The Author's POV

“They’re here.”

Hein cast his gaze off into the far off horizon, then turned his attention to the people standing next to him. Everyone was here, from Ryan to Han Yufei. Apart from Ren, everyone that was part of the mercenary group was present.

A solemn air pervaded the area around him, and he could feel his hand clenching the shield in his hand even more tightly.

“A-are you sure you guys can handle this?”

As Ryan gazed into the distance, he struggled to find the right words to say. The color of his face began to fade, and he moved backward without meaning to.

“Alt..hough Ren did say that the next wave would be a lot harder…I didn’t think it would be this much harder…”

“I get you.”

Hein murmured something quietly as he turned his head and looked off into the distance, where he could see the entire landscape turning completely dark.

The longer time passed, the more evident it became that a sense of impending doom emanated from the distant sea of darkness that stretched all the way toward the horizon and didn’t seem to end.

‘What’s this smell?’

Sniffing with his nose, Hein was able to detect the putrid odor of dead and rotting flesh coming from all of the orcs that had been killed in the previous war and were still being kept in the area where they had died.

It made his stomach churn, and just as he was about to turn his head away, Leopold spoke.

“We can no longer be as relaxed as we were in the previous battle.”

Ava nodded her head in agreement as she quietly mumbled something else under her breath.

“…I hope I won’t have to sacrifice any of my pets.”

Her voice was audible enough for Hein to hear. He shook his head upon hearing her words.

Realistically speaking, her wish was impossible. The number of demons in the distance numbered more than a million.

With only about a hundred thousand orcs on their side, the battle was a very disadvantaged one.

‘The only way I can see ourselves winning is if Ren, Liam, and the others can make a difference. ‘

The reality was that the strongest beings typically won wars. The wars fought by the lower-ranking beings were not as significant as those waged by the superior beings.

Each one of the higher beings could wipe out thousands of lower ranked beings with just a swipe of their hands. It was very important that they made a difference.

“Hey, Liam.”

Hein suddenly called out.

Liam turned back to look at him once he heard his name.

“What is it?”

“…Do you feel any strong presence coming from the demons in the distance?”

Liam had a special power.

One that provided him with the ability to gauge an individual’s level of power with just a single glance. Although Liam gave off the impression of being a very reckless person on the outside, the only reason he was able to be reckless was because of this broken ability of his.

He had a complete understanding of the power level of his adversary, so he was able to judge when to fight and when to retreat. Although it was indeed true that he was a battle maniac, there was a good reason why he was still alive up to this point in time.

…and it sure as hell wasn’t because he was simply ‘lucky’.

For the most part that is. 

“I do feel a lot of strong presence.” 

Liam said. To Hein’s surprise, Liam’s voice was extremely solemn at the moment, which was quite unusual for him because he typically sounded bored.

In fact, he also detected a hint of excitement in his voice. Clearly, the situation had tickled his battle spirit.

“There are multiple Marquis ranked demons that I can see with just a glance.”

“How many?”

“About twenty-seven of them.”

“Tss…”

Hein took a breath of cold air.

The mood instantly shifted and became incredibly heavy as soon as his words came out.

“Twenty seven!?”

Ryan shouted in shock as he woke up from his daze.

His expression was incredibly pale at the moment.

‘We might be screwed…’

Hein felt his hand tremble a little as he looked at Ryan. His reaction…he understood it. Counting Liam, Angelica, Silug, Omgulong, Ren, Jin, and possibly, Han Yufei, they were at a massive disadvantage when it came to those who could put up a fight against Marquis ranked demons.

To make matters worse, Liam’s next words caused everyone’s faces to freeze.

“There also seems to be a Duke ranked demon hidden at the far end…”

Liam’s eyes squinted, and the yellow hue that was emanating from his eyes became brighter. It wasn’t long before his face became extremely serious.

“…It also doesn’t look like a regular Duke ranked demon. I’m afraid he’s someone that is in the late stages of his rank. He…He isn’t someone that I can defeat with my current abilities.”

“Haha.”

Hein let out a nervous laugh as he stared into the distance.

For the first time in a while, he finally felt hopeless as his knees started to weaken a little.

‘…I might actually die today.’

The demons were now closer than ever, and the pressure coming from them was even more apparent. It was tremendous.

“Haaa…”

Hein let out a long sigh and lowered his head.

‘I guess I’ll be seeing you soon, Smallsnake.’

Hein put on a brave face and took a deep breath, slapping the sides of his cheeks and making a loud clapping sound that startled everyone around him.

