Emperor Of Steel [EN]: Chapter 193

5. Crisis of the Alliance

Having saved the Volga Republic from crisis, Luke and his group immediately moved to the Duchy of Navarre.

The Duchy of Navarre, which had taken refuge in the Beron Mountains, was fiercely fighting against the undead army, relying on the rugged terrain. However, the construction of the super-large amplification magic circle was not progressing at all.

This was because, as a small country, their magical engineering technology was lagging, and they had few excellent mages above the 7th circle. Moreover, they lacked Gigantes [large magical constructs] to use as super-large magic stones.

“Couldn’t Symphonia or the Holy Empire provide support?” King Henri III asked, bowing deeply, causing Luke to sigh inwardly.

In fact, the Duchy of Navarre did not lack Gigantes compared to the size of the country. The problem was that they had mobilized more Gigantes than necessary to join the Continental Alliance and attack the Baroque Empire.

They did so with the intention of receiving a larger share of the Baroque Empire’s territory after the war, but as a result, they lacked the forces to defend their own country.

‘Even in this situation, they haven’t recalled the Gigante units they dispatched…’

King Henri III claimed it was difficult to bring them back in a hurry, but it felt like an excuse.

Still, Luke tried to think positively. If he thought King Henri III was the same as James II of the Kingdom of Castia, he would lose the will to maintain the Continental Alliance.

In any case, Luke supported the construction of the super-large amplification magic circle with the necessary manpower and materials, while also thoroughly monitoring the Duchy of Navarre. This was to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Castian army, which had misused the amplification magic circle.

However, the Navarre army did not show any suspicious movements and obediently followed Luke’s group’s control. Thanks to this, the purification work proceeded without any major issues.

The million-strong undead army that had invaded the Duchy of Navarre was freed from the curse and returned to being human.

“Thank you, Your Holiness! And Your Majesty Luke, I will never forget this grace,” King Henri III said, bowing his head deeply to Luke and Reina, who had saved his country from the brink of disaster, expressing his gratitude.

However, it seemed that was not the end of it, as he sighed deeply and began to speak. “Thanks to you two, we have overcome a major crisis, but when I try to deal with the aftermath of the war, I feel dizzy. Moreover, how can we feed the million Livia refugees who have returned to being human…”

As he said this, King Henri III rubbed his hands together and looked at Luke and Reina with a humble expression. Luke’s brow furrowed deeply at his blatant request for support.

‘This guy is a complete weasel. But is he better than that Castian king?’

They were both trying not to lose out, but at least he seemed to have the intention to save people. Moreover, it was not easy for the ruler of a country to continue to show such a humble appearance.

“I will see what I can do to support Navarre,” Reina said, accepting King Henri III’s request first. Luke nodded in agreement.

“I will have the support supplies and food sent from the Kingdom of Irea to Navarre. However, if I hear that the aid supplies have been used improperly, I will not let it go easily.”

“T-That will never happen,” King Henri III answered, sweating profusely, at Luke’s chilling gaze. Luke’s gaze, which was beyond cold and downright eerie, was at a level that would not be out of place for a demon king.

After resolving the crises of the allied nations, with Navarre being the last, Luke headed to the Holy Empire, not Symphonia. This was to have a rest and some quality time with Reina, who was exhausted from continuously using her spirit power, and Karen, who had been busy directing the construction of the super-large amplification magic circle and antenna.

“I plan to stay here for about a week,” Luke said upon arriving at the Holy Palace. His words made Reina’s eyes sparkle.

“Does that mean you will be with me for a week?”

“Yes. We are husband and wife, but we haven’t spent much time together due to our own circumstances. I would like to rest and go on dates this time.”

“Hehehe, I’d love to,” Reina’s face lit up. Honestly, wouldn’t she also want to spend some quality time with Luke? However, she had been content with meeting him occasionally due to the situation on the continent and their own circumstances.

Moreover, recently, the number of women craving her husband’s love had increased. She had decided to concede to some extent for the prosperity of the Symphonia royal family, but she was still inwardly concerned. But now that she had time to spend with her partner, she couldn’t help but smile brightly.

“Mom, are you that happy because you can go on a date with Dad?” Karen, who was next to her, asked teasingly.

