Emperor of Steel

Once the Navy from the Grenada Kingdom invaded the Marquis Rakan, Mayers ordered an attack on the Rakan troops which were placed as the border guards on the Southern side.

“Go ahead all! Attack the descendant of the warrior to get the justice for killing my old friend Count Bazzo!”

The forces which Mayers mobilized for the invasion amounted to 200 Gigants, 1,200 knights, and more than 40,000 troops combined with horsemen, artillery, and engineers.

And that was the minimum power to contain the Baroque Empire and the total power excluding the security forces of the King.

Mayers, who had no intention of fighting the war, was planning to wipe out the Marquis of Rakan once the naval war gets started by the Grenada men.

However, there were a few officials who were concerned about the King’s plan.

The problem wasn’t that the Baroque Imperial Army would descend from the north, but the military power of the Marquis Rakan was famous for being strong.

In addition, the army of Milton hadn’t fully recovered from the losses and fatigue they suffered in the Variand mountains.

Nevertheless, Mayers was going ahead.

Following the army, men were tasting the food of the newly recruited chef.

“Hmm, isn’t this pretty tasty?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. A lot. In Yemaek, this is a food that goes into the mouth of high men.”

The Yemaek chef was called Baek Won-jung of the Southern Continent.

He was known to have been a master in the royal palace’s kitchen.

“What is this white pudding called?”

“Tofu. Try wrapping it in kimchi over there. It is very delicious.”

When Mayers tried to eat the tofu wrapping it in kimchi with his not-so-skilled chopsticks as the southerners, a knight ran towards him.

“Your Majesty, a message came in from the army ahead.”

Mayers smiled and looked at the full text.

“Haha. Baron Pasca had been captured?”

“Yes. It was said that the enemy was frightened and fled right away.”

Baron Pasca was in the northwest of the Rakan estates, and after the battle with Count Monarch, Luke had given up one mountain to a noble.

It was a close border, so he thought that the defense of the place would be thorough, but it seemed very poorly managed.

“Huh, I thought that the Rakan manor knights were all brave, but I guess it was all a lie. He is lowering the tail from the very beginning.”

At Mayers’ words, the subordinates who opposed the war seemed uneasy.

They had failed to catch the opportunity to get into the good grace of their king.

“Well, the lord himself is rotten, does he have any knights under him?”

“People who want peace won’t be able to defeat our army who were trained against the Baroque Empire’s army.”

“We must take this momentum and push into the permanent residence of Marquis!”

Mayers raised his hand and shut them up for barking up like hounds.

Even if his men didn’t speak back, he was planning on making the Marquis of Rakan be punished.

“By now, they might be going insane to stop the Grenada. Between the left and right, we need to inflict critical damage and take down the Rakan manor. There is no guarantee when the Baroque Empire will come back for us.”

When the name of the Baroque Empire came out, everyone’s expressions froze.

The same was the situation for everyone in Milton, the Baroque Empire was the most dangerous enemy of Milton.

“The Rakan estates is a must-have land for our Milton Empire to grow! We will have to win and then prepare the land, to become an Empire!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

At the words of Mayers, all his men bowed at once.

The war was going to end, and they were seeing good signs from the beginning.

Inspired with the victory in the west, Mayers encouraged the forces which were advancing.

In the near future, he was expecting to have a victory party in the Rakan’s permanent manor’s hall.

The residents who lived in the northern part of the Rakan entered into the refugee camos because of the sudden invasion from the Milton Kingdom.

And those who were heading south were filled with anxiety and anger.

“I thought that the war was a distant subject…”

“Dammit. Why is this happening in the farming season?!”

“But I never thought that the Lord would give out the place without fighting.”

“Who would have!? I don’t know why they were trained if they were going to go away like that!”

The refugees were chatting among themselves and looked at the manor troops retreating along with them with cold gazes.

Due to the accusation of the men, the nobles and knights of Baron Pasca were keeping their heads down.

There was a compelling reason for them to have done that.