“Fuck it!”

He cursed out loud. 

“There’s no point thinking negatively. At the moment, with all the training that we did over the past two years, there’s nothing that will say that we will lose. I also doubt Ren would send us here without knowing about the situation. Let’s just try our best not to die, alright?”

“Who said anything about giving up?”

Hein suddenly felt Liam’s disgusted look.

He turned his gaze toward the distance and added.

“I never once said that the war wasn’t winnable. I was ju…haaa….this is so fun.”

Liam moaned halfway through his sentence.

Everyone silently took a step away from him. Not that he cared as he continued to stare into the distance and slowly unsheathed his sword.

“The more I think about it, the more excited I am getting. Finally, I don’t have to hold back…I want to see just how strong I’ve become.”

Clank. Clank. Clank.

At this precise moment, a deafening metallic rattling reverberated throughout the air as the castle’s gates began to lower and large catapults began to move out into the surrounding area. Diverse types of orcs, numbering in the tens of thousands, were stationed close to the catapults and slowly pulled it forward.

Their massive frames instantly attracted the attention of Hein and the others.

“They are using those things again, it’s no use. Although they are strong, it takes way too much time to reload those things. By the time the demons arrive, the orc’s formation will be in disarray. “

Leopold mumbled as he leaned his body forward, gazing at the large catapults moving down the hill.

‘He has a point.’

Hein quietly nodded his head when he heard Leopold’s comments.

The weakness of the catapults was glaringly obvious to him. At least from what he saw in the first battle.

Not only did they require an excessive amount of time to reload, but they also disrupted the momentum of the orcs, who were forced to reposition themselves in order as each reload displaced them from their formation.

A lot of precious time was wasted as a result of this problem.

“That’s not necessarily the case.”

Ryan shook his head once he heard Leopold’s comments.

Everyone turned their attention toward him, who calmly pointed at the catapults.

“Why don’t you guys look closely? Do those things look like normal catapults to you?”

His words caused everyone’s pupils to constrict as they concentrated more intently on the catapults. It was at that moment that the eyes of a few of the people who were present opened wide in shock.

“That…”

Ryan nodded his head and explained, fully expecting their reactions.

“Yes, the dwarves have made adjustments to the catapults, so there is no need for anyone to be concerned about the current predicament. According to what I’ve gathered, the amount of time it takes to reload the catapults has been cut down significantly, and their weight has also been drastically reduced.”

He suddenly puffed up his chest a little.

“…and this is no thanks to my master, Jomnuk.”

‘Thank god.’

Hein sighed in relief upon hearing Ryan’s words. He had almost forgotten about the dwarves.

Hein had been unable to see what the dwarves were doing because he had been training with the others; however, when he thought about Henlour and how intelligent the dwarves were, everything started to make sense to him.

With their help, the situation wasn’t as hopeless as he thought it was.

“Is that the only thing that they built?”

He suddenly heard Han Yufei’s voice.

Ryan glanced at him briefly and replied.

“No, there are still a couple of other things that they’ve built. For example, the walls of the castle have been reinforced, and the same can be said for the equipment that the orcs are wearing.”

Ryan pointed toward the orcs in the distance, who were marching forward with the catapults at their sides.

“If you look closely at what they are wearing, you will notice that their armor and weapons are brand new. In recent days, the dwarves have smelted and crafted a new batch of armor that is significantly stronger and more durable than the ones they previously wore. Compared to the past, their combat effectiveness has increased significantly. “

“That makes sense…”

Hein nodded while placing his hand over the fortification.

It was as Ryan said. The armor and weapons that the orcs were wearing did indeed look newer compared to the ones they previously used.

‘With it, they should be able to last longer, but…’

“Haaaa…”

Hein sighed as he took another look toward the distance.

There were simply way too many demons for him to count. He was beginning to doubt the effectiveness of this equipment change.

‘From the looks of things, the equipment change is not going to cut it. Realistically speaking, the outcome of the war will most likely depend on Liam or Ren.’

The two strongest of the group.

….If they somehow managed to defeat all of the Marquis ranked demons and the Duke ranked demon, then perhaps there was a chance for them to win the war.

‘But that’s only if Ren is here…’

Turning around and seeing that Ren was still not present, Hein grimly shook his head. Last he heard, he was trying to break through to the next rank.

It was both good and bad news.

Taking another look at the demons in the distance, Hein’s grip over the fortification increased.

“…I hope he can make it in time…or we’re fucked.”

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