I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 157

[Karma Eater (SSR) Lv.45]

– Category: Longsword

– Attack Power: 30-40

– Durability: 20/20

– Strength +10, Intelligence +10

– A sword for those who seek balance. It devours any leaning towards light or darkness, chaos or order, and converts it into power.

– Consumes ‘Alignment Points’ to generate Sword Aura. The Sword Aura deals magic damage equal to twice the weapon’s attack power. Cannot be used if the Alignment Points are 0.

“It droppeddddddddd?!”

I snatched the longsword in a panic. Is this for real? The Karma Eater dropped here?

This weapon has a bizarre concept of increasing damage by consuming Alignment Points.

You might think it’s difficult to use since you have to keep feeding it Alignment Points to get its full performance, but what if you think about it the other way around?

You can reset the Alignment Points you’ve raised incorrectly with this weapon!

Like a Paladin who went dark because of a wrongly assigned negative trait, or a Necromancer who accidentally became too blessed and full of light… When playing games, these kinds of messed-up characters are bound to happen.

If you couldn’t find a way to reset them, you had to abandon those characters with tears in your eyes.

But if you have the Karma Eater? Easy fix!

That’s why, in games, it was more often used to rescue characters with messed-up alignments due to leveling mistakes rather than as a weapon.

‘Of course, if you keep feeding it Alignment Points and maintain the Sword Aura, it’s possible to deal massive damage, but constantly supplying those points isn’t easy…’

I paused, thinking. Wait a minute.

I opened the list of Alignment Points that [Karma Eater] could consume. And then I found it.

[Beast ↔ Divine]

It’s there.

The human nature alignment traits [Beastification] and [Divinization].

Simply put, if you abandon your humanity and walk the path of a beast, your Beastification stat goes up, and if you excessively gain humanity, you gain divinity and ascend.

‘Either way, it’s a path of abandoning humanity…’

If the Beastification stat goes up, you get bonus stats for physical attack and physical defense, and you acquire the exclusive passive ‘Sixth Sense’.

But if the stat goes too high, you become a bloodthirsty beast who knows nothing but fighting.

If the Divinization stat goes up, you get bonus stats for magic attack and magic defense, and you acquire the exclusive passive ‘Revelation’.

But if the stat goes too high, your ego merges with divinity, and you become a puppet of a higher god.

It’s a way to add a plus alpha to a character’s base performance, so you get stronger right away, but either route is a forbidden trait that eventually takes you out of the player’s control.

Most characters don’t even get a chance to see these traits.

Abandoning or adding to humanity is easier said than done, as it’s usually a concept that’s hard to even understand.

‘Lukas, how did that guy awaken Beastification on his own…’

I recalled Lukas using Beastification during the last defense battle. The image of my knight flickering like a wolf.

I was already planning to tell him again not to use it.

‘……But if I have the Karma Eater?’

Use Beastification to raise the Beast Alignment stat → Feed the increased Alignment stat to the Karma Eater to turn it into Sword Aura → Use Beastification to raise the Beast Alignment stat… Isn’t this infinite power?

“Ummm.”

I shook my head, thinking.

If I try to walk a tightrope while testing the Alignment Points and fall, our protagonist Lukas might cross a point of no return.

Now that I have the Karma Eater, I should drain all the Beastification stat and make sure he can’t use it again.

“Hoo.”

I reviewed all the items I got today.

I don’t know how the front lines will operate in the future, but they will all be helpful.

‘I’ll use them wisely.’

I bowed my head, thinking once more about the lives lost in this defense battle.

The merits you earned with your lives, I will never use them carelessly.

‘……It’s a bit infuriating that they split my five exclusive equipment and gave me one.’

Seriously, that’s crossing the line!

***

I decided not to go on any free exploration until the next defense battle.

The injuries from the last battle haven’t healed yet.

The damaged equipment hasn’t been repaired either. I judged that it would be too much to do free exploration along with everything else in the remaining time.

Let the party members rest, repair the broken equipment, order new equipment, repair the walls and artifacts…

Three days later.

I visited the temple.

