Emperor of Steel [EN]: Chapter 170

The Pirate Kingdom’s Provocation

1

The western frontier of the Symphonia Kingdom was in turmoil. News of a massive monster horde sent villagers scrambling to pack their belongings and flee to nearby castles and fortresses.

“Hurry, hurry!”

“We don’t know when the monsters will strike!”

“Waaah!”

The children riding in the carts, terrified by the chaos, began to cry.

A one-armed man in shabby priest’s robes, who had been following the carts, approached and began to soothe the crying children.

“Father Isaac, are the monsters really going to come and eat people?”

“Don’t worry. The soldiers and knights will protect us.”

“Really?”

“Yes, so you need to listen to your mom and dad.”

“Okay, yes.”

The children, as innocent as they were, believed the man’s words implicitly and began chattering amongst themselves with relieved expressions.

However, the one-armed priest’s expression, as he looked at the children, was stiff.

‘Haa, just when I thought I was getting used to this….’

Isaac sighed inwardly.

But his real name was not Isaac. It was Aslan de Perrier.

A few years ago, he was the illegitimate son of Duke Perrier, who had rebelled against the Holy Empire. Duke Perrier, with the support of the Baroque Empire, declared independence and ascended to the throne of the Kingdom of Conrad, and Aslan was treated as a prince.

But this glory did not last long. The Kingdom of Conrad was destroyed by the Holy Empire’s full-scale suppression of the rebellion.

While fleeing with his father, he was attacked by the Flying Dragon, a special unit of the Baroque Empire disguised as pirates, and almost died after falling into the sea. He was hit by arrows and lost an arm to a shark, but fortunately, he was rescued by a merchant ship from the Southern Continent that was passing nearby.

Barely escaping death, he sought out Marquis Myers, the leader of the aristocratic faction who was fighting against Emperor Rudolf, for revenge. And he exposed the fact that the Baroque Empire had intervened in the Holy Empire’s rebellion. The resulting war between the Emperor’s faction and the aristocratic faction led to the division of the Baroque Empire.

Afterwards, Aslan received the title of Count from Myers, who became the king of the Milton Kingdom, and was appointed as a fortress commander, leaving for the Variand Mountains.

‘In name, it was treatment for a prince of a fallen nation, but in reality, I was just thrown into a corner because I was no longer of any use.’

Although bitter, Aslan did not have any major complaints. He felt that he had sufficiently avenged his father by bringing down the Baroque Empire, which had reigned as the hegemon of the continent along with the Holy Empire for the past 500 years. He thought that the only thing left in his life was to fight against the Baroque Empire at the front lines and die.

However, King Myers started a reckless war out of his desire for conquest, and the Milton Kingdom was destroyed less than a year after its founding. The one who took over the Milton Kingdom and established the new Symphonia Kingdom was Luke de Rakan. He did not oppress the nobles of the Milton Kingdom but accepted them as his subjects. Aslan’s title and position were also guaranteed.

‘The problem is that the guy has formed a close relationship with the Holy Empire.’

It was not just a simple alliance; he even invited the Pope to the royal capital and held a coronation ceremony. Moreover, there were rumors that Pope Veronica III was actually Reina, Luke’s lover and the princess of the destroyed Volga Kingdom.

Because of this, Aslan could not help but feel a sense of crisis. Would the Symphonia Kingdom, which was so close to the Holy Empire, leave the son of a traitor alone? They would surely arrest him and send him back.

Therefore, Aslan took advantage of the chaotic situation after the founding of Symphonia and fled. However, he could not go to the Holy Empire, and the same was true for the Baroque Empire. The Volga Republic was too far away, and he had to take a ship to the Kingdoms of Castille or Granada, but there was no way to avoid inspections.

In the end, the only place he could go was the Kingdom of Lybia. However, he ran out of travel expenses along the way, so he disguised himself as a priest on a pilgrimage and temporarily settled in a frontier village. Although he could not use divine power, he had studied theology diligently as a noble of the Holy Artenia Empire, so there was no problem in acting as a priest. He planned to listen to the residents’ confessions in a perfunctory manner, teach the children to read and write, and then leave for the Kingdom of Lybia again when he had saved enough money.

