Emperor of Steel

Pang!

“Those men!”

Luke immediately used Shield Magic.

However, the magic disappeared the moment it got activated and was absorbed into the cage.

‘Keuk, this too!’

For a brief moment, Luke felt discomfort when his power was being sucked.

He was able to see why Gregory felt exhausted after a few strikes.

And it was for everyone, not just Luke.

Naturally, they couldn’t stop the arrows that were flying through the bars.

“Kuek!”

“Kak!”

“Keuk, be careful, Master!”

Assassins and some knights of the Saint Guard were shot and killed.

Luke was safe thanks to Hwang Bo-sung’s arm taking in the arrows.

Gregory was able to block an arrow because of one of his men.

“Lord, they are going to shoot again!”

At the voice of Henry, Luke ordered.

“Use the dead ones as a shield!”

In response, the assassins made barriers with the bodies of the dead. They were feeling uneasy to use the bodies of their comrades for their survival.

Seeing that, Nanas laughed.

“You could surely do that. However, how long will those useless shields last?”

As Nanas said, the second round of arrows was being prepared.

Rather than using auras, the arrows were being pulled strongly.

And that meant strong power on impact.

“Kueak!”

“Ahh!”

A few more assassin and Saint Guards fell trying to shield themselves from the arrows.

“Dammit, those goddammed bastards!”

The angry assassins threw out their daggers.

However, because of their power being sucked into the cage, the daggers didn’t go that far.

“This can’t be! There is no way!”

The knights were in tears, hitting the ground with their swords.

They couldn’t believe that they had fallen for such a measly trap and was about to die helplessly.

‘What now? Should I use every last bit of my power?’

While Luke was in conflict.

There was a different kind of power Luke had besides magic and swordsmanship.

He thought that somehow he could endure it.

However, it was a gamble.

If he failed to escape with that power, he would really become the hostage of Nanas.

‘Dammit! If I knew this would happen, I would have brought my men!’

He was irritated by the fact that his men were being wiped out by a few fairies.

As the look of regret could clearly be seen on his face, Nanas smiled.

“Hohoho. I need to finish it now. All of you, attack at once…”

The moment her orders fell, huge flames rose from behind.

‘Nanas has to be stopped!’

When meeting Bratt, Erwin came across the fact that Nanas was installing a trap in the Dark Forest.

There was one target for the trap installed.

When she arrived at the Dark Forest, she saw Luke and his party in danger and immediately attacked.

“Fire Wall!”

Fire magic of 7th magic circle burst out at the feet of the fairies causing an explosion.

Kwaaah!

“Kuakkk!”

Dozens of warriors in the explosion screamed out in pain.

“W-what is happening?”

“Who was that?”

It wasn’t just the fairies and Nanas who were shocked with the situation.

Luke, who was in despair inside the cage, looked outside.

“An intruder! An intruder has appeared!”

“Hurry up and prepare!”

Hyrun and the other fairies hurriedly looked around and tried to find the intruder.

However, they couldn’t find Erwin, who had used stealth magic right after deploying Fire Wall.

She made her appearance in front of Elder Nanas.

Erwin, who released her stealth magic, pointed her staff at Nanas’ heart.

“Y-you…!”

“It has been a long time, Elder Nanas.”

Nanas’ face hardened at the appearance of an unexpected character.

However, Luke smiled brightly.

He never knew that seeing Erwin would make him so happy. That too when everything around him was at stake.

“Put all your weapons down, or Nanas’s life is at stake!”

At the words of Erwin, Nanas could feel chills on her body.

“Erwin Lesa, are you going to forsake the fate of all fairies?”

“No, I am stopping you so that you won’t!”

Shooting back at Nanas, she one again yelled at the warriors who were holding onto their weapons.

“I asked you to put down your weapons. Do you want to see Nanas die? Go and put your weapons down and then release them!”

Kwak!

Sparks flew from Erwin’s staff.

It looked like something powerful would go through Nanas’ chest.

Nanas’ orders fell to Hyrun and the other fairies.

“Don’t mind me, shoot them.”

“Elder Nanas, you really…”

“Even if I give up my life, I don’t plan on abandoning the revival of Abaron’s time.”

Erwin shuddered at the words of Nanas.

She knew Nanas’ intent to revive the Mado Empire had turned into madness, but she didn’t assume the lady would turn crazy.

“Shoot! What are you doing! Shoot them right now!”

At the orders of Nanas, the warriors pointed at the iron bars once again.

“Don’t!”

Erwin used her staff to blow out the arrows.

Kwaan!

The powerful sparks from the staff threw away the arrows coming in Luke’s direction.

Thanks to that, Luke and his party were able to overcome the crisis, but Erwin lost track of Nanas.

“Erwin, be careful!”

Puak!

Even with Luke’s scream an Ice lance came at Erwin before she could react.

“Kuak!”

Nanas raised her hand to inflict more damage on the broken shoulder of Erwin.

“You know, Erwin. Did you really think that you can stop me with that kind of resolve?”

Kwang!

Titan Fist left the hands of Nanas.

Erwin, who got her sense back, tried to manifest shield magic in a hurry. However, she wasn’t able to stop the attack entirely.

Erwin rolled on the ground as she got hit by Nanas’ magic.

“Uhh… Cough! Cough!”

“Erwin!”

Luke looked at Erwin, who was in pain.

Erwin was coughing up blood, yet she smiled after seeing Luke.

“I guess you too can make that face for me.”

He always had a cold expression in front of her.

It was only for a second, but for the first time, he showed warm feelings toward her.

“Hey! What are you doing? Stop!”

Luke, who was overwhelmed after seeing her coughing up blood, yelled at her, but Erwin had no intention to listen.

She focused all her energy on her staff despite the fact that her mana circles were damaged because of the attack she got earlier.

She clenched her fist and released her magic.

“Fire Explosion!”

“Everyone get down!”

Kwang!

Luke shouted with the heatwave that came in to shake the cage. Everyone in the cage was on the floor.

Knowing that it was useless to hit it directly with magic, Erwin attempted to smash the iron bars with an indirect blow close to the griddle.

However, even after Erwin’s attack, the iron bar was fine.

The cage was made by the dwarves, and it was made to withstand any kind of impact.

If Erwin’s condition was normal, it might have been possible.

However in that situation, such an assumption was meaningless.

“Kugh! Kugh! I’m, I’m sorry. I seem to have failed…”

“Erwin! Look here, get yourself together!”

Erwin, who just released all her magic, lost consciousness and fell down.

The injuries and the Dark Forest’s influence allowed Luke to feel that the vitality of Erwin was depleting rapidly.

If she was left alone, she was done for.

The disciple of Erenes, the wise man, the one who was his comrade, would die.

Cut.

A few strings inside Luke’s head, which were holding his logic and reasons, got cut.

“Everything is wrong…”

Hwang Bo-sung mumbled in his native language without knowledge.

He had tried very hard to break the iron bars, but none of his martial skills worked.

He tried to summon his puppet.

However, that too didn’t work.

When an unexpected savior named Erwin made an appearance, he became hopeful, but he was in despair again after seeing Erwin fail.

No, it seemed like she was down in vain.

Luke’s eyes changed completely.