I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 364

A little while ago.

When Ash’s retreat order was given, and the regular soldiers began their withdrawal.

“Whew! Does this mean today’s battle is over?”

“Looks like it?”

The female shield warrior and the male hunter smiled at each other.

These two were mercenaries temporarily assigned to the Shadow Squad, and they were a married couple.

The middle-aged woman was a skilled warrior who wielded a large shield and a mace, while the middle-aged man was a seasoned hunter who used various tools such as hunting dogs, traps, and bows.

The couple then smiled at the remaining members of the Shadow Squad.

“You three elves really worked hard today.”

“Do you always unleash that much firepower in every battle? Amazing! Please give me some archery lessons later!”

Godhand, Burnout, and Bodybag smiled awkwardly. They were still not used to these two being so friendly.

This couple was said to have lived in the forest right next to the Elven Autonomous Region. That’s why they had less aversion to elves.

Ash, recognizing this trait, had placed them as temporary members of the Shadow Squad, and thanks to this, the five of them were able to move as a party without much difficulty.

“Let’s hurry back and have lunch. I’m starving.”

“Oh my, this old lady always talks about food whenever she moves a little bit.”

“You need to eat a good meal to have strength. Aren’t all of us mercenaries working on the power of food? Elves, you think so too, right?”

“It’s true that we move with the power of food, but why is it always my job to prepare it!”

“This old man is at it again. Didn’t you say you’d cook because you didn’t like my cooking?”

The two humans, who had been talking amongst themselves, looked at the three elves and said,

“That’s right, let’s all have a meal together when we get back.”

“Yes, yes! Isn’t this our first battle worth celebrating? Let’s eat together. I can cook better than this old lady, anyway.”

“That’s right. My old man isn’t good at night work, but he’s amazing at cooking! Hahaha!”

“You… you old hag, you say anything in front of others!”

Faced with the bickering couple, the three elves looked at each other, troubled. Godhand, who had been smiling awkwardly, answered as their representative.

“Then, let’s have lunch together.”

“That’s right, that’s right! We fight together! We eat together! That’s how we get close. Isn’t this what camaraderie is all about? So, honey, grill some meat for us for the first time in a while.”

“First time in a while, my foot, we ate it yesterday… Ah, elves, don’t worry. I’ll only feed the meat to this old lady, and I’ll make a delicious salad for you.”

The couple smiled good-naturedly.

They had been making consistent efforts to get closer to the elves who had been hesitant, and today they finally made great progress by having a meal together.

The Shadow Squad was preparing to retreat in a much more relaxed atmosphere.

That’s when it happened.

“Cower, you insects-!”

A booming shout from a girl echoed across the battlefield.

It was Dusk Bringer’s Dragon Roar. It was used to buy time for the retreat and to intimidate the goblin army.

They had been informed in advance that it would be used, and thanks to Ash’s passive skill [Unyielding Commander], the heroes were not affected by the fear-inducing effect of the Dragon Roar at all.

However, an entirely unexpected problem arose here.

Whine, whine!

The hunting dog that the hunter husband had with him was terrified by the Dragon Roar.

It wasn’t that it had fallen into a state of fear, but the hunting dog instinctively ran away at the cry of the top predator.

The movement was so sudden that the husband let go of the dog’s leash.

“Oh no, Bucky! He must have been startled. Bucky!”

The hunting dog crawled under a stone wall in the corner of the forward base, trembling. The husband rushed towards the dog.

The husband picked up the large dog, almost hugging it. The wife, watching this, shook her head.

“I told you not to bring a dog here…”

“Hey, our Bucky is one with me. What’s more precious to a hunter than a hunting dog?”

“He loves that dog more than his wife. I wish he would care for me even half as much as he cares for that dog.”

“Then you should act cute like this dog!”

The hunter husband smiled, hugging the dog.

At that moment,

Boom-!

The stone wall behind the husband exploded.

