Last Gun Alchemist-Chapter 88: Fifth Trial—Tower Defense Part Twelve

"YEAHHHH!!!"

The crowd erupted in loud cheers, voices clashing together as two boys fought inside the drawn circle.

"Come on, Bobby! You can do it!" a boy shouted, raising his fist high into the air, his voice cracking from excitement.

Bobby stood inside the ring, breathing slightly heavier than usual, his arms raised as he blocked punch after punch from the boy in front of him. The difference in strength was obvious. The other boy’s blows carried more weight, more confidence, and better form, but Bobby didn’t fall.

He endured, adjusted, and stepped back at the right time.

He raised his guard just enough and that alone made the crowd even louder.

No one expected this.

"I didn’t know Bobby got this good," Veda said, sitting beside Ezra, his eyes fixed on the fight.

Ezra glanced at him briefly before returning his gaze forward.

"He improved."

Inside the ring, Bobby bent his body low, barely avoiding a straight punch that cut through the air above him. He tried to counter with a right hook, but the boy reacted fast, grabbing Bobby from behind and driving his knee forward.

Thud!

The knee slammed into Bobby’s guard.

His arms shook.

Then...

The boy followed up with an elbow strike to Bobby’s back.

"Argh...!"

Bobby dropped to the ground; dust lifted slightly from the impact.

The boy didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Bobby’s shirt and dragged him upward, trying to secure control.

But Bobby reacted.

His arms moved quickly, hooking into the boy’s armpits, locking his position tightly even as his shirt stretched across his body.

Then...

Punch!

Punch! Punch! Punch!

He drove his fists into the boy’s ribs repeatedly.

The sound was dull and heavy.

The crowd exploded again, cheering for both of them now.

"I thought you two would become close after the fourth trial," Veda said casually, though his eyes didn’t leave the fight.

Ezra rested his chin lightly on his hand.

"Close is a strong word... considering the situation we’re in."

"Ehh..." Veda scratched his cheek slightly. "You know... at the end of the day, you still need people you can trust if you want to move forward."

"That’s for people who believe they can’t survive alone," Ezra replied, his voice calm, his gaze steady.

"Belief, huh..." Veda smiled lightly, adjusting how he sat, shifting his weight as he rested his arms on his knees. "But it’s a good belief though."

He didn’t rush his words this time.

"You see..." he continued, his voice calmer now, less like he was trying to convince Ezra and more like he was simply stating something he had already accepted long ago. "Everyone is born with their own strengths... and their own weaknesses."

He raised his hand slightly, as if weighing something invisible.

"That’s why we need people. To cover what we lack... while we cover what they lack."

He turned to Ezra fully now.

"It goes both ways. It always should."

His eyes sharpened just a little.

"That’s why I believe in having people around me. My people... they give me strength. They push me to keep going, to grow, to become better."

His fingers slowly curled into a fist.

"And I do the same for them."

There was no hesitation in his voice, no doubt, only certainty.

Ezra didn’t respond immediately.

He just looked at him, carefully. Watching not just the words, but the way Veda said them.

The way his shoulders didn’t shake, the way his eyes didn’t waver.

That kind of belief...It wasn’t shallow. It didn’t come from a naïve mind set.

"You aren’t wrong," Ezra finally said.

His voice was quiet. Flat, but not dismissive.

Then, he shifted slightly, resting his chin on his hand, his elbow pressing into his knee.

"But..." His eyes lowered for a brief second.

"The nature of humans... overwrites beliefs like that."

There was a slight pause.

"Yes, people can grow stronger with others," he continued, his tone steady. "With friends... with trust... with support, but what about the ones who can’t keep up?"

He lifted his gaze again.

"What about those who start to feel inferior?"

His voice didn’t rise, but something inside it tightened.

"The world isn’t balanced. There’s always a difference between the ones you give strength to... and the ones who give strength to you."

He leaned forward slightly.

"At some point...You move ahead and they don’t."

The wind passed lightly through the open space, brushing against their clothes.

"Then what happens?"

He tilted his head just a little.

"They stop walking beside you and start walking behind you."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Can you really trust someone... Who can’t walk beside you anymore?"

Silence settled between them, Veda stared at the people sparring, his thoughts surely processing what Ezra was saying in the silence.

"I don’t believe a relationship without equality can last," Ezra said finally, his voice calm, but firm.

Veda didn’t respond right away.

