I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 200

The morning of the eighth defense battle at Crossroads dawned.

As all forces mobilized in response to the monster horde, Kuilan gathered his subordinates for a secret meeting.

He repeated the same explanation he’d given his brother.

“What’s a penal unit? It means we’re just disposable pawns.”

The bandits listened intently.

“If they need cannon fodder in battle, they’ll throw us to the front. They’ll make us do all the dirty work. It’s obvious they’ll give us the hardest jobs, more than the regular army. If we stay quiet, we’ll be wiped out in less than a year, let alone three.”

It was a logical assessment.

They’d been treated like regular soldiers for the past few days, despite being bandits, but that would inevitably change in a life-or-death war.

“Don’t work too hard just because they’re paying us and feeding us. Don’t risk your lives; just pretend to work hard. Once Kureha recovers and the surveillance on us loosens, we’ll escape this city.”

Kuilan scanned his subordinates with fierce, tiger-like eyes.

“Understood?”

“Okay, boss!”

“We were surprised you were being so quiet, boss!”

“Let’s do just enough and get out of here quickly!”

Ding-ding-ding-ding-!

At that moment, the bell signaling the monster invasion rang loudly.

Other defense units from this front also appeared and gathered on the ramparts.

Kuilan snorted, looking up at the ramparts.

“Let’s go. We still have to earn our keep if we don’t want to get noticed.”

On the ramparts, Ash, the commander of this front, stood tall, staring beyond the fortifications.

***

“……”

I pressed my lips together, glaring at the southern plains.

Squirm, squirm……

The huge, jelly-like slimes filled the southern plains, crawling towards the Crossroads ramparts.

[Enemy Information – STAGE 8]

– Lv.? ??? : 1

– Lv.30 Acid Slime : 526

– Lv.25 Tricolor Slime : 488

Jelly monsters advancing like sticky rice cakes.

‘They’re kind of cute if you just look at them.’

But in the end, they’re disgusting monster bastards.

Slimes are generally quite resistant to physical attacks.

They split when hit with slashing attacks and take almost no damage from piercing attacks.

However, they are weak to blunt attacks, so they can be easily defeated with blunt weapons.

Also, their magic resistance is at the level of a normal monster, so magic attacks work well on them.

‘……Normal slimes are like that, but the acid slimes and tricolor slimes coming this time are a bit different.’

Acid slimes corrode weapons if you attack them directly. They also explode upon death, causing acid damage to the surrounding area.

Since they are designed to counter melee classes, they should be taken down with ranged attacks as much as possible.

Tricolor slimes absorb up to three magic attacks into their bodies. Their bodies store colors depending on the type of magic attack they receive, hence the name tricolor slime.

They take normal damage from the fourth attack onwards, but the fact that they are immune to magic for the first three attacks is a big problem.

Moreover, this bastard also spreads the elemental damage it received when it dies.

Well, even though they are opponents with many difficulties.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had monsters that fall for a kill zone!”

I shouted happily.

At the edge of the southern plains, a dense wooden fence had been set up for the first time in a while. It was a kill zone designed to force the enemy monsters to gather in one place.

The nearly 1,000 slimes squirmed and crawled into the kill zone. I gave the order to the artillerymen.

“Show those monsters the taste of humanity’s fire!”

Immediately after, the artillery fired.

Bang! Thump-thump-!

Boom!

The familiar sound of cannons rang out, followed by the sound of explosions as the shells hit the ground.

The slimes caught in the crossfire were helplessly blown apart. I clenched my fist tightly as I watched the slimes explode and fall. This is it!

‘This is what a defense game is all about!’

However, my joy at the formation of the kill zone was short-lived.

Bang! Thump!

The acid slimes, which made up more than half of the slime army, began to explode and spray acid around them.

Sizzle……

I could see the wooden fence melting from the acid.

‘Tch, I thought I’d get a taste of the kill zone for a while.’

I clicked my tongue. The kill zone was working, but it wouldn’t last long.

Just as the first hundred or so slimes were crushed by the cannon fire, the wooden fences, eroded by the acid, collapsed with a crash.

Like a flood of water pouring out when a dam collapses, the slimes all escaped the kill zone and began to advance, squirming.

“Fire the cannons without stopping! We need to reduce their numbers as much as possible!”

Because piercing physical attacks like ballistae and arrows were not very effective against them, most of the defensive equipment had been replaced with cannons.

For the same reason, all the bladed obstacles on the plains had been removed, and only wooden fences had been installed.

The slimes that were crossing the plains paused briefly in front of the wooden fences, and each time, our artillery fire rained down on them.

Bang! Thump-thump!

The newly developed deployable landmine-type shells were also doing their job well while I was away.

The slimes stepped onto the landmines that had been set up at key points, unaware of anything, and exploded with a huge blast. Excellent. They’re working well.

Anyway, by the time they had crossed about half of the plains, about a third of them had been crushed to a pulp.

But in other words, about two-thirds of them were still left.

And they entered the center of the plains—within the range of our mages.

It’s finally time for the mages to do their job.

“The tricolor slimes are immune to magic up to three times.”

I turned my gaze to our mages.

“So, as instructed beforehand—Lily and Junior, you two will cast area-of-effect magic three times to deplete their magic immunity stacks.”

Lily once, Junior twice. Like that.

Lily, in her wheelchair, was sweating profusely. Junior, standing next to her, looked disgruntled for some reason.

“And once their magic immunity stacks are all depleted, Reina.”

I faced Reina, an officer of the support unit dressed in the Imperial Army uniform.

“You will sweep them away and finish them off.”

“That is a wise tactic, Your Highness.”

Reina bowed gently.

“My wind magic is powerful. It would be a waste to let it be swallowed by such insignificant monsters.”

