Emperor of Steel

Chapter 710: Legion of the Dead 1

“What was that? The support troops from Libiya and our western army destroyed?”

Emperor Rudolf’s face went distorted when he saw the report of the war.

Count Voltas bent his face with regret and embarrassment.

“Count Mikhail struggled against the enemies and realized that the enemy troop’s power was stronger than expected, and he got defeated.”

“Kuk! Even if we couldn’t win, I thought we’d be able to cut the flow…!”

A whooping 130,000 troops.

Even if that number couldn’t defeat his enemy, Rudolf thought that army could give them some time.

However, he didn’t think that he would get defeated in the hands of only one squad.

“I can’t get myself to believe it! How is that Mikhail so incompetent and foolish to let this happen… Who the hell is the enemy?!”

“That…”

Voltas, who thought for a second, whispered the words, “It was Ferrero and Darland.”

“What? Those traitors?”

Rudolf’s anger only worsened with their names being said.

But on the other hand, he was convinced of the reason for his loss.

Ferrero was once the military head of the Baroque Empire, and Darland was known to be exceptional when it came to planning battles and warfare.

If it was Ferrero, then it made sense for Mikhail to lose.

Rudolf, who had been biting his lip, gave orders after coming to a decision.

“Gather all the troops, which can be gathered right away, to the capital.”

“Sorry?”

“I said to call all the north and eastern troops!”

Count Voltas went silent for a second and cautiously opened his mouth.

“Then the borders between the east and the north may be broken down.”

Not just maybe, they were sure to break down.

Currently, the Holy Empire and the Volga Republic were looking for opportunities to invade the Baroque with large troops gathering at the border.

Rudolf wanted to gather all troops, not realizing that.

The most important thing for him wasn’t the empire or the people in it.

It was the ancient ruins that were below the Imperial Palace.

It was of utmost importance for him to earn time until the ruins were put under operation.

At the same time, with all of his troops in the city, he would have a chance to see the ruins.

He knew about the restoration of the ruins, and an Aether generating device was almost near completion.

“If I manage to stall them and gain more time, we can recover the amount of damage taken. No, I can bring the whole continent to my feet. Gather all the troops and defend the capital!”

‘This is a gamble for the ancient ruins…’

What if the ancient ruins didn’t work even after the Aether was filled?

And even if it worked, what if it wouldn’t move to the desired point of time in the past.

‘He is dead set! Your Majesty isn’t in a great mood right now. He definitely lost his temper!’

Voltas thought that Rudolf had lost his mind for the future of the empire.

However, Rudolf asked in a faint voice as if reading through Voltas’s thoughts.

“Voltas, why is there no answer to my orders? Don’t you want to follow?”

‘Ugh!’

Voltas looked into Rudolf’s eyes.

It was because his eyes were shimmering with deafness, which didn’t want to hear anyone else’s words.

In the past, Voltas had seen the same eyes in Rudolf.

A few years ago, when the Imperial family died due to an unexplained cause, he saw it.

Emperor Rudolf, whose eyes were turned, dug up a tomb, saying it belonged to Arsene, and ordered for the search of the Veritas Magic Tower’s remnants.

He didn’t stop there. He attended the parliament. He killed all the nobles and the lawmakers. He even killed off their families and relatives, not even leaving their servants and pets.

The madness at that time was so terrifying that even Count Voltas didn’t have the courage to face him.

‘The only way now is to lower my head whether I like it or not.’

Thinking so, Voltas answered with a trembling voice.

“Th-that makes no sense. I will give Your Majesty’s orders to the entire army right away.”

“You need to hurry. If the enemy troops arrive before the ruins are put into operation, all because of your late order, I will kill you, and your daughter including all your other family members. That daughter of yours will be the most miserable empress in the world!”

Thud!

As Count Voltas ran out to give the orders, Rudolf headed to the ruins.

He visited it several times a day to check the progress, but today seemed different.

Wizards were put together in the underground ruins and asked for the ruins to be operational within a week.

“I-in one week?”

The marquis and meister of Imperial Magic Tower, Kepler, asked with a trembling voice. It was because he too noticed the unusual condition of Rudolf.

“Kuke, yes. If you succeed in activating the Ruins of Time in one week, I will give you enormous wealth and honor. If you fail…!”

“If I fail…?”

Count Rolex, who was behind them, gulped at the words.

“I will make you regret being born in this world. No, I will sacrifice you to the demons by summoning them.”

“Hiik!”

Every wizard in the room gasped at those words.

However, if they were sacrificed to the demons, which got summoned, they wouldn’t be able to live their life as they knew.

“I will definitely do it, Your Majesty!”

At Rudolf’s threat, Marquis Kepler and Count Rolex replied.

The two of them went back to work.

“What are we supposed to do?”

At Rolex’s question, Kepler answered with a frown, “What can we do? We need to run it within a week.”

“But we didn’t even test to see if the ruins have been restored, so how?”

Thanks to the books and materials in the bronze chest, they were able to restore the ruins.

However, they never checked to see if the restoration was complete and would work.

It was because it was their first time to come across with a time travel device.

Moreover, the wizards of the ancient Mado Empire, who built the ruins, wrote a theory about Time, Space, and Aether power, but it was not mentioned if they actually used it.

“Honestly, I told it to His Majesty, but I cannot guarantee that this passage can be opened in the given time.”

Rolex sighed when he saw how things were being pushed.

They actually planned to show the performance in small experiments and then confirm it to His Majesty.

However, due to the invasion of the alliance troops, the plan went wrong.

“We can’t help it. We need to take a gamble.”

“Gamble?”

“Right, let’s make it work. And we’ll leave the rest to luck.”

With a sigh, Marquis Kepler decided to put the ancient ruins to operation within a week by calling in as many wizards from the Imperial Magic Tower as possible.