The Overlord of Blood and Iron

Chapter 265






Flash!


It was deep into the night .


Kwak Jung appeared in the Paramount territory with a unit of the Mir mechanized infantry .


“Hmm… what is this?”


Kwak Jung frowned .


The Lord’s hall .


In any territory, it was the most grandiose and brilliant infrastructure . However, the Lord’s hall in the land of Paramount was miserable beyond words .


All it had was an old throne, few dim lanterns and a ceiling covered with dust and spider web . It almost resembled an abandoned castle .


Moreover, the hall was empty even when Kwak Jung, a diplomat(?) of some sort, had arrived for a visit .


“Welcome . ”


Only Kwak Jun was present to greet him .


“I assume you are tactician Kwak? I am Kwak Jun, tactician of His Majesty Vito Clemenza . ”


Kwak Jun bowed to Kwak Jung .


“Great pleasure to meet you, tactician K- . . . ”


At that moment .


Bam!


Kwak Jung’s punch landed straight on Kwak Jun’s face .


“Kuhuk…!”


Kwak Jun stumbled and collapsed, while he held his bleeding nose .


“T-Tactician Kwak!”


“Good timing . ”


“…Sorry?”


“If there was an audience, I would have dragged you to that~ corner of there . But thankfully, this hall is empty . ”


Kwak Jung snickered .


In other words, he had intended to beat up Kwak Jun from the start .


“Oi, Kwak something . ”


“Yes . . . ”


“Do you know what you did wrong?”


“ . . . ”


“You don’t?”


“W-What are you trying to say . . . ”


“Hu… acting dumb, are we?”


“Sorry?”


“I guess there’s no choice . ”


“ . . . ?”


“Come, let me beat you up some more . ”


Kwak Jung rolled his sleeves up and began to walk towards Kwak Jun, who had collapsed onto the floor .


“C-Commander-in-chief!”


The platoon commander of the mechanized infantry unit held Kwak Jung back .


“It’s going to be troublesome if you continue . . . ”


“How is this troublesome?”


“B-But! This place is . . . ”


“Are you trying to tell me that using violence against a foreign territory’s tactician in the Lord’s hall is plain diplomatic disrespect?”



“That’s right!”


“You don’t have to care about that . ”


“I beg your pardon?”


The platoon commander couldn’t believe what he had just heard .


Don’t care?


Even after this diplomatic offense?


“Not even the slightest bit . ”


However, Kwak Jung thought otherwise .


“That’s because whatever that’s happening now is all pre-planned . ”


“ . . . !”


“A miserable hall could be due to genuine financial difficulty . But to not have a single subject, guard or servant even upon the arrival of a representative of the Supreme King of the West is suspicious . ”


It was an accurate observation .


Kwak Jung knew precisely why Kwak Jun had greeted him alone .


“Oi . ”


“Yes . . . ”


“Am I right?”


“ . . . ”


“You had expected to get beaten up by me, right? That was why you deliberately emptied the Lord’s hall . Not bad, bastard . ”


“ . . . ”


“You were probably going to spout some excuses like ‘I could only obtain Vilhelm’s trust this way’, ‘I’ve worked hard’, ‘it’s a misunderstanding, everything’s all for the better good’” .


“That…!”


“Ah, of course you will continue to claim that this isn’t true . That’s the only way for you to live . ”


Kwak Jung snickered .


“But how now?”


“ . . . ”


“I’m not angry about that . I don’t care whether you were trying hard, or whether you wanted to take control of this deal . ”


Kwak Jung said coldly as he grabbed onto Kwak Jun’s hair .


“I hope . . . ”


“Urgh!”


“I hope you know your place, bastard . ”


“ . . . ”


“Who gave you permission to draft a plan for Vilhelm?”


That was the real reason .


“How dare you screw up my plan with such trickery?”


“ . . . !”


“You are a chess piece that went out of control . What should I do?”


“T-That! T-Tactician Kwak! That’s my mistake… I-I apologize!”


Kwak Jun finally realized his mistake .


He had manipulated the Gullveig Alliance without any coordination with the Valhalla Kingdom . All his excuses (for example, he had to propose a plan to gain Vilhelm’s trust) did not work .


“Mistake my ass . ”


Kwak Jung did not accept Kwak Jun’s apology .


“One should know his place . How dare you think so highly of yourself, just because His Majesty gave you some affection?”


“T-That was never my intention!”


“Like hell it wasn’t . ”


“It’s a misunderstanding!”


“Misunderstanding? You bastard…!”


With that,


Crack!


Kwak Jun’s face was smashed against the floor of the Lord’s hall .


“Have you ever heard of ‘mental training?’”


“K-Keuk… w-what are you talking about . . . ”


“Oh . ”


Kwak Jung’s eyes gleamed .


“You will find out soon . ”


“ . . . !”


“By the way, you should really bite onto something . If not… your throat will be a gonner . I’m speaking from my own experience . Isn’t getting beaten up already sad enough?”


Kwak Jung was kind .


He had told Kwak Jun a valuable tip, which he had learnt from his experiences with Kang Chul-In .


***


Thump!


Rothschild’s body fell limply onto the ground .


Thump,


Roll .


So did his head with two widely open eyes, which rolled on the floor .


“Keuh . . . ”


Kang Chul-In exclaimed .


The end .


He had taken his revenge .


After returning to the past using the Soul Backup ability, he had finally addressed his humiliating defeat in his previous life .


