I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 725

Kugugugung…!

“Kuhuk!”

Ariel’s eyes snapped open.

The entire Lake Kingdom, which had been floating above the lake by magic, had been forcibly plunged below the lake, and she seemed to have lost consciousness from the shock.

Swaaaaaaa!

The entire Lake Kingdom was already submerged, and even the interior of the royal castle, which had been protected by magic until the very end, was now being flooded with lake water like a waterfall.

It was a scene as if a flood was about to end the world.

Outside the large glass windows of the royal castle, the lake water was surging.

The clear turquoise lake was now mixed with a dark energy, making it a murky color that was hard to see through.

People and the remains of buildings swept away in the murky water were seen swirling around in a chaotic mess.

Everyone was under the curse of immortality, so even though they were caught in this disaster, they couldn’t even die.

They continued to suffer the pain of drowning, flailing their limbs madly.

《Hahaha.》

And, this scene.

As if admiring a fish tank from beyond the window in an aquarium, the sages were watching calmly.

《This view from underwater is quite special. The observers will be quite satisfied with this game of destruction.》

《It’s a scene worth the effort of having three of our brokers involved.》

The two sages spoke, laughing in turn.

However, the middle sage standing between them—the one who had initially charmed Prince Christian, the ‘Demon King’—was not laughing at all.

《No, the real game of destruction hasn’t even started yet.》

Having already discarded his disguise as a human old man, the Demon King spat out fiercely in his original form, like a completely black shadow.

《I will search through all the unconsciousness, all the nightmares of the people of this Lake Kingdom… and find that person.》

《…….》

《Until then, the game of destruction must not end.》

The other two brokers who had come to help the Demon King looked at each other and shrugged. Muttering things like, ‘He’s such an oddball—’

“Why…”

At that moment, Ariel, who had staggered to her feet, asked those demons.

“Why… are you doing this…”

To maintain her composure and ask calmly in this situation.

The other brokers, their white mouths stretched into wide grins, were about to mock her, but unexpectedly, the Demon King answered seriously.

《It’s because of the original sin committed by your ancestors in the distant past.》

“What…?”

《You prospered as a magical kingdom. But you never once considered where this magic came from, or who brought this power. No, you even turned a blind eye to it.》

The Demon King recited emotionlessly.

《Now, you are just paying the price.》

“What does that… even mean…”

Ariel, gritting her teeth, grabbed a waterlogged longsword that was rolling on the floor and pulled it out. It was an ordinary iron sword dropped by a guard who had fallen nearby.

“Even if our ancestors committed a sin, that is no reason for us, their descendants, to suffer!”

《Indeed. Perhaps not. But the reason you are being destroyed now is not because of your ancestors’ sins, is it?》

The Demon King coldly pointed out the truth.

《It’s because of your foolish brother and father.》

“Kuh…!”

《You have gained immortality, so you must also pay a fitting price. Now, you and your country will forever… rot in nightmares at the bottom of this lake.》

Clang! Clang…!

The glass windows of the royal castle, unable to withstand the immense water pressure, shattered along with the protective magic, and lake water poured into the royal castle, creating black bubbles.

As she was submerged in the rapidly rising water, Ariel gritted her teeth.

“I will take it back.”

Hearing her voice, which was flashing with clear determination, the Demon King finally looked at Ariel properly.

“Whether you made this country like this because of my ancestors’ sins, or because of my father and brother’s foolishness… it is all the responsibility of the royal family. I will surely, with my own hands, restore the glory of this country.”

Then, the Demon King finally smiled.

《So, that fake prince? You sent him out as your last hope?》

Immediately after the Demon King cast the ‘curse of immortality,’ Ariel realized the abnormality of the situation and immediately ordered Aether to be ‘exiled.’

– You are no longer a person of the Lake Kingdom…!

The princess’s words had power, and immediately, Aether was stripped of his qualifications as a person of the Lake Kingdom…

That was why he was able to escape the two curses that followed.

The people of the Lake Kingdom could not go outside the country, and the entire Lake Kingdom was to sink below the lake.

Aether would have safely escaped outside the lake.

“……”

Ariel herself couldn’t quite understand.

Why, at that moment, did she send Aether outside?

There were many other options, but why did she use her last chance to let that non-citizen from a slave background, that fake who was merely a substitute for the prince, escape?

What was she expecting from him…?

《I dare to prophesy, princess of the ruined kingdom.》

In the swirling vortex of black sewage, the bodies of the king and prince, who had lost consciousness, were sucked into the Demon King’s hands.

The Demon King placed his hands on the heads of the king and prince, and pulled out the shadows he had planted inside them.

The two people who had destroyed the country, bewitched by the shadows, would regain their senses when they woke up next time. And they would realize what they had done, despair, and go mad.

The Demon King, who was stroking the heads of the foolish king and prince who had already submitted to him, eventually looked at the princess.

Even in this situation, she did not give in, but stood proudly, glaring at him with her clear turquoise eyes… that noble gaze.

《Your hope will be shattered, weathered, and ultimately perish.》

“That will not happen.”

Ariel said with conviction.

“As long as I am the master of my soul.”

《Huhu, we’ll see. Let’s watch.》

Kwaaaa!

The black lake water that had rushed in instantly filled the inside of the royal castle and swept away Ariel’s body as if grabbing it.

Swept away by the massive mass of water, Ariel was thrown out of the royal castle.

《No great human has ever endured this infinite hell of the game of destruction. Everyone has succumbed, everyone has fallen.》

The Demon King calmly declared towards the afterimage of the princess, who was being banished.

《You will be the same.》

***

The entire Lake Kingdom sank to the bottom of the lake.

