I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 393

Lake Kingdom Dungeon, 10th District. ‘Farm’.

In the middle of the city, this vast expanse of land suddenly appeared, with fruit trees planted at precise intervals stretching endlessly.

On one side, there were livestock pens, and on the other, rice paddies and fields…

Originally, this was a top-tier farm exclusively for the royal family, supplying produce to the royal palace.

Covered with clean glass walls, this facility uses magic to maintain the optimal temperature and lighting for the growth of crops.

Even now, with the kingdom destroyed and covered in darkness and monsters, this place is still functioning.

By the will of the current owner who occupies this farm.

*Drip, drip, drip.*

On the terrace of the mansion in the center of the farm, where this wide and beautiful farm is clearly visible.

Red wine fell into a wine glass on an outdoor table, making a clear sound.

《Do you know the difference between fermentation and decay?》

The large man, who had poured about half a glass of wine, slowly righted the bottle and opened his mouth. A deep voice flowed from his lips.

《The principles of both are the same. Microbes multiply, or in simple terms, things ‘rot’. But the results are different. If it rots in a way that deepens the flavor and aroma, it’s fermentation; if it emits a foul odor and toxins, it’s decay.》

The man picked up the glass and swirled it. The red wine sloshed around inside the glass, almost overflowing.

《It’s the same process of rotting, but if it’s beneficial to humans, it’s fermentation, and if not, it’s decay. Isn’t that a very convenient standard?》

《……》

《Even decay has its own flavor, its time for harvest, and the mysteries of maturation, just like this wine. But humans neither know nor try to understand its true taste.》

The man slowly raised the glass, examining the red liquid against the farm’s lights.

《So, I tried to enlighten humans with the aesthetics of my decay. But they couldn’t accept my ideology and branded me a monster.》

The man chuckled.

《Oh, the injustice! When I worked according to their tastes, they called me a great physician, but when I moved as I pleased, they treated me like a plague monster. They’re so fickle. I’ve always been consistent, only researching decay.》

《……》

《So, as people wished, I became a monster. Using my own body as a seedbed, I planted all the decay I had researched into myself… and I became the incarnation of plague.》

*Gulp-*

The man downed the glass.

After swallowing the red wine in the glass without leaving a drop, the man let out a satisfied sigh and put the glass down. Then, he looked at the opposite side of the table.

《My rambling has been long. Why don’t you drink? This is wine brewed directly from our farm. It’s quite good.》

《……》

《Are you hesitant to drink wine brewed by the Plague Lord? Or did my bare face ruin your appetite? Well, I can understand either way.》

The man wiped his mouth and picked up a mask that was placed next to the table. It was a white raven mask.

The man put on the raven mask and then placed a black top hat over it.

The 4th-ranked Nightmare Legion Commander.

The lord of the Plague Legion – Raven sat down and looked at the opposite side.

《So, what brings you here today?》

《……》

《If you keep being so silent, I’ll end up rambling on my own.》

Sitting across from Raven was a frost giant.

He was quite small for a frost giant. He was only slightly larger than a typical human.

But this man was the commander of the Frost Giant Legion and the last king.

One of the strongest among the hellish monsters beneath this lake – Frost King Hraem.

Hraem, who had been glaring at Raven without saying a word, finally parted his heavy lips.

《I’m quitting.》

《Quitting what?》

《I’m quitting being a dog of your Plague Legion.》

Hraem, having stated his business concisely, pushed his chair back and stood up. Raven tilted his head to the side.

《Does that mean you’re abandoning your wife and children, who are being held hostage by our legion?》

《……!》

Hraem, his eyes wide, turned and growled fiercely.

《For hundreds of years, you’ve held my wife and children hostage, and you’ve used us frost giants like your slaves.》

《I thought it was a good cooperative relationship.》

《This time, too, you sent troops to capture the Succubus Queen under your orders. But the result was annihilation. Now, the few remaining warriors of my race have been wasted because of your orders.》

《You speak as if I killed your warriors.》

Raven chuckled and shrugged.

《I requested cooperation, and you accepted. The fact that they were annihilated by the Succubus Queen is because your subordinates were weak.》

《……》

《To be annihilated without even capturing a single succubus, after losing all your subordinates, the frost giants have really gone downhill.》

At the insult thrown directly at him, a terrifying evil energy erupted from Hraem’s entire body.

