I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 144

Selendion had exhausted his initial stock of lives as his subordinates fell. However, his army had claimed a significant number of lives from our forces during the battle on the walls—roughly one hundred and fifty.

The names of the fallen flashed through my mind, the faces of Old Girl and Skull, who had died just moments ago, among them. I clenched my fist tightly.

…Anyway, Selendion currently possesses about one hundred and fifty lives in reserve. He uses these to revive himself from death.

《It’s been a while since I’ve visited the underworld.》

His body was already completely healed. Selendion cracked his neck and stretched, his movements fluid.

《It’s a nostalgic place I’d like to return to someday, but as you can see, I can’t fall so easily.》

“Enough with the afterlife spoilers…”

While he calmly revived and reorganized himself, we also finished our regrouping.

Lucas and Evangeline stood firmly in front of me once more, and Damian laid out his crossbow and magic rifle on the ground, ready to fire. The corpses of our fallen allies caught my eye on both sides. I gritted my teeth.

For those who died for me, I cannot afford to lose.

“I want to ask you one thing, Vampire King.”

《Hm?》

I addressed Selendion, who stood alone.

“With the number of lives you currently possess, you should be able to revive your subordinates as well.”

《The number of lives I currently have left is one hundred and fifty-three.》

He spoke as if checking the remaining stock of goods in a warehouse, or writing a ledger on an Excel sheet. He was indifferent as he discussed the lives he had taken.

《I could revive them, but it’s not very cost-effective. More than anything, they’re too weak. It would be more efficient to use all the lives I have now as my combat resources.》

“…Indeed. If you’re strong enough to be self-centered, it’s better for you to fight alone without subordinates in the first place.”

《I love my legion. Sincerely. But love and efficiency are separate issues. My one hundred and fifty-three subordinates and my one hundred and fifty-three lives—the weight is different, isn’t it?》

Thud. Thud.

He began to approach again, his body fully recovered, as he spoke.

《So, I will fight alone. I will survive alone, and I will destroy the world alone. My subordinates can be revived after that.》

I pulled out my staff from my cloak. Three blades of magic power spun and rose behind my back.

“That decision will be your downfall, Vampire King.”

《Oh? You think you can kill me one hundred and fifty times, human?》

I chuckled and changed the subject.

“Before we fight again, let me tell you, Selendion. You’re a liar.”

《Hmm? Me?》

“You’ve said several times that you want to die, but that’s a blatant lie, isn’t it?”

I rebuked him harshly.

“You just want to enjoy the thrill of being close to death in a safe place… You’re actually a coward who fears death more than anyone else. Aren’t you?”

Even if you jump from a high place, if there’s a safety rope on your leg, it’s not suicide; it’s bungee jumping.

This guy is the same. He’s just feeling the thrill of being next to death, but in reality, he’s more attached to life than anyone else.

“You’ve stacked up hundreds of lives, using cheat codes and playing the game without worrying about dying. And then you say, ‘Oh, this is boring, I want to quit the game.’ It’s infuriating.”

A being who steals the blood of others to prolong their own life could never actually want to die.

The vampire race is, by its very nature, the embodiment of self-love.

“You cling to life more than anyone else. That’s what you vampires are. Isn’t that right?”

《…….》

Even if he didn’t understand all of my words, he seemed to grasp the general nuance. For the first time, displeasure flickered across Selendion’s face.

《Say what you will, human. What would a mortal who cannot even comprehend a fraction of the pain of eternal life know?》

“Of course, I don’t know that. And I don’t care. But there’s one thing I know well.”

I quickly swung the staff in my hand, hitting Lucas, Evangeline, and Damian on the shoulder once each.

[Superior Buff Acquired!]

[Lucas (SSR) has been granted a ‘25% reduction in all damage for 3 minutes’ buff!]

[Top-Tier Buff Acquired!]

[Evangeline (SSR) has been granted a ‘3% health recovery per second for 3 minutes’ buff!]

[Lowest-Tier Buff Acquired!]

[Damian (N) has been granted a ‘10% increase in physical penetration rate for 3 minutes’ buff!]

“You’re a pain in the ass, and today, whether it’s one hundred and fifty times or one thousand five hundred times, you’re going to die here, and then you’ll meet that dead end you’ve been wishing for.”

I glanced over the list of random buffs that appeared and grinned.

“You can thank me in advance, Selendion.”

I thrust my staff forward.

“I don’t know when your birthday is, but I’ll make sure you get a good death day present today!”

My magic blades shot forward, and at the same time, my party members and Selendion clashed once more.

***

The main party is undoubtedly the elite of the hero characters I possess. They were strong to begin with, but they have become even stronger through training over the past few weeks, enough to face Selendion as a single party.

But the limits are clear. No matter how much they’ve leveled up, it’s absolutely impossible to kill a lord-level monster one hundred and fifty times. No, they haven’t been able to kill him even once after that.

In the end, our tactics focused on stalling for time, and even that reached its limit after the buffs wore off in 3 minutes. Above all, Selendion was relentlessly targeting me. The party members had to fight defensively to protect me, and this tactic eventually revealed its weaknesses.

Flash-!

Selendion unleashed a barrage of blood magic at me.

“Kuh?!”

Exhausted, I couldn’t dodge in time, and Evangeline shielded me with her shield.

Kugwagwagwang!

“Aaaagh!”

