I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 575

The dwarves quietly began digging a tunnel downwards, without making a sound.

Junior, who was watching them, whispered a question.

“Um, but do we really have to go down? What about going up or sideways?”

“While scouting, I found that the upper levels have more maggots than ‘food’. And sideways…”

Kellybay pointed to the side.

“See for yourself.”

There was a small hole in the wall Kellybay was pointing at. Wind was seeping in through the hole.

Junior looked outside through the hole and gasped. The ground was incredibly far below.

“Oh, it’s really high…”

“If we escape this way, we’ll all fall to our deaths. So, we have no choice but to dig further down.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a hole opened downwards. Everyone cautiously peered into the hole below.

There was a new room below. It was filled with other prey that had been captured and paralyzed. Fortunately, there were few fly eggs.

Junior swallowed hard. How much further down did they have to go like this?

Hiding from the adult flies that roamed erratically, escaping from the maggots that poured out of the eggs at random, digging tunnels and continuing to descend…?

“…Is it even possible to escape like this?”

“If you have another way, tell me, genius mage.”

At Kellybay’s question, Junior sighed deeply.

“…No, I don’t.”

Even if they made a hole sideways and escaped using wind magic, it would be nearly impossible to land everyone safely. And even after landing, they would be chased by the fly pursuers.

And if they were to recklessly unleash magic inside this belly, they would be subdued before they could inflict a fatal blow on the Fly King.

For now, it seemed best to slowly dig their way out, as Kellybay had suggested.

“Alright, let’s move. The room below seems safe.”

The survivors who could move helped the still-paralyzed survivors to their feet. At that moment, Junior rushed to the small hole in the wall.

“Wait a moment.”

Junior shot his magic element through the hole. The magic element that was shot out stuck to the outside of the hole and emitted its own light.

Kellybay tilted his head.

“What’s that?”

“It’s my magic element signal. They’ll be able to recognize it at Crossroads [a designated meeting point]. Then we can let them know we’re alive.”

Kellybay clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. I don’t think that was a good idea?”

“Huh? Why?”

“If they know we’re alive, they might try to send a rescue team, risking themselves.”

“…”

Junior, who had been silent, looked at his magic element twinkling outside with serious eyes.

“…But, you never know. Maybe we here can be a clue for a new strategy.”

After all, they were inside the enemy’s belly.

They didn’t know what kind of variable they could become.

“I think it’s more important to convey as much information as possible, as it is, to Prince Ash…”

Junior turned and smiled confidently at Kellybay.

“Anyway, let’s find our own way to survive!”

Kellybay thought to himself.

To be able to smile like that even in this situation.

Junior, that kid, has become quite bold…

***

As I returned from the lookout tower to the lord’s mansion, I was lost in thought.

Although Junior was trapped inside the Fly King’s belly, he was alive.

And the fact that Junior was alive meant that the other heroes who had been captured earlier could also be alive.

‘The flies were indiscriminately sweeping up anything that could be used as food… Does that mean they don’t kill them right away?’

I also thought about the Insect Busters being captured earlier. They paralyze them with poison needles and then kidnap them into their bellies.

‘Food. Capture. And storage in the belly…’

Suddenly, a battle against a monster legion from the past flashed through my mind.

Stage 8. The Slime Legion.

Kuilran and the Punishment Unit had been eaten by the Slime Emperor before.

The strategy I chose to save them then was…

“…!”

A new idea suddenly popped into my head.

I quickly entered the backyard of the lord’s mansion. First, I needed more information.

And in the backyard,

Creak, creak…

Baekya, who had just transferred his consciousness into a fly’s body, was struggling to move his body.

Since there was no time, I went to the side of the staggering fly Baekya and asked in a stern tone.

“Can you move?”

《…I feel like I’m going to throw up…》

Since he had no vocal organs, Baekya gathered a sliver of magic power to answer. It was amazing that he could use magic like that in a fly’s body.

“First, tell me what information you can get from that fly.”

《Specifically, what do you want to know… Ugh, it’s hard to organize…》

I asked for the necessary information first.

“Where and how are the kidnapped ‘prey’ stored?”

《In the Fly King’s belly… This place is both a hatchery and a warehouse. The prey is moved here… from the top of the belly to the bottom…》

So, the lower part of the belly would be where the most recently captured prey were.

If Junior and the survivors were to escape, they would likely head downwards. Going up would be the enemy’s main base.

“…”

After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I faced the fly Baekya.

It was time to confirm the biggest purpose of putting Baekya in this body.

“How is it inside? Can you take control of the Fly King?”

After a moment of silence, Baekya slowly replied.

《…The entity that moves the Fly King is a collective consciousness. It’s a collective thought of countless flies.》

“You’re a fly now too. Doesn’t that mean you can join in?”

《If an individual fly comes into contact with the Fly King, at that moment, its consciousness merges into the collective consciousness… My consciousness would probably be sucked into it too.》

So, it’s like connecting computers to combine processing power.

《I can try to take control… but honestly, I can’t guarantee it… I don’t know how strong their collective consciousness is…》

“You have to do it, Baekya.”

《Honestly, I don’t want to go… It’s terrible enough being in this state, but in the worst case, if my consciousness is eaten by them…》

“Baekya.”

《Don’t do this, just give me a human mage’s corpse. I’m the Great Magic Emperor. I’ll help you with magic. Okay?》

I let out a soft sigh.

What if you turn against us again?

I’m not naive enough to trust a monster who has already betrayed us once.

