Chapter 159: Understanding Eachother

Edgar walked inside his house and quietly closed the door behind him.

The Fortress had finally become peaceful again, but the faint sounds of workers repairing the damaged areas could still be heard outside.

Edgar slowly climbed the stairs before stopping in front of Hera’s room.

He knocked twice and opened the door.

Hera was sitting near the window, looking outside at the workers moving through the settlement.

She turned toward him when he entered and smiled faintly. "A lot of damage was done last night."

Edgar walked toward her and nodded. "It wasn’t too bad."

He sat down beside her before continuing. "Most of it can be repaired within a few hours, and we didn’t lose anyone."

Hera remained silent for several seconds.

Her fingers slowly tightened around the edge of her dress.

Then she looked toward Edgar. "Did those monsters come because of me?"

Edgar didn’t answer immediately.

The question was simple, but he knew exactly what she was really asking.

After a few seconds, he nodded. "Yes."

Hera lowered her head.

She had already suspected the answer, but hearing it directly from Edgar still made her heart sink.

"I saw what happened last night," she whispered. "I saw how many of them came, and I saw how hard you had to fight."

Edgar remained silent as she continued.

"I can’t stop thinking about what could have happened if you weren’t there."

Edgar reached out and grabbed her hand. "It wasn’t your fault."

Hera looked at him.

"You didn’t summon them here, and you didn’t ask them to attack us." Edgar gently squeezed her hand. "Whatever this King wants, that’s his problem."

Hera took a deep breath.

Her eyes remained fixed on their hands for several seconds before she finally spoke.

"If you ever decide that I’m becoming too much of a burden..." She hesitated before continuing. "I wouldn’t mind if you abandoned me."

Edgar’s expression turned grim.

He let out a quiet sigh before shaking his head. "I’ll never do that."

Hera looked at him with slightly trembling eyes.

"Whatever this King thing is, it would probably attack the Fortress even if you weren’t here." Edgar’s voice remained calm. "So abandoning you wouldn’t solve anything."

Hera’s lips fluttered slightly, but she didn’t say anything.

She slowly leaned forward and raised her little finger toward him. "Then promise me something."

Edgar looked at her finger. "What?"

"Promise me you won’t put your life in danger just because of me."

Edgar stared at her for a moment before hooking his little finger around hers.

"I won’t put your life in danger."

Hera smiled softly, but she was more sad at his stubbornness.

Neither of them corrected the promise.

For a brief moment, the two simply remained there with their fingers connected.

---

After speaking with Hera, Edgar left the house and walked toward the Smithing House.

The familiar sound of metal striking metal immediately reached his ears.

CLANG!

CLANG!

When Edgar entered, he found Sir Steven working on a piece of armor as though the previous night’s battle hadn’t happened.

The old blacksmith glanced at him before continuing his work. "You’re alive."

Edgar raised an eyebrow. "That’s a strange way to greet your lord."

Steven chuckled. "You don’t look like someone who needs comforting."

Edgar smiled slightly before leaning against the nearby table. "We were attacked last night."

"I heard." Steven continued hammering the metal. "A few workers told me what happened."

Edgar looked toward him. "You’re not worried?"

Steven finally stopped and looked at him.

"I’ve seen you fight." The old man smiled. "As long as you’re standing, I don’t think we have much reason to panic."

Edgar became quiet as he looked at the old man.

The old man had seen him use and do a lot of things that most of the other members of the Fortress haven’t.

He appreciated the confidence, but he couldn’t completely share it.

"There were too many of them," he said. "And their leader was intelligent."

Steven placed his hammer down. "Then make better weapons."

Edgar looked at him.

Steven shrugged. "Walls can be broken, and soldiers can be overwhelmed, but better weapons give you more ways to fight."

Edgar remained silent for several seconds.

The suggestion wasn’t bad.

His current weapons were powerful, but most of them were based on his existing abilities rather than specially designed equipment.

