The Author's POV

"See, what did I tell you? With him there, the western side is safe."

A slight smile appeared on Smallsnake's lips as he looked at Bemus beside him.

Secretly he was sighing in relief.

Although everything went as he had expected, there were some close calls. Ren's way of fighting was a lot more different than he had seen before, but still, he had won, and that was all that really mattered.

The only one that wasn't happy with the situation was Ryan, who sulkily said.

"My calculations were wrong, Ren took much longer than usual."

"...You thought so too?"

Ryan's words caught Smallsnake's attention who lowered his head and patted him on the head.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought so."

Now used to Smallsnake patting him on the head, Ryan didn't react and continued to sulk.

"My calculations were off by five minutes..."

"Five minutes?"

"Yes."

"Hmm."

Placing his and on his chin, Smallsnake mused for a couple of seconds. Then, turning his attention towards the video depicting Ren's fight, he nodded in agreement.

"Looks like you're right. Ren could've ended this five minutes faster the expected."

"Did something happen to Ren?"

"Not sure..."

Smallsnake's brows knit.

However, he eventually shrugged his shoulders.

"If you really want to know, we can ask him later. Maybe he was trying to save mana? I'm not really sure..."

Although he had no idea why Ren chose to take his time in eliminating the demons, Smallsnake wasn't really worried.

Having known Ren for over a year now, he knew that he wasn't someone reckless.

If he did something, there was a logical reason behind it.

Patting Ryan in the shoulder he reminded.

"We should probably go to sleep soon. Another attack might happen at any time, so we should be ready for that."

"...okay."

Though disappointed, Ryan obeyed Smallsnake's words.

On the other hand, standing not far away from the duo...

'Calculations wrong? Five minutes off? Just what in the world are they talking about?'

Bemus wondered as he speechlessly looked at the duo discussing amongst themselves.

Although he had heard what they said, he couldn't comprehend what they were saying.

Were they saying that the human that defeated the Baron ranked demon did not go all out?

That came to him as a shock since his performance was still deeply imprinted in his mind.

"Sir Bemus."

Disrupting Bemus out of his thoughts was Smallsnake.

Lifting his head, Bemus asked.

"...What is it?"

"Do you mind if we go take a quick nap?"

"Nae, go, go."

Waving his hand, he quickly shooed them out of the control room.

Their performance was excellent. Furthermore, Smallsnake's words were correct. Another wave was coming soon, and so the best option right now was to sleep.

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Only with a clear mind could they perform well and suffer the least amount of casualties.

"Make sure to come back after you rested well."

Right before they left, he reminded.

As he spoke, he emphasized the part where they had to come back. Having witnessed first-hand just how brilliant they were, Bemus no longer doubted their ability.

Not just him, but the other dwarves present looked at them with more respect than; their abilities had been somewhat acknowledged.

They were people they desperately needed, and he couldn't afford to miss out on such talented people.

***

Dosha! Dosha! Dosha!

A curtain of rain enveloped the northern tower, limiting everyone's field of vision. The sound of the pouring rain filled everyone's ears, and the black blood belonging to the corpses of the demons on the battlefield began to seep deep into the soil.

Kracka!

A bolt of lightning suddenly tore the sky apart, illuminating the surroundings for a split second.

Standing below the rain, watching it fall on my face, I closed my eyes.

The droplets of rain trickled by the side of my face. Opening my eyes and looking at the sky above, my brows knit.

'It had to rain just as the battle ended.'

What better timing.

By now, all of the demons had been killed or had fled, and what was left behind was only a trail of corpses.

The death of the Baron ranked demon marked the end of the first wave, and if I had to evaluate my fight with the Baron ranked demon with one word, it would be 'mediocre'.

Not only was I injured, but I had also used quite a bit of mana using the one. Had I used the Keiki style, I could've ended this uninjured, and with a lot more mana.

This just went to show how reliant on the Keiki style I was.

Still, I had won, and that was all that mattered. Although I had cheated by the end and mainly relied on my opponent's recklessness, it still counted as my win.

But.

This wasn't what I was looking for.

I was looking to improve my skills, not kill my opponent.

"Hm?"

Feeling a light tap on my shoulder, I turned around and Leopold's face appeared next to mine.

He then proceeded to point at the tower in the distance.

"Ren, let's head back."

"...Right."

Taking one last look at the battlefield, I followed Leopold and the others back into the tower.

Overall, the battle lasted for only an hour, and the enemies suffered great losses.

The battle could be considered a success since the tower wasn't breached, and we managed to ward off the first wave without letting them know too much about the defensive system of the tower.

That being said, the dwarves also suffered some losses due to the demons managing to break through the tower; however, overall, the result was in favour of the dwarves.

Furthermore, this was when the dwarves had still not activated all their defensive measures.

Because it took a lot of energy to operate, the dwarves chose not to use them for now. The dwarves weren't planning to show all of their cards just yet; however, the demons could say the same thing since they only sent the cannon fodder so far.

