The Overlord of Blood and Iron (WN)
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chapter-294-30041322
12 hours ago…
“Whoa~! This place looks the same.”
Desdemona was in astonishment as she looked at the city of demi-humans that had thousands of years of history. Fox Valley was the same as ever. It was a city filled with pure white marble. It was exactly as Desdemona remembered.
“Does Ninetails still rule over here?”
Seeing as how there was a fox symbol on the walls of the castle, it seemed so. To her, who was a true dragon, Ninetails was the leader of the demi-humans… something like their king. But right now, it was more important to catch the criminal than to look for a fox.“Hey.”-
Desdemona asked a question to a demi-human girl who was passing by.
“Hm?”
“Nuh uh.”
“...”
“You’re speaking casually to me, bitch. Watch it.”
“Ah, yes ma’am...”The demi-human girl was flabbergasted by what the girl who looked to be the same age as her was saying, but like the woodcutter, she gave in to her because of the aura she gave off.
“I heard the greatest artist in Fox Valley is Leonardo?”
“Pardon? Teacher Leonardo?”
“‘Teacher,’ my ass.”
Desdemona snorted.
“Why would a mere demi-human be a teacher? He just scribbles.”
If people related to art heard her, they would’ve trembled with anger, but Desdemona didn’t care.
Artists were only slaves who made their lairs beautiful.
“B-but Mr. Leonard is respected quite…”
“So what?”
“...”
“Don’t talk about useless things and answer my question.”
“...”
“That scribbler called Leonardo, do you know where he lives?”
The demi-human girl responded.
“Yes…”
“Where does he live?”
“Mr. Leonard is a royal artist of Fox Valley.”
“So what?”
“...”
“Where does he live?”
“Obviously in…”
Leonardo probably lived in the palace as a royal artist.
“Okay, I see.”
Desdemona immediately began to head towards Fox Valley.
“Stop!”
Guards in front of the palace saw Desdemona at the entrance.
“Who are you, and where are you from? Please reveal your identity and why you came.”
The dog-human guards spoke in a respectful voice towards Desdemona because of the aura she gave off.
“I don’t know anything about that, so can you get out of the way? I’m here to see Leonardo.”
However, Desdemona’s attitude was very dragon-like.
This rude…
The dog-humans were displeased at her attitude, but they didn’t bare their teeth.
It was a rule that all guards had to be polite to visitors. That is, unless they crossed the “line.”
“Are you speaking about Royal Artist Leonardo?”
“Yeah.”
“...”
“So move.”
“I apologize, but have you contacted him in advance…?”
“Why would I set up a meeting with that mere scribbler?”
It meant that she had come here without any plans.
“Then you cannot pass.”
“What?”
Desdemona’s eyes flashed.
“Sir Leonardo isn’t someone just anyone can meet. You didn’t contact him prior to this, and you’re not revealing your…”
“Hey.”
“...Yes?”
“Do you wanna be beaten up into dust?”
Desdemona clenched her fists.
“How dare you…”
Eventually, the dog-human guards exploded.
“Where do you think this is!? A young kid like you…”
At that moment, Desdemona’s fist landed on the guard’s chin.
Pak!
“Kuk!”
The guard screamed as he fell over and fainted, his mouth bubbling.
“Do you want to die…? I said to move.”
Desdemona muttered to herself.
“An e-enemy!”
“Stop!”
“How dare a human girl…!?”
The other guards aimed their spears at Desdemona.
“Ha...”
Desdemona had a sour smile.
All dragons, whether they were red, blue, silver, white, gold, green, or black, had a bad temperament, but among all of them, black dragons were especially vicious. Of course Desdemona would be furious with all the guards trying to block her.
“Fine… Since when did I…? Hehe… mental training is really the best for stupid dogs…”
Desdemona stepped towards the guards as she pulled her sleeves up.
***
Back in the messaging room of the Valhalla Kingdom.
“Huh?”
Kwak Jung tilted his head rather than being angry that Fox Valley had been taken over.
What?
He couldn’t think of anyone who could suddenly dominate Fox Valley like this. Also, since the most likely people, the Gullveig Alliance, couldn’t attack because of the ceasefire, there was no way it was them.
“The details.”
Kwak Jung spoke towards the messenger soldier in charge of Fox Valley.
“The enemies’ soldiers?”
“That’s…”
“Give me the letter.”
“Yes, sir.”
Its contents were the following:
<Emergency!>
Fox Valley Palace, taken over.
Reason, unknown
Forces, unknown
The attacker is a young human girl named “Desdemona.”
Currently, the enemy has the royal artist Leonardo and other officials captured as prisoners.
“What is this?”
Kwak Jung looked astounded.
“Are you saying Fox Valley was taken over by this single girl named Des or whatever her name is?”
