I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 427

The defense was over, and the victory banquet was held the very next day.

King Poseidon XIII, the merman king, left immediately.

Originally, he had been stranded due to an unexpected situation, and it seemed he also wanted to quickly hold a meeting with his own people regarding the matter I had proposed.

“He says he hopes to meet again soon…”

Serenade, standing next to the merman king, translated his sign language.

‘No, why are you pretending not to be able to speak when you can speak perfectly fine…’ I broke out in a cold sweat.

“He says that he is not used to conversations on land, and that the voices of merfolk have the power of enchantment, so he uses sign language whenever possible…”

The merman king explained (Serenade translated), as if he had noticed my question.

I blinked in surprise.

‘Ah, I see. Originally, merfolk were known to sink ships by controlling the minds of humans with their enchanting songs. So it’s that kind of ability.’

‘Come to think of it, during yesterday’s conversation, he might have been trying to enchant me to test my sincerity.’

Thanks to my passive skill [Unyielding Commander], I didn’t even realize that such an enchantment attack was coming. Well, I guess it means my sincerity was conveyed well, thanks to that.

As I was thinking, the merman king smiled brightly and gave me a thumbs up. I thought, ‘Oh well,’ and gave him a thumbs up back.

Serenade took responsibility for the merman king’s repatriation.

She was originally going to take him back in an airship, and Serenade was the one who had been in contact with the remaining forces of the merfolk from the beginning.

“Then, I’ll be going, Your Highness.”

“Okay. Take care.”

“Yes. King Poseidon XIII also says to take care… Ah, this is what he said to me.”

Serenade, sweating from the translation, led the way to the airship.

The merman king, still giving thumbs up, was transported to the airship in a mobile bathtub… Farewell. I hope you return with good news.

I lowered my arm, waving goodbye to him as he moved away, and looked around at my subordinates.

“Let’s move quickly too.”

I wish I could bask in the joy of victory a little longer.

The outside situation is changing breathtakingly fast. We need to move quickly too.

‘According to the Fallen King’s plan, we need to send envoys to the kings and chiefs of various races.’

Like the merman king, I need to send my recommendations to the other kings as well.

The envoys to send to each king have already been decided.

Strangely—or perhaps inevitably—among my subordinate heroes, there were those who were related to each of the fallen kings.

All I have to do is dress them well and send them off with plenty of gifts. I don’t know if they’ll give a good answer, but I can at least make them listen once.

‘However, before that, we will attack the ‘Magic Tower’.’

The 8th District dungeon, ‘Magic Tower,’ boasts a much more overwhelming scale and threat than the dungeons we have cleared so far.

We need to respond with our elite heroes as well. Before sending envoys in all directions, it would be better to clear it quickly together.

Fortunately, there is plenty of time left until the next stage.

Perhaps because the previous stage was a boss stage. More than a month has been left open.

If we quickly complete the Magic Tower raid and send envoys in all directions, we will be able to operate more comfortably afterward.

“So, everyone, gather!”

I clapped my hands and shouted.

“We will enter the dungeon tomorrow morning! Today, we will have a briefing, so by lunchtime today, all heroes belonging to the First Army must gather at the Lord’s mansion without exception!”

***

So, around lunchtime.

The heroes all gathered at the Lord’s mansion.

“I’m sorry for summoning you without giving you a break, right after the defense battle yesterday.”

I had Aider serve tea and coffee, and started the briefing on this expedition.

“But as the world situation is urgent, we must respond quickly accordingly…”

I stopped talking.

The faces of the heroes, slumped in their seats and looking at me, were all haggard. They all looked like they were suffering from a hangover.

“…No, how much did you guys drink yesterday?”

Junior, representing the group, made excuses to me, who was dumbfounded.

“But, Your Highness the Prince returned… and we defeated a commander-level enemy… it was all good news. And there was a lot of seafood, so the alcohol just kept going down… Cough!”

Junior coughed up blood while speaking.

“Do you want to drink when your body is in that state?!”

