I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 718

The Demon King opened his eyes.

The two eyes that appeared on his shadowy face formed a blurry outline. The Demon King, who had been lying down, staggered as he raised his body made of shadows.

His body was submerged in a black, viscous, tar-like liquid.

Refined nightmare.

This was a collection of the dreams of millions of citizens of the Lake Kingdom, gathering only the deepest nightmares among them.

Within this nightmare, the ‘fear’ beneath the subconscious… the memory of ‘destruction’ imprinted in humanity’s genes was extracted and refined.

This was the identity of the revived nightmare, the monster.

The shadows of memories of ancient monsters that once threatened the survival of humanity.

And the Demon King was certain that the ‘person’ he was looking for was also within this nightmare.

That was why he had been endlessly repeating the world, constantly searching every nook and cranny of the nightmare…

Even though he had been to the deepest depths this time.

《Where could she possibly be…?》

He still couldn’t find her.

The Demon King suddenly felt fatigue. He, who had never been tired in the countless long searches, was aware of fatigue for the first time.

That meant a very long time had passed.

Even the opposing player who fought with that indomitable will, was no longer able to continue the game…

《…》

The Demon King fully rose and left the nightmare room.

Kugugugung…

The wall between the nightmare room and the audience chamber opened to the sides, and the Demon King walked out from behind the throne in the audience chamber.

‘It seems like I was searching the nightmare for quite a long time…’

The Demon King tried to grasp the current situation of this ‘game’ during that time. It would be a problem if the human world had already ended.

《Cromwell!》

The Demon King called for his loyal servant, the commander of the demon guard, whom he had entrusted with the authority.

《Cromwell, where are you?》

And soon, the Demon King was able to find him.

Outside the castle. In front of the sewer.

In this filthy place filled with the flowing and stagnant remnants of nightmares and trash…

The horribly mangled corpse of Cromwell.

《…》

Was he chewed up by a black dragon?

The second-in-command of the nightmare legion was crushed and burned all over, with a resentful expression… dead with his hand reaching towards the sky.

The dead demon guard commander’s body was already decaying and rotting. Along with the corpses of his subordinates piled up around him.

《Oh dear…》

The bodies of the demons, mixed together and rotting, were a grotesque and disgusting sight, but only a trace of pity remained on the Demon King’s face.

《How did you end up dying in such a place, my servant.》

The Demon King clicked his tongue and lightly flicked his finger.

Taak-!

《I never permitted your death.》

Then, the black darkness that covered the Lake Kingdom swirled and poured down, covering the bodies of the dead Cromwell and the demon guards.

《Arise, Cromwell. Even so, it would be too futile to end like this in such a place.》

The Demon King’s white lips curled up into a long smile.

《At least you should step on the human world before you die, don’t you think?》

Then,

Twitch!

The bodies of the demon guard commander and his subordinates, who should have been dead, pulsed once as if they had regained their breath.

Crack, crack…!

Immediately after, the eerie sound of joints cracking echoed from the corpses, and soon after.

《Kuaa, aaaa, aaaaaa-!》

Cromwell twisted his body grotesquely and rose from his spot.

His rotting, crushed, and broken body stood grotesquely on the ground. His eyes, already devoid of light, opened eerily, revealing the whites.

Gooooooo…!

An ominous green magic swirled around the huge deer horns that sprouted from her head, connecting her to her subordinates.

Kuaaaa!

Aaaaaaaa!

Following her, the corpses of the demon guards also let out terrible screams one by one, rising from their spots in turn.

In front of the moving corpses, the Demon King’s pure white smile became even more cruelly intense.

***

In front of the castle. Fountain Square.

“…”

Nameless was bound to the fountain.

Her whole body was bound by black iron chains on the dried-up fountain where neither pure water nor sewage flowed anymore. She was slumped on the ground, head bowed, not moving.

“…”

Crown stood in front of her.

He was standing still, looking down at the scene of the iron chains digging into his sister’s body, slowly contaminating her clean skin.

Thud. Thud.

It was then.

Footsteps were heard. Crown looked in the direction of the footsteps – towards the castle.

A figure was seen walking down the long stairs from the open door of the castle.

A flickering being that literally looked like a human shadow.

Crown spat out the opponent’s name.

“…Demon King…”

The king of the monsters, who had been secluded for a very long time, had finally returned from the nightmare.

《It’s quite a mess while I was gone.》

The Demon King, clicking his tongue, came down the stairs and looked around.

《I entrusted the proxy rule, and they’ve cut up the chessboard. Cromwell, that guy, it’s good that he’s loyal, but it’s always a shame that he can’t handle things properly without instructions.》

“…”

《And… who is this? Isn’t this the eternal resistance of the Lake Kingdom, the deposed princess?》

The Demon King slowly walked towards the bound Nameless.

《What a pitiful sight. To be bound by the nightmares of your own people.》

“…”

《But what can you do? It was none other than you who made them cling to you like this, Nameless.》

The Demon King picked up the iron chains that bound Nameless’s body. The Demon King chuckled as he smoothly slid the clanking chains between his fingers.

《It’s because you showed them ‘hope’. It’s because you promised them ‘salvation’.》

“…”

《You made empty promises, and since they were not fulfilled, you must pay the price.》

These iron chains were extended from the nightmares of the people of the Lake Kingdom.

The collective unconscious of the people gathered together. The collective consciousness. Refined from within… resentment.

Resentment towards the royal family who plunged the kingdom into chaos and turned it into hell. And resentment towards the failed savior who spread false hope.

The world was nearing its end, and the possibility of salvation was infinitely low. The people were now looking for someone to bear this long suffering in their place.

– You take on this nightmare for us.

