I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 330

[Side Story] The Betrayers

Lake Kingdom Dungeon, Area 5, [Fountain Street].

Nameless, having parted ways with Ash and the others, was quietly wandering through the darkness of the Lake Kingdom.

Everywhere except for the [Dried-Up Drainage], the nightmare’s darkness was still sticky and surging, showing no signs of receding.

Yet, Nameless’s face was brighter than before.

Was it because she had found a glimmer of hope in this endless darkness?

“You look cheerful, Nameless.”

However, her bright expression hardened at the sudden voice.

“It’s the brightest I’ve seen you in the past five hundred years. Is something good happening?”

“……”

Nameless slowly turned her head towards the direction of the voice.

She didn’t draw her sword. She knew who it was.

“……It’s been a while since we’ve met here.”

Respectful language flowed from Nameless’s lips.

“Crown.”

Appearing from the dark alleyway was a man in a jester’s outfit with a smiling mask. It was Crown.

After staring at his masked face for a moment, Nameless slowly took off her robe’s hood and bowed respectfully.

His corrected title flowed from her lips.

“No… ‘Brother’.”

“……”

Brother.

The resonance of that word was so unfamiliar and tender that Crown flinched.

– Brother!

Suddenly, the scenery around Crown appeared as it had been five hundred years ago.

A huge pond with magnificent fountains shooting water upwards. A beautiful marble promenade laid over it.

If they met on this path where the sunlight hit the water droplets, creating small rainbows, his younger sister would lift her elegant dress to greet him and then… smile like a flower petal.

“……”

When he closed and opened his eyes behind the mask, that distant past was gone without a trace.

Only the grotesquely carved stone path remained in fragments over the black, foul-smelling pond.

And in the midst of the crushed darkness instead of sunlight.

There, his younger sister, wearing a tattered robe, her hair turned white, covered in dirt, ash, and blood, stood with a sword on her back.

With a blank face.

Without a trace of the tender smile from those days.

“……”

A distant, truly distant memory.

It was so distant that he doubted whether it was a dream or a real memory.

The princess and prince of the kingdom that had fallen into hell stood far apart, gazing at each other for a moment.

“…Call me Crown.”

Crown, adjusting his mask, murmured.

“Just as you gained power by offering your name and soul to the goddess, I too gained power by giving my name and soul to the devil. It is meaningless to be called by any other title.”

Even though she had burned her own existence to gain power, losing her name and becoming ‘Nameless’.

She had stubbornly preserved some memories, and among them was the fact that Crown was her brother.

That fact troubled Crown.

This pathetic man… this younger sister still treated him as her brother.

“…Alright, Crown.”

Nameless, having changed her address as Crown requested, glanced around.

“What brings you here today? Did you perhaps come to see me?”

“No. Our paths just happened to cross.”

Crown shrugged.

“The King of Kings has called for a royal court meeting. But he assigned me the task of sending out the summons to the Nightmare Legion Commanders. So, I’m going around notifying them of the meeting.”

“Oh, a royal court meeting…”

Nameless’s eyes turned fierce.

The royal court meeting, a regular meeting held by the Demon King and his monsters, where the top 10 Nightmare Legion Commanders were summoned.

Nameless, who had previously stormed in and wrecked the meeting, placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, as if she intended to do so again.

Crown waved his hand, showing his disapproval.

“Are you going to cause another ruckus? That’s enough. Even though you cut the royal castle in half last time, they restored it in a day.”

“……”

“No matter how many of them you kill, the King of Kings will revive them. Don’t waste your strength in vain.”

Since it was true, Nameless slowly removed her hand from the sword hilt. Though her expression was somewhat displeased.

Crown continued.

“Why don’t you stop this futile resistance now?”

“……”

“If you and I join forces, we can improve the situation here. Five hundred years is long enough… you’ve fought long enough.”

“Improve it… how? By letting the people have slightly more comfortable nightmares?”

Nameless sneered, but Crown nodded as if he was serious.

“If it’s a reality that they rule this kingdom, and if it’s a reality that all the people of this country are trapped in nightmares. Then yes. It might be better to let them have slightly more comfortable nightmares.”

“……”

Nameless shook her head slightly and glanced behind her. Towards Area 1, where the [Dried-Up Drainage] was located.

“Earlier, you asked why I looked cheerful, Crown?”

“……?”

“Today, for the first time in five hundred years, the Demon King’s territory has shrunk.”

Crown’s face hardened behind the mask. Nameless continued.

“Ash did it. He has definitely driven out some of the nightmare’s darkness from this kingdom.”

“……So?”

“Don’t you understand? The beacon of counterattack has already been raised. Ash has proven his ‘qualification’. Perhaps this time, just maybe this time, we can defeat the Demon King.”

“You’re talking about hope just because you took a tiny piece of land from them? Nameless?”

Crown shook his head.

“You’ve become very weak. Are you tired of waiting for five hundred years?”

“Anything starts from a very small spark. I will protect this spark until the end, Crown.”

