Baruk Al Yusuf is turning his troops around? For… what reason?

James couldn’t understand what Kwak-Jung was saying.

If Kwak-Jung had hinted at a few more things, he might be able to guess, but Kwak-Jung didn’t talk about it at all.

Why is Baruk Al-Yusuf… Why was strategist Kwak trying to communicate with the… Wait a minute…!

As if he had figured something out, James turned his head and stared at Kwak-Jung.

“Ferrari…! Ferrari… Huhu…! This time I will definitely get a special bonus. Ferrari… that’s right…”

Kwak-Jung didn’t care what others thought about him as he continued to murmur and fantasize about the rewards he would get.

“Strategist Kwak.”

James opened his mouth.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Yes?”

“The reason you were trying to communicate with the others…”

“That’s right.”

Kwak-Jung nodded.

“Why do we need to dirty our

 hands? Kuku…! Especially when there are so many others willing to do the dirty work for us…?”

“But why would the nearby Lords move so easily for us? If they went and tried to invade Baruk Al-Yusuf’s territory, the aftermath wouldn’t…”

“Well, I did have some conditions that were quite tempting for them. 5 years, where we wouldn’t touch their territories, and where we also wouldn’t stretch our hands to get some of that crazy terrorist bastard’s territory. When I said that, the others started to immediately agree.”

“But isn’t it somewhat… thoughtless to give up all of those opportunities? After all, the lord could be angry…”

“That’s not true.”

“Sorry?”

“Look at us right now; we’re so busy trying to innovate our new territory that we don’t have the time to control that crazy guy’s territory too. We aren’t at a stage where we can go around and expand our territory even further. And also…”

Kwak-Jung laughed.

“I said that we wouldn’t touch them for the next 5 years, not that we wouldn’t touch them forever.”

“...!”

“In war, there are no eternal allies, nor eternal enemies. The ones that act first are usually the ones who reap the benefits.”

Kwak-Jung laughed again.

“While those 4 territories are hitting that terrorist’s territory…”

“Wait!”

James interrupted Kwak-Jung.

“You said 4 territories?”

“Yeah? Is there a problem?”

“Even though there aren’t many people left, isn’t it quite hard for only 4 territories to conquer Baruk Al-

Yusuf’s territory? Unless he’s an idiot, he probably left troops there too…”

“Huhu… who said that there are only 4?”

“There are more!?”

“We have the long-range bombing of Overlord Hecate, and also the help of Overlord Dorian’s special forces which are being lead by Lord Dorian himself.”

“W-What!”

“Right now, that terrorist’s territory is probably in a mess. Kukuku! Oh, and there’s more!”

Kwak-Jung added.

“We’ve also given hints to the territories that have been conquered that Baruk Al-Yusuf’s territory will be invaded. Since he’s quite hated, I’m sure there will be quite a few rebellions that occur. Huhu… now do you understand?”

“My god…”

“No matter how well prepared he is, I’m sure he’ll be returning to his territory to stop it from being completely destroyed.

“Ha…”

After the explanation, James stared at Kwak-Jung like he was staring at a ghost.

To think Strategist Kwak was actually this smart…

Finally, James realized why Kwak-Jung was so confident from start to finish.

It was simple just saying it like this, but it probably wasn’t an easy process to convince all the Lords to act under his will.

“Now then, let’s think of catching up to him and disturbing him.”

Kwak-Jung laughed, and passed by James.

“Shouldn’t Sir James also have an opportunity to prove himself? This is a great time for that, since you didn’t have much of an opportunity to fight. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get lucky and be the one to kill Baruk Al-Yusuf?”

“I-Is that so?”

It seemed that James’ suspicion towards Kwak-Jung had washed away.

“Very well! Oh, but…”

“...?”

“...Do we really leave the lord to fight alone?”

“Yes, we will.”

Without hesitating, Kwak-Jung nodded.

“Baruk Al-Yusuf doesn’t have the leisure to chase after our Lord, and our Lord is nigh-invincible. We will do what we need to.”

Ignoring James’s worries, Kwak-Jung started to move forward without thinking of Kang Chul-In. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t care about Kang Chul-In, but rather that he trusted his strength.

--------

But unlike what Kwak-Jung thought, Kang Chul-In wasn’t in such a good state.

Rather, it was more accurate to say that he was in the worst state possible at the moment.

He was currently surrounded by 2,000 troops in a narrow valley that had set up a formation beforehand.

There were also crossbows.

The soldiers held crossbows that were used to hunt giant monsters and pointed them towards Kang Chul-In.

Even though this kind of trap normally wasn’t enough to take him down, the opponent wasn’t easy. After all, it was Lee Gong-Myung who set up this trap, the strategist that was Alex Rothschild’s hidden card.

“Surrender?”

Kang Chul-In laughed.

