Chapter 285
Chapter 285: Kang Chul-In, the One-Man Army! (2)
Meanwhile, in the Chamonix Mountains’ Itaracia Fortress . . .
“A blitz tactic… advancing our army rapidly is the only solution . ”
Lee Ji-Tae arrived at the best conclusion he could at the moment .
“Signaller!”
“Yes, commander-in-chief!”
“Send an order to the main force to head east . ”
“Yes, sir!”
Lee Ji-Tae had yet to conquer Zolushka completely, but he had no intention to dilly-dally . Time was precious . Atal Ramanujan’s soldiers were poorly trained, and supplies were running low . He couldn’t afford to drag the war on any further .
Zolushka, Iota, Gothika, and Shen… if we conquer these four territories and claim their farming land and mines, we will still be able to sustain the military expenses, albeit not by much .
However, he also didn’t want to cut off more than he could chew . If he could conquer Shen, which possessed fertile lands along the Khartoum river, Atal Ramanujan’s financial outlook would be much better . In addition, Lee Ji-Tae could form a ‘super defense’ across the triangle connecting the borders of Iota, Gothika and Shen .
I have to be careful . Both Valhalla and Gullveig are fighting for supremacy . They want a 1v1 situation, not an emergence of a third superpower .
Lee Ji-Tae had a sharp intuition . He knew how to see the big picture .
Silently… let’s conquer the Shen territory and then stay low . We have to increase our strength .
A perfect strategy . Well, almost perfect at least . Lee Ji-Tae had failed to take into account a huge variable called Kang Chul-In . His strategies were bound to go amiss .
Why was that? It was because the deal between Kang Chul-In and Lily Sephardi was something that even a genius like Lee Ji-Tae couldn’t possibly predict .
***
“Lord Lily Sephardi, you protect the Lord’s hall . ”
Kang Chul-In spoke .
“Don’t step a single step out of this land . ”
“Yes, oppa!”
At that moment, Rooibos suddenly interrupted .
“H-However, Your Majesty! Her Majesty Lily has already lost all her soldiers . The two of us can’t defend the hall alone . . . ”
“It’s not just the two of you . ”
“What? Are the reinforcements…?”
“Not yet . ”
“I can’t comprehend Your Majesty’s intentions at all . ”
In the end, Roobios gave up trying to understand Kang Chul-In . That man surpassed everything that Roobios had expected, leaving the latter dumbfounded at every step .
“Come forth, specters!”
Kang Chul-In roared .
Sssssss!
The spectre knights revealed themselves through a curtain of black mist . Riding on the backs of their phantom steeds, they were known as the spectre cavalry .
“Wow… t-these high-class undead monsters!”
“They will protect you two . Now, Atal Ramanujan’s weak soldiers will never penetrate the Lord’s hall . ”
“T-That’s right!”
“Well then, focus on protecting your master . ”
“Yes, Supreme King of the West!”
Rooibos bowed .
“Also . ”
Kang Chul-In turned around to face Lily .
“Just to reiterate, don’t ever leave the Lord’s hall . ”
“Okay!”
“You know what I mean?”
“If a Lord… abandons the Lord’s hall… he or she doesn’t deserve to be one . . . ”
“Ok, as long as you understand that . ”
Kang Chul-In nodded . A Lord must never leave the heart of the territory . Whoever did had to suffer the wrath of his or her people, not to mention the loss of authority . A classic example could be found in Korea’s history books, in which a nation’s king fled to another country during a barbarian invasion . He was then criticized for generations and more to come .
“Well then, see you later . ”
Kang Chul-In turned his back .
“A-Are you going alone?”
“Certainly not . ”
“W-Who else?”
“Two more people . ”
“ . . . ”
“That’s more than enough . ”
He was right . Kang Chul-In had brought Nilus and Kim Sung-Hee along just in case .
Let’s hope there are many potions in my inventory .
Of course, he still had to rely on some drugs to reduce the potential strain on his body .
***
“Nilus!”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Reinforce this building’s durability!”
“Certainly, Your Majesty!”
Nilus chanted a spell which caused Zolushka’s inner castle to radiate a brilliant silver light .
“How’s the durability now?”
Kang Chul-In asked .
“With this spell, this infrastructure could even withstand Hecate’s bombardment!”
Nilus promised with confidence .
“Excellent . ”
“Haha! I’m flattered, Your Majesty! It was only possible due to the small range!”
“Still, this should be enough to last until the reinforcements arrive . ”
“As long as you are happy, Your Majesty!”
Nilus didn’t like being in charge of the bombarding . Thus, he appeared extremely delighted to be summoned by Kang Chul-In .
“Kim Sung-Hee!”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
Once known as a chaebol family’s tomboy – no, crazy bitch – Kim Sung-Hee kneeled in front of Kang Chul-In with respect .
“Show me what you are capable of . ”
“I will do you proud, Your Majesty!”
“Yes, take this opportunity to upsize your troops too . ”
“Certainly!”
Kim Sung-Hee always complained about having too few soldiers .
Although she had upsized her army significantly during the battle at Deathwin, it was still not powerful enough .
