I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 324

“Ugh…”

I groaned.

“Ughhh…”

As I continued to groan and twist my body, Evangeline, who was sitting with me at the lord’s mansion dining hall for a late dinner, furrowed her brow.

“What’s wrong, Senior? Does your stomach hurt? Do you need to go to the restroom?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“You don’t have to be shy. You can go without worrying about me. We’ve built up that much of a friendship, right? Come on, go take care of business.”

“No, really, it’s not that!”

Do I look like a student who can’t go to the bathroom because they’re afraid of being teased by their friends at school?

Evangeline shrugged, munching on her pie.

“Then why are you acting like that? At least tell me the reason.”

“Haaa…”

I covered my forehead and finally confessed. I figured I could open up a bit to Evangeline.

“I don’t really know what happened between Lucas and me in the past…”

Just a little while ago, I interrogated Mason, who we caught as a spy in the prison.

But I couldn’t get any useful information.

Mason just kept repeating things like, ‘Young Master Lucas has served His Highness Prince Ash since he was seven years old.’

Evangeline tilted her head.

“It’s something between the two of you, so why can’t you remember? Oh, is it one of those things? Like the one who hits doesn’t remember? One of those kinds of incidents?”

“No, it’s not that… or is it…?”

I can’t exactly say that I’m not the real Ash, but a soul possessing his body. This is driving me crazy.

So, I ended up making an excuse.

“I was a bit of a mess during my wild days, always drunk. So, my memory… it’s a bit hazy.”

“Senior, aren’t you twenty-three this year?”

“Yeah, that’s right… why?”

“So, you’re already getting dementia? Wow, you can’t underestimate your twenties, huh?”

Evangeline snorted.

That cheeky teenager! She’s teasing me again! Both Kim Ash and I are still in our prime!

“If you can’t remember, Senior, isn’t it fastest to just ask Lucas?”

“…”

Evangeline suddenly brought up the obvious solution. I shut my mouth.

“You were like this when you fought last time too. You’re strangely trying to go around in circles again. Just clash head-on with the person involved and settle it! I’ll be the referee!”

“No, this time we didn’t fight…”

The problem is some kind of debt between Kim Ash and Lucas, not me.

Lucas seems to feel sorry about something, but I don’t even know what it is.

I’m not even asking for an apology, but he’s just being all dejected over there.

If I leave it for a few days, it might just fade away…

‘But that means it’s a big burden on Lucas’s mind.’

I want to resolve it this time if possible. Clearing the confusion in a subordinate’s mind is also a commander’s job.

“…Okay.”

I nodded and declared resolutely.

“I’ll just ask him directly! Thanks, Evangeline! I didn’t know you were so smart!”

“Thank you for the compliment, Senior! I’m sometimes surprised myself! Maybe I learned this genius from you!”

“Hahaha! You speak so nicely, Junior!”

“I learned that from you too! Mwahahaha!”

We laughed and cheered.

It feels like we’re becoming a duo of idiots, but I hope it’s just my imagination…

“It’s nice to see you laughing so heartily~ Would you like some more food?”

Then, Lord’s Aide Aither came out to serve the meal, smiling brightly.

Evangeline immediately held up her empty meat pie plate and shouted, ‘Refill! Refill!’

Aren’t you getting rounder? Eat moderately.

Aither, who had sliced a meat pie and placed it on Evangeline’s plate, came to me. He handed me a water glass, refilled it, and then winked.

“By the way, are you curious about your past with Lucas~?”

“Yeah… I don’t know much about Kim Ash’s past.”

I rested my chin on my hand and groaned. Aither looked excited and was about to speak.

But I didn’t pay much attention and continued.

“But I’m done with third-party inquiries. I’m just going to ask Lucas directly. That’ll be a better way for us to communicate.”

“Ah, I see…”

Aither’s shoulders slumped. But I don’t have any reason to care about this director’s mood.

“More importantly, Aither, there’s something I need to discuss.”

“Yes?”

I sighed heavily and spoke to Aither, who was widening his gray eyes behind his thick, round glasses.

“It’s about the Dark Event.”

***

This defense battle was Stage 14.

And this time again, a message appeared on the system window.

[???’s ?? skips the turn.]

[The Dark Event will not activate in this stage.]

From Stage 11 to this Stage 14.

For a total of four stages, the Dark Event skip occurred consecutively.

“What the hell are they planning? Why are they skipping their advantage?”

After dinner. In the lord’s office.

Once Aither and I were alone, I questioned him.

Of course, it’s easier if the Dark Event doesn’t activate. It’s good that those guys aren’t doing anything stupid and are helping us clear the defense battle easily.

But in this terrible game, there’s no way my enemies would be considerate enough to let me play comfortably, right?

There’s something fishy going on.

It smells dirty and ominous. The smell of an evil plot…!

As expected, Aither looked quite serious and slowly explained.

“Dark Events can be accumulated.”

“Accumulated?”

“Or should I say, saved up…? Instead of using it in this stage, it can be carried over to the next stage.”

“What the hell? Why does it support such a function, like a credit card point rollover?”

I couldn’t help but jump up and grab Aither by the collar. Aither frantically waved his arms.

“Whoa, calm down! Calm down! They’re also taking a huge loss by doing this!”

“What? Taking a loss?”

What is he talking about?

“For example, if the points available for a Dark Event in one stage are 100. The maximum points that can be skipped and carried over are 25!”

I frowned and started calculating.

“So, that means…”

“Since they’ve carried over for four stages, adding up to 100 points… they can use a 200-point Dark Event in Stage 15!”

Since a normal Dark Event is worth 100 points.

