Emperor of Steel

It was already dawn where darkness was only getting darker.

Symphonia Kingdom’s men, who went to bed early, were moving busily.

They ate the pre-prepared meals of the camp from last evening and were ready to launch an attack on Sherwood City.

When the infantry troops that were on the vanguard were rafting quietly, a torch suddenly shone brightly on the walls.

“Shoot them!”

Pung! Pung!

Shells soared from the sky and flashed in the darkness.

The flashes that caught the eyes of the infantry units of Symphonia changed the dark night into a bright one.

“Damn it, we have been caught!”

“Do not panic. Hurry and provide cover for our allies!”

The Symphonia artillery unit, which was silently waiting for the opponent, began to fire at once.

During the night, flashes of light and fire shone relentlessly. Screams continued to sound on the water where the shells were falling.

A full-scale night siege began.

During the fierce battle, a series of rafts floated upstream of the river.

However, the Southern Army’s gaze, which was extremely concentrated on the shelling of Symphonia, failed to notice the rafts that were approaching them.

As the city of Sherwood was huge, there were large sewers through which various kinds of dirt and rainwater moved.

The sewage, which was connected to the riverside on the east and south had double iron encased bars to prevent the enemy from invading.

Guards were placed near the opening, but seeing how huge the enemy forces were, they didn’t consider the sewage as an option the enemy would use.

Inside the guard post of the east sewage entrance.

When his colleague began to doze off, another guard woke him up with irritation.

“Look here, stay alert! If you doze off here, the knight might just come to slash your neck.”

“Uhm, sorry. I was out repairing the walls in the day, so I’m tired…”

“Even so, you should do this properly. How could you even sleep with all that noise outside?”

“Well, the shells aren’t falling anywhere near us. I am really sorry for all our friends who are dying at the wall, but shouldn’t a man get some rest?”

“If you are really sorry for them, then just stay alert. What if a special unit of the enemy comes here?”

It had happened numerous times in the past, secretly infiltrating another land with the help of the sewage tunnels.

That was why everyone was concerned with it. However, his fellow soldiers just shook his head with no worry.

“Hey, this is made of double layers of Gigantium allow, and it is thicker than regular sewer gates.”

In addition, defense magic was enchanted on it, so it wasn’t just regular soldiers, but even if knights came, they wouldn’t be able to succeed.

“But what if a Gigant comes in and breaks it?”

“How come I have to be with such a stupid friend. How can such a heavy Gigant even cross that flowing river? And what if it does cross it? Even though this sewer is large, it isn’t large enough for a Gigant to fit in. And if they try to force it to enter, it wouldn’t able to move further in or move out.”

It was for that very reason that only a handful of guards were placed in the guard post.

And for that very reason, the knights, who should have been near the guard post ordering the guards were in the city getting rest instead of staying in such a stinky place.

“Then, I feel relieved… Huh, what is that?”

“What is what?”

While the two soldiers were having a good conversation, one of them noticed a raft floating at the entrance of the sewer.

The raft, which was entangled with weeds and other plants, soon released two arrows.

“Kuak!”

“Ack!”

As the two soldiers collapsed on the floor, Scarlet and the special unit led by her emerged from the raft.

After carefully looking around and seizing the guard post, they signaled others by turning on the magic lamp to show the other side of the river.

And a large boat standing still in the middle of the flowing river approached their way.

Woong!

GIgants began to come up with reeds and myelin sheaths.

They were much smaller than regular Gigants, and the Gigant was wearing a large leather tube filled with air in it, which was placed around its limbs, and the wooden gloves of the Gigant were placed with floating magic circles.

“Thank god it didn’t sink.”

“I guess no one died being frozen in that river.”

Hobart, who was riding in the Gigant, spoke up and handed a brandy to Scarlet and the other men of the special unit.

The Gigants, which were being led by Hobart, were all the captured Gigants from the Grenada Army in the last war.

Originally, they were developed and taken in for the purpose of water and boat combat in mind, so the Crab was rather light when compared to regular Gigants.

However, it was so light that even if the main parts were combined like the core engine or the alloy in it, it would only amount to a few tons.

Yet, it wasn’t an object that could float.

But, once the war ended, the wizards of Katarina Magic Tower studied the Crab and researched it, and Luke managed to find out that if it could be equipped with auxiliary equipment in the Gigant, it could float on rivers.

However, it was their first time to put it into practice, and if such information was known, the continent would turn into a mess.

War tactics and strategies would all change.

“There was no one who drowned in there, right?”

When Hobart asked, his men answered, “There was none. However, water leaked into the cockpit of Gigant 5 and 8.”

“Yeah? Maybe I have to give the iron mage an earful.”

Hobart instructed his men to stand on the ground and then maneuver their own Gigants to see if they were working fine.

There was leakage in a few Gigants. However, it wasn’t enough to interfere with their mission.

“Good luck men.”

“Wish for a good fight.”

Hobart and the riders of Crab began to enter the sewer path and crawl behind Scarlet and other members of the special unit.

A regular Gigant of 10 meters would have been easy to notice. However, a Crab was a Gigant of less than 7 meters long and easy to move.

After some time, the Gigantium alloy that Count Ferrero had informed them was in front of them.

Hobart, who was in the lead of the Crab Gigant, began to wield his aura induced Gigant sword at the bars.

Crack! Cling! Crack!

Clink!

“Nice, go on slowly!”

Hobart succeeded in cutting through the bars and led his men inside.

After some time, a manhole appeared that lead to the city.

The entrance of the manhole was so narrow that the Crab couldn’t move, yet it wasn’t a huge deal for them. All they had to do was burst through it with their swords.

Bang!

Hobart smashed the entrance and climbed to the ground. He couldn’t help but laugh, seeing the city of Sherwood.

“Kay then, now is the time for us to move!”