I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 419

Kugwagwagwang! The figurehead, adorned with a Siren statue, smashed through the fortress walls in an instant. The 7th ship, the flagship of Bernard Fokker—the ‘Flying Dutchman’—had finally reached the ramparts of the human world. 《Alright!》 The pirates on board cheered in unison. Only one ship out of twelve had made it this far, but the pirates were neither frustrated nor afraid. Even if their numbers were small, the fact that at least one ship had penetrated the enemy’s territory was enough. Pirates were, by nature, a species that plundered from their enemies. They boarded enemy ships, seized their goods, people, and weapons, and ultimately, they would even take the enemy’s ship as their own. Now that they had reached the ramparts, all they had to do was take them. And, above all. Kuoohhhhh-! The flagship of the ghost fleet, the Flying Dutchman, possessed a sea monster—none other than the Kraken. This creature, the first cephalopod life form, had an appearance that was half octopus and half squid, but its size was thousands of times greater. 《Release the Kraken!》 《Show them the taste of the deep sea!》 《Kyahho~! Let’s go!》 As the pirates opened the door to the sealed storage deep within the ship, a monstrously huge tentacled creature, defying logic as to how it had fit in such a narrow space, swelled and burst out. Crack! Cruddddd! The monster burst out with such terrifying force that it seemed as if it would shatter the ship’s hull entirely. Some pirates were instantly torn to pieces by its movements, but the others paid no mind. 《Prepare for melee combat!》 《It’s party time!》 《Human world! We have returned!》 Holding knives, pistols, hooks, and other weapons, the pirates swarmed out of the ship. Once the Kraken had stirred up the defensive forces on the ramparts, the ghost pirates would annihilate the remaining stragglers— That was their usual tactic. They disembarked from the ship and climbed onto the ruined ramparts, but then. 《……?》 《Huh?》 《What is this?》 Confused groans escaped the pirates’ lips. That was because there wasn’t a single human defender on the ramparts—not one. The cannons, ballistae, and artifacts that had been firing just moments ago were also gone. They had vanished without a trace. 《What is this…》 《Is this some kind of ghostly trickery…?》 Even though they were ghosts themselves, those words involuntarily slipped out. And as the bewildered ghost pirates looked around, they soon discovered. 《……?!》 Right behind the ramparts they had struggled to reach and destroy. The existence of a ‘real’ wall, standing taller and thicker. *** I grinned. That’s right. The ramparts that the pirates had been struggling to overcome, the ones they had been ramming their heads against, were actually… the magic ramparts I had summoned with [Imperial Territory Declaration]. This ultimate skill was originally a technique to summon a small circular fortress, but the shape of the fortress could be altered according to my will. So, this time, I gathered all the ramparts of the magic fortress and stacked them as high as possible in a line. In front of the ramparts of Crossroad’s main castle. As a kind of decoy rampart. I also reinforced it with leftover iron plates and bricks, using the magic construction of the defense towers. And of course, the real soldiers, cannons, and artifacts were all placed on top of this to fight. Naturally, the invaders would have no choice but to believe that this rampart was real and charge at it. ‘I knew from the start that you guys would try a ramming tactic.’ The ghost pirate legion was a group of madmen who were fanatically obsessed with the ramming-melee tactic, where they would always start by ramming the enemy with the bow of their ship. Therefore, to ensure that there would be no damage on our side even if they rammed and destroyed it, I had set up my magic ramparts as bait. Moreover, these magic ramparts could be transformed and moved according to my will. Charrrrk! Clank, clank! In the early stages of the defense battle, I had the soldiers fight on top of these decoy ramparts, but the moment the ghost ship reached these magic ramparts. The moment they attempted their ramming tactic. I manipulated the ramparts with my will, moving all the soldiers and equipment on top of the ramparts to the ‘real’ ramparts of Crossroad. It was a feat made possible because the real ramparts and the decoy ramparts were close together. As a result, this decoy rampart operation worked perfectly—the ghost pirates took the bait with all their might, and our soldiers and equipment safely retreated to the real ramparts. “If you took the bait with all your might like that.” I grinned and snapped my fingers. “Now you have to get hooked and come up to the shore, right?” Snap! With the sound of my finger snap, Urrrrrr…! The magic ramparts collapsed all at once. I deactivated [Imperial Territory Declaration], and the decoy ramparts that had been set up outside the real ramparts of Crossroad disappeared like sand collapsing. Naturally. 《Uwaaaaaaack-?!》 《Hold on tight, we’re falling…?!》 The pirates and the Kraken that had been on top of the decoy ramparts also fell helplessly below. Thud, thud thud…! Kwagwang-! The ghost ship, which had rolled and crashed to the ground, made a gruesome sound as it broke apart. I glared at the pirates and the Kraken that had fallen and were rolling on the ground, and raised my hand. “All troops! Prepare to fire!” The soldiers quickly realigned the aiming lines of the cannons and artifacts as soon as they returned to the real ramparts. Soldiers who had finished aligning their weapons reported that they were ready to fire in order. I nodded greatly. “Let the pirates know! The only thing we have to give them is!” I stretched my hand forward and shouted. “Only death!” Bang! Pubububung! The crossfire that Crossroad was proud of poured down on their heads once again. Kwagwang! Kwagwagwagwang…! *** 《We’ve been had, haven’t we.》 Bernard Fokker said nonchalantly. Using the overturned pirate ship as cover, the surviving pirates were crouching low, trying to avoid the shells raining down from above. 《Taking and repaying, if you keep repeating it, eventually your luck will run out and you’ll fail. It seems like this is that time.》 