Emperor of Steel

“Th-that! What is that?”

Asked Karen, who was amazed by what she had just seen.

Luke recovered back the sword and answered.

“It is a Clock-up sword, the last resort of the second half of the Gold Sword.”

“Clock-up sword? There was no such thing left behind by dad…”

“Huh. Of course, it wasn’t. I completed this during my trip to the Southern Continent a while back.”

The Clock-up sword was a sword skill that Luke learned during his expedition to the Southern Continent a few months back.

The first time to use it was when he dealt with Red Dragon King Lee Yong-mu.

In other words, it was a changed future for Luke.

Having returned the Avenger back to subspace, he approached Karen, who dismissed Veda.

“By the way, your skills are quite good.”

“Huh, what about it. In the end, I lost to dad.”

She thought that she could have an equal leveled fight, but she ended up losing.

Karen didn’t think that her father’s skills would have been to that level.

Seeing Karen who was pouting her lips, Luke smiled.

“Actually, there is this secret which you don’t know about.”

“What is that?”

“Hu hu hu. Would it be a secret if I let you know?”

Honestly, the talent of Karen was enormous.

When it comes to comparing skills and efficiency, Karen was better than Luke.

However, Luke had the experience of waging war against the entire Rhodesia Continent 500 years back.

And if the Gold sword he learned after reincarnating as Luke, together with the Divine Power, Luke was definitely several times stronger than the past life.

No matter how talented Karen was, he would have won.

“You lost, so go back to the Holy Palace.”

“Don’t want to!”

“Ugh, are you going to do this again?”

Luke glared at her, but Karen didn’t seem to have any intention of backing off.

“Dad is a liar. What did you say during our last communication? I knew the ruins better, so you said you would contact me again after gathering the needed information, right? But what did you actually do? You never called me about anything!”

“Well…”

Even if it was for the safety of his daughter, Luke did lie.

Luke didn’t respond for a second, and he tried to comfort his daughter who seemed upset.

“I told this the other day too. What you did is enough. Whatever happens now needs to be me, I need to wrap this up.”

“Ugh, that is the problem with you dad! Even mom nags you because of the very same thing!”

“Same thing?”

“Yes, even when you have a lot of people around you, you always try to solve things yourself! Huh, always assuming you have a reason for it. But aren’t you just running away from the help of people who are really capable enough?”

At the bitter words of Karen, Luke seemed taken aback.

She wasn’t wrong. He did try to go in for any battle, especially if it was an important one.

He did that all the time as Saymon too.

At that time, he faced Rakan one-on-one and lost.

‘Now that I think about it, the last time I fought with Arsene, I won because Hwang Bo-sung helped me.’

If he fought alone, the outcome would have changed.

Even now, while taking in the troops, he thought of battling with Rudolf all by himself.

It was because he was confident about his ability to kill Rudolf.

‘I might have been arrogant. Reina and Karen are right. But…’

Some people might call it selfishness.

Yet, Luke had no intention of breaking down his selfishness right away.

“You are right. But this isn’t someone else, I don’t want my precious family entering into battles.”

“And about the feelings of your family members who need to see her dad fight alone?”

Luke went speechless at Karen’s words.

“Dad might not know. But mom couldn’t even sleep at night during your last expedition to the Southern Continent and during that battle with Grenada pirates too. Not once or twice, but every day she would kneel on the cold temple floor and pray for dad’s safe return, all night long.”

“Reina…”

“Of course, even now she might be worried because I came over. But she might feel better than you being alone.”

And she had to make sure that the relic of time was sealed away.

Seeing Karen’s eyes filled with righteousness, Luke couldn’t refute back.

Making up his mind, he spoke.

“Fine, Karen. Follow me.”

“Huh? really?”

Karen was shocked at his answer.

“Why? Don’t want to?”

“Uh, no. I like it, dad. He hehe!”

She didn’t think that Luke would just allow her, she went right for her father’s arm and tried to show off her charm.

“Instead, you will have to follow my directions.”

