Emperor of Steel

Zegal Moon gathered the elders and the senior figures in the clan, which included Zegal Shin, Do, and Soha, and shared their thoughts and opinions for their future.

A few coarse things were mentioned, including the tracking of the unidentified assailants, restoring the severely damaged clan, and how to respond if such attacks happen once again in the future.

“Who is it?”

“Hyung, this is Hui. Can I come in for a moment?”

At the sudden interruption of their meeting, Zegal Moon who was puzzled nodded his head.

“Yes, enter.”

After a second, the door opened and Zegal Hui entered.

“You should be busy packing up, why are you here?”

“I have something to tell you, brother.”

Zegal Hui went close to him and told about the sword skill which he saw Luke perform.

“The Grace is learning the Gold Light God Sword?”

“Yes, he said that it was a skill of his family and called Gold Sword, but it is definitely the Gold Light God Sword.”

“Uh, that…”

It wasn’t just Zegal moon but everyone else who were amazed with Zegal Hui’s words.

“Maybe the Grace was a disciple?”

At the response to Zegal Soha’s question, Zegal Moon shook his head and answered.

“It can’t be. The Grace said that it was his first time coming here.”

“Then there could be some other reason.”

When the two people were talking, Zegal Do asked them with an excited face.

“Hyung, why don’t we ask him to stay, just a little longer?”

“That will be difficult. The Grace is involved in an urgent situation, can we ask him like this? And there is no such thing that we will be able to get the sword skill by just holding him here, right? And he said it was his family skill?”

A family skill meant that it was a secret skill that was passed down only to the family members.

And Zegal clan, which had the most tightly shut doors in the Kang Ho region, would be unaware of the truth.

“But we can’t just give up. That is the Sword King’s sword skill. It is known that the guardians of the Song Empire, as well as the ancestors of the Yemaek too, didn’t manage to learn the Gold Light God Sword skill.”

“That is right, chief. Haven’t we decided that the successor for that apostate has appeared? We might have to fight him again, so we need to prepare ourselves.”

The elders too raised their voices saying that they should learn the sword skill.

That when an old man, who listened to it, asked.

“Then, how about doing this? Watching closely when the Grace is practicing.”

Learning by themselves was never an easy task, but seeing with eyes can help to an extent.

And that itself could be a tremendous help in the progress of the sword skill of the Zegal clan.

“But will the Grace allow it?”

“Rather than making it seem like a request, ask him directly. And Zegal Shin is the right person to witness the sword.”

At the words of the elder, Zegal Hui nodded.

With a talent for swordsmanship, his cousin was far superior to him.

And Zegal Shin had great eyesight and strong memories, and he had been a swordsman till a very young age.

However, Zegal Shin opposed it.

“I can’t.”

“Why so?”

“To see the sword skill, I will have to follow the Grace everywhere. And I might have to go to the northern continent, and I can’t leave the clan for long.”

“But…”

“And I already accepted the request of Saint Nanda. And to follow that, I need to remain in the Song Empire.”

Three days prior to the arrival of Eorim troops, Zegal Shin met with Nanda because he wanted to talk about the ability Luke used to fight Arsene.

And luckily, Nanda replied that he had no intention of jeopardizing the clan or creating trouble for them.

However, when Shin thought that a problem had been solved, Nanda had an unexpected request.

“There is an unusual wind flowing. This time you might have to accompany the 3rd crown prince and the thousands of men to get rid of the darkness which had dug itself deep into the ground. Only then can the imperial family, this nation, and your clan enjoy peace.”

He would have ignored if it was some other person, but the man was Nanda, a highly respected priest.

Zegal Shin was truly attracted to the Gold Light God Sword, but he didn’t want to follow Luke by ignoring Nanda’s words.

“Oh, with Zegal Shin refusing, there isn’t anyone else who can learn with just seeing…”

“Why so? There is another one in here who can learn from seeing.”

With the words of the elder saying there was none, everyone in the room turned their eyes to the young voice which contradicted his words.

It was Zegal Soha, the youngest of the clan elders.

“I don’t think that my eyes are any less than my brother. In addition, I don’t feel like comparing myself with the elders, but I work hard.”

“No way, the Border Guard’s head will leave?”

“This is something we normally do in the guards. Plus, this is a grave matter, so I need to do it.”

They could just refute to Zegal Soha’s words.

She too was a master when it came to swords.

She was good at martial skills and Zen, and as the head of a division, she was the best person to do it.

However, Zegal Moon noticed that Soha wasn’t just in it because of the Gold Light God Sword.

‘Huhu. You are just going to follow the Grace for yourself.’

Surprisingly, Soha seemed to have taken a liking to Luke.

And Zegal Moon didn’t seem to be against it.

It was very common in the Kang Ho to use weddings as a political stance between clans.

Although Luke was known to be a man from the far northern continent, he had a mysterious ability to revive the Iron Core forest and the blood of a great warrior.

Considering how he fought against the evil without getting killed, having ties with him was nothing bad.

