The Overlord of Blood and Iron

Chapter 137. Dragon and Tiger

During the past few days, the demi-humans thought that Kang Chul-In wasn’t doing anything.

He didn’t call for any meetings regarding strategies or tactics for the upcoming battle, nor did he do anything special.

One thing he did do, however, was call Nilus and Drakan to Fox Valley through the Warp Gate, and chill with them while looking around the terrain.

Of course, Kang Chul-In wasn’t just relaxing.

He was thinking of his own ways to defeat the enemies, but there was no way that the demi-humans could know that.

During these few days, the rumor about Kang Chul-In became more and more famous throughout Fox Valley---

The rumor that had started from the fox-human Leo that Kang Chul-In was an Ancient Dragon, traveling around the world for fun. 

Now, to make things clear.

What exactly was an Ancient Dragon?

The ‘Pangaean Dragon’ normally lived for 1000 years, and an Ancient Dragon was a dragon that had lived for over 800 years.

An Ancient Dragon usually surpassed other, younger dragons in terms of intelligence.

And since they were well versed in magic, it was also well known that they had a habit of polymorphing into other races and traveling around.

These demi-humans thought that Kang Chul-In was this type of ancient dragon, and here were the reasons for that:

Kang Chul-In went into Kalevala during the full moon, before killing over 100 werewolves with just a club.

There’s no way that the Ninetails, queen of Fox Valley, would call a normal human her husband. If not for the fact that Kang Chul-In was an Ancient Dragon, he couldn’t be the Ninetail’s husband.

Gold Dragons have an authority that allows them to control the wind. Kang Chul-In is an Ancient Gold Dragon.

One of Kang Chul-In’s subordinates is half-dragon, famed for their pride and not serving humans normally. Since his subordinate is half-dragon, it is only natural that Kang Chul-In himself is a dragon.

This is obvious, considering Kang Chul-In is an Ancient Gold Dragon.

This is why he’s an Ancient Gold Dragon. He’s resting because he’s confident in his own strength.

Due to these 6 reasons, Kang Chul-In was misunderstood for being an Ancient Gold Dragon, and the demi-humans of Fox Valley secretly feared and revered him.

I don’t get why they’re looking at me like that.

“Kuku!”

Nilus, who was walking along with Kang Chul-In, laughed.

“What is it, Nilus?”

Kang Chul-In stared at Nilus suspiciously.

“Kukuku, as expected of your highness.”

“What is it?”

“I didn’t think that you would run out of the territory just to get such a beautiful and wonderful fiancée like the Ninetails.”

“...Are you serious?”

“If you take in the legendary Ninetails as your main wife, I’m sure that everyone in the continent will revere your highness’ might.”

“Might?”

“Of course. What normal man could make the Ninetails his wife? There is no man like that, other than your highness.”

It made sense.

Wasn’t a beautiful wife the cause of envy for other men?

However,

“Even though you’re not wrong…”

Kang Chul-In thought differently.

“Women are not accessories, Nilus.”

“Sorry?”

“Do people marry in order to flaunt their might?”

“N-No, sire.”

“I don’t want that kind of marriage. Haven’t you heard of sham marriages?”

“Sorry? A what marriage?”

Nilus tilted his head in confusion. It seemed that such terminology didn’t exist in Pangaea.

“Milord.”

Drakan, who was silent the whole time, opened his mouth.

“Even though I do understand that Milord isn’t that interested in marriage, this marriage with the Ninetails seems inevitable. Please reconsider this.”

“If I say no, that means no.”

“But the marriage income that the Ninetails will give us… Isn’t that necessary for the Laputa territory?”

Drakan talked about the benefits of this marriage.

“Laputa is all ready and set to move right now. But if we want to move it to where the supposed Valhalla territory is, wouldn’t it cost a fortune to do so?”

“That… is true.”

“The wealth that the Ninetails possesses is incredible. Marble mines, iron mines, and she even possesses a mine where small amounts of Magic gems are found too. Just the gold she possesses is rumored to be over 200,000. Are you planning on just letting that go?”

