I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 150

After notifying the party members of the summons, I returned to the mansion and headed to Aider’s room.

“Welcome, my lord!”

As Aider tried to greet me with a chuckle, I blurted out,

“The next stage is impossible to clear.”

“……”

Aider, who had been stiff, asked back with a bewildered look.

“Huh? What did you just say……”

“Don’t play dumb. You know it too.”

I sat down on a random chair and crossed my legs.

“The current situation at this monster front is the worst. If things continue like this, it’s game over soon.”

“……”

Aider remained silent.

I let out a small sigh.

“First of all, most of the hero parties are in a state of combat disability.”

Except for the main party, who all only suffered minor injuries.

The first sub-party, the Shadow Squad, which was the firepower team, lost two out of three archers.

Burnout, the only remaining archer, was also injured.

The second sub-party, the Dion Mercenaries, who were in charge of the dirty work, were annihilated.

This is a painful blow, as they were newbies whom I had been diligently leveling up and equipping for future front operations.

The third sub-party, the Old Hunters, which had area-of-effect magic attackers, lost both of their mages.

The three tanks survived, but their injuries are severe. They are as good as retired.

‘Nine out of 20 hero characters are dead, and three are retired.’

We’ve lost a whopping 60% of our total hero characters.

Of course, there are the reserve parties of Lily and Margherita.

However, there is neither the time nor the situation to train them into parties that can be used on the front right away.

And that’s just looking at the loss of hero characters.

“The regular soldiers have also suffered critical damage. Above all, the Twilight Legion has lost its combat power.”

The Twilight Legion were veterans who had served here their entire lives under the Margrave [a noble title, similar to a marquis], experts at killing monsters.

They were the backbone of the regular soldiers and led the defense.

The seasoned veteran soldiers taught and protected the new recruits, which allowed us to continue the difficult battles so far.

However, in the last battle, their commander, a key figure, was killed, and half of the 300 total members died.

It’s practically a collapse.

The morale of the remaining regular soldiers has naturally plummeted. A few new recruits have even deserted.

“And what about the walls? They were battered by magic and split by axes.”

The damage to the defensive equipment, represented by the walls, was also significant.

The walls were split by Beta’s axe and frozen by Alpha’s magic. It would take at least ten days to repair them.

Because the vampires were using blood magic like crazy on the walls, various defensive equipment was also heavily damaged.

About half of the cannons and ballistae were destroyed. It will take ten days to repair these as well.

We’ve suffered severe damage in all aspects, but whatever.

Even so, if the next stage had proceeded on a normal schedule with normal difficulty, I would have gritted my teeth and continued the attack.

But this crazy game never stopped being a pain in the ass.

[Enemy Information – STAGE 6]

– Lv.?? ??? : 3

– Lv.25 Flame Wyvern : 30

– Lv.20 Wyvern : 710

Just yesterday, I had selected five reserve party members who were not injured and sent them on an autonomous exploration of Area 1.

They returned this morning and brought back the magic stones of the wyvern corps.

At the same time, the enemy information for the next stage was being displayed on my system window.

“Wyverns? Wyverrrns?!”

I shoved the enemy information window in front of Aider and yelled.

“Are you crazy?! Aerial mobs again in this situation?! We’ve lost all our mages and archers?!”

Aider cowered in the corner and kept bowing to me.

“I, I’m sorry… I was wrong.”

“Of course you’re wrong, you director bastard! Can’t you design the levels properly?! Setting up a difficulty cliff like this means we’re supposed to game over here!”

After ranting to my heart’s content, I took a step back, inhaling.

“Okay. Still, well, wyverns are easier than gargoyles. Their magic defense is high, but their physical defense is low, so they’re not too hard to catch with regular cannons and bows.”

“That’s a relief!”

“If the stage had proceeded on a normal schedule, you bastard!”

I hissed, spewing venom from my mouth, and pointed to the very bottom of the stage information window.

[STAGE 6]

– Time until start: 7 days

If my eyes weren’t broken.

There’s only a week left until the next stage starts.

“It’s a basic rule to give plenty of time before and after a boss stage! But in the meantime, three days, and a week from now, that’s only ten days? You’re only giving us a ten-day grace period?!”

I grabbed Aider by the collar and started shaking him back and forth.

Aider let out a deflated scream, “Hieeek!”

“T-This is definitely abnormal! There should be at least three weeks between the boss stage and the next stage?!”

“Right! And there’s another shitty reason why this happened!”

I brought up a new system window and shoved it in front of Aider’s eyes.

[Dark Event Preview for STAGE 6!]

[Activated Dark Event: Rapid Progress]

> The time remaining until the start of the stage is greatly reduced.

This damn dark event, which always finds new ways to screw me over, activated as if it had been waiting for this moment. It’s a truly innovative piece of shit.

So, there are only 7 days left until the next stage starts.

And the damage that this monster front has suffered cannot be made up for in just a week.

