I Became a Tyrant of the Defense Game - Episode 39
◈ 039. [STAGE 2] Collapsed castle wall
On a low hill far southeast from the walls of the Crossroads.
An old man was on a horse, quietly observing the situation of the defensive battle..
Charles Cross was the Margrave..
“…….”
Since he was a commander who had fought and stopped monsters all his life, he could recognize it right away..
There is something different about this invasion of monsters..
It was completely different from when he was a lord..
Not only is it enormous in scale, but also the composition of the monsters. Instead of coming together as a mixed group, a unified corps emerged..
‘something is strange.’
Is that all? When a bard appeared from the lake and played a flute, even the monsters' movements changed completely..
‘It’s different from the existing battles against monsters… … Is this Prince Ash's third battle like this??’
It was understandable that the newly appointed lord - the youngest prince Ash, desperately asked for help..
Even if Margrave Cross himself had not resigned and continued to be commander, he would have had a hard time if his enemies had turned out like this..
Prince Ash is treating me incredibly well for someone who was just hanging out in the capital..
But it's dangerous.
‘Should I help??’
I had that thought without even realizing it..
Next to the horse saddle, I could see the armor and weapons that I had brought with me as a habit that had been ingrained throughout my life..
‘no.’
Margrave Cross finally shook his head..
Haven't you already retired? There is no need to step forward now..
This front was cursed. I hated this land.
Even though I had dedicated my life to this, I was so mad that I hated this barren and desolate place that took my wife away and made my daughter leave..
I didn't want to protect it anymore.
‘I just… … Just die in the orchard.’
Margrave Cross considered it his atonement..
Caught up in the obsession of protecting the monster front, he abandoned his wife and found out what he could do... … final atonement.
He will die where his wife died..
Margrave Cross no longer looked at the defensive battle and turned his body back..
The war situation seemed unusual, so I came to check, but it was too late now anyway..
What can you do?.
‘It means nothing, it means nothing…….’
Margrave Cross was about to return to his last home, the orchard..
at that very moment,
Kuwagwanggwang-!
There was a loud noise..
“……?!”
When I turned around in surprise, I saw the entire castle wall shaking along with a thick cloud of dust..
With thousands of rats burrowing under the castle walls.
Human screams were heard. The Margrave's eyes trembled..
‘no. no! I don't fight anymore.’
Gritting his teeth, the Margrave turned his head towards the orchard again..
‘I have to go back. to the orchard…….’
If the front line falls by any chance, the entire area will be overrun by monsters..
Your orchard will soon be trampled by monsters..
‘Wait, honey.’
At that moment, an image of his wife smiling brightly appeared in Margrave Cross's mind..
The wife’s smile as she put a dirt-covered grape into her husband’s mouth and asked, ‘Is it sweet?’.
‘This time, I'll protect you.’
Margrave Cross considered his wife's tomb buried next to the orchard..
will die there.
Knock knock, knock knock…….
Leaving the collapsing battle lines behind, Margrave Cross headed toward his orchard..
***
Coogung, Coogungung……!
The shaking and loud noises subsided..
I finally got myself together and shouted towards the inside of the castle wall..
“Report damage to the walls.!”
After a while, the soldiers waiting inside the castle walls reported..
“It's not completely open yet!”
“But it's only a matter of time! There is the sound of rats eating stones from inside the castle walls.!”
I shivered and brushed my hair back..
“Why do you eat things like rocks? You should eat more healthy food.……!”
The walls of this fortress are made up of several layers of stones and iron plates..
It doesn't break through all at once. The problem is that the part that had just been repaired was torn apart by the ratman champion's hand-to-hand attack a while ago..
Eventually they will blow a hole in the wall..
I covered my face with one hand, lost in thought, and growled in a suppressed voice..
“……Issue an evacuation order.”
“yes?”
Lucas, who didn't understand, asked back. I exhaled sharply..
“Order an evacuation within the city! right now!”
“Those words are…….”
“There is a high possibility that monsters will infiltrate the castle walls! Don't get caught up and die. All citizens in the city should evacuate to the north.!”
Of course, this is to prepare for the worst case scenario..
You have to be prepared to stop everything here..
Ding den den den den-!
The bell signaling an emergency rang dizzyingly in my ears. This is a call to citizens to evacuate..
