I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 148

Of course, the ‘suicide’ I commanded didn’t mean simple physical destruction.

It was an order for true death, destroying even his own spirit core.

《Ah, kkeuheuk…!》

A pained groan escaped Sellendion’s lips.

While holding his own heart, he was repeatedly destroying his own spirit core.

《Keuha, aaaaak…!》

The ‘Absolute Command’ issued an absolute order, just as its name suggested.

Sellendion was faithfully carrying out my order, cutting off his own life until the very end.

All the humans surrounded him, silently watching the vampire king’s final moments.

Some had faces of satisfaction, while others felt a hint of pity.

Some stared intently, as if not wanting to miss a single moment, while others couldn’t bear to watch and turned their heads away.

When Sellendion had only ten lives left, he cried out, spitting blood.

《Please, stop it! Just kill me with your own hands!》

“……”

《I beg you! With a gun made of Oloop! Shoot my heart with the Nightmare Slayer!》

Sellendion shouted at Damian. But Damian turned his head away.

《Sung is fine too! Cut off my head! No, tear my body to pieces! If it’s Sung’s weapon, he has the right to do so!》

He appealed to Lucas and Evangeline, but the two knights only stared blankly at the monster.

《Then, just any silver weapon! No, anything is fine! Humans! Kill me with your own hands!》

Sellendion’s cry made the soldiers flinch, but no one stepped forward.

Because I had ordered them to only watch.

To never touch him. To let him die on his own.

Reduced to a mere spectacle, Sellendion continued his suicide, crying out in anguish.

《Please! Grant me an honorable death…!》

“Talking about honor, you leech,” I sneered coldly.

“You’re going to die like a monster, like a bug.”

Deep despair clouded Sellendion’s face.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six….

As his remaining lives dwindled, Sellendion’s face gradually aged, and when he had five lives left, it had become that of a complete old man.

The panic gradually disappeared from his face. As if he had given up, his voice became heavy and subdued.

《In my mansion deep within the Lake Kingdom, I used to attempt suicide every morning.》

Sellendion smiled bitterly, watching his own spirit core crumble in his hands.

《But now I understand. It was just a simple game. I could do it because I knew I wouldn’t really die. It was just a game to confirm that I was alive.》

“……”

《You might have been right, human.》

He looked up at me with his wrinkled old man’s face.

《I was just bored with my long life, numb to everything… so maybe I was just looking for new stimulation.》

Four.

《In the face of true death, I am afraid now.》

Three.

《But because this feeling of fear is unfamiliar, because true death is looming before me, I have finally realized.》

Two.

《At this moment, I am truly… alive.》

One.

《Thank you, human. No, thank you, Ash. For killing me.》

“Still spouting nonsense until the end.”

I gritted my teeth.

“Go to hell, monster.”

After resurrecting with his last life, Sellendion finally destroyed his own spirit core.

Clang-!

A sound like shattering glass echoed,

《Ah.》

Sellendion murmured softly, looking at the empty air.

《Finally, it’s over…》

Thud.

Sellendion collapsed to the floor, as hollow as straw.

《…As a thank you for killing me, let me give you one piece of advice…》

His eyes unfocused in the sea of blood, he murmured slowly, staring at the empty air.

《The King of Nightmares knows everything. He is a being of a higher dimension…》

“…?”

《So don’t try too hard to oppose him…》

Sellendion’s bloodshot eyes slowly closed.

《Because it’s all… pointless…》

“What nonsense is that…”

I stopped myself from asking again.

The fallen Sellendion was no longer moving.

“……”

I quietly looked down at him.

The vampire lord, the commander of the monster legions, the boss monster of Stage 5.

Sellendion, the most formidable foe among all the monsters I had encountered so far, had died like this.

“Hoo…”

I let out a dry sigh and slowly looked around.

“……”

“……”

“……”

I saw the heroes and soldiers covered in blood and wounds.

All of them were looking at me, with faces that seemed to not know what to do now.

As the hatred for the enemy subsided and the adrenaline wore off, everyone belatedly realized.

The wounds we had left.

The deaths of our comrades who had fallen all around.

“……”

It’s heavy.

It’s too heavy.

But this is the weight that the commander of the front lines must bear.

Clenching my fist, gritting my teeth, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Collect the bodies of our allies. Create a list of the fallen. Assess the damage to the walls and defensive equipment.”

Mechanically, I assign the tasks that must be done.

“Recover the magic stones from the enemy’s corpses and collect the spoils.”

If there is work to be done, people don’t collapse.

So I gave the orders.

Following that, as I always did after every defensive battle, I was about to give a hopeful speech, but.

“……”

I stopped.

Instead, I said briefly.

“The war is over.”

I didn’t say that we had won. No, I couldn’t say it.

We had lost too much.

The victory was a victory, but it was a victory with only scars.

Looking at the walls that were horribly destroyed and covered in blood, and the corpses of our allies that were lying tragically everywhere.

Gritting my teeth, I barely managed to say it one more time.

“The war is over.”

***

The collection of allied corpses began on the walls.

I forced strength into my wobbly legs and slowly walked along the wall.

“……”

Junior was sobbing quietly next to Jupiter’s corpse.

– Welcome to the Crossroads branch of the Continental Mercenary Guild, Your Highness.

I passed by him.

Bodybag and Burnout were wailing next to the corpses of Old Girl and Skull, and Godhand had his head down, his mouth tightly shut.

– Is the Third Prince a good person? Is he a good person?

– He seems like a good person?!

– He saved us in the first place! Even if he has a dark motive, this is acceptable~

I passed by them.

