I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 389

《Seriously, that’s too much! Why do you always hit me every time you see me!》

Salome cried out, tears welling up as she clutched her chin.

《You don’t even know how much trouble I went through to save you this time, and you just resort to violence! You’re truly the worst human!》

“Shut up, monster. If I’m the worst human, then you’re the worst monster.”

《Ha! I’m not the worst, I’m the most seductive monster, you know?》

“……”

Seriously, what’s she so proud of? This succubus.

Anyway, I gritted my teeth and abruptly stood up.

“When a human and a monster meet, it’s a battle. What else did you expect?”

I quickly reached for my waist. I was going to pull out [Agate] right away and put a bullet in her gut, then conjure a magic blade with [Maestro] and stab it into your neck-

‘Huh?’

It’s not there.

My waist is empty. I quickly took my hand off my waist and put it into my inner pocket. Then I’ll take out another weapon from the inventory-

[The player’s proof of existence is uncertain.]

[System usage is unavailable.]

But my hand just flailed through the empty air, unable to open the inventory.

I gritted my teeth. This is happening again! What the heck is proof of existence, you damn otaku system! If usage is blocked, you shouldn’t just sit there, you should call a repair technician!

As I couldn’t take out my weapon, Salome, who had been cowering in the corner of the room with her head covered by her arms, smirked.

《Heh~? What’s this, my dear, could it be that you don’t have a weapon~?》

“If you call me ‘my dear’ one more time, I’ll kill you……”

《You’re going to try to kill me anyway, even if I don’t call you ‘my dear’!》

Che. This monster knows me well.

I can take you down with my taekwondo alone, even without a weapon. I only learned it briefly in elementary school, but it’s enough.

I awkwardly took a taekwondo stance, preparing for battle.

Salome, I don’t know how many chances I’ve missed to kill you. This time, I’m really going to kill you…….

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, I felt dizzy, and my legs gave out. I lost my balance and collapsed to the floor.

“What is this…… why is my body so weak……”

《Well, it’s because you’re suddenly trying to use a body that you haven’t used in a long time.》

Salome approached, covering her mouth and grinning slyly.

《You were sinking in the other side of the shore, weren’t you? If I hadn’t found you and pulled you out, you would have been floating around there like a ghost forever, you know?》

“The other side of the shore……?”

《It’s also called the underworld, or the spirit realm, or whatever! It’s not a place where living people should go.》

Grandma Coco’s words flashed through my mind again.

She said that if someone whose existence is unclear uses a teleport gate, they would end up there.

That’s why monsters born from nightmares can’t use teleport magic because their existence is unclear.

《I don’t know why you fell into such a place, but anyway, when I found you, I thought, ‘What a stroke of luck!’… Ah, no, I mean, I was so shocked, I was like, ‘What’s going on?!’》

“……How can you go back and forth there?”

《Hehe, when I use my invincible evasion skill [Reality Escape], the space I escape to is right there!》

Salome puffed out her chest, making an ‘ahem’ sound.

Ah, I see.

[Reality Escape], a succubus queen-only evasion skill that completely erases one’s existence from reality.

So that’s where she was escaping to, the other side of the shore. That’s why she can go in and out freely.

《So, I struggled to carry you and rescue you back to reality. Hehe, amazing, right? You can praise me! I’m the Succubus Queen! The daughter of a nightmare!》

“……”

《You can praise me! You can! Praise! Me! You can!》

Salome glanced at me, as if urging me to do so. But seeing that smug, arrogant face, I felt even less like praising her…….

“Hah.”

But, I should be grateful for what she did. I reluctantly nodded.

“Okay. Well, thanks for, uh, saving me……”

If it weren’t for her, I might have been wandering the bottom of the spirit realm forever. I should be grateful.

When I said I was really grateful, Salome’s eyes widened, and then tears welled up in her big eyes. Why?

《Hic, it feels like it’s the first time I’ve heard you say something nice to me…… That’s why I’m so moved……》

“Is that so? It’ll probably be the last time. Be as moved as you want.”

Muttering, I leaned against the wall and looked around the palace.

“So, where is this?”

Looking at this tacky pink interior, I had a pretty good idea.

《It’s my palace! How is it? Cozy, right? Clean, right? It smells nice, right?》

As expected, it was the succubus queen’s palace, the headquarters of the nightmare legion.

Looking at this bizarre, bling-bling, pink-pink interior, I suddenly thought of Evangeline.

She also has a terrifying love-house taste. Maybe she and Salome would get along well.

《Hehe, I hurriedly rearranged the furniture, cleaned, and sprayed perfume before you woke up. My subordinates usually clean for me, but they all died, so I have to do all the housework here by myself…… But, I don’t know, it was a little nice to do it for you……?》

“Don’t make that face like a newlywed bride doing housework in her honeymoon home. I want to kill you.”

Before I could finish my retort, I felt the color drain from my face. Wait a minute.

‘The Succubus Queen’s palace?’

This is…… the 10th district of the Lake Kingdom dungeon.

The deepest of the deepest. The deepest part of the deep demon realm. The very bottom of hell. The Succubus Queen’s palace is located here.

My vanguard dungeon raiding team was barely scratching the surface of the early 8th district dungeon. How did I suddenly skip everything and end up in the 10th district?

‘How can I get back to the surface?’

Do I have to escape to the 8th district and then use the teleport gate? No, no, if I use the gate now, I’ll be swept away to the other side of the shore again.

Then, does that mean I have to break through all the way to the front gate of the Lake Kingdom……?

As I was pondering my escape route, Salome cautiously approached me. Her white hand naturally wrapped around my neck.

《Hehe, are you already thinking about leaving, Ash?》

“Take your hand off me while I’m being nice……”

《Don’t be so cold, let’s live here together, just the two of us. I’ll make you have happy dreams.》

……The leader of the nightmare legion will make me have happy dreams. Does that even make sense?

