I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 375

A little while ago.

Clang!

Shwick-!

Kali-Alexandros and my captured monsters were launching attacks at each other.

The Goblin God-King continued the fight, maintaining a stalemate despite being in a 5-on-1 situation.

Even if they were the weakest goblins, they were still the commander of a boss stage.

It would be manageable for a main party, but it was too much to handle with just one party of captured monsters weaker than human heroes.

However, I had already planned out how to attack Kali-Alexandros.

He was an opponent I had defeated countless times in the game.

‘Kali-Alexandros’s magic and ranged nullification abilities don’t originate from him.’

It was an effect from the legendary equipment he was wearing—his armor and cloak.

In short, to put it another way.

If I could just damage the armor and cloak, magic and ranged attacks would become possible…!

Tap!

My captured monsters, the Skeleton Knight and the Scorpion Warrior, charged in from the left and right simultaneously.

《Huuup!》

Kali-Alexandros swung his scimitar like a flash of light to the left and right, shattering the Skeleton’s neck bones and crushing the Scorpion’s carapace.

But an opening appeared.

Swish-!

The Troll Royal Guard, having circled around, ambushed Kali-Alexandros from behind.

Dropping his weapon, the troll, with arms wide open, grabbed the Goblin God-King and rolled on the ground.

Kali-Alexandros struck down with his scimitar several times, but the tough troll endured the blows.

In that gap, the Skeleton and Scorpion grabbed their weapons and charged.

《Kuh?!》

Kali-Alexandros twisted his body to avoid the attack, but the goal of my captured monsters was not him from the start. It was the cloak he was wearing.

Rip!

The cloak was torn.

The blessing of ranged attack nullification disappeared, and a magical barrier was seen to peel off the Goblin God-King’s body.

“Good job, Gan-Son-Mi Trio!”

No sooner had I praised them than Kali-Alexandros’s scimitar was swung ferociously, tearing apart the three captured monsters.

But there was no time to check on their condition. I had to move on to the next phase of the tactic immediately.

“Charge in, newbie!”

As soon as my command was given, the Hawkbear Assassin, who had been hiding, dropped from the darkness.

Krooo-!

The massive monster with the head of a bird of prey, the body of a bear, and membranes under its arms, descended directly onto the Goblin God-King.

The mission I entrusted to the Hawkbear Assassin was to damage Kali-Alexandros’s armor.

Flap flap flap!

From the Hawkbear Assassin’s entire body, blade-like feathers were shot out like hidden weapons. They were called feathers, but each one had the power of a throwing dagger.

Kali-Alexandros had always nullified ranged attacks with the cloak’s ability.

Now that the cloak was damaged, could he really cope with the barrage of ranged attacks?

Clang! Clang clang clang-!

…He coped.

Kali-Alexandros skillfully deflected most of the feathers by swinging his scimitar. He was undoubtedly a master swordsman.

But a defense with a sword has clear limits.

《Ugh…!》

A few feathers that he failed to deflect pierced various parts of the Goblin God-King’s body, and a faint groan escaped from his mask.

At the same time, the Hawkbear Assassin’s massive body crashed into Kali-Alexandros.

The Hawkbear roared like a beast and wildly swung its arms, and the Goblin God-King wildly swung his sword while entangled with it.

The two beasts rolled on the ground several times, fiercely attacking each other, and then-

Thud!

In the end, the victor was Kali-Alexandros.

He plunged his sword into the Hawkbear Assassin’s neck, roughly catching his breath, and pushed the Hawkbear’s body aside.

All the captured monsters were defeated, and now that there were no more summons to bring out, who would thrust a sword into the enemy commander’s neck?

“It’s me.”

I muttered, readjusting the dagger [Gablisk].

“I’m here.”

As I prepared for battle and took a stance, Kali-Alexandros, with his scimitar over his shoulder, burst into a hearty laugh.

《You don’t seem very skilled in combat, Ash? Are you sure you’ll be alright?》

“My subordinates always worry too.”

I chuckled back.

“A commander of an army going to the front lines himself might be romantic, but it’s far from efficient.”

Perhaps it was because he was in a similar position and had heard similar nagging. I could hear the Goblin God-King laughing again.

With a smirk, I muttered quietly.

“But, Goblin God-King. Do you know what?”

《Hmm? What is it?》

“I only fight battles I know I can win.”

I gestured with my eyes towards Kali-Alexandros’s left arm.

“You. You can’t use your left arm right now, can you?”

《…!》

The Goblin God-King’s shoulder twitched. It seemed I was right.

From the time he came for the meeting, he had been covering his left arm with his cloak, and he hadn’t moved it at all during the battle.

Even in urgent situations, he only fought with his right arm. I didn’t know why, but it seemed like it was paralyzed.

Every Nightmare Legion Commander has a kind of ultimate skill, a signature move.

Kali-Alexandros was no exception.

His ultimate pattern was to defend and feint with his right-hand scimitar, then suddenly stab and pierce the opponent’s neck with an assassin’s blade hidden in his left wrist.

But if he couldn’t use his left arm….

‘A boss monster with its ultimate move sealed?’

…The number of patterns to deal with was greatly reduced.

In other words, he had rolled right into my range of attack!

“A duel between commanders, it’s absurdly old-fashioned, but….”

Tap!

I charged straight at him.

“Well, it’s kind of romantic in its own way!”

