I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 330
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 330
Ep. 330
Whoosh—
The Bishop, who had ceased his slaughter, flicked his fingers through the air—fingers that hadn’t moved even while killing the Saedos.
Writhe, writhe, writhe——
“Wh-what? Ugh…?”
From the black blood spilled by the Saedos who had died earlier, Earthspiders crawled and writhed in a single direction.
Naturally, that direction was toward the surviving Sado.
That Sado had witnessed such a scene before.
Before he could even lift a hand, the crawling Earthspiders climbed up his arms and legs, then writhed their way into his skull.
“Krraaahhh!!!”
The Sado let out a scream of agony.
But it was only brief.
The Sado, who had been shrieking while clutching his head, soon rose with crackling sounds emanating from every joint in his body.
The emotions that had lingered in his expression vanished without a trace, and his face and eyes, now far darker than before, looked grotesque.
The Bishop, observing this transformation, nodded with satisfaction and spoke.
“Do you feel your new power?”
“Kgh… Thank you, Bishop…”
The Sado nodded, his voice gurgling like phlegm.
Earthspiders were the source of the abnormal power wielded by Saedos and Duogsinis.
Having absorbed all the Earthspiders from the dead Saedos into his body, it was only natural that his strength had increased proportionally.
Of course, he would have to endure the side effects, but that mattered little.
To a Sado who had already lost his sense of self, such side effects were trivial.
Unknown to him, the Earthspiders were gnawing away at his very essence, and only moments before death would he experience agony that surpassed even hell itself.
The Bishop gestured for him to leave and spoke.
“Take the Duogsinis that those worthless scraps—now your sustenance—were commanding. Lure out that Seeker and have him meet Ilgyeok. Once I eliminate them all, I shall devour their entire territory.”
The Bishop’s lips twisted grotesquely.
The Bishop had heard the name Ilgyeok well enough.
They said more than a hundred Nomads gathered under him each day.
But those who gathered thus were hardly impressive.
If he merely captured and killed the young boy called Ilgyeok, the rest would scatter like a flock of sheep fleeing from a wolf’s invasion.
‘And soon they shall be Saedos who receive my power.’
The same applied to that Seeker causing trouble within his domain.
He fancied himself quite powerful and had humans following him, but they would never realize the truth.
That the Bishop and his Saedos were deliberately leaving them be, breeding them like livestock with adequate provisions.
The Seeker’s power was certainly not to be underestimated.
At first, he had been troublesome, uncannily hunting down and killing Duogsinis.
But soon the Bishop had discovered how to utilize him.
By strategically throwing Duogsinis his way to lure him, and kidnapping those who followed him to turn them into Saedos.
The foolish humans gathered, believing they could survive if they merely followed the Seeker, but to the Bishop, they were merely a convenient supply source for Saedos.
“Krkrkr….”
The Bishop let out a clear sneer.
If humans kindle hope’s flame without extinguishing it, he would crush it beneath his heel until it suffocates.
Just as the twilight that creeps in after the radiant sun sets does to the world.
Ilgyeok?
A Seeker?
They were merely rabble running wild without ever meeting a proper master.
So the Bishop thought.
“Your command… I shall obey.”
“The location to lure those wretches to—yes, that place would be ideal.”
The Bishop paused in thought, then snapped his index and thumb together before speaking.
“It seems the time has finally come to use that mole creature sleeping beneath the ground.”
* * *
“The Duobuxini’s territory is quieter than I expected.”
Ihyeon surveyed his surroundings as he spoke.
The first night after Ihyeon had returned to Kaez’s body.
Certainly, the situation was better than Ihyeon had anticipated.
However.
“…My Lord, did you say it was quiet?”
“Hm?”
“QUI! ET! THAN! EX! PEC! TED?!”
“Ah, yes, that’s right.”
KIEEEEE——!!!!
“WAAAAAH!!! Fight! Fight!”
