Emperor of Steel [EN]: Chapter 107

3. The Fall of Myers

1

“His Majesty has awakened!”

“Ooooh!”

The Milton Kingdom’s camp was buzzing from early morning. As the royal physician had predicted, Myers had woken up after three days.

He, who had been sleeping as if dead, was in even better condition than before he collapsed. He hadn’t experienced that dreadful nightmare for the past three days.

Perhaps because he had slept so soundly, his face seemed to have regained its vitality.

‘Did that bastard Bajo give up and disappear?’

In reality, the ghost had appeared in other people’s dreams and in front of the sentries, but Myers was unaware of this.

He had strictly forbidden anyone from mentioning the ghost.

Anyway, Myers enjoyed a delicious meal for the first time in a while, happy that the nightmare was over.

And he decided to treat his subjects with leniency, at least for today.

“Your Majesty, I am sorry to bring this up, but…”

When Renold spoke hesitantly during the strategy meeting, Myers waved his hand dismissively.

“It’s fine. You still haven’t managed to capture Batern, have you? I feel bad that I might have pushed you too hard.”

“…”

“Let’s think of a method slowly. Soon, 50 Knight-class Gigants [large, humanoid war machines] will arrive. If we use them, we should be able to break through their defense line, shouldn’t we?”

At Myers’ words, Renold and the nobles attending the strategy meeting remained silent, their mouths tightly shut.

They looked like students who had done something terribly wrong and were trying to gauge the situation.

Myers felt an ominous feeling from this atmosphere.

“Why is everyone silent? Has something happened?”

At Myers’ question, everyone hesitated and just looked at each other.

Then, Renold spoke on behalf of everyone.

“Those 50 Gigants will not be coming, Your Majesty. It seems they were seized during transport.”

“Wh-what did you say!”

To Myers, whose eyes widened in shock, Renold reported in more detail.

“When the special transport unit did not appear at the scheduled time, the gatekeeper in the vicinity led his soldiers to investigate. What they found were traces of fires along the road and useless pieces of scrolls.”

“Th-the special transport unit! What happened to them?”

“We found traces of some soldiers who had died and were buried, but the rest are missing. We don’t know if they all died, escaped, or were bought off by the enemy.”

The reason why the Milton Kingdom army had not yet grasped the situation was largely due to Baron Lovett, who was in charge of the transport.

After Luke left, he woke up and, fearing execution for failing his mission, ran away, and his subordinates also scattered.

So, there was no one to tell the royal army the exact situation.

“Th-this is… Ugh!”

Meyers, who had jumped up in anger, grabbed the back of his neck and slumped back into his seat.

Fortunately, he did not lose consciousness like last time.

However, the shock of losing a valuable asset was not easy to shake off.

“Kuh! Immediately deploy troops to track them down! Find out exactly what happened!”

At Myers’ urging, Renold sighed deeply and replied.

“Unfortunately, we cannot spare troops from here. It is also difficult to mobilize troops from the homeland for the search, as there are hardly any available troops left.”

“I ordered a conscription, so why are there no troops?”

“Because we are already struggling to suppress the riots in Brandon City.”

At Renold’s answer, Myers’ face turned pale.

“Ri-riots? A riot broke out in the capital?”

“Yes, Count Mazer informed us while Your Majesty was asleep. It seems to be the work of those who are dissatisfied with the forced conscription.”

Although it was called a riot, it was actually closer to a rebellion.

Nobles who were dissatisfied with the war were instigating the people from behind.

“At first, it was just a matter of refusing conscription and training, but in the process of suppressing it, many casualties occurred, and after that, it became impossible to control.”

Due to the uprising of the capital’s residents, the mansions of the pro-war nobles in the capital were looted or set on fire.

Count Mazer tried to suppress it somehow, but the troops were woefully inadequate.

The only troops available were old veterans or inexperienced recruits.

Moreover, they were not even fighting properly, but rather running away or joining the rebels.

