Chapter 208

　　Chapter 208: The Counterattack (1)

　　“You b.i.t.c.h!” The Rothschilds got up while swearing at her .

　　“You dare interrupt me… . ”

　　However, they could not finish their sentences .

　　Chak!

　　Arsh.e.l.ly approached the Rothschilds at an incredible speed, and slapped their cheeks with full strength . The Rothschilds did not even see her coming .

　　“Argh!”

　　They vomited blood and tumbled about .

　　“It won’t be pretty . ”

　　“…”

　　“As my Father once told me, clubs work well for mad dogs!” Arsh.e.l.ly shouted pithily .

　　“F-Father?” Rothschild sensed something peculiar from Arsh.e.l.ly’s words .

　　From what he knew, Kang Chul-In’s daughter was barely even a kid, not to mention a beautiful grown-up lady .

　　And yet, Father?

　　Did she just grow up exponentially in just a few months?

　　“I will kill you…!”

　　Well, it didn’t matter .

　　Whether the beautiful lady in front of him was or was not Kang Chul-In’s daughter, it changed nothing .

　　What mattered more was that he was now enraged, and wanted to shred the girl into pieces .

　　Oooohng!

　　Powerful mana was imbued into the long swords of the three Rothschilds .

　　“I will just make you explode then!”

　　Three ma.s.sive b.a.l.l.s of energy were fired at Arsh.e.l.ly . Even in one glance, it appeared to be a dangerous attack .

　　However,

　　Paaanggg!!!

　　Arsh.e.l.ly summoned a half-transparent barrier, negating all of Rothschilds’ attacks . The energy b.a.l.l.s disintegrated completely .

　　“N-No way!” The Rothschilds were stunned .

　　“How can you even use such high-cla.s.s magic without any casting…!?”

　　They were bound to be surprised .

　　Even the highest-level magician had to cast his/her spell before using magic .

　　“Your clones are no match for me!”

　　“…!”

　　“These dolls that are made from wicked sorcery . . . I will destroy all of them!” Arsh.e.l.ly exclaimed and charged towards the Rothschilds .

　　Flas.h.!.+

　　A blinding beam of rainbow shone .

　　Flap!

　　A pair of white, angel-like wings emerged from Arsh.e.l.ly’s back, boosting her speed .

　　In an instant, Arsh.e.l.ly’s sword sliced through the Rothschilds’ waists diagonally!

　　“Keu-akkkk!!!”

　　 The three Rothschilds screamed simultaneously and fell onto the ground .

　　***

　　In a deep secret chamber in Esmeralda,

　　“Kuhuk!” The real Rothschild vomited out a ton of blood .

　　“Huk… Huk… Huuuuk…!” After repeated rounds of vomiting blood, he could hardly breathe .

　　The damage was enormous .

　　He did expect to lose two or three clones but to end up losing four whole clones was something he failed to see coming . Hence, It wasn’t surprising for him to be heavily affected .

　　[A penalty of a 60% downgrade to all abilities is given due to the destruction of clones . (Remaining clones: 0)]

　　[500P are lost due to weakening of the Overlord . ]

　　[Overall ranking dropped from 11th to 44th place . ]

　　If anything, the penalty was small .

　　Rothschild recalled how he suffered from a 70% downgrade penalty when he lost his first clone . In comparison, a 60% penalty for four lost clones was definitely decent .

　　However… That wasn’t even the most significant penalty .

　　[Clone production is unavailable for some time due to the simultaneous loss of many clones . (Cool time: 8,760 hours)]

　　An excruciatingly long cool time was given .

　　“O-One year?” Rothschild freaked out at the status screen .

　　In fact, he despaired .

　　“T-This can’t be! O-One year?! This is bulls.h.i.+t! No, No!” His cry of despair reverberated in the secret chamber .

　　“N-No! S-Solution, I have to find a solution!!!” Rothschild, half-insane, mumbled to himself .

　　The Absolute Return Scroll had already been used, and no clones were left . Rothschild only had his own body .