“Keep formation! Anyone who breaks ranks dies!”
KAEEEEE——!!
“Right flank, they’re coming from the right again!”
It was only quieter than Ihyeon’s expectations—in absolute terms, few would have agreed with his assessment.
As night properly fell, Duobuxinis attacked from all directions.
Even now, when Ihyeon failed to hear the Vice Captain’s words, he had to repeat them at full volume, such was the cacophony of battle surrounding them.
“I wouldn’t say it’s particularly quiet, sir!”
“Why, I thought they’d swarm us like they did in that fortress battle last time the moment we arrived.”
“If they did that, we’d all be annihilated….”
The Vice Captain stared at Ihyeon with an exhausted expression as he spouted such terrifying words.
Considering what trials they had overcome thus far, sometimes their Lord’s standards seemed unreasonably high.
Yet Ihyeon’s words were not entirely wrong.
The Bishop who had stormed the Knights’ fortress likely had not deployed his full strength.
Much less when they were now entering the stronghold of an even more formidable faction.
With fewer numbers, he could not properly explain why they should merely offer token resistance.
…But then again, calling this level of assault “token resistance” was absurd to begin with.
In any case, in a war where lives hang in the balance, if there’s anything suspicious, I must verify it before moving forward.
In combat, the hasty die first, and the complacent die even sooner.
Once your breath stops, regret comes too late.
“Last time, I noticed that creatures at the Bishop level were far more intelligent than the Saedos. They must be taking much less damage from the Earthspider’s side effects.”
“Ah, yes. That’s correct. The one we caught before was quite cunning as well.”
“If this creature had attacked us with full force from the start, it would have pressed much harder. But it hasn’t.”
“Mm.”
Only then did the Vice Captain grasp what Ihyeon was trying to say, and he nodded in agreement.
Based solely on the Knights’ reconnaissance, compared to this Bishop, the two Bishops captured before were nothing more than small fry.
Considering that, the resistance was indeed weak for having penetrated so deeply into the territory.
“Perhaps it’s plotting an ambush or some kind of surprise attack.”
Ihyeon issued orders to establish contingency plans for every possible scenario.
Jia and the Vice Captain bowed their heads and followed Ihyeon’s words.
However, receiving such orders from Ihyeon for the first time, the two of them even smiled.
“What’s wrong?”
“Haha, with our Lord present, what does such treachery matter?”
At the Vice Captain’s relaxed response, Ihyeon’s brow furrowed slightly.
A great marksman and his subordinates should know to test even a stone bridge before crossing it.
Jia, who by now knew exactly what Ihyeon was about to say, beat him to it.
“Whatever obstacles lie ahead, our Master will surely sweep them away.”
‘Winning with facts so shamelessly….’
Ihyeon had nothing to say.
After all, even if the Bishop summoned monsters using their bizarre powers like last time, Ihyeon would undoubtedly obliterate them in a single strike.
Still, it left a bad taste in my mouth.
“It sounds like I’m solving every problem through sheer force.”
When Ihyeon voiced his complaint lightly, the people around him listening tilted their heads in confusion.
“???”
Wasn’t he?
…If Ihyeon heard that, he’d be so indignant he’d go mad and jump around, but truthfully, from their perspective, there wasn’t much difference.
Especially the Shaman and the Nomads’ reactions were even more so.
‘Solving things through force is good.’
For the steppe nomads who must pioneer and overcome the wilderness to survive, overwhelming power was precisely that powerful a survival instinct!
Saying one solves all problems through force was nothing short of high praise.
Especially for the Shaman, lacking that strength and instead performing his role through wisdom and experience, he was in a (?) position where he understood Ihyeon even less.
In fact, Ihyeon had fully anticipated such a reaction from the Nomads.
Instead, he thought that Jia and the Knights, who could be called his true confidants, would reflect upon hearing such weighty words….
‘Isn’t solving things through force the best way?’
‘I don’t know, our Lord must think differently.’
