I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 253

A few days later. It was afternoon, past noon.

Standing on the city wall, I swallowed hard.

Finally, the day of Stage 10 had arrived.

Even a regular defense battle is nerve-wracking, but today is a boss stage. It’s only natural to be even more tense.

‘It might be easier than I thought.’

I thought of the vampire legion that had popped out in Stage 5.

Those bastards had ridiculous gimmicks and were terribly powerful.

The werewolf legion is also formidable in terms of raw power, but the vampire legion was definitely a bigger pain in the ass.

Those guys came back to life when they died, didn’t they?

Moreover, due to the penalty for the werewolf legion’s intrusion in the last Stage 9, a dark event did not occur.

According to Aider, the werewolf legion had several other penalties imposed on them.

They’re probably weaker than the werewolf legions I’ve faced in the game.

‘It’s doable.’

I glanced around the city wall.

Packed with various defensive weapons and artifacts, soldiers wearing good armor and wielding good weapons, and dozens of hero characters ready for battle.

Confidence surged. I nodded in satisfaction.

“They’re coming-!”

At that moment, a scout shouted. I raised my binoculars and scanned the southern plains.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Hundreds of werewolves appeared in the distance, kicking up dust clouds as they stomped their feet.

I shuddered. Those monsters are finally here!

[Enemy Information – STAGE 10]

– Lv.? ??? : 1

– Lv.45 White Werewolf : 4

– Lv.35 Gray Werewolf : 245

– Lv.30 Brown Werewolf : 450

The number was exactly 700.

I swallowed hard and then sharply extended my hand to the side.

Then, the soldiers simultaneously moved to the cannons and ballistae, preparing to fire.

When they got closer, I planned to fill their mouths with the crossfire, a specialty of our Crossroads.

But,

Thump! Thump! Thump……!

The werewolves, who had been advancing in formation, suddenly stopped.

They were exactly outside the range of our artillery. They stopped advancing and just kept pacing in place.

Time passed with only dust clouds swirling around the werewolf pack.

Our artillerymen were sweating. Feeling awkward, I just blinked. What are they doing?

‘Is this some kind of ‘Nigawa’ tactic…?’

What is ‘Nigawa’?

It means ‘You come here’.

It’s a tactic of only making small attacks from a distance, waiting for the opponent to drop their guard and attack.

To fight in a more advantageous battlefield.

In defense games, it’s the stance I, the player, always take.

Like, ‘You think you’re so good at fighting?! Come to the city wall!’

…But now, the werewolves are entrenched in the plains, protesting, ‘If you want to kill us, drop your defense and come out to the plains.’

A normal monster legion would immediately attack the closest humans, but these are werewolves with high individual intelligence, directly under the Nightmare Legion Commander.

That’s why they’re capable of this kind of behavior.

‘Well, this is ridiculous.’

I chuckled. As if I would go out there.

In the game, there was a time limit, so I had to go out to the plains and beat them while shedding tears of blood.

But here, there’s no time limit, of course.

Besides, we have the overwhelming advantage of the city wall and defensive weapons.

Why would I give up my home-ground advantage and play along with your numbers?

I raised my binoculars and scanned them. In the swirling dust clouds, I saw four huge white werewolves and a silver-red-maned werewolf sitting on a chair between them.

Lunared.

The werewolf king, who met my gaze, grinned cruelly and then flicked his finger at me.

As if telling me to come out.

My eyebrows twitched.

‘That bastard?’

Soon, Lunared disappeared from view, obscured by the thick dust clouds kicked up by the werewolves.

I gritted my teeth and put down the binoculars.

‘I’m not going out there, no matter what, you bastards!’

I’ll wait for days or months! You come in here!

***

Night fell.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Those damn werewolves really didn’t advance an inch further, and just kept stomping their feet.

Since werewolves get a buff from moonlight, I thought they might move at night.

But that wasn’t the case at all. They were still in place, their faces full of energy under the moonlight. What the hell are they doing!

Maybe it’s because they have tremendous natural healing power and their recovery increases under the moonlight. The werewolves still looked lively even after spending the whole night.

