emperor of steel
‘Kuek! What is this…?!’
Luke, who got buried in the old palace, was swearing in his mind.
It was because the demon which had been summoned a moment back had great power.
There was confidence in the demon, and with the absence of the hero class Gigant Avenger, Luke would have died in the attack.
“Oh my! Shocking to see the humans in Middle-earth are capable of blocking my attacks.”
Crown, looking at Luke, who was trying to stand up from the rubble fallen on him, seemed shocked.
Even though he was under the rubble, Luke hurriedly unfolded the shield as soon as he felt Crown build up energy around him.
There was a one-point defense that focused on the gold aura and hit one spot.
Surely, the defense created by Luke had crashed, but it was shocking for Crown.
Ten thousand years back, during the God-Devil war, there were just a few humans who could stop his attack.
In addition, humans were beings who were loved by God.
The Divine power didn’t dry out from the human body, yet, the demon had weapons made from the best blacksmith in the world and worn all over him.
However, the human being in front of him didn’t have any divine armaments, and although the humans had Divine power, it was embarrassingly small enough to be called a God’s messenger.
Instead, he was riding a steel doll, which resembled a broken Gigant.
However, compared to the armor on the demon, the toy or Gigant around the humans had no power in it.
“Dad, are you alright?”
Karen ran over to Luke and asked with tears in her eyes.
Luke broke down the distorted hatch and the breastplate and took a huge breath to stabilize his balance.
Unlike the other times, Luke’s legs were shaking from the shock he received in the previous blow.
Karen who saw it, tried to support him only to get refused by Luke.
“I am fine, don’t cry. Rather, tell everyone to stay away from me and you too, get back.”
“Huh?”
“Tell them to not attack the Demon King at any cost.”
Luke was convinced that the demon summoned was the Demon King.
Apart from the way in which Arsene had summoned the Demon King, the power which the demon used was exceeding any normal Demon King.
Luke was worried that Gregory or Hwang Bo-sung would recklessly run for the demon after seeing him hurt.
“What? Answer me!”
“Ah, yes.”
While Luke and Karen were talking, Arsene approached Crown, knelt before him, and bowed his head.
“Oh great. Demon. King. I. welcome. You. Onto. The Ground! Please. Help. Me in. taking. Down. The fairies. And. Humans. Who have. Brought. Pain. To. Me. Please. Punish them!”
Arsene spoke with joy. It was because he had seen the extent of the power Crown possessed, and he really wanted to possess that power.
He had a chance of turning twice, or thrice stronger than his prime time, all with the help of the Demon King, and he actually saw the possibility of taking over Middle-earth.
Arsene kneeling on the floor, smiled as his imaginations flew wild.
Crown glanced down at Arsene and at Bargosa who was standing behind him.
Bargosa bowed to greet him, Crown’s usual thunderous voice fell.
“It has been long, Bargosa! How long has it been since I saw your face like this?
“I hope you had a peaceful time, Your Majesty?”
“Kuk? Peace? I almost died of boredom! Rather, I figured out your sins!”
As Crown was blaming him, Bargosa calmly responded.
“It wasn’t a sin according to me, it was my decision to rescue the nation for peace in Devildom for a whole new future.”
“Oh, thanks to your bloody decision about peace and the future, the Demon Kings are fighting timidly today!”
“….”
The current Devildom had a tight balance maintained between the 7 monarchs.
Although small battles would take place on the borders of their Kingdoms, no all-out wars had even happened.
At Crown’s sarcasm, Bargosa just smiled.
Seeing Bargosa smile only irritated Crown.
“I will punish you later. Rather, is this the Lich who wanted to make a contract?”
“Yes.”
“But his condition doesn’t look that good. You sure?”
Crown asked with a frown on his face.
It was because the soul of the Lich, who was on his knees was cracked, it seemed damaged.
“Just before he summoned Your Majesty, an arrow got shot by a human woman and his Life Vessel got damaged.”
“Kuak, that was why my soul got hurt.”
Crown seemed disappointed with it.
He was excited to eat fresh meat, however, the one in front of his eyes was rotten meat.
He was wondering if he could use the soul for a few days, but the Lich didn’t seem to be in a good condition.
“This is different from what you said, Bargosa.”
“I just told you now. It was because of an unfortunate accident that happened.”
