I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 516

A little while ago.

In front of Hotel Crossroads.

‘This is madness, Lady Black Night.’

The lich adjutant, walking behind Black Night, spoke.

‘It’s unheard of for an alliance between the undead and humans, and now you’re attending a party to celebrate that alliance?’

There were a total of ten liches following Black Night.

These beings, with long talismans covering their foreheads, all possessed sturdy Jiangshi [a type of Chinese hopping vampire] bodies.

When they were resurrected in Lake Kingdom, they were as frail as any other undead lich, with nothing but bones left. However, after Black Night became the leader of the lich legion, she transferred them into new bodies.

The Jiangshi, created with Eastern sorcery, was the strongest body an undead entity could use.

In other words, these ten were Black Night’s most trusted and favored guards within the lich legion.

In fact, they were the ten highest-ranking mages selected from within the lich legion.

‘Isn’t there a high possibility that this is a trap? It’s not too late to turn back now…’

Black Night, turning to look at her constantly objecting adjutant, smiled faintly.

‘I’ve considered the possibility of a trap. But if it is, we can just wipe them out and leave, right?’

‘The monster legions that have been annihilated by them are not few. We don’t know what kind of bizarre methods they might use.’

‘……’

‘In the first place, what alliance are we talking about with humans! Now that we’ve destroyed the Magic Tower, we no longer need humans!’

The adjutant argued. Black Night listened quietly.

‘Instead of this, please return now and mobilize the other monster legions you’ve secured to destroy the human realm! And pledge your loyalty to the King of Kings again—’

Annoyance flickered in Black Night’s eyes, and she reached out a hand, her fingertips touching the adjutant’s talisman.

Charrrrk!

Immediately, the patterns drawn on the talisman began to change. The adjutant shut his mouth, trembled all over, and then stood rigidly at attention.

‘Now you’re quiet.’

Black Night smiled contentedly, looking at her subdued subordinate.

By transferring their minds into Jiangshi bodies, the liches thought they had gained stronger bodies.

But in reality, they had completely handed over control of their bodies to Black Night, the caster who had transferred their minds.

This talisman was a kind of programming command written in Eastern sorcery syntax. And the Jiangshi liches had to faithfully follow the commands given by the talisman.

This was also why Black Night could easily control the lich legion.

‘The world will be destroyed eventually. Before that, we should enjoy what we can.’

Black Night looked up at the sky for a moment.

Yes—destruction is near anyway.

And when that time comes, she will abandon this lower realm and ascend.

So, before that, wouldn’t it be okay to enjoy these brief pleasures?

‘Let’s go. Would it do for the main character to be late to the party?’

Black Night took the lead, and the ten liches followed behind.

And so, as they entered the party hall—

‘Lady Black Night is entering!’

With the servant’s announcement, the atmosphere of the party hall turned cold.

Hiding her emerging smile behind her fan, Black Night quickly scanned the living beings filling the party hall.

Humans with warm blood flowing under their warm skin, truly alive.

‘Real’ people, living their lives to the fullest…

‘Ah.’

Facing these ordinary humans who were sending her fearful glances, Black Night thought.

‘I envy you, a proper life.’

How envious she was…

…She wanted to trample them all.

Barely suppressing that urge, someone approached Black Night.

The host of this party, Ash, wearing a neat black and white tuxedo without any special decorations, embroidery, or jewelry.

‘Black Night.’

‘Ash.’

The two leaders exchanged a light greeting.

Immediately, Ash gave a playful smile.

‘You’re dressed up nicely?’

‘You look great yourself? Are you planning to use your charm on me?’

‘Haha. It’s strange, but the monster women seem to fall for me. I guess my charm is a bit deadly.’

Ash picked up two glasses of wine being carried by a waiter and handed one to Black Night.

‘Sorry, but I’ll refuse in advance. My taste is a bit picky.’

‘You’re good at putting up a wall. Is it because you’re a commander who defends against monsters?’

Ash and Black Night lightly clinked their glasses and drank.

It was an orange-flavored wine. Black Night, spinning the empty glass in her hand, shrugged.