“After this news spread, the number of deserters in the military camps greatly increased. Not only ordinary soldiers but also lower-ranking officers and knights began to flee.”

‘N-no way. How could it all fall apart so quickly…’

It had not even been a month since the fight with the Rakan Marquisate.

Although the sudden appearance of monsters had created a situation of lawlessness, causing bandits and rioters to run rampant, he did not expect the country to be shaken so easily.

However, this was something that happened because Myers only saw one thing and did not think of the other.

He had been preparing for independence for a long time.

To confront the Baroque Empire, he had built up military power, gathered talented people, and promoted negotiations and alliances with domestic and foreign forces.

It goes without saying that enormous resources were consumed in this process.

The problem was that he had raised taxes a lot to secure those resources, and the class that bore the brunt of those increased taxes was not the nobles or the wealthy, but the lowest and most powerless people.

Since the days of the Marquisate, the Milton Kingdom had been a wealthy region with developed agriculture and commerce.

However, it was only the nobles, the wealthy merchants, and some residents who received handouts from them who enjoyed that wealth.

The majority of the people were poor despite working hard.

Then, when Myers, blinded by ambition, raised taxes and prepared for war, things became even more difficult.

In fact, until the declaration of the founding of the nation, there was still some hope. Because they believed that the king would refrain from war and run the country stably in the future.

However, Myers, following the war of independence, started a war with the Rakan Marquisate under the pretext of Count Bajo’s death.

If there had been no other problems, everyone might have endured it.

However, the monsters that Luke had released completely shook the Milton Kingdom, which had been barely holding on.

“What should I do now! What should I do!”

As Myers, who had risen from his seat, spoke anxiously, a blunt voice was heard from one side of the conference table.

“Hmph, what else can we do? We should retreat immediately.”

The owner of the voice was Renard.

At his rude remark, the pro-war faction, including Count Lao, did not object as before. This was because their foundations in the capital were collapsing.

For nobles, loyalty to the monarch was important, but the most important thing was their own foundation.

Their idea was that they should retreat first and suppress the riots and rebellion.

“Retreat? Is that the only way? Am I supposed to go back like this and lose face?”

“What does it matter if you lose a little face? Does face feed you?”

“You bastard!!”

Clang—!

At Renard’s words, Myers, who was furious, threw the wine glass he was holding.

Renard’s face, hit by the hard crystal glass, was instantly stained with blood.

“Damn it! I’ve had enough!”

“Heeok!”

As Renard frowned menacingly and rose from his seat, Myers’ face turned white.

Renard, who was a Lycanthrope hybrid, was over 2 meters tall, and his physique was as sturdy as a giant tree. The pressure was considerable when he frowned.

At Renard’s sudden action, the surrounding royal knights hurriedly drew their swords.

Renold also hurriedly tried to stop his younger brother.

“No, hold back.”

“Brother!”

Renard had not yet drawn his sword.

However, the aura unique to a Sword Master [a master swordsman] that emanated from his entire body was enough to threaten Myers and the knights holding their swords.

“Your words were deeply disrespectful. Apologize to His Majesty at once.”

“Brother! Do you also think I was wrong?”

“That is…”

Meyers’ words and actions, which valued his own face more than the lives of his soldiers, were not right.

Frankly, Renold also had the urge to cut him down in one stroke.

“Still, he is the king of a nation. And he is also our lord right now.”

“Tch!”

They work as much as they are paid.

The Gram brothers never violated that principle even when they were wandering as mercenaries. They considered deceiving or betraying others to be something that only despicable people would do.

Since he could not yet say that he had worked as much as he had been paid, Renard suppressed his temper and bowed his head to Myers.

“Your Majesty, I have committed a discourtesy. Please forgive me with leniency.”

“Kuh! I don’t even want to see your face. Go back and reflect on your actions!”

As Myers scowled and snapped, Renard immediately turned and left the military tent.

As the matter with Renard was settled, Count Lao cautiously opened his mouth.

