I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 472

Ash tried to say something more, but Fernandez manipulated a tree branch to grab Ash by surprise—

Whack!

And threw him out of the ark.

“Wait, brother… !”

Ash couldn’t finish his sentence and was sucked out as if being pulled away.

Crack!

The passage that had been open in the audience chamber wall was quickly covered and filled with thorny vines.

While Fernandez was doing this, Lark slowly crawled on the floor and approached Fernandez’s throne.

“…Are you sure about leaving your wife and nephews behind?”

Fernandez asked, bowing his head.

“Are you really… not going to regret this?”

“She’s a soldier’s wife and mother. I’ve always told her to be prepared for my absence.”

Lark chuckled.

“And Ash will take good care of them. I believe that.”

“…”

“I will be with you.”

Fernandez, who had been hesitating, finally spoke.

“I am a failed mass murderer, brother.”

“Am I any different?”

Lark, having reached the base of the throne, took a breath and leaned his back against it.

“Both of us, under the guise of serving the empire… have killed countless innocent lives.”

“…”

“Being together in this prison called the ark, entering the inferno of the void… it could be said to be the punishment we deserve.”

Lark then shrugged playfully.

“Or, perhaps, only our souls will remain, becoming the last of humanity. Depending on the perspective, that could also be considered a punishment.”

“Brother…”

“Let’s be mummified together, Fernandez.”

At Lark’s words, Fernandez mumbled, feeling choked up.

“It will be a long and boring journey.”

“Haha, isn’t that how journeys between brothers usually are?”

Whirrrrr-

The entire ark began to glow white-hot.

The entire black thorny vine emitted a white light. Surrounded by that light, Lark nodded.

“Well, we have plenty of time… let’s take it easy and talk. Tell me the stories of you and Ash fighting in the places I wasn’t.”

“…I will, brother.”

Fernandez nodded and suddenly looked down at the bottom of the ark.

The city and the world he had tried to protect and destroy. And.

“And after that story is over, the story that will be added later…”

Thinking of his youngest brother returning there.

“…I hope that child will have a satisfying ending.”

He said that.

Flash-!

And the entire massive ark turned into particles of light and disappeared as if it had been annihilated.

***

“Brother… !”

I, who had been thrown out of the ark, was helplessly thrown into the void… I looked up at the ark as I fell.

The massive ark, its black hull, was soon surrounded by a dazzling light,

Flash-!

And it disappeared, turning into particles of light.

As if it had never existed there in the first place. Without a trace.

“…”

For some reason, my stomach felt queasy.

I was staring blankly at the spot where the ark had disappeared for a moment.

‘…Huh.’

I realized my current situation.

‘Wait a minute, I’m… falling right now…?!’

Only then, terrified, did I look around. What the hell?!

I was falling from the sky to the ground. A strong wind brushed past my ears a beat late, and the ground was rapidly approaching.

‘If you were going to be so generous as to let me down, you could have at least given me a parachute, you bastard Fernandez!’

I gritted my teeth and racked my brain to figure out how to land.

‘Calm down, calm down! A means of flight-‘

I quickly searched through my skills, traits, and inventory, looking for an emergency escape.

That’s when it happened.

Whoosh-!

A mechanical sound approached from afar, and in the blink of an eye, a huge airship stopped below, matching my falling path.

Seeing the appearance of the airship, my eyes widened.

‘Alcatraz…?!’

It was the imperial flagship, Alcatraz.

And on the deck of the airship stood the Emperor, remotely controlling the airship while emitting light from the back of his hand.

The Emperor looked up at me calmly, then slowly opened his arms. And.

Wham!

He lightly caught me as if scooping me up from the fall.

“…”

Suddenly held in his arms like a child, I looked up at my father with a dumbfounded expression. The Emperor had his usual solemn expression.

“Hmm, it seems like it’s the first time I’ve held you since you were a baby…”

He lifted his arms to estimate my weight, then frowned.

“You’ve gotten a lot heavier?”

“Of course, wouldn’t I have grown in over 20 years?!”

I was so dumbfounded that I blurted out.

And what? The first time holding me since I was a baby? Then you neglected me throughout my infancy?!

You should have held me more often! Isn’t it because you neglected me that Ash turned out like this, huh?!

Whether I was grinding my teeth or not, the Emperor lightly set me down next to him. I staggered and stood on the deck of the Alcatraz. Anyway, I survived thanks to him.

“…”

The Emperor quietly gazed at the distant sky. I looked in that direction as well.

The ark had completely disappeared as if its existence had been a lie, and only a few particles of fading light were scattered in the air.

“It’s gone.”

“…So it seems.”

Rustle…

The massive thorny vines that had been supporting the ark disintegrated like puzzle pieces, scattering and falling below.

The vines, which had been as black as if they were absorbing light, had turned pale like burnt charcoal.

Seeing this scene, it finally hit me.

It was over.

The shutdown protocol, the final ark plan… I had stopped it.

But, even though it was definitely a clear victory. I didn’t feel so refreshed.

Lark.

Fernandez.

In my head, I couldn’t accept them as real brothers. But perhaps, this body and soul had memories engraved in them.

