I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 595

Thud!

After catching the Fly King’s corpse on Jeronimo’s back.

Kellybay, standing at the hatch entrance, manipulated a button, and Jeronimo’s stopped propellers folded upwards, gripping the Fly King’s body.

Thwack-!

In that state, Jeronimo flew low to the ground, as if being dragged.

Fierce flames and smoke erupted from the thrusters directed downwards, struggling to lift the ship and a monster of comparable weight.

Without the lift provided by the propellers, Jeronimo was only staying airborne with the output of the runaway magic reactor.

Already, the magic reactor was like a ticking time bomb on the verge of exploding, and the ship, with its flight balance ruined, was breaking down by the second.

And now, with a huge weight added on top.

The overstressed hull twisted and screamed. The tattered outer armor and parts fell off, raining down behind. Explosions occurred continuously from the overheated magic reactor.

But it didn’t stop.

“Hahaha…!”

Inside the ship, which was rushing towards death, Kellybay roared with laughter.

Flying with a bomb that could blow away the entire city.

What could be a more spectacular death than this?

After laughing his fill, Kellybay shouted from the hatch entrance towards the inside of the ship.

“Alright, let’s go! My sons! To the end of the world!”

“……”

“I was a terrible father who abandoned you and lived selfishly my whole life, but at least for the last moment… let’s be together!”

Kellybay smiled, his face glistening with blood and sweat.

“……”

Kellyson, sitting in the cockpit, stared blankly at his father for a moment, then said.

“No, thanks.”

“What?”

Click!

He manipulated one of the buttons in the cockpit.

Suddenly, the hatch opened wide, and at the same time, Kellyson pulled Jeronimo’s booster.

“Whoaaaaa?!”

Kellybay, unable to cope with the sudden change in speed, was thrown out of the ship.

Kellybay, who had rolled messily across the southern sand field, barely managed to get up, clutching his bleeding forehead.

“Ugh, Kellyson, you unfilial brat! What are you doing….”

Whoosh- Thud!

Jeronimo’s emergency life raft fell next to Kellybay, who hadn’t finished speaking. Kellyson had ejected the last remaining life raft from the ship along with himself.

[Father.]

Jeronimo was rapidly moving away.

[You were the worst father of all fathers in this world.]

Kellyson’s sullen voice echoed through the comms.

[But… you were the best blacksmith and the best miner.]

“No, Kellyson! At least let’s be together at the end…!”

[This front line, this world, still needs you, Father.]

Thwack-!

The runaway magic reactor forced the ship, which was almost touching the ground, to move forward. One by one, the thrusters that had been deployed downwards, unable to withstand the weight, exploded.

But Kellyson calmly spoke, increasing speed.

[Survive. And please, take care of our race… no, this world.]

“Kellyson, no, Kelly…!”

Kellybay, who was running after Jeronimo, fell awkwardly to the ground.

In the cockpit, Kellyson, who was watching his father’s figure, now a distant speck, chuckled.

The bottom of the hull, which had been desperately trying to stay off the ground, finally touched the earth.

With flames, smoke, and dust billowing, Jeronimo left the southern field and entered the forest, and at the same time.

Chzzzz-

The self-destruct magic, moving like a fuse, gathered in the center of the Fly King’s chest.

“Ah.”

Kellyson muttered for the last time.

“The first tunnel Father gave me, it was really cozy….”

The small cave from his childhood suddenly overlapped with the narrow cockpit of the ship.

And the young face of his father, handing him the key to open the cave door in his small hand….

Kellyson closed his eyes.

The gathered flames touched the Fly King’s core.

The next moment, the whole world was enveloped in white light.

***

I held my breath.

In the pitch-black night. A dazzling light flared in the far south.

For a moment, I couldn’t hear anything.

And the next moment, an enormous explosion blew away the forest beyond the southern plains.

KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!

To break through humanity’s defense line, to destroy the world….

The monster had poured the souls and bodies, and the fate of its entire race into this one explosion, and its power was immense.

A huge pillar of light soared up with a hazy cloud of dust.

The forest buried within the range of the light pillar was completely burned in an instant, and the ground around the epicenter soared into the air and then melted.

Then, the aftershock hit Crossroads.

Thwack…!

The southern walls, which were only skeletons in places, were swept away by the aftershock, scattering bricks and debris. People screamed and rolled on the ground.

The explosion was huge, and the aftershock was just a prelude. Flames and gusts of wind, emanating from the epicenter, crushed the ground and surged towards Crossroads.

The world was becoming brightly lit.

Destruction was relentlessly pushing into the city like the morning sun.

“Senior…!”

Evangeline, who had run up shouting, deployed a shield in front of me. Behind that shield, I gripped my flag again with both hands and shouted as if spitting blood.

“No matter how many times it falls, I will rebuild it-!”

Charrrrrr-!

A gray magic wall bloomed like flower petals, replacing the destroyed southern wall.

I was also far beyond my limits, my heart was throbbing, and blood was gushing from my throat. Still, I gritted my teeth and maintained the wall.

Thwack…!

But, it’s evaporating.

Unable to withstand the immense power of the explosion, the gray magic wall began to disintegrate from the outer edges.

“……Ugh.”

I endure.

“Ughh….”

If I can’t endure, what will become of us?

What will become of the noble sacrifices of those who threw their lives away before?

If I fall here, if I give up, if I drop the flag, what will become of all the battles we’ve fought so far?

“UAAAAAAAH!”

The surface of the wall boils and disappears in droplets.