Well, I did drink a lot yesterday too.

After looking around at the zombie-like party members groaning in pain from their hangovers.

“…I wish I could let you rest for a few more days. But there is no time. We will enter the dungeon tomorrow morning.”

I said mercilessly.

I gave a smirk to the heroes who were all making faces.

“Besides, this dungeon will have almost no combat, ‘if we do well’. So, there is no need to enter in perfect condition.”

“…?”

The heroes’ eyes widened at the words that there would be almost no combat. I tapped the blackboard that Aider had brought with my staff.

“The place we will attack this time is the 8th District dungeon, ‘Magic Tower’.”

It feels like just yesterday when we first entered the 1st District and got lost. We have already reached the Magic Tower, the representative dungeon of the 8th District.

After being briefly immersed in new emotions, I raised my staff and pointed to the elf party sitting in the corner of the reception room.

“The path to this place has already been cleared by Verdandi and the Holy Grail Expedition.”

“Yay~!”

Then, Verdandi and the elves waved their hands around as if to show off.

These rodent-like creatures, who even use nuts to cure their hangovers, are currently drinking a drink similar to ssanghwa tea [a traditional Korean herbal tea] with plenty of nuts floating in it to sober up.

“So, the Holy Grail Expedition will be in charge of guiding us. Holy Grail Expedition! We plan to recover the ‘Holy Grail’ that you have been longing for in this Magic Tower, so please lead the way diligently.”

“Leave it to us, Ash!”

Verdandi’s eyes sparkled as she clenched her fist. The other four elves nodded enthusiastically. Good.

“The path is open, so we just need to enter the dungeon tomorrow, clear it, and get out.”

Tap!

I tapped the blackboard and began to explain the inside of the dungeon in earnest.

“Let me tell you in advance. There are no monsters in the ‘Magic Tower’ dungeon.”

At those words, all the heroes looked puzzled.

It would be strange. A dungeon without monsters.

But just because there are no monsters, doesn’t mean there are no ‘enemies’.

“Instead of monsters, a fully automated defense system is guarding the tower.”

“Ah…!”

The mages all exclaimed at once.

Especially the young mages under Junior all had their faces light up. Do they have some kind of fantasy about the Magic Tower?

“It’s the Magic Tower after all…!”

“A place where the essence of ancient magic is gathered…!”

“If we go, the Lord will let us sneak some souvenirs…!”

“…Ahem!”

I tried to ignore the sparkling eyes of the mages.

You know that all the loot has to be inspected by me first, right, guys? The Lord will take a look at the high-grade items first.

‘I’ll give them back to you when you all grow up, okay?’

It’s the same principle as your parents taking your New Year’s money. I’ll make it grow and give it back to you. For now, if you pick up anything, give it to me first.

Anyway, I continued the explanation.

“The Magic Tower is, in short… a puzzle gimmick dungeon.”

The structure is the same as other dungeons, with a series of dungeon rooms, but instead of monsters, each room presents a puzzle. You just have to solve it.

If you succeed in solving it? You will be rewarded and move to the next room.

If you fail to solve it? The defense system will do its best to kill the intruders.

‘What was it, in the setting, the Magic Tower is a space for all mages, so it gives appropriate rewards to mages who pass the trials.’

So, if you pass the trials (puzzles), you get a reward.

If you fail, it’s a dungeon that mercilessly beats you up.

Of course, you can also solve it by fighting, just like a normal dungeon.

You can also break through by smashing the turrets, artifacts, magic traps, and automated golems that pour out instead of monsters.

In the game, many users actually cleared it by just overpowering it.

You can get the same rewards, and you can also get additional combat experience. If you only consider efficiency, it’s actually better to solve it by fighting.

‘But what I’m aiming for can’t be obtained through combat.’

There is also a special reward that can only be obtained by clearing all the puzzles up to the boss room.

And above all… if we can go without taking risks, it’s better to avoid combat.

It’s better than causing casualties by trying to get a little more experience.

