I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 521

Black Night didn’t go down easily.

She immediately began modifying the charms attached to her body in real-time, quickly regaining control of her mana.

If she had just three more minutes, she could have recovered her full power and turned the banquet hall into ashes.

But she was already surrounded by my heroes.

We weren’t foolish enough to just watch her regain her strength.

Takeoff was not an option.

My heroes charged from all sides, shouting, and Black Night began a desperate resistance despite it all.

She tried to bomb the area by scattering charm scrolls she had hidden in her robes. But.

“Torkel!”

“Haaah-!”

Torkel, having activated his ultimate skill, [Humans Are Not Born to Lose], stood in front of Black Night.

Magic with enough power to melt castle walls exploded, but Torkel successfully blocked it with his ultimate skill and his massive shield.

As Black Night frantically pulled out the next charm, Lucas and Evangeline dove in from her sides. Black Night immediately scattered charms towards them, but-

Boom!

Lucas, trusting in the overwhelming magic defense of his newly fitted armor, [Suwol], charged straight through.

He pierced through the magical flames and successfully got right next to Black Night.

Thud-!

Evangeline, approaching from the opposite side, easily blocked the magic with her shield and absorbed the damage completely with [Damage Save].

My three front-liners successfully blocked the first three most crucial attacks from Black Night’s perspective.

At that point, it was game over.

A mage is definitely the most powerful tactical weapon in this world, but.

If they can’t secure distance, can’t warm up their engine, and don’t have enough fuel.

“Checkmate.”

They die.

Black Night was battered by the snipes and magic of my heroes pouring in from all sides.

***

The third-ranked commander of the Nightmare Legion, the Great Mage Black Night, fell in vain.

“…….”

I approached, staring at the wretchedly fallen lich, when it happened.

Rustle, rustle…….

“What……?!”

Sticky, otherworldly darkness poured out from Black Night’s body.

‘This guy, could it be……!’

Even while being defeated, she managed to modify the charms…… and secured a connection to another world!

The bloodied Jiangshi [a Chinese hopping vampire], lying on the floor, rolled its eyes and glared at me.

At the same time, thick darkness covered the air, and within it, a huge white eye slowly began to open.

Spin-spin-

Thud!

A bright red pupil rotated as if swimming on the white, before stopping like a cannon aiming at its target.

The target was me.

A clear sneer crossed the lips of Black Night, who was lying on the floor.

《Even if I go, I’ll…… take you to hell with me, Ash……!》

The huge eye began to blink, and it seemed to happen in slow motion.

The sight of my subordinates on either side throwing themselves in front of me also seemed slow.

And, faster than any of them-

Swish!

Nameless stood in front of me.

Flash-!

From Nameless’s hand, blocking my front, an old iron sword emitted a dazzling light.

“Haaah-!”

Nameless, her blue dress fluttering, unleashed a slash of light.

The beam of light extending from the iron sword was bright enough to blow away the entire night.

In front of that light, the otherworldly darkness disappeared as if burned away, and the outer god’s eye that had been floating in that darkness also lost its form.

The pupil failed to close its eyelids, and the attack was rendered useless.

《……Not the outer god, but targeting the darkness that is the basis of the summoning.》

Black Night muttered, sounding defeated.

《To the very end…… you interfere, nameless one…….》

Nameless didn’t answer, instead flicking her sword downwards. Then, she slowly sheathed it.

The fragments of light scattered when she flicked her sword spread around us in a circle, neutralizing the otherworldly darkness like a defensive line.

In the fading darkness, the huge eye was still looking at me.

And-

『……Player.』

A voice echoed.

It was a large, dull voice, like insects gnawing on something. I clutched my throbbing forehead.

That eye, that thing called an outer god…… was talking to me.

『You are qualified.』

“What are you talking about all of a sudden…… qualified?”

『That’s right. Qualified for ascension…… qualified to obtain divinity and ascend to a constellation, you have more than enough. Haven’t you been fighting for a very long time?』

Black Night looked up at the eye with a bewildered expression, but the eye roared, ignoring her.

『I will help you. Let us stand together in this upper realm. Then your shattered soul will be completely healed, and your existence will be restored to its original state.』

“…….”

『You are qualified. Now, come with me…….』

“Screw you.”

I cut off its words and raised my middle finger.

The eye widened in shock.

『What?』

“I said screw you. Or, do you only have an eye and no ‘you-know-what’?”

I growled, spewing blasphemous words at the outer god.

“Ascension, divinity, constellation, or whatever that incomprehensible nonsense is, I don’t need it. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it, so get out of our world now.”

『Can’t you understand? The current you is a patched-up fake! The only way for you, who has been shattered into pieces, to become real again is to obtain divinity and stand with us!』

“Who are you to try to give me a certificate of authenticity?”

Standing right in front of the light boundary, I glared at it.

“I’m a fake. I’m shattered into pieces. But, so what?”

『…….』

“I know what I want to do. I know where I want to go. My heart is true, and it’s firm.”

I remember.

The child lying in the hospital bed.

The collapsing world.

All the people within my reach.

I want to save them.

This clear wish in my heart is a light that can never be extinguished, even if the darkness of another world comes crashing down…….

It’s the unquenchable lamp that allows me to be me.

I grinned.

“That’s enough.”

『……Is that so.』

The darkness faded, and the huge eye also began to scatter.

It spoke one last time. Its tone was unexpectedly mild.