Like a pond that has dried up in a drought, the magic wall evaporated in an instant, and now only a paper-thin layer remained.

My whole body, having squeezed out every last bit of magic, was tingling and numb. It felt like my body wasn’t my own.

Still, I endured. I screamed and endured.

‘I don’t want to lose them.’

Those who are still alive and in my arms, and those who have already fallen and remain in my memory.

Not yet, I don’t want to lose them…!

While spitting blood, half-collapsed and clinging to the flag, my ears heard-

“Prince Ash.”

Suddenly, a soft voice echoed.

“Please, until the very last moment, that flag….”

Green hair rippled as she walked in front of me.

“Don’t let it go.”

It was the Elf Queen, Skuld. She winked at me. Her green eyes blinked widely above the four diamond-shaped tear marks.

I stared blankly at her refreshing smile.

“World Tree!”

The next moment, she placed both hands on the ground and shouted.

“Your daughter, paying a just price, requests her last inheritance…!”

Skuld’s arms transformed into tree trunks. Her transparent skin became rough and hard, leaves sprouted in places, and soon they burrowed into the ground.

Thududududuk!

Right behind my magic wall, huge tree roots and trunks sprouted simultaneously. The huge trees, intertwined with each other, soon formed an excellent temporary wall.

It was right after that that my magic wall disappeared and I fell to the ground.

Evangeline caught me as I fell, and I leaned on my shield knight’s shoulder, watching the miracle unfold in front of me.

Swaaaaaaa…!

It endures.

The wall made of intertwined tree trunks and roots burned and collapsed, but it grew back and sprouted leaves again.

The flames and gusts of wind outside the wall were persistent and greedy, but the wall of trees was even more patient.

The ancient protective magic embedded in the tree wall protected everyone behind the wall until the very last moment.

When the explosion and roar, which seemed like they would never end, stopped, the wall of trees stood firm without collapsing.

The charred wall crumbled to the ground in unison. At the same time, Skuld, who had finally deployed and endured the wall, also collapsed weakly.

“Skuld!”

Verdandi cried out and ran forward.

“Verdandi… sister….”

Skuld, held in Verdandi’s arms, had transformed into the appearance of a very old tree.

The skin on her entire body was dried up, and her appearance, which had looked slightly younger than her sister, had turned into that of a complete old woman.

Her vibrant green hair had turned into a dark, dull color like dried leaves.

More than half of her body was fused with the tree and buried in the ground… she was dying like that.

An elf who lives eternally, and among them, a direct descendant of the fairy royal family.

She had sacrificed all her life force, blessings, and future to protect Crossroads.

“Our race, no….”

Skuld took a long breath, then slowly closed her eyes.

“This world… please….”

“……Skuld?”

Verdandi murmured as if she couldn’t believe it.

“No, no, no… no. Please….”

Verdandi hugged Skuld tightly and showered kisses on her sister’s forehead.

“It was my fault, it was my sister’s fault. So come back… I’ll never leave you again, please….”

In the end, Verdandi let out a long cry.

“Don’t leave me alone….”

Apart from the sobbing of the Elf Princess, no sound was heard in the area.

The heroes and soldiers, covered in blood, stood facing the southern wall with solemn faces. And one by one, they bowed their heads in that direction.

“…….”

I leaned on Evangeline’s shoulder, looking around with a dazed expression.

Crossroads, caught in the aftermath of the explosion, was devastated from the southern wall to the entire southern part of the city. There were no intact buildings, and no towers left.

Everything was completely destroyed.

Is this… victory?

Is this the price of survival?

‘How many died?’

How many lives were thrown away….

Am I, right now, alive here?

‘No…!’

I shook my dazed head. I put aside the boiling feelings of self-reproach for now.

Because I know.

Those who threw their lives away for this front line would not want me to think like this.

They threw their lives away like trash, hoping that this front line would be maintained by their sacrifice, that their precious comrades would join forces and move forward… because I know that.

So, I tried to give hope to everyone somehow. As the one responsible for leading everyone in this mess, I tried to organize the situation and let everyone rest for now.

And-

Woo-woo-woo-woong!

It was then.

In the air behind me, magic particles fluctuated with an ominous sound.

“…….”

I gritted my teeth and turned towards the wave of those blue-glowing magic particles.

Flash-!

And… a ‘door’ opened.

It was a huge teleport gate.

Zzzzzzzzz!

And, opening that huge door with both hands-

《My origin… is not a nightmare…!》

The figure of a woman made of flies appeared.

It was Bai Ye, who had been forcibly moved somewhere by the teleportation used by the Fly King during the civil war with the Fly King.

“……Ha.”

I muttered, dumbfounded.

“This is a bit too much, really.”

《I was originally a resident of this world! The Demon King didn’t resurrect me, he just took me under his command!》

Bai Ye, in a grotesque form made of flies, shouted, her compound eyes flashing.

《So, even if I’m swept away to the other side of the shore, I can eventually find my way back to this world…!》

With each of her shouts, flies combined with the darkness of another world spread in all directions, covering the dark night sky with shimmering colors.

The heroes and soldiers reflexively grabbed their weapons and looked up at the sky. But everyone felt it. I felt it too.

This is….

《…What, where did the Fly King go? Could it be that he’s already dead and fallen?》

…It’s over.

《Then I can declare it for sure.》

In the place where the Fly King had fallen and frozen, Bai Ye picked something up.

It was the royal scepter.

Holding the small scepter in her huge fly hand as if it were precious, Bai Ye laughed madly.

《Now, I am the new Fly King…!》

Game over.