Emperor Of Steel [EN]: Chapter 59

After the commotion settled, Luke and Reina rejoined Grand Duke Gregory and the Immortal Knights, who had been searching nearby, and returned to the expeditionary force’s camp.

The expeditionary force, which had been in chaos due to the assassination attempt, was overjoyed at the news of the Pope’s safe return.

But no one was happier than Victor.

Upon meeting Reina, Victor grabbed her hands and shed the tears he had held back for the past two years.

“I’m sorry, Sir Victor. I acted too rashly.”

“No, Your Highness. Seeing you safe and sound, I have no regrets even if I die now.”

“Don’t say such things about dying.”

Luke, who had been watching the reunion between the lord and his vassal with a smile, turned his gaze to Grand Duke Gregory.

Gregory’s eyes were indifferent as he looked at Victor. He didn’t seem pleased, but he wasn’t as displeased as he had been with Luke.

Noticing Luke looking at him, Gregory spoke in a low, cold voice.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing… It’s nothing.”

Grand Duke Gregory spoke to Luke, who was trying to brush it off.

“That last attack, was it called Titan Blade? It didn’t seem to be part of Rakan’s swordsmanship.”

“That’s right. It’s a technique I created.”

‘What kind of reaction would he have if I said I created it on the spot?’ Luke wondered, but he was robbed of the chance to say it.

“It was a tremendous blow. But it was even more impressive that you saw through my weakness and exploited it. Were you waiting for an opportunity?”

“Yes, I was sure there would be an opening. You said you had abandoned the half-Gold Sword, Your Highness… but that wasn’t actually the case.”

At Luke’s remark, Gregory nodded.

In fact, he had not abandoned the Gold Sword. No, he couldn’t abandon it.

He had resented it for being half-finished, but it was the swordsmanship that had led him to the realm of Sword Master [a master swordsman].

It was that impressive, and it had become the foundation of his swordsmanship.

Even after learning it was half-finished, he had constantly tried to supplement and develop it.

“I realized it after exchanging a few blows. There were familiar parts of Your Highness’s swordsmanship, and that meant there were gaps to exploit.”

“I see. It was because it was familiar.”

But Luke was able to grasp the gaps in Gregory’s swordsmanship not only because he had trained with the Gold Sword.

While fighting Gregory, the memories of fighting the real Gold Sword in the past, and Rakan, the man who created it, came back to him vividly.

He could now understand the techniques and characteristics of the swordsmanship that he couldn’t understand back then, now that he had reached a certain level in swordsmanship.

That was why he was able to strike at Gregory’s weakness.

‘I need to keep recalling and interpreting Rakan’s swordsmanship from back then. Then I might be able to uncover the latter half of the Gold Sword…’ Luke thought.

Just then, a holy knight rushed into the Pope’s tent and handed a message to Grand Duke Gregory.

“What is it?”

“It’s an urgent message from the Regent of the Imperial Capital.”

“Archbishop Constantine?”

Just by looking at the holy knight’s expression, it was clear that something was wrong.

Grand Duke Gregory’s face immediately contorted as he read the message.

“What’s wrong?”

Gregory, having calmed his initial shock, reported calmly to Reina’s question.

“Suleiman, who started a rebellion in the Langhel region, is marching towards the Imperial Capital.”

“Such a thing… How large is their army?”

“It’s said to be about 50,000. The central army currently remaining in the Imperial Capital is not enough to deal with them.”

Reina, who had been lost in thought for a moment, immediately gave an order.

“Hurry the preparations to return to the capital. We must never let the rebels take the Imperial Capital.”

“Understood, Your Holiness.”

Grand Duke Gregory was pleased to see Reina giving orders before he could even suggest it.

He had been worried that she might try to follow Luke after regaining her memories, but she showed no such signs.

Rather, she was showing a much more dignified appearance as the ruler of a nation than before.

As Gregory stepped back, Luke and Victor were surprised and tried to stop her.

“Is it really necessary to go back?”

“That’s right, Your Highness. Isn’t a rebellion something that can be left to them?”

They had already expected that it would not be easy to take her away. Even if it wasn’t Grand Duke Gregory, there would be many who would oppose it.

