Emperor of Steel

Once Luke accepted the Gigantic Duel, the commanders and riders of the expeditionary troops soon began to ask for them to be sent out to battle.

“Your Majesty! Please send me out! I will go out right away and will take down that cheeky bastard!”

“No! I will be the one to go. Please send me!”

“Uhh, what are you all talking about? Is there anyone who is more expert at the Gigant Battle than me? Isn’t it obvious that I am the person who needs to be there.”

In addition to Count Philip and Ferrero, Belik, who was silently listening in, lifted his arms and spoke with bright eyes.

Even though he was angry with the taunt of the enemy, the Gigantic Duel was an opportunity for him to show off his knight skills in front of numerous people.

And no man in the Symphonia Kingdom would turn away from the opportunity.

Luke thought about hurrying up with the decision as leaving it would only cause disparities in his men.

“First, the vanguard will be Sir Philip.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“And the second in line would be Arch Duke Belik.”

Listening that Philip was going to be placed as Vanguard, Belik’s expression was disfigured but soon healed.

Honestly, the moment the Gigants went in, the stronger they were, so playing a little late wasn’t a huge loss.

“In the third position, let’s see the progress of the two and then point it out. Which is why I need everyone of you on your feet and ready to compete.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

At Luke’s words, commanders and riders ran straight to Gigant warehouses and checked their Gigants.

The Gigantic Duel usually continued until they either admitted defeat on one side or at the start of an all-out war, so they knew that one order was all they needed to act.

At the same time, in the Baroque Empire camp across the river, Vanden held an operational meeting for the Gigantic Duel.

“And you are sure?”

“Yes, it was clearly the voice of that traitor Luke.”

At the report from Viscount Kurian, Vanden’s heart felt delighted.

The request for the Gigantic Duel was to create a possibility of taking the throat of the enemy commander, and the request for the duel was accepted much easier than it was thought.

In addition, in the Sherwood was King Luke de Rakan, of Symphonia Kingdom!

“Luke, do you think that he would enter?”

“He did tell me that he was going to teach me true honor and knighthood.”

“Huh, that’s great! I will deal with that man myself!”

His excited self made Vanden sigh and advise him.

“Sire, Luke de Rakan isn’t an easy man to go against.”

“I know. He is a Rune Knight? He is a master in both swordsmanship and magic, but he won’t be much of an opponent in front of an Advanced Sword Master like me.”

After betraying his master Butler, Vanden was taught by Rudolf himself for a few times and recently reached Advanced Sword Master, which made his confidence soar high.

“Those might be your thoughts. Luke is stronger than what is known to the world. I checked it with my own eyes.”

Kurian faced him when he went to visit Luke for the coronation.

At that time, he could feel a tremendous sense of aura from him, who flung away the letter from the Emperor with no fear.

It wasn’t comparable to Emperor Rudolf’s Sword Emperor status, but the Sword Master was a class that he could take over.

“In addition, there were words around, there were stories of him capturing high ranking demons.”

“Huh, those rumors! His Majesty had to struggle a lot to take down the High ranking demons. Are you still stuck on it?”

Marquis Vanden shook his head and laughed.

Indeed, those who haven’t gone to the Brandon Military parade were not the kind to believe in rumors, just like Vanden.

That was because the demons were perceived to be strong and terrifying beings.

How could one believe in something like that?

“Viscount Kurian, I’ll take your words as advice and refrain myself for acting too vigilant.”

“Sire, please reconsider it. You can’t go for a one-on-one with Luke. You need to ask us guards to enter.”

Despite the repeated warnings from the skilled Kurian, Vanden didn’t seem very considerate of it.

Rather, he doubted that Kurian and the other SS knights were trying to steal his merit.

‘That bastard! Is he really Marquis Vanden who is good on mapping and strategy?’

No matter how bright a man was, if they were blinded by greed, their eyes would look straight ahead and miss everything happening around them.

That was exactly what Marquis Vanden was doing.

However, Kurian had no intention of watching Vanden destroy things.

At the end of the meeting, he gathered the other SS knights and prepared a separate operation.

He didn’t want to miss the chance to kill the Emperor’s rebel.

Two hours later, the Gigantic Duel began.

