I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 428

“…….”

“…….”

Verdandi and I sat silently by the stream.

It was the Holy Grail Expedition’s residence… or perhaps it should be called a hideout. Anyway, it was right next to it.

How long had we been quietly watching the babbling stream? Verdandi spoke awkwardly.

“How did you know to come here?”

“I’ve known for a while. That you were staying here.”

I knew where all my party members were staying.

If I needed to call them to battle, I couldn’t not know where they were.

“More than how I knew, you’re probably more curious about why I came, right?”

I gave Verdandi a faint smile. Verdandi scratched the back of her head, looking embarrassed.

The reason I quietly came to see Verdandi today.

It was… because I had something to say about the ‘Holy Grail’ we were about to find.

I hesitated for a moment, but I steeled my heart and opened my mouth.

“Verdandi.”

“Yes.”

“The Holy Grail certainly exists, but it’s a bit different from what you think it is.”

The reason Verdandi was looking for the Holy Grail.

It was to use the immense regenerative magic contained within the Holy Grail to revive the already dead World Tree.

And to revive the World Tree… to activate the ancient magic held within the World Tree and rebuild the Elven Kingdom.

This was the reason and purpose for Verdandi’s search for the Holy Grail under this Lake Kingdom for over 100 years.

But… the Holy Grail was a bit different from what Verdandi thought it was.

Having already secured the Holy Grail in the game, I knew its true nature well.

And I also knew that Verdandi’s goal was bound to be thwarted.

“…….”

Verdandi was silent for a moment, then said,

“Ash, do you see that field over there?”

She pointed to the field next to the stream. I looked in that direction.

“We’ve been planting sunflower seeds here continuously. But they haven’t sprouted.”

“…….”

“Whether it’s because there’s no sunlight, or because the soil here is contaminated from the dungeon… I don’t know the exact reason. Anyway, the seeds die and don’t sprout.”

A bitter smile appeared on Verdandi’s lips.

“I know very well that sunflowers won’t bloom here anymore. But, we still kept planting them.”

“…….”

“Even if it’s just a sliver, there’s still a possibility that sunflowers could bloom… because there’s hope left. For that hope, we’ve continued this futile work.”

No new sprouts were visible in the finely tilled field.

“But I know. There’s nothing more foolish and heartbreaking than holding onto vain hope.”

“…….”

“Sunflowers won’t bloom here, and… using that Holy Grail to revive my homeland is, in fact, impossible.”

Verdandi was calm, even as she denied her past 100 years.

“I know it well. We just want to see it.”

Her eyes, marked with tear moles, stared ahead intently.

“The true nature of what we’ve been searching for for a hundred years. The kind of ending our futile efforts have created.”

“…….”

I listened to her quietly, then asked casually.

“What about after that?”

“…What else can we do?”

Verdandi shrugged.

“We did our best during that time, didn’t we? We’ll shake it off and go find another way again.”

To save her country, searching for a Holy Grail that may not even exist.

One hundred years buried like that.

Verdandi had already accepted that the Holy Grail she finally found might be something completely different from what she was looking for.

And – again.

To find another way to save the Fairy Kingdom, she would continue her new fight.

“You’re strong, Verdandi.”

I blurted out without realizing it.

Actually, I was a little respectful of her.

I also started this fight to deliver a word of encouragement to that child lying in the hospital bed.

But, just in case.

If that encouragement had no meaning. If it couldn’t bring any change. How frustrating would that be?

Nevertheless, Verdandi declared that she would find the next way and continue to fight.

Whether this was due to her duty as a member of the Fairy Royal Family, or the unique nature of the long-lived elves, or her own strong will, I didn’t know. However.

I thought I should learn that attitude as well.

…Life doesn’t end just because you achieve your wish, or because you fail.

We have to keep fighting until this life is over.

Verdandi smiled at me.

“Thank you for helping me find the Holy Grail, Ash. I wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”

“We’re helping each other. You’ve given me a lot of strength too, right?”

I reached out my hand to Verdandi.

“I’ll keep helping you find the Holy Grail, and with the fight after that…”

“…….”

“We’re comrades, aren’t we?”

Verdandi now skillfully reached out and took my hand, shaking it vigorously up and down.

With eyes marked with three tear moles, the Fairy Princess smiled brightly.

“…Yes! We’re comrades!”

***

The next day.

Having entered the Lake Kingdom dungeon, I looked up at the tower in front of me.

The sharply rising spire was bluish-gray.

The magical lights surrounding the tower swirled in a bizarre, distorted manner. It somehow had the atmosphere of a painting I’d seen by Van Gogh.

Dungeon in the 8th District. The Magic Tower.

I looked around at the party members gathered in front of it.

Evangeline’s knight party. Damian’s sniper party. Junior’s mage party.

The Holy Grail Expedition. The Punishment Unit. The Dragon Blood Knights.

Including Lucas and myself, there were a total of 32 people. A large group.

The other heroes were left at Crossroads. In case of an emergency, we also needed defense forces at Crossroads.

“It’s as I explained yesterday!”

Looking at the party members who were looking up at me with bright eyes, I shouted.

“If you pass the trials as I tell you, you’ll be able to clear it safely without fighting.”

Everyone answered in unison, “Yes!” I felt like a teacher leading children on a picnic.

Leading the way to the main gate of the magic tower, I said,

“Alright, let’s go!”

Opening the large glass door and entering the lobby of the magic tower, a dungeon information window I hadn’t seen in a while appeared before my eyes.

[8th District: Magic Tower]

– Clear Progress: Normal Room 0/10 Boss Room 0/1

– Acquired Treasure Chests: 0/11

The lobby of the magic tower was circular. In this completely round lobby, there were a total of ten doors lined up in a row.

