The Lone Sniper: I Was Just Minding My Own Business Sniping Players, and I Ended Up Becoming a Raid Boss

Chapter 88

Chapter 88

August 17, 44:00 in-game time.

The day Labyrinth comes to steal the Triad.

The location is once again Iris Tower in Electra.

"Sorry, Ms. Eve. I'm asking you to help me again."

"I don't mind, but what are you doing in a place like this?"

Sitting in the truck bed, I keep filling bottles with liquid.

I seal each bottle with cloth and then stow them in my item pouch, repeating the process over and over.

"Ugh, the stench! It smells like kerosene... so these are Molotov cocktails, huh! I'm lowering my olfactory sensitivity..."

You can buy Molotovs off the shelf, but I'm hand-crafting them one by one. I'm picky about every material—the type of fuel, the type of bottle, even the cloth I use as a fuse.

These small obsessions, piled up one by one, will bring certain victory.

"Will something like a Molotov even work on a girl who moves around that much?"

"Who knows. This isn't a Joker or an Ace; call it the 3 of Spades. Unless the opponent plays a Joker, it'll never see the light of day, and if the timing's off it'll just fizzle out."

"Hmph."

"This time, too, Ms. Eve, once you get me close to Rabi-chan, please withdraw. Covering fire isn't necessary."

"Even if you asked, I couldn't do it. It's been over three months since I last pulled a trigger. More importantly, aren't you going to set up inside? There's no auction this time, and the MPs are guarding the vault, right? Why not join their security?"

Supposedly, the Triad is stored in Iris Tower's vault. Naturally, the vault is layered with massive security, and the escort count is said to be in the triple digits.

"Impossible... no way, no how! If a bunch of strangers are milling around, my aim will go completely wild! I only move once she's outside the tower."

Any normal person would say stealing it is impossible, but if it's Rabi-chan, she'll pull it off.

After waiting a while—45:00.

"It's time."

In the kei-truck bed sits the same bike as before.

We straddle the bike.

"She's here."

"Yes."

Atop the tower, silhouetted against the moon, she appears.

Already in her hand is the Triad.

(Current time 45:01. All those guards and security layers in under a minute... as expected of Rabi-chan.)

Rabi-chan's lips move. I can't hear her voice, but I know what she's saying.

——"Shall we?"

"...Yeah. Let's do this, Rabi-chan."

Rabi-chan pulls something from behind the tower and slings it over her back.

"What the heck is that?"

"To me... it looks like a rocket."

That's right, a rocket. A rocket about twice her height is on her back like a rucksack.

"Well, I figured she wouldn't use the wyvern. At that speed it'd just get shot down by you."

"Even so..."

"That thing's wicked!!"

Ms. Eve starts the bike engine, leaps from the truck bed, and begins circling the parking lot.

"Ms. Eve!? What are you..."

"Warming the engine and getting a running start at the same time! No time to drag our feet against something like that!"

Rabi-chan's rocket ignites and lifts off.

"Oraaa!!"

Ms. Eve guns the bike and gives chase. The rocket's faster. However—

"That rocket's gradually losing speed. It shouldn't be able to extend the gap any farther!"

"Probably a one-way ticket to the city limits!"

Distance: 2.5 km. Any farther and we're in trouble.

Barely within range. The line of fire is clear.

At that speed, it should actually be hard for her to maneuver.

(Now!)

On the bridge, I squeeze the trigger at Rabi-chan, who's already entered the city.

At the instant the shot would hit, Rabi-chan jettisons the rocket from her back. My bullet slips through the gap between her and the separated rocket.

"Figured it wouldn't be that easy."

Using her own thrusters, Rabi-chan lands on top of a hotel.

We enter the city too, chasing along the streets.

"Going up!"

"Yes!"

The bike runs up a utility pole and onto the rooftops—same as last time. We leap from building to building.

That game of tag lasts one minute, and on the flat roof of a large shopping mall we finally close to 150 m.

"Do as you like from here."

"Thank you very much!"

I spring from the bike and chase Rabi-chan.

(A district of high-rises...!)

Rabi-chan dashes gracefully between the buildings.

She hooks wires onto windows, conserving thruster fuel while using the wires' elasticity to flee. Same flashy wire-work as ever—dazzling, stylish flight.

If I just gave chase normally, the gap would widen. I'm barely hanging on by stacking thruster-recovery consumables (TH bottles) and thruster-efficiency consumables (saving gum), but there's a limit. Time to make my move.

(Bullet Pieces!)

Six Bullet Piece units plus an assault rifle target Rabi-chan's back.

I slice her wires with assault-rifle rounds and block her path with the Bullet Piece lasers. Her speed drops and the gap shrinks.

"Geez! You cut my wires like it's nothing!"

Beside a skyscraper, 50 m above a four-lane road.

Distance 20 m—inside G-AGE range!

"I'll bring you down!"

"No way."

Rabi-chan levels Red-Lie. I grip G-AGE in my right hand.

We fire simultaneously. G-AGE's round is dodged; Red-Lie's round is blocked by a shield piece.

"As I thought, 20 m is the absolute limit of her reaction...!"

Rabi-chan shouldn't know G-AGE's specs, yet she never tries to block with shield pieces.

There's no special reason to favor evasion over defense. She probably thinks "evasion is more Phantom-Thief-like" or something. That irrational mindset is exactly what makes her so troublesome!

"You can't get any closer, can you, Shiki-chan?"

"That remains to be seen!"

I deploy a new weapon.

"Wha—...!? Shiki-chan, that's..."

The weapon I've deployed is the FL-13—a flamethrower I won by defeating Blazing Lupus!

"That's not elegant at all!!"

"I'm not a Phantom Thief—I'm the pursuer! Elegance... is unnecessary!!"

The flames' glow illuminates the night city.