I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 587

Kwaaa kwa kwa kwang-!

A massive explosion erupted from inside the Fly King’s body.

The barrier activated at the last possible moment, and Geronimo was swept away by the shockwave and heat pouring out from inside, flung out of the Fly King’s body.

Spinning and unable to regain balance inside the airship, I desperately glared at the flames clinging to the Fly King’s body.

The explosion that Burnout had ignited by gathering all of his remaining life force was enormous.

Burnout’s passive ultimate skill, with his innate magic being explosion-type, was [Fireworks].

Its effect was to make the corpses of those he killed explode immediately.

The explosion that Burnout triggered with his self-destruction swept through the monsters inside the hatchery, and as they died, they caused chain explosions.

They killed each other by blowing each other up, creating a massive blaze.

The vast number of mutated flies that were about to finish their metamorphosis inside the hatchery would have mostly been blown to bits by this one blow.

It was a magnificent achievement. It was an achievement so great that it couldn’t be described as merely magnificent.

But…….

“Hh, hheuk, hikk…….”

Looking at Bodybag next to me, who was trying to keep her sobs from escaping by covering her mouth, I felt like my heart was collapsing.

From the beginning until now, always.

The monster front lines had survived by relying on the heroic achievements of the warriors who had volunteered to sacrifice themselves at critical moments. I honored their legacies, carried them on, and made it this far.

But suddenly, this thought occurred to me.

Am I, perhaps, forcing this sacrifice?

In an unavoidable situation, taking the right person to die. Am I killing them?

Of course, this isn’t a situation where I have the luxury to ponder such things. But.

As a commander, I am…….

‘I am…….’

At that moment, Demian, who was watching out the window, shouted.

“The Fly King is falling completely!”

Outside the window of Geronimo, which had barely regained its balance, the Fly King was seen plummeting to the ground, trailing a long plume of smoke.

The Fly King’s body, with its end touching the ground, plowed through the sandy soil of the plain, then tilted and fell forward.

Kugugugung……!

The Fly King’s head slammed forward, scattering enormous clouds of sand and dust in all directions.

Even then, due to the speed at which it had been flying, it continued to slide forward.

“We did it……!”

“The operation, it’s a success…….”

“Kuh! Damn it……!”

Everyone was relieved at the fall of the enemy commander, but also saddened by Burnout’s death. Even though the operation was a success, we couldn’t be completely happy.

Immediately after, Kellybay spoke in a low voice.

“……There’s more bad news.”

Feeling uneasy, I asked.

“What bad news?”

“We’re falling too.”

“……!”

“From the launch until now, we’ve been making nothing but reckless movements. The hull of Geronimo has accumulated fatigue…….”

Kellybay said, busily touching the instrument panel.

“It seems that the magic engine suffered a critical malfunction when we were caught in the explosion just now……. The output is decreasing.”

The altitude dropped in an instant. The inside of the airship, which had begun to spin again, shook violently, and everyone screamed.

Kellybay yelled.

“Hold on tight! We’re going to crash-!”

The next moment, Geronimo’s hull slammed into the dirt.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang……!

***

Fierce battles were raging on the city walls.

The ordinary giant flies that had attacked could be defeated, even if the soldiers struggled somewhat, but the problem was the mutated flies.

These mutated flies, which appeared with barriers, nullified most of the soldiers’ means of attack, so the best the melee units could do was barely hold them back with shields.

Even then, the shields were often torn and pierced by their sharp forelegs and pointed tail stingers.

“Aaaagh!”

“We have to stop them…… Kuhuk!”

Casualties occurred everywhere.

Evangeline was maintaining her ultimate skill, [The Last Fortress], so the soldiers under its effect were somehow holding on.

Even so, the damage was snowballing.

“Damn flying monsters…….”

Evangeline gritted her teeth.

The overwhelming advantage that this front line had against monsters—the advantage of the city walls—was being completely nullified by the flying monsters.

They easily penetrated the city walls and possessed overwhelming defensive barriers and vicious means of attack.

