Emperor of Steel

Wheeing!

Luke’s bomb-like declaration changed the air in the talks.

With the face of their president turning cold and hard, the sharp energy that he was releasing was tremendous.

However, Luke and his men weren’t weak enough to fall for it.

‘Huh, he must be looking down on us.’

Philip was a Sword Master. Erwin was a 7th circle wizard. Moreover, Sebastian and Belfair were demons.

Of course, the knights and the wizards had the ability to handle the energy.

It was just one thing.

A while ago, there was someone who caught Luke’s eye.

A young knight with a good physique, standing right next to the president. However, the young knight wasn’t giving out any energy or life.

It was as if he was just there to observe. He was staring at Luke’s party with curious eyes.

However, Luke knew that he was no ordinary man.

It was because his eyes resembled Arch Duke Gregory of the Holy Empire, and the atmosphere felt unusual.

‘Sword Sage. Then, is he Duke Dimitry, the strongest knight of Volga?’

The Volga Republic… Well, the republic was the people who betrayed the royal family in the civil war and caused a revolution.

At that time, Dimitry was praised to be the strongest in the Volga Kingdom, after Kamarov, the commander of the proximal knights.

A number of knights were killed because of his betrayal, and that Sword Sage was there.

‘If I brought along Belik, he would immediately go for the man’s neck. I can’t expect him to act any other way because of their past.’

While he was in his thoughts, Vladimir coldly spoke to Luke, who was smiling, “Did you say that you can’t hand it over?”

“That is right. It isn’t like they are some kind of object. I can’t give them because I asked for their opinion, and they didn’t want to go back. They already made a decision, and wasn’t that why the president sent them an ultimatum?”

“Surely, I did…”

“Have you ever wondered why they decided to leave the Volga Republic?”

Upon hearing that, Vladimir frowned. However, he had nothing to say.

It was because Luke, who took the initiative in the conversation, continued to talk, “The amount given to the Dark Moon by the Volga Republic was terrifyingly small. And even with support, they still ran out of wizards every time since there’s a short supply of wizards because of your wars.”

And the same continued even after the Dark Moon Magic Tower was severely damaged because of Arsene’s assault.

However, despite the omission, the Republic Government hadn’t pursued the men who attacked Dark Moon.

It was because the government was worried that they would get hurt after going out.

“I knew about such things through a warlock whom I captured during the battle in Torlot Fort, so I proposed a plan to them to come under me.”

At Luke’s explanation, Vladimir asked a question that he wasn’t able to answer, “Why did you have to join hands with the Dark Moon? Aren’t you the descendant of Rakan, the man who killed Saymon, the ancestor of the Dark Moon?”

“Hut, this is a world where yesterday’s enemies become today’s allies. Indeed, that happened, but what good will a 500-year-old resentment do to me?”

After saying that, Luke looked at Marquis Tyron.

“And you should already know by now what kind of person I am from the men who suffered badly in the Torlot Fort battle for standing against me.”

“Kuek…!”

Marquis Tyron, who was defeated by Luke in the past, clenched his staff so tight that it broke.

Seeing it, Luke just spoke casually,

“I have no intention of relying on the name and fame of my ancestors. If I can resurrect my estates and take revenge on the Baroque who crushed my family for generations, I don’t mind joining hands even with the devil himself.”

“That was why you went along with the Dark Moon?”

“Yes, I supported them so much that they would never regret it, not just the funds but also the blueprints for a Hero class Gigant.”

After hearing Luke’s words, Vladimir clenched his fist.

Luke’s words were irritating, but he was more upset with the men around him.

Dark Moon was a comrade who helped the Republicans succeed.

Nevertheless, they were discriminated against because they were a group of warlocks.

And such things led to such a situation.

“As I said before, I plan to sell Orion to the Volga. I already have the Milton Kingdom in hand. However, it will take time for us to settle down, and I need more power to face the Baroque Empire.”

“So you are looking at us as tools to defeat the Baroque Empire?” Asked the president.

“Yes, it doesn’t matter much to us even if you, the Volga, decided to think of us as the same.”

Luke’s words made Vladimir laugh.

“It sounds very plausible to sign an alliance, but we can’t trust you.”

“Why so?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know? You have the remnants of the Volga Royal family and even took the Dark Moon. Didn’t you take the fairies and elves too?”

From the old days, they knew that the behavior of the fairies was abnormal, but just recently, they came to know that the elves were supporting Luke.

Elf Chief Bratt, Lycan Amur, and the Fairy Queen Ariete.

They demanded the government to restraint themselves from responding too stiffly toward the Dark Moon and the Rakan.

“You pull out the roots of someone else’s home, and now you’re trying to take down our hearts too? Do you think we’re fools? Do we look that easy to you?!”

Kwang!

The president hit the table and got up.

At the same time, Dimitry, who felt outraged, began to release his energy.

Wheeing!

Suddenly, the wind around the table began to turn heavy.

The Sword Sage, Duke Dimitry’s energy was intense, the mana around them was reacting violently.

Luke’s men, who remained unconcerned with the previous pressure, were slightly flustered.