But they didn’t expect her to be so actively involved in the affairs of the Holy Empire.

“I’m sorry, you came all this way to find me… but I have something I must do here.”

“Something you must do?”

“It’s to stabilize the Holy Artenia Empire.”

Many of the people in the Imperial Capital had witnessed the miracle firsthand, so their faith in Reina was stronger than in any other region of the Empire.

What would happen if the Imperial Capital were to be ravaged by the rebels?

If the control of the Imperial Capital were to weaken, rebellions would occur more frequently than now, and the suffering of the people would become even more severe.

“Why should Your Highness be responsible for that? Didn’t they make you the Pope without your consent? Isn’t it their job to handle it?”

“Of course, Sir Victor’s words are not wrong. But this is also an opportunity to help Luke.”

“An opportunity? Don’t tell me… !”

Reina looked at Luke, who was startled, and smiled brightly.

“Isn’t your goal to overthrow the Baroque Imperial Family? Wouldn’t it be easier if you had the Holy Empire as your backing?”

“Of course, but…”

He remembered Philip jokingly saying that he should succeed in the Holy Empire and take it over completely, whether Emperor Rudolf noticed or not.

Looking at the current situation, it was certainly not impossible. Even the Sword Sage Grand Duke Gregory, who was famous throughout the continent, could not disobey Reina’s words.

Nevertheless, Luke could not make a clear decision.

He felt uncomfortable at the thought of his beloved taking on the heavy burden of the Holy Empire.

“I know what you’re thinking, Luke. But I feel the same way. I’ve always relied on you. So I want to help you even more.”

“Reina…”

“I think that true partners should take care of and cherish each other. If you love me, please understand my decision.”

Luke quietly looked at Reina.

Her clear eyes shone with strong will, and her beautiful face was filled with deep desire.

Seeing that, Luke finally made a decision.

“I understand. Do as you wish.”

“Thank you.”

Luke patted Reina, who was in his arms, and turned his gaze to Victor.

“Sir Victor, please take good care of this headstrong princess.”

“Sigh, I don’t like it, but what can I do? It’s the old man’s last mission.”

Victor sighed deeply and clenched his fists, vowing never to lose the princess again.

“Reina.”

“Luke.”

The two hugged each other for a while, feeling each other’s warmth.

They had made their own decisions about the future, but they were too sad to have to part again.

Between the Rodisia Continent and the Southern Continent, there was an archipelago consisting of a dozen islands.

Although the archipelago consisted of islands of considerable size, people did not go near it.

There was always fog around it, and there were reefs and whirlpools everywhere, so any ship that approached was bound to be wrecked.

That was why sailors called this sea area the ‘Sea of the Grim Reaper’ and the islands the ‘Hell Archipelago.’

In fact, many sailors feared this place, regarding it as the threshold of the underworld.

The largest of the seven islands that made up this Hell Archipelago was in the center.

This island, covered with lush tropical jungle, was called Thanatos Island.

Those who called it that were the few mages who had been living on this island since some time ago, and they lived centered around a huge pyramid located on the north side of the island.

Two people were standing on top of that pyramid now.

The mage wearing a gray robe bowed his head and opened his mouth.

“Great Master, we have eliminated all the remnants of the Lockhead Magic Tower, including the former Master.”

In response to his subordinate’s report, the skeletal lich praised him in a strange voice with his teeth clattering.

“Well done. What about their corpses?”

“Some were completely shattered, but we were able to recover the corpses of the former Master and some of the elders intact.”

“Kek, kek, kek, with this my subordinates will increase even more.”

They were the demonic mages who had been resurrected in the bodies of Arsen and Simon.

They, who had been active on the Rodisia Continent, were somehow in this Hell Archipelago, tens of thousands of miles away from the continent.

It was strange, considering that the Magic Tower War with the Reformists was reaching its climax.

However, neither Arsen nor Simon looked worried about the Magic Tower War.

“But during this expedition, I encountered a strange fellow.”

“A strange fellow?”

“He called himself a mercenary, but he was a strange one who dodged my attacks as if he knew them all. I couldn’t figure out what his identity was.”