Nameless did not refuse. She couldn’t.

The nightmare of the people seeped in through the iron chains connected to her body. The immortal nightmares of everyone in this country piled up within Nameless.

Nameless was swallowed by the sum of millions of nightmares. Her consciousness was slowly melting into it.

And once her last consciousness melted and disappeared into this nightmare, Nameless would transform into the final monster… the total collection of all nightmares.

“…”

Crown quietly observed his younger sister.

Even while listening to the Demon King’s mockery, he watched the pitiful princess, who was bearing the curses of all the people and gradually being stained by darkness…

The Demon King turned his gaze away from Nameless and looked at Crown.

《Even after coming this far, do you still want to save your sister? Crown?》

“…”

《Is it because of the love between family members who care for their sister?》

The Demon King sneered.

《What is it about those shallow emotions between people that makes everyone in this world cling to them so much?》

“…You too.”

Crown quietly opened his mouth.

“Aren’t you the same, Demon King?”

《What?》

“You’re looking for ‘that woman’, aren’t you? In the nightmare. Endlessly.”

Behind the mask, Crown’s eyes shone coldly with a sneer.

“Isn’t that because of love?”

The Demon King’s outlined face contorted.

《…You dare to speak so carelessly, you clown.》

“Isn’t that the same for you, Demon King?”

Now Crown openly chuckled and sneered.

“You’re also a clown of the outer gods.”

Crack!

The Demon King gestured once in the air, and an intangible force grabbed Crown’s head and slammed it into the ground.

Crown didn’t even let out a groan. The blood flowing from his smashed forehead dripped down his mask.

《My feelings for ‘that woman’ are not love.》

The Demon King loosened his hand with a snap.

《It’s just guilt.》

“Didn’t you say before? That feeling when your heart flutters just thinking about the other person, your body trembles, and tears come to your eyes… that’s love.”

Crown chuckled.

“Your obsession with saving ‘that woman’, from what I’ve seen, is definitely love.”

《Crown.》

The Demon King’s voice turned cold.

《The reason I made you participate in this infinite regression, even with your memories, is a simple punishment. It means that you, the culprit who plunged your kingdom into this hell, must pay the price.》

“…”

《It doesn’t mean you can speak out of turn…!》

The Demon King lightly flicked his finger, and an intangible force strangled Crown’s neck.

But Crown, who was already indifferent to death, continued to speak. He had already dropped the honorifics.

“…Isn’t this infinite regression over now?”

《What?》

“Your opponent, Aither, is broken, and even his proxy, Ash, has reached the final round. The game of destruction can’t continue any longer.”

This was the final game. The final game.

That was definitely true for Aither and Ash. But the Demon King lightly denied it.

《The final round? That’s for the player and his proxy.》

“…”

《My soul has not weakened in this ordeal. I just need to find the next player, and the next proxy, and start the next game again.》

Until he finds that woman in this eternal nightmare.

Crown shook his head at the Demon King’s obsessive determination.

“Why don’t you just give up?”

《…What?》

“The woman you’re looking for isn’t in this nightmare anyway. It’s about time you admitted it.”

He had already scraped through all the monsters in the deepest part of the nightmare. There was no nightmare that the Demon King hadn’t searched.

‘That woman’ is not in the nightmare of this Lake Kingdom.

Crown thought, but the Demon King shook his head vigorously.

《No. She must be in this nightmare. It has to be.》

“…”

《And I will definitely save that woman. Even if it means I have to destroy your country and your world infinitely in the future. I will gladly do so.》

The Demon King glared evilly, looking down at Crown, whose forehead was pressed against the ground at his feet.

《You shall continue to watch in submission, clown. The sight of everything you love being covered in darkness and destroyed. Infinitely. Eternally…!》

The Demon King walked past the fountain square and into the darkness of the kingdom.

Watching the Demon King’s back, Crown thought.

‘I’m at my end too…’

He had been with this countless number of ‘games’, albeit in the form of an observer.

Crown’s soul was also at its limit. He was sensing that there would be no next round for him either.

And if even he disappeared. And if the next game was repeated again.

His poor sister would have to continue to suffer in this hell without even an older brother to hate.

It was then.

“Aither…?”

Nameless’s eyes, which had been motionless while bound to the fountain, slowly opened.

It seemed she had heard the conversation between the Demon King and Crown a moment ago. Nameless repeated the name of one person from that conversation.

“Aither, Ai, ther… Ah. Why did I forget that name?”

The red ribbon that someone had tied for her during the last festival was swaying in the white hair of the deposed princess.

“It was the name I gave to that person…”

Nameless sobbed quietly as she finally recalled the distant past.

“He was fighting, that person too. For over 500 years…”

No.

Not 500 years.

Repeating this world countless times… Aither, that man, is opposing the Demon King.

The reason is only one.

‘To save you.’

Only, for Nameless…

Crown knew, but he didn’t bother to say it. Because he didn’t want to increase his sister’s pain any further.

‘Aither, Ash, and me too.’

This is the last time.

This is the last chance to confront the Demon King and end this cursed game.

‘Please save my sister, Ash. Please keep your promise.’

Black iron chains continued to fly and wrap around Nameless’s sobbing body. Crown watched his sister’s corruption and wished.

‘I deserve to perish. My kingdom must also pay for its sins. But my sister. Only my sister.’

Must.

Be saved.

Crown bit his lip tightly.

He had been a useless older brother his whole life, but still, if he could save his sister in the end…

He vowed that he would do anything for that.

***

To save their respective loved ones.

Everyone was throwing themselves into their own hells.

Into a cycle that no one had ever been saved from, an eternally repeating cycle.

Hoping that someone would break this cycle…