Chapter 265

Chapter 265: Lee Gong-Myung’s Despair

Flas.h.!.+

It was deep into the night .

Kwak Jung appeared in the Paramount territory with a unit of the Mir mechanized infantry .

“Hmm… what is this?”

Kwak Jung frowned .

The Lord’s hall .

In any territory, it was the most grandiose and brilliant infrastructure . However, the Lord’s hall in the land of Paramount was miserable beyond words .

All it had was an old throne, few dim lanterns and a ceiling covered with dust and spider web . It almost resembled an abandoned castle .

Moreover, the hall was empty even when Kwak Jung, a diplomat(?) of some sort, had arrived for a visit .

“Welcome . ”

Only Kwak Jun was present to greet him .

“I a.s.sume you are tactician Kwak? I am Kwak Jun, tactician of His Majesty Vito Clemenza . ”

Kwak Jun bowed to Kwak Jung .

“Great pleasure to meet you, tactician K- . . . ”

At that moment .

Bam!

Kwak Jung’s punch landed straight on Kwak Jun’s face .

“Kuhuk…!”

Kwak Jun stumbled and collapsed, while he held his bleeding nose .

“T-Tactician Kwak!”

“Good timing . ”

“…Sorry?”

“If there was an audience, I would have dragged you to that~ corner of there . But thankfully, this hall is empty . ”

Kwak Jung snickered .

In other words, he had intended to beat up Kwak Jun from the start .

“Oi, Kwak something . ”

“Yes . . . ”

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

“ . . . ”

“You don’t?”

“W-What are you trying to say . . . ”

“Hu… acting dumb, are we?”

“Sorry?”

“I guess there’s no choice . ”

“ . . . ?”

“Come, let me beat you up some more . ”

Kwak Jung rolled his sleeves up and began to walk towards Kwak Jun, who had collapsed onto the floor .

“C-Commander-in-chief!”

The platoon commander of the mechanized infantry unit held Kwak Jung back .

“It’s going to be troublesome if you continue . . . ”

“How is this troublesome?”

“B-But! This place is . . . ”

“Are you trying to tell me that using violence against a foreign territory’s tactician in the Lord’s hall is plain diplomatic disrespect?”

“That’s right!”

“You don’t have to care about that . ”

“I beg your pardon?”

The platoon commander couldn’t believe what he had just heard .

Don’t care?

Even after this diplomatic offense?

“Not even the slightest bit . ”

However, Kwak Jung thought otherwise .

“That’s because whatever that’s happening now is all pre-planned . ”

“ . . . !”

“A miserable hall could be due to genuine financial difficulty . But to not have a single subject, guard or servant even upon the arrival of a representative of the Supreme King of the West is suspicious . ”

It was an accurate observation .

Kwak Jung knew precisely why Kwak Jun had greeted him alone .

“Oi . ”

“Yes . . . ”

“Am I right?”

“ . . . ”

“You had expected to get beaten up by me, right? That was why you deliberately emptied the Lord’s hall . Not bad, b.a.s.t.a.r.d . ”

“ . . . ”

“You were probably going to spout some excuses like ‘I could only obtain Vilhelm’s trust this way’, ‘I’ve worked hard’, ‘it’s a misunderstanding, everything’s all for the better good’” .

“That…!”

“Ah, of course you will continue to claim that this isn’t true . That’s the only way for you to live . ”

Kwak Jung snickered .

“But how now?”

“ . . . ”

“I’m not angry about that . I don’t care whether you were trying hard, or whether you wanted to take control of this deal . ”

Kwak Jung said coldly as he grabbed onto Kwak Jun’s hair .

“I hope . . . ”

“Urgh!”

“I hope you know your place, b.a.s.t.a.r.d . ”

“ . . . ”

“Who gave you permission to draft a plan for Vilhelm?”

That was the real reason .

“How dare you screw up my plan with such trickery?”

“ . . . !”

“You are a chess piece that went out of control . What should I do?”

“T-That! T-Tactician Kwak! That’s my mistake… I-I apologize!”

Kwak Jun finally realized his mistake .

He had manipulated the Gullveig Alliance without any coordination with the Valhalla Kingdom . All his excuses (for example, he had to propose a plan to gain Vilhelm’s trust) did not work .

“Mistake my a.s.s . ”

Kwak Jung did not accept Kwak Jun’s apology .

“One should know his place . How dare you think so highly of yourself, just because His Majesty gave you some affection?”

“T-That was never my intention!”

“Like h.e.l.l it wasn’t . ”

“It’s a misunderstanding!”

“Misunderstanding? You b.a.s.t.a.r.d…!”

With that,

Crack!

Kwak Jun’s face was smashed against the floor of the Lord’s hall .

“Have you ever heard of ‘mental training?’”

“K-Keuk… w-what are you talking about . . . ”

“Oh . ”

Kwak Jung’s eyes gleamed .

“You will find out soon . ”

“ . . . !”

“By the way, you should really bite onto something . If not… your throat will be a gonner . I’m speaking from my own experience . Isn’t getting beaten up already sad enough?”

Kwak Jung was kind .

He had told Kwak Jun a valuable tip, which he had learnt from his experiences with Kang Chul-In .

***

Thump!

Rothschild’s body fell limply onto the ground .

Thump,

Roll .

So did his head with two widely open eyes, which rolled on the floor .

“Keuh . . . ”

Kang Chul-In exclaimed .

The end .

He had taken his revenge .

After returning to the past using the Soul Backup ability, he had finally addressed his humiliating defeat in his previous life .

