I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 143

144. The Vampire King

12 hours prior.

The night before Stage 5 began.

Junior came to me, saying she had something important to discuss, as I was agonizing over tactics until the very last minute.

“Your Highness, you knew I was hiding a few things, didn’t you?”

I nodded.

Junior’s trait, [Fox Den].

A trait that conceals her abilities.

[Fox Den]

– Always digs an escape route. To prepare a trump card, she deceives her opponents about her abilities.

Junior had this trait from the beginning, making it difficult to grasp her exact stats.

“I knew you’d figure it out.”

Junior smiled wryly and carefully removed the glove on her left hand.

Her left hand, exposed to the world, was covered in burns from her childhood, and at the same time, a clear magic pattern was visible.

My eyes widened.

“This is…”

“You know what this is, don’t you, Your Highness?”

I nodded heavily. Junior put her glove back on.

“I told you I showed you all my abilities last time, but that was a lie. I was hiding one more level.”

“…”

“But I won’t hide it anymore.”

I quietly opened the system window and checked Junior’s stats.

Junior’s real level, real skills, and real traits…

I let out a small sigh.

“…Showing me this, does that mean you’re ready?”

“Yes. I just finished it.”

Junior smiled faintly.

“Both the skill to give the Vampire King a good hit and my readiness. Everything.”

“…”

Junior told me about the results and achievements of the magic research she had been delving into for the past few days.

I listened with my chin in my hand, then slowly opened my mouth.

“I also got a new skill this time.”

My level was already 36 when I cleared the last dungeon.

I had already obtained my second skill.

But it was such a difficult skill to apply that I was thinking of sealing it for this stage.

But if I linked it with Junior, I could use it in this stage as well.

I explained my skill set to Junior. Junior looked at me with a surprised face.

“Then, if Your Highness and I combine our powers…”

“Even a vampire lord can be easily killed.”

Immediately after, I shook my head slightly.

“But, Junior, are you… really okay? If you use that magic, you will…”

“I’m fine.”

Junior answered firmly, giving a fox-like smile.

“Your Highness, I’ve always wanted to be a mage.”

“…”

“And this front line was the first place that treated me like a proper mage. The moment Your Highness gave me my first salary, I decided to show all my capabilities here.”

It was a really grateful thing to say, but…

I sighed.

“Still, your grandmother will be sad.”

“Didn’t I tell you before?”

Junior said firmly.

“I’ve never once thought of that person as my grandmother.”

“…”

“Well then, Your Highness?”

Junior smiled brightly, a magic circle appearing behind her.

“For our linked skill tomorrow, shall we do some last-minute practice all night?”

***

Present.

On the ramparts. The final battle of Stage 5.

Thud-!

Selendion charged straight ahead.

It was the same speed that was invisible to the eye that he had shown on the Path of the Fallen.

But it was different from then. This time, my party members were reacting.

The first to block Selendion was Evangeline.

Evangeline’s eyes were glowing emerald, as if she had turned on night vision goggles.

Her unique trait, [Crossroad].

Showing the optimal battle path, Evangeline’s intuition itself!

The hand extended towards Selendion and Evangeline’s shield collided.

In an instant, red light exploded from Selendion’s fingertips, and Evangeline’s shield emitted white light, trying to absorb the attack.

However, it quickly reached its damage absorption capacity limit.

Crack!

The iron plate forming the shield crumpled like paper, and the shield held in Evangeline’s left arm was crushed.

The gauntlet covering Evangeline’s left arm was also shattered.

Selendion’s eyes flashed with interest.

《Ho. To react to my movements.》

Even though her left arm was flung back, Evangeline gave her signature cocky smile and shouted.

“It’s not just reacting, you bastard!”

Evangeline’s lance in her right hand shot forward.

Whoosh!

However, he dodged.

Selendion twisted his small body flexibly, easily avoiding the tip of Evangeline’s lance.

And Evangeline had expected that much.

“You can’t dodge this!”

The tip of Evangeline’s lance burst into white flames.

Boom-!

[Damage Payback], where all the absorbed damage was condensed, exploded from the tip of the lance.

《Not bad, but…》

However, Selendion blocked even that attack by deploying a blood magic barrier.

Selendion shook off his fingertips, then lifted Evangeline’s body with magic and threw her to the side.

《With only three prepared moves, how can you stop me!》

The direction Selendion threw Evangeline’s body was towards Lucas, who was running behind her.

“Uwaaaak?!”

“Kuh?!”

Thud!

The two knights tumbled to the ground together.

At this moment, the front line was empty.

Lucas quickly got up and started running again, but there were a few seconds of gap.

Those few seconds.

A few seconds was already enough. Selendion kicked off and shot forward again.

Towards me.

He was running straight ahead to suck my blood, which he had designated as his first meal.

Behind me and on both sides, Damian, Old Girl, and Skull began firing simultaneously. Pshoo! Pshoo! Pipiping-!

The arrows raining down were wrapped in gusts of wind, frost, and flames.

