Emperor of Steel [EN]: Chapter 194

6. Pursuit and Counterattack

1

“Oh, my god… !”

Luke and his group, having arrived in Zaragoza through the teleport gate, were shocked. The great temple where the teleport gate was located, along with the entire royal capital, was engulfed in flames. Piles of burned and hacked corpses were scattered everywhere.

It was nearly impossible to find any living person, let alone an animal. The only sound was the crackling of burning buildings collapsing. All life was extinguished, and everything was destroyed.

The desolate and silent scene was so horrific that not only Luke but also Gregory and Belik, veterans of many battles, were deeply shaken.

“This is unbelievable… even the children…”

“How could such a thing happen?!”

Enraged by the devastation, the three hurried to the Castilian royal palace. However, the royal palace was no different. It appeared to have been bombarded with wide-area magic, with more than half of its walls and buildings destroyed. The bodies of nobles, royal knights, and palace servants were strewn about.

“There’s still warmth left. They haven’t been dead for long,” Luke noted, observing the scene.

Belik nodded in agreement. “There are also residual magical energies.”

“Magical energies? Then is this the work of a dark mage?”

“Without a doubt. As far as I know, only one person is skilled enough to cause such devastation.”

It was undoubtedly Arsen.

Traces of magical energy were being erased, but Luke’s black magic was at a higher level, making it impossible to conceal them from him. Another reason for Luke’s certainty was the other wave he felt alongside the magical energies—that of the Draconian, Shaikhan. Its presence hardened Luke’s expression.

‘It seems Arsen not only stole Shaikhan’s body but also gained the Draconian’s power,’ Luke thought. He could now understand how a kingdom’s capital could be destroyed so quickly.

Arsen likely blocked magical communications before attacking to prevent contact with the surrounding areas. He would have used the enhanced undead he created to attack, and indiscriminately destroyed everything with wide-area magic using the Draconian’s power.

‘But why attack Castile? Is it revenge for the undead army being stopped? But I was the one who actually stopped them, so why?’

The Castilian royal army did annihilate two million undead with fire attacks. However, Luke was the main force in purifying the undead that invaded the Duchy of Navarre, the Volga Republic, and the Kingdom of Symphonia. He had devised the super-large amplification magic circle and antenna and shared them with each country.

“Your Majesty, please come here,” Grand Duke Gregory called out, bringing Luke back to the present.

Gregory was inside a half-collapsed building. When Luke entered, he pointed to one side. A man with his arms spread wide was embedded in the wall. The man, whose eyes were gouged out and whose internal organs were removed, was King James II of Castile. His face, lying dead on the floor with all his blood spilled out, was terribly distorted. The fear and pain at the time of his death must have been immense.

‘To kill a king of a nation so brutally!’ Luke thought. No matter how much emotional conflict they had, the other party was the king of an allied nation. Luke couldn’t feel good about it.

“Your Majesty, it would be best to collect the body and bury it in a sunny place,” Gregory suggested.

“That’s right. We can’t let it burn or become food for animals…”

The three collected James II’s body and buried it in the great temple. They wished they could bury all the people of Zaragoza, but it was an impossible task for just the three of them, even over several months. So, Luke first used magic to summon rain to extinguish the fires in the city. Then, he contacted the lords of Castile to send manpower to clean up the area.

“I know that James II had no children, but is there anyone who will become the King of Castile?” Luke asked.

Grand Duke Gregory, after a moment of thought, replied, “The closest royal family member is Grand Duke Wallace, the great lord of the east. He is the third son of King Alfred, who was James II’s grandfather.”

“Grand Duke Wallace won’t do. That old man is too old,” Belik countered.

“If we put an absurd person as king, wouldn’t the Holy See or Luke suspect that Your Majesty is trying to take over the Kingdom of Castile?” Gregory asked.

“Of course, but… Grand Duke Wallace is not fit to be king, senior. I was a mercenary under that guy for a while in my younger days, and he was a very lazy and idle person with no interest in politics,” Belik explained.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, Prince Aiden, the eldest son of the Grand Duke, is better. He manages the vassals and the affairs of state instead of his father.”

Belik spoke freely with Gregory, who was from a different country and quite a bit older than him. They had become close after meeting frequently at the Holy Palace after Luke and Reina got married, and now called each other senior and junior.

“More importantly, where did the guys who turned this place into a wasteland go?” Luke asked.

