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..."

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

"Bloody hell!"

right wrist, the one that held onto the artifact, he softly

on this

can go ask the dwarves for things that

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

a shot, his hand flung all the way up in the air, and he was pushed away quite

both hands next time and keep your feet planted on

before using the gun properly. If every time he shot this

Leopold

need to

"...Mhm."

my head and glancing at the barrier that had now enveloped

using the barrier, you've got some time

long the dwarves were planning on keeping the barrier, I estimated that

until the weather

the barrier because of the weather. So we've got till it stops raining

"…Thought so too."

in Leopold's

as though they are as easy to get as water. They are actually

if converted into U, it

expensive, but there was a

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

lot of bullets on me was because I traded them

to Angelica, but at the

I wouldn't be very

only be created by the dwarves as humans

humans didn't have guns as of

bows or other relatively

didn't only require a skilled blacksmith but also advanced engineering

understandable, though. After all, humanity had only been exposed to mana for less

Leopold on the shoulder,

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

my body and head.

Leopold, who was next to me, caught me by the

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

him, I couldn't

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

my teeth, Leopold's voice was

blurred

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

I reassured Leopold

"Ren, are you okay?"

I'm

onto my head, I painfully

started to

gun away and carefully

we have some time, you should probably

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

smile and stood up

left as

no longer asked about

bullets away, he looked at the entrance of

go check on the others

"...got it."

you need

nod, Leopold soon walked

Leopold's back, the smile on my face disappeared as my

'What was that?'

due to what had happened at the Monolith, or was

Though I couldn't explain it, it felt as though I had a similar headache in the

what in

it, the deeper my

with me? Or was this really something due to

I wasn't sure, but I sure hoped that it was the

—Booom!

then that an explosion suddenly sounded. Following this, the whole

and staring in the direction of where the sound originated from,

throughout the whole barrier, miniature waves appeared

barrier had absorbed

in the direction of where the ripple centered, my brows furrowed

"They've started the siege…"

***