“Urgh… Urghhhhhh!” Aleister shivered with rage and agony after his call with Vilhelm. 

Clatter, clatter…!

Aleister’s thin body, which was literally skin-and-bones, shook relentlessly. 

His anger was indeed justified. 

The loss at the third peak was just too grievous. 

Two thousand Igniters which he spent enormous fortune and effort on froze to death, while the Immortal Cavalry lost 50 phantom steeds before getting annihilated. 

Losing Quidor, his faithful right-hand man, was heartbreaking as well.  

But to top it all off… he learned something new which infuriated him. 

“Spectre knights! What the hell! That damn evil bastard!” He came to realize that the masked commander who burned his undead army to a crisp during the Fox Valley siege was none other than Kang Chul-In himself. 

“Since then… Why! What in the world!? What did I even do to you Kang Chul-In!?” The cry of the infuriated half-lich shook the whole hall. 

Aleister, who had no idea of the past, could never comprehend why Kang Chul-In disturbed him so much. He found it extremely unfair. 

Kang Chul-In, of course, paid no attention to Aleister’s stressful situation. 

“Alright then… let’s see who wins…! I promise to kill you and make you my slave… grrr!” Aleister gritted his teeth in anger.

It was too early to give up. 

He still had a few cards to play. Until then, he was still in the game. 

“Y, your Majesty!”

Stonebridge, the new commander-in-chief who replaced Quidor, rushed into the Overlord’s hall and reported in. 

He was a skeleton knight, a rank higher than the skeleton soldiers. 

“…What is it?” Aleister knew instinctively that it wasn’t good news. He bit on his withered lips and replied. 

“The Laputan army has conquered all the areas from the 7

th

 peak to the 14

th

…”

“…”

“Forgive me, your Majesty…!”

Clang!

Stonebridge slammed his skull onto the floor of the Overlord’s hall. 

“…” Aleister did not say anything. 

It was all to be expected. 

The loss at the 3

rd

 peak cost Deathwin 40% of its force. It wasn’t surprising that even the 14

th

 peak was conquered in just two days. 

“Huuu…” Aleister let out a deep sigh. 

Kang Chul-In was just too powerful. 

He yielded Mitra, an epic item with the extreme light element, a ghost cavalry comprising spectre knights, courageous Laputan generals, and well-trained soldiers. 

Moreover, Kang Chul-In himself was incredibly strong. Unless Aleister deployed some special strategy or flooded him with tremendous numbers, it was hard to achieve victory. 

“So… what about the enemy’s movements?” Aleister asked in a calm voice. 

Becoming angry did not solve any problems, hence he wished to react to the situation in a composed and cool manner. 

“They currently control the 14

th

 peak and are setting up base. Their plan probably entails establishing a supply route and then attacking the 15

th

 peak immediately afterwards”. 

“Those cunning bastards…!” Aleister, who planned to cut off Laputa’s supply route, exclaimed in frustration. 

“How about the battlefield? The corpses?” 

Excitement sparked in Aleister’s eyes. 

“A-As for that… I also considered that method but…” The ‘method’ that Stonebridge mentioned was to turn all the dead soldiers on the battlefield into undead monsters. In a sense, it was making soldiers out of thin air. 

“The enemy cleaned up the battlefield perfectly… they either burned the dead soldiers or buried them at least 20 metres underground.” 

Laputa’s actions were flawless. 

“…”

“There wasn’t a single corpse to make use of…”

At this point, it was similar to cutting off the electricity, gas and water for an extremely poor family.

Kang Chul-In was pressuring Aleister without any room for escape. He was attacking the weak points in the undead army. 

“So… how many soldiers do we have left?” 

“Including the defense forces, about 20,000.” 

“So few…” 

“…”

“Position all men at the 18

th

 peak.” Aleister made a decision. 

“Do you plan to leave Deathwin empty?” 

“Yes. Deathwin is not favorable for defense anyway. It’s different for the 18

th

 peak.” 

“Y-You’re right.” 

The last peak was indeed the most strategic location out of all eighteen peaks. It was a sacred fortress that was much more favorable for defense than Deathwin. 

“We hold onto the 18

th

 peak no matter what it takes. And….”  Aleister’s eyes glimmered. 

“Once the reinforcements arrive, we put out a counterattack.” 

The plan was to attack the Laputan soldiers when they tire out together with the ten thousand soldiers sent by Albrecht Vilhelm and Ao Xin. 

“A wise decision, your Majesty!” Stonebridge agreed. 

“I shall position all men at the 18

th

 peak immediately!”

“And!” Aleister rose from his seat. 

“I shall personally command the army for this battle.” 

“…!”

“Get ready!” 

Finally, Overlord Aleister, the necromancer, decided to fight against Laputa’s army, led by Kang Chul-In. 

Of course, these brave words were spoken without any knowledge of Vilhelm’s betrayal. 

                        ***

After conquering the 14

th

 peak, the ‘F’ word could be heard everywhere in Laputa’s base. 

“Oh, fuck!” 

“Fuck, fuck!”

“Fuuuuck!” 

The Laputan soldiers gritted their teeth and shuddered, while spitting out these coarse words.

There was a simple reason. 

They did emerge victorious in every battle so far, but the war had been too straining on everyone. 

“This damn hill... after this conquest, I shall not even pee in this direction!” 

“I’m sick of this!”

“Those damn corpses! They dare to fight on this rough terrain? Uncultured undead monsters!” 

Everything went according to Kang Chul-In’s words.

The 18 peaks. 

Its harsh terrains truly deserved some F words, befitting of the name. 

“After acquiring the supply route, immediately prepare to conquer the 15

th

, 16

th

 and 17

th

 peaks.” Kang Chul-In briefed his subordinates in the tent. 

