With Malii's shop reduced to ashes, we were unable to acquire new gear. However, the inn owner expressed gratitude for our help and gave each of us 2 Tiwuiwuis.

As we made our way through the West Gate, I surveyed the village. The damage was extensive - the giant tree still smoldering, the roads cleared of bodies but stained with rain-washed blood.

Silently, we walked, following the path that led to Bunglin's camp.

"Are you gonna be ok?" suddenly asked Carol without looking at me.

"I'll be fine, don't worry," I assured her.

She stopped and looked directly into my eyes :

"I wasn't there in Malii's shop, I didn't witness what happened to the kid. I understand it must have been incredibly difficult for you. Yesterday, adrenaline fueled my actions more than anything else, and if I was too cold, I apologize."

A smile formed on my face :

"I'm grateful that you took charge. You held things together when I couldn't move."

She returned the smile :

"This place puts us through all sorts of emotions. We learn from it."

"We've got this," I affirmed. "Let's concentrate on reaching the elevator and keep moving forward. There's nothing more we can do for now anyway."

She nodded, and we continued on our path. Arriving at the forest's edge facing the camp, we sat down in the grass, hidden by trees, and went over the plan one last time.

"Okay, once the door opens and the party is nearly in or out of the camp, I'll activate 'Hide and Seek' and rush toward it, doing my best to blend with the smoke from the burnt forest and stay hidden," I began. "Once inside, I'll head to the left tower, eliminate both guards, and disable the bridge mechanism so they can't close it."

Carol nodded, then inquired :

"Are you certain you can handle that alone?"

"I'll be fine, trust me," I reassured her, continuing with the plan. "Once the mechanism is disabled, I'll use the mini-gun to take out the other defense tower and the second mini-gun. Afterward, I'll turn my attention to the courtyard and eliminate any moving targets."

Carol nodded again and added ;

"When I notice the mini-gun destroyed, I'll sprint toward the entrance and employ my 'Look at me' ability to draw all the mobs' attention to me. I'll then activate 'Thick Skin' to shield myself from physical attacks. The protection will last for 1 minute and 8 seconds," Carol explained.

"During that time, I'll take aim at anything that moves. Clearing the rest of the courtyard and any other enemies coming your way." I added. "If this works, we'll eliminate a significant number of enemies before the boss can show up."

She nodded in understanding.

"At some point, Bunglin will show up," Carol mentioned. "According to the information from Malii, he should possess a mini-gun as well."

I paused for a moment, attempting to push Malii's demise from my thoughts, and then resumed outlining the plan.

"Once he appears, our primary objective is for you to focus on him, while I continue clearing out the lower-level mobs with the mini-gun, if any, or shoot at him if he is alone. With any luck, our initial assault should deal with most of the goblins within the camp."

"Once only Bunglin remains, we can both engage him," Carol added.

We shared a moment of silence, exchanging glances.

"We have approximately 12 hours remaining, which should be ample time," Carol stated. "Once we reach the elevator, two unknown factors come into play: first, the duration of the journey to the Tower as we ride the elevator and second, the time it will take us to locate a secure area before nightfall once we are up there."

I nodded in agreement.

"Now, all we can do is to wait for someone to show at the bridge," she said.

We waited there, seated in the grass and concealed by trees, for approximately 2 hours until a group of goblins arrived at the door.

"There they come," I whispered, pointing at the group of goblins.

"Alright, get ready," Carol added.

The goblins outside the camp were engaged in conversation with the guards perched on the tower. This time, it didn't take long for the bridge to lower. As they made their way inside, I activated my 'Hide and Seek' ability and started moving through the desolate field.

As planned, the wisps of smoke I emitted while moving blended perfectly with the smoke from the fires. I picked up the pace and reached the bridge within 20 seconds. Crouching quickly, I then moved as slowly as possible while entering the camp.

Since I still had plenty of time left on my ability, I didn't want to risk being seen and moved as slow as possible as the bridge started to go back up.

Before me, the courtyard was filled with small tents. There were around 20 or 30 goblins there - working, chatting, or drinking.

I moved slowly and climbed the stairs to reach the top of the left tower. My ability deactivated as I entered the circular stairwell. Pausing for a moment, I sent a DM to Carol :

SIMON : I'm in, climbing the stairs now.

CAROL : Alright, be careful. I'm ready here, waiting for your signal.

