I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 237

The Right Thing to Do

A few hours earlier.

Inside the barracks of Crossroads, in Reina’s room.

“The procedure is almost finished.”

Reina, having completed the magical treatment on Junior, wiped her hands and stood up.

“How do you feel?”

“How do I feel… I still feel like I’m dying…”

Junior, with a pale complexion, adjusted his clothes.

“I overdid it last time, so my mana core is still boiling… Ugh.”

“Stop exaggerating.”

Reina flicked her hand and smacked Junior’s bare back.

Junior let out a strange scream, “Eek!” and flinched.

“Why did you hit me! I’m a sick patient!”

“Your mana core hurts, not your back, right?”

It was true when she said it like that, but it still felt unfair to be hit.

Reina chuckled at Junior, who was glaring at her with dissatisfaction.

“Remember, this procedure isn’t a panacea. It will reduce your discomfort and extend your lifespan, but the magical scars on your heart are difficult to heal completely.”

Junior pressed his hand over his left chest, his lips tightly shut. Reina continued.

“You’ll suffer from aftereffects for the rest of your life, and you’ll live shorter than others.”

“You’re not cursing me, are you…?”

“Well, it’s still better than before, right?”

Indeed, Reina was right.

Originally, he was supposed to die within a few years.

He used to cough up blood every time he used magic, and his stomach hurt so much that he would burn herbs like cigarettes all night.

He still feels pain when he overdoes it, and he sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night with pain. But it was clearly better than before. It was all thanks to Reina, who helped with the procedure.

‘So… why?’

Why did this woman go so far to help him?

Junior had made various guesses, but Reina never gave him an answer. She would only say things like, ‘It’s all good,’ and nothing more…

“I’m going back to the capital after the next defense battle.”

As Junior finished dressing and stood up, Reina suddenly suggested.

“Do you want to come with me?”

“Huh?”

“It would be fun to present your magical achievements directly to the Ivory Tower [a prestigious magic academy], and do some research in the Magic Tower… don’t you think?”

Junior’s mind went blank for a moment at the unexpected proposal.

Magical research in the imperial capital, the center of world magic…

For Junior, who had learned magic by himself his whole life, it was a dizzyingly sweet offer.

“…”

However, Junior shook his head without much hesitation.

“This monster frontline is the first place that treated me like a mage. And my mother… she gave her life here.”

“Hmm.”

“I might leave someday, but not yet. I haven’t repaid the favor I received from His Highness the Prince.”

“Is that so? That’s a shame.”

Reina didn’t push the matter further. She just smiled coolly and shrugged.

“Then, since you won’t be able to receive this medicinal treatment and precious teachings in a few days, it would be good to hang out with this old lady as much as possible, right?”

“How can we hang out more than this…?”

“Let’s have lunch together and go to a cafe to chat. I have things to talk about regarding your magic.”

“I’m not feeling well…”

“Will your mana core injury get better by lying in bed? You’ll get better if you eat, drink, and rest comfortably, so stop complaining and come with me.”

Reina, who had unilaterally declared this, hummed a tune and put on her coat.

Junior raised both hands in surrender. After all, this non-mage does whatever she wants. And he was the one who received the treatment…

‘Looks like I’m going to be dragged around again today.’

Junior followed Reina, and Reina cheerfully led the way, opening the door.

Squeak-

“Hmm?”

And then.

A middle-aged man they had never seen before was standing in front of the door.

He had long, dark brown hair that hung down like seaweed. His melancholy eyes were filled with a gloomy light.

“Lady Reina.”

The man—Camus, a mercenary newly hired in Crossroads—spoke.

“It’s been a while. Do you remember me?”

Reina, momentarily flustered, blinked and scratched the back of her head.

“I’m getting old, so my memory is failing… Excuse me, but who are you?”

“It’s normal that you don’t recognize me. Your imperial magic corps only specialized in long-range artillery battles, right?”

Camus smiled faintly.

“You wouldn’t have had the chance to see the faces of the victims.”

“…?”

Reina, noticing something strange about the man, quickly scanned her surroundings.

“…!”

And she found them.

The subordinates who should have been guarding her door were collapsed in the hallway, covered in blood.

Camus slowly, but clearly, introduced himself.

“I am the man who lost his wife and children to you 15 years ago.”

Shing!

A thick longsword was drawn from the scabbard at Camus’s waist.

At the same time, Reina leaped back and extended her hand forward.

Thwack-!

A powerful wind bullet was fired from Reina’s fingertips.

It wasn’t something to brag about, but it was a mass-killing magic that had taken down so many enemies at close range that it was hard to keep count.

Reina thought that the man in front of her would also be subdued in an instant, covered in blood.

However.

Clang-!

It disappeared.

When Camus swung his sword, the wind bullet that Reina had fired was sucked in and vanished. At the same time, a rune engraved on the blade of Camus’s longsword flashed white. Reina’s eyes widened.

‘That weapon, could it be a Spell-Drinker…?!’

A sword that absorbs magic.

Where did he get such an ancient artifact…

Thud!

The next moment, Camus kicked off the ground and rushed towards Reina, closing the distance.

Reina desperately cast wind magic and fired it, but it was all absorbed by Camus’s sword and disappeared. A look of bewilderment crossed Reina’s face.

‘Damn it, this is dangerous-‘

Reina hurriedly gathered her mana and created a barrier in front of her body, but.

Thud-!

Camus’s longsword immediately pierced through the barrier, and with the momentum, it pierced Reina’s abdomen.

“Cough… Huk?!”

“I’ve been training my whole life to put an end to you mages.”

Camus coldly spat out in Reina’s ear as she bent over, coughing up blood.

“Don’t give them distance, don’t give them time. Then, even the most powerful mages will be pierced by my sword like this.”

