I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 373

[Goddess Blessing]. A defensive buff that the human side can use, a concept that counters the [Dark Event] on the monster side. Among several options, I pondered, and finally, two plans remained. – Goddess Blessing: Invincible Fortress > During this battle, the fortress walls will not be destroyed. – Goddess Blessing: One-Way Traffic > During this battle, the enemy will only attack from the south wall. There were many buffs that were more directly related to combat, but given who the enemy commander was, I was torn between these two for a tactical counter. In the game, the goblin army’s main siege method was to destroy the walls using suicide bombers. Therefore, I initially considered the ‘Invincible Fortress’ option, to make the enemy’s siege itself difficult. However, as I repeatedly felt tactically outmaneuvered by the enemy commander while the goblin army was advancing, I leaned towards the ‘One-Way Traffic’ option. I had already suffered significant damage from the werewolf army’s flanking maneuver in Stage 10. The Goblin God King, who had broken through countless human fortresses with strategy and tactics, would undoubtedly use far more complex tactics. He must have secured siege methods other than suicide bombers. And frankly, I wasn’t confident in countering his broader tactics, which were more seasoned than mine. If so, let’s limit the battlefield instead. Let’s concentrate our forces on the south wall and crush them. Thus, one day before the start of the defense battle, I activated [Goddess Blessing: One-Way Traffic]. [The goddess bestows a blessing upon your battlefield…] [During this battle, the enemy will only attack from the south wall.] Our battlefield was limited to the south wall. ‘Fight well, my heroes. My soldiers.’ The command of the outer front was entrusted to Lucas. I had thoroughly instructed everyone with tactics. I had no choice but to trust them with the battle on the walls. What I had to do right now was… Clang! Thwack-! To defeat the Goblin God King in front of me as quickly as possible! Even though my four captured monsters were surrounding and attacking him fiercely, Kali-Alexander was easily holding his ground, swinging his sword in response. I also gripped the dagger in my hand tightly and jumped into the chaos of clashing metal. As I joined the fray, a low chuckle escaped from Kali-Alexander’s mask. I gritted my teeth and thrust my dagger. As this world has always been… I must kill. To survive. *** Over the snow-covered field, Kyaaaaak! Kilik, kililik-! The goblin army poured out, screaming. “Prepare for battle-!” Lucas, drawing his sword, repeatedly commanded. The soldiers stood before their respective ranged weapons and loaded their ammunition. As Ash had said, the wave of greenskins did not attempt any flanking maneuvers. They were pushing straight ahead. That’s why it was suffocating. 25,000 living beings, not caring about their own lives, were rushing towards the walls. There was a different kind of pressure than when I saw the same scene at the forward base. Back then, the walls were lower, and there were fewer troops, but there was a way to escape. But now, we are also in a last stand. This wall is the final line of defense. If this is breached, the goblins will advance north, gather their kin, increase their numbers, and recreate the ‘Great Goblin Invasion’ of hundreds of years ago. ‘This is driving me crazy.’ Every defense battle was fought with the fate of the world at stake, but this one had a crucial difference from the previous ones. Lucas clicked his tongue inwardly. ‘I can’t even see all of them at once.’ There are too many. Terribly many. The already numerous goblins were scattered and poured out widely, filling and overflowing the field of vision. I had to turn my head left and right to barely see their entire scale. Kwang! Ku-kwagwang! The front line of the rushing goblins was caught in the minefield and exploded. In an instant, the lives of about a hundred goblins were lost. But it didn’t even make a dent. It felt like scooping up a handful of water from the sea. Still, the massive wave was crashing in, creating foam. Kyaaaaaaa-! Easily stepping over the shattered corpses of their comrades, the next line of goblins charged forward. As they entered the firing range, Lucas shouted. “Fire-! Focus only on your assigned area, and shoot-!” Bang! Pubububung-! Hududududuk! The cannons and ballistae that had steadfastly defended the walls of Crossroads fired their respective projectiles. The central gunners focused on intercepting the goblins gathered around the gray fortress, while the right and left gunners aimed and fired at the goblins rushing towards their respective walls. The goblins that had passed the minefield reached the kill zone. It was a place where wooden barricades were arranged in a tangled mess, effectively hindering the monsters’ advance. The first wave of goblins that entered this area were all beaten to a pulp and died. The problem was the second wave that followed. Bang-! Kwaga-gwang! The second wave was goblin suicide bombers. Without any hesitation, they slammed their bodies into the barricades. Originally, the monsters were supposed to slow down due to the bottleneck, get shot by our forces, and fall. But the barricades were shattered, set on fire, and collapsed by the continuous explosions of the goblin suicide bombers. “These crazy bastards……” Lucas muttered in bewilderment. The suicide bombers were caught in each other’s explosions, even killing other goblins in the rear. But, despite that, they achieved their goal. By the time the second wave had all burned to death in the explosions they caused, the kill zone was neutralized. Piercing through the crossfire zone that was supposed to buy us much more time, the third wave of goblins broke through. Clatter! Clatter! Clatter! The third wave was cavalry. The goblins riding on mountain goats dashed across the battlefield at a nimble speed. What role could cavalry play in a battle in front of a wall? What meaning was there in charging towards a wall that was firmly defended by the defending forces? I didn’t know, but