The Overlord of Blood and Iron (WN)
chapter-127

This... How does this make sense?

That was the first thing that went across Kang Chul-In's head.

Why, or rather, how?

Absorption of other skills?

The business he was running on Earth was going smoothly.

He had also made two trustworthy and powerful allies, namely Lee Chae-rin and Hecate.

As for martial prowess and brute strength, he would be hard-pressed to find someone that could even stand up to him.

Even though everything seemed perfect, he had still received a top-class authority called Skill Absorption?

The Soul-Backup was an authority that ‘God’ had given him.

Thinking about the events that had occurred within the Valhalla Dungeon, the only conclusion that Kang Chul-In could come up with was that this ‘God’ was aware of him, and was intentionally doing this for some reason.

There must be a reason for this. An unknown reason.

It was obvious. Kang Chul-In wasn’t an idiot who easily became happy when he was given something. He thought that by being given a ridiculous authority like this, there had to be severe risks that followed.

[Overlord’s authority: Skill Absorption.]

You can absorb the skills of other Lords, for example, the ‘Specialties’ of other Lords, or even their ‘Authorities’ to empower yourself.

Skill Level: 1 (Maximum: 5)

Use requirement 1: Can only use against other Lords.

Use requirement 2: Can only be used after completely suppressing an opponent.

Max. number of absorbable skills: 3 (Amount grows as level of authority increases.)

-Restrictions:

You can use the hidden skill ‘transfer skill’ once the authority reaches level 3.

In order to absorb another Overlord’s authority, this authority has to be at least level 3 (can only absorb specialties at level 1 and 2)

If you go over the limit of the Max. number of absorbable skills, you will have to give up one of the original absorbed skills.

This authority is lost once the position of Overlord is lost.

Though there are many requirements and restrictions, there was no doubt in the fact that this skill was overbalanced and way too overpowered.

There were too many uses for this ability.

He can use it to absorb another Lord’s specialty or even authority and use it.

And when this authority reached level 3, he will be able to gain a hidden skill called ‘skill transfer’, which allows Kang Chul-In to also empower his subordinates and people around him.

How?

If the number of absorbed authorities or specialties went over the limit, instead of giving them up, he could just use the hidden skill to empower one of his subordinates. It was almost as if God was giving abilities to his angels.

Do they want me to become a Lord hunter or something?

Kang Chul-In smirked.

It said that this authority would only work against other Lords.

...Was there even another Authority that suited him better than this one?

After all, Kang Chul-In was already a specialist in hunting other Lords.

Though the intentions of God and the system are somewhat suspicious, the end result is great. They had made this authority tailor-fit to Kang Chul-In’s personality and tendencies and gave it to him.

Maybe he knows.

Kang Chul-In stared at Akan, who was silently continuing the awards ceremony.

-.......

Akan was wordless, solemnly doing his job.

And since he was surrounded by a bright light, it was impossible to see his expression, meaning that it was hard to read his thoughts.

What could you tell from someone without a face and just glowing eyes? The answer was, "nothing."

-The ceremony is over.

After Kang Chul-In’s turn, the ceremony finished.

The seats disappeared one by one.

The throne also disappeared.

Hmph.

Though Kang Chul-In didn’t want to get up from the throne, there was no choice. The only thing he could do was wait for the next Lord meetings, which came a year later.

As all the events finished, the meetings finally started.

Or to be accurate, they were about to start, but Kang Chul-In’s sudden actions stopped that from happening.

As the Lords were waiting and chatting amongst themselves in the short interval time before the meetings began, Kang Chul-In started walking towards the host of the Lord meetings, Akan.

“Hey, dog of God.”

Kang Chul-In spoke, staring at Akan ferociously.

-.......

“Shall we talk?”

-Overlord Kang Chul-In, I hope that you can focus on the meetings between the Lords today. Just because you are ranked 1st place doesn’t mean that you have permission or the authority to delay the start of the meetings.

“No.”

Kang Chul-In shook his head, while laughing.

“Though I don’t have the authority to delay it, I do have the authority and the right to make it stop 1 second after it begins. After all, it is the role of 1st place to take control over the meetings.”

