I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 658

“Why, haven’t you ever felt that way? That you didn’t want the morning to come?”\n\nBlacksmith. Kellybay’s workshop.\n\nHannibal, while imbuing a spirit into a piece of equipment, suddenly said that.\n\nKellybay, who was enchanting the equipment next to him, looked at the little assistant, wondering what he was talking about.\n\n”Because I don’t want to get out of bed. Because I don’t want to go to work. Because I just want to lie around and sleep all day. I wish the morning would never come, and I could just stay in bed for a week.”\n\n”So, you’ve had those thoughts, you rascal….”\n\n”Hehe. Honestly, everyone has thought like that at least once, right? Or is it just me?”\n\nThat the morning would never come.\n\nThat the world would just be destroyed.\n\nA fantasy that many people have at least once while living in a cruel reality. But no matter how much they prayed in bed, the sun always rose, and the world always brightened….\n\nHannibal looked up at the dark sky outside the smithy. Even though it was around noon, the sky was still dark. Only the shape of the sun flickered faintly beyond the swaying curtain of darkness.\n\n”But for the morning to really not come, and for the world to be heading towards destruction… I really can’t believe it.”\n\n”……”\n\nKellybay, looking at his sulking assistant, gestured with his chin.\n\n”How old are you? You’ve lied about your age so much, I’m confused.”\n\n”Me? I’m fourteen in full years.”\n\n”Fourteen years old and seeing the end of the world….”\n\nThe old dwarf clicked his tongue.\n\n”Instead of working like this, shouldn’t you be out there playing?”\n\n”It’s all dark, where would I go to play? And who knows? Maybe one of the spirits I imbued will play a crucial role in saving the world?”\n\n”Oh, you’re full of nonsense.”\n\nKellybay, grumbling, soon noticed a visitor at the entrance of the workshop and snorted.\n\n”Hey, your dad’s here again. Go have lunch.”\n\nHannibal, surprised, looked at the entrance of the smithy and saw Zenith standing awkwardly, waving his hand with a silly smile. In his other hand, he held a basket with lunch.\n\n”I, I apologize for my son always causing trouble….”\n\nThen, the female priest who followed Zenith—Rosetta, the head of the order—scolded him.\n\n”Why are you so intimidated? Do you want to earn more heresy points? Stand tall! State your business clearly!”\n\n”W, well… ahem! Listen up! You know this smithy wouldn’t run properly without my son?! I’m taking him to eat, so keep that in mind! No complaints?!”\n\nHannibal covered his face with both hands at the roar of his crazy, doting father.\n\n”Augh, Dad, seriously. He’s so over the top….”\n\nKellybay was dumbfounded and laughed heartily.\n\n”Still good, right?”\n\n”……”\n\nHannibal, feeling awkward, twisted his body but smiled brightly as he took off his work gloves.\n\n”Then I’ll go have lunch, please eat too, Master!”\n\n”Okay, okay. Go eat well.”\n\nHannibal quickly wiped the sweat from his face with a towel and ran to the two priests.\n\nKellybay quietly watched the three of them leave the smithy, chatting and laughing.\n\n”……”\n\nThe image of his dead son kept overlapping with the shadows of those three happy people.\n\nKellybay shook his head to clear his mind and shouted into the smithy.\n\n”Let’s all have lunch! Take a break!”\n\n”Yes-!”\n\nThe blacksmiths, who had been waiting for lunchtime, answered in unison.\n\nEven though the end of the world was near, and they were busy making equipment for the final battle, they needed to eat properly and rest to maintain efficiency.\n\nThe Winter Silver Merchant Guild distributed lunch boxes. Kellybay picked up the sandwich that was given to him, but he couldn’t bring himself to eat it. He had no appetite.\n\n‘Kellyson….’\n\nThe illusion of his dead son was still stuck in front of his eyes, flickering and not disappearing.\n\n‘Wait for me. I’m going to join this final battle.’\n\nIf the opponent was the king of those monsters.\n\nHe would use any means to strike a blow with these two hands, with his hammer and chisel.\n\nEven if it wouldn’t be a requiem for his dead son, it didn’t matter. Even if it was just an obsession left in his mind, it didn’t matter.\n\nThe resentment and frustration that couldn’t be dispelled by just hammering equipment here were gradually growing in his heart. Before it swelled up and burst his body, Kellybay decided to rush to the enemy’s leader.\n\n‘Whether I live or die, this will be the end.’\n\nIf he could find peace even in death, that would be a good ending in its own way.\n\nEven though he had no appetite, Kellybay was about to bring the sandwich to his mouth to force himself to gain strength when….\n\n”K, Kellybay! It’s a disaster!”\n\nA dwarf who had rushed in from outside shouted.\n\n”The airship… the wreckage of the Geronimo has been found!”\n\n”……!”\n\n”It was found far south of the epicenter of the explosion! It seems it was blown away by the explosion. They are collecting it now and bringing it to Crossroads….”\n\nGeronimo.\n\nThe ship that Kellybay had made with his own hands long ago, the flagship of the World Guardian Front, and the airship that Kellyson had piloted to the very end, carrying the corpse of the monster that tried to self-destruct during the battle with the Fly King.