I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 690

A few days ago.

When Crown first heard Ash’s request to awaken Jormungandr, and to have it participate in this battle, Crown thought,

‘Is he crazy?’

Well, of course, he knew Ash was a bit unhinged, but this was a truly insane request.

As Ash had pointed out, among the monsters remaining in the Lake Kingdom, Jormungandr was the only one with the power to stand against the Night Bringer. But how could they wake up that wounded, sleeping mythical-era worm (as Crown called it) that had burrowed underground? And even if they did, how could they get it to participate in the battle?

“He owes our monster front a debt,” Ash had said in a calm tone.

“Especially to Damian. He owes him a big debt. We healed him when he was about to die, and even brought him back to life.”

“Do you think a monster will repay a favor?”

“Well, that snake friend said with his own mouth that he wouldn’t forget. It would be nice if he could settle it when we need it.”

“Debt repayment isn’t something that happens whenever you want it to.”

Even if Crown played the flute to wake the sleeping Jormungandr again, it was more likely that he would completely forget about such a small favor. A monster’s thinking was very different from a human’s, and that was even more true for a being from the mythical era.

They wouldn’t consider a favor a favor, or a grudge a grudge, and they wouldn’t even remember such small things. Rather, he might just start heading north again according to his instincts and destroy Crossroads.

“It’s about taking a chance.”

But Ash didn’t waver.

“Jormungandr is neither good nor evil. He’s closer to a natural phenomenon. That’s why it’s a gamble worth taking.”

“…….”

“It would be good if he could be a variable, anyway.”

In the end, Crown gave up.

“I’ll try, but don’t expect too much.”

“I have high expectations, Crown.”

Ash grinned playfully and patted Crown’s back as he pleased. Crown was horrified and quickly shook his shoulder. He didn’t know why Ash was suddenly acting so friendly.

‘To be so desperate that he’s reaching out to anything…’

As Crown headed deep into the Lake Kingdom, mocking Ash, his expression hardened.

Because he was the same, clinging to vain hope, flailing to grab at any straw.

Because he, too, was dreaming an impossible dream of protecting his sister from inevitable corruption.

“…….”

Crown sighed, readjusted his flute, and headed to the ‘deepest cave’ where Jormungandr was sleeping. It wasn’t far from the bottom village.

“Okay, let’s give it a try.”

After all, the end of the world was just around the corner.

And waking a sleeping snake with a flute and making it dance was, in fact, something that clowns always did.

***

After that, Crown continued to play the flute for days to awaken Jormungandr.

Jormungandr writhed in agony. Each time, the entire underground shook. But perhaps because of the severe injuries he had sustained earlier, it took time for him to wake up.

Crown didn’t give up and continued to awaken the world serpent.

While Ash’s expeditionary force was defeated.

While Ash, who had fallen to the bottom village, became a dragon with the blood of the black dragon.

And while they were defeated again in the second battle…

Crown struggled to awaken the monster of the mythical era. And.

Kugugugung!

He finally opened his eyes.

Shaking the entire Lake Kingdom, the world serpent raised its massive head from the underground cave.

Woken by the sound of a human flute, not by the laws of nature, Jormungandr seemed more displeased than ever. The snake glared at Crown with clear murderous intent in his half-open, yellowish eyes.

Shirrreerrreuk-!

With a chilling hiss, hot air pushed Crown back. But Crown remained calm.

“The destruction of the human world has arrived.”

At this point, 48 hours had passed since the Night Bringer had landed in the human world. The destruction of Crossroads was inevitable. Still, Crown had done everything he was asked to do.

“World Serpent, you owe a debt to the human world… and to that sniper over there.”

《……!》

Jormungandr’s eyes, as he flicked his long tongue, turned cold. Crown continued.

“If things continue like this, that sniper will die too.”

Even as Crown spoke, he didn’t expect his words to work at all.

《…….》

Jormungandr closed his half-open eyes, then fully opened them. And.

Kugung, Kugugugung…!

