Emperor of Steel

Luke, who devoted himself to the affairs of the office throughout the day, moved over to the Milton Royal Magic Tower from the palace.

Kang! Kaang!

“Be careful! Put it down slowly!”

“Who was the one who placed the magic circle on this one? This is crappy!”

The Iron Mages and fielders were in the middle of burning sweat in their workshops.

They didn’t care about Luke’s arrival, or they were fully immersed in their works that they didn’t notice him.

In the workshop, the work got the top priority, so neither Luke nor his attendants blamed them.

“Lord, you have come.”

“Ah, Sir Mute. Good work here.”

Currently, there weren’t just the members of the Royal Magic Tower, but also Mute, the Meister of Katarina Magic Tower and was the court wizard of Rakan.

He had brought 20 iron mages from the Rakan estates and were repairing the Gigants along with the wizards of the Royal Magic Tower.

And for that to happen, Mute seemed to have worked all night repairing stuff, which was clearly visible with the dark circles below his eyes.

“How is the repair work going?”

“Currently, the Knight class ones are our top priority. So far, around 53 units have been put into service and tested.’

Most of the damaged Gigants were the captured ones from the Milton Kingdom.

There were a total of 158 Gigants, but since the battle was one-sided, only 30 of the Gigants were totally fine.

Luke wanted those Gigants to be repaired as soon as possible so he could put them back on the front line.

Even though the Baroque Empire was unable to pursue in the South at the moment.

It would be forever, and it was necessary to hurry up and provide sufficient power for survival.

However, repairing the Gigant over 120 units in such a short period of time and bringing them back to their original condition was nothing less than heavy work for the Iron Mages.

The old fashions or poor performing Gigants were being outsourced to small and medium-sized Magic Tower, and if it wasn’t for that, the Iron mages would have died from overwork.

“By the end of a month, all the repair and testing will be done completely. But the problem is with the Hero class one… there are many high precision parts with high performance and expensive materials.”

Above all, in order to properly repair the Gigant, it is needed to know the applied magic circles and internal structure.

The problem was, the analysis would take a lot of time without having any base for the magic circle or the advice of a high circle wizard.

In the Royal Magic Tower, there were wizards who previously belonged to the top ten Magic towers, but they weren’t the ones who were included in the Hero class repairs.

Most of them didn’t even know how to repair the minor damages of the Gigants or replace a 5th magic circle, and they have never been able to see the repair of the cockpit or the core engine parts.

“The Hero class maintenance is still over the level of Katarina Magic Tower or the Royal magic tower. I’ll look after the hero class, so you can let it be.” Said Luke.

“Thank you, Master.”

Luke was already seeking out a hero class Gigant captured on the black market or was looking into the whereabouts of the Meister of the Ten Magic Towers through Argos.

However, most of them died or retired because of the Battle of Magic towers, but once the civil war broke out, they seemed to be making an appearance, one after the other.

For the iron mages, war was the best chance to increase their need, and it was a moving laboratory for them.

“By the way, what happened to the reinforcements you mentioned earlier?”

Mute asked with a frown.

As much as the officials and the knights were struggling with the paperwork, the wizards too were eagerly waiting for the reinforcements.

Well, they were waiting for their suffering in the workshop to be decreased and they were desperate for help.

“I am trying to find out, however, unfortunately, it isn’t as easy as I thought.”

“Hugh, I see. We can’t help it then. Rather, we need to wait…”

Luke, a former wizard, it wasn’t that he was unaware of the difficulties the Iron mages face.

Which was when he entrusted the repair work to his men, he promised them to provide them a workforce to support their efforts.

And he did have forces to call to.

It was the Dark Moon magic tower, the seed leftover from the time of the Devil King, Saymon.

He tried to entrust the Gigant repairs over to the Dark Moon, or at least select those Iron mages who haven’t mastered the use of Magi to help as manpower.

But…

‘Dark Moon could have been here. Well, it isn’t the responsibility of the Dark Moon to shuffle between me and Volga.’

Luke, had a bitter expression thinking of what happened a few days back.

Luke, who promised to support Mute, sent a call through magic communication to Meister Johas of Dark Moon.

-I heard that you have been victorious from the outside invasion. Congratulations on the victory, master.

“Thank you. But your expression seems dark. Is something happening?”

Luke asked as he noticed the face of Johas which smiled at him, yet not a real one.

-The thing is…

Johas who hesitated immediately spoke out.