Then, the demonic mage Simon told him in detail about his fight with Luke.

After listening to the explanation, Arsen tilted his head.

“Kek? He was definitely a mercenary with a sword, but he also had considerable knowledge of magic?”

It might seem that if you mastered both swordsmanship and magic, you would be strong, but in reality, that was not the case at all.

It was difficult to achieve greatness even if you mastered only one, and it was impossible to master both to a certain level or higher without considerable talent and effort.

Moreover, swordsmanship and magic had different ways of using mana, which could cause conflicts within the body.

That was why there were only a handful of Rune Knights [warriors who combine swordsmanship and magic] who had achieved greatness in history.

‘That’s strange. There’s no way there’s a Rune Knight on the continent strong enough to fight that guy right now?’

Even Luke, the lord of the Rakan family who had been rumored recently, was said to be using only top-tier Expert swordsmanship and 4th circle magic.

With that level of ability, he would be at best a Sword Master.

He could never be at the level to fight a subordinate with the body and abilities of the Demon King Simon.

And he had been staying in the Rakan territory ever since he finished his military service.

‘Come to think of it, Emperor Rudolf asked me to check if the curse on him was working properly, didn’t he?’

With all these things happening, Arsen didn’t pay much attention to Luke.

He was busy, and he was confident that he could eliminate Rakan’s descendant at any time.

“Albert. I must tell him to investigate that mercenary.”

The more outstanding a person was, the stronger an undead he could obtain if he killed them and made them into a corpse.

He decided to kill that strange mercenary and make him his subordinate.

“And one more thing, the Holy Artenia Imperial Magic Tower and the Immortal Knights have joined the Reformists.”

“Those guys?”

As far as Arsen knew, the Holy Empire’s Imperial Magic Tower had declared neutrality in the Magic Tower War.

No, they had no interest in mages fighting each other outside the Empire.

But suddenly they were getting involved!

“Kek, did they notice our identity?”

“Master Albert said that they might have, and that we should be careful.”

In this Magic Tower War, in addition to Rakan and Simon, black mages secretly cultivated by Arsen were also active.

But if the Imperial Magic Tower and the Immortal Knights had intervened, they could no longer use them.

“Still, as long as there is no definite evidence, we cannot act rashly or openly make the Veritas Magic Tower an enemy. Tell them to buy as much time as possible until the Great Resurrection Spell is completed.”

One of the groups that Arsen thought was the most troublesome in conquering the Rodisia Continent was the Immortal Knights.

They had outstanding individual combat power and could wield divine power, which was the opposite of black magic.

He had tried not to provoke the Holy Empire as much as possible because he was afraid that they would come out in full force, but it seemed that they had smelled something.

‘At least the Holy Empire is in a civil war, so not all of the Immortal Knights will be able to come out. The Magic Federation should be able to hold out with that much.’

Thinking so, Arsen received the rest of the reports and teleported into the pyramid.

Whoosh!

As his figure appeared in a large room, the mages who had been busily moving noticed him and bowed their heads in unison.

“Our progenitor has arrived!”

Nesta, the former Master of the Veritas Magic Tower and Albert’s father, approached and quickly bowed his head.

Nesta was known to have died of old age in the world, but in fact, he was faithfully carrying out Arsen’s orders here.

The mages in the pyramid were all former elders or executives of the Veritas Magic Tower, and they all had outstanding knowledge of black magic.

“Kek, what is the progress of the Great Spell?”

Arsen asked, looking at the black coffins that filled the pyramid.

Inside those coffins were the corpses of knights and mages that he had collected over hundreds of years.

They were at least top-tier Experts or 7th circle mages, and he was resurrecting them with a cursed dark spell.

Of course, he wasn’t just trying to resurrect them.

They were being made into ‘Death Knights’ and ‘Liches’ with more powerful abilities than they had in life.

“The completion rate is now over 60%. Once the Great Resurrection Spell is complete, we will have a powerful vanguard that will make the name of Veritas known throughout the world.”

“Kek, kek, kek, of course, it must be so.”