Reaching the top of the stairs, I saw the two goblins guarding the bridge mechanism. One was sitting on the mounted mini-gun, while the other leaned against it. Next to them stood a large, steampunk-style console with a lever. The sound of the bridge raising reverberated loudly in the background.

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Suddenly, the console emitted a strange clinging noise followed by a beep and the sound coming from the bridge stopped. The goblin who had been leaning against the gun moved closer.

"Shitty piece of crap," he grumbled as he kicked the console.

The beep ceased, and the bridge resumed its motion.

This was my opportunity. I rushed toward the goblin on the mini-gun and swiftly stabbed him in the neck with my rusty knife. Without hesitation, I turned around and shot a bolt into the head of the goblin standing in front of the console before he could realized what had happened.

Just like that, this part was done. I gazed at the two lifeless bodies and the blood on my knife, and thoughts started creeping into my mind.

Were they real? Had I just killed two living people without an ounce of remorse?

I shook my head, trying to clear away the dark thoughts. This wasn't the time to think about that, I had a job to do.

I quickly moved to the console and switched the lever back. The bridge emitted a crackling noise and reversed its direction, descending once again. I then swiftly mounted the mini-gun.

The mini-gun had a small wheel with a handle for horizontal rotation and a lever for vertical movement. It seemed pretty straightforward, but I couldn't find a way to fire it.

I looked around, but there was nothing - no button, no extra lever, no switch.

Finally, I spotted a small pedal under the seat.

"That's it!" I exclaimed.

First, I tested the wheel to ensure the gun could rotate toward the courtyard, and indeed it could. I updated Carol :

SIMON: The gun can rotate toward the courtyard.

CAROL: Excellent.

SIMON: Get ready, I'm about to make some noise!

CAROL: Let's do this.

I rotated the mini-gun to point towards the second tower across the entrance. However, as I did that, I heard a noise coming from the stairs.

"Well, if Bunglin hadn't cut his head, we wouldn't be in this mess," one voice said.

"He did eat the last chicken, I mean, it was deserved," a second voice replied.

I quickly moved away from the gun and leaned against the wall at the top of the stairs, gripping my sword.

"You know what? Actually, I was the one who ate that last chicken!" the first voice said, bursting into laughter.

Both voices laughed as I saw them emerging from the stairs. These goblins were probably checking why the bridge hadn't closed.

"What happened here?" one of them said, pointing his sword at the body in front of the console.

"Alar—" one of them tried to shout, but I swiftly cut his head off.

Without stopping, I turned around and stabbed the second goblin in the chest. He fell to the ground, lifeless.

More of them would come to check on the bridge, so I quickly mounted the gun again and targeted the other tower. In the distance, I could see two guards - one on the mini-gun and the other in front. They were engaged in conversation.

I stepped on the pedal, and the mini-gun unleashed a torrent of bullets. The rapid-fire shredded the guards' bodies and destroyed their mounted gun. The mini-gun exploded in a ball of fire and metallic debris as I struck the adjacent ammo crate.

Quickly, I rotated the mini-gun and aimed it toward the courtyard. Goblins were already reacting, grabbing their weapons and rushing toward the tower, some of them trying to shoot arrows at me without success. Once again, I opened fire.

The gun moved slowly, but its wide spread proved effective. I managed to take down a good dozen goblins before it started make a clicking sound.

Out of ammo.

I could hear goblins shouting from the stairs. I stepped down from the gun, pulled my sword and readied myself for the fight.

Suddenly, a purple translucent magical sphere expanded rapidly from the bridge, passing through me and the walls. The noise in the stairwell ceased momentarily, and then the goblins rushed away from me, shouting and growling. I looked down from the ramparts in direction of the bridge.

There stood Carol, surrounded by a blue shield. She had triggered both her abilities.

A dozen or more goblins were heading in her direction, some already shooting arrows and bolts at her. The projectiles bounced off her, creating blue sparks. I needed to reload the gun quickly.

Next to the gun, I found a few crates of ammo and opened them up. The ammo belt unraveled before me. I picked up one roll and examined the mini-gun to find where I needed to insert the ammo.

As I moved around the gun, I could hear Carol battling just below me.

"Here!" I exclaimed, finally locating the place for the ammo.