On the other hand, our soldiers on the city wall were already exhausted.

It’s understandable. The werewolves keep stomping their feet as if they’re about to attack, inducing tension, but they don’t actually charge.

They’ve been depleting their mental and physical strength in a state of combat readiness for more than half a day.

The condition of our soldiers was noticeably deteriorating.

“I’ve never seen monsters move like this before…”

“That’s right. They always attacked as quickly as possible, taking the shortest route. I can’t believe they’re trying to wear us down by dragging out the time.”

Lucas, agreeing with me, narrowed his eyes and added.

“It feels like we’re fighting a war against humans.”

“……”

I pursed my lips. A chill ran down my spine belatedly.

Anyway, I couldn’t let the soldiers suffer all night.

I divided the soldiers into two groups and ordered them to take turns resting.

The same went for the hero party members. I told them to just spread out and sleep until I called them.

They are the most important force, so they need to conserve their strength.

Watching my companions go into makeshift lodgings to sleep or squatting in various places on the city wall to rest, I leaned back in my chair and continued to stare at the enemy camp.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The werewolves were stomping their feet in an orderly fashion under the moonlight.

How long are they going to keep doing that?

Is your goal to wear us down? Or do you really want us to drop our defense and come out to attack you?

‘What the hell are you thinking, Lunared…!’

***

…Night passed, dawn broke, and it went past morning.

It was afternoon again. A full day had passed since the monsters first appeared.

The unprecedented situation of monsters not being defeated for more than a day caused the citizens to become anxious.

Defense battles in the city had never lasted more than a day, no matter what.

Besides, they’ve been stomping and making noise all day.

The citizens were uneasy, and there were many inquiries about whether they should go to the shelters like they did during the last defense battle.

The shelters built outside the north wall of the city had various emergency facilities, so they would be more advantageous for survival in an emergency.

I announced that citizens who wanted to could go to the shelters.

Then, more than half of the citizens packed their bags and went to the shelters. Safety first, I guess.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The crazy werewolves were still stomping their feet, kicking up dust, and the soldiers on the city wall had now more or less adapted to the situation.

The soldiers took turns going back to the barracks to rest.

In the process, they would go to the smithy to leave equipment that needed repairs, and the heroes also disappeared one by one below the city wall to take care of their own business.

It had become lax.

It had become lax.

But I couldn’t blame the soldiers and heroes.

What could I do when those damn werewolves showed no sign of attacking?

It would be more efficient to relax and rest rather than staying tense and collapsing when the monsters finally attacked.

“Your Highness. I’ll go take care of the seriously ill at the temple.”

“Ah, me too. I’ll stop by the alchemy workshop and check on the situation at the shelter before returning.”

Margherita and Lily came to me and said. I nodded readily.

This 5-person party, consisting of these two and three support heroes, was the last reserve unit.

Even if the werewolves started advancing again, they could join the city wall a little later.

And these two had previously been in charge of building and managing the shelters.

Now that the residents’ stay at the shelters was longer than expected, they would want to see the situation.

“Go take care of your business. If something happens, I’ll shoot a flare, so join us immediately.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I’ll be back! Everyone, stay strong!”

Margherita and Lily’s party of five disappeared below the city wall.

I watched the soldiers and heroes going up and down the city wall, and then yawned deeply.

“This is getting sluggish…”

***

The sun began to set beyond the eastern horizon. It was almost night.

Looking at the western sky on the opposite side, I saw a round moon rising.

A full moon.

It was a full moon.

“……”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Was it my imagination? As the full moon rose, the sound of the werewolves’ stomping seemed to grow louder.

And then,

Woof!

Woof woof woof-!

Suddenly, they all turned their mouths to the sky and began to howl.

The howling of hundreds of werewolves filled the wide plains.

The soldiers on the city wall, who had been dozing off, startled and rose to their feet.

I swallowed hard.

‘It wasn’t Nigawa, were they waiting for the full moon?’

Werewolves are basically buffed by moonlight, and the effect is maximized on the night of the full moon.

