Emperor of Steel

Emperor Rudolf’s guards’ operation on the Western side went smoothly.

The nobles of the west were overwhelmed with the news of the Western Army’s defeat and the death of numerous nobles and elite knights.

The first few estates opened the gates to the Emperor and greeted the man themselves.

However, the Emperor, who was already set in annihilating the noblemen, executed all the surviving noblemen.

In the beginning, a few mansions were smashed, and that provided a chance for the nobles to escape.

They had no thoughts of protesting against the Emperor.

The only troops they had left were the knights and guards for their personal security.

And to fight the Emperor with such troops was like going against a dragon with a kitchen knife.

As a result, the estates were deserted and the noblemen flee to other places.

And the Emperor’s army, which didn’t have a war to fight, was divided into several groups and began to take over the empty lands. Their goal was to reduce the amount of time taken to occupy the western region.

However, small problems began to arise.

Units sent to take over the empty estates began to get attacked by unknown enemies.

“What did you say? The troops of Baron Lisbane got annihilated?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. It was informed that they have been attacked by large scale monsters.”

When he heard that they were attacked by monsters, it seemed like that was a possibility that could happen once or twice.

And since it was a civil war, not much attention was given to the monsters.

In addition, it could be that the troops, which had gone over, would prioritize the land over subduing monsters.

However, all the reports stated that monsters were the reason, and the reports of the Gigant troops, which were pursuing them, were the most uncommon.

“It could be for the normal guards, but the Gigant troops lost against the monsters too?”

“It wasn’t the monsters that fought with our Gigant troops, but Gigants with a dragon crest on their breastplates.”

The one who answered Rudolf’s question was Count Voltas.

Right after the Western Army was taken down, Voltas returned to his original position because of the contribution he had done for the Emperor to win his war.

“What did you say? A dragon crest?”

Emperor Rudolf was shocked.

In the Baroque Empire, only the Imperial family could use the dragon crest.

That was to emphasize that the Imperial family was of a dragon lineage. It was an unwritten rule although not a law.

And so, families that had similar legends in their lineage would change their crest into a Wyvern or a Drake.

“Who is that bastard who stole the Imperial’s crest?!”

Kwang!

The Emperor, who was enraged, hit the marble table with his clenched fist only to shatter it into a million pieces.

Seeing that, each of the commander of the unit, who was gathered there for a meeting, trembled after seeing the energy that was coming out of Rudolf.

If Rudolf hadn’t controlled himself immediately, there could have been around 5 to 6 men who had died from a heart attack.

“P-please calm down, Your Majesty. According to the reports submitted by the military’s intelligence, the Gigants that were attacked were presumed to be from the neutral territories of the west.”

“The neutral ones? Why would the neutral nobles do this?”

The Emperor never thought that the neutral lords would even think of going against him.

Of course, right after the ‘Blood Ceremony’, there were quite a lot of nobles from the neutral side that had joined the Emperor’s side, and there were those neutral nobles who joined into the noblemen’s group because a few of their family members died in the parliament.

But that being said, Rudolf didn’t turn the neutrals into his enemy. It would have been plain foolish of him to only increase his enemies.

“Did they go crazy? Would the western noblemen dare to fight me after such a crushing defeat?”

Voltas was the one to answer Rudolf who felt the situation was unfair.

“But, I don’t think like they are someone to be looked down on. They have been moving with the monsters, and it was reported that the person who is leading this combined legion of humans and monsters is the Orc Hero, Shaikan.”

“What? The one from the past?”

Though it wasn’t known, even before the civil war broke out in the empire, Shaikan had been moving from place to place by collecting monsters and making a mess.

Rudolf tried to subdue him, but he couldn’t get his hands on the man.

In addition, suddenly, the civil war broke out with the noblemen, and Rudolf had completely forgotten about him.

“So he managed to move the neutral nobles? But how?”

If one thought, it was likely for it to have happened.

But what wasn’t understood was how a monster or a mess-making man be able to sneak away from the neutral nobles, and from Rudolf’s position, it wasn’t supposed to matter much.

‘How dare he…!’

While Rudolf was grunting, a messenger entered with a letter and left after giving it to Voltas.

Upon seeing the letter, Voltas’s eyes went wide.

“What is it?”

At the question from Rudolf, Voltas spoke while his lips trembled, “Your Majesty, the neutral lords of the Southwest have united with the remnants of the Western nobles, including Duke Butler, and they had declared independence. They are also calling their region as the Libiya Kingdom.”

“How dare they!”

It wasn’t enough that the remnants had fled from their hands, but they were going to use the name of a fallen kingdom of 500 years ago to rebel!

He thought that it was all happening because of the Western neutral lords suddenly taking part.

Thud!

Rudolf got up from his seat and took his sword to wipe out all of his opponents. However, Voltas wasn’t done with his words.

“And, it has been said that the King of Libiya is Shaikan.”

“Shaikan?”

Rudolf’s body, which was ready for a massacre, halted.

Even among the neutral lords, there were a lot who were extremely ambitious.

Still, Rudolf couldn’t understand how such nobles had willingly given the title of a ruler to Shaikan.

“T-that could be because the identity of Shaikan is Prince Reichard de Baroque…”

“Huh, what the?!”

After hearing the name of his half-forgotten brother, Rudolf doubted his ears.

“And it is said that Prince Reichard had awakened the dragon’s blood.”

Thud!

Rudolf, who was flustered and irritated till then, was so shocked upon hearing Shaikan’s real name that he couldn’t move.