I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 457

Imperial Capital, New Terra.

A port city bordering the continental inland sea, and the center of global trade and logistics.

The south gate of this massive city was firmly locked.

Clop, clop, clop…

Before the high and thick city gate, figures wearing crowns rode their horses closer.

Among them, a small figure at the front—a Dragon Lady with a high silver crown and long black hair flowing—raised her voice and shouted.

“Listen up! I am Dusk Bringer, the Queen of the Bringer Principality!”

It was a lion’s roar, hard to believe it came from such a small frame.

“We, the ‘World Guardian Front,’ gathered out of concern for the future of the world, have come here as the on-site commander!”

However, there was no response from the high walls.

Regardless, Dusk Bringer continued.

“Fernandes, the traitor who killed his own brother and tried to harm his father, listen! Surrender now! Then, at least you can avoid becoming a sinner in history!”

Still, silence.

When Fernandes didn’t show his face, Dusk Bringer changed her target.

“Imperial soldiers!”

She shouted to the Imperial soldiers, who were likely waiting on the walls, though they couldn’t be seen.

“The real Emperor Traha ‘Peacemaker’ Everblack is on our side! You are being deceived by a false emperor!”

“……”

“Do not choose the path of becoming sinners in history! Make a decision now and open the city gates! Protect your people, your families, your comrades!”

Dusk Bringer opened her small mouth.

“If you refuse to open the gates despite our warning…”

Between her pointed teeth, magical power flickered and gathered like flames.

“I will break it down by force.”

Preparing a Dragon Breath, Dusk Bringer roared.

“As a descendant of the guardian dragon who once protected your nation, as the Queen of the Bringer Principality, your ally and shield, and as the queen of the ruins whose nation you trampled! I will not hesitate to burn down your city gates!”

Flash-!

From Dusk Bringer’s mouth, condensed magical power was fired in the form of a beam.

One of the powers granted by the dragon blood, the primal magic emission, Dragon Breath, flew towards the south gate of New Terra.

And,

KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!

It was blocked.

The magic barrier spread across the city wall emitted a clear blue light, completely neutralizing the red breath.

“Tch!”

Dusk Bringer clicked her tongue and flicked a small flame from her mouth.

“Ancient protection magic… It won’t be breached with just one or two shots.”

Still, the power of the Dragon Breath was undeniable.

The artifacts on the city wall that had been deploying the protection magic simultaneously discharged their magic power, sparking and falling silent.

Perhaps it was because they realized they couldn’t keep taking Dragon Breath attacks.

Kugugugu…

The city gate began to open.

“Ho, ho, have you finally decided to talk to me?”

Dusk Bringer’s face lit up, but that wasn’t the reason they opened the gate.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

From the opened gate, a well-organized force of soldiers in armor poured out. They were the ones who remained on Fernandes’ side of the Imperial Capital Defense Forces.

Flash!

Kiiiiing…!

At the same time, a magic corps appeared on the city walls.

Scores, hundreds of magical artifacts took up attack positions, aiming at Dusk Bringer, and in the sky, nimble airships slowly descended, approaching.

“Ha! I poked a hornet’s nest, and now they’re all coming out!”

Dusk Bringer laughed as she observed the Imperial army finally revealing their true colors, while reports continued to come from behind.

“Reporting, Your Majesty! Imperial forces are appearing from the rear!”

“What?”

“It’s an ambush! That flag… it’s the flag of the 2nd and 3rd Imperial Legions!”

“They are surrounding us from the rear!”

Dusk Bringer was surprised and looked back.

As her aides reported, a series of legions that had appeared from the rear were now widely encircling them.

If the 1st Legion guarded the borders of the Empire, and the Imperial Capital Defense Forces guarded the vicinity of the Imperial Capital New Terra, then the 2nd and 3rd Legions were the ones who protected the rest of the Empire’s territory.

They had been summoned to the Imperial Capital and were now taking orders from Fernandes.

“Indeed… they never intended to engage in a passive defensive battle.”

The Imperial Capital Defense Forces at the city gate. The magic corps on the city walls. The 2nd and 3rd Legions blocking the rear.

Dusk Bringer gritted her teeth as she surveyed the Imperial forces closing in from all sides.

To her, the Fairy Queen Skuld and the Dwarf King Kellison asked urgently.

“Dragon Blood Sovereign, what are we going to do now?”

“If we clash like this, we will surely be defeated!”

They had gathered a large force in a hurry, but.

Because they had gathered in haste, the current World Guardian Front was nothing more than a disorganized mess as a single army.

In a straightforward head-on battle like this, they could never defeat the Imperial army.

“…Let’s do as Ash instructed.”

Dusk Bringer turned her horse’s head sharply.

“Let’s retreat!”

“… !”

“Everyone, listen! We’re breaking through the retreat route! We’ll break through at one point before the encirclement is complete! Now, follow me-!”

As if her fierce provocation had been a lie, Dusk Bringer smoothly turned the army’s direction and prepared to escape the entire area.

“Prepare for retreat! In a charging formation!”

“In a charging formation-!”

The formation was set up as they had practiced, albeit clumsily, beforehand.

The knights of the Bringer Principality, the strongest single force among the fallen royal factions gathered here, took the lead, and the remaining forces gathered behind them in order.

“Let’s get out of here! Giddy up! Giddy up-!”

With Dusk Bringer’s command, the World Guardian Front forces began to flee.

The 2nd and 3rd Imperial Legions, which were encircling from the rear, were all heavy cavalry. Their movements were slow.

