“...!”
Everyone in the Gullveig Alliance’s command center was flabbergasted.
Dead… Mei Ling was dead, with her head crushed and disfigured some more. That was a pitiful death for the Heavenly Queen of the North, the leader of the Gullveig Alliance.
Pat, pat. Saturnus brushed the blood and cranial fluid off his hands apathetically. He didn’t show any other movements.
“From now on.” He declared. “I, Saturnus, the Emperor of Lunacy and Night, shall take over this place.”
***
Banggggg!
In the middle of his flight, Kang Chul-In was surprised to read a notification.
[Syncing Ectoplasm Oversuit… 13% (Approximately 521 hours, 21 minutes, 21 seconds left)]
This mysterious suit had yet to sync completely with Kang Chul-In.
Nonetheless...
[Muscle strength, 75% increase!]
[Stamina, 64% increase!]
[Reaction speed, 33% increase!]
[Defense power, 16% increase!]
[Anti-Magic power, 16% increase!]
His main abilities were upgraded significantly, and they kept rising proportionally to the sync percentage. At this rate, nothing could stop Kang Chul-In when the sync was complete. He would truly be the strongest man alive.
In addition...
Sonic Ring.
It was about time for the cormorant to fetch him the item that would complete the Trinity Impact set. With that, Kang Chul-In would have the power to even kill a god.
Come, Brynhildr.
Kang Chul-In believed firmly that the white knight would appear in front of him. He had to. Brynhildr would also have realized that this battle was the last chance for him to stop Kang Chul-In!
***
Meanwhile, as Kang Chul-In commenced his battle on both the Khartoum river and the land, so did the battle to conquer the Styx fortress.
“Men…!”
Lucia bellowed.
“Chargeeeeee!”
Immediately,
“Let’s go!”
“Let’s defeat the enemy!”
“Let’s show them our strength!”
“For Valhalla!”
“For His Majesty, the Supreme King of the West!”
The strongest army in Pangaea began to charge towards the port city.
***
“H-He’s coming…!”
“He’s flying…?”
“What the shit…!”
“The Supreme King of the West… he can fly… so it was really true?”
The Gullveig Alliance’s navy soldiers fell into a trance when they saw Kang Chul-In approaching from far. How could a man fly?
He wasn’t riding on anything, nor did he use any magic…
Get yourselves together!
Suddenly, the Gullveig Alliance’s fleet admiral shouted through the magic-engineered loudspeaker.
He is our enemy! Fire!
The soldiers who got themselves together hurriedly adjusted the magic-engineered cannon’s angle and locked their targets on Kang Chul-In.
“No. 1 cannon, ready!” “No. 2 cannon, ready!” “No. 3 cannon, ready!” “No. 4 cannon, ready!” “No. 5 cannon, ready!”
The cannons charged almost instantaneously.
“Fire!” Tens of cannons fired energy balls at Kang Chul-In.
However,
“A-All miss…! We can’t hit him!” Someone shouted.
He was right. None of the energy balls landed on Kang Chul-In, but it wasn’t because he dodged them.
Instead, the massive amount of mana surrounding his body acted as a barrier, fending off the raining bombs.
...!”
Even the Gullveig Alliance’s fleet admiral was astonished. The cannons didn’t work? Then there wasn’t a way to stop Kang Chul-In from boarding their battleship. That would be catastrophic. Kang Chul-In was the strongest and most devilish man in Pangaea. A battleship would crumble into pieces the moment they allowed him onboard.
Meanwhile, Valhalla’s Trinidad fleet approached the Gullveig Alliance warships at an alarming speed. The Trinidad fleet comprised wooden battleships that were shaped like pencils, as they lacked a deck.
Wooden warships… We shall ignore those insignificant things...
The fleet admiral began to brainstorm rapidly.
What matters are the Trident fleet and the Supreme King of the West…!
How much damage could those wooden battleships inflict? They didn’t even carry any cannons. Instead, they seemed to carry soldiers to get them to board the enemy warships. It was an amusing thought. The Gullveig Alliance’s battleships weren’t the best, but they were built with steel and equipped with magic-engineered engines. All they had to do was run the wooden battleships over.
All cannons, aim at the Trident battleships!
The Gullveig Alliance’s fleet admiral ignored the Trinidad battleships and decided to attack the Valhalla Kingdom’s main force.
Furthermore...
Underwater Chimera army, stop the Supreme King of the West!
He deployed the Gullveig Alliance’s biological weapon.
Kyaaaaakkk! Keeeee…! Hiss!
The Chimeras emerged from the depths of the Khartoum river. It was a disturbing and detestable scene, but at the same time it was also a sight to behold. It was rare to see hundreds of underwater chimeras leap out from the water and into the air!
Small fries.
Kang Chul-In laughed. Even the horrifying Hydro Serpent had turned into sashimi in his hands. Those chimeras could do nothing against him. It seemed like the Gullveig Alliance’s navy force was sub-par in both the past and the present.
Flick! Kang Chul-In whipped out Kaiforce.
Ssssss…! Dark mana began to precipitate around the sword.
“Hell Road, activate.”
Kaiforce’s true ability began to reveal itself.
Ssssss…! A curtain of black mist began to envelop the Khartoum riverbed.
Urgh…!
Let’s… go… let’s… go...
Come here… here...
It’s so cold… cold...
Unfair… unfair…! It’s unfair…!