“Of course, I’m very happy. Karen, when you grow up and have someone you love, you’ll understand how your mother feels.”

‘Tch, I’m all grown up,’ Karen pouted inwardly at her mother’s words, who still thought of her as a child. However….

‘Come to think of it, I’ve never been in a relationship.’ In the lost future timeline, she had only fought against the Lich King’s army as the last hope of the world, and had no time to think about anything else. Of course, there were men among the resistance forces who liked her. However, she was not attracted to them, so she couldn’t have been moved by them.

In any case, Karen decided to leave her parents to their quality time. “I’ll excuse myself now.”

“There’s no need to get up so soon…”

“I’m going to look for someone I love so I can understand my mother’s feelings.”

Luke, who had become a doting father, jumped up at Karen’s playful words. “You don’t need to look for that! It’s not too late to do it after you turn twenty!”

‘Dad is so… is it because of what happened in Volga?’

The day before Luke left the Volga Republic for the Duchy of Navarre, President Vladimir, who had come to see them off with his family, said with a hint of regret, “Is that young lady the princess of the Holy Empire? She seems to be about the same age as my youngest son… What do you think, Your Holiness? If things go well, the two of them could be a good match?”

Reina politely refused the half-joking proposal for a political marriage. She said that marriage was best when it was between people who were compatible. If Reina had not refused, and if President Vladimir had not read the room and continued to insist, the Volga Republic might have been destroyed by Luke that day.

“Anyway, have a good time, you two,” Karen said as she left the room with her maids. Only the two of them remained in the spacious living room. The rest of the group, including Erewin, were staying in a separate palace, so there was no chance of being disturbed.

“It’s suddenly become quiet,” Luke said.

“Hehehe, it’s been noisy here and there for a while, so I think it’s okay to enjoy this quiet atmosphere?” Reina replied.

Just as Luke was about to make a gesture towards Reina, something happened.

Woo-oong! Woo-oong!

Suddenly, the communication crystal ball in Luke’s pocket began to vibrate wildly. “Who is it? There shouldn’t be anyone sending a magic communication at this time?”

The undead crisis had passed its peak. Although there were still a few small groups of undead that had not been lured, each country could handle them on their own. The Kingdom of Livia was also just a shell of its former self, with more than half of its citizens turned into zombies.

Rather than provoking them, if they just gathered the allied forces and attacked, they could easily defeat Arsen and the remnants of the Veritas Magic Tower.

Luke tilted his head and received the magic communication. When he injected magic power into the communication device, the face of the sender appeared. The one who had sent the magic communication was Grand Duke Gregory.

– Your Majesty, I apologize for interrupting your rest, but I am contacting you because a strange report has come from the Imperial Capital Defense Command.

“A strange report?” Luke asked.

– Yes. An hour ago, a patrol unit captured a dying demon near Bless. But that demon claimed to be a subordinate of Your Majesty Luke of Symphonia.

“What? He said he was my subordinate?” Gregory nodded at Luke’s surprised question.

– It is strange that he possesses divine power despite being a demon, so I have ordered him to be imprisoned in the underground prison of the command. What do you think? Would you like to come and see him?

It was possible that some audacious demon was using his name, but it was also possible that it was not. He had demon subordinates like Sebastian and Belfar. ‘If he possesses divine power, it’s highly likely to be Belfar. If that guy came to Bless looking for me…’

Luke decided to meet the demon imprisoned in the dungeon first. Reina, who had been looking forward to some quality time, looked disappointed. “Can’t you just see him tomorrow?”

Luke was slightly conflicted by her affectionate look, but he decided to meet the demon first. “I’ll go just in case. I’ll be back soon, so don’t be too upset,” Luke said, comforting Reina and calling a servant to head to the Imperial Capital Defense Command.

“M-Master….”

A faint voice. Luke looked through the bars to see the owner of the voice, which had no strength at all. A demon with tattered bat wings was sprawled on a hard stone bed.

“So it was you,” Luke said. The identity of the dying demon was Belfar. Fortunately, it was not an impersonation, but the problem was his condition.

Belfar, with his vampire traits and swordsmanship that had reached the intermediate level of Sword Master, would not lose to any ordinary strongman. Even if he encountered a Sword Sage or an 8th circle Archmage, he would be able to escape safely. But his body was in such a mess!

