I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 686

Lucas couldn’t move.

In truth, he hadn’t come here expecting to win from the start.

He didn’t expect to be able to defeat this mighty foe. He only wanted to pierce the heart of this monster with his sword and inflict as much pain as possible.

Just as his master had bled, he wanted this monster to suffer the same agony.

But now he knew.

His sword, forged in darkness, could not wound this evil dragon, who was darkness itself.

‘Not even a struggle, let alone a victory…’

Realizing the hopeless gap, Lucas stood frozen like a statue.

And as if losing interest in Lucas, the Night Bringer slowly turned its head and looked back towards the Crossroads.

《Keep pouring out attacks that won’t even reach, you futile avengers.》

The remaining special forces heroes still didn’t give up and continued to attack the Night Bringer’s body, but the Night Bringer paid them no mind.

《Meanwhile, I will destroy your world.》

The Night Bringer let out a low sneer and prepared its next attack.

The evil dragon’s eyes glowed, the surrounding air ominously rippled, and darkness, magic, bombardments, and roars were all charged in succession.

“…No.”

Lucas belatedly reached out towards the black dragon.

“Stop-!”

However, no matter how desperately Lucas shouted and swung his sword, the Night Bringer didn’t care in the slightest.

It began to unleash all its attacks on the Crossroads.

***

Kugwagwagwagwang-!

All the bombardments unleashed by the Night Bringer struck the walls of the Crossroads directly.

The barrier went down, and all the artifacts sparked with electricity and shut down.

The mages’ magic barriers melted, the priests’ divine power shields shattered, and the spirits summoned by the spiritists vanished.

The reinforced walls crumbled, collapsed, and poured down. Knights and soldiers holding shields fell one after another on top of them.

The fall of the Crossroads was already a matter of time.

The destruction of the mortal realm was also a matter of time.

《Kueeeeeeuk……!》

In the central part of the southern wall.

Here, Scayrian was desperately enduring the ‘Forged Night’ that his father was pouring out.

The surrounding walls had already been swept away by the raging night, leaving no trace, and only the area where Scayrian was taking the attacks with his body barely maintained its shape.

Crack! Crunch! Kugwagwagwang-!

Even that was reaching its limit.

Scayrian’s own defensive abilities, along with the artifact [Shining Dark] made from Iphian’s spirit core, were blocking the ‘Forged Night,’ but they were being pushed back noticeably compared to before.

The Night Bringer had already finished assimilating with all the night of the world, and its output was beyond estimation. It was a miracle that they had held out this long.

《Our father… he must be really, really angry…!》

Scayrian muttered with difficulty, repeating the process of taking attacks and regenerating his scales. Beneath the Eastern-style dragon’s body, the peeled and broken scales formed a hill.

“Aaaah! Dragon-nim!” [Nim is a Korean honorific suffix, similar to ‘sir’ or ‘madam’, but used more broadly.]

Violet screamed from not far away.

Violet was hiding behind Parekian, and even though Parekian’s natural defense was considerable, his body was damaged and glowing red in many places from the continuous bombardments of the Night Bringer.

However, he stood firm, protecting Violet without budging an inch. Of course, Violet was already having a terrible time, regardless.

“Maybe we should use ‘that method’ we prepared now… !”

《No!》

Scayrian refused sharply.

《That method isn’t for getting out of a crisis, it’s a means to victory… it’s meaningless if we don’t use it at the very end, at the decisive moment!》

“But!”

When a part of the wall turned to ashes from the black magic that grazed right past her, Violet whimpered with a tearful face.

“We’re going to die anyway if this keeps up… !”

《…Kuk!》

Crackkkkk!

The ‘Forged Night’ crashed down like waves, scraping off all the scales on the upper part of Scayrian’s body as if with a knife.

Even in the face of terrible pain, Scayrian endured. But unfortunately, the artifact next to him did not.

Crack, crackle, crackle…

Fwoosh!

The artifact [Shining Dark] shattered, unable to withstand the darkness that the Night Bringer was whipping like a lash.

And the moment [Shining Dark]’s support disappeared, Scayrian could no longer hold on.

《Khaaaaak…!》

Scayrian, who had been slashed by the sharp night, collapsed, spewing blood from his entire body.

Having defeated the guardian who had been at the forefront of defending the wall, the ‘Forged Night’ then rushed to obliterate the entire southern wall.

At this moment, Scayrian sensed that the Crossroads was doomed.

The entire fortress would collapse, and the lives of all the humans fighting on the wall would evaporate. Now the world would be completely covered in darkness…

Taat-!

But it wasn’t.

“Euriyaaaaat-!”

It was because Evangeline Cross, the shield knight representing the Crossroads, had stepped forward with her shield, rushing into the pouring ‘Forged Night’.