Evangeline, battered by the blood magic, screamed in pain and rolled across the floor. As the defense opened up, Selendion leaped towards me.

Pshoo! Pshoo!

Arrows flew from the castle walls at the right moment.

Thud!

Selendion, spinning in the air, caught two arrows with one hand and extended his other hand to the side.

《Annoying, sniper!》

Blood magic shot from his fingertips. Damian, exhausted from continuous sniping, was in a situation where he couldn’t dodge.

“Save…!”

At that moment, Evangeline, who had fallen, jumped up again and blocked the blood magic with her shield. It was like a libero saving a ball in a volleyball match.

Kugwagwagwang!

At the same time as a thick mist of blood exploded, Evangeline was knocked away like a balloon with a cut string. Damian, caught in the explosion, also screamed and collapsed.

“Hwaaaaaa-!”

Then, Lucas charged at Selendion like a beast. The longsword was swung ferociously. Selendion barely managed to dodge all the sword strikes, and then, with a look of annoyance.

Poook!

He took the sword with his own body. Blood poured like water from his chest where the longsword was embedded. Lucas’s sword strike had once again torn through his core.

But unconcerned, Selendion reached out and placed his hand on Lucas’s chest. Lucas’s chest armor had been destroyed when he fought Beta, and it was now tattered. As Selendion’s hand touched his chest, a look of dismay crossed Lucas’s face.

“Damn it-”

Fububung-!

A terrible explosion occurred. It was a point-blank blood magic bombardment. Lucas spat out blood and was thrown far away.

《You put up a decent fight, but…》

Selendion’s arms were also crushed from the point-blank bombardment. Just now, his core had also been cut by the longsword. But that was it. He could just use another life to recover.

Selendion, who had instantly recovered all his wounds, tilted his head and approached me.

《Is that all you have after making such a big fuss?》

“…”

《If you have any tricks left, why don’t you show them quickly? There are no allies left to protect you now.》

Selendion crouched right in front of me, baring his fangs. He seemed to want to drink my blood so badly that his voice even had a hint of drool.

“My tricks?”

Heh.

I smiled, raising the corners of my mouth.

“Just wait 3 seconds. It’s falling from the sky right now.”

《That bluff is getting old, Ash…》

Selendion, no longer paying attention, lunged his mouth towards my neck.

《I’ll enjoy this. I’ll absorb your life and make you my subordinate.》

***

Vampires use the essence of life they steal from others as fuel. If they can’t replenish their blood by killing enemies on the battlefield, the power of a vampire, which consumes a lot of energy, will eventually run out sooner or later. That’s why vampires try to suck blood from their opponents whenever possible. The pattern to target is this.

***

Thwack-!

《…?》

With a dull thud, Selendion looked down at his chest, puzzled. A silver pillar… was piercing through his chest.

《Huh?》

Selendion slowly turned around. It was a huge silver stake. The silver stake, literally fallen from the sky, pierced through his cervical vertebrae to the middle of his back, through his chest, and into the floor.

“I’m late, huff… I’m sorry, Your Highness, huff…”

God Hand, looking like he was about to die again, barely managed to say to me. Next to him, Bodybag, also looking like he was about to die, was lying on the floor.

Combining the silver we had made into a net and the silver weapons we had recovered from the battlefield, God Hand had made a huge silver stake, and Bodybag had used telekinesis to lift it into the air—and then thrown it at the right moment.

At the moment before sucking blood, any vampire is careless. They say you shouldn’t bother a dog when it’s eating.

It was quite close, but in the end, we were able to pierce and bind him.

“It’s a classic way to deal with you vampires. Staking you in the chest. Feels refreshing with a hole punched through, right?”

《You’ve done a rather cute thing… so what?》

Even though he was bound by the stake, of course, this wouldn’t kill the Vampire King.

《What do you think you can do with this childish prank?》

Crack. Crrrack.

The silver stake was already cracking. It wouldn’t be long before Selendion broke the stake and escaped.

I struggled to get up and growled at him.

“That’s right. All of this childish play… is just a tactic to buy time.”

《What?》

That’s when it happened. Whoosh-!

The surrounding air changed. A tremendous torrent of magic power surged towards one side of the wall, creating a vortex. Selendion looked at that side with surprised eyes, and I also looked at that side with a smirk.

Junior was standing there. With both hands raised above her head, she had dozens of different colored magic elements floating above her head.

“Junior!”

I shouted.

“You made me wait way too long! Are you still not done yet-!”

“…It’s done, Your Highness. 30 seconds left.”

The magic was so complex that the tangled formulas in the air made my eyes spin just looking at them. Junior nodded as she completed the magic.

“In 30 seconds, I can finish off that monster.”

As if realizing the nature of the magic, Selendion’s eyes widened in shock for the first time.

《That magic is…!》

Selendion shouted in alarm.

《…Isn’t that mine?!》

Junior readily nodded.

“After being hit by your magic reverse engineering that day, I researched and researched to somehow make it my own… and finally completed it. I haven’t registered the trademark with the Continental Magic Society yet, but I’m planning to soon.”

Selendion’s face twisted horribly.

《You, a lowly human! How dare you steal our clan’s secret art-!》

“Yeah, yeah. It’s not an homage. It’s plagiarism. Hey. But I have to say this.”

Even as she was spitting out blood from her nose and mouth, Junior smiled like a fox.

“Your magic was awesome, mosquito bastard?”

Selendion’s mouth dropped open.