The reason Arsen was here, despite the intensifying war at the Magic Tower, was for the thousand-year plan of the Veritas Magic Tower.

Once the Death Knights and Liches were all completed, no force or being in the Middle Realm would be able to stop him.

In fact, Arsen had started the Magic Tower War because he was furious at those who had reported that the Veritas Magic Tower was practicing black magic, but there was another reason as well.

It was because he needed the materials required for this Great Resurrection Spell.

Not just any corpse would do; only mages above the 7th circle or knights above the top-tier Expert level could be made into proper subordinates.

However, such individuals all held high positions in the Magic Towers or kingdoms, or had great reputations, so if they suddenly disappeared, the world would be turned upside down.

But if a war broke out, the situation would be different.

Death and disappearance were common occurrences in war.

That’s why he started the Magic Tower War, and in two years, he had collected far more materials than he had in the past hundreds of years.

‘Kekeke, finding this ruin was truly a stroke of luck.’

Arsen looked up at the large, dish-like machine connected to the black coffins with Erzen cables and smiled with satisfaction.

In this Hellish Archipelago, which he had accidentally visited about 100 years ago, there was a ruin of Thanatos, a necromancer school that had been infamous in the ancient civilization era.

The Thanatos school, which had been punished by the gods, eventually self-destructed, but the ruins they left behind held amazing secrets.

The black magic book that described the Great Resurrection Spell and the pyramid, an ‘Other-Dimensional Mana Collector’ that could execute it, were perfectly preserved.

The pyramid collected negative energy, people’s negative emotions, and twisted thoughts from the Middle Realm and converted them into mana.

A vast amount of mana was needed to perform the Great Resurrection Spell, and this was the most crucial device to solve that problem.

Anyway, after studying the black magic book for decades, he had finally created all the magic circles and equipment needed for the Great Resurrection Spell, and based on this, he performed the Great Resurrection Spell two years ago.

“Wait, world! The moment my army is complete, I will show you what true hell is! Kel, kel, kel!”

Arsen, raising his skeletal arms high, burst into a triumphant laugh.

Belpar was originally the 103,572nd subordinate of the Vampire King Leviathan, one of the demon kings who ruled the Demon Realm.

In short, a lackey.

Although he possessed swordsmanship approaching that of a Sword Master, he was a low-ranking demon who was not considered very strong among the demons.

That’s why he didn’t hesitate to cross over to the Middle Realm when the demon summoning magic circle appeared.

He had heard from a senior demon that the Middle Realm, dominated by humans, had few strong individuals, so he could live there swaggering.

But the black magician who summoned him was no ordinary person. Instead of bowing down to the demon, he was a strange one who beat him up and plundered his abilities and mana.

Belpar, who had been subdued by that strange one named Luke, was reduced to his slave.

He thought there was no demon with a worse fate than himself, but the problems didn’t end there.

“Honestly, making a demon who is born with great power train, my master is such an oddball.”

He wasn’t just ordered to train.

He was also taught swordsmanship to train with, and it was the Silver Sword, the swordsmanship of the hero Rakan, who had slaughtered black magicians and demons!

‘Damn it, I heard that demon swordsmanship was spread in the Middle Realm, but why this of all things…!’

However, there was no way Luke would know about the Blood Sky Demon Sword or the Asura Sky Piercing Sword, which were said to be passed down in the Demonic Cult of the Southern Continent.

In the end, Belpar, who learned the Silver Sword, wandered around the Rodisia Continent and diligently trained his swordsmanship.

He couldn’t afford to be lazy. His master had warned him like this.

“If you don’t meet my expectations in two years, I will send you back to the Demon Realm. With the stigma of being a traitor to your own kind.”

Belpar had helped Luke defeat several demons that he had summoned after the mid-level demon Naga.

If the fact that he had betrayed his own kind became known, he wouldn’t be able to die easily.

‘I’d probably be thrown into boiling sulfur and live in eternal torment.’

He wanted to avoid that at all costs, so he had no choice but to train the Silver Sword diligently.

“But thankfully, there were results.”

Shugaak—!

Kuaaaaaaa!

