I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 44

My mind went blank.

I opened my mouth slightly.

“Because Your Highness is the Empire’s biggest troublemaker!”

When I asked why she became my fan, Evangeline answered like that.

“…….”

Is she messing with me right now?

I was flustered, unable to understand this audacious teenager, when Evangeline waved her hands and explained.

“No, I’m not being sarcastic! I really liked you because you’re a troublemaking rascal.”

“Uh… uh? No, why?”

“……I wanted to rebel against my father.”

Evangeline shrugged awkwardly.

“I wanted to make my father’s life as miserable as possible. I wanted to cause accidents, make a ruckus, disgrace the family name, and live like that.”

The inner thoughts of a complicated teenager were difficult to understand.

“But, how should I put it? Going astray was harder than I thought. First of all, my father really hated knights from the Imperial Academy, so it was good that I entered the academy as soon as I ran away from home.”

“And then?”

“But when I entered the academy’s knight division, all I did was train all day long. Forget about going astray, I was forced to become a model student.”

She’s not just a model student.

Evangeline graduated at the top of her class from the Imperial Academy, a six-year course, in just three years. She was a genius worthy of being recorded in the academy’s history.

“At best, the only rebellion I could do was not contact my father.”

“That’s a pretty cute rebellion….”

“While I was living so timidly, I heard about Prince Ash.”

Evangeline looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“The audacity to make the Emperor, the supreme ruler of the Empire, your father, miserable every day! The creativity of changing the content of your accidents every week! Even the crazy spending of making fountains with gold coins and laying carpets with jewels!”

“…….”

“I heard that the Emperor even collapsed from a fit of anger because of you? That’s amazing! Totally awesome!”

No, I think she is messing with me. Or is she not? Is she? Or is she not?

“Every time I heard news of Your Highness causing trouble, I could feel vicarious satisfaction. Your Highness is my role model and idol!”

“O-okay….”

To become an idol by living like trash. Life is unpredictable.

‘Congratulations, Kim Ash. Your debauched life was not in vain.’

I chuckled and cautiously asked.

“You really hate your father, Evangeline.”

“Well….”

Evangeline trailed off for a moment, but then nodded.

“Yeah. I hate him… a lot.”

“Why so much?”

“Well, there were a lot of things….”

A complex look flashed across her face, but Evangeline quickly shook it off and craned her neck, looking around.

“So, where is our old man? Even if he doesn’t like his runaway daughter, huh? Shouldn’t he at least show his face and talk to me after I’ve been gone for three years?”

“…….”

“I was planning to implement the 100 filial piety methods I’ve researched while watching Your Highness, one by one. Did he find out and hide somewhere?”

I swallowed hard.

“So, you didn’t come because you heard the news, Evangeline.”

“Huh? What news? I just came home after graduating from school.”

“…….”

“Why? Is something wrong…?”

“…….”

I couldn’t bring myself to speak, and Evangeline’s face, which was looking at me, slowly hardened.

She must have sensed something was wrong.

I couldn’t meet her eyes any longer and slowly lowered my head.

It was a really strange feeling.

To tell his daughter about the death of my predecessor.

“I’m sorry to have to tell you the news like this, Miss Evangeline.”

My stomach felt like I had swallowed a hot piece of iron.

I steeled my heart, wanting to run away, and uttered the next words.

“Your father has passed away.”

“…….”

“He sacrificed himself in a battle against a monster a few days ago. He saved everyone in the city. His death was heroic.”

I explained the last battle of Count Charles Cross without embellishment. Evangeline was listening blankly.

“I have recorded his achievements in detail and reported them to the Imperial Family. He will be able to receive the Imperial Medal of Merit for his past contributions.”

“…….”

“The funeral will be in three days, and we plan to proceed with the highest level of respect.”

Evangeline sat stiffly on the bed, motionless.

I was about to tell her about the Count’s last words, but I closed my mouth. And I just sat next to her quietly.

Her father, whom she hated, was already dead when she returned home.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what the young girl in front of me was feeling.

“……Haha.”

After what felt like an eternity, Evangeline let out a dry laugh.

“I was just about to start acting like a disobedient daughter. And he just runs away like this.”

“…….”

“He always used to say he’d die fighting monsters. I can’t believe he actually went like that.”

Evangeline let out a hollow laugh with a pale face.

“Without even receiving all my resentment, like this….”

“I’m sorry.”

Evangeline looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Why are you sorry, Your Highness?”

“I am the lord of this place, and I have the command of the front lines. Your father’s death is my responsibility.”

I slowly bowed my head to Evangeline.

“So, you can resent me.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry.”

Evangeline, who had been quietly looking at me, slowly opened her mouth.

“……Are you really Prince Ash, mister?”

“What?”

“This isn’t right. The Prince Ash I’ve heard about is, how should I put it, much, much more….”

Evangeline paused for a moment, rolling her eyes as she pondered the right word, and then blurted out.

“A self-centered, troublemaking rascal who mistreats the people around him. You’re too considerate.”

“Don’t keep calling me a troublemaker to my face….”

“It’s the truth. Think about the things you did in the capital?”

“Even if it’s a fact, I’m a prince, you know! Don’t you know about the crime of insulting the Imperial Family? If you keep doing that, you’ll be in big trouble?”

“Even if you’ve been demoted to this remote area, you can still say that….”

Damn it, that’s also true.