The upcoming battles were going to be extremely dangerous.

"Huaam…"

Yawning, I reminded myself to get some sleep.

With the threat of the second wave coming, I had to be in optimal condition for my next fight.

"Ava, how many did you kill?"

"I've got eight."

"What about you, Leopold?"

"Me? Eight."

"Eight? That's the same as Ava."

"No shit, who do you think was commanding you guys? Her kills are my kills."

"What! Not fair!"

Overhearing the other's conversation, I shook my head.

I had long lost count of the number of demons that I had killed in the last battle, but it would be around fifteen to twenty if I had to make a rough estimate.

Needless to say, this was to be expected since I was a rank higher than them.

*

The moment I stepped back into the tower, I felt multiple eyes directed towards me.

They belonged to those that had witnessed my fight below.

"What is it?"

Halting my steps, I found the same orc from before blocking my path.

His fierce eyes looked down on me from above.

Lifting my head and staring back into those eyes, my mouth opened.

"Are you picking a fight with me?"

Did he perhaps get offended for what I did before? If so, I was prepared to let him know his place again.

'No I can't fight…'

However, I quickly halted those thoughts.

The lingering bloodlust was still affecting my mind, and if I fought now, I might lose myself.

The consequences of such actions would be highly detrimental to me and the others.

I was prepared to use Monarch indifference's at any time, now.

"Get out o——!"

However, contrary to what I had expected, the orc lowered his head and apologized.

"I'm sorry."

"H..huh, what?"

My composure took a hit as my speech stuttered for a second.

"What are you talking about?"

It was completely different from what I had expected the situation to turn out.

Misunderstanding my words, the orc knelt on one knee and raised his voice.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you before. I didn't know you were that strong."

"What are you doing? Get up."

Unable to take the orcs antics, I grabbed his arms and pulled him up. I was seriously taken aback by the situation.

And if that wasn't all, the elf from before also came up to me.

"Human, you're not half bad."

Though his words weren't as direct as the orcs, the intent was clear.

He had acknowledged me, the disdain in his eyes completely disappearing.

Their reaction slightly changed my perception of the individuals present in the room.

From what I could see, they didn't act the way they did to me before because I was human, but more because they thought that I was weak.

They respected the strong and disdained the weak.

'If only humanity was like this...'

There was a reason why the other races were stronger than humanity.

Now that I, along with the others have shown a glimpse of what we could do, we had earned the respect of the people present in the room.

Of course, not everyone was convinced, but for now, this was good progress.

In the future, if we continued to perform as we did today, perhaps their minds could be changed as well.

My initial wariness disappeared, and I took out my sword, much to the vigilance of the others.

Looking at the orc below me, who was fearlessly staring back at me, I opened my mouth.

"...So, who should I ask if I want to repair this?"

A small smile appeared on my lips.

*

Before dawn, Orimdus walked into the logistics department with a bunch of papers in his hand.

With glaring black circles beneath his eyes, he dragged his tired body up the stairs that led to the control room of the northern tower.

"Bemus, give me a report on the situation here."

With his hands crossed, Bemus looked at the map of the tower in front of him. Then, as he heard Orimdus's voice, he turned around and gave him a casual glance.

"Orimdus? You're finally here."

"I'm tired. Can't you make this quick?"

Orimdus placed the stack of papers on a nearby table and leaned on it. He then proceeded to close his eyes.

Running around doing logistics throughout the whole northern walls, he was beyond tired.

Furthermore, he was still not done with his job.

He now had to collect the logistic reports of the northern tower to report back to the higher-ups about the losses, how well they were faring, and if reinforcements were needed.

It was a tough job.

"Oy."

Walking up to him, Bemus asked.

"Where did you find those humans?"

"Humans?"

Opening his eyes, Orimdus tilted his head to the side.

Because of how tired he was, it took him a bit to finally realize what Bemus was talking about.

"Ah, them!"

Orimdus smacked the palm of his hand.

It was then he recalled that he had assigned a group of humans in the northern tower.

His joy did not last long, however. With a worried look, he turned his attention towards Bamus and asked.

"Did something happen? Did they cause any trouble or did they die?"

"..."

Eyeing Orimdus for a couple of seconds, Bemus eventually shook his head.

"No, it's the opposite."

"The opposite?"

"Just take a look at this."

Swiping his hand, the holographic image of the map disappeared, and what replaced it was a video.

"What are you doing? I don—"

"Shut up and watch."

Bemus directly cut him off.

He was getting irritated by Orimdus's attitude.

Tapping the air, the video soon began to play. What was displayed on it, caused Orimdus who was half asleep, to sober up real quick.

"What in the bloody..."

A/N : Don't know if you've noticed, but the previous chap uploaded was in fact an unedited version. I accidentally copied the wrong draft. It should be fixed now.