I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 665

The moment my vision went dark.

– I’ll be waiting here.

Serenade’s voice reached me.

“Kuh… !”

I strained my eyes with all my might. The darkness that had been engulfing my vision receded for a moment.

My vision, pierced by the sword, was still blurry and kept blacking out, but it wasn’t over yet.

Not yet… I couldn’t die. I couldn’t give in yet.

Night Bringer smiled as he faced me, coughing up blood.

《Indeed… you are no ordinary human. So, to see your tears, must I threaten the lives of your people?》

“…”

《Come now… shed just one tear. Acknowledge your own weakness. If you do, who knows? Perhaps I might spare your people?》

The moment he said that.

I squeezed my eyes shut, and a single tear rolled down my cheek as my strength waned.

Seeing this, Night Bringer smirked, as if satisfied.

《Huhu. You’re no different after all.》

“…”

《It seems you fear death? In the end, despite acting so grand, you were just another common actor, manipulated by the whims of the Outer Gods.》

“…”

《Now then. Leave your last words. What was it that made you cry so fearfully? Your own death? The death of your people? Or perhaps-》

“…No.”

I took a deep breath, gathered my last strength, and then-

I whispered softly.

“I just cried because it fucking hurt, you bastard.”

The next moment,

Thwack-!

A gruesome sound of tearing flesh echoed,

《…?》

Night Bringer, who had been blinking, looked down at his chest in bewilderment.

There, wrapped in a dark aura… and trembling all over with excitement at the taste of blood after a long time, was a demonic sword embedded in him.

Taking advantage of Night Bringer’s carelessness, I had zero-range launched it from my inventory and embedded it into his chest-

The demonic sword that devours everything, [Excarnival].

“I’ve only had one thing to say to you from the beginning until now.”

I raised my weakening right hand, slowly extended my middle finger, and then.

I twisted my lips into a full-powered sneer.

“Go fuck yourself, customer.”

Kagagagak!

Excarnival vibrated fiercely, greedily sucking up the Black Dragon’s blood and flesh.

‘Good, it went according to plan-‘

I thought as my consciousness faded,

《…Is this all the struggle you prepared?》

The Black Dragon muttered, as if dumbfounded, and easily pulled the demonic sword from his chest.

Excarnival, stained with the Black Dragon’s blood, rolled on the floor, and the spot on his chest that had been soaked in blood healed instantly as if it had never been injured.

I laughed in vain.

‘As expected…’

This wasn’t enough…

《It was novel, but shallow. Is this the limit of human depth?》

Night Bringer, this time, grabbed the handle of his royal scepter sword embedded in my chest, slowly pulled it out, and then-

《Now then, guardian of the mortal realm… it’s time for you to exit this stage.》

He once again powerfully swung the royal scepter sword.

Thwack…!

This time, what he aimed for wasn’t my heart, but…

Clang-!

…My spirit core.

With the sensation of my soul shattering into pieces from the deepest part of me, I closed my eyes.

– I’ll be waiting here. Until the moment Your Highness returns in triumph…

‘I’m sorry, Serenade.’

It seems I’ll have to make you cry again…

***

Crossroad.

The expedition that had left to subjugate the Black Dragon had successfully retreated, and all members were receiving treatment at the temple.

“…”

“…”

The atmosphere was endlessly dark.

No one spoke, and they remained silent while receiving medicine, bandages, and healing magic from the priests.

The suffocating silence was broken by the sharp shout of the young knight.

“So? So you just left Senior behind and retreated?!”

It was Evangeline.

She had been nearly torn apart while blocking the Black Dragon’s physical assault and had suffered a concussion, only regaining consciousness a little while ago.

And she had belatedly learned that Ash had been left behind in exchange for everyone’s safe retreat.

“What kind of crazy talk is this! Did everyone just watch it happen?!”

Evangeline shouted as she looked around, but all the other heroes avoided her gaze without answering.

“…It was a decision made by our lord.”

