Emperor of Steel

A week later, Meister Johas of the Dark Moon Magic Tower, met with the seventh disciple Rob, who had disappeared from the Volga Republic’s army.

When the Meister greeted the disciple who had returned safely from the war, he heard an unexpected story.

Luke, a descendant of the warrior Rakan, was the shadow/disciple of the Black Sage, Saymon.

There were already rumors that the Rakan’s descendant had learned the dark magic by the Dark Elves, and through the new piece of information, the rumors had been confirmed.

But to possess the dark magic Yujin of Saymon?!

“What crazy nonsense are you spewing! Were you brainwashed by any chance?”

“NO, that isn’t possible, teacher.”

Rob spoke about the visionary magic that he had witnessed, the battle golem he saw, and the demons who work on Luke’s orders.

“How can an ordinary warlock take over a demon? And Luke’s zeitgeist said that though he was the descendant of Rakan, he fully understood the feelings of Saymon.”

“Oh my! All these…!” Spoke Johas in disbelief.

Johas was under the impression that maybe his disciple wanted to play with him.

But when he saw how confident Rob was speaking about the man, he realized that it wasn’t a joke.

He was under the impression that the disciple had been brainwashed, however, the body showed no signs of brainwashing.

‘Then, I guess it is true…’ Thought Johas.

“Sir Luke’s zeitgeist stated that he would want to meet with the Meister and discuss the matter with the Dark Moon. So he asked the Meister to come to find him.” Stated Rob.

“He wanted me, the Meister to come to meet him?” Asked Johas in disbelief.

“Yes. In terms of the position, the one who possesses the Yujin of Saymon has a higher status, I can understand that you don’t want to accept it. But think about the future of our Magic Tower.”

“Okay… fine. I’ll think about it, so head back to your room and rest.”

Johas responded bitterly.

If it was someone else, he wouldn’t have felt the need, but as Rob himself tried very hard to persuade him, he was having a change of heart.

‘It was definite that I had to meet him, anyway.’ Thought Johas.

Leaving the other factors aside, it was certain that the warrior descendant was in possession of Saymon’s Yujin.

Whether he decided to meet him or kill him, or if it was an elaborate plan of his, Johas would have to meet him first.

‘Furthermore, it may be that he had obtained the Yujin of Saymon, which was left behind. Then maybe we can share the difficult situation that we are facing now.’

A while back, they were under attack by the Lich, Arsene, who caused tremendous damage to the Dark Moon.

Many good elders had been killed, and the other warlocks and mercenaries were killed too. In addition, the main facilities of the Magic Tower were completely destroyed.

As a result, the development of a hero-class Gigant which had been ordered by the President did make any major signs of progress.

Determining that the one in possession of Saymon’s Yujin, could contribute to the situation, Johas decided to meet Luke.

The next morning.

Johas along with his attendant departed for Torlot Fortress, where Luke was staying.

“I never thought that you would make a decision so quickly.” Said Rob.

“Why delay the situation when the heart knows what needs to be done.”

In order to get Saymon’s Yujin as quickly as possible, Johas went right away.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, they were able to reach the riverside from where the Torlot Fortress was visible.

“I will go and inform that the teacher has arrived.”

“Oh sure, but be careful”. Said Johas.

It was a hard task to get into the Fortress of the enemy, and Luke should be welcoming them in front of the other people in the Fortress.

Rob too understood that he crossed over the river, infiltrated the Fortress and met Luke.

“Meister has arrived?” Asked Luke.

“Yes, he is waiting across the river. Tell us where you want to meet and we’ll be there…”

“No, there is no need for those formalities. I will meet him right away.” Stated Luke.

Luke sneaked out of the Fortress and crossed the river along with Philip and Erwin. And met Johas who was waiting for the return of Rob.

“You must be Luke de Rakan?” Johas asked, seeing the young man.

“Yes. You are Johas, the Meister of Dark Moon, I presume.”

It wasn’t shown, Luke was astonished as he saw Johas.

It wasn’t because of the 8 circle black circles, but it was because he was looking a bit similar to Meister Jerid, who was the Darkness Magic Tower Meister, who followed Saymon in the past.

In the same way, Johas was feeling the same level of astonishment that Luke felt.

‘Isn’t that the genius female wizard Erwin? But, why is she with him?’ Thought Johas.

It was informed that she had left to the south of the continent under the teacher’s orders, Erenes, but he didn’t know why.

