I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 74

The Pied Piper.

His name is Crown.

‘The court musician, court jester, and court magician of the Lake Kingdom, you say?’

He sure has a lot of roles. I grumbled inwardly.

This guy wasn’t that big of a deal as an NPC [Non-Player Character] in the game.

Even when he occasionally invaded the battlefield, he didn’t engage in direct combat. He would just command monsters or apply debuffs to the player side.

However, there is one scene I remember clearly.

The final stage of this game.

He appears in the first room of the final dungeon leading to the final boss.

But even then, he doesn’t have any direct combat abilities, and by the time we reach the final stage, our party is incredibly strong.

A few stabs with a sword, and he’d fall right over. He was nothing special.

‘Right, these white-masked guys are the ones who came out with him back then.’

This masked unit was the underlings who appeared with the Pied Piper in the final stage.

But again, they were nothing special at the final stage.

There were far stronger and more terrifying enemies in the later parts of this game. I didn’t even remember this guy and his underlings that well.

But that enemy—is now blocking our path.

‘Besides, what did he call me?’

Did he just call me a player?

Does this mean he understands the ‘system’ of this world?

There were too many questions, but I asked the most urgent one first.

“Why are you hostile to us? Can you tell me the reason?”

From the hands of the white-masked unit surrounding us, crossbows and bows gleamed.

The strings were pulled taut, as if they were about to be fired at any moment.

Forget the backstory, getting out of this crisis is the priority right now.

To my question, Crown surprisingly gave a straightforward answer.

“Your party is trying to conquer this city and uncover the secrets of the kingdom, aren’t you? Without knowing how terrifying the darkness sleeping inside is… I’m just trying to stop that.”

Crown’s voice became heavy.

“We are the last defense force protecting the kingdom. The remaining remnants of this Lake Kingdom.”

The white-masked men introduced themselves like that.

“We are the Nightcrawler unit.”

Nightcrawler.

Those who crawl through the night, they say.

“Those who try to touch the darkness of this city, we will incinerate. You are just another target.”

As Crown raised his hand, the Nightcrawler unit members tightened their grip on their ranged weapons.

The moment that hand falls, an attack will pour down on us.

‘This is dangerous!’

We’re completely surrounded, and there’s a level and equipment difference.

If we take that volley of fire, someone will die, or in the worst case, we’ll be wiped out.

‘Then I’ll have to use the cards I have!’

I opened my eyes wide.

It was time to use the new skill I had just acquired, without holding back.

[Using Command Eye.]

[Please make eye contact with the target you wish to use the skill on.]

The world slowed down for a moment.

In the light blue interface unique to skill usage, I raised my head and looked around.

Making eye contact with each of the guys aiming their weapons at us.

[Target Acquired: 12]

[Please state your command.]

The command shouldn’t be difficult. Otherwise, the skill success rate will be low.

It shouldn’t be something that puts a lot of mental pressure either. For example, a command like ‘kill each other’ would have a higher chance of resistance.

So, something that would help us escape easily, and with a very simple command!

“All of you…”

I stretched my hand forward and shouted.

“Turn around!”

[Command Difficulty: Very Easy]

[Comparing the user’s intelligence stat with the target’s magic stat.]

[Determining the success rate. Starting resistance roll…]

The next moment, a light blue flash burst from my eyes.

[Judgment Complete!]

>Success: 7

>Failure: 5

[Executing Forced Command.]

Thump!

My nose started bleeding, probably from overexertion. My heart felt tight, as if my magic had bottomed out.

To have this strong of a feedback just from giving such a simple command.

But the opponents are all high-level NPCs, and there are more than 10 of them. It’s only natural that there would be this much of a backlash.

Five resisted, but the Command Eye worked on more than half, seven of them.

Swish!

More than half of the Nightcrawler unit members surrounding us turned around in an orderly fashion.

Crown, who was about to lower his hand to give the firing command, muttered in a dumbfounded voice.

“What is this?”

The rest of the Nightcrawler unit members also looked visibly flustered at their comrades’ strange behavior.

Not missing this opportunity, I shouted.

“Run!”

My party members, who were also bewildered, snapped back to their senses at my voice. I stretched my hand towards the inside of the open space.

“We’re escaping through the teleport gate!”

Beyond the bonfire, in the corner of the open space.

A familiar pile of stones was stacked up.

It’s a teleport gate. If we can just reach there, we can safely retreat out of the dungeon!

“I’ll clear the path!”

Lukas ran forward first.

Thwack! Whack!

Lukas punched and hit the back of the heads of the Nightcrawler unit members who were standing blankly, creating a path as he ran.

I, Damian, and Jupiter followed right behind him, with Evangeline bringing up the rear.

“Is it mind control? This is quite interesting…”

Crown shouted sharply.

“Shoot, shoot! Don’t let them get away!”

The ones who weren’t affected by the Command Eye started firing first, and the rest, who had regained their senses a beat later, also straightened up and raised their weapons.