If they were waiting for the full moon to rise, then their strange behavior yesterday would be explained.

They were waiting to receive the strongest possible buff.

‘Ha!’

I snorted in amusement.

Whether it’s the day before the full moon or the day of the full moon, they don’t become invincible no matter how strong the buff they receive.

At best, they’ll just become a little faster and a little more ferocious.

They’ll still be ground to pieces by our crossfire.

‘Stop the nonsense and come quickly! I’ll kill you all!’

I raised my binoculars to scan their camp. I wouldn’t be able to see anything after the sun set, so I wanted to take one last look.

“Tch.”

But the dust clouds kicked up by their stomping were so thick that I couldn’t see anything properly.

Especially Lunared, who I hadn’t been able to spot since the first time I saw him.

It was as if he had left his camp…

“……?”

At that moment, I felt a chill.

Thump!

I threw the binoculars to the ground and put my hand to my forehead. Wait, just wait a minute.

Why are they stomping and howling so loudly?

I thought it was to make our soldiers tense and wear them down. But what if it wasn’t?

‘What if it was to draw attention to themselves?’

Why would they try to draw attention to themselves? Well, obviously, to hide ‘something else’.

What were they trying to hide?

‘Feint to the east, attack the west.’

Distract the enemy’s attention and attack the opposite side – the basics of military strategy came to mind.

What if, while the main force was loudly drawing attention, they dispatched a separate unit in the darkness and dust clouds?

‘But where would they send a separate unit? After all, the monsters only attack the south wall of Crossroads…’

I stopped thinking and widened my eyes.

That’s when I realized there was a gap in my thinking.

‘Why was I assuming that they would only attack the ‘south wall’ of Crossroads?’

The area in front of the south wall of Crossroads is a plain.

On the other hand, the areas in front of the east and west walls are swamps, and the area around the north wall is a rugged mountain area.

Due to these geographical features and the distance to the Lake Kingdom dungeon, the monsters, who always wanted to kill humans in the shortest distance, had always attacked the south wall.

The same was true in the game. In the game, the north, east, and west walls were not even managed.

Defense battles were only fought on the south wall.

But this is reality.

And if they were cunning werewolves, they could very well bypass the swamps and mountains and attack the other, less defended walls…!

“……Wait a minute.”

And then, it hit me.

The shelters.

The place built in preparation for the advance of Jormungandr… is outside the north wall.

If the werewolf legion really did dispatch a separate unit.

And if their separate unit attacked the shelters-

“Shit.”

I wasn’t sure. But I had a feeling.

I shouted urgently.

“Reinforce the defenses at the east, west, and north gates! Send a messenger to the shelters outside the north gate!”

“Huh?” Lucas asked in surprise, and I yelled at him.

“Tell them all to come inside the city wall! Hurry!”

***

Northeast of Crossroads. The shelters.

“Why are these monsters dragging their feet like this, Lily?”

Lily smiled and answered a worried citizen.

“Don’t worry. Our army will wipe them out soon anyway. You can just sleep here for one more day.”

“I feel uneasy. I’ve lived here for 20 years, and I’ve never seen monsters drag their feet like this.”

“Haha. What kind of person is our lord? He’s defeated even worse monsters, hasn’t he? It’ll be the same this time.”

“I trust our lord, but…”

Lily, who smiled at the groaning citizen, finished repairing the broken alchemy water purification facility.

Over there, Margherita was taking care of the sick citizens.

Unlike usual, the confrontation with the monster legion continued to drag on, and an ominous atmosphere hung over the shelters.

The sound of the monsters’ stomping and howling echoed faintly even here.

‘……It’ll be okay. Let’s do what I have to do.’

Lily, suppressing the rising anxiety, wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked up to see if there were any other facilities to fix.

That’s when it happened.

“Aaaah!”

“Kuaaaah!”

The screams of the guards rang out roughly.

Lily, along with the surprised people, looked in that direction-

《What’s this.》

Holding the corpse of a guard torn in two, a huge silver-red-maned werewolf was grinning cruelly.

《There’s a lot of tasty stuff here~?》