Submerged in water, the people of the Lake Kingdom, regardless of whether they were citizens or non-citizens, drowned endlessly. Having become bodies that could not die, they had to struggle, constantly enduring the pain of drowning.

In less than a day, let alone a few days, most of the people of the Lake Kingdom had gone mad and lost their will to resist.

The Demon King approached them one by one and offered a contract.

He would let them have comfortable nightmares instead of this hellish reality. In return, he asked for their dreams.

The vast majority succumbed. Most of the people of the Lake Kingdom chose to become living devices that supplied nightmares to the Demon King, instead of the unbearable pain of drowning.

Thus, only a few days after the Lake Kingdom sank, countless human cocoons wrapped in black shadows floated throughout the Lake Kingdom.

However, even though the vast majority were like this.

There were also those who stubbornly refused to accept the Demon King’s offer and endured to the end.

Ariel, who had been enduring with an iron will through the continuous deaths, was rescued by Coco, her nanny and a great witch.

Coco, a master of teleportation magic, had been surviving by teleporting to spaces within the kingdom that had not yet been flooded.

As soon as she was rescued by Coco, the words Ariel spat out were these.

“We must find a way to move freely and breathe underwater, Nanny…!”

Faced with the princess who, even in this situation, did not give up and tried to find the next path, Coco could not even wail.

The two then rescued Dirandahi, the head of the magic research institute, who had been imprisoned. In any case, he was one of the best magicians in the royal family.

Repeating death and resurrection in the submerged research institute, they developed a device that could breathe underwater.

Wearing this, and after distributing the equipment to those who had not yet succumbed to the Demon King.

Crossing the inside of the Lake Kingdom, where a strong current mixed with evil energy was raging, the survivors desperately tried to reactivate the barrier outside the Lake Kingdom.

Supplying power to the device, repairing the broken parts, dying and dying again…

It was a hundred years later that they finally reactivated the barrier and began to drain the water that had filled the Lake Kingdom.

***

Swaaaaaa…

Black water poured out of the submerged Lake Kingdom, splashing thick droplets.

As the water drained, the appearance of the Lake Kingdom, which had been submerged for over a hundred years and had become a terrible sight with moss and rot, was revealed.

“……”

On the rooftop of a building located in a high area.

Ariel, who was looking down at this scene, slowly took off the underwater breathing device she was wearing on her head.

“Hoo.”

Her silver hair, which had grown long and unkempt from not being cared for for a long time, cascaded down her back like a waterfall.

“We’ve finally taken one step forward.”

Ariel turned around.

There, the survivors who had fought together in this arduous battle for over a hundred years were standing in a row, watching this monumental scene with faces filled with emotion.

Dirandahi, the head of the magic research institute.

Baltimore, the checkpoint supervisor.

Malone, the centurion of the standing army.

Bayanbulak, the royal warehouse cleaner.

Paleyg, the sewer manager…

And in addition to the citizens with names, even the non-citizens who had fought together without giving in.

Regardless of their status before the destruction, regardless of their talent, there were those who simply did not kneel before the Demon King and fought together to the end.

That was why Ariel was able to continue fighting without giving up.

“We still have a long way to go.”

Looking back at her companions who had not been broken during this long and difficult battle, Ariel raised her eyes, still shining with determination.

“Let’s find a way to the next stage. To lift the curse on the Lake Kingdom.”

Following that, Ariel stared at the huge building in the center of the Lake Kingdom, shrouded in darkness…

She gritted her teeth as she glared at the royal castle from which she had been expelled.

“And ultimately, a way to defeat the Demon King…!”

However, Ariel, and the people who had fought alongside her, did not know.

That it would have been more peaceful when the Lake Kingdom was filled with water.

***

That night.

After the survivors celebrated their small success after a hundred years with a modest feast.

When the exhausted survivors took off their underwater breathing devices for the first time in a long time and lay down comfortably to sleep.

“…?!”

Ariel, who was alone, lost in thought, looking down at her moss-covered homeland, suddenly felt something eerie and turned around.

Sreung!

The rusty iron sword that she had been carrying since the day of destruction jumped out of its scabbard.

“Who is it!”

Then, a sinister boy’s voice flowed out of the darkness.

《Huhu, wouldn’t it have been better if you had just quietly drowned in the water?》

Thud, thud-

And what appeared from the darkness was… a boy with neat formal attire and dark blue hair.

《It would have been less painful for you.》

And in the boy’s arms, one of the survivors.

Was being held limply, bleeding from the neck.

And the boy smacked his lips with his red lips, then bit the survivor’s neck mercilessly.

Crunch!

Blood splattered everywhere. The boy, who had sucked out and swallowed a lot of blood, licked his lips with his bright red tongue.

《Well, from a vampire’s point of view, a live prey is naturally better. Besides, you are immortal, so no matter how much blood I suck, you won’t die…》

“Wh, what…”

Faced with this surreal scene, Ariel, who was belatedly wondering if the current situation was a dream, realized.

That they had been surrounded.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump…!

Evil beings that had fallen from the sky, tearing through the darkness, surrounded the survivors.

A black dragon,

The commander of the demon guard,

An unknown witch,

A plague lord,

A vampire king,

A spider queen,

The daughter of a nightmare demon,

A ghost privateer captain,

A full moon slaughterer,

A goblin god king-

Monsters from the old era, all of whom could destroy the human world on their own, who had already been defeated and sealed in memories…

All resurrected under the Demon King’s hand, had ambushed the survivors.

As the water drained, the land was revealed, and the Lake Kingdom became a space where people could breathe and walk…

The monsters that the Demon King had resurrected in nightmares over the past hundred years began to occupy the city.

《Now, then. Immortal humans who cannot die.》

Vampire King Selendion smiled slyly and bared his sharp fangs.

《It’s time to be hunted by monsters.》

The real hell had begun.