Emperor of Steel

Around 30 minutes before Luke initiated his plan.

In the office, Rudolf was taking in a report from Count Voltas.

“Your Majesty, the ancient ruins have been started.”

“Kuek, really?”

Rudolf’s mouth formed a smile as he stood up from his seat because today was the last day in the week he had given them.

“They were lucky. Even a day later, I would have killed all those wizards.”

On the way to the ruins, Rudolf moved with a tremendous speed, and Count Voltas trembled like a man suffering from pain.

It was because he knew that the words that Rudolf spoke were not a joke but his true intentions.

The total number of wizards in the ruins was around 300.

In addition to just the talented ones from the Imperial Tower, they even brought former elders of the magic towers.

If all of them died, the Baroque’s magical engineering would regress a lot.

The regression of magic engineering wouldn’t affect just magic or academic fields, it would bring about the regression in Gigant making, which were the masterpieces of the modern war.

They wouldn’t be able to make a Hero class or Knight class Gigant anytime soon, and if the existing Gigants broke down, they can’t be fixed either.

In other words, the security of the empire would be in jeopardy.

‘He has gone crazy! His Majesty has really gone mad!’

Voltas shook his head as he followed the emperor, who was blinded by revenge.

It seemed very much like the end of the Barque Empire. The empire that had been ruling as the powerhouse of the Rhodesia Continent for the past 500 years seemed to be coming to a close.

Over the past week, he tried to make the emperor get his reasoning back, but all his efforts seemed to be in vain.

There was only one way left.

If the ruins did work, then Rudolf might regain his former composure.

That was the only hope of the Baroque Empire.

‘If it is really like what he says, it will be something that hasn’t happened till now. No one will remember it except for His Majesty.’

But was it really possible to turn back time?

Wasn’t that just a dream of any wizard?

While Voltas was in doubt, he saw a huge dome made of trees and tents ahead.

The original underground ruins collapsed and were buried, and a huge tent was placed over the things that were left behind for excavation and to hide the truth from the others.

The vigilance was tight, and the Knights of Guards had Gigants right next to them.

As they entered the dome while receiving greeting from the knights, they saw a hollow hall.

Many of the workers and the wizards passed away, and only the high ranking wizards of the SS and the elders of the Imperial tower remained.

The time travel device seemed like long-distance teleport gates.

Various magic circles and artifacts were connected to what looked like a controller device, a large round ring in the center, and a tombstone next to it.

“How can I activate this?”

At Rudolf’s question, Marquis Kepler stepped ahead and explained, “The time and coordinates need to be entered in here. The controller, which looks like a tombstone, will activate and charge the aether.”

When the Aether got activated, the ancient magic circles engraved on the round ring began to move in unison.

In fact, some devices related to time that was designed by people in ancient times couldn’t be done.

They were sure that the time artifact couldn’t be produced, but Kepler and the other wizards tried to reproduce it.

Rather than that, Rudolf’s intimidation was too strong, so they just created something else.

“Good job, everyone! I will give you wealth and honor just as I promised! For all your generations!”

At Rudolf’s praise, Kepler and the other elders sighed in relief.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“By the way, the Aether has to be charged, right?”

“Yes. The aether recharged completely thanks to the generous supply of Your Majesty.”

“Then, place the coordinate as 10 years ago to the Imperial Palace.”

Rudolf set the time zone to 10 years ago.

It was because that was the time when Baroque was at its peak.

Even the hostile forces including Luke de Rakan weren’t that powerful then.

When Marquis Kepler entered the time and coordinates, Rudolf spoke, “Make it work right away. I said that we don’t have much time.”

“Sorry? Right now?”

Kepler was shocked at Rudolf’s request. It was because if the emperor suddenly disappeared, there would be huge confusion in the state.

Not just the state, even the nobles and the soldiers, who can’t find the emperor, would scatter away.

And the entire empire would get destroyed in an instant.

Count Voltas, who was behind, strongly opposed it.

“Your Majesty, Give me two days, no, at least a day to prepare!”

However, Rudolf had no intention of doing that.

“If I go back to the past and make everything happen, the confusion won’t rise. You don’t need to think about that.”

“Well, that…”

He had to think about a lot.

But he couldn’t say that to Rudolf.

If Voltas opposed once again, Rudolf was very likely to pull out his sword.

So Count Voltas decided to shut up.

“What are you doing! Activate the Aether!”

“Ah… I understand.”

At Rudolf’s yell, Marquis Kepler closed his eyes and pressed the activate button to inject Aether into the time travel device.

Wooong!

The moment an intense wind blew along with the waves of the Aether, the ancient ruins started to vibrate.

The Aether, which was stable, began to shake the ruins.

“How long will it take for the Aether to activate?”

Maybe it was nerve-wracking for Rudolf when it came to time travel.

“About an hour.”

“Then I have no choice but to wait till then.”

‘Damn it, this needs to turn into a success…’

Unlike Rudolf, who was laid-back, Kepler and the other wizards were nervous. It was because there was not enough time to test the device.

If the time travel device stopped halfway or if it didn’t trigger, it was clear Rudolf’s wrath would be diverted to them.

The time travel device that contained the wishes of too many people began to work in opening the forbidden door.