The Overlord of Blood and Iron

Meanwhile, Kang Chul-In was returning to Valhalla when he suddenly felt his ear itch .

“… Seems like someone is talking about me . ”

This was a meaningless monologue . There weren\'t just one or two candidates for people who could be speaking of him . Regardless of race, gender or age, he had countless enemies everywhere!

Truthfully speaking, the whole world other than the people of Valhalla and his subordinates hated him . He had already been labelled as a murderer, war-maniac, psychopath and worse . He was basically the Hitler of Pangaea .

“Seems like I will be living a long life . ”

Kang Chul-In laughed .

He was used to insults . Someone would insult him regardless of what he did!

First priority is to return as soon as possible .

Kang Chul-In cleaned his ears with his pinky finger and pondered about his future plans .

If I reveal myself then cormorant will appear too… that’s a bit troublesome .

In order to obtain the Sonic Ring, Kang Chul-In had to stop encountering Brynhildr . As the king of a nation, he couldn’t keep letting an enemy general off . But it didn’t make sense for him to stay in the backlines . He was basically Valhalla’s God of War .

Undefeatable! The God of Victory! A one-man army!

These adjectives and titles described Kang Chul-In perfectly, and his appearance on the battlefield alone could boost his soldiers’ morale significantly . Not to mention, Kang Chul-In himself was extremely powerful . With him, Valhalla could even win seemingly impossible battles .

However, if he blatantly participated in the war, he had no choice but to kill Brynhildr . In other words, he had to forgo the Sonic Ring .

What to do?

He needed a solution .

***

“Bastard . . . ”

Kwak Jung gritted his teeth the moment he had returned to Deathwin .

He didn’t want to admit, but he had fallen into Kwak Jun’s trap .

“Hold it in… keep calm . . . ”

Kwak Jung struggled to suppress his murderous intent .

Kwak Jun could still prove to be a valuable tool . He was indeed a double-edged sword, but that depended on the circumstance . Kwak Jun was loathsome but Kwak Jung decided to close one eye for the future of Valhalla .

However, he now had to face the Gullveig Alliance .

“This is absurd… alright, let’s see who wins . ”

A brain battle between the two men with the same name! One wanted to make Kang Chul-In an emperor, while the other planned to achieve his goal via manipulating Kang Chul-In and Vilhelm .

“Commander-in-chief!”

At the nick of time, a signaller reported in .

“The Gullveig Alliance army has approached within a 50 kilometre radius!”

“That was fast… those fuckers . . . ”

Kwak Jung swore .

50 kilometres . If the enemy was determined, a day was enough to cover that distance .

“Gather all the generals!”

Kwak Jung commanded .

***

In Deathwin, specifically the Lord’s hall which once belonged to the Overlord Aleister . . .

“Let me warn everyone, it’s going to be a tough battle . ”

Kwak Jung announced .

“It’s an unprecedented war in terms of difficulty . I dare to claim… that this fight may produce the highest casualty rate in Valhalla’s history . ”

Kwak Jung’s statement carried weight . At this moment, he was no longer a frivolous man but a tactician cum commander-in-chief .

“Strategy? We have none . It’s just a pure battle of strength . We have a positioning disadvantage and there are many more enemy soldiers compared to ours . The only way is to defend in this stronghold . Even that has only about… a 10% chance of success . That will also come at an enormous cost . ”

Easier said than done . The situation was gloomy . If Kwak Jung said so, the war must have had a pretty bad outlook . Officers in any other territory would be anxious in such circumstances, but not for those in Valhalla . They were airheads who only knew how to fight, just like Kang Chul-In .

“Doesn’t matter . ”

Lucia replied firmly .

“To participate in this war as his Majesty’s representative is a huge honor . I, Lucia, will become Laputa’s barrier and protect our soldiers . ”

As expected from Lucia .

“Haha! Let I, Drakan, stand in the frontlines!”

“No, let I, Amur, stand in the frontlines, commander-in-chief!”

The two leaders of rival troops volunteered .

“Let’s break them all . ”

“We are not afraid . ”

The same went for James and Mikael .

“Ahem~! Seems like it’s time for this old man to shine!”

Nilus, the precocious magician, spoke as well .

“This will be my first battle as his Majesty’s subordinate . I know no defeat . ”

The female warrior!

Kim Sung-Hee, who had been honing her necromancer abilities using dark mana, was also eager to join the fight . She was now the commander of Imhotep, the first division of Valhalla’s immortal army . Of course, it wasn’t significant enough to be called an ‘army’ as of now .

“And also . . . ”

Kim Sung-Hee continued .