As the silver light flashed from the Blood Shock [a sword technique] that Belpar swung, a huge manticore fell, spitting blood.

The manticore was a monster with the body of a lion, the head of a human, wings like a bat, and the tail of a scorpion, and it was strong enough to eat ogres.

It was very ferocious, and its hide was tough enough to deflect steel swords. It also had a deadly poison.

It was a difficult opponent that even a Sword Master-level expert or a low-ranking demon could not easily handle, but it fell to Belpar’s decisive blow.

“It’s really amazing swordsmanship. It was definitely worth the hardship.”

Belpar, stepping on the manticore’s head, grinned.

Two years ago, when he first learned the Silver Sword, he thought he was really going to die.

Every time he used the Silver Sword, a branch of the Holy Sword, the holy energy that arose little by little clashed with the mana in his body, causing terrible pain.

Every time, he wanted to give up on training, but he couldn’t stop because of Luke’s warning.

The pain of his insides being torn apart and his whole body feeling like it was about to explode repeated hundreds and thousands of times.

Until recently, the pain tormented him day and night.

But a while ago, the pain seemed to subside, and an unexpected change occurred.

It was that he had developed resistance to sunlight and divine power, one of the weaknesses of demons.

Demons can be active in broad daylight, but they are not completely unaffected by the sun. Many demons, who mainly operate at night, felt a stinging sensation as if they were being pricked by a hot needle.

The vampire clan to which Belpar belonged was a typical nocturnal demon.

But now, Belpar felt nothing more than a slightly warm sensation.

‘And I’ve become indifferent to passing by temples or seeing priests.’

Divine power has the best effect on killing demons.

For demons, temples were like blazing sulfur fires, and priests were troublesome beings who carried that sulfur fire.

Until recently, Belpar had to clutch his head because of the headache that made his head throb just by hearing hymns.

But now, he had become so indifferent that he could hum hymns himself.

“Did my constitution improve thanks to the Silver Sword? Anyway, it’s good that I don’t have to be intimidated by those weak priests.”

Kweeek! Kweek!

As the manticore fell, large and small orcs poked their heads out from the surroundings.

The reason Belpar was fighting the manticore was because of these orcs.

The valley he had chosen as his training ground this time turned out to be the orcs’ territory.

The orcs, who didn’t want to lose their territory, threw stone axes and resisted fiercely, but they were no match for Belpar.

In the end, the ones who ran away began to play sly tricks.

They lured large monsters such as trolls, ogres, and minotaurs from nearby and made them fight Belpar.

But when Belpar defeated them all, they lured a manticore from somewhere this time.

Thanks to that, he had a good practical experience, but Belpar had no intention of thanking these cunning orcs.

“Hmph, you trash!”

Kweeek!

Belpar swung a Blood Shock imbued with silver aura.

Several orcs were instantly killed, and the rest fled in panic.

“Hahahaha! If you want to defeat this body, bring a stronger one!”

Belpar laughed mockingly at the fleeing orcs.

‘They won’t bother me anymore.’

Since there were not many monsters stronger than the manticore in the Middle Realm, he had no doubt that the orcs would now give up completely.

But the cunning orcs issued another challenge.

As Belpar had shouted, they brought someone much stronger than the manticore.

“Is it you who touched my subordinates?”

‘Huh! W-Why is he here…?!’

A giant knight with bizarre tattoos on his arms and upper body.

The knight wearing a mask made of feathers and obsidian had been seen by Belpar before.

It was the orc hero Shaikhan, whom he had seen in the Navar Principality.

The orcs standing behind Shaikhan chuckled at Belpar’s pale face.

They mocked him by drawing their hands across their necks, as if to say he was finished.

“I’ve seen you before. You were definitely a lackey of the black magician who stopped me in Navar, right? Anyway, you’ve invaded my subordinates’ territory and even harmed them, so I can’t just let it go.”

Sreung!

Shaikhan drew a huge man-knife [a large, curved blade] from behind his back.

Seeing the murderous aura flashing from the blade, Belpar sweated profusely.

The opponent was a Draconian [a humanoid race with dragon-like features].