“Well, wouldn’t they be moving on to their next target?” Gregory replied.

Belik grumbled, “Of course, they’d be aiming for the next target. The problem is, where is that next target? While we’re doing this, another city might be burning.”

Where would be the next target of the culprits who wiped out Carthage and Zaragoza from the map? Would it be another major city in the Kingdom of Castile, another kingdom in the Continental Alliance, or perhaps Symphonia?

“Junior, where do you think they will target next?” Gregory asked.

Belik thought for a moment and then said, “I think it might be Golem, a major city in the northern part of the Kingdom of Castile.”

“Why is that?”

“They first attacked the city of Carthage in the south. Then they attacked Zaragoza, which is located in the north.”

“Are you saying they are moving north?”

“Yes, Carthage, Zaragoza, and Golem are connected by the central road. In addition, Golem is a commercial city in charge of trade with the Holy Empire and the center of military and administration in the northern region.”

If Golem were to fall, Castile would be almost beyond recovery. Even Gregory thought that Belik’s words seemed plausible. If the enemy’s intention was to collapse the Continental Alliance, it was highly likely that they would attack the major cities of the Holy Empire after passing through Golem.

Thinking this, Gregory’s brow furrowed. At that moment, Luke interjected, “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” Belik asked, flustered.

“Golem is a major city, but there is not much to gain by attacking it. It would be more profitable to cross the border and attack the Holy Empire or Symphonia,” Luke explained. The Kingdom of Castile, where the royal capital was burned and the royal family, including James II, was annihilated, was practically out of the Continental Alliance. They would be too busy electing the next king and recovering from the damage. If he were Arsen, he would choose another country, not the Kingdom of Castile.

“Oh, right, Your Majesty. Can’t you track their traces? You read the residual magical energies a little while ago, didn’t you?” Grand Duke Gregory asked, as if he had just remembered.

Luke frowned and shook his head. “I tried to track them using the residual magical energies they left behind. But from a certain point, it was completely cut off.”

He had tried to track not only the black magic wave but also the Draconian wave, but it was completely cut off 10 kilometers north.

“Tch, you can’t even use tracking magic properly, and you call yourself the strongest Rune Knight…” Belik openly grumbled, as if he had found an opportunity. It seemed that some resentment still remained in his heart.

“Hey! You, Belik! Show some respect to His Majesty the King,” Gregory scolded.

Belik said, as if wronged, “Senior, I am King Luke’s adoptive father. Can’t a father say something bad about his son?”

At one time, Luke had pretended to be Belik’s son to disguise his identity. Thanks to that, he had deceived the world, but because Belik, who was thought to be dead, had suddenly appeared, he had become an adoptive son.

“Who doesn’t know that? However, isn’t this a situation where we don’t know when the enemies will attack the allied countries? I don’t think it’s the time to express dissatisfaction or criticize based on personal relationships,” Gregory said.

“Yes, yes, I understand. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

Gregory, having silenced Belik, bowed his head to Luke with an apologetic look. It was because he had suggested bringing Belik.

“I’m fine. More importantly, as Belik said, we need to find out where they are. We also need to prepare for an attack,” Luke said. He sent a magical communication to the Kingdom of Symphonia, ordering them to focus all their intelligence on finding Arsen and the enhanced undead army. He also issued a general alert to all troops to prepare for an attack and told each region to contact each other regularly to check if they were safe. Grand Duke Gregory also contacted the Holy Empire and took the same measures.

“We need to inform the other allied countries of the danger,” Gregory said.

“Of course,” Luke replied. He first sent a magical communication to the Volga Republic. President Vladimir, who had already heard the news that Carthage had been annihilated, was shocked to hear about the tragedy in Zaragoza. He could concede that Carthage could be like that, but Zaragoza was the royal capital of the Kingdom of Castile. It should have had the most military power concentrated there, yet it had collapsed overnight!

– Your Majesty Luke, who do you think committed this act? I think it is not unrelated to the Kingdom of Libya, which released the undead army?

“I think so too,” Luke replied.

– Then let’s attack the Kingdom of Libya first. The Continental Alliance forces currently dispatched to Barok are enough to occupy it.

Vladimir was not simply trying to attack the Kingdom of Libya because of his desire for territory or his resentment towards the undead army. It was based on the judgment that if the main base was attacked, the enemy would not be able to wander around and attack.