“My lord.”

Lukas, who was in charge of the search mission inside the temple, was waiting at the entrance. I nodded.

“Lukas. How was it?”

“I searched the inside of the temple thoroughly, but there were no items used for espionage other than the statue of the goddess from that time.”

“I see. What about Margherita?”

“She has been holed up in the priest’s office since that day. I have been closely monitoring her, but she hasn’t done anything particularly suspicious. However…”

“However?”

Lukas hesitated and scratched the back of his neck.

“She keeps drinking.”

“Drinking…?”

“Yes. She keeps saying things like, ‘Why do I have to be in this situation?’…”

“……”

“And, she seems to be… smoking…”

Cold sweat ran down my back. The Saintess is drinking and smoking? I need to talk to her face to face soon.

“Thank you for your hard work investigating, Lukas. Here, this is a gift.”

“I was just doing what I had to do. By the way, a gift?”

I handed the [Karma Eater] to the surprised Lukas, scabbard and all.

Lukas carefully received it, looking bewildered, and then smiled brightly.

“Thank you so much, my lord. After the holy longsword, you have bestowed another great sword… I will use it with care.”

I smiled back and pointed at the Karma Eater.

“This is a sword that can calm the ‘Beastification’ you used.”

Lukas’s shoulders stiffened slightly at the mention of Beastification. I put my hand on his shoulder and patted it.

“Lukas. I don’t know why you resorted to such power, but don’t use it again.”

“……”

“You are strong enough without borrowing such power.”

Lukas quietly shook his head.

“No, my lord, I… am weak.”

“What?”

“Even though I had a brief advantage against Selendion this time, I was ultimately overwhelmed by him. I reached for dangerous power myself, but the monsters were still stronger than me.”

Lukas’s hand gripping the scabbard tightened.

“I need to become stronger. To protect my lord, much stronger…”

“Lukas.”

I gently persuaded him.

“There are many ways to become stronger. But I want you to walk the right path. Even if it’s slow, I want you to steadily move forward, little by little.”

“……”

“I appreciate you trying so hard for me. But you shouldn’t abandon yourself for my sake. Keep that in mind.”

Lukas silently bowed his head.

“I will engrave it in my heart, my lord.”

Whether he truly accepted my words, or if he was just pretending to listen and will continue to borrow powers like Beastification in the future.

Anyway, I’ve set up a safety device like the Karma Eater, so I can rest a little easier.

“Ah, Your Highness! You’re here!”

At that moment, Damian came running out from inside the temple. Lukas nodded at Damian.

“Damian has been helping me for the past three days. Thanks to him, the search went smoothly.”

“I wanted to show you that this temple is a sincere and good place.”

Damian carefully said, looking at me.

“It’s a shame about the Saintess… but the other priests are just focusing on treating the sick soldiers. I hope you understand this…”

“Okay, I got it. I got it.”

I chuckled and took out the [Secret Dawn] set from my bag and handed it to Damian.

“Here, Damian. I brought your gift too.”

Giving gifts to good kids makes me feel like Santa Claus.

“This is equipment that allows you to become invisible every time you defeat an enemy. Use it well.”

“Huh! C-can I really use something this good?!”

What are you talking about, you cheat character? You should be using the best stuff among us.

While Damian was gaping and making sounds like ‘wowwww’ after receiving the set, I gave Damian a stern warning.

Only three more shots with the Black Queen, and then it’s forbidden to use it.

“I understand! Three shots! I’ll keep that in mind!”

Damian nodded, but his eyes were fixed on the new equipment. If I knew he’d like it this much, I should have gotten him armor sooner.

While Damian was putting on his new armor with Lukas’s help, I turned my head towards the inside of the temple.

“Well then, shall I go and soothe the Saintess?”

***

The Priest’s Office.

Margherita, sitting on a chair in the corner, had her face buried on the table, dark circles under her eyes, and was drinking straight from a bottle of alcohol.

Several empty bottles and a full ashtray were visible on the table. Oh my.

“……”

I pinched my forehead at this miserable sight.

