I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 812

The dawn had passed, and it was just the time when morning was arriving.

Aider and I climbed the eastern wall of Crossroads together.

“The reason why the achievement that the Lord has accomplished is great, as you know well yourself…”

Aider’s voice was so small that I had to listen more carefully than usual.

“It is because you have continued to walk down a difficult path.”

He keeps saying I’m great and amazing, so it’s a bit embarrassing for me to hear it.

I awkwardly scratched the back of my head.

“There’s nothing to gain from constantly praising me.”

“Hehe. I’m just stating the facts.”

“I was just staggering along, walking the path right in front of me.”

“But you were always looking at the stars in the sky.”

Aider whispered as he stood on the wall.

“That’s why you have arrived here.”

“……”

We stood facing east.

The rising sun brightly illuminated the sky.

A new day was beginning.

The first day without monsters, without nightmares, and without beings who treat us like toys… was just beginning.

“The easy path was always in front of you. You could have opened the way by simply fighting and killing the enemies in front of you, without conflict or agony.”

“……”

“But you did not give up on the difficult path. You conflicted, agonized, and tried to communicate.”

Standing facing the sun, with his eyes closed, Aider took a breath.

“If you had easily decided that the enemy was born wrong and therefore had to be killed.”

I listened carefully to his story.

“If you had given up on trying to communicate with an opponent who was separated by a deep chasm from the beginning. If you had not tried to love even the ugliness of the other, if you had not pitied the pain of even the enemy.”

A faint smile formed on Aider’s lips.

“If you had given up on the ‘courage not to hate’… this world would not have reached this conclusion.”

As if going through the achievements a player has accomplished before the game’s credits.

My director recited the path I had walked.

“Those times when you agonized and worried, all that inefficiency had meaning. Those painful and difficult days led this world to the true ending… no.”

Aider raised his hand and pointed behind us…

Towards Crossroads.

“It led to ‘today’.”

I turned around and looked at the city that stood before us.

My city, where the final battle had taken place just yesterday, was now immersed in peaceful silence, with the early morning sunlight pouring down.

It was the time when all my people, who had cried and laughed all night, were still in sweet morning sleep.

The ‘tomorrow’ that I had so longed to reach… had finally become ‘today’.

“Congratulations, Player.”

Aider slowly bowed deeply to me with respect.

“I pay my respects to your great achievement.”

“……”

“Now, it’s time to grant the promised wish.”

And Aider gathered gray particles from his body and transmuted them into a dazzling light.

A power separate from magic, the ability to connect to another world as a system administrator. A part of it still remained in him.

“You have waited a long time. You must convey your words to that child, right?”

“…Aider.”

“Don’t worry. I have left the power to grant your wish, and the line to convey your wish. I saved just enough life for this moment.”

My wish.

It was also the wish of a classic enthusiast on Earth.

To send words of encouragement to a child who is in a coma in a hospital.

It’s something I’ve been waiting for a long time. But…

I asked carefully.

“If I fulfill that wish, you will…”

“I will finally be free.”

Aider smiled. I immediately understood the meaning of those words.

Indeed.

After fulfilling this wish, Aider will die.

“Don’t look at me with such an expression. Either way, I won’t last more than a few days and will disappear.”

“……”

“Rather than fading away meaninglessly, it would be better to burn the remaining life… to at least convey your words to that child.”

Aider chuckled.

“It’s really fortunate that the Lord’s wish is small. If it were even a little bigger, I wouldn’t have been able to grant it.”

“Aider.”

“I have fulfilled all my wishes.”

Aider’s gray eyes were firm with clear determination.

“The Lord… you have fulfilled all my wishes.”

“……”

“So now it’s my turn.”

I clenched my fist tightly.

“Now, Lord.”

Aider looked at me and asked, unusually kindly.

“What words do you want to convey to that child?”

I swallowed.

I.

I…

《Wait, wait, wait a minute!》

It was then.

《Save that life, keep it, keep it! I have a better way!》

A sudden, cheerful voice came from the side.

Startled, I saw the space above the eastern wall where we were standing wriggle, and then a small door opened…

《Yoo-hoo!》

Pink-Tae Yang popped out!

I stared blankly at this pink-haired, tanned delinquent who suddenly appeared between us and shouted.

“Salome?!!”

《Tada~ That’s right! The most seductive woman in the universe, Salome! Reappearing~!》

“No, you’re really alive!”

When I said that, genuinely surprised, Salome’s eyes, which were waving a V with both hands, narrowed.

《What’s with that tone? It’s like you were hoping I was dead…》

“No. Of course, I hoped you were alive. But I’m still surprised…”

How did you get out of that mess?

《Ehehehe. I told you before, right? Now I can go anywhere as long as I have ‘heart’? Even if that place is another world!》

Salome puffed up her nose with a smug look.

《Basically, I’m also a spiritual body, so it costs less to pass between worlds? And because there’s a definite coordinate of heart here, which is you. That’s how I was able to jump over here!》

Immediately after, Salome gasped for breath, looking like she was about to die.

