Became a tyrant of defense games - Episode 208
◈ 208. [Side Story] Darkness
“damian.”
I hear a voice.
“Damian, wake up.!”
I hear a voice I miss.
Damian slowly opened his eyes. As my blurry vision became clearer, I saw an old ceiling with dusty sunlight falling down on it..
The smell of fluffy blankets and boiling milk. The creaky bed and the cold wind blowing in through the window that wasn't closed tightly..
‘uh?’
This was the orphanage where I grew up as a child..
As Damian slowly raised his upper body, the girl sitting on Damian's bed put her index finger on her lips and made a low shhh sound..
“You decided to climb to the top of the mountain behind me today! I didn't forget?”
It was a girl with short hair like a boy..
Dark, tanned skin and light scratches on both cheeks. Long, thin limbs and a playful, mischievous smile..
Damian smiled at the girl, rubbing his sleepy eyes..
“Sorry, Van. I overslept.”
“Tsk tsk, it's okay. Because I knew this would happen, I came to wake you up..”
Tatcha! The girl sat up with her butt on the bed with a sound - Van held out her hand to Damian..
“Now, let's sneak out before the director catches us..”
Ban smiled brightly..
“This time, I'll make it to the top.!”
“……huh!”
Damian smiled shyly and held out his hand to hold his class's hand..
But the moment Damian holds Van's hand.
thud! Kugu Palace……!
The surrounding scenery has completely changed.
This was a collapsing forward base. It was the battlefield I was drawn to as soon as I was first assigned to Crossroads..
Soldiers were screaming and falling from all directions, and the sounds of cannons and the screams of monsters filled the surroundings..
Damian looked around blankly..
Before he knew it, black spiders with flashing red compound eyes were swarming around him in his blood-soaked priest's uniform..
One of the spiders swung its claws wildly. But Damian was so tired that he couldn't move..
“Damien, damage-!”
At that time, someone rushed in and pushed Damien's body back..
In Damian's dazed eyes, he saw the face of Ban, who had pushed him away and was smiling..
“As expected, I have to take care of you.…….”
Sigh! Phew! Phuwak-!
Ban's body was cut to pieces with a terrible sound. Damian screamed..
“half! No way baby!”
Damian kneeled closer to Van, who was in a pool of blood. Even though she was half crying and coughing up blood, she grinned..
“Kkeut, it’s okay. You know me, right? It's the invincible Ban... … This much, it doesn't even hurt.…….”
The spiders' claws tore Ban's body to pieces without any mercy..
Her leather breastplate and chain mail were shattered to no avail..
“No, no, no.…….”
The bones were clearly visible and the internal organs were spilling out. Damian barely suppressed his sobs and tried to use healing magic next to his class..
“I'll fix it for you, Van. I, I can fix it. Just hold on a little longer.”
However, the magic power was not gathered..
He had already used healing magic to the point of exhaustion..
I was so busy healing other people that I didn't have any magical energy left to heal the person who was most precious to me..
“Please, class. I'll fix it. So please……!”
Damian's hand, which was sobbing and muttering, was slowly grabbed by Van's hand covered in blood..
“damian.”
With a face crushed by the monster's claws, he was half smiling..
“I remember the day I climbed to the top of the mountain behind the orphanage.?”
“……huh. remember. Of course I remember. How could I forget.”
“Don't forget the promise you made back then.”
“But, half, I don't have you…….”
Damien tried to answer, but he was already halfway there and not breathing anymore..
I closed my eyes peacefully, and my smiling head fell down..
“……half?”
The warmth disappeared from Ban's hand in an instant. Damien looked down blankly at her friend's face as she passed away..
And- everything stopped..
The spider monsters screaming and running towards you, the sparks of gunpowder exploding, the blood flowing from Ban's wound, and the tears pouring from Damian's face. Everyone is.
Only then did Damian realize.
this is a nightmare.
It is a memory of the past that has already passed and cannot be changed or touched..
