I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 127

It was afternoon, nearing evening, at the mansion’s entrance.

The first group to arrive wasn’t who I expected.

“Jupiter?”

I muttered, surprised and a little annoyed.

“What brings you here?”

“……”

Jupiter, dressed in a crisp Imperial Army uniform, offered a faint smile.

His face was gaunt, showing clear signs of illness, but his one eye shone as brightly as ever.

“Your Highness, do you remember what I told you before? About spreading rumors across the continent?”

“Huh?”

“That the monster front here pays well. That the new commander, His Highness the Prince, is generous. I said I’d spread those rumors, didn’t I?”

“Ah, that.”

Right. It was a few months ago, but I remembered clearly. He’d said he’d spread rumors among the continental mercenaries.

I’d readily agreed.

If mercenaries flocked to this city, nothing could be better.

“Hearing those rumors, my old mercenary comrades have come.”

Jupiter gestured to the mercenaries standing behind him.

Middle-aged men and women, their faces etched with wrinkles, bowed respectfully to me.

Including Jupiter, there were five of them. Exactly one party.

“Shall we call the party… ‘Old Hunters’?”

Jupiter declared confidently.

“They’re seasoned veterans who’ve been through many hellish battlefields. They’ll be a great help.”

“Jupiter.”

But I shook my head slightly.

“Your mana runaway injury hasn’t healed yet. I can’t allow you to be deployed to the front lines.”

“Your Highness.”

Jupiter didn’t back down.

“I heard the opponents in this defense battle are vampires.”

“……”

“You’ll need even one more skilled mage, won’t you? Or am I wrong?”

I pursed my lips. Of course, that was obvious.

Even a quick glance showed they were all high-level veterans. Their grades were also decent.

If they could be deployed in this battle, it would be a great help.

But…

“Don’t worry. I’m a mercenary. I’m not foolish enough to burn myself out with magic.”

Jupiter stepped forward and spoke urgently.

“Your Highness. Please give this old man a chance.”

“……”

“Let me prove that I’m still a useful human being… Please, give me a chance.”

I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.

“…Come in. We’ll have a strategy meeting soon with dinner.”

I gestured into the mansion and smiled wryly.

“I’ll have to tell them to prepare five more servings.”

***

A few hours later.

The Lord’s mansion. Dining hall.

We were supposed to gather by 6 PM, but all the party members had arrived before 5 PM.

A long table was set in the dining hall, and the four parties sat down in a row.

From the head of the table, it was the main party, the shadow unit, the Dion Mercenary Corps, and then the Old Hunters who had just joined.

Junior, whom I had called separately, was also sitting at the table with the main party.

They seemed to have gotten close, chatting away cheerfully.

Then, Junior’s gaze briefly met Jupiter’s, who was silently drinking water in the corner of the table.

“……”

“……”

The grandmother and granddaughter then looked away as if nothing had happened. How strange.

“Everyone’s here.”

As I stood at the head of the table, everyone fell silent and focused on me. I nodded.

“Originally, I was going to have us eat first and then have the meeting. But since you all came early, let’s have the meeting first and then eat. Is that okay?”

Dion and God Hand immediately nodded.

“Of course, Your Highness!”

“The strategy meeting for this defense battle is much more important than the meal.”

I scratched my chin.

“Hmm… That’s true… But your appetite might decrease after the meeting.”

“Haha! The day my appetite decreases will never come, even if the world ends. Don’t worry about that.”

Evangeline laughed heartily, and Lucas nodded with a serious face. These gluttons.

“Alright. Then, before the chef brings out the appetizers, I’ll briefly tell you about the information for this defense battle.”

Ahem! I cleared my throat.

“First, the most important information. The life count of the boss monster in this defense battle, the Vampire Lord Selendion…”

I abruptly brought up the most important point.

“…is 1,000.”

Selendion has 1,000 life stocks.

I wonder if he should be called the Savings King instead of the Vampire King.

“……”

The dining hall fell silent.

In the silent table, Evangeline stuck out her tongue and muttered softly.

“Ew?”

See, I told you your appetite might decrease…

“…Then, does that mean we have to kill that powerful Vampire Lord 1,000 times?”

Lucas muttered, looking displeased.

“Honestly, killing him even once seems very difficult… 1,000 times?”

“Of course, it’s impossible to kill that monster 1,000 times.”

I grinned.

“So, we have to find another way.”

***

Vampires.

Monsters that transfer the right to life of others through the act of sucking blood and make them their own subordinates.

The Lord is the one at the pinnacle of this vampire race.

The one who possesses the lives of the entire legion.

“Selendion’s vampire legion was once annihilated for some reason in the past.”

I don’t know what this ‘some reason’ is. Only the setting that it happened a long time ago remains.

Anyway, in a situation where all the subordinate vampires were dead, Selendion, who was left alone, did not abandon his subordinates.

Noblesse oblige [a French term meaning the obligation of those of high rank to act honorably and generously].

The Lord is the one responsible for the lives of his subordinates.