But a year passed, and even though he had saved up money, he could not leave. Suddenly, all sorts of monsters were swarming the border between the Symphonia Kingdom and the Kingdom of Lybia. Strangely, the monsters did not cross the border or attack neighboring villages. People thought it was because the king had formed an alliance with King Shaikhan of the Kingdom of Lybia, who was a monster lord.

That being said, there were no people brave enough to pass through the land swarming with monsters. In the end, Aslan was stuck in a frontier village in the western part of the Symphonia Kingdom. In fact, if he had made up his mind, he could have left, but he had also grown fond of living with the simple villagers.

“Father, are you having a hard time? If you are, you can ride in the cart with us….”

At the old woman’s words, who was riding in the cart with the children, Aslan shook his head.

“No, it’s not because I’m having a hard time.”

“Really? You don’t look so good….”

“I’m just worried about the future. So, you don’t need to worry about me.”

Aslan, who had made a rough excuse, looked at the procession of refugees. The procession of refugees grew larger as they made their way to the fortress. This was because people from other frontier villages had joined along the way.

The refugees, who had grown to several thousand, arrived at Berangze Castle after walking for a full day. Berangze Castle, located in the northwestern part of the Symphonia Kingdom, was a castle built along with the frontier villages and was the center of military and administration in the region. The population was 30,000, but it was originally built for military purposes, so it could accommodate up to 100,000 people, including the military and refugees.

Aslan, who was entering the castle with the refugees, saw a flag fluttering above the castle gate. ‘That’s the flag of the 1st Army… Has the army from the royal capital already come as reinforcements?’ His guess was correct. Upon receiving reports of the appearance of a large monster horde, Commander-in-Chief Rogers immediately led the 1st Army, the central army, and rushed over. He entered the castle and prepared for battle, while also sending soldiers to provide relief and control the refugees.

“Men, gather over here!”

“Women and the elderly, come out and receive food! There is enough food, so please keep order and don’t cause a disturbance!”

“Is there anyone who is sick? If so, come to the central square and receive treatment!”

Soldiers from the supply and medical units stood in the central square and shouted. Among the refugees who were classified in this way, the men reinforced the castle walls or received tools and materials to build temporary shelters for the refugees. They were also mobilized for outside work outside the castle with the soldiers.

Aslan was about to be conscripted as well, but when they found out he was disabled, they gave him a different job.

“You’re a priest? Of course, you can write and read.”

“Yes, I can.”

“Then, please help the administrators. The situation is so urgent that we are short of people no matter how many we gather.”

“That’s how war is.”

Aslan nodded at the officer’s words and, as instructed, helped the administrators to identify the number and identities of the refugees who had entered the castle and submitted them in writing. But he did not do that job for long. Suddenly, knights of the 1st Army came to find him with armed soldiers.

“Count Aslan de Perrier, you must come with us.”

‘Crap, has my identity been exposed?’

Perhaps there was someone among the knights or nobles in the castle who recognized his face. Aslan clenched his fist. However, no matter how skilled he was as a mid-level Sword Expert, he could not fight against the spears and swords that were thrust at him without a weapon. In the end, he was willingly taken into custody. It seemed that his life, which had been twisted and turned, was about to end here.

2

Aslan, who had been arrested, was dragged to the lord’s manor of Berangze Castle. He was puzzled because he thought he would be immediately thrown into the dungeon.

“Your Excellency, we have brought Count Perrier.”

“Good work. I will interrogate him myself, so you may leave.”

Marquis Rogers, the commander-in-chief of the Symphonia Kingdom, who had led the 1st Army from Brenden, looked up from the reports that had come from nearby fortresses and castles. And he asked Aslan, who was looking at him with surprised eyes.

“You know better than anyone why you were arrested, right?”

“Of course. My father rebelled against the Holy Empire. From the Symphonia Kingdom’s point of view, I am an unforgivable criminal.”

Rogers scoffed at Aslan’s relatively calm answer.

“You were not arrested today for that reason. It’s because you deserted your post, that is, you deserted.”

