I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 119

I’m dreaming.

– Long time no see, bro!

Messages are piling up.

– The stream got huge while I was gone, huh?

Messages are piling up.

– You know, bro, I’m having surgery soon…….

Messages.

– Can you just say one word of encouragement?

Piling up, they are.

***

“Hah!”

I opened my eyes wide.

“Hah, hah!”

As I abruptly sat up, my whole body was drenched in cold sweat. I breathed roughly, wiping away the sweat.

“A dream…… was it……?”

It must be around dawn…… or so. Since this is a dungeon under the lake, it’s hard to guess the time by sunlight.

I took out my pocket watch, and it was 5 AM. Still early.

“Your Highness?”

I heard a voice and turned to see Junior awake.

She was leaning against the headboard of the bed, a pipe in her mouth.

Smoke was swirling from the pipe. There was a faint smell of herbs.

“Are you alright, Your Highness? Are you feeling unwell?”

“Ah, yeah. No, it’s nothing. I’m fine.”

Seeing someone awake somehow relieved me, and I smiled faintly.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I dozed off and then woke up.”

Junior took the pipe out of her mouth and asked worriedly.

“Are you okay, Your Highness? You seemed to be having a hard time, like you were having a nightmare.”

“…….”

I wiped the remaining sweat from my forehead and let out a small sigh.

“There’s one thing I regret.”

“…….”

“And that’s why I keep having that dream.”

Junior smiled bitterly.

“Many people say that.”

“Many people? Other people too?”

“I often do, you know.”

Junior shrugged.

“I guess it’s because I have a lot of regrets. I have nightmares all the time.”

“…….”

What kind of nightmares does Junior have?

The dream of that day 15 years ago, when the village was burning…… does she have that?

“The others are sleeping soundly.”

Looking around, it was true.

Evangeline was snoring and scratching her belly, Lucas was sleeping stiffly in an attention stance, and Damian was lying still without making a sound. Hey, are you alive?

“When I’m alone, it’s scary to wake up from a nightmare.”

Junior smiled faintly, looking at the party members.

“But when we’re all together like this, I don’t worry much. Just hearing the others’ breathing makes me feel a little relieved.”

“Haha, should we camp out more often?”

“Hehe. That’s nice. ……But, next time.”

Looking at the peaceful scene of the sleeping party members, Junior said her wish calmly.

“I wish it was a picnic with a nice view, not a dungeon.”

“……I wish.”

I hope that day comes soon.

It was then.

Bang!

“Your Highness!”

Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open, and someone rushed in.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but you need to wake up!”

A large man wearing a jackal mask.

It was Jakal, the owner of this colosseum.

The surprised party members woke up one by one. I quickly got up and asked.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“We’re under attack.”

Jakal reluctantly added.

“……The vampires are attacking.”

I widened my eyes.

Jakal clicked his tongue.

“It seems Bernato wasn’t bluffing back then.”

Yesterday, the vampire we killed, Bernato, had clearly said.

– I am a family member of the great Nosferatu, Lord Selendion! You dared to touch me and made me like this, so the lord will surely judge you…….

It wasn’t a bluff.

Selendion’s clan had come all the way here to take revenge immediately.

***

Thud!

Rumble!

The building was faintly vibrating.

The colosseum was under attack.

Frost ghouls, swarming like waves and surrounding the colosseum, charged forward with screams.

Among them, ghoul enhanced types and fallen bloods [vampires who have fallen to bloodlust] were mixed in, strengthening the attack.

Kieeeek!

Kyaaaaak-!

The colosseum was responding with the giant monsters they had been raising inside.

The giant monsters that came out of the colosseum gates twisted their huge bodies, roaring loudly.

The Goblin God swung its eight arms, and the fallen dragons breathed fire.

The frost giants swung their huge spears.

Bang! Crash……!

A war between monsters and monsters.

My party members and I watched this brutal scene with our mouths slightly open.

‘Honestly, I thought that vampire we killed yesterday was a total pushover…….’

I never thought they would go this far just for revenge. I really didn’t know much about vampire camaraderie.

“Even if they are the commander’s direct unit, this is my backyard.”

Jakal said confidently.

“They won’t break through easily. I’ll show them a very bitter taste.”

“Are you sure, Jakal?”

“Of course, Your Highness. I’ve been through much worse. I didn’t get the title of Fighting King easily, you know?”

Jakal’s eyes flashed fiercely. The fighting spirit of a Fighting King overflowed from his whole body.

“But since we don’t know when the battle will escalate, it would be better for you all to go back through the underground passage.”