‘What kind of enemies are these?’

Moreover, the main body of the Fly King was approaching from behind, little by little. That huge evil.

Everything was a hopeless situation.

But what Evangeline had to do in this battle was not despair.

As the acting commander, and as the successor to the Border Marchioness title [a noble title in the Empire], her role was to command the entire front line, boost the morale of the soldiers, and fight to the end to protect it.

“Wooo-aaaaaaah!”

Evangeline, with her feet on the edge of the city wall, roared.

“Listen, you bugs! My name is Evangeline Cross!”

It was [Battle Cry], a signature technique of the shield knights.

The mutated flies, hearing Evangeline’s shout, all turned their eyes towards her.

“She is the successor to the Border Marchioness title, and the next designated lord of this city!”

Evangeline raised her shield, looking at the bugs pouring towards her.

“Of course, pest control is also my job-!”

Kaga gagagak-!

The bugs’ vicious attacks fell relentlessly on Evangeline’s shield.

Evangeline, who had absorbed the attacks with [Damage Save], then gathered the damage on the tip of her spear and countered with [Damage Payback].

Tuwak-!

Then, as if they had been waiting for it, the flies responded with their barriers. They easily absorbed Evangeline’s [Damage Payback].

But, Evangeline had also been waiting.

The moment when the approaching flies used their barriers!

Taat!

Evangeline jumped towards the flies, a mischievous smile on her lips.

“That barrier of yours, it stung when I touched it earlier!”

And—she placed her shield against the flies’ barriers.

“So, depending on how I take it, this barrier is also an ‘attack’, right?”

Evangeline’s [Damage Save] is a technique that absorbs the opponent’s attack with her shield.

Physical attacks are stored as pure damage, and magical attacks are stored as different types of energy depending on their attributes.

And the flies’ barrier is a defensive shield that repels and pushes away everything that touches it from the outside.

The shield, touching the barrier, tried to push it away with great force, and Evangeline absorbed that ‘attack’ completely.

Chwaaaak!

The next moment, the flies’ barrier was cleanly stripped away. Evangeline cheered.

“It works!”

The tip of Evangeline’s spear began to glow again. The barrier she had just taken from the flies shone blue, like an added spearhead, and covered the spear.

“Hup!”

[Damage Payback]!

Kwa kwang!

The fly impaled on the spear tip exploded.

She absorbed the barrier with her shield, and then used the barrier-wrapped spear to slit the throats of the fly monsters.

Evangeline was overjoyed to have found a way to nullify these damned monsters’ barriers and cheered.

“Alright! You’re all dead now, for real!”

Evangeline, having landed on the ground, looked around as if asking for praise.

And she found it.

Tsukak! Tsukak! Tsukaaak!

A female swordsman in a maid outfit with dark blue hair and hollow eyes was drawing a blue glowing dagger and slaughtering the flies.

It was Elise. She delicately sliced through the monsters’ barriers with the blue dagger in her left hand, then took out a sword from her sword sheath and threw it through the gap.

Puhwak! Puhwak-!

The flies fell one after another. Evangeline’s mouth dropped open at this incredible movement.

“Elise, what is that sword?!”

Elise turned and stepped back, standing next to Evangeline, and answered, catching her breath.

“……[Barrier Cutter]. It’s said to be a scalpel used to operate on mages in ancient times, or something like that.”

“Wow, it looks so convenient!”

Next to them, the Holy Knights were fighting.

Most of the red priests were equipped with blunt weapons such as tonfas or maces, but only the captain, Rosetta, was wielding an iron whip.

Strangely, every time they struck the barrier, the flies inside writhed in agony, and soon they were injured and fell dead.

Evangeline’s eyes widened.

“This side looks convenient too! How did you do that?!”

Rosetta, who had gracefully retracted her whip, replied.

“It’s called Internal Force Technique…… or rather, it’s an application of the principle of Penetrating Force.”

“What the heck is that?!”

“No matter how strong the armor is on the outside, if you apply a strong vibration, the inside will be a mess…… something like that. Simply put, it’s a technique to skip the barrier and strike with divine power.”

