I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 701

“……Bonehater.”

As I called out, the real Ash smiled and called back to me.

“Dawn Bringer.”

“……”

I got goosebumps for a moment, rubbed my arm, and then cautiously muttered.

“No, something feels a bit strange when we call each other by titles like this.”

It felt like when people who knew each other online meet for the first time offline, and call each other by their online nicknames…

– Excuse me, are you ‘BlackPrinceKingJjang’?

– Ah, then you must be ‘MyWifeSenaChan’?

Isn’t it exactly like that! Kuaaak!

“What’s wrong with it? Is there a better way to distinguish us than by our middle names?”

But the real Ash didn’t seem to mind at all. Is a natural-born fantasy man’s perception just different?

I felt awkward and called out his middle name again.

“Okay, Bonehater… you’ve worked hard.”

“You too, Dawn Bringer.”

Bonehater smiled with his face like a broken ceramic.

“You’ve done well so far, so I’m sure you’ll do well in the battles ahead. There’s only one thing I want to ask of you.”

And then, Bonehater said this.

“Make them happy.”

After hesitating for a moment, I cautiously asked.

“Are you talking about Serenade?”

“Of course, you have to make Serenade happy. There’s no need to even say that.”

I rested my chin on my hand and made an ‘hmm’ sound.

“Then, what about the others?”

“That’s something you should naturally do as a king, and what I want to ask is…”

Bonehater reached out and pressed my chest with his fingertip.

“It’s about yourself.”

“……”

Bonehater smiled, slightly biting his lip, at me, who was stunned as if I’d been hit on the back of the head.

“There will be many more difficult times ahead. I hope you find peace at the end of it all.”

“……”

“All the hatred, all the sadness, all the wounds I was born with, I’ll take them with me as I disappear, so please…”

With genuine blessing, he said this.

“Be happy, me.”

And then Bonehater turned around and walked towards the edge of the collapsing white space.

I asked urgently.

“Where are you going, Bonehater?”

“It’s time for me to disappear.”

His voice was calm as he moved.

“As you inherited all the legacy from Dusk Bringer, you’re no longer just a sub-personality… you’ve become a complete soul with a spirit body.”

Bonehater shrugged, saying, ‘Who would have thought that a pawn that had fallen to the very bottom would return as a queen.’

“It’s still shattered, but you’re in much better condition than me.”

“……”

“So, it’s a baton touch. I’ve passed the flag to you, so it’s time for me to disappear.”

His whole body began to shatter and scatter.

“Don’t worry. I’ve left everything you need with you… the memories of the strategies, the combat experience, they’ll all be inside you. You’ll still be able to summon clones or build walls.”

“……”

“Thanks to you, I can finally rest easy. Haha, really…”

His voice, scattering into white powder, was relieved, and just a little… sad.

“It was a long and tiring fight.”

“……”

“Well then. Goodbye. I’m going to… get some sleep now.”

I blankly watched his back as he walked away, and then…

“…Bonehater!”

I quickly ran and grabbed his shoulder.

Just by grabbing him, white ash scattered and covered my body. But I didn’t care at all and said to him, who was looking back in confusion.

“Let’s go together!”

“…What?”

“Until the very end… let’s go together.”

I nodded seriously.

“Towards the true ending, no, even beyond that… together.”

“……”

Bonehater, who seemed speechless, chuckled.

“Hey, Dawn Bringer. My past is more hideous than you think.”

“……”

“Even in this iteration, I suffered from regression amnesia, causing people who didn’t need to die to die, and I committed all sorts of violent atrocities.”

Bonehater clenched his trembling hands tightly until they seemed to break.

“It’s not just this iteration. In the name of saving the world, for countless, countless hours… I’ve pushed countless people into the pits of hell.”

“……”

“It’s a messy yoke that doesn’t suit you, Dawn Bringer, who will usher in a new era. It’s better for all of us if Bonehater dies as Bonehater.”

“It’s okay though.”

