I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 5

Dawn began to break in the distance. The fortress, which had been submerged in the deep blue night, was now tinged with red by the morning sunlight. I stood on the fortress wall. Far away… I could see the swarm of spiders surrounding the forward base. The spiders, which had been huddled like rocks during the night, slowly began to move with the sunlight. The sight of hundreds of monsters stretching out their long legs in unison was terrifying. It was a terrible horror that I couldn’t have grasped when looking at the game screen through the monitor. *Gulp.* I swallowed dryly without realizing it. Can we really defeat them? With these exhausted soldiers and low-level characters? “Your Highness.” Someone called out to me from behind. I turned to see the golden-haired knight, Lucas, walking towards me. I nodded slightly. “Lucas.” “The wind is cold. You should go inside.” “No. I need to observe their formation. That way, we can respond and deploy our forces accordingly.” It wasn’t just empty words. I was genuinely studying their formation. Or rather, to be precise… I was desperately searching for the location of their ‘Queen’. Lucas, who had been silently watching me, shook his head slightly. “Your Highness, you are truly unpredictable.” “Huh?” “Just a few days ago, you seemed extremely precarious.” Lucas’s neat face was filled with concern for me. “It was as if you wanted to destroy yourself.” “Was I?” “Yes. From the very beginning when I started serving you… you were like that. As if you were desperate to break down somehow…” Immediately after, a smile appeared on Lucas’s lips. “But you’ve changed now.” Feeling a bit awkward, I turned my head away with an embarrassed laugh. “Haha. I’m a madman with a mental illness. It’s not strange for my condition to change suddenly, right?” “…I don’t know if the reason for your change is because of the life-threatening crisis or some other reason.” Lucas murmured vaguely. “I like the current you.” “…” “Please continue to be like this, Your Highness.” I laughed out loud and patted Lucas on the shoulder. “For the sake of that ‘future’, shall we do our best today, Lucas?” “Yes, Your Highness!” Lucas answered energetically. Having roughly grasped the enemy’s formation, I went back inside the base with Lucas. “Lucas.” After walking together in silence for a while, I opened my mouth. “If this operation fails… don’t try to save me. Escape on your own.” “Pardon?” “You’ll be able to survive.” Because you are the protagonist. Even if I fail, you have to protect this world. So, I said it sincerely. “Your Highness.” However, “A knight does not abandon their lord.” Lucas said with a smile. I chuckled. “Even if that lord is an incompetent madman?” “Your Highness, you are neither incompetent nor mad. I have always believed that.” “…” “I will go and prepare the soldiers one last time. I’ll see you shortly.” Lucas bowed his head and ran down towards the barracks. “…Thank you, Lucas.” To my protagonist, who helped me clear the hellish ironman difficulty [a game mode that is very difficult and does not allow for mistakes] and is still with me here. I murmured to myself. *** The operation itself is simple. No, in fact, it’s so simple that it’s embarrassing to even call it an operation. “The Black Spider Legion, well, there’s no need to explain, but there’s no way to win against them with a frontal assault.” Gathering the party members, I was explaining the plan for the last time. “Then we have to be sneaky and dirty, right?” I grinned and pointed my finger outside the fortress. “Do you know what the biggest weakness of these spider bastards is?” The party members looked puzzled. I continued my explanation. “These guys are a hive mind. Individual entities don’t have any thinking ability. So, who gives these guys orders?” Lucas answered. “The Queen, is it?” “That’s right. This monster bastard legion has an entity that gives orders, the Queen.” “But, the Queen…” I knew what Lucas was about to say. I nodded. “She’s in a very distant place, out of sight, just giving orders to her children.” “…” “It’s usually impossible to take her out. It’s hard to pinpoint her location, and even if you do, it’s hard to attack her.” *Snap!* I snapped my fingers. “But I have the ability to pinpoint the Queen’s location.” Trait, Map Creation. It’s an ability that allows me to pinpoint the location of enemies with a dot-shaped mini-map. “And Damian has.” I faced Damian. “The ability to snipe that monster bastard.” Trait, Clairvoyance. An ability that ensures a hit when fired. I see, and Damian shoots. That was my plan to snipe and finish off the Queen. “But, Your Highness.” Lucas was sweating. “The Black Spider Queen is not a combat entity, and she can’t be killed with ordinary arrows. Even if sniping is possible…” “Mana Cannon.” I pointed to the top of our heads. “We’ll use the artifact installed on the highest turret of this forward base, the Mana Cannon.” When I first found useful items in this forward base, the first thing I discovered was this Mana Cannon. It’s an SR-grade artifact [a high-ranking item]. It should be enough to damage the Queen. “The Mana Cannon is definitely a powerful artifact. But its range isn’t very long…” “That part has also been calculated. I’m going to forcibly overload the cannon’s mana core to increase its range.” It was easy to say, but overloading the mana core was the same as saying we were going to scrap the artifact. Because an artifact with a broken