"The symphony of this era will be paused by the firing of two gigantic cannons." - I wrote on the last page of my diary.

The bloody and brutal charge forced both the Kingdom of Inslay and us to seek alternative ways to resolve the war. The leadership of Kingdom Inslay and us, like ignorant and fearless children, have ignited the calamity of war that should never be ignited by any world. But none of us wants to make concessions, because giving in would mean conceding to the other side for hundreds, if not thousands, of years to come.

For the entire otherworld, the carnage we witnessed on the southern plains may only be the tip of the iceberg, but no one was prepared to shoulder that burden.

After a night of torment, I saw the Kingdom gather all its formal troops. Sasa's mood was unusually calm, as if victory was already in her grasp. Early in the morning, she retrieved the two dresses given to us by Nephila.

"Put them on."

"Why did you suddenly decide to make me wear this?"

"To celebrate victory."

"But it seems like we're the ones who will lose..."

My wife helped me straighten my collar, meticulously smoothing out every wrinkle on my clothes. I helped her fasten the row of buttons on her back, tightening the waistband until she looked even more like a serpent.

"If we don't wear them now, it seems like we'll never have the chance."

Sasa smiled faintly at me, resembling the first smile I ever gave her.

"If I die first, remember to read my final diary. There are things I want to tell you."

"I won't remember, so just tell me now."

"But there's not enough time..."

"Then live on and tell me later."

"Okay."

"Oh, promise me one more thing."

"Go ahead."

"Don't make me sad."

"Of course, my wife."

We both understood that if these white dresses weren't celebratory attire, they would be our shrouds.

Everyone was clearly shocked by our dressing, attire only worn during weddings. Especially Sasa's Medusa-specific dress, after prolonged exposure, humans perhaps could appreciate a fraction of the unique charm possessed by Medusa.

At half-past nine in the morning, a messenger from the formal troops arrived with a letter expressing their desire to stop fighting. In short, if I committed suicide or died and handed over my body, the Kingdom would withdraw all their troops and other matters could be negotiated. I showed the letter to my wife, then gathered everyone in a circle.

"Everyone, the Kingdom said that if I die, they will retreat. What do you think?"

Looking at the calm expressions of everyone, I drew the pistol from my holster.

"If you want to kill me, I won't resist."

After speaking, I knelt down and raised the gun above my head with both hands, joined by Sasa kneeling beside me.

There was not a whisper of conversation. It was unclear whether everyone was taken aback by my actions or weighing the importance of my life versus a precarious peace in their hearts.

"Raul..."

It was Gray's voice. He picked up the gun from the ground and threw it in front of me.

"We're not fools. Let the Kingdom's offered peace go to hell."

"Yes, let the Kingdom go to hell!!!"

The unanimous echo of the Night Fall Town residents was both expected and unexpected. My mind became clear. The grudge between Night Fall Town and the Kingdom was not a matter of a day or two, but a centuries-long history. It was like a treasure chest filled with resentment that had been briefly opened by Cleaver before being sealed shut by the Kingdom. Everyone was waiting for the hero who would open the chest next, and there was no doubt that person was me.

Only by emptying the box of dissatisfaction, anger, and hatred can we fill it with hope, kindness, sincerity, and other beautiful treasures.

"Thank you, everyone. Can you hear me for a few words?"

Taking a deep breath, I looked towards the small cave where I was initially confined when I arrived here.

"What I'm about to say, you may not believe, but I still want to say it."

"I didn't belong to this world originally. The world I lived in was peaceful and prosperous. There was hardly any war, people did their own work, there was plenty of food and clothing. It was warm in winter and cool in summer inside the house."

"When I came here, I thought about going back, but then I met her, and then I met all of you."

"How should I put it, it seems that because of her, because of all of you, I can now accept all the bad things."

"You changed me. You made me accept a life that is hundreds of years apart."

"I love her, and I love all of you. But things have turned out this way, from tranquility... to the chaos we have now."

"Simmon said that you were willing to entrust the future to me, to let me gamble, because you believed I would win."

"So today, do you still believe in me?"

I let the cigarette butt fall freely, planting it into the soft soil beneath my feet, surveying the crowd.

"Victory... victory... victory, victory! Victory! Victory!"

Nobody directly answered my question, instead they fed me a reassuring pill in the form of chanting slogans. I stood up as well, grabbing my wife's hand, and aimed the pistol towards the direction of the kingdom.

"Wife, this is our last chance. Is there anything you regret?"

"No."

Play the final melody, I picked up the piece of reconciliation letter with the tip of the gun, ignited it with fire, and raised it up high.

The distant kingdom's army seemed to have seen the blaze, their formation changed, and most likely they would conduct several rounds of shelling first. After acquiring ninety-seven infantry cannons, I was not sure how many cannons they had left, but it no longer mattered.

I ordered everyone to take cover and wait quietly.

