I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 391

After defeating all of the Frost Giant forces.

“Heave-ho.”

After gathering some usable bags and clothes from the ruined palace.

Without a second thought, I headed into the darkness beyond the Lake Kingdom, when Salome frantically followed me from behind.

《Wait, where are you going?!》

“Where else? I’m going home.”

The road is long, but that’s why I need to leave quickly. My kids are waiting for their lord with bated breath.

Then, Salome pointed at herself with her index finger.

《What about me?!》

“Well, what about you or whatever…”

Now, we should each live our own lives, right? I wish you a blissful afterlife.

As I waved my hand, Salome whined with a tearful face.

《You said you’d ally with me!》

“That ended just now.”

We just finished off our common enemy a little while ago.

I’m letting you go without killing you, considering our brief alliance. Be grateful.

I waved my hand once more and turned around coolly, but Salome grabbed my waist and lay down on the floor. What the heck are you doing!

《Are you just trying to use me, suck me dry, and then throw me away?!》

“Don’t make an innocent person out to be a bad guy…”

《You hit me every day! You say harsh things! You make me spend the nights crying! But I love you…!》

“Don’t drift into some cheap melodrama! Let go, let go!”

After ruthlessly shaking off Salome’s arm, I walked forward.

When her tearful pleas didn’t work, Salome just started following me closely.

《Are you planning to wander out there alone? This is the deepest part of the Lake Kingdom, you know? There are monsters everywhere!》

“It’s a bit much for me to say this myself, but I haven’t been eating my meals for nothing… I can manage just fine without your worries.”

It’s true that it’s a dangerous place, but I’ve been through this place countless times in the game.

Now that I’ve confirmed that my skills are usable, I have the means to get by.

‘It’s easier for me to move alone.’

There are several problems with Salome acting together with me.

First, she’s being targeted by other monster forces right now. If a monster force attacks targeting her, I could get caught up in it.

Second, her very existence is too conspicuous. Look at that pink shadow bouncing around like a poodle. She’s bound to attract attention in many ways.

It doesn’t suit my style of quietly escaping the dungeon.

Lastly, the biggest problem.

‘How can I trust a monster?’

She saved me from the other side of the abyss, and she’s been fawning over me, saying she likes me, but she could stab me in the back at any moment.

Her nature is to seduce and destroy her opponents. I can’t trust her even with empty words.

《I, I, I! I’ll listen to you!》

Salome hurriedly gathered some of her belongings and then followed me, pleading.

《So, can’t we stay together a little longer? Huh?》

“……”

《I’ll fully cooperate until you get out of the dungeon! I’ll do whatever you tell me!》

“……”

《We might be a good match?! We worked pretty well together in the battle just now! A mind-control couple that can defeat every monster force we encounter! How about it?》

It’s not a couple, it’s a duo.

It’s too annoying to argue every point. I sighed and waved my hand.

“Then prove it.”

《Prove it?》

“Accept my mind control obediently. Then I’ll let you come with me.”

If I make Salome my captured monster with [Become Mine!], I’ll have a safety net called ‘Absolute Command’.

There’s no reason not to take her. After all, the Nightmare Legion Commander is a powerful card.

But there’s no way a proud Nightmare Legion Commander would voluntarily accept an offer to become a human’s slave…

《Okay! Okay, okay, okay, I love it! Go ahead! Go ahead and cast it!》

“……”

《Do I just need to release my mental barrier? Okay, I’ve released it now! Now, capture me!》

…Is this one serious?

I was dumbfounded, staring at Salome, and then I used the [Commanding Eye] and [Become Mine!] combo in succession. It’s not like I have anything to lose.

“Become mine!”

《Yes! I will!》

You don’t have to answer because it’s a skill activation phrase!

And Salome really did obediently fall under both skills.

As a mental being, a Nightmare, and especially a Legion Commander, her magic stats are unusually high, so she shouldn’t be affected by normal methods.

She voluntarily mid-opened… she threw the game.

Clatter!

Clink!

A shape like a dog collar appeared in the air and bound Salome’s neck. Salome giggled and tapped the dog collar with her fingertips.

《So, this is your taste! Oh my, you should have said so sooner! I would have 맞춰 줬을 텐데! [I would have 맞춰 줬을 텐데! is a Korean phrase that means ‘I would have 맞춰 줬을 텐데!’]》

“You’re really an idiot…”

The system window is still down, so there’s no way to check this one’s loyalty level.

It’s better to assume it’s 0, like the other Nightmare Legion Commanders. Even though I have ‘Absolute Command’, I shouldn’t let my guard down.

《Hehehe. Can we go together now?》

Salome stood next to me, smiling like an idiot.

“……”

Don’t make that face like a kindergartener on their first field trip… I turned my head and clicked my tongue.

***

Leaving the ruined Succubus Queen’s palace behind, we came out onto the streets of the Lake Kingdom.

The deepest part of District 10 is the very center of the Lake Kingdom.

It’s a collection of the tallest and most bustling skyscrapers.

‘Ugh.’

As soon as we came out onto the street, I saw a towering spire not far away.

A magnificent and murky dark castle that constantly spewed out black fog.

The Lake Kingdom’s Royal Castle.

It must have once been the place where the royal family of this country resided and ruled this vast city-state.

But now, it’s completely shrouded in darkness, emitting a suffocating malice.

The Demon King—my adversary, called the King of Kings by the monsters—must be there.

“……”

Suddenly, I remembered the first time I saw this castle.

Was it before Stage 3 started? When Evangeline first joined the party, and when Jupiter was still alive.

