Emperor of Steel

Kang! Cang!

Belik and Dimitry were struggling against the giant Death Knight.

At first, they had decided that they could quickly defeat the enemy by launching attacks from different sides.

However, the ability of the Death Knight, who was of the Hwa-san clan, had trampled on their expectations.

He wanted to push them back, so he stretched the Ki from his sword and swung it around like a whip, yet the attack was flashy and powerful.

“Damn it, a swordsman from the Southern Continent? Too many varying attacks!”

“It is like we are dealing with a storm.”

The two didn’t know that the Hwa-san member was using a sword skill that used Ki.

And it wasn’t the sword skill he had learned during his lifetime, but the skills he attained from the Devildom after Arsene had turned him into an Advanced Death Knight.

“Oh! Ugh!”

“Kuak!”

Duke Dimitry, who was proud for reaching the level of Sword Sage, and Belik, who was proud of his Gigant skills, were breathing heavily against the Death Knight.

What was worse than the two of them were the Gigants they were riding.

Their Gigants’ gloves were a mess, and their Gigant’s swords were ragged.

‘If we get pushed any further, it will turn difficult.’

Glancing at the back, Belik grunted.

He didn’t even realize that while he was involved in the fight, he was pushed back into the close vicinity of the Holy Palace.

If something went wrong, Reina, who was still in the Holy Palace, could be in danger.

Dimitry noticed the change in Belik’s actions.

“You are overly cautious about what’s behind you.”

“Because I am no traitor like you.”

At Belik’s reply, Dimitry smiled bitterly.

“As you said, I am a traitor for betraying the Volga Royal family. Yet, I do not plan to abandon the grave that Her Holiness has shown toward the people of Volga Republic.”

Having said that, Dimitry fixed his words and spoke, “I’ll create a gap. In that time, go for that monster’s neck.”

“Tch, the traitor is trying to do cool things.”

Although he grumbled, Belik didn’t turn down Dimitry’s offer.

It was because he knew that they couldn’t win against the monster in a straightforward battle.

Kiiing!

Dimitry accelerated the core engine and Gigantic aura to the maximum.

He pushed his giant sword ahead and rushed for the giant Death Knight.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

With a slight difference, Belik ran as well.

The giant Death Knight, seeing that, took a step ahead and got ready with his whip-like sword.

The Ki whip, which was flexible, had fierce air in it and went straight for Dimitry.

Dimitry, who managed to avoid three to four of the whip attacks with his sword, suddenly unfolded Gigantic Aura on both the hands of his Gigant and grabbed the Ki whip.

Due to him avoiding the whip and the attacks of the enemy, he was able to find out a pattern in the enemy’s movement.

“Belik, now!”

“I know!”

While Dimitry blocked the opponent’s weapon, Belik went rushing in with his Gigant.

Just as his name, Firestorm, he unfolded a high-speed quick sword attack with all his might.

Slash-!

With a sharp sound, the giant Death Knight’s head flew to the sky.

The moment the head fell down on the ground, the body too fell with a thudding sound.

Thump!

“Did it.”

“Huhu, just like the Firestorm.”

“Obviously! I have been a mercenary for the past 20 years, and I have been inclined to… look, look there!”

Belik, who was trying to boast about his 20 years of hardship, looked at Dimitry’s Gigant and went stiff.

A large hole was right under the breastplate, and red blood was flowing out.

“Wha-what is it? What?!”

Hastily, Belik approached Dimitry and tore off the breastplate from the Gigant.

“Kuak, it is not a big deal. I made a mistake while catching his attack a while ago…”

Rather than it being a mistake, the attack of the Death Knight was so strong that he missed catching it and ended up getting stabbed in the cockpit.

“This, damn it…!”

Belik, who was looking at Dimitry’s condition, turned pale. The place where he had been attacked was a huge slash near the heart.

The wound was so large that it was strange that Dimitry hadn’t died right away.

“Don’t die, you traitor! I will take you to the princess!”

Belik hurriedly supported Dimitry.

The Holy Palace wasn’t much far from their battlefield.

The other priests weren’t that great, but with Reina’s Divine power, which was like a miracle, Dimitry could be saved.

“Kuak! I am sorry. For your wife and kids… I wanted to protect them…”

With his pale complexion, Dimitry apologized for what happened 20 years ago.

In fact, before the republican revolution had begun, the two of them held a good relationship with each other.

As the swordsmen representing the Volga Kingdom, they shared a great relationship.

But the republican revolution changed everything.

Dimitry chose the republicans for the public welfare, and Belik, the head of the Guards, was his inevitable enemy, and Belik got destroyed during the revolution, not just the royal family but even Belik’s own family was killed, which was why Belik hated Dimitry.

“Idiot, don’t talk! If you still have strength, then hold onto your breath. Just hold on!”

Belik rushed to the Holy Palace.

But Duke Dimitry kept on apologizing to Belik.

In the end, the wound was too much, and he lost too much blood, he went into a state where his body was impossible to recover.

“Belik… I am sorry…”

Dimitry, who spoke the words in the faintest voice, lowered his head.

Belik kept shaking his head, looking at the man’s fallen posture.

It didn’t seem right. The man wasn’t supposed to die like that.

After the battle was over, he was thinking of asking him to pay for his sins in the past.

But, he fell down before anything could happen!

“Wake up! Wake up right now, you cowardly traitor!”

Belik held onto Dimitry’s fallen body and kept shaking it.

However, no matter how much he screamed or how angry he yelled at him, he couldn’t bring back Dimitry.

“I told you to get up! We decided to have a final battle!”