\n\nKellybay threw the sandwich on the floor and ran out of the smithy.\n\nThe salvaged wreckage of the Geronimo was already being brought into Crossroads on a cart. Kellybay stood in front of the cart with trembling legs.\n\nMost of it was meaningless pieces and fragments that couldn’t even be called wreckage, but only one piece had maintained its original shape.\n\nThe siren-shaped sculpture installed on the bow. [Steadfast Belief].\n\nA Nightmare Slayer and artifact forged from the magic core of Bernard Fokker, the 8th-ranked commander of the Nightmare Legion, the Ghost Fleet Admiral.\n\nOnly this piece, thanks to its unique characteristic—the effect of ‘Unbreakable’—had maintained its original form without being destroyed in that enormous explosion. Even the part of the bow that was within the range of its effect.\n\n”……”\n\nKellybay touched the wreckage of the ship that was like his own child with trembling hands, and at the same time, he thought of the child who had been on that ship.\n\nHe had thought that they had disappeared without a trace. But it had remained like this.\n\n– This front, this world, still needs you, Father.\n\nSuddenly, the last voice Kellyson had left echoed in his mind.\n\n– Survive. And please, protect our race… no, this world.\n\nKellybay’s strong hand tightly gripped [Steadfast Belief].\n\n”……Why did you come back now of all times?”\n\nKellybay closed his eyes tightly.\n\n”To make me lose my resolve, damn it….”\n\nThe old dwarf blacksmith, who was trying to control his emotions, was watched by a mix of humans and dwarf blacksmiths with worried eyes.\n\n***\n\nAfter officially joining the World Guardian Front, the Holy Grail Exploration Team led by Verdandi began living in Crossroads.\n\nHowever, after her younger sister Skuld died, Verdandi became uncomfortable living in Crossroads. Living in the city where her sister had died was like sitting on pins and needles, making her heart ache.\n\nSo, Verdandi lived alone in her old residence in the dungeon under the lake.\n\nToday was the same. After completing training with her comrades in Crossroads, Verdandi returned alone to her hideout in the dungeon.\n\nThe space where the water supply between the 5th and 6th districts was connected. Here, where water leaking from broken pipes seeped into the excavated stone walls.\n\nAround this narrow passage, where clear water flowed, rare in the dungeon, nameless grasses and moss grew lushly.\n\nNext to the waterway was a small patch of soil. Verdandi sat down carelessly next to the soil patch.\n\nAnd with her sunken golden eyes, she stared into the void… coldly honing the hatred burning within her like a blade.\n\nAfter Skuld died, Verdandi noticeably spoke less. Her emotional expressions also gradually disappeared.\n\nShe wanted to become a single dagger. She wanted to become a very sharp blade.\n\nFor the upcoming final battle with the Black Dragon.\n\nAnd to exterminate every last one of those hateful monsters….\n\nVerdandi took out the dagger [Isageum] from her bosom and glared at it. A jet-black aura was surging from the dagger made from the enemy’s fangs.\n\nSaaa….\n\nThe aura that escaped from the dagger climbed up her arm and penetrated her body. Verdandi didn’t bother to stop it.\n\nTo kill the darkness, one needs to get closer to the darkness. This is just part of the process….\n\n”……?”\n\nIt was then. Verdandi’s eyes widened slightly. Her gaze was directed towards the soil patch next to the waterway.\n\n”Huh?”\n\nVerdandi, letting out a bewildered sound, carelessly stuck the dagger in its sheath. The darkness that had been seeping out also got sucked into the sheath.\n\nVerdandi hurriedly approached the soil patch on her knees.\n\nThis soil patch was a place she had cultivated for the past hundred years while exploring the Holy Grail in the dungeon.\n\nJust as she couldn’t give up on finding the Holy Grail that couldn’t be found, she had been planting seeds while waiting for sprouts that wouldn’t grow. A place like that.\n\nIt was a crystallization of her lingering attachment, as she couldn’t give up even though she knew there was no hope, and she kept planting seeds even though she knew that sprouts wouldn’t grow.\n\nAnd, in that soil patch-\n\n”……Sprouts?”\n\nSmall, tiny sprouts were sprouting, with tender green shoots.\n\nThe last thing she had planted was the sunflower seeds that Ash had given her. It had been two years since then, so why were the seeds sprouting now?\n\n‘Now? Why? Why now?’\n\nThen suddenly, one possibility flashed through Verdandi’s mind.\n\n”……!”\n\nVerdandi jumped up and ran urgently.\n\nAfter entering the base camp, she took the teleport gate to Crossroads, and ran through the city, which was dark even in the middle of the day-\n\nShe came to the front of the South Gate ruins, which were now almost completely restored, and gasped for breath.\n\n”Haa, haa, haa…!”\n\nWhat Verdandi was looking down at was the place where her younger sister Skuld had died.\n\nHer sister, who had summoned the World Tree’s trunk and roots, had died after becoming one with the tree, and only the stump of the dead tree remained where her body had been cut away.\n\nAnd on that tree stump… there were also sprouts.\n\nBright green sprouts.