He looked at Ezra, not arguing, not dismissing. He just sat there thinking.

"Why is that?" he asked.

Ezra didn’t look away. "Because it creates imbalance and imbalance..."

He paused.

"...always leads to something breaking."

A faint breath escaped him.

"Sadness or betrayal or worse."

Before Veda could respond...

"AHHHHH!!!"

The crowd erupted again; the boy had finally managed to pin Bobby’s back to the ground.

Cheers exploded from every side.

"Nice fight! Boys" The girls screamed.

"You did well!"

"You almost had him!"

Voices overlapped, loud and full of life.

Linda stepped forward quickly, calling in the next pair.

The circle filled again and another match began.

Veda leaned back slightly, watching the group.

Their smiles, their laughter, the way they moved freely now.

The pressure that had been suffocating them...Was gone.

At least for now.

"Ezra..." His voice came again, softer this time. "Are you scared...to lose someone?"

The question came without warning and for the first time...Ezra paused.

Not outwardly, but inside...Something moved.

Chains, heavy and cold.

Wrapped around something deep within him.

They trembled, pulled, tightened. Voices, fragments, faces, moments.

All of it surged for a brief second...

Then...Stopped.

Ezra turned his head slowly toward Veda, his expression didn’t change, not even a little.

"I don’t know." A small smile formed on his lips.

Careless, detached.

"Do I look like someone who has friends to mourn?"

Veda didn’t smile.

"Wasn’t Aliya your friend?" he asked quietly.

That name...It landed softly, but he felt heavy inside.

Ezra’s fingers pressed slightly into his arm, just for a second.

"She wasn’t..." He spoke flatly. "She was just... a good person. One I didn’t get to know enough, what could have been... that’s all."

Veda watched him.

Silently, longer this time like he was trying to see past the words.

"...I see."

"Yeah," Ezra replied.

The noise from the crowd rose again.

Laughter, shouting.

The sound of bodies hitting the ground.

Someone complaining, someone celebrating.

For a moment...It felt like none of this mattered.

Not the wave, not the danger of the trial, not what was coming next.

Everyone was just...Alive.

Time passed, quickly like it slipped through their fingers, before anyone noticed...

Night had fallen, darkness covered the castle, only the light of the wooden torches lit up the space. One by one, people went into their tent to sleep.

Too tired to think, too drained to worry.

Even the idea of keeping watch...Faded. Only a few remained awake.

Veda, Nickolas and Ezra. to keep watch of the whole group.

The night was quiet, but not peaceful.

Then...

Morning came and it was obvious something had changed, the pressure that once filled the air...That invisible weight pressing on their chests...Was now gone, not completely though, but enough for them to breathe easier, enough for them to stand straighter, enough for their eyes to sharpen again.

Everyone woke up, not sluggish, not afraid, but ready for the second wave.

The day passed once again with everyone on full alert, their eyes constantly scanning the distance, their hands never straying too far from their weapons, yet... nothing happened.

No movement, no sound, no sign of the second wave.

The exact day Ezra had predicted came and went quietly, almost mockingly, as if the trial itself was watching them and waiting for them to lower their guard, but even then, no one allowed themselves to relax and now...The fifth day of the second week had arrived.

Yet, unlike before, the heavy anxiety that once pressed against their chests had faded. It wasn’t gone completely, but it no longer controlled them. Instead, it had been replaced by something steadier.

Readiness.

Everyone woke up early, moving into position without being told, their movements sharper, more deliberate, as if their bodies had already accepted that the next moment could explode into chaos.

At the front of the castle...

The AK-47 squad stood in formation, rifles raised and steady, fingers resting close to the triggers, their eyes locked onto the open field ahead as they waited in silence.

Behind them, the Kalthoff Repeater holders stood firm, their grips tight on their weapons, while the dagger and spear users positioned themselves at their sides, ready to intercept anything that made it past the first line.

Veda stood at the center of it all, slightly behind the formation, his presence calm but firm.

Nickolas stood beside him.

Linda remained near the boy holding the binoculars, her gaze fixed forward as she occasionally leaned closer, trying to catch even the slightest change in the distance.

At the back of the castle...

Ezra stood with his own binoculars raised, his posture relaxed but focused, his breathing steady as he scanned the far end of the forest.

The other five members assigned to his side stayed near the catapults, their hands already resting on the boulders, their bodies tense, ready to act the moment something appeared.

Everything was still, too still.

