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!

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