I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 667

The kings’ meeting was drawing to a close.

The consensus was to mobilize troops and directly confront the Black Dragon.

“Let’s lead the entire army and march out!” one king declared.

“We can’t just let him keep firing like that, can we?” another added.

“If we’re going to have a decisive battle anyway, now is the right time, while our forces are still intact!” a third exclaimed.

The only one who opposed this was the Emperor, Traha.

“Ash told me beforehand,” Traha said, his voice firm. “If he’s in a situation where he can’t give orders, we should never go out to fight. Instead, we should fortify our defenses at the Crossroads.”

The kings protested, their voices rising in frustration.

“Then are you saying we should just keep getting hit by that breath, Traha?” one demanded.

“…Are you devising a countermeasure?” another questioned, skepticism evident in his tone.

“Devising a countermeasure!” a king scoffed. “If that breath flies to this fortress again in a little while, and this time it hits our barracks directly, then we won’t even be able to attempt a counterattack!”

Traha frowned, his brow furrowed in thought.

Although Ash had left a message, the kings’ words also made sense. It was impossible to know how long it would take for the Black Dragon to reach the Crossroads. If it just stayed in that spot and kept firing breath like a cannon, the fortress city wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

‘Ash did leave a way to block the breath, but…’ Traha thought, his mind racing.

The ‘method’ wasn’t activated yet. It was because Ash had disappeared that the ‘method’ wasn’t working.

‘If we could just block the breath, we could buy time while waiting for him to approach,’ he mused.

Traha sighed again. The monster front here was abnormally dependent on his youngest son.

‘My son. You know better than anyone how important you are here…’ he thought, a pang of worry hitting him.

Yet, he had thrown away his own life. He had thrown the king into the enemy’s territory.

‘A commander should know his own weight, appreciate the sacrifices of his soldiers, and also make it a virtue to protect his own life,’ Traha reflected, his heart heavy.

He had been reckless before, but this time it was too much.

Why did he go so far?

‘No, maybe…’ Traha’s thoughts shifted.

…Was it because there was no other way but to throw away his own life?

‘If Ash judged that was the only way…’ Traha’s mind struggled with the implications.

Then, would this counterattack against the Black Dragon… have any meaning?

“Traha? What will you do?” a king asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

The Emperor, who slowly came out of his reverie at the kings’ call, nodded.

“Alright. Let’s use the second method we prepared,” he declared, his voice regaining its usual authority.

Since Plan A, the expeditionary force’s subjugation, had failed, they would move to Plan B.

Plan B: Mobilize the human army and strike the Black Dragon’s neck.

Engage in an all-out war with the monster.

The kings nodded in unison, their faces grim but determined. Traha continued.

“From our Everblack, we will dispatch the Heavy Knight Order, the Light Cavalry, and the airship fleet brought from New Terra.”

Currently, the elite troops drawn from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Legions, which could be considered the main force of the Everblack army, were stationed at the Crossroads. They were largely divided into the Heavy Knight Order, the Light Cavalry, and regular infantry.

Traha declared that he would send all but the regular infantry into battle.

Moreover, the airship fleet would be deployed.

The entire airship fleet that had remained in New Terra was now at the Crossroads. There were a total of sixteen ships. Although the flagship Alcatraz had been decommissioned and could no longer fly, the rest were still a sufficient force. Various artifacts developed since the battle against the Fly King had also been installed.

“If Everblack’s main force steps up like this…”

“It’s definitely worth a try! There’s a chance of winning!” a king exclaimed, hope flickering in his eyes.

“Good. Then let’s meet the Black Dragon a day’s distance from the Black Lake. The airship fleet will depart first, and our troops will teleport to that location through the teleport gate…” Traha instructed, his voice clear and decisive.

Most of the kings were also hardened by war, and the soldiers had also been diligently training for Plan B. Unlike the disorganized meeting, once a conclusion was reached, orders were quickly issued. The sound of soldiers putting on their armor and grabbing their weapons, having received the orders to prepare for departure, could be heard even in the meeting room.

The kings left the meeting room one by one to give instructions to their own armies.

“…” Traha watched them go, his expression unreadable.

Traha gestured to his side, summoning his adjutant, who quickly approached him.

“Prepare the Heavy Knight Order and the Light Cavalry, and… call for Sir Macmillan,” Traha ordered, his voice low but firm.

***

“…Hoo.” Macmillan, the commander of the Everblack Empire’s airship fleet, puffed on his pipe with a dark expression.

After losing his entire fleet and decommissioning the Alcatraz during the last battle against the Fly King, he naturally thought he would be dismissed… but the Emperor did not do so.

