I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 689

Currently.

Crossroad’s southern plains. Beneath the Night Bringer.

“……”

Lukas, having heard that I am now a mix of the fake Ash and the real Ash… a blend of ‘My Lord’ and ‘Your Highness,’ hesitated, unsure how to react.

His expression was a mess, likely a side effect of the beastification and the use of the demonic sword. He seemed happy that I had returned, his lips twitching, but… was he smiling or crying?

‘Well, for now, my main persona is ‘My Lord’.’

Currently, I am in a state where the fake Ash is in control, with the real Ash providing intermittent assistance.

But strangely, whenever I see Lukas, I get this urge to hit him, kick him, and torment him. It seems like the real Ash’s personality is constantly influencing me… Seriously, what’s with the real Ash’s character?

“I apologize, My Lord.”

Lukas bowed his head to me.

“Even though you specifically told me not to, I ended up resorting to the darkness…”

Beastification.

Demonic sword.

Dragon Slayer, Nightmare Slayer, forbidden arts, secret techniques…

I quietly observed the heroes still fighting all over the Night Bringer’s body. Their desperate, and miserable struggle.

It was inevitable.

To break down the monster’s body, that was the only way. I, too, had made reckless choices, so I was in no position to blame others.

“But with darkness, we couldn’t defeat him… It was the wrong choice.”

Lukas knelt before me, his voice suppressed.

“We have already… stepped into the darkness like this, My Lord. Please, abandon us.”

“……”

“And please, walk the path you must… the righteous path. The only way to defeat that evil dragon will be at the end of that path. So…”

I stared at Lukas’s trembling shoulders.

“Eish.”

I couldn’t resist the urge and swung my foot, kicking his butt as he knelt. Thwack!

“Kuh?!!”

Lukas jumped up, looking utterly wronged as he stared at me. His bear-like eyes were brimming with tears, he looked like he was about to burst into tears. Forgive me. It wasn’t me, it was the real Ash who made me do it.

Before he could say anything useless, I spoke first.

“Hey, Guard. What did I tell you before?”

“Yes?”

“‘If I forget, you must guide me.'”

As I mentioned something from the distant past, Lukas’s blue eyes widened.

“No matter what form I take, no matter what form you take, what we have to do is set. Even if I forget, you must not forget.”

“……”

“Answer me, Lukas. What is it that you must do?”

Lukas slowly lowered his head and answered, slowly but surely.

“…To stand before My Lord, and to open the path for My Lord to walk.”

“Correct. Guard.”

If not you, who else would I put at the front of my vanguard, you mutt knight.

“I will defeat that damned evil dragon. And to do that, I need you… and everyone, Lukas.”

“But, I… and everyone in the special forces… are already tainted by darkness, and can no longer harm that monster. We are finished. We are no longer of any use…”

“No, you’re not.”

I smiled brightly.

“Even if you’re tainted by darkness, there’s a way for you to help me. So don’t give up yet.”

“……”

Lukas looked like he couldn’t understand.

But, come on, you idiot. Does taking a few steps in the dark mean your life is over? Does it feel like a bad ending and the game is over?

It’s not.

Life goes on. The fight continues. As long as we try to continue, it will continue.

I looked up at the sky. Lukas followed suit, looking up at the sky with me.

In the dark sky where the veil was rippling, not a single star could be seen. Only a vast and endless darkness.

“Operation name, Night-Closing.”

I spoke the name of the counterattack operation and smiled faintly.

“Let’s close that tiresome night together, Lukas.”

Leaving Lukas, who was staring at me blankly, behind, I strode towards the front of the Night Bringer.

“I’ll play with that dragon for a bit, so you gather all the special forces and bring them together.”

I glanced back and gestured with my chin.

“Let’s do one hell of a comeback.”

***

Thud, thud, thud.

As I approached the front of the Night Bringer, the evil dragon frowned, looking down at me as if he was dumbfounded.

《Player.》

“Seeing you this often is getting old. Don’t you think so, Night Bringer?”

I sneered.

Actually, I was tired, exhausted, and my mood was constantly sinking… but the real Ash inside me kept bouncing my vocabulary back up. This feeling is strange.