That was true.

As Drakan had said, the wealth that the Ninetails possessed was incredible. It was the result of saving over 1000 years. If he received this money, Kang Chul-In would definitely be able to construct a new city and fortresses within Valhalla.

“This problem..."

Kang Chul-In opened his mouth after thinking.

“I will reconsider it after the battle.”

Even Kang Chul-In didn’t want to argue further.

Kang Chul-In himself knew the benefits he would gain from marrying the Ninetails, and the pressure of marriage pushed hard on him.

Am I going to go out like this…

Kang Chul-In closed his eyes, as if he were a man that was about to die.

For Skadi, he could just ignore her and take the Esmerelda territory by force if he wanted to.

Lee Chae-rin?

There were still 9 years left until the 40% contract with her expired.

But the Ninetails was different.

In order to gain the immense wealth the Ninetails possessed, he had to marry her.

I am a Lord.

Kang Chul-In thought to himself.

For my territory, and for my ambitions… This body is...

Even though it was a somewhat strange mentality, he was seriously considering the marriage between him and the Ninetails for the sake of his subordinates.

It was ironic.

Even though he had somehow avoided Skadi, he had been pulled ever so close to marriage by the Ninetails. 

--------

A week from then.

“Adviser Kang Chul-In is here!”

Kang Chul-In gathered all the high-ranking officials of Fox Valley for a meeting.

“As expected…”

“Oh…!”

The officials of Fox Valley looked at him in wonder.

What are these guys on…

The veins of Kang Chul-In’s forehead bulged.

Even though he had gotten lots of gazes from others as a Lord, this was the first time everyone was looking at him like this.

They were like, gazes full of expectation and excitement.

“Huuu…”

Kang Chul-In sighed deeply.

“As you know, it is expected that soon, the allied forces of the beast king Alaric and the necromancer Overlord Aleister will attack Fox Valley. In truth, this will be a very difficult…”

But even though Kang Chul-In wasn’t finished talking---

“We can do it!”

“We will win!”

“If adviser Kang Chul-In is on the battlefield, there’s no way we will lose!”

For some reason, everyone seemed to be in high spirits.

“Good.”

Though it was weird, Kang Chul-In thought that this was a good sign. Nothing was worse than an army with low morale.

“As you guys said, we will win. An overwhelming victory? Of course. Now, everyone will have to listen to my orders…”

And at this, the demi-humans reacted vigorously.

“Just speak your orders!”

“Of course, sire! We believe!”

All of these demi-humans seemed to follow Kang Chul-In incredibly well, as if they were all originally his subordinates.

Of course, Kang Chul-In would understand if he knew that they thought he was an Ancient Gold Dragon.

Something’s weird…

But since Kang Chul-In didn’t know of this rumor, he felt that they were acting strangely.

Twinkle twinkle!

The eyes of the demi-humans gleamed in expectation.

“...Anyways, I will make my subordinate Drakan the leading General for this battle.”

Kang Chul-In introduced Drakan.

“I’m Drakan.”

Showing off his large and muscular body at 3 meters, Drakan greeted the other demi-humans.

“Woah~. As expected of the strongest demi-human race!”

“So trustworthy!”

“As expected, the adviser brought a drag… Oops. I mean… As expected, the adviser has such a powerful being like a draconian as a subordinate!”

Taking turns, the demi-humans complimented Drakan.

“Ha, what do you mean powerful.”

But someone ruined this peaceful and cheerful atmosphere.

“That stupid lizard, he isn’t worthy to be a soldier let alone the leading general!”

At these words, the gazes of the people in the room headed towards one man.

Ferocious yellow eyes, as well as stripes on his body. It was a tiger... a tiger-man. It was obvious that he was one of the generals within Fox Valley.

“Are you finished talking?”

Drakan stared at the man who spoke coldly.

“What cat dares to talk when the adviser is speaking? Go and pick up the scraps of what the soldiers ate, you stupid stray cat. That would suit you better.”

