When Edgar returned to his own Fortress, it was already quite late.

Walking out of the carriage, Edgar stretched his body and looked up at the murky fog all around.

’I should still have around an hour or two before the Eternal Night descends.’

The young boy stepped down from the front seat of the carriage with the map of the night in his hand.

"What should I do with the carriage, Young Master?" he asked, looking up.

Edgar thought for a moment before looking at the carriage. It was around two metres tall and had the capacity to hold around five people. Three horses were tied to the front with heavy ropes.

"Put it in the warehouse." Edgar said calmly. "And tie the horses to the pole. I will create a stable tomorrow."

"Alright." Andrew replied, taking the carriage inside, leaving the blonde boy outside.

Having nothing else to do, Edgar walked around the Fortress Wall.

The bull-type Nightmares were still lying out in the open, but without any Nightmare Stones.

’Uncle Oswald must have brought them inside.’

Looking around, Edgar found quite a few things that he could do around the Fortress.

The crudest and most effective method he could think of was to dig a trench around the structure.

’I saw a lot of such designs in old medieval dramas. They also filled the trenches with water.’

Edgar hummed to himself when he remembered the different varieties of fish he had seen in the Soragon Bazaar.

’I can cultivate fish in the moat around the Fortress...’

Most of the fish sold in the Bazaar came from the Han River, which was in the far south.

’Hm, can’t I create a dam over the river to harness electricity?’

Edgar mused inwardly, only to shut down his own thoughts.

He had no means of tackling the force created by a river that stretched for a kilometre.

’One step at a time...’

Edgar smacked his lips and walked inside the Fortress Wall.

Oswald and Viera greeted him, to which he responded before walking into his house.

Taking the wooden parchment and quill, Edgar walked up to the patrol path on top of the Fortress Wall.

Taking a few deep breaths, Edgar made the final touch-ups to the diagram.

The blueprint had already changed dozens of times since he first drew it.

What he needed first was a weapon that used no Nightmare Stones, but after upgrading his Fortress, that headache had lessened.

So Edgar decided to create a more effective weapon that used Nightmare Stones efficiently.

As the last of the lines were completed, Edgar drew in a deep breath and looked at the diagram.

After much trial and error, the final blueprint of his weapon was complete.

With fear and anticipation, Edgar turned his gaze toward his system panel.

It took some time, but after a few minutes of waiting, the words finally changed.

A new blueprint was registered.

====

⟨Wall Cage⟩

====

A smile bloomed on Edgar’s face when he saw the name of his blueprint.

Without wasting any time, Edgar walked to a more open area on the patrol path and willed the creation of the ⟨Wall Cage⟩.

Immediately, twenty White Nightmare Stones flew from inside the Fortress and floated around him.

Cracks spread across their surfaces as streams of milky-white liquid poured out.

The liquid moved toward the wall and began arranging itself into six different sections.

At first, they looked like nothing more than long hollow pillars, but soon intricate gears began forming inside each one.

A thick metal spring coiled tightly within the hollow chamber, connected to a heavy lever mounted on the side.

Finally, a long iron chain emerged, with one end attached to the spring while the other was connected to a massive, sharp head that looked like a kunai.

As the final drop of milky-white liquid disappeared, the entire structure emitted a faint white glow.

The glow lasted only a moment before fading away.

Edgar ignored the notification before walking toward the lever.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled the lever, and the spring compressed inside.

Then he pushed the lever, and six long chains shot out of the hollow pillars, embedding themselves into the ground.

’...This is amazing.’ Edgar thought, unable to hide his smile.

Edgar walked over to one of the embedded heads and crouched beside it.

It hadn’t moved an inch.

The sharp metal tip had pierced deep into the hard earth, while the chain connecting it to the pillar remained stretched tight.

’Hmm...’

Edgar grabbed the chain with both hands and gave it a hard pull.

A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

’Good. That means it can restrain something much heavier than a person.’

Walking back to the pillar, Edgar moved behind it, where a switch had appeared. He pulled it down.

Then he walked toward the lever and pulled it once more.

Click.

The coiled spring spun rapidly, making a screeching sound.

CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

The remaining chain was reeled back into the hollow pillar at an astonishing speed.

Only the anchored chain remained outside.

Edgar then flipped the switch back to its original position, and the gears inside the pillar shifted.

He pulled the lever again.

WHOOSH!!

The final chain shot backward.

The kunai-shaped head ripped itself free from the ground before disappearing back inside the pillar.

Edgar nodded with satisfaction.

’Perfect.’

Unlike the Ballista or the Flamethrower, the ⟨Wall Cage⟩ wasn’t a weapon designed to kill.

It was designed to stop movement.

Once all six heads buried themselves into the ground, they could lock a target in place from every angle.

’As long as it doesn’t possess overwhelming strength... it won’t escape.’

Patting himself on the back, Edgar created two more ⟨Wall Cage⟩s close to each other.

In total, there were eighteen chains ready to be deployed.

’If one of the chains snaps or gets broken, I can create more with the help of Nightmare Stones.’

Edgar thought, placing eighteen Nightmare Stones on the pillars.

When he was done with the preparations, Edgar looked up at the sky.

The murky grey-black fog was now gone, replaced by the Eternal Night.

A new feeling, eerily familiar, burned within his body.

Edgar turned his head and looked toward the old forest.

A lizard-type monster was staring back at him with its vertical eyes.

’...So, you are finally here.’

Edgar clenched his hand around the lever.