I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 551

Lake Kingdom.

The 10th District, where the deepest darkness lurks. And within its deepest part,

The heart of evil, where darkness billows like clouds.

The place where the Demon King resides—

The Royal Castle.

However, the usually quietly seething Hall of Ten Thousand Demons was now noisy and chaotic.

That was because it was under attack.

Thud! Thud, thud…!

The forces densely surrounding the Royal Castle relentlessly launched a fierce attack. The barrier surrounding the castle held, but it vibrated violently.

《Kuh!》

Cromwell, the 2nd-ranked Nightmare Legion Commander and head of the Demon Guardian Corps, who was in charge of protecting the Royal Castle, trembled as he repaired the barrier.

《That crazy salamander, he finally…!》

The ones attacking the Royal Castle were none other than the Black Dragon Legion.

The 1st-ranked Nightmare Legion Commander and the King of the Black Dragons—Night Bringer, the True Black Dragon, was leading the army himself.

The Black Dragon clan, covered in dense black scales, spread their wings and circled the Royal Castle, pouring down black flames.

《…….》

With his disheveled black hair flying, and his golden dragon eyes gleaming, Night Bringer stood at a distance, commanding his clan as they launched their fierce attack.

Cromwell glared at Night Bringer from inside the Royal Castle, grinding her teeth.

《To actually start a rebellion, that crazy, mad dragon bastard…!》

Unlike the other Nightmare Legion Commanders who only talked about rebelling, his execution was on a different level.

Night Bringer had truly rebelled against the Demon King and had actually invaded.

And in the face of the powerful Black Dragon Legion, the other legions were repeatedly defeated.

Eventually, they were pushed back to the Royal Castle, and they were now forced to defend the castle.

《If only the King of Kings wasn’t absent…!》

Cromwell glanced inside the Royal Castle.

The King of Kings—the Demon King—was once again in seclusion.

He had left everything to Cromwell, from selecting monsters to invade the human realm to designating the King of Kings’ power blessing (Dark Event), and had once again sunk into the nightmare to find ‘that person’ or whatever.

Because of this, after the fall of the Great Mage of Magic, Baekya, all five subsequent invasions of the human realm were launched by legions personally selected by Cromwell. But now, even that had reached its limit.

The Black Dragon Legion, which had declared rebellion, had invaded the Royal Castle, and the Demon Guardian Corps, the Demon King’s direct guard, had to fight the Black Dragons on the front lines.

Cromwell was also extremely busy.

Her top priority was not the destruction of the human realm, but the safety of the Demon King, so the battle with the Black Dragons was more urgent than the invasion of the human realm.

However, she couldn’t just abandon the invasion of the human realm.

So, Cromwell made a decision.

To subcontract it to another subordinate.

《Your Excellency!》

A demon guardian ran up and saluted Cromwell.

《The legion commander you summoned has arrived!》

《Let him in.》

A moment later, a small demon scurried into the audience chamber of the Royal Castle.

The demon, who seemed nervous and swallowed dryly, had a small and frail physique. His body was red, and two horns sprouted from his head.

A pair of small wings on his back. And a tail unique to demons, extending long below his buttocks.

Imp.

The smallest, most insignificant, and most cruel legion among the demons. It was the Imp Lord ‘Low’ who led the Imp Legion.

《Y-y-yes, Your Excellency!》

With a tense face, Imp Legion Commander Low saluted Cromwell.

Cromwell was the strongest demon who commanded all the demon legions in the Lake Kingdom.

The power of a demon was revealed by the size of their horns, and Cromwell, who possessed large and beautiful deer-like horns, was an absolute powerhouse.

As an imp under her command, it was only natural that Low held feelings of respect and fear for Cromwell.

《Yes, Low.》

And then, Cromwell gave an absurd order.

《From now until the King of Kings returns, I entrust you with full authority over the invasion of the human realm.》

《Yes…?》

Low, who had been listening blankly, was startled and jumped up from his seat.