“Your Majesty, what will you do now… Will you retreat?”

“Hoo! Isn’t that a matter to think about? If we carelessly withdraw our troops, we could be counterattacked by Luke.”

“That is true.”

The Rakan territory army would not just watch them retreat. Therefore, even if they retreated, it was necessary to leave some forces behind to check the enemy.

The problem was who would command the remaining forces.

‘Should I entrust it to Renard as a way of making him atone? No, if that guy who is dissatisfied with me were to surrender, then…’

Renold seemed like a good choice, but he couldn’t just throw away a Sword Master card who was still loyal to him.

And he didn’t trust the other generals.

‘Damn it, this is difficult!’

Even though he had practically decided to retreat, Myers decided to take a day to think about it.

The nobles were frustrated, but they could not urge Myers, who had not been awake for long, so they withdrew for the time being.

However, they had no idea how much trouble that action would lead to.

2

For the past few days, Erewin had been more serious than ever.

When Jegal Soha left to defeat the pirates of Grenada using the method she had proposed herself, she decided to work harder.

‘I can’t be outdone by a woman from the Southern Continent, even if Princess Reina is.’

Even though the person who should be giving the encouragement wasn’t thinking about it, Erewin was burning with motivation and fighting spirit.

From then on, she looked for anything that could be of help to Luke.

‘First of all, I need to make use of my specialty.’

Her specialty was magic, and she could be said to be the continent’s foremost authority in alchemy.

She could create artificial magic stones and green crystals imbued with the energy of the Tears of the Earth, but that was not something that would help Luke right now.

‘I need a way to defeat the Milton Kingdom army!’

As she pondered over and over, she suddenly thought of the magic used by the Elven Rangers.

Elven Rangers, who were better hunters than anyone else in the forest, would cast a ‘Silent’ spell on themselves before approaching their target.

By doing so, they could eliminate their presence and approach quietly, allowing them to catch their prey in one blow.

So, she ran to Luke, who was encouraging the exhausted soldiers, and suggested her idea.

“A method that will help defeat the Milton Kingdom army?”

“Yes. It’s about applying Silent magic to the Gigants. Then the enemy won’t notice until they get close.”

“Hmm, Silent magic…”

Contrary to Erewin’s expectations, Luke’s reaction was lukewarm.

Commander Rogers and Philip, who were assisting him, also had skeptical expressions.

“That’s a good idea. But has no one ever thought of such a method before?”

“That’s…”

As Luke pointed out, it was not that there had been no attempts to apply Silent magic to Gigants. One of the Gigant’s weaknesses was the loud noise generated by the movement of its massive body.

Not only the Ten Great Magic Towers of the continent, but also several other magic towers had sought ways to reduce the noise of the Gigants.

Because the more the noise was reduced, the greater the effect of the surprise attack would be.

However, the reason they could not succeed was due to the limitations of Silent magic.

The noise of the Gigant was too loud to be handled by the 5th-circle Silent magic.

Enhancing magic inevitably consumed a lot of mana, which manifested as a decrease in the core engine’s output. Moreover, it didn’t guarantee a reliable soundproofing effect, nor did it last long.

“In short, it’s quite inefficient. Besides, even if you eliminate the Gigant’s noise, the weight of the machine will cause vibrations in the ground. How do you plan to deal with that?”

“Well, that is…”

Erewin was flustered by the unforeseen problem, but Luke, as if expecting it, continued.

“That’s why some magic towers have shifted their focus from eliminating noise to using invisibility magic to conceal the Gigants.”

“I know that too. I saw it myself when I worked at a magic tower in the past. Of course, I heard it’s still in the research phase, and no one has actually implemented it yet.”

In other words, invisibility magic was only in the conceptual stage.

She had thought that her artificial mana stone would be enough to compensate for the mana consumed by Silent magic, but that was too naive of a judgment.

“I’m sorry. I was too hasty and wasted your precious time.”

“No, it’s alright.”

Luke waved his hand at Erewin’s apology.

