Emperor of Steel

Chapter 714: Entering Nemesis 1

The road to the capital of Baroque Empire, Nemesis.

About a hundred knights gathered in a circle and sat in the wasteland.

However, one of them had approached an old man with a fancy armor, who appeared to be the commander of the group, and said something.

“What was that? The undead have appeared on the side of the 3rd squad?”

“Yes, Arch Duke. According to the magical communication from the Holy Palace, it was said that they were suspecting it to be the zombie poison.”

Arch Duke Gregory, frowned at the report of the messenger.

“The Libiya Kingdom and the Baroque have crossed the line that they shouldn’t have.”

He heard that both nations had joined hands with the warlocks.

However, he never expected that they would spread the zombie poison in their own lands.

The horror of the zombie poison was very well known to the Holy Empire, which had seen it first-hand. They had seen the zombie poison outbreak in the Jackson estates.

“That is a very tough situation. I don’t know if we can go ahead and catch them.”

At the words of the Saint Guard, Gregory asked with a frown, “Catch them? What is that supposed to mean?”

“That... In the magic communication a while back, it was said that Her Holiness has asked us to join the 3rd squad and help them in supressing the zombie poison.”

“What?!”

Gregory and the 1st squad of the Saint Guards were organized as a secret reinforcements by Reina to help Luke.

The group was meant to help, more like get Karen back.

However, the pope was said to come to the battlefield directly.

No matter how many Gigants were there, there was surely no one superior to her divine ability to take down the undead.

“Is isn’t an official statement, right?”

“Yes, right. We were just informed, that is all. It is nice to think that they have help on their side.”

The captain of the 1st squad of the Saint Guards immediately added, “Our Saint Guard, specially the 1st squad, exists for the purpose of escorting Her Holiness. But I don’t think we should just be like this when Her Holiness is going to such a dangerous place.”

The other members of the Saint Guards too showed their agreement to the statement.

Gregory was silent for a moment and opened his mouth.

“As Saint Guards, we do exist for the sake of Her Holiness. But that doesn’t mean that we can violate her own order.”

“Then...?”

“The escorting of Her Holiness is left over to the squad 2 or 3 of the Saint Guards, and we will continue marching forward to Nemesis.”

The captain of the Saint Guards tried to refute Gregory’s decision.

“But the 2nd and 3rd squad are lesser than our 1st squad. If an enemy appears there, they won’t be able to...”

“It would have been very dangerous if Her Holiness was going into the enemy camp with few escorts. However, she is going to join with another army and help them. Considering that, is the princess the one who is in danger the most?”

“She is, but...”

“We don’t have time to argue. We need to hurry to Nemesis.”

Gregory got up from his seat and hurriedly took the Saint Guard to the west.

Their concerns for the pope were all buried deep into their brains.

After a while, Luke returned from taking a call.

His entire troop was waiting for him while they all expressed their concern for their allies.

“Your Majesty, the problem the 3rd squad has, is it manageable?”

At Scarlet’s question, Luke nodded.

“Appropriate measures have been taken. We just need to infiltrate Nemesis and focus on destroying the ruins inside the Imperial Palace.”

Luke who said that, reviewed everything they talked about before and even the retreating measures.

“Me and Erwin will take over the security magic circles. The others are supposed to go here and...”

He pointed to places over the Nemesis and gave detailed instructions and received suggestions.

The one who talked the most was Jo Mimi.

After hearing her suggestion, Luke burst in awe.

“Indeed! If it is zen skill, then we can do that.”

Jo Mimi shrugged at the indirect praise.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The northern continent lacks the skills regarding zen. So the enemy’s men will take time in dealing with it.”

“Nice! Regarding that, I am going to give it to princess Jo Mimi. Karen, you know zen skills, so try and help princess Jo.”

“Yes, dad.”

After the meeting, Luke and his party infiltrated Nemesis during the night.

However, it was tough to call their act as infiltration.

Because it was entering through the front door with disguise.

“Uhm... a transport unit from the eastern army has come to deliver the highest grade magic stones to the Imperial Palace?”

“Yes. Here is the passage permit.”

Luke, disguised as a merchant, showed the passage permit to the knight who was inspecting them.

The permit was given by Henry, who was still a Baroque Imperial Intelligence member, and there could be no doubt about it being recognized as a counterfeit.

“But you have Southern Continent soldiers.”

“They were originally mercenaries, and we hired them because we lack regular army troops.”

“Right... now is the time when no matter how many are being conscripted, we are still lacking. Even then, to bring in such a young child...”

The knight felt bad while looking at Karen. Luke smiled bitterly.

“I don’t feel that good either. I don’t like this as I too have a daughter of her age back in my hometown.”

“Tch, this war has to end soon... Well, I’m talking a lot. Please go in quickly.”

The knight sent Luke and his party into the gates,

They passed the gates a lot easier than expected, and the members of the troops seemed to be at ease.

However, Luke couldn’t relax.

It was because they hadn’t completely passed the searching of the gates.

According to Henry’s information, artifacts that could measure mana and auras were installed inside the gates.

Luke and the members of his team were the best and the brightest, so they were bound to get caught by the circles.

‘If we have no countermeasure, we will get caught.’

Wooong!

As they were heading into the point where the artifacts were located, the magic circles on the ground glowed by giving out a low noise and a blueish light began to wrap them.

But that was all.

Maybe because they didn’t seem too startled, the Imperial forces deployed around the artifacts didn’t stop them.

Once they passed, the group, who was nervous with the magic circle activation, sighed.

“The magic circle that Your Majesty made was effective.”

“Of course, I am pretty skillful.”

At Shirley’s words, Luke smiled.

It was dark, so it was hard to see, but magic circles were drawn onto the uniforms of the troops along with Luke.

It was a magic circle that could conceal the mana or the aura of the one who wears it, and it was possible to deceive that artifact because of the circle.

“From now on, we need to be on alert. We are going into the dragon’s mouth.”

Everyone nodded at Luke’s warning.

A number of Imperial troops were stationed in the palace. If they did anything that was clumsy or suspicious, they would be surrounded by enemies from all sides.

“We will go according to plan. We’ll take off these costumes and then proceed.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Shh! Pay attention to your tone. We don’t know where and who is listening to us!”

“Understood, boss.”

Luke frowned, and Shirley corrected the other men.

“Miss Shirley, you were in the Iron Guards of the Baroque in the past, right? Considering that there would be more who might recognize you, you need to be more careful.”

“Yes.”

It was no time to be jovial, so Shirley responded seriously.

However, Luke couldn’t shake off his concern.

Shirley had amazing skills, but the only reason why she was asked to join the secret troops was because she understood the Imperial Palace better than anyone, and she had the most information on the Imperial army.

However, due to her personality, it seemed like Luke was holding onto a ticking time bomb that could burst at any moment.

‘Actually, I wanted Count Ferrero to join us rather than her...’

However, he had to give the commanders post to a person like Ferrero, who had a tremendous reputation in the Baroque Army to make the other nobles surrender, so he brought in Shirley.

‘I hope that this decision doesn’t make the results of this task unfavorable.’

Luke, who tried very hard to repress the churning feeling in his stomach, continued to step into the dragon’s mouth.

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