Emperor of Steel

“Wh, what was that?!”

The commander of the Gorn fort, who saw the gates of the fort being attacked was wide-eyed with tears.

‘How did this happen? Did the gunpowder got left behind near the gate and a fire broke out by mistake?’

However, if there was fire, there should be smoke, and if the fire spread along with the gunpowder, the enemy soldiers too had to suffer.

However, that didn’t seem like the case.

‘To attract the allies and then destroy the enemies? No, there is no reason for the fort which was blocking very well to do that.’

For a moment the commander who was staring at the gate looked at the situation inside the gate.

A group of mercenaries took control of the main gate and were in a hurry to fight against the fort guards trying to gain the region.

‘I don’t have a detailed reason, but this is still a great opportunity!’

Marquis Mayers who was in a hurry and sent a messenger several times in a day to report on the gates was shocked.

He wasn’t sure what happened inside, but he decided to enter the fort and ordered for his troops to initiate an assault.

“The gates are open! Everyone for assault!”

“Woahhhh!”

Thud Thud Thud!

The riders who were very frustrated with the unsuccessful siege drove their Gigants and ran ahead followed by the cavalry and the infantry.

And the detailed reports were relayed to Marquis Mayers, who was waiting for the fort wall to fall.

“What? The gate opened by itself?”

“Yes. Isn’t it possible that the nobles of the Emperor came there?”

The words of Baron Bazzo’s made Marquis laugh.

“Huhuhu. We can never know. Anyway, since the gate had been opened, tell the entire army to attack!”

“Understood!”

At the orders of Marquis Mayers, the soldiers of the army who were taking rest rushed towards the fort.

In a battle, the flow was a very important factor. And that was directly related to the morale of the soldiers.

Initially, the side of triumph was the fort defense and the central army.

However, with the sudden burst of the gate and the sudden attack from the mercenaries passed the triumph over to the southern army.

In addition, as the southern army pushed in, the knights and soldiers of the fort began to panic.

“Commander, Sire! We asked the reserved knights to enter, but we aren’t able to take back the gates!”

“The Knights of the Central Army? Ask the nearby Gigant units to defend the gate… no, I will go there myself!”

Count Ferrero jumped out of the watchtower at once and boarded his Gigant

It was his new hero class Gigant, Atlas, which he had received from the Emperor on the day he was appointed as the Commander of the Central Army.

Atlas’s production had been discontinued when Veritas Magic Tower was destroyed, but there were a lot of parts which were left back, so after getting them fixed, they were given to the SS knights and the Sword Masters near the Emperor.

Woong!

As Ferrero’s mana flowed through the cockpit, the core engine began to shake vigorously.

‘Kukku. With this level of performance, I think that I can win over a Sword Master.’

Count Ferrero who smiled at the powerful output of Atlas headed for the gate.

He quickly ran to the gate and found the Gigant troops of the enemy who were pushing through the gate.

“These men! How dare they enter this place?!”

Ferrero wielded his giant sword to the front at the enemy Gigants which were hurting his friend’s.

Slash!

Pung!

The giant sword with the Impact aura quickly took down two Knight class Gigants.

Thinking how the Gigants were taking down the friendly Gigants, the opponent riders must have been a very skilled one.

However, it wasn’t enough to handle Count Ferrero who had a Hero class.

“I, Impact Aura? Sword Master! A Sword Master has appeared!”

“It must be a hero class Gigant! Be careful everyone!”

After breaking through the gates, the southern army and the Gigant troops made a mess for a moment.

Count Ferrero, who came then, violently wielded his giant sword and defeated Gigants of the southern army.

“Kuahh! I will kill all of the obstructions in here!”

Count Ferrero charged like a wild person.

Every time the Impact aura flashed with Atlas, the Gigants that were struck fell down with huge noise.

“He surely seems to be our commander!”

“Don’t hesitate and drive out the enemy from the fort!”

The fort defenders and the central riders whose morale rose from the attacks of Count Ferrero fought back stronger than ever.

The southern Gigants were forced to step back.

“T, this…”

“Do not step back! The gates should never be taken away!”

When the situation was turning away, the strongest soldiers of the Southern army began to move ahead.

With the Knight class Gigants belonging to the knights of Iron Fist, with a crest on the chest.

As soon as the five Gigants moved ahead, they bravely ran towards Atlas.

“Die, Count Ferrero!”

“Isn’t it embarrassing to abandon your role as a neutral lord and become the Emperor’s dog?!”

Even if they couldn’t beat Count Ferrero, the five men who came at the same time were experts and could show enough skill to push Ferrero, that was what they thought.

But it didn’t take much time for them to realize that they were mistaken.

Slash! Kwak! Slash!

Puck! Slash!

In a blink of an eye, Atlas’s giant sword flew towards the knight class Gigant.

With the nickname of being the Baroque Empire’s crazy dog, Ferrero ripped off the opponent’s Gigant with incredible power.

Cyclone Wolf Sword.

That was the name of the sword which Count Ferrero had just used.

“Oh my god!”

“T, this can’t be!”

In a matter of five seconds, five Gigant turned into scrap metals, and the morale of the Southern army dropped.

If it was any other riders then nothing would have mattered, but the ones defeated were the advanced riders of the Iron Fist and they were trained and devoted to Marquis Mayers.

They gained considerable training and skill and were given the best Gigants with proven performance.

By the way, such elite knights couldn’t manage to hold Count Ferrero for a mere moment and fell…!

‘Dammit, he is more fearsome than the rumors!’

‘So a Sword Master cannot be defeated with Expert knights?’

‘If we go out now, we are sure to die.’

When the Southern riders didn’t know what to do, the sword of Atlas shook.

