Translator: Leyy3

  Meanwhile, Kang Chul-In was returning to Valhalla when he suddenly felt his ear itch.

  “.…… Seems like someone is talking about me.”

  This was a meaningless monologue. There weren't just one or two candidates for people who could be speaking of him. Regardless of race, gender or age, he had countless enemies everywhere!

  Truthfully speaking, the whole world other than the people of Valhalla and his subordinates hated him. He had already been labelled as a murderer, war-maniac, psychopath and worse. He was basically the Hitler of Pangaea.

  “Seems like I will be living a long life.”

  Kang Chul-In laughed.

  He was used to insults. Someone would insult him regardless of what he did!

  First priority is to return as soon as possible.

  Kang Chul-In cleaned his ears with his pinky finger and pondered about his future plans.

  If I reveal myself then cormorant will appear too…… that’s a bit troublesome.

  In order to obtain the Sonic Ring, Kang Chul-In had to stop encountering Brynhildr. As the king of a nation, he couldn’t keep letting an enemy general off. But it didn’t make sense for him to stay in the backlines. He was basically Valhalla’s God of War.

  Undefeatable! The God of Victory! A one-man army!

  These adjectives and titles described Kang Chul-In perfectly, and his appearance on the battlefield alone could boost his soldiers’ morale significantly. Not to mention, Kang Chul-In himself was extremely powerful. With him, Valhalla could even win seemingly impossible battles.

  However, if he blatantly participated in the war, he had no choice but to kill Brynhildr. In other words, he had to forgo the Sonic Ring.

  What to do?

  He needed a solution.

  ***

  “Bastard……”

  Kwak Jung gritted his teeth the moment he had returned to Deathwin.

  He didn’t want to admit, but he had fallen into Kwak Jun’s trap.

  “Hold it in…… keep calm……”

  Kwak Jung struggled to suppress his murderous intent.

  Kwak Jun could still prove to be a valuable tool. He was indeed a double-edged sword, but that depended on the circumstance. Kwak Jun was loathsome but Kwak Jung decided to close one eye for the future of Valhalla.

  However, he now had to face the Gullveig Alliance.

  “This is absurd…… alright, let’s see who wins.”

  A brain battle between the two men with the same name! One wanted to make Kang Chul-In an emperor, while the other planned to achieve his goal via manipulating Kang Chul-In and Vilhelm.

  “Commander-in-chief!”

  At the nick of time, a signaller reported in.

  “The Gullveig Alliance army has approached within a 50 kilometre radius!”

  “That was fast…… those fuckers……”

  Kwak Jung swore.

  50 kilometres. If the enemy was determined, a day was enough to cover that distance.

  “Gather all the generals!”

  Kwak Jung commanded.

  ***

  In Deathwin, specifically the Lord’s hall which once belonged to the Overlord Aleister……

  “Let me warn everyone, it’s going to be a tough battle.”

  Kwak Jung announced.

  “It’s an unprecedented war in terms of difficulty. I dare to claim…… that this fight may produce the highest casualty rate in Valhalla’s history.”

  \r \r \r

  Kwak Jung’s statement carried weight. At this moment, he was no longer a frivolous man but a tactician cum commander-in-chief.

  “Strategy? We have none. It’s just a pure battle of strength. We have a positioning disadvantage and there are many more enemy soldiers compared to ours. The only way is to defend in this stronghold. Even that has only about…… a 10% chance of success. That will also come at an enormous cost.”

  Easier said than done. The situation was gloomy. If Kwak Jung said so, the war must have had a pretty bad outlook. Officers in any other territory would be anxious in such circumstances, but not for those in Valhalla. They were airheads who only knew how to fight, just like Kang Chul-In.

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  Lucia replied firmly.

  “To participate in this war as his Majesty’s representative is a huge honor. I, Lucia, will become Laputa’s barrier and protect our soldiers.”

  As expected from Lucia.

  “Haha! Let I, Drakan, stand in the frontlines!”

  “No, let I, Amur, stand in the frontlines, commander-in-chief!”

  The two leaders of rival troops volunteered.

  “Let’s break them all.”

  “We are not afraid.”

  The same went for James and Mikael.

  “Ahem~! Seems like it’s time for this old man to shine!”

  Nilus, the precocious magician, spoke as well.

  “This will be my first battle as his Majesty’s subordinate. I know no defeat.”

  The female warrior!

  Kim Sung-Hee, who had been honing her necromancer abilities using dark mana, was also eager to join the fight. She was now the commander of Imhotep, the first division of Valhalla’s immortal army. Of course, it wasn’t significant enough to be called an ‘army’ as of now.

  “And also……”

  Kim Sung-Hee continued.

