I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 165

Clang-!

In the back alley of the night, sword clashed against sword, emitting a hideous metallic sound.

Elizabeth’s serrated sword and my three mana-infused swords.

A total of four blades cut through the darkness and intertwined, each time sending out dazzling sparks.

Mostly, it was the mana particles spewing out as my mana swords were shattered.

‘She’s strong!’

I frantically extended my staff, launching mana swords while breaking out in a cold sweat.

Although I have almost no PVP [Player versus Player] experience, I’ve stood on the front lines with my heroes and killed countless named monsters.

I could tell just from a few exchanges.

This woman, Elizabeth—she’s incredibly strong!

“After going to the monster front, you’ve become quite… decent,” Elizabeth muttered emotionlessly, effortlessly grinding my mana swords with her serrated blade.

“Now, I’ll get serious.”

I grumbled, rolling up my sleeves and adjusting my gloves.

“No, it’s already incredibly tough, can’t you just stop here?!

Of course, Elizabeth didn’t even pretend to hear me.

“Sword vault, launch.”

As Elizabeth uttered the activation phrase, the sword vault standing in the corner of the back alley emitted a magical glow as if it had been powered on.

Whoosh!

“Number 3 sword.”

Thwack-!

Then, a long sword stored in the third slot of the sword vault shot up like a rocket, spinning and falling above Elizabeth’s head.

Clack!

Without even looking back, Elizabeth reached out her left hand and snatched the handle of the long sword.

Just this scene alone already made me feel defeated.

Elizabeth, holding a serrated sword in her right hand and a long sword in her left, slightly lowered her posture.

“Then, again.”

It was as if she was giving a greeting before dancing.

“Wait, just a minute! Elizabeth!”

I held out my hand and desperately shouted.

“If you really kill me, the entire Winter Silver Merchant Guild will be destroyed! Do you even know that?!

If Elizabeth committed regicide [killing a monarch], then of course her master, Serenade, and the entire Winter Silver Merchant Guild would be punished. She should know that much, right?

But Elizabeth said something unexpected.

“It’s Elise.”

“Huh?”

“Not Elizabeth, it’s Elise. Don’t call me Elizabeth.”

Oh, come on, Elizabeth or Elise! Isn’t it just the difference between a full name and a nickname?

“When I was taken in by the Winter Silver Merchant Guild, I abandoned the name of the killer, Elizabeth. Instead, I decided to live with the name Elise, which my lady gave me.”

Clench.

Her hands, gripping the two swords, tightened.

“And I will die with the name Elise. After killing you, I will commit suicide here.”

“What the heck?!

“I’ll make it look like you were ambushed by other bandits. It will seem like you and I were attacked and killed while riding in a carriage. I’ll also set fire to the corpses and the carriage… I’ve done this kind of thing a lot before, so I’m skilled at manipulating evidence. You don’t have to worry.”

No, I’m worried about something else entirely?!

“No matter how things turn out, you must disappear… only then will my mistress’s life change.”

Elizabeth… no, Elise’s deep blue eyes, which she had closed and then opened, flashed with a chilling sharpness.

“For the sake of Lady Serenade, please die with me.”

It was the look of someone who had resigned themselves to death.

The eyes of someone determined to die together with the opponent in front of them.

I gritted my teeth. This idiot!

“Do you think the Imperial Family is that easy?! They’ll uncover all my movements tonight, and they’ll hold your guild responsible no matter what!”

“……”

“What you’re doing now isn’t loyalty! It’s foolish! Stop for your master’s sake, Elise!”

But no matter what I said, Elise showed no sign of stopping. It seemed she thought it was too late to turn back now.

‘Damn it!’

I gripped my staff tighter.

For my own survival, and for Serenade, the Winter Silver Merchant Guild… and for Elise.

I can’t die here. I have to survive somehow, calm the situation, and prevent unnecessary damage from spreading.

Thwack-!

The problem was that Elise was too strong.

Clang! Clangclangclang!

The serrated sword and long sword in her hands danced a smooth, shining waltz.

Every time the light of her sword faltered, my mana swords were shattered to pieces.