“……”

Junior, who was assigned the role of being swallowed, glared at Reina with considerable dissatisfaction.

Reina gave Junior a knowing smile.

Ignoring the two mages’ war of nerves, I went and stood next to Lily.

“Start when they are well within range. You need to hit as many of them as possible.”

“Ah, I know, Your Highness……”

Lily is a fire mage, and her skill set is focused on single targets rather than area-of-effect.

Her first skill is throwing a large fireball, and because she has been away from the front lines, her leveling has been slow, and she has not yet unlocked her second skill.

In the first place, she is half-retired from field work due to her leg injury.

It might be a bit unreasonable to ask Lily to spread flames over a wide area.

However, if we can reduce the magic immunity stack of the tricolor slimes even once without consuming other main mages, it’s a definite advantage.

That’s why I called her up and brought her to the front lines.

“When will this temporary assignment be completely over……?”

Lily grumbled as she gathered her magic power. I smiled without answering. Well? Maybe it will take about three years.

“Do your best, senior mage.”

“You only treat me like a senior at times like this…… Sigh.”

Whoosh-!

Flames rose from Lily’s fingertips. Lily, sweating profusely, created a huge fireball in her hand.

“Haaap!”

With a shout, she swung her arm wide.

The thrown fireball flew over the southern plains like a shot put. Then, Lily stretched her palm forward and twisted her hand, clenching her fist.

Bang-!

The fireball exploded.

The rain of fire pouring from the exploded fireball fell onto the plains. The acid slimes exposed to the fire rain exploded, and the tricolor slimes absorbed the magic, turning the lower part of their bodies red.

“Haa, haa!”

Lily was sweating profusely, as if she had overexerted herself. I clapped my hands. She’s doing well? Her power is outstanding, as expected of a fire mage.

“Lily, do you want to just return to the front lines as a field worker? We can go to dungeons together……”

“I, I’ll go back to the artifact team now! See you later!”

Lily hurriedly pulled her wheelchair and ran away to the artifact zone. Geez, I can’t even joke around.

“Junior, it’s your turn. Are you ready?”

When I asked Junior, he twirled his magic staff in his hand and came to my side.

This time, it was the staff [Lord of Crimson], made with Selendion’s magic core.

“Your Highness.”

“Yes?”

“If I can defeat all those slimes on my own, I don’t have to give that woman a chance, right?”

Junior asked, gesturing towards Reina. I chuckled.

“Of course, but…… is it possible? Aren’t you overdoing it?”

He’s not in good shape. Isn’t he talking about using area-of-effect magic three times in a row? I wonder if he’s going to hurt himself in a pointless pride battle?

But Junior smiled and held up the staff in his hand.

“I’ll show you how good the new staff you gave me is.”

Junior went to the edge of the ramparts and raised his staff high. A red aura spread from the tip of the staff.

The special abilities of [Lord of Crimson] are as follows:

– Absorbs essence each time an enemy is killed, storing up to 10.

– Can consume stored essence to recover HP or MP. (10 percent per essence)

– If 10 essences are consumed at once, a random blood magic can be used once.

There were 10 small grooves on the head of [Lord of Crimson], all of which were lit up.

He had already collected 10 essences during the last free exploration.

He could use blood magic once for free, without consuming his own magic power.

Whoosh!

Junior, who had used all 10 essences without hesitation, cast blood magic.

“It seems that the type of blood magic that comes out is random each time……”

The crimson mist that poured out from the tip of the staff fell over the slimes’ heads.

“I got a useful one this time!”

Saaah……!

Blood Mist.

A blood magic widely used by vampires that blocks the enemy’s vision and slows their movements.

The tricolor slimes also ate this magic. It was possible to deplete their immunity stack even if it wasn’t an attack magic.

A blood-colored layer formed in the middle of the tricolor slimes’ bodies as they absorbed the mist.

“One more time!”

This time, blue magic elements gathered at the tip of Junior’s staff.

Whoosh-!

A downpour fell from the sky. It was water magic.

The tricolor slimes also gulped it down. A blue layer formed on the upper layer of their bodies.

Their magic immunity stacks were all depleted!

Moreover, the bodies of the slimes that had been hit by the blizzard and downpour were still soaked.

Grrr, grrr……

Thunder rumbled from the dark clouds in the sky that had been pouring rain.

Smirking.

With a smile that resembled the mage who gave him his name, Junior stretched his staff forward.

This time, a bright yellow magic element was gathering at the tip of the staff.

“I’m a mercenary, Your Highness.”

Crack, crackle!

With the sound of lightning crackling,

“There’s no way I’d give up my achievements!”

At the same time, a tremendous lightning bolt fell from Junior’s staff and the dark clouds.

Boom!

And, the slimes that had been dyed in three colors after depleting their magic immunity stacks—were all fried to death.

***

“Hoo……”

Looking at the plains, which were charred black and smoking.

Junior, who had taken a deep breath, composed himself. His face was pale, as if he had used up all his magic power, but he seemed to be in a good mood.

Junior turned to the side and smiled, and Reina, as if amazed, curled up the corners of her mouth as she faced the young mage.

It was like she was thinking, ‘Look at this one?’

‘As expected, mages are the supreme beings……’

Whether they were having a war of nerves or not, the defense battle was going smoothly thanks to the strategic weapons. I opened the enemy information window for this stage.

[Enemy Information – STAGE 8]

– Lv.? ??? : 1

– Lv.30 Acid Slime : 26

– Lv.25 Tricolor Slime : 33

Almost all of the acid slimes and tricolor slimes were defeated. It seems that we only need to defeat the ones that were lucky enough to survive the magic barrage.

‘Wait, but……’

I blinked, sensing something was wrong.

‘Where is the boss?’

……Why hasn’t it appeared yet?