Chapter 93. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread
Letâs fight, you stupid bastard!
âŚwas what the letter started with, and it taunted Kang Chul-in, while giving off the message that Franz wanted to fight.
If youâre a man, then weâll fight fair and square at the plains.The fight will be 3 days later, 1km in front of my territory, in the plains. The time will be at 10 am. Like a man, weâll finish this off in one bout.I will only activate 8 of my Atlases, and use 21 of my Mechanic Knights, and will not use âanyâ underhanded tactics whatsoever.You are allowed to bring up to 2000 of your soldiers.However, youâre not allowed to bring in any other Lords to this fight. Only fight with the power of you, and your territory. My 8 Atlases are the full strength of my territory, and if you are a âtrue manâ, then I believe that you wouldnât resort to calling in help from other Lords.How are my conditions? Do you like them?And do you dare fight against me? If you do have intentions of fighting, then put your thumbprint on this Soul Contract.If you do not agree to my conditionsâŚIâll call you a coward for eternity.From the Lord of the Mecha Dome territory, Franz. To: ****ing b*tch
âThis⌠he dares to talk in front of me about being a man?â
The whiskey bottle that Kang Chul-in was holding cracked to pieces, unable to withstand Kang Chul-inâs wrist strength.
Lucia, who was looking at this, hurriedly wrapped a white handkerchief around Kang Chul-inâs hands, afraid if they would bleed.
Leveling up 2 more times during the past few weeks he had been conquering and fighting against other territories, Kang Chul-in had the strength to shatter glass, and come out unscathed.
âMilord⌠this guy⌠is he a madman?â
Kwak-Jung laughed, looking from the side.
âThis madman wants to crawl in front of us when we were thinking of ways to get him to come out of his small hole?â
It was as Kwak-Jung said.
While the Laputa territory was trying their best to try to make Franz come out of his territory, Franz himself invited Kang Chul-in to a frontal battle. It couldnât be any better for Laputa.
âIt actually makes sense.â
Kang Chul-in said, and didnât laugh at Franz for being stupid.
âIâm guessing that he has probably upgraded his Atlases, and found ways to protect the joints of them. Or⌠maybe he has even done something stupid enough like putting 3 magic crystal into a single Atlas to amp up its power.â
And Kang Chul-in had unknowingly read what Franz was thinking.
âAnyway⌠limiting my army to 2000 in numbers, and getting rid of artillery too?â
âAnd taunting me just in case I donât respond to this fight of his⌠Heâs tried to use his brain here. Going easy on me, before backstabbing me and my army?â
Kang Chul-in was confident, knowing of Franzâs thoughts.
Kang Chul-in himself had just bought enough trolls and minotaurs to join his anti-Atlas army from the Lord shop, and had used the head of blacksmithing in Laputa, Vulcanus, to make armor for the âanti-Atlasâ army.
âQuickly, go get the Soul Core of Laputa.â
âYes, milord. I will go immediately.â
Lucia didnât care about the terms of the contract, and left to go get the Soul Core of Laputa; showing the trust and faith she had in Kang Chul-in.
This time, Kang Chul-in called on Nilus, who was the head of the mages and magicians in the territory.
âAre you able to use the spell: Blizzard?â
And at this, the other leading figures of the Laputa territory took in a deep breath, startled.
Blizzard was a 5 circle magic spell that caused a literal blizzard by causing the surroundings to freeze up and the temperature to drop, and was the spell amongst the 5 circle spells that was hardest to pull of, requiring lots and lots of mana.
âOf course, milord. Even if this lowly one is to sacrifice his life for this task, I am still willing to do so for milordâs conquest!â
â⌠I donât remember asking you to sacrifice yourself.â
And saying this, Kang Chul-in looked at Michael, the head of the White Lion knights.
âMichael, youâve picked up the scraps from the destroyed Atlas, right?â
âYes, there was absolutely nothing left over.â
âAnd you should have picked up some Magic Crystal fragments too, right?â
âThen give them over to Nilus. They are of not much use to me, and Nilus using it to perform his magic will be much more effective.â
These Magic Crystals were a very important item to magicians and mages. Even if they had lost some of their power, they still were extremely useful.
The leader of the White Lion Knights, Michael asked.