“What? The Volga President knows that we are interacting?”

“Yes, the Intelligence agent Sylvia, a female dark elf, is a member of Nanas. That wench seemed to have informed the president.”

Just as the fairies knew what was happening inside the Dark Moon, the warlocks of the Dark Moon too had links with the fairies.

According to the information they had reported, they sent back a confidential letter to the president right before Bratt caught them.

‘Kuek, that group of that damned fairy wench, always making it hard for the people. I shouldn’t have felt relieved when I was told that they were captured.’

Luke was feeling bad and asked Johas.

“And so, what did Vladimir say? Did he threaten to reveal the secret?”

They could have threatened to reveal the existence of the Dark Moon magic tower if they chose to never return back to the Republic.

-He asked for several things, but he didn’t say that. It doesn’t seem like he plans on doing that.

The fact that the Dark Moon magic tower had been working with the fairies and the reason for laying the foundation of the Volga was known.

Although they had a Republic Magic Tower of their own, many of the parts and Gigant parts were all developed and distributed to the Republic.

If they revealed the secret, they might make it tough for the Dark Moon, but even their roots will be exposed.

Which was why their President asked them to come back rather than threatening.

He said that he would provide more support to the magic tower this time around.

“The Hero class Gigant Orion must be very important. So, plan on going back?”

At the question of Luke, Johas replied.

-Kuek. Crazy? We, the Dark Moon, will stay in your arms until you yourself plan on kicking us out.

Johas has already refused the President’s proposal to move, but there was a problem. President Vladimir wasn’t the one to stand still.

Which was why Johas convened the warlocks of Dark moon to have daily meetings.

After hearing that, Luke couldn’t even get himself to ask them for help.

‘How will the President act?’

“Greetings, Marquis.”

A young wizard approached Luke and greeted him.

Looking at the outfit, the man seemed like a full-fledged wizard.

But for Luke who recognized his face, he was shocked.

“You…?

“It has been very long.”

The wizard who smiled gladly was none other than the student of Johas, Fabian, whom Luke met in Veritas Magic Tower.

Having infiltrated the Veritas magic tower, the man also helped Luke in summoning the High ranking demon Kauren.

“What is it? Since when have you been here?”

“It has been months since the Veritas got destroyed. I have something to relay to you.”

Seeing Fabian’s expression change in a second, Luke knew that the information was something only for him.

So he moved to a place.

Kang! Kang!

Where Luke took Fabian was the place where the metal was forged, a place at the corner of the workshop.

The surroundings were noisy, but it was the right place for them to converse.

Luke, who ordered his attendants away, asked Fabian.

“Okay then, what is it?”

“I received a call from our Meister. President Vladimir has sent us an ultimatum.”

According to Fabian, the President had demanded that three Orions be released upon the return to the quarters. It was said that he asked the Tower to give him 5 hero class Gigants each year.

“Is that all?”

“No. he has asked us to cut off our relationship with the Rakan family.”

“And if you refuse what is his plan?”

“I was told that he didn’t see anything, but isn’t it obvious?”

Forces will be mobilized.

The behavior of the recent Dark Moon magic tower could be taken as a betrayal and treason towards the Volga Republic.

“We need your help. I am sure Meister wants it too.”

After a day long meeting, Johas decided to ask Luke for help.

“Has your Meister decided to fight the Volga?”

“He hasn’t said it out loud, but don’t you think that is why he is asking you for help?”

‘Will that be?’

After hearing Fabian, Luke thought for a moment,

The Dark Moon had security systems in place for external attacks. That was why they had been able to maintain their fame for 500 years.

However, when Arsene attacked, many of their elder warlocks and skilled mercenaries had died.

Therefore, it was unclear if they could withstand the attack from the Volga Republic.

‘Surely, if I join I can defeat them. But, in this situation, there is nothing good for me to stand against the Volga Republic.’

As Volga’s power diminishes, the Baroque would feel less burdensome.

And such a situation for Baroque wasn’t welcome for either Luke or Volga.

It was because the President already mobilized forces, and even if Johas did have the force to attack, the President was unlikely to back out.

‘Then it is sure what I need to do.’

After making the decision, Luke spoke to Fabian.

“Call Meister. This problem, I’ll solve it. So ask him to wait.”

“Understood.”

After talking to Fabian, Luke went back to the Royal palace and brought out the treaty between the Volga and the Milton Kingdom.

The first clue to solve the current problem was the treaty.