‘So this is what the wine of the human realm tastes like.’

‘It’s different from the boring wine you get in those dungeons, right?’

‘Indeed. It’s just normally delicious. I wondered if it might be poisoned, but there’s no poison…’

Black Night smiled meaningfully.

‘Is this really a celebration of the alliance?’

‘It’s a very enjoyable occasion. If that’s what you want it to be.’

Ash smiled back meaningfully.

Immediately, Ash snapped his fingers towards the orchestra. The orchestra, which had been tense and stiff, slowly began to play a song.

Leading Black Night and her subordinates into the party hall, Ash smiled brightly.

‘Well, it’s a good day! Let’s all enjoy ourselves!’

***

Contrary to everyone’s initial tension, the party proceeded peacefully, except for the beginning.

Walking through the party hall, Black Night drank with Ash, laughing every time Ash made a joke.

Cheerful music flowed, and the guests drank and laughed. Little by little, the atmosphere of the party relaxed.

In Ash’s plan, the heroes waiting in the wings were Plan B.

If Ash’s Plan A went smoothly, they might end up just waiting, and even if Plan B was activated, they would have to wait for a few more hours.

Therefore, the heroes stationed in various places also gradually relaxed their tension, loosened their tight ties, and began to wait comfortably for Ash’s instructions.

‘……’

However, Kuilan, still leaning against a pillar in the party hall, was glaring at the lich legion with sharp eyes, arms crossed.

He was naturally large-boned, so he couldn’t find a suitable suit, and had to wear a waiter’s uniform from the banquet hall that fit him. But no matter what he wore, he was too big to go unnoticed.

Anyway, he was trying to hide behind the pillar and was glancing at the lich legion, but at this rate, there was no point in hiding.

‘Yo.’

Someone approached Kuilan, holding wine glasses in both hands.

Kuilan, startled, turned to see a woman in an ivory dress, a trademark of the princess of the Northern Arian Kingdom, Yoon.

‘Found you, Kuilan~’

‘Hiiiik.’

Kuilan, who had been wearing the face of a warrior, immediately looked terrified, like a rabbit in front of a bird of prey, when Yoon appeared.

Yoon, who had downed her share of champagne, handed another glass to Kuilan.

‘How long are you going to keep your eyes so tense? It’s a party? Relax a little.’

‘……We are not at a party right now, Princess Yoon. We are on a battlefield.’

‘Isn’t it the same thing?’

Yoon tilted her head and took another sip.

‘Whether it’s a party or a battlefield, you need to be relaxed enough to act when necessary.’

‘……’

‘Come on, don’t be like that, have a drink. And let’s have a deep conversation.’

Yoon slowly moved closer. Kuilan, once again, let out a terrified ‘Hiiiik-‘ and then made a ‘Hup!’ sound, as if trying to gather courage.

‘I will be direct with you here, Princess Yoon.’

Kuilan said, grabbing Yoon’s wrist as she was about to wrap her arm around his shoulder. Yoon’s eyes widened.

‘Huh? What is it?’

‘I appreciate your expressions of affection towards me, but…’

Yoon had been aggressively pursuing Kuilan, but Kuilan had been consistently pushing her away.

Kuilan intended to reveal the reason for his rejection this time and completely shake off Yoon. So, he mustered his courage and blurted it out.

‘You approached me because you were captivated by my amazing muscles and abundant body hair, right?’

‘That’s right. You completely meet our Northern standards of beauty. If you entered the Mr. Arian competition, you’d be a shoo-in for first place?’

‘That’s exactly the problem!’

‘Huh? Problem?’

Yoon blinked as if she didn’t understand. Kuilan shook his head firmly.

‘Everyone who has approached me because they liked me… they were all coming because they were attracted to my body. And when they got tired of my body, they all left me.’

Kuilan, with a solemn face, raised his large hands and placed them in front of his chest.

‘So I have decided. I will wait for someone who will love my heart and my soul, not just my body.’

‘……’

Yoon, who had been watching this with a dumbfounded expression, muttered sullenly.