《Even after losing to me twice, you can’t accept your limits… and you’re going to challenge me again? It’s beyond pathetic.》

The Night Bringer’s gaze at me no longer held the curiosity of examining something new. Instead, it was filled with the weariness of looking at something cumbersome and annoying.

“It’s different from before.”

But it doesn’t matter how you see me.

I will continue the game, stubbornly, pathetically, messily, and hideously… by any means necessary.

“I’ll show you, a completely different me.”

…No, I’m trying to be serious, but the real Ash can’t control his urge to make jokes!

“Let me introduce myself properly, once again.”

Standing straight in front of the Night Bringer, I bowed politely in the imperial style.

“My name is Ash ‘Bonehater’ Everblack.”

Then, once more, in the Bringer Principality style.

“At the same time, I am ‘Dawn Bringer’.”

《……!》

As I revealed my dragon name, the Night Bringer’s brow furrowed.

Regardless, I continued my self-introduction.

“The Crown Prince of the Everblack Empire, the Dragon Blood Duke of the Bringer Principality, the Lord of the Fortress City of Crossroad, the Commander of the World Protection Front…”

Then, I threw out random titles.

“The owner of Hotel Crossroad, the prospective son-in-law of the Winter Silver Merchant Guild, Sid’s godfather, the winner of the Autumn Festival Dance Festival, the instructor of the Dungeon Training Camp, the former best playboy of the Imperial Capital, a stolen save data, the Iron Man of Hell…”

After spouting nonsense, I slowly added a title that hadn’t been there before.

“Also, a descendant of the legitimate Red Dragon.”

Grinning, baring my teeth, and glaring at the monster.

“A bastard who stole the blood of the Black Dragon.”

Finally, I finished my introduction.

“And the current guardian of humanity.”

That’s right.

Currently, I have three overlapping phases as a transcendent.

The Red Dragon. The Black Dragon. And the guardian of the human race.

As the entire world faced destruction, all of humanity began to pray for salvation… and they yearned for the existence of a savior more intensely than ever before.

Ironically, because of the impending doom, I was granted the strongest authority as the guardian of the race. With each day that destruction drew closer, that power increased exponentially, and now it was incomparable to what it was before.

《Ha.》

The Night Bringer, who had been quietly listening to my list of titles and badges, clicked his tongue.

《Excessive. Hideous.》

The Night Bringer narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the top of my head. As if there were several invisible crowns placed there.

《How many crowns… how many yokes are you going to put on yourself?》

“I have to wear at least this much to match your level.”

If there was a vast difference in level before, so much that I couldn’t even reach you, now we’re close enough to see each other’s faces.

“How is it? Would you say that I’m somewhat on par with the great world-ender now?”

As I sneered, an unpleasant emotion flashed across the Night Bringer’s face.

I bit my lower lip and raised one corner of my mouth.

‘Whether you’re a god, a dragon, or a human, whether you’re real or fake, whether you’re Dawn Bringer or Bonehater, it doesn’t matter.’

I am a junkyard, a furnace, shattered pieces.

If I can bring morning back to this world, I will recklessly devour anything and use anything.

That’s when it happened.

《…I saw a beast coming out of the sea.》

The Night Bringer recited a sentence in a low voice.

《It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and blasphemous names on its heads.》

Then, the Night Bringer stared intently at me.

As if I were a monster with seven heads and ten crowns.

《…Now, I don’t know which one of us is the monster.》

“I am a human.”

I said without hesitation.

“In this front line, I define what a human is.”

《What is that definition?》

“A human is…”

This time, I stared intently at the Night Bringer.

“One who tries to communicate and understand the other.”

《……》

“Even if we end up having to draw our swords and kill each other, I want to try to communicate and understand first. So, in this front line, no matter what crown I wear on my head, no matter what blood flows in my veins, I am a human.”

I gestured with my chin towards him.

“What about you, Black Dragon?”

《Hah.》

The Night Bringer scoffed.

《There is no conversation to be had with you.》

“Aren’t we talking right now?”

