Emperor of Steel

“Don’t think about backing down! Hold on till the very end! Just a little more, the reinforcements will get here!”

Duke Ferrierd directly led the knights, who were fighting in the streets.

Things were turning worse and worse, but he still believed that he would have a chance.

It was because of Marquis Suleiman and Emperor Rudolf.

If he held on a little more, the enemies would retreat. That was why he kept encouraging his men, who were on the verge of getting themselves killed.

But the momentum was in the Anti-Revolutionary Army’s favor.

With only a few hundred Gigants remaining on his side, there was no way Ferrierd could push ahead against the army, which had more than hundreds of Gigants.

“Lazlie! Where is Lazlie?!”

When things started to get out of hand, the Duke Ferrierd called for Lazlie. Flying Dragons which had to be in the war couldn’t be seen for a while.

“Lazlie said that he had to defend something at the dock an hour ago and lead his troops outside the castle ground.”

“What?!”

“He said that you gave him permission to do so, father. Did he not?” Aslan asked Duke Ferrierd with a frown on his face.

While listening, he quickly sent his men over to the dock and look for them.

After a while, the messenger, who had gone to look, came back with a shocking report.

“There were no ships there that belonged to the Flying Dragons.”

“No, it… It can’t be!!”

Lazlie had gone to the duke even before he had come out as an independent nation. He encouraged men to revolt with all sorts of theories.

He said that if the power of the Konrad Kingdom and the full support of the Baroque Empire was provided, then Ferrierd would be able to achieve true independence.

As a result, feeling delighted, Duke Ferrierd declared independence and thought that the situation was going just as he had planned.

But as things went on, the situation took an entire 180-degree turn. The power of the Holy Empire was much more than what he had imagined.

‘Did I end up becoming a clown in the hands of Emperor Rudolf all of a sudden?’

The face of the man, who was late to realize what had happened, was red with rage.

“Your Majesty, the enemy is advancing toward the palace!”

“Reinforcements, please send in the reinforcements!”

The messages were being relayed by the messengers, but the head of the duke was blurred.

During that moment, Prince Aslan opened his mouth.

“We need to retreat right away.”

“Retreat? To where do you plan on running away?”

“There is no hope left for us in Alvera. Why not just leave the palace and head to the southern continent?”

“The southern continent?”

“Yes, the men said that there are still ships left in the dockyard. By sailing out to the sea, the Holy Empire would no longer be able to pursue us.”

If the duke went and told his army that he would surrender, it was unlikely for his enemies to accept it.

And if they did try to flee to the Castia Kingdom or any other nation, with their harmonious relationship with the Holy Empire, they wouldn’t likely shelter them.

Aslan was sure that it was better to cross the sea and head to the south.

The duke, who had been thinking about what his son said, sighed. While looking at the ground, he said, “Is that the only option left?”

“That is the only way in this situation!” Answered Aslan.

“Fine. Let’s do that.”

When it was decided that they would retreat, Duke Ferried and his retainers immediately began to carry the remaining goods of the palace to the ships in the dockyard.

The situation was so drastic that they only took things that wouldn’t be a hassle for them, yet they didn’t forget to take the treasures and the gold bars that they had collected from the craftsmen over the past years.

‘Treasures are surely important, but…’

Aslan rushed over to the royal library, where a few important documents were kept.

The library was already turned into a mess. The administrators and the clerks were burning or destroying the important documents. However, the army of the empire was right at the palace front, so people began to escape. There were a few clerks who were concerned with eliminating any documents that could make the duke’s family’s name bad.

“Get rid of everything in here!”

Aslan ordered the escorts to destroy the documents and removed several books from the innermost shelf.

The bookshelf slid to the side opening like a door, revealing a hidden room.

‘Dirty bastards! They have come here only to make sure of our downfall!’

In the secret room were the confidential letters which were exchanged between Duke Ferrierd and the Flying Dragons and the Trade Book.

There was also information about the secret plans they did. It also held the record of the knight of Baroque Empire, Lazlie de Voltaire, disguising himself as a mercenary.

