emperor of steel
Luke, who everyone thought was dead.
As he appeared, tears welled in the eyes of everyone.
Until a moment back, everyone seemed desperate, they had lost hope, wanting to take revenge for Luke.
But then, Luke appeared, alive!
Luke’s eyes seemed like they were asking Crown.
Who won the bet?
Grinning at the human, Crown answered.
“Human’s King, Luke de Rakan, congratulations on winning the bet!”
Listening to the words, humans and fairies smiled.
On the other hand, Arsene trembled to see the enemy who stood up from hell.
“Dad!”
“Master-!”
Starting with Karen, everyone ran up to Luke. Everyone was happy that Luke didn’t die, even happier that the bet was won.
Karen jumped in to hug Luke, who was still looking at Crown.
“Ung! This is good, I am glad that you are okay!”
“Look at this crying over…!”
As he was stroking his daughter’s head, he fell back.
The injuries were severe, yet his mind was able to calm down, yet, the energy in his body was turning faint.
“Majesty!”
“What are you all doing! Heal him quickly…!”
While the wizards and the zen users were treating him, Arch Duke Gregory and the others surrounded Luke.
Their opponent was the Demon.
Although he admitted that he had lost the bet, the Demon could break his promise.
Unlike them, who were highly tense and still with their swords trembling in hand, Crown had no intention of fighting anymore.
“The humans are stronger than I thought. He stopped my strongest attack.”
Crown scratched the part where his right side horn got cut off.
He spoke to Arsene, who was trying to deny the reality in front of him.
“Since I lost my bet, I am going back to Devildom.”
“W-wait. Please. Please. Wait. Demon King!”
Frightened, Arsene grabbed Crown’s leg.
Despite Crown’s bloody gaze, Arsene didn’t let go.
“Why. Are. You. Violating. The contract?!”
“Breaking the contract? I didn’t do that.”
“You promised to kill the human called Luke!”
Bargosa sided with Arsene and asked Crown.
If the Demon King went back to Devildom, his plans would go wrong.
Crown spoke back.
“Kill? That Lich has asked me to take him down.”
“That…!”
Bargosa, who tried to rebut, couldn’t think of anything. It was true that Arsene had used those specific words.
And although Crown lost the bet, he did ‘take him down’.
So no contract was violated.
“Demon King, Arsene didn’t mean it like that. He was asking you to take him down forever…”
“Shut up! In that case, you should have specified the word ‘kill’! Why do you keep changing your words?!”
Crown screamed at them.
Arsene trembled in fear of getting hit by the Demon King.
However, Crown did nothing. Since the contract was done, he had to take the price.
“Anyway, now this one belongs to me.”
“TH-that!”
When his Life Vessel appeared in Crown’s hand, Arsene went blank, not knowing what to do.
There were cracks on the skull, a blue-colored figure was there.
“I have nothing more to do with you guys. No, well, you Lich, will have to see me every day once your rotten body disappears, Kukuku!”
“No-no…!”
The worst situation.
Without even killing Luke, his only Life Vessel was stolen.
Arsene tried to grab Crown, but his figure disappeared. He went back to the real Devildom.
“No! No! this. Can’t be! Ridiculous!”
As Arsene screamed, Bargosa smiled.
Crown’s behavior had changed.
Apart from making bets with humans, he simply went back to Devildom.
‘Did he notice my trick?’
Bargosa was planning to remove Crown on earth.
He was in exile, but he couldn’t be relieved knowing that Crown was alive.
1,000 years ago, Crown promised to not regain power or take revenge.
However, it was still possible to kill his own son in an indirect manner, such as helping the other Demon Kings.
So, when the opportunity came, he called him to Middle-earth, to kill him.
His abilities would have never worked on Crown. Even though he was in exile, he was a Demon King once, and he still had power in him.
However, there seemed to be a high probability of Crown running wild destroying the Middle-earth and slaughtering the people as he was known to violate contracts because of his nature.
