Last Gun Alchemist

The next day arrived quickly.

Just like the previous announcements, everyone gathered inside the large hall again. This time the reason was simple—information about the fifth trial.

The hall still felt the same as yesterday.

The fourth trial had left a mark on everyone.

Some candidates stood quietly with calm faces, but their eyes looked tired. Others whispered in small groups. A few people stood alone resting their backs on the walls of the hall, staring at the floor as if they were still thinking about what had happened inside the Hell Maze.

Some were still mourning.

Others were simply disappointed in themselves.

The air carried a quiet tension that never seemed to disappear.

Then the large doors behind the podium opened.

Kyle walked out.

Four guards followed him on each side. Their silver chain-like accessory on their black overcoat clinked softly as they moved.

Kyle stopped at the center of the podium and looked down at all the candidates. His gaze moved slowly across the hall, scanning everyone.

When the murmurs in the hall faded, he spoke.

”The Fifth Trial will be a Tower Defense Trial.”

His voice was loud and clear, easily reaching every corner of the hall.

Many people immediately straightened their backs.

Kyle continued.

”Since the factions have already been formed, the trial will follow that structure. There will be six towers, one assigned to each group.”

He paused briefly.

Behind him, a large projection appeared on the screen above the podium, showing the image of a tall stone tower standing in an open field.

”Each tower will have a flag.”

He pointed at the projection.

”The first objective is to protect your tower from incoming waves of monsters.”

”The monsters will appear in three waves.”

He raised another finger.

”The second objective is to protect your flag from other groups attempting to steal it.”

The candidates immediately began whispering again.

But Kyle’s next words silenced the entire hall.

”The trial will last for three days, covering all three waves.”

Then his voice grew colder.

”And if your group loses its flag...”

He looked down at them without expression.

”All members of that group will be eliminated.”

The hall became completely silent.

It felt like the air itself had tightened.

Even those who looked relaxed earlier now felt a chill crawl up their backs.

”Leaders.”

Kyle turned his head slightly.

His gaze moved toward the six faction leaders.

Veda, Vera, Felix, Priscilla, Bale and Henry.

”You have three days to prepare the materials your group will need to survive the waves of monsters.”

He clasped his hands behind his back.

”Good luck.”

Without another word, Kyle turned.

His cape swung behind him as he walked away from the podium. The guards followed immediately.

The moment the doors closed behind them...

The hall exploded with noise.

Candidates began talking loudly, some shouted to call their teammates, others immediately began forming circles to discuss strategies.

Groups gathered quickly, trying to organize themselves.

”Everyone in the Henry Faction, please gather here!”

A girl’s voice rang across the hall.

Henry stood beside her calmly.

He had white hair and pale white eyes. He was tall for a fourteen-year-old and had a slim build. His face looked relaxed, almost lazy, but the calm in his eyes gave people the feeling that he was someone dependable.

His group began moving toward him while the rest of the hall remained chaotic.

”Three days, huh...”

Zack adjusted his glasses as he spoke.

”That’s pretty fast.”

”It was expected.”

Nina replied lazily.

She stood behind Vera and gently waved a fan toward her.

”They already warned us that from the fourth trial onward, things would move quickly.”

She sighed softly.

Vera stood quietly; her eyes slightly narrowed as she thought.

On the other side, Gena was also holding a fan and waving it toward Vera with exaggerated seriousness.

”Three waves of monsters...”

Gena muttered.

The memory of the Silverback Dire Wolves flashed through her mind.

”Argh...”

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before opening them again.

”That sounds terrifying.”

”Don’t worry.”

Nina suddenly pointed at herself confidently.

”I’ll protect you.”

She smirked.

”Nina!”

Gena looked at her with sparkling eyes.

Vera slowly raised both hands and stopped the fans.

”That’s enough.”

She looked toward Zack.

”We need to start buying materials immediately.”

Her voice became firm.

”Calculate the number of points the group has.”

”Take half from each member.”

She paused.

”I’ll contribute more of mine.”

She crossed her arms.

”We’re going to perform some large-scale alchemy.”

Zack nodded immediately.

He turned and signaled to Scott and Daniella.

They began gathering the rest of the group members.

Vera then walked toward Nathalia.

”Nathalia.”

The girl slowly looked up.

Her face looked pale, and her eyes were swollen as if she had not slept properly for several nights.

”Yes...” she answered weakly.

”The next trial has already started.”

Vera spoke softly.

”So, you need to move forward.”

She gently rubbed Nathalia’s head.

Then she wiped the corner of her eyes where dust and dried tears had gathered.

”Do it for Aliya.”

Nathalia’s lips trembled.

”Rest well.”

Vera smiled faintly.

”Let’s pass this trial.”

Nathalia nodded weakly.

She leaned forward and buried her face into Vera’s shoulder, crying quietly.

The sound was not loud, but the people standing nearby could hear it clearly.

Meanwhile, Veda’s group gathered at their usual meeting place inside the hall.

”So...”

Nickolas folded his arms.

”What’s the plan?”

Veda looked at him, but instead of answering immediately, he sighed.

”Before we start...”

His eyes moved across the group.

”Can we all stop releasing killing intent?”

His gaze stopped on Linda, Tracy, and a few others.

