I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 35

Two days later.

The day of the stage began. It was morning.

The wall repairs were finally complete.

“There are many parts that had to be rushed due to the lack of time. But it should be sufficient for the wall to function properly.”

I gently patted the shoulder of the stonemason guild leader, who kept bowing his head.

“You’ve worked hard, really hard.”

The newly renovated wall sparkled in the morning sunlight.

Thinking about the manpower and money spent to repair this wall made me feel solemn.

Clank! Clank!

In the middle of it, the newly installed automatic turrets moved their barrels, making threatening sounds.

I stroked the large barrel as if petting a puppy. Good boy, so reliable.

‘The supplies are also sufficient.’

I could see arrows and cannonballs piled high on the wall. There were enough to stick dozens into each of those monsters.

‘The troops have also been reinforced.’

I saw the old soldiers checking their armor and weapons on the wall.

The Twilight Legion.

They were the soldiers of the Cross family who had protected this city their whole lives with the Cross Margrave [a noble title, roughly equivalent to a Marquis].

Their original size was said to be around 1,000, but with the Margrave’s retirement, most had scattered, leaving only about 300.

‘I’m grateful.’

They weren’t just any 300 soldiers.

They were 300 veterans, more familiar with this front line than anyone else and skilled at killing monsters.

In a time when every soldier was precious, this was the best support I could ask for.

I decided to give them all a hefty bonus on top of their weekly pay.

‘The kill zone formation was also completed a while ago.’

The wooden fence walls that restricted the monsters’ movement, also known as the kill zone, were also completely repaired.

Not only that, but I had also scattered small barricades and traps all over the paths leading to the south wall.

Various artifacts, cannons, and ballistae that had been repaired were piled high on the wall.

“The preparations are complete.”

I confidently declared.

“Come at me, monsters, as much as you want!”

In the 700+ times I had reset and played this game, I had never had such a good situation from the start.

I was filled with confidence. It felt like I could clear the stage without any problems, no matter what unexpected variables arose.

Clatter! Clatter!

At that moment, a soldier on horseback rushed in from outside the wall. He was a soldier from the reconnaissance unit that had been dispatched yesterday.

“Report from the reconnaissance base!”

The soldier shouted at the top of his lungs.

“The monsters are coming-!”

“……!”

At the same time, a faint vibration began to resonate beneath my feet.

A thick cloud of dust rose from the distant horizon. It meant that the vanguard of the monsters had reached that point.

I opened the stage information window and displayed it in front of me.

[Enemy Information – STAGE 2]

– Lv.? ??? : 3

– Lv.5 Giant Sewer Rat : 3251

– Time until start : 10 minutes

In 10 minutes, the battle would begin.

“They’re coming soon! Don’t let your guard down!”

“Yes!”

My officers, including Lucas, answered in unison to my command.

‘They’re reliable.’

Seeing their dependable appearance made me feel much lighter. I smiled faintly.

It was then, as I was making final checks on the troop situation and preparing for battle.

“Huh?”

I frowned.

I turned my gaze south, wondering when the sewer rat legion would appear.

In the distance, beyond the horizon… someone was standing there.

“……?”

I rubbed my eyes, thinking I might have seen wrong, but it wasn’t a mistake.

Someone was standing calmly on the southern plains where the sewer rat monsters would soon be swarming.

A man dressed as a minstrel, wearing a pointed hat pulled low.

“What’s with that guy?”

Lucas approached me as I was feeling perplexed.

“What is it, Your Highness?”

“Lucas, do you see a person over there…”

I turned my head towards Lucas, then looked back south while pointing my hand, but,

“Huh?”

The minstrel with the pointed hat had disappeared in that short time.

Lucas looked puzzled next to me, who was frozen in place.

“I don’t see anything, Your Highness.”

“Damian!”

I urgently called for Damian. Damian, who was fiddling with his crossbow over there, came running in a hurry.

“Did you call for me, Prince?”

“Do you see anyone over there?”

Damian carefully looked in the direction I was pointing, but then shook his head slightly.

“I don’t see anyone, Your Highness.”

“…….”

If Damian couldn’t see him, it meant that there really was no one there.

A chill ran down my spine.

‘Did I see a hallucination?’

I wished that was the case.

But what if I didn’t see wrong? What if someone was really there?

‘Then what the heck was he doing?’

A faint sound reached my ears as I felt an ominous premonition.

Dududududu…….

The ground began to tremble.

“They’re here!”

I gritted my teeth and glared back south.

Dududududu-!

It was a gray wave.

Finally, a swarm of about 3,000 giant rats came into view, rushing towards the south of the city.

Even though they were quite far away, the stench of the sewers was overwhelming. The smell of plague lingered at the tip of my nose.

I clenched my fist tightly.

‘I need to stay calm.’

No matter how many of them there are, or whether I saw a hallucination or not, there is only one thing I can do.

‘I will stop them.’

The preparations were the best I could do. Now, all I can do is kill as many monsters as possible.

Dududududu-!

The vanguard of the rat swarm approached the wooden fence wall on the southern plains. I raised my voice and shouted.

“Artillery unit, prepare to fire!”