This was correct.

Kang Chul-In was able to stop the meetings as soon as they started.

Though there would be quite a lot of people angry at him, he didn’t care about that.

Considering he wasn’t doing stuff such as forcing belief upon others like that psychopath Baruk Al Yusuf, it would be perfectly fine.

-And what do you get from doing that?

“The truth.”

-..........

“We have a lot of things to talk about.”

-I don’t know what you’re talking about.

“You don’t know me?”

-Are you not the leader of the Laputa territory, Overlord Kang Chul-In?

“Soul Backup. Valhalla dungeon.”

-I still don’t know what you’re talking about.

“So you’re going to pretend not to know?”

-No matter what you think, or where you felt suspicions, it’s your job to solve those things by yourself. I am only the host of the Lord meetings within Pangaea, and I actually do not know about the ongoings of the Lords. Even if I did know, it would still be prohibited for me to interfere with their business.

Akan was impossible to see through.

Is it really impossible for me to get the answer from him…

Of course, Kang Chul-In wasn’t really looking to get an answer from Akan. He just felt like he wouldn’t lose anything even if he didn’t get anything in the first place, so he had asked.

-But…

Akan added.

-Since everything that happens in Pangaea to you is all due to the omnipotent god, it makes sense that you would pay attention to even the smallest details, in order to get answers.

Though it wasn’t an answer, Akan gave counsel.

-There are a lot of ears and eyes here. They are all geared towards you, so maybe it’s time for you to quickly go and focus on the meeting instead.

As Akan had said, quite a lot of the Lords were staring at him. There were even those trying to get close to them to hear what they were saying.

“Of course.”

Kang Chul-In nodded his head.

“I don’t have any intention to talk to you any longer.”

It was enough now.

If he hadn’t gotten a response after asking like this, he never would get one.

In order to get the answer from Akan, Kang Chul-In needed to be strong to control this whole area. That, or be able to think of something in order to get rid of the nerfs that he suffered from.

With that, he could beat up Akan or even torture him in order to get the answers he wanted.

But not right now.

Thinking of the future, Kang Chul-In walked away.

I’ll definitely get ready for this, just you wait.

Kang Chul-In started thinking of all the ways he could ‘beat’ the system. That was how much he cared about the reasons behind the Valhalla dungeon, as well as the reason behind his rewards.

“I will finish the meetings here.”

Kang Chul-In spoke.

“......”

“.......”

Astonishment filled the eyes of the other Lords who sat down.

Not even 1 minute had passed since the Lord meetings started when Kang Chul-In spoke.

And he was going to finish it just like that?

It was astonishing.

With a somewhat stiff and angry face, Andrei Ivanovic spoke.

“I think it’s a little bit too early…”

“I also agree.”

The Chinese Lord Ao Xin spoke up.

“Why? I think this is good. Isn’t everyone tired right now? I want to go back, and drink some more alcohol before going to sleep.”

“I agree.”

Hecate and Lee Chae-rin supported Kang Chul-In’s words.

It was possible for them to agree since they were of the same party.

Meanwhile, Albrecht Vilhelm was on extremely shaky terms with Alex Rothschild.

For Albrecht, Rothschild being given a chance to talk wasn’t a good thing. It was because as soon as he was given a chance to speak, Rothschild would most likely think of an excuse, and gain the trust of some of the Lords again.

He didn’t care about what really happened between Kang Chul-In and Alex Rothschild. What was important for him was Alex Rothschild shouldn’t be given a chance to speak.

It would be beneficial for him, since the two of them were currently fighting over Skadi’s territory.

He definitely didn’t want to give Rothschild an opportunity to change his image for the better.

This cheeky bastard.

Looking at Albrecht Vilhelm who seemed deep in thought, Kang Chul-In smirked.

His reason for doing this was also the same as Albrecht. It was his way of not letting Alex Rothschild have an opportunity to talk.

“Ah, I think everyone’s misunderstanding something here.”

Though Kang Chul-In was inwardly laughing, his face stiffened. He had to go through things that he deemed necessary after all.

