The Overlord of Blood and Iron

When Kang Chul-In arrived at Venetz, the second ship was already passionately spewing out their third attack.

"Look at you..."

Kang Chul-In was genuinely furious when he saw Neptune Spear's fleet.

"You dare to step into my territory?"

His anger was understandable, after all the enemy's fleet had invaded his territory and was shooting cannonballs at his people.

"He's pretty good, too."

On the other hand, Hecate looked amused.

"It's a shame he doesn't have flying abilities, but that's pretty incredible firepower, huh?"

"Well, sure."

Kang Chul-In replied carelessly.

"So what are you going to do?"

Hecate asked.

"I'll kill them."

"Huh?"

"You're not saying I should just look at that and stay still, right?"

"..."

"I can't just stay still when that damned bastard is shooting his cannonballs into my territory."

Hecate was flabbergasted at Kang Chul-In's response.

"How? There's probably about ten ships including that large military ship."

"Funny."

"...?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Hey, Kang Chul-In."

Hecate raised her voice.

"Do you know what you're saying?"

"Why do you think I don't?"

"I acknowledge that you're strong. But to me, it just sounds like you're trying to commit suicide. How do you want to take care of the fleet yourself? Using what?"

"Hmm."

"This shouldn't be coming from me, but you need to keep your temper in check. This isn't it. Wait until backup comes."

"What are you talking about? They're coming from over there."

"Hm?"

Kang Chul-In pointed at the sky. A black flying object, namely the Full Metal Dragon, was approaching rapidly with a large toot.

"Huh? Back there!"

Dorian shouted.

"Zeppelin is coming from Temeraire too! Did only the available troops come because they were in a rush?"

"Probably."

Kang Chul-In replied with a smirk.

"Alright, how about it?"

He turned around and asked Hecate.

"Do I still look like someone who wants to kill myself?"

"T-That's..."

Then, Dorian jumped into their conversation.

"Hey~! Kang Chul-In's pulling a scam again!"

"...?"

"You would've gone in by yourself even if they didn't come~!"

"..."

"Don't pretend like you wouldn't have~!"

Kang Chul-In shut his mouth.

This bastard is pretty smart, huh?

For some reason, Dorian was quick to catch onto things.

"What?"

Hecate squinted her eyes at his words.

"Is this loser correct?"

"..."

"You were gonna go in by yourself? Against that fleet?"

"Mm."

"Kang Chul-In, you…"

"To be honest..."

"...?"

"This loser is right. I was going to fight even without any backup."

"W-What are you talking about!?"

"Look for yourself."

Then, Kang Chul-In pulled out a magical voice amplifier.

-You've done well enduring until now, soldiers.

The response was immediate.

"H-His Majesty has come!"

"Finally!"

"Woohooooo!"

"We won, we won!"

"Hey, you bastards! His Majesty is back! He is!"

"You guys are all dead!"

The soldiers of the Valhalla Kingdom all cheered like they had already won.

"...Huh, Kang Chul-In's popular."

Hecate muttered to herself in disbelief.

"He's like a celebrity."

"I'm a bit popular."

"I bet."

"Gee, it's so hard being this popular."

Kang Chul-In grinned jokingly.

"Anyways, I think it's time to cause a ruckus. I needed a good ship, so I guess things actually turned out for the better."

"...!"

"Local products are the best, aren't they?"

This was ridiculous. Local products were the best? If he really thought that, Kang Chul-In was a true psycho.

"Ten iron ships… and if the one that Neptune Spear bastard is on is added in, isn't it 11?"

In the end, Hecate wasn't able to refute him any further or shut his mouth. She realized that she would be the one at a loss if she spoke anymore.

"Let's go, loser."

Meanwhile, Kang Chul-In grabbed Dorian.

"H-Huh? M-Me too?"

"Then did you want me to go in alone?"

"Of course you…"

It was then.

Crunch! Kang Chul-In put more strength in his grip and tossed Dorian away.

"Aaaaack!"

Where to, you ask? To the middle of Neptune Spear's fleet!

"K-Kang Chul-In! You bastard!"

Dorian screamed.

"Psh, he's loving it."

Kang Chul-In had a proud smile on his face as he watched Dorian fly away. Although, contrary to Kang Chul-In's words, there was nothing about Dorian's response that showed he was enjoying it.

"Then, I'll be off. I'll leave the firepower backup to you."

Kang Chul-In threw his body towards Neptune Spear's fleet.

"Wow…"

Hecate clicked her tongue watching Kang Chul-In's back.

"That crazy bastard… Psycho... Crazy… bastard…"

She was definitely cursing. But the nuance…

"I want to eat him up even more now. Hng… he's really my style."

***

"Commander-in-chief!"

"Hm?"

"We have a report from Commander James from Venetz!"

"What is it…?"

For a moment, anxiety flashed through Kwak Jung's head.

"Has Venetz…"

"No."

"Hm?"

"Weren't you thinking that the city might've been destroyed by the enemies' attack?"

"That's not it?"

"No, sir."

"Whew…"

Kwak Jung sighed in relief.