After conveying this information, I looked around at the heroes and said.

“So, rest well today! Sober up by tomorrow morning! And gather here again. Got it?”

Yes-! Everyone’s answer was loud.

Then, Lucas, who was sitting in the front, raised his hand. I pointed at him with my staff.

“Do you have a question, model student?”

“Yes, my lord.”

Lucas asked carefully.

“From what you’ve said, it seems that there will be little or no combat… Is there a reason to deploy so many people?”

As Lucas said, all the heroes of the First Army are gathered in this reception room right now.

The scale is dozens of heroes. If it’s a dungeon that is based on non-combat, there is definitely no need to use so many people.

It would be better to move lightly with a smaller number of people.

I smiled bitterly.

“…There’s always a chance of something happening.”

We also need to prepare for the possibility of failing to clear the puzzles.

And, above all…

We need to be careful of ‘someone’ who is holed up in the innermost part of the Magic Tower.

“…”

I decided not to tell the heroes about this ‘someone’. It would only increase their anxiety.

Instead, I clapped my hands loudly and said.

“Okay, that’s enough for the meeting… Shall we all have lunch together and cure our hangovers?”

Then everyone cheered.

Especially the drunkards started taking out the bottles of alcohol they had hidden in their arms, saying, ‘The best way to cure a hangover is with alcohol!’… These crazy guys! Just eat your food quietly!

***

After lunch, I dismissed the heroes.

I took the teleport gate and headed down to the Lake Kingdom.

I arrived at the base camp and distributed fish dishes to the people there.

“Oh, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a sea fish dish! I’ll eat well!”

I offered Kellybay, who was delighted, alcohol as a bribe to eat with the food, and then…

Chuck.

I held out two magic cores.

[Goblin God King’s Magic Core] and [Ghost Pirate Captain’s Magic Core].

They were the magic cores of the two Nightmare Legion commanders. When I finally presented them, Kellybay’s bulging eyes flared up.

“You’re finally bringing these out! I’ve been waiting for this!”

“…I’ve roughly decided where to use them.”

I ordered Kellybay to make equipment with these two magic cores.

Kellybay made sounds like ‘Oh ho, oh ho’ and quickly wrote down my requests. A mischievous smile crossed his bearded mouth.

“Nightmare Slayers guarantee power equal to their danger. Heh heh, I’m looking forward to these two as well…”

“I’m counting on you, Master Craftsman.”

Kellybay thumped his chest, saying to leave it to him. I just smiled, as this dwarf grandfather’s skills were fully guaranteed.

After finishing the equipment request, I was going to meet Muyeong while I was here.

“…”

She was nowhere to be seen.

Grandma Coco of the Severance was back, so I gave her a fish dish and asked about Muyeong’s whereabouts. Then Coco gave a strange smile.

“…Muyeong has realized that her destiny has ripened.”

“Huh?”

“The time is coming. The time is coming, heh heh…”

She just said such incomprehensible things, and then took the fish dish and disappeared into her workshop.

I frowned in dissatisfaction. What? What is coming?

My work at the base camp was mostly done. I stepped out of the base camp.

There was another place to visit.

Whirr-

I raised a blue flame torch and walked alone into the darkness.

How long had I walked? The space I was looking for appeared.

The space where the water supply between the 5th and 6th districts was connected. A place where water leaking from a broken pipe seeped into the excavated stone wall.

Around this narrow passage where unusually clear water flowed, nameless grasses and moss grew luxuriantly.

And, next to this waterway… there was a finely tilled field.

There were clear signs that something had been planted in this field. But nothing had sprouted.

“…”

As I quietly looked down at the field,

“Ash?”

A voice was heard.

When I turned around, Verdandi was standing there with a flustered expression. Along with the members of the Holy Grail Expedition under her command.

“How did you get here…?”

“…”

This place was the base of the Holy Grail Expedition. These elves were not staying at the base camp, but separately here.

I smiled bitterly and opened my mouth.