Margherita was always my main healer in the game.

If you consistently used the temple, you could recruit her for sure, and although she didn’t have other utilities or damage skills, her healing and shield performance was outstanding, making her easy to use.

She was a fixed member who was active until the end, even in the Hell Iron Man clear runs.

In this Crossroads, she always had a strict and upright face, healing patients… she was truly an image befitting a ‘Saintess’. How did she end up like this?

“I just wanted to purely heal the injured…”

Margherita mumbled, slurring her words, drunk.

“Because I believed that was the reason the goddess gave me healing powers. Hic!”

“……”

“But the Great Temple promoted me to Priestess without any explanation… and then assigned me to this Crossroads… I still came here to treat people, but then they suddenly made me do espionage, and then Your Highness told me to go up on the wall to fight monsters…”

“…Um, Saintess.”

“And then my espionage was discovered… everyone is looking at me with suspicious eyes… ugh, really, I told them so many times that I can’t do this… those damn central guys…”

“S-Saintess. Please calm down.”

“I don’t know anymore, just… please send me home. Hic. I’ll quit being a Saintess, just let me retire…”

“……”

I carefully sat down on the chair next to Margherita, who was starting to bang her forehead on the table.

“Saintess. Calm down and listen to me. We have to work together now anyway.”

“Your Highness is going to put me on the wall… I don’t want to, monsters are scary… go away…”

“Let’s put the monster issue aside, and think about it, Saintess. You’ve been exposed as a spy. Even your espionage methods have been discovered.”

Margherita rolled her eyes and looked at me. I smiled.

“I don’t know for sure, but the Great Temple and the Dark Faction must be in chaos right now. The entire priest espionage network across the continent must be undergoing a full inspection. Maybe the Dark Faction is even overhauling the espionage system they’ve built up.”

“……!”

“And all of this happened because you were caught by me, Saintess. There’s no way the Dark Faction won’t hold you responsible, right?”

Margherita’s face turned pale, and she asked in a trembling voice.

“T-then what will happen to me now…?”

“In the worst case, you’ll be eliminated without a trace.”

“Huuuuh.”

“So, we’re in the same boat.”

I leaned closer and whispered softly.

“Since it’s come to this, join my side completely. Saintess. Join the forces of the Third Prince Ash, not the Central or the Great Temple. Then I’ll keep you safe.”

“……”

“I may not be good at other things, but I take good care of my people.”

Even though I put them on the wall.

Monsters in front of you, or humans behind you. It was time to choose which was scarier and avoid it.

“What do you say?”

At my suggestion, Margherita mumbled with a tearful face.

“…There’s no other way for me anyway, Your Highness…”

I smiled gently.

You were always my main healer in the game, Margherita. There have been some ups and downs, but let’s work well together this time too.

***

And so, I roughly settled the internal conflict. And continued to prepare for the defense battle.

Time flew by, and four days later.

The morning of the defense battle dawned.

I had been preparing hard for the past week, but time was short.

The heroes were still injured, the ordered equipment was not fully manufactured, and the repair of the walls was incomplete.

But the monsters appeared without regard for the humans’ circumstances.

“They’re coming!”

A scout shouted at the top of his lungs.

I raised my binoculars and looked at the southern sky.

Hundreds of wyverns appeared, spreading their wings wide, cutting through the cloudy sky.

The monster squadron blocked the sunlight for a moment, darkening the area.

Shit. There are so many.

I didn’t want to, but I asked Lukas, who was standing next to me.

“Any news from the Imperial Capital about reinforcements?”

Lukas also answered cautiously, as if he didn’t want to.

“…There is no news yet.”

Here, ‘no news’ means that none of the scouts sent north have seen any signs of reinforcements coming.

Whether the reinforcements are large or small, if they were coming by land, my scouts would have found them.

But there’s still no news.

I gritted my teeth.

Those damn central bastards…! That damn second brother!

‘Were the reinforcements a lie? Are they trying to screw me over like this?’

Even as I was thinking this, the wyvern legion was flying towards Crossroads at a terrifying speed.

They were right in front of us now.