I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 226

Kugugugugu-!

Above Jormungandr’s head.

Clinging to the violently shaking body of the serpent, we were desperately trying to destroy its last neural center.

“Just a little more, keep chipping away!”

“It’s almost destroyed! Somehow, just a little more… !”

After three days of operations, everyone was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, but we were somehow holding on, focused on destroying the neural center.

Because this was truly the end.

“Kuh… !”

Right in front… the city wall was visible.

Seeing the city wall, now only a few dozen meters away, I clenched my teeth.

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!’

For the last hour, we had done our best.

Junior, with the support of other mages, finally used [Elemental Disassembly], and Reina unleashed a full-power wind magic barrage on the neural center, which had its magic defense weakened.

Kellybay repaired and reinforced our drills and pickaxes even in this urgent situation, and those who had the strength left struck the neural center one more time.

But, the final 1 percent.

Covered in all sorts of hardening buffs, this last tick wouldn’t budge.

‘It feels like it has 95 percent physical resistance. The magic defense can’t even be measured. It’s practically at an interference-impossible level…’

Even in this messed-up state, we could have broken it if we had enough time.

The problem was that those damn werewolves stole our time.

Bang! Thud! Thud!

Kugwagwagwang-!

From the city wall, they were firing cannons and such indiscriminately. Trying to delay the serpent’s advance by even a second.

It was useless, and sometimes the explosions fell around us, making it dangerous, but I let it be. We had to do anything we could right now.

‘How much further until we reach the city wall?’

I estimated the distance between the city wall and Jormungandr.

If Jormungandr broke through the city wall, trampled the city, and started ‘civilization devouring,’ everything we had done so far would be for nothing.

I gripped the pickaxe again with my bloody hands, my skin all peeled off.

We had to stop it before that…!

Thud. Thud.

That’s when it happened.

Someone came next to me and put a hand on my shoulder. I turned around sharply. What?

“…Moo-myung…?”

Standing next to me was Moo-myung.

What, why? Can’t you see I’m busy? You should help break that thing!

“Move your comrades back, Ash.”

“What?”

“I’ll take it from here.”

Swish-

White light slowly began to gather on the old, rusty sword that Moo-myung had drawn.

I blinked. Wasn’t she supposed to be unable to use her power outside the Lake Kingdom?

“It is the Lake Kingdom’s responsibility that nightmares have filled the kingdom, and that those nightmares have leaked out.”

Moo-myung smiled bitterly, grasped the sword with both hands, and held it in front of her chest.

“As a person of the Lake Kingdom, I will take responsibility, and I will stop Jormungandr.”

Kwaaaaaa-!

A tremendous light burst from Moo-myung’s body and began to gather on the sword.

I was naturally ignorant of ancient magic, but I could tell right away.

That was a technique that burned her own life force.

“What are you doing, Moo-myung?! Are you planning to die?”

“If I use this much power outside the Lake Kingdom… I’ll probably die here.”

Moo-myung said calmly, making the sword of light even bigger.

Kwaaaaaa!

“But if I die, I can protect your city, and everyone in it.”

“What…”

“Isn’t it a good trade?”

I hesitated.

…To be honest, I thought it was.

If we could defeat Jormungandr by sacrificing one person’s life, it was a reasonable trade.

In the first place, this monster frontline was a battlefield where dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people died.

But, was that…

Right?

“I have lived a long time, Ash. I am not afraid of death. I would even be happy if that death was to erase the Lake Kingdom’s mistakes.”

Amidst Moo-myung’s white hair fluttering in the wind, I suddenly saw her eyes.

“However, I have a request.”

Her eyes, which I saw for the first time, were the color of a clear, deep lake.

“Do not give up exploring the Lake Kingdom. Continue to shine light into that darkness.”

“…”

“I ask this because I believe I can trust you with it.”

I slowly nodded. Moo-myung, who had faintly nodded back, raised her sword.

‘Is she planning to strike Jormungandr’s head with that sword of light?!’

I shouted to the party members who were still working on destroying the part.

“Everyone evacuate! Get out of there immediately!”

The party members, who turned around, were horrified to see the huge sword of light that Moo-myung had raised. I frantically waved my arms.

“No time! Jump down below Jormungandr’s body! Now!”

The party members immediately stopped their part destruction work, hooked their grappling hooks, and jumped down to the sides of Jormungandr’s body.

After checking the safety of the escaped party members with my eyes, I looked at Moo-myung.

Moo-myung was sweating profusely as she completed the sword of light.

With this, Crossroads would survive once again.

The world would maintain its existence…

“… !”

At that moment.

A strong premonition hit me.

– Please clear this world and lead it to the true ending.

The reason why I was called to this world and was going through all this hardship.

That thing that the self-proclaimed director, Aider, had mentioned – the existence of a ‘true ending’.

Among the conditions to clear to reach that true ending,

Thump!

“Stop, Moo-myung!”

…Moo-myung’s survival was necessary.

I grabbed Moo-myung’s shoulder and urgently stopped her. Moo-myung looked at me with surprised eyes.

There was no clear basis. It was just my gut feeling. But it was a feeling close to certainty.

The true ending that I had never reached in 742 playthroughs of this game.

And the princess of the Lake Kingdom, Moo-myung, whom I had never met in 742 playthroughs of this game.

These two were related.

I couldn’t let Moo-myung die here.

“But, isn’t there no other way, Ash!”

“…”

I bit my lower lip.

