The Overlord of Blood and Iron

After the black silhouette left,

“To think… he was an Aganaga…”

While remembering the strange meeting with his own species, Lee Ji-Tae walked . He was heading towards the Shatmayeba territory . He was planning on returning to Overlord Atal Ramanujan .

“Just…”

He had heard a slight explanation, but he still didn’t understand everything . Lee Ji-Tae, who prided himself on being smart, had never felt more confused than this . There was only one answer .

“Is… the only thing left for me to do… is eat people…?”

Consuming human brains . He realized why the Agnaga existed . Also, for the “abilities” that the black silhouette had spoken about, he would have to consume brains anyway .

“I suppose it doesn’t matter . ”

Lee Ji-Tae grit his teeth .

“If only I can take revenge… if I can avenge Alex…”

What did it matter? He had already gone over the edge . After his resurrection, whenever he felt starved, he consumed humans . There was nothing stopping him, who had already done what humans shouldn’t do . Also, he had managed to convince Atal Ramanujan to create the third entity, but they had already lost . He wasn’t in the position to be picky .

“The awakening of my abilities… ability awakening…”

Repeating those words, Lee Ji-Tae returned to the Shatmayeba territory . A monster who moved only with the mind to destroy Kang Chul-In, that was Lee Ji-Tae .

***

“Just… you… wait… Kang Chul-In…”

Brynhildr left in a mess .

The fancy white knight was nowhere to be seen . There was only the leave of a loser .

“W-what…?”

Dorian tilted his head seeing this .

“Hey, Kang Chul-In!”

“What?”

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“ . . . ”

“Hey… you should’ve said so if you were hurt… haa…”

“What kind of bullshit are you talking about suddenly?”

“Is it an untreatable disease? Hm?”

“Untreatable disease?”

“Yeah . ”

“On what grounds are you thinking that?”

Kang Chul-In asked, flabbergasted .

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Dorian replied .

“They say that people die when they start doing things that they didn’t do before!”

“ . . . ”

“Or if you have a chronic illness . ”

“Was that the reason?”

“Yeah . ”

Dorian nodded his head powerfully .

“The Kang Chul-In that I know is definitely not someone who’d save his enemies . ”

“ . . . ”

“Unless you were sick…”

It was true . Murder, arson, theft, breaking apart families, and more . Even from Dorain’s perspective, Kang Chul-In was a demon without any blood or tears . But that Kang Chul-In let go of a dangerous person like Brynhildr? He couldn’t believe it after seeing it .

“Tsk, tsk . ”

Kang Chul-In looked at Dorian pathetically .

“That’s why you’re stupid . ”

“I-I’m… stupid?”

“A mere sparrow wouldn’t know the meaning of a phoenix . ”

“T-that’s not fair!”

“I’m drawing a big picture . ”

“A big picture?”

“Shut up if you don’t know . ”

Kang Chul-In turned away from Dorian . It was because there was no way to explain that Brynhildr was going to bring him the Sonic Ring because he didn’t know about Soul Backup .

“Humph . ”

Dorain muttered .

“You should’ve taken the mask off at the very least . You just let him go…”

“Mask?”

“Yeah . ”

“Why would I take that off?”

“Because I’m curious!”

Dorain screeched .

“I don’t know what kind of guy he is that he keeps hiding himself . I saw earlier that he fixed his helmet first when he was getting up . ”

“Mind your own business . ”

Kang Chul-In smirked and scolded Dorian .

“If you have time to be curious about that, go train . ”

“Wow… aren’t you curious?”

“Not at all . ”

“Really?”

“Where would I use that knowledge?”

“ . . . ”

“It’s not like I’ll get money out of it or be able to use it like a servant . ”

“Wow… and I’m over here super curious . ”

Dorian sighed .

“What if he has burns all over his body?”

“Maybe . ”

“Or he’s seriously ugly?”

“Sounds likely . ”

“He might not even be human . ”

“That sounds right . ”

“Or perhaps he’s a girl?”

“Where did that come from?” Kang Chul-In frowned .

“Like a girl who dresses up as a guy . ”

“Then she could’ve just dressed up as a guy, but why would she wear a helmet?”

