As expected, the first monsters showed up within a few minutes. They hadn't even crossed a twentieth of the narrow path yet when screeches reached them, turning the defenders tense.

Really? Harpies?

Lev could recognize those screeches any day of the week. Why the monsters had shown up here wasn't that hard to guess, for harpies were one of the most common monsters on Monarch.

What he was curious about, though, was the performance of his cannons. Piloted by non-combatants, there were no active or passive skills enhancing their bullets, meaning everything depended on the enchantments.

The hunters were also aware of that, told to stand back unless something dangerous or the centipedes showed up.

"You're up," Lev said, looking at the old man with graying hair. He was holding onto the canon tightly, knuckles white from the exertion.

With a nod, the old man aimed. Given the narrow passage they were traversing, the harpies were limited in how much they could zip around, though it wasn't like the monsters were going to display any intelligence.

That posed another problem, one that Lev solved by creating dozens of ropes. Their properties were altered, and with both ends sharpened to a lethal degree, he embedded them on either side of the narrow passage.

After repeating the process dozens of times, there was a crude mesh on top of the carts that extended just as fast as they moved. The harpies noticed it too, possessing enough instincts to avoid crashing into the durable ropes. Death was the only outcome of that.

Instead, they slowed down to weave between the constructs, becoming the perfect targets. Shell after shell slammed into them, but because they were unenchanted and not backed by skills, only a few drew blood.

"Again," Lev said loudly, not giving the non-combatants a chance to doubt themselves.

One more wave flew at the harpies before they got past the barrier mesh. Wounded and bleeding after the mostly accurate shots, it took the platinum hunters no time to capitalize on the weakness and eradicate the seven monsters.

Murmurs and whispers broke out amongst the non-workers currently manning the cannons. They had a fixed rotation of five to distribute the essence gains equally, though it wasn't like they were pressed for monsters to fight. Lev just didn't want to have them all out at once and risk losing any of the workers.

One or two levels for all of them, he noted with a satisfied nod. The System had told him to push his crafting higher, and while he wasn't doing anything groundbreaking right now, his barriers were performing admirably against weaker monsters. He just had to somehow make them retain the effects of his passive skills and class even when away from him, and that would immediately make them one of the strongest firearms humanity had access to.

If that was even possible, he had no idea.

"Boss," Melvine called out, though Lev had already noticed the subtle vibrations around them.

"I'm prepared," Lev replied, at ease for now. Dozens of invisible shields were currently hovering around the carts, concentrated around the platinum hunters and the workers they were guarding.

"They might not be enough."

"Then I'll just create more," Lev glanced at her, head slightly tilted. "Unless there's something I should know?"

"Nah. Just making sure you're aware, boss."

Oddball.

Not paying her any more attention, he turned to the right. A few shards of stone fell from somewhere above, but before they could hit the ground, two large mandibles tore through the stone wall.

A glaive was already present in their path, its blade sharpened and enchanted. The barrier construct was met with a wind blade that formed with decent speed, though the potency left a lot to be desired. Barely slowing down, the glaive cut through the approaching attack and landed on the side of the monster's head.

Ideally, the glaive would've damaged the monster in some way. That didn't happen, and Lev had to stop scouting for a moment to properly decipher what his brain had just observed, still confused by the feedback.

… Wind armor?

That was the best he could come up with. His glaive was pushed aside by a layer of solidified wind, one covering the centipede's whole form now that he looked closer. The application was quite fascinating, as the armor was both solid enough to provide protection and also affected anything in contact with it by deflecting the object or pushing it away. He didn't really know the specifics, but he took note of the use regardless.

To further test the utility of the armor, he smashed the head of the centipede with an invisible shield. Slightly disoriented and slowed, it couldn't dodge the arrow that tore through its chitin.

This time, the armor wasn't enough, failing completely against the immense pressure at the point of impact. The arrow's sharpness was enough to penetrate and exit the other side, though it still failed to kill the bleeding centipede.

Another arrow went through its head this time, putting it down.

Ah… I forgot to measure its speed.