Hoping for a successful evacuation, I issued the following orders:.
“Except for the minimum number of artillerymen and archers who will operate cannons and ballistae, all personnel capable of close combat should go down below the walls..”
I gestured at Lucas..
“Lucas, you command the white troops. Form a defense line inside the castle walls. Block them with your body..”
Lucas looked at me with a concerned look on his face..
“Your Majesty?”
“I lead from above..”
“It's dangerous, Your Majesty.!”
Lucas pointed at my feet..
“This is a castle wall that once collapsed. It may collapse again. It's too dangerous!”
In reality, the castle walls were visibly shaking..
It was difficult for the soldiers to re-fix the cannons and ballistas and adjust the zero point..
“But if you give up interception from above, are you going to block the remaining 1,500 rats with your bare hands??”
It's a situation where the castle wall may collapse if we don't hesitate, but that doesn't mean we can give up shooting from above..
If there is no fire support from above, the white troops will suffer fatal damage, which may ultimately lead to the failure of the defensive battle..
“……Okay, Your Highness..”
Lucas reluctantly nodded..
“However, if the condition of the wall deteriorates even slightly, you should come down without delay..”
“of course. Don't worry, get down quickly..”
No matter how dangerous the top of the castle wall is, is it as dangerous as the first floor, where you have to engage in hand-to-hand combat with monsters?.
Still, Lucas was worried about me until the end, and only after I picked him up did he run down to the first floor. You are my mother very much.
“Jupiter, fight as you see fit, but kill as many as you can at once..”
Party members naturally gathered around me. I gave orders one by one face to face..
“Don't save your horsepower. If you have enough to shoot lightning, pour it all out..”
“Follow my orders, Your Majesty..”
As the situation became more urgent, Jupiter's face also became serious..
Jupiter quickly grabbed the bright yellow magic power in both hands and ran to the castle wall..
“Lily. Artifacts that are currently operational are:?”
“There is only one speed-boosting artifact, Haste. Gravity Field Artifact and Magic Amplifier Artifact are currently on cooldown. Cannot be used until this battle is over.”
“The flamethrower artifact is?”
“10 minutes left until recharge.”
“Haste should be used immediately on white-armed soldiers, and Flame Throw should be used immediately after recharging..”
“yes!”
Lily immediately ran to activate the Haste Artifact. I saw Damien for the last time.
“damian.”
“……Yes, prince..”
Damian had his head down and was very scared..
The Pied Piper failed to be shot, and the Rat Man Champion failed to be stopped..
You probably think that the current situation is your fault..
I put my fingers together and placed them on Damien's smooth forehead.-
Just!
I threw a light bean.
“Ahh!”
Damian, whose head flew back, looked up at me with tears streaming down his face. I grinned..
“You have done well enough so far. You idiot.”
“Woe, prince.…….”
“I won't blame you for one or two small mistakes. So don't be intimidated.”
A sniper who is sure to hit the enemy..
de facto cheat character.
Just by having Damian as a member of my party, the range of strategies that can be utilized is overwhelmingly expanded..
Damien's very existence was a blessing to me..
“I get a lot of strength just from having you around..”
“……!”
“So I hope you have as much confidence as I have in you..”
I tapped Damian on the shoulder harder than usual..
“Let's overcome this crisis together. okay?”
“Yes, yes! Prince!”
“good. Damian. The role I will entrust to you is... … It is the ‘final stopping line’.”
I swept my toes across the castle wall beneath my feet, feeling a faint vibration..
“Breaking through the walls became a fait accompli. The gutter rats that broke through the castle wall will encounter our Baekbyeongjo on the first floor..”
“yes.”
“But Baek Byeong-jo is a human being. It's not a castle wall. Inevitably, gaps are exposed... … This means you can miss the gutters..”
Damien and I looked inside the walls at the same time..
A very peaceful city with smoke rising from baking bread..
“If even one animal enters the city, we don't know how much damage it will cause. You must snipe without missing those who escaped..”
Anyway, the boss monster, Ratman Champion, is all dead. What remains are about 1,500 street rats..
Damian will be able to easily kill a rat that escapes the defense line..
‘As long as a dozen don't escape at once..’
