I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 404

405. [Side Story] Flag

For three minutes, Raven existed in a state of ‘complete nullification.’

He was simply floating in the air, and during those three minutes, the only option was to attack and kill him.

“Wha…what?”

“What in the world is going on…?”

The Sword Demon and Spear Demon, who had lunged at Raven with their weapons, let out bewildered groans.

The two’s attacks merely passed through the air, slicing through Raven’s flickering shadow. They couldn’t land a single blow on him.

“I can’t see his core…?”

“Is this guy even the real deal?!”

“It’s definitely him. But why-”

At that moment, Mason, who had roughly slashed Raven’s body with his claws, gritted his teeth.

《This monster doesn’t have a core…!》

“Is that even possible?!”

Even the blood-kin vampire monsters, though their bodies were made of writhing blood, had cores.

The fundamental rule of monsters was that they would disappear if they lost their core.

But how could Raven be real, standing right in front of them, without a core?

– So, I used my mind and soul as a seedbed. I broke and shattered my soul, letting it rot and using it as material.

His words from when he attacked me in the lower village came to mind.

I muttered in disbelief.

“You weren’t speaking metaphorically, you really sacrificed your soul…?”

《That’s right.》

Then, Raven’s voice echoed.

Three minutes had already passed. Damn it!

《I burned every last bit of my soul as a sacrifice. Therefore, I have already transcended monsters, escaped the laws of the world, and become a plague.》

Raven, having regained his senses and freed from his nullified state, let out an evil laugh.

《How do you intend to stop me with this much resolve?》

“Ugh…!”

I desperately racked my brain. Think, think!

What’s the way to kill an opponent who has neither a body nor a core?

There must be a way, there has to be-

《Ash, thanks to you, I had a dream of the distant past. Thank you. My hatred has become even more resolute…》

But Raven didn’t seem inclined to give me any time to think.

《Have you used up all your prepared moves, human? Then now, it’s my turn.》

Raven’s smog-like form compressed in an instant,

《Be swallowed by nightmares, sink, and drown in the memories you fear most…!》

Swoosh!

Like a burst sprinkler, droplets scattered in all directions.

It wasn’t something that could be avoided. Like marble melting in acid rain, my mental barrier melted away, and black shadows infiltrated my mind.

‘I’ve been had.’

I smiled bitterly.

That’s when it happened.

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, it felt like someone was hugging me from behind….

***

“Your Highness.”

I flinched at the voice beside me.

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

“Huh? Oh? Huh?”

Somehow, I was in the mercenary guild’s bar.

Looking to my side, Jupiter was sitting there.

The one-eyed veteran was wearing his usual mischievous smile. In one hand, he held a cup of strong liquor, and in the other, a smoking cigar. He frowned at me.

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

I remember this scene.

“Jupiter!”

I urgently grabbed the old soldier’s shoulder. Jupiter’s one eye widened.

“Your Highness? Why are you suddenly….”

“Stay here!”

I looked around, grinding my teeth.

“You absolutely must not go to the front lines! Understand?”

But when I looked back at Jupiter.

She was already collapsed on the ramparts.

Blood gushed from her chest, riddled with blood bullets.

“……”

Before my despairing eyes, the nightmares I had seen before began to replay one by one.

“Your Highness!”

“Prince Ash!”

Old Girl and Skull came running with smiles,

Thud! Thump….

Their blood was sucked dry like withered trees, and they were shattered by blood magic.

“Please, eat a lot. It’s a traditional dish from our tribe.”

Kureha, who had been smiling kindly as she served me food, her whole body,

Crack, crunch…!

Twisted and deformed grotesquely, she turned into a giant wolf monster, and soon collapsed and died.

“He is an indispensable figure in this city.”

Margherita said to me, sitting on the bed in the mansion, and then went outside.

“Don’t overdo it from now on.”

And she was shot by an arrow and fell.

In front of the goddess statue in the temple, quietly.

And, again.

I saw God Hand sitting on a bench in front of the alchemist’s workshop, shyly smiling as he waited for his lover. He held a flower in one hand.

Rustle….

The next moment, he disappeared.

Only withered flowers scattered everywhere.

“Damn it, I knew this would happen….”

At the collapsed forward base.

Ken, with a tearful face, was being butchered by the legs of black spiders.

The blood of people soaked the earth.

Death. Death. Death.

The guilt I had to carry for the rest of my life filled the horizon again. I couldn’t breathe and knelt on the ground.

《Look.》

Then, a voice came from above. I barely managed to lift my trembling head.

《Don’t avoid it, look. They are all the lives you have taken.》

“Ra, ven…!”

Raven was floating in the sky.

In a world filled with death, the plague bringer was reigning alone in the air, like a black sun.

《To more surely kill your mind, I have directly infiltrated your mind.》

“Well, thank you for your concern…!”

《You’re holding up better than before. Have you developed some resistance? Or is your guilt that shallow?》

Raven let out a low laugh, then swirled his body and poured down a black rain again.

《Well, it doesn’t matter. I can repeat it thousands and tens of thousands of times until you completely break down…!》

Each droplet he poured out was the death of one of my comrades.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t have the confidence to endure even one more time, let alone thousands.

Then.

Click-

The sound of an umbrella opening rang out.

Swishhh-

The raindrops didn’t touch my body.

I looked up to the side in confusion. And then.