âIs there a special reason that you ordered sir Nilus to use the spell Blizzard? If used in battle, there might be a real chance that it could do more damage to our allies rather than the enemiesâŚâ
But the answer came from Kwak-Jung, rather than Kang Chul-in.
âUh⌠isnât the spell blizzard one where it literally causes snow, and hail?â
âYes, thatâs right.â
âWell, then itâs probably not going to be used in battle at all. It is going to be used as a smokescreen before the battle even starts. Am I right, milord?â
And Kang Chul-in nodded at Kwak-Jungâs words.
âKuku, it wasnât much.â
And at Kang Chul-in and Kwak-Jungâs conversation, the other leaders of the Laputa territory cocked their heads to the side, not fully understanding what they were talking about.
âMilord, the Soul Core.â
And while they were still confused, Lucia handed the Soul Core of Laputa to Kang Chul-in.
And using the Soul Core, he stamped it onto the Soul Contract that Franz had gave him.
â3 days, 3 days left.â
â3 days later, we will feast on our lunch inside their territory.â
It meant that he would take down Franz under an hour.
The day of the fight, 9 in the morning.
As the frozen ground started ripping apart, a golden igloo-looking structure started rising from the ground. It was the appearance of the Mecha Dome, the territory that Lord Franz controlled.
First, the hangar of the Dome opened.
And inside were 7 Atlases that looked even bigger, and more upgraded than the Atlases that Kang Chul-in had fought before. And even the joints were covered with steel, meaning that the critical weakness it had before was now no longer there.
It was obvious that the Mecha Dome had spent almost all of its resources into upgrading these Atlases.
And soon after, the front door to the Mecha Dome also opened, and Franz, allowing with his personal guards in the Mecha Knights came âstruttingâ out, with pride.
âHuhu⌠just you wait, you stupid bastard.â
Franz walked into the middle of the plains with his Mecha Knights and his 7 Atlases. The last Atlas he had was nowhere to be seen, and was to be used as his Trump Card.
Looking at the snow-covered plains, Franz muttered.
It seemed like the night before, the first snow of the year had come.
And no, it wasnât the kind of snow that just poured down softly, but it was the kind of snowstorm that would happen once in a while.
âThis snow-covered plains⌠will be reddened by the blood of our enemies by the end of the fight.â
The first to arrive to the battlefield was Franz.
âThis rotten bastard⌠he wants me to wait?â
âMilord, please calm yourself. It is still 40 minutes before the promised time. But that doesnât really matter though, does it? After all, we will be the ones that will triumph in this frontal battle.â
âY-Yes, of course. Youâre right.â
Nodding his head, Franz pretended that he still had patience. Of course, inwardly, he wanted to start the battle as soon as possible.
The Laputan army didnât show up.
Again, not a single ant showed up.
Only a wild dog meandered around the snow-covered plains.
And⌠another 5 minutes passed.
âT-There! Theyâre coming!â
Schneider, the leader of the Mecha Knights, pointed far away, to the horizon. And over there, there was something, something that was rushing towards them with terrifying speed.
And where Schneider was pointing there was a tiger the size of a whole house. It was the Altaica.
âThe one riding on top of it thenâŚâ
The Altaica, that had found its enemy, started roaring at Franz. And the killing intent of the Altaica found its way to Franz, startling him.
Startled and forgetting about his position as Lord, Franz hid behind Schneider, to protect himself.
âHey, coward who canât stand even my mount.â
âY-You⌠do you honestly think that even with that tiger of yours, you can win with just the two of you?â
âHmm⌠I donât know? Do I really need a large force to beat a coward like you? Someone that pisses his pants just by looking at my mount?â
âY-You⌠do you really think youâll be fine with taunting me like that!â
âSeems like you will live a long, happy life.â
And those words were the final nail in the coffin.
âK-Kill him! Go, go and bring his head to me!â
Franz shouted, losing his patience.
And the Atlases, followed by 10 Mecha Knights started stomping their way towards Kang Chul-in and Lucia at a frightening speed.
90m⌠80m⌠70m⌠and 50m!
âThose pieces of scrap metalâŚâ
And with those words, the ground suddenly split apart, revealing a hole. And the monsters waiting inside the hole came out, and started fighting the Atlases.