I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 155

“What was the ‘secret order’ you received from above?”

God Hand had said he received a secret order before being dispatched here.

What was that secret order, and who issued it?

I needed to confirm this.

“Yes, Your Highness. I will tell you everything.”

God Hand told me the contents of the secret order he received from his superiors just before he was sent to the Southern Front, where he had been imprisoned as a death row inmate.

“…Indeed.”

It wasn’t anything significant. Blend into the Southern Front. Observe the movements of the front lines and report any anomalies. Cooperate with the Priest Commander and share intelligence closely.

“And, there was one more order, lastly.”

“What is it?”

“That… it was an order that I couldn’t quite understand myself.”

God Hand carefully spoke, watching my reaction.

“To keep a close watch on Lord Aide Aider…”

“…?”

I was stunned by the sudden, unexpected revelation.

Not me, but Aider? Why? Why?

‘Could it be…’

Do they know that Aider is a figure related to this world’s system?

I urgently asked further.

“Who issued the order?”

“It was His Highness, the Second Prince, Fernandez.”

As expected, that capable one.

I narrowed my eyes. Just like that brother said, it seems I’ll have to meet him soon and have a talk. It seems we have a lot to say to each other.

“I apologize for not telling you sooner. I can only apologize, Your Highness…”

God Hand mumbled, almost burying his head into the floor. I clicked my tongue quietly.

“If you’re sorry, stop hitting your head for no reason and show it through your actions from now on.”

“Of course, Your Highness! What should I, what should we do?”

To God Hand, who asked desperately, I said simply.

“Become my spy.”

“… !”

I grinned at God Hand, who flinched.

“You know what I mean, right? You’ll have to become a double agent for me from now on.”

Just a moment ago, Margherita had said this in her communication with the Central.

– ‘I’ have been exposed. I’m sorry.

In other words, it meant that no one else was caught except her.

In other words, God Hand had subtly implied that he had not been exposed. Of course, this was something I had ordered.

The Central would judge that ‘Margherita was exposed, but God Hand has not been caught yet.’

And they would try to utilize God Hand, the only remaining intelligence line in this Southern Front, by any means.

I would use this point to utilize God Hand as a double agent.

“Contact the Central separately through your communication network. Say that you have not been exposed to Prince Ash yet.”

“…”

“After that, you must report everything the Central orders you to me, and deceive the Central as I instruct. Can you do that?”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

God Hand did not hesitate.

“I will do it. I swear on the honor of our race.”

Facing God Hand, who nodded heavily, I smiled faintly.

‘Well, it won’t be that easy.’

The opponent is, after all, the Imperial Family’s direct secret service. Moreover, it’s an intelligence unit directly commanded by the Administrative Minister.

Now that Margherita has been exposed, it’s only natural that they would suspect the fact that God Hand’s intelligence line is still alive.

From now on, God Hand will be constantly questioned by the Imperial Family and this front line, whether he is a traitor or not.

I’m planning to shift the surveillance of Aider back to God Hand right away.

And if, by any chance, they show signs of betraying me and harming the Southern Front, I was planning to use the ‘leash’ I had received at the beginning to eliminate them.

‘What can I do? This is the fate of an undercover agent.’

Besides that, I was able to extract a lot of information about the Aegis Special Forces’ intelligence system and the Central from God Hand.

As if wanting to prove that he was completely on my side, God Hand revealed all the information he knew, even things I hadn’t asked about.

After extracting as much information as I could, I nodded and looked around at the three Shadow Unit members.

“Lastly, there is one more thing I need you to do.”

I solemnly recited to the three who were looking at me with focused faces.

“It’s something that only the three of you can do, but it’s something that all three of you must risk your lives for.”

***

About an hour later, I came out of the reception room.

“Senior.”

Evangeline, Damian, Junior, and Lily were waiting outside the door.

I nodded, making eye contact with each of them.

“I think everyone’s minds are complicated due to the sudden events today.”

They didn’t answer, but it seemed like that was the case. They all looked embarrassed and lowered their gazes.

Lily, in particular, looked gloomy. The fact that God Hand had deceived her seemed to be quite a shock.

“First, let me tell you the conclusion.”

I told them about the fact that reinforcements were coming from the Central, and that I had decided to embrace Margherita and God Hand instead of rejecting them.

“It’s true that they deceived us, but those friends… were following the orders of the Imperial Family.”

In any case, they were also loyal to the Empire. They were on the side of the Central between the Central and the border.

But this place is the border, and the party members who are now making eye contact with me are also people of the border.

Even if we all ultimately move for the sake of the Empire, there can be differences in the positions from which we view that Empire.

“I won’t tell you to trust them again right away. All of you, keep your eyes wide open and watch them.”

“…”

“Whether they can become our comrades again will be proven by themselves.”

The party members nodded silently.

To lighten the heavy atmosphere, I clapped my hands.

“Alright, alright, I understand that everyone is feeling down, but let’s still do what we have to do.”

In a week, the defense battle will begin.

I don’t think Fernandez would not send reinforcements after hearing my threat, but you never know.

‘I can’t just sit still and rely on the reinforcements. In case the reinforcements don’t come or are late, we need to prepare our defenses here as well.’

We will make all the preparations we can so that we can carry out the defense battle on our own.

I assigned roles to the party members for the next defense battle and told them what they needed to prepare.

After a brief meeting.

Before dismissing everyone, I asked.

“Oh, and tell me one type of equipment you each want.”

Everyone looked at me with wide eyes. I smiled.

“I’ll make them all for you.”

This Stage 5 had great losses, but it also had many gains.