“Say something that makes sense. Who are you to speak of such nonsense to me? Are you a subordinate of Baruk Al-Yusuf?”

Although Kang Chul-In was very much aware of Lee Gong-Myung, he pretended not to know him. There was nothing more idiotic than to show Lee Gong-Myung that he knew of information he shouldn’t know.

“No, that’s not true.”

Lee Gong-Myung answered.

“I am not a servant of Baruk Al-Yusuf, but rather the strategist of Alex Rothschild, Lee Gong-Myung. My lord is Alex Rothschild, and Alex Rothschild only.”

“Oh? So you were the strategist of that coward?”

Kang Chul-In nodded, as if he were interested. Even though he already knew.

“Why is the strategist of that coward commanding Baruk Al-Yusuf’s army? Have you been sold or something? Maybe as a slave?”

“Of course not.”

“Then?”

“You can think of it as you wish.”

Even though Lee Gong-Myung didn’t necessarily want to tell Kang Chul-In,

He’s probably here to keep me in check, by making sure Baruk Al-Yusuf’s army can stand up to me. Dammit! What bad luck.

Kang Chul-In figured out Lee Gong-Myung and Alex Rothschild’s intentions with just a small hint. 

“So,”

Kang Chul-In spoke with an unmotivated tone.

“You want me to surrender?”

“That’s right, Overlord Kang Chul-In.”

“With just this trap?”

“...!”

“Hey, your name was Lee Gong-Myung, right?”

Kang Chul-In looked up at Lee Gong-Myung, who was on top of the canyon.

“Even though it pisses me off that you told me to surrender… Very well, I like your attitude. So…”

At this moment, Lee Gong-Myung listened closely to what Kang Chul-In was saying, because he couldn’t believe his ears. It was because Kang Chul-In sounded quite truthful in what he was saying.

“Join me.”

“...!”

“I will promise you the best treatment. It’s better to be under me than under that cowardly Alex Rothschild. If you’re under him...”

“Stop!”

“Hmm?”

“Please do not continue to mock my lord, Overlord Kang Chul-In.”

Lee Gong-Myung’s voice now contained hints of anger.

“Mocking? But it’s true?”

Kang Chul-In answered back.

“Overlord Kang Chul-In.”

But,

“I am not the subordinate of my lord because I want something from him. 

Does obeying someone always mean that I want something from them? This is not what I believe in, so it seems that my views and your views are quite different…”

Lee Gong-Myung continued leisurely.

“Give up.”

“What do you mean.”

“The reason that you suddenly asked me to join under you, and the reason you were mocking my lord, Alex Rothschild--- do you think that I am not aware? That was just a cover in order to buy time.”

“Seems like I was found out.”

Kang Chul-In agreed.

“You have quick wits.”

“Well, it was so abrupt that I was nearly caught in your trap.”

“So, what do you want me to give up on?”

“If you are waiting for reinforcements…”

“Me?”

“...!”

“Do you really think that I need to wait for reinforcements?”

Kang Chul-In’s eyes started to glow fiercely.

“Don’t misunderstand.”

Kang Chul-In spoke, while laughing.

“I am the overlord, Kang Chul-In. I’m not such a weak human that I'd try to buy time in order to wait for reinforcements. I only believe in my own ability.”

“...!”

There w

as absolutely no fright in Kang Chul-In’s eyes.

“That sounds like… you’re not going to surrender to me.”

“Of course.”

“Don’t regre…”

“Why, are you afraid?”

Kang Chul-In was confident.

“Of course not.”

But Lee Gong-Myung was also confident.

Even though he knew of Kang Chul-In’s strength, Lee Gong-Myung was still confident in killing him.

“...”

“...”

Silence fell between the two men.

Swaaa-!

Only the sound of heavy rain could be heard.

“Seems like there’s no choice.”

The first person to break the silence was Lee Gong-Myung.

“You can think of it as paying the price for mocking my lord. Now then, good bye.”

Saying this, Lee Gong-Myung took out his final card.

“

Thunder

…”

Lee Gong-Myung held his fan up high.

Pzzt, Pzzt!

And the altars that he and the troops had set up earlier started to spark up with terrifying energy.

“

Descent

...!”

As soon as these words left his mouth---

Flash!

From high above in the sky, a white flash came roaring down towards Kang Chul-In.

Daughter!

Kang Chul-In reacted immediately and curled Arshelly in his arms.

-Krrr!

The Altaica also quickly moved, and curled up near Kang Chul-In and Arshelly.

BANG-!!

The thunder hit Kang Chul-In’s party.

[Magic energy, sensed! The energy will be absorbed!]

Sheville Polansky’s ‘

Spellthirst

’ activated,

[Authority: Full Moon, Activate!]

[20% Increased damage!]

[20% Increased defense!]

[Regeneration will increase by 200%!]

As did Alaric's ability, '

Full moon

'. 

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