The only fortunate thing was that I knew all of Elise’s skill set.

‘Of course! She was my top pick character among the front-line dealers!’

When playing [the game name], as a performance-focused player to the bone, I naturally favored Elise, a super-performance character.

Her fighting style was so flashy that viewers loved it too.

Thanks to that, I knew all of Elise’s skills, and I was able to somehow parry her relentless dual-wielding swords.

But even that had its limits. When I didn’t fall easily, Elise pulled out her next move.

“Sword vault, launch. Number 8 sword. Number 11 sword.”

Thwack! Thwack-!

A short sword and a greatsword shot up from the sword vault in succession.

At the same time, Elise threw the serrated sword and long sword in her hands at me.

“Whoaah!”

I lowered my posture, almost rolling to dodge, and the serrated sword and long sword plunged into the wall of the abandoned building behind me.

Immediately after, Elise smoothly grabbed the short sword and greatsword that had fallen spinning from the sky and charged at me.

Whoosh!

Elise swung the short sword and greatsword with terrifying force, and when I barely managed to dodge, she slammed those two swords into the wall of the abandoned building in turn, then pulled out the serrated sword and long sword that were already stuck in the wall and swung them again.

Clang! Clang! Clangclang-!

A relentless barrage of attacks came without a moment to breathe.

She spun continuously, wielding four swords, sticking them into the wall, retrieving them, and swinging them again. It was truly a storm of swords.

‘Seriously…’

The speed at which my mana swords were destroyed was faster than the speed at which they were regenerated. I felt my MP [Mana Points] plummeting and thought.

‘I really want to recruit her to our Crossroads, damn it!’

How great would it be if someone this strong joined our party! Not only would dungeon raids be easier, but defense battles would be much smoother too!

But regardless of my feelings as a front-line operator, Elise was trying to kill me right now.

‘How can I effectively subdue her? If I use [Commanding Eye]?’

But Elise is a character with particularly high magic stats among sword class characters.

There’s a high chance that my first skill, [Commanding Eye], won’t work.

‘Then what should I do…?!’

While I was racking my brain to find a way out,

“Sword vault, launch. Number 1 sword.”

Elise’s emotionless voice echoed softly.

Thwack-!

What was launched from the sword vault was a dark blue dagger, the same color as Elise’s eyes and hair.

And Elise,

Crunch!

Bit it with her teeth.

She accurately caught the dagger flying from behind with her mouth. It was a move that would make you believe she was a fighting dog, not a person.

Elise then slammed the dagger she was holding in her mouth down at me.

My mana swords were all destroyed while blocking Elise’s other four swords. There were no mana swords left to block the dagger.

A look of victory flashed in Elise’s eyes.

At that very moment.

Whoosh-!

I suddenly extended my right fist forward. On my fist was the glove I had taken out of my inventory and put on a little while ago.

[Lucky Strike].

It was my unique, luck-based weapon of fortune and ruin!

“…?!”

Elise was momentarily flustered, probably not expecting me to suddenly engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Elise’s deep blue eyes quickly scanned my fist.

She was a sword undertaker who would hold funerals for those she killed, then take their equipment as funeral expenses.

She had the [Appraisal Eye] ability to identify item grades. She must have realized that the glove on my hand was an SSR-grade [Super Super Rare] weapon.

That’s why, surely,

“Kuh!”

She would evade my attack.

Because she didn’t know the identity of this weapon. Because she didn’t know what special abilities were hidden in it.

To kill me for sure, she would have to step back here.

Thwack!

Elise pulled back her body, which had been charging forward, and leaned her upper body backward. My fist barely grazed her upper body and missed.

I grinned.

‘I knew you’d dodge, Elise!’

From the start, my fist wasn’t aimed at Elise.

I didn’t expect to defeat a strong opponent like her with a luck-based weapon like [Lucky Strike].

What I was aiming for was the wall of the abandoned building next to us, which was already cracked and teetering from all the swords stuck in it!

Thud.

My fist, swung horizontally, touched the wall, and,

Ding!

Immediately, a slot window started spinning in the corner of my vision. It was the damage judgment slot for [Lucky Strike].