Crackkkkkkk!

The night, like blades, rained down on Evangeline’s shield.

All the ice that had formed on the Cross family’s shield was destroyed, and Evangeline’s pure white armor [Snow White] also couldn’t withstand it, tearing apart from the edges.

“Kueeeeeeuk!”

But Evangeline endured, shouting.

Evangeline knew well.

The moment this attack was allowed, the southern wall, the Crossroads, and the human world… would all be over.

So,

“I… will protect it… !”

Even while spitting blood, Evangeline deployed her shield and cavalry spear forward.

She absorbed the darkness with the [Damage Save] of her raised shield and, with the [Damage Payback] of the cavalry spear in her other hand, she released the darkness again, offsetting the onrushing darkness.

The ‘Forged Night’ was the black dragon’s ultimate move that could never be blocked without the aid of special blessings or devices. Evangeline, using her special magic operation mechanism, had definitely blocked it single-handedly, albeit for a very brief moment.

Crackkkkk-!

But the miracle was temporary.

When the moment of the ‘Forged Night’ ended, Evangeline collapsed in place, bleeding from her entire body.

“Ah…”

The shattered shield broke into pieces and fell to the floor, and cracks spread across her beautiful armor. The night that she hadn’t completely blocked spread out around her, cutting the wall like tofu.

Kugung, kugugugung…!

The cleanly sliced wall collapsed downwards, raising a cloud of dust.

“…”

Evangeline barely turned her trembling, bloodied face back and looked around.

The central part of the southern wall, which had taken the direct hit of the ‘Forged Night,’ was devastated, and no trace of its original form could be found.

Flap…

Only one flag.

Right behind Evangeline, a black flag with no emblem, symbolizing the World Defense Front, was torn and fluttering pitifully in the winter wind.

Tears welled up in Evangeline’s green eyes as she looked up at the black flag fluttering behind her.

‘All those days…’

Gooooooo…!

At the far end of the southern field, the Night Bringer opened its huge mouth wide. Then, the air vibrated and its breath gathered. It seemed to be trying to finish off this fortress city with that terrible breath.

‘All our fighting…’

Evangeline turned her head again and stared blankly at the black dragon, her gaze slowly falling downwards.

‘It’s ending so futilely, like this.’

Evangeline quietly closed her eyes.

There was no anger. There was no sadness.

She had just been tired, exhausted, and in pain from fighting for so long.

So, now…

For the last bit, she could just let go of everything and rest comfortably…

– Life is short. You should waste it enthusiastically without regrets, right?

At that moment.

Someone’s words echoed in her mind.

“…”

Evangeline slowly opened her eyes again.

And she tightly gripped her shield, which had lost all its outer parts, leaving only the metal on the handle.

She gritted her teeth, her emerald eyes shining, and she put strength into her kneeling legs.

Not yet.

It wasn’t time to give up, saying she had done everything she could, not yet… this life hadn’t ended yet.

‘To not have regrets…!’

Even if the remaining life was only a few seconds.

‘If it’s to live the way I want, I’ll gladly waste it…!’

When Evangeline decided to fight until the very last moment and raised her head.

A voice suddenly came from the sky.

“I declare.”

Tired, haggard, and hoarse.

“This place is.”

The voice of a man that everyone on this front had longed for.

“…the very front line of the world.”

Flash-!

Following the man’s magic incantation, a magic wall bloomed in the air like a flower bud.

The gray magic wall, with its geometric shape, instantly filled the space in front of the Crossroads and was erected in layers.

Right above it.

Kwaaaaaaa-!

The Night Bringer’s breath poured down.

The black flames surged, threatening to burn the entire world. But the magic wall that had been deployed melted, yet it joined together again, continuing to hold out.

When the breath emission, which felt like an eternity, ended, the magic wall was still standing intact in front of the Crossroads, and it had not allowed the breath to pass through.

Thud…

Then, a man descended from the sky with a smooth motion and stepped onto the wall.

“…”

Evangeline blinked blankly, not understanding the situation.

This man, standing with his back to her… was exactly like the man from long ago, who had come alone to save her at her father’s villa.

“Senior?” [Senior is a term used to address someone who is older or more experienced, often used in a school or work setting.]

Evangeline muttered without realizing it.

Then,

“…Sorry.”

The man turned around.

“I’m very late.”

“… !”

Evangeline’s shoulders trembled.

It was definitely the man she knew. The man who had made everyone in this castle weep with the sorrow of loss for the past few days, the man who had made them lose him, the man who had made them unable to sleep due to hatred and resentment for those monsters.

But this man in front of her was no longer the same as before. Evangeline could sense it instinctively.

Wearing a black chain coat, his whole body wrapped in ancient, old bandages underneath. With piercing golden eyes gleaming between his disheveled black hair…

No longer human, but radiating a divine aura.

