I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 376

Clatter!

Clink!

A collar-like shape materialized in the air and fastened around Kali-Alexandros’s neck.

《……》

The Goblin God-King stared blankly at the chain encircling his neck.

[Goblin God-King Kali-Alexandros (SSR) has been added to your allies!]

– Current Loyalty: 0(+0)/100

– Absolute Command Authority: 1 time

Even with the effects of [Imperial Territory Declaration], there’s no additional loyalty bonus. It seems he has absolutely no desire to become my subordinate.

But what I needed in the first place was the ‘Absolute Command Authority,’ which allows me to force a captured monster to obey a single order. With this, I could order the goblins currently attacking to retreat from the walls, and my plan would be considered a success.

“Kali-Alexandros, I command you!”

I shouted immediately.

“Withdraw your legion at once…”

But I couldn’t finish the order.

Thud-!

Kali-Alexandros was faster, plunging his scimitar into his own chest.

“…What.”

I was momentarily stunned, watching the blood gush like a fountain from the front and back of the Goblin God-King’s chest.

《I refuse, Ash.》

Kali-Alexandros spoke calmly, spitting out blood from under his mask.

《Whatever your command is, I refuse.》

I hurriedly took out a potion and rushed to him, trying to save him at all costs.

But his sword had accurately split his core. It was an injury that couldn’t be healed with a potion.

Still, I poured the potion on his chest and shouted.

“Damn it! I command you again! Immediately withdraw your legion…”

《It’s useless, Ash.》

Kali-Alexandros said calmly.

《Even if I were to follow that order, I would die before I could withdraw my entire legion. Then the war would resume.》

“……”

I gritted my teeth.

“Why?”

《……》

“You said you wanted to be born as a human. You also said you didn’t want to harm humans. So, why?”

If you had accepted my offer, we could have coexisted.

There could have been a future where we could have culturally exchanged as you wished, and goblins and humans could have lived peacefully as one alliance.

《The life of a goblin is miserable. The life of a goblin is terrible.》

Kali-Alexandros leaned against the wall and mumbled in a fading voice.

《Goblins have no poems, no songs, no plays, and no customs or traditions. They are a terrible race with nothing but a desire for destruction.》

“……”

《But, I am their king.》

Blood was dripping from his crown, which was attached to his helmet.

《My people have revered me as their god and king. Therefore, I must lead them… I must let them live according to their nature, their instincts, and find their happiness.》

“Is the happiness of goblins, in the end… invasion and slaughter?”

《Miserably and terribly, yes.》

Kali-Alexandros spat out another mouthful of blood.

《I could suppress that instinct and make them live… I could force them to be reformed by joining your alliance. But that would only be the happiness of me, the king, not the happiness of my race.》

“……”

《If an entire race lives unhappily because of the will of an individual ruler, how is that different from living as slaves?》

From under his mask, I could vaguely see him smiling at me.

《A leader must live not for himself, but for the people who follow him. So, Ash. In the end, I am also a goblin. A damned monster.》

The goblin who yearned to be human,

《We cannot coexist. Sadly, that is the reality. My race can never live as humans. So, I will die like a monster.》

In the end, he chose to live as a goblin, and he chose to die as a goblin.

《If you want to survive. Kill me and my people, leaving none behind.》

“……”

《Stand on the island of corpses floating in a river of blood, and do not regret or blame yourself. Move forward. With the heart of an iron man, move forward. As a king, do not look back…》

His breathing grew ragged. The death of the enemy commander was near.

《…Lastly, just one trivial request. Will you grant it?》

“Tell me.”

《I listened to your words back then, and I… tried to write a poem.》

Kali-Alexandros, who was embarrassed, looked at me with earnest eyes.

《Would you listen to it?》

“……”

After grasping the current situation with [Map Creation] and confirming that there was still time before executing Plan B, I nodded.

Kali-Alexandros took a breath and slowly recited the poem.

Waiting for the summer sun

Spending seven years day and night

Breaking through the frozen ground, I raise my head

It is the night of white winter

Oh, world where I was born wrong

Even if I shout to reach the stars

Only an empty echo returns

After finishing the recitation with a hollow voice, Kali-Alexandros lowered his head.

《It’s crude and embarrassing.》

“…No. It’s a wonderful poem.”

His poem, which compared himself to a cicada born in winter, was rough but sincere.

It was not bad, considering it was his first poem.

“If you hadn’t become a war commander, you might have become a poet who made a name for himself on the continent.”

《Haha… Don’t tease me too much…》

Kali-Alexandros chuckled and sadly murmured.

《But, yes… I once dreamed of such a life…》

“……”

《If we had met in a different place, in a different form, Ash. Our relationship might have been a little different… maybe…》

I did not console him in his death.

I just watched him until his last breath.

“Farewell, Kali-Alexandros. May you find eternal rest this time.”

《…Would you call me Alexandros? If I had a friend, I wouldn’t want to hear such grand titles like Kali-.》

“…Goodbye, Alexandros.”

I whispered with respect to him as he took his last breath.

“Have a good journey.”

As if responding to that, Alexandros murmured quietly.

《To you who go on a long journey, I bless you… Whatever ending you reach, may you not regret it…》

The Goblin God-King was no longer breathing.

He was dead.

I approached and took off Alexandros’s helmet. The goblin’s face, hidden by the mask, was covered with scars etched over many years.

The nose was completely cut off, one eye was crushed by a sword wound, and one cheek, which had a scar as if pierced by an arrow, had a hole in it.

It was the face of a warrior.