I quickly swapped the ammo belts and mounted the gun again. I attempted to rotate it to aim toward the enemies rushing toward Carol, but to my dismay, the presence of walls and ramparts obstructed my aim from where she currently was. She was positioned too low and too close from the entrance.

"Damn it!" I shouted in frustration.

I sheathed my sword and hurried down the stairs.

As I reached the lower level, I could see Carol fighting with sheer determination. Her blue shield had vanished, and she had at least 10 goblins attacking her. An arrow had pierced her right leg, and more goblins were approaching.

I intercepted them before they could reach the bridge, catching them by surprise as they crossed my path. I swiftly severed the arm of the goblin leading the way. His hand, still holding his sword, falling on the ground. They turned their attention toward me briefly, but then quickly refocused on Carol, completely ignoring my presence.

"What the fuck!" I exclaimed.

The goblins remained fixated on Carol. I followed closely behind, picking them one by one with my crossbow.

"Carol!" I called out. "Are you okay?"

"Need a little help here," she replied, as she forcefully pushed two goblins off the bridge and into the water.

I finally reached her, slicing left and right as I fought my way through. Together, we stood side by side.

"How is your health?" I asked her.

"I'm good. I used a patch, so it's on cooldown for now," she replied.

In front of us, another dozen goblins stared at us, growling and drooling.

"What about your leg?" I inquired.

"It's painful, but I can fight," she replied, her determination evident. "Any sign of the boss?"

"None."

"What about the mini-gun?"

"I couldn't aim it toward the bridge, so I came down," I explained.

She looked at me and stated firmly :

"You'll need to go back up there for the boss."

"I know, but first, these," I said, pointing at the goblins aggressively glaring at us.

"We go--" she started, but was interrupted as an enemy rushed her with an axe.

She deflected the attack and countered with her hammer, smashing his head.

Swoosh!

A bolt came flying in her direction. I intercepted the projectile in mid-air, then dashed toward the crossbow wielder. With a swift swing of my sword, I cleanly severed his hands before he could reload.

I dodged another incoming bolt and exclaimed :

"Aggro is gone!"

"Just finished. Focus on the ones shooting and I'll finish the one with melee," Carol proposed, as she pushed against four goblins with her hammer, attempting to knock them off the bridge.

I nodded and quickly surveyed the area. In the distance, three goblins were reloading their crossbows. I ran toward them, raising my sword.

As I charged, one of them took aim and shot at me. I swiftly crouched, avoiding the bolt, but the second goblin's shot struck my left shoulder, causing excruciating pain. My health dropped to 138.

Ignoring the agony, I continued my assault, closing in on the goblin directly in front of me, as he was reloading in panic. I impaled his head right between the eyes with my sword.

"I've leveled up!" I proclaimed.

"This is not the time!" Carol shouted, finally managing to push the group of goblins off the bridge.

I nodded, grinning, then quickly dispatched the remaining two goblins.

Carol and I stood on the bridge, breathing heavily. She removed the arrow from her leg and swiftly consumed a Tiwuiwui. A smile stretched across her face.

"Alright, I'm back!" she shouted triumphantly.

I did the same, removing the bolt in my shoulder and eating rapidly. The hole in my shoulder stopped bleeding as the skin reformed.

"That's so cool," I said.

We surveyed the surroundings and noticed that there were no surviving goblins left. But in the distance we could hear shouting coming closer.

"Okay, I'm climbing back onto the gun," I declared.

"Quick, before the next wave arrives," she replied urgently.

I sprinted toward the stairs, but before I could reach them, a massive mechanical sound reverberated through the air. In an instant, a volley of bullets rained down upon me, obliterating the entrance to the circular stairs.

"What the..." I exclaimed, taken aback.

I peered into the courtyard and my eyes fell upon a colossal orc-goblin hybrid. Clad in thick metal armor with a skull helmet concealing his face, he wielded a mini-gun. A smaller goblin stood by his side, holding the ammo belt, while two more goblins carried additional ammunition. Behind them was maybe a dozen more goblins armed with axes and swords.

Before I could react, the mini-gun holder unleashed another round of bullets toward me.

TATATATATATATA!!!

The rapid stream of ammo tore through the air, and I leaped to evade the onslaught. However, my legs were struck, leaving multiple wounds that oozed blood. In excruciating pain, I collapsed onto the ground.

"Simon!" Carol's voice echoed, filled with concern.