  “I plan to take this opportunity to expand my army. I can’t let it pass!”

  A bold statement indeed.

  Kim Sung-Hee apparently paid no attention to Kwak Jung’s warning.

  “Such brave, ignorant souls. I wonder who they take after.”

  Hecate sniggered with sarcasm, while holding a cigarette. The ‘who’ obviously referred to Kang Chul-In. However, nobody challenged her statement. They couldn’t. Hecate could be a massive source of firepower in this war. If she happened to become volatile, the war would become much harder.

  “Well, whatever. I don’t really like defending, but it seems like I can’t pull out this time. In return, I’m in charge of all the breaking and destroying in the next battle, so don’t you dare challenge me.”

  A terrifying destructive urge…… Perhaps it would be more befitting to call Kang Chul-In the male version of Hecate, instead of Hecate being the female version of Kang Chul-In. Nobody could comprehend her chaotic mind.

  “Hmm……”

  Kwak Jung stroked his non-existent beard and replied.

  “Alright then. I’m touched by all of your determination and will. His Majesty would be very proud as well. He is always watching from somewhere after all.”

  His Majesty is watching! That was a sort of maxim for everyone in Valhalla. Kang Chul-In had adopted a system to listen to his people’s concerns and also to observe his officials’ work secretly. He would reward them if they were diligent, and likewise punish them if they slacked off.

  That was one of the reasons why Kang Chul-In had so much paperwork to settle.

  “The enemy is coming.”

  Kwak Jung continued.

  “As I said before, there is no strategy. Well, there’s a bit but…… the main goal is to defend the stronghold. Do your due diligence to protect your responsible regions.”

  That concluded the meeting. All that was left was the battle.

  ***

  “Kang Chul-In…… today shall mark the end of your undefeatable spree……”

  Vilhelm stood on a hill and observed the Deathwin stronghold. He grinned with satisfaction.

  “Kwak Jun…… what a lad.”

  He should have launched an all-out attack earlier. The Valhalla army was preparing for a stronghold defense. In other words, the Gullveig Alliance should’ve assembled its army earlier without any hesitation. Ah, how accurate Kwak Jun’s insight was.

  “Kang Chul-In…… let’s see how long you can keep yourself hidden…… you arrogant bastard. Or should I be thankful instead? Since if you don’t reveal yourself, then victory is mine without a doubt!”

  With or without Kang Chul-In, Vilhelm was 100% confident of winning. He was being backed up by an astonishing number of 80,000 soldiers. In addition, this number was composed purely of combat soldiers, excluding the supply troops.

  With such a huge difference in strength, the Gullveig Alliance could simply sweep the Valhalla army away with brute force. -

  Mennnnn!

  Vilhelm announced using the magic-engineered loudspeaker. -

  Attack!

  Vilhelm commanded.

  “Long live the Gullveig Alliance!”

  “We are one!”

  “Let’s destroy those devils!”

  “Let’s show them the power of the Northern region!”

  80,000 soldiers began to charge towards the Deathwin territory. That marked the start of what would be one of the most ridiculous wars in Pangaean history.

  ***

  Meanwhile……

  Bzzzzttt! Boom!

  Kang Chul-In shot across the continent like a bullet train, creating a sonic boom.

  Funnily enough, he was returning to his kingdom on foot.

  God damn it!

  He had forgotten to prepare any means of transport.

  That was because Kang Chul-In had no idea how long it would take to accomplish his mission. ……

  Was I always this dumb?

  Kang Chul-In faulted his clumsiness, but it was already too late.

  Return Scrolls were Unique-rank items which were rare. Moreover, there were no explorers around to borrow a warp gate from.

  All he could do was run his ass off.

  “Phew……”

  Consequently, Kang Chul-In became tired and had to take a brief rest with his back laid against a tree. He was a human after all.

  “Huk…… huk……”

  Kang Chul-In gasped for air and took a sip of water. He then began to rummage through his inventory, with a sliver of hope that somehow, he had kept a Return Scroll.

  However,

  “God damn it!”

  He found nothing.

  “How……”

  Kang Chul-In was about to mutter when suddenly, a notification popped up.

  [Alert!] You have 18 items in your inventory that you have not verified!

  “Hmm?”

  Kang Chul-In was puzzled. He searched his inventory again just in case, but he was indeed a scrupulous man. Whenever there was a loot, he would check before placing it in his inventory.

  An unverified item for such a person?

  “Hmm……”

  After pondering for a while,

  “Ah, those must be the goods that I’ve purchased from that kid.”

  Kang Chul-In recalled.

  The kid referred to the Lord, Lily Sephardi.

  “Let’s see.”

  Kang Chul-In opened the inventory without much hope. Who knew? There could be something that could help!