I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 20

“It’s better for one person to live than for everyone to die! Hurry up and run, you brat!” Jupiter urged the last party member. “I’ll buy you time with magic, so run away while I do!” The young mercenary, who had been on the verge of tears, shouted and thrust his spear forward. “How can I leave! The best thing to do is to hold out here until the rescue team arrives!” “What?” “You’re a mage, aren’t you!” The young mercenary struck the side of a Living Armor rushing in from afar with his spear. “Mercenary Survival Rule Number Two! Always stick close to your allied mage!” “……” “Rather than running away without a warhorse, it’s more likely I’ll survive if I pray that you’ll take care of those guys with magic!” The young mercenary continued to hold off the Living Armor with his spear, shouting. “I’ll somehow block them, so please prepare the next spell!” Thwack! Thwack! The young mercenary’s tactic worked. Instead of trying to kill the Living Armor, he pushed them back and struck them to create distance. The heavily armored beings took time to get back up once they fell. Moreover, Damian was providing support fire from the distant ramparts. The arrows that flew in were knocking down the Living Armor one by one. If Jupiter had been in good condition, it would have been possible to buy enough time. However, Jupiter was still slow at gathering magic power due to her injuries. Just when she barely managed to gather enough magic power to summon a single bolt of lightning, Thud! Thud thud! The young mercenary, who had been buying time, was being pierced by the monsters’ spears all over his body. “Aaaagh… !” “Damn it!” Flash-! Kuwagwagwang! Jupiter swung her arm forward. Lightning surged, turning all the Living Armor gathered in the area into ashes. “Huff, huff…” Jupiter, panting with her hand outstretched, turned to the side. “Cough, cough.” The young mercenary was collapsed, bleeding all over his body. Could she have saved him if she had gathered magic power just a few seconds faster? Jupiter shook off the useless guilt. She was too old to dwell on each and every death like this. “Hey, kid.” “……” “What’s the first rule of mercenary survival?” The young mercenary, his blood-soaked lips trembling, barely managed to mutter. “Don’t… take jobs that pay too much for no reason…” “……” “Ah, Mom…” Those were his last words. The young mercenary died with his eyes open. Jupiter raised her head. Beyond the mountain of Living Armor she had burned to a crisp, more Living Armor were rushing in. A hollow smile appeared on the old mercenary’s lips. “All your survival rules were wrong, kid.” Crackle, crackle…! Weak magic power gathered at Jupiter’s fingertips. “You can’t make it big as a mercenary with that kind of thinking.” The amount of magic power was insufficient to unleash it. Jupiter converted her last magic power into lightning and wrapped it around her fist. “To get rich as a mercenary! To make a name for yourself!” With that fist, she delivered a body blow to the torso of a Living Armor that had approached right in front of her. “You only take jobs that are extremely dangerous but pay a lot!” Thwack-! The Living Armor hit by the lightning-wrapped fist was shattered to pieces. “You should stay as far away from your allied mage as possible! Because!” Thwack! Thwack! Thwack-! Lightning burst from the end of her fists as she swung them in succession, sweeping away the Living Armor. “The mage will steal all the credit!” The lightning gradually disappeared from Jupiter’s fingertips as she shouted heartily. Even the last bit of magic power she had squeezed out was depleted. “More than anything… to survive, you shouldn’t have become a mercenary in the first place.” Behind the Living Armor that had fallen, scattering iron filings, the next Living Armor appeared, annoyingly. Jupiter nonchalantly took out a cigar from her pocket and put it in her mouth. She didn’t have the strength to create lightning anymore, so she just put it in her mouth and smiled. “Ah~ I thought I could make some easy money with this high-paying job…” Grrrraaa-! Monsters poured in from all directions. Jupiter closed her eyes. “So this is how it ends.” Right then. Clatter, clatter-! The sound of hooves hitting the ground was heard. “Huh?” Jupiter turned around in bewilderment, and “Please stay still.” Lukas, riding a horse, was right behind her. Snatch! Lukas grabbed Jupiter by the scruff of her neck with his left hand and lifted her up. At the same time, he swung the sword in his right hand horizontally. Slash-! The Living Armor cut by Lukas’s sword sparked red embers and were cut in half. Lukas threw Jupiter, whom he had lifted with his left hand, onto the back of his saddle. To the bewildered Jupiter, Lukas said indifferently. “Hold on tight.” “O-okay…” “Hyah!” Lukas turned his horse around and began to head back towards the city. Grrrraaa! Grrrraaaack! The Living Armor behind them threw spears wildly. However, Lukas calmly swung his sword backward, deflecting all the spears. Jupiter watched the scene of the spears thrown by the monsters shattering right behind her back, then opened her mouth slightly. “Hey, young knight.” “What is it?” “Would you like to meet my granddaughter later? She’s a very charming young lady…” “If you have the leisure to joke, you should recover so you can use magic.” Lukas replied coldly and spurred his horse on. “There are still plenty of monsters left.” “Haha…” He was so affectionate to his master, but when the prince wasn’t around, Lukas was cold as ice. Still, Jupiter expressed her gratitude. “Thank you for saving me.” “You don’t need to thank me. I’m just following His Highness’s orders.” Lukas hesitated for a moment before uttering the next words with