The Overlord of Blood and Iron

“W-who are you? Where are you from? Huh?”

A soldier growled at the applauding stranger .

“Get lost . ”

“What? Get lost? You bastard . . . ”

However,

Bam! The soldier was sent flying like a bloody rag doll before he could complete his sentence .

“How dare a small fry like you address me directly?”

Kang Chul-In snickered and entered the Lord’s hall .

“I’m leagues above you bastards . ”

He was right . There was a huge difference in ranks . How could an enemy soldier casually talk to Kang Chul-In, the king of Valhalla?

“O-oppa!”

Lily Sephardi recognized Kang Chul-In and exclaimed .

“Y-you came… you really… came… sob!”

Lily couldn’t control her burst of tears . She definitely longed for her oppa! In fact, Lily could only endure until now thanks to her hope that Kang Chul-In would arrive to help her . Without that, Zolushka would have fallen long ago .

Why the hell am I her oppa?

For a moment, Kang Chul-In didn’t like how Lily was addressing him, but he let it slide in the end .

Heh . Well, she is a kid after all… kinda commendable .

This girl . She had risen up to a high rank despite her young age, which was already praiseworthy . Moreover, it was a miracle that she managed to hold her grounds this long against the Shatyameba army . And to think she displayed an unbreakable fighting spirit even on the brink of death? She was truly a talent to behold in the future .

“Well done, kid . ”

Kang Chul-In smiled at Lily .

“O-Oppa . . . ”

“I came here as fast as I could, but it seems like the fortress fell much earlier than I expected . ”

“Well that… that is… sob . . . ”

“It’s alright . ”

Kang Chul-In patted Lily’s head gently .

“Now that I’m here, that’s nothing to worry about . ”

“Sob… sob sob . . . ”

Lily couldn’t speak a word . Only tears continued to roll down her cheeks .

“Oi, you there . ”

Kang Chul-In pointed at Rooibos .

“Yes, Supreme King of the West . ”

“Protect your Lord with your life . ”

“Certainly . However, your Majesty… we’ve already lost . . . ”

“First time I’m hearing that . ”

“…I beg your pardon?”

“We haven’t lost yet . ”

“H-however!”

Rooibos was about to say something totally logical and objective about the current war situation . They had already lost . The inner castle had been infiltrated, and even the Lord’s hall was about to be conquered . Kang Chul-In’s claims seemed too idealistic .

“Didn’t I tell you?”

Kang Chul-In said coldly .

“We haven’t lost . ”

“Y-your Majesty!”

“Who gave you the permission to decide whether the battle has been lost or not?”

“ . . . !”

“Don’t decide that on your own . ”

“Your Majesty . . . ”

“Before I acknowledge our loss, this war is still anyone’s game . ”

Thump!

Rooibos could feel his heart sink .

Brrrr!

His body trembled as well .

What confidence! As to be expected from the strongest man in Pangaea!

Kang Chul-In was the Supreme King of the West, indeed .

Only he, who was literally a one-man army, could say such things .

“What, did he just say the Supreme King of the West?”

“That guy is Kang Chul-In? That Kang Chul-In?”

“The king of Valhalla?”

“That war-maniac? And he’s here alone?”

“No way . . . ”

The Shatyameba soldiers, who were listening to the conversation all this while, stood there puzzled . They couldn’t believe it . It hadn’t been too long since the war between Valhalla and the Gullveig Alliance had ended . Why would the busy Supreme King of the West be here in person?

“No way… why would Kang Chul-In, that god damned fucker, be here?”

A soldier spurted out the above without thinking .

Crack! A vein popped up on Kang Chul-In’s forehead .

This bastard .

It was hardly surprising that an enemy soldier would mock him . The only problem was that the ‘god damned fucker’ was right in front of that soldier, alive and well .

“D-Don’t tell me!?”

At that moment, Ahinandi, the Shatyameban general, finally recognized Kang Chul-In . . .

“S-Supreme King of the West? A-are you really that Kang Chul-In…?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Kang Chul-In replied with a smirk .

“E-Eek?!”

Ahinandi was flabbergasted . He was horrified to the core . He couldn’t logically comprehend why Kang Chul-In would be here!

“Huu, I heard that . ”

Kang Chul-In walked towards the soldier who called Kang Chul-In a ‘god damned fucker’ .

“Say that again . ”

“Err… actually… what I-I meant was… Kuhuk!”

Thump, roll . His head fell onto the floor of the Lord’s hall and tossed around .

Psssst! Fresh blood spurted out of the soldier’s neck like a fountain .

“Nobody . . . ”

Kang Chul-In declared .

“Will ever step into this Lord’s hall . ”

Bam! That was the Absolute’s declaration .

“Hmm, actually, you all are a pain in the ass . Just die . ”

In fact, it was a death sentence .

The death reaper was here .

***

“Argh!”

“Arghhh!”

“M-Mercy!”

The hall was engulfed in chaos .

Kang Chul-In was in another league from the other opponents that the Shatyameba soldiers had defeated on the way .

“Kuhuk!”

“A… a demon! That man is a demonnnn!”

The vanguards began to run for their lives . It was shameful, but what else could they do? Running was the only way for the soldiers to live .

“Nice try . ”

Of course, it was still impossible for them to escape from Kang Chul-In’s grasp .

