Emperor of Steel

Cang! Kwang!

Slash!

Puck! Pung! Pung!

Whenever the spear and sword clashed, the surrounding air all exploded with force.

As the strongest representatives of the Southern and Northern continent, every move of them shook the ground beneath their feet.

Occasionally, when the two men collided, a shock wave would spread into the air as if cannons burst in close range to the camp.

The soldiers who were at the forefront of the camp flew back with every shock wave from the attacks, and a few would step back without their knowledge.

“That is amazing! I would have believed if someone said that Hero class Gigants were fighting.”

Count Reynard, who had a unique sense of power because of being a mixed-race of Lycan, trembled watching the fight between Luke and Lee Yong-mu.

A Sword Master of Sword Sage was considered to be a one-man legion, however, such people were rarely seen.

He wondered if it should have been a giant and a dragon fighting one another, like the myths he heard.

‘The fights of the middle ages. No, well, His Majesty is being pushed back, but we can always reverse that with the use of magic.’

In the midst of fierceness, Luke was gradually getting pushed back.

However, Reynard and the knights of the Symphonia Kingdom weren’t anxious at all.

Their main force, Luke was a Rune Knight, he used both magic and sword, and reached the highest level a Rune Knight could.

And such a person was showing only half of his abilities.

Perhaps, while dealing with Lee Yong-mu, Luke wanted to check his sword skills and evaluate the opponent’s skill.

“If the opponent can be figured out to some extent, then magic can be…”

“Count, if His Majesty uses magic, the fight will end very soon. Right?”

“Yes. Your Majesty is the strongest Rune Knight in history!”

It was when Reynard was having small talk with the other knights, Hwang Bo-sung shook his head.

“He can’t do that yet.”

“No, but why? If Your Majesty uses magic, that man can be overwhelmed, right?”

“Well, Majesty isn’t in a situation where he could easily use magic.”

To those who didn’t understand what he said, Hwang Bo-sung explained it very detailed.

“While striking swords with someone with similar skills, can you read a book or do a mathematical equation?”

“Well…”

“Red Dragon King Lee Yong-mu is very different from every opponent His Majesty has ever competed. I mean, this isn’t a battle where His Majesty could leisurely use magic.”

And Hwang Bo-sung’s words were indeed right.

At first, Luke faced Lee Yong-mu with just a sword, to know how well the opponent was.

However, that turned into a wrong turn.

It was because Lee Yong-mu wasn’t giving Luke the time to use magic.

In order to prevent Lee Yong-mu’s spear from coming right at him, Luke had to use his sword constantly without even closing his eyes.

‘Tch, he isn’t giving me the time to use magic.’

Red Dragon King Lee Yong-mu was more than what Luke had expected.

Luke was told that Yeon Ga-ram, was the famous zenith in the Southern Continent in the past.

‘That too a warrior. Even Arsene cannot compare to him when it comes to battle sense.’

The strongest opponent Luke had ever fought was Lich—Arsene.

He had the excellent ability of a War Mage and had the terrifying magic which he had accumulated over 500 years.

However, the sense of battle and the experience were a lot inferior for Arsene.

All because he was a wizard who always stayed behind the scenes.

Unlike him, Lee Yong-mu was trained in martial arts, and as if it was a daily task.

Of course, he was great enough to excel in battle, and unlike Arsene, he had no arrogance.

‘He might already know. That he would be at a disadvantage if I end up using magic.’

Lee Yong-mu also managed to get information about Luke from the sources under his command.

He didn’t get much information, but he knew that Luke was very strong and that he should be too arrogant when dealing with him.

Which was why, like the time when he dealt with Yeon Ga-ram in the past, he used his spear with all his might right from the beginning.

‘Definitely a difficult situation, but… why does this seem so fun?’

Luke’s specialty was magic.

Although he gained fame for being a Rune Knight, he was a wizard to the core.

But now, he wasn’t even able to demonstrate his skills.

Of course, using the powers divine power or the demon abilities would be able to change the battle.

However, he thought that it would be very undesirable for him to showcase his abilities in front of thousands of soldiers.

The only thing that he could use was the sword skills he had learned from the Rakan family.

Luke had learned the second half of the Gold Sword.

However, he hadn’t mastered it like Yeon Ga-ram or Arch Duke Gregory.

He decided to learn only those parts which seemed suitable for him.

So, despite being unable to deal with the opponent with just his sword skills, Luke felt more excitement than fear.

It was because his body was moving before his head.

And he knew that the fight would help him grow a lot more.

Woong! Woong!

When Luke was in the midst of the fight, the Holy Sword, Valiant which was reflecting in his eyes, began to cry out a bright light.

As a response to the master’s heart, it was exerting energy.

For a brief minute, Lee Yong-mu’s eyes were taken by the mysterious energy of the Holy sword.

And Luke didn’t miss that gap.

Cang!

“Hu…!”

The spear blade of Lee Yong-mu’s spear got cut off with a loud sound.

As the spear blades were repeatedly being used, Lee Yong-mu was flustered.

Taking three steps back and in a defensive position, Lee Yong-mu asked Luke.

“That isn’t an ordinary sword.”

“It is a sword that cut off the breath of a person called the Devil King in the past.”

The person whose breath was stopped—was himself.