She was knowledgeable about magic, but she wasn’t a professional Iron Mage [a mage specializing in the creation and maintenance of magical machines]. Besides, she had offered her opinion to help him, and he couldn’t criticize her for it being impractical.

“And your idea of using Silent magic isn’t entirely futile. If we change the method, it could be quite useful.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Listening to Erewin’s story, Luke suddenly had a good idea. He was already planning a night raid, and combining Erewin’s idea with his own would enhance its effectiveness.

“First, we need a lot of Silent magic scrolls and mana stones. More than what we have in the camp right now…”

“I’ll teleport to the nearest city and bring them back.”

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”

Erewin deployed teleportation magic as soon as she finished talking with Luke. She had been cold to him for a while. Luke, secretly pleased by her sudden change in attitude, gave a faint smile. Seeing this, Philip grinned and whispered to him.

“Lord, you’re quite popular these days.”

“Well, it seems so.”

“But you can’t go around having affairs. Princess Reyna, or rather, Her Holiness the Pope, might get angry.”

If the Pope of the Holy Empire got angry, the fanatical Holy Knights might line up to challenge him to duels, demanding his head. And at the very front of those Holy Knights would be Grand Duke Gregory.

Luke, suddenly having such a delusion, shook his head as if he was disgusted, and said, “An affair? Don’t talk nonsense.”

Erewin’s changed demeanor and Je Gal Soha’s proactive attitude. Seeing these aspects of the women by his side, he could roughly sense what emotions they were feeling and what they were expecting. It wasn’t like Luke was so oblivious that he couldn’t notice. However, Luke’s strong affection for Reyna prevented him from accepting their feelings.

‘It’s unfortunate, but I need to set a date and make it clear to them. And once this war is over, I need to go see Reyna.’ Due to various circumstances, he hadn’t seen her for a long time. Exchanging letters was no longer enough. So, Luke resolved to visit her next time, no matter what.

3

Deep into the night, past midnight. On a hill overlooking the Milton Kingdom army camp. Luke, hidden in the thick darkness created by the dark clouds covering the moon, was looking down at the Milton Kingdom army camp, where bonfires were lit here and there.

‘Heh heh. It seems the operation is working very well.’ The operation name given to the two demons was Nightmare. The core of the plan was to use Sebastian’s dream demon abilities to sow confusion and division among the enemy. It seemed to have worked perfectly, as the morale of the Milton Kingdom army was at rock bottom. The proof was right before his eyes. The sentries and knights, who should have been on high alert, were gathered in small groups, whispering and staring at the command tent. The anxiety and distrust they felt were manifesting in their actions.

‘The king, rumored to be insane, has awakened, but the battles aren’t going well, and the situation in the homeland is deteriorating. Everyone just wants to go home.’ Luke, who had been receiving constant information from the servant demons and Argos agents [a network of spies] who had infiltrated the enemy camp, was well aware of the enemy’s situation. Knowing that it was time to switch from defense to offense, he decided to launch a night raid.

“Lord, please give the order to attack!” At Commander Rogers’ words, Luke turned his head back. Below the hill, the Rakan Territory army was lined up in full force. Led by 80 Gigants, about 1,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry were waiting for the order to be given. This night raid force had left the village of Bateren as soon as the sun set, detouring far along the mountain path to reach this hill behind the Milton Kingdom army.

‘Hmph, you fools. Did you think we’d just stay put forever if we kept defending?’ Perhaps due to the effects of Operation Nightmare. The Milton Kingdom army, whose discipline had recently deteriorated, had been negligent in their surrounding reconnaissance. They were only going through the motions of scouting, not thoroughly checking. The outposts set up around the camp were also manned by only a small number of soldiers, making it easy for the vanguard led by Philip to subdue them.