– The Kingdom of Libya is practically empty right now. A large number of its people have become undead and refugees in other countries, and its military power has also deteriorated due to financial difficulties.

“I know that too,” Luke said. He was well aware of the weakening of the Libyan royal army because he had induced it. However…

‘Would Arsen really come back to protect a main base that is just a shell?’ This skeptical thought came to mind. Still, if there was even a 1 percent chance, he had to try. Anyway, they had decided to invade the Kingdom of Libya after the undead army was dealt with.

“I will order Marquis Rogers in Barok,” Luke said.

– I understand. We will also send our garrison south immediately.

After finishing the magical communication with the Volga Republic, Luke contacted the Duchy of Navarre and the Kingdom of Irea to inform them of the danger and requested an invasion of the Kingdom of Libya. After making a round of calls, Luke and his party temporarily returned to Bless. It was more convenient to be in Bless to gather information and deploy in a crisis situation than to stay there.

“Dad, you’re here?” Reina and Karen had already been contacted by Gregory, but they could tell that the situation was more serious from Luke’s dark expression.

“Was there really not a single survivor?” Reina asked.

“Unfortunately…” Luke replied.

“How could they do such a thing!” Shocked, Reina immediately made the sign of the cross and prayed for the souls of the victims. As Luke was also inwardly mourning the victims while watching her, a light and vibration occurred in the magic crystal ball in his arms.

‘Could it be!’ Luke quickly took out the crystal ball. The place where the magic communication came from was Brenden, the royal capital of Symphonia. Prime Minister Hans’s figure was projected in front of Luke, who was tense.

“What’s going on? Did the enemy attack?” Luke asked.

– It’s not that… A message just came from the city of Lamer that the support troops from Song and Yemaek have arrived.

“Is that so? They are allies who have come from afar, so don’t neglect their hospitality,” Luke said, a sigh of relief escaping his mouth. The worst-case scenario, where the major cities of Symphonia, including Brenden, were devastated, had not happened. After a few more words, Luke asked Hans, who was quietly looking at him, “Prime Minister, is there anything else to report?”

– …No, please take care of yourself.

With those words, Hans cut off the magic communication. Luke soon realized what he was trying to say. ‘He must have been trying to ask why I didn’t return to the country when the situation had become serious.’ Luke was nominally the king of Symphonia. However, in an emergency, he had returned to Bless, not the royal capital. Luke’s return to Bless instead of Brenden was because his family was here, but as the king of a country, he was disqualified. However, Hans said nothing. Rather, he wished him well.

‘I might be a guy who has no sense of responsibility as a king…’ Luke suppressed his bitter feelings. He continued to check the situation by making regular contact with allied countries and each territory of Symphonia.

So, a day passed, and then it became the second day. Then, at dawn on the third day, an unusual report arrived.

“Your Majesty, we’ve received word from a priest in the central region of the Kingdom of Irea. He reports that a suspicious group is flying towards the royal capital, Ankara.”

“It’s them! We need to get to Ankara quickly!” At Gregory’s words, Luke urgently led the Undead Legion and the Holy Empire army toward the capital of the Kingdom of Irea.

2

Luke’s heart raced as he headed towards Ankara, the royal capital of Irea. If Ankara fell, it would be a major blow to the Continental Alliance. Unfortunately, Irea didn’t have a long-distance teleport gate. This wasn’t due to poverty but a deliberate national policy. It was called the Hermit Kingdom for a reason.

‘Damn it, this is an emergency…!’ First, Luke teleported his troops and supplies as far as possible, then hurried on with the march. ‘I hope Ankara can hold out until we arrive…’ He had already informed King Charles of Irea that Arsen and the undead legion were heading there. He ordered them to evacuate immediately, but Charles refused.

– Our Irea royal family has never fled from an enemy. Of course, we’ve been a neutral country for generations, so we haven’t faced many invasions.

Charles, with a stern face, declared he would gather as much force as possible to stop them. Luke was frustrated by this.

“The enemy targeting your country is no ordinary foe! It’s the mastermind behind the undead army, the Lich King Arsen, who has been operating in the shadows for over 500 years!”

– Even if the opponent is a demon, we will not retreat.

“Listen, King Charles! This isn’t the time to be stubborn!” Despite Luke’s repeated warnings and advice, Charles only stated that he would fight back and cut off the magic communication. Luke couldn’t help but feel more frustrated.