Magic lamps were installed above each door, and all of them were currently lit with a red light.

“Something about this place…”

“It doesn’t feel like a dungeon. Really…”

The heroes murmured in confusion.

I thought so too. Rather than a dungeon, it was more like… the entrance to a high-rise building on Earth, I guess.

After bringing the heroes to the center of the lobby, I pointed to the first door and said,

“These ten doors are all connected to their own dungeon rooms. Each dungeon room has a different trial… and there are different people who can effectively respond to each trial.”

Then, I scanned the heroes with my fingertips.

“So, I will select different members each time to enter each dungeon room. The rest of you can rest comfortably here and wait.”

Immediately, I pointed to one of the heroes and designated him.

“Damian!”

“Ah, yes! Your Highness!”

“Come here.”

My overpowered sniper quickly walked forward. I put my arm around his shoulder and nodded.

“Then, I’ll be back. Let’s go! Damian!”

“Huh? Ah, yes!”

As the two of us headed to the first dungeon room, a flustered Evangeline asked urgently.

“Wait… are you going alone?”

“Yep.”

The first trial was a place that could be cleared with just Damian.

I was planning to let as many people rest as possible except for the necessary personnel, but when I tried to go in with just the two of us, the other heroes objected.

“But you need an escort, don’t you? I’ll go too.”

“Me too, me too! I’m curious, so I’ll go!”

Lucas and Evangeline hurriedly followed, and

“I, I’m also Your Highness’s main party member!”

Junior awkwardly followed behind. Did he feel left out?

“Ash. Can I go too?”

“What is it. Are you all going? Then I shall go too.”

“Since it’s come to this, let’s just have all the party leaders go!”

Verdandi, Dusk Bringer, and Quillan all followed in a rush.

I readily nodded.

“Well, fine, follow me. Anyway, Damian will clear the first trial alone… but it would be good for everyone to understand how it works.”

So, along with each party leader, everyone entered the first dungeon room.

We walked for a long time through a dark, long passage.

I wasn’t nervous, but the other heroes were on guard, unnecessarily wary of their surroundings and gripping their weapons.

Hey guys, I told you there wouldn’t be a fight if we didn’t fail the trial.

After walking through the passage for a while, a brightly lit room suddenly appeared before us.

On each side of the bright room, there were large murals painted on the walls.

They were pictures of wizards building a tower. But strangely, the two pictures were almost identical.

“Two of the same murals…?”

“Hmm? What does it mean?”

Among the bewildered heroes, I chuckled. And I looked at Damian.

“Damian.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“What do you think? Are these two murals really the same?”

Then Damian immediately shook his head.

“No. They’re similar pictures, but… these two are different.”

That’s right.

The first trial of this magic tower was…

[Magic Tower – Room 1]

– (Wave 1) Find the differences between the two presented pictures.

It was a spot-the-difference game!

In the center of the room, there were paintballs and a slingshot. The thing commonly called a slingshot.

I pointed to it and instructed Damian.

“The left wall is the original, and the right wall is the comparison. Mark the differences with these paintballs.”

Damian nodded, loaded a paintball into the slingshot, and accurately shot the paintball at the right wall.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Every time a paintball shot by Damian hit the picture, the heroes groaned.

“Wait… the leaf decoration on the head is different? How did you find that?”

“How did you know the direction of the eyes was different!”

“If the color of the clothes is white and beige, who can tell the difference!”

Everyone complained about the impossible difficulty, but we had Damian on our side.

After Damian hit all ten paintballs, the mural began to vibrate with a rumble… And.

Kugugung!

The wall with the mural painted on it sank down, and… a new mural appeared behind it.

[Magic Tower – Room 1]

– (Wave 2) Find the differences between the two presented pictures.

Evangeline was sweating cold.

“…It wasn’t over?”

“If it was that easy, would it be an 8th district dungeon?”

The mural had become more complex and elaborate. And was it just my imagination… the figures in the mural seemed to be glaring at us…

It depicted wizards conducting experiments inside a completed tower. They were magically grafting branches.

Damian calmly fired the slingshot again. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Kugugung!

Then, again, the wall sank down, and a new mural appeared behind it.

It was a much more complex and detailed mural, and even larger.

“…….”

Somehow… the difficulty seems to be more vicious than in the game…

But no matter how complex and large the picture became, it was meaningless. We had a clairvoyant here.

Damian continued to fire the slingshot without even blinking.

After solving a total of five spot-the-difference waves in that order-

[Magic Tower – Room 1]

– CLEAR!

A clear declaration was displayed.

Krrrrrr!

Clank, clatter!

This time, the wall in front of us split open, and… along with a hazy mist… a large treasure chest appeared.

Standing in front of the treasure chest, I grinned.

“We’ll proceed like this. Okay?”

I smiled calmly, but the heroes looked pale.

The heroes were looking not at the treasure chest but behind it. Wondering what was there, I turned around too.

“Ah…”

Right behind the chest, there were dozens of magic tower artillery batteries loaded with all sorts of attack magic… and dozens of defense golems poised to jump out at any moment.

“If Damian had been wrong, these things would have tried to kill us.”

I shrugged.

“But Damian couldn’t be wrong, right?”

“…….”

Everyone looked fed up. No, but the probability of Damian getting this kind of puzzle wrong is 0.

“Well, good job. Damian.”

I smiled and opened the chest.

“You can have this item.”

Flash!

A golden light burst from the opened chest.

Soon, the golden light narrowed into one and transformed into a sharp-looking rifle.