The Overlord of Blood and Iron

Just before the army advanced to Nosferatu, Kang Chul-In got on Altaica, the God Beast of the Ancient Empire, and went towards the frontlines.

It had glimmering claws akin to a good sword, fur that bristled in the wind, and a new pair of wings. The fully mature Altaica was truly a magnificent beast.

As for Kang Chul-In, who was riding on Altaica...

Ohhh…!

Here comes… his imperial Majesty!

As expected from his imperial Majesty!

That person… is this world's only hope!

He emitted a charisma commensurate with his status as the Messiah.

Little chap. Kang Chul-In smiled warmly as he observed Altaica. Even though you are so cute...

He was right. Just a minute ago, Altaica was rolling in front of Kang Chul-In with his belly facing up, like a small cat. Kang Chul-In was amused to see the same beast prowling majestically in front of the others.

Whatever. Not like it behaves like this in front of anyone.

Kang Chul-In decided to overlook Altaica's double act. The godbeast couldn't act like a cute cat in front of all the soldiers, could it?

"My soldiers!" Kang Chul-In bellowed. "I believe you have read the imperial order."

The Valhalla soldiers replied. "Yes, your imprial Majesty!"

What a roar! It was akin to a roll of thunder.

"Who is our enemy?" Kang Chul-In inquired. "The Agnaga!"

An unanimous voice from a million soldiers! It was truly a sight to behold.

Excellent.

Kang Chul-In was very satisfied. He was once again proud of his decision to reveal the past. Look at them! From those who followed Kang Chul-In ever since the Great Summoning to those who just arrived from the other dimension, there was a strong cohesion due to the common goal of obliterating the Agnaga!

These people who were selected by the Emperor of Blood and Iron 1000 years ago to be placed in Erinyes always wondered, 'where are we from?' By providing them with the answer, Kang Chul-In made them realize their reason to fight. This was one of his best ideas thus far.

An army could never win without knowing the reason to fight. An army performed better with a clear sense of purpose. Kang Chul-In learnt these two principles through years of operating his army. They were crucial to achieve victory.

"Good." Kang Chul-In nodded. "Let me ask all of you."

"Yes, your imprial Majesty!" The soldiers replied.

"Are you going to lose?"

"No!"

"Are you going to relinquish this world to the evil Agnagas again?"

"No!"

"Then are you going to protect it?"

"Yes!"

"Wrong." Kang Chul-In shook his head. "Protecting the world isn't good enough."

Truly, the word 'protect' wasn't entirely compatible with Kang Chul-In, who was more of an attacker than a defender.

"I - no, we!" Kang Chul-In emphasized. "We shall destroy them - those damned bastards who trampled on this world in the past and came back 1000 years later to rule over it again. In fact, we shall rip them apart and wipe out the entire Agnaga race! We are not just fighting against a foreign power here! It's revenge! Do you understand? We have to pay those bastards back for what they've done in the past!"

The million soldiers replied. "T-That's right!"

"We shall have our revenge!"

"Never… shall we forfeit this world again!"

"We will destroy every single one of them!"

"We will show the enemy our true strength!"

"We will show those fuckers how terrifying Pangaeans are when taking revenge!"

All of them expressed resentment and anger.

Couldn't be better.

At that moment, Kang Chul-In could sense the atmosphere. His army had reached the maximum will and animosity towards the enemy.

"Good." Kang Chul-In nodded. "I appreciate your will."

At this point, further explanations were not needed. Actions speak louder than words! It was time to fight.

"Let's go!" Kang Chul-In shouted.

"Yes, your imprial Majesty!" The soldiers' voices thundered.

Suddenly, a huge black silhouette soared into the sky from behind Kang Chul-In's back.

Roarrrrrrr…!

A gigantic black dragon over 200 metres tall let out a tremendous roar. It wasn't Infrasonic, which instilled fear in other living organisms, but rather a victory roar! It was a buff which increased its ally's abilities by 10% and boosted morale.

"Ohh…!"

"A-Ancient… dragon…!"

"It's our empire's dragon!"

"We are fighting with the black dragon…!"

"We will win for sure…!"

As a result, the morale amongst the soldiers was higher than ever.

"Desdemona, the warp gate!" Kang Chul-In shouted at Desdemona, who had transformed into her original form. It was time to head out. All they needed was Desdemona to infuse some mana into this gigantic Warp Gate for Valhalla's one million soldiers to teleport to Nosferatu.

However,

Alright, husband.

