Emperor of Steel

A meadow to the north of Rhodesia Continent.

Located between the Volga Republic and Holy Arthenia Empire was a vast land that was turned rugged due to the numerous nomadic people residing in it.

A thin elven woman was walking on such a path.

Across the grassland, moving her body was the disciple of Erenes, Erwin.

“Huk! Egh, huk…!”

Erwin was suffocating and her body was in terrible condition.

Her head was completely covered with dark blood, and her body was covered with small and large wounds all over it that could be seen through her clothes.

There was a broken arrow in her back, and her face was distorted due to the pain that was coming from the arrow that had stabbed her lung.

It wouldn’t have been very strange for her to have collapsed with such pain, but Erwin, pulling all her strength, pushed herself to the southeast.

“I need to hurry… If I don’t tell Marquis Luke about…”

Erwin was muttering the same words for the past few days, stumbling all over the place.

To reach the place she was standing, she had already fallen down a lot of times.

She tried to wake up a lot of times and move ahead, but this time, her body wasn’t listening to her.

‘I guess this is as far as I can go…’

She hadn’t even reached half the distance.

She hadn’t told Luke that Reina was in danger.

A lot of things ran in front of Erwin’s eyes when she saw the grass in front of her.

A child running away hiding behind her father. That was when she had first met her Master.

Creating the artificial magic stone that revolutionized the continent, Human beings turned away from the world, disappointing her by behaving in a way she had never thought of.

‘And then I met him.’

Luke de Rakan.

He who possessed the soul of the Devil Sage, Saymon; the man who was called the Devil King 500 years ago.

A strong man who used the power of darkness but wasn’t tainted by it.

A pure heart.

Before her master passed away, he told her that the world was being dominated by the men who killed Luke’s beloved. A fight against the world where people weren’t being given the chance to live like humans.

And that fight was still going on.

The fight to protect the woman who was considered to be the embodiment of his past lover.

Erwin had never expressed her intentions, but she was strongly attracted to the pure and strong heart of Luke, and she wanted Luke to fulfill his wishes.

She was also very envious of his beloved lady, Reina.

‘I too have turned into a stupid woman.’

It was because she had refused the request of the fairies.

The fairies would never be able to erase their hate for humans. Their obsession with the glories of the past would result in constant discord and darkness over the world.

But Erwin wasn’t ready to persecute Reina, who had kept her share of the promise.

Rather than for her cause, she didn’t want Luke, the man she loved, to be sad or be hurt or be filled with anger.

‘If I knew I was going to end like this… I would’ve been a little honest.’

The regrets she felt all rose up to her eyes, blurring her vision.

But before losing her consciousness, she could feel the sound of people moving.

‘Who?’

Were they the lycan warriors who had been chasing after her?

But the mana wave was similar to a human, a human knight.

Finally, when the knight got closer to her, Erwin had lost her consciousness completely.

“Huhu, I was wondering why the crows were flying around… But to see an elf in this place…”

An elder knight, stroking his nasty beard, stepped off his horse and examined her condition.

“You spent too much mana, and you have bled a lot. In addition, with the open wounds, you have a high fever…”

The knight very carefully pulled out the broken arrow from her back.

Then, taking a small vial out of his sleeve, he poured its contents on Erwin’s wounds.

Shhhh!

The wound healed very quickly with a sizzling sound. Not just that, Erwin’s pale complexion had begun to go back to normal.

“It has been a long time since I used it, but this still works. Is it because it was made by the elves? If I knew this, then I might have taken more.”

The knight looked at the empty bottle with sad eyes and threw away the bottle.

“Kuak!”

The bottle hit the bushes from where a scream had come out. As if he knew who it was, the knight stood up.

“How about you show your faces? At this age, I am not a fan of playing hide and seek.”

From the bushes, the lycans began to appear from various sides.

They were the warriors who had followed Erwin upon the orders of the fairy representatives.

Slowly counting the number of warriors, the knight scratched his head and screamed.

“Uhh! This is huge! I guess I’ll have to deal with a lot more than I thought!”

The knight pulled out his sword that was hanging by his waist.

The lycan warriors, who were wary of their opponent, looked unsure when the knight pulled out his sword.

A rusted sword.

In addition, it was short enough to be called a Short Sword. Except for the fact that it went well with the ugly knight, it was a sword full of disadvantages.

Soon, the embarrassed eyes of the lycans began to show rage.

“Grrrng! Are you teasing us…”

Puck!

They tried to pull their weapon but weren’t able to finish their words. The knight approached him in a moment and kicked the lycan in the heart.

The lycan flew to the sky and bumped into the dark elf archers who were behind.

“This man!”

Shung! Kakakang!

The lycan warriors rushed in and swung their swords at the same time.

However, the swords of the warriors that clashed with the knight’s rusty sword were easily deflected.

“This, this can’t be!”

“Be careful! This isn’t a normal skill!”

The warriors surely had to but the dark elves, who were behind them, moved further back as well.

They were all warriors. They had a good ability to judge their opponent.

As soon as they realized that the man was strong, they abandoned their pride and fell back.

“Die, you human!”

Dark elf archers began to shoot arrows, and the warriors flooded in.

Even as the arrows flew in, the knight with the rusty sword was still confident.

“Kuak!”

As the arrows hit places, screams broke through from beings rolling on the ground.

They were the dwarves who were preparing for a surprise attack.

“Tch, you should have shown your face when I asked you to.”

The knight shook his head and moved like a wind toward a lycan warrior and struck the warrior with his sword.

Wheeeing-!

“Grrrrng!

“This makes no sense…!”

In a moment, all the warriors fell to the ground.

The last thing they saw was a crimson light aura.

All who remained were the dwarves hit by the arrows and the dark elves.

In the midst of the one-sided situation, the eldest dark elf opened his mouth with a trembling voice.

“I-I can’t be mistaken. This crimson aura has to be…”

“Huh? You know me?”

With a chilly expression, the knight smiled and fixed his sword.

“Then I can’t let you live.”

“Kuk!”

As the knight stepped forward, the surviving pursuer began to escape, including the archers who recognized him.

It wasn’t just death that scared them. They had an obligation to report the appearance of this man, who unexpectedly interfered.

Because of the existence of the knight, it could be a great hindrance to the republics as well as the fairies.

But thanks to that, the knight was able to save his energy by not having to wield his sword anymore.

“You people don’t even understand jokes, but your act was wise.”

Putting away his rusty sword, he turned toward Erwin once again.

Her condition had improved, but she hadn’t yet gained consciousness. It was because of the strain of tension and fatigue her body had accumulated over the past days.

“If your condition is like this, then I won’t be able to leave you alone… I need to take her to a nearby village.”

The knight decided to take the elf. He placed her on the horse’s back and headed south.

The only thing left in the place where Erwin was found were the crows circling in the sky.