That means a Dark Event twice as powerful as usual is coming.

“Instead of having no Dark Event for four stages, you’ll face a Dark Event twice as strong in one stage!”

“Hmm…”

“Of course, there’s a risk involved… but from the defense battle’s perspective, it’s not that bad, is it?”

He’s right.

To put it simply, the opponent threw away 300 points out of 500. All for one 200-point attack.

On average, they’ve taken an absurd loss. Considering how much that Dark Event has been tormenting us every stage, skipping four stages for free isn’t that bad, to be honest.

But.

‘So, what’s going to happen in Stage 15?’

That’s the problem.

So, what form will that twice as strong Dark Event take?

Moreover, Stage 15 is a multiple of 5. In other words, it’s a boss stage.

Until now, a powerful nightmare legion has always appeared, making it the highest difficulty, so the Dark Event wasn’t applied in the first place.

To use the Dark Event, they would have to send out a somewhat weaker legion that isn’t at the maximum difficulty.

‘What kind of monster legion, what kind of Dark Event are they planning to unleash this time?’

It’s certain that my opponent is preparing a calculated blow.

Then… how should I stop them?

As I was pondering, Aither slowly backed away from my grasp.

I glared and grabbed the director by the collar again.

“Hey! The credit card companies in the neighborhood offer point rollovers! What benefits does our card company have?! Huh?!”

“No, no! Even if you say that! They’re a top-tier member with a full record for hundreds of years! They’re bound to have more benefits!”

“What about me, you bastard? Am I not a top-tier member? I’m the first person on the entire planet to clear the hell train! You should be giving me a fat bonus! Read the room! It’s almost the 1st anniversary! I’ll switch card companies!”

I’m a bit unhappy?! I’m transferring?! I’m going to transfer?! Huh!

Give me a way to counter the Dark Event cleanly and beautifully, you jerk!

Then, Aither, looking tearful, shouted.

“We’re already working hard to prepare something called [Goddess Blessing] as the opposite concept of the Dark Event!”

“Oh…? What’s that?”

I immediately calmed down and released Aither’s collar. Not completely, just halfway.

“As the name suggests, it’s a goddess’s blessing… a function that allows you to buff an ally once per stage. You can use achievement points to use it…”

“Finally, I can use these decorative achievement points.”

“The achievement shop revamp is also in its final stages, so you’ll be able to use various additional functions soon…”

So, you haven’t just been slacking off, Director!

I smiled happily.

“So, what’s the patch date?”

“Ah… that’s impossible right now, but maybe around the start of the second year…?”

Thump!

I grabbed Aither’s collar again. I growled fiercely at the director, who was gasping for air.

“Complete it before Stage 15 starts. No, it would be great if I could use it before this stage starts.”

“Kehek, that’s a little, no, definitely impossible…”

“Then put in a beta function! I’ll test it and do QA [Quality Assurance]! A free tester, it’s a win-win for both of us, isn’t it?!”

“No, this isn’t a game, it’s reality, and it’s not something that can be added so easily…”

“Stop talking so much! Are you going to do it or not?!”

In the end, Aither had no choice but to happily nod and accept my serious and moderate proposal (pointing a gun at his neck).

He even had tears in his eyes, he was so happy.

Ah, we should have done this sooner! We’re so happy together!

“Other games are doing beautiful re-launches with 2.0 titles, I’m looking forward to it! Let’s become a god-tier game!”

I grabbed Aither’s arm and shook it up and down, and Aither, who had wiped his eyes, gave a bitter smile.

“…Yes. I’ll do my best.”

It was a smile like a sand sculpture that would fly away in the wind.

“With the mindset that this is our last challenge.”

I blinked in confusion. Of course, it’s always the last one.

Life is once. Life coin is one.

That’s ironman mode, and that’s this world.

***

The next day.

I visited the blacksmith in Crossroads.

I was planning to visit the dungeon right away to test my ultimate skill [Imperial Decree], but I needed a special equipment, a ‘flag’.

Currently, Kellybay is busy upgrading Lucas’s exclusive equipment. So, I was planning to get a temporary flag from the blacksmith in Crossroads.

So, I entered the blacksmith’s shop around morning before lunch,

“Huh?”

There was a customer.

A tall knight was receiving something from the blacksmith’s guild leader.

Familiar black armor and a long sword at his waist…

“Lucas!”

Enemies meet on a narrow bridge… no, is that not the saying?

Anyway, I was looking for him, so this is good. I smiled cheerfully and patted Lucas on the back.

“Hey! Did you have a good vacation? What did you do yesterday, huh?”

I tried to create a natural and light atmosphere, to make it easier for Lucas to return. That’s what I said…

“…?”

I froze as I faced Lucas, who slowly turned around.

Lucas… was wearing a helmet that looked like it had just been custom-made.

A full-face helmet, made of scrap metal, a crude, solid cylindrical helmet…

“…”

“…”

A moment of silence passed.

It doesn’t suit him.

It doesn’t suit him at all.

He’s wearing shiny SSR-grade armor below his neck, but he’s wearing a scrap metal can that doesn’t even look like N-grade on his head. The imbalance is no joke.

I stared at Lucas with my mouth open for a moment, then pointed a trembling hand at his head.

“Wh… why are you wearing that?”

Then, Lucas tilted his can… no, his head slightly to the side and answered in a low voice.

“…Because I don’t have one.”

“What?”

“I don’t have the face to see my lord…”

“…”

“So, um…”

Lucas tapped his can with his hand.

“I decided to… cover my face…”

“What the hell are you talking about, you bastard?!”

I couldn’t help but slap the back of Lucas’s can with my hand.