! There was a large explosion and the water in the Hartum River shot up like a tsunami and swallowed everything up. The battle of Styx ended with no winner.

***

Meanwhile, at around the same time, the young Lord Lily received an urgent report from her new secretary. She was lining up her army on the training grounds according to advice from Kang Chul-In.

“What’s wrong?”

“Something big’s happened!”

“S-Something big?”

“The e-enemies…! Huk… huk…!” The secretary couldn’t even speak properly from running all the way to where Lily was.

“P-Please calm down and tell me slowly. What happened exactly?”

“T-The enemies…!”

“Enemies?”

“Overlord Lee Ji-Tae’s army… huk… huk huk…!”

“Overlord Lee Ji-Tae… the one who took over Atal Ramanujan…?”

“Yes! T-That’s correct!”

“No way…”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The secretary gasped to continue. “Overlord Lee Ji-Tae’s army is heading towards Itaracia!”

“O-Oh, dear…!” Lily was shocked. “But it’s alright!”

However, she wasn’t scared.

“The military power of our Zolushka territory is incredible! If we can use the geography of Itaracia to our benefit…”

“Y-Your Highness…”

“Yes?”

“T-The number of our enemies…”

“...?”

“The military power of the Shatyameba territory is a-approximately… 500,000 people!”

“R-Really?”

It was an exorbitant amount. 500,000 people. It was a number of soldiers that would appear in the battle going on in the north with the Valhalla Kingdom and the Gullveig Alliance.

“Y-Yes… no matter how well our soldiers are trained it’s impossible to withstand 500,000 enemy soldiers…”

That was an irrefutable fact. How could Lily withstand a grand army of 500,000 soldiers? With her current ability, it would be difficult to even fight against 100,000 soldiers.

“W-What should we do?” Lily was taken aback. “There’s too many… I can’t stop that many soldiers.”

“Your Highness, quickly request for support from the Valhalla Kingdom!”

“The Valhalla Kingdom? B-But oppa’s kingdom is in the middle of a war with the Gullveig Alliance… I can’t ask him for help again… he’s already helped me a lot.”

The oppa that Lily was talking about was obviously Kang Chul-In.

“I can’t do that… Oppa won’t have any soldiers to spare…”

“No, Your Highness!”

“N-No?”

“His wife, Overlord Lee Chae-Rin!”

“Ah…! That unnie with a lot of money?”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Lily’s secretary was a pretty smart person.

“B-But…!”

“Your Highness, this won’t be a nuisance!”

“I-Is that so?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Here, look!”

The secretary pulled out a map.

“Currently, there is a war happening in the north for control of the territory, but that’s only if this place-”

“The Baldur region?”

“-Yes, only if the Baldur region is calm is that the case. Look here. Overlord Lee Chae-Rin’s forces and the Gullveig Alliance split the Baldur region into two. We can interpret that this is to prevent a third-party from appearing for a three-way war.”

“S-So?”

“If Overlord Lee Ji-Tae’s 500,000 soldiers conquer our territory and above the Baldur region, what will happen?”

“...Another large power will appear?”

“Yes.”

“So that means…”

“The Supreme King of the West Kang Chul-In won’t want Overlord Lee Ji-Tae to step on our territory either. He’s already in the middle of a war with the Gullveig Alliance, so if another army starts coming from behind him he’ll have to make a new game plan.”

Everything the secretary was saying was correct.

“Your Highness, please contact Overlord Lee Chae-Rin. Overlord Lee Chae-Rin is the Supreme King of the West Kang Chul-In’s wife. She’ll help us willingly. This way, we can protect our territory and help the Supreme King of the West.”

“Will we really?”

“If we ask them too late, it’ll be detrimental for both sides, so why hesitate?”

“A-Alright!” Lily made her decision. “I’ll ask Overlord Lee Chae-Rin unnie for help!”

“You’ve made a wise choice, Your Highness. Overlord Lee Chae-Rin is an affluent Lord who holds most of the wealth on the continent. She’ll be able to stop Overlord Lee Ji-Tae with money. And even if she can’t, we’ll be able to stall for time until the Supreme King of the West comes.”