“Nilus, the Royal chief magician, and Kim Sung-Hee, the commander of the first unit of the Imhotep Immortal army . Here are my orders . ”
Kang Chul-In commanded .
“Yes, Your Majesty!” “Yes, Your Majesty!”
Nilus and Kim Sung-Hee kneeled down .
“I will handle this arch-shaped passage myself . You two deal with any enemy that infiltrates from the rear . ”
It was a crazy plan . The passage was wide and led straight to the inner castle . How could one defend this alone? However, Nilus and Kim Sung-Hee left without any objection . Why? Because the King could do no wrong .
Tap tap tap!
All of a sudden, Kang Chul-In could hear the footsteps of the enemy soldiers .
“Game, start . ”
Crack! Kang Chul-In cracked his neck left and right .
***
“How’s the situation in Zolushka?”
Lee Ji-Tae inquired .
“The outer castle has already fallen, but there’s still some resistance from the inner castle . ”
“Resistance? Hasn’t it been more than 10 hours since the frontlines infiltrated the inner castle? Are you telling me that the inner castle is still standing?”
“Yes, sir . ”
“Who is the enemy commander?”
Lee Ji-Tae realized the issue immediately . In fact, it was a simple deduction . Zolushka had more or less perished . But for the inner castle to still stand, it could only mean that there was an extremely strong general blocking the path .
Just like Zhang Fei, who single-handedly stopped Cao Cao’s army at a narrow bridge .
“That is . . . ”
The signaller hesitated, with the report in his hand .
“Commander-in-chief . . . ”
“Hand that over . ”
Lee Ji-Tae took the report from the signaller’s hand .
It read as follows:
Enemy cannot be identified .
Impossible to pass through .
Enemy’s strength, immeasurable .
Many of our soldiers’ corpses are piled up .
Attacks commenced, but to no avail .
The message indicated that nobody who entered the arch-shaped passage survived .
A monster… no, this man shouldn’t be as powerful as ‘that’ man .
‘That’ man obviously referred to Kang Chul-In . Truthfully speaking, Lee Ji-Tae was right . Assuming that the arch-shaped passage remained unscathed, any good general could fight against the poorly trained Shatyameba soldiers . Moreover, why on earth would Kang Chul-In be in Zolushka?
“Send more soldiers . ”
Lee Ji-Tae commanded .
“That man is bound to be defeated sooner or later . He is a human after all . Continue to attack the inner castle . ”
He had countless soldiers under his command, anyway . To begin with, Atal Ramanujan had too large a population to handle, which led to a severe scarcity of food and resources . A decrease in the number of soldiers wasn’t that big of a deal . In fact, it was to his benefit .
***
Meanwhile,
Gulp, gulp! Kang Chul-In leaned against the wall of the passage and gulped down his potions .
Roll .
Under his feet were countless scattered bottles that once contained top-class potions .
“Tastes awful . ”
Kang Chul-In muttered . Consumables like potions usually didn’t taste too great .
“When is that bastard coming?”
The ‘bastard’ obviously referred to Kwak Jung .
He needed the strong army that he had cultivated personally .
He couldn’t defend the arch-shaped passage for eternity, after all .
Tap tap tap!
Suddenly, Kang Chul-In could hear the footsteps of the enemy soldiers again .
“Aren’t they tired?”
He smirked . These bugs were truly relentless .
***
In the west of Pangaea, to the north of Ishtar . . .
Wiiing, wiiing!
Analyzing 89,112th video footage out of 291,234 damaged ones .
The needle of the compass-looking video player rotated continuously .
“Hmm . . . ”
Desdemona, who was beating up passing mountain bandits for fun, narrowed her eyes as she stared at the video player .
“When can I catch ‘that bastard’?”
Desdemona was talking about the sinner who had destroyed her lair . In other words, she was referring to Kang Chul-In, who had smashed the roof of her house with Laputa, the flying fortress .
Desdemona gritted her teeth .
“I will . . . ”
It was at that moment .
Analyzing 89,112th video footage out of 291,234 damaged ones .
Analysis complete!
Recovery complete!
One video footage available!
“ . . . !”
Ah, what good timing! Desdemona was extremely delighted to be able to catch a glimpse of the hit-and-run criminal . She was about to hit the roof .
“Now, shall we take a look at his face?”
Desdemona played the recovered footage .
Wiiing!
The video player began to project the footage on a wall .
Thump!
With an incredible sound . . .
Ooonng!
A castle could be seen smashing against her lair .
What’s going on!?
In the video, a disrespectful-looking bastard shouted . He was obviously the leader .
Nothing serious, Your Majesty! The lower part of the castle seemed to have scraped against a rock on the top of a mountain!
A soldier shouted back .
I see!
The leader replied .
I will raise the altitude, so make sure everyone stays indoors!
He paid no attention to the fact that he had destroyed Desdemona’s lair, and instead drove his castle away casually .
A clear hit-and-run case .
“Right… so you are the bastard . . . ”
Desdemona grinned cunningly, having identified her perpetrator .