“Really… why are they being so stubborn!” “That’s just how the Irea people are. They’re stubborn, even more so than their reluctance to open their hearts to outsiders,” Belik said, comforting the agitated Luke. Grand Duke Gregory, riding his horse next to him, asked, “Your Majesty, do you think Irea can stop the enemies?”

Luke shook his head immediately, as if it were obvious. “They’re the ones that even the Kingdom of Castia, which was richer and stronger than Irea, couldn’t stop. It’s only a matter of time before Ankara is devastated.”

“But since we warned them in advance, wouldn’t they be better off than Castia?” “I wish that were the case…” Gregory’s face hardened at Luke’s skeptical expression. He turned and ordered the Undead Legion members, “Increase the marching speed of the entire army! The people of Ankara are in danger!” “Yes, sir!” The Undead Legion members shouted in unison, spurring their horses even faster.

The current force led by Gregory consisted of 1,000 Undead Legion members, 3,000 knights selected from the Holy Empire army, and 200 Gigants [large, powerful humanoid war machines]. The knights were all on horseback, and the Gigants were loaded on trailers following behind. Reina had lent the troops gathered in Bless, but Luke was worried it might not be enough, so he contacted the Kingdom of Symphonia to dispatch some troops as well. The Kingdom of Symphonia and the Kingdom of Irea were neighbors, so if the 4th Army in the east moved quickly, they could arrive in Ankara sooner than expected.

They ran for two full days, even sacrificing sleep, but they couldn’t find Arsen and the enhanced undead legion. Instead, they saw the buildings of Ankara burning fiercely and the bodies that had fallen and turned to ashes within them. Grand Duke Gregory lamented at the sight of Ankara, which had become a city of death. “Damn it, we’re too late!” “Damn it, senior! Now, I want to tear the throats of any black magician I see!” Gregory shook his head at Belik’s excited words. “Not all black magicians are evil. The black magicians of the Black Tower did a great job purifying the last undead army.” “Well, that’s true, but…” Gregory was surprised at himself. He, who used to swing his sword at heretics and black magicians without question, was now defending black magicians. It was all because of Reina and Luke’s influence.

“Your Majesty, let’s go to the royal palace first.” Luke, who had been staring blankly at the devastation of the city, moved towards the royal palace at Grand Duke Gregory’s words. Even though the city was destroyed, there could still be some survivors. Gregory ordered the Holy Empire army to search the city and followed Luke with the Undead Legion. The royal palace was also in ruins and burned down. There were many bodies of Gigants and soldiers everywhere, indicating that the battle had been quite fierce. Unfortunately, even the common people who had taken refuge in the royal palace were all dead.

“That’s strange.” Belik, who was looking around, spoke up. “What is it?” At Luke’s question, Belik told him what he found strange. “In Castia, not only people but also livestock were all dead. It’s the same here, but… I don’t see any bodies of horses or cows.” ‘Come to think of it, I didn’t see any remains of carts or carriages either. And there are no children among the bodies.’ Could it be that King Charles had evacuated at least the children out of the royal capital using carriages before Arsen attacked? Thinking so, Luke’s gloomy and depressed expression eased a little.

“Anyway, we need to find Arsen’s whereabouts quickly.” Belik nodded at Luke’s words. “Of course. We must find out their whereabouts, even if we have to use all the power of the alliance.” Apart from the great sacrifice of the people, it was obvious that the Continental Alliance would collapse if they didn’t deal with this situation. If the alliance couldn’t exert any power, everyone would focus only on the safety of their own countries. ‘We must catch their tail before such a situation arises!’ It was when Luke had made up his mind that an Undead Legion member, who was examining the main hall, rushed over to report, having discovered something. Luke and his group hurried into the royal palace’s main hall.

In the half-collapsed main hall, there was the body of King Charles. It seemed he had fought to the end, and even with his legs and neck cut off, the king’s hand was still holding a sword. But what caught everyone’s attention was not the brave king’s corpse, but the words written in blood on the wall of the main hall. ‘Luke, look. It must have been hard to chase me all the way here. The next target will be your den, Brenden, so try to stop me if you can.’ ‘Did he know I was coming?’ Well, it wasn’t just one or two people, but over 4,000 troops were moving, so it was possible that Arsen had noticed. And his guess was correct. Arsen had changed his strategy after realizing that Luke was chasing him.