And the loud voice of Count Ferrero could be heard.

“Kuahhh! Standing still even if your comrades are getting slaughtered! If you have a death wish, please do come here!”

When the Impact aura of the Atlas was coming at them, scared army Gigants lifted the shields.

‘Huh, coward bastard?!’

Even if the shield was mixed with magic or made of Gigantium or Adamant, impact aura couldn’t be stopped.

It was right when Count Ferrero smiled and was ready to bring down his sword.

An eerie energy rose behind him, and something flew at him at a frightening pace.

‘Huh? What is this?’

Ferrero who sensed a strange energy turned around and wielded his sword.

Kwang!

At the moment when something flew like a lightning, a huge explosion with dazzling sparks broke out and shattered Impact aura and the sword too.

However, that didn’t end the effect it had on Atlas and the Gigant got pushed back.

“Tch, fail.”

Scarlet, was the one who shot the Aether arrow at Atlas, and she clicked her tongue at the unsuccessful result.

When the Southern Army broke into the gate and created a ruckus, Scarlet and her men slipped away from there.

They tried to look and confirm if the Central Army was defeated, but the Southern Army was forced to stand still because of Ferrero.

She wasn’t able to see the pathetic southern men and decided to attack.

“How dare someone…?”

Count Ferrero who was impatient took over a sword from his subordinate and looked for the archer who aimed at him.

Before she could get caught in his sight, Scarlet concealed herself quickly.

‘That wasn’t an ordinary arrow. With this level, it will be a Destroyer-level Master!’

A Destroyer was a level that could take down a beginner level Gigant.

Few people could involve themselves with just a bow and arrow.

From what Ferrero knew, there were no such talented men in the Southern Army or under Marquis Mayers.

‘Maybe a skilled bow master among the elves of the Volga Republic… uh? What was that energy?’

The sudden rise of energy was something he couldn’t ignore, but he soon felt another energy from the gate.

Ferrero turned his head to see two Gigant approaching from the Southern army side.

‘Knight? No, seeing the booming of the core engine, it must be a hero!’

Two sharp-looking hero class Gigant had a wolf-like head on it.

Even though they looked weird, it was obvious that they belonged to the knights of Iron Fist by Marquis Mayers.

“Kya! It has been long, Ferrero.”

“Yu, you men!”

When a familiar voice came out of the wolf-headed Gigants, Ferrero realized who his opponents were.

The famous Sword Master brothers, Reynold Gram and Reynard Gram who were once famous in the capital.

The brothers of Gram were a mixed race of humans with Lycan genes and were once a level less powerful than Count Ferrero.

However, the skills of the brothers were well accepted and acknowledged.

To a certain extent, there was a story in the past that said that when Duke Butler went to practice sword skill and he had lost to them.

Count Ferrero was well aware of the fact that his beard had been severed in the past when he was going against the Gram brothers.

If they were pure-blooded humans, they would have been able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ferrero in the Central army of the Knights of Guards.

‘These men should have surely left the Empire!’

The Gram brothers who differed greatly from the humans and the elves or dwarf races in appearance were unable to tolerate the discrimination and moved in as mercenaries.

And 10 years ago, the last news about them was that they participated in the civil war of the Southern continent’s Yamatai.

“When did you come back?”

“Kuek, around a year back? They said that the fairies in the empire are getting better.”

“And Marquis Mayers sent a box of gold with his aides and asked us to sign in as Commander and vice commander of Iron Fist.”

The Gram brothers who answered the question of Count Ferrero, slowly advanced.

Their hero class Gigant labeled as ‘Anubis’ had a boomerang as a weapon, not a giant sword or battle axe.

Moreover, it was two and not a single one.

“Die, Ferrero!”

“KyakYa! This time I will cut your body and not just the beard!”

Reynold and Reynard began to wield the boomerang.

Hwwwek!

The Gram brother’s boomerang flew in with a glow, flying right behind Atlas.

Count Ferrero hurriedly swung his sword and slashed the boomerangs which were flashing with Impact Aura and broke them into four.

Both Reynold and Reynard took back their boomerangs and shook them in like a sickle or double swords.

Kang! Kang!

Slash!

Ferrero, who changed the position quickly was still unable to cope with the attacks of the brothers which came from up and down, left and right, and got pushed back.

‘Dammit, those guys improved! They should be around Intermediate Sword Masters!’

Although Ferrero’s skill was Advanced Sword Master, he still wasn’t able to show any overwhelming force against the Gram brothers who were showcasing their excellent skills.

In addition, as time went, the movement of the Atlas’s right arm began to slow down.

When Scarlet had hit him with the Aether arrow earlier, it seemed like Atlas suffered a joint problem.

‘Tch, in this state, I cannot fight those hairy bastards!’

When he was taking on a defensive stance, the Gigant troops of the Southern army inside the gate began to counter-attack and pushed the Central army and the fort defenses.

The Count, who judged that it was difficult to protect the fort in such a condition, screamed.

“Everybody withdraw! Retreat!”

It was important to protect the fort, but more important to conserve the central army.

It was because if Rudolf suddenly got there with his troops damaged, and knows that the central army in the South was destroyed, it would become a hell for them.

‘It is a pity to lose a fort, but there are still numerous forts in the Variand mountains. If we can use them, we will be able to stop them.’

Ferrero who ordered for the retreat after thorough thought saw that the Central army and the knights which were sent by the Emperor’s nobles quickly retreated through the north gate.

However, there was something that Count Ferrero wasn’t able to figure out.

It wasn’t just the Gorn Fort, but all the other forts were infiltrated by the knights of Marquis Rakan and were suffering from similar situations.