And when that happens, the Gods would intervene, and deal with Crown.
But he went back to Devildom!
“Kuak, I lost this time.”
As Bargosa smiled, Arsene yelled at him.
“Shut. Up. Bargosa! What. Are you. Going. To do. In this. Situation! The. Demon. King. Has run. Away! Take responsibility. For. It!”
Arsene yelled and screamed, but Bargosa laughed.
“Why am I responsible for it? You were the one who asked for the strongest demon to come down here, even after I said that it was a bad idea.”
And he was right.
Arsene was blinded by revenge and decided to do everything that Bargosa had talked about.
“What. How. Dare. You! You. Didn’t. talk. Right. To. That…!”
“You don’t have the luxury of time to blame me.”
As Bargosa’s words were finished, Arsene flinched and looked back.
The humans and fairies were getting close to him, and among them was Luke, who managed to recover.
“I was listening to your words, the situation had turned quite interesting.”
“Ugh….!”
Arsene looked at Luke, who was smiling.
“I was here with the idea to end you completely, but I don’t think that there is a need for it. In the future, you will experience eternal pain in the hands of the Demon King.”
Souls that were claimed by the demon can never go to heaven. At least, unless the demon dies.
Moreover, Arsene was well aware that his soul was damaged.
And with the Life Vessel stolen, it wasn’t possible to resurrect into a new body.
As Luke said, he had to live under the Demon King, Crown, forever, suffering.
“Taste the pain which you have given to numerous people.”
“W-wait!”
Flustered, Arsene shook his head, but Luke pulled out Valiant and slashed him before he could ask for forgiveness.
Slash!
“Kua. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah! No! This. Can’t be. My end…”
The flames of Gold Aura burned away Arsene’s body.
His jaw bone, which was hanging, broke down, and every single part of his body got turned into ash.
“Is it done, finally?”
“Majesty, there are still enemies left.”
At Arch Duke Gregory’s words, Luke looked at Bargosa.
With a bitter expression, Bargosa opened his mouth.
“Are you going to kill me?”
“If you follow the contract made with Arsene, I need to do that.”
Bargosa smiled at Luke’s answer.
“I made a contract with Arsene. Stay on the island and protect the Life Vessel. But I failed in it.”
Arsene’s Life Vessel wasn’t destroyed.
If that was destroyed, Bargosa would have suffered a huge penalty for failing to fulfill the contract.
As he was still in good shape, the contract didn’t seem to be violated.
However, Crown had taken away the Life Vessel, so he didn’t exactly guard the Life Vessel either.
“I failed, and there is nothing I can do on Middle-earth.”
And there was a reason for him to return to Devildom.
It was because, if Crown noticed the scheme, he didn’t know what he would do in Devildom. Bargosa had to quickly go and stop him.
At Bargosa’s words, Luke spoke with the sword in his hand.
“There is no reason to fight if you want to return back to Devildom.”
The demon had helped with Arsene’s evil deeds.
However, Luke was already exhausted after the battle with the Demon King.
And going into a fight with an Advanced Demon would bring in damage to his allies.
Even if he was alone, the opponent was too strong.
“Don’t appear in Middle-earth, ever again.”
“If no one comes looking for me, I will stay there.”
At least, while a dangerous human, who cut down the horn of the Demon King was alive, Bargosa had no intention of coming out.
Bargosa decided to go back home.
Woong!
When Bargosa disappeared, Luke sighed in relief.
“It is over, really over, finally!”
A feeling of relief and fatigue poured in.
All the days of struggles and the fatigue which had been accumulated in this body as Saymon, and even as Luke, made him dizzy.
The only work Luke had to do, was to get rid of the fatigue.
“You did well, Dad!”
“You were great, Your Majesty!”
Luke opened his mouth towards Karen and other men, who were kneeling down.
“Let’s go back, where everyone is waiting for us.”
Just thinking of his loved ones, made him smile.
The dark clouds faded, and sunlight began to shine upon them, like a blessing for the bright future