“Yep! I will make a promise under the name of El Kassel.”

“Fine then, introduce yourself to the group.”

Luke took her and introduced her to the two princesses and the other troops’ members who were all looking at them.

“Hello, princess. I am princess Jo Mimi of the Song Empire. I was really admired by the little princess’s martial arts skill and zen.”

“I was surprised too. How powerful the young woman was… if someone didn’t know you, they would have thought that you were a master.”

At the words of Princess Ja-hye, Karen was heartbroken.

She wasn’t young because she wanted to, but it was the truth she had to live with.

By the time Karen was resting, Luke made a communication with the Holy Empire’s Holy Palace.

He explained the situation to Reina, on how Karen followed them. And he agreed to take her after the situation which had happened. Hearing that, Reina jumped up.

She was looking for her missing child everywhere, and she goes all the way to do that!

-No way, honey! You’re taking that little kid to that place! Send her back right away!

Reina’s yell made Luke tired and calm her.

“I did oppose her. However, as a result of the bet, I had to admit that Karen is stronger than a Sword Sage.”

-Huh? That kid is stronger than a Sword Sage?

“Probably on par with Arch Duke Gregory.”

At the answer from her husband, Reina couldn’t even comprehend what the man was thinking.

She knew Karen was extraordinary for her age.

She was full of secrets from the first meeting, and she knew how to use Divine Power and Aether.

However, Reina never thought that Karen could be on par with Arch Duke Gregory, a Sword Sage.

“Even if we do end up getting surrounded by the Imperial forces in Nemesis, she can get rid of people on her own accord. So let Karen come.”

-Ha, fine, I can’t do anything if you are dead set on taking her. Make sure to bring her back safely, unhurt!

“I know. I make sure that she doesn’t even hurt her finger.”

-By the way, are the advancement of the alliance troops are smooth?

Luke would occasionally contact Duke Hans in Brandon to check how the war was going.

It was because of the alliance troops lose or their advancement is slow, the operation would have to be changed.

And magic communication within the Baroque Empire would carry the risk of being detected by the enemy.

However, Luke was an exception.

It was because he had a high level of magic, which couldn’t be detected by regular wizards.

‘I need to be careful only in Nemesis, where the Imperial magic tower would have laid detection magic circles all over.’

Thinking so, Luke told Reina what he heard.

“It was said that the 1st squad was moving smoothly. The resistance of the Baroque Imperial army and the local lords is a lot less than expected. However, the 3rd squad had to stop their advancement and responded to the 100,000 troops which came from the west for battle.”

-From where did those troops appear?

“My opinion, the Libiya Kingdom must have sent them.”

-Wasn’t Libiya fighting with the Baroque till a while back, why send in troops to help the same Empire then?

At Reina’s question, Luke nodded.

“There is no such thing as an eternal enemy or comrades in international relations. If necessary, enemies will hold hands, and siblings would betray one another.”

At Luke’s cold words, Reina asked.

-So, do we have additional troops to send?

In addition to the 200,000 troops deployed, the five allies of the alliance sent troops to Symphonia Kingdom.

Because the real purpose was to capture Libiya Kingdom which was holding hands with the warlocks.

“No, there is no need to send more troops to the Baroque Empire. The current troops would be able to control the enemy.”

In addition to Marquis Rogers and Count Ferrero, a large number of nobles and knights from various kingdoms were in the 1st squad.

Luke believed them—all the commanders who have been recognized in their own nations.

-I see, then I guess I should believe them too.

An alliance for the future of the continent.

Reina prayed that the continental alliance would overcome all the variables and occupy Nemesis.

-Anyway, take care of yourself, and keep a close eye on Karen.

“I know. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

Luke promised her again and again, till he cut off the magic communication.

But he had no idea what would happen.

Reina, who wasn’t relieved after hearing his words, sent reinforcements.

That benefitted Luke, but was quite difficult for Karen.

All those who were pushed into trouble because of her disappearance were in the reinforcements.