《Haa, haa, but… this world has almost no magic left. It’s suffocating…》

“Are you okay…?”

Now, in our world, magic, miracles, and powers have almost all disappeared.

It wouldn’t be easy for Salome, who is something that combines all those magic, miracles, and powers, to endure.

《Hmm~ So actually, I don’t think I can live much longer in this world.》

Salome hesitated and fidgeted with her fingers.

《I think I’ll have to leave for another world… But I wanted to see your face once before I left, so I came like this.》

“Salome…”

I swallowed.

This succubus, who had fought to help me, had come to say goodbye to me before leaving for another world.

《Haa… It’s a shame, really. It’s a shame… It’s a shame to leave you behind…》

Salome licked her lips as if she was regretful, and scanned me up and down. What is it! What does that mean!

Salome, who had raised her eyebrows and smiled suggestively, made a V with her thumb and index finger and put her hand under her chin.

《Anyway, that’s why I decided to leave for a world I’ve wanted to go to before!》

“…A world you’ve wanted to go to?”

No, no way…

《It’s a very distant world, but I’ve secured a definite coordinate of heart there.》

“Could that coordinate of heart be…”

《Hehe, that’s right… Ash! I have the coordinate I got from stealing a peek at your past back then!》

I was shocked and gaped my mouth.

That’s right.

My personality is a replica of a classic enthusiast.

In other words, this Salome… read the memories of the classic enthusiast, and also knows the ‘heart’ of the classic enthusiast!

This girl is planning to go to Earth!

Salome turned around in place, showing off her outfit.

《Actually, I prepared this outfit in advance to go to that world? This is Salome’s foresight!》

“Y-you’re crazy…”

I thought it was strange from the moment we reunited, but was she planning this from the beginning…!

By the way, which part of the classic enthusiast’s memories did she read to choose that look? I think they’ll be a little… scared in that world too…

《The new legend of Succubus Empress Salome begins! Hehehe, look forward to it~?》

“What are you planning to do…?”

Salome just smiled slyly instead of answering.

I apologized to the people of Earth in my heart in advance. I’m sorry, everyone on Earth. It looks like we’re going to forcibly export something a little scary…

《It’s been a long talk, but anyway! I’m going to that world now.》

Salome stretched out her hand and drew a large circle in the air.

《I’m going to connect a passage through which a spiritual body can travel to that world for a moment… As you know, I’m a pretty amazing woman, so I can take one person’s ‘heart’ with me for a while.》

I understood the meaning and asked back.

“You’re saying you’ll take my consciousness… to that world for a moment?”

Salome nodded.

《The method is a bit different from that gray guy, but the result is similar. It will be a very short time, but you will be able to reach the heart of the child you desire.》

Salome smiled brightly.

《More than anything… I want to watch that wish come true!》

I chuckled and nodded.

If it’s her, she deserves it.

“I’m counting on you, Salome.”

《Okay, I’ll prepare!》

Salome began to open a door in the air.

Aider, who was watching this, spoke urgently.

“Wait a moment, Lord…!”

When I turned around, Aider shook his head.

“That’s… not right!”

“What’s not right?”

“I promised you, didn’t I, that if you reached the true ending, I would grant your wish…!”

Aider grabbed his chest with a trembling hand.

“You kept your promise to me, Lord. So, I… I have to repay you.”

“……”

“I have to reward you for fighting without giving up for that long time! But…”

“Hey, Aider.”

I smiled.

“I’ve already received enough reward.”

“Huh?”

“It’s right here.”

I gestured towards the inside of the city. Aider’s eyes widened.

There was the peaceful scenery of Crossroads, bathed in the morning sun.

“Where is there a reward that goes beyond this?”

“……”

“Our wish to save the world is something we achieved together. You don’t need to reward me any further.”

“But, still…”

From the beginning, I cannot fulfill my wish with the sacrifice of someone else.

Because I came this far with my wish to save someone.

So, it’s absurd from the start for you to fulfill my wish with your remaining life. You idiot.

“……”

Perhaps it was because his life was unexpectedly extended a little.

Aider stammered in a voice that couldn’t find its way.

“Then, with this remaining life, what should I…”

My hand gently patted Aider’s shoulder.

“How about using that remaining life… for your last wish?”

“Huh? My last wish…?”

“Yes.”

I smiled gently.

“Think about it. What do you want to do at the end of your life?”

“……”

“Find your true last wish yourself.”

At the end of the long journey, I also wanted my accomplice to be happy.

I wanted him to use his last life for himself.

“…Last, wish…”

Leaving the dazed Aider behind, I stood in front of Salome.

《Then, Ash! It’s the moment you’ve been dreaming of!》

Standing in front of the wide-open magic door, Salome also smiled brightly.

《Carrying your banner, walking to the end, and… directly. It’s time to convey your heart!》

Somehow, I felt nervous, and my heart started to pound.

I took a deep breath and calmed my mind.

Salome reached out her hand to me.

《Come on! Let’s go fulfill your wish!》

“…Yeah!”

I took Salome’s hand.

As Salome smiled mischievously and pulled me, my vision brightened with a flash of white light.

And…