Emperor of Steel

Luke, who succeeded in acquiring the Divine power, immediately brought people together and showed it to them.

The zombies made by Constantine were returned back to their human form, and his divine power was used to clean the wounded.

In the process, Luke didn’t try to use anything other than the Spirit Power and Divine power.

As a result, Marquis Reas and the priests were all shocked.

Even if Luke hadn’t sold his soul to the demons, he still used Magi, but the same person was able to use Divine power!

“Unbelievable! Aren’t dark magic and divine power incompatible?”

“Maybe dark magic really isn’t that bad…”

“Maybe this is an exception. Isn’t it true that most warlocks are evil, except for Majesty Luke and his followers?”

“But it is true that the teachings we read are completely broken. We are trying to solve the problem with Holiness’s miracle power, but wasn’t it Majesty Luke and his warlocks who cured and treated the disease?”

“Yes, we need to admit that.”

It wasn’t just the priests who were shocked.

The Dark Moon warlocks were out of their minds.

“I knew that he was an extraordinary man, but I never thought he would be able to achieve this…”

“Would it be possible for us too?”

Quintero shook his head when asked by his men.

“Well, I think we should consider our Master as one with extraordinary skills and abilities.”

“But even then, wouldn’t it be possible if we read the scriptures or carry the cross? That way, we will be similar to the priests.”

“To explore the darkness with the power of faith… huhu, sounds like a good method.”

“Maybe that way our Dark Moon’s warlocks can walk into the world with confidence.”

Dark Moon warlocks’ greatest wish for themselves was to reveal their true selves to the world.

Think about it. If people learned that they knew Dark Magic, they would be killed right away, but this way they wouldn’t!

In the past, even the thought itself scared them.

The moment one displayed dark magic, they would be killed rather than listened to.

But with Luke in the front line, a new future seemed possible.

Luke showed his Divine power and put the priests and warlocks in shock.

However, Reina was enjoying some tea time with Karen.

The zombies weren’t completely treated, and they didn’t know when they would be asked to come help, so they rarely had the chance to meet and talk.

‘But, why is that man here? He is quite annoying.’

Luke looked at the gargoyle-like man, who was standing on one side of the room, Gregory’s eyes were as sharp as a hawk.

Because of him, even if he wanted to express his affection to Reina, he couldn’t.

Unlike Luke, who cared about the presence of others, Reina was rather happy to see Karen.

Karen, who was chewing on some baked cookies, looked so cute with a smile and eyes twinkling.

“Is that delicious, Karen?”

Nod Nod.

Karen, who was chewing on the cookies in the bowl like a squirrel, nodded her head.

It was the first time that she had eaten something so sweet and delicious.

In the future which had disappeared, there wasn’t enough food for all, and due to the outbreak of the zombie legion, they couldn’t even ask for tasty food.

Even after coming to the past, she wasn’t able to enjoy food and drinks.

‘At least to eat these delicious things, I need to defeat Lich King, Arsene!’

When she decided on that, even she realized that her thoughts were turning childish.

Maybe it was because she was in her younger form, she began to wonder if she would be able to solve something which her parents weren’t able to solve.

‘This fight isn’t over yet. So I need to be confident…’

“Tasty, Karen? Would you like to have some of this then?”

Karen’s maturity came crumbling when Reina pushed a pastry towards her.

Slurp!

She nodded her head violently, not even realizing.

Before realizing what she did, Reina hugged her.

“How can she be this cute… how, Karen? Would you like to come over to Bless with me?”

“Uhm, I have decided to take care of Karen.”

“You?”

“Yes. I am formally going to accept her as my stepdaughter.”

Karen was shocked by the revelation that Luke just released.

She never thought that her own father would adopt her.

Hugging her more tightly, not wanting Karen to be taken away, Reina said to Luke.

“If you do want that, then you should hand her to me. A child needs a mother’s love.”

“That is true, but I owe her.”

“It is the same with me. If it weren’t for Karen, I wouldn’t be alive here.”

Reina’s stubbornness couldn’t be rivaled, which was why Luke spoke in a serious voice.

“How would people react if the Pope suddenly appeared with a daughter? Don’t create trouble and leave her to me.”

“Trouble? How many previous Pope had adopted daughters?! There were many! Isn’t that true Arch Duke?”

“Eh, yes, Holiness.”

When Reina asked, Gregory immediately nodded his head.

There were cases when the young prospective priests and paladins were adopted into noble families and raised as successors.

However, there was a secret that wasn’t leaked about it.

It was that every child adopted was an illegitimate child of theirs.

Since the priests were unable to marry, they held illegitimate relations.

‘The child might not be her Holiness’s, but… too similar. Though I am curious, I have nothing to say.’

