Emperor of Steel

Pung! Pung! Pung!

When Mayers and his nobles were confronting each other, the bells began to ring.

A flash of enchanting light magic circles lit up the sky revealing the true image.

“What, what was that?”

“Who is shooting up the flares?”

All the nobles were flustered.

Woooing!

Along with strong screams of confusion, the army of Rakan estates showed up close to their camps.

“The enemy! The enemy chased after us!”

“How can that be?! In such a situation…”

They thought of such a situation happening, however, for the enemy troops to really catch up.

“We need to retreat immediately!”

“You think we don’t know that? But we have no time to escape!”

The Rakan army was sieging the Milton’s army from all the directions.

There was no other way for them to break past the siege and escape, and with the current power of the Milton army, going past the enemy was impossible, on top of that, they had thousands of injured and only a few Gigants in working conditions.

The time when Mayers and the other nobles were frustrated not knowing what to do.

Thud Thud!

A silver Gigant which shone in the lights walked into the camp and spoke.

“I am Luke de Rakan, the Lord of Marquis Rakan!”

“Keuk! Luke?”

Mayers tried to speak back to Luke.

However, the knights began to round him up.

Whether Mayers talked or not, Luke continued to speak.

“Listen, we are the invaders of the Milton Kingdom. You are surrounded. Surrender now as you have no place to escape. If you surrender we are willing to spare your life!”

Luke’s declaration threw the camp into haywire.

Mayers had already lost a great deal of forces and barely managed to escape with his life, and now he was surrounded right before crossing into their borders.

“Dammit, what do we do now?”

“Seeing Your Majesty’s personality, it is unlikely for him to surrender…”

“Do you mean that we will fight? There is no way we will win!”

Most of the soldiers were anxious.

They had struggled in the Batern tower and they knew the real power of the Rakan estate.

In addition, they had all fallen into the trap of the Rakans in the raid.

“Don’t fear!”

“This is a lie to divide us! Whether we surrender or not, they will kill every single one of us! They are monsters!”

Some of the knights and commanders tried to rile up their soldiers, however, the effect had on their words was insignificant.

“Go ahead and surrender! Marquis Luke isn’t the kind to break promises!”

“He promised to send us back to our homes!”

The prisoners of the Milton kingdom, who were caught in the war with Rakan came out and spoke for the Rakan.

And their unarmed appearances shook the hearts of the soldiers, knights, and officers.

A few prisoners of war were high ranking nobles.

“Dammit, what do you think you are doing?”

“Don’t you see they are trying to cause a rift between us?”

When the atmosphere was turning heavy, flustered Mayers stepped ahead from the nobles who were talking.

“Well, what are you all thinking?! Get ready for battle, right away!”

“Your Majesty, battle?”

“Why are you asking as if you don’t understand? Shouldn’t you run the siege ahead for us to escape?! To guide the Iron Fist knights and lead them ahead to help break the siege!”

“Huh?! More than half of our men were killed or injured in the last battle, you think this is possible?”

Reynard sarcastically asked at the King’s words.

“And what fight? If we surrender, we would at least stay neat without spilling anymore blood.”

“What nonsense are you speaking! Surrendering will get us all killed…”

“Your Majesty, do you really think that Marquis Luke will not spare you?”

Surprisingly, it was Count Lao who spoke to Mayers.

With his cold eyes, he continued to speak.

“Of course, we will be prisoners, but I think that we can get out with negotiations and giving huge concessions.”

If Luke was a determined man not to destroy the Milton Kingdom, he would surely release the prisoners after receiving the appropriate compensations.

Of course, that didn’t mean that Mayers would be released, but the nobles were likely to be released.

And when Lao mentioned about negotiations, it seemed like many wanted to surrender without war.

Seeing that happen, Mayers only turned redder.

‘This, this man is trying to betray me?’

There was a reason for the sudden change in the attitude of the nobles.

In the current world, the King and the nobles were in a feudalistic relationship.

The King was obliged to guarantee the nobles and their estates with protections, and the nobles were to be loyal to the King, unconditionally.

However, King Mayers was the first to break their trust.

For his ambition, he sacrificed his own retainers without consent. A life which was always known to be more precious than an estate or title.