Hraem, who looked as if he would draw the greatsword on his back and attack Raven at any moment, eventually let out a long breath and withdrew his evil energy.

《From this moment on, the Frost Giant Legion severs its master-servant relationship with the Plague Legion.》

Hraem turned and began to walk away.

《Do whatever you want with the hostages. Kill them or let them live. It’s no longer our concern.》

《How cold, Frost King. Are you going to abandon your wife and children?》

《You’re the last person who should be saying that, after holding the Frost King’s wife and children hostage for hundreds of years and never letting them go, no matter how much I begged and pleaded.》

Hraem strode out of the mansion in the center of the farm. Or rather, he tried to.

*Stagger.*

《……?》

Suddenly, his vision lowered.

Hraem, puzzled, soon realized that he was kneeling on the ground. His legs had given way, causing him to collapse.

《What…?》

He felt nauseous, and his vision was blurry.

Hraem belatedly realized that blood was pouring from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

He gritted his teeth as he collapsed, blood pouring out of every pore in his body.

《I didn’t even touch the wine you offered, so what is this…?》

《You’re talking nonsense.》

Raven slowly approached Hraem and tapped his mask with his fingertip.

《If you were wary of my abilities, you shouldn’t have even breathed in front of me.》

《You… bastard…》

《Hasn’t it been hundreds of years since we faced each other? Did you really think I wouldn’t have planted a single plague in your body during that time?》

He lowered himself in front of Hraem, who was trembling all over.

《Don’t worry, Frost King.》

With a voice full of blatant mockery, Raven chuckled heavily.

《You’re just returning to the hell where your wife and children are waiting for you.》

《You… disgusting, filthy… plague monster…》

Hraem cursed as he glared at Raven until the very end.

《Just you wait. The power of frost… will not forgive… you…》

Those were Frost King Hraem’s last words.

The frost giant fell face down, his entire body stiffening.

Raven had injected him with a paralytic toxin, so he didn’t die, but he was now captured alive.

And if you are captured alive by the lord of plague, there is only one outcome.

《A new, high-quality ‘field’ has been created for a new plague to grow.》

It was to become part of the ‘farm’, where plague seeds are sown, grown, and harvested.

《A plague grown from the body of the Frost Giant King. It will surely be a decay with a great flavor.》

Raven smacked his lips as he examined the Frost King’s powerful body. He was already looking forward to what new plague would be born.

*Snap!*

As Raven snapped his fingers in the air,

*Caw, caw…*

Hundreds of crows flocked and began to grab the Frost King’s body with their claws and move it.

《The Frost Giant Legion has been a good tool for a long time, but now they’re leaving my grasp… What legion should I recruit next?》

Raven clicked his tongue.

The Plague Legion does not have ‘troops’ under its command.

He controls these vectors as members of the living plague—flies, crows, rats, and insects—but there are no subordinate entities that move with reason and consciousness.

Because just being near him for a long time is enough to become poisoned, no one could endure being by Raven’s side for long.

One Man Plague.

He is a legion by himself, a plague by himself. That is Raven, the lord of plague.

That is why the Plague Legion always suffered from a manpower shortage. Even if Raven himself created clones and struggled, there were clear limits.

So, Raven always operated by forming alliances with other legions and recruiting them as subordinates.

But the werewolf legion and the succubus legion, which he had allied with, were annihilated. Even the frost giant legion, which had been his subordinate for a long time, had left him…

《The remnants of the werewolves and frost giants will all be used as ‘fields’ for new plagues…》

Raven clicked his tongue.

《But the succubus legion, which I was most looking forward to, still hasn’t been captured.》

What form would a plague cultivated from the body of a succubus, a spiritual entity, take?

As a researcher and seeker, Raven had always been curious.

But the succubus legion was annihilated by the human players on their own… and now, the only remaining sample, Salome, was repeatedly failing to be secured.

He had sent several minor legions under his command to capture the lone Salome, but the succubus skillfully escaped every time.

This time, he sent the frost giant legion, but the frost giants were annihilated instead.

《As a monster, your legion is beyond recovery, Salome.》

Raven muttered as he headed inside the farm.

《Then, wouldn’t it be better to be used as fertilizer for my research?》

To Raven, companions were like that anyway.

Weak beings who would die from poison if they stayed by his side for too long.

Then, wouldn’t it be better to use them as fields to give birth to new plagues?