The loss in Ragnarök .


The fall of the Valhalla territory .


Last but not least, his own death!


“Urgh… Kang Chul-In . . . ”


Dorian slowly approached Kang Chul-In after Rothschild’s death .


“You . . . ”


“Got anything to say?”


Kang Chul-In smirked .


“This is just too violent… urgh . . . ”


“Well, it’s Rothschild we are talking about . ”


“But still… hmm… this is like… more grotesque than ISIS’ beheading . . . ”


“Those bastards are psychopaths who murder innocent people . ”


“T-That is true but . . . ”


“And Rothschild wasn’t even human . ”


“Oh, you are right . ”


Kang Chul-In was spot on .


Rothschild’s corpse resembled a monster . One could no longer call him a human .


Moreover, [Skill Absorption] did not activate after Rothschild’s transformation . It seemed that even the system did not recognize Rothschild as a Lord .


“Hehe… anyways, good job!”


“The small fries?”


“You mean the explorers? There . ”


Dorian pointed at a corner of the battlefield .


“We subjugated them all~”


“You didn’t kill any of them . ”


“I didn’t have to . They were only being used by Rothschild . ”


Dorian was right .


Most of the explorers had only participated in the raid due to Rothschild’s empty promises to share the massive reward .


“Hmm . . . ”


Kang Chul-In narrowed his eyes and observed the captured explorers, who were all tied up .


“W-Wait!”


“What?”


“Are you thinking of killing them?”


“N-No . ”


Kang Chul-In stuttered .


“Seems like it though?”


Dorian glared at Kang Chul-In suspiciously .


“I’m not . ”


“Really?”


“How many times do you want me to say?”


“Hmm… your eyes were gleaming with murderous intent . ”


“Who are you to judge how my eyes look?”


“Hehe~”


“Stop laughing like an idiot and send them back after some reprimand . Ah, just give them some dragon scales or pieces of bone . ”


“Oh~ Kang Chul-In~ being benevolent, I see?”


“But never give them the dragon’s heart, horn or eyes . ”


Kang Chul-In (The Supreme King of the West / Professional Robber) had absolutely no intention to share the juicy rewards with others . He was only fine with giving up the useless bits .


“Someone’s being greedy . ”


“You gotta do what you got to do . ”


“Right, but you appear petty . ”


“What did you say?”


Kang Chul-In glared at Dorian .


“Say that one more . . . ”


“Ah~ time to go for work~”


Dorian changed the subject and quickly left the venue .


“Hmm . . . ”


Kang Chul-In, who was left alone, stared at Rothschild’s corpse .


It was somewhat bittersweet .


Rothschild was his former rival after all . His pitiful death left a special feeling in Kang Chul-In’s heart…


“Agnaga… seems like I have to deal with this bastard Andrei Ivanovic soon . ”


… Or not . The cold-hearted Supreme King of the West didn’t entertain such frail emotions .


He only cared about the vampire Overlord Andrei Ivanovic, who was being suspicious .


***


The next day .


Kang Chul-In ended Cyamodus’ life (it was impossible to tame) and cleaned up the battlefield .


And afternoon came .


“One, two, three!”


Dorian shouted .


Keeeeeeeek!


Hundred wyverns soared up into the sky, their ankles chained to transport the Gold Dragon’s corpse .


Clank, clank!


With the clanking of the chains, the Gold Dragon’s corpse began to be lifted up in the air .


“I will be leaving first!”


“Remember to butcher it well!”


“Don’t worry!”


“Also, don’t forget to send me the dragon’s heart, eyeballs and blood! And its skull! I need them to make my throne!”


Kang Chul-In pleaded Dorian, who was riding a black wyvern .


“Ok, got it! Stop it already!”


“ . . . ”


“You bastard! Are you doubting your friend!”


“I-I’m not!”


“It’s damn obvious?!?!”


“ . . . ”


“Well anyways, farewell!”


With that, Dorian and his wyvern riders left the scene with the Gold Dragon’s corpse .


Valhalla was too far, hence they had agreed to disassemble the corpse in Dorian’s territory .


“Hu hu…!”


Kang Chul-In grinned .


“A new throne… fantastic… a throne made from a dragon’s skull is really the best . ”


Kang Chul-In was in high spirits .


After all, he was a sovereign to the core . He couldn’t camouflage his desire to show-off to others .


Now, a third party revolving around Rothschild will no longer appear . Even if someone else forms a new party, it will not have much power .


Kang Chul-In was satisfied .


Chaos did give birth to heroes, but the Baldur Alliance was never a part of Kang Chul-In’s big picture .


Dorado’s army in the west and Kwak Jun’s army in the east were shaking up the Baldur region .


Moreover, the sovereigns whom he had destroyed (those who interacted with Rothschild) were still captured alive in Dorian’s territory, while retaining their status as sovereigns .


In other words, as they were all still alive, their authorities as sovereigns were forfeited and their lands had become unclaimed (though nobody could claim them) .


“Time to return . ”


Kang Chul-In began to make his way with a satisfied grin .


***


That afternoon .


It began to rain in the Nürburg mountains after Kang Chul-In had left .


Drizzles soon turned into squalls, engulfing the whole region .


“What is this…!”


Lee Gong-Myung, who had rushed to the Nürburg mountains in excitement to meet his master, was flabbergasted to see what had happened .


And soon afterwards, Lee Gong-Myung faced the biggest tragedy in his life . . .



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