Three days before this happened, Marquis Rakan lost five small manors and several forts in the north.

The Rakan estates’ army in the north didn’t fight the enemies and gave them their lands and castles because it was a direct order from the Great Lord Marquis Rakan himself.

“I will lead the reinforcements, so don’t mess around and retreat while conserving power.”

From the Grenada navy standpoint, which was ready to split open the estates’ lands, valuable troops couldn’t be lost.

It was necessary to conserve and collect as much power as they can to take down the enemy.

Of course, the refugees were aware of Luke’s judgments and orders.

“Huh… no matter even if he is a Marquis, it is better to fight honorably against an enemy.”

Baron Pasca sighed and avoided listening to the stingy words and glances from the refugees.

It was then.

A cavalry came from behind and reported.

“Lord! There was a report of 30 Gigants coming this way!”

“What? And the distance?”

“About 10 kilometers. But since we are moving by trailers, they will catch up with us soon enough.”

Looking at the trailer speed, it seemed like an hour or two before the Gigants catch up with them.

However, according to the messenger, it seemed like they were aiming for the refugees or the retreating allies.

It seemed like the Gigant troops were the vanguards that were being sent in before the main troops of the enemy entered and hit the region.

But since such a situation came, they had to decide something.

Baron Pasca hastily summoned other lords and commanders.

“Fight? Marquis has asked us to avoid the battle as much as we could.”

“But he never asked us to not fight at all. Isn’t this like saying this to the enemy to ‘Go ahead’?”

Most of Pasca’s words made the men nod.

The Gigants which were retreating were around 27, which wasn’t much different from the enemy.

Moreover, though being declared as an order from the Marquis himself, there was some dissatisfaction and humiliation with retreating without a fight.

“Okay. Let’s fight!”

“Let’s show the men of Mayers how hot we are!”

The determined commanders ordered the soldiers to take the refugees into a safe place.

They prepared for battle using the trailer and wagons as barricades on the highway.

“The enemy Gigant!”

Baron Pasca turned to the north side of the road at the report from a knight.

When he saw the Gigant running while giving off steam, he gave orders.

“All, prepare for battle!”

“Prepare for battle! Battle positions!”

Commands were delivered orally and the riders began to board their Gigants.

Milton’s men too responded seeing the situation.

“Lieutenant General, enemies are camping ahead.”

“Are they the ones who fled? Huh, I guess they want to die.”

The leader of the Milton Kingdom’s vanguard Gigants was the Gram brother, Reynard.

He formed the unit by picking up the best riders and high-performance Gigants from the Iron Fist Knights.

Their mission was to dig into the Rakan ahead of their main troops and seize the castles and fort.

However, he was feeling bored as he hadn’t fought much during the time.

“Attack! Sweep away those Rakan’s henchmen! Go!”

“Woah!!!”

Once Reynard’s commands fell, the Gigant which were taken down the trailers ran towards the Rakan estate’s point where barricades were placed.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Gigant unit’s sound rang louder as they went closer to the Rakan troops.

However, the Rakan army didn’t seem to respond at all.

Were they scared?

No, they weren’t scared but were looking for the right time.

“A little closer, just a little more close…”

Baron Pasca, who was looking at the Gigants approaching him, wanted to wait until they approached the barricades.

Temporarily, he was commanding the forces of the five small manors as the enemies entered within 100 meters, he lifted his sword.

“Now!”

Pung! Shoot!

When the order fell, the war mages of their army launched their attacks all at once.

Having prepared the magic in advance, they poured in Fire Balls and Fire Arrows.

But were they too nervous?

The magic which was used by them fell to the ground rather than the enemy.

“Huh, where are they looking…?”

Kwang Kwang Kwang!

Reynard laughed the moment he saw the magic get bounced off before touching the Gigants.

Baron Pasca was preparing for the battle and had buried the gun power and the artillery into the ground.

The gun powder and shells reacted to the flames made with magic and began to showcase lightings to the Milton Kingdom’s Gigants.