“...”
“Hm?”
The messenger soldier couldn’t say anything as Kwak Jung questioned him. No, he didn’t have anything to say. He was also working in the Valhalla Kingdom’s capital, in Laputa. There was no way he knew about what happened in Fox Valley.
“Sure… what would you know…”
After realizing that the messenger wouldn’t know anything, Kwak Jung decided not to scold the poor government worker.
“Argh… ugh...!”
Instead, he gripped his head.
Kwak Jung was drying up every day because of overworking himself. This was because his cruel boss Kang Chul-In had given him all of his work (what Kang Chul-In had to take care of was enough to kill people from overexertion) and entered closed training.
“Damn it!”
He was busy enough, but Fox Valley was taken over on top of all that… Kwak Jung, who was barely getting by these days with potions, wanted to cry.
But who is it?
He didn’t even know the enemy. The Valhalla Kingdom had never even heard of Desdemona.
A Lord? No, there’s no way… she’s probably an adventurer… hm… an adventurer took over Fox Valley?
It was hard to believe. The army of the demi-humans wasn’t something to be looked down upon. Why? Because their combative power was vastly different from humans who didn’t know how to use mana in the first place.
I don’t know where she suddenly came from, but…
He knew that she was strong.
She won’t be as strong as His Majesty...
Kwak Jung considered her to be as strong as Brynhildr or Dorian at most.
“Hey!”
Kwak Jung shouted.
“Yes, sir?”
“Go have the Drakan-Amur duo, Kim Sung-Hee, Captain James, Michael, Nilus, and the other kingdom magicians attack Fox Valley."
It was an incredible lineup.
If the people who Kwak Jung named gathered, it was enough to turn a small territory into a pile of ashes within a day. This would probably be enough to simply hold down the girl named Desdemona.
Or at least that’s what Kwak Jung thought.
“However, this task is top secret. You must especially not let Queen Ninetails hear about this.”
It was a move of respect. He didn’t think it late to tell her after the situation was controlled because he thought it would be finished quickly.
“Yes, sir.”
“Alright, continue to listen for any updates.”
Kwak Jung internally grounded his teeth.
Just wait until you get caught, little girl…
He was planning on punishing her.
***
In Kang Chul-In’s individual training area deep inside Laputa...
“Whew…!”
Kang Chul-In breathed out heavily.
Whoosh, swoosh!
He was wrapped around by mana fire.
“Dang… a dragon heart is most definitely a dragon heart.”
Thump, thump thump!
His heart was beating fast against his chest, and he could hear beeping sounds in his ears.
Wiggle wiggle!
The clump of mana in his heart shook like it was going to explode at any second.
I’ll need at least 3 days to settle the mana down…
Of course a human body couldn’t accept a dragon heart easily. Even Kang Chul-In was having a hard time absorbing all the mana.
In the past, it had taken a whole month, so this was actually nothing.
That also showed how much better Kang Chul-In could handle mana.
“I’ll focus on absorbing it first…”
While Kang Chul-In was murmuring to himself, someone pounded against the iron door of the training area.
Kwakwakang!
“Hm?”
“Your Majesty! Your Majestyyyyy!”
It was Kwak Jung.
“Why are you calling on me?”
An annoyed voice came from Kang Chul-In. This was a chance for individual training that was hard to come by. He had said again and again not to interrupt him, but why was Kwak Jung pounding the door down?
“I said…”
“S-something bad happened!”
“What? What happened?”
“It’s… all the martial artists of the Kingdom are being beaten up by this girl…”
Kwak Jung began to explain.
“What?”
A vein bulged up on Kang Chul-In’s forehead.
“All of my subordinates lost?”
This was incredulous. They were subordinates that he trained himself, gave nice weapons, and supplied with energy cores and stones. But they had all lost to a girl he hadn’t heard of before? And it wasn’t just one or two of them, but all of them had been beaten up…?
These bastards… not training when they should be…
Kang Chul-In clenched his fists. Mental training was in store for them.
“Y-your Majesty…”
Kwak Jung continued.
“I think you may have to come out…”
Just then, with an explosive sound, a window of the 15-meter high training building came crumbling down.
Ssss...!
From the dust, Kang Chul-In came out, his body surrounded by mana.
“H-heek?!”
Kwak Jung gasped upon seeing this.
T-this guy is… r-really… mad…
He looked like a demon fresh out of hell. Annoyance due to his training being interrupted, disappointment in his subordinates, and fury towards the girl that took over his wife’s homeland.
Kang Chul-In was the angriest he had been in the past few months.
“Let’s go.”
Speaking in a low dark voice as he stepped out...
“To Fox Valley…”
The Supreme King of the West Kang Chul-In and the ancient Black Dragon Desdemona were fated to meet.