The Symphonia Kingdom opened its gate and sent the vanguard.

Philip, appeared in his Hero class Gigant Orion, Milena, who had a sharp armor which reflected his taste.

Crossing the river with the bridge, he introduced himself.

“This is the 1s squad Army Commander of the Symphonia Kingdom and Count Philip! The strong one can come in. Please play carefully with me.”

“Huh! The man who got kicked out from the Knights of Guard is still alive!”

At the end of Philip’s words, an Atlas Gigant from the Baroque Empire emerged.

The rider in it was a man who was a SS Knight along with Kurian.

“I am a knight of the Imperial Guard, Baron Arquill. The traitor is going to get his neck served!”

“Crazy bastard! If you are sick of my throat, come here yourself!”

A brief argument between the two.

The first one to fight was Philip.

He ran to his opponent and struck the giant sword.

Slash! Bang!

Philip’s Milena, a sleek reconstruction of Orion, with an output of 3,700, went to slash Arquill with tremendous speed.

Bang! Bang!

The noise of the giant sword with impact aura resonated like thunder and sparks flew everywhere.

Soldiers who were watching it from far stumbled at the shock waves or stiff seeing the sparks rise from their weapons.

The fierce battle between Philip and Arquill began to incline towards Philip’s win.

“What happened? Didn’t you want to slash my throat?”

“Tch! You’re pretty shameless even after being kicked out from the Knights of Guard!”

“I wasn’t kicked out! I came out on my own two feet!”

Philip, who had been on offense from the very beginning, continued to drive at Arquill without giving a gap.

Atlas’s output was lower than Milena, and Arquill’s ability was less than Philip.

‘This isn’t possible! I have no reason to be pushed back even after being taught by His Majesty directly, the strongest man in the continent!’

Arquill denied reality however, that didn’t change the situation.

He didn’t know, but Philip often competed with opponents who were stronger than him, such as Luke and Hwang Bo-sung, and gained experience in various battles.

In addition, just recently, he learned the second half of the Gold Sword from Luke and was learning pretty well.

On the other hand, Arquill who was a knight and learned skills under Rudolf was more like a flower in a greenhouse.

Kwang!

Philip immediately brought out his Phantom Sword and began to infuse it with Gold Sword.

Then, Atlas’s breastplate was torn apart and Arquill who was in the cockpit appeared.

Arquill was bloodied by the splatter of the attack, and his eyes went wide with a shocked expression.

“This-this makes no f*cking sense. To lose to a garbage like…”

“Huh, garbage once recycled is better than the original.”

Philip responded coldly and stabbed the giant sword into the cockpit.

Puck!

In a second, Arquill fell.

Atlas, who lost its owner fell down like a doll.

“Woah! Commander won!”

“Long live Count Philip!”

Unlike the gloomy knights of Baroque, troops of the Symphonia Kingdom who were above them all were cheering with excitement.

Some of them even shot to the sky.

“Kuek! How could he lose?!”

The Knights, including Viscount Kurian, felt a lot worse than Marquis Vanden who ran his mouth. It was because they all thought that Arquill was the pride of SS.

Had it been a tight fight, they would have felt alright.

However, Arquill consistently fought less skilfully and drastically reduced the morale of the men.

“Let’s bring back the pride to our SS name. Who is the next one?”

“It is me, Sir Kurian.”

The other Knights of Guard were shocked.

“Cranel? Keep it in mind that behavior like Arquill is unacceptable.”

“Do not worry. You know me very well, right?”

When Cranel smiled confidently, Kurian nodded.

Cranel was among the youngest of the Knights of Guard SS, yet he was one of the five most prominent in Gigant control.

In particular, his sense of control was extraordinary, and Emperor Rudolf himself had praised him for his skills.

Kurian was sure that the young knight would be the strongest rider of the SS class in just a few years.

“You know your skills, but don’t act too vigilant.”

“Don’t worry. When I come back, let’s prepare wine and have a toast.”

Cranel, who rode his Gigant, went to the battlefield.

For some reason, Kurian felt anxious seeing the overconfidence of the kid, but he threw away the ominous feeling.

He never thought that those rebels would ever be able to possess someone as good as Cranel.