I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 420

The heroes aboard the airship Geronimo relentlessly pursued the two escaping pirate ships.

They spared no effort, pushing their engines to maximum speed and power to annihilate the enemies.

After descending onto the first pirate ship and seizing control, they chased the other fleeing pirate ship, ramming it head-on.

The two pirate ships, now impaled together, became easy prey.

Having completed the pursuit and annihilation, they returned to the Crossroad area, only to witness the pirate flagship charging towards the Crossroad ramparts with its last ounce of strength.

There was no time to hesitate. Lucas shouted,

“Ram it from the side!”

The pilot of the Geronimo—Elise, the head maid of the Winter Silver Merchant Guild—faithfully carried out the order.

Whirr!

Click!

Her hand cranked the engine gears to maximum, and simultaneously, she pressed the red ignition button, activating the rear thruster boosters.

Thwack-!

The airship flew at maximum speed, striking the side of the pirate ship just as it was about to hit the Crossroad ramparts.

Woodudduk-

Kwagwang!

The already battered pirate ship was completely destroyed in mid-air.

It shattered into fragments, scattering in all directions.

Watching this, Lucas breathed a sigh of relief.

“Excellent work, Elise.”

“…It was satisfying to ram it like that, but…”

Elise narrowed her eyes, examining the airship’s instrument panel.

“It seems like we pushed it a bit too hard.”

“Huh?”

“The output is decreasing. We’re going to crash at this rate.”

Indeed, the airship’s altitude was rapidly dropping.

The heroes inside screamed at the sudden descent. Especially Quillan, who suffered from acrophobia [fear of heights], was crying and foaming at the mouth before finally passing out.

Trying to regain control of the joystick, Elise shouted,

“Emergency landing! Hold on tight!”

The airship Geronimo spun wildly as it plummeted towards the ground.

Even in the midst of this, Elise adjusted the course towards the forest to minimize the impact of the crash, while also trying to land as smoothly as possible with the wide bottom of the airship.

Kugugugung…!

The violently shaking aircraft crashed into the forest southwest of Crossroad, raising a cloud of dust.

Once the impact subsided, Lucas smoothed his disheveled hair and surveyed the interior of the airship.

“Everyone seems… okay. That’s a relief.”

It was a gruesome scene, with most of the heroes, including Quillan, having fainted. But Lucas said this.

Considering the reckless stunt they had just pulled, it was a miracle they weren’t dead. Everyone would endure a brief fainting spell, messed-up hair, and a bit of nausea.

“We’re fine, but… is Crossroad okay?”

Elise, having unbuckled her seatbelt, stood up and looked towards Crossroad.

“I wonder if that ended the battle…”

“Even if enemies remain, it will be fine.”

All the ghost ships had been destroyed.

Now, there was probably only one enemy left…

And Lucas, having already heard about that enemy’s capabilities from Ash, smiled gently.

“The people of Crossroad are strong, after all.”

***

Thud thud thud…!

Fragments of ghost ships, along with seawater, rained down from the sky.

They were the remains of the last ghost ship and flagship, the Flying Dutchman.

‘With this, all twelve ghost ships have been destroyed.’

I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. Thank goodness, really.

The ghost pirate legion was a much more powerful force if fought head-on.

If we hadn’t blocked their charging ram with the seawater defensive formation, we would have suffered immense damage.

‘It sounds like self-praise when I say it myself, but we caught them easily thanks to blocking the seawater and stopping their advance.’

The ramming attack followed by close-quarters combat tactics was so powerful that, conversely, they had no alternative tactics to use if this was blocked.

Unable to advance and stopped in their tracks, the pirates caused infighting, and after devouring each other, they were annihilated in vain.

‘Even though the fake ramparts we had set up as a safety measure were attacked and collapsed…’

Still, we can say we defended well enough. I crossed my arms and nodded, humming to myself.

That’s when it happened.

Thud!

