Emperor of Steel

The sea to the east of Rhodesia continent.

A fleet of around 200 ships were moving in the high waves.

The fleet was based on the Symphonia and Holy Empire navy, and aboard the fleet were top knights, wizards, and the fairy warriors of the Continental Alliance.

Warriors and zen users of the Song Empire and Yemaek were also included in them.

They were all under the command of Luke, the strongest Rune Knight on the continent, and the King of Symphonia.

Having organized an expeditionary force at the end of the battle at Bless, he was on his way to Crete.

There was a high possibility of Arsene’s Life Vessel hidden in the island where the Advanced demon Bargosa was hiding.

“Belfair, is Crete still far?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. At this speed, we will have to move another half day to reach it.”

Belfair was the guide for the expedition.

Thanks to Luke’s help, he managed to recover enough to guide them.

However, his power wasn’t great enough, nor was he willing to fight against Bargosa.

Bargosa wasn’t just made up of power, but he was one of the great advisors of the Devildom.

He was a bright and strategic demon, which Belfair worried about in the upcoming battle.

‘With Your Majesty’s skill, defeating Bargosa might be possible. But considering Bargosa’s personality, he won’t fight without any preparation.’

It was very easy for Bargosa to defeat a low demon like Belfair and turn away, but if he knew that his opponent was a formidable one, he would respond a lot cautiously.

Maybe he would call for reinforcements from the Devildom, or dig traps all over the Crete island.

‘Or there could be no such thing. Maybe he thought I was dead and let his guard down…’

“Belfair, what are you thinking?”

At Luke’s question, Belfair was a little startled.

“Your Majesty, I was thinking, wouldn’t it be nice to gather more power?”

“We have already collected all the power we can.”

In the past battle of Bless alone, 1,000 people were killed.

Considering the Undead and the two nations that were annihilated, the amount of 1,000 could be considered as a small sacrifice.

The problem was that most of the dead ones were Sword Expert or higher knights, and wizards of over 6th magic circle or higher.

In addition to the unavoidable death, many people were unable to find it because of the serious injuries which had resulted in amputation or breaking down of the mana circle.

In such a situation, Luke tried to mobilize those he could.

As it wasn’t known what all Arsene had planned on Crete. Luke even took along Count Philip and Marquis Rogers—who had conquered Libiya Kingdom, and even Karen was accompanying him on the ship, despite the pressure from Reina.

And if brought in all knights and wizards available, the force would be a lot more.

But, that didn’t seem like a good option.

If the quality of the expedition turned poor, it would end up turning into a weakness.

‘The problem is that we are still lacking in high-end power…’

Fortunately, there weren’t many skilled people who were in the reinforcements of Song and Yemaek.

And those who followed the two princesses to Bless, and the second reinforcements were all aiding to provide security to the Baroque and Libiya Kingdom.

However, some of the nobles were concerned about it.

The Symphonia’s council too were concerned by it.

It was because the soldiers of Song and Yemaek seemed like they were trying to hold the conquered nation as Song Empire’s or Yemaek’s.

Moreover, the controversy grew even more as the Song Imperial family crest was a two-headed lion.

It turned into a rumor that the Song Imperial family was a mixed blood of the old Libiya royal lineage, and that Princess Jo Mimi had come over to reclaim her ancestor’s land.

The rumors strengthened when a couple more rumors came around about a former Libiya princess, who was taken down by the Baroque Empire that would return one day and punish the Baroque Imperial family.

‘Well, it was true that they wanted the land.’

Not just the Song Empire, but even Yemaek had made the request for land.

However, the lands the two nations had requested for was just a small estate with farmland and a port attached to or near it.

They only intended to have a trading base and even promised to pay the annual rent.

Of course, it could change in the future.

The trading base could be turned into a conquest base in the future.

Even so, Luke had no intention of keeping them away.

Rather than worrying about what would happen in the far future, the priority was to get rid of the curse which had been destroying the nation for hundreds of years.

Five hours later, the fleet of troops which was being led by Luke entered the mist.

Karen, who was in the cabin, went over to visit her father who was on the deck looking at a faintly visible island.

“Is that the island?”

