I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 648

The vanguard heroes, like jackals, rushed in, pouring attacks into the gaps between the scales.

Thwack! Thud! Swish…!

Iphian’s hide beneath the scales was so tough that there were no fatal wounds, but the damage was definitely accumulating, with injuries being inflicted and blood splattering.

《Krrr…》

Unable to endure it, Iphian spread his wings, trying to take flight and escape, but-

Thwack! Thwack!

Immediately, another mechanism installed on the fortress walls—a net of iron chains—flew out, tightly binding Iphian’s wings.

Damian had skillfully timed the firing of the net launchers located between the mana cannons.

The wings were only bound for a fleeting moment, but the other heroes were not foolish enough to leave the bound wings alone.

The wings were subjected to a concentrated attack, and the flight attempt was thwarted.

‘It’s working well!’

If Iphian tried to attack the damage dealers on the fortress walls, the vanguard would interfere, and if Iphian tried to crush the vanguard, the damage dealers would interfere.

I blocked area-of-effect attacks like Dragon Roar with my mana barrier, and our mages neutralized the magic.

《How annoying…! I’ll wipe you all out at once!》

And the breath attack-

“Heave-ho!”

Dusk Bringer took on the task!

Thwack-!

As the center head tried to unleash another breath, Dusk Bringer, who had once again soared up, slammed his greatsword, which was like a blunt weapon, into the dragon’s jaw.

However, the center head stubbornly held on, preparing to unleash its breath. This time, it was aimed at the vanguard heroes in the fortress courtyard.

Just in case, I was hastily preparing defensive measures when Dusk Bringer called out in a clear voice.

“Hey, we can use that too-?!”

Dusk Bringer’s mouth opened slightly, and a surge of magical energy gathered—unleashing a counter-breath.

Thwack-!

Iphian’s center head’s breath collided in mid-air. Dazzling light and immense heat spread in all directions.

And that amount of time was enough. The remaining heroes quickly evaded the path of the breath, and after confirming the safety of our heroes, Dusk Bringer enveloped himself in [Lord of the High Tower] and retreated.

Kugwagwagwang!

Iphian’s breath turned one side of the fortress courtyard into ashes, but that was all.

We suffered no damage.

“Oof, oof!”

…Except for Dusk Bringer, who was sent rolling over there after being grazed by the breath.

As his attacks continued to be thwarted, the center head, seemingly dumbfounded, briefly opened its mouth and remained still-

And a mana cannonball fired by Damian lodged itself inside that open mouth.

Boom!

It exploded perfectly.

It was a clean hit. Thick smoke billowed, and black blood dripped from the corners of the dragon’s open mouth.

With both his body and pride scratched, Iphian’s three heads simultaneously emitted a terrifying glint from within the smoke.

《Insolent vermin…!》

《I’ll wipe you all out at once, you bug-like bastards-!》

《I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, how dare you… my magic…!》

The three heads shared the initiative equally, and the evil aura emanating from the black dragon became even more intense.

I swallowed hard.

‘Phase 2…!’

From now on, the three heads will attack simultaneously…!

Gooooooo-!

This time, the left head prepared a breath attack, the right head a roar, and the center head magic.

In Phase 2, the three heads use breath, Dragon Roar, and magic simultaneously. Because all three attacks hit at once, it was common to be wiped out in this phase if you didn’t know how to deal with it in the game.

But this time, we have a countermeasure!

‘If you disrupt the action of just one of the three heads, the other two will also be stunned!’

In other words… if we keep neutralizing the magic, we can cancel the attacks of the other two heads!

“The middle head of the enemy beast is preparing a 9th-circle wind magic!”

“Even though it’s 9th-circle, its output is weaker than the right head, so let’s stick with it!”

Our mages once again initiated magic neutralization.

Clang-!

The center head’s wind magic and the wind magic fired by our mages collided, and when they neutralized each other—the left and right heads, which were preparing breath and roar, also staggered, stunned.

‘If we can keep neutralizing like this, Phase 2 will be easier than Phase 1!’

That’s why we brought magic neutralization as a strategy.

Because it makes it possible to skip patterns and overwhelm with damage!

Every time the magic was neutralized, Iphian staggered in place, and the vanguard heroes and the damage dealers on the fortress walls could easily unleash a barrage of attacks.

A huge enemy beast keeps showing openings and staying still?

What better prey could there be!

Bang! Bang! Boom…!

The mana cannons fired by Damian exploded on Iphian’s head in succession, and the vanguard heroes climbed onto Iphian’s body, driving in their attacks.

The scales, which had been incredibly tough, could not withstand the continuous accumulation of damage and began to crack and fall off one by one, and the wounds on Iphian’s body gradually increased.

And Iphian, covered in blood and continuously being beaten…

《Kuaaaaaaaaah-!》

Finally.

He was truly, thoroughly enraged.

As if his fur was standing on end, the scales covering Iphian’s entire body bristled—and like dry ice sublimating and emitting white vapor, black energy poured out from the gaps between the scales in billowing clouds.

Realizing the change in his state, I shouted.

“Phase 3! Everyone, defensive stance-!”

Immediately, the heroes retreated in a flurry. I erected a mana barrier, blocking the pouring black energy.

Chiiiiik…!

The mana barrier, coming into contact with the evil energy Iphian was emitting, began to corrode.

‘This isn’t just evil energy anymore, it’s more like poison!’

Just as the entire courtyard was covered in a fog of that poison…

Thwack-!

Like a missile soaring above the dark clouds.

Iphian, with his wings spread wide, spiraled and soared into the sky.

Iphian, who had risen into the air, had changed slightly.

Swoosh…

The scales on his head had all fallen off, and in their place, black poison was billowing out in clouds.

