“The Emperor of Blood and Iron…”

Kang Chul-In was reminded of this title whenever he was about to forget about it.

I guess there is something.

The magician, Nilus.

The Needle of the Empress.

The Demonic Sword, Kaiforce.

His daughter Arshelly, who was the princess of the Empire.

The promise that had come from earlier generations with the Ninetails.

Swordmaster Tuzenbach.

And even what the witch said.

There had to be a backstory or a reason behind why this was happening.

Even Kang Chul-In, who didn’t have any interest in his ‘reincarnation’ story before had become somewhat curious at this point.

Especially when there was someone like this witch who knew about the reincarnation without him saying anything.

“So, your name?”

Kang Chul-In asked, pointing towards the witch.

“Circe.”

The witch answered.

“Circe Heliades. I’m a witch who was waiting because of the prophecy of old.”

“Prophecy?”

“It’s simple.”

Circe continued.

“There’s a prophecy in our witch tribe, saying that ‘300 Lords and 299,700 warriors from another world will descend upon the continent.’”

Kang Chul-In knew exactly what Circe was saying.

The Great Summoning!

“In our tribe, we used to call this future event the ‘return.’”

“What do you mean?”

“Well...”

At Kang Chul-In’s question, Circe shrugged.

“This prophecy is from an ancient witch, or more precisely, my ancestor.”

“Your ancestor?”

“Yeah. It was just something she said from her mouth.”

Circe nodded.

“The prophecy came from my grandmother, the Archwitch Agrippa. It was her last words before she died.”

“Is that so?”

“Anyway, according to the prophecy, 1 year and 9 months after the ‘return’, one night the reincarnation of the Emperor of Blood and Iron would come looking for the ‘Tear of Purity’ in order to save a female warrior.”

It was a terrifyingly accurate prophecy.

“Which is why I came walking for a few days in order to check if the prophecy really was true.”

“...”

“I’m shocked too. I didn’t know that the prophecy was this accurate either. And you look the same as the portrait I have too.”

“...”

“Anyway, it’s good that we met. You can save your subordinate girl, and I can carry out the prophecy from my ancestor too.”

Even though there was no reason to disagree with this because it was a win-win situation for both of them, Kang Chul-In didn’t like leaving any doubts.

“The prophecy?”

“I told you, to show you the past.”

“How?”

“Through a ritual. I will make you remember your memories from your previous life. I honestly don’t know what will happen, nor whether it will backfire, but… That’s how it’ll work.”

“So, you’ll give me the Tear of Purity if I do the ritual?”

“No.”

“...?”

“Here.”

Circe used her telekinesis to pass Kang Chul-In a flask with a transparent liquid inside it. 

“This is what you were looking for.”

Shockingly, Circe just handed the tear to Kang Chul-In.

“Thanks.”

Kang Chul-In quickly took the Tear and put it inside his inventory,

“Then goodbye.”

And immediately turned his back around.

He was going to run away shamelessly after taking what he needed.

“...”

The Ninetails, Dorian and his soldiers were lost for words.

“H-Husband?”

The Ninetails opened her mouth.

“What? What is it? Let’s go.”

“A-Are we really going to go?”

“What, is there anything else left to do here?”

“If we don’t stay friendly to the witch tribe, we might get cursed in the future…”

“Well then, tell her to curse me.”

Kang Chul-In said, laughing.

“In the first place, that woman doesn’t want anything from me. She isn’t going to curse me.”

“What makes you think that?”

“If we were making a deal, the tear is that woman’s everything. What kind of dealer would show what they have first? Which means it’s between two things now. Whether this is false, or whether there is no reason to follow the prophecy. In this case…”

Kang Chul-In shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s obviously the latter. She said herself that she was shocked when she met us. Do you honestly think that she believed this prophecy in the first place?”

It was shocking how Kang Chul-In could figure this out so quickly.