Luke frowned and began to heal Belfar’s body. If he was left as he was, he would likely die. Whoo-oong!

Black magic power flowed from Luke’s fingertips and was absorbed into Belfar’s body. However, surprisingly, the magic power did not easily heal Belfar. Rather, when he converted it into divine power, the speed of his body’s regeneration and recovery increased.

“You’ve become quite the oddity, Belfar,” Luke said.

“It’s all thanks to you, Master,” Belfar replied. Belfar had learned the Silver Sword at Luke’s insistence, and in the process, he had acquired divine power. The process of obtaining divine power was extremely painful, but thanks to it, he was able to freely enter and leave the temple despite being a demon. In addition, he had achieved the feat of assassinating Meister Albert of the Veritas Magic Tower.

‘And this time, I barely survived thanks to that,’ Belfar inwardly expressed relief. Luke asked a question. “What the hell happened?”

Belfar sighed deeply and began to explain. “Hoo, as you instructed, while searching for Arsen’s undead creation base, I discovered a significant amount of jewels and gold bars being circulated in the black market of the Kingdom of Livia and began to track them.”

He told the facts he had learned so far one by one.

and that some merchants in the black market were kidnapped and interrogated, and that the jewels were engraved with the crest of the long-lost Cretan royal family.

‘And wouldn’t you know it, the island of Crete I went to had a high-ranking demon guarding the temple all alone?’

‘What? A high-ranking demon was there?’

‘Yes, it was the Archduke Bargosa, who was known to have disappeared from the demon realm long ago.’

As far as Luke knew, there were five ranks in the hierarchy of the demons, where the strong preyed on the weak.

They were the Demon King, Archduke, High-ranking Demon, Mid-ranking Demon, and Low-ranking Demon.

Among them, the Archdukes, the highest-ranking demons, were the strongest after the seven Demon Kings who ruled the demon realm, and there were no more than ten of them in the entire demon realm.

They usually served as the closest aides to the Demon Kings, holding key positions such as strategists or commanders of the guard.

But such an Archduke was in the middle realm? And guarding a temple alone?

‘Could Arsen have summoned him?’

The thought suddenly occurred to him.

Long ago, due to an agreement between the gods, demons could not manifest in the middle realm without a contractor.

That meant someone had made a contract with him and summoned him, but who would be the black magician capable of making a contract with someone of his high standing in the demon realm?

Of course, it could only be the Lich King Arsen.

‘So, what happened?’

‘I tried to watch without being noticed as much as possible, but I couldn’t fool the senses of a high-ranking demon. In the end, I had to run for my life.’

No matter how much Belfar had improved with divine power and the swordsmanship he had learned from Luke, he could not win against an Archduke.

Even though he ran away as soon as he was discovered, he was hit by a dark lightning bolt from Archduke Bargosa and fell into the sea.

‘If it had been me before I met my lord, I would have been reduced to ashes. But the divine power in my body somewhat offset Bargosa’s demonic energy, so I only suffered a critical injury.’

‘You’ve been through a lot. From now on, I’ll take care of it, so you rest here and recover.’

As Luke came out of the prison after finishing his conversation with Belfar, Grand Duke Gregory immediately appeared.

Luke, who had already noticed that he was listening to the conversation outside the prison, was not greatly surprised.

Gregory pointed inside the prison and said,

‘You have a very peculiar subordinate.’

‘I think it’s a good example to promote the greatness of God.’

‘A repentant demon… it’s certainly unprecedented.’

He smiled faintly, then asked with a serious expression.

‘Are you thinking of going to the island of Crete?’

‘I think I have to.’

It was unexpected that the clue related to Arsen came from the island of Crete, located on the opposite side of the continent, not the Kingdom of Livia.

But he couldn’t not go.

It was suspicious that a high-ranking demon was on the island of Crete, which was known as a forbidden area, and his relationship with Arsen was also quite suspicious.

If that demon was indeed summoned by Arsen, there was a high possibility that the undead creation base was on the island of Crete.

‘No, even if it’s not an undead creation base, there might be something very important related to the Veritas Magic Tower or Arsen.’

As Luke showed a determined expression, Grand Duke Gregory said with a bitter look.

