I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 682

Initially, Skelian’s interest in Violet stemmed from a single reason.

Among the humans participating in the final war of the human realm, this grand expedition, she was the most ‘unsuited for this war’.

Violet, the illusionist.

As a mage who manipulated illusions, she was essentially a liar. To herself and to others, she always lived by projecting falsehoods in the name of illusion.

Her background, age, experience… she had deceived in all aspects of her life, and based on those deceptions, she continued to deceive others for her own gain. A petty thief, a robber, and a swindler.

Even to her closest companions.

The members of the Gamble Club, who had worked together for a long time, had come to trust and rely on each other. But not Violet.

She still lied as naturally as breathing.

She still didn’t trust anyone, not even herself. She was an eternal liar.

Unlike all the other heroes who fought with sincerity, voluntarily, and risking their lives, Violet was still participating on this front line, even in the final season, pushed by inertia.

She was just an ordinary, insignificant human who couldn’t run away because she had no excuse to do so.

That’s why Skelian was particularly interested in Violet among the heroes on this front.

Skelian wanted to see.

This pathetic human, this ordinary villain who was forced to participate in the great war by inertia.

To see her fall again.

To tempt her, to coax her, to lure her out. If he just gave her a little push. She would roll down that steep cliff on her own.

He wanted to watch the messy process of someone who could have become a great hero turn back into a petty thief.

In a world burning and collapsing, or even in the world beyond… he wanted to observe all the ugly processes of her living a wretched life after falling to the bottom.

He wanted to prove before his eyes that human will was so insignificant and weak.

So…

***

Six hours ago.

Southeastern part of the continent. An old village far from the coast.

Violet, riding on Parekian’s back, and Skelian entered this empty, abandoned village. Skelian looked around with curiosity.

He had wondered where they were going when they suddenly turned east off the main road, but Violet had led the group here.

《What is this place?》

“…It’s my hometown.”

《Huh? Didn’t you say you were from New Terra?》

“That was a lie. This is where I was really born.”

Violet looked around with a bewildered gaze.

“I haven’t been here in almost 20 years… I can’t believe it’s changed this much.”

It wasn’t just changed; the village was completely ruined.

It was desolate, as if everyone had left long ago. Snowflakes, rare in the south, were endlessly piling up on the collapsing buildings.

“It’s completely ruined. Does no one live here?”

Violet, who was walking, chuckled in front of a tavern with a fallen door.

“Ah, this was my home.”

《Didn’t you say you were a bastard of a noble family?》

“That was also a lie. I was an orphan left by a prostitute at this tavern. The old owner couldn’t bear to abandon me and took me in.”

Violet ran her finger over her temple. Then, a long scar hidden by illusion magic was revealed.

“He was always drunk and beat the kids, but… thanks to him, I didn’t die.”

《…….》

“When I was eight, he tried to sell me to a brothel, so I broke a bottle over the old owner’s head and ran away.”

Violet, who was speaking casually, headed towards the center of the village and exclaimed, “Ah.” Parekian stopped, and Skelian looked in the same direction as Violet.

In the center of the village, there was a small shopping district. And in the center of that, there was a pawnshop and a tailor shop.

“20 years ago, this was a relatively large village in the area, so quite a few outsiders came and went. It was my job to pickpocket those outsiders.”

Violet first went to the pawnshop.

“This pawnshop also doubled as a fence [a place where stolen goods are sold]… I used to sell stolen goods here for cheap. Haha. I guess you could say it’s the place of my monumental pickpocket debut.”

The pawnshop, with its door broken and wide open, was completely empty inside. It was only natural, as it was probably the most frequented place by thieves even after the village was ruined.

Violet picked up a few cheap fake jewels and some gold thread with the plating peeled off that were scattered on the floor.

Then, Violet entered the tailor shop next door. Inside the shop, covered in dust and cobwebs, there were a few moth-eaten suits left.

“This place pretended to be a tailor shop, but it was actually a shop that led to an underground illegal gambling den. If you went broke here, you’d immediately pawn your money at the pawnshop next door, that kind of structure.”