Rogers said that and glared at Aslan with cold eyes. “Do you not know how serious a crime it is for a commander to desert, not just a regular soldier?”

The desertion of Aslan, who was a fortress commander, was known a little late. His subordinates, who were afraid of being punished for their superior’s sudden desertion, hid it until it was later discovered by an inspector. According to the Symphonia Kingdom’s military regulations, desertion was punishable by death, whether it was wartime or not.

“But if I hadn’t deserted, I would have been dragged to the Holy Empire, tortured, and then executed.”

“Hmph, if we were going to execute you because of the Holy Empire’s rebellion, we would have captured you and handed you over a long time ago. Do you think we really didn’t know about your identity?”

When the Milton Kingdom was taken over, Rakan’s retainers first identified the personal details of the major nobles. Of course, they also knew about Aslan. Who he was and how he received the title of the Milton Kingdom.

“Not only us, but the Holy Empire also knew that you were alive. Even so, they did not ask for your custody. What do you think is the reason?”

“……”

Aslan closed his mouth at Rogers’s harsh question. He could not think of an answer. Rogers stood up and approached him, saying.

“It’s because His Holiness the Pope had no intention of bringing up a rebellion that was already over. She thought that it was more urgent to save even one more sick and impoverished citizen than to do such a thing.”

The same was true for Luke. If Aslan had the potential to harbor rebellious intentions or cause trouble, it would have been different, but if not, there was no reason to cause unnecessary noise at a time when they had to appease and embrace the nobles of the Milton Kingdom.

“But you got scared and ran away.”

“From my point of view, I had no choice but to….”

Rogers cut off Aslan’s excuse firmly.

“Did you get wanted while you were running away? Was there any talk of a bounty on your head? As I said before, if we wanted to catch you, we could have caught you at any time.”

At Rogers’s words, Aslan sighed deeply. ‘Hoo, I was foolish.’ Even though he was in a remote frontier village, he was not completely ignorant of outside information. He had heard from merchants and travelers passing through the village about what kind of rule Luke and Veronica III were implementing. He had just been scared and had closed his heart and mind. Only then did he realize his foolishness, and he knelt down with a regretful face and said.

“I will gladly accept the consequences of the unforgivable crime of desertion. Who can I blame for my foolishness in not recognizing His Majesty’s deep generosity and Her Holiness the Pope’s mercy?”

Marquis Rogers, who had been staring down at Aslan, who was belatedly admitting his mistake, drew his sword.

Swish.

A clear and distinct sound rang in his ears. Aslan, who had already resigned himself to death, closed his eyes tightly.

Swoosh!

Aslan’s body flinched at the sharp sound of the air being cut. But what was cut was not his neck, but the rope that was binding his body.

“Wh, why…?”

Rogers, who had sheathed his sword, said to Aslan, who had a puzzled expression.

“We are in a state of war right now. There is no time to dwell on things that have already passed.”

“Th, then….”

“Since we are also responsible for not informing you in advance, we will end it by stripping you of your title and demoting you. I will give you command of a company of engineers, so try to make up for your mistakes by achieving merits.”

Aslan, who had been stunned for a moment by the unexpected proposal, stood up and gave a respectful salute to Rogers.

“Thank you, Commander-in-Chief.”

“Give your thanks to His Majesty, not me.”

Rogers wrote out a letter of appointment for the commander of the engineer company and sent Aslan out. Thus, Aslan de Perrier, who had been missing, once again revealed his name to the continent.

3

In the northwest of the Symphonia Kingdom, several fortresses, including Berangere Castle, were built to defend against monsters.

However, Berangere Castle was undoubtedly the central point, and naturally, it was also where the largest monster hordes would gather.

Aslan, now an engineering officer, followed orders and dug trenches in the plains west of Berangere Castle, burying oil and gunpowder.

Initially, he followed instructions, but upon seeing the vast plains filled with oil and gunpowder, and even mages setting up fire magic circles, he couldn’t help but look perplexed.

‘This isn’t right…’

Just by observing the work, he could deduce the nature of the Storm Break operation, ordered by the King.

However, he believed this operation shouldn’t proceed as planned.

