The Overlord of Blood and Iron (WN)

“Argh!”

Rothschild screamed in agony.

Bam, bam!

Kang Chul-In’s fists were overwhelming.

“Keuk, keuk…!”

“Hehe… you dare to mention my family with that dirty mouth of yours?”

“P-Please…!”

“You’ve crossed the line, bastard.”

Kang Chul-In was genuinely infuriated.

How dare Rothschild annoy him when all he gained was an insignificant bit of power?

He was ashamed to even acknowledge Rothschild as his rival.

Thump!

Rothschild’s face landed on the ground.

Crack!

And kicks followed.

“Oi, trash.”

Kang Chul-In’s army boot pressed onto Rothschild’s head.

“Did I,”

Crack!

“Look,”

Crack!

“That easy,”

Crack!

“To you?”

Crack!

Endless bashing.

Rothschild had gained mysterious power from the demon race Agnaga, but that was incomparable to Kang Chul-In’s full strength.

Even the intimidating title ‘Bergelmir the Rampaging Beast’ appeared trivial in front of him.

“Kuhuk...”

“I was an idiot to think that we were the same type of people.”

Kang Chul-In stared down at Rothschild mercilessly.

“W-What b… bullshit...”

“Useless trash.”

“...!”

“You only know how to rely on Lee Gong-Myung. Do you actually know how to accomplish anything without him?”

“...!”

“To think you’ve even given up humanity for that measly power… good job. Even an infant is more capable than you.”

Kang Chul-In’s criticisms wounded Rothschild’s heart.

“Keuk…!”

However, he couldn’t rebut as Kang Chul-In was speaking nothing but the truth. Tears rolled down Rothschild’s cheeks.

Without Lee Gong-Myung, Rothschild was pitiful indeed.

“Let’s see how long you'll last.”

Kang Chul-In sniggered at the sobbing Rothschild.

Actually, he wasn’t feeling that great either.

Ba-dump… ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!

His heart was beating like an explosive machine.

Pzzt, pzzt!

And his muscles were tingling from excessive stimulation.

Tiring. Really tiring.

Kang Chul-In bit his lips secretly.

Overdrive was the reason for his fatigue.

It was a trump card to increase the user’s abilities by 40% and 60% during phase 1 and phase 2 respectively. In return, it placed a huge burden on the user’s body.

Kang Chul-In had activated the third phase of Overdrive, which increased the user’s abilities by 100%.

In other words, his body had become a total wreck!

Grasp!

Kang Chul-In, however, did not stop. He grabbed strongly onto Rothschild’s hair.

“You bastard.”

“Heuk...”

“I won’t kill you so quickly.”

“Keuk...”

“I will beat you to death.”

A strong will.

An inevitable decision.

Kang Chul-In could not activate his [Full Moon] or [Spellthirst] abilities currently. In order to display ‘true power’, he had to activate the third phase of Overdrive.

If anyone asked why he took the risk to maximize his strength,

I won’t let you hit me even once.

Kang Chul-In wished to destroy Rothschild completely.

Learn how insignificant you are compared to me. Then die.

Domination!

Kang Chul-In planned to subjugate Rothschild completely and thus gift him the greatest agony possible.

That would indeed be the most merciless revenge.

***

“Commander-in-chief!”

Kwak Jung received a report from the reconnaissance officer.

“The once-scattered Gullveig Alliance army seems to be gathering in one place.”

“…Hmm?”

“In total, there’s around...”

“70,000 enemy soldiers?”

“Yes, commander-in-chief.”

“God damn it… we are fucked.”

Kwak Jung’s thin face crumpled upon hearing the news.

“Argh… after all that effort to shake the alliance. Why would they suddenly group up? What kind of bullshit is this…!”

“I beg your pardon? W-What do you mean…?”

“None of your business!”

“...!”

“Get out!”

“Y-Yes sir!”

Kwak Jung lashed out at the officer, who quickly ran out of the tent. He foresaw a fist coming if he stayed for a while longer.

“Argh… why would they suddenly group up?”

Kwak Jung pondered hard about the Gullveig Alliance’s unexpected move.

It’s not time for them yet… Wouldn’t they be conscious about grouping up when we are attacking them from behind? They are grouping up at a tremendous speed too, about 10 days ahead of schedule!

It was a sticky situation.

Kwak Jung had been avoiding any major fights, and he had been inducing small wars of attrition to spread out the Gullveig Alliance’s army as much as he could.

In that case, Valhalla’s territory could remain unscathed.

However, if the reconnaissance officer’s report was true, the Valhalla army could be placed in a dangerous situation at the wrong time.

Deathwin was difficult to defend, not to mention the additional week required to complete the defense line construction at its borders.

Someone must have seen through Kwak Jung’s plan, and he was manipulating the Gullveig Alliance army to counter it.

“Commander-in-chief.”

At that moment.

“A message has arrived from Kwak Jun, the tactician of Lord Vito Clemenza!”

A signaller reported.

“Kwak Jun?”

“Yes, commander-in-chief.”

“Hand it over.”

“Sorry? The decryption...”

“Never mind, just pass to me.”

“But...”

“Pass to me before I explode. Can’t you see that I’m already having a headache?”

“Ah, okay...”

The message was encrypted, which required someone to decipher it. Kwak Jung needed none of that.

Simple.

