I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 340

Life is a series of regrets.

At least, that’s how it was for Lucas.

Betraying Ash.

Letting Dustia die.

The beautiful, youthful days that were shattered by his own mistakes, like a flower.

He spent every night in regret, chewing over and reflecting on irreversible decisions and mistakes.

‘I shouldn’t have done that then.’

‘I shouldn’t have done that then.’

‘I shouldn’t have done that, back then…….’

Lucas’s life was riddled with regret.

He was a man who always looked back at the shadows of the past.

***

Clang! Clang! Tskang-!

Lucas’s sword, made of light, left a clear trail as it unleashed a series of slashes.

“Kuh!”

Mason gritted his teeth and groaned, swinging his greatsword to meet the attack.

With his new sword, Lucas’s combat power had increased dramatically. His sword strikes had become lighter, and their power had amplified.

Each time their blades clashed, Mason’s greatsword seemed to wear down and lose durability, while Lucas’s sword of light appeared unfazed.

Thwack-!

No… that wasn’t right.

It wasn’t just unfazed; it was getting stronger.

The light and heat emanating from Lucas’s sword intensified. Mason’s body was flung backward as he barely managed to block a horizontal slash from Lucas.

‘How did he get so strong? Just from changing one sword?’

Or, what is it?

Did he really gain some kind of enlightenment?

Mason gritted his teeth and pulled out a beastification serum from his pocket.

He knew the warning that using it twice a day was suicidal, but he had no other choice now.

“You should stop,” Lucas said quietly, as Mason brought the syringe to his neck.

“I’ve used beastification quite a bit myself. And I’ve even been right on the verge of crossing the ‘line’.”

“…….”

“I guarantee, if you cross that ‘line’, you won’t be in good shape.”

“Heh heh. Are you worried about me now?”

Mason chuckled and quickly plunged the syringe into his neck.

“Either way, I’m going to die, so it’s all or nothing!”

The serum completely seeped into Mason’s neck.

Crack, crack……!

Mason’s already large frame grew even more massive.

His bulging eyes became bloodshot, his nails grew longer, and his fangs protruded like those of a carnivorous beast. His bones and muscles thickened.

“Haaah……!”

Mason’s heavy breathing was no longer human. He was closer to a monstrous beast.

“……I see, so that’s how it is. I understand why my lord tried to stop you,” Lucas muttered quietly, standing calmly before Mason.

“You look like a rabid stray dog, Mason?”

“I like it?”

Mason kicked off the ground and charged at Lucas with terrifying speed.

“Because this is our true nature!”

Thwack!

Mason’s greatsword pressed Lucas hard. While being pushed back, Lucas calmly replied.

“I wish you’d stop using the word ‘we’. I’m not a watchdog anymore.”

“Nonsense! We were born as dogs, raised as dogs, and are destined to die as dogs!”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Mason roared, swinging his massive greatsword as if it were a leaf.

“Biting and killing whoever the higher-ups tell us to! That’s what a knight is!”

“I’m going to stop doing that.”

“What?”

“I won’t just blindly follow orders anymore.”

Thwack!

Lucas lightly flicked his blade of light upward, sending Mason’s greatsword flying backward.

Looking at Mason’s horrified face, Lucas slowly repeated.

“I will think, I will judge, I will decide—and then I will follow that person.”

Lucas was recalling the time he saved the boy in the back alley.

Kill monsters, save people—

Yes.

He was starting to understand that cause, just a little.

“I am not a dog, I am a human. So, I will wield my sword with my own will.”

“……Haha, well now.”

Mason chuckled, then gripped his greatsword again and swung it down.

“You’re saying the one thing a knight should never say, our young master!”

The duel continued.

Lucas with his new sword, and Mason with his second beastification serum, were evenly matched.

But the seemingly endless fight suddenly came to an end.

Lucas, in the middle of a sword strike, used a familiar series of movements—and thrust his sword into Mason.

“Hahahaha! You haven’t learned from the past, have you, young master!”

Mason’s eyes widened as he laughed, as if he had been waiting for that thrust.

“You thrust again!”

Mason’s greatsword had one side with jagged, saw-like teeth.

He used that side to catch Lucas’s thrust, trapping the blade, and then spun the greatsword in a spiral, pouring magic into it.

Mason’s ultimate technique,

[Weapon Break]!

Crack……!

The technique landed perfectly.

Lucas’s sword of light, caught between the saw teeth, made an ominous sound,

Clang-!

And then, it shattered into pieces.

The beautiful blade, which had been emitting heat and light in all directions, was now broken and scattered.

Mason sneered at Lucas, who stood still with his broken sword.

“Puhahaha! You repeated the same mistake! How stupid! And you were saying…….”

“It’s okay.”

“What?”

“It’s okay.”

For some reason, Lucas was smiling.

“Even if I fail, make mistakes, and mess things up… it’s okay.”

“……?”

“My lord taught me that it’s okay as long as I come back, no matter where I wander.”

Again and again, again and again. Just as his lord had trusted him.

Again and again, again and again. He would reforge the broken blade.

Whirr……!

The shattered pieces of light that had fallen to the ground slowly rose into the air.

A new blade of light formed in the empty space above the handle, and the particles of light that had been scattered on the ground combined to create an even more intense flame.