"That's a relief… I was thinking that we might have to check the water temperature of Hartum River."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing, what is it?"

"His Majesty has arrived."

"Mm!"

"A-Also… he threw himself into the middle of the enemy fleet…"

"..."

"There's some backup in the air… but the enemies have anti-aircraft guns… It's also not known if his Majesty is…"

Kwak Jung didn't let the messenger soldier finish.

-Ah, ah, this is the commander speaking.

Instead, he gave his commands using the magical voice amplifier.

-All troops, stop your march and wait where you are currently located.

It was a sudden order.

"C-Commander?"

"What?"

"Why did you suddenly stop our march…?"

"Listen if you don't know, kiddo!"

"Ah, yes, sir…"

Kwak Jung began to speak through the magical voice amplifier again.

-From this point on, our army will change our final destination. Letting all troops know again. From this point on, we're changing the final destination of our army.

It was an unexpected order. What was he thinking? Venetz was about to turn into ruins from the King of the South Seas', Neptune Spear's, attack, but they were going to change their location? Even the foot soldiers knew that the moment they lost Venetz, they would become disadvantaged in the war.

"Attention!"

"Report our numbers!'

"Everyone stand in line!"

However, the Valhalla soldiers didn't question Kwak Jung and silently followed his orders. It was an amazing sight. Soldiers who followed commands no matter what! Any commander would want soldiers like that.

-Our new destination...

Kwak Jung ordered.

-Is Esmeralda territory. Saying it once again. Our new final destination is Esmeralda territory. I'll be giving new routes to take, so commanders stay on standby. Once again, we will be going to Esmeralda, not Venetz.

It was a shocking order.

"W-Why?"

"Are we throwing away Venetz?"

"If we lose Venetz, even if we have Esmeralda, our supply route will be cut off."

"It's not just our supply route. We'll be surrounded by those Alliance bastards on all sides!"

The reactions of the commanders were reasonable, but,

-Yes~! I know what you're saying, I do, but you know… his Majesty will be taking care of Venetz by himself.

When Kwak Jung used the Kang Chul-In card, all the questions from the commanders were answered.

"Ah, his Majesty?"

"I see!"

"Ah~! Then we don't have to go to Ventez~!"

Everyone agreed. Kang Chul-In would defend Venetz by himself, so there was no one willing to raise any objections to that decision. If there was someone who did, they would be considered a soldier without any trust, and be suspected as a spy.

-Then, until we find a new route, everyone stay on standby.

Kwak Jung put down the magical voice amplifier.

"Bastards."

He had an evil smile.

"Run as fast as you can. See who'll arrive first."

It was a winning move. He would leave Venetz to Kang Chul-In in a bold move and swallow the Esmeralda territory faster than what their enemies expected. It was a tough strategy made from his trust in Kang Chul-In, his courage, and his competitive spirit.

***

"Aaaaack!"

Dorian, who shot up into the sky because of Kang Chul-In, crashed into the bottom of something after having flown kilometers high. Of course, that bottom was one of the decks of Neptune Spear's fleet.

"Owww…"

Dorian pushed himself up with effort.

"Owww… my body… I'm gonna die… die…"

His head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes… not. Obviously, his entire body would be throbbing after being thrown by Kang Chul-In. Most people would've died on impact.

"W-Who is it!?"

"Reveal yourself!"

Neptune Spear's soldiers shouted at Dorian.

"Heh…"

Dorian smiled.

"Well, since I was thrown anyway… I guess I should fight first?"

At the same time,

Urrrrng!

An Invincible-rank item, his Handgun Gauntlet, began to shine brightly red.

Then,

Boom! Shotgun fist! Dorian's specialty skill that even Kang Chul-In acknowledged to be a "crazy level of destructiveness" covered Neptune Spear's subordinates.

***

Boom! Kang Chul-In speeded towards the nearest ship, [Alligator].

"It's an enemy!"

"It's Kang Chul-In!"

"Shoot! Shoot!"

The soldiers on Alligator tried to stop him with long-range attacks.

-Shoot!

It was an order from the Alligator's captain.

-It doesn't matter if he's the Supreme King of the West if he can't get on board! Stop him from getting on board!

He was right. The Hartum River was in between Kang Chul-In and the Alligator. It was a long body of water without any footing. Humans couldn't get across it without any…

"He's running on water?"

"Shit!"

"..."

"No… way…"

The soldiers on Alligator stood there agape at the unbelievable sight. Kang Chul-In, that demon…

Swaaaaa! He was splitting through the water… running on top of it, at a quick pace at that… while avoiding all their attacks at the same time!

Let's see your new functions.

The man running on the water, Kang Chul-In, had a twisted smile on his face as he gripped Kaiforce in his hand and kicked off from the Hartum River.

"...!"

Everyone was surprised. That "human" didn't just run on top of water and then jump from it, tens of meters into the air, right? They couldn't believe their eyes. But their surprise didn't last for that long. When Kang Chul-In swung Kaiforce at the head of Alligator, something even more shocking occurred. The head of Alligator… the head… began to sink… in a neat single slice. Kang Chul-In had split a ship in two with just one stroke of his sword!