Overlord of Blood and Iron

Chapter 217: Dorian the Phantom Thief

Translator: Leyy3

“...!” Aleister was caught by surprise.

He was hundreds of meters away from Kang Chul-In, but that vicious Overlord was already at his doorstep.

Judging from his speed, most people wouldn’t even know why and how they died.

”!??????“ In that instant, Aleister hurriedly chanted a spell to summon a bone wall.

Crack!

The bone wall shattered in the blink of an eye.

“Huk!” Aleister gasped.

Chulkuk,

Swishhh!

Kang Chul-In swung his Demon Sword Kaiforce at Aleister.

-Kyaaaaahhh!

At that moment, a shadow rapidly charged towards Kang Chul-In while letting out a terrifying scream.

-Kyaaak!

-Kehe!

-Kekeke!

It wasn’t just one.

Four female undead monsters with different skin colors were seen.

Huh.

Kang Chul-In could immediately identify them.

Banshees.

Banshees had incredible agility that was five times that of a man. They boasted great attack and movement speed.

Moreover, each skin color indicated a different unique ability, which made dealing with these banshees extremely tricky. Even Kang Chul-In could have some difficulties against them.

-Kyaaak!

A blood banshee with crimson-red skin swung her 15 centimetre long claws at Kang Chul-In.

Known as ‘Fresh Blood of Christmas’, this claw attack could infect its victim with hemophiliac curse, causing the victim to bleed to death.

-Kekeke!

This time, a blue-skinned arctic banshee ambushed Kang Chul-In from the back, releasing an icy aura. Her attack, known as ‘Cold Embrace’, could freeze the victim to death.

-Kehee!

Next, a black-skinned demonic banshee attacked Kang Chul-In with a life draining attack called ‘Kiss of Death’, and a white-skinned electronic banshee tried to electrocute him with ‘Thunder God’s Aura’.

These bastards.

A corner of Kang Chul-In’s mouth twitched momentarily.

The banshees were attacking him from the north, south, east and west. In normal circumstances, Kang Chul-In would have been in some trouble.

However,

“Get lost, small fries!” Kang Chul-In bellowed and mingled with the banshees.

Who could stop him with the [Full Moon] buff activated?

The banshees were launching a deadly attack indeed, but it was no threat to the buffed-up Kang Chul-In.

It didn’t take long for him to mangle the banshees.

Crack, crack!

Light Sword Mitra, the ultimate counter to the undead monsters, was held in his left hand.

Chulkuk!

Kaiforce, the bloodthirsty demon sword, was held on his right.

Swinging the contrasting two swords, Kang Chul-In showed dynamic movement resembling a fierce predator. He pushed the undead female warriors back courageously.

***

”!??????? ??????????? ??“

”!????? ????“

"????? ????? ?? ???? ???? ???? ??????“ Meanwhile, Aleister was constantly chanting necromancy spells.

It was a good battle strategy.

While the banshees were pressuring Kang Chul-In, Aleister was preparing the perfect condition to use the Death Calling.

C-Crack!

A crack propagated through the ground.

-Keuhhhhh...

About a thousand ghouls emerged from the ground, their bodies swollen and dripping with rotten sap.

-Come...

-Come... with us...

-To the deep... cold underground...

These were not ordinary ghouls.

They were ghosts of drowned corpses.

In other words, Aleister was summoning drowned victims as undead monsters, instead of using the fallen soldiers on the battlefield.

His intention was to hold Kang Chul-In in place, as the ghosts of drowned victims tended to not let go of others.

”...??? ????? ?????“ Aleister refused to stop.

“ ?? ??????? ?? ????? ???????? ????? ???????? ?? ?? ???????...??????? ???????...????????“ He kept chanting spells to summon even more powerful undead monsters.

-Keek, Keeek?!

Among them were ten level 65 spider monsters called ‘atlach nacha’.

Their job was obviously to hold Kang Chul-In as well.

The spider webs from atlach nacha, called ‘Chain of Restraint’, were strong enough to disable even the largest of monsters. It was enough to shackle Kang Chul-In.

Chuk!

