Emperor of Steel

Chapter 242: Holy Arthenia Empire 4

“Arch Duke, I don’t deny the existence of God, but I can never get myself to agree with your point of view.”

Luke placed his sword out front and spoke to the man.

“Yes, I did expect you to think so. You are someone who will never be compatible with the pope.”

Gregory saw Luke as someone who had to be excluded by the pope.

And as he knew Luke to be someone who was associated with being a wizard, his will became much more concrete.

There were wizards in the Holy Empire. Its priests were studying magic.

Gregory acknowledged their existence, but he was in disagreement with their ideas.

For him, those who study magic or did research on magic were suspicious, and they often ignored orders in the name of searching for the truth.

The same was true for Marquis Meister Reas of the Arthenia Royal Magic Tower. He dared treat the pope like a spoiled child!

‘A wizard’s kid is considered as a prodigal son, but it is unacceptable for one to cover the eyes and ears of the pope!’

That was why he should take the test, which was the will of his Lord.

If the man in front of him was going to repent, he was willing to forgive. Otherwise, he would slash him.

Arch Duke Gregory walked toward Luke. The blazing aura from his sword was quite different from what he had been using before.

Hyper Aura could only be used by those individuals who have reached the level of a Sword Sage.

The terrifying attack flew toward Luke’s neck.

‘Ah, no, no…!’

Seeing what was happening, Reina’s face turned pale. Luke was nowhere to be seen. Thanks to that, the Hyper Aura’s cut was blocked by a few beautiful trees.

“Is that Blink?” Asked Gregory.

“Honestly speaking, swords were never my specialty.”

In a moment, Luke appeared behind Gregory.

“Ice Lance!”

Hundreds of ice spears were created in the air in a moment’s time. They all showered down at Gregory.

However, without any signs of panic or agitation, Gregory blocked all the incoming ice spears with his sword.

“What is this?” Gregory tried to speak.

“Then, how about this?!”

Luke narrowed the gap between them and threw the Titan Fist. Gregory’s body was hit by huge amounts of mana.

Kwang!

A crashing sound reverberated in all directions. However, Gregory’s body was unscathed.

“That is useless against me.”

‘Did Aura Armor stopped it?’ Thought Luke.

Aura Armor increased one’s body’s defense.

In Gregory’s case, he was using Hyper Aura, which meant that his defense was comparable to a heavy armor.

“Then, I’ll just keep going until I take you down!”

Kwang! Bang! Bang!

Gregory was a little flustered when Luke began to come after him with consecutive Titan Fists.

Titan Fist was indeed powerful, but the user’s mana could easily get depleted even for a high-level war mage if used constantly. That was why it was never used for combat purposes in a war.

‘I knew it. He has some hidden power!’ Gregory smiled, knowing he was right.

Gregory’s thoughts about Luke were correct. Luke was fighting much better with magic than with his sword.

He had already accumulated a lot of experience in fighting using magic during his time as Saymon.

‘Well, I’m still in trouble since I can’t use my dark magic, but…’

However, there was a way for Luke to make up for that.

When Gregory rushed in with Hyper Aura, Luke went directly ahead instead of stepping back or defending himself.

Kwang-!

“No!”

Gregory was surprised for a second after seeing the attack that Luke did.

He thought that Luke would defend his attack using his magic, but Luke took out a heavy and ugly sword from his subspace ring and swung it at Gregory!

Moreover, the power of the sword didn’t seem light. Luke was able to easily deflect Gregory’s Hyper Aura Sword.

“I’m delighted that you have such a nice sword,” said Gregory.

“Hut, this is Dragon Tooth; a masterpiece made by blacksmith Jig,” responded Luke.

The Dragon Tooth was enchanted with Gravity.

In response to Luke’s magic, the magic of the sword got amplified and the shockwave from the Hyper Aura Sword got pushed away.

“Wasn’t it just pushed off by force? But that is all you can manage!”

Powerful swords, such as the Half Gold Sword, weren’t much different.

Gregory quickly managed to speed up his attacks. He was managing to push Luke back with overwhelming speed.

Surprisingly, Luke didn’t seem to be lagging behind in terms of speed.

Kang! Kakang! Kang!

‘What is this? When did he manage to change his sword?’

The heavy and ugly black sword that Luke was using a while ago was nowhere to be seen. In his hand was a slender sword.

Every time the sword lit up, Luke’s speed would increase.

“Was that also Jig’s art piece?”

“Huhuhu!”

Instead of answering, Luke burst out with laughter.

Iron Feather—its magic could make one’s movements much faster. Every time its magic increased, the sword’s speed would increase several times.

“You’re depending on your weapons rather than your skills!”

“The fact that I can use multiple weapons is evidence that I’m better,” answered Luke.

“You speak well, young man. Then, I’ll use the power of God to crush those weapons of yours!”

Ddddd!

Gregory’s aura gathered and began to create lightning.

It was Lightning Might—the ultimate sword technique of the Holy Sword. Only the finest of the paladins and the priests could bring out the divine power. It was the ultimate skill.

“Like ash, turn into nothing but dust! Disappear!”

Grrrrrrng-!

Gregory pointed his sword toward Luke then lightning flashed toward him.

“Kaak!”

This time, Luke didn’t manage to avoid it. He got hit and flew far away. He landed into a bush from afar.

Even as Luke had disappeared from sight and was in the bushes, Gregory didn’t stop his lightning attack. It was like he didn’t want Luke to get up for another clash of swords.

“No! Stop it! Stop, stop all of this!”

Reina yelled. However, it didn’t seem like Gregory cared.

He attacked till he thought his opponent really turned into dust and ashes and pulled his sword back.

‘This should be enough to take him down.’

There would no longer be an unclean fool in the eyes and heart of the pope.

Gregory was convinced that that was the case. However, his face became distorted after a while.

Luke was staggering from the other side of the darkly burned bushes.

“Kuk, I almost died.”

Even after taking such powerful blows, Luke’s eyes were still alive.

‘How can this be? How is he still alive?’

That was all Gregory could think of.

Flustered by the unexpected result, Gregory didn’t notice that the sword in his hand had changed again.

A cross-shaped long sword with a low and soft light around it.

It was the Demon Slayer.

It was a sword that could nullify dark magic and demons.

It was best to use it against Magi, but it still works effectively when used against divine power.

That was how Luke managed to repel Gregory’s onslaught.

“You can’t break everything with God’s power.”

“Keuk!”

Arch Duke Gregory’s face burned with anger, shame, and rage. He raised his sword. He thought of giving his everything to end the man in front of him.

However, Luke’s reactions were faster. He brought out the last of his energy to fight back.

Quickly changing his sword to Iron Feather, he broke into Gregory’s area.

“This…!”

“Titan Blade!” Shouted Luke.

Luke abandoned Iron Feather and pulled out the Dragon Tooth from his subspace bracelet, amplifying the gravity magic that the sword was enchanted with, and he used Titan Fist at the same time.

The shock wave generated by the fusion of the gravity magic, the enormous power and the attack from magic turned the blade into a hell-of-a-blade.

For the first time, Gregory’s expression changed drastically. His cold and arrogant expression disappeared. His eyes were filled with shock and embarrassment.