In the current situation, we can no longer proceed with the game.

“We can’t clear it.”

I growled.

“Well, I guess we could clear it. But we’ll suffer even more damage than we did in the last Stage 5.”

“……”

“And what about after that? And after that? At this level of difficulty and situation, the entire front will gradually collapse, and eventually, it’ll be game over.”

The newly acquired heroes will die screaming before they even get skilled.

The soldiers will become meat shields and die like consumables.

My party members will be pushed to their limits with their injured bodies, and one by one, they will die.

Unknowingly, such a scene was drawn in my head.

In the burning city.

Lukas and Evangeline, surrounded by countless monsters, unable to hold on and collapsing.

Junior, taking the magic of the enemy mage, coughing up blood and kneeling.

Arrows raining down on Damian, who has run out of bullets.

Godhand, Bodybag, and Burnout resisting until the end before being stabbed by swords.

Lily being swept away by the explosion of an artifact, and Margherita, who was trying to save the injured, being swallowed by the flames.

‘Shit.’

I shook my head violently.

‘I can’t watch that happen with my own eyes.’

I have no intention of throwing my remaining subordinates into a battle with no chance of winning.

The problem is, that’s exactly what’s going to happen if things continue like this.

According to my calculations, this monster front will be annihilated before we even reach Stage 10.

‘Crazy game.’

I can’t do it like this.

I’m just gonna quit the game!

“……You’re not really going to quit, are you……?”

Aider, who had been watching my tightly clenched expression, asked carefully.

“The lord I know is someone who doesn’t give up in any situation.”

“……”

“You’re going to stop the orthodox strategy and use another method… is that what you mean?”

“Huuu.”

With a sigh, I nodded.

It was as Aider said. I don’t give up.

I’m just finding another way to prevent my subordinates from dying anymore.

“The way to solve this situation is simple. If the capital sends reinforcements, it’s over.”

If the imperial capital, the Imperial City, sends elite troops as support.

We’ll have breathing room in an instant.

This is because the Imperial Standing Army has powerful regular soldiers, and the commanding officers, the knights, are also elite hero characters.

It’s not a permanent assignment to the monster front, but a lease, but still.

If they just come, we can take a big breather.

While using them to carry out the defense, I can buy time to steadily train my heroes and soldiers.

But the imperial family keeps ignoring my help requests.

“So, there’s no choice. We have to ‘force’ them to send reinforcements.”

Aider tilted his head at my words.

“How exactly are you going to force them to send reinforcements?”

“Do you remember the content of the letter I wrote when I last requested reinforcements from the imperial family?”

Aider, who was the one who wrote the letter, nodded.

“Yes. Of course, I remember. At that time, you clearly said……”

– If you don’t send reinforcements this time either… then next time, I’ll show you the best mess the youngest prince can make. Tell them that.

“……You said that. And I wrote the letter as it was.”

I smiled wickedly.

“Let’s show them the best mess. A spectacular mess that will make the imperial family so happy that they’ll twist their bodies and immediately dispatch troops.”

“A, a mess……?”

“Yeah.”

The third prince of the Empire, Ash, is originally a delinquent thug.

Have I been too sincere and kind as a commander?

It’s time to go back to being a real delinquent.

I’ll show you a real delinquent act that’s on a different level than just drinking, gambling, and wasting money.

“What kind of mess would make the imperial family send elite troops to this remote backwater no matter what?”

Heh.

I put on a full smirk and answered Aider in a lowered voice.

“That is……”

***

“-It’s treason.”

At my declaration, everyone’s movements stopped.

Evening.

The lord’s mansion. The drawing room.

As I had summoned them, all the party members were gathered.

In front of each sofa where they were sitting, drinks and snacks were placed.

This was because we decided to combine the late-night snack time that the party members had requested during the last battle.

While easing the heavy atmosphere caused by the death of their comrade and the funeral, the party members were chatting and laughing while eating snacks.

In the midst of this softened atmosphere, I suddenly dropped a bomb.

“……Huh?”

Evangeline asked back with her eyes wide open. The snack she was holding was already rolling on the floor.

“Um, senior? What did you just say-”

“I said treason, Evangeline.”

Evangeline’s mouth dropped open. The drink she had in her mouth flowed down into the cup in her hand.

The reactions of the other party members were not much different.

Some coughed from choking, some pinched their own cheeks, and some started cleaning their ears as if they thought they had misheard.

But I have a good voice.

You didn’t mishear, my friends.

“I’ll say it again. I intend to start a rebellion.”

The word ‘treason’ for the third time.

Unable to deny reality any longer, the party members looked at me with shocked eyes.

“The fortress city of Crossroads on the southern front of the Empire is seceding from the imperial territory as of today. I declare the founding of the independent nation, the ‘Crossroads Empire.'”

I shrugged and pointed to myself.

“And of course, I am the emperor.”