Jarvis says "Maker, what are your orders?"

"No orders. How you fight is up to you. Use this opportunity to test everything out and try out your own tactics."

Jarvis says "Understood. What are my goals?"

"Preserve the lives of the elves and kill the enemies."

Jarvis says "As you wish."

Shortly, Athena in her spirit form appears on the tower and she talks to Jarvis. They come up with a plan together and then we all just wait for the swarm to arrive. I could probably use this chance to get myself some exp, but I feel it is more important for them to instead.

Unlike when I was in Demon Hunter City, we don't have to wait for the swarm to get as close. The ship's siege engines have a lot more range than those in use in the city. Thanks to that, Athena is able to open fire and start thinning the swarm's numbers.

Siege weapons aren't all that accurate, but with so many targets it is almost impossible to miss. Of course, the shots also don't stop with just killing one tiny beast, they kill multiple. Still, it is just a drop in the bucket compared to the swarm, but it adds up quickly.

The ship is able to fire dozens of times before the swarm gets close enough for the archers to join in. When the archers open fire it is like a river of arrows from the ship to the swarm. Unfortunately, not all of the archers are able to kill a beast with every arrow.

Still, the number of beasts dying increases by a lot, but the swarm keeps coming. The next group to open fire is the elves using the wands, at the same time Jarvis opens fire. Spells start exploding all across the sky and the swarm suffers from them.

Some beasts drop below the spells to try and reach the ship, others go over and approach the castle. Most of the ones headed for the ship get picked off by the archers, only a few make it. Those are handled by Brightfire and her knights, those that aren't archers.

The beasts coming towards the castle get intercepted by the gargoyle golems. Nothing manages to reach the castle and I am honestly a little disappointed. I am glad that Jarvis is doing well, but I was looking forward to acting as the last line of defense.

The way things are looking, I won't be needed at all, unless something changes. In the end, although the swarm tries a few things, they get wiped out without me doing anything. Even though I end up being bored, I am proud of Jarvis and the elves.

They handled everything perfectly and the elves involved should have earned a few levels at least. I kept my eyes open, but I didn't see any sign of the demon that commanded the swarm in the city. This swarm seemed to be acting on its own instead of being controlled.

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Athena says "Should I resume our course?"

"Yes, go ahead. Jarvis, how was commanding the castle?"

Jarvis says "Educational. Am I allowed to make suggestions for changes to the defensive enchantments?"

"Of course!"

As soon as I agree, Jarvis begins giving me a list of changes to the existing enchantments. Then he gives me his ideas for additional enchantments that he wants added. I check, but Lin and the kids aren't back yet, so I start modifying the castle's enchantments.

All of the suggestions that Jarvis made make sense to me, so I do everything he asked. When I think about it, all the changes make sense, I just didn't think of them before. It's not like I have any experience in defending a castle, all I had to go on was things from movies.

Also, when I designed the enchantments, I never expected to end up making it a floating castle. Jarvis' suggestions will turn the castle into more of a floating battle fortress. I am totally fine with that, in fact it may end up being extremely useful later.

I am in the middle of adding the new enchantments when Lin and the kids finally return. I pause what I am doing and go to meet them, mainly so I can be sure they are safe. One look at their faces and I can tell that they all enjoyed themselves.

After greeting Lin with a kiss, we move to the table to have dinner together. While we are eating, Lin and the kids tell me all about their adventure in the shadow realm. When they finally run out of words I give them the highlights of the battle against the swarm.

Lin says "You sound upset, what happened?"

"Oh, I'm just a little disappointed that I didn't get to do anything."

Lin says "That figures. Using the castle to support the ship was a good idea. It sounds like the modifications will make it even more useful next time."

"Yeah, they should. Are you planning to explore the shadow realm again?"

Lin says "Yes, it was fun. I want to go back at least one more time. Why?"

"Oh, I was planning to let Brightfire take some squads through to get some experience. I figured if you didn't want to go again that the kids could go with them since they enjoyed it so much."

Lin says "That's a good idea. I will take the kids again tomorrow and after that they can go with the elves. How come you don't want to go through?"

"I've already been there, but I probably will at some point. There are just other things that I want to do more."

Lin says "Reading manga, right?"

"Not just that, there are other things too!"

Lin just laughs at me, she obviously doesn't believe me, probably because she knows me. She is right that reading manga is the thing I most want to be doing right now. However, it is kind of late to start a new series, otherwise I won't sleep at all.

Instead, since we are all finished eating, I go back and finish the new enchantments. When I return to the main room, the kids are all watching cartoons and Lin is gone. I head up to check the bedroom, but Lin isn't there either, she must be in the tower.

When I peek into the tower, I find her in her usual spot with a book in hand. Since she is reading, I turn and head back to my workshop to find something to do. However, I can't really think of anything that I have left that I need to do.

I already created my new detection spell and I've given up on making an armor spell for now. Since that is off the table, I go up and check on the gargoyle golems and check their programming. Only their combat programming has had any changes, everything else looks fine.