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I Became a Tyrant of the Defense Game - Episode 545

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Distributed by Agit Novel (formerly Agitun Novel).

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◈ 545. [STAGE 31] Scarecrow (5)

As Zenith was preparing to deploy to the operation unit, she heard the voice of a young boy..

“I… … excuse me!”

When Janice turned around, it was Hannibal..

The messy-haired boy stood a few steps away from Zenith and hesitated, not knowing what to do..

“…….”

Janice also looked speechless..

An awkward silence fell between the two..

After muttering for a while, it was Hannibal who spoke first..

“Lord, you can’t die.!”

“…….”

“There are a lot of things I want to ask.…….”

Likewise, Zenith, who was muttering her mouth, soon smiled..

“I won't die.”

“…….”

“I also have a lot of things I want to tell you..”

They are father and son, and they are not related at all..

The two stared at each other.

It was still too early to have any kind of communication. How many hasty and awkward glances had we crossed?.

Janice slowly stretched out her hand and carefully tried to stroke Hannibal's head..

Hannibal looked at the hand blankly and then closed his eyes. Zenith swallowed dry saliva..

And, the moment Zenith's hand was about to touch Hannibal's head.-

“Zenith!”

Ash's shout was heard..

“The operation has begun! let's go!”

“……Yes, Your Highness!”

Zenith shouted back, smiled shyly at Hannibal, then turned around and ran..

Hannibal pursed his lips and watched Janice's back as she walked away..

“Zenith.”

Ash patted Zenith's back as she ran towards him and glanced towards the forward base..

“I'll help you to the last minute, but in the end, you'll have to overcome the terror they cast on you..”

“I know.”

“If you are caught by them and use area recovery magic in the center of the enemy camp, all your allies who have been freed from fear will be liberated. At that time, we will rush in to collect our troops and kill the enemies..”

Zenith didn't ask how Ashe would recover his allies and kill his enemies..

It was not an area he could touch in the first place. He has no choice but to trust Ash and leave it to him..

“Take note, Janice. I planned this reckless operation to protect my people..”

Ash squeezed Zenith's shoulder and whispered.

“And you are included in those ‘people’..”

“…….”

“Value your life as much as the lives of others. got it?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Zenith nodded, took a deep breath, and walked towards the hole in the wall of the forward base..

“I'm going.”

And, the moment Zenith, heading forward with a firm step, reached the wall of the forward base.,

Kikigeek, Kikigeek! Kigi Geek!

Geek, Geek, Geek!

Dozens of scarecrows rushed at Zenith all at once like mantises..

My body was subdued and dozens of layers of fear struck me. Without any idea what to do, Zenith's consciousness sank helplessly into the darkness..

***

Zenith was standing in the punitive court..

“……uh?”

Zenith looked around in confusion..

In the central church's punishment court, not only the high-ranking members of the church but also those who held important positions in the Empire's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stood with scary faces..

“You are truly crazy, Priest Zenith..”

The bishop reprimanded him..

“Now you have given up not only your own life, but also the countless prospective believers of the Fog Kingdom..”

“…….”

“I was so caught up in the personal feelings in front of me that I sacrificed a greater cause! As a priest who upholds the will of the goddess, as the shadow of the goddess! I did something I shouldn't have done..”

“I just…….”

but……?

There was no afterword.

Janice grabbed her neck. But no voice came out.

“Why do you want to spend the rest of your life in pain for a sin you didn't commit??”

“…….”

“You will realize the hard way that what you do is nothing more or less than self-satisfaction..”

It was just as the bishop said..

Because of her split-second choice to save that child, Janice had to live the rest of her life in terrible pain..

Hearing insults and criticism, wandering around remote areas as a white soldier, and being abandoned by his colleagues..

It wasn't just Janice herself..

This choice put the Empire in a diplomatic predicament, tarnished the reputation of the Order, and left the Knights Templar's colleagues subject to criticism for a long time..

It was purely self-satisfaction..

Intoxicated by the fleeting goodwill of the moment, as if I had become a saint myself..

Not being appreciated by the child, the child's parents, or anyone else.…….

A life of no reward, just pain.

A good deed that he could not handle and did without a plan ruined his life and left him in agony for a long time..

Suddenly, the surroundings turned into the throne room of the Fog Kingdom. The King of the Fog Kingdom, with his scraggly beard, pointed his finger and shouted..

“The young parents gave themselves over to their foolish lust and both fell asleep! I'm just a common orphan found everywhere.!”

It was absolutely correct..

There were orphans everywhere. Even at this very moment, countless similar children would be dying somewhere in the world..

That kind of child was just right in front of him..

Just thrown into his arms.

“Are you going to put yourself in a bad name just to save an orphan like that? Even though he was a priest, he would say so himself that he did such an inappropriate thing as having an affair with a princess in the city where he came to preach.?”

Janice’s lips trembled..

No, no. I don't want to do that.

Actually, I regret it..

I am truly reflecting on this stupid thing I did..

So please forgive me just once.

I will never do this again. I'll beg you like this, so please…….

“Come on, let’s not make the easy path difficult for no reason. Zenith Priest.”

The King smiled generously and gestured..

“Come on, give me that lump of blood. Since the child was born to my daughter, the ownership is also not mine.?”

Suddenly, the surroundings turned into a crumbling mountain cabin in the mountains..

Princess Cloudy was already dead, and the newborn child was curled up in her arms and crying..

crying! Wow……!

Those desperate cries confused Zenith's mind. Zenith unconsciously covered his ears..