“What… is this…….”

Mason’s jaw dropped as he watched the blade of light instantly reform.

Looking down at his own sword, which was flickering like a flame, Lucas smiled bitterly.

“……Why did I only realize this simple answer now?”

If it breaks, you just put it back together.

Even if everything can’t be the same as before.

Even if there are more things that can never be undone.

Still, if you try, if you struggle, if you fight—

Even if you’re patched up and tattered, you can stand up again.

Why did he give up on everything and just watch the shattered scenes from afar?

“……No, enough with the regrets.”

Lucas gripped the longsword of light with both hands and began to walk forward.

“I will move past you, Mason, and move forward.”

Life is a series of regrets.

“No matter how many times this sword breaks, I will reforge it, and no matter where I wander, I will return to this banner of the front lines.”

And life is also,

The process of overcoming those regrets.

“……Because I’ve decided to do so.”

Lucas’s blue gaze… for the first time, completely detached from the shadows of the past.

Mason realized. Lucas’s eyes, which were glaring at him, were not actually looking at him.

They were looking past him—at what lay beyond.

“What are you looking at……?”

Mason gritted his teeth and crouched down.

“I’m not your past…….”

Thwack-!

Mason kicked off the ground and fell on Lucas with terrifying force.

“I am your future! Your end!”

Then Lucas smiled faintly,

“Is that really likely?”

He swung the blade of light upward from below.

A perfect counter, combining a step of determination and a strike of will.

Crack-!

Mason’s greatsword, unable to withstand the exploding light strike, broke in two.

And Mason’s beastified, massive body was also split in half, from top to bottom.

***

I unexpectedly regained consciousness quickly.

I thought I’d be in a state of mana depletion again after using my ultimate skill, but that didn’t happen.

It was because the blood vessels all over my body became warm, as if I was on an electric heating pad, and they supplied me with mana.

‘Is this the power of the Dragon Heart……?’

I guessed it was the effect of the Dragon Heart that Moomyung had given me.

I roughly pictured the Dragon Heart that was spreading through my body as something like an electric heated floor mat. It was nice and warm.

When I got up, the situation was already being handled. Fortunately, there were no casualties on our side, and the Special Ops members were all either dead or captured.

“You’re awake, Your Highness. I’ll give you the report,” Godhand said, coming to me with a pale face.

He had been hit by swords and arrows today, and had been running around all day. This guy had been through a lot too.

“We killed seven of the ten Aegis Special Ops members who infiltrated this base camp, and captured three. If we include the casualties left at Crossroads, we killed sixteen out of a total of twenty Special Ops members, and captured four.”

“You all worked hard.”

“We are currently interrogating the captured members to see if there are any other spies. The results will be out soon.”

Godhand smiled faintly.

“Your Highness’s use of the mana wall was amazing. We were able to wipe them out in one fell swoop.”

“I’m sorry for forcing such a reckless operation. You were all in danger because of me.”

“No, it all worked out well in the end, didn’t it? And Sir Lucas is safe too.”

Just as Godhand finished his report, the gate of the base camp flashed, and Lily appeared in her wheelchair.

Lily had been dispatched to the forward base for artifact management during this defense battle. Because of the snowy weather, there was a chance that the artifacts might malfunction.

But seeing her return, it seemed that the defense battle at the forward base was also more or less over.

“Godhand!”

Lily cried out, as if screaming, and hurriedly wheeled her chair over to Godhand. She examined Godhand’s injured body and cried out in a trembling voice.

“You’re hurt like this……! Who did this? Which bastard did this!”

“Ah, well, that’s…….”

“I’m going to burn all the bastards who laid a hand on you! Do you understand? Tell me quickly! Who hurt you!”

……It’s like she’s scolding her younger brother who got beat up at school.

I quietly slipped away, leaving Godhand sweating and flustered.

As the commander who had pushed the kids too hard, I felt a bit responsible, so I should run away quickly…….

I went around and praised everyone who had helped with this operation.

Bodybag and Burnout were passed out from exhaustion.

Especially Burnout, who had been spitting fire, had burns all over his mouth and esophagus. You worked hard. Go and rest.

Verdandi and the Holy Grail Exploration Party. They had joined the battle without complaint, even though I had asked for help out of the blue. I decided to give them a lot of sunflower seeds.

Margherita and the Reserve Party. They had done their part, even though they were mobilized in a hurry.

Margherita was still busy healing the injured. I’ll make a generous donation to the temple later.

And when I looked to see what Elise was doing.

“Hmm, this weapon is no good, and this weapon is also…….”

“…….”

As befitting her title of ‘Master Swordsmith’, she was examining the weapons of the dead Special Ops members. I’ll just turn a blind eye if she takes one or two as spoils of war…….

Finally, Lucas.

I wondered where he was, so I looked around, and then Kellybay waved at me from over there.

“Hey, you bratty prince. Over here.”

Our master blacksmith had finished making the weapon on time. I smiled brightly and went to Kellybay’s side, and Kellybay pointed to a corner of the base camp.

“I’d like to hear some feedback on my masterpiece, but can you ask him for me?”

When I looked over there, Lucas was standing alone, silently.

In front of Mason’s corpse, which was lying in a pool of blood. Quietly.