the goblin cavalry was rushing madly towards the wall. They leaped over the densely packed barricades in an instant, easily avoided the activated mines, and dashed towards the wall. The flustered gunners hurriedly changed their aim and targeted the cavalry. But the goblin cavalry was much faster than the existing goblins, and it took time to aim and deal with them. By the time most of the cavalry was annihilated by the firepower from the wall, the aiming lines of the cannons and ballistae were already a mess. And the last cavalry that finally broke through the fire net and reached the wall- Thud! Slammed its body directly into the wall. The mountain goat and goblin, their bodies crushed, collapsed to the ground. The bewildered human soldiers shifted the aiming lines of the cannons and ballistae again. The cavalry’s charge was reckless but effective. A hole was created in the fire net of the cannons and ballistae, and the subsequent goblin units continued their charge without taking much damage through the thinned fire net. After that, the fourth wave of goblins rushed in. This time, it was shield bearers. No, was there any meaning in distinguishing between the fourth or fifth wave? Slightly disoriented, Lucas briefly closed his eyes. How many waves of goblins were lurking behind them? It was as if a water flow far exceeding the limit that the dam could hold was pouring out. The vanguard was cleared, but the main force that had already rushed in was close to the wall. “Prepare the artifacts-!” Lucas commanded. Lily, who should have been in charge of the artifacts, was not present. Instead, the head of the alchemist guild received the order in a fluster. Lucas, gritting his teeth, stretched his arm forward and shouted. “Activate the Slowing Field Artifact! Followed by the Ice Field Artifact, activate all of them!” The wide-area slow and wide-area freeze artifacts were activated in succession. The snow that had accumulated under the slowed goblins’ feet froze coldly. As their mobility drastically decreased, the goblin army suddenly bottlenecked, and cannonballs and arrows fell on the heads of the piled-up goblins. But the fourth wave was shield bearers. They held up large shields that covered their entire bodies, protecting even their rear allies as they slowly resumed their advance. “Junior-!” As Lucas shouted, Junior, who was preparing magic with the other mage party members, threw the juice cup she was drinking out of the wall. “Let’s go, everyone!” “Yes! Sister!” “Yes! Big sister!” The young mages’ attributes were fire, wind, water, and earth, respectively. Among them, the fire attribute mage first spread flames as widely as possible. Then, the frozen ground melted into a muddy mess. “Huuup-!” And Junior and the other four mages cast their respective spells. Junior also used wind and water attributes. Swaaaaaa! Streams of water fell from the sky with strong winds, Crack! Crud-duk! The soil of the earth cracked and accepted the streams of water. The ground that had been frozen until just a moment ago instantly turned into a muddy swamp. The vanguard of the goblin soldiers who had fallen into the mire could not move. Bang! Crack! No matter how many shield bearers there were, they could not withstand the continuous barrage. Eventually, the fourth wave of goblins also gradually collapsed and was annihilated. However, the overall force advanced that much. The corpses of goblin shield bearers were scattered across the wide swamp formed by magic. The goblins in the rear stepped on those corpses and advanced. The fifth wave was a mix of shield bearers and archers. Protected by the shield bearers, the goblin archers shot arrows at the wall. Thud! Thududuk! It was a poor attack, but the attacks of the goblins, which had been untouchable until now, were definitely reaching the top of the wall. Looking down at the goblin arrow that had landed at his feet, Lucas gritted his teeth. ‘…These guys are clearly rushing in indiscriminately.’ The commander-in-chief, the Goblin God King, was trapped with Ash. Clearly, they were not receiving the God King’s command and were just rushing forward. ‘Why… are the right types of troops appearing at the front at the right time?’ It was as if everything had been calculated and arranged so that they only had to run in order. ‘No!’ Even if the Goblin God King had predicted everything and arranged the troops. The troops would be commanded by the officers left on the field. If so, if we eliminate the officers, their command system would collapse, and they would not be able to charge as efficiently as they are now. “Damian!” Lucas shouted. “We need to snipe the officer units! You know that, right?” “Yes, sir!” Damian had already been sniping the officers he had spotted. The Amirs and Janissaries [elite soldiers] wearing fancy armor all fell, spraying blood from his snipes. As the goblin army itself got closer, other snipers belonging to Damian’s party also began to snipe, focusing on the officers. Bang-! Damian, who had just sniped down a goblin Amir he had just spotted, noticed something strange. “…Um, Lucas-nim.” The two had become quite close in private, but now it was during a defense battle. Moreover, Lucas was acting as the commander’s proxy. So Damian called Lucas by his honorific title. Lucas gestured as if to say, ‘Speak,’ and Damian muttered, looking perplexed, as if he didn’t quite understand the situation. “The goblin generals… I mean, the goblin Amirs, weren’t there a total of ten of them?” “Yes. Our lord confirmed it this morning.” “The ones with unique patterns on their faces and wearing high-quality armor… right?” “That’s correct.” “……” “What is it? Why? Report quickly.” At Lucas’s urging, Damian slowly replied. “…I just sniped the tenth goblin Amir.” “What? You took them all out?” “Yes. I thought so… but…” Damian pointed to the other side of the battlefield. “There’s another one over there.” “What?” “There, and there too…” Goblin officers with unique patterns on their faces and wearing high-quality armor. “There are dozens more.” “……” “If there are a total of ten goblin Amirs, as the prince said…” With a pale face, Damian muttered. “Then… what are those guys?”