I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 777

Fortunately, the survivor group wasn’t hostile to us.

No, they were more than just not hostile; they were friendly.

And that was because…

“Prince Ash! It’s been so long!”

It was because we were acquainted.

King Miller Arian of the Arian Kingdom greeted me warmly, offering a handshake. I took his thin hand and shook it.

“Miller. It’s been a while. It’s good to see you alive.”

“We Arians are used to this kind of weather! This blizzard can’t kill Miller Arian!”

His once-muscular body had shrunk, but his eyes shone as brightly as they had 15 years ago.

I didn’t bother asking about Yoon’s well-being. In this world, there’s nothing more foolish than asking about someone who isn’t present.

After a brief chat about how we’d been, I got to the point.

“Could you possibly spare some medicine? We have many injured.”

“Medicine… We’re not exactly overflowing with it, but we’ll share what we can.”

Miller ordered his subordinates to gather medicine.

The subordinates, with their dull, lifeless eyes, nodded faintly and disappeared into the shadows of the dark city.

After sending his subordinates away, Miller leaned close to me and lowered his voice.

“So, Prince Ash. You still have it, right?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Why, the one-shot reversal, of course!”

Miller clenched his fist with his remaining arm.

“The one shot that can topple those cursed monsters covering this land and save the world…! You have it, right?”

“…”

I was speechless.

Such a method doesn’t exist.

The world has already ended. It can never return to its former state.

Even knowing this, I searched for a miracle. If I didn’t believe such a miracle existed, there would be no reason to live.

So, this was the best I could manage to say.

“…I’m still looking for it myself.”

Miller’s face, which had been smiling, hardened.

He must have read the resignation and fatigue in my voice and face.

“I see, I see…”

He stroked his unkempt beard and laughed hollowly.

“Prince Ash, I don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, but you’ll find it eventually. No matter where or how much you search, if it’s you…”

Silence fell.

An awkward atmosphere filled the space between us around the bonfire. Miller cleared his throat and, spotting his subordinates returning in the distance, brightened up.

“Oh, my subordinates are coming… Hey, how much medicine is left?”

Clink. Clink.

But.

Instead of medicine, the subordinates who approached were holding blades.

Moreover, their numbers were far greater than those who had initially scattered. It seemed they had gathered all their comrades scattered throughout the city.

“…”

Elise, Sid, and I calmly sat by the bonfire, glancing at the survivors who were swarming around us.

Miller, however, was visibly flustered.

“What are you doing, you fools?!”

“…”

“This is a welcoming party for our honored guests! Put down your swords this instant!”

“Your Majesty, please step back.”

Among those who surrounded us, a gaunt middle-aged woman spat out the words, gripping a rusty kitchen knife.

“We all know. Prince Ash, that this man was the commander of the World Protection Front.”

“…”

“This man had the responsibility to protect the world. If this man had done his job properly, the world wouldn’t have ended so horribly.”

I closed my tired eyes. The middle-aged woman cried out miserably in a hoarse voice.

“Prince Ash, it’s your fault! It’s all your fault! If you had done your job properly, the world would have been safe, and my children wouldn’t have had to die so tragically!”

“…”

“All this failure is your responsibility! Then you should take responsibility! Why are you still shamelessly alive?!”

The survivors surrounding us took a step forward in unison.

The menacing weapons, reflecting the light of the bonfire, glowed red with hostility.

“Repent with your life.”

“…”

“At least die now! Apologize to my children who died first…! To this world that died first!”

Miller, who had jumped to his feet, shouted.

“You fools! Stop this foolishness!”

“Don’t stop us, Your Majesty!”

“Isn’t this a world that’s already over anyway…? Stop being polite!”

“At the very least, let’s kill these bastards and eat human meat to our hearts’ content for the first time in a while…!”

Miller’s attempts to stop them were useless.

The next moment, the survivors, who had been slowly closing the distance, simultaneously screamed and rushed towards me.

I didn’t dodge. I had several ways to block their attacks, and the very act of trying to dodge was exhausting.

But something completely unexpected happened.

Thud! Thud, thud, thud…!

Miller, who had jumped in between, took the attacks that were aimed at me with his body.

“Cough!”

“Miller?!”

Several blades pierced his old, emaciated body, then were pulled out with a gush of blood.