Belik shook the man again and again. In front of his eyes, everything turned hazy, not being able to see anything.

Duke Dimitry, who was once his companion and enemy for a long time, was no more.

Hot tears fell onto his fallen body.

After Arsene and his Advanced Undead were killed, the battle became easy.

The lower Undead which were hit by the Divine power of the amplification magic circle and the Divine power of the Avenger fell.

And with Luke and his men joining in, the tide turned.

The battle ended at dawn.

Humans and fairy warriors, who were struggling with the Undead that were all over the city, shouted and cheered, “Woah! We have defeated the enemy!”

“Long live the alliance! Long live the fairies!”

“Long live His Majesty, Luke!”

For knights and wizards, who risked their lives and participated in the battle, the battle would be remembered forever.

The battle was so fierce and majestic.

The colleagues such as Arch Duke Gregory and Hwang Bo-sung approached Luke, who was listening to the shouts of the knights and wizards.

Everyone was tired from the constant fighting with the Undead, yet they cheered for the victory with bright expressions.

“Your Majesty, great work!”

“You worked hard too, Arch Duke Gregory.”

“Your Majesty Luke, you are the strongest warrior in the Northern Continent, well, in Middle Earth!”

“Thank you, Princess Jo Mimi. I will never forget the help shown to us by the Song Empire.”

While greeting his colleagues and acquaintances, Bratt, the head of the fairy tribe, who participated in the battle spoke, “Your Majesty, thank you for allowing me to participate in such a meaningful fight.”

“I want to thank you. Thanks to your help, we were able to avert something horrible.”

Luke expressed his gratitude and respect to Bratt and the other elves.

All the fairies were shocked by it.

It was something they never thought would be possible, a human king thanking the fairies.

“I will definitely repay the grace shown to us.”

“Then, then you need to surely pay us.”

“Huhu, without forgetting, I will.”

Kurgon of the Red Hammer tribe, and the queen of fairies, Ariete, smiled heartily.

Greeting everyone, Luke headed to the Holy Palace because Reina was there waiting for him.

“Honey, great job.”

As Luke entered the palace, Reina, who was kneeling and praying in the middle of the throne room, stood.

She hadn’t directly participated in the battle, but she knew how fierce the battle was with the reports that were coming in about the mythical demons coming down—Arsene and his Advanced Undead.

If they hadn’t been thoroughly prepared in advance, they might have been destroyed, yet, the Holy Empire and Bless managed to overcome it.

“We were able to win because our allies and the fairies fought hard. Rather than that, are you fine?”

Reina wasn’t just praying.

Although the relics and sanctuaries were scattered in Bless, they were used as tools for amplification, and it was necessary to constantly supply it with Divine power in order to maintain its ability.

Reina and a dozen more high priests took over that role.

While praying the entire night, they were relaying the Divine power all over Bless.

Maybe because of that, Reina as well as the other Archbishops seemed a little pale.

It was like their body was depleted with Divine power, but fortunately, there was no harm to anyone’s life.

“Don’t worry about me. Rather, how much damage had been done to our allies?”

She asked for the damage taken.

The question darkened Luke’s face right away, but he collected himself and answered,

“942 people died and 1,832 were injured. The destroyed Gigants weren’t counted. We were all prepared, but they were so strong that we took a lot of damage.”

On his way to the palace, Luke had asked Erwin for the reports about the casualties.

The damage to the Volga reinforcements was the greatest of all.

They fought so hard to repay the grace Reina had shown by saving them from the Undead that most of them died.

“It was said that Duke Dimitry, who brought in the reinforcements, was also killed.”

“I know. Lord Belik retrieved his body a while back.”

Reina was upset.

She prayed for the other ones that died, asking them to be given peace.

As she was praying, Luke spoke to her, “Don’t be so sad. Sacrifices are regrettable, but their sacrifices are the reason Bless has survived. And they were the reason why Middle-Earth was able to escape from Arsene.”

If the Advanced Undead legion of Arsene had run wild, the entire land would have been devastated.

They would have killed hundreds of millions of people on the Rhodesia Continent and the Southern Continent.

In that way, the sacrifice of the Volga Republic army had prevented the slaughter of humans, they ensured a better future.

“I guess so. But to make their sacrifices worth it, we need to destroy the Life Vessel so that Arsene and the Lich will not be resurrected ever again.”

With that battle, the Death Knights had been removed.

But the Lich was different.

Unless the Life Vessel was destroyed, they would keep coming back.

Arsene had already been revived once.

For true peace, the Lich King and his Lich had to be removed permanently.

“I remember where the Life Vessel might be hidden. As soon as the battle is done, I intend to mobilize the troops of the alliance and eradicate the evil.”

Luke decided to attack Crete.

The power of his allies fell a lot during the battle with the Advanced Undead. Sword Experts and Masters were all injured or killed.

Even then, the attack on Crete couldn’t be delayed.

“I want to remove them before they even get resurrected.”

“I too think of doing the same.”

Just because there was a Life Vessel, it didn’t mean that the body could be resurrected right away.

It would take time for a broken body to be resurrected. And just because the resurrection was done, that didn’t mean that the abilities could be restored.

‘It would take a year at the earliest for Arsene and Lich to regain their power.’

Counting the time Arsene took in the past to revive, Luke did a rough calculation to find and destroy them before they resurrected and regained their power.

Otherwise, another sacrifice would occur, or someone new with unknown abilities like Shaikan could get taken over.

‘Arsene, I will not give you another chance to resurrect and run wild!’

Clenching his fist, Luke made up his mind.