Emperor's Reckoning

The kingdom immediately began their rebuilding process as days went by. The thumping sounds produced by the hammer filled the bustling city as the royalty entirely funded their loss. The nobles started to appear on the streets once more as they were healed from their injuries.

With Lyon's magic, Scabbard vanished, the neighboring lesser kingdom started to visit Luderia. They were trying to gain as much as info as they could since they knew there was supposed to be an election for the next ruler. Knowing who was a matter of course.

However, their effort of knowing who the next king was futile as they were greeted with the same old king, sitting on his throne. The difference was that he no longer looked frail nor fragile. He was brimming with vigor for his age.

Nevertheless, there was something more intriguing than the identity of a new king. The lesser kingdoms were not full of dumb people. They knew that Luderia was isolated with magic that far surpassed what Deo could offer. No matter what force they put in, they couldn't enter Luderia during the time where the huge earthquake was happening.

What's more shocking was the news of the first prince's death. The powerful young promising man met his end and the king didn't deny this. However, the reason for his death was kept secret.

The neighboring kingdoms sent their condolences in person as they 'grieved' for the young talent. However, the reality was they came to collect information from the spies they sent beforehand to mingle with the locals.

"Thank you for your condolences, you can go now," said the king of Luderia before waving his hand.

There were four middle-aged men kneeling in front of him. These men were the ruler of their respective kingdom, however, with the pride they had, they knelt in front of the ruler of Luderia.

They knew how wicked the first prince actually was, and with the king being famous for his fairness and just, they were not surprised by the king's calmness despite losing his son.

The four didn't mind the tone as they proceeded to leave the throne room after giving a bow. Along the way, they converse with each other as a try to perceive new information from each other.

"So how is it going with you three? Gain any interesting leads?" teased one of them.

"Hmm, your spies and mine actually cooperated during the operation, if you wanna hear that," replied the other with a smile.

His words sent a chuckle to the other two.

"Sigh, maybe so, but it was odd that the information is based on a rumor,"

The four of them looked gloomy as a sign that they receive the same information from their spies.

A rumor that the first prince was actually killed on the platform in the commoner's region. By a man, no, a young man that far exceeded the talent of the prince. An existence that was impossible for Deo to contain, did he actually exist?

Their thoughts were running with that question before someone of the four clapped his hand.

"Ah, that's right, there was something interesting going on before any of the incidents that recently happened," said one of them before continuing, "There was indeed a young man that was acting as a driver for the Elgome's mansion, another rumor has it that it was one of the sister's lover. You know how beautiful those two are, right? Don't you think it's suspicious?"

Luderia was not only famous for its military strength but also the elusive four beauties. Biaene and Clemora, sisters of warmth and cool. Aelina and Chloe, princess of honor and the fighter princess. Many wanted to take their hands but all of them failed since they already got what they want in their life. They lack ideas as to what to offer.

The four lesser kings fell into contemplation as they gained the info.

*creak

Suddenly, the door behind them opened before a voice sent them chills.

"You do not need to delve into this matter deeper,"

The four kings immediately kowtowed before the source of the voice, "Please forgive us, your majesty!"

The commanding words were of course coming from Luderia's ruler. He stroked his beard as he saw the four of them banged their heads to the floor.

The king let out a breath before walking past them, "That is just an advice from me, you four are free to do as you please, however,"

The king's tone turned deep after a pause, "Don't blame me if the four of you were to be obliterated along with your lands."

"Please be lenient, your majesty!" said the four of them as they banged their heads to the floor.

The king chuckled, "You are wrong, the one that would do that won't be me nor my army, I don't have that much power."

Thus the ruler of Luderia left the scene leaving the four lesser kings dumbstruck.

The four of them gulped as the king proved one thing, the existence was true. A being that was even more talented than the first prince. However, what's making them scared was his choice of words. The king said that 'he' would obliterate the four of them along with their 'lands', not just their kingdom. That means that the existence had the power to cut them off the map not just wipe them.

The four lesser kings immediately agreed to not touch this taboo matter even further. Even though their spies managed to gain the identity later, the lesser kings chose to drop it off. However, that didn't stop for the locals to keep talking about it.

"I saw it! He just jumped down from the sky and counter the prince's attack before sending the city in chaos! It was so cool!" said one of the kids in an alley.

"Shh! Don't say it out loud!" said one of them with a finger on his mouth.

Before Lyon knew it, he was already a role model for the children, both nobles and commoners. It was only a matter of time before his feats spread to the entire Deo.