Emperor of Steel

“What? Is that really true?”

“It is! And the opponent isn’t just anyone normal.”

“Let’s go early and see! I don’t want to miss the spectacle!”

“UH… I too want to go.”

The news about Luke and Belik’s Gigantic Duel quickly spread to Rakan and the Unicorn knights.

Except for those who were on the patrol, everyone headed to the ground outside the estate for the duel.

Since both men were known to be very strong, having a Gigantic Duel in the knights training ground would cause the nearby buildings to crack.

And if the nearby buildings were destroyed, the damage would be severe.

But before the knights, there were men who went before.

They were Baron Rogers, the army commanders of the Knights, two knights, Philip and Kaper, and Hwang Bo-sung along with Scarlet.

“Oh man, I am going to see Firestorm Belik.”

“You know him?”

At the question from Kaper, Rogers nodded his head.

“Because he was a very famous person among the knights of my generation. There used to be even a warning for us to watch out for the Firestorm of the Volga in the battlefields.”

“I too have heard from my father. I thought he was dead, but he seems alive.”

When Scarlet said that, the eyes of the knights changed.

They did hear from the wizards that the opponent was a very strong man, but they didn’t know that he was a celebrity who ceased an ear.

“Hwang Bo-sung, who do you think will win?”

Philip asked Hwang Bo-sung, who was watching Luke and Belik and opened his mouth.

“Master is strong. But that man is very strong too.”

“Strong? How much?”

“Well… I am not confident about the win.”

“Huh?”

When Hwang Bo-sung spoke honestly, everyone seemed surprised.

There was no one in the lordship who wasn’t aware of the Fist Master. It was because every one of them had been in a battle with him at least once.

And of all, Rogers and Scarlet were the ones who fought on par with Hwang Bo-sung.

Considering that Scarlet was an archer, Rogers was the only one who could face Hwang Bo-sung in close combat.

And if such a man said he couldn’t place odds.

It was the same as saying that no knight in the lordship could win.

“Is he that strong…?!”

“No, maybe he is stronger than what we thought. Belik was known to be a famous genius when it came to Gigant riders.”

At Rogers’s words, everyone’s eyes went wide again.

“A genius rider?”

“Yeah, Expert Advanced Swordsman, he battled a Sword Master in a Gigant War.” Said Rogers.

“That makes no sense…”

“Which means he can show 100% in Gigant combat. If there was a title of Gigant Master, then it would probably be given to him.”

Whether he heard their talks or not, Belik was busy trying to check the Gigant’s movement.

“This is a good Gigant. Did you buy it from the top ten?”

“It was made in our Magic Tower.”

Luke, who looked at the man, replied proudly.

The Gigant which was lent to Belik was a Warrior class Stiletto made by Katarina Magic Tower.

The core engine has been upgraded to 1,200 fights and skills were accumulated.

Major components such as the Mana convertors and balance device were improved which resulted in higher performance and cleaner movement.

“Made at the magic tower of your estate? Hmm, I thought like that since the part assembling method resembles that of Veritas Magic tower…”

With Belik’s words, Luke and the Iron wizards of the Katarina Magic Tower were amazed.

The technical foundation of the Katarina Magic Tower was, of course, stacked with the books and blueprints from the Veritas Magic Tower which were pulled out by the Veritas Magic Tower, so it was natural for one to think that.

The problem was, a knight and not a wizard had figured it out.

“You seem to know well about Gigants.”

“Uh uhuh. I moved around a lot in the past years. It made me drive a few Gigants while working as a mercenary or a clan rider.”

‘He must have a lot of experience.’

Luke couldn’t overpower Belik’s pride.

It was because Belik seemed very well versed when it came to taming the Gigant movement in accordance with his testing.

They were all basic movements, yet, the Stiletto which was being controlled by Belik moved very smoothly.

‘I can’t hold back. I will have to do my best in defeating him.’

The reason why Luke called Belik using a long-distance teleport gate even though it consumed expensive magic stones was to show him his wealth and power.

Luke was going to marry Princess Reina anyway, and all the men from Volga were under him, so he wanted to get this man under him too.

However, despite all that, the man still wanted to test Luke with his sword. And that could never be overlooked.

He did seem like a fire, but Luke wanted to test him too.

‘So, I need to take him down very quickly!’

It was Luke’s intention to press down the man after lending him a Gigant for a Gigantic Duel.

‘If you can’t understand with words, I will have to teach you myself. And this test will be replaced with a lifelong service. If I get one more Sword Master, it will be beneficial for me.’

After checking everything, Luke boarded his Gigant and wielded his sword while moving to the middle of the ground.

Soon after, Stiletto, which was on the other side, went to the middle.

When the two Gigants met, Luke spoke.

“Sir Belik, if you beat me, you will know where Reina is. If you lose…”

“Huh, I won’t lose, but if I do, I will take you as my master.”

Along with Stiletto’s sword, Belik’s voice rang out with confidence.

Luke smiled. Even though he didn’t get to say it, the proposed condition was the one he wanted.

“That statement, you need to follow on it.”

At the end of those words, Luke’s Gigant disappeared from Belik’s sight.

“What, Blink?”

Belik was startled.

It was because he didn’t think that the fraudster would be someone who could use magic along with riding a Gigant.

‘Ah, wasn’t it said that this guy was a Rune Knight?’

Rakan’s young lord was rumored to be a rune knight with exceptional skills.

There was also a story of how he managed to have shattered the falling meteors in the Civil War of the Holy Empire by impersonating Belik’s son.

‘I guess they weren’t just rumors.’

As Belik looked around, the giant sword struck something which appeared on the side.

Kang!

Along with a huge noise, the sword had passed through the gloves and the tip of the sword.

But the one cut wasn’t Belik’s Stiletto, but Luke’s tester Gigant.

Luke’s tester would have taken in huge damage if he hadn’t stopped the attack, but he didn’t retreat.

“Did you catch my movement?”

“Sure, you pretended to use blink and approached me using invisibility magic.”

When Belik got it right, Luke couldn’t feel chills on his body.

The man wasn’t even a wizard, yet he managed to get it right.

“Have you ever fought a Rune Knight?”

“Nope, I fought with a War Mage.”

The War Mage was a fairy, who joined the revolutionary army of the Volga.

It was a fairy named as Nanas, who was 100 times dangerous than a flimsy Rune Knight.

“I told you earlier. You can’t take me down with tricks and poor magic.”

“Then I need to show you that my magic isn’t poor and clumsy.”

When the two were done speaking, the two men collided again and clashed their huge swords.

And the real fight began in earnest.