He was right. If we got caught up in that battle, we would surely be torn to pieces.

My party members and I quickly finished our preparations and gathered at the manhole in the center of the colosseum arena.

Jakal personally opened the manhole cover.

“Your Highness has already conquered this place. The path of the defeated will be open again in the opposite direction.”

“Thank you, Jakal.”

“You’re welcome, Your Highness.”

Thud, rumble…….

Crash!

The sounds of battle outside the colosseum were getting louder.

“Now, go quickly! I can only go wild without worry if Your Highness isn’t here.”

Jakal urged, and my party members slipped into the vertical passage one by one.

As I was the last to enter the passage, Jakal, who was holding the manhole cover, whispered.

“Your Highness.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for remembering the name of a man like me. Those words were my salvation.”

I stared blankly at Jakal.

“……Hey, Jakal.”

I curled up the corners of my mouth and smiled.

“If you say lines like that, it feels like you’re going to die. Be careful from now on.”

“Hahahaha! I was just telling the truth, but was the atmosphere a bit off?”

I could see a faint smile under his mask.

“I hope to see you again, Your Highness. I hope I can treat you leisurely next time.”

“I’d like to be treated leisurely too. Well, see you next time.”

“Yes. Ah, and this is a small token of my sincerity.”

Jakal took out a pouch and placed it in my hand.

“I look forward to the day we meet again, Your Highness. Then, may you have good fortune.”

Thud.

The manhole cover closed.

“…….”

I silently climbed down the ladder to the bottom of the passage and opened the pouch Jakal had given me.

Clink.

It was full of dark crystals.

“……Seriously.”

That’s a real death flag, Fighting King.

I silently put it in my inventory and then raised my head.

I saw my party members looking at me with stiff faces.

“Let’s go back.”

I glared at the far end of the long passage and spat out quietly.

“Showing the vampires the taste of silver and lightning is still a bit far off.”

***

How much time had passed since we started going back in the opposite direction?

“By the way…….”

Evangeline, who was walking at the very back, said with a puzzled voice.

“Hasn’t this passage gotten a little colder than yesterday?”

“Oh, has it……?”

Now that I heard it, it was true. Every time we spoke, white breaths were puffing out of our mouths.

“C-cold…… it’s suddenly…….”

Damian clutched his arms and trembled.

“……This is.”

Junior’s pale face was covered with white frost.

I frowned.

Something was strange.

Clearly, something was wrong.

The moment all the party members noticed it.

“My lord.”

Lucas, at the very front, said in a stiff voice.

“What is it?”

“There’s something…… in front of the passage.”

“…….”

Reluctantly, I went to Lucas’s side. I looked in that direction too.

“……!”

There, a boy was standing.

A boy with a small frame, dressed in a neat black suit.

With skin as pale as snow, hair as dark blue as the night sky.

And…… eyes that were as red as blood, overflowing with ominous energy, looking this way.

There was no need to ask who it was. It was an opponent I had fought dozens of times while playing the game.

“Selendion…….”

I gritted my teeth.

“……The Vampire King.”

Clang! Clang!

The party members quickly formed a battle formation.

Evangeline joined the front line, and the two knights drew their silver weapons.

Damian, who had drawn his crossbow, retreated and lowered his stance, and Junior stood up, casting a spell.

I stood in the middle, drawing Maestro and holding it in my hand.

《Hmm.》

And.

《Excuse me for a moment.》

The next moment, Selendion was in the middle of our party.

In Selendion’s hand was Lucas’s silver sword, broken in half.

In his other hand, Evangeline’s spearhead and Damian’s crossbow were also broken.

“Huh?”

“No…….”

“What?”

Three voices flowed out in a daze. And the next moment.

Thud! Thwack! Thud-!

Lucas, Evangeline, and Damian were flung in all directions like bowling pins.

An invisible force struck the three of them.

The party members, who were spitting blood, were slammed into the walls of the corridor and then slid to the floor.

“Huuup-!”

Junior urgently cast a spell. Three elements gathered in the air, forming a magical sphere.

And Selendion just glanced at the magical sphere.

《That’s enough.》

Whoosh-!

With just that, the magic was broken down and scattered.

Junior muttered as if she couldn’t believe it.

“……No way.”

Thud!

The next moment, Junior was also hit by some force and flung far away.

Step. Step.

After incapacitating all my party members in the blink of an eye.

《Let’s talk, player.》

The Vampire King, who had slowly walked in front of me, looked up at me.

《I have many questions for you.》