I had looked at this place while surveying the entire city from the walls of the Lake Kingdom.

It was so far away that I doubted if I could ever reach it. But no matter how it happened, I’m right in front of it.

I glared at the castle for a moment, then turned my head away. It’s not a place I can clear right now anyway.

But next time I come.

I will definitely tear it down. My great adversary.

《Since we’re here, do you want to go see the King of Kings?》

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

I snapped at Salome, who asked with an oblivious face, and I quickly quickened my pace.

If I go there, I’ll suffer a fate worse than death!

《That’s a shame. The King of Kings is a nice person…》

Salome muttered, looking back at the royal castle. Every time she does this, I feel deeply that you’re a monster…

“Listen, Salome? Now that we’re moving together, we need more people.”

I said, walking ahead.

Since I’m not moving alone and I’ve already taken a party member, it’s better to have more manpower.

“If possible, it would be good to have a sturdy friend to take the front lines.”

《Hmm… but I like it better when it’s just the two of us.》

“We don’t have balance, balance.”

《N-no way! Our love compatibility is definitely good!》

“No, not that… I mean in terms of combat.”

Not only is my love compatibility with Salome the worst, but our combat balance is also bad.

We’re both backline mages who inflict mind control status ailments on enemies. Our ranges overlap.

It would be better to consider the composition more carefully for the next member to join.

“If you see a good front-line character, you can immediately charm them…”

Squish.

Oh.

I think I just stepped on something.

I stopped talking and looked down in confusion, and then I was horrified.

In the center of District 10, there was a huge fountain square, connected to a long staircase leading to the royal castle.

At the bottom of that staircase… there was a bizarre beast lying there.

It was a hybrid beast, a chimera-like creature with a mix of various animal forms.

Its whole body was crushed and bloody, and it was curled up at the bottom of the stairs, breathing weakly. I stepped back in horror.

“What the heck, that scared me! Why is this thing lying here!”

Or is it? It’s the deepest part of the dungeon, so it’s not strange to see several monster corpses lying around, right?

But even Salome tilted her head.

《That’s strange. This is the royal castle’s territory. It means it’s the King of Kings’ area. So, the demon guards keep it clean…》

Salome’s eyes widened as she spoke and looked around.

《Oh my god, what is this?》

I looked in that direction too. And I belatedly discovered it.

On the stairs leading to the royal castle, demon gatekeepers and demon soldiers were lying there, torn to pieces.

And from the demon soldiers’ corpses to this hybrid beast, there was a trail of blood.

《This beast has shackles on its hands and feet.》

Salome, who had examined the state of the fallen beast, looked at me.

《Judging by the situation, it seems like it was captured by the demon guards and was being dragged away… but then it killed the guards and tried to escape.》

“But the injuries it sustained while fighting the guards were too severe, so it couldn’t go far and collapsed here?”

《Yeah. I think that’s probably it.》

I crouched down next to Salome and looked at the beast.

“…Hmm?”

I blinked.

This beast’s face. It looks familiar.

I’ve definitely seen it somewhere… but…

“…Mason?”

Suddenly, that name flowed from my mouth.

Mason.

The leader of the Aegis Special Task Force Team 1, who attacked Crossroads and kidnapped me during Stage 14.

Lucas’s former retainer, who I thought had died by Lucas’s sword, but who had endured his injuries by using beastification and had managed to sneak into the dungeon…

– We are human representatives sent by His Highness Fernandez, the next emperor of the Empire, to directly meet with the ‘Demon King,’ the ruler of the monsters.

That guy who went into the darkness alone, saying he would meet the Demon King.

At first, I thought it was a mistake, but I was sure. The hideous, deformed beast still had a faint human face, and more than anything.

《Ash, Prince, Your Highness…?》

When I called him Mason, he faintly opened his eyes, looked at me, and called my name.

《How did you… get here…?》

“That’s what I should be asking, you bastard.”

That guy must have sneaked into the dungeon from the base camp back then.

How did he get all the way here… to the deepest part of District 10?

Mason grinned, his face now resembling that of a bear, and spoke in a laughing voice.

《It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it…》

“…?”

It’s been a while? Has it?

Well, it has been some time since the Special Task Force attack.

《It’s better this way. It’s better to die at Your Highness’s hands than to be killed by monsters.》

Mason slowly closed his eyes.

《I have completed my mission… Now, I have no regrets… Please, kill me.》

“What are you talking about? You can’t die comfortably, you bastard.”

I gritted my teeth and gestured to Salome.

“Salome.”

《Yes!》

“Charm this guy. We’re taking him with us.”

《Okay! Come on, ‘Sleep’!》

As Salome reached out and emitted a pink aura, Mason was easily charmed.

Mason slowly rose from his spot with hazy eyes. Blood dripped from his broken body.

“Okay. Let’s move. This place is too conspicuous.”

《Hmm… is it okay? This bear is seriously injured. If we don’t give him first aid, he might die soon.》

“He’s still breathing. That’s enough.”

Back then, Mason didn’t die even when Lucas’s sword cut his body in half, and he managed to get here. He’ll endure that much injury.

‘I’ll find out exactly what he did here, and then use him as a meat shield until the end and then throw him away.’

And so, the three of us began to cautiously walk through the darkness-filled streets, looking for a suitable hiding place.

I was walking ahead, and when I looked back, I clicked my tongue without realizing it.

‘…What a sight for a party.’

A human.

A monster.

And a beast that is neither human nor monster.

The three of us, who don’t match at all, are huddled together, wandering through the darkness.

‘This must be the animal realm…’

Suddenly, I missed Crossroads.

I want to go back and see my kids soon….