Emperor of Steel

An old temple in the valley to the east of the Volga Republic.

Elder Nanas, who was currently the head of the Fairy Delegation meeting, remained silent and continued to walk in the room.

The silver wings of the fairy flapped and powder fell. However, her face was still full of irritation.

“There is not a single task that can be completed perfectly!”

The main reason she yelled was because she had failed to reopen the door to the Spirit World.

Next, there was the betrayal of Erwin, which hurt her the more.

When the countermeasures meeting was held again to open the door to the Spirit World, Erwin strictly opposed it.

Not just that, she even fled without responding to their request.

It was truly unbelievable for them, that the disciple of Erenes—the fairy prophet—did such an act.

‘That wench’s words aren’t the will of Erenes. Yes, it certainly has to be that. Anyway, she might be dying to live with the humans…’

The problem was that they couldn’t catch Erwin.

It was because a knight with tremendous skill had interrupted their chase.

And his skills weren’t just ordinary. He was good. Sylvia, who received the reports on him, returned to the Republic’s intelligence office immediately.

‘The only problem is Erwin. It will turn much troublesome if she goes and says unnecessary stuff to Princess Reina.’

And Reina wasn’t just a normal person like the past to just kidnap her.

She became the Pope of the Holy Arthenia Empire and was constantly being escorted by Arch Duke Gregory, the second strongest man on the continent and the head of the Saint Guard.

If they placed their hands without a plan, there was a chance for the fairies to be angered as well.

Since getting Reina by force was impossible, they had previously sent a letter over to her, pleading for her help.

Clink Clink Clink

As Nanas clicked on the bell on the table, a dark elf entered.

It was Hyrun, an agent of the Intelligence agency of the Volga Republic.

“Did you find it?” Asked Nanas.

“Has there been any response to the letter which was sent to the Holy Palace?” Asked Nanas once again.

“Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any.”

Hyrun, who had no expression, made an excuse when he saw Elder Nanas’ eyes turn cold.

“I guess that it will take a little longer. The letter wasn’t directly delivered to Princess Reina, and… No, Holy Pope, and I heard that the pope has been very busy dealing with the busy affairs of her state.”

Like Constantine—the regent—was taken out. The political system of the Holy Empire was in shock and confusion.

Reina, not taking time, proceeded with the reform.

They replaced the ministers of all the divisions, renewed the internal affairs, and rectified the wrongful system and laws.

At the same time, she met with the leaders of all the other sects, including the Sanctity of Holiness of Priest Luther, which the local people favored.

Regardless of where they came from, the pope’s office was selecting talents evenly and secured finances to rescue the poor.

Thanks to all of that, the Holy Empire was recovering quickly from the damages of the civil war and was regaining their stability.

“And it isn’t just that, seeing the fairies as the kids of the same God, the fairies are being granted their rights and their interests. Those who were being unfairly treated within the Holy Empire are being given a new life.”

“Shut up! Are you all afraid of the humans right now?!” Shouted Nanas.

“But it is true that the steps taken by that lady are being very helpful for our fairies…”

“To truly help your brothers and sisters, you need to open the door of the Spirit World! All these appeasing policies are all plain deception!”

Nanas was unhappy with the policy introduced by Reina that seemed like deception and close moderation with the Volga.

It was true that they could be taking advantage of the situation. However, it was unacceptable considering the pride of being a descendant of the Abaron Empire.

‘Barbaric men, will you stand on top of us, who have passed on the civilization to you men even after seeing your barbarism and turn us into slaves? I don’t know about the things that happened till now, but I can’t let things happen like this in the future!’

In her eyes, human beings were weaker and duller than the fairies. They were foolish, ugly and short-lived animals.

They had good breeding power, and their skill of stealing someone else’s ideas was excellent, which was why they were able to dominate the continent, but that point of their life was going to end.

‘To do that, we need to open the door to the Spirit World at any cost…’

As Nanas’s obsession developed into madness, the door opened with a lycan entering.

He was the warrior responsible for the pursuit of Erwin.

“Did you find out where Erwin is?”

“We missed her near Bless. We thought that she might have gone to the Holy Palace, but it was said that she and the knight accompanying her broke away and only the knight could be traced.”

When Nanas’ face became distorted, the warrior lycan pulled out a letter.

“This is…?” Asked Nanas.

“Sent from the Holy Palace with our brothers.”

It had to be the reply for the letter that they had sent.

