The Villain is Too Good at Sniping

Chapter 69

69. Rebecca the Ghost (2)

Before Sion Esperanza entered the student council hall.

Rip—!

A loud, ripping sound echoed through the 1st-year dormitory room. It wasn’t just a simple thunderclap.

Outside, visible through the window, was a dark, ash-colored world. Only occasionally did lightning flash.

Eventually, the dark, damp air put me to sleep. I wondered what the commotion was about and went outside the dormitory.

Who was causing such a ruckus in the middle of the night?

And why wasn’t anyone stopping or interfering with this commotion?

I thought I would vent my pent-up anger for a short time.

…That’s how it was originally.

Rip—!

I went down the stairs and stood in front of the flowerbed.

The scene before me was utterly bizarre. A rift was drawn in the empty air, and it was tearing apart like it was being ripped.

“Kieee—!”

The rift grew larger, and a strange, eerie sound echoed from within.

……!

Suddenly, a strange, stagnant atmosphere flowed.

The awakened student cautiously approached, wondering if it was all just a dream.

It was right after that, a black hand burst out from the cracked opening.

“Ahahah!”

An attack that was impossible to defend against, occurring in an instant.

The female student, whose hair was grabbed, let out a scream. The distorted crack grew larger and larger, eventually warping entirely.

A monstrous creature, resembling a demon, emerged from the crack, its head bursting into the space. It pulled the student towards the crack, baring its sharp, saw-like teeth.

“Save… save me! Please! Anyone!”

But, unfortunately, there was no helping hand.

The request board had opened, and many students had left, especially since today was a holiday. The remaining students in the dormitory were scarce.

As the distorted crack drew closer…

“…What’s all this commotion in the brief moment I was away?”

A hand, stretched out like a whip, grabbed the monster’s head.

“Kieeek! Ek!”

The struggling monster resisted for a moment but eventually let go of the student’s hair. It tried to free itself with both hands, but the more it struggled, the stronger the grip became.

“I never thought you’d do something like this again.”

The monster’s head, grasped to the limit, was crushed. The monster’s resistance ceased.

Crack—!

Finally, the monster’s head burst.

The one who had crushed the monster’s head with one hand was none other than the dormitory teacher, Sa-gam.

She wiped away the monster’s blood and looked around.

Feeling an unusual atmosphere, she came out to find the dormitory gate opening. Although she had worked here for many years, this was a sight she had never seen before.

It was an unprecedented event.

Arsene had provided a manual on how to respond to the gate, but it had never anticipated the gate opening from within Arsene itself.

Therefore, no one in Arsene had experienced this situation.

“Teacher!”

“…….”

Sa-gam turned around at the sound of her own name being called. There, she saw Kail Ivanstear and the 1st-grade students who had rushed out upon hearing the commotion.

“What’s going on here?”

“A gate has opened within Arsene.”

“A gate… within Arsene…?”

“Yes. It’s an unprecedented event.”

Even amidst this chaos, the crack continued to grow larger.

In fact, it wasn’t just one gate that opened; two or three gates appeared simultaneously.

Sa-gam glanced at the tearing void and turned back to Kail Ivanstear.

“There is no one in Arsene who can resolve this situation. If you want to find someone to help, you’ll have to do it yourselves.”

“What about you, Teacher?”

“For the students’ safety, I must stay here.”

Kail silently gazed at the gate. There were already more than three gates in sight.

The expression on the teacher’s face held no astonishment, despair, or any other emotion. As always, he gazed at the gate with an impassive face.

“Come on. Kyle Ivanstear.”

He added one more sentence for the still-hesitant Kyle and his group.

“There must be a place that needs your help.”

The teacher clenched his fist. His resolute determination showed no signs of wavering. He took a step forward, defying the cracking sounds.

The sound of footsteps echoed from behind. Only after the footsteps stopped did a phrase that had been heard before flashed through his mind.

-It would be safer if the teacher saw it himself.

A phrase said by Scion El’heart sometime ago.

Although she had hidden her name and identity, Scion’s words held a certain resonance.

He shook off the strange sense of unease. This was not the time to think. The monsters that had emerged from the crack were lining up one by one.

“This is not a place for you to come.”

He took off his coat and gloves. The monsters from the other world, baring their teeth, began to charge.

“Return to your own world peacefully.”

A cold, piercing gaze swept across the monsters that had invaded the dormitory.

***

In the pouring rain that sent shivers down his spine, Kyle Ivanstear ran for a while.

“Where are we going?”

“There must be people who need help.”

“This isn’t something that can be solved by recklessly running around like Arsene.”

He had been running wildly, but in reality, he had lost his direction. Eventually, he stopped and looked around.

“Do you sense anything, Essily?”

“Not yet… I don’t know.”

Essily stretched out her magical powers in all directions, but there was no response from anywhere.

Although Essily had some proficiency in spiritual magic, her skills were limited, and she was no expert.

“There’s a strange energy spreading throughout Arsene. I have no idea where it’s coming from. Maybe a student from the magic department would know better.”

“What do we do then? We can’t just go back to the dormitory now.”

“Shut up, Elly.”

“She gets annoyed whenever I say anything.”

Leaving Elly’s muttering behind, Kyle closed his eyes.

The teacher had said that there must be a place that needed their help.

To get out of this situation, they ultimately needed a magician who was still available.

Gardner Meridian was out of the question. Gardner wouldn’t respond unless he received a suitable reward.

“This is quite troubling…”

Kyle, who had gathered people in a hurry, had never really been acquainted with a capable magician.

That person had to have the ability, a righteous character willing to take action, and act based on their own judgment rather than seeking personal gain. Moreover, they had to be a magic user.

