Emperor of Steel

“There’s nothing wrong that could’ve happened, right?”

“Don’t jinx anything and keep quiet. We will hear good news.”

The commanders of Symphonia Kingdom, who were in the manor, were waiting for Luke’s return.

They were waiting and wanted to put their utmost belief in Luke’s words and expect nothing to go wrong. However, as two hours had already passed, they couldn’t help but be worried.

Woong!

Right then, Avenger made an appearance in front of them.

They were nervous when they saw a lot of fragments of Avenger on its gloves. However, they sighed out of relief when they saw Luke coming out of the cockpit.

“Why were you so late?”

When Belik asked him with an irritated voice, Luke just shrugged.

“I was about to come back right away, but they showed me something very impressive, so I ended up taking my time.”

“Tch! I should have gone along with you.”

Belik, who didn’t consider himself to be that great of a performer in the Gigantic Duel, grumbled while looking at the enemy lines.

“Well, the day looks bright, something worthwhile might happen.”

“It could be worth seeing, so keep your eyes on them. No matter what, avoid oversleeping.”

At the end of Luke’s words, Belik nodded his head and returned to his quarters. Luke and his other commanders went back too.

However, some engineers and soldiers had to stay up all night to fix the wall of the manor that collapsed.

The next morning, just as Luke had promised, the Baroque Empire’s camp that was on the north of the river was in a mess.

“W-what the hell?! Are all of the Knights of Guard gone?”

“Yes, Sire. No one has seen them since they left yesterday evening.”

At the words of his lieutenants, Marquis Vanden slumped into the chair.

‘This damned time! How can the men…? The Sword Masters of the Emperor, his special guards, run away?’

He, who looked blank for a short while, turned red out of anger.

“Find them right away! This calls for immediate execution!”

“But Sire, then the morale of the soldiers…”

Even so, those who didn’t do their duty correctly couldn’t be excused.

“Kuek! Well, just find them for now!”

At Vanden’s words, his lieutenant went to organize a search party to pursue the whereabouts of the SS knights.

However, despite being kept secret, rumors about the disappearance of the SS knights couldn’t be prevented.

The soldiers of the Symphonia Kingdom, who were at the walls, shouted.

“What are your men doing? Did the Knights of Guard flee at dawn?!”

“You too need to pack up and get back already! Battle with you men is turning annoying for us!”

As the enemy kept mocking them, the men of Baroque ordered their soldiers to not get tricked.

However, as the Knights of Guard didn’t show up even after the next day, the peace of the camp was inevitably disturbed.

“Did the SS really flee?”

“Isn’t it time we back off from this too?”

The Baroque Empire’s troops were in confusion.

Although there were no deserters in the camp, the absence of the SS knights decreased the morale of the soldiers, and the troops’ flow was destroyed.

Hearing the reports, Marquis Vanden burst into screams.

“Those rats! They are men that should work under my feet!”

The angry Vanden contacted Emperor Rudolf via magical communication to report about the SS that deserted them.

Before the fleeing men went to the emperor and told some weird story, he wanted to speak to the emperor first. However, the emperor didn’t believe his words.

-The Knights of Guard escaped? What nonsense are you talking about?!

“I feel bad for saying it, but it is true…”

-Shut up! I have already heard from Kurian that you men asked for a Gigantic Duel due to the late arrival. Why are you blaming them?

Emperor Rudolf knew about the loyalty of the SS knights, which made him doubt Vanden’s words.

On the contrary, he said that Vanden wasn’t given permission to leave Sherwood City without them and without taking the city back.

‘Haa, has he decided to hit me?’

The traitor couldn’t be trusted.

It was because those who once resorted to betrayal would always be suspected to do the same act again.

Even if not for that, his position in the Baroque military was shaking, and it made his position as the commander of the reinforcements shudder.

‘Would I surrender to the Symphonia Kingdom?’

Since he had already betrayed people once, doing it again shouldn’t be a problem.

However, Vanden shook his head.

Even if he was a Sword Master, there was no way the enemy would give him a high position after learning about his betrayal.

Moreover, his relatives at the Baroque Empire and loyal retainers would be killed if he betrayed the emperor.

‘Well, we need to break through the crisis head-on! The battle isn’t over yet!’

Vanden, who thought that his opportunity hadn’t completely disappeared, stepped up to the gates of Sherwood after getting in his Hero class Gigant, ‘Yeti’.

“What is with him, that guy?”

“He isn’t going to ask for a Gigantic Duel once again, is he?”

When the soldiers of the Symphonia Kingdom were confused and looking from the wall, Vanden screamed through his Gigant.

“I am Marquis Vanden, the commander of the reinforcements! Ask Luke de Rakan to come out!”

“What? He is the enemy commander?”

In time, Luke and the commanders of Symphonia Kingdom, who climbed the walls, heard him.

“Come out, Luke, you traitor! Let’s not sacrifice more men, and let’s decide this between ourselves like men!”

“Shut up! Do you think His Majesty has time like you to deal with your tantrums?”

At Vanden’s request, Philip screamed back at him.

He turned right and spoke to Luke, “Your Majesty, please give me orders. I will go and slash the neck of that man right away.”

“No need, please send me. I will pull that trash out of his Gigant and punch him.”

“Please send me. I haven’t even gone into battle yet, so give me the chance!”

Along with Philip, Belik and Ferrero asked to go out as well.

Everyone despised Vanden. He was famous for betraying his master, Butler. Everyone wanted to punish Vanden with their own hands.

The problem was that Luke had the same thoughts in his mind as well.

“I am free at the moment. I’ll take care of the man.”

“Your Majesty!”

“That is a royal order. Anyone who tries to stop me will have to go against me later.”

“Ugh…!”

Luke’s threat scared everyone.

Even though they wanted to go and battle with Vanden, they didn’t have the courage to go against their king.

“But, Your Majesty’s Gigant, Avenger, is still being repaired.”

“You don’t need an Orc’s sword to catch a goblin.”

Luke, who said that, took part in the battle with a Knight class Gaius and not the Hero class Orion.