《This is not a conversation. It’s just a game, enjoying playing with things that are less than ants.》

The next moment, the Night Bringer’s eyes blazed with a terrifying golden light.

《You have already lost to me. Player.》

“……”

《No matter how many times you challenge me, no matter how many hastily made crowns you put on, the gap between you and me will never be closed. So, your conversation, your new challenge, are all futile, futile, and futile.》

I smiled bitterly.

It’s true.

The only way to defeat the Night Bringer was during the first battle, the raid inside the Lake Kingdom. Before he landed in the mortal realm and absorbed the night, the only way was to defeat him in that underground area.

In the past iterations where the real Ash succeeded in hunting the Black Dragon, he defeated the Black Dragon at this time. If you failed at this point, the chances of success afterward were extremely low.

Since I failed that raid, it was essentially over at that point.

The Night Bringer, who had safely ascended to the mortal realm, absorbed the night, became the night itself, broke the standards, and flew out of the realm of capture. If this were a game, I would have given up and moved on to the next iteration.

But this is reality.

This is the final showdown. There is no next iteration.

So, I recklessly, dirtily, and meanly clung on and struggled to continue the game.

For the sake of a possible variable.

I had just done my best to sow the seeds of possibility.

《I will engrave it into your body and soul once again. No matter how many times you die and rise again, in the end, you and your world are nothing more than embers that will be extinguished under my night… I will make you realize this while wailing in despair!》

Flash-!

A terrifyingly bright golden light burst from the Night Bringer’s eyes, and the surrounding darkness began to distort and swirl.

‘Forged Night’. And with an overwhelming output I had never seen before.

I quietly watched as the Night Bringer charged up a finishing move with the power to shatter the world.

Thump…! Thump…! Thump…!

Then, the ground began to tremble.

Was it because the earth itself was trembling in fear before the overwhelming power of the monster trying to destroy the world?

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump…!

No.

No, it wasn’t.

This was an earth tremor with a more direct cause.

《…?》

The Night Bringer, who was charging ‘Forged Night’, flinched in surprise and turned his back – towards the south.

《What?》

Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump-!

Like the sound of drums, the earth roared.

The epicenter was rapidly moving north from the far south – violently shaking the entire land.

Yes, this sound… it was the same earth tremor that had been echoing from the underground of the Lake Kingdom for the past few days.

The sound that had been roughly scraping the surface, as if announcing the end of the world. The identity of this sound was-

《Could it be, this earth tremor is…!》

As a huge, ominous earthquake approached, the panicked Night Bringer completely turned his massive body to the south,

And at that very moment.

Kugwagwagwagwagwang-!

Like a lightning strike, the ground split open from the south, creating a long groove, and then, with a wave of earth and rocks that shot up to the sky-

Twakwuaaaaaak!

A giant snake swimming through the earth, with shimmering silver-gray scales, burst out from the ground.

The Continental Traverser.

The Civilization Devourer.

The World Serpent.

The super-large monster that Crossroad faced in Stage 9. Its name was-

《Jormungandr…!》

The Night Bringer, who had uttered the name instead of me, let out a bewildered groan.

Behind the horns of the giant white snake that had burst out, sat a clown with a smiling mask, playing a flute.

The Pied Piper, Crown.

The prince of the Lake Kingdom, who could communicate with and control monsters with his flute.

“Hoo.”

Crown slowly took the flute from his mouth, glanced at me, and nodded.

“I did what you asked. So.”

I hope you keep your promise-

Crown’s last words were cut off. Because the brown-haired boy sitting behind Crown… no, the sniper who was now worthy of being called a young man, was waving his arms at me and shouting.

“Your Highness-!”

Looking at me with large, tearful brown eyes, Damian shouted.

“I believed in you, Your Highness, that you would return safely…!”

A smile formed on my lips.

I also believed, my trigger.

That you would safely return to my front line.

***

The possibilities I had scattered haphazardly were turning into cards in my hand, returning to me.

Whether this hand was a bust or a royal straight flush…

The only thing I could do was one thing.

“All in.”

Looking at the giant body of Jormungandr rushing towards the Night Bringer, I muttered quietly.