“You!!”

Slamming the table, the tiger-man stood up before walking towards Drakan.

“G-General Amur!”

“Ha, this pesron…”

The demi-humans tried to stop the tiger general,

“What are you staring at with your snake eyes, lizard man?”

But Amur wasn’t fazed at all, and instead continued to walk towards Drakan.

“They say that a toothless tiger is a pushover. Do you really want to force me to beat out all of your teeth?”

“Shut up, and don’t cut off your tail before running off.”

The two of them stood in front of each other, growling.

The dragon and the tiger stood neck and neck.

Drakan was 3 meters, but so was Amur.

With large and bulky physiques, it was hard to tell who had the better body.

As for their strengths?

Looking at just their auras, it seemed as if this General Amur didn’t fall behind the slightest against Drakan. Even if they fought hard, it seemed that there wouldn’t be a clear victor.

Amur, huh…

Kang Chul-In’s eyes gleamed.

He seems to be neck and neck against Drakan who has been training super hard.

Just by looking and feeling his aura, Kang Chul-In knew how powerful Amur was.

He was tempting for Kang Chul-In.

If he could control both a dragon and a tiger, if he could have both Amur and Drakan as his generals, it was obvious that Kang Chul-In’s fame would also shoot up.

“So, are you going to fight or not? Stupid cat.”

“It seems like a stupid lizard isn’t afraid of a tiger.”

While Kang Chul-In was thinking, the two of them got even closer to duking it out.

“Both of you.”

Kang Chul-In stopped both of them as they were about to fight.

“Stand back.”

They were currently in war-time, so this really wasn’t the time for them to crumble internally. 

“Yes, Milord. I apologize for acting so rudely.”

After bowing to Kang Chul-In, Drakan quickly backed off. Even though he was angry, he had to follow Kang Chul-In’s orders.

“Oh?”

But Amur was different.

“I thought you weren’t bad, but it seems like you’re just a lizard scared by a mere human? Actually, no. Even lizard is too much of a compliment for you. You’re more of an iguana? I didn’t think that the so-called strongest of the demi-humans was this weak.”

Amur made the mistake of calling Kang Chul-In ‘a mere human’ while he simultaneously taunted Drakan.

Why? 

Tigers and Dragons were rivals from the days of old, and Amur couldn’t accept that Drakan would be the leading general lying down.

Amur was also one of the minority that didn’t believe that Kang Chul-In was an Ancient Dragon. He thought that Kang Chul-In was just a con-man, who had somehow managed to fool the Ninetails.

“What?”

At this, Drakan exploded.

“You ignorant cat, follow me outside right now! I’ll crush that filthy mouth of yours you used to insult Milord!”

“It seems like you still have pride, for the slave of a human.”

“Is flapping your lips all you can do? Are you not following me because you’re scared?”

“I’m going right now.”

Deep killing intent could be felt from both Amur and Drakan.

However,

“You dare!”

Kang Chul-In’s rage also exploded.

“Who do you think you are, speaking like that?”

Kuooo!

A terrifyingly powerful aura of mana rose up like fire, and pressured the people nearby.

“A mere human…”

Kang Chul-In stared at Amur.

“Hey, tiger-man. You wanna die?”

Kang Chul-In clenched his right fist. And with that fist, he punched the table that was made of diamond.

Bang!

With a large noise…

Crack…

Crack!

Cracks started to appear on the table like spider webs, 

BANG!

Before everything crumbled.

“Stupid cat, follow me.”

Saying that, Kang Chul-In left the meeting room.

“Do you think I won’t follow you if you say that?”

Without being scared in the slightest after Kang Chul-In’s display of strength, Amur followed Kang Chul-In.

“Just you wait, lizard. I’ll beat you up after I do so to your owner.”

Amur taunted Drakan even while leaving.

But,

Tzzt, poor little cat.

His rage subsiding, Drakan also followed Kang Chul-In outside.