Emperor of Steel Chapter 657 – Internal Cut 2

“What? Our secret hideout, Hells Island, is gone?!”

Shaikan.

Well, now, he had to be called as the entity that possessed him, Arsene, jumped up at the report of a warlock, who was in a grey robe.

The warlock was terrified at how angry Arsene was and stuttered while replying, “W-well, to be precise, it seemed that the self-destruct magic circle in the basement of the Thanatos Pyramid had been triggered.”

The former elder of the Veritas Magic Tower, who followed Arsene into Libiya Kingdom, began to explain the signal he received an hour ago.

There was a specific signal, which was set to be generated when the self-destruct magic circle located under the island of Thanatos got activated, and the elder managed to get that.

“No way!”

Arsene knew that the self-destruct magic circle in the basement of Thanatos Island would only be activated when the secret hideout was in danger or about to be captured.

And if it was triggered, it meant that their secret hideout was on the verge of getting captured by a strong enemy.

“Even I couldn’t believe it, but the signal was so clear that I couldn’t help too.”

Arsene frowned at the words of the former elder.

‘Kul! About a third of the Undead’s power was left behind on the island. Even if they weren’t perfected, they were still strong enough to fight well against a few nations. And before the secret hideout got captured, a self-destruct magic circle got triggered?’

Even with both the Southern and Northern Continents combined, there were only a few places that held such power—the Holy Arthenia Empire, the Castia Kingdom, and the Song Empire.

And among them, the Song Empire and the Castia Kingdom didn’t have any reason to act like that, so the main doubt was on the Holy Arthenia Empire.

‘But how did the Holy Empire know…?’

How could they even know that the secret hideout was in Hells Island?

And even if they managed to figure it out, if the Holy Empire had sent out large scale troops and Saint Guards, the intelligence agency would have reported it to Arsene.

‘I need to wait for the survivors, at least Nestar, to contact me.’

No matter how much the island had been compromised, someone might have escaped from there.

When Arsene decided to wait for the call, the door to his office opened quickly and a middle-aged warlock came in.

“Ancestor, we are in trouble! Just now, the Song Empire…”

He tried to speak out, but he went stiff when he saw the former elder and Arsene’s angry expressions.

“What about the Song Empire?”

“Th-that… the news just came in…”

As Arsene looked at the man with a sharp glare, the man, who was stuttering, went silent completely. He wasn’t able to endure the energy Arsene was releasing.

‘Kul! This thing and that thing…!’

Slightly annoyed, Arsene extended his palm.

The middle-aged warlock got pulled toward him like a magnet.

Whether the warlock was struggling in pain or not, Arsene didn’t back down from reading through his memories.

‘What? Hwang Bo-kwang, did that guy attack Yemaek? He didn’t even bother informing me…!’

Arsene was extremely displeased.

Hwang Bo-kwang, who had been pushed aside by his Hwang Bo clan, was able to rise to such a royal position because of Arsene’s help.

However, the man took advantage of the time when Arsene was busy in the Rhodesia Continent and took the help of a man called Earner who could create Undead, and he tried to move on his own.

Still, Hwang Bo-kwang lost the war and fell.

Yet, there was one thing that annoyed Arsene more than the loss.

‘Luke, that guy, he went to the Southern Continent and supported Yemaek and Jo Won-rak?’

As that thought ran around his mind, another possibility arose.

It was about the identity of the enemy who attacked Thanatos Island.

‘That could be possible! But it isn’t clear!’

Arsene’s anger made him clench his fist.

Snap!

Looking down, he saw that the middle-aged man was close to death as he almost broke his neck.

“I found out the attacker of the secret hideout.”

“And who is that?”

The former elder asked, raising his eyebrows.

“It was Luke, who always stepped on us.”

“He… How did he even know?!”

The former elder looked ridiculous. It was because he thought that Luke was staying in the Symphonia Kingdom.

“Maybe that guy was a fake one. It is because he actually led his knights to the Southern Continent.”

According to the report from the almost dead warlock, Luke led Gigant troops to Yemaek to protect them from Song Empire’s attack, and he then assisted the 3rd prince, Jo Won-rak, to gather huge support.

And after that, he wiped out Jo Won-gyun and Hwang Bo-kwang.

Arsene had been wondering why he hadn’t been getting any reports from his subordinates, who were dispatched in the Song Empire. He knew the reason now.

“Then, isn’t this a huge problem?”

All this time, the help Arsene and the Veritas Magic Tower did for the Song Empire wasn’t small.

They had been planning to use the Southern Continent as their Undead production base after helping the Song Empire to unify the entire continent.

However, as Hwang Bo-kwang’s group was wiped out, one of the strongest lines, which Veritas Magic Tower had been trying to take control of, was gone.

“Of course, this is a huge setback. However, the biggest problem is that my location had been revealed.”

If Luke managed to find out about the islands, he might have found out where Arsene was hiding.

Of course, he couldn’t have gotten the information too.

As the self-destruct magic circle got triggered, there was a possibility Luke, who attacked the island, sank into the sea.

‘But considering his skills, it is most likely that he lived through it.’

Arsene had lost his last battle against Luke.

Therefore, it was only natural for Arsene to feel anger.

He did take over a Dragonian’s body, but he still hadn’t managed to fully utilize its power, and even his dark magic hadn’t reached its original level.

‘I need time. First, I need to make sure that he doesn’t find me.’

There were many ways for that.

He could either confuse the Symphonia Kingdom, or he could make someone very close to Luke attack him.

‘Kukuku, there is a suitable way.’

He recalled a person, who turned into his own spy. He shook the bell on the table.

Jingle! Jingle!

“You called for me, Your Majesty?”

After a while, Margareta, who was dressed in a heavily exposing clothing, entered the room.

She was the successor of the Arachne Magic Tower. She used Illusion and Enchanting magic as her main power. She was below Arsene after she got overpowered.

‘It is unfortunate. Only if I was three hundred years younger…!’

With a sly smile, Arsene opened his mouth.

“I have an order for you.”

“Wh-what is it?”

After their last encounter, Margareta was too nervous to even stand in front of Arsene.

He shook his hands, seeing her terrified.

“Huhu, there is nothing to be afraid of. This is something you can do very well.”

Arsene approached her and gave instructions into her ear.

When she heard the instructions and the detailed steps of it, she looked relieved.

It was really something she could do.

“I will give you warlocks, so go out right away.”

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

Looking down, Margareta set out to the Grenada Kingdom with the former elder who was beside Arsene.

But Arsene’s instructions weren’t just for her.

He later called other several servants and sent them all to different locations.

“Kuahahaha! Luke, you are going to get really busy for once!”

A laughter of joy and evil rattled all through the office.