Chapter 181: Aren’t You Bastards Crossing the Line? (3)
Chapter 181: Aren’t You Bastards Crossing the Line? (3)
Three out of the six that were considered as the other-worlders’ strongest were now on the airship headed to the Southeast. This fact had spread all over the Empire at a break-neck speed.
[ In the end, the other-worlders moved to prove that they are masters! ]
[ Will they be able to show a new master’s path? ]
[ The Imperial Masters are also heating up about this matter. The Eastern Commander had set off for the Southeast to see for himself…]
[ The Imperial Masters are gathering in the Southeast. The Godly Sword Family Head, the Lion Family Head, the Eastern Commander, and the Southern Commander are all expected to attend… ]
The masters were all apathetic at first. But they, along with everyone, began to wonder how strong the other-worlders were after they showed confidence with the new strength that they had gained in the South.
What’s the difference? How did you gain that confidence?
Every single person in the continent couldn’t hold back their curiosity as these thoughts flashed in their heads.
‘So curious!’
It wasn’t only the Imperial Masters, but also the other masters in the continent. All of them had the same curiosity as they waited and listened intently for news from the Southeastern region of the Empire.
But even though everyone’s attention was focused on the Mobile Field Army Command, the entire Command was busy moving around. They did not even have the time to pay attention to themselves, let alone feel the rush from this.
“Ha… They’re digging through that gap and coming down?”
The gigantic bastard, the giant armored worm, which should be called imoogi now, appeared.
Iron immediately went out of Command and rushed to meet with the bastard all the while showing his entire strength right at the beginning. This was because he had fought with the bastard too much in the past that he knew not to be sloppy at the beginning. What was shocking was the fact that the bastard even brought some worms that looked similar to itself.
After glaring at each other, the two finally collided.
Despite the imoogi’s terrifying roar and the completely destroyed terrain, Iron stood still and remained calm.
“So it’s like this…”
One of the officers aboard an airship on standby from afar was in awe as he watched this amazing scenario. He realized why Iron had that much confidence in himself. He could also see why Iron wanted to fight during the monster wave so much.
“If it were me, I would want to warm up too.”
“Yeah.”
“Hoo… He has absolutely become a monster now.”
Iron had told them to just sit still and watch from afar but the officers still thought that they should at least be helpful to him. However, after seeing this scene, they realized that the only thing that they could do was to just sit back and watch the fight.
Their hero was fighting a fierce battle alone against the monstrous and gigantic black imoogi. The fact that he was still fighting comfortably without the help of his divine beasts made them realize how monstrous their Commander had become now.
For some reason, they felt a bit of pity towards the other-worlders who will come here from the continent’s Southern region.
“It’s a pity.”
“Yeah.”
When it came to Iron’s weakness, most of the public would say that it was himself. This was mostly because Phoenix and Thunderbird were both phantom species while Two Moons was a creature that even masters feared. They were so powerful that they were even deemed to be more powerful than masters. Because of that, everyone believed that they would have a chance of winning just by targeting the lacking Iron himself.
The continent’s professional gamblers have repeatedly predicted that the other-worlders only needed to attack Iron himself in order for them to win against him.
But of course, that wasn’t an easy feat either. Iron was a swordsman at the 6th Stage of swordsmanship and was a veteran armed with countless experiences in combat. However, that veteran had also become stronger!
“His weakness… is gone, right?”
“That’s right.”
The soldier nodded his head in agreement to the person that asked the question.
“Wow… Then, doesn’t that mean that he’s now the strongest in the continent?”
“That’s probably the case?”
The Lion Family Head and the Godly Sword Family Head were both competing for the title of the continent’s strongest. However, the people present here believed that their Commander had already probably exceeded the two of them. Even these two individuals known to be the closest to grandmaster-rank looked lacking if they were put in a fight against the current Iron.
While the soldiers were busy watching Iron in admiration, the airship carrying the other-worlders had arrived at the Southeast’s Mobile Field Army Command.
“Welcome to the Mobile Field Army Command.”
Kim Jungtae frowned after hearing the tone of the knight who welcomed them at the Sky Tower.
“Where is Iron Carter?”
All of the people moving around the Sky Tower stopped walking at Kim Jungtae’s question. It wasn’t just the knights but even the merchants and the wizards, all of them stood still and stared at Kim Jungtae. The gaze that they used to look at him was clearly filled with hostility. The knights, in particular, were openly releasing their murderous intent.
“The Commander is not your friend. Please watch your words and actions.”
“Why should I do that? He’s your Commander, not mine?”
The knight frowned at Kim Jungtae’s words. If he could, he wanted to shout ‘Do you think the Commander is your friend? This ××××××!’ but he had to hold himself back. He was still the Command’s guest and he had to be polite.There was nothing wrong with him trying to be polite. After all, the South revered them as masters.
“Follow me.”