A computerized brain.

It sounded absurd, but it wasn’t a joke.

Kwak Jung’s brain had become so active that he could memorize all the codes used in the Valhalla army.

“Hmm… let’s see. What did he write here?”

Kwak Jung began to read the document.

“…This bastard?”

He then swore and crumpled the document.

“Did he just tell me to choose one from two options? Quite cunning, I must say... If I’m not careful… phew… now I understand why his Majesty told me that.”

Kwak Jung recalled what Kang Chul-In had told him in the past: ‘Don’t completely trust, nor distrust Kwak Jun.’ He realized that Kwak Jun was not someone to be taken lightly.

According to the document, the mastermind behind the clustering of the Gullveig Alliance army was Kwak Jun. In other words, he had seen through Kwak Jung’s plans.

Moreover, he placed Kwak Jung in a dilemma.

If we successfully defend against the all-out attack from the Gullveig Alliance… then victory is ours. Nothing could be better, to be honest.

Kwak Jung began to brainstorm rapidly.

The first option was to fight back. The Valhalla army would place all effort into defending the territory.

However,

Fuck, that’s easier said than done! How can we fight against so many enemy soldiers? Even if we do win, the damage is too much.

It was indeed difficult to emerge unscathed.

In that case, Valhalla would be extremely vulnerable to future wars as well.

But if we follow the second option, aren’t we technically giving this bastard the control over the situation?

Kwak Jun’s second suggestion was to fake defeat and surrender the Deathwin territory to the Gullveig Alliance. It ensured as little damage as possible for Valhalla.

In this case,

Kwak Jun would receive Vilhelm’s full trust.

The clueless Vilhelm would rely on Kwak Jun even more, and with greater trust came more information. This could prove to be instrumental in shaking the alliance from within.

Clench!

Kwak Jung, however, did not like the second option.

Too fast. Gaining Vilhelm’s trust is good, but… if we hand over Deathwin...

Kwak Jun would have the upper hand.

If Kwak Jun happened to become the Gullveig Alliance’s tactician someday, then he would have control over 90% of Valhalla Kingdom’s information network.

“Fuck!”

Bang!

Kwak Jung slammed his fist onto the table.

“No, I won’t let that happen… certainly not… I will play along a bit but not fully.”

He couldn’t trust the information completely.

Kwak Jung had no intention of giving Kwak Jun the upper hand.

What if he was actually a double spy?

…Valhalla’s doom.

That was why Kang Chul-In had pleaded with him not to trust Kwak Jun completely.

“Signaller.”

“Yes, commander-in-chief.”

“Relay this message to Nieu. Send unit 20 to Lord Vito Clemenza’s Paramount territory. Watch over Kwak Jun and his master closely, and if there’s any suspicious activity...”

Kwak Jung’s eyes gleamed.

“Delete them.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I said, kill them.”

“Yes, commander-in-chief.”

“Also, tell her to get some assassins on standby, to instantly kill anyone on my command.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, and also!”

“Anything to add?”

“Position all our men at Deathwin’s borders.”

That was Kwak Jung’s decision.

He planned to sponge off Kwak Jun, without giving him any control over the situation.

In addition, he had even made measures to kill him if he had a sudden change of heart.

“Phew.”

Kwak Jung let out a long sigh.

“Ah, and also.”

“Yes, commander-in-chief.”

“Get the magicians to prepare a warp gate that leads to the Paramount territory. Right now.”

The reason was simple.

Crack!

Kwak Jung cracked his knuckles.

“You dare to interfere with my big picture? Alright, let me show you your place...”

He mumbled to himself.

***

“Kang Chul-In… he is my friend, but that guy is just too merciless...”

“...”

“Eek! Horrible...”

“Is violence his only specialty?”

Members of Team Browser shuddered, as they witnessed Kang Chul-In beating Rothschild into a pulp.

“P-Please! Argh! M-Mercy! Arghhhhhh!”

Rothschild, in his monstrous form, pleaded and screamed.

Bam!

However, that only increased the strength with which Kang Chul-In punched him with.

And those punches… they were becoming too grotesque to watch. Kang Chul-In was almost murdering Rothschild.

Crack!

Kang Chul-In grabbed Rothschild’s two thick arms.

“Keuk...”

“You’ve been exercising?”

Kang Chul-In grinned cunningly.

“E-Exercise...”

“Nice arms.”

“Heuk...”

“Shall we see how hard they are?”

Crack, rip!

With a horrifying sound,

Rothschild’s arms were torn out from his body.

It was a cruel and violent punishment indeed.

“Arghhhhhhhhh!”

Excruciating pain!

Rothschild cried in despair.

“You’re gonna burst my eardrums.”

Kang Chul-In smirked.

Bam!

He then landed an explosive blow on Rothschild’s solar plexus.

“Keckkkk!”

Rothschild began to vomit a yellowish slurry.

“Cough, cough cough!”

“I’m getting tired of bashing you.”

“...!”

“Just die.”

Having said that, Kang Chul-In grabbed Rothschild’s head.

Crack, rip!

With another horrifying sound, skin, muscles and bones began to rip.

And finally, Rothschild’s head was completely separated from his body.

Psssst!

Dark red blood spurted out like a fountain.

At that moment, Kang Chul-In started to feel his chronic chest pain and chills around his neck disappear.