Infinite Range: The Sniper Mage

Chapter 716: 716: Still Searching for His Trace

Awakening Battlefield, the Silent Lake.

“Even without a god’s blessing, I can ascend myself. I’ll become the strongest that Earth has ever seen.”

Usher hadn’t returned to Earth Infinite Dimensions. Not yet.For half a year, he wandered across the Lost Star, desperate to find a way to grow stronger.

The world was lifeless, yes—but not empty.It was littered with ruins of battlefields, the aftermath of clashes so massive he could barely imagine them.

He saw three shattered moons hanging above the sky. Someone—an adventurer powerful beyond comprehension—had literally broken the stars apart.And every full moon, the echoes returned. The wars would play out again in phantom form, re-enacted through the law imprints left behind by those clashes.

Once, he watched a King Adventurer fight. No skills. No spells. Nothing but basic strikes.And yet, with nothing but ordinary swings, the man killed a God-tier weapon.

The sight shook Usher to his core.

Since then, he devoted himself to combing the Lost Star’s battle sites.Night after night, he watched, studied, and absorbed the fighting instincts of those who came before.

His numbers hadn’t risen. His panel was unchanged. But every fiber of his being felt sharper, stronger.At last, he understood why he’d been so powerless against Orson.

It wasn’t just stats.It was control—absolute control over the battlefield, over every detail, every movement.To turn even the most basic attack into a killing blow.

To play the enemy like a toy.

This was the difference between them.

And so Usher threw himself deeper into the shadows of Infinite Dimensions’ history.Six base classes. Thousands of skills. Countless combinations.He replayed them all in his head, refining, simulating, perfecting.

In that darkness, he found his light again.And he swore, as long as that man was alive…the next time they met, he would stand as a worthy rival.

“Hey, dumbass! Say something, or I’m canceling this contract.”

Berenice drop-kicked him in the head mid-thought.

“Talk to me! Your Dragon Emperor commands it! I’m dying of boredom!”

Usher’s face didn’t even twitch. He’d grown numb to her nonsense.He wasn’t Orson—he didn’t see his beasts as partners. To him, they were tools, nothing more.

And then there was Aeloria.He’d tried to use her as a sparring partner, to test his progress. She flatly refused.That dragon was arrogance incarnate, ignoring every command, her eyes full of contempt.More often than not, she would simply slip out of her beast space and vanish, only to reappear here—by this lake.

Because this was where his scent had disappeared.

So, every now and then, Usher would come to find her.One dragon that never shut up, another that radiated disdain.He sighed. Neither was much for conversation.

Splash—

The sound of waves.Usher froze. That wasn’t possible. This world was dead. There were no tides.

And yet ripples rolled across the lake.

He turned sharply, eyes widening.”Impossible… the Awakening War hasn’t started yet. How could another adventurer be here?”

“Look! Look, a kid!”

Berenice shrieked. Aeloria cracked one eye open from the ridge above, surprise flickering in her blood-red gaze.

There, standing in the lake’s center, was a boy—no older than four or five.He wore a Mickey Mouse hoodie, of all things, tiny frame fragile and childish.But his bare feet rested lightly on the water’s surface.

Behind him, a pair of crimson wings unfurled, stirring the waves with each beat.

His eyes burned with a savagery no child should possess.He looked directly at Usher, his voice cold and sharp.

“You. Are you Usher?”

Usher blinked, stunned. Slowly, he nodded.

“Then you know Orson?”

The boy’s blood-red wings swept once, carving grooves in the water. He looked unreal, divine.

Again, Usher nodded, utterly confused.

The boy was holding… a plastic toy bow. Something you’d find in a supermarket.

Usher checked his panel.Level 1.But a double-S awakening talent. Class: Aurora Marksman.

What shook him wasn’t the class. It was the ID glowing above the boy’s head.

[Chaos Overlord’s Firstborn][ID: Oliver]

Oliver’s voice was like ice.”Then take me to him. I’ll be the one to put an arrow through his heart.”

Usher’s chest tightened. “And… why’s that, little man?”

Oliver’s expression twisted. His tiny fist clenched.”Because he’s my father. And that’s why he has to die.”

The words struck like thunder.

“My mom always told me—Infinite Dimensions is eye for an eye, blood for blood. He abandoned us. He left us to rot. He deserves death.”

Usher reeled. He couldn’t begin to untangle what this meant.But he remembered the strange anomaly when Orson vanished beneath the lake.

Could it be…?That incident… that change… had birthed this child?

He stared—and then, for the first time in ages, he laughed. At first a chuckle, then wild, unrestrained laughter.

Oliver glared, lip curling.”What the hell are you laughing at? You think you’re better than me? You couldn’t even beat him. You’re trash.”

Usher didn’t stop. His grin only widened, eyes glinting with madness.”I am trash. But so are you. Tell me, boy—can you even handle his beasts?”

He gestured toward Berenice and Aeloria.

“This brat’s got the same stench as that bastard!”

Berenice zipped over, shrinking herself down to Oliver’s size, grinning wickedly.”Your old man tossed me around like garbage. But you? Ha! If I can’t beat him, I can sure as hell beat you. Come on, kid. Let’s see what you’ve got!”

She swiped—a tiny hand, barely the size of a fingernail.But to Oliver, it was like a mountain crashing down.

“Wha—”

He went flying, smacked across the face, his cheek swelling instantly.

Oliver staggered back to his feet, teeth gritted, eyes wet with humiliation.”You… a quasi-God-tier beast?!”

His voice cracked, but he still shouted, “Fine! My mom said I can’t beat one yet. Not today. Not even in a year. But give me ten years, and I’ll put an arrow through your skull!”

Above, the sky darkened as a vast shadow passed.Oliver looked up—then froze, legs buckling.

Aeloria’s massive form blotted out the sun.”Not him,” she murmured, voice heavy with ancient sorrow. “But you… you look too much like him.”

Then she turned away, wings carrying her back to her perch.

Oliver trembled, wings twitching like a cornered bird.”I—I quit. I don’t wanna be an adventurer anymore.”

He spun, about to dive beneath the waves.

But a hand clamped around his ankle, hoisting him upside down.

Oliver flailed, shouting, “Let go of me! You think I’m scared? Watch me—watch me take you down!”

He punched wildly, fists as useless as paper.

Usher didn’t even blink. His smile stretched unnaturally wide, voice a whisper like a curse.

“You want revenge? Then I’ll show you how to get strong.”