《Yes?! W-what are you suddenly saying? The invasion of the human realm? And full authority?!》

《As you know, I’m barely managing to hold off the Black Dragon Legion right now.》

Cromwell crossed her arms and sighed.

《But the invasion of the human realm is the King of Kings’ wish and command… we can’t not carry it out. So, I need someone to take over the overall command in my place.》

《W-well, I understand the reason… but why me of all people…?》

《Well, because you’re the smartest among our demons.》

The compliment was appreciated, but this was a separate issue.

Low tried to refuse, but Cromwell didn’t listen anymore and approached Low, handing him something.

A royal scepter.

It was an object symbolizing the royal authority, used by the king of the Lake Kingdom. Cromwell just shoved it into Low’s hand.

In front of Low, who was gaping with the scepter in his hand, Cromwell turned away.

《The related documents have been prepared. You can pick them up on your way out. Well, I’m busy with the battle against the Black Dragons, so I’ll be going.》

《No, wait a minute! Wait a minute, Lady Cromwell! Please wait for me! Lady Cromwell!》

As Cromwell waved her hand dismissively, the gatekeeper demons who approached from both sides lifted Low up and carried him out.

《…….》

Standing at the entrance of the audience chamber, Low gaped blankly.

Well, the basic rule of this world was that the superior’s orders were absolute. But still, was it okay to pass on such a heavy responsibility so easily?

Squeak. Squeak.

At that moment, Cromwell’s bespectacled aide nonchalantly dragged something over.

Looking at it, it was a cart full of documents.

Thud!

After placing the cart of documents haphazardly in front of Low, the aide pushed up his glasses and spoke indifferently.

《These are the records of the last thirty invasions of the human realm.》

《Ah…?》

《Please refer to them.》

Then, he turned away.

Low reached out urgently.

《W-wait a minute, just a minute!》

《Yes?》

Low almost begged the aide who turned around.

《Even if you say to refer to them, I don’t know exactly what to do… What would a small demon like me know about the invasion of the human realm, which I’ve never even been involved in? Please give me some advice. What exactly should I refer to…?》

《Ah, it seems you misunderstood me.》

The aide gestured to the cart of documents with a nonchalant expression.

《I said to endure it. Endure it.》

《……Ah.》

Not ‘refer’ (참고, chamgo), but ‘endure’ (참고, chamgo)…? [The word ‘참고’ can mean both ‘refer’ and ‘endure’ in Korean, leading to a misunderstanding.]

《Well then, I’m off. I have to go fight the Black Dragons too.》

And the aide walked away with a haughty stride.

Low, alternating between looking at the aide and the heavy cart of documents, eventually wiped away the tears that welled up without him realizing and muttered.

《This demon life is truly miserable…》

But what could he do?

Whether it was a dumping ground or whatever, he had to do as he was told.

Low sniffled and, dragging the cart that was bigger than his body, began to trudge back to his base.

Thud! Thud, thud!

Behind Low, the Black Dragon’s bombardment continued, and the Royal Castle was swaying as it held on.

***

Cromwell’s assessment of Low was not far off.

The imp, the smallest demon with the best cunning among the demons. Low, the commander of their legion, was not bad at using his head.

Low read the information recorded about the past thirty attacks until he memorized it.

He had never paid attention to the situation because he believed he would never be deployed, but after studying hard, he was quickly able to catch up with the current situation.

《…….》

Low pondered.

The task given to him was not to directly command the battlefield.

He was only to select the legions to deploy and decide on the Demon King’s power, called the Dark Event.

It was something he could just do haphazardly. But Low knew well.

‘If I do it haphazardly because I can, I’ll get a beating later.’

Of course, Cromwell, who was generally lenient with her subordinates, would understand Low’s position, who had suddenly been burdened with the task.

Even if he selected haphazardly and messed up badly, he would only get scolded at most.

However, Low wanted to do well if possible.

The weakest among the demons. The small demon imp who was always ignored and despised.

A pathetic race that had lost its ambition and desire for success and had been in charge of only assisting the demons.