‘You have a surprisingly pure side to you…’

‘Anyway, so! Princess Yoon, who only approached me because of my body, I’m sorry to say, but I cannot accept your feelings!’

He finally said it!

Kuilan, who had finally properly rejected Yoon’s advances, thought that Yoon would now back down, but she didn’t.

‘You don’t know.’

‘Huh?’

‘As you said, it’s true that I approached you because of your body, but so what? Can’t I come to love your heart and soul after that?’

Yoon moved closer to Kuilan. Under her ivory hair, her bright yellow eyes gleamed like a predator eyeing its prey.

Kuilan swallowed hard and stammered, changing the subject.

‘……A-and. A vanguard like me doesn’t know when he’ll die. Even today, we don’t know what might happen with that undead mage…’

‘Even today, we don’t know what might happen with that undead mage, so why hesitate to date?’

‘……’

‘The world is on the brink of destruction, and we are front-line warriors who might die fighting any day. So, shouldn’t we be having a hot time right now, this very moment?’

Yoon continued to fire questions without giving Kuilan a chance to speak.

‘I don’t know if I can love your heart or soul. But you also don’t know when you might come to love my heart or soul. To find out, we need to clash with each other first.’

Yoon took another step closer. Kuilan closed his eyes tightly and trembled.

‘Why won’t you give up on me…?!’

‘Sorry, but I’m tired of being rejected. I’ve decided not to let go anymore.’

‘S-stop coming closer! We don’t know when something might happen!’

‘If something happens, we can just fight like pros with our weapons. Until then, let’s spend some time together.’

‘T-this is not a party hall, it’s a battlefield where we’re defending against monsters…’

‘I know, I know. How many times do I have to say it?’

Yoon whispered slyly.

‘Both are places where we play with fire, right?’

***

‘Oh my, oh my, oh my! Look over there!’

Evangeline, pointing towards Kuilan and Yoon, who were close together, slapped Lucas’s shoulder repeatedly.

‘After a year of pursuing and pushing away, Kuilan has finally been caught! Kyaa, Yoon is so bold! Eat him up! Bite him! Oh my, oh my!’

‘……It seems that some idiots are starting to forget that this is a war situation.’

Lucas clicked his tongue.

Of course, even if the heroes were deployed, there was still some time, and it might be more helpful to maintain their strength by resting rather than staying tense until then.

So, Lucas didn’t bother to stop the other heroes from relaxing.

They were comrades who could exert their strength when needed. He trusted them that much.

‘……In the first place, if the lord’s plan goes well, we won’t even need to step in.’

Lucas glanced towards Ash.

Ash and Black Night were talking separately. Lucas and Evangeline, as well as their lich subordinates, were kept a little distance away.

The Gamble Club party members, disguised as waiters, were the only ones who were repeatedly approaching and moving away, under the pretext of serving drinks and snacks.

‘So far, things are going according to plan, but…’

Still, as Lucas, who had always taken on the role of pointing out the blind spots that Ash couldn’t see, he couldn’t let go of his tension, even if the other heroes were resting.

It was then.

‘Huh?’

The orchestra began to play a waltz.

Then, Ash extended his hand to Black Night, and Black Night, looking a little surprised, awkwardly took Ash’s hand.

The human commander and the monster legion leader walked hand in hand to the center of the banquet hall.

The meaning of this scene was clear.

‘Oh my goodness, it looks like they’re going to dance!’

‘Good heavens. Are you serious, my lord…’

Even though the party was meant to deceive the enemy. Was he really going to dance with a monster?

Even though he was his lord, Ash was really… it was a blasphemous expression, but he was not a normal person.

As Lucas was admiring(?) him, Evangeline urgently grabbed Lucas’s arm.

‘Huh?’

Looking back in confusion, Evangeline frowned, pulling Lucas forward.

‘Huh? What do you mean, huh? Let’s go quickly!’

‘Huh…?’

‘Then while they’re dancing, the senior will be moving away! What if something happens then? We need to go next to them and pretend to dance to continue guarding them!’

Evangeline smiled brightly at Lucas, her fangs gleaming.

‘Let’s go quickly, mister! Ah, you know how to dance, right?’