Reina didn’t like Karen, just because she saved her.

Every time she saw the child, she could remember her and Luke’s daughter who looked very much like Karen.

The child who she saw in the dream was rather lonely and sad.

Karen, who looked similar to the child in her dreams thought that there was no way that Reina would let her go.

She considered it to be a gift from God.

“Well, I am going to raise Karen as a great person.”

At Reina’s declaration, Luke objected.

“No way, that child has exceptional talent. If I don’t teach her…”

“What do you plan on teaching a child of this young age?”

“You’re taking it the wrong way. People don’t evolve further in lower-income families because their children aren’t educated at an early age.”

“You think that is so great? Haven’t you heard the scholars claim that a parents’ greed kills the creativity of the child?”

Karen stared at her parents arguing about her.

When she was panicking, Arch Duke Gregory came ahead.

“How about you ask the child yourselves what she wants?”

“That is a good idea. Karen, with me… no, come with dad.”

“Don’t come with your mom. If you follow your dad, you’ll end up learning magic and fencing every day.”

It was very similar to ‘Do you like your dad? Or do you like your mom?’

Karen looked at the two people alternating, she sighed and embraced Reina.

Meaning that she would follow her.

Reina seemed very pleased with her, however, Luke was considerably upset.

‘Dad, I am sorry. I want to be with dad too, but I need to protect mom.’

Between the two, Karen felt like she had to protect her mom, Reina, who was extremely powerless in such cases.

It was because there was no guarantee that the raids like before wouldn’t happen again.

“Oh my, then we meet again…”

When Luke was trying to emotionally bring in the child, Hwang Bo-sung entered the room with news.

“Master, we have magic communication from our nation.”

“Yeah? Something bad…?”

“It didn’t seem like that, but it seemed like they wanted you to contact them right away.”

“Hm…”

At Hwang Bo-sung’s words, Luke took the crystal ball of magic communication and called the Symphonia Palace.

The face of Hans—the Prime Minister—popped right away as if they were waiting for Luke’s contact.

-How have you been, Your Majesty? I heard that the situation in Jackson is getting solved.

“Yes, I didn’t think you’d get the good news so quickly.”

Good news.

It was said that Luke had been carrying on the legacy of the Devil King Saymon and possesses the contact with warlocks of Dark Moon.

That information was being held secret by Marquis Reas and a few other higher officials.

However, Luke knew that secrets couldn’t be kept forever.

Contrary, he thought that it wouldn’t be bad if the news about warlocks helping in solving the zombie disease went out.

-Good news? I already heard about the warlocks joining in to resolve the situation. Everyone thinks of it to be an inevitable situation. That is what I believe too.

‘Didn’t they decide on a decision on the situation? No, rather than that, from Hans’s personality, he should be asking me to shy away from getting in contact with any warlocks, right?’

The most conservative people of the Symphonia Kingdom were probably the Rakan family retainers.

And Hans was a model character for that role.

Did he realize that the King was with the warlocks?

It wouldn’t be strange for Hans to yell or ask Luke to walk away from there.

Luke, tilted his head and asked.

“By the way, Prime Minister, what is happening in our nation”

-That… there is nothing wrong here, it’s just that, there is something why His Majesty must check and judge. So please come back if your work there is done.

‘Something I need to check and judge? What could that be?’

The question would be answered only if he went back to Symphonia.

Luke, nodded his head.

“Understood. I will try to get back as soon as possible.”

-Yes, we’ll wait for His majesty’s return.

When Luke was done with his call, Reina, who was listening from the side, asked with a sad face.

“Are you heading back?”

“Yes. Not going right away…”

Luke was feeling the same.

Since the situation with the zombie disease had been settled, they thought that they could spend some alone time together.

‘Great power comes with great responsibility…’

The words which a saint said to the hero in a novel of the past.

It was a very popular dialogue that was especially favored by powerful nobles.

Why did they like it?

Maybe because of the lingering words.

‘Great power comes with great responsibility. And the right to enjoy the wealth.’

However, Luke seemed to be unable to afford the luxuries of the rich man, who was taking up great responsibility.

It was very rare in the history for a monarch to have enjoyed extravagant luxuries and entertainment.

They were all devoted to the administration of their empires that they were neglected by their kids, and often ended up when military forces turned on them after the newer generation of leaders rose.

‘When will I and Reina be at peace? Would it be possible after defeating the Baroque Empire and Arsene?’

He was envious of the ordinary people who could spend their time with their loved ones.

However, it was impossible to stop his goal in the middle and he had already decided to reach his goal.

Luke decided to put off his happiness for a while, if it meant to prevent the tragedy which would strike the happiness of the ordinary families.