He supposed there would be more of them to fight and observe. The hill they were passing through was now shaking a bit more than before, announcing the presence of several centipedes drilling through the stone.

Lev briefly glanced at the group of workers behind him, silently telling them to prepare the cannons. Four centipedes broke through the walls on either side, only to be met with invisible shields floating in their paths.

With loud smacks, they stopped dead after the collision, far from disoriented. A bundle of wind blades was formed by each monster to cut through the invisible constructs, and he finally got to observe their main method of offense.

Similar to enchanted swords, the wind blades made good use of both physical and magical strength. His enchanted barriers were slowly whittled down by the barrage, though none of them shattered under the onslaught, which was enough to keep the centipedes occupied for a few more moments.

That was enough for the cannons to fire. Slowed and almost stationary as they were, almost every centipede was hit directly, though the results were a bit worrying. Barely any blood was drawn, largely because the shells didn't pack enough of a punch to overwhelm wind armor on the monsters without losing most of their strength.

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They did do something… Lev thought to himself, observing the reaction taking place. Seems like the wind armor's potency was gathered in one area to protect against the shells, and when that failed, all of the armor was destroyed. It really is like a skill.

The few seconds needed to reform the armor were enough for the cannons to fire again. Each bullet tore through their chitin and bodies underneath, putting down three of the four monsters. Before the last one could be targeted, Lev imbued his armor with lightning and quickly grabbed it before flying up.

Immediately, the creature's large bulk wrapped him up. Instead of killing it quickly, he flew up and waited. Wind mana was shaped and thrown against his armor, all of it failing to do more than scratch the construct, and even those were healed in a blink.

When mandibles closed around his hand, he felt the pressure for the first time. His armor was actually being stressed, and that was enough for him. A chunk of lightning moved to his limb and then into the centipede's face, rushing into its body and frying its insides.

[

You have slain [Ripper Centipede - Level 299]

]

Squinting his eyes, Lev focused on wherever the core could be inside the corpse, and paused in surprise when he actually found it. A smattering of mana was noticeable inside his body, his Mana Perception now strong enough to accomplish that.

Forming claws on his armor's fingers, he stabbed his hand into the corpse, avoiding the core. Inside, his fingers closed around something round and hard, which he pulled out with a chunk of flesh and disgusting blood.

… In hindsight, I should have let someone experienced do this.

Chuckling to himself, he tossed the corpse aside and summoned his refillable canteen. After rinsing his arm, since he couldn't reform the armor right now to get rid of the stench because it would need to be enchanted from scratch, he landed back on the first cart and took stock of the situation.

Other than the cannons, nothing else had been utilized. Each of the platinum hunters was tensely waiting for the next monsters, but surprisingly, none were coming for now.

The hills have barely started, Lev thought, stepping into his bubble and making it invisible. They're going to fight way more than they ever wanted to soon.

No monsters attacked them for the next few minutes. Lev kept a close eye on any auras, for only the strongest ones would be the most noticeable. The other defenders also waited, and when subtle vibrations became noticeable, no one was caught unprepared.

Nearly a dozen centipedes ambushed them within ten seconds, all of them exiting the hill's side from a few dozen meters above. A rain of wind blades fell on the carts, concentrated on the first two where most of the defenders were present.

Invisible barriers were arrayed against them in a blink, several of them shattering as the barrage continued. More blades were launched, and Lev was starting to realize why Melvine had warned him.

Each wind blade scattered into a mana-charged air, somehow empowering the rest of the attacks. The effect wasn't anything astonishing or dangerous, but he was still wary of letting too many attacks remain close by.

Ropes took shape between the monsters and the humans, creating another net to block them. This time, given the nature of the monsters, Lev imbued a decent chunk of lightning into the ropes as they coiled around them.

Contact slowed the centipedes for the cannons to hit them somewhat reliably, though he observed the gravity bolt amidst them with keen interest. Unsurprisingly, the wind armor on the targeted centipede didn't hold a candle to the higher-tier element, seeing the monster dead before it could hope to dodge.

In half a minute, all of the monsters were dead again, not even needing any attacks from him.

