Emperor's Reckoning

Her sudden entrance shocked the entire room as they would have never thought someone else other than those they intended to stay was there. Not to mention the jade glow on her sharp eyes that looked down on them despite the huge disparity in numbers.

"Tea— Karina you..."

Lyon's voice turned hoarse as he looked at her figure. Her favorite cap had flown to who knows where but the golden blonde hair fluttered freely as some of it draped around her shoulder.

"Retract, your sword, grandson," whispered Shen to his ear.

"Grandpa..." muttered Lyon before he retracted Scarlet.

"I don't know how long she could handle the power, but with anti-mana as her base, she gained a full advantage against them since it would cancel out their arts and magic if timed right."

Lyon had a slight worry, the last time she saved him, she fell into a coma that made him breached the space through magic in a hurry. However, that was also the turning point of her cultivation. Being reset to zero and having a giant size of anti-mana inside her body, the woman was in constant battle not to burst her meridian lines, else, she would have died.

Borton furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the slender figure. He poured his senses in trying to gauge the new enemy that stood in front of him but the result only made his pupils constricted. (Nothing? She had absolutely no mana inside her? How can this be?!).

He knew for certain that the young woman possessed a power that could easily send two of his allies flying. However, there was not a single hint about the extent of her cultivation levels at all. There was nothing to see except the same green jade eyes that Lyon presumably showed in his.

"Who are you, woman?" asked Borton.

"F-Father, she is one of Lyon's women," said Russel as he slightly gritted his teeth. One of his bodyguards was easily killed back then that he almost died alongside them was it not for his quick feet.

Karina didn't seem to shade a red hue at all against Russel's assumption toward her relationship with Lyon. Her mind was too occupied to keep the transformation as long as possible to buy time. Escaping was in plain sight, futile. There was no way out for the two of them with them being outnumbered by more than ten folds. The situation might seem dim for the moment but she knew she was the only light left in the room.

"Gah! You bitch!" one of the enemies she sent toward the opposing sides of the wall regained his stands.

"Damn it!" said the other as he noticed his chest had a palm imprint that let out a burning sensation on his skin. The clothes he wore were shredded and he looked like a beggar in that one hit.

"Karina..."

"Why are you looking all sore and burned out Lyon? Do you forget our training?"

One of Lyon's eyes was already closed in half but the other one opened slightly wider the moment she said those words. All of the scenes started to resurface, including how he got his body propelling mercilessly from her direct blow. A couple of walls were torn that day. However, under the rain that was already set in the forest, a scene worthy of a painting happened.

"I..."

Lyon still owed the woman the kiss that he gave her and the life that she had saved before during the discovery of anti-mana, however, once again, this time, he owed her. Only with her did he had debts, only with her of all the women he had interacted with.

"They call me by many names, but Golden Demoness has the right ring to my ears," said Karina before she slowly grinned.

"Golden Demoness? Hahaha!" the men laughed at her words.

(Golden Demoness... that's right... she is...) thought Lyon as he looked at her back that had a glowing tattoo that read 'True Dragon'.

"Laugh all you want, there is nothing but the truth in the words that I just said," said Karina smugly.

Borton furrowed his eyebrows but spoke nothing. The hint of doubt surrounded his soul as he looked at her act. There was something hiding, the true intention behind those jade eyes of hers. (What is going on, what is the purpose of her showing up right now?) thought Borton as he couldn't find the logic in her move.

The fact that she couldn't kill the two that were about to bully Lyon from a blind spot meant that her power was not enough to contend against them. He could only squint his eyes and getting seamlessly disgruntled.

"What a cocky woman, a lesson or better yet, a spank would do nicely hahaha!" the man laughed before he plunged forward with his arrogant laugh. His body was wide open as Karina smirked before she took one of her feet backward.

"When mana had no place in the equation..." muttered Shen.

"It all comes down to raw technique and power!" Lyon grinned.

Karina confidently took a step forward before breaking the opponent's momentum by striking his chest. The man immediately felt a rush of blood coming to his throat but before he could puke it out. His eyes watched in disbelief as a piercing hand went through his throat without any needless effort. His figure was hung by the four tips of her fingers before blood splurted out as she withdrew them.

The men immediately stood silent the moment the body dropped down and saw his face gaping for the futile attempt to fill his lung with oxygen. His neck was punctured from the front and his cultivation level didn't help one bit in holding the critical and severe strike from the woman. Everyone saw him wiggled and slightly jittering before he stopped moving completely.

They were under the struck of coldness as they saw the woman simply turned around and stood in front of her beloved student. The blood on her fingers was still there as they saw it dripping to the floor. The woman had killed a Godhood cultivator with two precise movements. The raw technique that she performed would have produced awe-inspiring applause if they were any onlookers left.

"What.. are you..." muttered Borton as he saw another one of his allies fell ungracefully.

Russel had difficulty processing what just happened right in front of him as his muscles tensed. His face was shrinking away as his lips trembling.

"Golden Demoness..." muttered some of the men.

The morale immediately switched once more before someone shouted in denial.

"Let's gang up on her! She couldn't be that powerful!"

The words sparked a reaction before ten people moved in unison. Karina's eyebrows furrowed as all of them prepared unique techniques of their own as they approached her.

She leaped forward to their surprise before landing one swift kick to one of them against their gut.

"Radiant Palm!" shouted one of the nine before his hand was blocked by the back of her hand.

"W-What?!"

Karina immediately retaliated by giving him two consecutive jab blows against his heart before it stopped its beating by the third.

Borton's pupils constricted as he saw what just happened right before his eyes. (She casually annulled their arts of power?!). Karina kept parrying and dodging their attack all the while her golden blonde hair fluttered. Blood kept accompanying her movement as their arts proved futile time and time again against her.

Lyon looked at her as his pupils slightly dilated in the fact that she appeared to be dancing. Her brutal movements were a work of art as no men could touch her once they were in her range. Bones were crackling, blood was staining the floor as she kept going.

"You, chant an offensive magic!" shouted Borton while Karina was occupied with only three more cultivators left to kill.

"Y-Yes!" one of them snapped out of reality before he started gathering mana.

"You guys too!" shouted Borton before they nodded and concentrate.

"Huh?" Lyon realized what they were doing before he gritted his teeth then shouted at the top of his lung.

"KARINA! Watch out!"

"Hm?" Karina raised her eyebrows before noticing the various colors of magical brand right reflected on her eyes. (Shit!)

"Do it!" shouted Borton.

"I will obliterate all of you!!"

A shout brought their eyes to open wide before Lyon's pupils moved in an instinct and saw space cracked out of nowhere right in the middle of the magic cultivators. The noise of broken glass was soon heard as a figure leaped out to their reality from the dreaded spatial storm. There was blood adorning half of her face vertically as she was barring her teeth and her golden eyes opened wide with the gaze of death, clenching the souls of those who looked at them. The tattoo of her sword was slightly visible as her auburn hair fluttered before she shouted.

"Devil Ape Art! Rumbling Heaven!"

The entire palace immediately collapsed as thousands of thousands of fists came down from heaven under a curtain of light in the black storm.