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 . . .