I Became a Tyrant of the Defense Game - Episode 41
◈ 041. [STAGE 2] Weight
All the rats were exterminated..
The monsters who were aggroed by the Margrave turned their backs on us..
Lucas and the soldiers opened the gate and attacked their rear. Fire support continued on the castle walls..
The gutter rats were breached by one point from the rear to the depths..
Sporadic resistance continued, but those who had already become nothing more than a drop of water rather than a wave were extremely weak..
The rats were hunted in front of the humans' swords and spears. Before long, I was able to kill off all the remaining rats..
but.
“…….”
Passing through a field where soldiers are clearing out the remaining rats one by one..
I huffed and headed to where Lucas and the veterans were gathered. With Damian who can use healing magic.
“majesty.”
As I approached, Lucas looked at me..
Lucas's new armor and new sword were both covered in the blood of a rat..
But Lucas lowered his head heavily without even thinking about wiping it away..
“I think it's late.”
“…….”
I made my way through the crowd and got into the middle of the crowd..
Margrave Cross was lying there.
The old knight's condition was terrible. His armor, which had been eaten by a swarm of rats, was unrecognizable, and his hands and feet were almost gone..
Bones were visible all over the body with the marks of the monsters' teeth..
Damian rushed over and used recovery magic on the margrave, but.
“I'm sorry, Prince. This wound…….”
Immediately after, Damian closed his eyes and shook his head..
I guess there's nothing I can do about it with my own recovery magic. Even if an SSR level healer came, these injuries would not be able to be cured..
Still, I quickly took out the advanced stamina potion from my pocket..
This is a high-quality potion from the last reward box. If this is it, somehow…….
“Stop it.”
At that time, Margrave Cross muttered with difficulty..
“It's not a wound that will swell and heal, and it'll just hurt like hell..”
“margrave!”
“Please help me get up. I can't see anything.”
Damian and I slowly supported Margrave Cross and raised his upper body..
Every time the Margrave chuckled, blood trickled down past his lips..
“……Is the battle over?.”
“exactly. Margrave. Your contribution is very great.”
“The castle walls… … Wasn't it pierced?.”
“It was breached, but not a single monster got inside. Everyone in the city is safe..”
“Good thing…….”
Margrave Cross looked around with quivering eyelids..
The old soldiers who had guarded this place with him all their lives were standing around with miserable expressions on their faces..
A faint smile appeared on Margrave Cross's lips..
“Everyone, don't be a jerk. This is the monster front. A place where it is natural for someone to die. It's just my turn.”
“…….”
“Don't be sad about each person's death. Instead, rejoice that you have won, that you have survived..”
The former lord spoke calmly and looked at me blankly..
“This is a city on a tomb. It's a derogatory term for many people killed in action, but it also means that people live on even if they're in the grave..”
I tried to listen to him.
“The city stops just from being sad and mourning. Young lord. It's good to take care of the funeral, but let's give everyone the joy they deserve..”
“I'll keep that in mind..”
“Because hope is what makes people live…….”
The Margrave slowly closed his eyes, which he had been struggling to open..
“So if someone has to die, it would be me who has no hope of losing now..”
The bleeding, which had been barely stopped by Damian's recovery magic, began again. Blood poured like water from the old knight's entire body..
Damian looked at me and shook his head. The margrave muttered with a pale face..
“Promise me one thing, Prince Ash..”
“Tell me, Margrave. If there's anything I can do, I'll do my best..”
“If my daughter comes here... … Tell Abby she was sorry..”
“…….”
“Please feel free... … Live the way you want…….”
I nodded..
“I will definitely tell you that..”
“……Okay, that's it..”
Death flashed across his face in an instant..
The Margrave, who looked into space for a moment with his eyes fading out, muttered..
“I'm sorry, honey.…….”
He was apologizing to his dead wife..
“In the end, I couldn't protect it... … . The orchard and you... … Our daughter too... … nothing…….”
“No, margrave.”
I carefully held his hand, which had no proper form left..
“You saved the world. Not just this once, but all your life. We protected all the humans above the front lines..”
“…….”
“The world owes you a great debt..”
there is no answer.
As if he couldn't hear what I was saying, the Margrave didn't even look at me once. I kept muttering to myself..
“Sorry. In the end, I got nothing… … Protect it… … I couldn't…….”
The margrave's blood-soaked eyes were filled with only regret..
At that moment, a thought occurred to me. I quickly took out a bag from my pocket..
This is a bag of dried fruit that the Margrave gave me at that time..
I didn't know why I kept carrying this tasteless food around. Maybe it was just for now.
I opened the bag and carefully placed the dried pulp into the Margrave's mouth..
“ah…….”
