Emperor of Steel

In the office of the military quarters.

In the armchair of the office, which was lighted glamorously, seated a wizard in colorful robes.

With a silver crucifix symbolizing the Holy Empire, and a magic wand made from the crystals was the Marquis Meister Reas of Holy Arthenia magic tower.

‘What on earth is Gregory thinking? Will he keep watching the empire collapse?’

In the Holy Empire, Arch Duke Gregory held a status that was no less than Archbishop Constantine’s.

No, for over 50 years he was the head of the Saint Guard, and the commander in chief of the royal army.

But Archduke Gregory didn’t seem to have any thoughts about the current war.

It was because he constantly tried to find out the irregularities and mistakes of the members belonging to Constantine.

‘When one reaches a certain level of sword skills or magic, they turn indifferent to the world. But if that was the case for Archduke Gregory, then he might not have stayed in the military till now.’

When Marquis Reas was thinking while sipping tea. The door opened with Gregory entering.

Marquis immediately rose from his seat and bowed.

“The air changes when you enter.”

It wasn’t that Gregory was just higher in status than Reas, but he was over 120 years old.

For a Sword Sage, the body changes and reorganizes one’s body and makes them look younger.

“For what reason did you come to find me, Reas?”

The moment Gregory sat down, he inquired Reas.

The two of them were referred to as the two pillars of the empire and had a long friendship.

Reas often traveled to and from Gregory’s place because of their close friendship.

But it was the very first time for the Marquis to have gone to the military headquarters without sending any notice or request to meet.

“Sire, do you plan on just seeing the tyranny created by Archbishop Constantine?”

As the words flowed out of Reas’s mouth, Gregory knew the reason for him to ask such a thing.

It was very well known that Marquis Reas disliked Archbishop Constantine who was hiding the Pope behind his back. In private, he often criticized Constantine and his factions.

But for the day, he seemed to have come with a different seriousness.

“Even the rebels seem to know. Originally, the Archbishop needs to be elected as the head, it isn’t supposed to be like Archbishop Constantine who himself declared, right?”

Originally, the Holy Empire’s commander in chief was Archduke Gregory.

It was under his authority to crush the rebels and to identify the leader of the rebels.

However, Constantine appointed his men in certain posts.

Gregory who listened to everything that Reas had to say, opened his mouth.

“But he is a regent appointed by the Holy Pope.”

“Whether a regent or not. She might be an angel, but she is a puppet who knows nothing…”

Kwang!

Gregory’s fists made their way to the table.

The force he witnessed made Reas sweat.

‘Oh my, I made a huge mistake!’

Gregory was usually a blunt man with very little emotional expressions.

But Reas was one of the few who knew how scary he could turn into.

30 years back, there was a kingdom called Kalmir, to the north of the Holy Empire.

The Emperor of the nation was famous for being a tyrant, he mocked the people who looked up to the Pope and committed an act of burning the temple of El Kassel.

At that time, Gregory led the Saint Guards and seized the Empire of Kalmir. And all the nations with the people who defended the tyrant emperor who escaped were destroyed by him.

For Gregory, faith and the Pope were the absolute importance to protect at any cost.

“So, sorry, Sire.”

“Since I think of a dead friend and our long friendship, I let it be. But, once again if you make a statement disrespecting the Pope, I won’t stand still.” He said sternly.

“I will keep that in mind.”

Chilly awkward air was circulating in the office for quite some time.

A while later, the duke opened his mouth to get rid of the eerie feeling.

“I too am not very fond of Archbishop Constantine. Which was why yesterday, at the Imperial leader’s meeting, I cornered Count Marcus. But the El Kassel has sent an apostle, the Holy Pope. Because of that, I can’t say that I don’t trust them.”

Gregory didn’t doubt that Veronica III was an angel.

He witnessed it first hand at the funeral of the former Pope, and the miracle which had happened at the Bless main square two months back.

