Another speck of fire slowly lit up far in the darkness.

Having become somewhat familiar with the trajectory and power behind the projectile, Edgar was much calmer.

He quickly walked out of his hiding spot and began rushing towards the staircase.

"Hide!!"

He barked when Andrew tried to rush after him.

The young boy trembled and didn’t dare follow behind.

Instead, he quickly rushed towards the house where his mother was staying.

Edgar reached the top platform and willed the ⟨Watch Tower⟩ to shed light in the direction of the fire.

As the light illuminated the darkness, Edgar caught a glimpse of the monster.

It was a tall lizard-type creature that stood nearly three meters tall. Its body was covered in dark scales.

Inside its mouth, the projectile, a burning sphere, slowly formed.

Edgar’s pupils contracted.

’What the hell is that?’

The first explosion had been terrifying, and now that he had found the source, it became even worse.

Still, he didn’t lose his composure.

Edgar stared at the beast, which stared back at him despite the distance between them.

The burning sphere in its mouth expanded further as its neck muscles bulged.

The scales along its body began glowing faintly red.

Once again, the creature launched the projectile in his direction.

Edgar calculated the distance in his mind as he began charging the Light Net behind him.

The ⟨Watch Tower⟩ trembled as the net grew larger in size, consuming Nightmare Stones.

Unlike normal, where it only took one Nightmare Stone to charge it, Edgar used two to make it bigger.

Just as the projectile sphere came within range, Edgar launched the Light Net at it.

The massive net of light shot into the darkness.

Its glowing threads expanded rapidly, spreading wider and wider until they resembled a giant luminous web suspended in the air.

They collided in that air and the Light Net immediately began trembling violently.

Several strands snapped apart, and the blazing sphere continued pushing forward.

But the extreme heat of the net cut the sphere into smaller pieces.

The chunks of stone hit the ground without causing much damage.

Many Nightmares died once again, caught in the crossfire.

For a moment, silence descended over the battlefield.

Edgar remained standing atop the Watch Tower, breathing heavily.

The blazing sphere hadn’t been made of pure fire.

Instead, it seemed to be a collection of superheated stones compressed together by the creature.

The moment the net sliced through it, the sphere lost its integrity and scattered harmlessly.

But the monster didn’t seem as though it had expected such an outcome.

It opened its mouth once again as stones around it flew upward.

The monster was trying to attack the fortress again!!

But just as it was charging, the monster stopped in its tracks. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

It looked behind itself in the Eternal Night and forze in place.

Edgar frowned, unable to understand the reason behind it.

Without doing anything else, the lizard-type monster slowly turned around and walked away.

It turned its massive head and looked at Edgar one last time as if trying to remember his face.

Before long, it vanished into the Eternal Night.

Edgar, who had clearly seen all of its movements, couldn’t help but have a terrifying thought.

’....That monster is working under someone else?’

It was an absurd thought, but it was also the most logical one.

’A monster that can control other monsters....’

Edgar had just gotten lost in his thoughts when he noticed the night stir once again.

From the direction where the monster had vanished, hundreds of lizard-type monsters rushed towards the fortress.

Their dark scales reflected the light of the ⟨Watch Tower⟩ as they raced across the ground.

Edgar’s face immediately darkened. "Fuck this stupid world."

The smaller lizards poured out of the darkness like a flood.

Unlike the giant monster from before, these creatures were only the size of large dogs.

Below him, the Level 3 ⟨Watch Tower⟩ automatically rotated.

It shot beam after beam, trying to kill as many as possible.

The Level 2 ⟨Watch Tower⟩ also tried its best, but it couldn’t keep up.

Edgar drew in a deep breath and walked down the tower.

He entered his room and picked up the Nightmare Stones he had left.

Walking back outside, he spread them on the ground and willed the Level 2 ⟨Watch Tower⟩ to upgrade.

A prompt appeared in front of him, just like before.

=======

Choose the Upgrade Path:

1⟩ Infuse the arrows with a poisoning effect.

2⟩ Increase the power behind the crossbow to penetrate armour.

3⟩ Add an automatic ballista with enough firepower to kill ten monsters at once.

=======

Edgar didn’t think twice before choosing the third path.

Thirty Nightmare Stones floated into the air and cracked apart as white liquid swept out.

It covered the entire ⟨Watch Tower⟩, changing its structure.

"Y-young master!!"

Andrew called out as the monsters were almost upon them.

"I can see them!"

Edgar bit his lip and turned around.

The ground shook beneath hundreds of clawed feet.

Dark-scaled lizards surged through the Eternal Night like a living tide.

The Level 3 ⟨Watch Tower⟩ continued firing relentlessly.

Yet for every Nightmare that died, two more seemed to emerge from the darkness.

A dozen hatchlings reached the edge of the Unbroken Fire’s light.

Their crimson eyes glowed with feral hunger.

Andrew had already drawn his makeshift spear with trembling hands.

Oswald stood beside him, holding a knife with both hands.

But just as the monsters were about to reach them...

...A deafening metallic clang echoed throughout the fortress.

The structure of the ⟨Watch Tower⟩ changed, becoming even more reinforced like his previous tower.

And mounted on its upper platform was something entirely new.

....A massive rotating ballista.

Its barrel-like frame was covered in glowing runes.

At Edgar’s command, ten Nightmare Stones immediately rushed towards the ballista, charging it.

Amid the roars of the monsters, the ballista’s muzzle shifted towards the largest concentration of Nightmares.

A bright red light gathered at its center and--

BOOOOOOM!!!

A blazing bolt tore through the monsters.

The attack landed directly in the center of the swarm, killing dozens of monsters instantly.

"Haha..."

Edgar let out a small laugh, the pressure from before finally taking its toll on him.

"I WILL KILL YOU ALL!!!"

The upgraded tower began reloading and firing again.

BOOOOOOM!!!