The rapidly spinning slot window eventually stopped one by one, creating a three-digit number.

0. 1. 6.

16 damage. A measly number.

But it was a weak number for monsters, but more than enough to collapse a wall that was already cracked!

Crash!

The wall of the abandoned building, which had cracked along the lines, began to collapse.

Elise quickly tried to evade the falling debris. But at that moment,

“Elise!”

I activated my first skill, [Commanding Eye].

[Using Commanding Eye.]

[Target Acquired: 1 target]

[Please state your command.]

“Stay still… for just 1 second!”

[Command Difficulty: Very Easy]

[Comparing the user’s intelligence stat with the target’s magic stat.]

[Determining success rate. Starting resistance roll…]

Elise was a character with high magic stats for a swordsman.

So, to prevent her from resisting my skill, I gave a very easy command with an extremely low difficulty.

And thanks to that,

[Judgment Complete!]

>Success: 1 target

[Executing forced command.]

“…?!”

Stiff.

Elise looked down at her body, which had suddenly become completely stiff, with an expression that showed she couldn’t understand it, and,

Crash-! Boom!

The next moment, she was unable to avoid the collapsing debris of the abandoned building and was buried under it.

***

Thud, thud, thud…

Buried under the debris of the abandoned building, Elise was unable to move.

Her maid outfit was covered in blood. She couldn’t even take a defensive stance, let alone evade, so she must have been in a lot of pain.

“Hoo…”

I let out a sigh of relief after confirming her knockdown. That was really dangerous.

I cautiously walked towards Elise. Elise was breathing heavily and looked up at me.

“I was completely… outmaneuvered. I never thought you would… hide such a move.”

“You won with pure combat skills, Elise.”

It was true that I relied on luck to some extent when I used [Lucky Strike].

If I had rolled a 000 fumble there, I would have just died.

“Using a trump card at the optimal time, and taking a gamble when necessary… that’s also skill. Cough! I completely lost…”

Elise lowered her eyes.

“Kill me.”

“…”

“But Your Highness, please have mercy on my mistress…”

Elise begged in a trembling voice.

“This was something I planned on my own. Please… show compassion to Lady Serenade…”

“Did you think you could be forgiven with those words?”

I spat out coldly.

“Elise. Your emotionally driven actions could cost the lives of the Winter Silver Merchant Guild, as well as your master’s.”

“…”

“You may have been confident in your skills, but you should have thought about the consequences if you failed.”

A bitter smile appeared on Elise’s lips.

“The words of the previous guild master were right…”

“Hmm?”

“I’m foolish and impulsive, so I would mess things up someday… Once I washed my hands of the underworld, I was always warned to stay quiet…”

Elise raised her sunken eyes and looked up at the night sky.

“When I saw my mistress crying, I couldn’t hold back and did this… Haha. I never thought that what I did would make my mistress even sadder.”

“…”

“I’m sorry, mistress… I really am…”

I was quietly looking down at Elise, who was muttering sadly, when I was about to open my mouth to say something.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Suddenly, the sound of orderly military boots echoed around the back alley.

Lights flashed from all directions, and soon, expressionless soldiers holding lanterns high rushed into the alley.

I frowned and looked at them. This is…

“Ash, my beloved troublemaker of a younger brother.”

At that moment, a gentle, melodious voice of a young man rang out.

“I told you to stay quietly in the detached palace. Where are you wandering around in the middle of the night? I don’t know if you know how much trouble I had looking for you.”

A man appeared, pushing through the soldiers.

His luscious black hair, tied at the back of his neck, had a faint red aura, and his intelligent red eyes sparkled behind the rimless glasses on his nose.

It was a face I had never seen before, but the voice was familiar. It must be because we had already had a war of words.

I gritted my teeth and spat out the other’s name.

“Fernandez…!”

The second prince of the Empire, the Minister of Administration, and the commander-in-chief of the Aegis Special Forces, the dark unit.

Fernandez ‘Emberkeeper’ Everblack clicked his tongue.

“You should add ‘hyung-nim’ [older brother] at the end. My youngest.”