‘His Holiness will be quite disappointed.’

‘But there’s nothing I can do. This might be an urgent matter.’

He didn’t know what kind of conspiracy Arsen or the high-ranking demon might be plotting.

But he couldn’t take Reina with him either.

She had consumed a considerable amount of stamina and ether while purifying the undead army.

It would take more than a month of proper rest to replenish the amount she had consumed.

‘You’ve changed a lot, Grand Duke. You used to be so displeased with me and Reina being together.’

‘Of course, I was…’

Gregory, who gave a sheepish smile at Luke’s reproach, continued.

‘His Holiness seems very happy when she’s with Your Majesty. Because of her position and prestige as the Pope of the Holy Empire, I wondered if it was right to keep interfering with the two of you.’

‘Are you saying that you now value Reina’s personal happiness more than the prestige of the nation?’

‘I never thought I would say this… but it seems I’ve come to regard His Holiness not just as my lord, but as family, like my own daughter.’

‘Is that so?’

In fact, there had been signs of that before.

He reacted particularly sensitively to matters related to Reina, and he had nagged like a bride’s father at the secret wedding.

Anyway, now that he knew it wasn’t out of malice, but for Reina’s sake, Luke felt the resentment he had towards Grand Duke Gregory slowly fading away.

‘So, what I’m saying is, I’ll accompany you when you go to the island of Crete.’

‘You, Grand Duke?’

At Luke’s question, Gregory nodded and replied.

‘The opponent is a high-ranking demon. If it’s an Archduke, he’ll be skilled in both power and strategy, so Your Majesty might be overwhelmed alone. But I don’t think Your Majesty would take His Holiness or Princess with you.’

‘Of course not.’

‘That’s why I’m saying I’ll go with you. Besides, as the head of the Holy Empire’s Undying Knights, I can’t just leave a demon operating in the middle realm alone.’

If the Pope represents God as the head of the church, the commander of the Undying Knights is tasked with eliminating evil that disturbs the world, such as black magicians.

At Gregory’s words, Luke was slightly troubled.

In fact, he had planned to go alone.

If he met a high-ranking demon, there would definitely be a battle, and unless someone was exceptionally strong, they wouldn’t be of much help.

But after hearing Gregory’s story, he changed his mind.

He knew almost nothing about the Archduke Bargosa, and as the Grand Duke said, there was a possibility of falling into a trap.

If he was a step away from being a Sword Emperor, he would definitely be of help.

‘And Bellic of the Firestorm is also in Bless right now. He will also be a good asset.’

‘Bellic… that man has a lot of complaints about me, I don’t know if he’ll agree.’

Bellic, who had previously served as the vice-commander of the Volgar Royal Guard.

He had bad feelings about the Volgar Republic, especially Duke Dimitri, who was his rival.

So, he disliked that Luke had included the Volgar Republic in the Continental Alliance, and he did not participate in the last expedition to the Baroque Empire, using the excuse of being ill.

But because Reina was favorable to the Volgar Republic, he couldn’t openly object.

Instead, he was venting his frustration by training the Red Wolf Knights and the Undying Knights, going back and forth between the Alberville Territory and Bless.

As a result, the young knights of the two knight orders were dying every day.

‘Whether Bellic accepts or not, we need to move quickly. If they find out that we’ve noticed something, they might go into hiding.’

‘Indeed, just the fact that Your Majesty’s subordinate went there might make them try to take countermeasures… we need to move quickly.’

However, Luke’s trip to Crete did not happen.

The next morning, very surprising news was delivered.

‘Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Last night, the port city of Carthage in the Kingdom of Castia was engulfed in flames!’

‘What!’

Luke, who was having breakfast with Reina and the others, was startled and got up from his seat.

‘Explain in detail.’

Luke, who had put down his knife and fork, ordered the messenger to explain in detail.

The messenger explained in detail what he had just received.

‘Huh! The city of Carthage was attacked by unidentified assailants last night and was annihilated…!’

Carthage was the second largest city and economic center of the Kingdom of Castia.

It was hard to believe that such a large city had been annihilated in less than a few hours.

‘Dad, if it’s Carthage, there should have been quite a few Gigantes [large, powerful warriors] and soldiers stationed there, right?’

At Karen’s question, Luke nodded and replied.