Lucas answered in a subdued voice, his head bowed low. His face was hidden by his disheveled blonde hair.

Three priests were clinging to Lucas’s left arm, treating it.

It wasn’t an ordinary burn. His left arm, swept by the black flame breath, did not easily improve even with excessive healing magic.

But as if he couldn’t feel the pain, Lucas spoke without looking at his left arm once.

“As always, he said there was a way. It was a situation where everyone would die if we didn’t retreat immediately.”

“Does that mean you just abandon Senior?! Mister, are you really Mister Lucas?!”

“You know it too. Our lord always has a backup plan. I trust our lord…”

“Then what is that backup plan?!”

Lucas gritted his teeth.

“…He didn’t tell me.”

“Then what are you trusting in…!”

“He said he told the Archduke and King Poseidon… So, you should trust it too…”

“Archduke!”

Evangeline, staggering to her feet, looked around and shouted.

“Archduke, where are you! Archduke!”

Dusk Bringer was next to his dragon knights.

As much as they were called berserkers, and as much as they had inherited dragon blood… the dragon knights had fought on the front lines, and their injuries were deep. Dusk Bringer was brushing the dried blood from the dragon knights’ hair.

“Archduke! Please explain. What is that backup plan that Senior mentioned?”

“…”

When Evangeline, leaning on the wall, asked roughly, Dusk Bringer, who had been silent for a long time, slowly spat out his words.

“I cannot tell you.”

“Huh?”

“Because Ash told me not to tell you.”

Evangeline scoffed as if dumbfounded.

“He told you not to tell us? Then it must be something incredibly dangerous, right?”

“…”

“Never mind that, just tell me this. How high is the success rate of that backup plan?”

Dusk Bringer squeezed his eyes shut.

“…Not very high.”

“Then you should have stopped him, Archduke! Why did you just watch Senior do that?”

“I…”

“Back then, you spoke so proudly, saying you would even fall into depravity to protect Senior… but at this moment, you left Senior in that hell and came out?”

Dusk Bringer’s face turned pale.

“What about the Glory Knights?”

Evangeline, who had turned around abruptly, lost her footing and slipped to the floor. But, gritting her teeth, she grabbed the nearby cupboard and stood up again. Evangeline found Hecate and the Glory Knights and shouted.

“You’re the Imperial Guard, right? You’re going to be the guard that protects the prince, no, the crown prince now. Why are you here? Why aren’t you next to Senior?!”

“…”

The Glory Knights had been swept away by Night Bringer’s dark bombardment instead of Ash, and all of them had fallen into a blackout, unable to regain consciousness until the end of the battle.

However, they couldn’t refute Evangeline’s words.

Their mission was to protect Ash and die in his place, but it had turned out like this… they had nothing to say even if they had ten mouths. Hecate lowered her head.

Unable to watch any longer, Lucas stood up and approached Evangeline.

“Evangeline.”

“Everyone, all of you, what… what are you doing? In that situation… instead of thinking about saving the commander, what kind of face do you have to be here…!”

“Evangeline!”

Lucas shouted in a stern voice.

“Calm down. We all fought a harsh battle. None of us didn’t risk our lives.”

“…”

“In a situation where the subjugation had already failed, our lord simply chose the most likely plan. We must understand his intentions. So, first, let’s calmly…”

“Senior!”

Evangeline yelled in a hoarse voice.

“Despite being the commander of this front! Despite being the emperor’s son! He’s always at the forefront, always doing reckless things! He can’t stand seeing his subordinates in pain, so he’s the kind of fool who’d rather be in pain himself!”

“…”

“That kind of fool has been leading this front and protecting this world all this time. So, we should protect that person too. Why is that person using his own life to protect us? Why?!”

Lucas squeezed his eyes shut.

Evangeline, clutching her forehead with a trembling hand, staggered and turned away.

“Where is the Merman King? Since the Archduke says he can’t tell me, I’ll have to ask the great Merman King.”