“You’re really making it sound simple!”

Rosetta, with a delicate frown, took out a notebook from her pocket and wrote something down.

“Evangeline Cross, nitpicking, heresy point 10…….”

“Ugh, those heresy points! I’ll pay it back with offerings later, so go catch the monsters!”

“……Ahem. It seems you will be a good lord in the future, Miss Evangeline.”

Rosetta put the notebook back in her pocket. Evangeline was dumbfounded and laughed awkwardly.

It was then.

Hwaaaak-

A hot heat was felt from the side. All the heroes and soldiers on the city wall looked in that direction.

“Hoo-oo-oo…….”

It was the Dragon Lady, Dusk Bringer.

She didn’t know how she did it, but she had forcibly grabbed more than ten mutated fly monsters with her magic, and then, holding onto the barrier they had created together, she stuck close to them and…….

“Don’t- be- annoying-!”

With her black hair flying back under her silver crown, she unleashed a point-blank breath.

Jjeo jjeo jjeo jeok!

The barrier, which had turned red from blocking the breath, didn’t last long and melted away, and more than ten mutated flies were burned to death at once.

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

The faces of the heroes, who had been fighting by mobilizing all their skills, equipment, and even secret techniques like the Internal Force Technique, stiffened in shock.

“Hoo!”

Dusk Bringer, doing a somersault in the air and returning to the city wall, showed her sharp teeth and said.

“These guys’ barriers have a clear output limit. Concentrate your firepower! Then they won’t last long.”

“Ah, yes, Your Grace!”

Evangeline gave the order, and cannons, ballistae, and artifacts began to target the flies one by one and unleash their firepower.

As Dusk Bringer had said, their barriers were sturdy but didn’t last long. When they concentrated their firepower, the flies fell one by one.

Just as the tide of the battle was about to turn…….

“The, the Fly King!”

A scout shouted at the top of his lungs.

“The Fly King is falling-!”

“……!”

Everyone was surprised and looked in that direction, and it was true.

The Fly King, with all its wings burned away and gone, was falling to the ground, causing a huge explosion behind it.

Everyone on the city wall cheered. Dusk Bringer jumped up and down like a child, clapping her hands.

“Ash, that guy, he did it! Woooo, I knew it!”

“To actually make it fall, that’s really amazing…….”

Evangeline’s face stiffened as she spoke.

“……But, will that stop before it hits the city wall?”

“?!”

Kugugugugugu-!

The Fly King had been flying through the sky at a terrifying speed from the start.

It had lost its lift and crashed to the ground, and now even its huge head was buried in the dirt.

But it still had momentum. The Fly King’s massive body slid towards the city wall, scattering tremendous dust around it.

“……Stop it.”

Evangeline muttered blankly, then shouted at the top of her lungs.

“We have to stop it! Concentrate all firepower on the Fly King-!”

Immediately, cannons, ballistae, and artifacts, as well as the magic of the mages on standby, various abilities and spells, and even Dusk Bringer’s full-power breath, all poured towards the Fly King.

Kwang! Kwa kwa kwang! Kugwang……!

But, it was no use.

The Fly King, even as its head and body were crushed and shattered, did not lose its momentum and continued to push its body towards the city wall.

Evangeline, realizing that it was impossible to stop it, shouted with all her might.

“Everyone, get below the city wall-! Get out of the way-!”

The soldiers, mages, alchemists, and priests hurriedly evacuated.

Those in the center of the city wall quickly went down below the city wall, or scattered to the left and right, running to the city walls next to them.

And—

Impact.

Kugwa kwa kwa kwang……!

The Fly King’s massive body, which had been sliding, hit the city wall.

Its overwhelming mass crushed the south gate of the fortress city of Crossroads, which was said to be the pinnacle of the Empire’s architectural technology, and broke through the south city wall from the center, penetrating inwards.

Kukung, kugugugung…….

And finally, when the Fly King’s advance stopped.

Its huge body had pierced through the city wall and penetrated deep into the city.