\n\n”Ah…!”\n\nVerdandi, letting out a sigh of lament, knelt in front of the stump.\n\nThe roots of the World Tree that Skuld had summoned by sacrificing her entire life had scattered their immense life force throughout the southern part of the continent.\n\nThe aftermath had spread and spread… reaching even the land under that lake, causing the seeds that had not moved for years to sprout.\n\nAnd, here on this stump as well.\n\nEven from the tree where the Fairy Queen herself had fallen and died, resilient life was sprouting.\n\nEven in a world where the sun did not rise. Even in a world where winter was approaching.\n\n”Why?”\n\nAs a cold wind blew, she reached out her hand without realizing it and covered the sprouts… then Verdandi murmured softly.\n\n”Why…?”\n\nWhy do they try so hard to live? Why do they try to live even like this?\n\nShe didn’t know.\n\nBecause life is fleeting. Because nature is indifferent.\n\nHugging the stump as if embracing it with her body, Verdandi murmured in a tearful voice.\n\n”You were really bad, Skuld….”\n\nThe sprouts that had sprouted from the place where her sister had fallen and died, and the sprouts that had sprouted from the abandoned field in that dungeon.\n\nVerdandi would save them. She would nurture them to grow fully. Because that was the last legacy Skuld had left behind.\n\nAnd, to do that….\n\nVerdandi herself would have to live.\n\n”Really… you were bad….”\n\nEmotions that had disappeared for a while were clearly visible on Verdandi’s face.\n\nMost of them were sadness.\n\nBut a very small amount of relief was also there, together.\n\n***\n\nWhoosh!\n\nA huge silver fist cut through the air.\n\nIn the training grounds of the barracks, Quillan was training alone. Under the dark sky, every time his silver fist and kicks cut through the air, it looked as if a faint shimmer of light was spreading.\n\nTo others, it would look like he was training alone, but in reality, Quillan was not in such a relaxed situation.\n\n《Is that all, Forty-Fourth?!》\n\n”……”\n\nThe illusion of a werewolf made of darkness was attacking Quillan from all sides.\n\nQuillan was throwing punches and kicks into the air to fend off the illusions.\n\n《With that level of bloodlust! With that level of fighting spirit! What can you possibly kill? Is that all your hatred is?!》\n\nThe illusions shouted and poured in from all directions. Quillan gritted his teeth.\n\n‘If you were just fighting with your mouth, you could have sat on the Demon King’s throne, our ancestor….’\n\nThe Nightmare Slayer made from the magic core of the Wolf King Lunared, [Slaughterer of the Full Moon’s Light].\n\nWhenever he was in a critical situation, this damned leather cloak would whisper in his mind. To hand over his body to it. Then it would solve the situation for him.\n\nHe had ignored it completely until now, but during the last battle with the Fly King, the situation had been so urgent that he had ended up accepting its help.\n\nAs a price for borrowing its power, the leather had stuck to Quillan’s body… and since then, it had been causing a ruckus like this, with illusions attacking Quillan.\n\nThe purpose was one.\n\n《Now your body is perfect. So hand it over to me! I will use it much more usefully than you!》\n\n”……”\n\n《Then I’ll blow the jaws off the Black Dragon and everything else! It wouldn’t be a bad deal for you either, would it?》\n\nPerhaps, it might be true. If he handed his body over to this nightmare, he might be able to land a clean blow on the Black Dragon.\n\nThe problem was that this nightmare wasn’t just trying to attack the Black Dragon. It would definitely punch his own allies as well.\n\nMoreover, it might try to destroy the human world, just like the original Wolf King Lunared had tried to do. In the end, it was just a difference in method, and this guy and the Black Dragon were both enemies of the world.\n\n‘I’ve been holding out well so far….’\n\nThe attack cycle and intensity of the illusions were gradually increasing. As he knocked down the attacking illusions one by one, Quillan gradually felt that he was reaching his limit.\n\n‘How much longer can I hold out?’\n\nHow many more days? Or months?\n\nWhenever it was, Quillan intended to settle the score before this leather cloak… and the nightmare sleeping inside it, took his body.\n\nEither find a way to subdue the nightmare and make it completely his own, or….\n\n‘Commit suicide before my body is completely taken over.’\n\nWhoosh-!\n\nAfter kicking away the last illusion that was attacking him.\n\nQuillan adjusted his posture, catching his ragged breath. A faint white steam rose from his muscular back.\n\n‘…The shape of my fist is gradually becoming the same as the illusions.’\n\nWhile fighting the illusions, Quillan’s fist was gradually returning to the original Maple Fist… that violent and primitive fist.\n\nHe didn’t want to admit it, but his immediate power was increasing. And what he needed when fighting the Black Dragon was immediate power.\n\n”……”\n\nAs Quillan took a long sigh and adjusted his breathing.\n\n”Captain!”\n\nA beastman subordinate of the Punishment Unit rushed in, panting.\n\nWhen Quillan looked back in bewilderment, the subordinate shouted urgently.\n\n”Y, Yoon-nim… Princess Yoon has regained consciousness!”