50 skeleton knights appeared from nowhere and surrounded Aleister to protect him.

Necromantic Vanguard.

These knights were newly appointed replacements for the death knights who were wiped out in the Fox Valley battle.

Aleister felt safe under their protection. He grasped the epic item ‘Jadeite Skull Wand’ tightly.

This wand had a jade-colored skull the size of a volleyball attached to its shank. It was an incredible item which amplified mana by a whopping 200% for 10 seconds.

I shall end you fast, Kang Chul-In!

Aleister now acknowledged that he was weaker than his opponent. Therefore, he gathered all his strength to put an end to the strongest and most evil Overlord of all. He was a practical man who could make sound judgment, instead of deploying unnecessary courage.

Moreover, there was no doubt that it was the wisest move he could have made in that situation.

Ooongggg!

The dark mana started to vibrate,

Sssss...!

The skull wand spurted flashes of green light in all directions.

”.???? ???????? ?????...?????? ,?? ??“

Subsequently, Aleister began chanting the most powerful spell he knew, ‘Necromantic Field’.

Necromantic Field was a super high-level magic that boosted all undead monsters within a 1,600m² range of the user by 250%.

In addition, it shaved 10% of the stats off of any living person stepping in the field for three seconds. In total, a living person lost 30% of their power just by standing there.

It made allies stronger and enemies weaker.

With this Necromantic Field, Aleister could hunt down even Kang Chul-In, the strongest figure in the whole of Pangaea.

However, it was easier said than done.

??? ????? ?????? ??? ??????? ???? ?????? ???...?? ????????...??????? ??????? ???...????? ????? ????? ??????? ?????? ????"

.?? ???? ?????? ??“

The Necromantic Field was almost complete.

Bang!

An intense sound thundered in the surroundings as rotten flesh, blood, and bones scattered everywhere.

-Kyaaaak!

-Keeeek!

The banshees let out their final shriek.

And,

Swish!

A huge whirlwind headed straight towards Aleister, tearing everything apart in its path.

“W-What?!”

Aleister instinctively sensed danger and flung his body to the side.

Necromantic Field aside, it was game over if he got caught in that vortex.

Bangggg!

A vicious whirlwind swept the place where Aleister was chanting his spells at. It also crossed over to the Omega Fortress.

Crash!

The infrastructures built with hard rocks collapsed like a sandcastle.

“Argh!” Aleister, who barely managed to dodge the whirlwind, was astonished by what he was witnessing.

His surroundings were completely barren.

Only the shattered bones of the Necromantic Vanguard were tossing around on the floor.

“You thought you could stop me with these small fries, Aleister?” Kang Chul-In emerged from the thick curtain of dust, with an annoying smile, his trademark, on his face.

“M-monster...!” Aleister turned pale. He backed off despite being an Overlord.

He was terrified.

Kang Chul-In was strong beyond his wildest imagination.

How could a man just tear four banshees apart in a second, and also use that powerful ability just now?

He couldn’t believe his eyes.

H-How...

Aleister was shocked once again.

You... a human... not even a single scratch?

Kang Chul-In appeared to be injury-free, other than a torn cape and a slightly worn-down armor.

Nobody would believe that he was in a battle just moments ago.

It was all possible due to the [Full Moon] buff and [Spellthirst] ability, but Aleister had no idea of course.

All he could do was struggle in terror...

“Eeeeek! S-stop, stop him!” Aleister almost screamed.

-Come... with us...

-Kak, Kaaakk!

-Kelkelkel!

In response, all kinds of undead monsters began to charge straight at Kang Chul-In.

I will kill you, bastard!

At the same time, Aleister whipped out his black pipe and placed it on his lips with a murderous intent.

He had to use his trump card.

He failed to set up the Necromantic Field, but he couldn’t just sit there and wait for impending death.

Moreover, his trump card let him have the power of the Death God even without deploying the Necromantic Field.

Beeep...

It was the flute that brought death.

Death Calling, the item that could guarantee death on a single target, began to play its deadly melody.

Beeeeep!

A sharp screech resonated and then,

Squeak, squeak!

