I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 542

Bang! Bang! Ba-ba-ba-bang!

The Scarecrow Legion Commander, now airborne, launched a fierce assault directly at us.

With each swing of his sword, crimson magic exploded, and our heroes were sent tumbling across the ground, coughing up blood.

He was using Mikhail’s power, which was still attached to his chest, as if it were his own.

And Mikhail was a magic swordsman.

Each attack was a combination of powerful sword strikes and magic, a dual-attribute assault of both physical and magical force.

Complete defense was impossible; we were bound to take damage.

“Ugh, you damn bastard… !”

“My lord! We can’t attack from here…! Not like this!”

Lukas, trembling beside me, was just as helpless.

Mikhail was bound to the commander’s chest.

If we attacked, Mikhail might get hit instead. So, we could only retreat, unable to mount any proper counterattack.

Moreover, it wasn’t just the Scarecrow Legion Commander.

Creak, creak, creak…

The other scarecrows that had occupied the forward base were slowly surrounding us. They, too, had other heroes and soldiers attached to their chests.

“This is hopeless.”

I finally made a decision and ordered the heroes around me.

“Retreat!”

“… !”

“Escape outside the forward base! Hurry! We need to get out before they complete the encirclement!”

We couldn’t defeat the scarecrows, nor could we save our bound comrades, so the only option was to leave.

However, the gate of the forward base was already swarming with scarecrows.

And if we tried to jump over the ramparts, the scarecrows on that side had also detected us and were closing in.

“No choice.”

I clicked my tongue and turned around.

“Nobody!”

“Yes, my lord! What shall I cut for you?”

The blind swordsman, Nobody, grinned, raising his sheathed sword. I gestured to the side.

“The ramparts.”

“… Huh?”

“You can cut anything, right? Cut through the ramparts of this forward base.”

Nobody looked dumbfounded, but he obediently followed my instructions. He lowered his stance and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“… I’ve never tried this before.”

Then, he unleashed a lightning-fast flash of his blade.

Shick-!

The long sword, drawn from its sheath, cut deeply into the ramparts. A long, vertical gash appeared, from the base to the top.

“Kaaah!”

Nobody screamed and fell backward, as if the recoil from cutting something so hard had hit him.

The long sword in his hand had also snapped in half. But it was enough!

“Chain! Dearmurdin!”

I pointed to the gash in the ramparts and ordered the two mages.

“Full power!”

“I wondered what you were up to… Our lord is so fiery!”

“But it’s the right decision…!”

The dark mage, bound by chains, manipulated the power of darkness to strike the wall, and the great mage with the white beard followed up with a powerful blast of fire.

Kwa-ba-ba-bang!

The attacks from the two mages struck the already split ramparts, instantly tearing through them.

However, the ramparts, built with the Empire’s engineering technology, the dedication of the Crossroads workers, and my own money, were formidable. They were still not completely breached.

“Lukas!”

Finally, I called out to my right-hand man, and Lukas, drawing his sword of light, gritted his teeth.

“To break these ramparts with my own hands… It brings tears to my eyes!”

“Mine too! Just do it!”

“Haaah!”

And when Lukas’s [Willpower Strike] landed squarely,

Thwack-!

A hole was finally punched through the ramparts.

It was so sturdy and meticulously built that even with a hole big enough for a person to pass through, the upper part didn’t even shake. Well done, my ramparts! Sorry, my ramparts!

“Everyone, escape!”

We escaped the forward base through the hole in the ramparts.

As I wiped the sweat from my brow, I looked back at the forward base… The scarecrows inside were just watching us, not chasing after us.

Thump.

The Scarecrow Legion Commander, with his wooden wings flapping, easily landed on top of the ramparts and sneered in a chilling voice.

《Yes, run away. As far as you can, to the ends of the earth.》

“…”

《Because eventually, I will enter your bedroom. And I will sing you a lullaby.》

Creak. Creak. Creeeeak.

With a grotesque laugh, the scarecrow’s long fingers gently stroked Mikhail on his chest.