Damian is an accurate sniper, but his shortcoming of being slow was constantly being highlighted..
We need to find a way to make up for this shortcoming.…….
“I understand, prince! I'll try it!”
Damian responded vigorously, raised his crossbow and ran inside the castle wall..
done. Now let's hope that everyone can perform their roles well..
“Phew!”
After catching my breath and slapping my cheek, I tried to look outside the castle walls..
This was to check whether the kill zone had been formed again..
It was then.
“The castle wall is breached! They come in!”
A scream-like shout rang out from inside the castle walls..
“It's too fast, damn it……!”
I gritted my molars and looked inside the castle wall..
The ground floor of the first floor visible from afar. The walls inside trembled,.
pucak-!
Rats burst out along with shattered bricks and sand dust..
Kirik! Kiriririk!
The rats that finally made a hole tried to rush at the humans in front with their bodies covered in dust..
flashing!
However, Lucas, who was standing right in front of the hole, cut off all of their heads..
The saw blade-shaped sword ‘Rat Cutter’ in Lucas’ hand gave off an eerie light..
Lucas, who cut the rats into pieces without even blinking, shouted..
“The passage they come out of is narrow! Don't panic, dispose of them one by one.!”
“yes!”
The soldiers responded in unison to Lucas' command..
But there was something Lucas overlooked..
The hole was obviously narrow, but the opponent was a rat. They managed to pass through the narrow hole and continued to pour out..
Not only that, the number of people passing through was increasing, perhaps because the passage was being widened..
I was watching from above and was bewildered..
“What kind of rat is this? Just a mole…….”
Baek Byeong-jo was able to easily block the rats at first, but as time went by and their numbers increased, he began to struggle..
And this wasn't the end.
“Flamethrower Artifact! Ready. Activates immediately... … Wow!?!”
Lily, who was preparing to activate the artifact, screamed. I was surprised and ran towards it..
“What's going on, Lily?!”
“Rats, rats……!”
A few rats were standing in front of the flamethrower artifact..
Several alchemists who had just been bitten were lying on the floor bleeding..
I rushed forward and thrust my fist forward..
“It's the prince's punch.-!”
puck!
The moment my fist touched the field mouse, the lucky strike in my hand was activated..
Ring, ring, ring!
The numbers that come up in roulette are 0, 1, 5.
15 Damage!
Powok!
Although it was only the size of a booger, it was capable of defeating a level 5 rat..
After retrieving my fist, I quickly looked outside the castle walls..
“Did you come over the castle wall??!”
I was so focused on the part where they made a hole that I missed it..
Some of the gutters were just climbing over the castle wall. Some of them attacked towards the artifact..
“profit! Eight!”
Lily sprayed flames and burned the remaining rats..
Lily then looked at the injured alchemists and called out to me..
“There is no danger to life! But the rats are attacking the artifact, so it needs readjustment to activate.……!”
“Do it as quickly as possible! Because I can't afford it.”
As all of the troops to check the rampaging city rats had moved to the first floor, the number of them climbing over the walls began to increase..
There was no choice but for the artillerymen and archers waiting on the castle walls to draw their weapons and meet them..
“Wow!”
“my hand, my hand!”
1Injuries began to appear even on the Baek Byeong-jo side blocking the floor..
Only when the long-distance interception team attacks properly will they be able to kill the rats that burrow into the white army, and the white army will be able to easily block the enemy as the defensive burden will be reduced..
Now, the damage was only increasing as both sides used their bodies to block the pouring gutter rats..
‘As it is……!’
In front of Jupiter, who was out of breath preparing for the next spell, I repeatedly swung lucky strikes..
Damian was busy firing his crossbow here and there next to me, but his speed was slow..
‘If things continue like this, the damage is truly uncontrollable.……!’
The worst case scenario came to mind. I racked my brain to find a solution. Damn, what's there??!
It was then.
An old soldier who was cutting off a rat with a dagger on the castle wall suddenly opened his eyes wide..
He was a veteran soldier who served under the Margrave..
He looked across the southern fields as if he had seen a ghost, and muttered softly..
“Margin Baek……?”
“……what?”
I looked there too and soon found it..
Click, click, click-!
far outside the castle walls.
I saw an old lancer wearing rusty armor running towards me..
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