I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 492

The defeated Medusa lay sprawled on the southern plains.

I slowly approached her. Medusa, coughing up blood, raised her head.

‘You… human…’

Kiiiiiing-

The sound of her magic eyes activating rang out. But I scoffed.

‘What are you glaring at? Lower your eyes.’

Thwack!

I raised my foot and stomped on the monster’s head. Medusa’s eyes, which had been trying to use her magic, were smashed into the ground.

‘You really made a mess of my city.’

‘Kuh…’

‘Your core is already in the process of being destroyed. In a few minutes, your life will be over.’

I sneered.

‘Any last words? If you apologize now, I might kill you peacefully.’

‘…I hate you humans.’

Medusa spat out resentfully, her mouth full of dirt.

‘I just wanted to live quietly with my two sisters… but you always invade our hideouts…’

‘Don’t talk nonsense.’

Knowing all about Medusa’s past, I snapped at her fiercely.

‘You were the one who turned your sisters into monsters, and you were the one who attacked humans, all by your own will.’

‘…!’

A long time ago.

Medusa made a wish to a demon to transform her two sisters into the same form as herself.

And with the excuse of protecting her sisters, and with the excuse of finding a way to undo their curse.

Using all sorts of reasons, Medusa massacred all the humans in the area.

And she occupied the island areas where ships frequently passed, indiscriminately killing all humans who came near.

That’s why she became a legendary monster, and that’s why she was finally defeated.

‘Don’t make excuses. Don’t make up stories. Don’t pretend to be a victim. In the end, you are a monster who, by your own will, brought misfortune to others.’

‘I had a reason why I had to become like this…!’

‘Everyone has reasons.’

Medusa inherited a curse due to her parents’ mistakes. She was clearly born with a tragic and sad fate.

However, that doesn’t justify her being a monster.

‘Everyone has a reason to give up on being human. But not everyone becomes a monster.’

Where is there a flawless being? Where is there a life without misfortune?

However, despite all those adversities… there are those who struggle to live as humans.

That ordinary everyday life is truly great.

‘You tried to trample on the great ordinariness of others, using your own misfortune as an excuse.’

‘…!’

‘That’s why you die here, monster.’

‘What do you know, acting like you know everything!’

Medusa screamed.

‘You don’t know how I felt, hating the world! If you were born like me…!’

In the middle of her sentence, Medusa stopped talking.

The monster’s trembling gaze turned to the north of the city.

‘…Ha, Torkel, was it?.’

A hollow smile appeared on the monster’s lips.

‘A perfect counter-example, right here on this land.’

‘…’

‘As you said, I was completely a monster, not just in body but in mind as well…’

In front of me, who remained silent, Medusa lowered her head powerlessly and slowly died.

‘Ah, Stheno, Euryale, I’m sorry.’

The light gradually faded from her venomous eyes.

‘In my previous life, and in this life, I couldn’t undo the curse I passed on to my sisters…’

‘…’

‘White Night, that damn thing… I was tricked… and I killed my sisters again…’

Crack. Crack.

The monster’s entire body hardened into complete stone.

‘I want to go back…’

With a voice that was becoming increasingly muffled, Medusa uttered her last words.

‘To that, Milky Way night…’

Her upturned eyes and the snake hair that hung down all turned to stone. And then, the next moment.

Whirr…

It shattered and collapsed.

The petrification monster that had made a mess of Crossroads had returned to dirt and sand, in a futile way.

‘…You’re right, monster.’

I silently looked down at the remains left by the monster.

‘I cannot know or heal the misfortunes that everyone is born with.’

I moved my foot and declared with determination.

‘But if there is someone who tries to live despite that misfortune… I will help them. Within the reach of my hand.’

That is what I, as a leader, intend to do.

***

As the source of the curse, Medusa, was defeated, those who had been petrified were also released from the curse.

‘My lord!’

‘Senior!’

Lukas and Evangeline ran towards me across the city.

The two knights, freed from petrification, stopped in front of me with bright faces, and then-

‘Kuhuk!’

‘Kuek!’

They made strange noises and fell over.

The two knights, who had fallen in an unsightly manner, scrambled to salute me.

‘S-sorry, my lord, I’m still having trouble moving…’

‘Is it because we just got out of petrification? My body won’t move as I want it to.’

‘Oh, you two. I understand, so take a rest.’

It was cute how they jumped around like puppies waiting for their owner, but.

All those who had been petrified this time would have to suffer from ‘petrification aftereffects’ for a while. Of course, they would have trouble moving.

Petrification aftereffects are a debuff [a negative status effect] that makes movement difficult and causes pain with every movement, proportional to the duration of the petrification.

It’s safe to say that combat activity is impossible while this is in effect. If you were petrified for about a day, you would have to rest for a month.

Fortunately, Lukas and Evangeline were petrified for less than an hour, so their aftereffects would be short, but they still needed to rest.

People who had escaped petrification were rescued from all over the city.

In severe cases, some had been petrified for nearly three days. These people would be out of action for three months.

I nodded, looking at the city that was starting to move busily.

‘There won’t be enough hospital rooms. We’ll have to expand the temple too…’

Then, looking at the city that was in a terrible mess, I corrected myself.

‘…No, it’s not just the temple that’s the problem.’

The inside of Crossroads was terribly damaged.

Buildings were destroyed in blocks, and the roads that had been swept away by petrification had to be completely rebuilt.

The areas that suffered the most damage were the two places where the monsters had nested, which had literally reverted to the primitive era.

All traces of civilization had disappeared, leaving only piles of stones.

As I swallowed a groan, looking at the devastated city, Lukas lowered his head, flustered.