It was natural for all the nobles around him to feel betrayed.

Even the highest of the nobles.

“Even if I have to give up all my power, I will still be alive…”

“Shut up, bastard! What are the knights doing? Take Count Lao right away and kill him!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

At the orders of Mayers, the knights pulled on their swords.

Their hearts shaking with worry, yet they were loyal to their King to the very core of their bones.

However, such loyal actions weren’t in the bones of the Sword Masters.

Reynold and Reynard blocked the knights who were ready.

Mayers could only hide his anger.

“You ungrateful bastard…!”

“Your Majesty, calm your mind and make a sound judgment!” Said Reynold while holding his composure.

“Shut up! You are no longer the commander of the Iron Fist Knights! If you want to surrender, go ahead and do it!”

At the sudden notice of Mayers’ decline, it wasn’t just Reynold but the nobles too were shocked.

Regardless of whether Mayers was under stress or not, Mayers had removed the Gram brothers from power and decided to curse them.

“It wasn’t my intention to reach out to the dirty mercenaries like you. You bitter hybrid trash! And you men are Sword Masters? Maybe all the tricks you learned were from falling on your knees in front of the enemy!”

“Ugh! What did you say?”

Reynard’s eyes turned bloodshot.

Being a mixed-race, there was nothing that he hated more than the word ‘Hybrid’.

“Huh, do you even have any shame? You aren’t even a human, just a hybrid…”

“This motherf*cker! I will kill you!”

Reynard’s body pushed past the knights and rushed over to Mayers. Well, almost rushed.

However, his brother Reynold was a step ahead and struck the sword at the King.

Puck!

The blade which was shining with an Impact aura, flashed through Mayer’s mouth.

“You were out of line. With such a tongue, how do you plan on running a nation?”

“Kuak… Kuak…!”

“Don’t complain about this. The one who let this happen was you.”

Reynold pulled back the sword, and Mayers fell to the floor struggling.

“…!”

Unlike the rebellious brother, Reynold always showed loyalty to Mayers.

The nobles were shocked by the scene where Reynold acted without hesitation to their King.

But for Reynold, it was only a natural thing.

Mayers was the one who fired him as the commander of the Iron Fist Knights, he broke the rules of the contract, and the only reason for his loyalty had disappeared when the contract was violated.

Reynold turned to the nobles who were staring at the bloody body of their King.

“I think that making a decision is much easier now?”

However, no one responded.

No, it would be right to say they couldn’t because their head could be cut off immediately.

And frankly, there were every few nobles who wanted to object.

“Then, let’ stop the flow of blood right here.”

Reynold, who took the silence as a consent, finally formed a decision.

Luke was flustered watching the situation unfold in the Milton army.

He didn’t give them any limited time, but he never even thought about how long the talks for surrender would go.

But sooner than expected, a white flag came out of the Milton camp.

The representative for the surrender delegation was Reynold Gram, the one who fought with Luke the other day.

“I guess we meet again.”

“That is what this looks like.”

At the words of Luke, Reynold had a bitter smile on his face.

“The decision of King Mayers had been made, I assume. He must have been very greedy for a person who just builds the nation.”

“Your Majesty was self-driven.”

“He said that?” Asked Luke.

“Yes, unfortunately…”

Shocked at the unexpected words, Luke looked at the faces of the nobles who came to surrender alongside Reynold.

Looking at their complexions, he thought that it was unlikely for Mayers to be self-driven.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter to me.’

He was anticipating for an inside battle, and he entrusted the work to Sebastian, his demon.

Whether Mayers committed suicide or was killed by his men, the end result was good enough for Luke.

“As of now, the Milton army unconditionally surrenders to the Rakan estate. And…”

“What is this?”

When Count Lao offered a gold-wrapped wooden box, Luke took it and opened it after a careful inspection.

He wondered if there was any hidden meaning behind it and used his magic, however, he couldn’t feel anything dangerous, such as poison or gunpowder in it.

Instead, what was inside the box made Luke’s eyes go wide of shock.

It was an old fashioned luxuriously designed crown, and the jewel in the center of the crown radiated in its own light.

“Isn’t this a crown?”