“That’s true…”

“Stop talking about useless things and let’s take care of them . ”

Kang Chul-In pointed at the Shatyameba forces .

“Oh, right . ”

Dorian scratched the back of his head and clenched his fist . Right, it wasn’t the time to make small-talk . It was time to fight . There were about 30,000 people of the Shatyameba army in front of them . It was impossible to kill them all .

Click! Kang Chul-In grabbed Kaiforce

I’ll finish it quickly and return .

His head was filled with thoughts about his family . He didn’t want to miss a family vacation because of work .

“W-wait!”

Kang Chul-In thoughts soon became reality .

“Supreme King of the West, please listen to me!”

A middle-aged man with medals on his chest stepped up . He had three stars . This man was a lieutenant general .

“Who are you?”

“Yes, your Majesty . ”

He replied .

“I am General Apu of the Shatmabeya forces . ”

“And what do you want?”

“That is…”

“If you’re trying to suggest I surrender, I’ll…”

“N-no!”

General Apu shook his hands frantically .

“It’s a misunderstanding!”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yes, your Majesty! I wouldn’t dare perform an act of atrocity like suggesting you surrender!”

It was like he was saying…

“Our soldiers will be the ones to surrender . ”

“ . . . !”

“Please accept us with your benevolence that’s as deep as the sea!”

It was surrender .

The 30,000 man army was surrendering to Kang Chul-In .

“Why?”

Kang Chul-In was astounded .

“Why are you quitting? You’re the ones at an advantage right now . Even if I’m strong, it’s hard for me to deal with 30,000 of…”

“No, your Majesty!”

“No?”

“Yes!”

The general kneeled .

Thud!

It wasn’t just him .

Thud, thud, thud!

All of the soldiers began to kneel .

These crazy bastards?

War wasn’t a game, so why was this army of 30,000 all surrendering to him? This was the first time he had ever been so astounded in his entire life .

“Your Majesty!

Dopinder, who had surrendered first, bowed down in front of Kang Chul-In .

“May I, Dopinder, say something to your Majesty first?”

Tremble! His entire body was shaking like a tree in the wind . It was because of the pressure that Kang Chul-In was exuding .

“Speak . ”

Kang Chul-In nodded .

“General Apu is being genuine . Please accept them . ”

“Genuine…? What is the reason? Is there a reason to surrender to me, throwing away your children?”

“Yes, there is . ”

Dopinder replied .

“Your Majesty, there is no hope in the Shatmayeba territory . ”

“The reason?”

“The Shatmeyba territory is lacking in terms of arable land . Why else would they call a jungle a “green desert?”

“A green desert?”

“Yes, your Majesty . The Shatmayeba territory has a great population but 85% of the land is a jungle . ”

“Are you saying there’s nothing to eat?”

“Correct, your Majesty . ”

“Are you saying that even if you return, your children will starve to death… so you want to surrender to save yourselves?”

“I-It’s embarrassing but true…”

Kang Chul-In stroked his chin like he was thinking of something .

So Kwak Jung was right .

It was exactly as Kwak Jung said . Atal Ramujan had chosen to climb the mountain range rather than to starve .

“Your Majesty!”

General Apu was bowing his head towards Kang Chul-In again .

“Please accept us! We want to become your people!”

It was a genuine surrender .

“Please accept us, your Majesty!”

“Accept us!”

“We want to become your people!”

The army of 30,000 soldiers all shouted towards Kang Chul-In .

“Whoa…”

Dorian clicked his tongue .

“Kang Chul-In is getting soldiers without lifting a finger… haaa… what do they like about Kang Chul-In?”

Dorian couldn’t understand how normal people viewed Kang Chul-In .

“Well, fine . ”

Kang Chul-In nodded his head .

“I understand what you’re saying . I, the Supreme King of the West, will accept everyone as my people!”

Sure, there wasn’t any reason why he couldn\'t accept them . He could accept their surrender and help with the restoration of the Zolushka territory .

“Wooooooh!”

“We’ll serve you to our best ability!”

“Hurrah for the Supreme King of the West!”

“Cheers for the Valhalla Kingdom!”

The soldiers of Shatmabeya all cheered powerfully .