《…….》

“But they did actually operate as a tailor shop. Watching the adults who had their clothes made here, I vaguely imagined. The image of my parents coming to find me one day.”

A couple wearing fine suits and beautiful dresses would come in a carriage.

They would say that I was their child. That the hard times were over. That we would go home together and live happily.

She had such imaginations while peeking at the well-dressed adults who came and went to the tailor shop.

“Of course, that never happened. Haha.”

Violet, who smiled bitterly, calmly went inside the tailor shop and pulled out the most intact suit and put it on.

“But it was my wish to try on clothes here, so I might as well fulfill it now.”

Then, she picked up a fedora that was hanging on the wall, dusted it off, and put it on her head.

A moth-eaten suit and a dusty hat. Gold thread attached to the suit and jewels that looked fake at first glance…

Violet’s appearance was ridiculous. But Violet wore all of it as if she were performing some kind of sacred ritual.

Violet, who came out of the tailor shop, left the shopping district and headed towards the back.

A large open space that used to be the village square appeared, and beyond the open view, the eastern sea could be seen in the distance.

“……”

Violet silently gazed at the distant horizon.

She had even released the illusion magic she had on her head, and instead of her symbolic lavender hair, her original hair color—ordinary brown hair—was fluttering long.

Skelian, who had quietly followed her, asked.

《Why did you come here?》

“To confirm.”

《Confirm what?》

“My true feelings. What I really want to do and how I want to do it.”

After taking a deep breath, Violet turned around and opened her mouth.

“I want to run away. To the end of the world.”

《…….》

“I don’t want to go back to that terrible battlefield again. If the Dragon Lord can protect me from the destruction of the world, yes. I want to do that. I want to run away forever without looking back.”

Skelian’s tightly closed lips twitched. He was desperately holding back a smile.

That’s it, Violet.

You’re just a petty thief. You don’t need to continue this burdensome fight.

Let’s keep running away together.

Abandon the pride that others have built for you, and take the last step towards corruption.

Hurry…!

“But.”

Violet’s clenched fist trembled.

“Still, I’m going back.”

《…What?》

“I said I’m going back. To Crossroads.”

For a moment, Skelian didn’t understand the context of the conversation, so he blinked blankly.

《What are you talking about? You said you wanted to run away? But you’re saying you’re going back?》

“…Yes. I sincerely want to run away.”

Violet, who was hugging herself, trembled.

“I want to run away, I want to run away, I want to run away! My whole body is shaking. Just imagining that huge monster makes me feel like I’m going to wet myself.”

《But, why…》

“I know too. That I’m not suited for that kind of fight. That I won’t be of much help even if I go back. That I’m just a swindler, a robber, a petty thief, I know that!”

Violet looked back at the village where she was born.

The prison of her childhood, where gambling dens, fences, brothels, and taverns were chaotically intertwined.

“But… just because I was born like this, it doesn’t mean I have to live like this, right?”

《…….》

“I fought a great battle.”

A phrase that she could not forget was engraved in Violet’s mind.

– If you’re going to play the clown anyway… shouldn’t you play to seize the world?

That one phrase that Prince Ash had thrown out.

So, she had a great time playing with him.

She gambled with the fate of the world. She saved the citizens of the capital and defeated powerful monsters. Even though her only means were deception and illusion, Prince Ash took her to the land of the final battle.

She had a real showdown that she couldn’t have had on a gambling table with small change.

“Even if the only thing I can show this world is an illusion, it doesn’t mean my whole life is a lie.”

Certainly, Violet had saved the world several times.

Even if that fight was forced upon her, its greatness did not change.

“I…”

Returning to her hometown, which she never wanted to return to, facing her messy past head-on, even wearing it all over her body.

After facing her true self for the first time in a life that was always full of lies, Violet’s conclusion was this.

“I want to become great.”