Having made that judgment, Aslan went to see Baron Tart, the commander of the 1st Engineering Brigade.

“What? You’re saying we shouldn’t proceed with the work as it is?”

“Yes, it seems the plan is to lure the monster horde into the plains and then use fire attacks, but these plains are not suitable for fire attacks.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? What do you know about such things!”

Tart frowned and roared. He was already under pressure from his superiors to finish the work quickly, and now one of his subordinates was talking nonsense, so his reaction was understandable.

“It seems you’re acting up because you were a fortress commander in the past, but don’t interfere and just do as you’re told!”

Whether Aslan was a count in the past or not, it didn’t matter. His current superior was clearly himself, and in the military, disobeying a superior’s orders could be punished by military law.

“But if we do this, our own troops and the people could suffer serious damage!”

“You still dare! I forgave you for deserting as a commander, and now you’re trying to disobey orders?”

“That’s not it…”

Aslan was about to correct Tart’s misunderstanding when Marquis Rogers and high-ranking commanders entered the tent.

They had come to check on the progress of the installation work, which was central to the Storm Break operation, and had stumbled upon the commotion.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing, Your Excellency. This one is acting out of line…”

“If my ears aren’t deceiving me, I heard something about our troops suffering damage?”

While Baron Tart hesitated, Aslan approached Marquis Rogers and urgently reported.

“Your Excellency, we must not use fire attacks on the plains west of the fortress. If we do, Berangere Castle itself could be engulfed in flames.”

“Th, this insolent fool!”

Baron Tart’s face flushed with embarrassment and anger.

For a mere officer to ignore his superior commander and report directly to the commander-in-chief!

He was about to raise his voice, but Marquis Rogers raised his hand to stop him.

“Is that true? That Berangere Castle could be damaged?”

“Yes, considering the monster horde’s marching speed, they will arrive here in a week. But around that time, strong northwesterly winds will blow in this area. The flames on the plains will instead engulf the castle.”

At Aslan’s explanation, Rogers asked with a startled expression.

“Is it true that northwesterly winds will blow?”

“I’ve lived in this area for years, so I know it well. If you don’t believe me, call the locals and ask them.”

At Aslan’s words, Rogers gathered elderly people who had lived in the area for a long time and confirmed that it was indeed true.

“This is terrible! If this is the case, we can’t carry out the operation!”

The Storm Break operation had been secretly underway for two months.

After learning that Arsen had taken over Shaikhan’s body, Luke thought that the Livia Kingdom might send a monster horde to invade at any time.

At his strong insistence, Rogers hastily established a defense operation, and the solution was fire attacks.

The operation was named Storm Break, meaning to defeat the storm-like monster horde with fire.

They had gathered the gunpowder and oil needed for the operation, and mages were mobilized from all the magic towers in the kingdom to set up the fire magic circles.

“We worked so hard… and it was all for nothing!”

If the deadline hadn’t been so tight, they could have fully grasped the wind direction in this area, but it was regrettable.

“Your Excellency, what should we do?”

“If we proceed with the operation as it is, we must evacuate the people who have taken refuge in Berangere Castle first.”

The staff officers and the 1st Army commanders were making a fuss, but it wasn’t easy to evacuate the tens of thousands of refugees who had already gathered.

Moreover, even at this moment, refugees from nearby areas were flocking to Berangere Castle.

“Bring Aslan de Perrier here immediately.”

With time running out and no suitable solution coming to mind, Marquis Rogers summoned Aslan.

Since he had pointed out the problems with the operation, he might also know a way to overcome them.

Called into the war room, Aslan looked at the map and said.

“I repeat, the plains in front of the castle are not suitable. In my personal opinion, we must finish them off before the monster horde enters the plains.”

“You mean in the mountainous area to the northwest?”

Rogers asked, pointing to a spot on the map.

“Yes, the enemy is probably passing through that area right now. Since there are over 100,000 monsters, they won’t be able to pass through at once. So, we need to send troops to each pass to hold them back.”

“You want to fight in the mountains? The terrain there is too narrow for Gigants [large humanoid war machines] to maneuver.”

