I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 241

Countless human-shaped ‘somethings’ were scattered in the air above the inner castle walls. They were wrapped in shadows like cocoons, crouching like pupae waiting to metamorphose. I stared blankly at this bizarre scene before snapping back to my senses. ‘What are you doing, Ash! What are you doing, you history nerd!’ How could someone who’s played this game 742 times be so intimidated by this sight? ‘Well, the game didn’t show this wall in detail with the camera, but still…’ I needed to stay calm! I was the party leader! I slapped my cheeks and turned around, shouting to my party members. “Snap out of it, guys!” “……!” “We’ve been through worse hells than this! If we get intimidated by something like this, the hells we’ve already been through will laugh at us!” Whether it was because of my words or my passive skill that prevents the party’s mental state from deteriorating, I didn’t know. The frozen party members came to their senses one by one at my voice. Cling. Thud. They all stuck close to me with terrified faces… Seriously, are you guys a bunch of chicks? What are you doing! I took the lead and strode towards the inner castle wall. Even if this was just a background scene, I needed to figure out why it was like this. The party members followed me, shuffling behind me. “Hmm.” Bricks and human-shaped somethings floating in the air. They were trapped inside an invisible, transparent magic barrier. So, this grotesque scene was just background decoration, and the actual ‘inner castle wall’ was a transparent magic wall. “Berdandi, why is it like this here?” “I don’t really… know.” Berdandi answered, looking up with a pale face. “It’s been like this since our party first came here.” “……” “However, there’s something you should know. These human-shaped somethings are piled up endlessly inside the inner castle area. You’ll be seeing them a lot from now on.” The party members’ faces all turned pale at those words. Damn it, we have to keep moving with this as the background? “The adventurers who explore this place call them… ‘Shadow Cocoons’.” “Shadow Cocoons…” “They’re basically harmless. They just stay curled up. But sometimes…” Berdandi hesitated before speaking. “…They talk.” “Talk…?” Could they be alive? “It’s like they’re mumbling, making unclear sounds… Most of them say the same thing.” Berdandi reluctantly spoke the next words. “They ask to be killed.” “……” “They beg to be killed.” Rustle, rustle… Everyone froze at the sound of darkness, like insects gnawing away, “Wah!” Berdandi suddenly shouted and threw her arm up. “Eek!” “Aaaah!” “Squawk!” Evangeline, Damian, and Kuilran, who were right behind me, screamed and jumped up. Seriously, Kuilran, you shouldn’t be like that! “Haha, sorry. You all looked so stiff, I just wanted to loosen you up a bit.” “Loosen us up? You’re giving us a heart attack!” Kuilran was actually foaming at the mouth and had collapsed. Someone please make this old man act his age, please. This dungeon was already scary enough with no sunlight and monsters popping out everywhere, but with these things in the background, it became even scarier. I scratched the goosebumps on my arm. “Haha… But really! You can’t be this tense.” Berdandi covered her mouth and chuckled, adding softly. “There are worse things waiting inside.” “……” “And there are real monsters that are after our lives.” Those words snapped me back to my senses. Because I realized what was truly scary. “Right. More than these talking shadows, it’s more terrifying if monsters destroy my city and people lose their lives…” These things are just background, no matter how grotesque and scary they look. Monsters are real threats. Real monsters that try to kill humans on the ground. What I should fear is the damage that will occur if I fail to stop them, not this scenery. The party members slowly nodded at my words. Good. I hope they remembered the enemy we need to focus on and stop. “Alright, everyone’s awake now? Loosen your shoulders! Let’s go straight to our destination!” I patted the party members and gestured towards Kuilran, who was still passed out on the floor. “…And wake up that sunfish too.” Show some dignity as the sub-party leader, you bandit! *** We didn’t have to walk long before reaching our target dungeon, [Inner Castle Checkpoint]. The walls around the checkpoint weren’t floating in the air, and there were no human-shaped shadows around. It was a solid and sturdy wall. The black iron gate in between was firmly closed and didn’t budge. As we approached, a system window popped up in front of us. [Area 6: Inner Castle Checkpoint] – This stage is in the form of a ‘Capture Battle’. – Find and capture the dungeon’s core, and maintain it for a set time. – Acquired Treasure Chests: 0/2 Capture Battle. This is a type of battle we’ll see often as we clear dungeon areas. As the explanation says, a capture point is formed within the dungeon, and clearing it involves occupying that point for a set time. Usually, the capture point is where the boss is guarding, and after dealing with the boss, additional monster waves come, making it a complex dungeon with various gimmicks. ‘The deeper we go, the more complex and difficult the dungeons become…’ Among these capture-type dungeons, this Inner Castle Checkpoint is unique. Because, as it appears, this place is a kind of castle. First, we have to break through the gate or climb the walls, and after a siege battle, we can start the real dungeon raid. That’s why in the game, we had to make siege weapons. Whether it was a battering ram to break the gate or a ladder to climb the walls, we had to procure them to proceed. The battering ram was ridiculously expensive and not very useful, and climbing with a ladder was too risky, so either way, it was a painful choice. But I didn’t bring any siege weapons this time. That’s because we don’t need a battering ram or a ladder. “Damian.” After finishing preparations to send in the other party members, I instructed Damian. “Fire. At maximum output.” “Yes!” Damian aimed his Black Queen forward