The three Old Hunters tankers were helping to collect the bodies of their allies, even with severe injuries.

Unable to watch any longer, the priests forcibly loaded them onto stretchers and escorted them to the temple.

I stopped in front of the corpses they had finished collecting.

It was the Old Hunters’ mage, Yenichi. And the corpses of the five Dion mercenaries.

Unlike their gruesome deaths, Dion’s face was peacefully closed.

– Please send us to the front lines. We’ll show you that we’re pretty good too.

I passed by them.

The vice-commander of the Twilight Corps was kneeling silently next to the commander’s corpse.

The old soldier was staring blankly at the face of his comrade, with whom he had spent his entire life.

– There are no more monsters flying in from the south, so there’s no need to maintain the fire net anymore!

I passed by them.

The soldiers’ corpses were neatly lined up.

Some were burned, some were shattered, and some were swept away by explosions, leaving no trace.

The soldiers shed tears as they collected the bodies of their dead comrades.

– The Prince is here!

– Lord! Lord! Lord!

– The best commander in the South!

– The man born to kill monsters!

I passed by them.

I won’t collapse. I mustn’t collapse.

Because I am the commander.

It’s natural for people to die on the front lines.

I’ve lost them before, and I’ll lose them again in the future.

So, even if everyone else cries, I must remain steadfast.

A makeshift outpost had been set up in the corner watchtower of the wall. When I entered, Lucas, Evangeline, and Damian were waiting.

“The list of the fallen is complete, my lord.”

Lucas held out the document in his hand. I accepted it without a word.

“……”

Is it because I’m tired? I can’t read the letters.

As I tried to concentrate and read the contents, Lucas cautiously called out to me.

“My lord.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s just us here.”

When I looked up, Lucas gave me a faint smile with his haggard face.

“You can relax.”

“……”

Evangeline and Damian also smiled gently at me.

“Yes, senior. It’s just us… you don’t have to hold back.”

“We’re in the same party, Your Highness.”

“……”

My legs gave way.

My party members caught me as I staggered and sat me down on a chair.

“I could have saved more.”

I covered my face with my trembling hands.

“If I, if I had been a little more thorough, I could have prevented them from dying.”

“My lord.”

“If I had planned the free exploration routes more tightly. If I had farmed and equipped them to their limits. If I had brought reinforcements from the capital by any means.”

I know.

“If I had retreated the regular soldiers faster. If I had trained the Dion mercenaries more thoroughly. If I had been more alert when stalling for time against Sellendion. If I had protected Junior perfectly so that Jupiter wouldn’t have had to step in.”

I know, I do.

There was no better way. There was no better solution. There is nothing more foolish than dwelling on ‘what ifs’ about the past.

But.

But people died.

Comrades died. Those who had cried, laughed, and crossed the line of death with me, had breathed their last in front of my eyes.

They had faced death within arm’s reach.

“I could say that the Black Spider Legion was unavoidable. But this time, it wasn’t. I could have changed it. I could have saved at least one more person. But, I. I wasn’t good enough.”

My eyes grew hot. I clenched my eyes shut and gritted my teeth.

“If I… if I had been just a little better…”

“You did your best, my lord.”

Lucas said warmly in a hoarse voice.

“Everyone knows that.”

Damian and Evangeline’s hands gently stroked my shoulders.

“So, don’t blame yourself too much.”

I covered my face with both hands and quietly sobbed.

I cried for a long time, tears and snot streaming down my face.

My party members cried with me.

9 heroes.

146 soldiers.

That was the number of people written on the list of the fallen that day.

***

[STAGE 5 – CLEAR!]

[STAGE MVP – Jupiter Junior(SSR), Ash(EX)]

[Leveled Up Characters]

>Main Party

– Ash(EX) Lv.41 (↑5)

– Lucas(SSR) Lv.44 (↑3)

– Evangeline(SSR) Lv.44 (↑3)

– Jupiter Junior(SSR) Lv.53 (↑3)

– Damian(N) Lv.41 (↑3)

>Sub Party 1

– Godhand(SR) Lv.41 (↑3)

– Bodybag(R) Lv.36 (↑3)

– Burnout(SR) Lv.34 (↑5)

>Sub Party 3

– Free(R) Lv.34 (↑3)

– Sentence(R) Lv.33 (↑3)

– Viole(R) Lv.33 (↑3)

[Deceased and Injured Characters]

>Main Party

– Ash(EX) : Minor Injury

– Lucas(SSR) : Minor Injury

– Evangeline(SSR) : Minor Injury

– Damian(N) : Minor Injury

>Sub Party 1

– Old Girl(R) : Deceased

– Skull(N) : Deceased

– Burnout(SR) : Minor Injury

>Sub Party 2

– Dion(N) : Deceased

– Ayla(N) : Deceased

– Rock(N) : Deceased

– Hessen(N) : Deceased

– Chey(N) : Deceased

>Sub Party 3

– Jupiter(SR) : Deceased

– Yenichi(R) : Deceased

– Free(R) : Severe Injury

– Sentence(R) : Severe Injury

– Viole(R) : Severe Injury

[Acquired Items]

– Blood Clan Magic Stone : 520

– Vampire Magic Core(SR) : 7

– Vampire General Magic Core(SSR) : 2

– Vampire Lord Magic Core(SSR) : 1

[Stage Clear Rewards have been distributed. Please check your inventory.]

– R-Grade Reward Box : 5

– SR-Grade Reward Box : 7

– SSR-Grade Reward Box : 3

>> Get Ready For The Next STAGE

>> [STAGE 6 : Even if you go to Moro, it’s Seoul]