The knight literally guided them without even the slightest bit of courtesy.
“It’s pretty good.”
Rovanov, who was walking behind Kim Jungtae, mumbled to herself.
This place was considered as the most dangerous place in the Empire and even the Mobile Field Army had admitted themselves that they still had plenty of problems that needed to be addressed.
But after looking at the place right now, it did not seem to be the case. This was because their overall level was pretty high.
‘It doesn’t look like they’re being carried by Iron alone, huh?’
The thought flashed in her head as she continued to follow the knight guiding them.
Kim Jungtae, on the other hand, frowned after they arrived at their accomodations at the center of Command. He thought that they would guide them straight to the Commander’s Office so he felt annoyed when they suddenly took them to their accommodations.
“Guide us to your Commander.”
“The Commander is not here right now.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Carl Stein, the Chief of Staff and the leader of the logistics and communications unit directly under Command.”
Kim Jungtae looked at Carl Stein in annoyance as he listened to him introduce himself.
“When will your Commander come?”
“He’s currently in a battle so we don’t know for sure.”
“Ha! What kind of…”
Carl’s momentum suddenly changed just when Kim Jungtae was about to spit out some curse. Although he was in charge of the logistics and communications, he was still an elite that came from the Northeast. And his momentum and force, which was far stronger than the knights, poured towards Kim Jungtae.
“The Commander is not your friend. You better watch your mouth.”
“Do you want to moan in pain, huh?!”
But before Kim Jungtae could show his momentum towards Carl, explosive momentums and energy suddenly appeared from both of his sides. It was the momentum of the Knight Order Leader Rodem and the Storm Troops Leader Ludem. And they weren’t the only ones openly showing their hostility and momentum.
Before they knew it, the knights had already surrounded them, it was as if they had judged that Kim Jungtae and the other other-worlders were people that needed to be monitored.
“Aren’t you here because you want to prove yourselves as masters? But nothing good will come out for you if you cause problems so… you better stay here calmly and wait.”
Hearing Carl’s words, Kim Jungtae was annoyed. However, he had no choice but to enter the accommodations with a click of his tongue.
Knowing the situation that they were in, Al-Assad just quietly followed inside.
On the other hand, Rovanov was smiling as if she found the situation fun. She found out that there were a lot more hotties* here than what she expected.
The Southern Kingdoms’ Confederation had quite a few strong men but they were all boring men bound tightly by rules and discipline. But this place was different. The men here were also strong but they were also hot.
‘Interesting. Should I stay here for a while after proving myself?’
This thought flashed in Rovanov’s head as she walked inside the accommodations. It seemed like she really liked hotties.
The other-worlders were forced to stay still but Iron’s battle took longer than expected. He still hadn’t come back despite the other masters arriving in the Southeast so they still failed to prove themselves as masters.
Because of that, those who weren’t able to come early in the Southeast due to time constraints like the major nobles in the South as well as Kim Jungtae, Rovanov and Al-Assad’s guild members flocked to the Southeast one after the other. Even the professional gamblers and the merchants also flocked together.
Carl thought that this was his time, so he opened the Command to the public and welcomed the merchants and people as if there was a festival in the Command. With this enticement, the nobles from all over the Empire as well as the wealthy individuals flocked straight towards the Southeastern Command.
“When will your Commander come?!”
“Oh, wait! Isn’t he trying to avoid the fight?”
“What? Why would Commander Iron even avoid a fight?”
“If this isn’t avoiding, then what is it? Huh?”
With the delay in Iron’s return, disputes started to appear from the Southerners and the Imperials. Some said that Iron was deliberately avoiding the fight while plenty of the spectators wanted to watch their reaction once Iron returned. But they haven’t heard from Iron at all.
Just when bad opinions started to circulate and complaints started to pile up, a gigantic bird suddenly appeared in the sky.
“It’s the Commander!”
All of the officers at Command stood at attention and saluted the moment Iron appeared.
The people, who saw a divine beast, for the first time looked up in admiration. The Southerners, in particular, were completely shocked. They had heard of its colossal size but they couldn’t help but let their jaws drop at the sheer size of the bird. It was even bigger than the airship that they rode on.
“Sorry, I’m late.”
“No problem at all, sir.”
Iron apologized to Carl, who was standing and waiting for him, for the suffering that he underwent due to his late return.
“The other-worlders?”
“We have told them that the Commander is coming so they’ll definitely be here soon.”
A familiar face suddenly appeared as soon as Carl finished speaking. It was none other than Kim Jungtae, who was famous for his dirty and abhorrent personality both in his past and present life.
Iron smirked when he saw him.
“Long time no see.”
“I know. Surprised? I have completely changed from back then.”
Kim Jungtae spoke as he looked at Iron, who he hadn’t seen in a long time.
Hearing his words, the expressions of the officers hardened all at once. But Iron just looked at him calmly as if he was saying ‘You don’t look too different though?’.