Not only me, but the survivors who had wielded the blades were also taken aback.

“Y-Your Majesty! Why?!”

“Haa, haa, cough…!”

Miller, bleeding profusely from his wounds, muttered.

“Who dares to throw stones at this man…?!”

“…!”

“Everyone who was on that front knows. That if it weren’t for this man, the world would have perished long ago. That it was because of this man that hope existed in this world…”

Miller raised his empty arm.

The burn scars from the black dragon’s flames during the battle were revealed. He still considered those scars to be glorious medals.

“I remember. That miraculous moment when this man returned the sunlight to the world…”

“…”

“So, if you want to throw stones at this man… Haa. Kill me first. Before I die, never…!”

The survivors were flustered, but their eyes slowly changed. The hands holding the blades tightened.

“Yes, we were tired of your old, pathetic stories, Your Majesty…”

“At least let us fill our starving bellies with your flesh before you go.”

“Kill them all! Let’s feast tonight!”

Even in a situation where his own people, whom he once led, had all betrayed him and were pointing their blades at him, Miller stood his ground, his legs trembling, as if trying to protect me.

I stood up and placed my hand on his shoulder.

“…Thank you, Miller.”

“Haa, haa, Prince Ash…”

He turned to me with trembling eyes.

It was an era where everything was being tested.

Humanity, beliefs, principles, will, everything…

I was the same. In this ruined world without hope, I was about to give up on finding salvation.

I was about to accept my fate of slowly withering away.

But even in this era, this old king showed me that there was still someone who truly believed in me.

So, I spoke with sincerity.

“Thank you.”

Perhaps he read the determination returning to my eyes, replacing resignation.

Miller, who had been staring blankly at me, slowly smiled, his mouth covered in blood.

“Yes, I see… That’s… enough…”

Thud.

Miller collapsed.

The old king was dead.

I quietly looked down at him, who had fallen and died in his own blood, then looked around at the survivors who were still surrounding us.

To those who were gripping blades and revealing their respective hatred and desires, I said softly.

“Monsters are killed. People are protected.”

“…?”

“That is my lifelong belief.”

I reached out my hand towards them.

“And still, I want to protect you.”

“…”

“It’s not too late. Put down your weapons. Please, don’t become monsters. Remain human.”

Especially in this era.

Someone must remain a lamp. Someone must remain a beacon. Someone must remain a flag.

If the world’s destruction is my responsibility, then protecting the last vestiges of humanity is also my responsibility.

Reviving that spark in people is also my responsibility.

“Don’t become the same monsters as them.”

“…”

“Even if it’s difficult and hard, let’s… live as humans until the very end.”

The survivors’ expressions varied.

Some burned with even more intense hatred, as if it were impossible, some were shaken and confused, and some had trembling eyes…

In front of these bewildered and murmuring people, I waited calmly.

However, in the end.

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’ll kill you, Prince Ash!”

After the faint emotions evaporated, what remained in the survivors’ eyes was deep-seated hatred.

“Go spout your hollow nonsense in hell! With that old baggage Miller dead, there’s no need to hold back anymore!”

“If it means surviving in this hellish world, I’ll gladly become a monster!”

“Meat, meat, give me meat!”

…Yes.

This must be reality.

Still, I tried to persuade them until the very end. I tried to make at least one person regain their reason.

But, it was then.

Thump…

Something rumbled in the distance.

“…?”

Everyone turned their heads in that direction as if they had made a promise.

Thump… Thump… Thump…

The heavy sound grew closer.

The survivors swallowed their startled screams and dropped the blades in their hands one by one. Confusion and despair appeared on everyone’s faces.

Everyone knew the identity of this sound.

“Your Highness!”

Elise, who had urgently stamped out the bonfire with her foot, shouted.

“Hide!”

Elise led me and Sid and hurriedly ran behind the ruins of a pillar.

Thump…! Thump…! Thump…!

At the same time, the sound began to intensify.

As if something very heavy was running across the ground.

And, the moment we hid behind the pillar-

Crash!

Three giant statues appeared, crushing the ruined buildings and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Beings that appear to hunt humans by reading the negative emotions that are emitted when people are hostile to each other.

One of the worst monsters of the apocalypse-

“The Three Poisons…!”