It's now.

If I turn back now, if I run away from here.

Then nothing happened.

All wrongs can be righted. All you have to do is close your eyes and turn your head just once..

Zenith's steps started back one step, then two steps, and eventually turned into running..

Janice ran up the steep mountain range and ran away from the mountain cabin..

The child will die here. Whether you starve to death, freeze to death, or become food for animals. Otherwise, he might be dragged before the king and killed..

so what is that?

Are there only one or two children in the world who die like that??

There were a lot of orphans who lost their parents..

What on earth does that kid have to do with him? Why should he ruin his life trying to save a child he has nothing to do with??

- Why doesn't it matter? We are the same, we are people.

Janice's legs were crossed..

Zenith lost her footing and fell down the mountainside, rolling several times..

When her body finally stopped, Zenith's entire body was covered in blood from being cut by stones and stabbed by tree branches..

I couldn't breathe. It hurt so much I couldn't move..

The voice of the girl who hugged her as a child rang in the mind of Janice, who was in pain and unable to scream..

- So, let's save each other.

“……Ugh.”

Janice stood up unsteadily..

From my clenched mouth, a moan that wasn't even a word came out like an animal..

“Ugh.”

Know.

The pain that lies ahead. Your life will fall into the mud.

It's a foolish sacrifice that no one will recognize and is nothing but self-satisfaction..

But, still, but…….

…….

nevertheless.

“Ahhhhh!”

That was the life he chose.

At that moment, the dark clouds covering the sky of the Fog Kingdom parted..

As the damn terrible dark clouds cleared, dazzlingly clear moonlight fell..

The moonlight illuminated the path ahead of Zenith. Zenith got up crying and climbed up the mountainside where he had fallen..

There were a lot of soldiers from the Mist Kingdom gathered around the mountain cabin. Zenith rushed forward, throwing his way through his soldiers..

“stop-!”

At the tip of the spear aimed by the soldiers was a crying child in the arms of the dead princess..

Zenith cried out as she rolled over and hugged the child..

“my son... … That's my son!”

***

“uh?”

When Zenith came to her senses, there was no one around her, and there was only a statue of a goddess standing in an empty space..

Zenith, who was looking up at it blankly, chuckled..

“……is it so. I'll admit it. I regretted it.”

The Goddess Statue didn’t ask any questions or answer anything. She just stared down at Janice. But Janice continued..

“I regretted saving that child..”

“I'll just roll my eyes and pretend not to notice.”

“Still, no one would have blamed me..”

“When I pretended to be a good person and came back, my life was destroyed..”

“He was branded a traitor by his colleagues, and was always moving around in remote areas. In the meantime, whatever little money he could save, he sent it to his child.…….”

“Church people stay away from me. As word spread, people in the area I was dispatched to also neglected me..”

Janice looked down at her blunt hands..

“……Why do I have to go through all this trouble??”

“I regretted it. I hated myself for making that choice. If I could, I wanted to turn back..”

“I am not a saint. It's just that I've always regretted the good deeds I did accidentally... … It's just a narrow writing..”

Janice burst out laughing..

“I feel comfortable because I admit it..”

The statue of the goddess does not question.

don't even answer.

Zenith muttered as she looked up at her god..

“But now I get it. Even if that moment comes again... … I will save that child.”

“And you'll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“I'm just such an idiot. I want to be a good person, but I don't have the resources to do so... … an insignificant man.”

There was silence.

Zenith put her hands in her pockets and smiled bitterly, then slowly raised her head again and faced the goddess statue..

“So, are you satisfied now? Then get out of the way, you scarecrow..”

“It's obvious that this is how devils like you play with people's hearts..”

“Don't disguise yourself as someone who believes in others and put them to the test of a strict person, okay? Let's have a cool fight with each other..”

OK,

- ……What do I look like to you??

The statue of the goddess in front of me had turned into the bishop of the punitive tribunal..

Zenith laughed and spat out..

“Scarecrow.”

- now?

The King of the Fog Kingdom asked, stroking his beard. Zenith burst out laughing hahaha.

“Scarecrow.”

- now?

Janice was surrounded by a group of people who had criticized her all her life for making wrong choices..

Janice shook her head as if there was nothing more to see..

“Scarecrow.”

Then, everyone disappeared, and Princess Cloudy stood before my eyes..

And the princess smiled innocently.

- Yes, Janice. Walk the path you think is right, with the people who are important to you..

- If you truly believe that the way is right, then everyone who shouts that the way is wrong is no different from a scarecrow standing by the side of the road..

Janice raised her eyes in embarrassment..

“what?”

Is it an illusion??

The swaying opponent can be a princess, a scarecrow, or a goddess statue.…….

Or, she appeared as a burning woman tied to thorns..

The woman whispered warmly.

- cheer up.

And the whole place was covered with light.

***

“…….”

Janice opened her eyes..

His entire bloody body was tied to the scarecrow..

And before my eyes, the scarecrow commander was completing the harvest from the people around him..

He was letting out an eerie smile and absorbing power from all directions..

The boy hanging on the corps commander's chest - Zenith chuckled after seeing Mikhail's pale face..

“‘That moment’ has come again.”

Zenith muttered as she quietly gathered divine power..

“What can I do? I was excommunicated, but still… … I have the inertia to live as a priest..”

Then, he widened his eyes and stretched out his hands forward..

“Save people, damn it!”

flashing-!

Zenith's ultimate skill was activated, and the inside of the half-destroyed forward base was filled with light..