“Do we have to drag things like this? Let’s start right away.”
“You want to start right away in that state?”
There were obvious traces of battle on Iron’s body. His body was even stained by the yet to dry up fluids from the monster that he fought just now. But Iron just shrugged as if it did not matter.
“You have to fight outside of Command.”
Carl approached Iron and carefully whispered his opinion in his ears. Iron nodded slightly in agreement.
“Since we can’t fight inside Command… we’ll have to go outside.”
All of the people participating nodded their heads as if it did not matter where they fought.
Iron immediately called for the drake unit as he went out of the castle with the other-worlders on the back of the drakes.
Hearing news that the Commander had returned and the fight to prove that they were masters would begin, the people quickly headed towards the walls.
Thanks to Carl’s meticulousness, he had already set up a high admission fee on the places in the walls with the best view. He had also made sure to place chairs all over the walls for the spectators. He even set up a place where they could sell food and drinks.
‘Look at this guy, he’s really a merchant’s son.’
Iron smiled when he saw how careful Carl had prepared everything. Then, he looked over his shoulders at Kim Jungtae, Rovanov and Al-Assad.
“Did you say that you’re Rovanov and Al-Assad?”
The two nodded lightly at Iron’s question.
“I don’t have much time so it would be good if all three of you just come to me at the same time.”
The expressions of the three people all crumpled at the same time.
“Isn’t your joke… a bit too much?”
Rovanov spoke as if he was hurting their pride. But Iron just looked at her and said…
“A joke? Why should I waste time playing jokes on liars like you? My time is extremely precious. I don’t have time to play with you.”
Rovanov rushed straight at him as if she couldn’t stand him the moment he finished his words. The image of a black panther popped out of her back.
‘A battle technique, huh?’
A technique similar to a monster’s battle qi suddenly came out.
However, that wasn’t the only weapon that she had in her hands. There was a huge amount of light shining as it tried to press Iron.
“Holy power… so, these guys are not joking around…”
If she was a brave, then Iron was a Saint. Her divine power was just a drop in the bucket compared to his.
Iron lightly hit her, who was trying to stretch her fist while pressing him down with a different level of holy power. But instead of backing down, she just pressed forward.
‘Is she an Iron Man?’
It seemed like she had the innate ability to endure any situation thrown at her.
Her innate ability, which was similar to steel mana, was superior to Iron’s characteristics. On top of that, it also had the ability to overlap and combine her forces. Her ability also had the quality of making her fist stronger the more someone clashed against her. However, no matter how superior the quality of her ability was, it was useless since her level was low.
Bang!
“Kghhhk!”
A giant suddenly appeared behind Iron and swung its arms towards him when he tried to raise his sword towards Rovanov.
Thud!
“Kghhk… It’s going to be different this time.”
“This is your newly acquired power?”
Iron tilted his head in thought after seeing a new form of power that he hadn’t seen in his previous life.
The power that he felt from the giant was clearly strong. But even though he felt that the power was more than his, he was still relaxed since the one using the power was extremely terrible.
‘So lousy.’
Iron let the giant strike his body as he blew Rovanov’s body away. Then, without any intention of dragging things out, he rushed straight towards Kim Jungtae.
Kim Jungtae, who had been watching the commotion in the sidelines and preparing, released all the power that he had gathered.
A water storm.
Everyone looked at this natural phenomenon that wouldn’t appear in this wasteland.
A magic power comparable to a Magic Master’s power was expressed and the people watching from behind were impressed.
“You’re just this much?”
But the water storm was neatly cut into two by a sword.
Just like Rovanov, this was not the end of Kim Jungtae’s powers. In a blink of an eye, the water storm that was divided into two by the sword fused together in the form of a giant water dragon.
Rovanov’s giant also rushed forward as if it did not want to lose before swinging its arms at Iron.
They thought that Iron would ask for his divine beasts’ help. After all, no matter how strong he was, these attacks were still too much.
“Is this all?”
But Iron just looked at Kim Jungtae as if this was not fun at all.
Kim Jungtae couldn’t say anything to answer his question. This was because Kim Jungtae’s all out attack, the Water Dragon’s Water Breath0, and Rovanov’s giant’s fist were both deflected before getting split into two.
What was worse was the fact that it wasn’t Iron’s divine beasts or holy power that defeated their attacks. It was just a single gigantic sword.
But everyone who saw the sword could only stare blankly.
And finally, one of the men watching the fight spat out the identity of the attack.
“Aura… blade.”
***
Notes
[Hotties] – 화끈 literally means hot to the point that one would get a flush. From what I saw, when a man says the word 화끈 to a woman then they’re telling that the woman was hot. It can also mean that the person is so cool. From what I gathered it can also mean that they were so flushed from embarrassment. In this case, she saw a lot of 화끈 in this place.