I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 674

“To put it simply, instead of my already ruined soul, I had a surrogate personality wrapped around it like packaging…” Ash explained his situation while chain-smoking. “That surrogate personality was the Ash you all knew.” “……” “But when that bastard Night Bringer pierced my core and shattered my soul, the outer packaging… the surrogate personality, was also torn apart.” Ash waved the hand holding the cigarette wildly. The hazy, murky smoke, much like people’s minds, spread around in circles. “My soul is already in a state of dust, so if I gather it back together, I can somehow manage for now…” King Poseidon had turned Ash into a ‘dragon’ using the black dragon’s blood and heart, meticulously piecing together Ash’s shattered core. For a normal being, the shock of having their core split would lead to death, but Ash’s soul was already weathered by immense fatigue. Even if the core was shocked, it would only scatter as it was already broken, not leading to the annihilation of his existence. It was an unexpected benefit of endless regressions. “But even if the inner soul is pieced together like a puzzle, what about the torn outer packaging? There’s no way to restore it.” Ash clicked his tongue and put the cigarette back in his mouth. Nameless, who was listening, stammered. “Then, the Ash we knew… is dead?” “For now, yes. At least, I don’t know how to restore a surrogate personality that’s already been torn to shreds.” “……” “But… that’s just me not knowing. He might have prepared another method. He has to have.” Ash, having finished the cigarette, stubbed it out on the floor and grumbled. “More than anything, I’m in trouble if that guy doesn’t come back. I’ll break down soon if this keeps up.” “Break down…?” “I told you, my soul is like dust. I can maintain my form for now, but it will soon collapse.” Ash looked around at the people with a gaze that dripped with fatigue. “Right now, I can recognize who you all are, but in just a day, I won’t be able to tell who’s who. I’ll forget how to fight, the memories of the strategies, even how to blink or breathe.” “……” “Ugh, where did that Aider bastard go? He’s not helping me at a time like this…” Crown asked Ash, who was grumbling. “What about the other surrogate personalities?” “Huh?” “You’ve layered countless surrogate personalities on your body. What if you used one of them again?” Ash chuckled. As expected, it was a question from one of the few people who knew that this world was repeating. “It’s a good idea, but… it won’t work. It has to be him, or it has no ‘meaning’.” “…Meaning?” “This is the last chance to challenge this world. So, after a meeting with the Director, we decided.” Most of the people gathered here didn’t understand Ash’s words. But everyone realized that the next words would be bewildering. “Among the remaining candidates, the one with the most ‘benevolent wish’ will be the final player… to be layered on my soul.” Crown stammered. “A benevolent… wish? That’s the selection criteria for a player?” “Yes.” Ash, as if he never got tired of it, put another cigarette in his mouth. But he didn’t light it. “During countless regressions, those who fought against destruction, including myself, pursued ‘efficiency’. We sacrificed lives, chose who should die, and selected which worlds to cut off.” “……” “But even so, we failed. No matter how much we struggled, the world ended in destruction. So, only towards the end did we raise a belated question.” A bitter smile crossed Ash’s lips. “Maybe, we’ve been going in the opposite direction all this time? Maybe what’s needed to clear all of this… is some ‘inefficiency’ that we’ve never even considered?” “……” “So, it’s him. The most insignificant, humble, and selfless wish for someone completely different from himself… that inefficient wish. We’ve put him forward as the last challenger to save this world.” Ash slowly raised his head and looked above—at the distant ground beyond the darkness. “And now, this is the result. This place is the world built upon his insignificant, crooked benevolence.” “……” “Judging by the looks of it, it seems like we’re about to be wiped out without even defeating the black dragon, let alone the final monster’s great offensive, but anyway, we’ve entrusted the world to his goodness. Therefore, the end of the world must also be met through his hands.” Ash belatedly lit the cigarette and exhaled the smoke. “So, it’s a problem if that guy dies like this… but what’s the answer? How can I gather all the packaging that’s already torn and blown away by the wind? Can it even function as packaging?” “……” “Maybe this is the end of that clumsy benevolence. Haha.” It was then. “Enough with the incomprehensible talk, Prince Ash.” King Poseidon staggered closer. His whole body was covered in burns, and he looked decades older, as if he had used up all his life force in the recent surgery. King Poseidon spat out in a desperate tone. “Now that you’ve become a dragon, how is it? Can you defeat Night Bringer?” “Hmm…” Ash spread out his right hand and ignited black flames from his pinky to his thumb in order. It was surprisingly natural control. “In some of the past regressions, that guy Fernandez modified me into a dragon several times. Thanks to that, I can use the power fairly skillfully, but…” Immediately after, Ash chuckled. “It seems a bit difficult?” “What…?” “In the regressions where I defeated Night Bringer, at least one of Larc or Fernandez was by my side.” Ash casually mentioned the names of his two dead brothers. “If both are there, it’s almost certain, and if only one is there, it’s difficult but possible. But now, neither of them is here.” “……” “Larc and Fernandez are both dead, and even Father has lost his power as a transcendent… This is difficult.” Ash, having briefly glimpsed the memories of this regression and grasped the current situation, chuckled. King Poseidon stared blankly at Ash with a pale face. “Well, don’t be too despairing. Even if we cooperate with the Empire’s guardians and defeat the black dragon, we always ended up being destroyed during the final monster’s great offensive.” Even in the most ideal regression. Even when all four of the Empire’s guardians fought together, each unleashing their talents to the limit, and fighting with the highest efficiency following an extremely refined optimization route, gathering the will of all humanity— They failed. That’s why they started looking for a different path. Fighting with the four guardians of the Empire was the most ‘efficient’ method, but they deliberately took a difficult path to find other possibilities, and at the end of that path, they were in this crisis. ‘But, I’ve already started it.’ Ash continued to examine his memories, looking into the groundwork that ‘that guy’ had laid in this regression. Like examining a chess game that had been in progress but was now paused. It was hard to fully grasp his intentions… but ‘that guy’ had continuously spread out several moves. And to continue those moves, to save the pawn, the knight, the bishop, the rook, and the queen, He threw himself, the king, in front of the enemy. “……” This was the formation of someone who was still ready to fight. Except that the king was shattered. ‘If it were chess, it would be over here…’ This world is not a game. Perhaps ‘that guy’, at the moment when the information he had about the game lost its meaning, at the moment when he realized that he could no longer win by looking at this world as if it were a game. He might have broken the rules himself. The most basic rule of the game, that there must be a king… But, for what? ‘I hope this move isn’t just a final struggle, friend. And I hope you’ve prepared.’ Ash, who had closed and opened his eyes, slowly got up. ‘Also, a way to break the rule that once you fall off the chessboard, you can’t come back.’ Ash, flicking the extinguished cigarette with his fingertip and throwing it far away, shouted spiritedly. “Alright. I’ll try to stop Night Bringer somehow. Anyway, I can rampage for about a day.” Ash raised the corners of his mouth and smiled dangerously. Pawn? Knight? Bishop? Rook? Queen? King? Who cares, he was a dragon now. And dragons win at chess. “Anyway, if that black dragon hasn’t crossed more than half the way to Crossroads, there’s hope. The further he advances, the more he merges with the night of the world and becomes stronger.” “……” “So, where is the black dragon now? How many hours has it been since he started his invasion?” The corners of Ash’s mouth, which had been speaking energetically, slowly hardened. It was because he belatedly realized that the faces of the people looking at him were turning dark. Ash, wetting his parched lips with the tip of his tongue, bit his lower lip and smiled. But those precarious golden eyes were not smiling at all. “…Don’t tell me, he’s already passed the halfway point?” *** 36 hours after the black dragon landed on the human realm. In the forest, well past the halfway point from the Black Lake to Crossroads. Gooooooo…! Night Bringer, preparing his fourth breath, had grown even larger. In the endless night, his power also grew endlessly. The output of the incoming breath was also increasing even more. “He’s preparing a breath…!” “Inform Crossroads-!” A soldier from the observation team, carrying the observation report that the black dragon was preparing a breath, urgently passed through the teleport gate. “Haa, haa! U, urgent news!” The soldier, who was completely exposed to the black dragon’s aura, trembled all over as if convulsing, and shouted while shedding tears. “Urgent news! The black dragon is preparing his fourth breath-!” The news quickly spread into the city. The kings hurriedly evacuated to the underground bunkers, and all the defense measures that had been prepared were urgently deployed. “……” Leaving the noisy city behind. Dusk Bringer stood alone on the ramparts. The cold wind blowing through the falling snow ruffled her long black hair haphazardly. ‘……Originally, it should still be autumn.’ The world, covered in a sudden winter, was cold. Especially because she didn’t have her subordinates, who had been with her all her life, nor the bonfire she loved… All the skies were dark, but the south was even darker. To Dusk Bringer, the entire dark sky looked like the enemy. “Haaaaa…” As she exhaled a long breath, her breath froze white. Dusk Bringer felt a sudden chill inside her, in the increasingly freezing world. She still believed. Because they had promised. That Ash would return. That she would be able to see that warm smile again. That one smile would instantly brighten this winter night. So… “I have to protect it.” The home where that child would return. That child’s city… “I have to protect it.” So, just for a moment. Just for a moment, until that child returns, let’s bury myself in this blizzard. Dusk Bringer’s red-tinged amber eyes, which had been lowered, looked straight ahead. In the completely dark southern sky, a flash of lightning struck for an instant. And, the next moment— Kwaaaaaa-! The breath came crashing in. All the defense measures that the human side had prepared over the past 12 hours, installed in the southern plains of Crossroads, were activated but were all breached. The artifacts were broken, the magic circles disappeared, and the rows of barriers were all penetrated. The evil dragon’s breath, pushing straight in a straight line, seemed like nothing in the world could stop it. And— “Hoo…” Dusk Bringer gathered her breath. Closing her eyes and gathering all her strength into her small body, then, Flash! Dusk Bringer, opening her eyes with a dazzling flash, had already changed her appearance. Long horns sprouted above her head, and wings and a tail grew behind her back. Red scales sprouted all over her body. Dragon Blood Rampage— [A technique where a dragon ignites their own blood to enhance their power] Dusk Bringer, who had set fire to her own blood, roared and unleashed her own breath towards Night Bringer’s incoming breath. Clang-! Black flames and red flames collided in the sky above the southern plains. In an instant, all the snow that had been falling from the sky evaporated and disappeared. Thud…! From the point of impact, terrifying light and heat poured out, turning everything around it to ashes. The southern plains of Crossroads, which had been covered in snow, were instantly burned black, and the southern ramparts, swept into the range, had the red-hot iron plates melt and the stone walls crumble one after another. “Aaaah… Aaaaaaah!” Dusk Bringer continued to fight back, letting out a desperate scream. But the point of collision between the two breaths was gradually being pushed back. Towards Crossroads. Slowly, surely.