Emperor's Reckoning

Everyone was in both awe and fright at the grand spectacle. The pair of thick antlers, the glowing jade scales, a mouth like that of an ancient crocodile, body of a magnificent serpent, two pairs of sharp giant talons, and lastly, most savage whiskers that ever waving.

The crowd stood still with their eyes wide open. No weapons were swung as they were magnified by the grand beast.

The Golden Dragon race might proclaim that they conquered the sky of First Heaven. However, the being that was hovering the sky, though it was just an image, needed no such thing.

Queen Wanda stood in disbelief. She had experienced many things with her life as the queen of a powerful kingdom but nothing such as this. Her mouth had slightly gaped open as she saw what she only read in books. Though she had never seen one in person, she immediately recognized it. The being that knew no men, the arrogant yet powerful. It was none other than (True... Dragon!).

She made a harsh swallow. The existence of the being hovering in the sky thwarted her assumptions of Lyon being a descendant from Hell. In fact, the race that was hovering in the air despised all other creatures but themselves. They never mingled with their worldly affair and lived in a hidden place that no other race had ever visited.

Rupert knew what being that was hovering above his head. His knees were trembling as his bloodline was trampled. The proclaimed was nothing against the one that actually was.

The princess of the Bolg Kingdom, like her father and the rest of the crowd, was astounded. They would have never thought a holy being would come and grace First Heaven's tournament. Furthermore, it came from a cultivator from the Mortal World.

Lyon's haughty manner, his charm, his unprecedented talent. None had ever seen him fazed in front of an opponent even if they were superbly stronger than himself. Now, they got the gist of the answer for the 'how' that was hovering inside their mind.

The king of the Golden Dragon Kingdom was frightened. His eyes were wide open as he came face to face with the enormous holy being. He couldn't bend his finger, even though he knew that this was nothing but a mere image of the real thing. His soul was forced to bow and revere the one that truly had the right to rule the sky.

However, as if it was a snap of a finger, the image cracked.

The king raised his eyebrows before the very huge being that seemed surreal just a moment ago, blasted into tiny lights. Dissolved into nothingness, but as soon as his pupils resumed their original size. They reflected a kick that was coming straight against his face.

*Boom!

The king was defenseless as his face gradually swallowed the kick.

The crowd froze once more as seconds slowed down. Their pupils shrunk to a dot. They saw with their very eyes, the king was kicked right in the face. The mighty king that everyone both revered and feared in First Heaven, fell.

The king plunged toward the ground before a loud boom ensued. Clouds of dust smoked up, covering the king's figure from being seen.

"Heh," Lyon smirked midair before he landed his two feet on the ground.

The king of the Golden Dragons immediately speared out his way with a flap of his giant golden wings. Just as they all suspected, he had no bruise on his face. However, the damage done was severe to his reputation.

His face was grim as his eyebrows were furrowed. He looked at the youth with glaring killing intent. His prestigious name was sullied by a brat from the Mortal World. There was no way he could swallow the humiliation.

The other Golden Dragons had their goosebumps rose as they could feel the impending warcry.

The crowd had their heart clenched by the severely heavy atmosphere between the old and the youth. One side was vastly different than the other. They would have never thought that the tournament would end up in this direction. The escalation was unimaginable, however, they could only lament as their neutral city most probably won't survive intact.

Lyon's three unmatched generals suddenly stood beside him as the former kept his gaze locked against the king. He saw the other Golden Dragon spread their wings and joined their king before lastly, the prince himself joined in the rank.

Though Lyon's group was outnumbered, the Golden Dragons' aura could do nothing against them.

Kesya had a smirk on her face, Assid put away his glasses and Graham nonchalantly crossed his arms. Against over a thousand Golden Dragons, they didn't faze. For in the eyes of the three of them, they were nothing but lizards with wings.

"Heh," Cecile smirked before she returned her glance toward Felicia. The latter was the powerful one out of the two siblings and she reckoned that her dearest would be busy on the other side.

Meanwhile, Lumina still looked at Lyon with a slight gleam in her eyes. She paid no heed to the other glaring sibling, Altre.

"Lyon! I will kill you!!"

Lyon squinted his eyes before looking at Raul. The latter's eyes were bloodshot and his charm was nowhere to be seen. The prince had been swallowed by the madness and rage from the death of his father and the loss of his grand future.

"Good!" Shouted the king of the Golden Dragon, "Take vengeance! For he had stripped away both your father's life and his honor as the king!"

"The fire is already big enough you flying yellow lizard, there is no need to add more oil, or you might burn the meat!" shouted Lyon before ending it with a smirk.

"Your foul words, your sharp tongue, shall end here and now!" the king raised his right arm and pointed to the sky. His magnificent golden wings flared out.

Queen of the Sverine Kingdom immediately had her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes narrowed sharply.  (The war has...!!)

"Cha—"

*Thump!

The king's eyebrows twitched before he saw a kick already aiming at his abdomen. (What?!).

*Boom!

The king was sent several kilometers away as he brought along a few of his men. The crowd was stunned, even Queen Wanda forgot to rally her troops as her eyes stuck open.

"Now then," said Kesya as she hovered in the air amidst the frightened Golden Dragons. "It's been a while since I hunt some dragons!"

"I will butcher the king," said Assid before he vanished from the spot.

"Ah?" Lyon couldn't manage to get a word out to stop him.

"Then, master, just sit back and relax, you earn this after training all of us," said Graham. "Eternal Golem was far more superior than these lots."

The half-giant quickly vanished before Barat's eyes opened wide.

His goosebumps rose as he could feel a silhouette was standing right behind him.

"You are the strongest of your men."

Barat's pupils shrunk. The daunting tone was like death itself whispering against his ears. (W-What's going on?! Why can't my eyes keep up with his movement anymore?!). It was a moment ago when he saw Graham and Kesya moving in sync to rescue the three leaders of the Mortal World. (D-Don't tell me?! That speed was not even his best?!).

"Checkmate, huh," Barat smiled wryly. He knew, with that kind of speed, he would have stood no chance even by using a Returning Jade Stone as a way to escape. (Hezar... you motherfucker).

"Aaah!" Barat cried before his body was blasted away from Graham's palm.

Just like that, the leader of the Elite Five was gone. The remaining cultivators immediately gawked in disbelief as fright shrouded their minds. Their morale had plummeted.

(As if I would die here!) thought Hezar who was hiding in an alley outside the city. Within his right hand was a Returning Jade Stone, his only hope of escaping this calamity.

The famous commanded gritted his teeth (Damn bastard! I never knew he was this capable! What in the godfuck name is his background?!)

He heaved up and down but was incapable of calming himself down for the cries of his fellow cultivators bantered against his eardrums.

"Everything will reset to zero," he panted as he looked at the ticket way out of this mess. "However, I can always rebuild, I must lay low for a while. Until then! Just you wait you bastard! This enmity will only end when your life ends! No matter how long it woul—"

A light suddenly illuminated by the end of the alley, unbeknownst to the middle-aged man.

"Yo..."

Hezar's eyes opened wide before he slowly turned around. His pupils shrunk to a dot the moment he saw the youth smirking at him.

"You think I forgot about you?"

"L-Lyon! How did you find me?! How did you get over there?!" (Impossible! I have diligently spread my divine sense and picked up nothing! If he is near I should have known! Then how?!)

"Heh, It's good that you found a corner for yourself, else my generals would have finished you instead," said Lyon before his eyes turned sharp.