Introduction
This is one of the newer releases of Redice Studio. The author's name is I Stepped on Lego which is quite unique and a painful pen name to read. Anyways, I'd say that it's your typical revenge + regression story. It's only at 21 chapters and although there's nothing revolutionary about the plot, the current story as a whole seems to be foundationally consistent nonetheless.
Most elements I've seen so far are taken from already popular series. For example, we have the trope of a young master being outcasted by his elite clan which is the prelude of the popular series Swordmaster's Youngest Son. Then we have this raising or nurturing assassin trope which is iconic to the title Reaper of the Drifting Moon. I'm not saying that taking ideas or elements is a bad thing. For me, it's how the author integrate it to his/her story. Nowadays, it's hard to find an original series that shall we say breaks all the norms so it's very understandable that most authors adapt proven and already successful ideas. It all boils down to the execution. So far Revenge of the Iron-Blooded Sword Hound adapted well with these elements.
Story
The first chapter started with the introduction or shall we say execution of the Baskerville family's 'hound', Vikir Van Baskerville. Apparently, the man was framed for colluding with the demon clan and the mastermind of this false claim was his father and the patriarch of Baskerville family. Compared to what happened to the protagonist in Swordmaster's Youngest Son it is definitely much worse. Jin Runcandel although not talented before regression was just exiled from the family compared to Vikir that was executed for knowing too much. The Baskerville patriarch became insecure after seeing how much information Vikir knew so he decided to plot against him.
Being a 'hound' was basically selling his freedom to the family. The middle name Van was from the branch family and the treatment he got was far worse compared to those bearing the direct line. After the blade of the guillotine fell he woke up in a nursery and laterrealized that he regressed. What I've noticed was that there were many newborns and apparently all of them would refer to the patriarch as father in the future. There are two possibilities. One is that all newborns of the Baskerville family were placed in the same nursery to be tested for potential or the patriarch was a total chad and managed to create all of them within the same timeframe.
Anyways, the younger patriarch was more likable compared to the older one portrayed in the MC's execution. There's still that dark and mad aura around him but he appeared to be rational compared to his older self. Seeing Vikir's progress we could say that his existence became more amiable but the decision of sparing him would be Vikir's. Given the change in attitude would he forsake revenge, we would see that in the next chapters. Vikir's second life so far was smooth sailing. We could say that his regression also provided him with a thick plot armor. It's still chapter 21 so we will see if there will be any real changes. Right now he is not the strongest but his still too overpowered compared to his peers.
Conclusion
It would be disappointing if the story will continue like this. Having no real threat would make Vikir's hound image soft. Hopefully, the author will come up with some strong adversary like those in SMYS and RDM as it will pose more challenge for Vikir. At chapter 21 it is still a great read. The power dynamics is yet to fully unfold but we are slowly getting the gist of it especially after the meeting with the Morg clan.
I give a solid 8/10.
I think that's all for today.
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