The reason Luke and Rogers had chosen the plains as the operation site was because they could deploy a large number of Gigants.

The plan was to inflict a fatal blow on the enemy with fire attacks and then have the Gigant corps charge in to finish them off.

“It’s difficult for the enemy to maneuver as well. If the terrain is narrow, it will be hard to take advantage of their numerical superiority. If it’s a defensive battle, we can block the passes with just 3 or 4 Gigants and hold out for a long time.”

“That’s true, but if the enemy isn’t stupid, they’ll find a detour.”

If it were just a simple monster horde, they would just try to break through recklessly.

However, the Livia Kingdom’s monster horde was not just a simple monster horde.

Among them, there would be mages controlling the monsters and humans acting as the brains.

“Before they find a detour, we’ll make the first move with a separate unit. We’ll select soldiers skilled in guerrilla warfare in the mountains to strike their flanks. If we repeat these hit-and-run tactics, they’ll try to eliminate the guerrilla unit first to avoid being caught from behind.”

“So, you’re saying we should use the guerrilla unit as bait. And while they’re held back, we’ll lure them into a trap and annihilate them?”

“That’s right, Commander-in-Chief.”

Rogers carefully examined the mountainous area to the northwest marked on the map.

There wasn’t a large enough area to lure 100,000 at once, but there were several places where they could be lured in a dispersed manner.

“I’ll take care of stopping and luring the enemy. You, along with the other engineering units, set up traps here, here… and in these four places.”

“Understood.”

“Time is short, so let’s hurry.”

By order of the commander-in-chief, the work on the plains was completely canceled.

The Symphonia Kingdom army, eager to achieve victory in the little time remaining, began to move busily.

4

The Blood Hawk Knights headquarters, located on the outskirts of the royal capital, Brenden.

In the newly built barracks, there were about twenty dormitories, armories, and training grounds.

Clang! Kaang! Kang—!

In the 3rd training ground, two people were sparring while dozens of knights watched.

It was a duel between a knight from the Southern Continent with black hair and black eyes and a knight wearing armor with the Symphonia Kingdom’s 1st Army emblem on his chest.

The knight from the Southern Continent, wearing light armor, used swift movements and flashy quick sword techniques.

In contrast, the 1st Army knight, armed with a two-handed sword in plate armor, countered with slow but destructive swordsmanship.

“Cloud Dragon Sword, 3rd Form: Falling Leaves in Autumn!”

As a desert whirlwind-like energy emanated from the Southern Continent knight’s sword, the heavily armored knight raised his two-handed sword to create an iron wall.

“Hmph, not a chance! Tower Sword!”

The moment the sword energy and aura shields created by the two collided, a series of loud explosions erupted.

Kwaang! Kwang!

This sparring match was an exchange between the Blood Hawk Knights and the Lakan Knights of the 1st Army, held once a week.

It had started as a way to promote camaraderie between the knight orders, but as the pride of both sides became involved, the sparring became quite fierce.

The fight, which had been evenly matched for about 10 minutes, ended with the victory of the Southern Continent knight.

“Ugh! We lost again!”

“Hahaha, does that make it 5 to 2? As expected, our individual combat skills are superior!”

Kyo-chon, who had watched his comrade’s performance, looked smugly at the Lakan Knight next to him.

Kyo-chon was one of the few people in the Blood Hawk Knights who was fluent in the Rhodisian language, and he had a sociable personality and excellent rapport.

He not only made acquaintances with the Lakan Knights who came to observe but also tried to flirt with the female knights.

Kyo-chon, who was showing such outstanding adaptability, had arrived in the Symphonia Kingdom a month ago with other warriors from the Southern Continent and was reorganized into a regular knight order.

They were officially given the name ‘Blood Hawk Knights,’ received armor and weapons with the red hawk emblem, and began training according to their duties and organization.

They had not yet received Gigants, so they did not receive Gigant rider training, but they excelled in physical training and swordsmanship training, surpassing most Symphonia Kingdom knights.

This was because they all had considerable experience in the martial world [a world of martial arts and cultivation].