Someone who had fallen from the sky landed on the ramparts. I stared in that direction, feeling like what was coming had finally arrived.

《…》

The ghost pirate legion commander, Ghost Privateer Captain Bernard Fokker.

This boss monster, dressed in attire like a modern admiral, had set foot on our ramparts alone.

Over his soaked coat, he wore the tattered sail of his ship like a cloak.

On his back were a huge cannon and a greatsword.

What need was there for long words? I waved my hand.

“Prepare to face the legion commander.”

The ordinary soldiers hurriedly ran down from the ramparts to take shelter, and only the hero characters remained on the ramparts, encircling the enemy commander.

《Hoo.》

The pirate, letting out a short sigh, slowly straightened his back.

《You might not believe it, but I’m usually quite mannerly in gambling.》

He slowly grabbed the cannon in his left hand and the greatsword in his right.

《When I lose, I quietly walk away. I’m used to being broke.》

Under the pirate’s hat, dripping with seawater, two eyes with flickering turquoise flames glared at us.

《But I’m sorry. Today, I think I’ll have to… cause a ruckus.》

“No need to apologize.”

I took out my staff [Maestro] from my pocket and raised a blade of magic, replying,

“We’re past the stage of exchanging such empty words.”

At my words, the ghost pirate laughed.

The master of the storm, the one who wields tentacles, the wraith of the deep sea, Mr. Wild Hunt…

The commander of the ghost fleet, and the last monster left alone after losing them all.

Bernard Fokker let out a thunderous roar.

《This world is just one big gamble anyway! Let’s roll around together, human-!》

The next moment, he shot straight towards me.

He must have sensed that I was the human commander.

The monstrous cannon in his left hand was aimed at my head, and the greatsword in his right hand was pulled back, ready to slash me the moment I came within range.

But I didn’t evade his path.

There was no need to.

-Thud.

Since the start of this battle, the hero character who had been guarding my side instead of Lucas, who had gone on a raid operation in the airship—

The leader of the Leprosy Eradication Squad, Torkel, stood before me.

His left arm, covered in a helmet, held a huge rectangular shield firmly, and his right hand gripped a large mace.

[The Great Shield Blessed by the Goddess] and [The Mace Blessed by the Goddess].

Equipment that came out of the loot boxes before this battle started. This was what I had given to Torkel.

From his hands, the equipment directly blessed by the goddess emitted a dazzling light.

Torkel seemed uncomfortable, flinching every time the equipment emitted a brilliant light.

“…No matter how I look at it, this isn’t equipment for me, Your Highness.”

“This isn’t the time to say that, Torkel! Look ahead! He’s coming!”

The nightmare legion commander was rushing towards us.

Torkel let out a low groan and readjusted his equipment. I lightly swung my staff [Maestro] at his shoulder. Smack!

[Lower Buff Acquired!]

[Torkel (SR) has been granted a ’10 percent increase in defense for 3 minutes’ buff!]

It’s been a while since I used a punishment buff!

Torkel flinched when I hit him with the staff, but immediately after, he felt the effect of the buff, and his shoulders straightened.

“I will block him…!”

“Alright! Go!”

Taat-!

Torkel dashed forward. Fokker, who was rushing towards us, fired the cannon in his left hand.

Bang-!

A magic bullet, overflowing with turquoise magic, was fired from the cannon.

That magic projectile directly hit Torkel’s shield, and,

Kwagwagwang!

Immediately, a thick cloud of smoke erupted.

A moment of silence passed, and then, the next moment.

Whoosh-!

Cutting through the smoke, with his dazzling shield in front, Torkel advanced steadily.

Torkel’s skill set was all about defense increase and health regeneration skills, and his trait [Leprosy] also had advantages as a tanking trait. In short, he was a super pure tank.

In addition, the Goddess’s Blessing set, which I had given him this time, had additional effects against ghosts and undead monsters.