He then rose up and began to climb the cliff.

“What.”

Crown was the one who was more taken aback.

“This actually works?”

***

Twelve hours later.

Southwest of Crossroads. Observation tower.

“Kuh…”

With a broken pistol under his chin, Damian was preparing to take his own life.

The last of the Night Bringer’s auxiliary heads opened its massive mouth and approached Damian. Damian wanted to die cleanly rather than be mocked by the monster.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Thump, Kugugugung…!

With the trembling ground, a sound like the world collapsing echoed.

Damian tightened his grip on the trigger. Tears streamed down his closed eyes.

‘Ban, I’m finally going to be by your side…’

At that moment.

– Don’t forget the promise we made back then.

The unforgettable voice of a girl echoed in Damian’s mind.

– To adventure through this entire outside world. To capture this vast world in our eyes.

To the end of the world…

To go together.

“…….”

Remembering the promise, Damian’s trembling stopped.

And then.

– It’s an order, my trigger.

The order he had heard during his first battle from the man he followed brushed past his ears.

– Blow that damn monster’s face away.

Damian opened his closed eyes wide.

A white flash flickered in his large brown eyes. A sob mixed with a groan escaped from his tightly clenched teeth.

“I…”

It wasn’t because someone asked him to.

It wasn’t because someone ordered him to.

“By my own will…!”

He had decided that himself.

To fly towards the target of his life that he had set…

“I will live-!”

So, until the very end.

He would just fight without giving up…!

Click-!

Damian pointed the gun that had been aimed at his chin forward. Now, the mouth of the evil dragon was right in front of him.

“Uwaaaaaa-!”

At the same time that Damian shouted and fired the last bullet of [Cerberus], Kugwagwagwagwang-!

The ground in front of him soared up.

Jormungandr’s massive mouth, which had burst out of the ground, swallowed the Night Bringer’s auxiliary head whole. The world serpent, with its silver-gray scales gleaming, soared to the height where the observation tower had stood just moments before.

“…Huh?”

Covered in dirt and sand raining down, Damian blinked his wide eyes blankly.

He couldn’t understand the situation. He didn’t know why the monster he had met years ago had reappeared here now.

A pleasant, low-toned voice reached Damian’s ears as he opened his mouth slightly in confusion.

“Are you alive, sniper?”

The smiling clown, Crown, who had jumped off Jormungandr’s body, dusted off the dirt on his body and said abruptly.

“He says he’s here to repay a debt.”

“Y-yes?”

“The world serpent, to you. He says he’s here to repay a debt.”

As Damian looked up hesitantly, Jormungandr, who had swallowed the Night Bringer’s auxiliary head into his stomach, stretched out his long tongue.

The giant snake’s yellowish eyes… was it just his imagination, or did they seem to be smiling softly?

“I-I’m really grateful, but… I don’t think he owes me anything…”

“…When a snake comes to repay a favor, accept it quietly. If you refuse, you’ll earn a grudge.”

“Heeek! Thank you, thank you so much!”

As Damian bowed deeply, Jormungandr made a satisfied shirrreerrreuk- sound and headed towards the collapsed observation tower.

In the ruins of the observation tower, the other auxiliary heads of the Night Bringer were lying down. These heads had only had their connection points damaged by Damian’s sniping, and the rest of their injuries were not serious. Even the damaged areas were healing on their own.

In other words.

Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

All of them were in very fresh condition, good food for Jormungandr.

Jormungandr, who had swallowed all six of the Night Bringer’s auxiliary heads in a row, flicked his tongue. He swayed his massive body from side to side, as if trying to digest them, which also looked strangely like he was dancing.

“It was hell trying to keep up with you while you were heading north at that insane speed.”

Crown also sat down next to Damian, who was still sitting blankly, unable to believe that he was still alive.

“With this, I’ve also repaid the debt from our first meeting, sniper.”

“Huh?”

Damian stammered in confusion.

“Debt? You’ve never owed me a debt…”

“You didn’t shoot.”

