I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 3

“Immediately behead this rude bastard who has insulted the royal family and the commander-in-chief!” I ordered Ken’s execution, and Lucas’s face turned pale.

“Y-Your Highness! Ken is a fine knight of the Empire. He was just momentarily out of his mind due to fatigue from the continuous battles!”

“……”

“He fought most bravely in the previous battles. Please, be merciful!”

“It seems you didn’t hear my order, Lucas.”

Of course, I had no intention of killing Ken. Not even a little bit.

How could I kill a knight, a party member, when we were already short on soldiers? No, in the first place, I’m not a crazy bastard who kills people indiscriminately.

“Immediately, on this spot, behead Ken. That is an order!”

But more than that, I needed to firmly establish the command structure here.

From the start, Ash, the one I possessed, was an incompetent good-for-nothing.

With this place on the verge of collapse tomorrow, there was no way to gain the trust of my subordinates in just one night.

In the end, there was only one way to make them follow me.

Fear.

It was the worst of bad moves, the lowest of low tactics, but there was no other way.

“Ken!”

Seeing that I had no intention of changing my mind, a flustered Lucas turned to Ken.

“What are you doing! Apologize to His Highness right now!”

“Kuh……”

“Ken! Hurry! If you are a knight of the Empire, show respect and apologize to His Highness!”

Ken, who had been flinching, slowly lowered his head.

“I-I’m sorry, Your Highness. I was too agitated. Please forgive my rudeness.”

“Ken.”

I gave Ken a bleak, cynical look.

“You were thinking that, weren’t you? That since we’re all going to die here anyway, what difference does it make whether you die by my sword or a spider’s claw.”

Ken’s shoulders trembled greatly as if I had hit the nail on the head. I continued to grin.

“But, it’s different. The two are very different.”

“……?”

“If you die fighting a spider, you remain a knight, but if you die defying me, you remain a traitor.”

I pointed to the end of the corridor. Ken’s face turned pale as he looked in that direction.

At the end of the corridor was a pigeon cage.

Carrier pigeons.

They were the pigeons that had been flying back and forth for the past few days, carrying letters requesting reinforcements.

The black spider army did not attack the birds in the sky, so the carrier pigeons were functioning properly.

Even though we were likely to be annihilated before reinforcements arrived… Anyway, what I meant was,

“If you die in disgrace, it will bring shame to your family back home.”

I wasn’t just going to kill him for messing with me; I was going to make sure the news reached his homeland. That his family would suffer as well.

I was openly threatening him.

I had already learned from the [Character List] that Ken had a large family to support.

Now, Ken’s face was not just pale, but almost black. I whispered kindly.

“Death isn’t the end, Ken. Think about what comes after death.”

“I-I-I’m truly sorry, Your Highness!”

Ken was now kneeling on the floor.

“Please, have mercy……!”

“You dared to insult a member of the royal family to their face; you deserve to be executed.”

I shrugged.

“Considering the difficult war situation and your past achievements, I will let it slide this time.”

“Thank you, Your Highness……”

I was worried that Ken might get upset and start a fragging [attacking his own side], but thankfully, nothing like that happened. He just knelt obediently and submitted to me.

‘It’s a relief it worked.’

I secretly sighed inwardly.

It didn’t matter if it was shabby. It didn’t matter if it was petty.

This place was a gamble. If things didn’t go my way, even by a hair, we would all die anyway. Fortunately, it seemed I had successfully taken the initiative.

“Alright, and while we’re at it!”

I looked around at each of my party members and nodded.

“Wouldn’t it be better to survive together than to die together?”

It was such an obvious statement that there was no need to ask for agreement. The party members nodded blankly.

I stretched out my arm in front of them.

A carrot after the stick.

Act like a dog once, and then be honest and humble.

“I won’t make excuses! Due to my fatal misjudgment, our army is currently on the verge of annihilation.”

Everyone’s eyes widened. It was probably the first time they had seen this psycho prince admit his mistakes.