As he held the bitter, fishy fruit in his mouth, a faint smile appeared on the corners of the Margrave's bloody mouth..
“These grapes are really…….”
Although he could neither chew nor swallow, a sudden calmness flashed across the Margrave's face..
Am I seeing the scenery of the orchard in those happy days when my wife and daughter were together?.
“moon… … army.”
And the Margrave breathed no more.
“…….”
I looked down at the face of the dead old man in despair..
I couldn't understand.
This man who lost everything while protecting the city, a man who hated the city so much that he tried to abolish his family's business on his own..
Why did you come back at the last moment?.
What did you die fighting for?.
What on earth is on this front, swallowing up someone's entire life?.
“It's heavy, Margrave..”
I muttered as I carefully closed his blood-soaked eyelids..
“The seat of the lord of this city is… … It's so heavy.”
It feels like a thousand pounds are weighing down both shoulders..
I was so devastated that I could not get up for a while next to the corpse of Margrave Cross..
One by one, the soldiers gathered around me bowed their heads..
Dang- Dang- Dang-
A bell rang in the distance..
It was the bell that signaled the end of the monster invasion and that the evacuation order had been lifted..
The sunset and the late night bell surrounded the empty battlefield..
***
[STAGE 2 - CLEAR!]
[STAGE MVP - Lucas (SSR)]
[Level up character]
- Ash (EX) Lv.11 (↑2)
- Lucas (SSR) Lv.31 (↑2)
- Jupiter (SR) Lv.37 (↑1)
- Lily (R) Lv.21 (↑1)
- Damian (N) Lv.24 (↑3)
[Dead and Injured Characters]
- Charles Cross (SR): deceased
[Acquired Items]
- Rat Army Magic Stone: 562
- Ratman Champion Magic Core (R): 3
[Stage clear rewards have been paid. Please check inventory.]
- N-rank reward box: 3
- SR grade reward box: 1
>> Get Ready For The Next STAGE
>> [STAGE 3: What follows]
***
crossroads downtown.
manor house.
I walked slowly and entered the entrance of the mansion..
“Ah, my lord.!”
Ader found me and came running making a fuss..
“Are you hurt anywhere? I waited worriedly.”
“……Ader.”
“You did well on this stage as well. It's really amazing…….”
Without listening to any more comments, I grabbed Ader's collar..
“Keck? Lord?”
I pushed the embarrassed guy and threw him against the wall. Crunchy soup!
“Cough, gasp. Lord, what…….”
“say.”
He growled, tightening his grip on the collar. Ader looked embarrassed..
“yes? Cough! yes?”
“tell me.”
“Well, what are you saying?…….”
“Don't act like a fool and say it, you director bastard.!”
I screamed with such force that I almost strangled him..
“The current situation is clearly strange. What on earth is this crazy difficulty level?!”
“……!”
“The tutorial stage is that kind of place, so I skipped it. Living Armor came out in Stage 1, but I just assumed it was because I was unlucky and passed on it. but!”
I kept pushing..
“In stage 2, an enemy NPC appears and gives orders to the monsters? Even on hell difficulty, they don’t do anything like that.!”
“…….”
“say! What nonsense have you done? Why is the game so difficult? Is something strange happening again in the next stage??”
Ader's gray eyes wavered in bewilderment behind her bangled glasses..
Now I grabbed Ader by the collar with both hands and shook her..
“Why are you hiding these details even though you said you were helping me? I want you to tell me straight.!”
“……You may not believe it, my lord..”
Ader, who was biting her lower lip, slowly opened her mouth..
“I am helping the lord in my own way. It's true.”
“Don't talk nonsense! You say you're helping, but this happens? And you say you're helping but you don't say anything to me?”
Then Ader pointed to my neck with her fingertip..
“that necklace.”
There is a leather choker-type necklace around my neck. It was a reward item for the tutorial stage..
“The necklace you received when you cleared Stage 0 will be unlocked if you clear Stage 3..”
“however?”
“Once that feature is released, you'll understand what you're wondering..”
Ader muttered bitterly..
“Just clear one more stage and you will find out. Why did these things happen?…….”
“…….”
I couldn't trust it easily, so I continued to glare at Ader..
“Please, my lord. No, Godeok.”
Ader called me by my Earth nickname..
“I hope you can handle it. I hope that one day, even after you learn the whole truth about this crazy world, you can continue to fight as firmly as you do now. sincerely.”
“what?”
“From then on, you really won't be able to escape..”
I asked Ader, who was speaking incomprehensibly, without hesitation..
“I can't run away from something?”
Even though she was being grabbed by the collar and being strangled, Ader smiled thinly..
It wasn't the usual simple smile, but a complex smile that seemed to be filled with a variety of emotions..
“……From this world itself.”
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