Emperor of Steel

“Oh oh, it is done!”

After the Puppet broke, Hwang Bo-sung could only watch Luke’s fight.

Seeing Avenger fall down with no life, he clenched his fists.

It was a pity that the King’s exclusive Gigant was broken down.

However, it was 100 times better than being used and abused by the hands of the villain.

‘But, what was the reason that Avenger just faltered over there? Was it luck, or did His Majesty do something?’

What Hwang Bo-sung wondered was a situation Luke had created.

Shortly before he was luring Arsene, Luke managed to find a manhole on the road.

Unlike 500 years back, the current cities had great sewage facilities.

Although they were expensive to create, considering the damage caused by the water pollution, it was seen as rather cheap.

Anbury too had a great sewage facility, and the water was supposed to escape through the large sewage which was right beneath the roads and headed to the nearby river.

What Luke aimed for was the sewage system down the road.

The road was made sturdy so it wouldn’t collapse even with the attacks of the Gigant, however, due to the battle which was happening on the road, it had taken quite a lot of damage.

It was Luke’s Thunder Blinger, which had caused the crumbling.

He deliberately pretended to aim for Avenger, and launched his attack on the road.

For that reason, when Arsene unfolded Black Abyss, the ground collapsed and made Avenger lose its balance.

“It worked quite well for an impromptu plan.”

Luke stared at his broken Avenger, ready to use the Gold Sword again.

There was no guarantee that Arsene was destroyed.

Just a while back that he had taken over the Gigant, it was impossible to know what kind of foul trick Arsene would use.

“Kukkk! Luke. You. Bastard! How. Dare. You…!”

When Arsene’s distinctive voice could be heard, Luke turned towards the source of the voice.

He found fragments of Magi, which seemed to be less than a handful, moving around like flies.

The Magi fragments formed into the shape of an angry face.

“Indeed, you are sticky as hell, Arsene!”

“This. Is. The. Power. of darkness. You. Must. Have. Learned. It. Too. Right?”

“No, I just use it for power. The power to destroy monsters who wear a human’s visage, the ones like you!”

Which was why Luke had never created an Undead or sold his soul to the demons.

He had no intention of turning into a slave for power like Arsene.

“Huh! Power… you. Are. A. kid. Who. Doesn’t. know. What. True. Power. feels. Like!”

“Master, dodge!”

At Arsene’s ridicule, Hwang Bo-sung’s urgent cry roared.

A sudden surge in the energy behind his back, Luke hurriedly turned to defend.

“Shield!”

“Kul. Kul. Kul. One. Step. Late!”

Puck!

The right arm of Avenger, which fell off from the body, flew at Luke.

Though he had used Shield, he was unable to overcome the mass of steel which came in with Arsene’s dark magic.

Luke’s body bounced back and flew quite a distance before hitting the ground.

“Kuek! Thi- sh*t…!”

Luke, who threw up blood, stared at Arsene.

Crack-creak!

Arsene began to recover the broken Avenger.

He really had a persistent nature.

Well, it was more like the dark magic he possessed was great?

At any rate, Arsene laughed at Luke who was in shock.

“Kul. Kul. Kul. The descendant. Of. Warrior. Is a. real. Fool! Only. If. The. Core. Engine. Was. Destroyed. I wouldn’t. Have. Come. Back.”

A while back, while breaking his Avenger, Luke didn’t hit the core engine.

Well, it was more like he didn’t break it on purpose.

If he damaged the core engine of a Superhero class Gigant, Avenger who has 4,000 fights, the entire city of Anbury would have disappeared without a trace.

It would be a disaster if the city wasn’t fully evacuated.

“Should. I just. Try. Doing it?”

“St-stop!”

The words of Arsene terrified Luke.

However, Arsene didn’t touch the core engine.

It was because he knew that Luke still had enough power to run away.

‘It would be difficult for him to escape with teleport magic right before the explosion. But I need to finish him off with my own hands.’

Arsene was dead set on killing Luke.

Luke was hit hard, and exhausted with the constant attacks directed at him, it looked like Luke’s body could only use one or two spells at most.

‘If that old man doesn’t involve himself like the last time…’

Arsene glanced around the city to make sure that Nanda wouldn’t pop out suddenly.

Fortunately, there was no sign of Nanda.

Instead, Hwang Bo-sung, who summoned the Puppet, ran towards Avenger ready to use the Trinity punch.

It wasn’t just Arsene, but also Luke who was shocked by the reckless move.

“Sir Hwang Bo-sung!”

“Master, get away!”

“This. Troublesome. Bug!”

Arsene stomped the feet of Avenger and fired dark magic to catch Hwang Bo-sung.

Luke couldn’t help but get angry, seeing Hwang Bo-sung avoid all the incoming attacks and run ahead.

If he could, he would have gone in right away to help the man.

However, his internal organs had taken quite a damage and the Aether Globe on his heart seemed to be damaged, he was desperately waiting for the Globe to recover.

‘Sh*t, if I don’t hurry, Hwang Bo-sung and the people of Anbury will…’

Luke didn’t want anymore people to be sacrificed.

He wanted to defeat the Lich, however, he wasn’t in a state where he could walk by himself.

‘Anyone would do! Someone give me the power to kill that devil…!’

Wooong!

The moment when Luke was intently praying for someone to lend him power.

The Holy Sword in his hand shone brightly with a faint resonation.

Luke was startled at the sudden reaction of the Holy Sword.

It was nothing more than a dead sword, however, it was resonating as if it had life in it.

Besides, even though he was holding onto the sword, Luke wasn’t infusing it with any magic.

‘What is this?’

While Luke was puzzled, the words of Kurgon came to his mind.

“to restore it properly, it will need more than just the work of the creator.”

