Chapter 135. The Thousand-Year Promise

Translator: Leyy3

Bang!

The table in front of them shattered into pieces.

“Krrrrr!”

A terrifying, piercing gaze shot out of the beast’s eyes.

“That stupid Ninetails dares to hire a mercenary?”

Alaric was truly furious.

He had gone out to set up an alliance, but while he was gone his troops had died? As the leader of the werewolf tribe within Kalevala, it made sense that Alaric raged.

“Kuku, it happens.”

The man sitting in front Alaric, a man emanating the aura of death, spoke.

“That fox-woman is just doing all she can in order to live. Didn’t you say that she was already struggling with your troops?”

“Even still!!”

Alaric shouted.

“My base is in shambles right now! And my people!”

“When you live, you experience all sorts of things, kukuku. Calm down.”

As the man that was his supposed ‘ally’ laughed, Alaric nearly burst out in rage.

This psychopathic bastard. How dare he laugh at me?

Alaric thought that the person sitting in front of him was an absolute psychopath.

Of course, he wasn’t wrong.

The man in front of him wasn’t a pedophile, nor was he into zoophilia [1]. It was just that he enjoyed looking at cursed corpses and felt lust towards them.

Necrophilia!

The man that sat in front of the werewolf was none other than the Overlord Aleister, the traitorous bastard that Kang Chul-In despised so much.

The stench. This guy smells of rotting flesh, but not just a normal dead one. It smells like a cursed body that isn’t dead but isn’t alive either.

Even though Alaric himself was also a cursed creature, he still hated the man in front of him nonetheless.

Half-human, half corpse.

Aleister was half-human yet also half-undead, being the cursed being that was known as a Half-Lich.

For a sensitive beast like Alaric, he was an extremely unpleasant being.

Hu... I can’t do anything about it right now.

“Even though I don’t know how strong the man is, I’ll take care of him for you! Huhu...”

Aleister promised.

“No, he’s mine.”

But Alaric didn’t listen.

“Since he was the one that put Kalevala into such a mess, shouldn’t I be the one taking care of him?”

“That’s true and all, but you still have to concede this one to me.”

“Huh?”

“Without my undead army, how are you planning to take over Fox Valley? Even though your tribe is admittedly powerful, you cannot beat them alone.”

Aleister said, laughing.

“Are you... threatening me?”

Alaric responded slowly.

“If you don’t agree to this, our alliance is over.”

“.....!”

“I want him. How good would it be if I can get such a powerful soldier as him to join my undead army? Huhuhu!”

Aleister was actually planning on turning Kang Chul-In into an undead.

“And not only that, but I also need a practice run with my new toys.”

“New toys?”

“Huhu, I’ve finally succeeded in making 50 death knights! With them, I’ll be able to defeat him no matter how strong he is!”

“D-Death knights? And 50 of them?”

Alaric was astonished.

There were countless stories about how fearsome Death Knights were.

“Huhu, if you just hand over the bodies of that masked man and the Ninetails... Fox Valley will be yours!”

Once again, Aleister laughed creepily.

“Huu... There’s no choice then. I agree to your terms.”

Trying to calm his rising anger, Alaric quickly agreed to Aleister’s proposal.

What Alaric wanted was Fox Valley, and what Aleister wanted was the bodies of the Ninetails, and her people. There was no need for them to fight when they had such clear differences.

------

She had been waiting?

For a thousand years?

That didn’t make any sense.

What the Ninetails said seemed more like a lie than anything.

“What are you saying?”

Kang Chul-In’s voice turned frosty.

“A thousand years? You and I are people that haven’t met for even a minute. And... Husband? On what basis am I your husband?”

He didn’t feel good since he had run away from his marriage and now he was her husband? It made Kang Chul-In feel extremely uncomfortable.

“Dear husband, didn’t you promise?”

But the Ninetails ignored Kang Chul-In.

“Promise? What promise?”

Kang Chul-In asked.