Nameless clenched her fist.

“This body is nothing more than ashes that have nothing left to burn, but even so… I will bet on him.”

“……”

Crown closed his mouth tightly.

Why Ash was the final player.

How this game always ended.

He knew, but he didn’t say it out loud.

He didn’t want to taint the noble will of his younger sister, who stubbornly emitted light even in endless despair.

“You and I have different paths.”

So, he would go this way.

“You go the path you believe is right. I will…”

With the heart of a traitor, suitable for the dirty mire.

Into the dirty mire, suitable for the heart of a traitor.

“Continue my own atonement.”

“……Is that so.”

Nameless, who had started walking again, passed by Crown and continued on her way.

On the finely broken stone bridge, the prince and princess of the Lake Kingdom brushed past each other.

“……”

As she passed by Crown, Nameless tried to remember.

What that man originally looked like.

What kind of face was under the mask, what kind of smile he had, what kind of stories he told.

But, she only remembered that the man was her brother.

The memories associated with him were impossible to recall.

Because they had already been burned as fuel…

“…Well then, see you next time.”

Nameless murmured softly and walked forward without looking back.

“……”

Crown, who seemed to have some lingering feelings, glanced back at his younger sister, his eyes widening.

In the midst of Nameless’s disheveled white hair, a red hair tie, tied at the back, was swaying.

Suddenly, the image of five hundred years ago flashed before Crown’s eyes again.

His younger sister, with her beautifully arranged long hair, always had a red hair tie like that at the back of her head.

“…Haha.”

Crown chuckled softly and then raised his voice.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you with your hair tied like that. Before the kingdom became like this, you used to tie your hair like that often.”

“……?”

“It reminds me of the old days, it’s good to see. Keep tying it like that in the future.”

And Crown also walked away.

Nameless, puzzled, touched the back of her head. She hadn’t even realized it, but she felt a red tie that someone had neatly tied.

“…When did I tie this?”

She had no memory of getting her hair done here in the past five hundred years.

As she recalled her memories, Nameless suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!”

When Yormungandr invaded the human world, she had briefly gone to the surface to help repel them.

And then, on her way back from staying a day at Ash’s mansion, someone had tied it for her.

So, that person was…

– It was my pleasure.

…Who was it?

Her memory was already hazy.

Nameless, tilting her head, soon started walking again without caring. How many memories had she lost? It wasn’t just one or two.

The next monster flood was coming soon.

She had to kill as many monsters as possible for Ash and the outside world. She moved forward to fulfill her duty.

***

Walking along the path, Crown looked down at the list in his hand.

Nightmare Legion Commanders.

Originally, it was a title for all monster legion commanders, but at some point, it became the name for the ten monsters who ruled the top ten legions.

Crown raised his hand and scratched the list with his fingernail. The names of those he had to summon to the royal court meeting were listed.

10th Rank, Goblin God King.

9th Rank, The Slaughterer of the Full Moon Light.

8th Rank, Ghost Privateer Captain.

7th Rank, The Great Harlot.

6th Rank, Black Spider Queen.

5th Rank, Vampire King.

4th Rank, Plague Lord.

3rd Rank, Grand Magus.

2nd Rank, Demon Guard Commander.

1st Rank, Black Dragon.

‘I should be grateful that three of them are already dead.’

9th Rank, Lunared.

6th Rank, Oloop.

5th Rank, Selendion.

Ash had killed these three.

‘Certainly, he’s different.’

This Ash was exceptional. He might achieve remarkable results.

But, in the end… victory belongs to the Demon King.

Knowing this, Crown had given up resistance and chose to submit to his command.

‘A traitor will do what a traitor can do, my sister.’

Crown smiled bitterly, thinking of his younger sister whom he had parted with a moment ago.

‘Please, remain noble until the very end.’

Yes. At least until the very end. Bloom so nobly.

Because in the end.

Everyone will fall into darkness.

***

At the same time.

Crossroad Central Prison.

Mason was squeezing his huge muscular body into a narrow cell, trying to get some uncomfortable sleep.

Thud. Thud.

Mason slightly opened his eyes at the sound of footsteps approaching.

Before he knew it, a knight in black armor was standing outside the iron bars. A smile spread across Mason’s bearded mouth.

“Good evening, Young Master Lucas.”

“…Mason, Uncle.”

With a clatter-

Lucas pulled a chair in front of the iron bars and sat down, his bright blue eyes gleaming.

“I’ve thought about the proposal you conveyed… and I think it’s not bad.”

The proposal Mason had conveyed.

That is, the message from Fernandes.

– If you keep the old oath, I will absolve the sins of the family, restore your honor, and restore the family’s old territory and property.

The old oath – an oath of loyalty to Fernandes, in the name of the family.

“……”

Lucas, who had closed his eyes and briefly recalled memories of his childhood, shot his blue gaze forward again.

It was a cold gaze, so blue that it seemed to freeze anything it touched.

“So, what exactly do you want me to do?”

A faint smile spread across Mason’s lips as he faced the young master.