The Author's POV

[Northern tower.]

"How long do you think they will keep the barrier this time?"

Leopold asked Ava, standing next to her. He glanced at her for a moment, wondering what was going through her mind.

"I don't know."

She replied in a soft tone, her eyes transfixed, gazing into the distance. She seemed preoccupied, an endless stream of thoughts rushing in her head.

From time to time, ripples would appear on the barrier. Whenever that happened, waves would form around it, enveloping the mountain.

Ever since a week ago, the situation was getting more and more out of hand.

The attacks of the demons were more ruthless and relentless than ever before. The lower-ranked demons even threw themselves at the barrier, turning into a mush of blood and gore. It was honestly gruesome.

If not for the barrier that had been activated, things would've been extremely dire for everyone.

"Are you going somewhere?"

Hein asked from the side.

Lifting her head and looking at Hein, Ava nodded.

"Yeah."

"Where are you going?"

"To fix this."

Ava lifted her hand, in the middle of her palm lay a pale green flute.

"You're fixing that?"

"Yeah."

It became apparent to her from the last fight that the flute had some serious flaws.

If she did not fix it, once the barrier stopped functioning, she would be in big trouble.

"Great, I'm coming with you, I've got to fix my shield too."

He raised his shield, showing it to Ava.

"Oh, wow. You fought with that?"

She was surprised to see it. The state of the shield was quite bad. Not only was it filled with cracks, but it was also marked with numerous indentations.

In its current state, Ava wouldn't be surprised if it would break at a simple touch. It made her wonder if buying a new one would be better.

Putting the shield away into his dimensional space, Hein looked towards the barrier in the distance.

"Yeah. I need to get it fixed before the barrier goes down."

"You guys planning on going to the utility center?"

Disrupting their conversation was a familiar, tired voice.

"Hua~ If so, I'm coming too."

Yawning, Leopold walked over to them and flashed his gun.

"I've run out of bullets."

***

"Ah, I'm starving!"

Sitting on a round table, Jomnuk, alongside Waylan and a few other individuals, stared at the beautiful dishes presented in front of them. It looked sumptuous, to say the least. Meanwhile, Ren remained standing. He kept his back straight and stared intently at the food on the table.

"Shall we get straight to eating?"

Pulling his sleeves up, Jomnuk eagerly looked at the food in front of him. His eyes shone brightly. Picking up the silverware beside him, Jomnuk prepared to dig into the food.

"Please wait, sir."

But just as he was about to eat, he was once again stopped by Angus, one of the dwarven guards assigned to him, and the one that had previously checked up on him.

not sit well with

is it this

meddling was starting to

head, Angus apologized. But even as he did, he chose

have to

"Be quick!"

down, Jomnuk grumpily leaned back on his chair. He was obviously not pleased with being stopped from eating, but since that was something

to Jomnuk's behavior, Angus didn't mind it and proceeded to take out the same device

the whole table. The device not only checked if the food had poison, but it

the only

Ding! Ding—

wasn't long before

Angus finally took a step

in the food. Thank you for waiting,

"Tsk."

the tableware and

meat, Jomnuk devoured it in a single bite lacking any reserve. Chewing on

is the situation

with a napkin, Waylan inquired,

that." Jomnuk waved

who knew the code that granted access to the

of his things, Waylan replied leisurely, "From what I've heard, the situation upstairs is under control as of right now. The dwarves have currently set up

"I see."

the meat, Jomnuk nodded

that, for now, things are

But, based on reports, the barrier is slowly running out

will it last?

Douglas said, about six to eight more

"...Mhm."

frowning deeply while chewing on the

expected. From my initial

a lot stronger

to original estimates, the troops sent by the

turned out to be wrong. The demons had sent a tougher task force

pulling any

problem with the weather. Because of it, the barrier has been set up prematurely and an extra bit of energy was used

The demons weren't dumb.

was set up, they instantly attacked it with all their might in hopes of consuming its

exactly because of that attack the barrier got disrupted, making it consume more energy to stabilize.

there was a very real possibility of

meat, Jomnuk muttered in a gloomy tone,

tense atmosphere shrouded the room as each individual present couldn't help but frown

no one spoke

finally broke the silence by putting his cutlery down and

"Hmm! I'm full."

who was not far from Jomnuk, showed a displeased expression

person in the room was a

look given by everyone, taking a toothpick, Jomnuk asked the rest, "Now that I think about it, you

food on the table, Jomnuk flashed

and there's still enough food, why

"No sir, we can't—"

tried to refuse, but he was promptly cut off by Jomnuk.

"Enough!"

echoed

you've been constantly annoying me. Is that your new job?

lowered his

you've checked it and it's going to waste, let the others

the empty seats at the table, Jomnuk looked at everyone in the

There's plenty for

"Don't mind me."

move was Ren who sat down on a seat close to

stabbed it towards one of the

the fork in his mouth, Ren smiled in

"Not bad."

I

and pointed at Ren in a

like this human over here is the only one

"Don't mind me."

no longer stand it and similarly

food, Waylan looked towards Angus and helplessly

to eat as well? Eating won't hurt them much.

table,