Moo-myung was right.

In this situation, the only way to stop Jormungandr was for Moo-myung to deliver the final blow.

Wasn’t preventing the immediate game over more important than the possibility of a true ending?

But, if I gave up on the true ending, wouldn’t everything we had done so far be for nothing?

‘Damn it, what should I do? What should I do!’

In a strategy, you always have to distinguish between ‘what can be compromised’ and ‘what cannot be compromised’.

What should I give up?

Who should I kill?

In that critical moment, I closed my eyes tightly.

For what… why do I have to repeat these choices again?

That’s when it happened.

Sparkle.

A beam of light flickered over my closed eyelids. I opened my eyes wide.

Sparkle. Sparkle. Sparkle.

Light was flashing from the city gate. I looked that way.

‘…Damian?’

In the center of the open city gate, Damian was standing straight.

Holding a signal lantern in his hand. Sending light to me.

‘He’s sending a signal with light…?’

The memory of Stage 3 flashed through my mind.

When I left for the Earl’s villa to save Evangeline. I asked Damian for sniper support.

At that time, as a means of signaling each other, the city used those lights, and I used a blue flame torch.

Sparkle. Sparkle. Sparkle.

The signal Damian sent me was three flashes.

Meaning, ‘Everything is okay here.’

In other words,

‘Sniper support ready!’

I saw Damian smiling awkwardly.

He was definitely carrying [Black Queen] on his back, but the dark aura from before was nowhere to be seen.

Did he overcome it?

I didn’t trust you and even imprisoned you?

“In this crazy world, Damian!”

My damn beautiful boy!

“Lower your sword, Moo-myung! Swallow your life force back!”

I slapped Moo-myung on the back and ran forward. Moo-myung, flustered, stammered.

“Come back, Ash! If you’re there, I can’t strike with my sword!”

“You don’t have to strike! I’m telling you to put away your sword? Trust me!”

To be precise, not me… trust my sniper! He’s the best cheat character in this game!

Leaving behind Moo-myung, who was bewildered and putting away the sword of light, I ran and stood next to the neural center of Jormungandr’s head.

I took out the blue flame torch from my inventory and drew a large circle.

Shoot, Damian.

“Right here-!”

***

Swish-

Damian, who had thrown the signal lantern aside, gripped the magic rifle with both hands.

“I can see you well, Your Highness.”

He could see Ash waving the torch diligently. And the snake’s horn-like protrusions next to it.

Damian, kneeling on one knee, shouldered the magic rifle and aligned his sight with the front and rear sights.

“With the strongest possible firepower.”

Damian whispered to the magic rifle.

Click, click, click…!

Then, the pure white magic rifle began to transform, emitting a magical light.

The barrel split left and right, forming two rails that extended forward.

At the same time, the magazine containing the magic bullets was disassembled.

The seven magic bullets that came out of the magazine chased each other’s tails, rotating in the air, and then merged into one large magic bullet, fixed in the air between the rails.

Chijik, chijijijik!

Because the barrel was split and the magazine was disassembled, the magic core was clearly exposed.

Magic power, like an electric current, surged from the pure white, incandescent magic core, supplying magic power to the rails.

Kugugugugu…!

Now, Jormungandr was literally right in front of him.

The monster’s breath was almost touching Damian’s face. But Damian was aiming until the very end.

He felt like he could see not only the part destruction, but also a deeper ‘something’.

‘If only it would stop for just a moment…!’

Then, Ash took out a dagger from his pocket,

Thwack!

And stabbed the snake’s head.

It was a one-time dagger, [Spirit Crasher], that forcibly inflicted a stun state on the target.

Because Jormungandr’s magic stats were so high, the stun lasted only for a literal moment.

“Ah.”

It was more than enough time for Damian.

“I saw it.”

Damian’s finger pulled the trigger.

Tuquaaaaang-!

The magic bullet was fired, emitting a lightning-like light.

The pure white magic bullet immediately flew and struck the neural center of Jormungandr’s head.

The layers of hardening buffs and Jormungandr’s innate massive magic defense formed a transparent barrier in the air, blocking the magic bullet.

Clang-!

However, it was useless.

The magic bullet, easily tearing through the defense, pierced through the neural center, which had only one strand of health left, and shattered it to pieces.

Jormungandr’s massive body immediately stopped in place.

But, it didn’t end there.

In that instant when Jormungandr’s defense was lowered due to the completion of the neural center part destruction.

The magic bullet did not miss that instant.

Thwack!

The magic bullet, like a living creature, curved its trajectory, and with the momentum of breaking the neural center, it dug into the back of Jormungandr’s neck-

Tuquaqwaqwaqwaqwak-!

And began to penetrate.

Inside Jormungandr’s body.

The magic bullet extended, tearing apart the massive snake’s body, which stretched straight in a straight line, from the inside.

It easily pierced through the powerful bones, organs, flesh, and skin of the mythical creature as if there was no resistance, pierced, pierced, and pierced again.

Five hearts too.

Nine spirit cores too.

All were pierced through.

Krrrreerrrrk?!

From the giant snake’s mouth, something like a scream burst out for the first time.

At the end of that long, single-point penetration-

Puhwak!

The magic bullet finally pierced through the end of the giant snake’s tail, losing its power and disappearing into the air.

It had essentially pierced the snake in a straight line from its head to its tail.

Krrraaaaaaaak!

Jormungandr raised its massive head and let out a long, terrible scream, then,

Kugugung…!