《……Please, I beg you. Teach me.》

Salome said in a trembling voice, not letting go of my neck.

《Whenever I think of you, my heart flutters, I can’t stand it, my body trembles, and I feel like I’m going to cry……》

“……”

《The King of Kings said that this feeling I have for you is love. Is that really true? Teach me……!》

I immediately pulled Salome’s arm away.

“Absolutely not. Got it?”

《Waaaaah! That’s so mean!》

Mean my ass. If I had a weapon in my hand right now, you would have died ten times over. If I had anything in my stomach, I would have thrown up on your face right now.

Love? Looove? You, a monster, for me, a human?

What kind of nonsense is that!

Salome huffed, looking wronged.

《But the King of Kings said so, didn’t he? That this feeling is love!》

“Yeah, no~ Absolutely not. That bastard was just messing with you. And if your heart is fluttering, your body is trembling, and you’re crying, it’s probably an arrhythmia or a heart condition, so you should definitely go to the hospital.”

And it would be even better if you didn’t go and your symptoms worsened and you just died.

“Sorry, but I have no intention of playing along with your little game.”

After sitting for a while, my strength was returning. I staggered to my feet.

“I have to go back to my comrades. Don’t get in my way and move.”

As I got up and tried to push past Salome to leave the palace-

KWA-AAANG!

Suddenly, the palace shook as if there was an earthquake.

“Waaah?!”

《Kyaaaak!》

Salome and I were both terrified and rolled on the floor together.

BANG! CRASH! KWA-KWA-KWANG!

The explosions and vibrations continued. I looked back at Salome in terror.

“What?! What the heck is going on?!”

《W-well, I’m actually being attacked……》

Salome fidgeted with her fingers and chirped.

《So, I used [Reality Escape] to try to escape, and I accidentally found you…… Now that I’m back in reality, I’m being attacked again……》

“Who’s attacking you?!”

《Um…… another monster legion?》

What?

“Aren’t they your allies? Why are you fighting each other?”

《Well…… because my power has weakened? It’s natural for monsters to devour each other when they get weak.》

“You son of a bitch! As expected of a monster, backstabbing and betrayal are just basic common sense, huh?”

《Yep!》

Don’t be so cheerful about it!

Salome chuckled and scratched the back of her head.

《You annihilated my legion, didn’t you? Right now, I’m practically powerless.》

“……”

《But I thought I’d be safe because the King of Kings favored me……》

KWA-KWA-KWANG!

The palace shook, and a chandelier fell from the ceiling. Salome, looking distraught, hurriedly dodged it.

《I guess that’s not the case! Mommy!》

Then, Salome naturally dove into my arms, but I lightly twisted my body to avoid her.

《Kweeeek!》

The ugly succubus tumbled across the floor. I ignored her and looked out the window.

‘Who the heck is attacking……?’

I was immediately horrified by what I saw out the window.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Closing the distance to the palace with heavy footsteps were…… giants with blue skin and wearing Viking-like armor.

These giants, easily numbering in the hundreds, were holding ice spears and shields.

‘This is insane, the Frost Giant Legion……!?’

They’re not in the TOP 10 legions, but their combat power as legion soldiers, excluding the legion commander, is top-ranked. They’re just ridiculously high-spec individually.

“Hey, what do we do? You’re still a legion commander. You must have some kind of plan, right?”

《I, I don’t know! Direct combat isn’t my area of expertise in the first place! My subordinates always took care of everything!》

“What do you mean you don’t have a plan, you incompetent succubus!”

《If I had a plan, would I be watching our honeymoon home get destroyed like this?!》

“Who said it was our honeymoon home?!”

CRASH! KWA-KWA-KWANG!

Even as we argued, the Succubus Queen’s palace was being destroyed.

Seeing Salome lose her base and become homeless was a pleasant sight for me, but the problem was that those Frost Giant demolition workers wouldn’t let me go unscathed.

‘One hundred percent, we’ll be beaten to a pulp together.’

I have no intention of ending my life in a place like this with this pink succubus. I have to find a way out.

“Hah……”

I cooled my head and checked my current state.

The system window is offline.

The inventory is blocked.

I have no weapons.

……Without the system’s support, do I have any means to fight?

‘Of course.’

I glared.

Even when I had less than this, I overcame even greater obstacles.

The game isn’t over yet.

Therefore, I will not give up either.

I turned to the side. I saw Salome, looking distraught, fiddling with a fallen chandelier.

“……”

In chess, what is the strongest piece?

Without a doubt, it’s the Queen.

And one way or another, this girl is also a Queen.

Although she’s pink, not black or white.

“Hey, Salome.”

I am a player.

I am the one who makes moves on the chessboard. And there is a Queen within my reach.

Then I should use her.

Let her rampage across the battlefield- and in the end, self-destruct with the enemy’s pieces.

“It’s a temporary alliance.”

I held out my hand to Salome.

“If you follow my orders, I will help you overcome this obstacle.”

《……!》

“What do you say? Will you join hands with me?”

Then, without a second thought, Salome reached out and grabbed my hand.

《Of course, my dear!》

……No, I held out my hand to shake it. Not to hold hands side by side. Not to interlock fingers! Do you think we’re on a date, you brain-dead succubus! I can’t get this hand off!

I quickly pulled Salome’s hand away. Salome smiled, looking happy for some reason.

“I really can’t stand you……”

Muttering, I glared at the Frost Giants, who were now right in front of us, and whispered.

“Okay, Salome.”

I grinned wickedly at the Succubus Queen, who was focused on me with sparkling eyes.

“I’m going to give you the orders now.”

Thus, a disturbing alliance between a human and a monster was formed.