They were glaring toward Ezra.

”If we continue acting like this,” Veda said calmly, ”how exactly do you expect us to pass the fifth trial without losing people?”

The group went silent.

Some looked away reluctantly.

Even though they didn’t like Ezra, none of them wanted to openly challenge Veda.

Ezra stood slightly away from the group.

His back leaned against a wall. His arms were folded.

He looked completely indifferent as always, not minding the glares or quiet insults that were thrown at him.

Now that the tension had lowered, Veda took out a small circular plate.

The surface of the device lit up when he pressed it.

A soft hiss escaped from its sides.

Then a holographic projection appeared above it.

A small image of a stone tower floated in the air.

”This is the tower we’ll be using.”

Veda explained.

”They gave this device to us leaders before we entered the hall.”

Nickolas leaned closer to examine it.

The tower had open fields around it.

”So, monsters could approach from the front...”

He pointed.

”...or the back and even from the sides.”

”Yes.”

Veda nodded.

”That means we need to split our forces.”

He paused.

”And we also need to pool our points together to buy materials.”

His eyes became serious.

”We’ll rely heavily on high-rank guns to handle the monster waves.”

”Like the AK-47.”

Linda suddenly spoke.

”It’s the fourth strongest amongst Binder-rank guns.”

She crossed her arms confidently.

”If we perform joint alchemy, we can create multiple copies. That would allow several of us to fight the monsters efficiently.”

”What about using joint alchemy to create a machine gun?”

Tracy raised her hand.

Nickolas shook his head.

”That won’t be easy.”

”All types of machine guns fall into the Meister rank or higher.”

”The amount of Cognis required would be enormous.”

Tracy shrugged.

”But we have you, Sir Veda, Linda, and even the ranked guy.”

She glanced at Ezra.

”If the four of you combine your Cognis...”

”It should be possible.”

”Even if the quality is low.”

She continued explaining her idea carefully.

”We could choose one of the lower-rank machine guns and produce it through joint alchemy.”

”With a machine gun’s power, the monsters would fall much faster.”

Linda nodded slowly.

”That actually makes sense.”

”It does.”

Veda agreed.

”But it would exhaust us too quickly.”

He tapped the holographic tower.

”Remember, we also have to defend our flag from other groups.”

He looked around the group.

”So, this is the plan.”

”We’ll use AK-47 assault rifles for long-range attacks.”

”I don’t want us fighting monsters directly on the ground.”

”We’ll make use of the tower’s height advantage as our main defense and attack from a distance.”

He raised another finger.

”We’ll also produce Kalthoff Repeaters.”

”They require very little Cognis when performed through joint alchemy and finally...”

He paused.

”We’ll prepare AA-12 shotguns just in case. That should be enough for now.”

”We’ll gather the necessary materials first.”

Everyone nodded.

Nickolas then returned to the earlier topic.

”So how do we split the group for both sides? I’ll take one side while you handle the other, Veda.”

”But we need to decide how many people will perform joint alchemy, how many will handle the guns and how many will be divided to defend both sides.”

”For that part...”

Ezra suddenly spoke.

Nickolas frowned. ”Huh?”

Ezra stepped forward slowly.

”I’ll handle the other side alone.”

The group froze.

”But I’ll need a few people to assist with joint alchemy.”

Veda looked shocked.

Nickolas and Linda burst into laughter.

”You?”

Nickolas pointed at him.

”Kid, it would be better if you continued staying quiet.”

Ezra ignored him.

He walked toward the holographic tower.

”The monsters will attack from multiple directions.”

He pointed at the model.

”But it won’t be equal.”

”In monster stampedes, the main force usually moves from the front.”

He tapped the tower entrance.

”That means the majority of monsters will attack from here.”

He looked at Veda.

”If you split the group equally, half the team will face only a few monsters while the other half faces the main wave.”

Nickolas frowned.

”Then we just reduce the number of people on my side”

Ezra shook his head.

”My suggestion is more efficient.”

”You’ll keep the strongest fighters to handle the main wave.”

”I’ll deal with the smaller wave from the other side.”

”Who do you think you are?” Linda snapped.

Ezra looked at her calmly.

”Someone who doesn’t want to fight beside people who keep glaring kill intent at me.”

The group fell silent.

Nickolas stepped forward angrily, but Veda quickly stepped between them.

”Alright.”

He clapped his hands once.

”Everyone calm down.”

Nickolas clicked his tongue and stepped back.

Veda looked directly at Ezra.

”Are you certain about what you’re saying?”

”Yes.”

Ezra answered without hesitation.

From my past memories it seems I used to play something called video games and read manga that had tower defense premise as their plot. He thought to himself.

Veda stared at him for a few seconds.

Then he nodded.

”Alright. We’ll go with that for now.”

Nickolas looked shocked.

”What?! Why?”

”We’ll discuss it later.”

Veda whispered.

Then he raised his voice.

”Everyone!”

”Start preparing immediately!”

”We don’t have time to waste!”

The group quickly began moving.

People rushed out toward the market to mark out the materials they will purchase, while others gathered to calculate points.

Ezra silently handed over his share of points.

Then he left the hall.

Instead of staying with the group...

He walked toward the library.

Because he had his own plans for the fifth trial.