“But now is not the time to dwell on the mistakes we’ve made. It’s time to think about how to survive against those spider bastards.”

I looked at each of them in turn.

Lucas, Lily, Ken, and… Damian, who was still crouching and sobbing over there.

The faces of the people who were destined to die tomorrow, but who would resist with me.

“And, I have a way to drive out those black spider legions.”

Lucas’s eyes widened at my words.

“Really? Is that true, Your Highness?”

“Yes. It’s a slim chance, but I definitely have a chance of winning.”

Agitation spread among the party members.

Whether they were surprised by the words that there was a chance of winning, or whether they were dumbfounded by the mad prince’s nonsense, I couldn’t tell, but one thing was certain.

“Just once! Just once, won’t you trust me and follow me?”

After all, if you don’t want to be executed, you have to follow me.

***

After settling the atmosphere.

“From now on, I will explain the roles you will play in tomorrow’s battle.”

I had the party members sit in a circle in front of me and began the explanation.

“First, Lily.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Lily’s eyes sparkled as if she was listening intently to my words.

But her face stiffened at my next words.

“You will be the ‘shield’ of this party. As the main tank, block the spiders’ attacks.”

“……What?”

Lily asked back as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Umm, Your Highness. I’m a mage, a fire-type attack magic user……?”

Ignoring Lily’s bewildered question, I turned my gaze to Ken.

“And, Ken.”

“Yes, y-yes!”

“You will secretly infiltrate the center of the enemy lines and disrupt them.”

Ken, with the same face as Lily, pointed at himself with his hand.

“Me?! Infiltrate?! Disrupt?!”

“Next, Damian.”

Ignoring him as well, I turned my head towards the next party member.

The most important and most unstable member among us. The healing priest, Damian.

“You will be the ‘sniper’ of this party.”

“……”

“You must snipe the enemy’s most important target.”

Damian, who had been sniffling, looked up at me blankly, probably because he was also dumbfounded by these words.

“Lastly, Lucas. You will command the remaining soldiers to maintain the front line.”

“……”

Lucas’s mouth was wide open as he listened to the insane role assignments. Well, everyone’s reaction was as expected.

In the silence, it was Lily who cautiously offered her opinion.

“Umm, so, to summarize what Your Highness said… I, a fire attack mage, will stand at the front line and tank.”

“Yes.”

“Ken, a shield knight who is over 2 meters tall, will infiltrate the center of the enemy lines and carry out secret operations.”

“That’s right.”

“And Damian, a healing priest who has never held a bow in his life… will snipe?”

“That’s right. You heard well, Lily.”

“May I ask you one question, Your Highness?”

Lily looked up at me with a genuinely worried expression.

“Did you perhaps hit your head during the battle in the daytime?”

It was obvious that everyone was thinking the same thing, even if they didn’t say it.

It was natural that it sounded crazy. I had ordered a mage to tank, a shield knight to disrupt, and a healing priest to snipe.

But this was a stage that could not be cleared by normal means.

Then, isn’t the only way to clear it like a madman?

“Your doubts are valid. It certainly sounds like another suicide show by a mad prince just by listening to it.”

Everyone flinched at the same time, as if they really thought so.

“But all of you have the ‘ability’ to carry out the tasks I have assigned.”

I grinned and looked around at the faces of the party members.

“Am I wrong?”

“……”

At my words, Lily, Ken, and Damian exchanged glances with bewildered expressions.

***

A little while ago, before gathering the party members. In my quarters.

I was looking at the stat windows of the party members.

First, my escort knight and the protagonist of this game. Lucas.

[Lucas (SSR)]

– Level: 25

– Title: The Prince’s Escort Knight/Protagonist

– Class: Intermediate Knight

– Strength 25 Agility 25 Intelligence 10 Stamina 25 Magic 10

‘Wow~ Look at those beautiful stats.’