The giant statues with the heads of a rooster, a snake, and a pig, their red eyes gleaming, raised their respective weapons. And they spoke in monotonous voices.

《Always greedy,》

《Always full of anger,》

《Always foolish. Oh, humans.》

They spoke simultaneously.

《Come, let us go to Nirvana together.》

And, they began their human hunt.

Whoosh!

Splat-!

Every time the giant glaive, twin blades, and trident danced, the heads and necks of the survivors who had been alive just moments ago were severed, spraying blood everywhere.

“Aaaah!”

“Run, run away-!”

“It’s the Three Poisons! We can’t beat them! Run…”

A man who was shouting was grabbed by the giant statue’s hand, and his upper and lower body were torn apart.

The man continued to scream for a long time even after his lower body was thrown far away.

“You damned monsters! You were the ones who killed my children back then-”

The middle-aged woman from earlier rushed towards the giant statue with a kitchen knife, but.

The next moment, she was struck by the giant’s fist, and the middle-aged woman’s blood and flesh exploded in the air, scattering everywhere.

A massacre occurred.

Those who quickly hid in the ruins like us survived, but those who were outside were brutally murdered.

“Tch!”

As I slowly began to stir my magic, Elise, flustered, stopped me.

“Your Highness, what are you doing!”

“But, the people… !”

“We can’t defeat those monsters with our current strength! Don’t you know that! We have to hide and look for a chance to escape!”

Then, Sid muttered quietly.

“…It’s too late to escape anyway.”

“What?”

“More are coming.”

Sid murmured, looking around with eyes that were filled with a faint magical glow.

“Other monsters too.”

“…!”

Swoosh…

From the other side of the ash-covered land, it approached as if the earth was undulating like a wave.

No, it wasn’t a wave.

It was a swarm of countless rats.

In the center of the swarm was a giant mass of flesh.

“The Mother Rat…!”

It was the monster I commonly called the Great Rat Mother, the mother of all rats.

That meant that the main force of the rat swarm that had swallowed this world had arrived here.

“Aaaah!”

“It’s a rat swarm! A rat swarm has appeared!”

“If we get swallowed, it’s over, run away…!”

Those who were trying to escape out of the city were horrified and tried to return to the ruins, but it was already too late.

The wave of rats, which had swept in at a speed far exceeding that of humans, engulfed the survivors.

Those who were swallowed by the wave were unable to even scream, and in a matter of seconds, the flesh was torn from their bodies and their blood was sucked out.

The corpses, reduced to skeletons in an instant, rolled on the ground.

And, it didn’t end there.

Clop! Clop! Clop!

The sound of hooves.

Four centaurs appeared with the sound of swift hooves. Each of them was surrounded by plague, fire, water, and ice.

“The Four Commanders of the Apocalypse Knights…”

It’s really getting worse and worse.

As I clicked my tongue, Sid added.

“This isn’t the end.”

“What?”

When I turned around, Sid’s face was paler than ever before.

“They’re looking this way. They’re coming this way.”

Sid’s eyes, which were facing me, trembled.

“The ‘real’ enemy…!”

The next moment,

Thump-!

The sky split open with a deafening roar that shook the earth.

The sky, which was always swirling with black smoke, split open, revealing the swirling darkness of another dimension. Through the gap, countless eyes were blinking incessantly to peek at the ground.

And along the path in the sky, receiving starlight from below the clouds… two beings descended.

“…!”

One of them was a woman whose face was covered by a mourning veil with burnt edges.

The dress she wore also had burnt edges on the hem and sleeves, and the tall crown she wore on her head was also scorched and blackened.

Even her long white hair, which seemed to drag on the ground, was burnt black at the ends.

‘The Sleepless Lake Princess’.

The worst enemy, and once my friend.

And, next to her…

《It’s been a while, Ash.》

Wearing a black, burnt mask that constantly emitted black smoke, with a crown made of thorns on the upper part of the smiling mask.

Wearing a white royal robe that was all burnt black at the ends, and a white cloak that was also burnt black at the ends…

There was a jester.

I spat out his name.

“Crown.”

Then, the crowned jester smiled behind his mask and asked.

In a low, resonant, pleasant baritone…

《How is it? Have you gotten used to this nightmarish life yet?》