The Overlord of Blood and Iron (WN)

“Strategist Kwak?”

Drakan stared at Kwak-Jung, still startled by his sudden appearance.

“Even though it’s nice that you brought reinforcement, you were given orders to make a defensive line in order to…”

“Geez!”

Kwak-Jung cut off Drakan’s words and raged.

“...!”

“Come on! If I tell you to do something, just do it! Okay?”

“...Hm?”

“What position do I have? I’m the strategist!”

“W-Well…”

“If I tell you to do something, just do it already! Why am I the strategist? It’s because Milord trusts me to make decisions, am I wrong?”

Kwak-Jung was a little bit angry right now.

Even though Kang Chul-In somewhat came to trust him, the other officials of Laputa still didn’t fully trust him.

Not only was Kwak-Jung formerly a gangster, but his happy-go-lucky behavior also didn’t fit in well with the other serious subordinates' personalities.

Hmph! I know, but…

This time, it’s different!

Even though he might be unsure at any other time, he was very confident right now.

“General Drakan.”

“Yes?”

“You know what this is even if I don’t show you…”

Kwak-Jung pointed at his waist, where the Soul Core of Laputa was.

This meant that currently, Kwak-jung had the highest authority and position among all of the soldiers and officers.

“Kuhum…”

Drakan coughed.

Although he wasn’t satisfied with what Kwak-Jung was saying, he couldn’t speak his thoughts all willy-nilly towards someone with a higher position.

“God, dammit!”

Kwak-Jung raged again at Drakan’s half-hearted behavior.

“Commander of Laputa, General Drakan. Hear my words.”

He decided to use the tactic he did against James, which was to put forward his position.

“As the temporary leader of Laputa, I order you---”

“...!”

“Go right now, and fight against the enemies that are coming. I will not listen to disagreements. I will punish you by execution if you don’t follow these orders.”

Drakan, hearing this,

“Subordinate Drakan will follow your orders!”

Kneeled down on one knee, and swore to follow Kwak-Jung’s orders.

“Hmph.”

Kwak-Jung was aware that Drakan wasn’t following his orders, but rather the man that Kang Chul-In had temporarily put in charge.

“Well, who cares? As long as we win, it doesn’t matter.”

After Kwak-Jung complained to himself,

“Go, Drakan! I choose you!”

He pushed Drakan forward to the front lines, to fight along with Lucia.

What…? Why do I feel annoyed all of a sudden….

For an instant Drakan got annoyed, but calmed himself down and prepared for battle against the Anatolian soldiers.

Coincidentally taking 20 million dollars as spoils of war, Kang Chul-In rode atop the Altaica, and immediately dashed towards the Bittermoon territory’s castle walls.

He didn’t worry about the Spectre Knights.

After a certain point in time, or if they took too much damage, they would transform into black currents before being sucked back into the item he wore.

Daughter….!

Instead, Kang Chul-In focused on Arshelly who was on his back.

Endure for a little while longer.

Although Kang Chul-In wanted to make Arshelly lie down and rest, they were in the middle of a battlefield. It was impossible to have such leisure when the enemies were hot on his trail.

He had no time to even stop and drink a potion.

-Allahu Akbar!

Whenever he felt like he would have a chance to catch his breath, the suicide bombers would get dangerously close.

These god-damned bastards…

Kang Chul-In gritted his teeth.

I will erase you from the map one day.

Even though he was alone this time, next time would be different. As long as he was able to firmly plant his roots in the Ishtar region, it wouldn’t be too difficult to destroy their territory.

An escape route…

After managing to jump on the castle walls, Kang Chul-In looked for a suitable escape route.

It would be suicide to go back to where he had come from.

Outside of the Bittermoon territory, the Anatolian army had surrounded him, so it would be impossible to run away if he chose the wrong direction.

There!

Kang Chul-In’s gaze headed west.

The Bittermoon territory’s west gate seemed like quite a suitable escape route.

Since the path was quite narrow and it was connected to a mountainous region it would be easier for him to run.

It’s good, but…

But Kang Chul-In didn’t immediately run west.

If there is a trap or an ambush there… I will probably die.

Kang Chul-In’s instincts warned him.

Or rather than instinct, it was experience that he had gained from fighting so much.

According to his experience in a place like that,

...Lee Gong-Myung, that damned bastard.

Lee Gong-Myung’s traps were planted there.

It hasn't been too long since this scrimmage started. If someone was able to check the nearby region of the Bittermoon territory and set up a trap in this short of a time-span… Lee Gong-Myung, only someone like him could do that.

Although anyone could think of a plan like this, they would need a lot more time than Lee Gong-Myung.

There’s no choice.

Even though he looked around, there were no other escape routes like the one in the west.

Even though he would risk dying, he had to go west, or it would only be a matter of time before he was caught by the Anatolian army.

He had to break through, even though there were traps there.

“Let’s go!”

Kang Chul-In urged the Altaica.

-Krrr!

The Altaica started to run across the castle walls. Their destination was the west gate of the Bittermoon territory.

“Great Khalifa…”

A soldier reported.

“Our elites... And general Abubakar… have been wiped out...! All by the hands of Overlord Kang Chul-In…!”

“What!?”

Bang!

With a large noise.

Crack!

The armrest on the throne that Baruk Al-Yusuf was sitting on broke.

“They’ve lost? The assassins and suicide bombers that I spent so long training, lost?”

“Y-Yes, great Khalifa.”

“The guards, how about the guards?”

“T-That….”

“...?”

“They’ve also been wiped out by his Spectre Knights.”

“What…!?”

Baruk Al-Yusuf found it difficult to calm his rage.

“200, all dead? To just one person? And even Abubakar died?”

“G-General Abubakar was apparently slain due to the huge bounty on his head…”

“Kang Chul-In… is this guy even human…?”

Baruk Al-Yusuf found it difficult to believe such unexpected news.

“Hu….”

Baruk Al-Yusuf sighed.

“So… What’s going on now?”

“Apparently he’s on the castle walls, heading towards the west gate.”

“West?”

“Yes, great Khalifa.”

“Ho…”

At this good news, Baruk Al-Yusuf’s expression turned better.

Even though it was terrible losing his elites, he hadn’t lost Kang Chul-In yet.

After all,

“Lee Gong-Myung… he even predicted that my elites would fail. He even knew where Kang Chul-In would run towards…”

All of these were apart of Lee Gong-Myung’s calculations.

“Lee Gong-Myung… if he predicted everything correctly, this is the prime opportunity to catch Kang Chul-In. Lee Gong-Myung… Lee Gong-Myung! What a smart man. He’s seeing through Kang Chul-In’s actions and patterns so easily…”

“But if this is the case… I guess I’ll have to go and see myself.”

Murmuring to himself, Baruk Al-Yusuf stood up from his throne.