“1000 years ago, you stated that you’d take in the future Ninetails as your wife! Have you forgotten that vow you made?”

“I’m 28 this year. A thousand years? Do you think that makes sense?

“No, no.”

“.....?”

“The Emperor of Blood and Iron, the 27th Emperor of the Ancient Kingdom: Julius Berlinetta Pon Aurangzeb isn’t one to forget and dishonor his promises. Look. Haven’t you come back a thousand years later to keep your promise? How long it took doesn't matter.”

Emperor.

The Emperor of Blood and Iron.

Julius Berlinetta Pon Aurangzeb.

The man that looked exactly the same as Kang Chul-In.

The Ninetails once again brought up that name.

“Again, that stupid emperor.”

As the name was mentioned by Nilus, Arshelly, and now the Ninetails, Kang Chul-In’s face stiffened.

“Hey, Ninetails.”

Kang Chul-In roared deeply.

“I think you’ve got the wrong person here. Why are you looking for that damned Emperor in me? I’m just. An Overlord. Overlord Kang Chul-In.”

“What you say is correct.”

“Then why are you saying that nonsense?”

“It’s obvious that you'd deny it after getting a new body and reincarnating. Those ruthless eyes and the way you talk. I can tell that it’s truly you.”

Ninetails still believed that Kang Chul-In was the reincarnation of the Emperor.

“Reincarnation? I don’t believe in something like that. And... do you even have proof?”

Kang Chul-In responded.

“Yes, dear husband.”

But the Ninetails just laughed.

“So you have evidence?”

“Of course.”

“Ha! I truly wonder where your confidence comes from. Show me.”

“Here, take a look at this bell.”

The Ninetails pointed at the bell that she wore around her neck.

Ting!

Ting ting!

The bell started to ring, with a beautiful clear sound.

“......?”

Kang Chul-In tilted his head in confusion.

Even though the bell ringing by itself was quite cool, In what way was this the proof he had asked for?

“You’re saying that the bell you’re wearing is the proof that I asked for?”

Kang Chul-In spoke, nearly speechless.

“Yes, dear husband.”

“You really think I’d believe that?”

“This bell is the sign of the Emperor. It is the bell that the Emperor had given the previous Ninetails to keep as a sign of the promise.”

“And?”

“This bell... hasn’t rang in the last thousand years. It has never, even after I’d become the Ninetails...”

“Don’t tell me that because of that bell, all the Ninetails previously died unmarried?”

“You’ve guessed it right.”

“What.....”

“It’s true. Since the Ninetails at the time had made it a rule that had to be followed... No Ninetails in the previous 1000 years have been able to marry. If dear husband didn’t come by... Then I also wouldn’t have been able to marry either.”

“...What on...”

Kang Chul-In stuck out his tongue in astonishment.

There was no one that had married for the last thousand years?

Because of that stupid promise?

Was the promise of that so-called ‘Emperor of Blood and Iron’ so important?

Enough to wait a thousand years?

Kang Chul-In was only able to shake his head at the tragic story of the Ninetails.

At that moment...

Ting!

With a notification, information about the bell that was hung on the Ninetails popped up in front of him.

[Epic] Sign of the Emperor.

The sign of the vow that the Emperor of Blood and Iron had made when promising marriage to the future Ninetails.

Type: Necklace (bell)

Option: Will only ring when the Emperor of Blood and Iron is nearby.

Penalty Option: The user (Ninetails) is not able to marry anyone except for the person that the bell rang for.

What the hell...

Reading the description of the item, Kang Chul-In froze.

How does this make sense...

Though Kang Chul-In tried to deny what the system told him, he knew that it wasn’t as simple as tricking himself.

From his experience, the system had never lied.

Even though there were times where it spoke in a somewhat vague fashion, it never delivered incorrect information. Everything that came from the system was based on facts.

I’m the reincarnation of that stupid Emperor?

For the first time since he was born, Kang Chul-In was starting to have an identity cris--.