Evangeline shouted as she looked around inside the temple.

“King Poseidon! Where are you! Instead of always standing behind with your arms crossed, acting all high and mighty, come out and explain!”

But the Merman King was nowhere to be seen.

Evangeline’s eyes widened in bewilderment as she scanned the inside of the temple.

“What, where…”

It was then.

Bang-!

The temple door was violently opened, and a soldier rushed inside in a hurry.

“C, Commander Delegate! Reporting! Urgent news from the observation and reconnaissance teams!”

All the heroes were startled by the following words.

“The Black Dragon has been confirmed to have appeared at the entrance of the Black Lake! It surfaced through the water a little while ago and has landed on the ground!”

Lucas asked urgently.

“Did only the Black Dragon appear? What about His Highness the Prince?”

“…”

“Report! What about His Highness the Prince?”

“That is… His Highness the Prince has not been confirmed…”

“…”

“B, but instead…”

The soldier squeezed his eyes shut and reported with a face trying to hold back tears.

“In the Black Dragon’s mouth… the flag that His Highness the Prince used to use…”

“…What?”

Thwack!

Lucas, without realizing it, reached out his right hand and grabbed the soldier’s collar.

His hand trembled. Between his messy, tangled golden hair, his bright blue eyes emitted a beast-like light.

“Say it again, clearly. What did you say?”

“I, in the Black Dragon’s mouth… the black flag that His Highness the Prince always used, was being held… the observation and reconnaissance teams all confirmed it…”

“It’s dark at night now! Is there a possibility of misidentification?!”

“N, no. It’s definitely correct. We observed it with night-vision magic optical equipment. It’s definitely His Highness the Prince’s flag…”

In an instant, sighs, screams, and cries echoed in the temple.

Thud!

Evangeline collapsed to the floor as if she had crumbled.

“Then… Senior…”

“…”

“What is this… what is this? What have we been doing all this time…”

Lucas was frozen like a statue.

He couldn’t move while holding the soldier’s collar. And even while gasping for breath, the soldier desperately continued his report.

“Commander Delegate! Get a hold of yourself! This is an emergency!”

“…”

“Everyone, listen! We must prepare for defense immediately! Currently, the Black Dragon, as soon as it landed outside the lake, immediately…!”

***

Entrance of the Black Lake.

Swoosh…!

A huge black dragon slowly revealed itself, cutting through the water’s surface.

Night Bringer closed his eyes and took a deep breath for a long time. His entire body, covered in scales, swelled up as it inhaled the air, then returned to its original form. This process repeated.

How long had he been breathing the air of the mortal realm?

《…Still as disgustingly sweet as ever.》

As Night Bringer said that, the wounds on his body were slowly healing.

No… it wasn’t just healing.

As the real ‘night’ of the real world arrived, Night Bringer’s body became even larger and exuded an even more tremendous sense of pressure than before. It was as if his entire body was merging with the night.

The world had already been covered in darkness for seven days and nights.

In the middle of that night, Night Bringer slowly opened his eyes.

Two golden eyes, no – a total of fourteen eyes, opened in the pitch-black darkness.

Seven pairs of golden eyes.

Even the heads that had been destroyed in the previous battle had all recovered.

No, far beyond the level of recovery-

Night Bringer realized that his power had surpassed its peak. It was only natural since that hateful dragon army… and she who protected the ‘day’ were gone.

The scales had been broken, and the balance had already collapsed.

Instead of grieving in the void where there was no opponent, Night Bringer smiled and slowly opened his mouth.

《Then, shall we declare war on the mortal realm?》

Following that, a huge amount of magic power and black flames swirled and poured into his huge mouth.

The shabby black flag, as if sewn on, that had been in his mouth… burned away in an instant.

The six heads that Night Bringer controlled also slowly rotated, each gathering magic power.