[The Great Shield Blessed by the Goddess] greatly reduced the damage dealt by ghosts and undead monsters.

Moreover, with the defense buff I had given him through Maestro.

‘Even if the opponent is the nightmare legion commander, with this level of tanking performance and this level of equipment…’

He can withstand the attacks sufficiently!

Bang! Fwoosh fwoosh!

Fokker continued to fire cannonballs from his cannon, but Torkel endured them all, steadily advancing towards Fokker.

Meanwhile, I summoned the heroes.

“Junior, Bodybag, Burnout!”

The three who were on standby immediately stood behind me. I nodded.

“Including me and Torkel. This is our temporary 5-person party.”

These five were the core of this boss raid.

Although the party leader was absent, heroes from the Punishment Squad, the Holy Grail Exploration Team, and the Dragon Blood Knights were also on standby.

“Let’s go!”

I swung [Maestro] at all the heroes I could see, giving them buffs, and shouted,

“It’s time to eliminate the pirates!”

***

The ghost pirate legion was a legion that had poured most of its power into the twelve ghost ships.

It was not much different from a typical army. Just as marines who have lost their warships, tank crews who have lost their tanks, and air force pilots who have lost their fighters become greatly weakened.

At the point of losing these ghost ships in vain, the remaining members of the legion were only slightly stronger or similar in power to ordinary monsters.

This was also the case for the legion commander, Bernard Fokker.

Fokker on a ghost ship was a legion commander so powerful that curses would come out of your mouth, but the guy who got off the ship was not that threatening.

Surrounded by dozens of our heroes, his attacks were thoroughly marked by Torkel.

Fokker was gradually pushed into a defensive position, and after allowing a few concentrated attacks, he quickly became battered.

Thududududu!

Burnout fired his dual crossbows.

He had been using a stationary special crossbow, but it seemed that he had collaborated with the alchemy workshop and the blacksmith during the half-year I was gone to create new equipment.

To make it easier to carry and use in more diverse situations.

The bolts that poured out exploded wildly, scattering flames in all directions.

At first, Fokker deflected them with his greatsword or blocked them with the sail he wore like a cloak on his back, but at some point, he seemed to find it difficult to endure and began to evade.

And,

Flash-!

Kugung!

Lightning.

《Kuh?!》

For this pirate, who was always soaked in seawater, it was the worst kind of elemental magic.

“Haaaat!”

Although he had been pale all day from overexertion, Junior summoned lightning again.

Flash-

Kwagwagwagwang!

Lightning, not far behind Jupiter’s, struck Fokker’s body. Fokker gritted his teeth and endured it, but the damage was evident.

Thududududu!

Flash! Flash-!

Explosive bolts poured down in succession, and lightning struck. Fokker rolled around on the narrow ramparts, dodging the attacks.

…Even in the midst of this, his eyes were searching for an opportunity.

A single blow to reverse the situation.

But, having already lost all his ghost ships.

He had no money left to bet.

Thump!

Fokker’s arms and legs, which had been rolling on the ground, suddenly stopped.

《?!》

It was Bodybag who had captured him.

Having received the artifact ‘Magic Amplifier,’ which temporarily amplified the power of magic, he had succeeded in temporarily capturing the nightmare legion commander by exerting his maximum telekinetic power.

And that moment was enough.

Thududududu!

Flash! Flash-!

《Kuh…!》

Burnout’s explosive bolts and Junior’s lightning swept over the ghost pirate legion commander’s body.

《Not yet! Not yet-!》

Even after allowing that much attack, Fokker had not yet given up.

He shook off the telekinesis and moved one step back-

-Click.

There, the muzzle of an automatic defense turret that I had summoned in advance was aimed at him.

“Certainly, this world is one big gamble… but if you only know how to go all-in, it’s hard to call you a good gambling player.”

I smiled and raised my index finger at him, pretending to shoot with a ‘Bang’ sound.