and immediately activated ‘Nightmare Slayer’ mode. Click, click! The long barrel of the magic gun transformed haphazardly, eventually forming two long rails. Then, seven magic bullets were condensed between the rails into one large magic bullet. Crack, crackle…! Magical currents sparked between the rails, completing the firing preparations, and then. Thwack-! It was fired. The magic bullet, fired with such force that it shattered the gun’s barrel, hit the thick gate, Crunch! Piercing the gate and crushing the steel, Bang-! Finally, it shattered the gate and crashed inside. The force was so powerful that the walls around the gate were torn off and collapsed. “Nice shot, Damian.” I grinned and patted Damian’s shoulder. Damian took off his tattered heat-resistant gloves and smiled innocently at me. Last time he fired in that mode, he got burns on his arm, so this time I had him wear heat-resistant gloves from the blacksmith. It seemed to have blocked the damage reasonably well. ‘We broke through the biggest obstacle, the gate, but it’s also true that we used up one of our trump cards.’ I stared at the wide-open gate and quickly counted the means I had left. Before any other variables arise, we’ll clear this quickly. “We’re going in! The capture point, the ‘flagpole,’ is straight ahead as I explained.” I shouted to the party members. “Break through the shortest route and capture the flagpole. Let’s go!” “I’ll take the lead!” “Let’s go~!” Lucas and Evangeline took the lead, followed by me, Berdandi, and the penal unit. Damian stayed in place, pulling out another magic gun. Swish, swish! The guards on the walls simultaneously rained down arrows. They weren’t the werewolves from this season, but new monsters. Red skin, horns on their foreheads, and membranous wings on their backs. ‘Demonkin!’ The highest-tier monster corps dispatched to each key dungeon. Finally, we meet these guys. The demons, even wearing armor, drew their bows in an orderly fashion. A rain of arrows poured down on our heads. The arrow fire from the high ground was definitely threatening. ‘The monsters invading Crossroads must always see this kind of scene.’ While calmly thinking that as I watched the arrows coming right at us, “Let’s go-!” Evangeline crouched down on her short legs and then jumped up. Soaring like a flying squirrel, Evangeline raised her shield in mid-air, blocking the first wave of arrows with her body. Thud, thud, thud-! The sound of rain hitting a window echoed as Evangeline’s shield turned white-hot. Then, that white light moved to Evangeline’s lance. Thwack-! Evangeline swung her lance horizontally, scattering the light gathered on it in all directions. A gust of wind blew, sweeping away all the arrows. She used the [Damage Save] on her shield to gather damage and then unleashed it with the [Damage Payback] on her lance, cleanly blocking the arrow barrage. “Yahoo!” Evangeline, her platinum blonde hair fluttering, landed next to me and blinked her big green eyes. “Now, please praise me too!” “Nice cover, Evangeline!” “Hehehe.” Evangeline grinned, showing her teeth. She’s so silly… We had to pass under the gate before the second wave of arrows came. Lucas, activating [Tenacity Step], ran forward like a flash. Thump! Thump! Thump! Then, heavily armored demon soldiers stood in the empty gate, holding up shields as big as their bodies. Were they trying to block the gate with their bodies? “Haaah-!” Without hesitation, Lucas charged straight at them, a dazzling light gathering on his longsword. Flash! [Willpower Strike] activated, slicing through the demon soldiers and their shields horizontally. Lucas’s first skill, which had been steadily building up stacks, possessed tremendous destructive power with each strike. Lucas, having shattered the enemy’s defense, immediately turned to me. I gave him a thumbs up, understanding the signal. “Nice charge, Lucas!” Then Lucas became as proud as a large dog that had received praise. Evangeline, on the other hand, frowned. Seriously, were they always this hungry for praise? Or have I been stingy all this time? Bang! Bang-! While Damian, positioned outside, was sniping the archers on the walls one by one, our main force safely broke through the gate. “Berdandi! Join the cleanup on the walls. You’ll be okay alone, right?” “I’m an assassin, after all. Don’t worry.” Berdandi immediately climbed the stairs to the inner castle walls. With Berdandi and Damian’s sniping support, the upper area would be cleared quickly. The demon soldiers blocking our main force’s path were quickly dealt with by Lucas’s slashes and Evangeline’s strikes. Before long, we reached the capture point, the ‘flagpole’. And, under the empty flagpole with no flag. 《……》 A boss monster was waiting. A large demon, completely covered in armor, with four large horns on its forehead. Ding! At the same time, the system window updated. [Inner Castle Checkpoint – Capture Point Reached!] – Defeat the boss and maintain the capture for 5 minutes! – Lv.40 Demon Gatekeeper 《This place is for the people of the Lake Kingdom.》 A tired-sounding voice came from the boss monster’s mouth. 《Non-citizens who do not have the qualifications cannot enter.》 Thump! The monster, taking out its weapon – a large club – growled. 《Submit your identification and documents. I will review whether you are qualified to enter the chosen land.》 This guy, like other dungeon boss monsters, was spouting strange lines with a vague context. “I knew this would happen, so I brought my passport on the way.” I took out the royal family’s black jade badge from my pocket and shook it, sneering. “Will this get us entry, supervisor?” Thump! Instead of answering, the boss monster slammed its club on the ground. I clicked my tongue in annoyance, put the badge back, and took out my magic staff instead. “You said you’d review it, you bastard!” 《Entry denied! Go back!》 “No, it’s not like we’re going to do anything bad, we’re just going to take your king’s head and leave?!” As I swung my staff, the party members charged forward at once. Against us, the boss monster also charged forward.