As he thought about it, a person came to mind…

“There is.”

“Yes?”

From noble mtl dot com

“There’s someone who can help, I think.”

As someone who can manipulate spirits and has a major in magic, if I ask for help, they’ll readily lend a hand.

Kyle quickly checked his watch.

Although he hadn’t added her as a friend, as Arsene’s student, they could contact each other through the community.

Kyle’s unfamiliar reaction prompted Esili Silvergarden to ask.

“Who are you contacting?”

“Ah, her… the girl who can manipulate the water spirit.”

“Water spirit, then… Could it be…?”

…A sudden memory from that day flashed by.

The blue-haired magician they had coincidentally met during the harsh survival training.

“If it’s her, she’ll help us.”

Kyle sent the message and wore a confident smile.

Lara Steilhaiden would definitely come to help. She was the one who had saved the most students during the survival training, after all.

Even though she had disappeared, saying her head hurt, and they hadn’t met again, the Lara Steilhaiden Kyle knew wouldn’t turn a blind eye to this situation.

“Then, let’s join forces… and slowly—”

It was right after that moment when Kyle’s senses faltered.

Esili Silvergarden threw herself at him, pushing him away and falling down at the same time.

“What’s going on? Why suddenly—”

“Look.”

Kyle pointed to the spot where the bullet had grazed, leaving a mark.

“We’re being sniped. I don’t know who it is, though.”

“Who’s sniping at us?”

“I don’t know. Maybe someone related to this incident.”

However, no matter how he thought about it, it was still strange.

This opponent could kill them silently like that. If they had wanted to, they could have taken them out with the first shot.

That meant one of two things.

Either they had never intended to kill from the start, or they were warning them not to approach further.

Either way, it was incomprehensible.

The dormitory gate opened, and the teacher was fighting alone. The gate might have opened somewhere else, and there could still be people who hadn’t escaped.

But in this situation, a sudden warning shot.

“Just a moment.”

…At that instant, a certain landscape unfolded in Kyle’s mind.

He felt a sense of déjà vu. It wasn’t just his imagination, either.

Kyle had experienced a similar situation before.

None other than during the entrance exam.

He had received help from an anonymous someone at that exact moment.

“What are you doing?! Right now!”

“It’s okay. They won’t shoot.”

Kyle took a step forward, raising his hands to show he had no intention of fighting.

At that moment, another bullet flew in. Kyle stopped in his tracks, not daring to take another step.

“You know what’s going on there, Sion.”

“……?”

“I don’t think we should go any further. That’s why I’m telling you, so you know why.”

There was no response.

Nor were there any more gunshots.

As the sound of pouring rain filled the air, Kail felt the vibration of his watch. He quickly checked the caller ID and accepted the call.

[Arsen A.C – User ID : Sion Elionheart#8829 has started a conversation.]

There was a brief silence. Sion spoke first.

“If you get any closer, I’ll shoot. This time, I won’t miss.”

Kail looked at Esil, then at Elin. After exchanging glances, he looked at his watch again.

“Why are you stopping me, Sion? You know what’s happening at Arsen right now, don’t you?”

“I do know, and that’s why I’m stopping you.”

“You know, yet you’re stopping me? Even now, they’re fighting on the other side. If we don’t solve the problem and just leave it alone, the victims will keep increasing, and if we’re late, they might even die.”

“……”

“So you’re still stopping me? Why?”

Sion didn’t respond. The silence continued for a while.

Kail, who had been waiting, spoke again.

“The Sion I knew wasn’t like this.”

“That’s half-true, half-false. You don’t know anything. It’s better if you don’t know anything this time.”

“Please, Sion. Why are you doing this? What’s more important than human lives?”

“At least…”

“At least?”

“At least, you guys shouldn’t get involved in this. Right now, you’ll only be a hindrance. You won’t be of any help, and you’ll only have a bad influence.”

“What do you mean by bad influence?”

There was another silence.

Esil Silvergarden signaled to Kail. She was quietly holding her bow, ready to shoot, but Kail stopped her.

“Please, Sion.”

Although he didn’t say it out loud, Esil Silvergarden still didn’t lower her bow.

Kail had roughly grasped Sion Elionheart’s location. If Kail retreated or another sniper attack started, Esil would immediately shoot.

“This is something I’ll handle. It’s something only I can do, and no one else should interfere.”

Sion declared calmly.

Sion said that from now on, no one would be able to interfere.

Perhaps if he took another step forward, the gunshot would come. This time, it was certain to hit.

Esil Silvergarden signaled again. Now, she could catch Sion.

Kail didn’t respond. He wanted to trust Sion a little more. The answer came right after.

“So, you guys should go somewhere else.”

“What do you mean……?”

“The power at Arsen has gone out. That’s why the internal barriers are down. You guys should go to the main building. If you restart the generator there……”

“Just a minute, just a minute. What?”

Kail was overwhelmed by the sudden influx of information. He took a deep breath and listened to Sion’s words carefully.

I’m going back to the main building to restart the generator. Once the electricity comes back on, the barrier will reactivate, and the strange energy swirling around Arsene will also subside a bit.

“Let’s go back to the main building and activate the barrier…”

“That’s enough. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“…”

“Please, Kyle.”

That was the last thing he said, and there was no response after that.

Kyle hesitated. He didn’t know what Sion’s intentions were, but he wanted to resolve this situation on his own.

He said he wouldn’t accept anyone’s help, that it would only get in the way. It was still an incomprehensible action.

But if it was the Sion he knew…

He thought of Sion’s smile during the entrance exam.

“Alright. I’ll ask for your help.”

…Here, he could trust Sion.

“Thank you.”