‘The tensest moment was when we encountered about 100 cavalry a little while ago.’ They had encountered them too suddenly when they were almost at their destination, the hill. The night raid force, as well as the enemy, were surprised, but there was no clash. The enemy commander chose to surrender instead of fighting. Upon interrogation, it turned out that they were not a reconnaissance unit. A lord, worried about his home territory, was deserting with only his close aides. If they had fought or made a commotion, the night raid operation would have failed. And the operation they had worked so hard to prepare would have been useless.

‘Even a high-ranking commander like a lord is deserting. I’m glad I spread monsters behind them.’ In fact, Luke had not anticipated the collapse of law and order in the Milton Kingdom. He had only thought that if the monsters caused trouble in the enemy’s rear, it would draw away some of their forces. However, the Milton Kingdom, which was more rotten than he had thought, crumbled like a sandcastle, starting with the rampage of the monster groups.

‘Anyway, shall we begin?’ Luke, determined to settle things with Myers this time, gave a signal with his hand. Then, the first to move were the vanguard soldiers wearing dark camouflage uniforms. They crawled towards the enemy camp, keeping as low to the ground as possible. If the moonlight had been bright, their movements would have been detected. However, it was a pitch-black night with the clouds covering the moon, and the vanguard soldiers were under the effect of Silent magic, allowing them to advance without a sound. After advancing some distance, they took out wands with artificial mana stones embedded in them and Silent magic scrolls from their pockets. Wands were usually used as tools to enhance the concentration of magic, like staves, but they could also be used as weapons by imbuing them with lightning magic or striking magic like Hit. ‘Of course, you can also imbue them with Silent magic.’ The vanguard planted the wands in the ground and tore the scrolls to cast Silent magic on the wands.

Whoooom! With a faint sound, all noise within a 30-meter radius of the wands disappeared. The chirping of insects and the rustling of leaves in the wind stopped. The vanguard continued to advance, planting wands in the ground and casting Silent magic. In this way, a ‘path of silence’ was created up to 50 meters in front of the enemy camp. This path of silence was an improvement on Erewin’s suggestion by Luke, and the key was the wands. The wands, hastily made by the military mages, were equipped with Erewin’s artificial mana stones, which amplified Silent magic. Luke had added powerful absorption magic to them. That was why they could absorb all the noise within 30 meters like a black hole.

‘Heh heh heh. The Milton guys will be shocked when our troops suddenly appear.’ Philip installed the last wand and looked ahead. The distance to the enemy camp was 50 meters. He judged that he could not advance any further due to the bright lights, so he quickly turned back without hesitation. That distance was like right in front of a Gigant. “Lord, the path for the advance is complete.” “Good work. Prepare for battle immediately.” At Luke’s words, Philip immediately boarded his hero-class Gigant, Orion, which he had named Milena. After confirming that all the riders had boarded, Luke boarded his own machine and advanced towards the enemy camp. The Silent magic spread along the path of silence had erased the noise of the Gigants, so the enemy did not know that the night raid force was approaching right in front of them. Stopping 50 meters in front of the enemy camp, Luke delivered a speech through the communication device.

“Hear me, my soldiers! I, Luke de Rakan, will today erase from this world the Milton bandits who dared to falsely accuse our territory and then invade it. Show no mercy to the enemy!” “All troops, full attack!” “Waaaaaah!” Following Luke’s speech, Rogers gave the order, and the riders began to charge towards the enemy camp with shouts. The Milton Kingdom sentries, seeing the Gigants suddenly emerge from the darkness, widened their eyes. “T-the enemy!” “The enemy has launched a surprise attack!” Ding ding ding ding—! The bell of the watchtower did not last long. Rogers’ Orion pushed through with its torso, causing the watchtower to collapse along with the wooden fence. Crash! Crack! Thud! The Gigants of the night raid force, led by Rogers, Philip, and Luke, pushed into the enemy camp without mercy. Following them, the cavalry and infantry rushed in, swinging their spears and swords and setting fires indiscriminately.

