I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 806

It wasn’t just Dustia.

All the returnees from each generation, cursed by the goddess, were trapped within this Everblack.

This was the heavenly punishment [天刑 – tian xing, a divine punishment] the clan received for stealing the magic fire.

A curse of eternal return, where even in the afterlife, they were trapped in this Spirit Realm, forced to watch their descendants repeat their lives.

“Aren’t you going to help?”

Dustia asked once more.

The goddess sighed deeply. She murmured softly,

“Our humanity, living as slaves… at least to live like people. That’s why I planted this tree.”

The goddess looked up at the roots of the giant thorn tree she had planted herself, which was now burning her to provide warmth.

“But now you’re saying we should get rid of this tree?”

“If this tree disappears, Mother, you can be freed. You don’t have to burn and sacrifice yourself like this forever.”

“I would be free, but!”

The goddess shook her head.

“Our descendants, all of humanity, will now be left to shiver in eternal cold.”

“……”

“Without the light of magic… the next harsh millennium will begin. Even so…”

“Because it’s necessary for the next generation.”

Dustia said with conviction.

“Because it’s truly necessary for humanity, no… for the entire world.”

The goddess blinked in surprise.

Dustia turned her head to look at her son leading the battle against the Outer Gods.

“Just as a child grows into an adult. Just as the time for independence comes after childhood…”

In her mother’s memory, he was still a small, young boy.

Her son, who had grown so big without her noticing.

“For our humanity, and for this world, the time for maturity has come.”

“The time for maturity…?”

“A time to stand on our own two feet, not with power given from the outside, but with our own strength.”

The time to break away from the one-sided help of parents and live solely by one’s own power.

Because it was bound to come someday.

“I understand your pain, Mother.”

“……”

“What parent wouldn’t feel that way? Seeing their child go out into the wasteland alone, what parent’s heart wouldn’t be torn?”

Dustia said firmly.

“But we have to let them go.”

“……”

“Just as parents cannot care for their children forever, this tree cannot last forever either.”

A beacon of magic, planted by the will of the Outer Gods, transmitting the power of the outside world into this world.

Thanks to the magic this tree drew up, humanity had prospered for the past thousand years.

But that power was ultimately external. It was not something this world created itself.

We had to break away from it someday.

“A child who leaves their parents’ hands and goes out into the wasteland alone will, of course, be cold. Of course, they will suffer. But.”

Dustia smiled gently.

“Becoming an adult is inherently such a thing.”

Even if it’s cold, even if it’s painful.

Even while chewing on dirt and swallowing dust, doing the work of today.

Only through this process does a child finally become an adult.

Only through this process can one finally become an adult.

“……”

Before the goddess, who couldn’t speak, another spirit of a returnee appeared.

It was her own son, whom she had given birth to and who had been burned at the stake with her.

“Mother, the child who is fighting now… that’s the one.”

Her son whispered, looking at Ash, who was gasping for breath while holding a flag outside.

“The child I told you about, the one who will cut off and change this world itself, where people discriminate against each other based on power and race and rule as slaves.”

“……”

“At first glance, that child’s actions may seem reckless and foolish. But such reckless and foolish paths are, in fact, what lead the world to the next era…”

Her son smiled.

“You showed us that yourself, Mother.”

Before she knew it, all the other returnees of the clan had appeared and stood before the goddess.

The goddess wept as she looked at her descendants, who were connected to her and had received eternal punishment together.

“Just as you sacrificed yourself with a joyful heart for us and our descendants.”

Her son reached out his hand towards the goddess’s burning hand.

“Now, please let us go with a joyful heart. With a joyful heart, please accept it.”

At the same time, the returnees reached out their hands to each other.

“The maturity of our descendants. Our child’s… independence.”

The flames that had been burning the goddess moved to her son’s hand and then to his body.

The returnees held hands, connecting with each other, and passed the flames through their bodies.

Bearing the pain of their burning bodies, the returnees ascended to the sky. At the end of the line of connected hands, Dustia reached her hand towards the sky.

The tip of the Everblack’s roots touched her hand.

And then.

Whoosh-

Through the flames, their will was conveyed.

“My Everblack.”

The goddess whispered, swallowing her tears.

“My… giving thorn tree.”

The fire spread throughout the roots, and the goddess’s voice, which had planted, warmed, and protected the tree for the past thousand years, was conveyed to the tree.

“Even now, you’re worried about people, feeling sorry for those who will shiver in the cold without you, and you can’t bring yourself to remove your branches.”

