I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 500

Fortunately, this New Year Festival didn’t feature any major events like martial arts tournaments or dance festivals.

My colleagues and the citizens seemed a bit disappointed (especially when they looked at me and smacked their lips), but the city is currently incredibly busy.

Let’s be content with just enjoying today’s New Year celebration.

Anyway, after finishing my morning walk around the neighborhood and returning to the mansion—

“Hmm. The southern stew is quite spicy.”

There was my father, the Emperor, sitting nonchalantly at the dining table, blowing on his meat stew as he ate.

He’d been out of sight for a while, and now he suddenly appears, indulging in a stew mukbang [a video of someone eating a large amount of food]. I chuckled softly and sat next to the Emperor.

“How is it? Is it to your liking?”

“It’s a bit rougher than the Imperial stew, but it has its own unique flavor.”

The Emperor, having finished his stew, placed his spoon on the empty bowl and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

He looks like he just finished some high-end royal fine dining. It was just a bowl of rice cake soup, actually.

“Where have you been, appearing and disappearing like this?”

“It’s not easy for the Emperor to come to the southern end of the land, is it? While I was here, I checked every nook and cranny to make sure the nation’s order was properly established.”

His words sound intimidating, but it seems he just went on a tour of the southern region.

“I’ve also roughly checked how the monster front is doing, so I’ll be heading back to the Imperial City soon.”

It’s been several days since I forced the Emperor to leave the Imperial City.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the central government is now completely bogged down with work. Since the final decision-maker is here… it’s about time he returned.

“I will send troops and support supplies in order. The Empire is also a member of this World Guardian Front, so it will fulfill its role.”

The Emperor said that, but I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

The Emperor is the most powerful being I’ve ever met.

If he were here at the monster front, it would be incredibly helpful in preventing future monster invasions…

The Emperor seemed to know what I was thinking, and he chuckled before speaking.

“If the monster invasions become more severe, I will also come down leading the entire army. But before that.”

The Emperor glanced towards the north.

“I intend to settle the other fronts remaining in the Empire.”

“You mean the Othergod Front…”

The Empire’s northern front.

The war between the Emperor and the Othergods descending from the spirit realm.

The western Dragonblood Front has made a peace treaty, and the central Shadow Front has revealed its conspiracy and failed.

Now, of the Empire’s four major fronts, only the northern Othergod Front and the southern Monster Front remain.

The Emperor stretched and cracked his neck.

“It’s about time they start acting up again. I’ll have to go and settle things myself.”

“…What do you intend to do with the Othergods?”

Even the Emperor, as powerful as he is, couldn’t completely eliminate those four Othergods, so he’s only been holding them back.

How is he going to settle the Othergod Front?

“Do you remember why the Othergods invaded?”

“Wasn’t it to protect their respective guardian races?”

The four Othergods are the guardian deities of each race.

Dwarves, Elves, Werebeasts, and Mermaids.

The ancestral gods of the four major races attacked directly because their races were being persecuted and driven to the brink of extinction. To liberate their races.

“That’s right. But Ash, didn’t you arbitrarily set the liberation of the other races as a condition?”

“Huh?”

“By accepting the four major races as members of this World Guardian Front, didn’t you promise to treat them equally and liberate them from slavery?”

I opened my mouth slightly at the Emperor’s words.

“Ah.”

“What do you mean, ‘Ah’? You did all this on purpose, didn’t you?”

The Emperor smiled slyly, but no, this was a genuine stroke of luck. I wasn’t even thinking about it…

“So, yes. It seems you’ve already presented the negotiation card that the Othergods wanted. I intend to negotiate with the Othergods directly on that condition. Of course, it’s uncertain whether we, who have only been fighting without any dialogue for so long, can easily reach a good conclusion.”

The Emperor crossed his arms and nodded.

“Abolishing the other race slavery system and restoring their homelands in exchange for stopping the fight with the Othergods… of course, it’s not without losses for the Empire and humans. But the gains are overwhelmingly greater.”

The Othergods’ invasion was one of the fates that would destroy the Everblack Empire.

In fact, it was a front that the Emperor had been struggling to hold back alone for the past few years.

Stopping the war with them and finding peace in exchange for freeing the other race slaves… it might be a very cheap price to pay.

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. While worrying about the Empire’s fate due to the Othergods’ invasion, why didn’t I think of eliminating the cause? Why didn’t I think of listening to what they wanted and negotiating?”

The Emperor clicked his tongue and tapped his head.

“When you sit in this position of absolute power for too long, you sometimes forget about means like compromise and negotiation. When you get old, you just become more stubborn.”

“…”

“The Othergods are also beings who can communicate and try to understand each other. So, I will leave to negotiate with them.”

The Emperor pushed his chair back and stood up from the table.

Suddenly, a flash of light seemed to emanate from behind him. I was once again struck by the magnitude of his presence. The Emperor adjusted his attire and smiled.

“And I will join you here before it’s too late. So, please take care of this place in the meantime, Ash.”

“Leave it to me, Father.”

The Emperor stared intently at me as I bowed respectfully.

Then, he suddenly changed the subject.

“…Ash. Do you know the concept of apotheosis?”

I blinked in confusion. Of course, I know it.

Apotheosis.

In the game, it was the opposite concept of beastification.

“If you abandon your humanity and walk the path of a beast, you become a beast, and conversely, if you excessively gain humanity, you gain divinity and ascend… that’s what I know.”

“That’s roughly correct.”

The Aegis Special Forces and Mason, who had fallen into beasts after taking the serum, and Lucas, who had given up that path himself…

I remembered Lucas’s former appearance, his eyes gleaming like a beast. Beastification was a power that discarded one’s own humanity in exchange for power.