“I plan to take this opportunity to expand my army . I can’t let it pass!”

A bold statement indeed .

Kim Sung-Hee apparently paid no attention to Kwak Jung’s warning .

“Such brave, ignorant souls . I wonder who they take after . ”

Hecate sniggered with sarcasm, while holding a cigarette . The ‘who’ obviously referred to Kang Chul-In . However, nobody challenged her statement . They couldn’t . Hecate could be a massive source of firepower in this war . If she happened to become volatile, the war would become much harder .

“Well, whatever . I don’t really like defending, but it seems like I can’t pull out this time . In return, I’m in charge of all the breaking and destroying in the next battle, so don’t you dare challenge me . ”

A terrifying destructive urge . . . Perhaps it would be more befitting to call Kang Chul-In the male version of Hecate, instead of Hecate being the female version of Kang Chul-In . Nobody could comprehend her chaotic mind .

“Hmm . . . ”

Kwak Jung stroked his non-existent beard and replied .

“Alright then . I’m touched by all of your determination and will . His Majesty would be very proud as well . He is always watching from somewhere after all . ”

His Majesty is watching! That was a sort of maxim for everyone in Valhalla . Kang Chul-In had adopted a system to listen to his people’s concerns and also to observe his officials’ work secretly . He would reward them if they were diligent, and likewise punish them if they slacked off .

That was one of the reasons why Kang Chul-In had so much paperwork to settle .

“The enemy is coming . ”

Kwak Jung continued .

“As I said before, there is no strategy . Well, there’s a bit but… the main goal is to defend the stronghold . Do your due diligence to protect your responsible regions . ”

That concluded the meeting . All that was left was the battle .

***

“Kang Chul-In… today shall mark the end of your undefeatable spree . . . ”

Vilhelm stood on a hill and observed the Deathwin stronghold . He grinned with satisfaction .

“Kwak Jun… what a lad . ”

He should have launched an all-out attack earlier . The Valhalla army was preparing for a stronghold defense . In other words, the Gullveig Alliance should’ve assembled its army earlier without any hesitation . Ah, how accurate Kwak Jun’s insight was .

“Kang Chul-In… let’s see how long you can keep yourself hidden… you arrogant bastard . Or should I be thankful instead? Since if you don’t reveal yourself, then victory is mine without a doubt!”

With or without Kang Chul-In, Vilhelm was 100% confident of winning . He was being backed up by an astonishing number of 80,000 soldiers . In addition, this number was composed purely of combat soldiers, excluding the supply troops .

With such a huge difference in strength, the Gullveig Alliance could simply sweep the Valhalla army away with brute force .

Mennnnn!

Vilhelm announced using the magic-engineered loudspeaker .

Attack!

Vilhelm commanded .

“Long live the Gullveig Alliance!”

“We are one!”

“Let’s destroy those devils!”

“Let’s show them the power of the Northern region!”

80,000 soldiers began to charge towards the Deathwin territory . That marked the start of what would be one of the most ridiculous wars in Pangaean history .

***

Meanwhile . . .

Bzzzzttt! Boom!

Kang Chul-In shot across the continent like a bullet train, creating a sonic boom .

Funnily enough, he was returning to his kingdom on foot .

God damn it!

He had forgotten to prepare any means of transport .

That was because Kang Chul-In had no idea how long it would take to accomplish his mission .

…Was I always this dumb?

Kang Chul-In faulted his clumsiness, but it was already too late .

Return Scrolls were Unique-rank items which were rare . Moreover, there were no explorers around to borrow a warp gate from .

All he could do was run his ass off .

“Phew . . . ”

Consequently, Kang Chul-In became tired and had to take a brief rest with his back laid against a tree . He was a human after all .

“Huk… huk . . . ”

Kang Chul-In gasped for air and took a sip of water . He then began to rummage through his inventory, with a sliver of hope that somehow, he had kept a Return Scroll .

However,

“God damn it!”

He found nothing .

“How . . . ”

Kang Chul-In was about to mutter when suddenly, a notification popped up .

[Alert!] You have 18 items in your inventory that you have not verified!

“Hmm?”

Kang Chul-In was puzzled . He searched his inventory again just in case, but he was indeed a scrupulous man . Whenever there was a loot, he would check before placing it in his inventory .

An unverified item for such a person?

“Hmm . . . ”

After pondering for a while,

“Ah, those must be the goods that I’ve purchased from that kid . ”

Kang Chul-In recalled .

The kid referred to the Lord, Lily Sephardi .

“Let’s see . ”

Kang Chul-In opened the inventory without much hope . Who knew? There could be something that could help!