difficulty. “But… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you sooner.” All four of Jupiter’s party members had died. They were not mercenaries who would die so easily. They were talents who would protect this fortress in the future. However, due to a combination of bad luck and accidents, this was the result. “Let’s regret it after we kill all those monsters.” Jupiter turned around. The Living Armor pouring in, and the giant wraith knight floating in the sky. From Jupiter’s one eye, which was glaring at the two, a bright blue current of electricity sparked. “This old woman is also… seriously pissed off for the first time in a while.” *** From afar, Lukas on horseback was seen safely rescuing Jupiter and returning. “…Hoo.” I let out a sigh mixed with relief and lamentation. Rescuing Jupiter, an SR-rank mage, was a great achievement. However, I had lost four precious hero characters in an instant. ‘I was too confident in my game experience.’ While it follows the rules of the game to some extent, this is clearly reality. All sorts of variables that you don’t have to worry about in the game are popping up. ‘The mere appearance of the boss terrifies the soldiers.’ Even in the game, you had to manage morale, and there were status ailments like fear and confusion. In reality, there were much more detailed and diverse reactions. In particular, I never imagined that even the warhorses would be terrified. ‘I need to consider the variables that can occur because it’s reality.’ I bit my lower lip and raised my head. ‘And that’s also something that happens because it’s reality, unlike the game.’ I looked towards the outer wall of the fence. Thud, thud… The wooden outer wall was gradually collapsing. It wasn’t because the Living Armor were attacking. It was because of our own crossfire. Because intense fire was pouring in right next to it, sparks were flying little by little, and soon the wooden outer wall caught fire. It was a small fire, but it soon spread. The fire helped to burn the Living Armor nearby, but in the end, the outer wall was collapsing. ‘If the outer wall collapses, the kill zone will soon be neutralized.’ The Living Armor poured in through the collapsing outer wall. They no longer entered the center of the crossfire, and the kill zone was gradually losing its meaning. Grrrraaa! Grrrraaa-! The Living Armor roared as they crossed the field. Damian and the ballista unit were knocking them down as they came, but soon they would reach the ramparts. “In the end, we’ll have to fight around the ramparts.” I clicked my tongue in bitterness. I wanted to end this stage with firepower alone, without any close combat if possible. There were only about five hundred people on our side. Even then, most of them were veterans and rookies. If it came to close combat with weapons, the damage would snowball. That’s why I tried to avoid it if possible. ‘Still, we’ve taken down quite a few of them.’ I glanced at the enemy information window. [Enemy Information – STAGE 1] – Lv.25 Wraith Knight: 1 – Lv.5 Living Armor Assault Troopers: 277 (Kill Counts: 775) There were a little less than 300 left. We can reduce the number further with firepower before starting full-scale close combat, so the actual number we have to deal with in close combat will be even smaller. ‘It’s doable.’ This battlefield is still under my control! At that moment, Lukas and Jupiter came up to the ramparts. They had just returned through the gate. “Your Highness. I have rescued Jupiter… sir.” Lukas reluctantly added ‘sir’ to the end of Jupiter’s name. It seemed he was displeased because she was a dishonorably discharged person, but it was wise to appease the mage. “I have returned, Your Highness.” Jupiter gave me a brief nod. Blood from the wound she had sustained when she fell off her horse was staining the old woman’s forehead. “Jupiter. I’m glad you made it back alive.” “I’m sorry, Your Highness. This old woman made a mistake.” Jupiter ran her fingertips over the wound on her forehead. The fresh blood that had not yet hardened was staining her leather glove red. “The annihilation of my party is my responsibility. Innocent young people died in vain. It’s truly regrettable.” “We didn’t know that monsters would suddenly appear out of thin air, and we didn’t know that the horses would go crazy. It’s not your fault.” It was because it was a party made up of hero characters that they were able to hold out while protecting Jupiter. It was painful, but with that sacrifice, we were able to save a key force, the mage. “No, if I’ve been on the battlefield until this age, I should have been able to handle this situation. This is my mistake.” Jupiter clenched her fist with her blood-stained glove. “So… I will repay it.” Jupiter’s one eye was fixed on the boss monster floating in the air. The Wraith Knight. The boss of this stage and the commander of the Living Armor. “I will definitely take that guy’s head.” “…Recover your condition first, Jupiter.” I shifted my gaze outside the ramparts. “You’ll need to use your strength soon.” Dududududu! The Living Armor were running across the field. I shouted to the cannon unit. “The kill zone is meaningless anymore! Cease fire!” “Yes, sir!” The soldiers, covered in sweat, stopped firing next to the cannons. “Damian, you take a break too.” I patted Damian’s shoulder, who was still shooting his crossbow. “Haa, haa, haa!” Damian, who had been shooting arrows without a break, turned to me with a pale face. His overworked arms were trembling. “But, they keep coming…” “You have to catch a bigger one.” I gently grasped Damian’s shoulder and nodded calmly. “Rest and recover a little. Okay?” “…Yes, Your Highness.” Damian put down his crossbow, and I stared at the front line. Grrrraaa-! The Living Armor had already reached the moat right below the ramparts.