Desdemona's reply was truly shocking. Veins on Kang Chul-In's forehead popped up.

That idiot dragon!

What an opportunist!

It's provocation, for sure!

Ninetails, Lee Chae-Rin and Skadi's faces crumpled in anger.

But the best of them was...

F-Flirting with oppa like this?

Definitely Han Ye-Sun.

… Truly cunning. Kang Chul-In marveled.

Desdemona's choice of words was definitely calculated. They were about to head out to Nosferatu in front of all of the Empire's citizens and soldiers. In other words, it was an official and public platform. To call Kang Chul-In 'husband' in such a circumstance?

That led to the following response:

"Ohh…!"

"His imperial Majesty is a real man… to have the ancient black dragon as his wife!"

"Satisfying a dragon is not going to be easy… just how virile is he…?"

"Wow…!"

"To have a dragon as his concubine…!"

Desdemona had more or less officially declared that she was Kang Chul-In's wife.

How's that?

At that moment, Desdemona's telepathy reached Kang Chul-In's mind.

You can't take it back now. Hehehe~!

Kang Chul-In couldn't say a word. He was frustrated to have to deal with women even in critical moments like this.

Emperor of Blood and Iron…!

He blamed the Emperor of Blood and Iron for it.

"Let's just… go." Kang Chul-In was mentally tired.

Yes, husband.

Desdemona replied playfully.

Let me begin.

She then injected her mana into the 'Great Warp Gate'. Immediately, a beam of rainbow light began to envelope the whole Laputa castle. The castle and the million-soldier army vanished without a trace from the Valhalla Empire's capital city.

***

Meanwhile, Kwak Jung was utterly destroyed and trapped in his own body.

N-No matter what… I have to stop it… at this rate… it's game over...

Kwak Jung recalled his last prophecy. He could barely describe the devastating and horrifying scene in words. It was a world engulfed in flames. Civilization was reverted back to primitive ages, and all living organisms were enslaved to the Agnaga. He could not withstand the scene with a sane mind.

The expedition… I have to stop it by hook or by crook… only doom awaits!

The key was Kang Chul-In's expedition to Nosferatu. Kwak Jung had to stop it. Only then could he prevent the certain catastrophe. It was because the expedition to Nosferatu was the shortcut to the world's destruction.

I have to notify His Majesty…! However, he was out of options. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

He simply couldn't move. He couldn't talk either. Even his brain cells seemed to be deteriorating. He started to have hallucinations.

No matter what...

At that moment, he caught a glimpse of Alfred.

"..."

Alfred, who was instructed by Kang Chul-In to maintain Blood Heal 24/7, had fallen into a slumber from fatigue.

"Your imperial Majesty… you must… achieve victory..." Seeing from how he even talked in his sleep, Alfred must have prayed hard for Kang Chul-In's win,

There's only one way...

Kwak Jung had no choice. If he could escape his current situation, he could give up his humanity without any hesitation.

Why? It was because he was a 'human'. Kwak Jung was fundamentally different from Lee Gong-Myung, who died as the Agnaga's over mind. In contrast to Lee Gong-Myung, who joined the Agnaga to take revenge and destroy the world, Kwak Jung planned to relinquish his human identity to prevent the apocalypse.

Wasn't it ironic? Lee Gong-Myung was a graceful man who did not care about wealth and honor, whereas Kwak Jung was a man of greed. Strangely enough, the latter was trying to save the world.

His Majesty will take care of the mess...

Kwak Jung decided to leave the rest to Kang Chul-In and made preparations to charge towards Alfred.

There's only one chance...

He couldn't afford to fail. Alfred was a true vampire; any hesitation could ruin his whole plan.

"Your imperial Majesty… please..." Alfred was about to sleep talk again, when...

"Argh!"

Kwak Jung flung out in a blink of an eye and bit Alfred's neck hard. With a chilling sound of teeth penetrating the skin,

"Hmm!?" Alfred woke up from his slumber, with eyes full of shock. "T-Tactician Kwak?"

Alfred was astonished. "W-What's going on..."

It wasn't painful. There was no way a true vampire like him could feel pain from a human's bite.

"..."

Flabbergasted, Alfred stared down at Kwak Jung. Kwak Jung was almost inhaling Alfred's blood in, so the end result was obvious. Since Kwak Jung drank so much of a true vampire's blood, he would become a vampire in 5 minutes.

In fact, he wouldn't even be a high-class vampire. In order to inherit 'royal blood' like Alfred, one had to undergo a special ritual. A simple consumption of blood could only turn one into a low-class vampire.