The husband and the hunting dog were buried under the collapsed stone wall.

The situation was so sudden that the wife, and the elves of the Shadow Squad, were stunned for a moment.

Creak, creak…!

Goblins began to crawl out from beyond the collapsed stone wall, one by one.

Goblins do not use siege weapons. The equipment is heavy, and more than anything, it is too complicated for goblins to use.

Instead, goblins have soldiers in specific roles to carry out sieges more simply and efficiently.

That role is the ‘suicide bomber’.

They tie bombs to their bodies, approach the walls, and then set themselves on fire.

It was a cheaper and more efficient way to destroy gates and walls than siege weapons.

It was a method that could be used because the goblin army had lives to spare and disregarded them.

Bang! Boom-!

Suicide attacks began intensively around the gate, and parts of the wall also began to collapse.

The power of the bombs was crude, but when they gathered in numbers, the wall was quickly damaged.

The husband was caught in the first attack of these suicide bombers.

“Honey!”

Amid the explosions that began to ring out from all directions, the wife ran towards the collapsed wall a beat late.

“You bastards!”

Thwack! Thwack!

The mace in her hand sprayed green blood.

After beating to death the goblins who were trying to climb the stone wall and enter the forward base, she turned around and shouted.

“Help me!”

“… !”

At that moment, Godhand turned around.

The forward base, where all the defense forces had left, was quickly being invaded by goblins.

The gate had fallen due to the suicide bombers’ attack, the walls were collapsing in various places, and green monsters were pouring in.

The few remaining hero parties were also seen escaping through the teleport gate one by one. There was not much time left.

“Save my husband, please!”

The wife cried out desperately. Godhand closed his eyes tightly.

“…Quickly rescue him from the debris and retreat immediately. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

Bodybag answered sharply, and Burnout also nodded.

The three of them ran to the wall and hurriedly cleared the collapsed debris. Since Bodybag was a telekinetic, the rescue proceeded quickly.

Fortunately, the hunting dog was covered in blood but had no major injuries, and the husband had one arm crushed but his life was not in danger.

Thwack! Thwack!

After swinging her mace greatly and crushing a few more goblins, the wife who had rushed back raised her husband.

“You idiot! Walk quickly, quickly!”

“Oh, cough… walk slowly, slowly. No one died!”

“If we don’t escape right now, we’ll all die! Run even if it hurts!”

Flash!

The last party was seen escaping. The area around the teleport gate was already swarming with goblins.

“Uryaah-!”

The wife charged forward, letting out a loud shout.

She cleared a path by swinging her mace and shield in front, and the three elves followed behind, pouring out arrows and iron bars.

Whistle-!

The husband, who was staggering behind, also gave an order to the hunting dog with a whistle, and the hunting dog, even covered in blood, nimbly used its teeth to tear at the goblins’ throats.

Smashing the goblins, the Shadow Squad reached the teleport gate.

The wife, who reached the gate first, turned around with a bright smile. She opened her mouth, smiling.

“Thank you so much. I survived thanks to you…”

Boom!

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

It was because a shell fired from the wall had directly hit the gate.

With a terrible explosion, the gate was shattered, and the wife rolled on the ground, covered in blood.

Horrified, Godhand looked up at the wall and saw goblin amirs [goblin leaders].

They had changed the direction of the cannons installed on the wall and fired them this way.

Even though they had poured oil and set them on fire to prevent them from falling into their hands, a few cannons were still usable.

The cannons fired shells even while on fire.

Bang! Boom…!

The teleport gates installed in the central courtyard were all destroyed.

“Ugh… !”

In the thick smoke and dust, Godhand made a quick decision.

He ran into the corridor leading to the inner building of the forward base and hid, and Bodybag and Burnout followed closely behind.

The three elves hid in the shadows. But the warrior wife and the hunter husband could not.

“Cough, haa… Aaaah…”

Covered in burns from the explosion, the wife staggered and raised her body.