Just like what Kang Chul-In had said, Circe didn’t look very enthusiastic.

She was under the nuance that she was moving due to her personal curiosity, rather than following the prophecy.

“No?”

But it seemed as if Circe didn’t agree with Kang Chul-In’s opinion.

“There’s one thing left, don’t you think so? Reincarnation of the Emperor of Blood and Iron.”

“What, are you planning on fighting me?”

Kang Chul-In stared at Circe, a fierce expression on his face.

“Of course not.”

But Circe shook her head.

“I don’t want to fight.”

“Makes sense. Well then, what’s that remaining thing to do, Witch Circe?”

Kang Chul-In asked.

“Hmm… Are you sure I can say it here?”

“What?”

“It’s your biggest secret.”

“Go ahead.”

Kang Chul-In was confident.

His biggest secret was the authority that he had gotten in his previous life as an Overlord, the Soul Backup.

And because of the fact that it wasn’t him returning to the past but data and information of him living in the future coming to him, this was something that no one could guess.

“You... you lived twice.”

A terrifying secret was spilled by Circe.

                ***

In the deepest place of the Bifrost territory, a meeting was going on.

“...What I’m saying...”

Albrecht Vilhelm emphasized his words.

“Is that in order to survive that terrifying monster Overlord Kang Chul-In, we have to cooperate.”

-I completely agree, Overlord Albrecht.

His ally and brother-in-law, Overlord Ao Xin, immediately agreed.

-I also agree!

-Me too! It’s better like this, than being taken over by Kang Chul-In at some point anyway!

-I also think that creating an alliance is better than being taken down one by one.”

All of the Lords of the Gulveig Region that was in the North of Pangaea agreed to what Overlord Vilhelm was saying.

As expected of the 2nd Ranked Overlord, Albrecht Vilhelm had a formidable army.

And because he was close allies with his brother-in-law Overlord Ao Xin, there weren’t many Lords that dared to disagree or speak against him.

-I…

At that moment, someone opened their mouth.

Everyone’s gaze headed towards that Lord, or more accurately, that Overlord.

Why?

Because this was the true vampire, Andrei Ivanovic, of the 10 Overlords.

-Even though I agree with what you think, it’ll be difficult for me to really help you right now.

This response was something that Ao Xin and Albrecht Vilhelm didn’t want.

In times like this, if a high-ranked Overlord like Andrei Ivanovic agreed with them, they would be able to create a huge alliance that even Kang Chul-In would have to fear.

“Overlord Andrei Ivanovic.”

But despite this, Vilhelm didn’t show the slightest bit of discontent and instead smiled.

“I respect your opinion. My aim is for peaceful co-existence and survival. If we can be safe from that monster’s grasp, I am happy to get even the smallest bit of help from you.”

-Well then, that’s fine.

At this, Andrei Ivanovic also nodded.

That damned vampiric bastard…

Invisible sparks flew between the two Overlords.

-I am speaking on behalf of Lord Peter Clemenza.

At that moment...

-Our Paramount territory will not be joining this alliance.

One asian man spoke, and the atmosphere began to freeze up.

            ***

Kang Chul-In’s expression froze.

You… you lived twice… twice… twice...

Circe’s words echoed in Kang Chul-In’s mind.

What did this mean?

Was this like James Bond in the 1967 movie, ‘You Only Live Twice’?

“You want me to continue? You want me to make you know what this means?”

Circe continued to speak, walking closer towards Kang Chul-In.

“Stop there.”

The Ninetails moved in between Kang Chul-In and Circe.

“There’s no reason to fear, Ninetails. I’m not planning to attack your man or to charm him. If I had to charm someone, he’s more of my style.”

Circe said, pointing.

“Interesting though… living twice?”

Kang Chul-In said.

-Soul Backup... that’s your greatest secret, isn’t it?

-In other words… returning to the past.

At this, Kang Chul-In stopped the urge to swing Kaiforce onto Circe.

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