And if they were reborn as an unprecedented plague and took root in Raven’s body—they could live together forever.

Raven sincerely believed that this was true, everlasting camaraderie.

After moving Frost King Hraem’s body to a suitable location, Raven sowed the seeds of decay into the frost giant’s body.

He even hummed under his raven mask, as if he was truly enjoying himself.

After finishing all the work, Raven wiped his hands with a reverent motion and headed to a warehouse on one side of the farm.

《The day I sowed a new plague into the Frost King’s body… I can’t help but have a drink on this monumental occasion.》

Although he was the lord of plague, who rotted the world with his power of decay.

He was a true connoisseur of fine wines when it came to alcohol.

He kept only fruits and grains clean without using the power of decay, and it was his pleasure to ferment and mature them with time and care before drinking them.

《I happen to have some freshly harvested peaches. It would be special to drink them with the peach wine I made last year.》

Excited about the small pleasure that would conclude his day, Raven opened the warehouse door—

《…?》

Raven noticed something was wrong.

It was gone.

Deep inside the fruit warehouse. His precious collection of the most valuable, top-grade fruits—had completely disappeared.

《Wh, what…?》

Raven let out a bewildered groan as he looked at the empty shelves.

Peaches that grew by consuming magic, celestial peaches.

Among those celestial peaches, the flat peaches that only bloomed once every three thousand years. Those peaches, rarer than any elixir, had disappeared without a trace.

And that wasn’t all.

In addition, the dozens of rare magical fruits that Raven had painstakingly harvested over the years, preserved in the best condition with dozens of preservation spells, and had only looked at because he couldn’t bear to eat them or make wine with them—

They were gone.

They were all swept away.

《Who on earth…?》

Raven’s shoulders trembled with rage.

《What big-balled madman dares to sneak into the deepest part of this Plague Lord’s farm and steal from me…!》

There had been many thieves on the farm. Most of the monsters in the Lake Kingdom were consumed by greed.

But this was the first time that someone had stolen only the most valuable, top-grade items. It was also the first time he had felt this much anger since he had been resurrected in this Lake Kingdom.

Raven’s body overflowed with poison as he failed to control his power of decay.

The other fruits and grains piled up in the warehouse all began to rot.

《I will surely kill them…! The one who stole my things! The one who coveted them! All of them!》

Raven shouted in a voice filled with anger and grief.

《I will find them all and kill them-!》

***

On the path leading out of the 10th District and into the 9th District.

Mason is scouting at the very front, and Salome is also watching the surroundings at the very rear. And I am,

*Crunch.*

Eating the fruit that Salome got yesterday.

We’re doing this to live, so we should eat while we do it. Mason and Salome don’t seem to need any special supplies, but I need to eat and sleep to move.

Especially since we’re entering the 9th District starting today.

Unlike the 10th District, which has a calm atmosphere befitting the final district, the 9th District is a living hell of chaos. The real battles will begin, so supplies are important.

*Crunch!*

I took a bite of a peach and widened my eyes.

“Wow, what is this peach? It’s really delicious.”

《Delicious, right? Delicious, right? Hehe. I had a hard time sneaking it out.》

Salome boasted from behind.

And it wasn’t just empty words, it was really delicious. Slightly more delicious than canned peaches sold on Earth?

No, the fruits on Earth are amazing fruits that have been repeatedly improved by leading scholars.

For a fruit in this fantasy world to be more delicious than one from Earth is a huge compliment, right?

‘Is it just my imagination, or does my body feel full of magic?’

After finishing one cleanly, my whole body was energized. I looked at Salome and asked.

“Do you have a lot of fruit left?”

《Yeah! I brought a lot. Don’t worry about eating it all! I can just go back to that farm and steal some more!》

Stealing crops that someone else has worked hard to grow is a bad thing, but…

Well, I heard that it’s the fruit that a monster legion commander grew for himself. I don’t need to feel any pangs of conscience.

“Okay. I’ll leave it to you. It’s delicious.”

《Hehe, yeah! Leave it to me!》

Salome raised her nose and shouted triumphantly.

《For you, I’ll steal from that farm until it’s completely empty!》

I don’t know who the owner of the farm is.

I can only hope that they won’t be too stressed by our theft…

***

And when we arrived at the place connecting the 10th and 9th Districts—the ‘Great Bridge’.

“……?!”

Someone was blocking our path as we were about to enter the wide bridge.