‘Oh my god, you have got to be kidding!’

‘Oh my, if it goes like this we will have to fight…’

Philip and Erwin along with the two demons—Sebastian and Belfair—were sweating.

Luke was the only one who didn’t feel agitated.

Despite Dimitry trying to aim for Luke, Luke seemed rather fine and still had a smile on his face.

“Huhuhu. I don’t know who is dealing with a fool.”

‘No!’

Dimitry’s expression, which was stern, changed sharply.

The moment Luke got up from his seat, the entire air around them burst out like flames.

Wahhh!

“Do you think I am that easy?”

Luke threw back the president’s words.

The energy Luke gave out was so intense that every other energy that was there just got engulfed.

The intensity was so huge that the knights began to feel the surroundings tremble a little bit.

“Kuek!”

“H-he is a monster…!”

Dimitry was the only one who could still stand.

He was standing right in front of Luke and tried to push off Luke’s energy to protect the president from feeling terrified.

However, that wasn’t possible.

He could already see their president sweating and shaking extremely.

‘H-how is this possible? I am a Sword Sage. I am on the same level with the greatest men in the world, Rudolf and Gregory so how…’

Dimitry wasn’t able to understand the situation.

However, the reality was different from what he saw.

Even though he was a Sword Sage, Gregory was much stronger, and Rudolf had stepped into the realm of a Sword Emperor, a level higher.

And Luke confronted both of them.

It wasn’t just that. He fought against the Dragonian Shaikan, the crazy man who called himself Earner, and Lich Arsene.

Compared to them, the energy Dimitry was giving out was mediocre.

In addition, Luke’s ability had improved. He was learning the second half of the Gold Sword.

‘I can’t lose, even if it is the blood of Rakan!’

Dimitry took out his sword from his waist.

As soon as he took his sword out, the aura of Thunder Blade went right toward Luke.

Grrrng!

“Die, Marquis Luke!”

The aura that responded to Dimitry intensified and rushed like lightning.

The Thunder Blade seemed strong enough to even destroy a mountain.

However, when it was about to reach Luke, it got torn by a fierce sword that tore through the sky.

The sword that erased the Thunder Blade flew toward Duke Dimitry and cut his neck.

“Kuak!”

Dimitry clasped his neck and fell.

However, he didn’t see any drop of blood on his hands. Luke wasn’t even wielding his sword. He hadn’t even touched its hilt.

In fact, a while back, when the Thunder Blade was used, Luke using the Gold Sword was just an illusion.

If it actually happened, the surroundings would have collided the moment the two swords came in contact.

However, the one thing wrong about the illusion Luke created was that the Gold Sword Luke used was the second half and was much stronger than what Luke could actually perform.

The illusion of the second half was very similar to Ga-ram’s Gold Sword.

‘Well, it was an illusion, so there is nothing wrong with it.’

Luke, who thought so, looked at Vladimir and Dimitry who were still dazed.

“Before you talk about how someone destroyed your roots, think about how well you managed the roots when they were in your possession. And if you did good to them, I wouldn’t have had to come here myself.”

“Hm…”

The expression of the president subsided because of Luke’s words. It was because Luke was a worthy ally and not someone who looked down on Volga.

“Neither I nor Reina have any intention to overthrow the Republic. I wish for the people of Volga to live well.”

“Why should we believe you?”

Unlike the previous time, Luke responded with a smile,

“You do know that Reina is the Pope of the Holy Arthenia Empire, but has she shown any hostility toward Volga?”

“No, not really.”

Sylvia’s letter did contain information that Pope Veronica III of the Holy Empire was Princess Reina.

Also, she was busy reforming the Holy Empire, but as Luke stated, she never acted hostile toward Volga.

On the contrary, they made relief measures for the poor people and selected talented fairies and improved the tax systems which were what the republics insisted on.

“The only person we want to fight is Rudolf, President Vladimir. I believe that you aren’t a person who is being misled by his own greed like Mayers.”

As Luke said, the president had nothing to take.

The attack on Baroque in the past was to avoid getting invaded by the Baroque.

That was why he needed the Hero class Gigant and was furious with Luke who took over the Dark Moon Magic Tower, the ones in charge of developing it.

“I plan on trusting you as I have nothing to say here. As a successor to Milton, I plan to keep the secret alliance alive, and if you sell the Hero class Gigants at an affordable price, we won’t make noise anymore.”

“Of course, we will keep things like that.”

The two sides, which were violent just a moment ago, settled for an agreement and resolved the problem.

The other items would all be discussed in detail at a later time at the presence of both parties.

Vladimir, who personally went to seek out Luke, mumbled to himself after seeing Luke leave,

“Luke de Rakan… isn’t a king’s vessel.”

“Not a king’s vessel?”

Duke Dimitry didn’t understand.

What he witnessed today showed him that Luke had enough skills and guts to be considered as the king of a nation.

However, the president seemed to have different thoughts.

“The Emperor’s hand. There was a reason why he looked like a giant in my dream.”

Perhaps, another empire would make an appearance on the continent in a few years.

Vladimir was very convinced about it.