The Author's POV

Standing behind a line of orcs on the tower's ground floor, I turned towards Leopold, who was next to me.

I then pointed at the gun in his hand.

"How's it going with that thing?"

Playing with the gun, Leopold flashed a satisfied smile.

"It's not bad, not bad."

Ci Chik—!

Taking the bullets out of the gun, Leopold tossed the gun in my direction.

"Here, have a look at it yourself."

Catching the gun with one hand, I took a good look at the gun.

The design of the gun was, how should I say, crude? Not sure if that was the right word.

It looked a bit like some of the older guns that existed back in the past. Of course, that was only aesthetically. In reality, the gun was far more advanced than any gun that had ever existed.

More powerful as well as each bullet could penetrate the skin of a demon.

Tossing the gun back to Leopold, I curiously asked.

"Have you found a solution for the recoil issue?"

"Sort of."

"Oh? Do tell me, I'm genuinely curious."

Kind of wanted a gun myself, if I had to be honest. However, I wasn't sure just how useful it would be to me. Most probably, it wouldn't, but it looked nice.

Unaware of what I was thinking, Leopold, pointed at the dwarves behind him.

"I talked to them and they told me that there are things we can buy to increase the weight of the gun and reduce the recoil; the only problem is that it cost a lot of money."

"That isn't that much of a problem. I think I have enough—"

Before I could finish, Leopold cut me off.

"I also thought about asking you for money, but then it suddenly hit me."

"What?"

Out of nowhere, taking out a cigarette from his dimensional space, Leopold lit it.

Cik. Cik.

*Puff*

Taking a small puff, the smoke slowly diffused in the air.

"Sorry, bit stressed."

Saying that he proceeded to take his sword out. He then waved it at me.

"Since I can also use the sword, as soon as I use the gun, I'll store it in my dimensional space. Then, I can just take the gun back after things calm down."

Leopold's response was out of my expectations.

Alternating my gaze between his ring and the gun, my head tilted in confusion.

"…that works?"

"Yup. I've tried. It's one of the tips that the dwarves have given me. The only problem is the reloading which takes time..."

"Okay…"

If the dwarves said that it worked then it probably did. However, I'd assume this strategy only works for people like Leopold, who could use two weapons.

WIIIIIIIIM—!

It was then that suddenly a strange noise enveloped the battlefield.

*Puff*

Leopold, who was next to me, took another puff of his cigarette. He didn't even need to look to understand what was happening.

"Looks like we're about to start."

As soon as his words faded, the barrier in the distance slowly started to disappear. What lay behind it were over thousands and upon thousands of demons.

The air instantly became tense, and the mana in the air started to thicken up.

The second wave was just about to begin.

***

Inside of an unknown room in the city.

"Shut down tha barriers, tha weather has cleared up."

A red-haired dwarf walked towards the beacon and placed his hand on it.

[92%]

Was engraved in the middle of the beacon, signifying how much energy it had left.

Kru Kuk—!

Soon enough, the moment the red-haired dwarf's hand touched the beacon, the beacon let out a strange noise, and the light that shot upwards slowly started to dim down.

Gazing up towards the hole where the beam shot out, the red-haired dwarf muttered.

"We've already lost 8% o' tha energy this early into tha war."

"It shou' still be fine for now. What's really important be that we withstand tha second wave."

Replied another dwarf with black braided hair.

"Ye think so?"

"Yeah."

According to him, as long as they did not suffer substantial losses in the second wave, and they didn't activate the barrier once again, they'd have a good shot at the war.

Crossing his arms and sitting on a stool, the red-haired dwarf tiredly asked.

"How many more waves do you think there's gonna be?"

Tap.Tap.Tap.

Tapping on the table, the braided-haired dwarf thought for a moment before answering truthfully.

"I'm nae sure but I do believe that tha war will continue for at least a year."

It wasn't just them that were at war, but the orcs and elves too. Each side had sent some people to help out, but from the looks of it, things wouldn't clear up for a least a while.

For a war of this magnitude, it would take at least a year to see which side would have the upper hand.

"Till 'en we shou' do our best ta nae use tha barrier."

The less they used the barrier the more impact it would have during the climax of the war.

If they used up all the energy now, the shield might fail when it truly mattered.

This was undesirable.

Turning his attention back towards the beacon, the red-haired dwarf solemnly nodded his head.

"I agree."

***

Northern tower control room.

"You two get ready, tha real battle starts now."

"Yes."

Smallsnake and Ryan quickly went to their stations at Bemus's instructions.

Unlike before, their station was a lot more spacious, and the map they were working with was a lot more advanced.

Bemus stood behind them with his arms crossed.

"Since I've seen your skills, I'm going ta give ye two a heavier task."

Pointing at the map in front of them, Bemus explained.

"Your task be ta analyze tha strategy tha enemy be using. If ye can find anything suspicious in their movements tell me."

This was by no means an easy task.

Not only did this require extreme concentration, but also good spatial awareness and good analytical and calculative abilities.

To find out an enemy strategy, you had to look at the bigger picture as well as, the smaller details.