After staring blankly at him as he lay peacefully, I took only the helmet and turned away.

Plan A – the forced retreat of the goblin legion using the enemy commander – has failed. Now, Plan B must be activated.

‘In the end, I’m going down a much more difficult path…’

Plan B is a direct assault.

It’s about physically annihilating the goblin legion by mobilizing all available means.

And of course, I had already planned out this scenario in advance.

I kept [Map Creation] active, which still had time remaining, and opened the stage information window to count the remaining enemies.

Not much time had passed since the battle began, but already over 5,000 goblins had been killed.

But as much as that, the goblins’ formation was tightly packed against the Crossroads.

I moved the walls of the Gray Fortress as I willed, and ascended to the top floor of the fortress. The surrounding view was clear.

Crack! Crrrack!

Most of the turrets surrounding the Gray Fortress were destroyed, and even the turrets that were still moving were collapsing under the goblins’ fierce attacks.

‘It won’t be able to hold out for long.’

This time, I looked towards the Crossroads walls.

Bang! Crash!

Flames were spreading on the walls of the Crossroads, and one wall was severely damaged and collapsing.

The goblins, who were close to the walls, were starting to climb up the walls, starting from the city.

These damn things were able to climb the walls without ladders, thanks to their light bodies.

‘The walls and the enemies are close enough.’

Perhaps it was because they were getting impatient as the target of attack got closer.

The entire goblin legion was leaning forward.

It seemed that most of the legion had passed the Gray Fortress where I was standing and were now packed right in front of the Crossroads walls.

It’s time to start Plan B.

I took out a blue flame torch from my inventory and waved it high.

I could see my subordinates on the walls recognizing my signal and waving their flags high.

At the same time,

Thump-

The east and west gates of the Crossroads began to open.

In this defense, I had activated the ‘one-way’ option with [Goddess Blessing]. The monster legion only attacks from the south.

In other words, the deployment of troops through the east and west gates is not hindered at all!

‘From ancient times to the present, what is the basic and standard of tactics?’

As I said before, it’s the Anvil & Hammer.

A tactic where the defending unit (anvil) receives and endures the enemy’s attack, while the highly mobile attacking unit (hammer) goes around to the enemy’s rear and strikes.

So, in this current war situation, what are our anvil and hammer?

The walls that are enduring the goblin legion’s fierce attacks are the anvil.

And while the goblin legion is tied to the walls, my hero parties, who can strike the enemy’s rear and flanks, can be called the hammer.

Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!

The hero parties on horseback rushed out through the opened east and west gates.

They began to gather towards the Gray Fortress where I was, bypassing the battlefield widely. I cracked my knuckles.

Plan B is, in a way, a simple plan.

While the walls hold, the guerrilla unit composed of hero parties will annihilate the enemies from the flanks and rear.

If we annihilate the enemies before the walls are breached, we win.

If the walls are breached before we annihilate the enemies, the monsters win.

‘The situation is different from the guerrilla warfare.’

Back then, there was no wide and sturdy anvil like the walls. It was like hitting empty air with a hammer.

But now, the best anvil, called the monster front, has laid out the goblins on its body, making it easy to hit them.

The power of our hammer also increases several times…!

I cleared the Gray Fortress before the hero parties arrived. It’s time to dismantle it.

My four captured monsters were severely injured, but none of them died. I roughly sprayed them with potions and put them all back into the subspace.

Crack! Crumble…

The last automatic defense turret collapsed,

Click! Clirick-!

The moment a group of goblins tried to invade the Gray Fortress.

“My lord!”

Lucas arrived first, riding his horse like he was flying.

The light blades he scattered instantly tore apart a dozen goblins. Following him, the hero parties gathered one after another.

Lucas’s party. The Punishment Unit. The Dragon Blood Knights. The Holy Grail Expedition. And 50 skilled soldiers selected from each party. All on horseback.

The Holy Grail Expedition had not fully recovered from their injuries, but they strongly expressed their intention to participate, so they were included in the formation.

So, two hundred and twenty-one people.

They are masters of close combat who can easily kill and escape even if surrounded by goblins.

They were organized as the hammer unit for this battle.

“Please, get on, my lord.”

“Okay.”

I got on the horse that Lucas brought.

I released [Imperial Territory Declaration].

Whoosh-!

The Gray Fortress, which had been covered in goblin blood and corpses, disappeared as if it were a lie.

‘Ugh!’

Perhaps because I had maintained the fortress for too long, I felt nauseous for a moment, but I desperately held it back.

I handed the Goblin God-King’s helmet, which I was holding, to Lucas.

“I’m counting on you, Lucas.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Lucas received the Goblin God-King’s helmet, which was a combination of a mask and a crown.

He raised it high and roared in a booming voice.

“Your leader is dead-!”

The goblins, hearing Lucas’s voice, looked back at us in bewilderment, and then were terrified.

Lucas pierced the helmet with the tip of his light sword and held it high in the sky. So that the helmet could be seen from afar.

“Your god and king has lost his life at the hands of our commander!”

Panic spread rapidly among the goblin legion.

“And you will meet the same end!”

I looked at the rear of the enemies, who were starting to panic and become confused, and barely managed to say.

“They have lost their head. Don’t leave a single one alive, and clean them up!”

“Yes-!”

“Let’s go! Hyah!”

As I spurred my horse and started to run, the other heroes immediately followed, surrounding me as if to protect me.

Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!

The heroes formed a wedge-shaped formation. I was in the center, and the regular soldiers lined up behind me.

And so, we rushed forward in the shape of a spear-

Crash-!

We plunged into the wave of goblins.