‘I have nothing to say, my lord. It’s because I was inadequate…’

‘No, man. In the first place, it was an abnormal situation that the Gorgon sisters attacked. Besides, I was the one who gave the order for urban warfare.’

The operation name ‘Tag’ was something I had devised.

A plan to buy time with urban warfare and send a request for support to me.

Of course, it was something I had left in place in case of an emergency, and I never expected that the Gorgon sisters would actually attack and cause this chaos…

‘It’s a good thing we managed to stop it with this much casualties.’

As I comforted Lukas, Evangeline nodded vigorously from the side.

‘That’s right! Uncle Lukas did his best! Most importantly, he preserved the most important city walls!’

‘Mmm, that’s right… but what’s with you? You’re giving Lukas a shield.’

Evangeline is the successor to the Margrave of Crossroads.

So, strictly speaking, she is in a position where she has to value the city management of this territory as much as the defense against monsters.

Since the inside of the city was in this state, she would normally blame Lukas and poke him lightly, but why is she giving him a shield?

Then, Evangeline laughed heartily and put her arm around Lukas’s shoulder.

‘We went through a lot of hardship together! We know that we both did our best.’

Lukas was still much taller than Evangeline, so Lukas had to awkwardly bend his waist because of Evangeline’s arm around his shoulder.

I had always thought they were always bickering and trying to kill each other, but now, watching the two knights who were becoming more like real comrades, I chuckled.

And I patted the two knights on the shoulders.

‘You did well. I’ll make you a late-night snack later.’

The two knights had childlike smiles on their faces… no, they are still children. Right.

I straightened my back and looked around.

‘What about the others?’

‘The injured have been sent to the temple first. They need urgent treatment.’

‘Okay. I’ll have to visit and greet them later.’

I didn’t have a detailed report yet, but they must have all suffered terribly. I was going to commend them in person.

Then, Lukas reported to me with a slightly stiff face.

‘Yes. And the dead… we are collecting them at the western burial ground.’

‘…Okay.’

The corpses of those who died after being petrified are much more gruesome than ordinary corpses.

Their funerals cannot be delayed for long. I looked at the west where the sun was setting.

‘Let’s hold a temporary funeral today.’

***

The bodies of the dead were gathered in one place.

Death is always tragic, but this time the deaths were more so than usual.

There were few bodies that were properly collected.

Those who were physically torn apart by the three Gorgon sisters could at least preserve their form, but those who were petrified and then shattered could not even do that.

Lukas had recorded the names of all those who had gone to the battlefield, and the names of the heroes and soldiers whose deaths had been confirmed through cross-verification were engraved on temporary stone monuments and placed in front of me.

Thud.

I planted my flag next to the stone monument.

Whooooosh-

The wind blew. It was a wind mixed with dry winter air and sand. The plain black flag fluttered quietly in the wind.

‘…’

I stared at the stone monument for a long time without saying a word.

A proper funeral was planned for later, but my condolences were sincere even now.

Step. Step. Step.

The surviving heroes and ordinary soldiers had already lined up behind me.

What must be the feelings of those who have lost their comrades with whom they shared life and death?

And… next to them.

The citizens who had finished evacuating from the north had begun to stand one by one.

What must be the feelings of those who have to abandon their homes every time? And what must be the feelings of those who still return here?

‘It’s difficult.’

And because it’s difficult, I have to try harder to understand.

Without anyone telling them to, the heroes, the soldiers, and the citizens bowed their heads in front of the stone monument and silently offered a moment of silence.

After I also offered a moment of silence, I suddenly spoke.

Not stained by pity,

Not moved by joy or anger,

As it is carved by rain and wind.

The recitation of the poem ended. The area was still shrouded in silence.

Turning away from the stone monument, I faced the heroes and soldiers who were lined up behind me.

‘…Rocks are eroded into dirt and sand over time.’

Weathered and eroded, it is the fate of rocks to be broken into small pieces.

‘But when that dirt and sand piles up again, the accumulated weight presses against each other… and over time, it hardens again into rock.’

Those small broken pieces are reattached, and the dirt and sand become rock again.

The world circulates in that way.

‘Although they were broken and destroyed today. Their sacrifices and dedication will gather and accumulate, becoming the cornerstone for the reconstruction of this Crossroads… and the pillars that support the future of the entire world.’

I took a breath and composed myself.

I used to tremble with sadness at the funerals of my subordinates.

I am still sad now. My heart aches terribly. But.

When I grabbed this flag again, I realized. I swore.

That my job as a leader is not just to be sad… but to carry on the will of those who fell for this flag, and to sublimate their sacrifices into the cornerstone of the future.

I will do that. Definitely.

‘I have returned.’

Looking around at the people of the city, I said.

‘And now, until the moment the monsters are eradicated… I will not leave this front line.’

Suddenly, I remembered the first funeral.

After suffering near-total annihilation from the black spiders at the forward base. We held a funeral here.

It was a large and grand funeral, which was rare in this Crossroads. Nevertheless, the gazes of those who looked at me at that time were full of doubt.

But now. At this simple temporary funeral, which cannot be compared to that time.

I could feel a firm trust in the eyes of everyone who looked at me.

Yes.

Our past time, all that pain and sacrifice… had united us, who were like sand, and woven us together so strongly.

At the very front of the citizens was Lily in a wheelchair. In her arms was a newborn baby that I had never seen before.

Looking at the baby, I smiled.

‘Raise the flag in the city! Begin the reconstruction!’

This place is a city on a grave.

It is a derogatory term that means there are many deaths, but it also means that people live even on a grave.

‘My people!’

As much as the number of graves has increased today, as much as the size of the sadness has increased…

I hope that I can give them joy and faith.