"Why are you doing this… tactician Kwak… huh…?"

Alfred decided to leave Kwak Jung alone. It must have been tough for him. Alfred believed that Kwak Jung had a message to relay that was critical enough to justify his desperate move.

Five minutes passed.

"Huk, huk..." Kwak Jung, who was now a low-class vampire, huffed and puffed.

"Tactician Kwak..." Alfred looked at him with sympathy. "Why..."

"Damn it, is that important?" Kwak Jung could finally talk like a normal human again. Not only was his prophet ability gone, but its side effects were also resolved without a trace.

"Argh!" Kwak Jung let out his frustration. "Damned geezer, you should have listened to me from the very start instead of rambling about a vampire's life! I almost died of frustration! The world will be doomed if I can't talk, so who cares if I'm not a human?"

"..."

"Anyways, it's your fault if the world is doomed. Ok?"

Alfred had nothing to say. To be precise, he couldn't find any suitable words. Why was Kwak Jung throwing a tantrum?

"Look here, tactician Kwak..."

"Will you just please shut up, alright!?"

"..."

"I'm busy. Let's talk later." Kwak Jung then hurriedly left the sickbay.

"..." Alfred was left all alone, dumbfounded.

"Argh!" Suddenly, Kwak Jung's scream could be heard from outside the sickbay. "H-Hot!"

Alfred didn't have to look to deduce that a beam of sunlight through the window gap was burning Kwak Jung's body.

***

Meanwhile, Kang Chul-In and his soldiers teleported to a point 5 kilometres away from Nosferatu to face the second coming of the Agnaga.

The air trembled and the lightning and thunder were relentless.

And, with a flash of light, they saw Nosferatum, covered with red pillars.

They are here.

Desdemona spoke.

That red light is a symbol of the Agnaga.

That was the problem. Rindermergel didn't resurrect from a corpse. In fact, he had been asleep in another dimension and was being summoned to Pangaea. In other words, there was no way to stop the resurrection from happening. Therefore, Kang Chul-In planned to launch a surprise attack the moment Rindermergel and his army arrived on Pangaea.

"Can we go now?" Kang Chul-In asked.

Yes, you can.

Desdemona relied.

"I see..." Kang Chul-In nodded. He then alighted from Altaica.

What are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna command your men to attack?

Desdemona inquired. Now was the right time. Valhalla had to attack Rindermergel and his army before they could restore their full strength.

However, Kang Chul-In, instead of commanding his soldiers to attack, was stroking the frozen ground.

What the hell are you doing?

"Give me a sec." Kang Chul-In told Desdemona.

Soil, huh...

Kang Chul-In held Nosferatu's soil in his hand. That was the Emperor of Blood and Iron's habit. He tended to feel a place's soil before any defensive mission. It was a subconscious act to reaffirm his resolution to protect the land… a habit befitting of an 'emperor'.

Nothing much.

Kang Chul-In found this habit of the Emperor of Blood and Iron utterly pointless.

At that instant, with a beam of light,

"Y-Your imperial Majesty!" A man covered in a black robe fell from the sky.

"Who are you..."

"It's me!"

"You are…!"

"Yes, it's me!" It was Kwak Jung, who was now a vampire.

"Why are you here…?" Kang Chul-In was puzzled.

"That's not the point!"

"What?"

"Never ever command your army to attack!"

"...?"

"This is a trap!"

Kang Chul-In could hardly comprehend Kwak Jung's words. "What are you saying..."

"God damn it!"

"...!"

"Can't you understand? Huh!?" Kwak Jung was crazy enough to even reprimand his superior. "That thing is a trap! A trap!"

"A trap?"

"If we go in there, everyone will die!"

"...!"

"Rindermergel? The ancient Agnaga army? Those bastards are not in there!"

What was he saying? Rindermergel and his army wasn't at Nosferatu?

"What do you mean, Kwak Jung." Kang Chul-In completely ignored the mutiny just now and asked Kwak Jung. Munity was the least of his concerns. All he had to do was issue mental training for Kwak Jung later on. He was more concerned with what Kwak Jung had to say at the moment.

"Elaborate."

"It's not Pangaea."

"Not Pangaea?"

"It's Earth!"

"...!"

"The second coming of Rindermergel and his army will not occur at Nosferatu, but on Earth!"

That was the reason. That was why Kwak Jung was so desperate to notify Kang Chul-In, even at the cost of his humanity. Rindermergel and his soldiers were planning on attacking Earth!