mana engine is likely to be destroyed. But we’re all about to die anyway, so who cares how expensive the artifact is? I was willing to break it. “Here’s the plan! I’ll find the Queen, and Damian will snipe her. Meanwhile, all of you.” I looked at Lucas, Ken, and Lily in turn. “Hold them off.” The three of them swallowed hard at the same time. I gestured to Lucas. “Lucas. You command the soldiers. Hold the line as long as possible and buy time.” “Yes, sir.” “Especially the area near the central turret where the Mana Cannon is located, you must defend it. Absolutely!” “I will do it at the cost of my life.” Lucas said with a determined face. I turned my eyes to Ken next to him. “Ken.” “Yes, sir!” “Take this. I’ve gathered all the health potions left in the fortress.” I handed Ken a potion belt with red potions dangling from it. Ken received it blankly. “You go outside the fortress, draw their attention, and repeat hiding. Distract them by drawing their attention.” “…” “The Black Spiders’ behavior principle is simple. They attack the closest human.” I continued to speak to Ken, who had a pale face. “But their cognitive ability isn’t that high. With your stealth, they won’t be able to find you.” “…” “Draw their attention, lure them, and then hide. Repeat that, and draw as many of them away as possible, and divert the attacks coming to the base towards you. Can you do it?” Ken gritted his teeth and nodded heavily. “I will try, Your Highness.” “Thank you. Good luck.” I patted Ken on the shoulder and turned my head towards the next party member. “Lily.” “Yes, Your Highness.” “I have to assign you a difficult role as well.” I handed her a potion belt with blue mana potions dangling from it. Lily pursed her lips and accepted it. “In this forward base, there is only one entrance to the central turret where the Mana Cannon is located.” “…” “If the front line collapses and the spiders rush to the turret, you block the entrance with your body and activate Flame Skin to withstand their attacks.” Flame Skin nullifies physical attacks at the cost of mana. With this many mana potions, she should be able to hold out for quite a while. Lily, as if she had expected it, did not waver at the order to use her body as a barricade. Though blood was oozing from her bitten lip. “The entrance is narrow, and the spiders can only come one or two at a time.” “…” “Just, just hold out. That’s all you need to do.” I was ordering Lily, who had gained this trait because she was afraid of sharp objects, to take sharp objects with her whole body. And Lily was a strong person. She slowly nodded her head. “I will try, Your Highness.” “Good.” I turned my head to the last party member. “Damian.” “…” “You will move with me.” Damian nodded silently. He had a terrified face, but he didn’t run away or avoid my eyes. That was the end of the operation instructions. Actually, there were a few more things I wanted to instruct, *Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!* The sound of drums from outside, signaling the approach of the enemies, resounded fiercely. “The Black Spider Legion is coming! The monsters are coming!” A scout’s desperate cry rang out. A chill of tension ran down my spine. It’s starting. The tutorial stage that will determine the lives and deaths of us all. *** On top of the central turret. The maintenance worker of the Mana Cannon looked at me with a cold sweat. “Are you really sure about this, Your Highness?” “Don’t worry, just do as I told you.” “Yes, sir!” The maintenance worker gritted his teeth and tore off the control device surrounding the mana core of the Mana Cannon. *Fzzzzzt…!* The mana that poured out from the mana core surged like an electric current along the cannon’s barrel. The movement of mana, which I was seeing for the first time, would have been something I would have watched with fascination if it were my usual self. But now, I didn’t have the time. I clenched my teeth and looked at the other side of the fortress wall. *Dududududu-!* They were coming. From all directions, the black spider swarm. Stretching out their vicious claws like rakes, to slaughter all living humans. “Form ranks!” Lucas, standing on the front line of the fortress wall, commanded. “Until His Highness defeats the Spider Queen, we will buy as much time as possible!” “Yes!” The soldiers answered in unison. Even though they could have lost their will and collapsed, the fact that the soldiers were able to hold their ground like that was all thanks to Lucas. Lucas, who had skillfully adjusted the deployment of the soldiers, turned to me and nodded. I nodded back. Ken, who was taking a deep breath while preparing to go outside the fortress wall, Lily, who was standing firm on the first floor of the passage leading to the turret, and even Damian, who was standing next to me. After checking them one by one, I carefully activated my trait. ‘Map Creation.’ With a feeling as if the entire terrain was being scanned, a mini-map marked with dots appeared in the upper right corner of my vision. Since it was an ability that I could only use once a day, this was the first time I was actually using it. I licked my dry lips and quickly scanned the map. Where is it? Where is it? ‘Where is the Queen?’ But, ‘Huh?’ Not long after, I noticed something strange. ‘The boss monster mark…’ It’s not there. The enemy’s Queen, the core of this operation. ‘It’s not there?’ On the map… It’s not there. *Dudududududu-!* The black spider swarm was already surging right in front of the fortress wall.