“Please send a message to Lee Chae-Rin unnie immediately!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

“Also…” Lily’s eyes flashed. “I must go to Itaracia myself.”

“Y-Your Highness! That’s too danger…”

“I have to go.” The young Lord was firm. “If I don’t step up to encourage our soldiers myself, we won’t be able to stop Lee Ji-Tae’s military! Lords are supposed to step up to the plate themselves too!”

“Your Highness…”

“Quickly send a message to Lee Chae-Rin unnie! I’ll get ready to go to Itaracia!”

“Y-Yes, ma’am.”

The secretary felt inwardly amazed by Lily while heading towards the messaging room. ***

Son, wake up!

His mother’s voice rang in his head.

Dadddd! Wake up!

He could hear Arshelly’s voice too.

Husband!

Honey!

Your Majesty!

His wives too.

And…

Oppa, oppa!

Han Ye-Sun’s voice as well.

“Kuk…!”

Kang Chul-In opened his eyes with much difficulty.

“Oppa! Can you hear me?!”

“Where.. is… kuk!”

“Don’t overdo it! Stay still!”

Han Ye-Sun forced him down.

“Ack!” Another shout escaped his mouth.

“Don’t move! Never! Not now!”

“Kuk…”

“Oppa, you’re hurt a lot right now… you almost died.” Han Ye-Sun spoke in a teary voice. “You almost died.. so don’t get up… you’re a mess right now!”

He really was. All his bones were broken, his lungs were crushed under his ribcage, and his muscles, which had been as strong as steel wire rope, were all ripped. There wasn’t a single internal organ that was fine. A severe injury. No, a critical one. They were injuries that normal people would’ve died from already.

“Ke…” Kang Chul-In groaned. “It hurts…”

“What?”

“It hurts… a lot…”

That was it. Kang Chul-In just groaned and didn’t say much. Although he was experiencing unimaginable pain, he didn’t say anything more.

“Huk…!” Tears brimmed in Han Ye-Sun’s eyes. “S-Sorry…”magic

“What… are you sorry for?”

“I-I didn’t know anything… I-I just thought you were going crazy… s-so…” She was finally telling the truth. “I just… I… couldn’t understand you. So I tried to stop you… if I didn’t stop you… you wouldn’t be like this… I-I was bait.”

“It’s fine.”

“...!”

“Those things happen… so don’t... blame yourself.”

Unexpectedly, Kang Chul-In’s old way of speaking came out of his mouth. It was how he spoke to Han Ye-Sun back during their puppy love days, the school days.

“O-Oppa?”

“You didn’t do it on purpose… so let’s just move on.”

“Huk…!”

“But…”

“Hm?”

His tone quickly changed.

“Where am I?” Kang Chul-In asked. “And how much time passed?”

“A-A week?”

“The war?”

“I’m not sure… I just know we’re in the south of the continent.”

“The south?”

“Your belt brought us here.”

“Ah…” Kang Chul-In realized how he was able to survive.

This special function will save your life when in danger. Because your defense equipment was so bad...

What the legendary blacksmith Vulkan said flashed through his mind. The Invincible-rank item, the “Iron Curtain” belt... that was what saved Kang Chul-In and Han Ye-Sun?

“And Lucia…?” However, rather than being relieved about his survival, Kang Chul-In asked about Lucia first.

“She’s alive.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Han Ye-Sun nodded. “She went to see if there were any gates nearby. That belt saved all three of us.”

“That’s a relief…”

“Yeah… it is.”

“First… kuk!”

Kang Chul-In quickly raised himself.

“O-Oppa!”

“There’s no time to be like this.”

“No!”

“We don’t have time…” Kang Chul-In was feeling rushed. “Every second is precious… we don’t have… time… soon… he will resurrect…”

“Oppa!”

“I have to… prepare…”

However, there were limits to his capabilities. Kang Chul-In fell over.

“Oppaaaa!” Han Ye-Sun quickly supported him. “Why are you going so far…!?”

“Earth…”

“...!”

“Even Earth… will be in danger… before that… have to stop…”

Then, Kang Chul-In fainted.