The loss in Ragnarök .

The fall of the Valhalla territory .

Last but not least, his own death!

“Urgh… Kang Chul-In . . . ”

Dorian slowly approached Kang Chul-In after Rothschild’s death .

“You . . . ”

“Got anything to say?”

Kang Chul-In smirked .

“This is just too violent… urgh . . . ”

“Well, it’s Rothschild we are talking about . ”

“But still… hmm… this is like… more grotesque than ISIS’ beheading . . . ”

“Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are psychopaths who murder innocent people . ”

“T-That is true but . . . ”

“And Rothschild wasn’t even human . ”

“Oh, you are right . ”

Kang Chul-In was spot on .

Rothschild’s corpse resembled a monster . One could no longer call him a human .

Moreover, [Skill Absorption] did not activate after Rothschild’s transformation . It seemed that even the system did not recognize Rothschild as a Lord .

“Hehe… anyways, good job!”

“The small fries?”

“You mean the explorers? There . ”

Dorian pointed at a corner of the battlefield .

“We subjugated them all~”

“You didn’t kill any of them . ”

“I didn’t have to . They were only being used by Rothschild . ”

Dorian was right .

Most of the explorers had only partic.i.p.ated in the raid due to Rothschild’s empty promises to share the ma.s.sive reward .

“Hmm . . . ”

Kang Chul-In narrowed his eyes and observed the captured explorers, who were all tied up .

“W-Wait!”

“What?”

“Are you thinking of killing them?”

“N-No . ”

Kang Chul-In stuttered .

“Seems like it though?”

Dorian glared at Kang Chul-In suspiciously .

“I’m not . ”

“Really?”

“How many times do you want me to say?”

“Hmm… your eyes were gleaming with murderous intent . ”

“Who are you to judge how my eyes look?”

“Hehe~”

“Stop laughing like an idiot and send them back after some reprimand . Ah, just give them some dragon scales or pieces of bone . ”

“Oh~ Kang Chul-In~ being benevolent, I see?”

“But never give them the dragon’s heart, horn or eyes . ”

Kang Chul-In (The Supreme King of the West / Professional Robber) had absolutely no intention to share the juicy rewards with others . He was only fine with giving up the useless bits .

“Someone’s being greedy . ”

“You gotta do what you got to do . ”

“Right, but you appear petty . ”

“What did you say?”

Kang Chul-In glared at Dorian .

“Say that one more . . . ”

“Ah~ time to go for work~”

Dorian changed the subject and quickly left the venue .

“Hmm . . . ”

Kang Chul-In, who was left alone, stared at Rothschild’s corpse .

It was somewhat bittersweet .

Rothschild was his former rival after all . His pitiful death left a special feeling in Kang Chul-In’s heart…

“Agnaga… seems like I have to deal with this b.a.s.t.a.r.d Andrei Ivanovic soon . ”

… Or not . The cold-hearted Supreme King of the West didn’t entertain such frail emotions .

He only cared about the vampire Overlord Andrei Ivanovic, who was being suspicious .

***

The next day .

Kang Chul-In ended Cyamodus’ life (it was impossible to tame) and cleaned up the battlefield .

And afternoon came .

“One, two, three!”

Dorian shouted .

Keeeeeeeek!

Hundred wyverns soared up into the sky, their ankles chained to transport the Gold Dragon’s corpse .

Clank, clank!

With the clanking of the chains, the Gold Dragon’s corpse began to be lifted up in the air .

“I will be leaving first!”

“Remember to butcher it well!”

“Don’t worry!”

“Also, don’t forget to send me the dragon’s heart, eyeb.a.l.l.s and blood! And its skull! I need them to make my throne!”

Kang Chul-In pleaded Dorian, who was riding a black wyvern .

“Ok, got it! Stop it already!”

“ . . . ”

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Are you doubting your friend!”

“I-I’m not!”

“It’s d.a.m.n obvious?!?!”

“ . . . ”

“Well anyways, farewell!”

With that, Dorian and his wyvern riders left the scene with the Gold Dragon’s corpse .

Valhalla was too far, hence they had agreed to disa.s.semble the corpse in Dorian’s territory .

“Hu hu…!”

Kang Chul-In grinned .

“A new throne… fantastic… a throne made from a dragon’s skull is really the best . ”

Kang Chul-In was in high spirits .

After all, he was a sovereign to the core . He couldn’t camouflage his desire to show-off to others .

Now, a third party revolving around Rothschild will no longer appear . Even if someone else forms a new party, it will not have much power .

Kang Chul-In was satisfied .

Chaos did give birth to heroes, but the Baldur Alliance was never a part of Kang Chul-In’s big picture .

Dorado’s army in the west and Kwak Jun’s army in the east were shaking up the Baldur region .

Moreover, the sovereigns whom he had destroyed (those who interacted with Rothschild) were still captured alive in Dorian’s territory, while retaining their status as sovereigns .

In other words, as they were all still alive, their authorities as sovereigns were forfeited and their lands had become unclaimed (though n.o.body could claim them) .

“Time to return . ”

Kang Chul-In began to make his way with a satisfied grin .

***

That afternoon .

It began to rain in the Nürburg mountains after Kang Chul-In had left .

Drizzles soon turned into squalls, engulfing the whole region .

“What is this…!”

Lee Gong-Myung, who had rushed to the Nürburg mountains in excitement to meet his master, was flabbergasted to see what had happened .

And soon afterwards, Lee Gong-Myung faced the biggest tragedy in his life . . .