Even a single detail needed to be spotted. If that one detail was missed, then the enemy strategy would succeed.

"I trust that both o' ye can do it."

Bemus's words were proof that he trusted them.

Of course, he had other people working on the same task and it wasn't only unique to them, but this was him telling Smallsnake and Ryan that he regarded them as highly as the other members.

Before leaving, taking out a small card from his pocket, Bemus handed it to Smallsnake.

"Human take this. This card will give ye access ta tha map o' tha other towers including tha northern one. If everything looks regular in tha northern tower, do check other towers as well. We're currently short on hands an' any information be appreciated."

Sometimes, just looking at one section wasn't enough to figure out an opponent's strategy.

By giving them access to the whole mapping of the walls, he was helping them have a clearer outlook of the situation.

"Understood."

Smallsnake fully understood this.

Taking the card, he solemnly looked at Bemus.

"I'll do my best."

"Good, I've taken enough o' your time. I'll be leaving now."

Nodding in satisfaction, Bemus turned around and headed towards the other areas to give out similar instructions to the other dwarves.

"Ryan, help me out."

Turning his attention back towards the control panel, Smallsnake quickly got to work.

Squinting his eyes, he slowly started analyzing the details of the map in front of him.

As Ren said, this was a good experience for him.

***

—BOOOOOM!

Different colored lights enveloped the city's outer walls as both sides attacked.

Standing at the bottom level of the tower, I gazed into the distance.

Next to me, were Hein, Ava, and Leopold.

Angelica was also here, but she was in her ring form, and she couldn't quite show herself just yet. Furthermore, even if she did show herself, she'd be pretty useless since it took a lot of time for her to regain her abilities.

The downside of her ability was that in order to make herself appear as an ordinary ring, she had to get rid of most of her demonic energy.

In short, she'd be returning to her usual form with practically zero demonic energy in her. Not exactly that, but close to it. In a situation such as this, that was practically suicide.

On a good note, the others seemed to be less nervous about the upcoming fight than before.

Perhaps fighting in the first wave was a good decision since it gave them more confidence.

Glancing at my sword, my brows furrowed.

'What should I do with this...'

I was now fighting without any sword art and an almost broken sword. If I had to be honest, I wasn't very confident about the upcoming fight.

Not only were my opponents stronger than before, but my handicap grew even larger.

Even then, I wasn't scared.

If this was what it took to become stronger, so be it.

WAAAM—!

At that moment, a sea of demons fastly approached the tower. Then, like a flock of birds, they mercilessly sped towards where we were.

—WIIIING!

At the top of the tower, all sorts of spells and forms of energy beams shot towards the approaching mass of demons.

The land trembled. Black blood that was accompanied by the corpses of the demons poured down from the sky like a storm. The misty black blood enveloped the entire northern area as more and more demons fell towards the ground.

Most shockingly, even though the demons were dying at an alarming rate, they continued to move towards the tower fearlessly.

It was as though they had no sense of death.

Before long, the number of demons had decreased drastically, but the land they covered also increased.

It wasn't long till they arrived before the tower.

"Shit..."

Once they were only a few meters away from us, I turned to look at the others and warned.

"They're coming; get ready, you guys! Stay close to each other!"

My words were soon drowned out by the whistling sound that arose from the sky as the demons dived down from the sky.

WHIIIIIM—!

Like black bullets, within seconds, they arrived before the first defensive line.

FWAP—!

Spreading their wings open, their body came to an abrupt halt. A black hue spread from their body as they clawed the orcs waiting at the frontlines.

"Hein!"

I shouted.

Three demons were headed in our direction.

"On it…huuuup!"

At my call, Hein took a step forward and cried out.

CLANG—!

Holding the shield in front of him, Heins shield smashed against two demons. Sending them back a couple of steps.

Before I could say anything else, with a cigarette in his mouth, Leopold held the gun with one hand and pressed the trigger.

WHIIIZZZ!

An energy beam shot out, piercing the demon right in the heart. Killing it immediately.

Just like Lepopld had said before, the moment he shot the gun, he directly placed it in his dimensional space and took out his sword, cutting down the other demon that was attacking Hein.

On the other hand, Ava took out her flute and summoned her beasts.

Tootle to~

At her melodious tune, three wolves and a bird appeared in front of her. As soon as they were summoned, they attacked the other demon.

Staring at them from behind, I shrugged my shoulders.

"Looks like they don't really need my help…"

I was originally planning on helping them out a bit, but it looks like I was overthinking.

SHIIIING—!

There were a total of three demons that had attacked us. Two of them were blocked by Hein, with one dying by Leopold's hand and the second one fighting for its life against the three of them.

The third demon had obviously seen what had happened to his two comrades and chose to aim for my life directly. Seemingly thinking that I was going to be an easier target.

"Hieek!"

Raising its hand, the demon cried out and slashed in my direction. Instantly, three tangible energies shot towards me.

"Guess it's my turn."

Staring at the incoming demon, raising the blunt sword in my hand, I slashed down.