《I will weave together the sweet voices of your dying comrades.》

***

After retreating to a spot a little ways from the forward base.

I ordered a brief rest and first assessed our current numbers.

Me.

The ‘Old Men’ party of five – Lukas, Janice, Torkel, Chain, and Nobody.

Dearmurdin.

About thirty soldiers. And…

“… I, I can fight too, Your Highness.”

Hannibal.

Hannibal was also here, having followed us through the gate. I didn’t know when he had come.

The boy’s eyes, visible through his messy hair, were filled with fear, but also a resolute will.

“…”

Anyway, that was everyone.

I reviewed our options in my head and stared at the forward base.

Lukas, standing next to me, asked with a puzzled look.

“Why didn’t they chase us?”

“… Because their ‘harvest’ isn’t over yet.”

“Huh? Harvest?”

I nodded and gestured towards the forward base.

On the ramparts of the forward base.

The scarecrows were standing in a circle, holding hands. It was like they were doing a Ganggangsullae dance [a Korean circle dance] to celebrate a bountiful harvest.

In the center of this ominous circle stood the Scarecrow Legion Commander.

And-

“Kaaaaaah!”

“Kuh-huh, kuh-huh-huh!”

“Aaaah! Aaaah!”

The victims attached to each scarecrow began to scream miserably, and the transparent energy extracted from their bodies began to be absorbed into the center of the circle… into the Scarecrow Legion Commander’s body.

The Scarecrow Legion Commander, with his mouth wide open, was swallowing it as if it were delicious.

《Sweet, sweet, sweet, so sweet…》

The Scarecrow Legion Commander’s joyful roar echoed throughout the area.

《More, more, more, more! Give me more fear, more nightmares…!》

It was truly a disturbing sight to watch.

I turned my eyes away and continued my explanation.

“That’s the ‘harvest.’ It extracts the power of the captured victims and gathers it into one.”

“What, something like that…”

“And all the harvested power becomes the Scarecrow Legion Commander’s.”

The more victims they sacrificed, the more the Scarecrow Legion Commander would exponentially grow stronger, absorbing the power of all the victims.

Right now, it was the commander using Mikhail’s power and the scarecrow groups each using the power of their captured victims.

But once the harvest was complete, the commander would become an unbelievable monster capable of using all the abilities of all the captured victims at once.

“If we don’t create any more victims, he’s a weak monster. But the more victims there are, the more his power grows, like a granary full of autumn harvest.”

“Good heavens.”

Lukas, now understanding the mechanics of the Scarecrow Legion, was sweating profusely.

“… I guess you could say it’s a power befitting a scarecrow that helps with farming.”

“Then they should just work hard and farm, why are they kidnapping people and harvesting their souls…”

Lukas cautiously asked me as I bit my lip.

“What happens to the victims once the harvest is complete?”

“They die.”

The Scarecrow Legion would discard the victims, now corpses drained of all their power, and seek out the next harvest target… the next victims.

In this cycle, the Scarecrow Legion Commander would become endlessly stronger. Like the endless fear of destruction that keeps growing…

Lukas muttered in disbelief.

“No, isn’t that too powerful of a monster?”

“If we had responded properly at the start, he would have been the weakest monster in the world.”

If it hadn’t been a surprise attack. If the captured victims had been weak. Or if I had been at the forward base. Or even if Damian had been here right now.

It would have been an enemy legion that could have been easily dealt with. But the situation had spiraled out of control.

The Scarecrow Legion had cleared a very rare late-game condition and had perfectly buttoned up the first step.

If we were pushed back like this, they could continue to increase their victims and possibly even bring about the end of the world.

‘The bastard who planned this attack, it’s probably the Demon King, but he really hit us where it hurts…’

I tried to piece together a countermeasure in my head and said,

“That’s why we don’t have much time. We can’t wait for reinforcements anymore.”

By now, Crossroads would have realized that the forward base gate was destroyed, so reinforcements would be coming through the next closest gate… but it was too late.