Wasn’t this a golden opportunity to change their situation?

Low pondered. He pondered and pondered again.

Which legion should he send to catch the humans off guard?

Which Dark Event should he use to effectively burn the human realm?

And so, a few days before the thirty-first attack, Low cautiously entered the base of the Scarecrow Legion.

The Scarecrow Legion was currently using the ruined ‘farm’ as their base.

Once the base of the Plague Lord Raven, this place was now devastated by the plague and had an ominous atmosphere.

《Heeeee… It’s scary…》

As Low trembled and entered the ominous atmosphere, a face covered with a straw bag suddenly popped out in front of him.

《Huh? What’s this tiny thing?》

The Scarecrow Legion Commander, the oldest scarecrow, spoke.

《Uwaaaah!》

The Scarecrow Legion Commander made a terrifying voice towards Low, who was startled and trembling.

《Get out of here, you rat! You should be grateful that we scarecrows have refined tastes and don’t harvest the likes of you!》

The surrounding scarecrows all grabbed their bellies and laughed grotesquely.

Low was scared, humiliated, and angry, but he gritted his teeth and shouted.

《I, I am the acting authority of the King of Kings!》

《What?》

《Scarecrow Legion! In the name of the King of Kings, I order you to deploy!》

The Scarecrow Legion Commander, recognizing that the scepter Low held was real, scratched his straw bag.

《Huh? What nonsense is this? The order of deployment has already been decided, right? It’s not my turn?》

《…….》

《And the King of Kings told me before. The commander of the human realm has a disgustingly strong mental defense, so my fear won’t work on him… so he said I wouldn’t be deployed.》

《That’s why it’s a ‘surprise attack’.》

Low struggled and twirled the scepter, which was longer than his body.

《There’s a ‘surprise attack’ option among the powers the King of Kings lent me. If I use this power, I can change the order of the designated Nightmare Legions and start the invasion while avoiding the problematic enemy commander.》

《Oh?》

《And if we can avoid the enemy commander, there’s no reason for the Scarecrow Legion not to step up.》

Legions that use mind control and mental status ailments have mostly been excluded from the invasion of the human realm.

That was because the guardian of the human realm was immune to it.

However, that’s why it’s better to stab them in the back.

The humans, trusting only their commander, had not invested any further in mental defense, so if they could avoid the enemy commander, mind control and mental status ailments would work more fatally.

The Scarecrow Legion is a legion that farms sacrifices to aim for a late-game carry. The first battle is difficult, but after that, they get stronger and stronger like a snowball.

There is no legion more suitable for this ‘surprise attack’ Dark Event…!

《Oh…….》

Listening to Low’s explanation, the sinister smile on the Scarecrow Legion Commander’s face deepened.

《You’re more capable than you look, you tiny demon.》

Low put his hands on his hips and nodded, ignoring the offensive words.

《And, there’s something I need to tell you. Humans care for each other, but this commander especially cares for his subordinates.》

Thirty battles worth of data.

Within that, the human commander—Ash’s behavior was clear as day, even though he had never seen it.

He cares for people.

Too much.

《If we actively use hostages, we can seize and shake their weaknesses.》

Kikik, kikikik, kikikikik!

The Scarecrow Legion Commander laughed grotesquely, as if satisfied.

《Good, good, good! I will gladly deploy, you tiny proxy! And!》

The Scarecrow Legion Commander extended a long finger and pointed at Low.

《If I end up destroying the world, I’ll make sure you get a high position too!》

***

…Of course, that didn’t happen.

The Scarecrow Legion had won a great victory at the forward base, but they were eventually crushed by the returning main force of the enemy.

《Sigh…》

Low sighed as he read the battle report that Cromwell’s aide had just delivered.

《We lost, boo hoo…》

Then, Cromwell’s aide, who had brought the documents, pushed up his glasses and whispered.

《Endure it.》

《I’m already doing that!》

Low held his small head tightly with his small hands and pondered.

How could he possibly break down this impregnable fortress, where all the famous monsters in the world had challenged and failed…?