Moreover, the Gold Light God Sword, no, the Gold Sword was said to be a skill which was passed in his family.

If things went well, there would be no need to see and learn.

“Okay, I’ll leave this to Soha. However, since you might be gone for very long, we will have to take down the Border Guard’s head position from you.”

“Ah! Thank you, brother. Uh, Chief!”

The person who would bring back the Gold Light God Sword was decided to be Zegal Soha.

A few elders seemed to be overwhelmed to it, but none of them expressed their opposition.

The day after the 3rd crown prince, Jo Won-rak’s party left, Luke too had gone to the Zegal clan so he could return back to the Rakan Estates.

‘I came here really sudden, but what I got back was very high too.’

First, the problem of the Iron Core was solved, and he obtained the second half of the Gold Sword.

And when he goes back to the nagging retainers, if he informs them of this, they would be very happy.

‘And the third, I know how good my enemy is.’

Luke had two enemies.

It was the Duke of the Baroque and the Veritas Magic tower, who had taken away his beloved 500 years back and led into his ruin.

Among them, Rudolf, the descendant of the Baroque Duke, whose skills were aware of the fight he had with the demon Kauren.

He needed to know about Arsene, but this time, he was able to know it all well.

Arsene’s ability to constantly grow over the 500 years was truly astonishing.

In addition, he learned the technique of the apostasy which had long disappeared from the southern continent.

The day after getting treated by Nanda, he was able to confirm it while talking to Zegal Moon.

‘When I think about the fight in the future, knowing his current level is of great help. I will make sure to get rid of him the next time!’

When Luke was truly determined, the clan’s masters, including Zegal Moon had come to send him off.

“Did the Grace take care of the Iron core?”

“I put them in the safest place.”

Luke lifted his bracelet to show.

In the subspace of the bracelet, he had stocked the Iron Core of the Zegal clan.

“Even though the Grace might not need, the Iron Core can be used for many purposes. So, would you like to have someone to advise me?”

‘What? Advice?’

A woman stepped forward while Luke was still not sure.

“She is my youngest sister…”

“I am Zegal Soha. Although no comparable to my brother, I will still do my very best to help the Grace with the Zen skills that I know of.”

Soha’s expression said that she had a lot of expectations from Luke.

And Luke managed to understand the intention of the Zegal Clan.

‘The favor is clearly too much. They surely have a different purpose.’

Luke knew that the Zegal clan was a very closely-knit clan.

Moreover, she was one of the very few masters that the Zegal clan had.

There was no way one would be willing to send away a talented person of their clan, especially when they suffered a huge damage from Arsene’s attacks.

‘Thinking how Zegal Hui was acting, their goal needs to be the Gold Sword.’

The Gold Sword was already passed onto a few knights, and Philip was one of them.

Luke had no intention of hiding it either.

Rather, when he got the second half of the sword he was planning on informing Baron Rogers and Arch Duke Gregory about it.

Normally, people upheld the Gold Sword as the ultimate, but for Luke, it was one of the many abilities.

And the more people who master the Gold Sword, the better chance he had when fighting his enemies.

‘When they steal and learn, I just don’t want them to bother me.’

Luke who knew it, accepted the so-called favor of Zegal Moon, making it look like he respected the thoughts of the clan.

“Thank you very much for your concern.”

“This is nothing compared to the Iron Core forest restoration which the Grace had done and how you protected the clan.”

After talking with Luke, Zegal Moon turned to Hwang Bo-sung.

“Sir Hwang Bo-sung too will be leaving with Grace?”

“Yes, I am currently the retainer of the Marquis Rakan.”

Zegal Moon could see Hwang Bo-sung’s resolve.

Not only was the man away from creating any trouble to the Hwang Bo clan, but he also seemed to have no determination to know the future of the words of the clan.

‘If it turns out that the Hwang Bo clan is behind the attack on the 3rd crown prince, they will be punished for hurting our clan. If one thinks about that, it is better to stay away from the clan.’

Zegal Moon was certain that Hwang Bo clan was behind the raid.

If the 3rd crown prince disappeared, it was most likely Jo Won-gyun to rise to the next in line for the Emperor.

They, the clan was trying to capture the masked men to punish the Hwang Bo clan who attacked the 3rd Crown prince and the Zegal clan.

‘It is a pity that the martial arts of the Martial King are cut off from the Song Empire, but if this is the will of the heaven, it is inevitable.’

Zegal Moon, who thought so didn’t stop Hwang Bo-sung.

“Oh well, let’s stop this all.”

Luke nodded at the words of Nanda who was waiting to send them off.

He, Hwang Bo-sung, and Zegal Soha approached while Nanda had both hands clasped tightly.

Clap!

With the clap of hands, the three people disappeared from the sight of the Zegal clan.

‘Grace, please look after our Soha.’

Looking at the spot where Luke and his party disappeared, Zegal Moon left after taking a few deep sighs.

There was a lot of work that had to be done for the future of the clan, so he had no time to waste on feeling sad for parting with his family.