The two people I would never see again, who had been my brothers for a long time…

“As I said before, the spirit realm is not the afterlife.”

The Emperor suddenly opened his mouth.

“It’s a space that exists somewhere in the gap between life and death… a place for transcendents, for deities. To create a refuge in such a place…”

The absolute being shook his head from side to side.

“To create an ark and a prison with Everblack rooted in the spirit realm, to trap souls and escape forever.”

“Do you think it’s foolish?”

“No, I thought the idea itself was plausible. Theoretically, even if the present world were to perish, that ark would be able to last forever… but.”

But?

As I looked at him, the Emperor smiled bitterly.

“…I just thought that if life continued forever like that, it would be very boring.”

After slowly taking his eyes off the trajectory of his two departed sons, the Emperor turned to me.

“Thank you, Ash. For doing what I had to do.”

“It’s nothing. I was honored to be able to act as Your Majesty’s proxy.”

As I lightly bowed in response to the Emperor’s praise, the Emperor swept his disheveled hair back with a dry hand.

“I am an Emperor before I am a father. I cannot leave Fernandez, who rebelled against me, alive.”

“…”

“But… I am also a father, even if I am an Emperor.”

His fist clenched tightly.

“To execute my own son with my own hands is also harsh for me.”

“…”

“Avalanche, Emberkeeper, I’ve lost them like this…”

The Emperor closed his golden eyes tightly, then slowly spat out the words.

“I am the one who is most guilty…”

Silence swirled in the empty air.

The Emperor, who had been standing silently for a moment, slowly called out to me.

“Ash.”

“Yes.”

“Now, you are the only son I have left.”

“…”

“Please, do not die easily.”

“You too, Father.”

At my sudden remark, the Emperor’s eyes widened. I gave him a bright smile.

“Because you are the only father I have left.”

“…Haha.”

The Emperor, with an absurd smile, shook his head.

“You really don’t give in, not even a single word.”

“Isn’t that how a father’s son should be?”

“That’s right, you rascal.”

Immediately after, the Emperor stretched his arms forward.

“Now, announce the victory to the ground!”

His booming roar echoed throughout the imperial capital.

“We have all survived!”

***

When I returned to the ground, it was chaos. Especially the soldiers who had followed Fernandez were all in confusion.

How many armies would sincerely follow an order to die together?

That’s why Fernandez had brainwashed all of his troops with powerful mind control magic and illusions.

Making them believe that this ‘final ark’ plan to massacre citizens and die together was natural, right, and just.

That’s why Fernandez’s troops had obediently followed this absurd act.

But Fernandez had left the present world and gone to the spirit realm.

Immediately, all the brainwashing and restraints that Fernandez had placed were gone, and Fernandez’s troops regained their sanity.

And only then did they realize.

What they had been doing.

Under the Emperor’s command, the World Protection Front forces took the lead in suppressing them.

They didn’t even dare to think of resisting further in front of the Emperor and surrendered willingly.

And it wasn’t just Fernandez’s troops who were in chaos.

The citizens of the imperial capital were also under brainwashing, mind control, and illusions, though not as much as the army.

Some had regained their sanity with the Emperor’s cry earlier, but most were still in a dazed state as if they were in a dream.

When these things disappeared all at once.

The citizens, realizing what had happened, all poured out into the streets in shock. The entire imperial capital was in chaos.

And in the midst of this bustling imperial capital… many people were relieved.

“Honey! Oh, honey!”

“Mother, are you safe?!”

“Jake! Are you hurt anywhere?”

“It’s okay, Susan. The nightmare is over. It’s okay…”

Calling each other’s names, rejoicing that they had survived this chaos, they embraced each other.

In every corner of the city, people hugged each other, confirming each other’s warmth and survival. I stared at the scene.

“Your Highness!”

Then someone called out to me. I turned to look.

“Are you safe, Your Highness?!”

The one running towards me from the harbor was… Serenade.

“Serenade?”

I blinked in surprise.

“How did you get here… I told you to stay safe with the Merman King.”

“How could I stay still when Your Highness was in such great danger?”

It was the merfolk who had infiltrated my party members into the harbor through the sea, and Serenade was also with them in the sea.

I had told her to stay safe out in the open sea in case she got caught up in it… but this reckless woman had followed me all the way into the city.

“I’m glad it worked out well. I believed that Your Highness would do it.”

With trembling hands, Serenade held my sleeve tightly and said that with a slightly tearful face.

“…”

After staring blankly at her for a moment, I suddenly blurted out.

“Serenade.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I have a favor to ask…”

“Please, tell me.”

“Just once, will you hug me?”

At my sudden request, Serenade blinked a few times, then,

“Of course, with pleasure.”

She opened her arms wide in front of me.

I slowly approached Serenade and carefully embraced her.

Serenade’s neck had a soft and refreshing scent.

For some reason, I felt a little relieved. I closed my eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

Serenade patted my back with a careful touch and whispered gently.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. You did a really good job…”

***

That day, I saved the imperial capital New Terra.

And I lost both of my brothers.

It was the winter of the second year since I started this game.