Emperor of Steel

Thu! Thu! Thu! Thud!

The main gate of the Imperial Palace, which had been firmly closed after the news of the emperor’s illness was reported, was opened.

From there, a series of actions emerged.

A gorgeous wagon led by the Eorim Army, armed with flashing weapons and eight white horses as its escorts.

The residents in the capital were looking at the wagon.

“Who is riding it?”

“Well, looking at all those beside it, it doesn’t look like someone average is inside…”

“Maybe the other empress is going to pray at a nearby temple.”

The wagon left the city gates and headed to the west.

However, there were those who secretly followed the wagon.

They watched where the wagon was moving to and followed it closely.

Hwang Bo-yun and Zegal Shin, who was disguised as warriors, were waiting.

“Sir, we have checked and they are here.”

“Did you see it clearly? Were they really heading over to the Cheon Yeong mountains?”

At the question of Hwang Bo-yun, the man from Haomun, who was following the wagon, answered, “I am sure.”

“Uhm, well…”

The movement of the emperor in disguise and the exiled Jo Won-ki was confirmed.

“We should go after it right away.”

At the words of Zegal Shin, Hwang Bo-yun shook his head.

“No, we shouldn’t follow it.”

“What? You don’t mean to save His Majesty?”

“Huhu. That wasn’t what I meant. I know of a shortcut, so let’s move in that direction.”

At the words of Hwang Bo-yun, Zegal Shin nodded his head and left.

However, they were hurrying too much that they missed one thing.

It was the fact that there were people who were watching them.

“Hiik! Save me! The bugs are on my body… Ackkk!”

A young man with long feet was jumping around in the wagon.

He was the crown prince, who was supposed to be exiled, Jo Won-ki.

In addition to Jo Won-ki, there were two more people who were riding inside the spacious wagon.

An old man, who wasn’t strong enough to bow to him, and an elderly lady with a fine haircut was next to him.

Duk! Duk! Duk!

As a result of the hallucinations and withdrawal effects, Jo Won-ki was scratching his body to the point where it was already bleeding, and the lady, who was in the wagon along with him, tried to calm him.

“Prince, get yourself together. Hey, is no one going to respond? Call a doctor right now!”

The lady, well, the other empress, cried in the wagon toward the Eorim Army, who were outside the carriage.

However, everyone pretended as if they didn’t hear it.

Well, it was more like they couldn’t hear it.

It was because the wizards that were brought in from the North by Hwang Bo-kwang put Silence magic on the wagon.

And even if there was no magic on them, they wouldn’t have obeyed the words of the empress.

They had already pledged their allegiance to Jo Won-gyun and Hwang Bo-kwang, and the empress had no power as the emperor was ill, and Jo Won-ki was a well-known addict, who had no rights in the Imperial family.

“You nasty people! Don’t you guys fear those above the sky!”

The empress kept on crying and yelling.

Even though she tried to hold back her tears, it felt like if she tried to hold back her emotions she would have an emotional breakdown.

No one from the group of Jo Won-gyun had informed her of anything.

However, the empress, who lived for decades in the empire, couldn’t see what was happening in her empire.

And it was too late for her to even realize the conspiracy that Jo Won-gyun had resorted to.

“Uh, wah…”

“Oh my! Prince, what is wrong?”

When Jo Won-ki, who was suffering from hallucinations was losing control, the empress began to turn concerned.

“Oh my, my, my… Please kill me. I am going crazy again, and I am worried that I’ll kill both of you!”

“Why would you say that?! You need to stay sane.”

When the Empress was trying to calm the prince, the wagon, which was escorting them, suddenly came to halt. It was because the cart in the front blocked the path.

The moment when the Eorim Army were about to leave the wagon and see the situation ahead, one of the men from the cart ahead ran back.

“Oh my! I am so sorry, sir. The wheel suddenly broke down.”

“The wheel broke down? Was it broken intentionally?”

“I-intentionally? What the hell is that supposed to mean..?”

Hwang Bo-yun, who was dressed like the man from the cart ahead, acted confused.

He thought that the Eorim Army’s men would yell at him and ask the cart to be moved.

However, it was as if the Eorim Army knew.

‘No way. Was the information leaked beforehand?’

Just the thought of it sent shivers down the spine of Hwang Bo-yun.

Even Jo Won-gyun wouldn’t have liked serving under the name of the emperor.