The little girl in front of me is the heir to the Cross family, who have ruled this region for generations.

On the other hand, I was practically kicked out of the Imperial Family and demoted to this place.

In reality, in this southernmost part of the Empire, Evangeline might have more influence than me….

“Anyway, thank you for your consideration, Your Highness.”

Evangeline’s small body slid into the blanket.

“But, it doesn’t feel real. It all feels like a lie, like a dream.”

“…….”

“I want to be alone for a while.”

I slowly got up from the chair.

“A servant will be waiting outside the door. If you need anything, just ask them.”

“…….”

“Get some rest.”

Evangeline, who had pulled the blanket up to her nose, didn’t look at me anymore.

After taking one last look at the child who was lost in complex thoughts, I left the room.

***

The Evangeline I saw in the game was a tall adult, but the Evangeline I met this time was a teenager no matter how you looked at her.

When I went to Aider to ask why there was such a difference, Aider smiled and explained.

“First of all, you need to know Miss Evangeline’s age. She’s sixteen this year.”

“She’s so young….”

Damian, the youngest in our party, is eighteen years old. She’s two years younger than him.

‘Actually, just by looking at her, she doesn’t even look fifteen.’

I shook my head.

“Count Cross is a bit old… I didn’t think his daughter would be so young.”

“Count Cross married in his mid-40s. He was already over fifty when he had his daughter.”

Aider covered his mouth and chuckled.

“For your information, the Count was fifteen years older than his wife. He was called a thief when he got married.”

“How old are you to remember all that?”

“A man’s age is a secret.”

Aider smiled vaguely and mumbled. This director is like a monster.

“Anyway, as you know, Miss Evangeline appears in the game at the earliest in the late second year, or early third year.”

“Ah!”

I finally understood.

In other words, Evangeline’s appearance in the game is about two years from now.

In two years, it wouldn’t be strange for that little girl to become an adult. Kids these days grow up fast….

“But in ‘this’ game, due to various intertwined causes, she appeared faster than usual.”

“That’s how it is.”

I brought up the system window. Evangeline’s information was displayed.

[Evangeline (SSR)]

– Level: 35

– Title: Immature Successor

– Job: Advanced Lancer

– Strength 35, Agility 30, Intelligence 20, Stamina 35, Magic 20

Oh, SSR….

Just looking at her stats makes me ecstatic.

A pure tank, a shield-lancer, with such high agility, wow. She could be an evasion tank.

But the reason why Evangeline became the best tank in this game is not just her stats, but her overpowered skill combination.

[Skills]

> Passive: Roar of the Battlefield

> Skill 1: Damage Save

> Skill 2: Damage Payback

> Ultimate: ??? (Unlocked after 3rd Job Advancement)

The passive, Roar of the Battlefield, is the specialty of shield knights. It provokes enemies and inspires allies.

These common skills vary greatly in effect depending on the character’s grade and level, and since Evangeline is an SSR grade, the effect will be outstanding.

Just one shout on the battlefield will change the tide of the battle.

‘But the real cheat is the active skills.’

Skill 1, Damage Save.

Skill 2, Damage Payback.

The effects are extremely simple. [Damage Save] stores the damage received by the shield.

And [Damage Payback] releases the stored damage back to the enemy.

The really overpowered thing about this is that even if damage comes in, she doesn’t take the hit herself, but ‘stores’ it.

And then she ‘pays back’ the stored damage to the enemy.

‘Of course, there is a limit to the storage capacity, and the second skill cannot be used at will.’

Damage that exceeds the storage capacity must be taken by the body.

Like my 777 punch yesterday. If too strong an attack comes in at once, she will inevitably take damage.

And the second skill can only be used if the storage capacity is filled above a certain level.

If the enemy’s attack is not strong, damage will not be stored, so the second skill cannot be used at all.

‘There are these minor restrictions, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s overpowered.’

What’s best is that she’s a pure tank, but she can contribute more to the attack than most dealers [damage-focused characters].

If you include her in the party, she can handle both tanking and dealing on her own.

Because she is such a perfect all-around tank, everyone in the game was desperate to recruit her.

‘And that’s not all.’

Evangeline’s traits are also overpowered.

– Equipped Traits (2/3)

> Unstoppable

> Clumsy (Cannot be removed)

Unstoppable.

It’s literal. Evangeline is ‘Unstoppable’. She has 100 percent resistance to movement-impairing status effects such as bind, slow, and freeze.

It means that no matter what kind of interference the enemy does, she can ignore it all and rampage like a tank.

This is a really good passive. There are few passives as good as this for a tank.

‘She’s a real cheat character, a cheat character… wait?’

But the second trait is something I’m seeing for the first time.

‘Clumsy?’

Did Evangeline have this trait?

I opened it to check what it was.

[Clumsy]

– Because she is still young and immature, she sometimes makes mistakes. The probability of making big and small mistakes on the battlefield increases.

(This trait disappears when a certain amount of experience is accumulated.)

This explanation came up.

“Oh my!”

I smacked my forehead.

It was good that she appeared faster than her original appearance, but instead, she came out with this negative trait.

‘Well, she’s still young….’

At sixteen, she’s still a kid.

She should be laughing and playing with her friends, not on this battlefield.

– Hyung!

“…….”

Suddenly, my fingertips tingled and trembled.

Aider, who had been quietly watching me, approached me.