The goddess whispered gently.

“It’s okay.”

Thump….

The roots of the tree, which had not moved at all, faintly twisted its body.

“People are strong, so even without us, they will sprout new fires on their own. So, it’s okay for you to rest now.”

Through the connected hands, stroking the roots of the tree that had shared eternal punishment.

The goddess wept and laughed.

“You’ve suffered so much during the endless ages.”

To the tree, the goddess did not command.

“Let’s go rest.”

She only spoke to it with all her heart.

“Let’s go to sleep together…”

And then.

Kugugugung…!

The roots of the Everblack began to vibrate violently.

***

Kugugugung…!

“……!”

I looked towards the Everblack, which was moving on its own.

The guardian tree of humanity began to rise, creating huge rifts around it. At the same time, it began to detach the part of its trunk that connected the Spirit Realm and the mortal realm.

“It’s a success…!”

Everyone in the fortress who was watching this scene cheered. I also let out a sigh of relief.

As the Everblack removed its trunk and roots, the Spirit Realm began to close rapidly.

Moreover, that wasn’t all.

Kugugugung…!

The giant tree, while moving away from the passage to the Spirit Realm, extended its freed trunk and roots… and began to block the attacks of the Outer Gods with its own body.

“This is…”

The tree was trying to protect us with its own will.

Even as its body was crushed and broken by the attacks of the Outer Gods, it desperately tried to help us in any way it could.

“……”

I had seen the guardian trees as simply objects to be eliminated.

I thought they were close to simple machines planted by the Outer Gods. So, I was willing to burn and destroy them.

But it wasn’t so.

This tree, until the very end, only wanted to help people.

“Thank you.”

I gritted my teeth as I watched the Everblack, which was supporting us with all its might.

“Thank you…”

The Everblack completely pulled its body out from between the mortal and spirit realms.

It was the moment when the Spirit Realm itself was about to be completely closed.

Thud!

The hands of the Outer Gods, which had been pouring down from the sky, began to merge with each other, and soon created an unprecedentedly huge hand….

Tearrrrr!

It forcibly grabbed the closing sky of the Spirit Realm.

“……?!”

The giant hand endured to the very end, even as its grip was torn and exploded.

And conversely, it began to tear open the sky of the Spirit Realm—the passage connecting to the other world.

《What is this…! Unbelievable-》

The bloodshot gaze of the Outer Gods focused on Salome, who was letting out a bewildered groan as she watched this scene.

Puh-bububung!

Salome screamed as she was battered by formless attacks, as if she hadn’t been prepared to absorb them.

《Kyaaaaaaak!》

“Salome!”

Salome fell.

Following that, the passage to the Spirit Realm was forcibly expanded as if it were being torn apart—and all the attacks of the Outer Gods intensified.

In addition to the giant hand, countless other fingers poured down like a bombardment.

The god-like beings who had been fighting on the fortress could not withstand it, and one by one, they were crushed and killed under the tips of the falling fingers.

“Kuh!”

“Is this their true power…?!”

Lark’s sword broke, and all the magic that Fernandes was chanting was forcibly extinguished.

The two brothers tried to continue resisting even in that state, but—

Kwaaaang!

Scores, hundreds of fingers poured down, and in the end, they were torn to shreds along with the ‘Final Ark’ and fell.

“Lark, Fernandes! No…!”

La Mancha, who was maneuvering to evade next to them, was grabbed by another Outer God’s hand and thrown to the ground.

Kugwagwang!

La Mancha, who was thrown into the depths of the transparent sea of the Spirit Realm, sank straight down.

“Father! Glory Knights!”

There was no time to worry. An enormous number of fingers were pouring down over my head as well.

I gritted my teeth and raised the flag, lifting the fortress.

But my magic fortress was crumbling like sand under the fingertips of the Outer Gods.

《Ash!》

At that moment, four crimson dragons flew in and formed a formation above my head, simultaneously unleashing their breath towards the sky.

Kwaaaaaaa!

The breaths of Dusk Bringer, Dawn Bringer, Day Bringer, and Dusk Bringer again—the four dragons’ breaths combined into one, setting the sky ablaze.

But the fingers, which had paused for a moment, soon broke through even that fire and began to fall again.

Thump! Kugung! Kugugung-!

The Everblack desperately extended its trunk and roots to block those attacks, but the hands ruthlessly tore apart the tree without hesitation.

《Player-!》

From afar, I heard another struggling voice.

