I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 584

《……》

Inside the Fly King’s mental world.

The old fly, sitting cross-legged, calmly observed the state of ‘themselves’.

‘Not in perfect condition.’

First, he examined the means he had taken from the humans.

Concept Devouring.

A new power born from the combination of the demon species Imp and a fly.

Taking the opponent as a sacrifice, concept and all, and devouring it as a fly.

‘You are truly useful, Imp.’

The old fly expressed his gratitude to the Imp anew.

Small and insignificant… a being whose name he had even forgotten, but the things that Imp had arranged for him were so useful that he couldn’t help but be grateful.

Anyway, the powers taken through this Concept Devouring were three.

Barrier, elemental magic, and teleportation.

The barrier and magic would be useful, but the old fly hesitated to use teleportation.

This was because he realized that this magic was fundamentally a means of accessing the other side of the shore [the spirit realm].

‘A magic that teleports through the other side of the shore…’

They were, after all, beings resurrected from the nightmare beneath the Lake Kingdom.

If they entered the other side of the shore—the spirit realm—it was clear that they would be swept away and unable to return to the mortal realm.

It was the same reason why other nightmare legions could not use teleport gates.

‘However, because of that.’

The old fly chuckled wickedly and clasped his hands in front of his chest.

‘It can be used effectively.’

Setting aside the means taken from the enemies, the old fly now examined the remaining resources that his species, as the Fly King, possessed.

‘Many of the eggs stored in the hatchery were burned due to the intruding humans.’

The flies resurrected in the nightmare of the Lake Kingdom were unable to lay new eggs, so they had no way to replenish the lost eggs on their own.

It wasn’t just the eggs. In order to obtain information about the mortal realm while coming here, they had also consumed adult flies without hesitation. The depletion of their forces was more severe than expected.

‘But there are still eggs left.’

Although many of the eggs in the hatchery were burned, the remaining eggs were safely stored.

These eggs would all be born as new generation flies.

The chimera-type flies sent out earlier were just the beginning.

He intended to inject all the essence that could be continuously injected, to conceive the strongest flies.

The more effort put into each individual, the slower the process of metamorphosis from egg to maggot, from maggot to pupa, and back to adult, became.

But the results were satisfactory. The new generation flies were each a powerful monster, and they continued to grow stronger.

‘The remaining eggs have all been moved to the safest top floor of the hatchery, but…’

In any case, their numbers were insufficient. They might be enough to break down the fortress right now, but they were not enough to devastate the world.

Therefore, the old fly’s thoughts were not much different from those of other conquering monarchs.

‘We must find the flies of the mortal realm and absorb them into our ranks.’

Because there were always flies everywhere in the world.

They had to find such flies and bring them into their sphere of influence.

In fact, while advancing from the Black Lake to this place, all the flies living in the forests and rivers, from larvae to adults, were absorbed by the Fly King.

‘We will break down the walls and advance into the heart of the world.’

And, gather all the flies in the world…

They would harm and desecrate all other living things, and lay their eggs on their corpses.

Then, this contradictory world would finally perish, and a new world would be born again.

A world filled with countless flies and maggots, lower and more wretched than anything else, and also filled with happiness…

The old fly, who had been bending over and chuckling, suddenly stopped laughing.

《…?》

The fly felt a sense of foreignness within himself. A vague, yet definite discomfort was making him feel nauseous inside.

‘What is it?’

The old fly once again observed his inner self, but nothing was detected.

The collective consciousness of all flies had gathered to form a single, enormous mental entity, and the old fly was the master who had completely seized control of that mental entity.

He was the tribal god chosen by the fly species. All flies had sworn allegiance to him, and any flies that did not were devoured by him, their souls chewed up.

Therefore, within this mental world, he was truly invincible. There was nothing that could make him uncomfortable.

When he carefully examined his inner self, the foreign sensation had disappeared as if it had never been there. The old fly tilted his head, then looked straight ahead.

Whoosh-!

In the sight of the giant monster Fly King.

The forests that had filled the left and right sides disappeared, and a wide plain began to appear.

And, beyond that.

The human fortress finally revealed its appearance, with tall walls.

***

The evening glow had faded, and it was nearing night.

Fortress City Crossroads. Above the south wall.

The aerial fleet floating in the sky. At its center, the Alcatraz.

Fleet Commander Macmillan, with a pipe clenched tightly in his mouth, was watching the appearance of the enemy monster displayed on the magic panel.

Almost simultaneously, reports poured in like screams from all channels.

「Monster, approaching rapidly! It’s not slowing down!」

「The Fly King is visible to the naked eye-!」

「Five minutes left until it enters our range!」

The enemy monster, emerging through the clouds, grew larger every moment. It was simply getting closer, but that’s how it appeared in Macmillan’s eyes.

Crack-

The wooden stem of his beloved pipe was crushed because he had bitten down too hard.

Macmillan chewed on the wood stem, which was permeated with the taste of tobacco, and adjusted his admiral’s hat.

‘Did His Highness’s operation succeed? Or—’

Immediately after, Macmillan quietly let out a hollow laugh.

The only thing a soldier should prepare for is always the ‘or’ case.

“All fleets, launch! Intercept the enemy monster!”

Thud-!

Magical flames erupted simultaneously from the rear thrusters of the airships that had been waiting in the sky.

In the center of the fleet advancing to meet the onrushing monster, Macmillan spoke again.

“We must slow him down first so the fortress can stop him, so all fleets! This time, for real…”

Macmillan shouted.

“Let’s show the power of humanity’s aces! Fire-!”

The airships, which had turned to the side all at once, approached the Fly King without slowing down.

At the same time, they deployed their cannons on the side facing the Fly King and began to pour out a barrage of fire.