“Orlop!”
An angry cry flowed from Damian's mouth..
“Is it yours again?……!”
Then, Ban's corpse, which had closed its eyes peacefully, opened its eyes. An evil voice escaped from her blood-stained mouth..
《It's always too late to find out. damian.》
“Don't talk out of your class mouth! Get out of my mind right now!”
《You're sounding strange..》
Ban's corpse stood upright in its seat, its bloody body twisting grotesquely..
《I'm in the class, Damien..》
“Don't talk nonsense! You're not the class, you spider monster.!”
Damian covered his tear-covered face with both hands and screamed..
“Leave half alone! Let me rest in peace……!”
《What difference does it make if I'm all or half?》
Van's body staggered closer and whispered into Damien's ear..
《-You killed them both anyway.?》
Damien's brown eyes opened with a flash of light from his face covered with his hands..
When Damian jerked his hand to the right, a long horse gun was caught and lifted. It was [Black Queen]. Damian thrust the gun forward..
Clap!
Damien's magic gun was aimed between the eyes of Orlop, who was in the form of a ban..
《There's only one way to stop this nightmare, you know?》
Half of the time, Orlov, the Black Spider Queen, was smiling leisurely..
《Give up fighting me and run away to a peaceful dream.》
Damian tried to drive a magic bullet straight into the monster's forehead, but-
“……!”
couldn't do that.
At some point, the surroundings turned back into the orphanage of my childhood. And Damian's gun was pointed at half of his childhood..
《Give up fighting. Damian. Let's run away together.》
Laughing sadly, Ban whispered.
《Then you can live happily here.》
***
“damian!”
Damien suddenly opened his eyes at the shout he heard in front of him..
The scenery of the collapsed forward base, the orphanage of my childhood, the dead body of Van, the smile of young Van, and Orlov's voice have disappeared..
A bright sunny morning. It was the temple of the Crossroads..
The surrounding white stone wall was completely destroyed, and Damian was holding the magic gun Black Queen in his hand..
Damian looked around in bewilderment. He didn't understand why he was standing here.
“Calm down, Damien..”
The gun in Damian's hand was aimed precisely at the man in front of him - Ash..
However, Ash was not embarrassed at all and was speaking calmly..
“It's me, it's me. ash. I'll find out?”
“Prince… … sir?”
“Yes, it's me. It's okay, calm down, put the gun down.”
Damian absentmindedly lowered the horse gun in his hand to the side. Then a sigh of relief poured out all around him..
When Damian looked around, the party members were pointing their weapons at him..
“I am…….”
Not understanding the current situation, Damien stuttered and asked.
“What did you do??”
Ash smiled as if he were embarrassed..
***
I first brought Damien to my mansion..
In the living room, I wrapped Damien in a blanket and gave him a cup of warm cocoa. I explained to Damian what happened..
This morning. The black aura emanating from Damian and Ma Chong [Black Queen] became so thick that it even leaked out of Damian's room..
When the priests entered Damian's room out of concern, a black aura covered Damian's sleeping body, and he went on a rampage, brandishing his magic gun as if he were sleepwalking..
It seemed like a big accident would happen if we left it alone, so I and the party members who were hastily assembled tried to subdue Damian..
But fortunately, Damien woke up on his own at the last moment and the situation calmed down..
“…….”
“damian.”
I spoke softly to Damian, who was looking down at his cup of cocoa with a confused expression..
“Are you okay? Are you overexerting yourself, tired, or anything like that??”
“……Prince.”
“It's okay to be honest with me. know?”
Damien, who had been quietly biting his lip and lowering his eyes, stuttered and opened his mouth..
“I'm having nightmares every night these days.”
“nightmare?”
“I dream about the most painful moment in my life. However, I can't tell the difference. Is it a dream or reality?.”
“…….”
“I told you before that I had a friend named Van..”
I nodded..
You said you were your friend who died after saving Damien in the tutorial stage..
