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..."

Once he managed to rebalance himself, staring at the gun in his hand, he couldn't help but

"Bloody hell!"

the one that held

recoil on

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

wasn't an expert with guns, I do think that the way that Leopold held

way up in the air,

hands next time and keep your feet planted on

lot of practice before using the gun properly. If

Leopold nodded

right; I need to

"...Mhm."

my head and glancing at the barrier that had now

dwarfs are planning on using the barrier, you've got some time to

barrier, I estimated that we had at least a day to

until the weather

erect the barrier because of the

"…Thought so too."

in Leopold's direction, I

though they are as

U, it

expensive, but there was a

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

me was because I traded them for the

at the mere mention of it, she

even I wouldn't be

bullets could only be created by the dwarves as

why humans didn't have guns as of

most create bows or other relatively

skilled blacksmith but also advanced engineering skills

humanity had only been exposed to mana for less than

on the shoulder,

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

my body and

who was next to me, caught

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

him, I

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

Leopold's voice

vision blurred slightly

did not last for long as I soon got

a moment to rebalance myself, I reassured Leopold that I

"Ren, are you okay?"

I'm

head, I

started to hurt. Probably

the gun away and

time, you should probably get

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

smile and stood

as fast as it

sceptical, Leopold no longer asked about my

away, he looked at the

on the others

"...got it."

need

a simple nod, Leopold soon

my face disappeared as my brows

'What was that?'

was still messed up due to what

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

what in the

more I thought about it, the deeper my

Or was this really

that it was the latter and that this was just a one-off

—Booom!

suddenly sounded. Following this, the whole city

where the sound originated from, I saw a faint ripple appear on the enormous barrier enveloping the

whole barrier, miniature waves appeared on the barrier before disappearing not

the barrier had absorbed the

the ripple centered,

"They've started the siege…"

***