‘That’s right. Was there any mention of who the culprit was?’

‘The Castia royal family has urgently dispatched an investigation team, but there has been no word of identifying or discovering the culprits yet.’

‘Hmm… who on earth?’

After overcoming the great crisis of the undead, another problem had arisen!

Luke, who had been lost in thought for a moment, thought of a likely suspect.

‘It’s highly likely to be Arsen. But did that guy have that much power?’

The Castia royal family had not identified the culprit.

In other words, it meant that Carthage was attacked so quickly that it could not even notify the outside or request rescue.

There were hundreds of thousands of citizens in the city and at least ten thousand garrison troops, which was hard to understand.

‘Even when Arsen attacked Enverie, the gateway city in front of the capital, it wasn’t this bad.’

Then, he might have become stronger than before, or he might have other powerful forces.

Thinking this way, what came to Luke’s mind was the high-ranking undead that Arsen was known to be creating, and the Archduke Bargosa that Belfar had seen.

With that level of power, it was understandable that Carthage was annihilated in an instant.

‘Is there no contact from the Castia royal family?’

‘No, there isn’t. This news was also sent by our intelligence agent.’

At the messenger’s answer, Luke frowned.

He had a falling out with James II because of the last time they annihilated the undead army.

But it was not understandable that they did not contact their allies when such a major disaster had occurred in their country.

It might be because of pride, but in this situation, it was irrational for Luke to think that they were asserting such pride.

Luke shook his head and took out a crystal ball to send a magical communication to the Castia royal family.

Even though he was sending a signal, there was no response from the other side.

It seemed like they were deliberately not answering.

‘You stupid bastard!’

Luke, who was inwardly cursing James II, turned to Reina, who had been looking at him since a while ago, and said.

‘It seems I have to go to Castia.’

‘Huu, why now of all times…’

Reina sighed with a look of regret.

She really thought they could spend some time together peacefully, but she never thought something like this would happen.

‘Please be careful, I have a bad feeling about this.’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll be back safe.’

Luke reassured Reina and looked at Karen and said.

‘Protect your mother for me.’

Karen, who had secretly wanted to follow her father, gave up at Luke’s words.

Normally, she might have, but now her mother had consumed a lot of ether and mental energy while fighting the undead army.

Erewin and the two princesses also wanted to follow, but of course, they were rejected.

An hour later, Luke set off for the Kingdom of Castia with only Grand Duke Gregory and Bellic.

The Kingdom of Castia is located in the southeastern part of the Rodisia continent.

It was a transportation hub, bordering the kingdoms of Irea and Symphonia to the west, the Holy Artenia Empire to the north, and the Kingdom of Grenada across the sea to the south.

Perhaps because of this, maritime trade and entrepot trade had been developed since ancient times, and with the money earned, they had developed various commercial and industrial businesses, making them quite wealthy.

As wealthy as they were, their military power was also strong, and they had a history of repeatedly repelling the invasions of the Baroque Empire in the past.

Saragossa, the capital of Castia, was a very prosperous place, befitting the place where the wealth of the kingdom gathered.

The population was large, nearing one million, and the entertainment districts and red-light areas were ablaze with light until late at night.

But tonight, the royal capital’s nightscape was burning brighter and hotter than usual.

“Kuaaaak!”

“Keeek!”

“S-Save me!”

The city, which had been enjoying dazzling prosperity, had become a scene of utter chaos.

Screams, groans, and cries erupted from every corner of the streets, where boisterous songs and laughter had once flowed.

“Monsters! Run away!”

“What the hell is the army doing!”

Death Knights swept through like the wind, swinging their swords mercilessly.

Some, larger than Gigants [large humanoid war machines], were collapsing city walls and buildings, crushing people like ants.

Those who were cut down by swords or trampled to death were relatively fortunate.

Those turned into undead by the liches’ dark magic were forced to attack their families and relatives until their bodies were destroyed, unable to find rest.

Livestock and beasts were no exception.

It was as if they were trying to eliminate all living things.

“Your Majesty, the inner walls have been breached!”

“We’ve lost contact with the troops guarding the residential area south of the Denube River!”

“The Fisher Legion is requesting a retreat!”

Castia Royal Palace.

King James II was overwhelmed by the reports coming from all directions.