“Kuaaak!” “S-save me!” “What? What’s going on?” The Milton Kingdom army could not respond properly because the enemy had invaded too suddenly. Most of them were asleep, and even those who were awake were not properly on guard. “T-the enemy! The enemy has invaded!” “All troops, battle stations!” The knights, who were relatively quick to act, rushed out in their underwear, some directing the soldiers and others boarding the Gigants. However, unfortunately, only a few were responding in this way. The Rakan Territory army riders, who had fiercely pushed into the Milton Kingdom army camp, would smash the cockpits with their greatswords or stomp on them with their feet as soon as they found a Gigant that had not yet been boarded by a rider. This made it impossible to open the door and board with human strength.

“Damn it, I had a bad feeling about this!” Leonard, who was rushing to his brother after arming himself, gritted his teeth at the flames and screams rising from all directions. As a half-human, half-lycanthrope, his senses were more acute than others. In addition, he had a lot of experience from his long mercenary life. When the sound of the wind and the chirping of insects suddenly decreased, he had a feeling that something ominous was about to happen. “Brother!” “Oh, Leonard?” Renold was delighted to see his younger brother. In a crisis, the most reliable person was his twin brother. Renold also had a bad feeling. That was why he was rushing to the king’s tent immediately after the attack. “Hurry. We need to check on His Majesty’s safety.” “Tch! You’re too conscientious, brother.” At his brother’s teasing, he said with a serious expression. “For a mercenary, a contract is a sacred duty that must be kept even at the cost of one’s life!” The Gram brothers had signed a contract with Myers to serve in the Milton Kingdom and take charge of the Iron Fist Knights. Their price was incredibly high, befitting Sword Masters, but Renold intended to keep his contract as long as Myers kept his.

“If we run away just because it’s disadvantageous, we’re not mercenaries, we’re swindlers. We must never become swindlers.”

“Yes, yes, I understand, Captain.”

The two brothers exchanged words as they headed towards the king’s tent.

Halfway there, they encountered Myers, surrounded by his royal guards.

Myers, who had come out in his pajamas with only a coat thrown over them, was jumping up and down at the sight of the burning camp.

“What in the world happened here!”

“It seems the Rakan territory forces launched a surprise attack.”

“What? The Rakan bastards launched a surprise attack? What were the guards doing? Why didn’t they notice the enemy until they were right on top of us…”

“Now is not the time to assign blame. Please, Your Majesty, flee to a safe place!”

Renold, having urged Myers, spoke to his younger brother.

“I’ll evacuate His Majesty to safety. So you…”

“You want me to buy time, right? Got it. Leave it to me.”

Leonard had no intention of running away with his tail between his legs. As a commander who had gone to war, shouldn’t he at least take the head of an enemy general?

However, after the vanguard was annihilated, he hadn’t made any significant contributions. In the Battle of Bateren, the opposing Sword Masters hadn’t appeared, so the Milton Kingdom forces had been saving him.

And one more thing.

He also wanted to repay the defeat he had suffered at the hands of Duke Luke, who had unilaterally pushed him back.

“Take my Anubis. It will be more than enough for you to fight with.”

“Then what about you, brother?”

“I can borrow His Majesty’s hero-class Gigant [A large, humanoid war machine], Rubira.”

“Alright. Good luck.”

Rubira was the exclusive Gigant symbolizing the king, but Myers, who lacked combat prowess, had no use for it in battle anyway.

It had only been used for show during ceremonies or when receiving foreign envoys.

Even at the beginning of the war, the knights would jokingly say that the day Rubira fought would be the day the Milton Kingdom fell.

‘And it actually happened!’

With a look of dismay, Renold quickly picked up Myers and left the scene.

As if the enemy were chasing them, the core engine of the Gigant grew louder behind them.

4

“Kill them! Sweep away the invaders!”

“Don’t retreat! Form ranks!”

Fierce battles were raging chaotically throughout the Milton Kingdom camp, which was ablaze.

At first, the Milton Kingdom forces were disoriented by the surprise attack.

They had been attacked so suddenly, and due to the extreme confusion, they couldn’t even grasp how many enemies were attacking.