“Make way-!”

Before the encirclement was complete, the World Guardian Front forces ran out in a hurry, breaking through the gap between the two legions and beginning to flee south again.

***

“……”

Reina was watching this scene from the city walls.

To shoot a breath and then run away as soon as the other side tries to counterattack.

“It’s like a kid ringing the doorbell and running away, what is this…”

“Lady Reina, are you not ordering a pursuit?”

Her aide asked, puzzled. Reina didn’t answer immediately and frowned.

‘Prince Ash is no ordinary person. He must be planning something.’

Reina tried to figure out Ash’s intentions.

‘….Is he trying to lure us out?’

The fact that they came all the way to the city gate and then ran away again suggests that they are trying to induce a pursuit.

If they were to fall for the provocation and pursue too deeply, they might fall into Ash’s trap.

‘Even the Geronimo [referring to Ash’s flagship] we saw yesterday has an unidentified stealth function…’

An ambush force hiding in stealth could attack the pursuing forces. It was a very possible scenario.

“Then, should we call back the forces that went out?”

“…No.”

It was an encirclement formation that they had just completed. And it was clear that the forces currently fleeing were the majority of the World Guardian Front’s strength.

‘It is right to strike now, even if it means taking some damage.’

The enemies were just a bunch of ragtag country bumpkins.

Look at them, running away clumsily, not even formed into a proper army.

‘Prince Ash may be formidable, but the forces he has gathered are nothing special.’

They were like a balloon that had been forcibly inflated.

If they could be pricked with a needle to let out the hot air, they would collapse on their own.

Having made her decision, Reina gave the order.

“The 2nd and 3rd Legions will widen the encirclement and take the rear, and the Imperial Capital Defense Forces will use their mobility to get ahead of them and block them!”

If the 2nd and 3rd Legions, which were heavy infantry, could slow them down, the Imperial Capital Defense Forces, which were mainly cavalry, would bypass them widely and strike their rear. It was a tactic of encirclement and annihilation.

“The airship fleet will follow the encirclement slowly, one step behind. The enemy has a stealth airship! Always keep that in mind!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“The enemy must have set a trap. But we will accept the damage!”

Reina stretched out her hand and commanded.

“For the future of the Empire. Advance!”

***

The World Guardian Front’s escape did not last long.

The 2nd and 3rd Legions were broken through, but they stubbornly clung on, slowing down the World Guardian Front, and the Imperial Capital Defense Forces, riding like the wind within their territory, blocked the path of the World Guardian Front.

Eventually, in the southern plains far from the city walls, the World Guardian Front was surrounded by the 2nd and 3rd Legions, and the Imperial Capital Defense Forces.

“Haa, haa…”

At the head of the forces, which had stopped with their ranks in disarray, Dusk Bringer was panting heavily.

Above the encirclement of the Imperial Army, which had finally been completed, the airship fleet was carefully searching the surrounding airspace as it followed.

“Wow, we’re completely surrounded.”

“Do we have to face them head-on now?”

“Do we even have a chance of winning…?”

The soldiers of the World Guardian Front, who were very nervous, swallowed hard.

The Imperial army was also nervous. As they slowly closed the distance, the Imperial soldiers also swallowed hard.

Prince Ash must have set a trap.

That’s why they lost two airships yesterday, wasn’t it?

What kind of bizarre trick has he prepared this time…?

The Imperial army hesitated and approached slowly. Seeing this, Dusk Bringer chuckled.

“Well, still… I can say that we have achieved our main objective.”

Immediately after, Dusk Bringer snatched something from the saddle of the horse she was riding.

The nervous Imperial soldiers were startled. It was clear that the true nature of the trap Ash had prepared was finally being revealed.

And what Dusk Bringer took out and unfolded was…

Flap-!

…A white flag.

“We surrender!”

Dusk Bringer shouted, waving a plain white flag from side to side.

“We surrender! We have no further will to fight!”

“…?!”

At this absurd situation, both the soldiers of the World Guardian Front and the Imperial army widened their eyes.

Regardless, Dusk Bringer chuckled and shouted as Ash had told her to.

“Long live Emperor Fernandes!”

She could understand a little why Ash had lived like a crazy hooligan.

“Save me!”

This was fun.

***

“…There was no ambush?”

Reina frowned as she listened to the report.

“And they surrendered quietly? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“I, I am just telling you what happened.”

“No, it doesn’t make sense logically. They caused all this trouble and then surrendered? In this situation?”

Reina, who was muttering in disbelief, suddenly shuddered.

“…Wait a minute. Then, could it be.”

Immediately, Reina shouted urgently.

“Check the sky!”

“Yes?”

“Mobilize all the scanning artifacts installed in the Imperial Capital and check the sky! See if there are any unusual movements!”

The mages of the magic corps were quickly mobilized.

After a few minutes, one of the mages detected an anomaly and shouted.

“Lady Reina! Reporting!”

“Speak!”

“We have detected a heat source in the sky! Something invisible to the naked eye is rapidly approaching the Imperial Capital!”

Reina had a hunch.

It was Ash’s flagship, the Geronimo.

“Where is it coming from?”

“Yes?”

“What is its destination in the Imperial Capital!”

“That is… if this is the path, it’s the Imperial Palace!”

“… !”

Reina gritted her teeth.

The mage, who had finished the analysis, shouted once more with a face covered in cold sweat.

“The enemy airship is diving straight down from a dizzying altitude… towards the Imperial Palace!”