The Author's POV

"I thought that it might come in handy to you."

After having witnessed the prowess of the dwarves with their gun-like artifacts, I thought that it would've been a perfect fit for Leopold, who usually always helped out from the back.

This way, he wouldn't need to join the fights when commanding the others directly.

Aiming the gun around, Leopold asked.

"What are the requirements for using this little thing?"

"Just inject some mana, and it'll work. It's a ranked artifact."

The artifact was something that only dwarves could create and essentially worked as a gun.

Upon injecting mana into the device, the artifact would activate, releasing the bullets that were loaded inside.

Well, that's how it should work. Never used it, so I didn't know.

"Take good care of it; it cost me quite a lot."

Aiming the gun towards the distance, Leopold put his finger on the trigger.

"Sounds easy enough."

"Well, I still think you need time to get used to it."

Just like any weapon, it needed time to be mastered, and although Leopold was already good with the sword, at the end of the day, his talent did not lay in swordsmanship but in commanding.

Plus, just because he was now using a gun, it didn't mean that he couldn't use a sword.

He could very well use it during short-range fights and then replace it when he's helping out from the back; after all, the gun would be more useful when he's commanding a lot of people at once.

Looking through the status of the gun, Leopold suddenly asked.

"How's the recoil on this thing?"

"…how about you try?"

I also was curious about this.

Raising his brow and looking around, Leopold picked his ear to ensure he didn't hear wrongly.

"Try? Here?"

"I don't think anyone would mind being honest. Just shoot the air."

We were in the open, and most likely, the sound that would come out from shooting the weapon would get drowned out by the sound of the rain.

Furthermore, I don't think the dwarfs would mind this.

"Guess you're right."

Leopold was a simple person. At my words, he stopped thinking too much and put a bullet inside of the gun-like artifact.

Chi Chak—

Loading the artifact, Leopold aimed towards the distance with one hand.

His semi-long hair was already wet from the rain.

Closing one of his eyes and aiming towards the barrier in the distance, he softly muttered.

"I'm going."

Looking at him and taken aback by the fact that he was only using one hand, I blurted out.

"Wait, why are you using only one hand?"

"...just cause."

As soon as his words faded, a gentle hue shrouded his hand, directly entering the artifact.

Click—!

Leopold then pressed on the trigger.

—Booom!

Accompanied by a thunderous sound, a blue ball of energy shot out from the gun, directly aiming for the barrier in the distance. Travelling at incredible speeds, the blue energy travelled through the air, splitting the rain apart.

Before long, it appeared right before the barrier.

However, right as the energy was about to hit the barrier, something miraculous happened; the blue ball stopped mid-air before suddenly disappearing out of thin hair.

On the other hand, while the energy ball shot out from the gun, Leopold, the one responsible for the shot, was sent a couple of steps back.

"Uukkk..."

a groan. Once he managed to rebalance himself, staring at the gun in

"Bloody hell!"

wrist, the one that held

on

Perhaps we can go ask the dwarves for things that can be

an expert with guns, I do think that the way

shot, his hand flung all the way up in the

and keep your feet planted on

of it, he still needed a lot of practice before using the gun properly. If every time he shot this happened,

his wrist, Leopold

need to

"...Mhm."

barrier that had now enveloped the whole mountain,

dwarfs are planning on using the barrier,

on keeping the barrier, I estimated that

until the weather cleared

I'm not wrong, the dwarves have chosen to erect the barrier because of the weather. So we've

"…Thought so too."

in Leopold's direction,

the bullets as though they are as easy to get as water. They

converted into U, it would total around

was a

turned into powder which would in turn function as gunpowder. In fact, demon cores could also

was because I traded them for

thought of giving it to Angelica, but at

even I wouldn't be very excited

bullets could only be created by the dwarves as humans were incapable of creating them. At least not

why humans didn't have guns as of

at most create bows or other

as guns didn't only require a skilled blacksmith but also advanced engineering skills that understood the core underlying principles of

After all, humanity had only been exposed to mana for

Leopold on the

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

me off, an electric current suddenly ran through my body and head. My knees

who was next to me,

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

him, I

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

my teeth, Leopold's voice was faint in

blurred slightly as

luck, this did not last for long as I soon got myself

to rebalance myself, I reassured

"Ren, are you okay?"

but I'm now

head, I

started to hurt. Probably

put the gun away and carefully

some time, you should

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

a smile

pain left as fast

Leopold no longer asked about my

at the entrance

check on the

"...got it."

you need

a simple nod, Leopold

the smile on my face disappeared as my brows

'What was that?'

head was still messed up due to what had

pain was somewhat familiar. Though I couldn't explain it, it felt

what in

it, the

was this really something due to my

but I sure hoped that it was the latter

—Booom!

suddenly sounded. Following this,

sound originated from, I saw a faint ripple

barrier, miniature waves appeared on

that the barrier had

of where the ripple

"They've started the siege…"

***