Whoosh…

Magic power and hatred were condensed during a long breath that made the Black Dragon’s entire huge body swell up. Night Bringer leisurely, slowly, and carefully charged his breath.

And at a certain moment when it reached its limit.

Thwack-!

Seven heads simultaneously shot breath towards the north.

The surrounding forest was completely bent backward by the tremendous shockwave, and high waves rose and evaporated on the surface of the Black Lake.

It was as if the six heads were adding their power to the breath that the center head was shooting. The breath swirled and flew straight north.

And-

***

Crossroad. On the city wall.

“The Black Dragon that appeared in the Black Lake… is preparing a breath?”

Valen, the leader of the city-state alliance, who received the report, touched his beard, feeling bewildered.

It was wartime, and there was always a need for personnel to manage the city wall on-site. The kings had decided to take turns standing on the city wall to encourage and command the soldiers, and today was Valen’s turn.

Valen, who had already lost heart, was wondering when he should leave the front lines, but at least there was still some time left before the Black Dragon’s direct invasion. So, he had decided to stand on the city wall just for this time.

But suddenly, this report had come in.

“Isn’t the Black Lake a three-day ride away?”

“Yes, that’s true, but…”

“He’s going to attack us directly from there? Even the old Fly King couldn’t do that. The Black Dragon must have some other purpose-”

It was then.

The mages and alchemists standing in front of the artifacts on the city wall all screamed at once.

“Reporting! We’ve detected an unidentified heat source approaching from the south!”

“What?”

“The speed is… f, fast! It’s unbelievably fast!”

“Fast, how fast is…”

“It’s about to reach the city wall-!”

The blood drained from the faces of Valen and the soldiers.

The mages and alchemists, who had hurriedly stood up, desperately ran away, and one of them shouted.

“Flee, Lord Valen! Immediately-”

The next moment.

The world, which had been submerged in darkness, seemed to brighten up, and then, a surge of black flames and magical breath slammed into the southern city wall of Crossroad.

In an instant, everyone on the city wall was lifted into the air.

The city wall brought from the Everblack Empire’s capital, New Terra, was sturdy. All the defensive magic passed down from ancient times was imbued in it, and its construction and forging techniques were no exaggeration to say that all of humanity’s wisdom had been compiled into it.

Crack…

And, Night Bringer’s hatred was above all that magic, technology, and wisdom.

Crackkkkk!

The stone melted, the steel frame bent, and the steel plate crumpled, and then it shattered into pieces. Finally, the flames and magical spears that had torn through all that resistance pierced through the city wall.

Kwaaaaaaaa-!

Valen, who had been thrown to the corner of the city wall, opened his eyes blankly and watched as the people swept away by the breath turned into ashes in the dazzling light.

Kwagwang! Kugwagwagwagwang-!

The breath that had pierced through the city wall penetrated into the fortress city.

The breath, shot in a straight line, pierced through Crossroad in a diagonal line that slightly missed the center of the city.

The buildings that were directly hit by the breath turned into ashes on the spot, and the buildings that were grazed by it exploded all at once, scattering flames in all directions.

Following that, the aftershock swept through, and the roofs of the buildings, the tiles of the roads, and the leaves of the roadside trees all soared into the air.

…The breath, which had felt like an eternity, was actually shot for only a few seconds.

The breath stopped, and Valen, who had fallen among the ruins of the city wall, realized that he was still alive.

“…”

Even though he was far away from the spot where the breath had pierced the city wall, Valen was covered in bruises and burns all over his body.

Valen, trembling as he lifted his body covered in blood and ash, looked back at the inside of the city, and the fortress city of Crossroad, engulfed in the flames that the enemy had shot, was shining brightly with those flames.

With his ears dulled, the sounds of explosions, people’s screams, and the crackling sounds of the fire demon engulfing the city rushed in belatedly.

“…Haha.”

Valen laughed.

Because tears didn’t come out from his eyes that had been cooked by the heat, he just laughed.

***

And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.

***

This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

***

The world was being destroyed.