Emperor's Reckoning

Sophia Treas Alrude, one of the overseers of the Crown had already left Mabia and into a world where mana was denser. Right in front of her was a huge double door that led to a magnificent chamber. Only a certain few had entered the said chamber and even fewer exited it.

Her heartbeat always rose whenever she was in front of this door. She had met powerful people, made powerful connections, however, she could never calm herself whenever she was here.

Though the person behind the door was one of the most important persons in this world, there was not a single guard in sight. The door was not even reinforced with ores and other foreign materials, it was made of sturdy teak wood which any cultivator in this world could break.

"It's not locked, Sophia."

She immediately turned rigid before replying, "Y-yes! Pardon me, empress."

With one last breath from the outside, she braced herself and pushed the door.

The atmosphere was calm and serene, unlike the feelings she had just moments ago. There was not a single object in this chamber that looked menacing or even slightly threatened her being.

"Hmm? What are you standing there for, you are here to report about the Crown right?"

The woman was sitting behind the desk with a pile of documents on both ends. She carefully looked at them as some of them were signed and some of them were ripped apart.

"Yes," answered Sophia as she approached the desk and give her a report from the spatial ring.

"Alright then, let's see who is the candidate for the Throne tournament since the last one died even before finishing it."

The woman furrowed her eyebrows, "Hmm, this is surprisingly thin and wow, you lost this much money? Though it's very rare, these kinds of things do happen sometimes, I guess it's their fortune."

"Yes, I'm sorry."

The woman shook her head, "Don't be sorry, your family has a lot of wealth for this much to even matter."

Suddenly the woman let out a sigh as she flipped the files, "Reading data is quite boring, please narrate me about everything regarding the tournament."

Sophia nodded, "There was something wild happening in the tournament,"

"Oh? What's that?"

"Round three did not happen, that's why the report was thinner than usual."

The woman furrowed her eyebrows, "Hmm? How could this be? How did you pick a winner then?"

"Empress, I'm sorry, I will start from the beginning. There was this academy that never showed up in the tournament that suddenly did. It was deemed to be the weakest among the five academies but got the invitation via the connection with Van the beastmaster."

The woman looked confused before asking, "Who?"

"Van the beastmaster, he is one of the overseers."

"Oh right, sorry, continue on."

"Oh no, Empress please don't apologize it's me who should be-"

The woman shook her head before telling her to continue.

Sophia took a slight bow before continuing, "There was this young man from the said academy that came a little bit... late.

The woman noticed the hesitation in her tone and the slight red hue of her face before she jokingly teased her, "Oooh I get it, is Sophia in love? Is that how you choose the winner? Tsk.tsk.tsk. Sophia, you can't do that you know."

"Ah, no I did-!"

"Hahaha, I just messing with you!"

The woman had a light chuckle before letting her continue.

(I'm just too embarrassed to tell you how his entrance was, otherwise you will tease me to death) thought Sophia before making a fake cough to stabilize her tone.

"This young man, he was only a Soul Realm cultivator and was deemed to be trash by the crowds until he surprised us all during the measurement test of his strength."

"Oh yeah, that rock thingy right? I almost forgot about that one, can you lend me later? I think I make it into an irreversible state now."

Sophia smiled wryly, "It's a, it's gone."

"Excuse me?"

"The young man destroyed the stone."

"Huh? Hahaha!"

The woman laughed as she was expected. Nobody would believe such stories until they experienced them themselves.

"I guess even the great Sophia has her flukes at times. That stone could never be broken by a mere Soul Realm cultivator, not even a Godhood Realm cultivator can do that, not even me, yet," said the woman with a hint of a smirk as she said the last part.

"So that means."

"Yup, he faked it, must be an astonishing show there. Ah! I wish a was there to see it."

"Grr, that handsome thief I swear."

"Oooh so he has a nickname now, help me, Sophia, I'm doubting your neutrality here."

"Akh, please don't, it's just an honest mistake."

"Hahaha, don't fret about it, I'm just messing with you."

She wanted to be angry but didn't dare to do so., hence she recounted the whole event of round one and two, including the act of the overseer that endangered the whole tournament. The woman's face had to interchange expressions as she heard the tale of the young man.

"He did that? Hmm, this young man is such an inspirational figure, isn't he? Quite shameless but inspirational nonetheless," mused the woman as she rubbed her chin.

(Ah, I forgot to mention his perverted acts) thought Sophia.

"But the grandson of a true dragon you say? That's a very rare case there. Hmm, a human with a true dragon grandfather huh."

Sophia stood silent as she looked at the woman standing up from her chair and slowly walked away toward a painting. She suddenly let out a smile that every goddess jealous of, "It reminds me of someone."

"Ah, that's right, this might be unbelievable but this young man's face is almost identical to the man in the painting."

The woman's eyes opened wide, as she stared at the man in the painting who was depicted to be in a standoff against a giant golem. Despite the difference in sizes, the man was smirking against the big foe in front of him.

"His name is... L-Lycan? I think, wait, let me check the report-"

"Lyon Torga," the woman answered.

"Ah, that's right, but Empress, how did you know his name, you don't even read all the files."

The woman put her hands behind her back, as he looked at the man's face in the painting, "Of course, I know the name."

Hidden from Sophia's view, the woman's tears quickly rolled across her cheek with a grin on her face.