You could tell that the kingdom was really going all-in, the density of the shells was becoming a bit overwhelming for the earthen bunkers. However, I had already ensured that the werewolves and orcs hid in the trees on both sides, wanting to inflict effective damage on the remaining scattered humans and succubi, at least a few times more firepower would be needed.

The large tent was shattered, blocks of soil continuously churned up from the ground and splashed onto us. I crossed my hands behind my head, Sasa crouched on top of me, listening to the monotonous and boring whistling of the shells.

"Oh, here they come."

"What?"

"Park and Wolfrang."

"Where are they?"

I couldn't see the figures of the werewolves and the blacksmith in front of me, I only felt a tremor beneath me.

"Come."

I handed the binoculars to Sasa and asked her to look out at the enemy's position.

"There is nothing..."

Before my wife finished speaking, a heavy and lengthy blast came from behind us, an enormous fireball erupted from the kingdom's artillery position before the sound of the shell could be heard.

This was my last trump card - the Park cannon.

As early as when I was discussing firearms with Park, I had proposed the idea of building a giant cannon. The plan was simple, enlarge the barrel proportionally, improve the firing mechanism, and create a rear-loading high-caliber cannon. However, at that time, there were no prototypes of the kingdom's infantry cannons available, everything was still on paper.

After capturing the infantry cannon, Park led the orcs to use all their iron reserves to create two giant cannons with a caliber close to 300 millimeters. Some people knew about this, some didn't, because everyone thought it couldn't be done. And even if it could be done, how many horses would it take to pull it? And how do you ensure that the cannonballs hit accurately?

But Park proved himself to be a genius with facts. I'm not surprised at all. As a craftsman who can even make revolvers, his thinking and understanding are ahead of the times. Anything is possible. If magic exists, why can't the weapons I imagine become a reality?

The sound of hooves brought the hopeful craftsman brother to my presence.

"Well done."

"I'm not late, am I?"

"No, you came just in time. Show me your masterpiece."

Park's cannon didn't look as big as I imagined. The length of the barrel was less than ten meters. The cannon body was thick and heavy, but the exterior was sleek and black. I bowed deeply to the fifty exhausted werewolves.

Yes, dragging such a heavy weapon with horses is unrealistic for us, so werewolves were used as the pulling force. They spent two days and nights tirelessly moving the heavy artillery to the right position.

As for the accuracy of the artillery fire, Park and I used a grid-based positioning method. We circled the main combat areas on the map and divided them into square areas, each named as Zone 1, Zone 2, and so on. This positioning method was based on my pre-war measurements of distance, and it made use of many existing landmarks in the southern plain, such as the ruins of Night Fall Town, prominent parts of the forest, and color differences between wheat fields and grasslands. Standing on the observation tower built next to the cannon, it was clear through the telescope. During the attack, we only needed to inform the gunners to "fire at Zone xx". After all, the explosive shells would cause widespread destruction upon impact.

Wolfrang and Park each took charge of one cannon and began the artillery bombardment with a range far beyond that of the kingdom's artillery.

With a firing rate of two shots per minute and powerful explosions, the thirty thousand-man army became nothing but cheap cannon fodder. Through the telescope, I could almost smell the burning flesh and hear the desperate cries of the regular soldiers.

Well-trained, densely lined infantry began to bury the entire military strength of Kingdom Inslay. I watched coldly as the enemy gradually collapsed and disintegrated. Such a powerful weapon was beyond the reach of the kingdom's mages. Hundreds and thousands of lives were taken away by the simplest physical and chemical reactions. This was the true face of war.

The red of the kingdom's military uniform began to fade away from the yellow-green surface of the southern plains, like a slowly opening curtain, with people leaving and others making their appearance.

The magic of this world was wrapped in overly glamorous clothes by some people, which was not supposed to be the case.

The casualties caused by the giant cannons were not high, with less than six thousand people in total, and only two thousand four hundred deaths directly attributed to the artillery strikes. But the intimidation power of this weapon on humans exceeded my imagination, because the soldiers couldn't see who was attacking them, they could only hear the sound of explosions and watch their comrades die. The people who were imprisoned in their thoughts of "the gods of light and the supremacy of magic" felt helpless, and even the mages had to submit.

In this way, the kingdom's army withdrew directly to the second-tier territory. They abandoned all the weapons and equipment they could, just to escape the explosion range before the shells fell. The naive army of Kingdom Inslay collapsed under the intimidation of just two giant cannons, leaving only the remnants of the Magic Council and those self-proclaimed extraordinary mages.

Park stood beside the ammunition pile, gazing towards the north. What drove him to tirelessly create such terrifying weapons? Perhaps it was the grief over his deceased old friend, or maybe it was his trust in me, or... Like me, he saw a future beyond the end of the war. The black smoke formed a veil, obscuring the distant scenery. His silhouette was sharp and angular, like a towering iron monument, a warning against the arrogance of mankind's fate.

"The existence of life is the choice of all things. No one has the power to take away life, but everyone has the power to choose to live. So, if there are deities in this world, I implore you to forgive my actions and grant redemption to us all."

I prayed to the air.