《…!》

“It’s already been once, no, several times that I’ve run away in my life, and maybe it’s already too late, but…”

At that moment, Skelian saw it clearly.

“I want to… save the world again!”

In a world covered in darkness.

The petty thief in front of him, wearing shabby clothes, ridiculous decorations, revealing her hidden scar and ordinary hair color.

Shining more than ever.

Emitting an aura like a true hero.

《…Just because you were born like that, it doesn’t mean you have to live like that.》

Skelian slowly mulled over the words Violet had thrown out.

《Just because you fell once, it doesn’t mean you can’t become great again…》

The corners of Skelian’s mouth twisted.

《Ah, as expected…》

And then, as if he couldn’t hold back any longer, he burst into a wide smile.

《Humans are, truly, wonderful…》

Actually, he liked this kind of story more.

He liked stories of falling, stories of corruption, stories of breaking down, but.

Even if it was a story that was piled up on the bookshelves, that was lying around, that he knew so well that he was sick of it.

Even if it was childish, obvious, and commonplace…

Skelian actually liked hopeful heroic tales much, much more.

《Violet.》

So Skelian slowly took out a bead from his pocket.

《Will you accept this?》

Violet, puzzled, took it.

“What is this?”

《My gift.》

It was one of the two wish-fulfilling beads that Skelian possessed.

Violet, who had no idea what this bead was, tilted her head, but still accepted it quickly because it looked valuable. That action was still like a petty thief, so Skelian couldn’t help but laugh.

《Okay, then shall we go back!》

With a flash!

Skelian, who had transformed into a long dragon form, gestured with his head to his back.

《To continue the epic of the great hero Violet!》

Violet blushed with embarrassment, but then nodded her head vigorously and climbed onto Skelian’s back. Parekian followed closely behind.

The two dragons and one human flew through the snow-swept sky, retracing their path and starting to return.

***

Present. Crossroads.

《Ugh, I almost died…》

After receiving the last piece of the Night Bringer’s breath.

Skelian, who had landed on the wall almost as if he had fallen, let out a hot sigh with his mouth open.

Even though he had inherited the ‘scale’ characteristic of the black dragon, was good at defense like a shut-in, and had an immunity to the breath and black flames because he had inherited his father’s blood. It was impossible to completely block that breath without any damage.

Skelian, who was examining his half-cooked body, glanced below the wall.

When she came in front of her companions, Violet put on her illusion magic again over her shabby clothes, transformed into a stylish appearance, struck a pose, and then… was getting beaten up. It was only natural, considering she had run away for more than a day and then returned.

“Ah, but I came back! Give me a break!”

Violet whined with a nasal voice as she was being slapped on the back by the Gamble Club members. Skelian chuckled as he watched them.

The shield warriors who had gone out to the southern field also began to return. Torkel was safe thanks to the ultimate skill effect, and the rest of the shield warriors were severely injured, but there were no casualties. Miller Arian, who had lost one arm, was quickly transported to the temple.

Thus, they had blocked another, and the last breath.

They had gained the last 12 hours of grace. They had bought time to prepare for the final battle that would soon come.

Everyone was relieved for a moment, and then they were exchanging words of encouragement when it happened.

“Re, reporting-!”

A soldier rushed in from inside Crossroads.

He was a scout who had been dispatched to the observation tower. Everyone looked at him with puzzled expressions.

The soldier, who had approached the heroes, gasped for breath and barely managed to shout his report.

“Just now, the last observation tower… was destroyed!”

“…What did you say?”

Evangeline, who was receiving healing magic for her burns, was startled and jumped up. The soldier continued.

“Immediately after the breath, the Night Bringer’s six auxiliary heads flew to the observation tower… and destroyed the observation tower!”

“Did everyone who was out there return safely?!”

“Th, that is, all the soldiers of the observation team managed to escape through the teleport gate, but…”

The soldier, who had closed his eyes tightly, lowered his head.

“To support our retreat until the very end, Damian, who was providing cover fire… did not return…!”

The faces of everyone who heard the story turned pale.