Emperor of Steel

“Huhuhu. Surely they are all stuck in there.”

Emperor Rudolf, who was looking through the three-dimensional view in front of him, smiled.

In one of the sections of the dungeon, several red spots were currently blocking the green spots, not letting anyone move.

Well, the red dots were disappearing one after the other.

“Your Majesty, this is…?”

Voltas was asking the same question for the fifth time.

Rudolf, staring at the three-dimensional view, turned to Voltas with a smile.

“Huh? What did you say, Count Voltas?”

“I asked what the device was. I never knew such a device was in Your Majesty’s office.”

“Obviously, you didn’t. This is a top-secret that only the Emperors of the past knew.”

At Rudolf’s words, Voltas could feel his heart stabilize.

Surely, such a thing had to be a top-secret of the Emperor.

Voltas was just a little worried about whether or not the Emperor knew everything that he was doing.

Had he ever been outside the Emperor’s eyes?

“You know about the legend that goes around the Imperial Palace, right? The story where the last princess of the Libiya Kingdom had disappeared with a ruby.”

“Yes, I knew very well the story that was created by the ancestors, but…?”

“You must know it. It is real. It was a lie that the Goddess Belize took in the princess and dragged the first Emperor to hell.”

Emperor Rudolf sat while looking at the portrait of the 1st Emperor at the side of his office.

“In the past or in the Mado era, there was a special magic tower where magic research was being conducted. It was a place where the impossible was being studied. Even in those days, the magic was as brilliant as now.”

“Impossible areas…?”

“Time and Space.”

At the words of the Emperor, Voltas couldn’t get his head around it.

He was someone who didn’t know much about magic, but he knew what the Emperor was showing now was truly something that happened only in the realm of God.

In response to Voltas’ reaction, Rudolf smiled.

“You might not believe it. However, the thing about space was successful. It was rare, but there are things like ‘subspace’ which have been created to contain items.”

Subspace items made in the Mado era were all over the ancient ruins.

Luke’s subspace artifact was one of them.

“Even if space was possible, isn’t time impossible? Going to the past or to the future only work in novels.”

At Voltas’ words, Rudolf shook his head.

“We already achieve the results with space. Why do you think that ‘time’ is impossible?”

‘Was it really possible?’

Rudolf continued to speak whether Voltas considered him to be insane or not.

“Anyway, the ancient fairy wizards who succeeded in creating the space continued to study in Time, and they came to the conclusion that adjusting Time would require a huge amount of magic to match with the power of the God.”

It was impossible for people to have magic powers equivalent to the power of God. A human’s body wouldn’t be able to stand it.

Thus, the ancient wizards tried to get such power from nature.

As they searched for places with mana fields in nature, they finally managed to find the best place.

“And was that the Imperial Palace?”

“Yes, the place where the dungeon is located attracts all the powers in the world, not just mana or aura. Even people who stand there for a long time will die.”

‘Was that why a prison was built over there?’

While Voltas was in thoughts, Rudolf continued to speak, “Even after the Mado era disappeared and the magic tower perished, the strange phenomenon of the place didn’t change. That was why humans began to seal it off and build temples over them, in hopes that the evil of the world would disappear.”

And that didn’t mean that the phenomenon disappeared.

However, after the temples and shrines got built, the number of victims who died or disappeared fell.

“Let’s put the story aside for a moment. The ancient fairy wizards continued to study with the enormous power gathered in the place. On one hand, they studied the flow of power and made experimental weapons.”

Those experimental weapons were currently blocking the intruders, and it was Rudolf who woke it up.

Ancient magic items obtained in the process of building up the palace by the 2nd Emperor managed to inject mana into the underground dungeon’s weapons and made them grasp the topography and structures around the palace at a glance.

“However, it was just an experiment that was done for the first time. He could only use them in the ruins. Even the remains of the underground are true. They can’t move outside and there is no way to control them inside those ruins.”

In fact, even the disappearance and accidents that happened in the past were all caused by the devices built to control the ruins that malfunctioned in the process of excavating the ruins.

“And what about now?”

“We are still researching it in the Imperial Magic Tower… However, we haven’t found a way to control them.”

Well, they actually found a clue.

Mana, aura, divine power, and etc were all sources of power and also Aether—the possible main source of the world’s creation.

The problem was that there was no research on Aether.

Marquis Kepler, the Meister of the Imperial Magic Tower, reported that it would take some time to achieve that.

“If I had a way to control the remains in my lifetime and manage time, I might be able to reverse everything which happened so far. Just as the fairies would try to change the mistakes they did.”

Rudolf’s eyes were displaying feelings of sadness while saying that.

The figure of the children he had killed with his own hands had come to his mind.

‘If we could turn back time, we might be able to stop tragedies. No, I will stop everything!’

The elders and high ranking wizards of the Imperial Magic Tower were in charge of the study, yet they were in fear of touching something that solely belonged to God and was terrified of being punished by them.

However, Rudolf wasn’t afraid of punishment.

It was because he already thought that he had been abandoned by both God and the Devil.

“Well, dealing with intruders is the most important thing right now.”

Saying so, Voltas pointed at the magic device.

The red dots that fell were currently moving trough the green dots and were heading to the entrance. The green dots continued to decrease as they reached the entrance.

“There are a few troops that are waiting outside the entrance, but with this momentum, they might get out.”

“That won’t happen. Everything will turn into ash.”

Smiling for some reason, Rudolf placed his hand on the ornament.

The green dots began to flash as if they were being controlled by the Emperor.

“This is a pity, but they are good enough to come and rescue Ferrero and get rid of such guys. They aren’t that bad.”

Voltas didn’t know what the Emperor just did.

Judging by the Emperor’s hearty laughter, he knew the fate of the invaders in the dungeon.

‘We need to do it. We need to escape!’

Luke and his party, who continued to break through the stone dolls, stopped when they noticed the stones stepping back.

“Your Majesty, why are they suddenly doing that?”

“Somehow, they seem to be getting redder?”

Even if the men didn’t say it, Luke knew something was unusual.

The magic stones inside the stone dolls were flowing heavily, and there was just one thing that could happen.

“Everyone down!”

Bang!

Right as Luke gave his order, the stones exploded.

Flashes, flames, and heatwave filled the passage engulfing Luke’s party.