Because of that, Luke was forced to put up a proud smile instead of a bitter smile.

However, Lee Yong-mu, who didn’t know of that, was feeling bad.

“Tch, if I had known that you had such a sword, I would have come out with the Heaven’s perception…”

“Heaven’s perception?”

As it was the first time Luke had heard it, he tilted his head.

“It was a weapon used by our ancestors who were called Shin-jang in the past. He defeated the Apostasy with it.”

The spear which Lee Yong-mu was using currently was a defense spear, which the Emperor had given in the past, although it was a masterpiece, it still didn’t fall short when compared to Luke’s Valiant.

But that didn’t mean that Lee Yong-mu didn’t feel bad for leaving that weapon back home.

Regardless of whether it was possible or not, the one in his hand was the spear currently being held.

“Well that is good, there is a gap, so I thought that you would use magic right away, but this is shocking.”

“I too thought so, somehow I didn’t feel like it.”

At Lee Yong-mu’s words, Luke laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

Rather than a great attack magic like Hellfire, only the occasional blowing of fireballs or magic arrows would make an effect on Lee Yong-mu.

Even though he could, Luke didn’t use magic, all because of his greed to defeat the man with pure sword skills.

In addition, unlike Arsene and the other undead, there was a desire in him to honor Lee Yong-mu, the loyalist of the Song Empire, the greatest warrior.

“Whoo ho ho. It feels like you are treating me with respect.”

Smirk.

With a small laugh, Luke affirmed it but suddenly asked.

“Well, you wouldn’t be offended if I don’t use magic, right?”

Sometimes, there were the proud knights or wizards.

Those who get the kick in the battle only when the opponent shows their full ability.

“No way. Regardless of the means, isn’t the King trying to do his best by using just the sword?”

“Huh. well…”

Luke, had a huge smile, and raised his sword again, and pointed it at Lee Yong-mu.

“Well, I caught my breath, so let’s keep fighting.”

“Right.”

Lee Yong-mu nodded his head and gripped the spear.

At that moment, the momentum which seemed to collapse brought out a huge energy from his body.

If the opponent was someone normal, that energy alone would have been able to defeat them.

However, the opponent was Luke.

So, he too began to release the Golden aura and took the lead.

He ran towards Lee Yong-mu and used the Holy sword.

Cang!

Taking a step back, Lee Yong-mu blocked Luke’s attacks with the spear.

And the sword which came right after he turned the spear to defend came in one after the other.

‘Huh? this is…?’

Luke, who kept on attacking, was shocked with different results.

His attacks were far more powerful than when the Valiant Sword resonated.

However, Lee yong-mu was still able to block it with his spear. Even if the spear blades were cut or broken.

Because of that, Luke took a close look as he wanted to realize if he was supposed to use Hyper Aura or any other hidden ability.

But that wasn’t it.

Lee Yong-mu launched in for a counter-attack.

Kwang! Bang! Bang!

The spear split into dozens right in front of his eye, almost as if the dragon had turned into the snake and rushed for Luke.

It was so flashy that it felt dizzy, but each spear contained a powerful blow that could move past a rocky mountain.

It was amazing yet strange, but Luke managed to figure out Lee Yong-mu’s skill.

‘Right! The spear, well, it is Hyper Aura condensing into a single point.’

Even the flowing water could be turned strong enough to cut down stones when it finds the right hole to put the pressure in.

Among attacks or magic attacks, there were techniques that would create strong power and damage by just a small amount of magic.

And Dark Bullet was such a thing which Luke used.

The problem was that it was never that easy to control the magic concentration at one point.

And it’s a lot more difficult to use a Hyper Aura in such a way.

However, every time the spear blade and his sword collided, the energy condensed into invisible points!

‘The strongest man in the South is surely not an easy one to deal with!’

Luke, with a smile on his face, decided to respond to the attacks differently.

The Golden aura on his sword disappeared in an instant.

The Yemaek troops and the Symphonia knights who saw that were filled with concern.

For them, it looked like Luke was out of mana.

However, Lee Yong-mu’s expression turned serious.

‘Maybe he is going to use the same one as me?’

Kwang!

The moment the weapons crossed, flame rose in the air.

The spear blade of Lee Yong-mu’s turned shorter than before, and Luke’s Valiant echoed with a groan.

“Stealing and learning isn’t an easy task…”

Luke shrugged and replied to Lee Yong-mu, who was in shock.

“It is because I know how to use a similar skill with magic.”

“Even then, you were overwhelmed. Getting hit with my energy, and then suddenly trying to rupture the air around us, it isn’t something anyone can do, you fine?”

At Lee Yong-mu’s point, sweat dripped from Luke’s forehead.

As he said, the Aether globe on Luke’s heart was moving quickly, and the mana in his body was flowing at a high speed.

It was a natural reaction because Luke was going against such a strong man, and he didn’t even have a practice battle to warm up his body.

“Kuk, you don’t need to worry about me. No matter how I seem, I am tough enough to die and then come back alive.”

At Luke’s blunt words, Lee Yong-mu smiled. He thought the truth to be a joke.

And it wasn’t just Luke that felt good fighting Lee Yong-mu.

Apart from it being an important confrontation, Lee Yong-mu was excited about the battle. He had never fought such a strong person since that one time in the past.