“What are you thinking? We have to go to Brenden right now!” Belik urged him when Luke stood still after reading the message. Brenden was Luke’s base and was now the political capital of the Continental Alliance. Nearly 1.5 million people, as well as the Royal Knights, the Black Tower, the Katarina Magic Tower, and other core forces of the Kingdom of Symphonia were gathered there. In addition, there were nobles and international students from allied countries, as well as the leaders of the Fairy race. If this place were to be devastated, it would be more damaging than any other city in the alliance being burned down. They had to stop it at all costs.

“Your Majesty, Belik is right. Contact the Symphonia Royal Palace immediately and order them to prepare for battle!” Gregory was about to rush to Brenden with the Undead Legion and the Holy Empire army. He was also furious at Arsen and the enhanced undead legion’s atrocities. But for some reason, Luke, who should have been the most urgent, was still standing there, lost in thought. After a while, he opened his mouth. “It doesn’t seem like Brenden is the target.” “What? What do you mean?” Gregory asked, tilting his head. Luke explained his thoughts. “If Arsen had intended to attack Brenden, he would have attacked it first. He knows very well that attacking Brenden would inflict more damage on me than attacking any other allied country.”

“Then?” “It seems like a trick to send me somewhere else.” “A trick?” “Yes. A trick to send me to Brenden while attacking somewhere else.” There was a tactic in the southern continent’s military strategy called ‘Sound the East, Strike the West.’ It meant to speak in the east and attack in the west, and it was one of the tactics frequently used on the battlefield. Arsen’s real target was probably not Brenden. Then where was Arsen planning to attack? As Luke pondered, something flashed through his mind, and he looked startled. Then, he shouted to Gregory and Belik, “Bless! Bless is in danger!” “What? What are you talking about?” “That’s right, why Bless all of a sudden? The Undead Legion and the Holy Empire army are guarding it well…” Belik’s expression hardened as he cut off his words. Half of the forces guarding that place were here now. No, it was more than half. To save Ankara from the crisis, more than 70% of the Gigants stationed in Bless had been mobilized. Because of that, Bless was in a state where it would be difficult to defend even if an enemy other than Arsen attacked.

“Order a retreat immediately! Hurry!” “Yes, Your Majesty!” Grand Duke Gregory, realizing the seriousness of the situation, quickly issued orders to the Undead Legion and the Holy Empire army. The Holy Empire army, who had marched to Ankara without proper sleep, began to ride their horses back towards Bless. Thud, thud, thud! While retreating, Luke constantly sent magic communications somewhere. He wasn’t just going to stop Arsen’s trap. He was going to use this opportunity to catch him. To do so, he needed to move a few people and gather the core forces of the Continental Alliance in Bless. ‘Wait for me, Arsen! I’ll finish you off in Bless!’ Luke, grinding his teeth, repeatedly used divine power to relieve the fatigue of the horses and riders.

3

In the quiet darkness, a dark shadow formed over Bless, the capital of the Holy Empire. From the abyss of darkness, as if it existed in the demon world, suspicious figures began to appear one by one. The last one to appear was a black magician wearing a gray robe with gold patterns. It was Arsen, leading the enhanced undead legion. “Heh heh heh, is this the capital of the Holy Empire?” It was an area he had avoided as much as possible in the past. Divine power was the opposite of black magic, and even if Arsen was the strongest black magician on the continent, it would be difficult to win if the Undead Legion and high-ranking priests attacked him in droves. “But that’s over today! I have high-level undead who aren’t bothered by any ordinary divine power!” Arsen was not only a high-level undead but also had the power of the Draconians [a powerful dragon-like race]. He no longer needed to fear the priests.

‘The most frightening thing about Bless is that it was designed from the beginning as a city that worships God. Every temple has all kinds of sacred objects, which gather faith into one and exert powerful power.’ But what good were many sacred objects? Since Bless was also a place where humans lived, it was natural that if humans became corrupt and their faith faded, no divine power would be felt even in the streets filled with sacred objects and writings praising God. A good example of this was the fact that no divine revelation had been given to the Holy Empire for the past 300 years. When no divine revelation was given, the cardinals elected a pope through a conclave [a meeting of cardinals to elect a new pope]. Even then, the current Pope Veronica III was enthroned without even going through a conclave, and a civil war even broke out due to the corruption and conflict of some sects. The decisive factor that brought together such corruption was the zombie disease incident spread by Archbishop Constantine. At the time, Constantine was deceived by Arsen, who called himself God, and secretly spread the zombie disease. And he called himself a savior chosen by God and incited the public. Although he failed to shake the Holy Empire greatly with that incident, Arsen was convinced that the Holy Artenia Empire had declined.