I said with conviction.

“It’s okay, so let’s go together.”

“…You’re going to accept even someone like me?”

Bonehater’s voice trembled.

“You’re going to become even someone like me?”

“I was the same.”

I recalled the guilt that remained in my origin.

In all 742 of those games, I always threw my characters to their deaths.

For the sake of efficient clearing of the entire game, I threw countless subordinates to their deaths without any remorse. I never questioned that action.

I was a monster.

A monster obsessed with efficiency, knowing only strategies, not seeing people as people.

“Your sins are also my sins.”

I smiled at Bonehater’s bewildered face.

“My sins are also your sins. We are the same.”

“……”

“I won’t arbitrarily forgive the ugliness you’ve committed. But…”

I slowly spread my arms.

“I’ll regret it with you, I’ll suffer with you. And I’ll help you figure out how to fix those mistakes.”

“……”

“So… let’s go together, Bonehater.”

There is no such thing as a life that is only beautiful.

Everyone has an ugly side. I don’t want to ignore it, pretend it doesn’t exist.

I want to acknowledge my ugliness, and then… move forward.

So, let’s go together. Let’s carry it and walk together.

My Bonehater.

“……”

From his face, which was full of cracks, from his cheek, which was broken like an empty ceramic… white ash flowed down.

“Really…”

Then, with that broken face, he smiled so brightly that it was unbelievable,

And he opened his arms and came towards me.

“Don’t you dare change your mind later?”

I grinned.

“That’s obvious.”

We hugged.

Bonehater’s whole body shattered like a sandcastle, and the white ash poured over my body. Soon, all the white particles shone brightly and were absorbed into my soul.

Finally, Bonehater’s voice echoed faintly.

“Okay, let’s go. To the end of this road. Together…”

I closed my eyes once and opened them, and he was no longer there.

But I could tell.

That the real and the fake, Bonehater and Dawn Bringer…

Had finally become one complete being.

Feeling a bit awkward for some reason, I looked down at my body with an uneasy feeling, and then I muttered.

“…I’ve literally become Kim Ash.”

And the next moment, I left the mental world and returned to the real world.

I realized that I was standing on the corpse of the Black Dragon, and that I was still holding the Flag of Light in my hand.

That warm sunlight was falling on my head.

That the darkness had finally lifted, and the whole world, having regained its color, was emitting tens of thousands of colors like a prism.

“……”

Although it was a world that was horribly destroyed, it was more dazzlingly beautiful than any scenery I had ever seen.

“Your Highness—!”

People were running towards me.

The heroes poured out of La Mancha, which had made an emergency landing on the field over there, and people were running from the collapsed walls of Crossroads to the end of this field.

Everyone was crying. They were sobbing with tears and snot, but they were running towards me with their arms open, as if they were going to hug me.

The snow that had been pouring from the sky stopped, and it melted in the sunlight… scattering and scattering brilliant light in the air.

Under that ray of light, I smiled.

It was a more miserable defeat than ever, but it was also a more overwhelming victory than ever.

***

[STAGE 40 – CLEAR!]

[STAGE MVP – Ash(EX)]

[Leveled Up Characters]

– Ash(EX) and 168 others

[Deceased Characters]

– Dusk Bringer(SSR)

– Nobody(SR)

– And 188 others

[Injured Characters]

– Evangeline(SSR) and 254 others

[Deceased and Injured Captured Monsters]

– Scayrian(SSR) : Deceased

– And 30 others

[Acquired Items]

– Lake Kingdom Royal Scepter(EX) : 1

– Black Dragon Dragon Heart(EX) : 1

– Black Dragon Magic Core(SSR) : 8

– And others:

[Stage clear rewards have been distributed. Please check your inventory.]

– EX Grade Reward Box : 1

– SSR Grade Reward Box : 8

>> Get Ready For The Next STAGE

>> [Next STAGE : Lake Kingdom]

***

Violet slowly opened her twitching eyes.

“…Huh?”

