Emperor of Steel

“So the daughter of the former lord and her followers went into the forest?”

Luke asked Philip, who had interrogated the prisoners. Those prisoners were caught in the previous night’s invasion.

“Yes, Lord. To take revenge for her father, they attacked but ended up getting attacked by Hwang Bo-sung.”

“Pretty daring lady,” was all Luke could say.

According to Philip, Scarlet, the daughter of the former lord, was pretty acquainted with Ranghel Region.

Despite many young nobles trying to court her, she insisted on not getting married till her death.

“And she didn’t even date?”

“She is entirely different from what she looks. Unless one was stronger than her, she had told that she wouldn’t marry.”

The problem was none of the knights in the Ranghel Province were strong enough to even attack Scarlet.

With just a bunch of arrows, she could break down a shield and even take down a swordsman.

Her skills were enough to complete her last mission, only if the Fist Master hadn’t involved himself.

“But, she is someone who can’t stand injustice and had people following her,” said Philip.

“Right. But from whom did she learn to shoot a bow?”

“Well, I don’t know. She definitely has a teacher though. Nobody knows as to who it can be as she hasn’t told anyone.”

“Really? Well, we can always check for ourselves.”

Luke nodded when Gavel ran in to report.

“Captain, no Lord. We have completed the siege.”

“You did well.”

Luke slowly approached the place when he heard the confirming shouts from the soldiers who were conducting the siege.

“Surrender, you are surrounded!”

The moment the warning fell, the response from the other side was rather wild.

Swoosh, swoosh! Swoosh!

With the sound of tearing air, arrows flew in at a frightening pace.

Kang-!

Any ordinary expert would have been frightened, but Luke simply just deflected the arrows with his sword.

‘Oh ho, look at this?!’

On the surface, he pretended to be fine, but Luke couldn’t help but be amazed on the inside.

‘Hwang Bo-sung didn’t miss a single one of it.’

Going out without preparation would have been an utter failure.

“What are you doing? It isn’t polite to shoot arrows at first…”

The moment Luke tried to figure things out, another five arrows came in at preposterous speed.

They were all shot with a slight time lag, but they all flew where Luke was standing.

Kang! Kwakwang!

When Luke hit away all the five arrows, Scarlet couldn’t help but bite her lip.

A little while ago, Vante said that the platinum-haired man was the new lord.

Destined to hurt him, she used all her strength to hit him, but none of it worked against the man.

“Eik! The new lord is quite talented…!”

Next to her was Vante, who was struggling. Vante could only shake his head at what was happening.

“This is the Count’s region, but there is a master class warrior from the southern continent, and all the knights are intermediate and higher class experts and the lord himself is known to be a really skilled swordsman… Who is he?”

From what Vante knew, to have such a power in the Holy Empire, one must be either an archbishop of a high ranking marquis, a prince, or a commander of the Saint Guards.

But he had never heard of a young man in that position.

And no matter how he saw it, the man looked talented.

The rumors about Luke and the Red Wolf Mercenaries hadn’t yet been reported to the Ranghel Territory.

“Even if he is an illegitimate son of Arch Duke Gregory, I will kill him!”

Scarlet grabbed the necklace she was wearing and crushed the jewel in the middle of it.

Wheeeing!

“Ah, Lady!”

Smoke began to spread from the crushed gem all over the place, which surprised the retainers.

The energy of the smoke was soon absorbed into her body.

‘Master told me to not use too much of the necklace’s strength…’

The necklace was a gift to Scarlet from her elven teacher when her teacher bid farewell.

Even among the elves, there were treasures that weren’t known to others.

Her teacher said that the necklace was made by an elven priest from ancient times, and it was sealed by the power of the earth goddess, Belize.

“Compared to the real power that Goddess Belize possesses, this is a thousand times weaker, but nevertheless, this is still the power from a God. Any human vessel will find it hard to handle, and when used incorrectly, it will end up taking your life.”

She remembered her teacher’s warning, but she already broke it.

‘I wanted to keep it with me as teacher said… Well, that doesn’t matter now. I’ve decided to sacrifice my life here!’

Thud! Thud!

Maybe it was because of the power of a God but the whole ground shook.

In addition, her whole body was dyed with white light.

Luke was watching her with his hawk eyes, but he couldn’t help but be surprised.

The thing that came out of her necklace was absorbed into her body. He knew what it was.

‘That is Aether! How did that woman…!’

The most fundamental force that made up the world was Aether.

But when the world was divided into the Devildom, Middle-Earth and Spirit World, the power soon disappeared. No, the power was divided as well.

Not long ago, Luke saw someone use Aether.

It was none other than the Holy Pope of the Arthenia Empire—his missing lover.

Reina told him that when she entered the Spirit World, the Spirit King of Wind gave her the power of Aether.

But where did this lady get the power of Aether?

‘Is it related to the necklace that she just broke?’

Kwang!

While Luke was still in shock, a flash of light flew from Scarlet’s body and quickly disappeared. The white light that flowed through her body hid itself.

“Lady, are you alright?”

Vante tried asking her, but Scarlet didn’t respond.

Staring at Luke with unfocused eyes as if the lady had lost consciousness, she immediately pulled out her bow.

Drrrrr!

‘What? Without an arrow…?’

While Luke was wondering what was happening, light began to gather on the bow’s arrow rest, and it took the form of an arrow.

‘T-that!’

It was an arrow made up of Aether.

The arrow attracted the mana around them and began to take up a very distinctive shape.

In addition, the white bow soon turned silver.

Scarlet’s bow seemed powerful enough to remind Luke of the mythical weapon Failnote. It was a weapon used by Belize in her fight against the Devil.

Kaaaaa!

The arrow made of Aether flew straight at Luke with a roaring sound; it was as if a dragon itself was roaring.

“Lord!”

“Dodge it!”

Hwang Bo-sung and Philip screamed when they saw the arrow coming at Luke.

They tried to jump in and save their lord, but the arrow made of Aether was fast.

Kwang!

The arrow exploded with a fierce sound.

The moment it exploded, a shockwave was made and the ground nearby trembled. All the soldiers fell to the ground as if they were trying to hide from the shockwave. The soil flew up, and the trees were uprooted.

“Lord!”

The voices of men hoping for Luke’s safety could be heard everywhere.

In the place where nothing should have remained, everyone’s eyes were focused there, hoping for something.

And what they saw shocked them.