“Hmph, but we are overwhelmingly dominant in group battles, with 4 wins out of 4.”

“Ugh, that’s…”

At the rebuttal of a Lakan Knight named Fabre, Kyo-chon’s face, which had been smug, contorted.

What he said was correct.

Even in the martial world, there were combined formations like the Wudang’s Seven Star Sword Formation and the Shaolin’s 108 Arhat Formation.

However, the Blood Hawk Knights, who were mostly from small and medium-sized sects or were ronin [masterless samurai], had no opportunity to learn such combined formations.

That was why they always lost in group battles.

No matter what, the knights of the Northern Continent had trained together for a long time, coordinating their movements, and had learned formations like the Great Formation as a must.

Kyo-chon, who had been teasing Fabre, suddenly looked around and asked.

“But the number of Lakan Knights who came today is less than before, is something wrong?”

“Well… a mobilization order was issued to the 1st Army recently.”

“Mobilization? Has a war broken out?”

Kyo-chon asked in surprise.

It wasn’t that the Blood Hawk Knights were completely unaware of the current situation.

They had been educated about the political situation and culture of the Rhodisian continent in between training sessions.

As a result, they had heard that the Grenada Kingdom was building a large fleet to invade Symphonia.

But it seemed that wasn’t the only problem.

“Shhh, this is a secret, just for you. A large number of monsters have appeared in the west of the kingdom, causing a huge uproar. It seems that the 2nd Army and the Unicorn Knights in the west are not enough to defend, so a significant number of the 1st Army have gone to support them.”

“Really? Then maybe we should be mobilized too?”

“Well, if His Majesty or the higher-ups decide, we’ll be mobilized.”

At Fabre’s words, Kyo-chon sighed softly.

It was the life of a warrior to live and die by the sword, but to come to a strange continent and be thrown into war right away.

“At this rate, I’ll die without even rebuilding my sect or getting married.”

“If you don’t want that to happen, train harder.”

Just as the two were talking, it happened.

Ding ding ding ding!

The bell hanging on the watchtower of the unit began to ring violently.

“Wh, what is this…?”

“It’s the unit assembly signal! Stop today’s sparring and gather at the parade ground!”

At the senior knight’s shout, the sparring was immediately stopped.

The Lakan Knights immediately returned to their camps, and the Blood Hawk Knights stopped what they were doing and gathered at the parade ground.

When all the members had gathered, Hwang Bo-sung appeared on the platform.

The commander of the Royal Guard Knights, he was currently also temporarily serving as the commander of the Blood Hawk Knights.

“Has the mobilization order finally been issued?”

Kwak In-hyuk, the vice-commander who was standing at the front, stepped forward and asked at Hwang Bo-sung’s appearance.

A master of the Iron Sand Palm from a small and medium-sized sect called Daeho-mun, he was a fist master like Hwang Bo-sung.

“That’s right. It is said that the pirates of Grenada have finally set sail.”

“Then we can’t avoid a war.”

Having said that, Kwak In-hyuk asked as if he was suddenly curious.

“But I heard that monsters are appearing like clouds in the west, posing a threat. Are we not going to be dispatched there?”

“No, we are going south. According to His Majesty, we will be given a special mission in the naval battle.”

If the King, a being stronger than the Red Dragon King, had said so, there must be a reason.

Hwang Bo-sung, who had paused for a moment, glanced at his subordinates and gave an order.

“Prepare for departure within an hour and gather again at the parade ground. Since this is our first deployment, make sure there are no shortcomings in your preparations. Understood?”

“Yes!”

The knights, who had saluted in unison, scattered to prepare for departure.

‘Heh, it seems like it’s going to be an interesting operation!’

Hwang Bo-sung smiled.

He had heard from Luke through magical communication about the operation that the Blood Hawk Knights would be in charge of this time.

Grenada and the Symphonia Kingdom had a huge difference in naval power, with a ratio of more than 5 to 1.

To overcome this disadvantage, Luke had made several preparations.

The operation that the Blood Hawks would be in charge of was also part of that.

Hwang Bo-sung had never heard of such an operation before, but he had no doubt that his skilled subordinates would be able to succeed.