However, thanks to the valiant efforts of commanders like Leonard and Duke Volant, they gradually began to recover from the chaos.

“Die! You despicable lackey of Duke Luke!”

Clang!

Shhhhk!

“Ugh! You bastard, how dare you scratch my Milena!”

Philip’s Milena was pushed back by a powerful blow from Leonard, who was riding Anubis.

As if to repay the annihilation of the vanguard, Leonard deployed his Impact Aura [A powerful energy field] to the maximum from the start, pushing Philip back.

The boomerangs, which he wielded like swords or scythes, freely cut through the air and tore up the ground as if they were part of the Gigant.

Pushed back by the fierce momentum, Philip was unable to easily turn the tide and remained on the defensive.

Luke, who was watching from behind, clicked his tongue at Leonard’s relentless attack.

“That rider on the wolf-headed Gigant is quite something.”

“Judging by the swordsmanship he’s displaying, he seems to be the Sword Master who commanded the enemy’s vanguard last time.”

At Rogers’ words, Luke nodded.

“That’s right. But he seems stronger than before. It’s like he’s been poisoned.”

It seemed that he was launching a full-force offensive from the start, as if he was desperate.

“It seems I’ll have to step in.”

As Philip seemed to be faltering, Rogers tried to step forward.

Luke stopped him.

“There’s no need to worry. Philip won’t fall to that extent.”

Although Philip’s behavior was usually frivolous, he was more serious than anyone else when wielding a sword.

Moreover, he had honed his skills by sparring with strong individuals like Luke, Hwangbo-sung, and Rogers, and had also experienced numerous real battles.

“So, he won’t lose just because he’s being pushed back a bit.”

“What if… he loses?”

“Then I’ll have to give him a hellish training session.”

Luke’s chilling words were drowned out by the noise of the battle and didn’t reach Philip’s ears.

Nevertheless, Philip felt a chill down his spine. He felt an ominous aura unrelated to the opponent’s sword strikes flying at him.

Feeling a threat to his life, Philip gritted his teeth and began to counterattack.

“Damn it! Do you think I’ll just keep taking it!”

Whoosh! Clang!

Philip’s Impact Aura, unleashed with a desperate determination to turn the tide, blew off Anubis’s shoulder armor and head decorations.

As Leonard faltered, Philip deployed his Gold Sword instead of the Phantom Sword he had been using, pushing his opponent back.

Whether his counterattack had worked or not, the fight was now evenly matched.

“See? I told you he wouldn’t lose.”

“Hmm, indeed!”

Luke, showing a satisfied expression, said to Rogers.

“It’s a shame, but let’s leave that one to Sir Philip and focus on finding Myers. We need to eliminate the root cause to end this war.”

“Understood, Lord.”

Luke, leaving the tempting prey, Leonard, to Philip, led Rogers and the Rakan Knights’ riders to capture Myers.

Boom! Boom boom!

Around the time Luke began his pursuit, flashes of light flickered in the sky along with loud cannon fire.

The Milton Kingdom forces, who were barely recovering from the chaos, were startled by the cannon fire.

“What is that? Is it artillery fire?”

“This is bad! Enemy reinforcements have arrived!”

As Luke’s night raid force succeeded in their operation, the forces remaining in Bateren also switched to an offensive.

With the support of the remaining Gigants and trailers, the artillerymen who had moved the cannons out of the village began firing at the Milton Kingdom camp.

However, the shells they used were flashbangs or smoke bombs with low lethality.

This was because the enemy and allies were mixed together.

But that alone was enough to startle the Milton Kingdom forces.

Moreover, the 2,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry who had remained in the village quickly closed the distance and charged in all at once.

“His Majesty has fallen in battle!”

“Everyone, run away! The higher-ups have already fled!”

“If we die here, it’ll be a dog’s death!”

Sebastian and Belpar’s servants, who had infiltrated beforehand, fanned the flames of chaos while disguised as royal soldiers.