Around her, goblin soldiers were rushing in with their eyes glowing red.

Thud! Thud, thud!

The goblins’ spears and swords pierced her thighs and sides.

The wife spat out blood and swung her mace, but she could no longer find her usual speed and power.

Creak, creak!

Kikik…!

Mocking her slow movements, the goblins pulled out their spears and swords from her body, then stabbed her again. Thud! Thud, thud…!

“Ah…”

With spears and swords stuck all over her body, the wife slowly collapsed. The light faded from her eyes as she fell weakly onto the dirt floor.

Around her collapsed body, goblin soldiers jumped up and down in joy.

The goblins raised their spears and swords again to mutilate her corpse.

Whistle-!

At that moment, a whistle sounded.

At the same time, the hunting dog that had rushed in roughly bit the goblins’ necks.

Following behind, the hunter husband, who appeared through the smoke, fired his crossbow in all directions with his right hand.

Goblin soldiers fell, spilling blood. But there were far more goblins who were still standing than those who had fallen.

The hunting dog fought bravely, completely opposite to how it had run away from the Dragon Roar.

As the partner of a hero hunter, it was a dog that was faster and stronger than any ordinary wolf.

But it was slower than usual due to the injuries from being buried under the stone wall, and more than anything, there were too many enemies.

When the exhausted hunting dog paused after biting to death the eighth goblin, arrows flew from the wall, accurately targeting the hunting dog.

Thud, thud…!

It was a dog wearing leather armor, but it couldn’t block all the arrows. Arrows were stuck all over the hunting dog’s body.

The husband fired his crossbow with his good arm, threw smoke traps, scattered caltrops [small, spiked metal objects], and stabbed the approaching goblins to death with a dagger in his mouth, heading towards his wife.

“…That damn old hag.”

But his wife had already collapsed, covered in blood, and was dead.

“She told me to prepare lunch. She’s sleeping again. Always sleeping in the morning.”

Kneeling down next to his wife, the husband raised his mangled hand and closed his wife’s open eyelids.

He muttered in a choked voice.

“Always sleeping in the morning…”

Whine…

At that moment, the hunting dog limped towards the husband, letting out a thin groan. Looking back at his dog, the husband found arrows stuck all over the dog’s body.

“I’m sorry, Bucky. Daddy’s sorry…”

Looking at the dog that was sitting down and breathing painfully, the husband gripped the dagger in his hand tightly.

Thud…

The husband hugged his dog and plunged the dagger into its neck.

It was to relieve its pain quickly. The hunting dog closed its eyes peacefully without making a sound.

“…”

Looking around at his wife’s and dog’s corpses, the hunter slowly raised his head.

Clop, clop…

Into the now silent forward base, a goblin riding a mountain goat was entering.

Wearing a helmet that combined a mask and a crown, and with a golden cloak fluttering…

Calley-Alexander silently drove the mountain goat next to the hunter, and then drew a scimitar from the scabbard at his waist.

Clang-!

And, he cleanly cut off his head.

The hunter’s body, having lost its head, collapsed weakly to the side. Calley-Alexander, flicking the scimitar to shake off the blood, opened his mouth.

《What are the casualties?》

One of the goblin amirs who had approached him quickly answered.

《Kilik! One hundred Janissaries [elite soldiers]. One thousand eight hundred regular soldiers.》

《We lost two thousand, and they only lost two?》

After glancing down at the two dead human heroes, Calley-Alexander turned his head away.

《The humans seem to be actively using the teleport gates. Destroy any stone structures you see.》

《Kilik, yes.》

《Good, and…》

Calley-Alexander’s masked helmet glared into the forward base.

《Completely occupy this facility and search it thoroughly.》

The shoulders of the three members of the Shadow Squad, who were crouching in the shadows and watching this scene while holding their breath, twitched.

《…Because there seem to be more hidden rats.》