Looking in that direction, it was the Demon King, who had been single-handedly blocking the ‘blinks’ of the Outer Gods by deploying a curtain of darkness since the start of the battle.

He, who always seemed relaxed and strong, was now tattered all over. Even at this moment, the Demon King’s shadow-like body was being shattered and reassembled every time the Outer Gods blinked.

《At this rate, it’s impossible for me to completely close the Spirit Realm!》

The Demon King shouted in an unusually urgent voice.

《When will that ‘trump card’ be ready…?!》

I didn’t know when even my spirit had been injured, but the blood from my forehead was dripping down to my chin.

Wiping it away with the back of my hand, I grinned.

“Just hold on a little longer. I’ll definitely do it.”

I believed it.

“That man who wants the true ending more than anyone else… that damn predecessor player.”

My accomplice, who had been fighting forever before me.

“I’ll definitely give those Outer Gods a spectacular blow…!”

***

Mortal Realm.

Crossroad. In front of the city gate.

《…….》

The ‘Sleepless Lake Princess’ stood still, looking around.

The area was devastated.

The walls made of black dragon scales and bones were all crushed, and all the defensive weapons placed on them were destroyed.

The humans, who were once wrapped in golden auras, blocking her advance against the master of nightmares.

Now, none of them could stand on two feet.

They were all bleeding, clutching their injured areas, and gasping for breath.

They were still glaring at her with their determined eyes, but that was all.

The battle was over.

《…….》

Crack, crackle….

As the connection between the Spirit Realm and the mortal realm weakened, the puppet strings that the Outer Gods used to control the ‘Sleepless Lake Princess’ kept flickering.

And every time this connection weakened, something inside the ‘Sleepless Lake Princess’ kept moving.

The ‘Sleepless Lake Princess’ could not understand why they were still alive.

Why she was taking the power out of her sword at the crucial moment.

Why she didn’t want to kill these people, this city, no matter what.

She was just the master of nightmares. Just a collection of monsters that crawled out from under that black lake.

She was just a tool to kill people and destroy the world.

As the connection with the Outer Gods weakened, something inside her kept interfering.

《…….》

Faint memories… flashed through her mind.

The day she first met them at the entrance of the Lake Kingdom.

The day she first sold them goods.

The day they fought monsters shoulder to shoulder.

The day they defeated wolves, snakes, and dragons together.

The day they shared drinks and talked about their dreams for the future.

Ah, and….

Even the night of a party where they held hands and danced.

《…….》

Under the burnt veil, the woman’s mouth moved hesitantly.

《I, am…》

For the first time in countless iterations.

The queen of monsters opened her mouth and spoke to the people.

《What was I… to you?》

After a moment of silence.

Those who had fallen opened their mouths one by one.

The dwarf said,

“A friend.”

The elf said,

“A light.”

The young knight, who had a broken shield strapped to his bloodied arm, said,

“An older sister.”

The blonde knight, still clutching his sword of light, said,

“A comrade.”

Under the veil, the two eyes of the ‘Sleepless Lake Princess’ widened.

It was then.

Pachichichik!

In the Spirit Realm, the Outer Gods forcibly expanded the passage, and as a result, the gaze of the Outer Gods towards the mortal realm also became stronger.

The black gaze connected to the ‘Sleepless Lake Princess’ became clearer than ever before. The Outer Gods injected an unprecedentedly strong will into her to ensure that they would not lose control over her, even for a moment.

Now, the gaze that was wrapped around the body of the ‘Sleepless Lake Princess’ looked almost like a black spider web.

The confusion that had been disturbing the master of nightmares was forcibly deleted. She was once again reborn as a perfect puppet of the Outer Gods.

The trembling at her fingertips disappeared. The master of nightmares slowly raised her dark sword, aiming it at the people who were still trying to stop her, even though they had fallen.

Thud. Thud. Thud….

It was then.

In this place where no one could stand, someone’s footsteps echoed.

From inside the city, past the collapsed city gate, to the very tip of the sword that the master of nightmares was aiming.

Everyone turned their gaze towards the one who was slowly walking out.

The person who appeared was Aider.

The lord’s aide, dressed in his old ceremonial robe, slowly took off his glasses.

As the thick glasses disappeared, his old, gray eyes were revealed.

Staring silently at the ‘Sleepless Lake Princess’ with his long-submerged gaze, Aider opened his mouth.

“And…”

Smiling faintly, shyly.

To confess what she was to him, without hiding it.

“A crush.”