“Yes, your Majesty.” The commanding officers of Laputa replied to him simultaneously.

“Podolski, any updates on the bodies of our fallen soldiers?” 

“Yes, your Majesty. They are well-taken care of and were sent to Laputa.” 

“I assume nothing’s wrong? Any soldiers who turned into undead monsters?”

“Not at all, your Majesty! If any of the Laputan soldiers became an Undead, I, Podolski, shall relinquish my life to your Majesty!” Podolski was confident that he did a flawless job. 

“Good.” Kang Chul-In showed a satisfied expression. 

“They are soldiers who fought for their nation. Their loyalty and patriotism should be honored to the highest degree. Moreover, we can’t let our soldiers fight against their former comrades who have turned into undead monsters. That is just tragedy.”

“Wise words indeed, your Majesty!”  Podolski bowed his head and venerated Kang Chul-In. 

“Wise words, your Majesty!” 

Everyone agreed to Podolski.

“That aside…”

Kang Chul-In was about to say something. 

“Your Majesty!” 

It was at that very moment. 

“A message has arrived from Laputa’s main base!” 

The signaller shouted. 

“…!”

Exciting news. 

It was getting slightly worrisome, as they could not establish a connection with the main base for four whole days.  

Hence, the restoration in communication was delightful, even for Kang Chul-In. 

“A message?” 

“Yes, your Majesty!” 

“Any chance of corruption by the enemy?” 

“The codes match 100%.” 

“Alright, let’s take a look.” Kang Chul-In rose from his chair and received two pieces of parchment. 

The message was as follows: 

   Addressed to the ruler of the Great Laputa, the sun to all people, an honorable soldier, the mighty Conquest Overlord, his Majesty Kang Chun-In.  

Your Majesty!

It’s Mikael, your humble servant. 

First, I will report the current situation!

“Hmm…” Kang Chul-In nodded his head. 

Mikael knew his style well, going straight to the point instead of giving trivial explanations. To any Overlord, such a subordinate was extremely praiseworthy. 

The enemy troops that dared to invade Laputa have all been annihilated! 

“O-hoh!” Kang Chul-In smiled at this fantastic news. 

The situation has been handled!

50 Cyamodus adventurers, 3 generals and 500 soldiers were either killed or captured! 

In addition, we managed to acquire the enemy’s airship! It’s an extremely old model so I doubt it’s useful, but it is still a formidable achievement!

Great results, but the damage was still there. 

Unfortunately, 189 of our soldiers have fallen in their line of duty, and the architectural director Kimura suffered light injuries. 

Other than that, 561 people were wounded. The damage is not trivial, but the essential manpower of Laputa thankfully remained safe.

“How dare they….” Kang Chul-In gritted his teeth. 

Regardless of the damage, he was furious due to the fact that Laputa’s main base got attacked when he wasn’t around. 

But, your Majesty, 

The bad news only had a brief mention. 

The rest of the message was filled with good news. 

The enemy’s damage was much greater. 

I, your humble servant, defeated Orteus of Cyamodus, and the white knights managed to cut down Godfrey and capture Smith alive! 

The Spear Master, Orteus. 

The Dark Magician, Godfrey. 

And Smith, who would claim the title of Sword Master in the future. 

These three were faithful subordinates of Rothschild, and also great generals who made countless accomplishments during the Ragnarök in the past. 

To have captured or killed them... 

Kang Chul-In couldn’t be happier. 

And… Please maintain your composure, your Majesty!

The Imperial Princess has done it big time!

She revealed her powers and destroyed four of Alex Rothschild’s clones! Isn’t that just wonderful? 

“…!” Kang Chul-In was taken aback. 

Arshelly’s accomplishments aside, to have destroyed four whole clones was extremely formidable. 

You went all out huh, Rothschild? 

Kang Chul-In scoffed at Rothschild inwardly. 

Not only did he attack Laputa when it was empty, but he also sent four of his clones. It was indeed true that Rothschild was desperately hoping for Laputa to perish. 

“Check overall rank.” Kang Chul-In immediately ordered. 

Five thousand gold was needed to check the ranks. However, that sum was trivial after reading that Rothschild had lost four clones. 

-Rank 44th. Alex Rothschild (-33)

A clear fall in ranks. 

A year ago, Rothschild was placed out of the top 100 ranks when one of his clones got destroyed. Compared to that, this drop was smaller than expected but still significant enough. 

“Hahahahahaha!” Kang Chul-In laughed like a mad man. 

“…!” The officers were surprised, but they weren’t anxious. 

They knew that he was laughing crazily to some good news. 

Your Majesty, the Imperial Princess was really formidable, just like you. 

I wish to report further, but the communication device is not fully repaired yet so forgive me for ending my message here. Sending this message gave us a lot of trouble as well. 

P.S. For video-calling to resume with the current state of the network communication device, at least 1 week is required. We will try our best to repair it as soon as possible.

P.S.S. The queen of demi-humans, Ninetails, has visited Laputa with a thousand demi-humans, and an incredible amount of treasure and supplies. 

“…Damn.”

The last portion of the report caused Kang Chul-In’s face to stiffen. 

By the way, your Majesty, 

Queen Ninetails has been referring to you as her ‘hubby’.

I sincerely hope to see your explanation to this in your reply. 

From your Majesty’s faithful servant, 

The governor of Balnibarbi,

The leader of the White Lion Knights 

Mikael

“Huuuuu.” Kang Chul-In let out a long sigh. 

He was placed in a tricky situation. 

The day had finally come. 

“…” Kang Chul-In didn’t move an inch after reading the last portion of Mikael’s report. 

Chuaakk!

He then proceeded to tear the parchment into two. 

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