Tens of thousands of Chimeras! Countless apparitions crawled above the water surface and began to grab onto the Chimeras.
W-What are those!
The fleet admiral nearly shat in his pants.
What the hell was going on? Tens of thousands of apparitions in the middle of the day?
“G-Ghosts!”
“Don’t come…! Don’t come! I said don’t come!”
They even grabbed onto the Gullveig Alliance’s soldiers by their legs. They were evidently trying to drag them into the river!
Styx is a river of sorrows; millions of soldiers would have died here over the years.
Kang Chul-In could recall the Emperor of Blood and Iron’s memory. Regardless of when, Styx was constantly plagued with battles like Esmeralda. It was a good place to utilize the [Hell Road] ability.
“T-The Supreme King of the West is a necromancer…!”
As a result, the Gullveig Alliance’s fleet admiral mistook Kang Chul-In for a necromancer.
Pow!
At that moment.
Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow! Ear-shredding explosive sounds could be heard.
“T-The ship’s tilting!”
“Bombs, they are bombs!”
The Gullveig Alliance’s battleships were quickly engulfed in explosions.
“S-Sir! Look there!”
“...!”
“Those wooden ships… they were bombs!”
That was right. The Trinidad battleships were suicide ships full of explosives!
Bang, banggg! One by one, the Gullveig Alliance battleships began to lose balance.
“M-My god…!”
The fleet admiral finally realized that he had made a grave error. However, it was too late. The suicide ships were light, allowing them to collide swiftly with the Gullveig Alliance battleships.
Roarrrrrr!
The Full Metal Dragon soared across the sky and bombarded the battleships indiscriminately.
Pow, pow! Moreover, Zeppelin was firing from afar, just barely in the range of fire.
“...!”
The Gullveig Alliance’s fleet admiral froze.
O-Our army… has no… air force...
Currently, all of the Gullveig Alliance’s air force had been deployed to fight Hecate’s Temeraire.
“God damn it!” He was furious.
Thump!
Suddenly, something fell from the sky.
Flick! Then there was a flash of dark light.
Thump! The fleet admiral’s head fell onto the ship’s deck and rolled.
Pssssstttt! Blood spurted out like a fountain.
And his body fell limply on the floor.
“From now on.” Kang Chul-In declared. “I will take over this ship.”
It was a declaration from the strongest man in Pangaea.
“...”
Nobody could argue against that. The battle was already in Valhalla’s favor. It was wise to surrender now to live.
“Says who?”
There was one exception. Brynhildr! The knight in the brilliant white armor was pointing his sword Arondight at Kang Chul-In.
“Oh?” Kang Chul-In grinned. “Long time no see, cormorant.”
“...”
“I knew you would come.”
He faced Brynhildr with an expectant expression.
Sonic Ring! It thrilled him to think that he could obtain the final piece of the Trinity Impact set.
“Did you bring your fish?”
“What the heck is this fish you always talk about…!”
“The Sonic Ring.”
“...!”
“The artifact of god speed. The last component of the Trinity Impact.”
“H-How did you know…!?”
“Hey, cormorant.” Kang Chul-In shrugged. “I know everything.”
It was an arrogant remark, but it was true. Kang Chul-In, who had absorbed the Emperor of Blood and Iron’s memories, knew all of this world’s secrets. He had an information superiority that was incomparable to anyone else.
“Since long ago.”
“...!”
“I’ve been waiting for you to get the Sonic Ring. For me to complete the Trinity Impact.”
“You… really knew? That I would obtain the Sonic Ring?”
“Of course.” Kang Chul-In nodded.“Why do you think I let you off? Three times some more.”
“...”
“Because I admire your spirit?”
That was impossible. Kang Chul-In did not tolerate challenges. He would have killed anyone else without hesitation.
“Or because you are cute?”
“...”
“You are alive because you are my cormorant.”
“...”
“Seems like you’ve finally obtained the Sonic Ring… so it’s time for you to die. Let me...”
“Wait.” Brynhildr cut him off. “You really know everything?”
“What?”
“That’s what you said. Then you should know who I am.”
“Well...” Kang Chul-In replied. “I don’t give a damn.”
“...”
“I could know if I wanted to, but why should I bother?”
He was being genuine. Kang Chul-In knew that Brynhildr was neither the Emperor of Blood and Iron’s wife nor Arshelly’s biological mother. Only the Emperor of Blood and Iron could use the Wheel of Reincarnation. Empress Brynhildr wouldn’t have been qualified to use it… In other words, the Brynhildr in front of him was merely a lucky explorer who happened to come across the properties of ‘Brynhildr Freyja Norn Arondight’.
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t care who you are. I only need the Sonic Ring.”
“Oh really…?”
“Hand it over.” Suddenly, Kang Chul-In became a plunderer. “The Sonic Ring.”
Simultaneously,
Flick! He launched a surprise attack on Brynhildr.
“...!”
An unexpected attack! Brynhildr hurriedly moved to dodge Kaiforce. No, he couldn’t dodge it completely. Kang Chul-In’s attack was just that fast!
Crack, crack!
That one attack which he couldn’t dodge… split his helmet into half, vertically.
“Slow.” Kang Chul-In taunted. “Right, let’s see how this cormorant looks like...”
At that moment...
“...!”
Kang Chul-In froze in place.
Thump! Brynhildr’s helmet fell onto the ship’s deck.
His face… was none other than...
God damn it!
Kang Chul-In’s face crumpled.