Emperor of Steel

‘That was just half of the sword skill.’

After a brief moment of appreciating the old man, Luke opened his eyes and spoke to Saint Nanda, “I understand now. You meant to say that I need to learn the sword skill from the old man who was in Kauren’s memory.”

“I showed everything that I could show you. It is up to the man to decide on where to use and how to get there.”

At the words of Nanda, Luke nodded his head cause he understood.

‘It is enough. No, even if it isn’t enough, I will have to manage.’

The old man constantly used the Gold Sword several times while fighting Kauren.

The gold sword, which was called the Gold Light God Sword was much more complete than Gregory’s research, and it seemed much more detailed and powerful than the time Rudolf used it.

After analyzing it, that seemed to be enough to master the latter part of the Gold Sword.

However, just a few more questions remained.

“You seem to be curious about something,” asked Nanda.

“Exactly. What is the identity of the old man who was fighting Kauren? He seems to be like someone who is famous in the Southern Continent.”

“He is Yeon Ga-ram or the Sword King. He is from Yemaek. An absolute master who is known to have reached the highest point.”

“A Sword King… He looked like it. He should be a Sword King.”

Luke nodded.

He had heard about the legendary masters—Sword King, Spear King, or Martial King—of the Southern Continent from Hwang Bo-sung.

There were people of the same sort, and people of different ages, so it was unknown as to who was the strongest and the weakest.

However, from the story he heard from Hwang Bo-sung the Absolute Master meant a stage below the peak, and it was said to be more than the Sword Sage title of the Rhodesia Continent.

At first, he thought that maybe the terms were mixed, but when he looked at the old man, his hope was gone. Well, seeing the old man, the stage of Absolute seemed to be much stronger than the story Hwang Bo-sung had told him.

‘Isn’t there a Red Dragon King, Lee Yong-mu, who has reached the Absolute Master in the Southern Continent?’

Luke was thinking about meeting the man one day.

“But, I am concerned about how to learn the Gold Sword.”

In the past, Rogers said that the second half of the Gold Sword was still in the family until 400 years ago.

It was recorded in their books that the first half and the second half, the skills of the Gold Sword, were lost when their Lord back then was assassinated during a war.

Fortunately, the first half of the sword was left behind as the son of Rakan’s previous Lord was interested to learn it.

‘Considering how Rudolf had used the Gold Sword, the Baroque Imperial family must have been the ones to issue the assassination of Rakan’s previous Lord and stole it.’

Even then, Luke still couldn’t understand how the skill reached the Southern Continent.

That was when Nanda said the story.

“Hmm, it could be related.”

More than 200 years ago, merchants from the Rhodesia Continent began to visit the Southern Continent to trade.

At that time, the merchant that visited wanted to make a good impression on the Song Empire’s Emperor, so he wanted to give him a Gigant.

“That is something I know too. Worried that they had invaded the empire with such a weapon, the Zegal clan created the Puppet to fight it.”

“It seems like you are well aware. And in addition, the Emperor was curious about the extent of the northern military force, so he sent a lot of spies to investigate on the matter.”

And among the spies who were dispatched was someone called the ‘Shadowless God’.

He was known to be stealthy and quick. He wasn’t just someone who stole the money of the denominations, but he also became trouble for the Imperial Palace.

“After chasing him for 20 years, the man got caught, but even though he was a sinner, the Emperor had given him a chance to cleanse himself. That was to become a spy and go to the Northern Continent,” said Nanda.

The Shadowless God faithfully fulfilled the Emperor’s orders.

He came back with information about the Gigants, the military power of the north, and the excellent knights and the swordsman they had.

“The Emperor was delighted to know that such valuable information was brought in by the Shadowless God. However, on the other hand, he was concerned that the Shadowless God would tell the other nobles in his empire about that information.”

“He must have tried to get him killed,” said Luke.

The Shadowless God wasn’t dull enough to not notice that.

He fled immediately. However, his whereabouts were known to the public.

“And this time, it wasn’t just the Imperial family, but the Moorim clans also chased him. It was because the rumors spread about him secretly learning the sword skill of the Emperor of the North.”

‘No, the Gold Sword…?’

Wasn’t the sword skill used by the Emperor of the Northern Continent the Gold Sword that was secretly stolen by the Baroque Imperial family?

Just as Luke guessed, Nanda’s story continued,

“Later, it was known that the Shadowless God left the Song Empire and hid in the mountains of Yemaek. The people there had protected him.”

‘I guess so. Was it spread like that?’

Yeon Ga-ram, the Sword King, was a man of the mountains.

Apparently, to build up a relationship with the men and himself, the Shadowless God couldn’t give them the Gold Sword to gain their favor.

“Is your curiosity satisfied now?”

“To an extent. But I still have another question.”

Something which was more important than the flow of the Gold Sword.

Luke, looking at Nanda with admiration, asked the question, “How in the world are you able to show me the memories of the demons in my body? Are you a messenger of God or a real Saint?”

Nanda shook his head.

“Oh my! I am not that kind of person! I just gained a few talents by repeating the teachings of the world.”

“That small talent… Can I learn it too?”

“Of course, but you might not be able to.”

At the answer of Nanda, Luke was dumbfounded.

“What do you mean?”

“To learn about such things, you need to throw away your lustful thoughts. However, you are a person who emphasizes on relation rather than throwing away such thoughts and seeking enlightenment.”

“A relation…”

The moment Nanda said that, Luke recalled Reina.

If reincarnation existed like the Southern Continent was saying, then she surely was the reincarnation of Katarina.

“Your ties are clearly connected to the past. Roundabout life is how the world works, and there is no guarantee that similar things of the past will not repeat themselves in the current time.”

“S-similar things?”

Luke was shocked.

“A twist in fate by those who are blind with greed. Though different from the past, it is still dangerous.”

‘Surely… it is dangerous.’

Unlike Katarina of 500 years ago, Reina was in a topmost position in the Holy Arthenia Empire—the Pope.

No one could dare use her for political reasons.

However, she wasn’t in need of power, and there were forces against her.

There were oppositions in the Holy Empire such as Arch Bishop Constantine and Count Marcus.

They were known to have fallen after the Civil War, but they weren’t eliminated, and he was constantly looking for an opportunity to corner Reina.

As evidence, some priests even raised their voices, saying that the Pope had to be tested.

Hearing the rumors that were being spread by Nanas, the opposition was using them rather strongly.

‘Even then, she had Arch Duke Gregory… But, I can’t just keep on placing the burden on him. Those who want power will use any means possible.’

For example, the oppositions could be willing to attract foreign powers, or Arsene could secretly propose a cooperation with them.

‘The most troublesome opponent for the Lich Arsene will be the Holy Empire. So, the more the Empire was in chaos, the more advantage he will have.’

The thought itself made Luke angry, but it was possible for the greedy to fall into the trap of Arsene.

And by assassinating Reina, he would like to instill confusion into the Empire.

“How can I prevent that?”

“The answer is simple. You already know it.”

At the words of Nanda, Luke thought for a while and nodded.

“I need to get stronger.”

“Exactly. You already possess enough power, but you can’t put them to proper use. Which was why you couldn’t bring down Arsene.”

“To use my power in a proper manner…”

He thought of what he did during his fight with Arsene.

Dark and white magic, demon abilities, and the Gold Sword.

He had to unite all of his strengths and abilities into one category.

It was simple in words, but achieving it was close to impossible.

No one had done it.

‘But, I need to do it.’

To defeat Arsene and not meet the same fate he had in the past, Luke wanted to get much stronger.