The gamble they had made with their last stake had failed. Fokker and his pirate crew had always managed to make up for their massive losses by succeeding in one big score, but in the end, they had failed in that one big score. Shells were exploding all around, causing flames to erupt. Fokker chuckled. 《It reminds me of that day. The day we encountered the allied fleet that came to destroy us on the stormy sea…》 《Are you talking about the final battle of our Fokker Pirates, Captain?》 《That battle was truly amazing, Captain!》 When his subordinates agreed, Fokker glared at them as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 《Amazing, my ass, you bastards. We were torn to pieces and died horribly by the allied bastards who swarmed us from all sides. We were completely like a bluefin tuna surrounded by sharks.》 《Well… isn’t it okay to embellish the last battle a little?》 《Let’s just say we fought bravely and died!》 《We lost, but we fought well!》 There was no way it could have been cool. The Fokker Pirates themselves were a legion of ghosts who had drowned and died at sea. They were wandering spirits endlessly searching the sea for unfortunate victims crossing the sea on stormy nights. An allied force was formed to defeat these spirits, and the Fokker Pirates did not avoid them and clashed with them. The result was a complete annihilation. They ran away dirty and ugly until the very end, and the ship, which had been battered by the pursuers’ shelling, ran aground on a reef… Fokker and his pirate crew were finally submerged in the deep sea. 《I felt similar to how I felt when we fought those allied bastards.》 Several bottles of alcohol rolled down from the hold of the overturned ship. Fokker opened the cap of a bottle and threw one to each of his surviving subordinates. 《They knew our tactics, and we were completely defeated after being sucked into their trap.》 《…….》 《They weren’t afraid of monsters like us, they didn’t give in, and they fought to the end to achieve victory. Amazing, you humans… haha.》 Fokker clinked his bottle with his surviving subordinates. The sound of the clink was pathetic. 《Yeah, humans should be the ones to win in the end.》 Fokker gulped down the alcohol, wiped his mouth, and smiled bitterly. 《If monsters like us became the final victors, wouldn’t it become a terrible world with nothing left to plunder?》 《…….》 《The world should belong to humans. We were just trying to live modestly, plundering a little from the corners…》 The subordinates listened to their captain’s words and emptied their bottles without a word. They all sensed it. That this gamble was a loss. A complete loss that they couldn’t do anything about. It was then. Kuoohhhhh-! A monstrous roar of a beast echoed. Everyone was surprised and looked in that direction. The Kraken. This ancient sea monster was raising its body again, based on its overwhelming durability and mysterious regenerative power. Thump! Thump! Thud! And it began to move its massive body towards the ramparts of the human world. The crossfire of Crossroad shifted to the Kraken. Even as it was being torn to shreds by the pouring shells, the Kraken trudged forward, and all the humans’ attention was focused on the Kraken. 《…It seems there’s still some stake left to put on this gamble.》 Fokker, who had neatly placed the empty bottle on the ground, stood up from his seat. 《Everyone, board the ship. …Let’s go one more time.》 The subordinates looked at their captain with surprised eyes. Fokker grinned, revealing his yellow, rotten teeth. 《The storm is still raging, and my ship can still move. Then, shouldn’t we try ramming it?》 His subordinates grinned, revealing their equally rotten teeth, and poured the remaining alcohol into their mouths. And they stood up. 《How many pirates are still breathing?》 《Six, Captain!》 《That’s enough to move the ship.》 Fokker reached out towards the overturned ship. Then, the ghost ship let out a heavy wail and righted itself. Fokker and his subordinates boarded the ship with nimble movements. 《Let’s go! The final ramming!》 Flap! The tattered sails, already unrecognizable, caught the storm. The hull was riddled with holes, and there wasn’t a single part that was intact. The Siren statue on the bow was also broken in half. But the ghost ship moved. Kuoohhhhh…! The Kraken, which had been drawing attention in front, collapsed in a bloody mess with a desperate scream. In that gap, the ghost ship gained speed with the wind, and was once again making a final charge towards the ramparts of the human world. “The ghost ship is moving again!” “Fire! Pour everything! Stop it!” The cannons, ballistae, and artifacts that had been intercepting the Kraken were once again poured towards the ghost ship. Even as it was hit by all those attacks, and the hull was shattered into pieces, making it impossible to recognize its shape, the pirate ship finally flew towards the ramparts. 《Remember this well, humans! The name of this ship that will plant a sword in your ramparts is!》 Amidst the scattering fragments of rotten planks, Bernard Fokker, who was still holding the ship’s wheel until the very end, shouted. 《The Flying Dutchman!》 The bow of the ghost ship, which had soared up, was about to reach the real ramparts of Crossroad this time. Tututututu-! A heavy mechanical sound echoed from the side, Kwaang-! Something struck the Flying Dutchman from the side. The bow of the ghost ship, which was about to reach the ramparts of Crossroad, was pushed sideways by the impact. 《What…》 Amidst the fragments of the pirate ship scattering in all directions, Bernard Fokker turned his head to the side. What had flown in from somewhere and pushed his ghost ship away was… “Tsk tsk.” The airship of Crossroad, the Geronimo. It was the Geronimo. The knight standing next to the cockpit of the airship—Lucas—was shaking his head slightly, and Fokker could see it. “That won’t do.” Thwak-! An enormous flame erupted from the thrusters mounted on the rear of the Geronimo, And in the air, the airship pushed the ghost ship sideways with overwhelming force. 《…Haha.》 A hollow laugh hung on Bernard Fokker’s lips. Well. If the gamble he had thrown out desperately had always worked, he wouldn’t have become a monster in this state in the first place. Woodudduk- Kwagwang! With the sound of something snapping, the Flying Dutchman exploded.