He needed a proper justification to claim the throne.

What if the cause was that the emperor was attacked?

‘Oh sh*t, we were played!’

“Raid! Protect His Majesty at all costs!”

The soldiers and the attendants all pulled their swords when the commander of the Eorim Army shouted.

Once the commander’s orders fell, they swung their swords at the wagon and not at the strangers.

Well, they were informed by Hwang Bo-kwang in advance.

If a group of people trying to save the emperor appear in the middle of the path, they were asked to not hesitate and kill the emperor.

Of course, the crimes for the death of the emperor would go over to the strangers.

“Save Your Majesty!”

“Waoh!”

Not just the men who were disguised along with Hwang Bo-yun, but also the warriors who were hiding behind the bushes on the other side of the road jump over with Zegal Shin at the shout of Hwang Bo-yun and attacked the Eorim Army.

Kang! Kang!

The noise of the weapons and the shouts of the troops rang loudly from both sides.

The fiercest fighting was happening around the wagon holding the royal family.

The blood of Eorim, who wanted to kill the emperor and the warriors who wanted to save them, colored the wagon red.

Cang! Cang! Cang!

Zegal Shin, who was dealing with five of the Eorim troops at once, was turning nervous.

He already anticipated that the Eorim troops would have great skills.

He too selected the best warriors from his clan.

It was the same with Hwang Bo-yun.

However, it wasn’t just the troops, but even the attendants were a lot stronger.

Well, they had to be strong.

It was because they weren’t just any attendants from the Imperial Palace.

‘Salmak? These guys are the murderous assassins!’

Seeing their martial skills, Zegal Shin managed to find out their real identity.

They were killers, notorious for carrying out assassinations.

The Kang Ho clans didn’t go well with them. Until recently, there was no major dispute between the Kang Ho and the Salmek clans either to see that they were attached to the Jo Won-gyun group!

“Kueak! My eye…!”

“Be careful! They have poison!”

The assassins of Salmek weren’t just excellent, but they also knew how to use poison.

As a result, the number of warriors, who were brought in by Zegal Shin and Hwang Bo-yun, were taken down.

If things went like that, annihilation awaited them… Well, even the emperor’s life would be lost.

‘We made a mistake. We should have been more careful and prepared!’

At the time when Hwang Bo-yun was grunting to himself.

“These men!”

Suddenly, a man with a bamboo mask, who ran from behind, jumped in.

He had a spear in his hand, and each time he swung it, the assassins of Salmek coughed blood and fell down.

The assassins attacked him with poison.

However, the warriors were much faster.

Whenever he threw the spear in his hand, the spear would move like a living dragon and pierce the necks and hearts of the assassins.

Swoosh!

“Kuak!”

“Kuk!”

“Ack!”

‘Th-this is!’

Zegal Shin and Hwang Bo-yun were shocked at the formidable skills of the man.

“N-no way. Is he…?”

“Run away! It is Lee Yong-mu, the Red Dragon King!”

Currently, Lee Yong-mu, the Red Dragon King, was the strongest warrior in the Song Empire as well as the Kang Ho clans.

There was no other person who could use a spear as skilfully as him.

The assassins, who managed to recognize him, ran away.

Lee Yong-mu threw his spear into the sky. The spear that rose to the sun split into dozens of spears and fell over the fleeing assassins.

“Kuak!”

“Ackkkk!”

Zegal Shin and Hwang Bo-yun couldn’t shut their mouths after seeing the assassins get wiped out in the blink of an eye.

Zegal Shin himself was proud of climbing into the stage of a master, yet after seeing Lee Yon-mu, he realized that he wouldn’t stand a chance.

“You guys were too hasty.”

When Lee Yong-mu recovered his spear, he approached the two men and talked to them.

“We are ashamed. We don’t know what would have happened if the commander….”

The two men immediately bowed their heads and expressed their gratitude.

“By the way, how did the commander come to know about this place?”

“It is a huge mistake to think that only you people have spies. I’ll tell you the details later, so come and hurry. We need to take His Majesty to a safe place.”

At Lee Yong-mu’s words, Zegal Shin and Hwang Bo-yun hurriedly took the emperor’s family and left the place.

Although things went far from their original plan, they somehow managed to rescue the emperor.

All that was left was to wait for Crown Prince Jo Won-rak to enter the empire with his own army.