“I am Kang Chul-In.”

Or not.

“Reincarnation? Yeah, let’s say that that’s true. But, I don’t have any memories of that past life.”

Kang Chul-In wasn’t shaken at all, and he felt that his identity grew even clearer than before.

“I am the Overlord, the Lord Hunter, Kang Chul-In.”

“Dear husband.”

The Ninetails opened her mouth once again.

“If dear husband doesn’t trust what even the bell says...”

“Of course I don’t believe it. That’s not my promise. Why do I have to keep a promise that a stupid emperor had made a thousand years ago? I’m not obliged to do so, nor am I willing to.”

Kang Chul-In cut off her words.

“Dear husband...”

Though the Ninetails looked at Kang Chul-In with her melancholic eyes, Kang Chul-In’s gaze had already turned frosty. The astonished and surprised gaze he had earlier was long gone.

“I’ll speak once again. Don’t try to get the promise of that stupid emperor from me. I don’t care.”

Kang Chul-In was unshakable.

In fact, he felt somewhat upset.

“Can’t you just consider the fact that you aren’t keeping the promise?”

The Ninetails didn’t give up.

“Dear husband~.”

The Ninetails stepped closer to Kang Chul-In, with her charming voice. Her nine tails that were previously still started to sway slightly.

“What are you doing, all of a sudden?”

Kang Chul-In took a step backwards.

“I think dear husband is forgetting something~.”

“What is it?”

“Dear husband, there’s no need to think of your previous life as the emperor.”

“I don't remember it.”

“Then, there is no reason to try and remember it.”

The Ninetails said.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“As you said, there’s no reason for you to keep the promise of the Emperor from a thousand years ago. After all, you're an Overlord.”

“That’s right.”

“Then you don’t need to consider it as keeping the promise.”

“Then what do you want me to think of it as?”

“Is it not possible for you to take care of this poor Ninetails that is cursed, and is unable to marry for eternity?”

At this moment, the Ninetails was barely 2 meters away from Kang Chul-In.

What the Ninetails said was simple.

As she had said, it didn’t matter whether or not Kang Chul-In was the Emperor of Blood and Iron. The important thing was that the bell had rung for him, and this was the only chance for the Ninetails to marry.

Dear husband, I won’t miss this opportunity!

The Ninetails vowed to herself, clenching her fists.

“Dear husband...”

“Stop calling me that. I’m not your husband.”

Though Kang Chul-In shielded himself from her advancements---

“Dear husband.”

The Ninetails ignored him, and slowly walked towards Kang Chul-In, while Kang Chul-In turned to another direction to avoid her.

And while she was doing so.

Tuk.

She fell over a small rock that was on the floor.

“Ah!”

'Coincidentally,' where she was falling was the area that Kang Chul-In was also walking.

“......!”

And because of that, Kang Chul-In had to involuntarily catch the Ninetails, which ended up with them hugging.

“Hng... Dear husband...”

The voice of the Ninetails in his arms tickled Kang Chul-In’s ears.

Dugeun!

Kang Chul-In’s shallow heartbeat started to quicken all of a sudden.

“Am I... Am I not pretty?”

The Ninetails slowly licked Kang Chul-In’s earlobes.

And Kang Chul-In felt something from his lower section going stiff.

I-I’m being shaken?

Kang Chul-In found it difficult to believe this situation.

He was confident that he wouldn’t fall to even the strongest succubus' charms. He was incredibly confident in his ability to control his desires.

But the Ninetails was different.

The warm embrace of a woman, a touch that seemed like it could melt someone; large, perky breasts that he could feel touching his chest, an incredibly fragrant scent; a soft, alluring voice, and the sexy characteristics of a fox-human were all combined. This effortlessly made Kang Chul-In unable to resist the Ninetail’s charm.

“Dear husband...”

The Ninetails looked at Kang Chul-In with a soft gaze, while matching his lips with hers.

[1] The attraction to non-human animals.