With a pale face and a sad smile, he seemed somehow a little older, and conversely, a little younger… this man.

Evangeline asked cautiously.

“Senior, is that… you?”

“…”

The man didn’t answer.

He just looked at Evangeline and everyone on the wall with affectionate eyes.

“…Haha.”

Evangeline laughed in a daze.

It didn’t really matter. Whether this person in front of her was the real senior, or a hallucination in her fading memories. Either way.

“Senior. Do you remember?”

She just spoke honestly.

The words she had wanted to say ever since this man had disappeared. Even if they were incoherent and out of the blue.

Because if she didn’t say them now, she felt like she would never be able to say them again.

“You always praised me as the best shield knight in the world, Senior. But now I know. Actually, my shield… is too small.”

“…”

“In front of that huge monster, in front of this vast world, there’s so little that I can protect with this small shield. What I can do is truly insignificant.”

Neither her comrades.

Nor the wall.

Nor the city.

Nor the world.

With this small shield, she couldn’t properly protect anything. After losing the man she had wanted to protect, Evangeline deeply realized.

How small and pathetic she was.

“Look.”

Evangeline turned around. On the devastated wall, all she had protected was a single black flag, torn and fluttering.

“In the end, all I could protect… was just this torn flag…”

“…That’s enough.”

The man lowered his waist in front of Evangeline, made eye contact, and then smiled faintly.

“Thank you. You protected it wonderfully.”

“…”

Evangeline blinked blankly.

What?

What exactly had she protected?

The man didn’t elaborate further and moved his steps, standing in front of the pitifully swaying, torn black flag.

And he carefully took the black flag and tied it to the empty flagpole he was holding.

Now, becoming the standard-bearer holding the flag, the man, with the black flag fluttering, turned to the front, stood at the edge of the wall, and then turned back again.

“…”

On the wall, and below the wall. All those who were still alive were looking at him with disbelief.

“Thank you for protecting us for a long time, everyone.”

The man smiled brightly.

“Now is the time for a counterattack.”

***

South of the Crossroads. The end of the field.

Under the Night Bringer’s feet.

“Huk… huk…”

Lucas, who had rolled down to the ground here at the same eye level as the Night Bringer, was covered in blood.

He had tried his best to stop the Night Bringer, but it was useless. The monster had steadily poured out the night towards the Crossroads, and in the end, it had prepared that hateful breath again.

Lucas had thrown his whole body to block the breath, but after being torn apart by the raging, blade-like night, he had rolled down from the black dragon’s body.

Eventually, he had fallen to the monster’s feet, and as he lay on the ground, writhing in pain, he heard the sound of the breath being fired.

Kwaaaaaaa…!

“…”

Lucas, who was looking at the dirt floor, tightly closed his eyes.

The Crossroads must have been destroyed.

In the end, he had achieved nothing.

Neither protecting the world nor avenging his lord. He had failed in everything.

‘Ah.’

Everything was over…

Just as Lucas was trembling slightly, his forehead buried in the dirt floor, it was then.

“You said you’d become the most amazing knight in the world…”

Suddenly.

A voice came from in front of him.

“Why are you staggering around here like a mad dog, Guard?”

“…?”

Lucas slowly raised his head.

Through his hair, which was covered in blood and dirt, he first saw the unharmed Crossroads…

And then, a man flew lightly from the Crossroads and landed in front of him.

“Ah…?”

A foolish voice escaped from Lucas’s open mouth.

How could he ever forget it in his dreams?

The appearance of the master he had served his entire life.

“Ah, uh… ah…”

But, however – wasn’t this man dead?

Was he perhaps seeing things?

Lucas slapped his own cheek and shook his head roughly to come to his senses.

And after confirming that the man in front of him was real.

Blue flames flowed down Lucas’s cheeks, beneath his blue eyes that were emitting a beast-like light.

“Augh, khek… !”

Swallowing his sobs, Lucas desperately pieced together human language.

Due to excessive use of beastification and the mental contamination of the magic sword, Lucas’s mind was tangled like a ball of yarn. But he put all his strength into weaving each word, barely managing to form a sentence.

And he asked.

“Who… are you?”

“…”

“Are you… Your Highness? Or… my Lord?”

The fact that he remembered the promise of his childhood, and the strangely sharp vocabulary, belonged to his past master… ‘Your Highness’.

But that gentle expression, those kind eyes, and that soft voice were definitely those of ‘my Lord’.

So Lucas couldn’t be sure.

Was the man in front of him ‘Your Highness’? Or was he ‘my Lord’?

“Well…”

Then the man smiled faintly, tilted his head slightly to the side, and then… whispered mischievously.

“Which one do you think I am?”