“Yes, princess. That is Crete. We need to be careful from now on.”

Belfair, who was next to Luke, replied coldly.

Philip, who was Karen’s escort, smelled and frowned at the sight.

“This smells like sulfur?”

“I sense that the closer we get, the more it turns.”

The mist surrounding the island of Crete was mixed with sulfur.

The volcano which destroyed the island 300 years back didn’t die down yet.

Perhaps due to that, as time passed, people began to develop shortness of breath, headaches, and dizziness increased.

Especially, the symptoms of people who were sailors had the worst symptoms, to the extent where ships would collide.

Belfair was a little confused with what he saw.

“When I came here, it wasn’t this…”

“It seems like he was up to something, might have guessed we would come here.”

Luke immediately used purification magic.

At the same time, the wizards and priests on the other ships too began to use spells to clear out the mist.

Thanks to that, the condition of the sailors recovered.

‘But this isn’t the end.’

If it was based on a plan, it meant that a lot more were ready to welcome them.

Just as Luke predicted, a second attack began.

Kung-!

“Ugh!”

With a sudden vibration, Auster shook.

Luke and the others who were taken aback due to the sudden sound and tremor, held the ship to balance themselves. A few of them, who couldn’t react, fell to the ship floor.

“What? Did we get stuck because of a reef?”

When Luke was asking, Hwang Bo-sung, pointed to the side and answered.

“Your Majesty, it is no reef! Look over there!”

Looking at the place Hwang Bo-sung had pointed to were huge animals across the current who were approaching the ships and hitting it.

Thud! Thud! Thump!

“Whale?”

“Ugh, these beasts are interfering!”

Scarlet drew an arrow to the whale due to the anger of stumbling on the deck.

Her arrow with aura hit the whale.

However, even after being hit, the whale showed no reaction.

He neither struggled in pain nor moved away, like a machine the whale came back to hit the ship.

“Are they being manipulated by magic?”

“No, it is like an undead whale.”

Luke could jump to that judgment by looking at the whale which was attacking the Song Empire ship of Jo Mimi, which was 20 meters away from Auster. The whales displayed the characteristics of an undead.

The Song Empire battleships fired the cannons to hit the whales.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The whales which got hit lost their dorsal fins, yet they continued to rush towards the ship as if nothing happened.

Even Auster wasn’t safe. A large whale swam in the sea ready to hit the ship.

However, its lower body was rotten with bones and internal organs hanging out.

“How dare they!”

Just before the huge whale hit the ship, Hwang Bo-sung used Trinity Punch.

The Undead whale was hit and shattered.

Patter!

“Tch, even using the whales to create undead…”

“He really does weird things!”

Philips and the other knights frowned as they saw the rotten flesh and bones fall on the deck.

“But one thing is clear. Arsene is right here.”

At Karen’s words, Luke smiled

“When I hear that, my strength rises.”

Having said that, Luke pulled out the Holy Sword Valiant.

After turning his Aether Globe to Divine power, he struck the sword towards the sea.

Swoosh!

The gold aura which had been condensed at the tip of the sword caused a wave.

As the column of water soared high, golden waves splashed in all directions with Divine power.

Keeek!

Kuak!

The golden waves made the whales that were close to it screech in pain.

The ones in the water melted right away, and those who were in the distance scattered.

“This is it! Destroy all of them!”

Pop! Pop!

At Luke’s command, the battleships of the fleet opened fire at once. The wizards attacked the undead whales.

Soon, the undead whales which threatened the fleet disappeared like a lie.

They were either destroyed or ran away.

Luke sighed as he found out the damage.

“Fortunately for us, there was no human loss of injury since the attack was mainly on the hull of the ship. However, more than 20 ships were damaged and there is water seeping in, so restoration work is under process.”

At the report of Marquis Volant, who served as the captain of Auster, Luke nodded.

The sinking ships were alright, and the transport ships holding the Gigants were safe.

“Hurry up and repair. And don’t neglect the boundaries. We don’t know how the next attack would come.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Hearing Luke’s command, the wizards carefully examined the sky and sea.

However, there were no more raids from the sea, and the fleet managed to arrive safely on Crete island.