“Also!” Kang Chul-in continued, “it might be hard, but I’ll also accept your family! As soon as I can, I’ll get started with an operation to rescue your family, and if you can prove that you’re family, I’ll let them pass!”

It was a small act of generosity, but not to those who heard it .

“Y-your Majesty!”

“Keuk!”

“You’re a holy emperor, a true benevolent holy emperor!”

“Heuk… heuk heuk…”

The battlefield that was a sea of blood instantly became a sea of tears . All humans missed their families .

They felt grateful at Kang Chul-In’s goodwill .

***

A week passed after Lee Ji-Tae met Atal Ramnujan .

“Y-your Majesty…! Keuk…!”

Lee Ji-Tae bowed towards Atal Ramnujan and sobbed .

“I’ve committed a crime worth dying for! Please kill me!”

The responsibility of the battlefield was always the commander’s .

It wasn’t a strange thing for him to request for death since he was Atal Ramnujan’s head commander .

“No, of course not! Why would this be your fault!?”

Unexpectedly, Atal Ramanujan didn’t scold Lee Ji-Tae .

“This is definitely not your fault . Who could’ve imagined that Kang Chul-In would interfere!”

“Y-your Majesty!”

“No one could’ve expected it! I, you, and the people here didn’t know about Kang Chul-In’s arrival! The loss of the war isn’t just on you, but me as well!”

It was the truth . Even though Lee Ji-Tae was the prime commander, he received orders from the Lord, Atal Ramanujan . Reasonably speaking, it wasn’t anyone’s fault in particular .

“Get up, Lee Ji-Tae!”

Atal Ramnanuhan got up from his throne and raised Lee Ji-Tae .

“Your Majesty…”

“If it wasn’t for Kang Chul-In, it was a strategy that would’ve been greatly successful . His interference is like a natural disaster, so how can I hold you responsible for that?”

“Keuk!”

Lee Ji-Tae cried . Actually, it was more like he was pretending to cry, but . . .

“It’s too early to give up, Lee Ji-Tae . ”

“ . . . !”

“You planted the dream of the north in me . You’re also the person who helped me become royal . Stand up . We were just unlucky . You can try again . I’m planning on giving you more chances!”

“I-Is that true?”

“Of course! You’re the commander who took over the Chamonix mountains in less than a week . If I throw you away because you dally once, everyone in Pangaea will laugh at me, Atal Ramanujan!”

Atal Ramnujan seemed to be able to make wise decisions . Of course, it wasn’t a good one this time . It would’ve been better for him to kill Lee Ji-Tae however he could .

“Alright, I have something to say to you . ”

Atal Ramanujan led Lee Ji-Tae .

“I’ve prepared good wine, let’s go!”

“You’re too kind, your Majesty!”

Atal Ramanujan made a gesture of encouraging Lee Ji-Tae . This meant that he knew how to take care of his underlings pretty well, but . . . There was a scary smile on Lee Ji-Tae’s face .

***

In Atal Ramanujan’s office .

“Isn’t it not that bad of a loss, anyway?”

Atal Ramnujan poured a drink, alone with Lee Ji-Tae .

“With this war, we were able to decrease our population by about 50,000 people, Lee Ji-Tae . ”

“Y-Yes, that’s true . ”

“We were lacking in food, anyway . Shouldn’t we be happy that we don’t have to feed 50,000 mouths?”

It was a cold statement . How could he say that about his soldiers unless he just considered them his workers?

“Thanks to…”

Atal Ramanujan continued to speak . No, he tried to continue, but he couldn’t .

Puk! Tentacles that came from Lee Ji-Tae pierced Atal Ramanujan’s body .

“Kuk!”

He gasped .

“J-just… w-what are you… doing… Lee Ji-Tae…?”

“I don’t know?”

Lee Ji-Tae smiled faintly .

“An experiment, if you will . ”

“E-experiment…!?”

“An experiment about what would happen if I absorb your brain?”

“ . . . !”

“If I succeed…”

“ . . . !?”

“I’ll become a Lord . It’ll be the first case of an adventurer becoming a Lord . ”

As soon as he was done speaking, the tentacles began to dig deep into Ramnujan’s body .

Wriggle!