Nanas hurriedly opened the envelope to look at its contents.

Before long, disappointment and anger lingered on her expectant face.

She read the letter.

‘We are very sorry for not being able to complete the work you requested, but to open the door to the Spirit World is a matter that needs little more thought.

Our opinion that hunger can be the seed of ambition and conflict…

It is our opinion that we can open the door to a new future by joining our forces even if it doesn’t lead to opening the door to the Spirit World.

If you plan to join, you are always welcomed. The door is always open for you.

Reina Petrovna Kirillov.’

‘This wench…!’

Tear! Tear!

Reina’s letter was torn by Nanas.

Seeing her fierce reaction to the letter, Hyrun and the lycan warrior were able to guess what the content of the letter could have been.

“To think carefully? Let’s open the door to the future together? That low life subject!”

There were a lot of words here and there, but in the end, it stated that the door to the Spirit World wouldn’t be opened.

It wasn’t clear if Erwin was the one who made it happen, but one thing was clear, the problem could no longer be solved with simple words.

‘Even though she hates it, I need to make the door open at all costs!’

Thinking, Elder Nanas decided to dig into the weaknesses of Reina.

Even if that was horrible, she couldn’t help it anymore. It was necessary for the door of the Spirit World to be opened, either sooner or later, to bring back the glory of the ancient fairies.

“Hyrun, did you say that the lover of Princess Reina was the Marquis of Rakan, Luke de Rakan?”

“That is true. But why…?”

“We will have to take him as a hostage. Only then will princess Reina agree to our conditions and follow our will.”

Hyrun could just sigh at Nanas’s words.

He knew that, unlike the cold face of Nanas, she was in a hurry, and she wasn’t even aware of the task she gave.

“Elder, unfortunately, he isn’t a man we can just meddle with.”

He was one of the dark elves who had abducted Reina in the past and had met Luke.

And it wasn’t just that, he had served in the Baroque Imperial Army and made remarkable merit because of how well his skills had improved.

“He isn’t just the descendant of the warrior Rakan, but also the progressor of Saymon. He is probably not as strong as a Sword Sage, but…”

“He is the progressor of Saymon? Then you can threaten him about exposing him to his retainers.”

At the response of Nanas, Hyrun could feel his heart skip.

“Of course, we could do that. However, how do you plan on doing that? To overcome that man, we will have to make great sacrifices.”

“I am going to make as many sacrifices as I can. For the future of the fairies!”

‘This crazy wench!’

Hyrun was shocked.

He wanted to overcome the persecution of the fairies, which were happening in the hands of humans. However, he didn’t want to witness unnecessary shedding of blood.

No, it wasn’t like he was afraid of dying in battle, but he was worried about how his brothers would be mad at the outcome.

It was because Marquis Luke had enough power to stay on top even if people were angry at him.

As if she could see through Hyrun, with a thin smile, Nanas said, “What are you so worried about? What are you so dissatisfied about? I can understand. However, I am not just trying to be reckless here. There is definitely a way to subdue the Marquis of Rakan.”

“We can subdue him?”

“Yes, the world doesn’t just have sword magic and divine power.”

Hyrun was puzzled with Nanas’s words.

He remembered that Nanas had said a similar thing in the past too.

At the time, Volga was in a republican revolution, and the army was rushing over to the king’s palace.

Among them, the palace had Kamarov, the commander of the proximal knights, and Kawin, the royal wizard.

Kamarov was the advanced Sword Master representative knight of the Volga, and Kawin was the 8th circle war mage on the continent.

Nanas had come up with the plan to eliminate the two vanguards of the royal family.

At first, everyone assumed her to be wrong, but they ended up accepting her plan as there was no other way to fight back.

‘And the royal guardians were ruthlessly executed by the revolutionary army.’

Everything happened so easily that the kings weren’t able to believe the news about their deaths.

“Definitely ‘That plan’ will work, even if he is a sword sage…”

A Sword Sage or not, it was a plan that was definitely going to work.

In other words, If the Marquis of Rakan could fall into the trap, his death was assured.

“Now will you believe me? Knowing what will happen, go and prepare everything as soon as possible.”

At the order from Nanas, Hyrun bowed and stepped out of the room.

He looked at the dark night sky that was surrounding the old temple.

Kamarov and Kawin were smashed like lifeless toys in the very dark night. The scene entered his mind.

At that time, those two couldn’t resist it, let alone act.