‘I did hear that the warrior descendant was acquainted with Erenes, was that really true?’

Thinking back and forth, Johas spoke with Luke,

“My disciple stated that you were in possession of the Black Sage’s Yujin. Can you show that to me?”

“Well, it isn’t so difficult.”

Luke summoned a golem.

When he summoned the golem, Johas’s eyes went wide to the extent that his eyeballs almost popped out.

‘This, this can’t be?! How can this…!’

It wasn’t just because he used the dark magic of the Black Sage, or because the Golem was the same copy of Saymon’s vision.

The real reason for Johas to be surprised was because of the aura that Luke’s soul was giving out, and the process of performing magic.

Sensing the opponent’s magic power, he realized that a lot of magic could be accumulated.

But it was almost impossible for one to feel completeness without having any disciples.

Many wizards who managed to reach the highest magic circles always lacked in training, there were those people whose magic couldn’t feel complete or inspire anyone.

However, Johas had been practicing the dark magic for many years, and he finally managed to reach the 8 circle, as time went, he began to gain extraordinary training.

Which was he was able to feel the completeness in Luke’s magic which Rob wasn’t able to feel, it was so shocking that he tried to find reasons for it.

‘It would have made sense if he was a fairy who had lived for a hundred years, but for a human to have such a delicate and magnificent force? It is an impossible task, even for a magical genius.’

Johas came to the judgment that Luke’s force and his completeness in the magic weren’t just because of him getting the Yujin or a long-term disciple.

“How… how are you able to?” Asked Johas.

Johas’s voice turned rather polite.

Looking at the change in the tone and eyes, Luke smiled a little.

In fact, Luke was able to hide the completeness in the magic.

However, he showed it on purpose because he needed the Meister to know who he was dealing with.

“I want just the two of us to talk. Can you please step back?” Asked Luke.

At the words of Luke, Rob stepped back coldly, however, Philip and Erwin didn’t seem much fazed.

The two of them had already heard a few days ago that Luke was going to join hands with the descendants of Saymon.

Surely, Philp was concerned when he heard it.

However, unlike what was written down in the Baroque history, he decided to stand back and watch after Luke and Erwin who told him about Saymon and how his men weren’t evil.

As everyone moved from their position, Luke opened his mouth staring at Johas with kind eyes.

“There was a wandering wizard around 500 years back. From the moment he was born he was already associated with the image of the Devil, and was persecuted by the world.”

“That, that is…” Stuttered Johas.

“He wandered around until the age of thirty, he despised the world and the world despised him, however, he unexpectedly crossed path with the Black Sage, Saymon. And from that moment, he became his follower. Under his guidance, the man became a 7 circle Warlock and acted as the Vice Meister of the Darkness Magic Tower. His name was Jerid. A person called as the Book of Darkness.”

“How, how do you know about…?!”

As the story of his ancestor was being told to him, Johas began to turn scared and amused at the same time.

The sound of Saymon, the Devil King, was a very famous name for in the current world, however, there were men under him who haven’t been revealed to the world.

Jerid was one of them, he was satisfied with being the shadow of Saymon, and didn’t reveal his identity to the world deliberately.

The records of the Darkness Magic Tower called him a full-time warlock and mentioned his name and position, however, his immediate family was the only ones who knew his past.

Despite that, the young man in front of Johas was able to tell all about him, as if he knew it or saw it with his own eyes!

“Wondering how did I know this?” Asked Luke

“Yeah, obviously.”

“To do that, I must tell you the truth, the truth which I have never told anybody else. Are you confident enough to shoulder the burden of this truth?” Asked Luke.

Johas hesitated for a moment but soon nodded his head with a serious expression.

“Even if it means that I’ll fall into hell, I am willing to shoulder it.” Stated Johas boldly.

“Okay then, I will tell you the truth.”

Luke paused a moment. A very brief pause felt like a hundred years for Johas.

“Luke de Rakan died last year. It was because of a Gigant accident that had happened in a hostile environment.”

“Uh? What, what do you mean?” Asked Johas, flustered.

“I am not the descendant of Rakan. I have borrowed the body of Luke… but my identity… is the same as the one… 500 years ago.”

Johas’s body trembled.

It was a possibility, but he wanted to believe that such things couldn’t happen.

But his pessimistic thoughts shattered at the next words from Luke.

“The Warlock who is referred to as the Devil King. I am him, the Black Sage, Saymon!”