I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 400

“Your Highness.”

I flinched, my shoulders trembling at the voice beside me.

“What’s wrong, Your Highness? Are you already drunk?”

“Huh? Oh? What?”

I looked to my side and saw Jupiter sitting there.

The one-eyed old soldier wore his usual mischievous smile. In one hand, he held a cup of strong liquor, and in the other, a cigar that was emitting smoke. He frowned at me from beside.

“This is troubling. You promised to be my drinking partner all night, didn’t you?”

“Huh…?”

“Anyway, that little rascal Junior, what did he say to this old woman, you ask….”

This was the mercenary guild’s bar. I looked at the empty bottles in front of me.

Huh?

When did I start drinking here?

I was definitely…….

“Your Highness?”

“Huh?”

“You seem really drunk. Shall we call it a night?”

“No, no! I’m fine.”

“Then please fill this old man’s glass. You haven’t poured me a drink, and I’ve been rambling alone with a parched throat.”

I quickly grabbed the bottle in front of me and filled Jupiter’s glass.

At first, I was bewildered, but soon a slow smile spread across my face.

How long has it been since I drank with Jupiter like this?

“Hey, Jupiter. You might think this is out of the blue, but it feels really good to have a drink and talk with you like this.”

As I said that and poured the drink, I turned my head to the side,

and suddenly, this was no longer the mercenary guild. It was the top of the south wall.

The smell of blood, the smell of gunpowder… and on this wall, filled with the corpses of fallen soldiers, Jupiter lay dead.

His chest was riddled with wounds from blood magic. The old soldier had long since breathed his last, his old black uniform stained with scattered blood.

“……?!”

What.

What is this all of a sudden?

Confused, I quickly backed away. Then, the scenery around me changed again.

This was the annex next to the lord’s mansion. It was where the Shadow Squad used as their lodgings.

“Prince!”

“Your Highness!”

The two young elves I hadn’t seen in a while ran towards me.

Old Girl, who always smiled and waved at me, and Skull, whose face was covered in scars. The two elves stood on either side of me and whined.

“We want to drink fruit juice!”

“The nut cookies you gave us last time were delicious!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll get them for you. But, just a moment… Your Highness needs to catch his breath….”

As I, panting, looked down at them again,

Thud.

Thump….

Old Girl collapsed, her body drained of blood, turning into a withered tree, and Skull was blown to pieces by a blood magic bombardment.

My whole body stiffened.

“Ugh, ah……?!”

I turned around with a creak and ran.

As I ran aimlessly, I found myself in front of the barracks. Kureha, the red-haired beastman, Kuilan’s brother, stood there blankly.

“Kureha! Call the people! Something’s wrong….”

“……Your Highness.”

The next moment, Kureha had transformed into a giant wolf monster.

His deep, well-like sad eyes looked at me.

《Give, the, order, please.》

And then, he collapsed and died like an old tower falling.

I bit back a scream and ran into the city.

In front of the alchemist’s workshop, God Hand was standing, peeking inside. In his hand, he held a bouquet of intertwined flowers.

Was he hiding here to surprise Lily?

Seeing the shy smile on his face, my eyes grew hot.

“God Hand! Thank goodness, you’re here!”

When I ran up and grabbed God Hand’s shoulder,

Rustle….

The flowers scattered on the ground.

Along with the prosthetic hand that was holding the bouquet, only the flowers were scattered on the ground… God Hand had disappeared without a trace.

“Ah…….”

It was hard to breathe.

Staggering back, I entered the temple next to me.

But, even here.

In front of the goddess statue in the temple… Margherita was lying there, an arrow piercing her chest.

Quietly. As if asleep. Calmly. Having breathed her last.

“Ugh, kkk…!”

I bit my lip, suppressing a scream, and ran out of the temple, running through the crossroads. To escape anywhere.

But.

There was nowhere for me to escape in this city.

The whole city was filled with memories of people,

and therefore, the whole city was death.

-The city above the grave.

The nickname of Crossroads slowly churned in my brain.

The corpses of my heroes, my soldiers, filled the city. I couldn’t hold on any longer and ran out of the city.

“Haa! Haa!”

As I opened the gate and ran outside, I saw Ken in the distance, surrounded by a swarm of black spiders.

The shield knight who had died in the tutorial stage looked at me and muttered in a tearful voice.

“Damn it, I knew it would turn out like this…….”

The spiders’ claws swung, and Ken was butchered.

I stared blankly at the scene.

The entire horizon… was filled with the deaths of my people.

I couldn’t hold on any longer and knelt on the ground.

It was then. Someone slowly dragged their feet and approached me, panting roughly beside me.

When I looked up, it was a skinny old man with a beard.

It was an unforgettable face. I called out his name.

“……Marquis.”

“How was it?”

The former lord, Charles Cross, the Marquis, asked with a bitter smile.

“Was it worth it, to protect this city, enough to sacrifice your most precious things?”

And, before I could answer,

Thud…!

His body, eaten by rats, fell beside me. Following his body, broken spears and shields fell to the ground with a thunderous sound.

I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t breathe.

I curled up and lay down. The whole world was darkness, death, blood, and screams.

It was the world I had created.