“It is the treasure which has been passed down since the time of the Milton Duchy.”

A treasure that has been handed down since the time of Milton Duchy, almost the same as a legacy.

“Why are you giving this to me? Is there any reason for…?”

When Luke asked, the Milton nobles knelt down in front of him.

“Be the new king of Milton. And please take us all in!”

“Please accept it!”

The retainers of Rakan, including Rogers were flustered and embarrassed at the request made by the Milton nobles.

Even if they surrendered, there was no reason for them to give up their nation.

However, Luke was able to grasp the situation. However, instead of running ahead, he asked them.

“Why leave the crown to me? Mayers surely had kids under him?”

“That is true, but the sons and daughters of the King aren’t good enough to deal with the threats of the Baroque Empire and the fate of the nation.”

That was the truth.

Luke had previously investigated Milton’s royal family through his Argos sources, and he couldn’t find anyone who was intimidating or remarkable.

‘But that can’t possibly be the only reason. Maybe they don’t want to embrace the death of the king and the defeat of the battle on themselves.’

That was what Luke thought.

Honestly, the nobles taken in were war prisoners and were released. It seemed like the kids of Mayers were going to rave about the defeat and the death of the king.

But there was another reason for the nobility of the Milton Kingdom to ask Luke to take over the crown.

‘It is highly likely for the throne of greedy Mayers to be taken away by his blood and then be ruined.’

‘I’d rather have Marquis Luke become the King. He has a good background, and has enough virtue to release the prisoners of war and avoid battles and he is a man of force…’

In that manner, the nobles of Milton had calculated their move.

And Luke spoke.

“Fine. Let’s say that I did accept it. But can’t there be anyone in here who represents the Milton Kingdom? Surely there needs to be someone who will object to this.”

Count Lao coldly replied.

“Then we will have to convince them. Anyway, the nobles of Milton Kingdom have no other choice.”

The southern nobles who helped Mayers and founded the Milton Kingdom were all because of their ill intent towards Emperor Rudolf.

And now they can’t go back to Rudolf, and even if Rudolf did take them back, they would be declared as rebels.

Surely, there were other options of seeking asylum in the other nations, but throwing away everything they worked hard for and starting anew in a strange nation wasn’t so easy, not even for the nobles.

And realizing that they had no choice, they all agreed for Luke.

However, Luke couldn’t fully trust the nobles of the Milton Kingdom.

‘A desperate move. They are very eager to protect what they have invested in.’

It wasn’t an unfamiliar scene for Luke.

He had witnessed the defeat of Count Monarch in the past.

At that time, the retainers and the lords under the Count pledged loyalty to Luke and his aides under the condition that their estates and lands along with their titles would be taken away.

It took time for Luke to tame them and turn them loyal, however, it wasn’t an impossible task.

‘Well, this is sudden yet a good opportunity. If I can take in the Milton kingdom which is intact, my power would turn stronger.’

And that power would help fight Emperor Rudolf and Arsene.

Of course, there was a huge task for Luke to stabilize the Milton Kingdom, however, it wouldn’t be so difficult since he was the main culprit for such situations to unfold.

He would stop the raids of the monsters, improve the security of the nation.

“Sire, please accept it. We know the grudge the Marquis had on the Baroque family.”

“That is right. In the future, we will become the spears fighting the Baroque Empire!”

As the nobles of the Milton asked Luke for succession, the retainers of Rakan all had absurd expression not being able to understand, and soon they wanted their Lord to take it.

“Lord, accept it.”

“Now the time has come to take down the Baroque family!”

“That is true. A complete independence!”

The retainers too went ahead, however, Luke didn’t open his mouth.

The decision was already made.

However, only when you make a child wait long will they turn earnest.

Of course, he couldn’t act too late.

Luke who pretended to be in thoughts, revealed his intentions when he thought it was the right moment.

“Understood. I will accept this according to your will.”

“Thank you, Sire. No, Your Majesty!”

“We will serve you with our hearts!”

The wealthy Milton nobles swore their heads and allegiance.

The war with the Milton Kingdom had come to an end, and Luke had earned a tremendous spoils of war, the crown.

That gave him a new start and an indication of his transition.