It was time to open the reward boxes and go to the blacksmith to request equipment crafting.

***

Considering farming efficiency, it would be right to open the boxes first and then request equipment crafting from the blacksmith, but this time, there was a reason to visit the blacksmith first.

As they say, strike while the iron is hot, I visited the magic blacksmith that night.

Lake Kingdom Dungeon. Safe Zone Base Camp.

This time, I came alone.

Flash!

As I arrived here through the teleport gate, pulling a cart loaded with luggage, Kellybay, who had rushed over, shouted, his beard bristling.

“Hey! I thought you were all dead, you rascal! There was no news for so long!”

I smiled bitterly.

“I’m sorry. I was out of it and exhausted, so I was late in coming.”

“You damn brat! You should think about the people who are worried! Is it that hard to send a message saying you did well?”

“Okay, okay. I’ll contact you right away next time.”

To Kellybay, who was spitting and getting angry, I quickly presented the things I had brought, cart and all.

“It’s a bit late, but I brought you a gift.”

“What could you have brought that’s so great that you’re being so brazen?”

Kellybay, who was grumbling, stiffened as he saw what was on the cart.

It was a coffin.

A long wooden box containing a corpse.

“This is… !”

I smiled at Kellybay, who was frozen.

“We agreed that instead of making weapons to kill vampires, I would bring you the head of their lord.”

“…”

“I kept my promise.”

Kellybay took a deep breath and carefully approached the cart and opened the coffin.

Needless to say, what was inside was Selendion’s corpse.

Originally, the corpses of monsters were supposed to be incinerated on the spot after recovering the magic stones and loot, but I had promised to give Selendion’s head to Kellybay.

“…”

Kellybay, who had been staring at his enemy’s face for a long time, turned to me with a slightly frightened expression.

“…But this bastard, he’s really dead, right?”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

“Damn it, with a vampire bastard lying in a coffin, I can’t even tell if he’s dead or sleeping.”

Bang!

Kellybay closed the coffin lid and lifted the coffin whole with a heave. I asked out of pure curiosity.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“What is there to do? It’s not like I have a scary hobby of playing with corpses. And there are no useful materials that can be extracted from a vampire’s body.”

Kellybay took the coffin and approached a large furnace.

“I have to burn it.”

As he blew air into the bellows, the flames of the furnace grew stronger. The magical blue flames surging inside the furnace emitted a hot heat.

Kellybay placed Selendion’s coffin in front of the furnace and sprinkled sparkling silver powder on the coffin.

It was probably the fragments and powder left over from making holy weapons.

“Heave-ho!”

When the sprinkling of silver powder was finished, Kellybay pushed the coffin into the furnace with all his might.

Whoosh-!

The coffin, sucked into the flames, burst into flames in an instant.

“Look, brothers. This damn vampire lord who sucked your lives is dead.”

Kellybay muttered in a dry voice.

“Now, break free from his curse and fly away freely, far, far away…”

I watched from a distance as the blacksmith performed a requiem for his brothers.

“Hoo! I feel a bit relieved.”

Only after the coffin was completely burned did Kellybay turn around. I cautiously asked him as he wiped his face with a towel.

“Are you crying?”

“Hey! It’s because it’s hot, you bastard. How hot do you think that fire is?”

Kellybay threw the towel irritably into a corner and slammed the table in front of him with his large hand. The old man’s eyes were still red.

“Ah, stop teasing the old man! Take out the loot you got this time. Let’s take a look.”

I had come to ask him to craft equipment with that anyway.

I took out three magic cores emitting red light from my chest and placed them on the table one by one.

All three were emitting a frighteningly clear light, but one in particular was flickering with an unusual blood-red color.

As a result of the last battle, I was able to obtain 7 SR-grade magic cores and 3 SSR-grade magic cores.

Among them, three were SSR-grade. The ‘Vampire General Magic Cores’ from Alpha and Beta, and the ‘Vampire Lord Magic Core’ from Selendion.

“Monster bastards. As expected of demons who have been eating for hundreds of years, they left behind terrifying magic cores.”

Kellybay, who had examined the three magic cores in turn, clicked his tongue after examining the ‘Vampire Lord Magic Core,’ which was emitting a particularly terrifying blood-red light.

“It’s Selendion’s essence. With this, I can make a Nightmare Slayer!”

“Nightmare Slayer?”

Come to think of it, Selendion had said something like that too.

“What exactly is a Nightmare Slayer?”

At my question, Kellybay raised his beard and grinned.

“What do you call a weapon that kills a dragon, or a person who killed a dragon?”

“Um, a Dragon Slayer… right?”

“That’s right. Then what if you change the target from a dragon to a Nightmare Legion Commander?”

Ah, I see.

“If you make a weapon with a magic core from a Legion Commander-level monster, that’s a Nightmare Slayer.”

“Yes. And these have a power that is different from other equipment.”

In the game, it was just a good boss equipment. Is it that differentiated here that it even has such a grand name?

Certainly, the magic gun ‘Black Queen’ has some crazy performance.

‘Can I get another piece of equipment like the Black Queen? This is really great.’

As I was thinking, Kellybay added a word.

“And it also holds a darkness that matches that power.”

“Darkness… what do you mean?”

At my question, Kellybay frowned.

“What, did your sniper friend have a Nightmare Slayer and not know how to use it?”

“Yes?”

“The more you kill something with a Nightmare Slayer, the more the nightmare sleeping inside that weapon awakens.”

My spine tingled.

I stammered and asked.

“If it awakens, what happens?”

“Well, it’s up to the nightmare. It might lend you its power quietly, or…”

Kellybay shrugged playfully.

“It might devour the user.”