Of course, there’s no romance in battle.

Battles fought for life and death are messy and dirty. The more underhanded you are, the stronger you become.

And the strong survive.

Flash!

As I entered his range, Kali-Alexandros immediately swung his scimitar.

But I had anticipated it.

Why else would I have been hanging back and watching all this time?

‘I’ve already figured out the pattern!’

Kali-Alexandros was a skilled warrior.

And skill, in other words, also means being overly accustomed to repetition.

‘Feint with the scimitar against an approaching opponent. Mostly horizontal slashes. Aiming for the eyes—my vision.’

As expected, his sword strike flew towards my face.

“I was waiting for this!”

I drew the pistol [Agate], which was tucked into my waist, with my left hand—and fired.

Towards the scimitar flying at my face!

Bang!

The magic bullet collided with the scimitar, and at the same time.

Clang-!

《Kuh…?!》

Kali-Alexandros’s scimitar was flung backward.

[Agate] had weak damage, but it was a magic pistol with a special knockback ability.

It had the ability to knock back any enemy within 3 meters by more than 3 meters.

This ability applied not only to enemies but also to objects, and it succeeded in completely pushing away Kali-Alexandros’s sword.

His right arm holding the scimitar was flung back, and his left arm was unable to move.

In other words, his guard was completely open!

‘I’ll finish him off!’

Bang! Bang-!

I fired two more shots in succession. Aiming for his armor.

Thud! Thud-!

《Kuhhhh!》

“…!”

But Kali-Alexandros brought his left arm forward to take the bullets.

Blood splattered from his forearm, and a painful groan escaped his lips.

Rather than letting his armor be damaged, he had chosen to use his useless left arm to take the bullets. What a crazy decision!

‘But the knockback works!’

Because it was a close-range attack, [Agate]’s knockback effect was triggered again, and Kali-Alexandros was helplessly knocked backward, crashing into the wall and falling to the ground.

I immediately pinned him down, climbed onto his chest, and stomped on his right arm with my foot to immobilize it.

At the same time, I gripped the dagger [Gablisk] with both hands and thrust it down-

《-You fell for it, Ash.》

At that moment,

Flash!

A metallic glint surged before my eyes.

It was Kali-Alexandros’s left hand. The left arm that hadn’t moved throughout the battle, the one that had even been hit by two magic bullets and was in tatters.

The arm that I thought was unable to move was now forcefully reaching forward—activating the assassin’s blade on his wrist, and stabbing towards my eyes.

Only then did I realize.

It was all a feint.

The fact that he hadn’t moved his left arm throughout the battle, and even the fact that he had groaned loudly after being hit by the magic bullets.

It was all a setup to strongly suggest to me that he couldn’t use his left arm.

All for this one moment of his ultimate move…!

‘Damn it.’

Looking at the approaching assassin’s blade, in a world that had slowed down for a moment, I laughed hollowly to myself.

‘I really got played.’

And, the next moment.

Clunk!

Right in front of my eyes, the assassin’s blade stopped.

As if it had suddenly slammed on the brakes, Kali-Alexandros’s entire left arm stiffened and stopped moving.

I, who had even prepared for death for a moment, looked down at him in bewilderment.

《This is…》

Metal spikes were protruding from the entire left arm of the Goblin God-King.

It was as if a mine planted inside had exploded, a shape that seemed to have burst out from inside his left arm.

Kali-Alexandros muttered bitterly.

《…I’ve been had.》

And I knew very well whose handiwork these metal spikes were.

“-Thanks, God Hand.”

This was,

A victory you created.

Muttering, I thrust [Gablisk] down with all my might.

Thud-!

The dagger pierced the Goblin God-King’s chest. And,

Shwaaaak!

I used the momentum to tear apart the seams of his armor.

***

Kali-Alexandros was in a terrible state.

He had lost his cloak and armor, his left arm was blown apart, and a long gash from [Gablisk] remained on his chest.

He leaned against the wall of the Gray Fortress, coughing up blood.

《…Something was strange from the beginning.》

But he still spoke in a calm voice.

《From the point of isolating me, there would have been many ways to kill me… Why go through the trouble of disarming me one piece at a time?》

“….”

《Yes. The reason for going through such a complicated process is…》

Kali-Alexandros slowly raised his head and stared at me.

《…It was to dominate my mind.》

I was now standing in front of him, using [Eye of Command]. The effect had already taken hold.

Now that he had lost all his equipment, Kali-Alexandros’s stats, even with the boss buff, were only slightly superior to those of a goblin.

All his stats were low, especially his magic stat.

This meant that he was directly exposed to my 2nd skill [Eye of Command] followed by the 3rd skill [Become Mine!] combo.

“You said you wanted to be born as a human, Kali-Alexandros.”

I muttered quietly.

“I’ll make it so.”

《What…?》

“Here on the front lines, it is I who decides who is human.”

I nodded to the bewildered Kali-Alexandros.

“Come under my command. And cooperate in protecting the human world. Withdraw your subordinates, and let’s defeat the nightmare under the lake together.”

《…….》

“Then I will acknowledge you… no, both you and your legion, as my allies.”

Under the mask, the monster’s red eyes trembled in bewilderment.

I chuckled.

“Well, you don’t have the right to refuse in the first place.”

Whack!

Stretching out my arm, gathering magic power-

“Goblin God-King!”

I declared.

“Become mine!”