The artillerymen lit the cannons in unison. I stretched my hand forward with force, and,

“Fire-!”

I shouted.

Bang! Thudthudthudthud!

A series of deafening firing sounds followed.

Whoosh-

The cannonballs, tearing through the air, landed on the ground after a long flight.

Kuwagwagwagwang……!

They crushed the vanguard of the rat swarm, creating a cloud of dusty smoke.

[Enemy Information – STAGE 2]

– Lv.? ??? : 3

– Lv.5 Giant Sewer Rat : 3154 (Kill Counts : 97)

Nearly a hundred rats were shattered into pieces in the first barrage alone.

“Yes!”

I clenched my fist, observing the literally crushed monsters.

“Wipe them all out!”

They’re just numerous, nothing special, these rat bastards!

***

Bang! Kwagwagwagwang!

The wooden fence installed on the southern plains of the fortress.

The monsters slowed down and their paths became tangled as they advanced along the fence. We poured crossfire on them from above.

This was the kill zone.

The vanguard of the sewer rats couldn’t escape this maze of slaughter, and the kill count rose rapidly.

‘They are too numerous, and they come in a tight pack.’

In other words,

‘If I pour out area attacks, I can take out a lot of them at once!’

About 30 minutes had passed since the start of the battle, and not a single rat had managed to escape outside the kill zone during that time.

[Enemy Information – STAGE 2]

– Lv.? ??? : 3

– Lv.5 Giant Sewer Rat : 2327 (Kill Counts : 924)

Nearly a thousand sewer rats had already burned to death in the crossfire.

I was a bit worried because there were too many monsters, but at this rate, there would be no problem.

It was at that moment when I was about to relax a little, watching the sewer rats being crushed helplessly in the kill zone.

Rustle…….

“Huh?”

A corner of the wooden fence wall suddenly shook.

Creak, creak-!

Along with the sound of rats screeching as if being torn apart, giant sewer rats began to crawl over the fence.

“?!”

Horrified, I quickly raised my binoculars and examined the spot.

“This is insane.”

Inside the wooden fence, the corpses of sewer rats were piled high.

The bodies of the dead had piled up so much that they had gone over the fence wall.

The sewer rat legion behind them was climbing over the corpses and escaping the fence.

Kiriirik-!

Like a dam overflowing.

In an instant, they climbed over the fence and began to pour out of the kill zone.

“Damn it!”

I cursed without realizing it.

I thought that even if the kill zone collapsed quickly, it would be after we had taken out more than half of them.

I never even imagined that the corpses would pile up so much that they would climb over the wall. I hadn’t even considered it.

‘But it’s still okay!’

I quickly ordered the artillery unit to change their aiming point and prepared the ballista unit.

‘There’s quite a distance from the kill zone to the wall, and it’s covered with all sorts of obstacles! I can buy a lot more time!’

However.

There was one thing I overlooked here.

Dudududududu-!

The speed of the sewer rats.

The ones that poured out into the wide open plains were disgustingly fast.

Moreover, their size was only about that of a large dog. In other words,

Thud! Thududung!

Thwack……!

They were impossible to hit with the large, slow ballista arrows.

“Damn rat bastards!”

“They’re uselessly fast……!”

The soldiers cursed and continued to pour out cannons and arrows.

But it was very difficult to hit the ones that were scattering and pouring out like waves across the wide plains.

Creak! Kiriirik!

Dududududu-!

The sewer rats, twisting their small, nimble bodies this way and that, dashed across the plains.

Except for the explosions of the cannons and the arrows that the soldiers managed to hit by luck… they were closing the distance almost without any hindrance.

“Hiss!”

Pshoo! Pshoo!

Damian fired his crossbow non-stop next to me.

Damian’s arrows were at least knocking them down one by one, but it was not nearly enough.

‘Of course, I was considering that they would reach the wall.’

At this rate, far more rats than I expected will reach the wall……!

It was at that moment.

Whoooosh-

Clank!

A beautiful and heavy mechanical sound rang out.

Thududududung!

Along with a pleasant firing sound that vibrated my eardrums, dozens of cyan magic bullets were fired.

The magic bullets that flew like arrows slashed across the ground, and high plumes of smoke rose from the plains that were directly hit.

The magic bullets swept across the area like whips. The sewer rats in their path were all turned into mincemeat and collapsed.

“Oh my god!”

I turned my head to the side with an almost moved expression. I saw a structure moving its thick barrel with a clanking sound.

The automatic defense turret that I had summoned this time!

I tapped the barrel, which was hot with heat, with my fingertips and nodded.

“As expected, auto-turrets are the best in tower defense.”

This game genre is more of a character defense, but anyway!

The automatic defense turret continuously fired clusters of magic bullets like whips.

The bullets that poured out like a bullet hell game effectively cleared out the sewer rats.

But it couldn’t defend the entire battlefield.

And there were thousands of them.

Sewer rats were still pouring in outside the range of the automatic defense turret.

Moreover,

Whoooosh…….

The automatic defense turret, having used up all its ammunition, entered the reloading sequence.

Naturally, a hole was punched in the center of the fire net,

Dududududu-!

The sewer rats were now pushing towards the center of the wall.