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..."

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

"Bloody hell!"

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

recoil on

held it wrong? Perhaps we can go ask the dwarves for things that can be added to reduce the

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

his hand flung all the way up in the air, and he

and keep your feet

the looks of it, he still needed a lot of practice before using the gun properly. If every time he shot this happened, there was no use

massaging his wrist, Leopold nodded

need to practice

"...Mhm."

the barrier that had now enveloped the whole mountain,

dwarfs are planning on using the barrier, you've

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

until the weather cleared

chosen to erect the barrier because of the weather. So we've got till

"…Thought so too."

in Leopold's direction,

planning on practicing, please don't carelessly treat the bullets as though they

expensive that if converted into U, it would total

there was a

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

quite a lot of bullets on me was because I traded them for the core

of giving it to Angelica, but at

even I wouldn't be very excited at the prospect

by the dwarves as humans were incapable

humans didn't

at most create bows or other relatively

didn't only require a skilled blacksmith but also advanced engineering skills that understood the core

was understandable, though. After all, humanity had only been

the shoulder, I

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

through my body and head. My knees buckled, and I

to

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

for him,

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

my teeth, Leopold's voice was faint in

vision blurred slightly

my luck, this did not last for

to rebalance myself, I reassured Leopold

"Ren, are you okay?"

but I'm

head, I painfully

head suddenly started to hurt.

away and carefully looked at

you should probably get

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

forced a smile and stood

left as fast

sceptical, Leopold no longer asked about

the entrance of

check on the others

"...got it."

need anything,

a simple nod, Leopold

smile on my face disappeared as my brows knit

'What was that?'

due to what had happened at the Monolith, or

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

what in the

I thought about it,

me? Or was this really something due to

sure hoped that it

—Booom!

suddenly sounded. Following this, the whole

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

throughout the whole barrier, miniature waves appeared on the barrier before

to me that the barrier had absorbed the attack

the ripple centered, my brows

"They've started the siege…"

***