After that, Veronica III implemented reform policies to stabilize the people’s livelihood and restore national power, but the powerful theocratic state of the past did not reappear. Even black magicians, who used to be beaten without question, were now allowed to research and operate after a series of searches. In other words, it was just an ordinary country, only called the Holy Empire. Arsen decided to put an end to the history of that fallen Holy Empire today. “My loyal servants! Let’s annihilate all the followers of God who are intoxicated with hypocrisy, and go cut off the breath of Luke and the pope bitch who is clinging to him!” With that shout, Arsen descended towards Bless, leading the high-level undead. The reason he came to Bless, even using a trick on Luke, was because of Reina.

It was imperative to deal with her swiftly—a woman of such potent divine power that she was hailed as a saint, possessing the uncanny ability to purify even the zombified.

Above all, Veronica III’s true identity was Princess Reina, Luke’s beloved, whom he would gladly tear to shreds.

This revelation alone made her Arsen’s primary target for elimination, and with the two now separated, the opportunity was ripe.

‘I should have killed that bitch sooner… Well, it’s not too late now. I’ll kill the pope’s whore and drive Luke to madness, hahaha!’

No, simply killing her wouldn’t suffice.

What would Luke’s reaction be if he not only killed her but then transformed her into an undead?

Chuckling darkly, Arsen accelerated the black circle, preparing to unleash a wide-area magic as he descended upon Bless.

He readied a flamboyant yet devastating attack to announce his arrival and that of his enhanced undead legion.

Weeeeeeeng!

Just as the black circle was spinning furiously, reaching its zenith, a bolt of light suddenly erupted from the ground.

‘What!’

Startled, Arsen hastily canceled the wide-area magic, attempting to deploy a shield spell.

However, someone else reacted faster.

Bang—!

The bolt of light slammed into the bone shield erected by the high-level lich, and a blinding flash accompanied the explosion.

The light was so intense that several low-level undead nearby melted like wax.

“Ugh, no way… !”

Arsen, having narrowly avoided the blast, contorted his face in a hideous grimace.

He was safe thanks to the high-level lich who had thrown himself in the way to protect his master.

However, the high-level lich, whose bone shield had melted and who was unlucky enough to be struck directly by the light on the black circle, turned to ash and crumbled.

Ordinary magic attacks couldn’t so easily kill even a mid-level lich, let alone a high-level one.

It must have been an attack imbued with a powerful, compressed divine power.

As far as Arsen knew, only one person in the middle realm possessed such skill.

“Luke, is that you!”

As if in response to Arsen’s furious shout, Luke appeared before him.

“Welcome to Bless, Arsen.”

Arsen gritted his teeth at Luke’s welcoming words, delivered with arms wide open.

“So it was you! I thought you’d be wasting your time in Brenden!”

“You underestimate me too much, Arsen. If your goal was to deceive me, you shouldn’t have left that message in Ankara.”

If Arsen hadn’t left the message to provoke Luke, he would still be uncertain about his true target.

However, upon seeing the message left by Arsen, he had deduced the real target.

At Luke’s explanation, Arsen asked, dumbfounded.

“You’re unbelievable. What if I had actually attacked Brenden?”

Brenden was Luke’s political stronghold and lifeline.

Even if his deduction was correct, he hadn’t expected him to take such a ‘risk’ of abandoning such a place.

Luke scoffed and said.

“I know you’re not the type to do that. You have a sadistic tendency to torment those who have troubled you as much as possible before killing them.”

“Tch, I can’t deny that.”

As Luke pointed out, it was true.

Arsen had always inflicted terrible suffering on those who blocked or interfered with his path before killing them.

Emperor Rudolf was a prime example of this.

When it was discovered that he had been secretly researching black magic in the Veritas Magic Tower, Rudolf severed their 500-year relationship and launched a subjugation.

Resentful of this, Arsen used black magic to inflict incurable diseases on the emperor’s children and then killed them.