The rumors they spread were mostly false, but some of them happened to be true by chance.

“Look at those people running away. Aren’t they clearly royal guards?”

“Even the Iron Fist Knights’ Gigants…”

“Damn it, are they just trying to save themselves?”

The knights and soldiers who saw the king and the command headquarters fleeing completely lost their will to fight.

Even when some commanders shouted and tried to encourage them to fight, it was useless.

A military force that had completely lost its morale was no longer a military force.

With that, the battle was practically over.

Those among the Milton Kingdom forces who had the strength left ran away, and those who didn’t have the energy left chose to surrender, dropping their weapons.

Seeing the entire army collapse like this, Myers shed tears of resentment.

“Ugh, my army has fallen so miserably…!”

“Don’t look back, Your Majesty. We must get out of here quickly!”

Count Lao urged, pulling on the reins of Myers’ horse.

There was a reason why he was urging him on, almost dragging the horse.

The Gigants bearing the Rakan Marquisate’s crest were chasing them from behind.

It was the Gigant unit of the Rakan Knights led by Luke and Rogers.

“Stop right there, Myers!”

“Protect His Majesty!”

The Iron Fist Knights turned around and blocked the path of the Rakan Knights.

Clang! Shhhhk-clunk!

Crash! Thud!

The long, thin wall of steel collided.

The Gigantic Aura emanating from the greatswords and battle axes brightly illuminated the dark night, and fierce shouts and sharp screams echoed chaotically in all directions.

“Ugh! Long live the Milton Kingdom…!”

“Damn it, he’s crazy! He’s going to self-destruct, get away!”

The Iron Fist Knights were inferior to the Rakan Knights in terms of skill and Gigant performance.

However, they made up for the gap with their loyalty to protect the king.

After desperately blocking them, when they could no longer hold out, they tore off the armor on the abdomen of their Gigants and stabbed the core engine with their greatswords.

Boom!

KABOOM!

The Gigants, scarred all over, exploded with a blinding flash.

Luke clicked his tongue at their desperate actions.

‘To burn with such fighting spirit when morale is at rock bottom. Their loyalty is truly amazing. It’s no wonder Myers rebelled against the Baroque Empire.’

Just as Luke had faith in the strength of the Rakan Knights, Myers must have had faith in the Iron Fist Knights.

‘What a waste. If only they hadn’t chosen the wrong lord…’

He couldn’t help but think how great it would be if such loyal men served him.

Luke, clicking his tongue in regret, cut off the arms of an enemy Gigant charging at him.

He could have aimed for the cockpit and cut it in half without mercy, but he thought it was a waste to kill them.

So, he ended it at the level of subduing them.

“Damn it, don’t think I’ll fall like this!”

“What a nuisance.”

The rider of the Gigant with its arms cut off rammed its torso forward.

Hidden in his desperate actions was the intention to self-destruct together.

He intended to make Luke stab the core engine if he thrust his greatsword forward.

Luke was not one to miss this.

He lightly evaded with Blink [A short-range teleportation technique] and cut off the Gigant’s legs, completely subduing it.

“What, is the rider using magic?”

“Is he a Rune Knight [A warrior who combines swordsmanship with magic]? If so, then the rider in that silver Gigant is…”

“It’s Duke Luke! It’s definitely Duke Luke!”

Rune Knights who had mastered both swordsmanship and magic were not very common.

Moreover, since Luke was the only known Rune Knight in the Rakan Marquisate, the Iron Fist Knights judged the rider in the silver Gaius to be Luke.

“Kill Duke Luke!”

“If we kill Duke Luke, we can win this war!”

The Iron Fist Knights thought that if they could kill Duke Luke, who had no heir, they could win this war.

More Gigants rushed towards Luke.

“This is bad, protect the Lord!”

Rogers hurriedly gave the order, but the Iron Fist Knights acted faster.

Four enemy units that had approached in an instant swung their greatswords down at the silver Gaius.