Emperor of Steel

“Kuakkk!”

“Push! Push with all your might!”

The city of Bransk was a day’s travel away from the east of the Ankara river.

It was the fifth-largest city in the Volga Republic that flourished because of its high-quality silver mines and the surrounding mountains.

However, the wealthy city was currently being attacked by the Undead.

The military troops created by convening the generals from the Republican army and private troops were all barricading various places to block the Undead.

“Sire, the Constantine squad can’t stand any longer. They said that they are going to retreat to the 5th avenue!”

Duke Kutzov, who was in charge of the war and a temporary commander, reached out to the report which was in the messenger’s hand.

“That can’t be done! Instruct them to hold their current position!”

“But, the Constantine squad is lacking in troops…”

“On the 5th avenue, the wizards and engineers are on a special mission. Not just that, the avenue still holds citizens who haven’t been evacuated yet. That region shouldn’t be brought into battle!”

Initially, the Ankara river was made to be the final stop for the Undead and made every people in the nearby areas flock to Bransk city.

They considered it to be their best shot as it was a wealthy city and had lots of stored supplies.

However, the Ankara river was pierced, and the citizens along with the refugees in Bransk couldn’t even evacuate before the Undead reached the outskirts.

The Republican troops tried their very best to stop them, but the damage taken was increasing.

“If so, we at least need to send a spare Gigant to defend against the Undead!”

“That is also impossible. The reserve Gigants will be used for the counterattack.”

The messenger sighed at the suborn decision of Duke Kutzov.

‘What on earth is the commander even thinking? If we don’t do anything now, we won’t even have any room for a counterattack!’

Are they going to hold back the Gigant and wait for the entire city to be taken down?

When the messenger stepped back, a wizard in charge of communicating orders to each unit, reported, “A group of over 10,000 Undead from the west are coming in!”

The other commanders grunted at the report.

“Damn it, are they scattering and coming for us?”

“Could be. Bransk is the most populous city around here.”

The commanders had been in battle for more than 2 weeks, and their eyes weren’t even open completely.

While they were complaining, another report came in.

“The Task Force Gigants have blocked all the roads of the city!”

“What? What kind of bastard…!”

“The citizens haven’t been evacuated yet!”

The commanders were angry at the stupid situation which was created and thought about what had to be done.

The Task Force Gigants were the military’s strength and were directly under the President’s orders.

All their minds recalled the massacre that took place in the Baroque capital, Nemesis.

There was a time when Emperor Rudolf sent his Central Army and Knights of Guard to cope with the sudden spread of a deadly plague called Vers.

“No way. Is the President going to use this entire city…?”

“We don’t know yet. Right now, all the Undead are flowing into Bransk, say maybe something is planned.”

“Even then, it is ridiculous to put the lives of the civilians on the line!”

When the commanders who misunderstood the President’s words were trying to think of plans to get rid of the Undead without sacrificing the people of Bransk.

Duke Kutzov, who had been silent till then, jumped up from his seat and burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Is it going to start?”

The other commanders thought that Duke Kutzov lost his reasoning.

However, they had no intention of staying still and dying like that.

“Sire, why are you laughing in this situation?”

“Send a communication to the President right away and…!”

At the fierce protests of the other commanders, Kutzov stopped their words by raising his hand.

“There is no need to do that… because we already did what we could.”

“Sire!”

“Why are you saying it like that?! For soldiers like us, this should be obvious, but the civilians need to be saved!”

The youngest commander raised his voice at the outrageous situation.

He was from Branks, and his family lived in the city.

Kutzov showed the young commander the report he had gotten from Duke Dimitry a few days back.

“This…?”

“Operation ‘God’s Weapon,’ It is an operation to purify the Undead at once using Bransk as bait.”

Neither President Vladimir nor Duke Dimitry, the current head of the military, had any intention of doing what Rudolf did.

They paid attention to the topography of Bransk, which was surrounded by mountains.

It was decided that the large magic circle and the relay tower would be installed in that place.

“A little while ago, I asked the Constantine squad to hold their positions as the magic circle is being installed right on the 5th avenue.”

“Then the Task Force Gigants blocking the roads…”

“It means that the Undead scattered all over the area have been attracted.”

“Why weren’t we informed of this operation beforehand?”

When one of the commanders asked with a glare, Duke Kutzov responded calmly, “Because we were in an urgent situation, and it was necessary for us to fight back desperately. If I gave you hope, you were bound to take a step back and retreat.”

One lives to die, and one dies to live.

Such was a phrase which was written in the military book of the Southern Continent that Kutzov read in the past.

Dismissing the glare, he spoke by unfolding a map marked with coordinates.

“In order for God’s Weapon to work, this has to be done. Hurry up and move the reserve Gigants to the area marked in here. And when the signal drops, all the riders who are in the given coordinates are ordered to accelerate their Gigant’s core engine as much as possible.”

This was why Kutzov was holding back the Gigants.

The Volga Republic lacked Hero class Gigants or Sword Master class riders to replace a magic stone.