With his mind filled with ideas ranging from medieval weapons to even modern ones, he had all the things in his mind to create more lethal weapons in a short period of time.

’I should probably try it.’

Edgar nodded. "I’ll think about it."

Steven smiled before returning to his work.

Edgar left the Smithing House and headed toward the outer wall.

---

He stood on top of the Fortress Wall for several minutes, staring at the damaged ground beyond it.

Workers were already repairing sections of the wall while Soul Guardians dragged the remaining Nightmare corpses away.

The enormous trench was still visible around the Fortress, although several sections had collapsed during the attack.

Edgar climbed down from the wall and walked outside.

He stopped near one of the larger holes and looked at the ground.

’We need to use every advantage we have.’

The previous battle had taught him that defensive structures alone weren’t enough.

His enemies were intelligent.

If he created something to counter their attack, they would eventually find another way around it.

And there was no saying if those creatures were looking at him, observing his every move right now.

Edgar looked around before finding a sturdy stick near the edge of the forest.

He picked it up and crouched beside the trench.

After thinking for a moment, he began drawing the one dangerous thing in the past few days.

A circular rune slowly appeared on the ground.

Several curved lines connected to the outer circle while smaller symbols formed around the center.

However, Edgar deliberately left one line incomplete.

He reached into his storage and pulled out a Green Nightmare Stone.

The stone was noticeably darker than the White Nightmare Stones he usually used.

Edgar placed it directly in the center of the rune.

’Let’s see if this works.’

He slowly drew the final line.

The moment it connected with the rest of the rune, the entire circle activated.

A strange pressure immediately spread through the surrounding area.

The space inside the circle began visibly distorting.

The ground seemed to bend inward while the air above it trembled.

Edgar’s lips curled up in a soft smile as he stared at it.

’It worked.’

He cautiously extended his hand into the circle.

The moment his hand entered the distorted space, an enormous force suddenly pushed it downward.

BOOM!

His palm slammed against the ground, along with his upper body.

Edgar barely controlled himself from falling as his eyebrows rose.

"...Interesting."

He pulled his hand back and rubbed it while staring at the rune.

The pressure disappeared almost immediately after that.

The Green Nightmare Stone in the center cracked before turning into dust.

Edgar crouched beside it.

’The energy only lasted a few seconds.’

There were many problems with the rune.

The range was small, the duration was short, and it consumed too much energy.

He also needed to find a way to control exactly where the gravity was applied.

Still, Edgar couldn’t hide his excitement.

’But it works.’

If he could enlarge the rune and make it last longer, he could turn entire sections of the battlefield into gravity zones.

Nightmares entering them would suddenly become several times heavier.

Their movement would slow down, their attacks would weaken, and the Watch Towers could finish them from a distance.

Edgar stood up.

’There are too many problems with this.’ He looked toward the damaged Fortress. ’But I can solve them.’

He had enough Nightmare Stones to continue experimenting, and unlike before, he now had an actual purpose for the rune.

Edgar walked slowly along the trench while thinking.

The battle had also revealed another problem.

He had spent most of his strength fighting ordinary Nightmares.

Meanwhile, the little girl had barely participated in the battle herself.

She had simply stood at the back and controlled everything.

’If I keep fighting like this, I’ll eventually lose.’ Edgar stopped walking as his eyes slowly moved toward the sky. ’Why am I trying to kill the entire army?’

The answer suddenly seemed obvious. He didn’t need to destroy every Nightmare.

He needed to destroy the person commanding them.

Edgar looked toward the distant forest where the little girl had disappeared.

’The general.’

If he could kill the general controlling the army, the entire force would become far easier to handle.

And if the little girl was truly only the first general, then there had to be others.

Edgar’s expression became serious.

’Instead of waiting for the next army...’ He tightened his grip around the stick. ’I’ll find their generals first.’

His expression tightened as a bold idea appeared in his mind.

The new plan he was thinking of might be dangerous, but it would definitely be effective.