So when Constantine got rid of Archbishop Michael and took power, he was eager to see what would happen. It turned rotten and Constantine turned out to be much worse than Michael.

“But if things go on like this, the Holy Empire would divide into parts.” Protested Reas.

“I know that too. But I think that maybe this is a test put by El Kassel on our empire.”

How Gregory thought of the situation in hand was very different from Marquis Reas.

Otherwise, the Holy Empire, with such a large territory and large population would have been neglected long back itself.

According to Gregory, the civil war was a chance for the Holy Empire to be reborn as one.

“If we overcome this trial, we might be reborn as the strongest empire in the continent. Then I think that we will be able to spread El Kassel’s gospel to all the continents, even to the southern continents, overcoming other kingdoms and denominations.”

Seeing such fierce and intense faith in the eyes of Gregory, Meister Reas sighed.

“Huh, Okay. And I have another thing to say.”

“What is that?”

“I think that Holy magic tower is joining the Battle of the magic tower.”

Gregory frowned at the words.

“I would have told that to have not happened.”

“Of course, I have no intention to go too. But the Reformers’ elders whom I met a few days ago had provided some amazing information.” Reas tried to keep him interested.

“Amazing information?”

“Yep, Arsene, the Meister of Veritas Magic tower, 500 years back is alive and that too as a Lich.”

Tud!

To the surprise, Gregory who didn’t show any expression till then jumped out of the seat.

“Is that really true?”

“At first, I didn’t believe it too. But looking at the material that they had provided, I couldn’t help but believe their words.”

In addition to protecting their Empire and partnership of denomination, the two men, the Sword and Staff which symbolized the Holy Arthenia Empire, had been given another mission.

It was to execute the evil warlock.

It was why the Holy Empire was very active when it came to Devil King Saymon, who shook the continent 500 years back.

“The credibility of data?”

“I checked before coming here, and it seems to be true. There have been rumors that Arsene had touched the forbidden magic in his later years, and the cause of his death has always been unclear.”

At the words of Reas, a terrifyingly serious voice came from Gregory.

The energy of the Sword Sage had dominated the entire room.

Park! Grrring! Crack!

The teacups and the kettles broke, the walls and floors of the room began to crack.

When the 8 circle Archwizard Reas was suffering from that pressure, Gregory tried to control his emotions.

“That wicked guy! To be cheating the world for 500 years?!”

If he would have known it before, they would have gone to war right away.

But currently, Gregory knew that it wasn’t possible.

To go for war would make the others criticize it and say ‘an attempt to dispel the civil war with measly excuses’, for responding to foreign nations’ problems than the ones at home.

‘First of all, that monster’s traces need to be found out, need to bring him out from hiding.’

Once the enemy was revealed, no matter how strong, no one would be afraid, but a hidden one was more dangerous.

They could never know when he would decide to attack.

Gregory, who pondered for a moment, looked at Reas.

“Help the reformers in attacking the Veritas Magic tower and Magic Federation. Let’s support them with the 3rd squadron.”

The 3rd squadron wasn’t an army of the strongest men, but it was very powerful that it never fell behind when the empire needed them.

In particular, with the support from the monks and the priests, their bodies were filled with a green radiance, at those time, they all ignored death and rushed to the battle.

In fact, a few attacks could never reach their bodies. So they were all called ‘Immortal’.

“You really want to use the Immortal?”

Gregory nodded when Reas asked him to confirm.

“Yes, the sanctions will be involved with it, make them go to the Holy Pope and accept their request.”

Sadly, the 1st and 2nd squadrons couldn’t move, they had to escort the Pope and defend the Imperial Palace.

Even then, Lich was always stronger, and forces had to be mobilized.

That was, of course, why Gregory had decided to use the 3rd Squadron.

“Let them go and tell them to not leave even a single ground stone of Veritas. Everyone who has refused El Kassel’s grace should never be tolerated!”

Such thoughtless beings could never be saved.

Seeing the resolve in Gregory’s face, Reas’s face brightened a lot.