Thus, several Gigants were ground and linked.

Of course, it wasn’t Kutzov’s idea, but the idea of Luke and his party who arrived in the Volga Republic.

In a gloomy situation, when hope was seen, soldiers began to move quickly and more accurately than before.

“Hurry! Move the Gigant quickly!”

“Connect the core engine with this cable!”

When the given operation was finished, a flare was fired immediately.

The first person to see the flare that was fired was Reina, who was in the hot air balloon.

“The signal is up!”

“Then let’s start right away.”

Luke and Karen, who was riding in a hot air balloon, held her hand.

It was to reduce the burden on Reina and prevent her from being exhausted.

The three of them held hands together and manifested Aether as Spirit power.

As the Spirit Power flowed from the body of the three people, the super large magic circle began to emit bright light in response.

Woong!

A huge double rainbow and rain of light like the Minos Basin covered the city.

The soldiers and the citizens of Bransk were shocked at the magnificent sight.

“The U-Undead are turning into humans!”

“Oh, oh! Such a miracle…!”

The light of miracle purged around 3 million Undead who were lured into Bransk and its close vicinity.

However, unlike the Minos Basin, there were no plants or trees that grew in the area. It was because Luke and Karen were controlling the Spirit power.

“Her Holiness!”

“Wasn’t she originally our princess?”

“She really is an angel!”

When Reina was done with purifying and went down to the city, the citizens welcomed her with cheers.

The commanders of the Volga army bowed to Reina, just as any soldiers of the royal family would do.

In particular, the old commanders of the Volga, like Kutzov, was beyond courteous. They were really pleased.

“Please raise your head.”

“We wouldn’t dare to do that.”

It was for the people, but the royal princess was outcasted.

And they received grace and not retaliation from the woman who they showed hardships and suffering. The commanders were feeling ashamed and regretting their past actions.

Reina reached out and raised them all.

“I can’t speak for what has happened in the past. But I can see that you’re fighting for the people, and you know what has to be done for the people.”

“Princess…”

“I hope that your intentions and heart won’t change in the future.”

At Reina’s words, tears flowed from Kutzov’s eyes.

It was when Luke smiled at the scene, Erwin approached Luke and whispered something that made his face turn hard.

“… Was it verified?”

“I couldn’t believe it either, but it is true.”

Moving to a deserted place, Luke pulled out the crystal and called for King James II of Castia.

-Greetings, King Luke. How did it go in Volga?

James II, who appeared on the other side of the call, smiled and greeted Luke.

“What on earth did you do?”

Rather than greeting him in return, Luke asked in an angry tone.

His words changed the expression of James II.

After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth with an expression that said he couldn’t comprehend Luke’s words.

-I don’t understand what you mean.

“I didn’t send the large magic circle to be used like that!”

The reason why Luke got angry was because Castia had used the large magic circle for a completely different purpose.

They built the magic circle just as Luke had instructed them, but instead of waiting for Reina, they triggered Heatwave magic.

The vast Noirban forest turned into a fire hole and destroyed 2 million Undead.

“Do you realize what you have done? 2 million people who could have turned back to humans are dead! We wouldn’t go this far if we thought that saving them was impossible!”

Maybe he felt offended by Luke, James II began to raise his voice.

-So what did you expect me to do? Our front line was on the verge of breaking, and the Undead were running in all directions.

“Don’t make excuses! Even the Navarre Duchy that had weaker power than you is holding up fine!”

Henry III was whining, but the troops of Navarre were really standing firm.

And the Castia Kingdom, which held a lot of power, committed such brutality!

“I know why you did that. You probably thought of bouncing back when you could. If the 2 million were brought back to humans, you mustn’t have been sure about feeding them or the benefit they will bring to your nation.”

-I won’t deny those claims. As the King, I can’t do anything that can cause any harm to my nation. We had already given enough for the war.

James II made points, but Luke couldn’t understand it.

The war wasn’t being fought for profit but was being fought to save the continent from falling into Arsene’s hand.

To save money, they burned down 2 million Undead. They murdered innocent people!

With raging eyes, Luke spoke again, “What you did during this time, saying that those people or the act wasn’t going to benefit you, will surely come back for you one day. You’ll be a lot more miserable than what you put those people through.”

-Oh, well thanks for that. But I am sorry because your words mean nothing to me.

James II sarcastically spoke and cut the call.

“F*cking bastard!”

Luke, who was displeased, threw the crystal ball on the floor.

He had been trying to figure out James II since the moment he hit on Reina, James II didn’t really seem like a guy who was going all out for the alliance.

While Luke was alone with his thoughts, Karen went over and asked, “Dad, President Vladimir said he is going to host a banquet as a sign of gratitude. Are we going?”

“No, we need to go to the Navarre Duchy first.”

They haven’t taken down all the Undead. And it wasn’t the time to enjoy banquets either.

“Right? Then I will go and inform mom.”

Nodding, Karen ran over to where Reina was.

Sighing to himself, Luke followed his daughter.