He judged that the experience of fighting against the Fly King was very important for the fleet commander. So, Macmillan still held the position of airship fleet commander.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Macmillan muttered, exhaling smoke as he headed to the airship hangar after receiving the order to deploy from the Emperor.

Because he had experience fighting against the Fly King, Macmillan had a gut feeling. This battle would be very difficult.

However, it also made sense that it was better to aim for the monster’s neck with their forces than to be unilaterally ravaged by the enemy monster without even fighting back.

Gathering strength while crouching was a method that could only be used against an opponent with a reasonable difference in power. The Black Dragon was a monster far beyond the norm.

Whether it would work or not, the chance for them to strike with all their might… was only now.

“Night flights are not my thing…” Macmillan grumbled as he moved his feet.

There was a temple on the way to the airship hangar. Macmillan visited this place to check on the heroes of the expeditionary force and to get some advice that could be used in this battle.

The temple was filled with the acrid smell of burning and the nauseating stench of blood. Soldiers who had been burned by the black flame breath were dying, screaming in hoarse voices.

Injured people were endlessly carried onto beds, and just as many were covered in white cloths and laid out as if piled up outside the temple.

“…” Macmillan’s tightly clenched teeth clicked, his heart heavy with the sight.

Lucas was sitting in the inner corridor of the temple. Macmillan, who recognized a familiar face, waved his hand.

“Sir Lucas! No, are you Acting Commander Lucas now? Are you feeling any bett…” Macmillan stopped talking abruptly, his eyes widening in shock.

Lucas, who was resting at the entrance of the temple, holding a black sword that was flickering ominously… did not look like a human for a moment. He seemed more like a wolf – or something even more sinister.

The usual gentle smile he had behind Prince Ash was nowhere to be seen, and a knight who seemed like he would stab anyone who approached was radiating a murderous aura.

‘…No, it’s not just Sir Lucas,’ Macmillan realized, his gaze shifting around the inside of the temple.

All the heroes who were being treated and resting… had a completely different atmosphere. They were all staring into the void with faces where blood tears had dried, waiting for their bodies to recover. They were like broken pieces of glass.

Originally, they were transparent and beautiful as one. But now they were broken and scattered, and it felt like they would cut you if you approached.

“…Sir Macmillan,” Lucas said, noticing Macmillan’s visit a beat late, bowing his head slightly.

“What brings you here…”

“Ah, Acting Commander. I mean…” Macmillan stammered, unsure of how to address him.

“I am not the Acting Commander,” Lucas immediately retorted, his voice sharp, and Macmillan blinked in surprise.

“Huh?”

“I returned that title a little while ago… I opposed the idea that you should never lead the troops into battle, but the kings wouldn’t listen. So I returned it,” Lucas explained, his tone cold.

“…” Macmillan was taken aback by the sudden change.

“And more than anything, I have to go down a path where I can no longer carry such a grand name,” Lucas added, his eyes, looking at the floor, emitting a cold light.

“…So, Sir Macmillan. What brings you here?” Lucas asked, his voice regaining a semblance of politeness, but the underlying coldness remained.

Macmillan briefly explained the current situation. As Lucas had heard earlier, most of the troops stationed at the Crossroads had decided to strike the Black Dragon at once, and the airship fleet would also be mobilized for this operation. He was going to command the airship fleet, and he was wondering if there was any advice he could give.

Then, Lucas silently told him information about the Black Dragon. The information about the Black Dragon’s attack methods and physical abilities had been disseminated to the entire front line by Ash in advance, but the information the heroes had obtained in actual combat was more valuable. And, it was even more atrocious.

To Macmillan, whose face turned pale as he examined the information he had received, Lucas added calmly.

“I apologize for not being able to help in this battle due to my current severe injuries.”

“No, everyone knows how hard you fought,” Macmillan replied, his voice filled with respect.

“…Sir Macmillan. I sincerely wish you victory, but I will still say this,” Lucas said, his gaze intense.

Macmillan swallowed hard at Lucas’s next words.

“Judge well when it is time to run away.”

“…” Macmillan was stunned by the unexpected advice.

“If even a few more troops survive, when we go out for revenge… wouldn’t you be able to be our shield?” Lucas finished, his voice devoid of emotion.

The conversation ended there. Lucas closed his eyes and leaned his head against the pillar, and Macmillan could only hesitate and step back, a sense of unease settling in his stomach.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Macmillan muttered to himself as he stepped outside the temple.

Macmillan put the pipe he had been holding in his pocket back into his mouth, looked up at the sky, and sighed.