“Seeing half of them die... … Keep watching. In my dreams, I die half the time, and die, and die again. Save me and be torn to pieces…….”
“…….”
“And I just watch helplessly.”
Damien's head bowed deeper..
“When you've been suffering all night and your heart is in tatters, Orlop appears..”
“If it's Orlop…….”
“This is the monster queen in this magic gun..”
The Black Spider Queen we killed in the tutorial stage. Her name was Orlop.
“Orlop suggests. If you give up fighting with yourself, I will send you back to the most beautiful memories.…….”
Damian's hands trembled as he held the cup of cocoa..
“And then it shows me the happiest memory of my life, from my childhood. In that dream, everything was peaceful and warm... … And, since half of them are alive... … I don't know what to do.”
“…….”
“But if I don't surrender, that dream will soon end, and I'll return to that day at the forward base. And half of them die before your eyes. Continue…….”
I can't believe I was going through this kind of mental torture..
I looked at Damian with pity..
‘Also, the cause is…….’
[black queen].
I glanced at the horse gun lying at Damian's feet..
This is probably due to the options opened this time for Nightmare Slayer..
- Orlop's Hunger: The user is consumed by nightmares, revealing their inner darkness. When the user wins the battle for dominance against the nightmare, the darkness disappears. If you are defeated, you will be completely consumed by darkness..
It looks like they're in the midst of something called a 'fight for dominance'..
I thought he would just radiate a dark aura, show some symptoms of middle school illness, and solve the problem on his own, but I never thought he would be going through such a difficult time..
“Damian, why don't we just dispose of that gun??”
No matter how good the equipment is, Damian with [clairvoyance] is much more valuable..
When I spoke carefully, Damian looked startled and waved his hand..
“Well, don't do that! I am… … . I must! I will overcome it, prince..”
“but…….”
“Really. I am confident. I'm not weak enough to succumb to nightmares like this.!”
No, you were weak..
Just today, I almost got half eaten by that nightmare. So he lost control of his body and went on a rampage..
“to me… … Give me a chance.”
Damian prayed earnestly..
“This is my nightmare, my darkness. therefore… … I can solve it.”
“…….”
“A chance to organize my memories with my class... … Give it to me, prince..”
This was my first time seeing Damian speak so earnestly, so I unconsciously nodded and gave permission..
“okay. But Damian, take note. If something like today happens one more time, I will confiscate your guns immediately. got it?”
Then Damien's face brightened..
“Yes, prince! Please trust us. Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk…….”
It looks like you've regained your composure a little. I saw that smile that I couldn't get used to from being a second-year student in middle school again..
Damian quickly swallowed the remaining cocoa, then quickly took the [Black Queen] and stood up..
“Well, I’ll just go! I'm sorry for bothering you today.!”
And then he quickly leaves the mansion. Holding Ma Chong dearly in my arms,.
“…….”
I clicked my tongue as I saw the black aura creeping out behind Damien..
If Damian can overcome that 'darkness', it will be an opportunity for Damian to grow, but if he cannot, the risk is too great..
If you are thinking about strategy, it is right to just discard [Black Queen]..
but…….
- Please return half. my friend... … I want it back…….
When I first met Damian in the tutorial stage, I remembered what he said to me while crying..
Also, while progressing through the dungeon 'Loser's Path', I remembered what Damian muttered after receiving a mental curse attack in the underground passage..
- Sorry, Van. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for living. I did it wrong. therefore…….
“…….”
Damian is a cheat character.
This is the strongest secret I have that will carry me through this game until the end..
But at the same time, he is also a soft and ordinary boy..
I want Damian to be happy. I hope you can let go of past regrets and guilt and forgive yourself..
And to do that, we must learn to face the past..
‘Cheer up, Damien.’
I decided to trust Damian's own judgment. I decided to believe in Damien that he could overcome the darkness..
And I hoped that this process would help Damian's mental growth..
……And it didn't take long to realize that this decision was a mistake..
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