　　He no longer had any safety net to ensure his survival .

　　Thus, he became anxious and started to shudder .

　　“F-First, I have to abandon this place . What’s the time right now…?”

　　Rothschild was currently facing Albrecht Vilhelm after taking over the Esmeralda territory .

　　Vilhem was bound to notice Rothschild’s drop in rank when it updates at midnight . He would definitely lead an army to attack Rothschild .

　　That was not all .

　　“Kang Chul-In… If that b.a.s.t.a.r.d comes to get me…?”

　　If he lost to Vilhelm, he could still run away after forfeiting the Esmeralda territory . However, that was not the case for Kang Chul-In . That man would definitely be eager to murder Rothschild after his war .

　　Rothschild shuddered at this fearful thought .

　　Since his plan to attack the empty Laputa had failed, all he could do was to conceal his body for at least a year to ensure safety from Kang Chul-In .

　　If Kang Chul-In killed his main body, it was game over .

　　 ***

　　Swishhhh!

　　A crimson flame swallowed the entire area .

　　Hwaleuk, Hwaleuk!!!

　　A pillar of fire shot up .

　　Like a snake’s tongue, the flames quickly wrapped around the undead monsters .

　　Tadak, Tadak!

　　The burning undead monsters could not feel pain, but they could not stop their bodies from turning into soot .

　　Good!

　　Kang Chul-In, who was observing from far, was greatly satisfied at the firepower of these Flame Atlases . He was confident of victory .

　　At this rate, the third peak would soon belong to him as well .

　　However,

　　“W-What!”

　　“My G.o.d…!”

　　“Unbelievable…!” The frontline soldiers could not hide their shocked expressions .

　　“N-No way!” Drakan’s soldiers who were breathing dragon fire next to the Flame Atlases were also astonished . Something incredible was happening .

　　“Kelkelkelkel…”

　　“Keuh…!”

　　“We are… the immortal soldiers…! Even the flames…cannot stop us…!”

　　“For his Majesty Aleister…”

　　Shockingly, the undead monsters appeared unaffected by the enormous flame, even though they were clearly on fire .

　　“T-They don’t burn?” Drakan wondered what was going on .

　　Even a kid knew that undead monsters were weak to fire, but the enemy troops steadfastly charged forward, as if they were proving that fact obsolete .

　　Hwaleuk, Hwaleuk!!!

　　Meanwhile, the flames became stronger, but the undead monsters continued to increase their movement speed . It appeared almost as if the fire was making them stronger instead of burning them into a crisp .

　　“Mortals… Come to the underworld…”

　　“We are the immortal soldiers…”

　　“Long live the dead!” Underworld monsters charged at the Laputan soldiers, with their whole body on fire .

　　“Arghh!”

　　“W-What even…!”

　　“It’s hot… Hot!”

　　The front line of the Laputan army was engulfed in chaos .

　　The undead monsters of Aleister were now walking flamethrowers . Instead of being burnt to crisp, they were attacking using their burning bodies .

　　“Ah!”

　　“S-So hot!”

　　“Argghh!”

　　Screams could be heard everywhere .

　　There was no doubt that Laputa’s army was an excellent one, but what could the soldiers do against charging bodies of fire?

　　Even the slightest touch could cause ma.s.sive burns . The soldiers had no choice but to back off .

　　“Oh?” Kang Chun-In seemed interested . Despite his failed plan, he did not lose his composure .

　　“You created those things? Seems like you’ve gone all out, Aleister . ”

　　To be honest, he was surprised to some extent .

　　“Rather than to simply be annihilated by fire, why don’t we compose an army with fire-resistant skeletons?”

　　Kang Chul-In recalled his past conversation with Aleister .

　　It was when the two of them first formed an alliance after the third Overlord meetings .

　　“Skeletons may be resistant to fire, but their defense is…”

　　“That’s true . ”

　　“Just 15 levels more and I can make an undead army with full fire resistance . ”

　　“Are you saying it’s possible?”