Swish! Kang Chul-In drove Kaiforce into Ahinandi’s chest .

“Kuhuk!”

Ahinandi vomited blood .

“You… you… monster…”

Thump! That was the end . Just five minutes .

That was all it took for the three hundred Shatyameba soldiers to get annihilated .

“To think that the inner castle was penetrated by these weaklings . . . ”

Kang Chul-In muttered in disbelief . No matter how many times he pondered, it didn’t make sense to him . The Shatyameba soldiers were weak and poorly trained . Their only saving grace was their superiority in numbers . Kang Chul-In was astonished by Atal Ramanujan’s decision to instigate a war with this mob .

But for the inner castle to fall into their hands? It indicated that Zolushka’s national defense power was weak beyond imagination .

“Kiddo . ”

Kang Chul-In asked Lily .

“Yes?”

“Where did you spend all that money?”

“T-That . . . ”

“The only explanation I can think of is that you squandered it on the wrong things . ”

It was a reprimand . Kang Chul-In was asking her how the inner castle could be infiltrated by these weaklings in merely three days .

“A-Actually… for my territory… ever since we won the battle in which Sumire died . . . ”

Lily tried her best to explain, but she had already lost her mind due to witnessing the prior massacre . It was difficult to tell what she was mumbling .

“I will speak on her behalf . ”

Rooibos volunteered .

“Actually . . . ”

In essence, his explanation was as follows:

Not long after the Great Summoning, Zolushka was a war-torn territory due to the constant ongoing battles with neighboring territories . However, it was able to subjugate the other territories and regain peace thanks to the work of Sumire, Lily’s trusted secretary .

“Her Majesty wished to soothe the pain of the people who had been devastated by the war . ”

The story that followed was a typical case of the tail wagging the dog . It also had the cliché story plot of how she did her people a favor and it became her job . Lily established too generous of a welfare system . She gave greater rewards and pensions to her people, lowered their taxes and distributed more supplies . The problem was that the territory didn’t earn enough money to sustain this act .

That wasn’t all . Lily decreased the size of her army to 40% after the war had ended .

“You’ve got some guts . ”

Kang Chul-In, who was listening quietly, even mentioned the word ‘guts’ .

“Why did you downsize the army?”

“As for that… after the end of the battle in which Sumire died . . . ”

“There weren’t any noticeable danger factors around, looking at the neighboring territories and geography?”

Kang Chul-In intruded .

“Ah, yes… that’s why . . . ”

“You trusted Itaracia and downsized your army?”

“Yes . . . ”

“Ridiculous . ”

Kang Chul-In was dumbstruck .

“Now I know why you failed . ”

This was why he wasn’t aware of Lily Sephardi’s existence in the past . In the past, Atal Ramanujan formed the Baldur Alliance together with Alex Rothschild, and was responsible for the large number of soldiers . In other words, he could cross the Chamonix mountains with Rothschild’s help, conquer Itaracia and then participate in the Ragnarök .

Lily’s territory was probably trampled down in the process .

“Kid… you are the definition of a pacifist . ”

Kang Chul-In stood aghast .

“To think you chose to be a eunuch . . . ”

It was a crude, but not totally wrong expression . An army constituted the foundation of national defense . It did exacerbate war sometimes, but at the same time, it was a source of deterrence .

There was a saying that without an army, there wouldn’t be war .

Kang Chul-In begged to differ .

That’s total bullshit coming from an ignorant shit .

Bullshit, indeed . No army, no war? Even if the nation without an army could be a peace-lover, would the neighboring countries share the same consensus?

Not in a million years! In fact, they would immediately gather an army to swallow the defenseless nation up whole . In this world where fraud and murder were frequent even between family members, who in the right mind would trust another nation?

“Kiddo . ”

“Yes, oppa . . . ”

“Look . ”

Kang Chul-In pointed at the Lord’s hall, which was now in a mess . Corpses, corpses and more corpses . Crimson-red blood pooled on the floor of the Lord’s hall . Fresh corpses were scattered everywhere, some with their eyes still wide open .

“This is the consequence of you downsizing your army . ”

“ . . . ”

“The people that you loved so much? Where are they? Both your soldiers and people are cowards who ran for their lives, instead of fighting back . ”

Lily couldn’t rebut Kang Chul-In .

“Sob . . . ”

“So what if you treat them well? Did the people repay your benevolence in any way? Managing a territory is no child’s play . There needs to be a give and take . You have to receive something from your people if you treat them well . War is not just limited to fighting an external enemy . In fact, domestic administration is a constant battle with your own people . ”

This was Kang Chul-In’s philosophy in managing a territory . He treated even politics as war .

“I… I… was wrong . . . ”

Lily’s head drooped .

“Because of my poor judgment… sob… the territory has fallen… people died… sob sob . . . ”

“No . ”

Kang Chul-In shook his head .

“People did die, but your territory can still be salvaged . ”

“ . . . !”

“There’s still some hope . Considering that talisman’s value… it’s worth rescuing an almost-devastated territory . ”

“R-really?”

“Of course . ”

“O-Oppa!”

“However… don’t you ever downsize your army again . You hear me?”

“Yes!”

Lily gave him a bright smile .

“I trust you… oppa!”

He didn’t have to ask for anything to gain her trust . That was Kang Chul-In, the trustworthy man!