Emperor of Steel

The next day, Luke’s party departed early morning and managed to arrive at Wolfs by lunchtime.

Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!

“Emergency! Military emergency!”

“Some kind of mysterious group is flying towards the town! Be ready for battle!”

As the loud bell rang all around Wolfs, knights and wizards began to get onto the walls to take down Luke and his party who were flying in their direction.

Each of the wizards or archers on the wall were awaiting for their commander’s orders to shoot.

“Arch Duke, an order to attack…”

“Wait. We still haven’t confirmed if they are enemies or not.”

Arch Duke Gregory looked at the unidentified group with the long-range observation artifact which his lieutenant handed him.

‘Huh? they are?’

Checking Luke’s face at the forefront of the group, he couldn’t help but smile and release the emergency orders.

“They are no enemies to us. Stand down.”

Knights, wizards, and archers who were on the walls, began to climb down listening to Gregory’s orders.

In such a short time, Luke’s party closed in and landed near Gregory.

“You have come, Your Majesty. I did receive a call from the Holy palace, but I didn’t expect your arrival this early.”

“I didn’t expect it either, the Arch Duke would be keeping secrets from me.”

At Luke’s words, Arch Duke Gregory could only smile.

Honestly, he was actually lamenting on asking Luke for support, since Luke was proficient in dark magic yet a man with a good heart.

However, Reina was stubborn about not calling Luke, in the end, he had to give up his will and follow her instructions.

“But, where is Reina?”

Luke asked when he couldn’t find her, he actually thought she would be there to receive him.

“Pope is currently studying on how to cure the zombie disease in the town’s Magic Tower.”

“She is? Are there any results?”

“Well, till now we don’t…”

“I thought so.”

Luke, who was already aware of it, headed to the Magic Tower following Arch Duke.

After a while, Luke arrived at Ford Magic Tower and entered the lab where Reina was.

Reina, who was in a conversation with Marquis Reas, was shocked to see Luke enter the room.

“Lu- Luke!”

“Ah, look here. Your husband comes over, yet you couldn’t…”

Before Luke could even make fun of her, Reina rushed into his arms.

Whether Gregory or Marquis Reas saw them or not, she kissed Luke.

“Will you forgive me now?”

Even after the long kiss he shared, Luke shook his head.

“Huh? This doesn’t even make the half of it. I told you not to get yourself involved in dangerous stuff, why couldn’t you just listen to my words?”

Luke deliberately tried to look angry at Reina and tapped her head.

“Ahh!”

“Yo- you!”

“Your Majesty, I feel like you need to hit her harder.”

Unlike Marquis Reas who was shocked, Arch Duke Gregory was encouraging Luke. He had the same concern in his heart regarding Reina’s welfare.

However, he could only scold her yet not hit her like Luke did.

“Do you have any idea how scared and worried I was?”

“I am sorry. I just couldn’t ignore innocent people suffering out there… and, with my abilities, I thought that I could find a cure.”

“I know that. But from what Arch Duke spoke to me, there were no success or any leads as of now.”

When Luke said that, Reina nodded with a heavy sigh.

She had the ability to use Aether, the source of all power and things, she could transform the Aether into divine power and perform miracles that were never seen before.

However, that didn’t mean that she could be versatile like Spirit King when it came to using Aether.

“Coming here, I came across some pretty interesting information. And that was…”

Luke told Reina about the things he heard from Wilf.

And what he spoke wasn’t only for Reina, but also Marquis Reas and Arch Duke Gregory who were beside her.

“That! For water to be the medium in which the zombie disease is getting transmitted…!”

“It could be. It was in the reports that the zombie disease spread too quickly in the early days…!”

Though he didn’t want to admit it, Marquis Reas was still collecting information about the zombie disease to find some clue about the cure.

However, the zombie disease spread more quickly than any other infectious disease during the initial period, and the number of patients who turned into zombies soared too high that no information could be gathered.

The one thing they were sure of was, it was a planned act of someone, and not a natural disease, yet, finding out who was the reason for it wasn’t an easy task.

All because of the disease has a dire consequence and the terrifying rate of transmission.

“Even though we didn’t come in contact with any zombies, our soldiers began to get infected, but for the water to be the reason for all that, water being the medium.”

Marquis Reas was easily convinced.

Water was an element that was present in every human society or locality, there was no human or any living being which didn’t depend on water for survival.

“We need to clear the contaminated water source…”

His words were cut off by Luke.

“Don’t worry Marquis. We have already contacted the Holy palace before we come here. All the water which flows from Jackson is being purified.”

Everyone in the room sighed of relief at Luke’s detailed follow-up.

It would have been unpleasant if the disease had spread to other regions while they were in Jackson for blocking them.

“I can see the results after Your Majesty came here. We might be able to stop the further spreading of the disease.”

Luke shook his head at the words of Marquis Reas.

“Well, this is no result. I was just lucky enough to find it.”

If he didn’t see those zombies in the village and decided to turn a blind eye, he would have met with Wilf or know about the spread of zombie disease.

“Anyway, we need to find a cure as fast as possible. It won’t be long when the military in Jackson will fail.”

Everyone nodded at Luke’s words.

The power of the Holy Arthenia Empire was so terrifying that it was considered to be the 2nd largest empire on the continent, yet, there were limitations to every army.

A lot of supplies were being sent to maintain the barriers around town, and if there was a long-term blockade on the area of Jackson, which was considered to be the key transportation point, it would be a huge economic loss.

“Although I wouldn’t want to admit, nervousness is rising all over the Empire. And the anxiety-stricken public will only worsen the situation.”

“During the meantime, the opposition groups who work for Constantine will try to take us down…”

Seeing Arch Duke Gregory and Marquis Reas speak in despair, Luke decided to find a cure as quickly as possible.

If the Holy Empire fell, the pressure on the Baroque Empire would weaken, and that would end up causing a burden on the Symphonia Kingdom.

‘Even though she might hate it, I need to get Reina back into the palace walls.’

Luke never wanted Reina to be in any dangerous situation.

For him, that lady would always be his other half.