There was nowhere to escape.

……It was then.

《Ash!》

From far away, someone called my name faintly,

《Wake up, Ash!》

A hand reached out and grabbed the back of my neck.

***

《Ash!》

“……!”

I opened my eyes wide.

I was sitting on the floor, and Salome was in front of me.

His hands were gripping my shoulders. Had he shaken me awake?

Panting roughly, I ran my hand over my face. It was covered in cold sweat.

“What was that just now…….”

《It’s that bastard’s doing.》

Salome glared at the empty space behind me. I awkwardly turned to look in that direction.

……There, a black and hideous ‘something’ was writhing and floating.

A swarm of insects? No, fog? A rat? A crow? Or…….

Various monstrosities that couldn’t even maintain their shape were intertwined and pulsating. And that terrible something spoke.

《Ho, you’ve awakened, Ash.》

It was torn and crushed, but.

It was definitely the voice of the Plague Legion Commander… Raven.

《To regain consciousness even after being infected by my new plague. Indeed, your spirit is steadfast.》

“Plague, you say……?”

I got up from my seat with Salome’s support. My legs were still trembling.

“What I just experienced, that was the plague……?”

《That’s right. The realm I have newly reached. It gnaws at not only the body but also the mind, and even rots the soul—the ultimate plague.》

Raven let out a low laugh and ‘stared’ at Salome. He no longer had eyes or anything, but his evil will was clearly felt.

《Salome. All this time, I’ve always wondered what kind of plague would be born if I used you as a breeding ground for the plague.》

《Hic…!》

Salome quickly hid behind me. Raven continued, as if enjoying himself.

《If it’s a mental entity with a greater proportion of mind than body, what form would the plague take when I feed it its body and mind without leaving anything behind? Wouldn’t my plague, which only destroys the body, evolve into a new form?》

Raven threw his body—if that mass of monstrosities could be called a body—back and swaggered.

《But, when I thought about it, I was the same. I was already in a state that had long since transcended the limits of the body.》

“…….”

《So, I used my mind and soul as a breeding ground. I broke and shattered my soul, rotted it, and used it as a material—and then, oh! I finally reached it! Surpassing the body’s immunity! Surpassing the mind’s barrier! A new realm that even rots the soul!》

Even in that state, his theatrical and over-the-top way of speaking hadn’t changed. I clicked my tongue.

Anyway, his words were long-winded, but—to summarize, it’s simple.

‘He’s become able to attack directly at the mind.’

The [Phantom Pain] that Raven’s clone had been using—the phantom pain—was just a fake.

It was just giving the ‘illusion’ of being infected with a plague in the body.

But this was on a different level.

Raven’s main body’s plague had ‘truly’ evolved into a plague that gnawed at the mind and devoured the soul… a plague of mental contamination, conceptual contamination.

‘What a mess, really…….’

I clicked my tongue.

A plague that acts on the mind.

My passive skill, [Unyielding Commander], is immune to all mental status ailments. The problem lies in the judgment of this immune state.

The defense score for each status ailment is judged as immune from 100 points.

For example, if the ice attribute defense score exceeds 100 points, no ice attribute attack will cause damage.

Based on this principle, I had not been damaged by any mental attacks so far.

But the plague status ailment continuously reduces this defense score.

And if even 1 point of the defense score is reduced, it is no longer ‘immune.’ The damage penetrates little by little.

Raven had been reborn as a bizarre being called a mental plague, and he had succeeded in reducing my mental defense score by a small amount.

Just as Achilles died from an arrow to his heel, the only part where he was not invincible.

His plague gnawed at my mental barrier, created a gap, and penetrated my mind, showing me the terrible illusion from before.

‘If I get hit again, will I be able to get out again?’

I had been immune to mental status ailments until now. Therefore, there was no need to think about countermeasures.

But Raven had overturned that premise.

I recalled the terrible nightmare I had just seen—the deaths of my comrades. I bit my lip until it bled and clenched my fist tightly.

That wave of guilt,

If I face it again, will I be able to endure it?

I caught my breath and racked my brain to come up with a solution. Even in this situation, Raven was still rambling on.

《The current me, who rots the body, mind, and even the soul, is truly the ultimate plague! Even that arrogant King of Kings would not be my match!》

Whack!

The black darkness glared at me.

《But my goal is, first of all, Ash. It’s you.》

“…….”

《I will melt you and kill you first. And then, Salome, who is now useless! I will eliminate you together. And after that! All the other Nightmare Legion Commanders! Even the King of Kings! I will rot them all!》

Swish!

Raven flew towards me, making the sound of thousands of insects flapping their wings.

《I will cover this Lake Kingdom! And the entire human world! With my plague—!》

Raven’s black fog surged like a tidal wave. It was then.

Whoosh!

Someone’s strong arm grabbed my stomach. Following that, the arm that grabbed even Salome picked us up and sprinted backward.

When I looked back, it was Mason.

Mason carried us as he ran towards the sewer.

In front of the sewer, filled with black water, the Sword Demon and Spear Demon were waiting in a rowboat, holding oars.

“Get on the boat quickly!”

The two thugs shouted with unusually urgent faces.

“Hurry-!”