Violet, who was lying sprawled on the dirt floor in the southern field of Crossroads, slowly wiggled her fingers and toes.

She was fine.

“Huh? Huh?”

Violet hurriedly raised her hand and touched her body. Again, she was perfectly fine without a single injury.

“Huh? Huh? Huh…? What’s going on?”

Violet, who was flustered, realized that bright sunlight was touching her face. Startled, Violet bounced her upper body up like a spring.

The sky was clear. The world was bright.

Mornings had returned.

The Night Bringer had fallen. The World Protection Front had once again protected the world.

“Haha, hahahaha…”

Violet let out a laugh mixed with joy and bewilderment in a foolish voice.

So, how was she alive?

She had been thrown into the air, and the Night Bringer’s blade-like Dragon Roar had come right at her.

How was she still alive and unharmed like this…?

“Huh?”

The answer was right next to her.

Violet found a dragon lying next to her and shouted urgently.

“Parecian?!”

Parecian, the Black Dragon’s claw, was dying, torn to shreds.

Only then did Violet realize why she was safe. She remembered the last moment before she lost consciousness.

Parecian, who had rushed at her as she fell from the air, had wrapped around her, taken the Dragon Roar instead, and then crashed to the ground.

As a result, Violet was safe, but… Parecian had suffered unbearable injuries.

“Why… why for someone like me…”

Violet knew. That Parecian would have been safe if he had abandoned her.

Parecian’s mission was only to take Violet to the Night Bringer’s head. If he had used his speed to escape at that point, he could have gotten away safely.

But Parecian had thrown himself to save Violet. And now he was dying like this.

《…Are you safe, Violet.》

Then, Parecian’s inorganic voice flowed out dimly from his broken chest.

《I can no longer detect magic… so I can’t check your condition. Are you hurt?》

“I’m fine, you stupid lizard!”

Violet, who had approached Parecian on her knees, was shedding tears.

“Why… why did you save me? If you hadn’t saved me, you would have lived…”

《…You showed me.》

Parecian’s answer was unexpected.

《That night, you showed me… the stars.》

“What…?”

《It wasn’t just the stars. You showed me this world… So, you are worth risking my life for.》

Violet shook her head as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Everything I showed you was an illusion, you idiot!”

《…….》

“It was just a lie that plausibly imitated reality…”

《It doesn’t matter.》

Was it a delusion?

Violet felt like Parecian had smiled slightly with his inorganic voice.

《Because I loved that lie.》

“Parecian…”

《My life was all in a dark night. I had no eyes, no ears, no nose, no mouth. So I spent endless time in darkness where nothing could be seen.》

Violet placed her hand on Parecian’s body, which was no longer moving.

Parecian’s blue magic formed in that area with a faint mechanical sound. Violet thought it was like touching hands through a glass window.

《But you, for the first time, gave light to my world. You gave color to my world, which was all black.》

“……”

《Holding a palette full of paint, you came into my heart and painted my world with countless colors.》

Parecian’s mechanical voice gradually faded, and at the same time, a faint warmth was added.

《The constellations that night were the most beautiful scenery I had ever seen in my life.》

“……”

《So… I have enough reason to die for you.》

After wiping her tear-stained face with her sleeve, Violet slowly moved her hand and placed it on Parecian’s broken head.

And she showed him the last illusion… the appearance of this world where dazzling sunlight was pouring down.

《Ah…》

As if colorful paints were being applied on a white canvas.

Various emotions bloomed in Parecian’s empty voice, which was fading.

《Look, Violet. The night is lifting from the sky.》

With a satisfied, happy voice… Parecian whispered softly.

《It’s a beautiful, lavender color, just like you…》

Following that, the blue light slowly faded from the dragon’s body.

Violet slowly hugged Parecian’s lifeless body. She cried loudly and hugged him like that for a long time.

Until the sunlight, which had completely brightened, cleared away even the dawn and turned into a dazzling midday. Continuously.