Emperor of Steel

Clang! Clang!

Thud! Bang!

The sound of huge swords colliding in the air shook the earth. The tremors were felt by everyone whenever the Gigants move.

The second match’s performance seemed to differ from the first one.

Cranel consistently launched attacks against Symphonia’s rider.

“Good job. Smash it in him!”

“Give the rebels a taste of power!”

Unlike the knights and other soldiers of the Baroque Empire, who were cheering for their rider, Marquis Vanden and the other SS Knights of Guards were nervously watching the match.

Surely, the attack was being led by Cranel.

However, the opponent wasn’t allowing a valid hit on him, and the man showed no signs of agitation.

What was more awe-inspiring was that Symphonia’s rider wasn’t moving from his spot.

In other words, he wasn’t getting pushed.

“Is this what your talent is, kid?”

‘I-it makes no f*cking sense!’

Cranel’s face was pale.

Just a moment back, he used his own secret skill called Red Squall.

And so far, it was only Emperor Rudolf who could prevent the skill that gave out a consecutive 27 strikes with aura.

However, he met another person who could stop it.

“You have a good sense of the match, but you met the wrong person.”

Symphonia’s second rider was Arch Duke Belik.

He was so proficient in Gigant battles that he was called the Gigant Master.

In other words, Cranel met an opponent who had superior control and experience.

Clang!

“Ack!”

As Belik approached in an instant, Cranel’s Gigant got struck with a sword, and his chest became wide open.

The gap made by Belik’s Orion was clearly visible, and at the same time, cool energy began to flow in.

“I will ask you directly. Are you willing to surrender? If you do, then I might take you in as my student.”

“Kuk, crazy bastard! Don’t act all high and mighty and kill me if you want!”

Cranel refused Belik’s proposal.

No matter how poor his skills were, he had no intention of betraying his Emperor, who was his teacher.

It was almost certain that his family would be killed if news about his betrayal reached the capital.

“Tch, such a waste. If you became my student, I would have passed down all my knowledge to you.”

“Long live His Majesty!”

When Belik was mumbling, Cranel tried to stab the core engine of his own Gigant with an impact aura.

Instead of turning back with defeat, he thought of destroying himself and taking down a rebel with him.

Slash!

However, Belik was faster than the kid.

Slash!

The moment he lifted his sword, Cranel got cut into two along with his Atlas.

At the same time as Atlas, which avoided getting hit in the core engine, slumped to the ground, cheers broke out from Symphonia Kingdom.

“Damn it! I can’t see this any longer!”

When another one of his men was defeated, Marquis Vanden’s face turned red and went to his Gigant. He now wanted to jump into the battlefield himself.

“Sire, please be patient! It isn’t your turn yet!”

“There will surely be a chance for us to make up to it! Please stand down!”

Vanden, who was ready to go out, opened the hatch to the cockpit at the pleading of his lieutenant and his other men.

He stared at the SS Knights of Guards for a moment and spoke with an annoyed expression,

“Send the next rider! But, exclude the SS riders!”

“Sorry? But we don’t have anyone worthy of going in then.”

The lieutenant shook his head as he couldn’t think of any suitable man.

There were no other riders in Baroque Empire’s reinforcements who had great skills compared to the SS knights.

Also, there was no one with a Hero class Gigant except for Vanden or the SS knights.

If just anyone would be sent, they would be forced to look at ‘defeat’ and the flow would continue.

That was what everyone thought. However, Vanden didn’t ask for the SS to not proceed with thought. For him, it was a blessing.

“I don’t care about the Gigant or the skills! Send in the young riders!”

And thud, a third rider appeared.

He was a 23-year-old Sword Expert rider on a Warrior class Gigant.

As he walked forward, he pointed his sword at Belik, who took down Cranel.

“I am Ruzal, a rider from the Central Army of the Baroque Empire! You rebel will go down with my sword!”

“Haaa, what is this?”

Belik was rather flustered to see the kid who was waving his giant sword.

Once he became a Sword Master class, he was able to guess the opponent’s skills by simply reading their movements and the energy of a Gigant’s body.

However, the boy who was standing in front of him, couldn’t even be compared to his toenails, be it either his skills or his performance.

Maybe it was like the saying, ‘One wouldn’t know how scary a dragon is unless woken.’

“I don’t want to fight kids or senseless men.”

“Die, you traitor!”

Ruzal dashed bravely with his sword.

He was about to get eaten by the Impact Aura of Belik when his own Gigant couldn’t produce a normal aura.

Nevertheless, Belik decided to avoid the attacks to not scratch his Gigant.

However, Ruzal was persistent, and Belik’s patience was running thin, so he kicked him.

“Kuak, this traitor!”

“Look at this. Something like you comes out on such drastic times!”

While grumbling, Belik returned to Sherwood’s city walls.

It was because there was no honor or fun in taking down Ruzal.

On the contrary, he was getting criticized for his actions.

“That traitor ran off with his tail between his legs!”

“Sir Ruzal has won! Long Live the Baroque Empire!

Some knights tried to speak and increase the morale of the Baroque Army. However, there was very little response.

At their shameless acts, the Symphonia Kingdom troops booed them from the wall.

“Booo!”

“Sending in such weak opponents. If it was a normal battle, we wouldn’t know, but for such a person to be sent in a Gigantic Duel, there was no way that someone like Belik would go ahead in such measly fights.”

Luke smiled and decided to send a knight who would match Ruzal in age and skills.

“Is there any knight who can compete with that shameless man?”

“Sir Given would be appropriate. He was a Knight Guard of the former Milton Kingdom. It would be a perfect match.”

At Philip’s recommendation, Luke made a knight call for Given.

With similar skills and Gigant being of the same Warrior class, the fight between Given and Ruzal would be tight.

The level was much lower than the previous fight. One couldn’t see a powerful aura or sparks flying across.

However, since they exchanged sword with force, the tension was quite high, and the cheers of the soldiers were high.

“Kill him! Beat him up!”

“What the hell?! What would one do if giant swords are being wielded like that?!”

The Baroque Empire troops needed a boost for their morale, so they fought impatiently. However, the troops of Symphonia were acting as if they were in a Gigant arena.

Some officers even began to bet secretly.

“This is like watching some messy gladiator fight!”

Belik, who climbed over the gates, laughed at the battle.

The fight, which went on for a long time, ended with Given’s Gigant bent after the attack of Ruzal.

Once he was incapable of fighting, he threw his Gigant’s shield at Ruzal’s Gigant and hurried to the gate.

“Woah! Sir Ruzal won again!”

“Kuakk! Running away like a mutt in the middle of a fight!”

Great cheers burst out from Baroque Empire’s troops unlike before.

Luke, who looked at it, spoke to Philip,

“Was Given his name? Once this war ends, make sure to train him well.”

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

While Luke spoke, after 2 wins and 2 losses, the Gigantic Duel continued.

The Gigantic Duel with 12 riders from each side ended at sunset.

Normally, when a Gigantic Duel was in progress, battles wouldn’t take place, so the men of Symphonia considered it to be fun, and the riders were satisfied with the experience they got.

However, the situation that Vanden expected didn’t happen. It was because Luke had consistently observed the day’s progress.