The next teleport gate was a day’s journey north of the forward base. And in a day, all those captured would be harvested.

“We have to save them on our own.”

“But, how…”

“Let’s give up.”

Lukas was about to say something, but an old man’s voice cut in like a knife.

I frowned and turned around. Dearmurdin was approaching with his usual stern expression.

“Prince Ash. If all the characteristics of those monsters you mentioned are true, then it’s not wise for us to recklessly charge in.”

“…”

“We are few in number, and our equipment is not up to par. What if we recklessly attack and get wiped out? And what if that scarecrow absorbs all of our power? Then the situation will only get worse.”

Lukas nodded heavily and looked at me. It seemed that Lukas also thought the same way.

“We must give up on those who have been captured. We should join up with the reinforcements, regroup, and then defeat those monsters with all our might.”

“… My subordinates are at the forward base right now.”

I stared intently at Dearmurdin.

“And so are yours.”

“They all came here prepared to die. They are people with a noble resolve to sacrifice their lives for the world.”

Dearmurdin flinched at the mention of his subordinates, but he didn’t back down.

“To maintain the front lines, we need to make cold calculations, Prince Ash. If there is going to be a loss, we must know how to minimize it.”

“Mikhail is also there. That poor crown prince who has already lost all of his knights is there too.”

“… He is destined to be discarded anyway.”

I frowned. What was he talking about?

“How much do you know about the Vermillion Kingdom?”

“I only know that it is a strong northern power.”

“It is a strong country. But the royal authority is almost nonexistent. In fact, it is a country ruled by the council of elders.”

Dearmurdin began, saying he would explain it simply, and continued.

“Just as the Bringer Duchy’s Duke has dragon blood, the bloodline of the Vermillion royal family carries the blood of the ‘First Griffin.'”

“So, they were actually related to griffins? I thought it was just a saying.”

I thought it was just a figure of speech, but it seemed they really did have griffin blood flowing through them.

“That’s right. To create the best warrior, a flawless king… the council of elders mixed griffin blood to create a kind of homunculus [an artificially created human]. A genetically enhanced human. The culmination of genetic engineering is the Vermillion royal family.”

“… This is a terrifying setting.”

“They have been repeatedly improving them to create a more powerful ‘individual’ over generations. They also marry them to homunculi with other superior ‘blood’ and engage in political marriages to bring in genes from other countries.”

I laughed in disbelief.

“So that’s why Mikhail has five fiancées. And his sister too.”

“That’s right. The more descendants, the more samples, the better.”

“These crazy bastards.”

I was also in the middle of a real-life gacha [a type of lottery or gambling system] in the mercenary guild, but they were modifying people, marrying them off, and having them produce offspring! These guys were truly insane!

“Crown Prince Mikhail was the most talented boy among the royal descendants of this generation. But he has been defeated this time.”

“So what if he was defeated?”

“The ‘king’ that the Vermillion Kingdom seeks must not know defeat.”

Dearmurdin nodded.

“The moment he returns home after losing all of his subordinates, he will lose his position as crown prince to the next candidate. And he will be drained of all the griffin blood left in his body and discarded to die.”

“Knowing that, why didn’t you stop Mikhail from returning home?”

Dearmurdin looked at me as if he was wronged, then turned his head away.

“… Do I look like such a kind old man to you? Besides, I have no right to do so.”

“But!”

“Crown Prince Mikhail is an asset of the Vermillion Kingdom. We cannot interfere with his treatment.”

Dearmurdin cleared his throat and spoke in a suppressed voice.

“Anyway, in short! Crown Prince Mikhail is going to die anyway.”

“So, what? Because he’s going to die anyway, we should just let him die here?”

“Shouldn’t we make a realistic decision?”

At his words, I clenched my fist tightly.

“Knowing how to give up efficiently is also a virtue of a king, Prince Ash. Pursuing only ideals without any consideration is nothing more than stubbornness and recklessness.”