“Baekya, you have to go.”

《What?》

The next moment, I linked [Commanding Eye] and [Become Mine!].

By the time Baekya regained his senses, he was already wearing a magic restraint collar around his neck.

The fly-Baekya had become my captured monster.

“Even if you’re trapped in a fly’s body, you’re dangerous. You need a safety device.”

Although he looked pathetic, Baekya was also a monster who tried to destroy this world.

And if given the chance, he would still try to turn the world into a wasteland and ascend. I had to put a leash on him.

《You…!》

“Anyway, isn’t this situation better than being stuck in that darkness? Don’t complain too much. Here.”

Baekya, who was trembling, managed to speak with difficulty.

《…Just going alone, the probability of failure is too high. You need to shake his consciousness. We need a distraction…!》

“Don’t worry about that.”

I stared at the still dark southern sky and slowly spat out.

“I’m going to create a very big distraction.”

***

Before dawn, at early morning.

I called all the heroes belonging to the front line.

Even though it was the middle of the night, the heroes gathered without complaint. Everyone was well aware of the seriousness of the situation.

“…First, some good news. Junior is alive.”

Some of the heroes were startled by my words. I continued.

“The flies paralyze and capture ‘prey’ and then store them in their bellies. In other words, all the comrades who were captured earlier have a chance of being alive.”

After looking around at the heroes who were each lost in thought, I suddenly called out one person’s name.

“Kuilran.”

Kuilran immediately stepped forward. I smiled and asked the Beast King.

“Do you remember what happened when you joined this front line… during the battle with the Slime Legion?”

“Of course, Captain.”

Kuilran grinned. The members of the Punishment Unit behind him also had awkward smiles on their faces.

Stage 8. Kuilran and the Punishment Unit had been eaten by the Slime Emperor who had climbed onto the wall.

“You came to save us yourself back then.”

“That’s right.”

I had deliberately allowed myself to be eaten along with Kuilran and the Punishment Unit to save them. And together, we had successfully escaped by breaking through the Slime Emperor’s belly.

“It was a reckless act, but it was also something I did because I believed in insurance.”

I took out a scroll from my pocket and shook it.

“The bellies of large monsters are considered ‘dungeons’. And I had this dungeon escape teleport scroll.”

It had strict usage conditions, such as a casting time of more than 10 seconds and having to give up all the rewards of the dungeon. So, I had hardly used it in the Lake Kingdom dungeon.

But it was a different story inside a monster’s belly.

If you could safely escape from inside an enemy monster’s body, what was a 10-second casting time, and what did rewards matter?

“This Fly King is the same. His belly will be a dungeon, and if so, we can safely return with this scroll.”

I nodded, looking around at the heroes.

“Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

Lukas, who had always been with me in my reckless operations, was the quickest to answer.

“…Are you going to use a strategy where we deliberately get eaten by that Fly King?”

“That’s right.”

I nodded.

“The alchemist team has already finished analyzing the paralyzing poison that the flies use. The antidote will also be finished soon. We will take this antidote in advance, then get kidnapped by the flies… and move into the enemy’s belly to start the operation.”

The heroes’ faces turned pale. I continued without caring.

“There are three reasons why we are carrying out this operation. First, it’s a distraction. There is a separate operation being prepared to inflict a major blow on the Fly King right now.”

To recreate the situation in history where the past Fly King was defeated. The infiltration operation inside the collective consciousness of the flies that Baekya was preparing.

“To ensure the success of this operation, we need to disrupt the Fly King’s consciousness. That’s why we need to cause chaos in his belly.”

I took a breath and stated the second reason.

“Second, we will damage their production facilities.”

“…!”

“They seem to be pouring out endlessly, but like the monsters so far, they are beings born from nightmares. In other words, they cannot reproduce. In other words, once the current eggs run out… no more new flies will be produced.”

I grinned and cracked my knuckles.

“Even if the first operation fails, we will burn as many eggs as possible and directly destroy the hatchery to increase our chances of winning in the following battle.”

If they allow us to access the production facilities, we should actively use them. If it goes well, we can inflict great damage.

“And third. The rescue of our comrades who were captured first.”

As soon as I spoke, the dwarves nodded with reddened eyes.

The mages who had been with Junior, and the ‘Uncles’ party who had been with Chain, also nodded firmly.

“…”

Balan, the leader of the Southern City-State Alliance who had recommended the Insect Busters to me, also stroked his beard and showed a serious expression.

“For the above three reasons, we have decided to carry out this reckless operation.”

I looked around at the heroes once more.

“As you all know by now, this is practically a suicide mission. We cannot guarantee your lives.”

Even though we have the escape scroll, and the Fly King is unlikely to directly counterattack inside his belly.

It’s still the enemy’s main base. It’s an insanely dangerous operation. That doesn’t change.

We don’t know what kind of variables might occur. In the worst case, the deployment itself could fail, and there is a possibility of total annihilation.

And the enemy is an impregnable being that we have to resort to such an operation.

“So… I will only accept volunteers.”

I took a breath and then closed my eyes tightly.

“Everyone, close your eyes.”

“…”

“I repeat, the probability of death is higher than survival. We don’t need a large number in the first place. There is no need to be ashamed of not participating in this suicide mission. We also need a lot of people to fight on the wall.”

“…”

“Nevertheless, those warriors who are willing to voluntarily enter hell, raise your hands.”

After a brief silence, when I opened my eyes.

My heroes were raising their hands with their eyes tightly closed.

It was everyone.