This drove Rudolf half-mad, making him more violent and cruel than before.

As the emperor went on a rampage, the Baroque Empire failed to recover and fell from the mainstream of history, leading to its demise.

“You damn bastard! You’re amazing, Luke. I didn’t know you knew me so well.”

“I have no choice but to know you well. You took away the most precious person from me and drove me to the brink of death.”

Arsen sneered at Luke’s cold reply.

“Are you talking about your parents? That and the fact that you almost died in the Gigant accident were all orchestrated by the Baroque imperial family. It’s true that I cursed your family, but it’s not fair to blame everything on me.”

“I’m not talking about the Rakan family. I’m talking about Katarina.”

“Katarina?”

As Arsen tilted his head, Luke’s eyes grew colder than before.

“It seems you don’t remember. Well, from your point of view, it might not have been worth remembering. I’m talking about the incident 520 years ago, when you not only tore apart a man and a woman who had promised a normal life together, but also killed them.”

“What the hell are you talking about? 520 years ago?”

There was nothing special in his memory from 520 years ago.

Rather, many events occurred around 500 years ago.

The Demon King Seimon appeared and, for some reason, focused his attacks on the Veritas Magic Tower and the Baroque Duke, making him a public enemy of the continent through a conspiracy.

And when that fool was killed by a foolish hero, he secretly stole the corpse and the black magic book he had mastered.

By mastering the black magic book he had stolen, Arsen was able to become the greatest magician of his time.

‘Come to think of it, there was a rumor that the Demon King Seimon was originally a disciple of our Veritas Magic Tower… Could it be?’

Just as an idea was beginning to dawn on Arsen’s mind.

Srrring!

Luke, having drawn the holy sword Belliont, declared as if making an announcement.

“Whether you remember it or not, I will make you feel the resentment and anger of the ordinary people you have wronged.”

Whoooom!

As the ether globe inside Luke’s body converted to divine power, a dazzling light and divine power emanated from Belliont in all directions.

Not only the high-level undead but even Arsen was startled and stepped back.

It wasn’t because he was intimidated by Luke’s divine power, which was almost at the level of a saint. It was because he was startled by the intense anger that flowed out along with the divine power.

Arsen’s heart sank inwardly at the murderous intent Luke was emitting, but he suppressed it and sneered.

“Hmph, do you think you alone can stop me and my enhanced undead legion?”

It was different from Enverry.

Now, he had 300 enhanced undead that he had painstakingly created.

The low-level enhanced undead were at the level of a 7-circle mage and a sword master, while the mid-level ones were at the level of an 8-circle archmage and a sword sage.

The high-level ones were close to a 9-circle sage or a sword emperor, and with these forces, they were strong enough to wipe out all the forces of the Holy Empire, including Luke.

In fact, they had wiped out Saragossa in the Kingdom of Castia and Ankara in the Kingdom of Irea in just one night.

“You’re right, it’s impossible for me alone.”

Luke, readily acknowledging Arsen’s point, raised his sword.

Phat! Puh-puh-phang!

As if Luke’s action was a signal, flashes of light flickered from all directions, illuminating the dark night sky.

Thanks to this, Arsen could see clearly.

Hundreds of mages were surrounding them in the sky, having appeared out of nowhere.

There were the mages of the Holy Artenia Empire’s Imperial Magic Tower, led by Marquis Reas, the war mages of the Volga Republic’s National Magic Tower wearing navy blue robes, as well as elven mages, Taoists from the Southern Continent, and even black mages from the Black Tower.

They had all rushed to Bless after receiving Luke’s call.

Thanks to being gathered in the capitals of allied nations with long-distance teleport gates, they were able to assemble in less than a day.

In addition to these, there were also a considerable number of sword masters and knights gathered on the ground with the Gigant unit.

“You’re really good at this. How did you gather so many riffraff in such a short time?”

Luke countered Arsen’s sarcasm with a scoff.

“Hmph, it’s thanks to having close friendships, unlike some people. Anyway, today I will settle all the grudges I have with you!”

Luke shouted and charged towards Arsen.

As if it was a signal, hundreds of war mages began attacking the enhanced undead all at once.

In an instant, a spectacular battle unfolded in the sky above Bless, with magic and flashes of light of all colors flying back and forth.

“Arsen! Today, I will grind your bones to dust!”