Seven shields broke in the first wave, and five more followed while holding back the centipedes.

Two more things of interest had been noticed during that. Lev now knew that their mandibles were way stronger than expected, something he should have guessed after they even threatened to punch through his armor.

Additionally, everything in contact with the wind under the control of the monsters was somehow more noticeable to them. His invisible shields were targeted with ruthless efficiency once they were hit, something he noted for later if something stronger showed up.

"Everyone alright?" Lev called out, looking at each individual closely. There were no wounds, only a few unfortunate blood stains from the firing.

"All clear," the archer from Jared's team replied loudly. She had really high Perception and could keep track of everyone without much trouble.

"Fine and dandy," Melvine quipped, then went silent again.

"Progress?" Lev questioned.

"Two to three levels again," replied one of the laborers. Her hands shook slightly, still remembering the second-threshold monsters rushing down towards them with stark clarity.

"Hey," Lev addressed her. When the woman looked up, he held her gaze for a few seconds, then made all of his dozens of shields visible.

Everyone except Melvine watched with their mouths ajar as the narrow passage was suddenly dotted with blue constructs, floating around like fireflies of mana.

Then he turned them invisible again, and spoke with a small, understanding smile.

"I'll do my best to keep you all safe, don't worry."

After that display, those words had the desired effect, calming down both the non-combatants and reassuring the platinum hunters. Lev nodded once and then stepped into his invisible bubble, where he could finally sigh and slump down in his seat.

I fucking hate being in charge.

There was little choice, unfortunately. Not letting himself be deterred by the constant burden on his shoulders, he straightened and looked up, seeing only clear sky and suns that were still far from setting.

How likely is it for something too strong to show up today?

He didn't expect anything like that to happen in the next few days, at least. Not only were the hills massive, they also stretched on for thousands of kilometers, a distance that would require them weeks to cross even at their speed.

Regardless, he kept a hundred walls prepared in his bubble. The round construct itself was enchanted to be useful in combat instead of being a simple transportation device, and he expected to make use of it soon.

There was one last thing he wanted to do before settling in as a passive observer and a guardian. Summoning Stargazer, he left the bubble again and waited.

Attracted by his aura, it didn't take long for the next monsters to show up. Harpies dove from above their passage, whereas centipedes burst out of the walls.

No one interfered as Lev channeled lightning into his armor and glaive. They understood that he was going to act now and settled in to simply watch.

Seventeen total, he noted, not at all bothered. Let's see, how do I want to go about this?

There was plenty he could test. The lack of monsters was a bad thing for once, so he started with the usual testing. A tall blade grew out of Stargazer's top, immediately covered by all of its enchantments.

With a mental nudge, he quickly reached the nearest centipede, his glaive passing through its head. Focusing on the monster's armor, he noted how it didn't even get close to slowing down the weapon. Instead, if anything, the sharpness of his barrier blade was further bolstered by the enchantments to actively repel the wind armor and negate it entirely.

Soundlessly, the head came off, its mandibles still only halfway closed around Lev's face. He easily ducked under them and flew to the next monster, selectively imbuing his armor with blue fire and lightning for the highest burst of power.

Bereft of intelligence as it was, the centipede didn't even try to prevent Lev from punching it. His fist tore through the chitin and blew a large hole in its head, and a following explosion eviscerated whatever was left of its upper half.

Well, that was extremely overkill, he smiled to himself, ignoring the notifications. It wasn't like they were going to provide him with any levels.

Coiled around his bubbles, several ropes unfurled. All of the remaining centipedes were caught in their grip, and Lev had to strain his mind to when he squeezed the monsters with the ropes. Wind armor and chitin eventually gave way, rendering them gruesomely bisected.

Decently resistant to blunt damage, he noted, turning to the harpies that were about to reach him.

Against these monsters, he had far too much experience already. He raised his right arm, and by positioning himself a little to the right, he killed three of them by lining them up for his lightning bolt.

Before the corpses could fall to the ground, he reached the remaining enemies, and a few practiced swings of Stargazer were enough to put them down in moments.

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