『As someone who has watched you for a long time, it was a pleasure to talk to you, Player. I will watch your last battle, as you head towards destruction…… until the end.』

“Too bad for you, but there won’t be any destruction games in this world.”

I spat out towards the eye that was disappearing, letting out a dry laugh.

“I’ll do my best to ruin your fun.”

The eye completely disappeared, and the darkness also receded.

What broke the silence was the dying voice of Black Night.

《……Why?》

Turning around, I saw Black Night, collapsed and spitting blood, asking. Her tone was purely questioning.

《Why did you reject that offer?》

“…….”

《You too, are a fake…… like me, a chimera pieced together from someone else’s memories.》

“…….”

《Why? Don’t you want to become real? Ash?》

After letting out a small sigh, I slowly raised my hand and pointed to the sky.

“What do you see, Black Night?”

《……?》

Black Night tilted her head in confusion and looked at my finger.

And…… she realized what my finger was pointing at a beat later.

It was the moon.

During the battle with Black Night, a hole had been torn in the outer wall of the Hotel Crossroads. Through that hole, the moonlight that had just passed through the dark clouds was shining down.

Bathed in the pale moonlight, I murmured.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

《It’s beautiful, but what is this……?》

“It doesn’t matter whether the hand pointing to the beauty of the moon is that of a real person or a fake Pinocchio, does it?”

《……!》

The hand doesn’t matter.

Look at the moon.

Whether I’m real or fake, it doesn’t matter.

As long as my heart to save this world is real.

“What’s important is the heart in the flag, not the flag itself.”

So.

It doesn’t matter if I’m an existence born from lies. It doesn’t matter at all if I’m an ugly, tattered patchwork.

Because the heart within me is true.

Black Night, as if struck on the back of the head, stared blankly at the moon for a long time, then,

《Haha…….》

She let out a hollow laugh.

《Ash, you are truly right.》

“…….”

《Whether it’s real or fake, it was just a finger pointing at the moon.》

The mage who was Soya, who was in the body of Black Night, who was copied from Black Night.

The mage, who was no longer sure if she was Black Night, Soya, or Black Night, coughed out a laugh mixed with blood and tears.

《I was wasting my life trying to become a real finger, an eternal finger.》

“…….”

《I didn’t even properly know what kind of life I truly wanted, what I wanted to point at…….》

The light in the Jiangshi’s eyes rapidly faded.

《If I could make this world fake. If I could go to the real world above that sky. Then I thought I could become real, not fake.》

“…….”

《Even if I had done that, I wouldn’t have known what I wanted to point at, so I would have been fake forever.》

Even her tearful laughter gradually faded away.

《How foolish, how foolish. In the end, I…….》

Black Night buried her head in the pool of blood she had coughed up and muttered one last time.

《What did I want to point at, while living…….》

For what.

Even to the point of abandoning her life and becoming an undead.

Even to the point of joining hands with the Demon King and begging the outer god.

Did she want to become real?

《Now…… I can’t…… remember…….》

Without ever remembering.

Black Night died.

“…….”

I looked down at the corpse of the fallen enemy commander, then slowly raised my head again.

The pale moonlight was shining straight down on us.

***

The party was over, but the battle was not completely finished.

In addition to the lich who had entered Crossroads, the remaining forces of the Lich Legion were waiting near the southern plains of Crossroads.

They were fully prepared and hidden, ready to strike Crossroads from the outside if this party turned out to be a trap, upon receiving a signal from Black Night.

Their movements were stealthy, but this kind of contingency plan was obvious. So, our scouts had already identified their location.

Above all, Black Night, who was supposed to send the signal, had already been eliminated.

My forces, having circled around the rear, ambushed the Lich Legion, who were only guarding Crossroads, waiting for a signal from their commander.

The Lich Legion, composed entirely of mages, possessed some of the most powerful firepower among all monsters.

However, as I’ve said several times, that’s only if the basic conditions are met.

A fighter jet that can’t get on the runway doesn’t even have a chance to crash.

The Lich Legion was annihilated without putting up much resistance against my heroes, who closed in in an instant.

With the commander and all the elite units who would give orders eliminated inside Crossroads, it was actually more difficult for them to exert proper combat power.

“…….”

After neutralizing the magic the last lich was about to unleash with her shield and piercing it with her spear.

Evangeline, looking down at the fallen lich, muttered.

“Will there ever be a monster that becomes our ally?”

“…….”

“I liked that lich grand mage…… She gave me armor, and helped me in many ways…… I thought maybe, just maybe, we could transcend friend and foe and become allies.”

Evangeline murmured, looking down at the armor while wearing the Snow White that Black Night had given her.

“But in the end, she was going to burn our world…… I defeated her and won, but something feels strange.”

“……Maybe someday there will be.”

I thought of Salome again.

I thought of Alexander. And, I also thought of Black Night.

They were all enemy commanders who could have become our allies.

Some truly became my allies, some understood each other but had to fight and kill each other, and some tried to betray me in the end, so I struck first.

What kind of enemies will be left after this?

But one thing is certain.

“But we are at war.”

Basically, we are enemies who must fight and kill each other.

“You must never forget that fact, Evangeline.”

“…….”

“Let’s go.”

I patted Evangeline, who had her mouth shut tight, and took the lead.

“The real war begins.”

The first battle of the third year.

The third-ranked commander of the Nightmare Legion, the Great Mage Black Night, and the Lich Legion.

That battle ended like this.