Johas, who had brought the black mages of the Black Tower, flew towards Arsen.

He harbored as much resentment towards him as Luke did, so he was the first to target him.

However, he was unfortunately blocked by a high-level lich in the middle.

“Get out of my way, you rotten ghost!”

Johas’s black magic attack, filled with anger, poured down on the high-level lich.

It was an attack with the power to blow away an entire castle, but the high-level lich only hesitated and stepped back.

“Damn it, for a ghost…”

Johas had received data on enhanced undead from Luke before.

However, he hadn’t expected there to be such a strong one.

“Meister [Master], I will join you!”

The black mages of the Black Tower, seeing Johas struggling, immediately came to help.

Johas wanted to handle it alone, but he didn’t refuse.

The opponent was an enemy that had to be defeated, and they had to win to protect the citizens of Bless.

For that reason, other mages were also cooperating without pride to fight the high-level undead.

Luke and Arsen were the only ones fighting one-on-one.

“Dark Abyss!”

“Do you think such an attack will work?”

Arsen fired a dark sphere compressed with 9-circle black magic.

However, Luke simply cut it down and extinguished it with Belliont, which was imbued with gold aura.

“Tch, damn Rakan’s sword!”

Arsen’s expression became grim.

Luke’s skill was one thing, but the holy sword Belliont was amplifying the gold aura imbued with divine power several times over.

Therefore, it was a disadvantage to confront him like this.

‘I have no choice. Should I pull out the hidden card, even if it’s a bit early?’

With that thought, Arsen withdrew his black magic and focused his fighting spirit within his body.

Then, another power he possessed began to reveal itself.

‘What is that…?’

Seeing Arsen’s unusual change, Luke rushed forward and struck his head with Belliont.

Clang—!

However, Belliont was deflected with a metallic sound.

While Luke was startled, Arsen’s body gradually swelled and grew larger, and his entire body was covered in red scales.

And a large horn grew from his forehead, wings sprouted from his back, and sharp claws like blades protruded from his hands.

He became a huge creature over 30 meters long from head to tail.

“A, a dragon!”

“Kuhahahaha! That’s right. This is the true power of the Draconian. Now it is entirely mine!”

Perhaps influenced by Arsen’s transformation.

Some of the death knights among the enhanced undead grew as large as Gigants [large humanoid war machines].

The ones who had increased their combat power as they grew larger broke through the resistance of the mages and Taoists and began to fall towards Bless.

Then, a little later, a battle began on the ground between the enhanced undead and the knights led by Grand Duke Gregory.

Arsen, who glanced down, said with a triumphant expression.

“The power of a hero wielding a holy sword is still at the level of a human. I will show you the power of a great being called the strongest in history, Luke.”

“You’re boasting even though you stole Shaikhan’s body.”

Luke retorted coldly and said sarcastically.

“Besides, even if it’s the power of a dragon, it’s only half of it. Do you think I’ll be intimidated by the power of a has-been that has already gone extinct!”

“What did you say? A has-been that has disappeared?”

The red draconic aura from Arsen’s transformed dragon body surged fiercely.

The aura, which contained an ominous energy, turned into angry flames and flew towards Luke.

“Die, Luke!”

The mages’ faces hardened as they saw the crimson fireball flying towards Luke.

Even though it was just a flame that had formed in the air, a scorching heat that seemed to suffocate the entire sky and burn flesh was spreading thickly.

Could a 9-circle magic power really manifest a flame magic of this power?

No, could King Luke block this attack?

At that moment, when everyone was filled with doubt and concern, Luke, who had readjusted his grip on his sword, uttered a short incantation.

“Eternal Frost!”

“What, what is that? Taoism…?”

Just as a cold wind seemed to gather in front of Luke, it extinguished the fireball that was flying towards him.

Luke said to Arsen, who was dumbfounded at the sight.

“You said it was just at the level of a human? Then I’ll make you feel exactly what level that human is at!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Luke raised his sword high.

At that moment, a subspace opened and a huge silver hero-class Gigant appeared.

Luke’s personal Gigant, Avenger.

However, Arsen’s eyes were not on the Avenger. There was something more noticeable than the Avenger.

It was a series of magic circles constructed across the city of Bless.

The huge magic circle, which revealed itself with a flash of light the moment the Avenger appeared, had the sacred symbol of the Elkasel Order shining in the center.