“What happens within this meeting is all on my authority. Don’t overstep your boundaries and tell me what to do.”

Basically, he was saying: shut up, and mind your own business.

“Now, as I said, it’s over. Everyone rest, and get ready to return to your own territories.”

And saying this, Kang Chul-In looked back towards Akan.

“We’re finished.”

-.......

Akan also seemed flustered for the first time. He hadn’t thought that Kang Chul-In would actually just immediately end the meetings.

“Aren’t you going to work, messenger of God?”

-...We will finish the Lord Meetings here.

As Akan spoke, everything around them disappeared. It was really over now.

“Ha! You’re just doing whatever the hell you want!”

Someone got angry. It was a lower ranked Lord, ‘Mr. Wu.’

“I’m doing whatever I want?”

Kang Chul-In asked.

“Of course you are! Even if you are admittedly 1st in the Lord rankings, isn’t this a little too much?”

“If you’re that angry, then get 1st place yourself.”

Kang Chul-In retorted.

“W-What… you…”

“If you’re angry at me for doing whatever I want to as 1st place, then why don’t you become 1st place? Then you can do whatever the hell you want.”

Though Kang Chul-In’s words were true, it was still humiliating for Mr. Wu who was ranked at the lower end of the rankings.

“...Just you wait.”

“Wow, I’m so scared!”

Said Kang Chul-In, without batting an eyelash.

“Y-You….”

Kang Chul-In wasn’t just strong physically, but he was also good at talking trash. He knew how to piss someone off easily.

[There are 3 minutes remaining before you must return. Time remaining for the closing of Akan’s hall: 2:59… 2:58… 2:57…]

And with that, the Lord meetings were truly over.

“Ah, you’re Aleister, right?”

Before they returned, Kang Chul-In called out to Aleister.

“Overlord Kang Chul-In, do you also appreciate the beauty of the undead?”

Aleister answered, with his typical necrophiliac behavior. "Ridiculous pervert," "psychopath," and "crazy maniac." These were the titles that best described who Aleister was.

“Of course.”

But surprisingly, Kang Chul-In nodded his head.

“I-Is that so?”

“I’m thinking of making a deal with you. It’s one that’s related to making new undead.”

“Oh! If it’s something like that, then it’s welcome anytime!”

“I’m thinking of making some phantom steeds.”

“Huk!”

To those words Kang Chul-In uttered, Aleister gasped.

“You… don’t tell me you possess death knights!?”

A phantom steed was a ghost horse, and they were the main way of travel for a death knight.

In order to effectively use a death knight in battle, phantom steeds were definitely necessary.

“Is it possible, or maybe not. I’ll give you a lot of gold for them.

“Very well!”

If there was a slight trick in Kang Chul-In’s words it would be that the phantom steeds were for his specter knights and not death knights, but Kang Chul-In didn’t let that be known.

“Contact me anytime. My illusion network channel is number 6!”

“Mine is number 1. I’ll contact you soon.”

“Kuhahaha!”

Aleister laughed crazily, as if he were truly happy.

[10...9...8…]

Just when they were about to return.

“Ah, do I really have to go back to becoming a slave…”

Dorian was depressed again.

He seemed to be quite down, thinking of the fact that he was to live among the pack of the werewolves again.

“Kang Chul-In, help me. You will help me, right?”

[5...4...3…]

“Instead of asking me to help, shouldn’t you be telling me where the hell you are? So that I can actually help?”

Kang Chul-In spoke stiffly.

“Ah!”

Dorian hit his own head.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t… Ah! Noooo!”

[Akan’s hall has been closed.]

Before Dorian could finish his words, the Lords were split apart again.

The idiot was an idiot till the very end.

“Stupid bastard.”

Kang Chul-In teased as he returned to the Laputa territory.

“Pft, Lord Dorian truly is quite funny.”

Lucia laughed.

“Milord!”

It was at that moment.

“Trouble, there’s big trouble!”

The goblin ex-secretary Timothy found Kang Chul-In and shouted in a hysterical manner.

“There’s a devil! A devil has appeared!”