Emperor of Steel

While in hurry to leave for Holy Empire, Luke called the Dark Moon Magic Tower late at night.

It was because the matter was related to undead, and he needed support from the warlocks.

-It has been a very long time, Master.

“Nice to see you, Meister Johas. Actually, I wanted to talk about…”

Luke told Johas about what was going on in the Holy Empire.

Hearing the entire story, Johas seemed to have held a serious expression.

-I too heard about the Holy Empire from the monks and priests. Surely, I thought of it to be someone’s job.

“I feel that it was Arsene. Do you have any guesses Meister?”

-I too am suspicious of Arsene. He is the only warlock with the skill set and mind to do something of this huge scale.

“Well, the Holy Empire surely would have been the most annoying aspect for that Lich man’s future. Anyway, I plan to go to Jackson. I will go and find out how this zombie disease is getting transmitted, and how a person is turning into undead and for a possible cure.”

Johas wasn’t aware of why Luke was stepping into that mess.

He had never witnessed it, but he did hear about the rumors that the current pope of the Holy Empire was Princess Reina and the fiancé of Luke.

If the rumors weren’t true, the coronation of Luke where the pope decided to visit surely would have known about Luke using dark magic, and Luke wouldn’t be involved in the affairs of the Holy Empire.

-Since we know Master’s skills, we have nothing to worry about. Even if you did master dark magic, didn’t you always keep away from any matters related to the undead?

“I didn’t keep away from it, I just never used the skills. All that magic and the knowledge about it is still in my head. Surely, that is a very wide area, so I think it might be a bit too much for myself.”

At the words of Luke, who was honest about his lack of information, Johas nodded his head.

-What can we do for you?

“I want you to send warlocks to assist me to Jackson. I wish them to be those who have great awareness of undead, doesn’t matter if their skills are poor.”

-Understood. Ah, now that I think about the undead, the other day, an envoy of fairy representative came and told me this.

Johas told Luke the story he heard from the fairies.

After hearing it, Luke couldn’t help but be lost in thought. As it was related to what he went through.

“It was true that a different kind of undead appeared in the Southern Continent. I witnessed it myself and confirmed that Arsene was behind it.”

-I thought so. Then, he must be developing power on the Southern Continent?

“That is highly likely. Anyway, tell the fairy representatives to come and find me sooner or later. If they want be more active in the world, they need to do something.”

-Understood, Master.

Being done with the magic communication, Luke fell deep in thought.

‘Since the Southern Continent… I haven’t really paid much attention to our relationship with the Zegal clan.’

During that time, the appearance of the undead in the Zegal clan was related to the 3rd crown prince, Jo Won-rak.

As he was the target of the undead in the first place.

Given that, Arsene was more likely to be involved in the royal battle going on in the Song Empire.

‘There shouldn’t be a situation where the Song Empire falls into his hands. Firstly, I need to contact Jo Won-rak.’

The national power of Symphonia Kingdom was limited.

Even then, the Song Empire was the largest nation on the Southern Continent, and it couldn’t be left alone.

That was why Luke decided to entrust the fairies to the Southern Continent.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Luke wanted to run over to the Holy Empire, yet, he couldn’t go there without any preparation.

While suppressing his upset heart, he monitored the Baroque Empire very closely.

“Was the Baroque Empire raided by both the Libiya Kingdom and Volga Republic?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. There is rebellion happening in numerous places, so it doesn’t seem like he would be paying attention to the Symphonia Kingdom any time soon.”

Luke smiled at the report from Belfair.

It was because the situation he had hoped for with the Attack on the North, was finally happening.

“But, in any case, we never know what might happen, so keep an eye on them. If necessary, you can create confusion and cause fighting within the Empire. Don’t let Rudolf have enough time to look at us.”

“Understood. Please leave the matter to me.”

Soon after, Belfair went back and the court wizard, Erwin, entered.

“Your Majesty, the representative of the fairies has arrived.”

“Really? They came at the right time.”

Even if it wasn’t for that, Luke was going to have a meeting with them later.

Luckily, they came in before Luke left for the Holy Empire, which saved a lot of time.

Luke went to the lobby of the palace, where he met with Elven chief Bratt, the Lycan chief Amur Khan and Fairy Queen, Ariete.

“Nice to meet you. I heard from my court wizard that you noble people helped during that unfortunate turn of events in the Dark Forest. This is very late, still, I am very grateful for what you did then.”

When Luke bowed his head to thank them, Bratt hurriedly shook his hands.

“What happened then was a few of hard-headed fairies acting out of line. Thanking us, there is no need for it.”

‘Hmm, he holds back his words.’

Luke deliberately looked at the representatives of the fairies.

If Bratt pretended to take the credit or ask for reward in any sort, he intended to distance himself from the fairies.

However, the fairy representatives managed to pass the test.

Luke, who felt good about that, went straight to the point.

“Unfortunately, I am out of time, so please understand my situation for going straight to the point without asking any pleasantries.”

“We know about it. It’s about the Holy Empire since you are allied with them, right?”

Bratt heard the news from Volga Republic before getting into the teleport gate.

The damage of the Holy Empire wasn’t just for the regular people but also the fairies that resided in there.

That was thy they decided to meet with Luke right away. All the other fairies had moved to the Holy Empire to protect and help their kind.

“It is my work to go there and solve it… I need you to pay attention to the things happening in the Southern Continent.”

“The Southern Continent, are you talking about the undead that appeared there?”

“Exactly. The one who is making the undead is a very dangerous person.”

“Who could that be?”

“Arsene, he was the Meister of Veritas Magic tower 500 years ago.”

Luke explained to them in detail on how Arsene touched the forbidden magic.

Upon hearing his explanation, the fairy representatives seemed shocked.

“H-how could that man!”

“He was the one behind most of the turmoil that rose in the continent!”

Luke asked them to go to the Southern Continent and help the 3rd crown prince Jo Won-rak.

“If the 3rd crown prince is lost, it is likely for the Song Empire to fall into the hands of Arsene, so you might have to protect him.”

“We get that. Is that all we are supposed to do?”

Luke, who thought for a moment about Ariete’s question, opened his mouth again.

“Please try finding Arsene’s base. However, don’t get yourself involved further. Just watch them.”

“You think we can’t deal with him on our own?”

Amur Khan grumbled with a frown on his face.

“I don’t know how strong you are. However, even if you might be able to defeat the Undead Legion, you won’t be able to catch Arsene. That man is sly.”

And if it ended up with the man getting out of sight, once again, everyone would have to wait until he moved again.

Moreover, Arsene was a Lich, an immortal.

If he decided to hide himself, finding him would be tough not just for Luke, who was a human, but also for the long-lived fairies.

After understanding what Luke was concerned about, Bratt and the other two nodded.

“We understand. We’ll look for his whereabouts, but won’t act on it.”

“That is all I request from you.”

After being done with the meeting, Luke left for the Holy Empire.