The three of them had shared the attribute-enchanting scrolls given to Damian.

Thud thud thud!

However, Selendion grabbed the arrows one by one with his hands, and deflected the remaining silver arrows with magic, continuing to rush forward.

He was a vampire lord.

A monster who had mastered both physical enhancement and magic, the skill trees of vampires.

Unless both physical and magical attacks were nullified, stopping him was close to impossible.

‘So, I have to block both sides…’

I quickly looked to both sides.

The ‘means’ to block them was not ready yet!

In the blink of an eye, Selendion arrived right in front of me.

I had no intention of sitting still and dying! I shouted.

“Summon-!”

[Summon Magic: Chimera Origin]

– This magic is one-time use. It will disappear from the skill list upon use.

– The summoned creature’s level is the same as the summoning character’s level. Only one summoned creature can be maintained at a time.

– Please specify the summoning location.

It was the Chimera Origin summoning magic I had obtained during the last Colosseum exploration.

The summoning location was, of course, right in front!

Flash-!

A geometric magic circle was drawn, and then a monster mixed with lions, goats, snakes, and other animals popped out in front of me.

The origin of all chimeras. Chimera Origin.

This guy was also a boss-level monster. He would hold out against Selendion for a while.

That’s what I thought.

《This battlefield is a pure one between me and humans!》

A roar erupted from the vampire king’s mouth as he discovered the traitor.

《Don’t interfere, you mongrel!》

Thwack!

Selendion waved his hand, and Chimera Origin’s body exploded.

The poisonous monster summon was easily shattered into pieces.

And Selendion reached me, cutting through the meat pieces and blood spray-

Grab.

He grabbed my collar.

Selendion’s smiling mouth opened wide.

His four sharp fangs, top and bottom, gleamed menacingly, and then fell towards my neck-

Fwoosh!

He bit down.

The arm that had been inserted in between.

Surprised, I saw that the one who had put their arm between Selendion’s teeth and my neck was… Old Girl.

Even as her arm was being bitten by a vampire and her blood was being sucked out in an instant, Old Girl looked back at me with a calm face and slightly raised her hand… and waved it.

Smiling as usual.

The next moment, Old Girl, whose life force had been sucked out of her entire body, collapsed to the floor with a thud.

She had been drained of blood by the vampire lord with all his might.

There was no way she could survive. Old Girl withered and died like an old tree.

I was watching this scene in a daze,

“Your Highness!”

Thwack!

Damian, who was standing behind me, grabbed both of my shoulders and pulled me back.

At the same time, Skull, who was standing on my right, drew a silver dagger from his waist and rushed forward.

“You’re my opponent, vampire-!”

A bowman in close combat.

What are you doing, Skull? Besides, your specialty is long-range sniping.

I wanted to stop him, but there was no time. Skull swung his dagger, aiming for the enemy’s head as his codename and specialty suggested,

Thwack thwack thwack-!

He was battered by Selendion’s blood magic, which he swung as if he was annoyed, and his whole body was shattered.

Skull’s blood droplets, scattered in the air, stopped in mid-air without falling to the ground, and then were all sucked into Selendion’s mouth.

Selendion, who had killed Old Girl and Skull in a matter of seconds, savored the taste of blood in his mouth and clicked his tongue.

《…An elf, huh. Hmm. Not bad for a first meal, but.》

The monster with the face of a boy smiled at me.

《I guess I need to eat you to get rid of this hunger, Ash?》

Damian was desperately pulling me back, but Selendion was approaching much faster.

Selendion took a step towards me, his mouth wide open as if he was playing a joke-

Fwoosh!

The next moment, Lucas’s longsword flashed and fell behind Selendion.

《Huh?》

At the same time as a bewildered groan escaped from Selendion’s mouth,

Thud! Fwoosh! Thwack! Fwoosh!

Lucas’s longsword brutally slashed Selendion’s back and the back of his neck.

The holy sword tore through Selendion’s core, and Selendion, unable to withstand it, fell to his knees.

Thud-!

Finally, Lucas’s longsword pierced Selendion’s chest and protruded forward. Precisely piercing his core.

By activating his skill [Willpower Strike] on the holy longsword, he had exposed and destroyed the vampire king’s core.

《…What is that state, knight?》

Selendion, who was coughing up blood, slowly turned around.

《It’s as if you’re not human… but have entered the same realm as us. I even feel a sense of kinship.》

“…”

Lucas was in a slightly different state than usual.

His lowered posture was like a wolf crawling on all fours, and his blue eyes shone dangerously like a beast through his disheveled blonde hair.

The heat emanating from his back shimmered like a mirage.

I swallowed hard.

‘Could it be, Lucas, this guy…’

Did he use [Beastification]?

I have to stop him! If he uses that trait…!

《Thanks to that, I didn’t sense it. This is…》

Selendion’s body slumped to the floor,

《…To make me use ‘one’ of my lives. Impressive.》

Immediately after, he got up again as if nothing had happened.