Whizz! Whizz!

Arrows rained down like a storm. Watching the barrage of arrows coming at us, I shouted.

“Evangeline!”

“Leave it to me!”

Evangeline raised her shield and leaped up.

Ping! Pingping! Ting-!

Evangeline blocked all the arrows pouring down like a shower with her shield.

If the shield wasn’t enough, she swung her lance to deflect them.

“Heng!”

Evangeline smiled triumphantly. Good job, our SSR [Super Super Rare]!

At that moment, I saw a cannon aiming at us from over there. The fuse was already lit. I shouted urgently.

“Damian!”

“Yes!”

Damian pulled out a crossbow instead of his magic gun.

He must have judged that a crossbow was easier to handle than a magic gun with its strong recoil in this urgent situation.

Bang-!

The cannon fired, and almost simultaneously, Damian shot the crossbow upwards.

Whoosh!

Damian sniped the incoming cannonball.

The arrow shot from the crossbow pierced the exact center of the cannonball,

Boom-!

The cannonball exploded in mid-air.

It was an unbelievable feat, but Damian did it easily.

‘We’ve got a bunch of overpowered characters on our side!’

I smirked, raising one corner of my mouth. It’s still a nerve-wracking situation, but I could clearly see a way to get through it somehow.

The teleport gate is right in front of us now.

If we just activate it, we can safely retreat and prepare for a counterattack!

Just then.

“That won’t do.”

Crown’s low murmur reached my ears.

“Block them.”

“Yes, sir.”

Looking back, I saw two NPCs standing on either side of Crown spreading their hands.

Whoosh-

Vast magic power surged from the fingertips of the two NPCs. I gritted my teeth.

“Mages…!”

The next moment, magic shot from the hands of the two NPCs flew towards us.

One was wind, and the other was fire magic.

These two elements, when combined, create a synergistic effect, resulting in greater destructive power.

If we were hit directly, it would obliterate the area with a power that couldn’t even be compared to a cannonball.

If we get hit, we die.

“What?!”

Almost at the same time as I was horrified.

“Huuup!”

Jupiter turned around, sparks flying from his single eye.

Flash-

Kugwagwagwang-!

Lightning shot from Jupiter’s hands.

Jupiter blocked the fire with the lightning from his left hand and the wind with the lightning from his right hand.

The two magics were neutralized by Jupiter’s magic before they could synergize with each other.

“Kuhak!”

Jupiter, who had received the magic power of both mages at the same time, coughed up blood. I was shocked and widened my eyes.

“Jupiter!”

“Kuh… I can’t hold on for long, Your Highness! Hurry…!”

Kugung! Kurururung…!

As the storm and flames intensified, the lightning was helplessly pushed back.

Blood gushed out not only from Jupiter’s mouth but also from his eyes and nose. I looked ahead and shouted.

“Damn it, open the path quickly!”

“Yes!”

The NPC guarding the teleport gate was pushed back by Lukas, who wildly swung his sword.

I quickly placed my hand on the teleport gate and activated it.

‘Quickly, quickly!’

The pile of stones rose up, spinning around and finally forming a magical door.

[Teleport Gate]

– Please select a destination.

> Lord’s Manor Backyard

> Lakeside Pier

> Dried-up Drainage Ditch

> Hidden Back Alley

> Outer Wall North

I urgently selected the Lord’s Manor Backyard.

Whirr-!

The gate opened with a magical activation sound.

Damian, supporting Jupiter, entered the gate first.

Following behind, I pushed myself into the gate, glancing back.

The white-masked legion—the Nightcrawlers—seemed to have realized that they couldn’t stop us and didn’t attack anymore.

They just stood there, watching us.

In the midst of them, Crown was staring at me with his hands behind his back.

I couldn’t tell what he was thinking behind the mask.

The smiling face engraved on the mask was just horribly unpleasant.

“We’ll see, you Pied Piper bastard.”

It was the trademark line of third-rate villains, ‘We’ll see,’ but I couldn’t help but say it.

“I’ll definitely come back and take you down.”

Gritting my teeth and pointing my finger, I threw myself into the gate.

I saw Lukas and Evangeline jumping in behind me.

As I was sucked into the magical passage where the teleport was starting, I touched my aching forehead.

A new enemy has appeared, again.

***

[Free Exploration Ended!]

[Leveled Up Characters]

– Ash(EX) Lv.22 (↑2)

– Lukas(SSR) Lv.36 (↑1)

– Evangeline(SSR) Lv.38

– Jupiter(SR) Lv.40 (↑1)

– Damian(N) Lv.30

[Deceased and Injured Characters]

– Jupiter(SR) : Seriously Injured

[Acquired Equipment]

– Mantle of Screams(SR)

[Acquired Items]

– Gargoyle Legion Magic Stone: 72

– Golden Gargoyle Magic Core(SR): 1

– Golden Armor Fragment: 5

– Golden Room Key: 1