Every single one of them was unbelievable and grim.

“Who the hell is attacking us?!” he exclaimed, jumping up and addressing his ministers.

The first report that the royal capital, Saragossa, was under attack had come two hours ago.

Even though the incident of Carthage being attacked and annihilated by unidentified enemies had occurred, he had been holding a meeting with his officials until late at night instead of enjoying time with his concubines.

When he heard that the royal capital was under attack, he immediately sent the royal capital defense forces while also ordering the central army in the surrounding areas to mobilize.

He thought that this much force would be enough to defeat any audacious enemy.

There were over 200 Gigants, two Sword Masters [elite swordsmen], and a magic squad led by an 8th Circle Meister [a high-ranking mage] of the Royal Magic Tower in the royal capital alone.

However, the situation turned out to be the complete opposite of what he had expected.

There was no response from the central army deployed near the royal capital.

Even if they couldn’t contact them, they should have come immediately upon seeing the flames in the royal capital, but the fact that there was no news meant they had probably already been defeated by the enemy.

Moreover, the royal capital defense forces were attacked before they could even properly take their positions and were quickly annihilated.

The force of over 200 Gigants was crushed by the giant Death Knights or turned into scrap metal after being bombarded by meteor strikes from the sky.

The same was true for Count Romayer, the high-ranking Sword Master representing the Kingdom of Castia, and the Meister of the Royal Magic Tower, who were also easily defeated.

It was said that Count Romayer, the commander of the defense forces and the head of the Royal Knights, was cut in half before he could even exchange a few blows while riding a Gigant, showing how powerful the enemies were.

Romayer’s death dealt a great shock to the defense forces.

The morale of the defense forces plummeted, and they were reduced to a passive defense, collapsing like a sandcastle in the face of a wave.

The defense lines of the units dispatched to defend each district and the inner walls were also breached in an instant.

“What about the request for support from the allied nations?” James II asked.

At James II’s question, the court mage in charge of magical communication answered with a somber face.

“We have been trying to contact King Luke of Symphonia and other countries since a while ago, but we have not been able to establish communication with any of them. It seems the enemies are disrupting magical communication.”

“Tch! Damn it!” James II cursed.

If magical communication was not working, they could not inform the outside world of the situation here.

He had wondered why Carthage was annihilated without a single word, but now he thought he knew.

“If magical communication doesn’t work, shouldn’t we send messengers or carrier pigeons!” he exclaimed.

“We already sent them, but all of them…” the court mage trailed off, his voice heavy with dread.

James II felt like his soul was leaving his body at the court mage’s words.

Was what was happening really real? Was he having a terrible nightmare?

As he tried to escape from reality, the vice-commander of the Royal Knights approached him with an anxious face.

“Your Majesty, you must flee immediately.”

Currently, about 80 Gigants and the Royal Guard were gathered around the palace, but he judged that they would not be able to stop the enemy.

James II felt a great humiliation at the fact that he had to abandon the palace and run away.

But he had to survive to take revenge.

“Is there a way to escape?” he asked.

“A messenger reported that the teleport gate is still safe. We can get there through the palace’s secret passage.”

“I understand, evacuate immediately…” he began.

It was when James II was about to make a decision.

Kwaaaang—!

With a tremendous roar, the palace building began to shake as if there was an earthquake.

“W-What is it?!” the startled ministers asked in confusion.

A Royal Knight came in and shouted, “It’s a disaster! The Gigants and knights guarding the main gate of the palace have been annihilated by the enemy’s archmage’s wide-area attack magic!”

“What!” James II exclaimed in disbelief.

How powerful was the magic that 30 Gigants and 200 knights guarding the main gate were annihilated in one blow?

“Your Majesty, please follow me!” the vice-commander urged, almost carrying James II and heading down the secret passage.

The secret passage was connected to an underground waterway that brought water into the palace.

The underground waterway was connected to other waterways in the city, and by using them, they could reach the location of the teleport gate.

However, James II and his party had to stop before they even went 10 meters.

“This can’t be!” someone exclaimed.

The secret passage was completely collapsed, probably due to the enemy’s attack.

‘If I had known this would happen, I would have moved the teleport gate to the palace!’ James II thought with regret.