《Hello, honey?》

Salome was standing there.

She was holding a strikingly bright pink umbrella over me, completely out of place in this dark world. She smiled brightly.

“Huh?”

《No…》

Both Raven and I were taken aback.

“Salome…?”

《The Great Seductress! How did you get here?!》

《Hmph. You’re underestimating a succubus too much, aren’t you?》

Salome crossed her arms and shrugged.

《Raven, you made a hole in Ash’s mental barrier, right? Of course, I can use that hole too.》

《You… you wicked succubus! Don’t interfere with my work!》

Then, Salome, still holding the umbrella over me, placed her other hand on my shoulder.

《Ash. I want to hold an umbrella for you forever, but sadly. People have to face the rain someday.》

Salome smiled brightly,

《So, look straight.》

Click!

She folded the umbrella.

《If you have to see it anyway, look straight, all the way.》

Swishhh!

The nightmare rain swept over my body.

And what unfolded were the same painful memories as before.

Jupiter was dead. Collapsed on the ramparts, blood gushing from her chest, riddled with blood bullets.

At that horrific sight, I involuntarily turned my head. Then, Salome, standing next to me, shouted.

《Don’t look away, Ash!》

“…!”

《This is the world you created. The path you have walked so far. So.》

Salome’s voice was stern, but warm.

《Look straight! All the way, properly!》

I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists tightly.

And looked forward again.

Then… I saw it.

Junior, cradling the head of the fallen Jupiter on his lap, whispering something to her.

Jupiter passed away peacefully. Junior held onto Jupiter’s body and wept for a long time.

And.

And….

Junior wiped his tear-stained face, straightened his body, took a deep breath, and then.

As if having made a decision, with a determined face.

He stood up.

-The scene changed.

Bodybag and Burnout were seen collecting the corpses of Old Girl and Skull, wailing.

The two young elves cried as if the world was ending, and then….

Holding each other’s hands tightly.

Wiping each other’s tears.

They stood up.

-The scene changed.

The corpse of Kureha, who had died as a monster, was seen.

Kuilran gently embraced the corpse.

Kuilran, who had been looking down at his dead brother with affection, slowly raised his body.

And, to bury his brother, he moved forward.

-The scene changed.

After gently laying Margherita, who had been shot by an arrow, in front of the goddess statue.

Torkel adjusted his helmet, tightly tied a chipped kitchen knife in his right hand, and a broken table on his left arm.

And, as if to fight again, he raised his bloodied body.

-The scene changed.

Lily was sitting alone on a bench.

Even though the lover who used to surprise her with flowers was no longer coming. She sat on the bench in front of the workshop, just staying there.

She was quietly looking at the metal flower in her hand.

After gently holding the flower to her chest.

Lily struggled to raise her body, moving from the bench to her wheelchair.

It seemed very difficult for her, who couldn’t use her legs. But Lily gritted her teeth and, while groaning, finally sat in the wheelchair.

And, pulling the wheelchair.

Somewhere- somewhere in this harsh world.

She moved.

-The scene changed.

I was reading a letter that had come to me. The letter, written in clumsy handwriting, was from a young child.

Ken’s younger siblings.

The children I had promised to take care of after Ken’s death in the tutorial.

I had been sending them living expenses under the name of the Third Prince, and one of the siblings had sent a letter.

– What kind of knight was my brother?

I replied sincerely.

– Sir Ken fought more bravely than any knight in this world.

– To protect the world. To protect you.

– I, and Crossroads, will never forget his bravery and dedication.

Then, a reply came.

– Then I will protect the world like my brother!

I looked down at that pure sentence, written in clumsy handwriting, for a long time, holding back tears.

……Again, the scene changed.

Cross, the Margrave of the Borderlands, appeared, an old man in armor, his whole body gnawed by rats.

“How was it?”

The Margrave stared at me intently with his bloodied face.

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

“……”

I didn’t answer right away.

Instead, I turned my head to the side.

Evangeline was seen walking across the spring garden, towards the center of the city, with a bright face, leaning on crutches, her whole body bandaged.

“……Yes, it was.”

Somehow, I was standing up too.

I barely managed to stand on my trembling legs.

“Margrave. You told me before you died. That this place, Crossroads, is called a city on a grave.”

I faced the Margrave.

“It’s a derogatory term for having many casualties, but it also means that even on a grave, people live on.”

A faint smile spread across the bloodied old man’s face.

That’s right. I realize it now, belatedly.

After facing my guilt. After seeing the people who followed, I realized it now, though it was late.

People die.

But their will continues.

The people left behind carry on their legacy and move forward again.

That’s how it continues endlessly.

The history of people. The will of people. The dreams of people.

“It’s a bit late, but I understand now.”

I held up the flag, and people gathered under that flag.

If people died for that flag.

What I have to do is not to break the flag.

Not to despair. Not to be frustrated. Not to regret or blame myself.

No matter how painful it is. No matter how much I want to run away.

I have to carry it on.

Remembering clearly what they died for… and carrying the will of those lives, I have to raise the flag again.

Because that is the responsibility and duty of the person holding the flag.

“I will say it a hundred times, a thousand times, Margrave.”

I reached out my right hand.

“This city. And this world.”

Then, in the empty space where there was nothing… a brightly shining flag appeared.

Clutching it tightly, I shouted.

“It is worth… protecting!”