A rat’s squeaking could be heard.

Squeak, squeak!

It wasn’t just one or two.

Squeak!

Squeaaaaak!

In fact, a whole bunch of rats appeared from nowhere and began to crowd around Aleister, covering the ground like a pitch black floor mat.

***

-Woof, woof!

After running for a few miles, Jackpot stopped in front of a wall.

It was just a normal wall that looks no different from the ones the crew saw on the way there.

“Ah, that was easy.” Dorian, however, seemed to notice something else.

“Is it here, your Majesty?” Podolski questioned Dorian with a hint of skepticism.

“Yep, this is it.”

“How can you tell?”

“Jackpot says so.”

“T-That’s all?”

“Well, not just that.” Dorian pointed at that particular wall.

“These skull-shaped faucets form a marker.”

“Hmm... I can’t really tell... There are skull-shaped faucets everywhere, and isn’t this place a drain? There’s easily a thousand of them.”

“That’s true. But it’s a little different here.”

“...?”

“Let me explain.” Dorian held chalk and marked a dot on the skull-shaped faucet with it.

“If I name this faucet vertex A as in a triangle, the faucet on the lower left will be vertex B, and the one on the right will be vertex C. A perfect triangle, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Now, if I name this faucet down here vertex A as in a reverse triangle, this is B and that is C. If we merge these two triangles... Tadah! It becomes like this!” Dorian showed his drawings to Podolski and Nieu in an exaggerated fashion.

“Oh wow, it’s a hexagram?” Nieu tried to look knowledgeable.

“You are right, it’s the Star of David. It may be pure coincidence, but if the wall that Jackpot pinpointed also has this sort of pattern on it, do we still have to be skeptical?” Dorian grinned.

“...!”

“...!”

Podolski and Nieu were very surprised.

It was justifiable.

Who knew that Dorian, the number one idiot, had such brilliance in him?

“I-Is that trustworthy? I’m not doubting your Majesty, but you seemed to have figured it out too easily.”

“I understand your concerns.” Dorian shrugged casually at Podolski’s cautious remark.

“I haven’t had many opportunities to test this chap’s abilities. Right, Jack?”

-Woof, woof!

Dorian threw a dog dental chew to Jackpot. It was a reward for locating the secret channel.

“It looks extremely easy, but you have to remember that Jackpot is an S-rank Seeker. He’s so good that he makes it look easy.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Of course!” Dorian beat his chest and gave a confident expression. Still, that didn’t really persuade Podolski.

“Anyway, I’m certain that the Nekromantik Bay is behind this wall. The problem is... how do we get through it... wait a second?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

Dorian excused himself and started to turn the faucets one by one.

“Hmm... opening this may be pretty difficult. Unless we break the wall open, we will have to turn the faucets one by one to guess the correct password.”

“A p-password?”

“Yep. And that’s not all. I believe there’s some sort of voice-recognition magic casted on this wall. Almost guaranteed. Seems like it’s gonna be tricky.”

“I beg your pardon...?”

“Aleister’s a lich, which makes imitating his voice next to impossible. His voice operates on a completely different wavelength from that of a human. Therefore, it is impossible to deceive the magic sensor implanted here. Tsk, Aleister you cautious prick!”

“So, there’s nothing we can do?” Podolski seemed disappointed.

It wasn’t disappointment directed towards Dorian, but more towards the fact that they might not be able to obtain the life vessel.

“What nothing? Of course there is!” Dorian spoke with confidence.

“R-Really?”

“Is that true?”

Podolski and Nieu’s faces brightened from those delightful words.

“Of course~! This is my specialty we’re talking about. I’m even better than Kang Chul-In in this aspect, did you know that?”

Afterwards, Dorian rummaged through his backpack to whip out a flask containing a silver liquid.

“Hu-hu... This shall do the trick!” Dorian gave a cunning and confident snigger, similar to Kang Chul-In’s.

“Call me Dorian the Phantom Thief from now! Nyahaahahahaha~!”

Dorian Explorer (Tomb Raider/29 years old).

Indeed, he was THE expert at robbing graves and treasure deposits.