The level 25 stat limit is 25, and all the necessary stats for a knight are maxed out. His intelligence and magic aren’t even that low. He’s not an SSR-grade protagonist for nothing.

And his skills, let’s see.

– Skills

> Passive: Man of Steel

> Skill 1: Willpower Strike

> Skill 2: ??? (Unlocked after 2nd job advancement)

> Ultimate: ??? (Unlocked after 3rd job advancement)

The passive skill ‘Man of Steel’ increases basic defense and nullifies damage that would lead to death once per stage.

In this game where you die and get a game over if you make a mistake, it’s the best performance you can get. It’s like insurance for the protagonist.

The first skill, ‘Willpower Strike,’ is also a cheat-like, luxurious option befitting a protagonist. It’s a skill that permanently stacks every time you kill an enemy.

In other words, the damage increases every time you kill an enemy.

If the game progresses to the third year, this one skill becomes as powerful as the ultimate skill of any other hero. What a cheat……!

‘It’s a shame that the 2nd skill and ultimate haven’t been unlocked yet.’

He’s powerful enough even at the tutorial stage. He’s the protagonist after all.

‘Lucas is confirmed, next is……’

Shall I look at myself? I swiped the screen to the side.

[Ash (EX)]

– Level: 1

– Title: The Third Prince, Good-for-Nothing

– Class: Beginner

– Strength 1 Agility 1 Intelligence 1 Stamina 1 Magic 1

“……”

What is this garbage?

I was momentarily frozen in disbelief. But even after rubbing my eyes and looking again, I hadn’t seen it wrong. What?!?

No, what’s with level 1 in the first place? Wasn’t the lowest level in this game 5? And weren’t the basic stats also a minimum of 5? Why are all the stats 1?

‘And, what’s with the EX grade?’

It was a grade I had never seen before. Wasn’t his original grade N?

The character grades in this game are classified as SSR-SR-R-N.

EX was something I had never seen before, even after playing this game to its limits, so I was flustered.

‘Ash, ‘I’ have… become a different character from the game.’

I was flustered. I was flustered, but still, it could be a variable.

Who knows? Maybe he’ll become an unexpected jackpot machine in this desperate situation.

Trying to keep my hope circuit running, I also looked at his skills. Let’s see.

– Skills

> None

“……”

No, calm down. Calm down and take a deep breath.

It’s because he’s level 1 right now. When he levels up and changes jobs, he’ll gain skills and his stats will increase.

I tried to think that way, not stopping the hope circuit that was starting to smell like it was burning.

I turned off the skill tab and opened the trait tab.

Traits are separate from skills, and they are habits or quirks that a character gains during their growth process that affect their stats.

There is no limit to how many you can obtain, but you can only equip up to 3.

When I opened the trait tab, one trait was visible.

– Equipped Traits (1/3)

> Map Creation

“Ah, there it is.”

Fortunately, Ash’s trait from the game was still there.

Map Creation. It’s not actually the ability to draw maps, but,

[Map Creation Lv.1]

– You can grasp the entire battlefield as a dot-shaped minimap. Can be activated once a day for 5 minutes.

It’s an ability that only a player would have, so I wondered why a character would have it……

‘Was it a skill given from the beginning, assuming that a player like me would possess the character?’

Well, it wasn’t the problem to worry about now. It was something to think about after getting through the immediate crisis.

After confirming the existence of Map Creation, I quickly turned off my stat window. The numbers were so miserable that I didn’t want to see them anymore.

Now, shall I look at the stat windows of the other three?

“Hmm, they’re all average.”

Lily, Ken, and Damian were all characters of similar grades, so there wasn’t much to see.

Lily was the only one who was a decent R-grade mage with good stats. Ken, an N-grade knight, and Damian, an N-grade healing priest, had stats that were typical of N-grade characters.

If the stats I could see were all there was, I would have given up on the strategy long ago. Because it was impossible.

But… Lily, Ken, and Damian have something special.

A ‘prank’ that the developers had planted in the tutorial characters, which could not be used in the game.