Apotheosis was the opposite. It was a trait that a being could only obtain by acquiring a large amount of humanity.

“Then, do you know how to excessively acquire that humanity?”

I shook my head at the Emperor’s question. I don’t even really know what humanity is. I only know that if you throw it away, you become a dog.

The Emperor slowly explained in a serious voice.

“When a being comes to bear the lives, souls, and wills of countless members of their own kind. At that time, that being gains the opportunity to acquire divinity, and if they accept that divinity, apotheosis proceeds.”

Then, I suddenly remembered the conditions for becoming a god of each race that Aider had told me about before.

1. Being the progenitor of that race.

2. Being a great one who saved that race from a crisis.

3. Finally, when all members of the race have died, and only one member of the race remains in the world.

In all three cases, they go through the process of bearing the lives and souls of their own kind… and that’s how they acquire divinity.

‘So, apotheosis is the process of gaining divinity and literally becoming a god.’

I suddenly thought of the goddess, the guardian deity of humanity, who was bound to the spirit realm.

What process did she go through to become like that?

I also thought of the giant Othergods invading through the spirit realm. They were also the progenitors of their respective races, bearing the souls of their own kind.

Finally, the face of the Goblin God-King I met on the battlefield… Kali-Alexander, flashed through my mind.

He had the opportunity to gain this divinity but refused it of his own will.

While I was organizing these concepts in my head, the Emperor slowly continued.

“I have also accepted that power. I’ve stopped at the demigod stage for now.”

The Emperor’s transcendent power.

It originated from this apotheosis.

“I forcibly proceeded with apotheosis to become a transcendent being myself, in order to face the Othergods of the spirit realm.”

“You mean you forcibly proceeded…?”

“What would be the method for me to forcibly bear the lives, souls, and wills of others?”

The Emperor smiled bitterly.

“I sacrificed them. Yes, human sacrifice.”

“…!!”

I widened my eyes.

Before offering the magic stones at Crossroads, the Imperial City was sacrificing people to operate the Darkwater Everblack.

They burned other race slaves, burned prisoners of war from enemy nations, and burned those suspected of being spies. They used people captured from all over the world as fuel.

Under the guise of preventing destruction, the Empire had committed such terrible massacres.

And in this process, the Emperor had taken the lives, souls, and even the wills of others.

“Literally, I burned the lives of my people and gained divinity in return. And with that power, I have been sustaining the Othergod Front.”

The Emperor was smiling coldly in the shadows.

I felt a little creeped out.

“Don’t look at me like that all of a sudden. You know that this father of yours is the world’s greatest villain, don’t you?”

“…”

“The guardians of the Empire swore to do anything to protect the Empire, and they actually did. …But thanks to you, that evil act has stopped.”

Because I offered the magic stones, and Serenade distributed them. Human sacrifice has stopped in the Imperial City.

The slaughter of innocent people has stopped.

But the sin of slaughtering them wouldn’t disappear, would it?

“As the sacrifices and burnings stopped, the divinity I forcibly acquired is also leaving me. I am gradually losing my qualifications as a representative of humanity.”

The Emperor clenched and then opened his hand. To my eyes, his power still seemed immense, but he was saying that his power was disappearing.

“…Why are you telling me this?”

I’m grateful for the explanation, but so what? What’s the intention behind telling me this?

I didn’t understand, so I just asked, and the Emperor reached out—

And gripped my shoulder tightly.

“If the world really heads towards destruction. You, as the leader of this front, will naturally have the opportunity to gain divinity. I hope you will make a good decision at that time.”

I broke out in a cold sweat as I met the golden eyes of the transcendent.

Me, gaining divinity?

Getting the opportunity to become a transcendent like the Emperor…?

“If you gain divinity, you will know the ugly truth of this world. And you will never be able to go back to the way you were before.”

“…”

“But if the world really heads towards destruction, you will surely take that power. Because it will be a situation where you have to grasp at straws.”

The Emperor slowly released my shoulder and patted it lightly.

“You have already reorganized the world to your liking, gathered everyone in the world into one alliance, and are the commander of this front, leading them all.”

“…”

“Now, humanity will see you as their leader. And as the representative of humanity, as the king of kings… you must make a final choice.”

The Emperor wore a ferocious smile, revealing his teeth.

“Will you remain a piece, or will you become a player?”

He once again used the chess game terms I had heard before.

“In the end, that’s how things are in the world. Will you remain a piece, or will you become a player yourself… Haha, I look forward to the answer you will give in the end.”

***

After spouting a bunch of incomprehensible setting nonsense, the Emperor flew away on the Alcatraz.

“…What the heck was that all about?”

I pondered over the Emperor’s words, then shouted, “Eish!” and kicked the ground for no reason.

Enough with the distant and abstract stories. What I need is practical support to defeat the monsters right now.

‘There aren’t many days left until the next defense battle…’

The member nations of the World Guardian Front have promised to send troops and supplies.

But the world is vast, and Crossroads is stuck in a remote area in the south. It will be a long time before all the troops and supplies arrive.

In the end, I’ve stirred up a lot of things, but I have to carry out the next defense battle with the existing forces.

‘I’ll just do what I can.’

Go on free explorations, manufacture equipment, recruit new mercenaries, and train them.

Slowly integrate the troops arriving from all over the world into one army.

If I move forward step by step, step by step… the other seeds I’ve sown will sprout one by one.

“Alright! Then, after a long time!”

I swung my shoulders and shouted.

“Let’s go raid a dungeon!”

It felt like it had been a long time, but the time for free exploration had returned!