Reina, who was spilling blood from her mouth, raised her trembling eyes and glared at Camus.

“Who, who are you… Why are you doing this to me…?”

“Do you remember the Kingdom of Camilla?”

Camus sneered.

“A small northern country that your empire trampled on 15 years ago. I was a soldier of that country.”

Reina’s eyes widened.

The Kingdom of Camilla. How could she forget?

It was the place where the fates of Jupiter, Reina, and Junior, the three mages, were divided.

“In the war to trample that small country, your imperial magic corps burned the people of my country, regardless of age or gender. They burned civilians to death under the pretext of suppressing guerrillas.”

“…!”

“My wife and children lived in one of the villages that you wiped out with magic. The whole village was reduced to ashes, and I couldn’t even find their bodies.”

Camus coldly murmured, pushing the pierced longsword deeper.

“You didn’t think you could die peacefully after committing such acts, did you, Commander Reina of the Magic Corps?”

“Kuh…!”

“Feel even a fraction of the pain that my country and my family suffered, and then die.”

Thwack-!

Camus kicked Reina’s chest, pulling out the longsword, and raised it high.

He was about to cut off Reina’s head.

Flash!

At that moment, lightning struck.

Camus reflexively rolled to the side and raised his longsword.

The lightning magic was absorbed by Camus’s longsword, and one of the runes engraved on the sword glowed and faded.

Camus’s cold eyes glared at the one who had cast the lightning magic.

Junior was holding up his staff with a pale face.

“Stop! Right now!”

“Are you also part of the magic corps? Then you will die too.”

“No, I’m also from the Kingdom of Camilla! I’m your compatriot! So, please calm down and stop!”

At that, a faint look of bewilderment crossed Camus’s face.

“You’re from the Kingdom of Camilla?”

“Yes. And I’m also a victim of the magic bombing.”

Junior rolled up his sleeve, revealing his left arm. The burn scars from the magic bombing were clearly visible.

“I understand your feelings. So please calm down a little…”

“You’re a survivor of the magic bombing from the Kingdom of Camilla, so why are you protecting that woman?”

Camus asked with a face that showed he couldn’t understand.

“That woman, Reina, and the magic corps under her command… the Everblack Empire! They trampled on our homeland. They massacred even innocent civilians with magic bombing. You were there, so why are you so calmly associating with them?”

“Th, that’s…”

Junior was momentarily speechless and stammered.

“That’s… I…”

Suddenly, a childhood nightmare flashed through his mind.

The day when lightning and tornadoes swept through the small village. The day when everyone in the village was killed. The charred bodies of people, the roar and screams. The suffocating smell of burning…

“…”

Junior didn’t know what to do and was at a loss, and Camus just stared at the young mage.

It was then.

Thwack! Thwack-!

Reina, who had been holding her pierced abdomen and collapsed, shot out wind magic from her hand with a venomous look.

Camus quickly swung his longsword to absorb all the magic, but each time, the light of the runes engraved on the sword faded one by one.

When the light of all the runes went out, Camus’s longsword could no longer absorb magic.

Boom-!

Camus’s body, unable to block the subsequent wind magic, floated into the air and crashed into the opposite wall.

Camus grimaced and smiled bitterly.

“Damn it… I got distracted… I gave them both distance and time…!”

Bang! Thud! Crash!

The wind magic that poured down in succession completely subdued him.

“Haa, haa, haa…!”

Reina, who had squeezed out her last strength to pin Camus down, gasped for breath and then collapsed, coughing up blood.

Only then did Junior come to his senses, and he frantically took out a potion and poured it on Reina’s wounds, shouting out as loud as he could.

“H, help! Someone’s hurt here! Hurry!”

***

Currently.

“Oh, dear…”

After hearing the news from Aider, I pressed my throbbing temples with my fingertips.

Camus, the newly recruited SR-grade warrior character, had gone on a rampage, and Reina, her subordinates, and Junior, who were attacked, had been transferred to the temple.

“Lady Reina has suffered serious injuries and is undergoing surgery, but she is currently in critical condition. Four of her subordinates have also suffered serious injuries.”

“What about Junior?”

“Fortunately, he wasn’t physically injured… but he seems to be having a hard time mentally. He’s resting in his hospital room now.”

“…”

I pressed my temples harder and slowly spoke.

“What about Camus?”

“He’s been detained in prison. All his weapons have been removed, and he’s been bound.”

I turned to Lucas and asked.

“If someone intentionally uses a weapon to injure an ally, what kind of punishment do they receive under military law?”

“It depends on the severity of the injury, but in serious cases, it can lead to the death penalty.”

Lucas replied in a calm, stern voice.

“Moreover, Lady Reina, who was attacked this time, is the commander of the Imperial Magic Corps directly under the Imperial Family. If he swung his sword with the intention of killing her… it will be difficult to avoid the death penalty.”

“…”

Sigh.

I let out a short sigh and stood up.

“Let’s go to the prison first.”

It was the first time that allies had tried to kill each other within my military camp.

I felt the need to find out the reason.

“I need to talk to Camus about why he did this.”

I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]

I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]

Tyrant of the Tower Defense Game 디펜스 게임의 폭군이 되었다
Status: Completed Author: Native Language: Korean
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[English Translation] In the relentless pursuit of conquering an unbeatable tower defense game, a dedicated gamer finally achieves the impossible—only to awaken within the very world he just mastered. Now inhabiting the body of a noble exiled to a perilous border fortress, he faces relentless waves of monstrous adversaries. Armed with his gaming expertise and strategic prowess, he must rally heroes, fortify defenses, and navigate treacherous politics to protect his newfound reality. Dive into a thrilling saga where virtual tactics become real-world survival in "I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game."

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