“Selendion split his powerful life force into 1,000 pieces and distributed them to his 1,000 already dead subordinates to revive them.”

I nodded heavily.

“Selendion’s life is divided and embedded in the entire Selendion’s legion.”

All for one and one for all.

That is the vampire legion.

The setting was long, so how does this apply in the game?

“Selendion will not die until the last member of that legion falls.”

You have to kill all the mobs to kill the boss.

“And if you fail to defeat Selendion in the end, Selendion will retreat and regenerate his legion to return.”

If you fail the boss raid, these bastards will respawn. Well, it takes some time.

“The explanation was long, but the structure is simple.”

I summarized.

“The 1,000 vampire legion that is attacking this time. Selendion cannot be killed until every last piece of ghoul is completely incinerated.”

It’s not a figurative expression, the words are directly written in Selendion’s status window.

Unkillable.

Immortal.

Bastard.

“In other words, there is no need to fight Selendion directly.”

There’s no need to waste firepower on a guy who won’t die.

“I will isolate and restrain Selendion with the secret weapon I have prepared. In the meantime, you and the regular soldiers will annihilate the vampire legion.”

It was easy to say, but it will be a terribly difficult battle.

Even without Selendion, the remaining vampires are incredibly strong.

But without showing it, I raised my voice.

“After that, we will raid Selendion, who is left alone, and end the defense battle. This is the big picture of this defense battle.”

Okay, that’s the big picture.

“Now, in detail… I’ll tell you one by one how to deal with them.”

I snapped my fingers.

Then, Aider, once again, dragged a blackboard full of writing and pictures into the dining hall.

“Frost Ghouls. Enhanced Frost Ghouls. Fallen Blood. Regular Vampires. Vampire Generals. And Vampire Lord Selendion.”

I took out my staff and tapped the blackboard.

“I will now give a detailed lecture on the strategy for each individual. Everyone, make sure to memorize it properly.”

It’s time for the lecture by the star instructor, the classic otaku [a Japanese term for a person with obsessive interests, often in anime, manga, or video games]!

“If you listen, it will become your blood and flesh… and your life in this defense battle, so please make sure to understand it thoroughly.”

“Senior!”

Then, Evangeline raised her hand. I said, “Oh!” and pointed the end of my staff at Evangeline.

“Alright, student Evangeline. Do you have a question before the lecture?”

Evangeline, glancing around cautiously, asked carefully.

“…Can’t you give the lecture after we eat?”

“Hold out your palm.”

“No, I mean, if we listen to the vampire strategy, I think our appetite will really disappear! You said we’d eat while we do it!”

Hey, is food the problem now! The future of the defense battle is the problem!

***

And so, my fiery strategy lecture ended three hours later.

It was well past 8 PM.

“……”

“……”

Everyone really has a pale face with their appetite completely gone.

I had been rattling off the detailed specs of the vampires that they had only vaguely known, so it was understandable that they were all fed up.

The chef, who had been watching from the back of the dining hall, cautiously began serving appetizers while my lecture continued.

However, while the food was being placed on the table, all the party members were lost in their own thoughts and couldn’t touch the food.

“Will we… be able to do it?”

It was Damian who spoke cautiously.

“They’re stronger than any monsters we’ve faced so far…”

“……”

I recall Selendion, whom we encountered in the ‘Path of the Loser’ just a few days ago.

At that time, the main party was helpless against him. He was definitely terribly strong.

‘But that was a dungeon. It was his home turf.’

This time, we’re fighting on our home turf.

And his stats will be nerfed to match Stage 5. It will be much more manageable.

‘In the end, this game is an RPG [Role-Playing Game].’

Level is king, and gear is the boss.

In other words.

“Think about the battles you’ve fought so far.”

If he is nerfed and we are buffed.

We can catch up. Enough.

“All the previous battles were also harsh battles that were close to impossible. But we did it.”

I looked around at everyone and smiled.

“We’ll do it this time too.”

I was confident. I was confident that we could clear this stage, confident in the strategy.

But…

“……”

Honestly, I wasn’t confident.

I don’t know how many of them I can save.

I’m doing my best in the given situation, but…

The limit is clearly coming.

‘…Ugh.’

Suddenly, that scene flashed through my mind.

When I cleared the last stage on Earth.

All the party member characters were wiped out, and Lucas was left alone.

His lonely back standing on the corpses of enemies and allies.

‘I won’t let that happen.’

I shook my head violently.

‘This time, it’s different.’

Here, the real Lucas is looking at me with a face full of trust and nodding.

I won’t leave you alone, Lucas.

I won’t let anyone I can save… go.

“There are still 9 days left until the stage starts. Now that we’ve finalized the strategy, we’ll train accordingly.”

I plopped down in the head seat, picked up a fork, and stabbed it into the appetizer plate that no one had touched yet.

“So, eat up, everyone!”

I smiled as I crunched on the salad.

“Because I’m going to work you all to death starting tomorrow.”