Then...

BOOM!!!

A massive sound of something heavy being dropped on the ground, echoed through the whole forest.

The entire castle shook violently, the stone walls trembling as dust burst from the cracks and edges, falling in small streams from above.

The ground beneath their feet rumbled hard enough to throw off balance and it didn’t come from just one direction...

The sound echoed across the entire field., from every castle, every direction.

Like the world itself had been struck.

"What was that?!" Linda shouted, grabbing the boy’s shoulder tightly as he struggled to keep the binoculars steady.

"The second wave..." Veda replied calmly, his arms still folded. "...has begun."

In an instant...Everyone moved.

Grips tightened, postures lowered, eyes sharpened.

Then...

A roar. Deep, heavy.

It rolled across the forest like thunder tearing through the sky, followed by a series of pounding impacts that grew louder with every passing second.

The sound alone felt like it pushed air forward, sending waves of wind across the grass field, bending it violently from side to side and then...They appeared.

Shapes, massive, moving aggressively.

"You’ve got to be kidding me..." Tracy let out a bitter laugh, her eyes widening.

"Why is it, those disgusting creatures..." Linda clenched her fists tightly, her teeth grinding against each other.

The ground began to shake again, stronger this time and closer.

Each step...Heavier than the last.

"Everyone, get ready!" Veda’s voice cut through the noise.

Far in the distance, the heads of the monsters began to rise above the terrain.

Huge, towering.

Easy to see even from afar.

"Ground Apes!!!" the boy with the binoculars shouted.

A brief wave of reactions passed through the group.

Some sighed, some tightened their grip, some swallowed hard.

"Catapults...get ready!!" Nickolas signaled immediately.

The teams assigned to each catapult moved without hesitation, lifting the massive boulders with both hands and loading them into place, their muscles straining under the weight.

The shaking intensified.

The sound...Deafening now.

The Ground Apes charged forward at full speed, their massive bodies crashing through trees and terrain, some ripping through obstacles without slowing, others leaping over them with terrifying ease.

They came in different sizes.

Some smaller, around the height of the castle entrance, others...Massive enough to tower over trees.

Their arms swung heavily as they ran, their bodies shaking the earth with every step.

"Don’t be tense!" Veda shouted, enhancing his vision with Cognis as he stared into the incoming wave. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"We prepared for this!" He raised his hand high.

"So, we face them...And we win this!"

"YEEAAHHHH!!!"

The entire group roared back, their voices clashing against the thunder of the approaching monsters, their determination rising despite the overwhelming sight ahead.

At the back of the castle...

Ezra lowered his binoculars slowly; the sound had reached them and the signs were clear.

This side wasn’t safe either.

"We’re going to be busy, guys," he said calmly, placing the binoculars back into his space bag.

The five nodded.

Nervous, but ready.

Ezra turned and walked into his tent without hesitation.

He dragged out a large box, the wooden edges scraping lightly against the ground, followed by a heavy bag placed beside it.

Then...

He pulled out the Barrett M107.

The long body of the sniper rifle caught the little light coming from the holes in his tent briefly as he set it down.

He moved quickly, efficiently. Fixing the tripod, adjusting the scope and positioning the rifle at the center of the tent.

He unzipped a section of the tent, opening a narrow line of sight outward, aligning the muzzle perfectly through it, then he lowered himself behind the weapon.

His shoulder settled into position, one hand on the grip, finger resting on the trigger, one eye closed...The other looking through the scope.

The world narrowed. Focused.

The charging Ground Apes filled his vision.

"Ahhh..." He exhaled slowly. "We begin."

Far in the distance...One of the larger Ground Apes stopped briefly.

Its massive hand reached down...Gripping a tree.

The roots tore from the ground with force and then...It hurled it.

Spinning, crashing through the air toward the castle.

"INCOMING TREE!!!" the five shouted in panic, their bodies freezing for a split second.

BANG!!!

A thunderous shot exploded from Ezra’s tent; the recoil pushed back against his shoulder.

The bullet tore through the air at impossible speed...And collided with the incoming tree.

BOOM!!!

The tree shattered mid-air, splintering into countless pieces that scattered across the sky before raining down onto the ground like broken debris.

Silence, just for a moment.

The five stared, frozen and dazed.

At the front...The sound of the shot reached them.

Veda smiled, a small one, but certain.

"...It’s started."

He raised his hand.

"Fire!!!"