for himself or Toon?’

Chiyou’s mind raced.

‘I’ve heard this from the Magic Unit in Minis too. The souls of humans were also used as materials to strengthen the Demon King’s Army in the second Human-Demon War.’

By putting all of these together, the answer was clear.

“I wonder if the Count may wish to visit us in our fortress soon?”

[I do not know his deep intentions.]

“Ugh, but if he does, it would be great. Before ‘the others’ wake up.. I think we need to revise the contract conditions a bit more decisively. Wouldn’t it be better to clarify that we are on the same side, rather than having such an ambiguous relationship? Hehe.”

For a moment, Toon’s pupils widened.

A user of Chiyou’s caliber wouldn’t miss that reaction.

Toon snorted and flicked his finger. The jars for storing souls floated and circled around him.

[...I see why the Count is paying attention to you.]

“Oh my, that’s a compliment. I didn’t even know that I was being noticed. Please thank him for me.”

With a sly smile, Chiyou turned around.

Igor, Faust, and the others were looking at Toon with dumbfounded expressions.

‘I thought Faust would have at least gotten a grasp of it, but it seems it’s too difficult. Well, he doesn’t possess as much information as I do, after all...’

Even though Faust is sharp and smart, he couldn’t deduce much without a basis for his assumptions. Chiyou smiled faintly, confirming her guess was spot on by observing Toon’s reaction.

She relished in the flattery of being the only one who knew this level of information at this point.

However, her belief was a mere illusion.

“Hehehe, if the actual defeat of the Monster Wave was intended...how interesting! I wonder what other surprises are in store?”

Biyemi and Petyr were listening in on their entire conversation.

Especially Biyemi, who combined both the information Petyr had about ‘Midnight Circus’ and ‘Byulcho’.

Thankfully, the interior was not pitch-black.

Hooooooo...... HAAAAAAA......!

“Wow, that’s surprising.”

Sometimes, spurts of lava would illuminate the cave. Of course, with the light came a surplus of heat and toxic gases.

“I wonder if there aren’t any monsters because of the environment...” Leeha reassured himself, reconfirming the feel of his musket-pistol in his hands.

While there was some fun in using the old-fashioned gunpowder and lead bullets to forcefully reload, it was still insufficient to use perfectly in actual combat.

‘I haven’t been using the musket much nowadays. I am called a musketeer after all.’

Would it be because Jellypong had been too domesticated with modern firearms like Black Bass? Even though Agility was overwhelmingly high, the loading speed was not much different from before.

[Myong!]

“Huh?”

[Myong... myong. Myong, myong, myong.]

Jellypong had cautiously advanced a little further when he abruptly spoke to Leeha.

At the sound of him, Leeha’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Really?”

[Myong! Myong- myong, myong, myong!]

As Leeha answered, Jellypong’s voice became even faster and lower. Assuming from the cautious attitude that didn’t want anyone to overhear, Leeha took a brief look around.

And then he laughed.

“Ha-ha, sorry. I didn’t understand a single word.”

[... Myong?]

“I just wanted to act serious for a moment”

[Myong?!]

Swwwwwwoosh!

From Leeha’s chest, two of Jellypong’s long arms sprung out.

The bulging eyes of the beast. Jellypong stared at Leeha with a stunned look.

“Hey, you don’t need to be that surprised. It’s stranger that I can communicate with you. Even Noeanen and Celestinee, who were top-ranking spirits, couldn’t understand you. How could I?”

[. Myong ...]

Jellypong sighed.

And then, once again, his two arms stretched out long. Soon, the two arms formed into a huge arrow, pointing in a specific direction.

“Huh?”

Even Leeha could guess what this meant – keep an eye out over there.

Leeha scrutinized the area pointed out by Jellypong. Up to now, the cave ceiling had not been too high. However, in a spot about 30m away from where Leeha was standing, it formed a sort of underground plaza.

Jellypong was pointing at a dark ceiling, so high that the light of the flowing lava couldn’t quite reach it.

‘Terrain has started to change. Does that mean there’s something over there?’

Leeha adopted a crouching stance.

Taking cautious steps, as soon as Jellypong’s finger retreated, he navigated a cliff below where the lava flowed and the path was very narrow.

Suddenly, the open plaza. If he is worried about getting ambushed, it would be better to pull the monster to where he is standing rather than confronting it directly. If forced to confront, they wouldn’t be able to dodge his musket in this straight path.

‘If they’re found, they’ll shoot first. That’s the plan.’ Only after considering Jellypong’s warning, and imagining the best combat position, did Leeha’s movements speed up.

One step, two steps...

When he had entered the crossover connecting the narrow path to the plaza, Leeha finally made eye contact with the alert that Jellypong had warned about.

The ones being illuminated by the glow of the lava, their eyes suddenly increased in number.

“Ahh... that’s why it was pointing at the ceiling.” Still wondering why it had pointed at the ceiling and not at a monster.

“Ssssssssst...

“Sssssssttttttttt-”

“Sssst, sssstttttt——” Flap-flap-flap-flap!

“Didn’t you say they were bats in the first place? YAAAAHH!”

Numerous giant bats hanging off the ceiling suddenly began to fly. Witnessing a couple of hundred glowing eyes flying towards him, Leeha shouted aloud.

“[Multishots]!”

BOOOOOOM!!