Or so he believed.
The Knights’ expressions were no different from the Nomads’.
When you think about it, all those battlefields the Knights had to navigate through required far greater power than the grasslands demanded.
At least the Vice Captain, who possessed some sensitivity among them, hesitantly tried to comfort Ihyeon.
“Well… Lord, there’s a saying that if the body is healthy, the mind doesn’t suffer, isn’t there?”
“It’s the opposite.”
“Ah? So it means if the body is weak, the mind suffers?”
“…Yes, think of it however you like.”
The Vice Captain nodded enthusiastically as if he’d just achieved enlightenment.
Indeed, when you listen to the Lord’s words, even dreams become reality!
“Jia, do you understand my heart?”
“Yes, Master. If one possesses great power, they can break through even the most difficult floors. Just as you have done until now.”
“…Yes.”
Though Jia didn’t seem to fully grasp it either, Ihyeon decided to let it pass for now, given that fierce combat was still raging.
Once he left the tower and had time, he would need to gather them and properly explain the importance of intellect and wisdom.
If Elsie had been here, she would have at least pretended to take Ihyeon’s side.
‘I’ll meet her soon anyway.’
There was no way to fall asleep in this atmosphere, so Ihyeon spent the night watching the battle with open eyes.
By the next morning, the endless stream of Duogsinis finally came to an end.
“Phew, I really thought we were done for.”
“When will we ever finish catching all these Duogsinis….”
Though the Nomadic Warriors had tried to manage their stamina even during combat, the all-night battle had left them visibly exhausted.
Yet there were zero casualties from this battle!
No matter how incomparably stronger the warriors had become compared to before, fighting so many Duogsinis would inevitably result in major and minor injuries.
So how was this brilliant victory possible?
The warriors turned to look at Ihyeon with expressions of wonder and whispered among themselves.
“Kaez, when did you learn healing techniques?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve heard there are shamans skilled in treatment among them.”
“Enough to reattach severed limbs?”
“That… that couldn’t be, right?”
Last night, instead of engaging in direct combat, Ihyeon had taken on the role of firing healing bullets at the injured Nomadic Warriors.
Since the Duogsinis could relay information to the Bishop, he kept his body hidden and fired one shot at a time, as discreetly as possible!
Some had suffered severe injuries like severed limbs, but as long as the severed body parts were brought back, they were restored without a trace.
Ihyeon’s overwhelming firepower even lifted up warriors with chest wounds so severe they seemed about to breathe their last.
One warrior who received care several times in just one night even said:
“It feels like… I showed my face to the afterlife several times.”
“You should have greeted the higher-ups beforehand.”
He went so far as to say this.
He thought he was surely dead, but the next moment the pain vanished like it was washed away, and his body moved perfectly—how could he not feel this way?
In fact, Ihyeon wasn’t the only one who didn’t engage in combat.
Jiana, the Vice Captain, and even Purung.
Any special forces that might stand out were all kept hidden.
The expedition hadn’t come here merely to exercise brute force.
A hidden trump card now could become a decisive finishing blow later.
Some of the Nomads averted their gaze from Ihyeon and went searching for someone else instead.
“Shaman Elder, since you’re a Shaman too, can you heal injured people?”
“GAAAAAH!!! Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all natural principles, and to forcibly resist them is to abandon the natural order!”
“But you just said Kaez is a depraved bastard who’s abandoned the natural order himself….”
“Ahem, well, that’s just a manner of speaking, you see.”
The Shaman had spotted something strange somewhere and erupted in anger at the Nomads’ absurd remarks, then awkwardly averted his gaze.
How many times was this just this morning?
Ihyeon was classified among the Nomads not as a Warrior but as a Shaman.
He wielded a long staff-like object and performed miracles that defied explanation.
Yet to the eyes of a genuine Shaman of the steppes, this classification made no sense whatsoever.
Why would he make someone feel such self-loathing they’d want to die?
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————