The teleport gate of Saragossa was near the Great Temple, not the palace.

This was because the previous king did not like teleport gates very much. He argued that they looked strange and that enemy countries could use them to send assassins.

The previous king, who was as much of a playboy as James II, moved the teleport gate near the Great Temple and built a separate palace for his concubines in its original place.

Ministers, including the court mage, raised issues about this, but the previous king and James II did not pay much attention.

They never thought that Saragossa would be attacked.

‘It’s my fault. I should have asked for help from the allied nations, from King Luke!’ he thought, filled with remorse.

He regretted distancing himself from Symphonia due to his uncomfortable relationship with Luke and his pride, but it was already too late.

“T-They’re enemies!” a Royal Knight cried urgently.

Everyone’s gaze turned behind them.

A group with ominous glints in their eyes was approaching.

There were less than 10 of them, but no one believed that they could defeat those Death Knights and liches.

“Hehehe!” A hollow laugh, as if foreshadowing his end, escaped from James II’s mouth.

On a hill overlooking the city of Saragossa.

There was a person standing with his robe fluttering in the night wind.

It was the Lich King, Arsen.

“Hehehe, kill and destroy everything! Whether it’s people or beasts, make sure nothing is alive in this city by tomorrow morning!” he commanded, his eyes flashing coldly as he chuckled.

As soon as Arsen finished the undead creation, he took a ship from the west coast of the Livia Kingdom to the Kingdom of Castia.

He wanted to find and kill his nemesis, Luke, whom he wanted to chew up and spit out.

However, there was an order to things.

Before killing him, he decided to eliminate his helpers first.

The first victim was the Kingdom of Castia, which belonged to the Continental Alliance.

Although there were no Sword Sages [legendary swordsmen] or famous mages, it was a country with abundant resources and advanced magical engineering, with two of the top ten magic towers.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Castia had also hidden Jehart, the incompetent descendant who had ruined Livia’s finances and bothered him.

That’s why he decided to attack it first.

“Master, we have slaughtered all the humans in the residential areas and the city,” one of the high-ranking liches reported in a mechanical voice.

“Good job. There are no survivors, right?” Arsen asked.

“Yes, we have spread zombies on the outskirts of the city, making escape impossible,” the lich replied.

“Hehehe, then only the royal palace remains,” Arsen said with a sinister chuckle.

In the very center of the city.

There was the Castia Royal Palace.

Currently, King James II and the Royal Guard, along with some of the central army who had succeeded in retreating, were gathered there and putting up resistance.

Although hundreds of Royal Knights and over 80 Gigants were resisting, relying on the palace building, it was only a matter of time before they were annihilated.

They couldn’t stop even one giant high-ranking Death Knight, and the Knight-class Gigants were being destroyed one after another.

It was natural that they couldn’t stop them. The combat power of a high-ranking Death Knight was close to that of a Sword Emperor [an extremely powerful swordsman].

Moreover, Count Romayer, the Sword Master that the Kingdom of Castia was proud of, and the Meister of the Royal Magic Tower had already been beheaded long ago.

“When the battle is over, withdraw all the undead. Don’t leave a single one behind. It’s still not good for Luke to know our identity,” Arsen ordered.

He didn’t want to reveal the identity of the enhanced undead army as much as possible until all of Luke’s helpers, his limbs, were eliminated.

After receiving the shocking news that an undead army of over 11 million had been purified in less than two months, he thought he should be even more careful.

‘I hate to admit it, but he has become that dangerous to me,’ Arsen thought grudgingly.

In the morning when the sun rose, the palace area finally became quiet.

All those who had resisted were annihilated.

Arsen, who had turned a city with a population of one million into ruins in one night, gave the order to withdraw.

No, he was about to give the order.

Piiiiiing!

A familiar magical wave was detected from the vicinity of the burning Great Temple in the distance.

It was the wave that occurred when teleportation magic was activated, and a sinister smile appeared on Arsen’s lips as he sensed the wave.

“Oh, it seems an uninvited guest has already arrived,” he said, his voice laced with anticipation.

It seemed that an unwanted guest would be arriving soon.

And the identity of that guest was likely someone he knew well.

‘I want to fight him right away, but it’s not the time yet,’ Arsen thought, suppressing his eagerness.