Crown replied bluntly.

“When we first met on the battlefield… you saw me as a person, and you didn’t shoot.”

“…….”

“That was also a debt.”

Damian just blinked in confusion.

He didn’t understand why that was a debt.

‘Considering that, didn’t we fight each other to the death after that…?’

Anyway, he was a person he couldn’t understand.

Crown glanced at Damian from behind his mask.

“Have you still not killed anyone since then? Are you still, non-killing?”

“…I haven’t killed any enemies, but I have shot allies… to make them comfortable.”

Even in the imperial capital assault battle, which was a matter of the empire’s fate, Damian had never killed anyone if they were human, though he had subdued them.

He had shot Jackal in the head to make him comfortable when he was captured by the Fallen Knights, and in the battle against the Fly King and this battle against the Night Bringer, he had also taken the lives of several severely injured allies to make them comfortable.

A bitter smile appeared on Damian’s lips.

“The reason I couldn’t shoot people in the first place was because I was a weak coward. It’s not because I have some grand belief like non-killing…”

“…I see.”

Crown, who had glanced at Damian’s clear eyes, said.

“Your eyes are still pure. It’s hard to believe you’ve been in this hell for three years.”

“Huh?”

“As long as your heart is pure, your eyes will continue to shine.”

“What does that…”

“…Well, it means that if you live a good life, you’ll be blessed. Like a snake rising from the ground like this. And eating dragon heads.”

Crown, who had said something out of character, looked ahead.

“It seems like he’s eaten almost everything over there.”

Thanks to absorbing the Night Bringer’s auxiliary heads, Jormungandr’s nerve protrusions, which had been damaged two years ago, began to recover immediately. They were now almost like huge horns.

Crown, who had approached Jormungandr and communicated with him through his flute, scratched the back of his head.

“He says he pushed himself to go fast to save you, but now he’ll be a bit slower because he’s digesting the heads he swallowed. The Night Bringer is one step ahead of us…”

Jormungandr slowly lowered his body. Crown, who had stepped onto the snake’s scales first, reached out his hand.

“Well, it’s more likely that we’ll have a better chance of winning if we finish digesting the heads we ate and then fight the Night Bringer. You need to recover while we’re heading north too.”

“…….”

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to get on?”

“Ah, no! I’ll get on. Just a moment!”

After hurriedly picking up the magic guns that had fallen on the ground, Damian grabbed Crown’s hand and climbed onto Jormungandr’s body.

Kugugugung…!

Jormungandr resumed his northward journey with his two guests on his back.

As he quietly watched the dark forest passing quickly by on either side, Damian pinched his cheek slightly.

The front lines were in disarray, with the strongest and worst monster, the Night Bringer, as the enemy. Jormungandr, the flute-playing man…

‘Maybe, just maybe…’

Damian swallowed hard.

‘There might still be a chance of winning…!’

It’s not over until it’s over.

Regaining his composure, which had almost collapsed but which he had managed to recover, Damian looked towards the distant north.

The final battlefield was approaching.

***

Currently.

“Uwaaaaaaaa!”

“You crazy snake bastard-!”

Damian and Crown screamed at the same time and jumped off Jormungandr’s back.

Crown wanted to yell, ‘You crazy snake, you should have let us get off first before charging in,’ but there was no time.

Thump-

A heavy collision sound echoed, and then,

Kugwagwagwagwang…!

It turned into a terrifying explosion, and the entire ground shattered and soared into the air.

Jormungandr, who had run at full speed, had slammed his massive body directly into the Night Bringer.

《Jormungandr! How dare you, you wretch…!》

《…Going, north.》

Jormungandr, wrapping himself around the Night Bringer’s body and climbing up, rolled his yellowish eyes.

《You’re in the way, dragon.》

The dragon and the snake roared at each other, spewing out night and earthquakes.

With a deafening, terrible explosion, the ground was torn to shreds, and the surrounding mountain ranges began to collapse.

The battle of the mythical era was being replayed here once more.