“I have a bad feeling…” he repeated, his voice barely a whisper.

It was always dark, so he couldn’t tell if it was day or night, or if the blurry sphere floating in the sky was the sun or the moon. He couldn’t tell how this world was going to turn out, not at all…

***

The troops who had departed from the Crossroads through the teleport gate gathered at a point a day’s distance from the Black Lake and two days’ distance from the Crossroads.

At the Crossroads, the troops directly under the monster front, the regular infantry of the Imperial Army, and the volunteer army and the troops of other races that had been replenished after the autumn festival remained. This was because all the representatives of the other races had opposed the deployment.

Even excluding them, the number of troops gathered at the decisive battle site reached 30,000.

When the kings first brought their soldiers, they could have increased the number if they had just increased the numbers, but under Ash’s instructions, they had only selected and gathered elites from each country. Even then, there were 30,000. Moreover, they had been training together for several months in preparation for a battle against monsters.

30,000 of humanity’s finest allied forces.

Moreover, above the sky-

Kiiiiiiing!

The airship fleet. The world’s strongest weapon and the last bastion of the Everblack Empire, the airship fleet, was displaying its power, spreading out to the left and right. They were occupying the sky in the distance, waiting.

“Let’s just follow the plan,” the chieftain of the Mirage Tribe said, gazing at the valley leading from the Black Lake to the Crossroads. Then, the commanders of each unit around him nodded.

The overall command of the allied forces was taken by the chieftain of the Mirage Tribe. These nomadic people had been at war with goblins for a long time and had a lot of experience fighting monsters.

The command of the Everblack Empire’s Heavy Knight Order and the airship fleet was to be taken by the commander of the Heavy Knight Order and the commander of the airship fleet, respectively.

The command system had already been set up. The problem was the operation.

‘Ambush. Encirclement. Surprise attack. Annihilation,’ the chieftain thought, reviewing the plan.

The allied forces were currently hiding in the forests on the left and right, overlooking the valley below. In the first place, the teleport gate was installed hidden in this forest.

On the left side of the valley was the allied forces of the kingdoms. On the right side was the Imperial Heavy Knight Order and the Light Cavalry.

They would hold their breath and lie in ambush, and when the Black Dragon discovered the airship fleet and its attention was focused there, they would simultaneously encircle and ambush it from the left and right.

They were ambushed in the middle of the forest, far away so that their presence would not be detected, and even artifacts that helped with wide-area stealth were mobilized. The monster would never know.

And while they clung to the Black Dragon and bought time, the airship fleet and the mages under the kings of each country would finish it off.

“If we all fight with the determination to die… we will surely be able to wound him,” the chieftain of the Mirage Tribe said resolutely, his voice filled with grim determination.

“Let’s show the will of humanity,” he added, his eyes burning with resolve.

Everyone gripped their weapons tightly. Many of the troops here were veterans who had remained on the front lines even after the battle against the Fly King. Their will was strong, and they still had pride in being a suicide squad protecting the world.

How long had they waited?

Thump… Thump… Thump…

With the sound of the earth shaking, Night Bringer appeared at the end of that valley.

It was as if darkness itself was swaying and moving. It looked more like a huge whale swimming in the sea of night than a dragon.

The monster’s huge body slid across the ground and approached quickly, filling the field of vision and becoming larger.

Gulp…

The humans swallowed hard in unison, their hearts pounding in their chests.

Tears welled up involuntarily at the overwhelming evil energy emanating from the evil dragon. The chieftain of the Mirage Tribe, exhaling a trembling breath, closed his eyes tightly and quietly recited a prayer.

“Oh great sun and god of sand, protect our armor today, and let light and glory dwell in our swords…”

At that moment.

Crack…

A sound of something breaking open rang out above the chieftain of the Mirage Tribe’s head, followed by a wet heat pouring down on his turbaned head.

“…?” Puzzled, the chieftain of the Mirage Tribe looked up.

There, with golden eyes gleaming, one of the Black Dragon’s floating heads… was grinning cruelly with its mouth wide open.

《I was going to pretend I didn’t know…》

From the monster’s main body, which had stopped walking, the Black Dragon’s middle head whispered in a low voice as if admonishing.

《You shouldn’t look for the sun in front of me.》

“…Oh God,” the chieftain of the Mirage Tribe whispered, his eyes wide with horror, as he gritted his teeth and drew his curved sword.

Kwaaaaaaa!

The Black Dragon’s head that was floating above him spewed flames towards the ground.

The allied forces’ command unit was engulfed in flames without even screaming.