His face was not clearly visible due to the poison, but his golden gaze was fiercely flashing like headlights even through the thick black energy.

《I was going to capture you alive for my father, but… I won’t.》

And a fierce surge of magical energy gathered in his three heads simultaneously.

《I’ll tear you to shreds and turn you into ashes! I’ll report to my father that you were too young and weak, and I accidentally killed you-!》

Whoosh-

The surrounding air fluctuated, and the next moment.

Kwaaaaaaaaah!

Iphian’s three heads simultaneously unleashed their breath attacks.

The three streams of breath targeted only the outer fortress walls, not the inside of the fortress. The ancient fortress walls, worthy of the Lake Kingdom’s Royal Guard, held out for a moment, but soon began to melt.

Kugwagwagwagwang!

He rotated his body, spewing breath from his three heads. The intense black flames that were fired completely burned the outer walls of the fortress, and the walls all crumbled into ashes.

“…”

Even though the distance between the center of the fortress where I was standing and the walls was quite far, I could feel a burning sensation on my cheeks.

Thump, thud…

As I listened to the sound of the fortress walls collapsing and raised my head.

Above the flickering, burning black flames, floating in the black cloud of smoke he was emitting from his body…

Iphian, in his true form—a berserk black dragon—was visible.

He was flashing an evil gaze from within the black energy that covered his face.

‘Just by looking at him, he seems like a final boss candidate…’

I raised the corners of my trembling mouth.

Phases 1 and 2 were, to put it extremely, just appetizers.

Iphian in his current state is the true monster, worthy of being called the eldest son of that Night Bringer.

“Right, if he were to fall so easily… the name of the Black Dragon Legion would be a waste…!”

At that moment, our mages and ranged damage dealers returned from the fortress walls.

“I, I thought I was going to die…!”

“We were prepared, but it was truly terrifying…”

The soot-covered mages trembled as they flew down and landed behind me.

At the start of Phase 3, Iphian always began by destroying the fortress walls with his breath. We had prepared for this in advance.

From the moment he emitted the evil energy, the people on the walls had escaped using Diarmuidin’s flight magic. Thanks to that, everyone was safe, but… it seemed they were still shaken. They were all trembling.

“Are you alright, Damian?”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

When I asked Damian, who had a calm expression, Damian smiled and set up his new equipment—a giant slingshot—on the ground.

“It was just a warm-up.”

I smiled back at him and looked around again.

Now, in the place where the completely collapsed fortress walls had been, a huge black flame was burning. It was as high as a new wall.

《You shouldn’t even think about running away, Guardian of the Mortal Realm…》

Iphian’s three heads simultaneously let out a low chuckle.

《Because it’s impossible in the first place.》

Iphian destroying the walls of his lair was not only to keep our damage dealers, who were attacking him from above, in check.

It was also a ritual to mark his hunting grounds.

This wall of black flames will not go out until either he or we die. It could be described as a ‘room you can’t leave without hunting.’

“He’s in a berserk state, and his attack power is even stronger within his hunting grounds… It’s different from before. Think of it as if you’ll die if you’re grazed, and move safely.”

When I conveyed this to the heroes, they all swallowed hard.

Until now, we had weakened his attacks by using various gimmicks to consistently inflict stuns and stiffness, making it easier to evade or defend, but.

In Phase 3, the gimmicks were all gone with the disappearance of the walls, and Iphian himself had increased his attack power. It’s no exaggeration to say that you’ll die if you’re grazed from now on.

“So, we’ll also continue with a swift and decisive battle!”

I shouted, pointing at Iphian.

“Junior, Elemental Disassembly!”

“Yes-!”

Junior cast [Elemental Disassembly], which he had prepared in advance, on Iphian.

Clang-!

A white halo appeared in the sky, and a distortion phenomenon occurred as if space was shattering.

The magic had definitely hit. But Junior’s expression was not bright.

“As expected, one [Elemental Disassembly] isn’t enough…!”

It was the same as with Parekian.

Iphian was also countering [Elemental Disassembly] by increasing his mana output in real-time. Moreover, the amount of mana he possessed was overwhelmingly higher than Parekian’s.

‘Even Parekian, who had the lowest mana among the Black Dragon Legion and was an extreme martial arts type, could only be chipped away after stacking [Elemental Disassembly] several times.’

This ancient dragon is a being that has been playing with mana elements since time immemorial.

It would be unreasonable to expect the full effect of [Elemental Disassembly] on Iphian. In fact, Iphian was easily countering it and snorting.

《Is that all the struggle you’ve prepared? Then, I’ll finish you off now…!》

Thwack-!

Iphian spun in mid-air and then shot towards us like a jet. At the same time, a fierce wind current gathered in his three wide-open maws.

He had just used his breath pattern, so it seemed that the three heads were going to unleash Dragon Roar simultaneously. If the three heads, with their enhanced attack power, roared at the same time, my mana barrier would no longer be able to block it.

‘Then, I just need to prevent him from using it in the first place!’

I grinned.

[Elemental Disassembly] had clearly not worked properly. Despite being the strongest mana burn skill, Iphian’s mana was intact.

But it had definitely been chipped away, even if just a little.

That’s what I was aiming for.

“Start the prepared operation!”

I turned to the heroes and smiled.

It was a critical situation, but the thought of using a new trick that we had worked hard to prepare made me, as someone who enjoys conquering difficult enemies, feel an uncontrollable surge of joy.

“It’s called, Operation… ‘Hairstyle Change’!”

“…”

Hecate, who was closely guarding me behind me, had a somewhat sulky expression,

And right behind, Damian was groaning as he loaded a ‘projectile’ into the giant slingshot.

That ‘projectile’ uttered a bewildered voice.

《…No, are you really going to do this?》

That projectile was none other than the head of the Dullahan Legion Commander.