Emperor of Steel

Slash! Chang!

The two swords which constantly clashed with the other cut the air and created deadly sounds.

The shockwaves from the aura of the Sword Masters, moved ferociously uprooting the trees as if they were being swept away by the storm.

Nervousness spreading all through her body, Reina stepped back to see the battle between Luke and Arch Duke Gregory.

She didn’t know much about swords, however, she wasn’t so blind to not know that their skills were just the training matches where one tried to recognise the skills of the others.

Which was why she was scared every time Gregory’s sword crossed with Luke.

Instead of feeling any more emotions, she just wanted to stop the fight right away.

But Gregory showed no signs of hearing to her words, and Luke didn’t seem like he wanted to back down either.

Kang-!

At one point, Luke’s sword flew into a bush.

‘Dammit, I am weaponless.’

Gregory rushed towards Luke who was shaking his hand to relive it from the shocks he felt from the clashing. Gregory had no intention of letting Luke go, whether the sword was in his hand or not.

Nevertheless, Luke showed no signs of fluster.

‘What are you going to do now? Are you going to block the sword with your bare hands?’

The moment Gregory was rushing towards Luke with thoughts.

Slash!

The sword which had been thrown into the bushes was back in Luke’s hand as if it never happened.

It wasn’t just that.

The speed of Gregory’s sword fell significantly. Almost as if his sword was being blocked by something.

‘This, no way…’

While Gregory stopped, Luke recovered the sword and fought back.

His sword came in contact with Gregory, who was much eager than before.

Arch Duke Gregory, a Sword Sage, was calmly avoiding the attacks, then blocked the attacks.

“You use magic. That too magnetic, huh? isn’t that right?”

Luke just decided to smile instead of answering Gregory’s questions.

The sword which flew away was recovered, and he was able to stop Gregory’s furious sword strike right away because Luke managed to manifest Magnetic magic.

The Magnetic magic was divided into anode and cathode, pushing the same pole and pulling the opposite pole.

Luke silently applied the magic in the middle of the swords battle with Gregory. He constantly changed the state of yin and yang from time to time.

So the offense and defense were going according to him.

‘But, now I won’t be able to use it anymore.’

Just as Luke had thought, Arch Duke Gregory exploded his aura and in turn, destroyed the magnetic magic that was created.

Thinking of the next action, Luke kept on wielding his sword.

Luke hurriedly launched a golden aura to stop the offense from Gregory.

“So, your sword is the Gold Sword. Is that name Lev a fake one or is there another unknown bloodline of the Rakan?”

‘Kuk, I was in a hurry.’

At the words of Gregory, Luke’s expression changed.

Fighting was difficult when the identity of the enemy was unknown, he had ordered his subordinates to not use the family sword technique.

But he was the one who was using the Gold Sword in the battle.

The power of Gregory was so great and the momentum was so terrifying that he couldn’t hold back.

Even with the constant attacks, Gregory talked, “The Gold Sword… about 90 years back, I went to the Rakan territory to know about the swords, that was when I saw a knight performing it. It was so amazing that it wasn’t anything like the Holy Sword.”

‘That was why he knew.’ Thought Luke.

“As a paladin knight at that time, I wanted to learn the Gold Sword. However…”

In specific, the Gold Sword was a vision that was only passed down to the heads of the state and their own knights.

“I wanted to learn the Gold Sword no matter what, so I saw how it was used once. Of course, I wasn’t able to get it right with just seeing it.”

Nevertheless, Arch Duke Gregory trained desperately.

He continued to study what he lacked and transformed and developed the Holy Sword.

His research and practice of the Gold sword continued for decades.

“And at last, it paid off. I succeeded in learning the Gold Sword.”

‘What?!’

It turned scary when Luke heard that.

The aura of Gregory’s sword was rising like a flame.

The aura that bloomed so, condensed and took on a light and clearer form.

And soon it began to shine, the golden aura which Gregory so admired.

Gregory stopped the attacks and looked at the Gold aura which he produced.

“It happened after 40 years of training that I learned the Gold Sword. At that time I was already a Sword Master, and I was constantly training to another level. That was when I learned and began to produce the Gold Sword.”

Gregory who spoke till then looked over at Luke and asked, “How do you think that I would have felt at that time?”

“Well, it would have been happy for you to have achieved a young dream which came true?”

“Happy…”

At the response to Luke, Arch Duke Gregory smiled a little.

All of a sudden his expression distorted and he shouted.

“Happy! The feelings I felt were anger!”

Srrrrng!

At the end of Gregory’s words, the sword of Gregory fell to Luke with a thunder.

Luke managed to block, but he was pushed back.

It wasn’t just that.

The shockwaves were so powerful that several thick trees broke at the same time.

Luke managed to get himself up, but he was coughing blood.

The blows from Gregory were so strong that the impact couldn’t be missed.

‘Kuk! Such power!’

He had already felt the power of the Gold Sword in his last life.

The sword the Gregory was using wasn’t near to the Rakan’s.

Sword Sage Gregory, there was a reason why he was able to develop the Gold Sword of Rakan.

“I knew the Gold Sword by recreating it. The swordsmanship of Rakan who is currently handling the sword is just half of the original one.”

Gregory couldn’t hide his emotions when he was creating the golden sword and the Gold Sword was the first step for the next challenge for him at that time.

He was believing that the colorful and magnificent swordsmanship of the Rakan, now known by him, could be considered as his own.

But that expectation soon collapsed for him.

No matter how hard he tried to reproduce the entire swords skill of Rakan.

It was only a decade later when he found out that he only learned the first half.

The second half was handed down to the living heirs.

“It was ridiculous. I wasted half my life trying to learn only half a skill of the sword!”

Just half the Gold Sword had a mighty power. No, it could be called as a destructive power, even without completing the Gold Sword.

But the destructiveness alone wasn’t a good thing.

It was because of the swordsmanship and power, including the application and speed, all of those aspects had to be equipped and balanced in order for the real power to appear.

Luke was relatively behind when it came to the sword skills, if he was equal, then Gregory’s blow would have never worked.

“Since then, I abandoned the half Gold Sword. Instead of the half Gold Sword, I made myself devoted to a full sword, and all thanks to that I was able to become a Sword Sage.”

“…”

“In other words, you have no chance against me. Your skills don’t match my level, and the sword you’re learning is just half.”

Gregory continued to talk to Luke.

“That being aside, for some reason you are not giving your all. There is some hidden power. Are you planning of concealing it and winning over me?”

‘Did he manage to figure all that out?’ Thought Luke.

Though he didn’t say it out loud, Luke couldn’t help but be nervous.

In fact, in the fight with Gregory, Luke hadn’t used his dark magic or his demon abilities.

‘The problem is that I am not in a position to show off my skills.’

Those two abilities of Luke had to be hidden at all costs.

Even if he did use them, the paladin, who seemed to be very sharp and loyal, would begin to move hastily with force just to eliminate Luke.

And it could happen, that he would accuse Reina for knowing it all along.

Therefore, those abilities were problematic and hence they couldn’t be used.

Of course, when the time comes to a moment between life and death, things might change.

Briefly thinking, Luke looked at Arch Duke Gregory who was staring at him and said, “I feel like you’re a mistake.”

“I am mistaken?”

“Yes, I mean…”

Luke continued to talk with much seriousness and coldness in his eyes, “I am not fighting you to win.”