Bang! Thud thud thud!

Kwakwakwakwang-!

The barrage of fire scattered by the airships rained down on the Fly King, then exploded spectacularly.

The airships had replaced the barrier system that had been out of order in Crossroads. At the same time, the cannon system was also renewed.

Crossroads, the front line against the monsters, had developed turret and gunpowder technology to a disproportionate degree compared to other regions, and they generously shared their know-how.

It hadn’t been long, but all the engineers and blacksmiths had rushed to strengthen the firepower of the airships even a little bit.

As a result, the firepower had increased significantly compared to the first engagement.

‘I’ll tear you apart, you fly bastard…!’

Macmillan clenched his fist as he watched the dazzling flames of the exploding gunpowder.

Firing cannons on one side, and rotating the thrusters on the other to advance.

The sight of the airships approaching the Fly King, spewing fire from both sides, was a spectacle in itself.

However,

“……?!”

Not long after, Macmillan noticed an anomaly.

As the flames and thick smoke scattered by the exploding shells cleared, a light blue membrane began to appear around the Fly King’s massive body.

Soon, the other fleet commanders also noticed the identity of the membrane surrounding the Fly King’s body. A chorus of bewildered groans erupted simultaneously.

「Th, that’s…」

「Good heavens. Damn it-」

「This monster bastard, what is this…」

Macmillan, who was holding the pipe he had taken out of his mouth, spat out.

“……Barrier.”

It was the barrier technology that the monster had taken from humans.

Taking a posture as if it were hibernating, with its body hunched over.

The giant Fly King deployed a barrier all over its body and easily withstood the full firepower of the air fleet.

At the same time, a red light radiated from the monster’s entire body.

It was an effect caused by the eyes of all the flies that made up the monster’s body flashing.

The red light, which had started from the tip of the tail, traveled up the belly to the upper body, and then reached the head—touching the horn.

There was no longer a halo, but a huge, devil-like horn had sprouted above the Fly King’s head… and a massive amount of magic power was being concentrated there.

「Enemy monster, concentrating magic power!」

「It’s, it’s an insane scale! This amount of magic power gathering is…」

「Something huge is coming! Commander Macmillan! Give the order!」

Even at this moment, the Fly King and the air fleet were getting closer to each other.

Macmillan calmly assessed the situation. He was taken aback that the Fly King had taken their barrier technology, but they also had barriers.

No matter what attack method the other side used, they could just withstand it with their barrier—

“Huh?”

The next moment, a dumbfounded sound escaped from Macmillan’s mouth.

This was because familiar shapes and formulas were pouring out from the Fly King’s horn, forming a magic circle.

Macmillan was also knowledgeable in magic. That’s why he couldn’t help but recognize it right away.

The attack method that the Fly King was preparing now was—

“……Magic.”

It was a combined magic taken from human mages.

Flash-!

Fierce flames that seemed to swallow the world, a high tidal wave with no end in sight, a landslide that seemed to overturn the world, a tornado that seemed to tear the sky, and lightning as dazzling as the primordial flash.

The magic that the most brilliant researchers among humans had unleashed together with all their might, resonating with each other, was also being calculated and poured out by the flies, resonating as a species.

Macmillan shouted as he watched the disasters pouring down in front of him.

“We have to evacuate the airspace…”

Immediately after, Macmillan realized something. He turned his head sharply, his face pale.

If the air fleet moved out of the way, the one that would be directly hit by this magic was, in fact…

‘Crossroads…!’

The Fly King’s target with magic was not the air fleet in the first place.

It was the fortress wall of the monster front.

A sharp communication rang in Macmillan’s ear as he was momentarily stunned and unable to make a decision.

「Block it with your bodies! Hurry-!」

“……!”

Thud-!

When Macmillan looked ahead, he saw an airship being launched forward, desperately raising its barrier.

An airship with a ridiculous appearance with white fur attached to it.

The Arian Kingdom’s airship, the Arian Bear.

Yoon Arian, the acting captain who had boarded instead of the captain who was injured in the last battle, shouted.

「If we don’t block it, Crossroads is finished! Everyone raise your barriers and block it with your bodies-!」

“Kuh…!”

The barrier was by no means invincible.

It could safely withstand damage up to its output limit, but it would melt the moment it exceeded that limit.

And at a glance, the power of that terrifying combined magic far exceeded the output limit.

“……All ships, deploy barriers! Follow the Arian Bear!”

That being said, they could not retreat.

All the fleets, which had been wavering for a moment, quickly raised their barriers, led by the Arian Bear, and formed a battle formation in the air.

“Force the magic reactors of all ships to go berserk, and release the output limit! Turn all magic power into the barrier! And attempt barrier resonance with all ships in a line!”

Macmillan gave the order quickly, and even in the critical situation, the airship crew, who were the best of the best, carried out the instructions.

The airships, gathered in an orderly manner, simultaneously raised their barriers with their output going berserk, and the combined barrier blocked the air like a giant shield.

And, on top of that…

The magical bombardment, which was once humanity’s but now belonged to the flies, fell.

***

…

For a moment, sound disappeared from the world.

A tremendous shockwave and aftershock swept through the area.

Evangeline, who was preparing to activate her ultimate skill on the wall, barely managed to grab the edge of the wall and resist being blown away.

Evangeline, who was staggering while holding her ringing ears, finally shook her head and regained her senses.

And what Evangeline saw when she raised her head was,

“……!”

The airships, charred black and emitting smoke, falling helplessly below.

And behind them, against the backdrop of the darkening sky, through the thick dark clouds and smoke, calmly approaching with his legs crossed and his hands clasped together…

Was the figure of the Fly King.