The will beyond what the creator made.

When Zig made the Holy Sword, he must have made it with a firm mind.

The hope that the sword would protect someone and not harm anyone.

“The will to protect…!”

Luke held strongly on the Holy Sword.

Valiant, as if it cried—began to give out stronger light.

Seeing that Luke was sure.

It wasn’t as strong as the time he saw it in Rakan’s hands, but the dead sword seemed like it was about to revive.

With his will to defeat Arsene and protect those who were loyal to him.

“Valiant, you killed me in the past. Your master’s ignorance blocked my way.”

Wooong!

The resonance of Valiant only went stronger.

It was as if he understood Luke’s emotions.

Luke kept on holding it tight, wanting it to understand his hope and will.

“I need you to rise! Rise and let me borrow your power! Please defeat that evil with your strength and open the path for me!”

Pahhh!

The sword resonated and bright light spread everywhere.

Naturally, it grabbed Arsene’s attention.

Arsene was just pushed to a dead end by Hwang Bo-sung’s constant attacks, and turned his head at the irritating energy which was rising to one side.

‘No, this…’

Luke holding that half sword, stood with an expression that Arsene couldn’t comprehend.

He would have called Luke to be crazy for holding such a thing, however, the energy coming from Luke’s sword didn’t let him speak.

It felt a lot stronger than the divine power which had destroyed the Gorgos.

However, there was another thing that scared Arsene.

“Holy. Sword. Valiant! It. Is. Still. There!”

A sword that suddenly disappeared after the death of Rakan.

Despite stealing the body of the warrior, Arsene was unable to figure out where the sword was.

A mole from the Imperial palace was sent to the Holy Empire and the Rakan estate to search, however, no such sword was found.

Which made Arsene believe that the sword was either broken or completely gone.

However, it was in Luke’s hands!

‘From where did that guy…!’

The place or source wasn’t important.

The most important thing was to get rid of it.

“Along. With. The. Legacy of. The. Past one. Go. To. Hell! Dark Hole!”

Arsene created a dark energy that resembled the Abyss at the right hand of Avenger.

It was rather unreasonable to trigger a high-level magic with nothing but a broken hand, however, it wasn’t time to be picky.

Regardless of the completion of Dark Hole, Arsene shot it at Luke.

A Dark Hole could suck in everything at a radius of 30 meters and turn it to dust.

When the attack came, the Holy sword wasn’t fully resurrected, Luke was in a hurry to avoid it.

-No, don’t try to avoid it. Hit it in the front.

Luke could hear someone’s voice in his head.

The moment the voice which resembled the Warrior Rakan was heard, the broken sword grew.

Flash!

The moment when Dark Hole and the Holy Sword collided, a bright light engulfed Luke’s body.

‘That is!’

Escaping the crisis, Hwang Bo-sung immediately stepped back, but got caught in the bright light.

Like a sun rising from the horizon.

It seemed like the morning sun which burnt away the darkness of dawn, and erased the Dark Hole which Arsene created.

“This. Makes. No. sense!”

“Master!”

Between Arsene’s shock and Hwang Bo-sung’s cheers, the light faded and Luke appeared.

‘Pain is gone. Are my injuries completely cured?’

Was it because of the Divine light?

Luke looked at the Holy Sword Valiant in his hand.

The Holy Sword was in its full form, impossible to believe that it was broken.

It wasn’t just that, it seemed much brighter and stronger than the time Rakan held it.

‘Did the Sword form itself?’

Even though it was eating his mind, Rakan’s words were going around in his mind.

The sword that was broken, clearly spoke to him.

How could that be?

Was it because of the metal called Orichalcum, or was it a miracle which couldn’t be explained by magic or knowledge?

Luke knew that defeating the evil in front of him was more important than finding the answer.

“I won’t make a mistake this time.”

“Kuak! Die. Luke. De. Rakan!”

Arsene, who was suddenly attacked, randomly attacked Luke.

However, Luke, who was still wrapped in the holy light, wielded the sword and destroyed the dark magic attacks which Arsene was using on him.

Yet, Arsene rushed through.

Flustered, Arsene tried to develop much stronger Dark Magic.

“Kuak, Black Abyss…!”

However, he was late.

Luke, who already reached Arsene, was ready to use the second half of the Gold Sword.

“Cyclone Rage!”

Thud!

A bright golden aura filled the air.

Just one attack, stronger than any attack which could be used by any sword, aimed for the evil energy which was in front of him.

Slash!

Golden aura was slashed through Avenger.

Avenger was completely fine.

Instead, the dark energy, the power of Arsene, which was controlling it, was hit hard.

‘Kuak, this can’t be! I can never accept this!’

Arsene wasn’t ready to accept the defeat until he saw the existence of his Lich who started to erode from Avenger, and was completely destroyed.

Well, he wasn’t able to accept it.

The fact that it was a stupid descendant of the warrior—who had the ability that dares to threaten his existence and eliminate him. A man who had been ruling the world from behind, for the past 500 years.

However, despite Arsene’s struggles, the results didn’t change.

‘Is this really the end?’

Luke looked over at Avenger which looked like it lost all its power.

He couldn’t feel anymore dark energy left, nor did the Gigant stand up.

‘I destroyed his body today. If I don’t get rid of the Lich’s vessel, this fight will never end.’

Arsene would reappear someday.

He didn’t know if it was a year from now or ten years later.

Maybe he would decide to appear after the death of Luke.

“If he doesn’t appear again, I will search for him. Just like you came for me!”

An immortal monster that could destroy the continent.

A remnant of the unclean past world, an obstacle to the new era.

Luke raised the Holy Sword to the sky, thinking that he would surely defeat him.

The sun, which began to appear from the gray sky, lit the Holy sword he had lifted.