A monster that could transform into a dragon if necessary, and was strong enough to fight on par with his master riding a Gigant [a large, powerful magical construct].

‘Can I win?’

He wanted to run away if he could.

But it felt like his head would be chopped off before he could even turn around. His senses, which had become stronger through training, were warning him.

Even if he ran away, he had to create an opening by landing a proper blow on his opponent.

But was that even possible?

‘Alright! It’s either death or unconsciousness!’

Belpar, having made up his mind, gripped his sword again.

He unleashed a silver aura from his sword with all his might and charged towards Shaikhan, who was exuding a murderous aura.

The sky is yellow.

But it wasn’t sunset, so it couldn’t be blamed on the sunset.

“Kueeeeuuuu…”

Belpar, thoroughly broken and battered, lay sprawled on the ground, groaning.

Shaikhan, looking down at him, tilted his head.

“It’s strange. How can a demon use an aura like divine power? And this swordsmanship is definitely from the Rakan family… Did you steal it?”

Shaikhan, who didn’t know that the black magician he had fought in the Navar Principality was a descendant of Rakan, looked completely puzzled.

But he soon put the man-knife back into the scabbard behind his back and continued.

“Well, it’s not my business. Anyway, you seem like a unique guy who is worth keeping alive, so I’ll let it go this time.”

With that, Shaikhan turned away, and the orcs who had been spitting at Belpar and patting his buttocks as if mocking him also disappeared after him.

After a while, Belpar, who had regained some of his strength, barely managed to get up, using his sword as a cane.

“Kueeuk, to meet such a monster… I’m really unlucky.”

Belpar, grumbling a lot, turned into a bat and flew to the Rakan Territory.

He was going to inform his master that an orc hero had appeared in the Baroque Empire.

But when he actually went to the Rakan Marquisate, Luke was away. Only Sebastian, disguised as his master, was there.

Belpar, who had visited Sebastian late at night, avoiding people’s eyes, heard about Luke’s whereabouts from him.

“Master went to the Holy Artenia Empire? Why on earth?”

“It’s because of Princess Reina.”

“Princess Reina? Ah, the master’s lover who went missing because of the fairies?”

“Yes, it’s highly likely that the new Pope of the Holy Empire is actually Princess Reina.”

Belpar had never seen Reina in person. He had only heard stories from Luke or Sebastian.

“Geez, even my master, who is more vicious than a demon, is surprisingly a romantic.”

“Anyway, why are you looking for the master? Is your training already over?”

“Not really, I have something urgent to tell the master.”

“Then are you going to the Holy Empire?”

“I wouldn’t have gone to a place swarming with those Malco priests [priests of the Holy Artenia Empire] even if you had killed me before, but well, I’m fine now. I’ve improved my constitution a bit.”

Belpar shrugged his shoulders and frowned as he looked at the woman sprawled at Sebastian’s feet.

“But why is that perverted bitch here?”

“Well, this room belongs to this bitch.”

“No, I mean, why is the one who should be in Navar here?”

The place where the two demons were now was Princess Margareta’s room in the annex of the Rakan Marquisate.

The maids and guards were completely knocked out due to the aphrodisiac that Sebastian had spread, and Margareta was also babbling in her sleep, unconscious at Sebastian’s feet.

“She came to try to seduce the master again. Thanks to that, I’ve been feasting every night lately.”

Sebastian kicked Margareta’s side, and she twisted her body as if she had been electrocuted.

“Aah, Marquis! How can you treat me so roughly?”

Belpar clicked his tongue as he watched Sebastian absorb the twisted desires and negative emotions that were rising from Margareta’s body like mist.

He had seen various humans since becoming Luke’s slave, but he had never seen anyone as steeped in insidious desires as this bitch.

“No! Ahh! Aaaah!”

Belpar clicked his tongue as he watched her go crazy on her own every time Sebastian touched her lightly.

“This is what they call hopeless.”

“She doesn’t know her place. There are trees that she can dare to look at, and trees that she can’t…”

Sebastian, patting his belly with a satisfied expression, asked as if doing a favor.

“How about it? Do you want to eat some too?”

“No thanks. I don’t like such cotton candy.”