“Shut up! If you were once an Arch Duke Demon, you should know how to prepare for unfortunate accidents. Didn’t you manage alternative Life Vessels?!”
“I did try to…”
Bargosa scratched his head feeling bad at what happened.
Scarlet’s blow was really an unexpected one.
How could she hit the Life Vessel which was on the other side and cause damage?!
“Great. Demon. King. Please. Hold. Your anger… kuak!”
The moment Arsene raised his head to speak, Crown stepped on him with his huge foot.
“Cheeky guy, how dare he think that a Lich has a right to talk to me? Nor once! But twice?!”
“KuekuK! Pl-please. Forgive. Me!”
“Shut up, you dirty Lich! There is no sincerity in your voice. When serving someone’s precious life to me, it isn’t just a body you should sacrifice, but also should have brought beauties for me!”
It seemed like Crown had come hoping for a little extra bonus.
However, it wasn’t just the bonus, but even the sacrifice was in an unpleasant state to look at.
Seeing Crown pissed, Bargosa spoke.
“Your Majesty, you have already responded to the summon, you cannot ignore the contract. Aren’t we demons different from the lowly humans?”
“Who said that I would ignore it? It is just that he isn’t satisfactory.”
Arsene, who was already half-crushed by Crown’s foot, turned pale.
He was worried whether the Demon King would return back to the Devildom or would still go ahead with the contract!
“Now, what did this disgusting Lich want? Sell me your soul and tell me what you want to achieve.”
At Crown’s words, Arsene spoke his wish.
“Great. Demon. King! Give. Me. Power. to. Punish. That. Luke de. Rakan. Over there. Please!”
Arsene spoke pointing at Luke.
Crown snorted and shook his head.
“That can’t be done.”
“Wh-what! Why?”
Arsene was filled with resentment and anger when he heard the answer of Crown.
“Arsene, your soul has been damaged by an arrow shot by a human. If you take on a strong power in this situation, your body can’t take it. Rather, it will run away in your body and disappear.”
“Th-that…!”
“Did you forget? At the time His Majesty was summoned, your soul was given to His Majesty. But, would you, Arsene, want to lose possession over the hard-earned summon?”
Arsene’s eyes went wide at Bargosa’s explanation.
The red-haired girl who shot the arrow was the cause of this tragedy!
Arsene shook with anger, resentment, and glared at Luke.
“If. I can’t. get. Strength… then. If it. Means. I can. Punish. That Luke. Then. At least. Use your. Power. to bring. Him. Down!”
Crown scratched his head.
“Hmm, this seems like a losing bet, but I have signed the contract with you, so I will listen to what you say.”
Taking his foot off Arsene, Crown walked towards Luke.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Each step he took, shook the island, and the Magi surrounding his body melted the ground.
“Gulp!”
Karen, Marquis Rogers, Philip, Hwang Bo-sung, and Erwin who watched it from a distance, tried to move back with clenched teeth.
They had overcome the fear and were willing to fight for Luke, till death.
However, Arch Duke Gregory held them.
“Everyone, hold your place!”
“Arch Duke Gregory!”
“In this situation, we wouldn’t help him much, even if we join. We will end up being another problem for His Majesty…”
The opponent was the Demon King.
Even Rune Knight, Luke, who was said to be the strongest in Middle earth, didn’t have a chance of winning over the demon, yet the other knights weren’t going to interfere.
“And Your Majesty told the Princess not to enter. I think he might have an idea, so let’s wait.”
Gregory saw how Luke was looking at the Demon King.
He didn’t seem like he would kneel in front of the devil himself.
At Gregory’s words, Karen and the others decided to watch.
And Gregory’s words were indeed right.
Crown was very disappointed to see the humans and the fairies not moving from their spot.
‘Tch, here I was trying to get some excitement… but he was quick to notice.’
Compared to him, the humans and fairies were weak, weak like flies, yet if the demon could slaughter them, then he was sure to feel pleasure.
Looking at Luke, who seemed to be the leader of those people, made Crown angrier.
Maybe it would be fun—a little like the time in the past where heroes of humans fought him.
‘No, seeing his situation, if I can’t be careful, he might show me something different.’
Maybe Crown would get a taste of something new, an unusual pleasure.
With such anticipation, Crown’s footsteps accelerated.