Emperor of Steel

‘Huh, everyone seems to be fighting well.’

Luke looked over at his party and smiled.

And then came Rudolf yelling at him.

“Where are you looking?!”

The sword, as fast as light, went for Luke’s throat. It was all fast that Luke should have choked and bounced back.

Cang-!

However, a sound came which wasn’t that of flesh being torn. Blood should have splattered, but rather, Rudolf’s sword bounced off with a crackling sound.

“Huh, shield magic?”

“Did you think that it would be that simple?”

Luke screamed at Rudolf, who was frowning and clenched his Dragon Tooth.

Seeing the intense Gold Aura form on the blade, Rudolf hurriedly unleashed the Gold Aura on his sword to prevent the attack from reaching him.

Kwang-!

They both got pushed back with the sound of a mana bomb exploding.

However, Luke, regaining his balance first, flew in to attack.

Woong! Kwang! Cang!

Strong like a storm, but quick and flexible sword attack, the real Gold Sword.

But Rudolf was no less than that.

He counterattacked with ascending swordsmanship made by combining the Gold Sword and the swordsmanship of the Baroque Imperial family.

In an instant, Luke opened his mouth, frowning as if he saw something unpleasant.

“This is a shame. A situation where we can’t do our best.”

“Huh! To win over you, I only need to use 30% of my power!”

Rudolf shouted, but in reality, he was feeling dull.

In fact, he thought that with the Gold Aura, which led him to reach the Sword Emperor, it should have not just pushed back Luke, but also blown away the intruders around him.

However, if he did that, the time travel device would break.

And if that happened, his goal of killing Luke, his only way to regain his prestige, estates, and family would disappear forever.

So, Rudolf was fighting with Luke without even using the most powerful aura.

And that was the same for Luke.

Raising the power in the Aether Globe and using it along with the second half of the Gold Sword, Luke could have gotten rid of the time travel device and Rudolf at the same time.

However, his daughter and his colleagues would get caught in the explosion.

‘It would have been better to come here alone… no, if I did, I would have suffered a lot and wouldn’t have even seen Rudolf.’

It was thanks to his men that Imperial troops were gathered all over and Luke got to enter the ruins.

Luke, who exchanged a few strikes with Rudolf, gave him an offer.

“How is it, Rudolf? If you have confidence in your skills, then let’s go out and battle it out!”

“Outside?”

“Yes. Instead of fighting in this small space with restriction, we should go out and see who is the stronger one among us.”

Thinking for a moment, Rudolf nodded at Luke.

“Oh, then don’t regret it if my sword tears down your throat.”

Rudolf never even thought about the possibility of losing to Luke.

Because he was the strongest, the only Sword Emperor on the continent.

However, it was the same with Luke, he was the strongest and the only Rune Knight on the continent.

“Huh, we’ll know who will die once we fight.”

The two of them who decided that, went out of the ruins.

“Y-Your Majesty?!”

“That is Rudolf!”

The SS Knights and the Gigant riders outside the ruins were shocked to see the two people come outside.

“Protect His majesty!”

“Don’t let them go!”

Knights of Symphonia and Baroque were fighting more fiercely than before.

And that saved the trouble for Luke and Rudolf of warning those men to not intervene.

The two of them, far from their men, faced each other with their swords out.

Woong!

Unlike before, a terrifying energy rose from the swords of the two.

The flowers and the grass around them got cut off by the invisible force.

‘Why is he this strong?’

A few years back, Rudolf had seen Luke as a kid who hadn’t reached the level of Sword Master yet.

Since then, he seemed to have had rapid growth by building his merit in the various battlefields, but even then, Rudolf never assumed that Luke would be a match for him.

However, with the small confrontation a while back, the momentum of Luke and his skills seemed to be as good as him.

Well, it seemed like Luke could be stronger as he was a Rune Knight who used magic and sword.

The same was going on in Luke’s mind.

‘He reached the rank of a Sword Emperor.’

He knew the skills of a Sword Emperor far better than anyone as he had fought with Rakan in the past.

And Rudolf seemed to have the same momentum as Rakan, from 500 years back.

Even though he was the descendant of the enemy, he couldn’t help but acknowledge his talent.

Rumble! Rumble!

Just when they raised their energy, Rudolf opened his mouth.

“Before we fight in earnest, let me ask one question. How did you know that the ruins was holding a time travel device? Did you find it out when you came to rescue Ferrero? Or…”

He paused and shared his thoughts.

“Was it because you used it to change the future?”

“Ugh, you think I am from the future?”

“I can convince myself about anything else, how would the estates of the ruined place become the main reason for the destruction of a great Empire which had been around for 500 years.”