　　“Even making fire-type skeletons may not be impossible . ”

　　“Hmm… Is ma.s.s production possible then?”

　　“Well it is, but the problem lies in the cost, not the levels . I need firestones to make these skeletons, but as you know they cost… . ”

　　“…”

　　“Beggars like us can’t be choosers . Forget about the high-cla.s.s units, let’s just stick to the regular ones . If they burn, they burn . Yikes!”

　　‘Igniter’ .

　　That was the name for these fire-type undead monsters that a level 100 Necromancer could create using firestones .

　　It was too extravagant a unit for Aleister, who was not even level 70, to make .

　　“Rothschild probably sponsored the firestones… What about the levels? Did he break through some limit?” Kang Chul-In smirked .

　　Out of desperation, Aleister probably spent much effort to make the Igniters, to negate the critical counter to the undead monsters . He apparently managed to break through his limit in the process .

　　“Overlord Kang Chul-In! Today is the day we roast you in our immortal army’s h.e.l.lfire!”

　　A voice of an undead rang across the peaks .

　　“Quidor . ”

　　Kang Chul-In immediately identified the origin of the voice .

　　Quidor was a faithful servant of Aleister who achieved great feats during the Ragnarok in the past .

　　“Your Majesty!” Kwak Jung exclaimed anxiously, pointing at the back of the Igniter troop .

　　“Enemy reinforcements! Rough estimates show at least 5000! At this rate our army may suffer extreme damage… . ”

　　“No . ” Kang Chul-In shook his head .

　　“Tell the men to move back slowly, but there is no retreat . ”

　　“Your Majesty?”

　　What Kang Chul-In said subsequently was even more shocking .

　　“Discard the Flame Atlases . ”

　　“T-Those expensive units… . ”

　　“We can retrieve them back soon, so why are you so surprised?”

　　“But Your Majesty, there are so many enemy soldiers and those burning Undeads… . ”

　　“Hold it there . ” Kang Chul-In raised his hand and stopped Kwak Jung .

　　“Do not be rash . ”

　　“Your Majesty?”

　　“In a situation like this, a commander without composure will cause his entire army to collapse . ”

　　“…”

　　“The best move is to take advantage of our army’s composition . Our soldiers are fully capable of fighting against them . ”

　　“Y-Your Majesty…!” Kwak Jung s.h.i.+vered .

　　What composure…!? How can he be so calm in these circ.u.mstances?

　　 Kwak Jung could never understand how this man, Kang Chul-In, appeared to be so calm even in the midst of a crisis .

　　“I will show you . ” Kang Chul-In told Kwak Jung, grabbed the loudspeaker and started commanding the army .

　　“Arkellon, to the frontlines!”

　　“Ah!” Kwak Jung came to a sudden realization .

　　Arkellon were water-type monsters that could sufficiently counter the fire-type Igniters . Kwak Jung failed to take his own army’s composition into account .

　　“Nilus, unleash the water-type attacks! Blizzard, Ice Bolt, anything is fine! Just spam everything!”

　　“Yes, your Majesty!”

　　Upon hearing the command, Nilus instructed his magic troop to bombard the enemy with water-type attacks .

　　“I-It worked! But the enemy’s firepower is still…”

　　“It’s true that this is not enough . ”

　　“Yes, Your Majesty . ”

　　Kang Chul-In turned around to look at Kwak Jung .

　　“You finish it up . ”

　　“…Your Majesty?”

　　“Since the enemy troops are using fire as their weapon, doesn’t it make sense to just extinguish it? Summon the rain and tarnish their morale . ”

　　“H-Ha ha, your Majesty~! That’s a nice joke . How can I summon rain in this clear sky?”

　　“That . ”

　　Kang Chul-In pointed at the White Rain Fan, an epic item that Kwak Jung had been holding just for show .

　　“No point wasting that expensive item . ”

　　“ . . . ”

　　“Hurry . ”

　　“Y-Your Majesty… . ”

　　Kwak Jung looked almost as if he wanted to cry .