Aslan picked out the most important ones. He thought of reducing the number of documents to a minimum since carrying them would be tough, but the important documents were too heavy.

While trying to figure out a way, Aslan’s eyes went over to a young man.

“Look here, you! Come with me and move these!”

“Ah! Yes!” Answered the man.

The young man with cold eyes ran over, and Aslan handed over some of the documents to him.

“Are they very important?”

“Obviously, they are important. Ahm, that isn’t important now!”

Aslan, holding onto the documents, rushed to the carriage.

By the time he got to the carriage, Duke Ferrierd and his other major retainers were already there.

“What took you so long?!”

“There were things I had to take.”

“Get in fast. If we are too late, the waterways might get blocked!”

Upon reaching the dock, the duke carried the treasure, and with some escort troops on three paddle ships, they set sail.

“Majesty! Please take us too!”

“Turn the ship right away! Duke, we believed in you and put everything on the line! We gave you the entire power of the estates. You can’t be doing this to us!”

After hearing about the retreat, the lower nobles and the neighboring lords ran to the dock, asking for help.

However, the duke was ready to attack anyone who would even try to get close to his ship without mercy.

The soldiers fired bows and crossbows at the nobles.

“Ahhh!”

“This damned man! He will surely be punished!”

The ship had exited the dock and began to speed up.

Later, the army of the empire knew about it and tried to chase after them but didn’t manage to catch up to them.

‘Suddenly! I had to run away like this, but I will come back one day!’ While looking at Alvera which he was leaving behind, Duke Ferrierd thought to himself.

As he was doing that, Aslan was looking for someone on the deck of the ship.

“Captain, have you seen the young clerk who came in with me?”

“Who?”

“He is about this height and has a platinum-colored hair and his physique is…” Aslan explained to the Captain.

“Well, I was in a hurry to set sail, so I didn’t really look as to who got in.”

Aslan’s face soon began to turn stiff. The documents he had given to the young man were very important.

“It can’t be. Was he not able to get in on the boat…”

“Maybe he is on a different ship. Why not ask them to check?” Asked the captain.

“Please do that.”

Aslan was waiting for good news, but after a while, he was told that no one of such had got in.

In the end, he had to be content with the documents he himself managed to bring in.

A few days later…

Ferrierd’s fleet, which was sailing through the mouth of Rio River, encountered ships with skull flags.

Hiding behind the islands, the pirate ships suddenly bombarded them.

When their ships got close to Ferrierd’s fleet, the pirates hooked themselves to the deck.

Without differentiating anyone, the pirates wielded their axes and swords at the soldiers and the sailors.

“Hahahaha! If you don’t want to die, then jump off!”

“Get off quickly! The sharks are waiting for you!”

Looking at the pirates on the deck, Duke Ferrierd found a young man whom he recognized.

“This man, Lazlie! How dare you deceive men who believed in you!”

“Huhuhu, what are you so upset about, Your Majesty?! Everything is already done so go away without any regrets. Go away quietly.”

When Lazlie clicked his fingers, the pirates, who stopped killing Ferrierd’s men, started killing them again.

“Euakk, save me! Please!”

“Please, please! I’ll do whatever you say…!”

Those who were on the deck or hiding in the cabinets got their necks slashed, and those who jumped into the sea were killed by the sharks, who smelled their blood.

Duke Ferrierd fought till the end but soon fell when he got shot by a pirate’s arrow.

“Father!”

“Guak! Hurry… Hurry and go…”

After the death of his father, Aslan cursed Lazlie with tears in his eyes.

“Lazlie! You will pay for this! Your clan and Emperor Rudolf, too!”

“Yes, yes. Go to a lord you believe in and ask him to punish us.”

While mocking Aslan, Lazlie raised his hand.

The pirates shot dozens of arrows and threw Alsan into the sea.

The Flying Dragons, who finished the rebellion on behalf of the Holy Empire, dragged three of the seized ships and disappeared somewhere.