At Rudolf’s reply, Luke smiled.

“That is a valid doubt, but my strength has nothing to do with the ruins. However, I knew about the purpose of it from someone I know.”

“That so? Then, it seems to be true that there is a secret. Maybe I’ll know if I go into the past?”

“You won’t know. It will never happen if you go back to the past.”

At the moment he was done speaking, Luke rushed into Rudolf.

As Luke attacked Rudolf, Luke used the second half of the Gold Sword, Cyclone Rage.

Although he was brought away from his men, Rudolf wasn’t an opponent who can be defeated with low-level attacks.

Swoooosh-!

Cyclone Rage, which went for Rudolf, destroyed the building behind him.

Cyclone Rage was the weakest skill of the Gold Sword, yet it was nowhere comparable to the normal sword skills.

The knights nearby were startled and stepped further away.

“It is familiar, but seems to be a modified skill of the latter half of the Gold Sword. Where did you learn the second half? It was sure to have vanished from your family?”

Asked Rudolf with a curious face.

As far as he knew, the second half of the Gold Sword, his ancestor had killed and robbed the legacy of Rakan’s sword.

Since then, no member of the Rakan family had ever been known to have the second half of the Gold Sword.

“If you are so curious, go to hell and find out!”

Instead of answering, Luke swung the Dragon Tooth sword fiercely.

Wheeing!

Hyper Aura, shining bright on the sword, went close to Rudolf’s face. The thick beard on the Emperor’s face got cut off and his skin got revealed.

The moment Dragon Tooth came for him, Rudolf had taken the chance and stabbed Luke in the heart.

Cang! Slash!

The sword to the heart got bounced off like the last attack but pierced Luke’s shoulder as it went in by an inch.

Rudolf realizing something, stepped back from Luke.

“That is it! It was no shield magic, it was an aura condensed into one point.”

“You have pretty good eyes.”

“Kuke! How can the strongest knight on the continent not know that?!”

As Rudolf said, Luke was indeed preventing the attacks by focusing Aura on one spot.

Honestly, Luke could beat Rudolf a lot more easily if he could use his other powers such as magic and Demon abilities.

However, he didn’t deliberately use other powers than a sword.

It was because he wanted to smash down Rudolf with the sword which he loved, he wanted to pay the long-standing grudges of Rakan and his family, the man who realized his fault years back.

However, Rudolf’s sword skill, which had reached the Sword Emperor, was tougher than Luke thought.

‘It was lucky that I went to the southern continent and fought with Lee Yong-mu, or my throat would have been the first to go.’

When Luke fought with Lee Yong-mu, the strongest warrior in the Southern Continent, he defeated him only with a sword.

In that process, he managed to advance himself as a swordsman, and also learned about condensing the energy at one point.

Focusing on a single point didn’t just double the attack power, but could be used as a defense.

A one-point method was created by using the teachings of the Southern Moorim men.

The problem was, Luke’s practices weren’t perfect.

So, other vital parts on Luke’s body were left defenseless, and Rudolf went straight for that.

Slash! Puck!

Desperate,

Rudolf’s attack flew in with the speed of light, and blood splattered from Luke’s body.

Luke’s arms, legs, and abdomen were stabbed pretty deeply.

“Ugh! This…”

“Haha! I knew you would protect only the vital points!”

Rudolf smiled as he saw Luke turn all red.

They weren’t fatal wounds, nor would he die from excessive bleeding, but if the damage kept on accumulating, his movement would slow down.

He could hold on, but at some moment the slow movements would result in death.

“This is your defeat, Luke de Rakan!”

In order to not miss the opportunity he created, Rudolf continued to attack.

Not just the Gold Sword, but all the various types of sword skills he learned, even the Baroque sword skills weren’t being used one after another.

Cang! Cang! Cang!

Luke, wielding his Dragon Tooth, struggled to block the attacks, and was eventually struck hard by Rudolf.

“Kuek!”

Rudolf smiled with an exhilarated face when he saw Luke staggering back.

“How was that Luke de Rakan? How does it feel to see death this close to you?”

“It hurts pretty dirty.”

“Kuek, obviously it will.”

Rudolf raised his sword to give the last strike.

Luke looked at Rudolf with a blank expression even after accumulating wounds.

“Your Majesty Luke!”

“Th-this can’t be!”

The members of the Saint Guard and the Symphonia were shocked when they saw Luke in such a state. Luke was too far for them to save.

Would Luke get defeated and be killed?

“Well, die now!”

Rudolf struck his sword.

The Gold Aura generated in an instant went right for Luke’s head with a terrifying speed. No, it was about to end!