Emperor's Reckoning

Lyon sneezed startled the queen to a jump. The resounding thunderclap boom was as if nature herself was shouting. It was harder than her husband had ever sneezed out.

"Ah, Lyon, you startled me," uttered Wanda as she let out a wide smile with Cecilce chuckling by her side.

"Sorry, haha," laughed Lyon (That's because you were talking about me!).

Lumina hardly made a shift of emotion even though she was by his side the whole time. She looked at the lady called Wanda, scooped her up and down with her beautiful menacing eyes. However, the latter was quite nonchalant for she was not the first dragon that she had ever met.

Wanda maintained her smile. It was nothing for her that someone was looking at her up and down, even if it was from a woman. She had confidence in her skill and allure. She was not a queen for a mere title alone.

Wanda spared not a leer to Lumina but instead to the young man beside her. Her eyes narrowed as she smiled and said, "Lyon, can I ask you a question?"

Lyon raised her eyebrows, "What question?"

Wanda took an audible breath from her nostrils before she answered with a smile, "Some general question, of course, we can take this with a walk, to the inn's restaurant."

The corner of Lumina's eyes immediately twitched before she tugged her lover's elbow.

"Hm?" Lyon took a glance at the beauty but the latter only responded with repeated nods. (She is hungry!).

The queen of the Sverine Kingdom smiled before she took the initiative and walked before all of them.

Lyon naturally kept up the pace, but even though he was walking with a queen, he was still acting aloof and carefree. He put his hands behind his head as he walked with the most powerful person in the Kingdom of Sverine.

"Lyon, I never thought that when I saw you last night, it would be the last time that I see Afurnae at its finest," said Wanda as she smiled before she faked a laugh, "Oh~ I'm sorry, please don't misunderstand my intention Cecile, I was merely chatting with him."

"I knew about it already," said Cecile as she shrugged her shoulder.

"Oh?" Queen Wanda was naturally surprised. She would have never thought that she would be fine by the fact, but furthermore, that she already knew her secret meeting with Lyon in the alley.

She then looked at the young man from the Mortal World, only to see that he was smiling wryly. She immediately narrowed her eyes as she said inwardly (I see... a slip of tongue? Or was it one of those three generals that served him?).

She didn't mind the answer either way for it was not important. She tried to test the water but it seemed like the water was still calm even though she intentionally put a ripple. She furrowed her eyebrows, this relationship was hardly anything that she knew.

"So, what was the question?" Lumina asked.

"Oh, right," said Queen Wanda before she looked at Lyon who was walking by her side.

"Lyon," she called. "I was wondering, are you a magic-type cultivator or an art-type cultivator?"

"Hm?" Lyon raised his eyebrows as he looked at the sky. Soon his eyebrows furrowed before he said, "Well, I can do both so... I guess dual?"

Wanda continued as her eyes glimmered, "Then, the one that activated the magic brand in the sky, it was your doing right?"

"Um... yes? What about it?" asked Lyon as he raised one of his eyebrows.

(Are you kidding me?! You are a hybrid-type cultivator but you have a spatial element affinity on top of those three divine blessings?!) she grinned.

"Lyon, don't you know how powerful and rare a spatial magic element cultivator is?!" asked Wanda.

"I guess?" answered Lyon.

(Gue... what?!) thought Wanda. (Is he a stupid genius?).

Cecile chuckled behind them. Her husband had yet to recover his memories, he still had not grasped the full scope of the sovereignty of his talent.

"Well since I answered your question, it's time for you to answer mine," asked Lyon.

"Oh? I wonder what capable man such as yourself, would want to know," said Wanda as she smiled.

"It's about the tournament," said Lyon.

"Hm? What about the tournament? Are you asking for the final round?" asked Wanda before she chuckled. "Surely you jest, there is no way that we could have the final round with most of the participants dead. You're not going to fight a corpse now, would you? Hahaha."

"True," Lyon nodded. "However, I'm not asking about the final round, I'm asking about the reward."

"Hm? The reward?" Wanda blinked twice.

"Yes, the reward, like what would I win if I did well?" asked Lyon as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"W-Wait a minute," Wanda forced a smile before she asked, "You have no idea what prizes that you could get prior to joining the tournament?"

Lyon shook his head as his wife chuckled behind them.

The queen was petrified and stunned. She had her mouth slightly opened as her eyelids got stuck. The moment she regained her composure, she immediately asked, "Wait a minute, Lyon, what is your goal in joining the tournament?"

"I, uh..." Lyon smiled wryly before he scratched the back of his head with one hand, "I kinda got carried by the situation and then ended up here."

"What?!" she exclaimed as Cecile burst into laughter.

"So you meant to tell me that the destruction of the Golden Dragon Kingdoms and the Pala Kingdoms won't happen if you somehow didn't join this tournament?!"

"Most likely, haha!" Lyon laughed.

"Unbelievable..." muttered Queen Wanda. (This guy is really random! Too random!).

He didn't follow any path, nor any pattern. The way his glance look, he did not even have the slightest intention to conquer the First Heaven. He didn't even care where he ended up.

She thought that it was all a facade, a farse that Lyon put on to fool the enemies and let them have their guard down. It turned out that he was really just a lazy but talented young man.

"Well?" asked Lyon as he raised one of his eyebrows.

"O-Oh, the top ten winners will get lavish prizes, beads, and stuff. However, one of the important parts was the appearance of the Fortuneteller and the visit to Alchemy Union."

"Fortuneteller?" Lyon stopped his walk before he contemplated. (Little Yoji also said that he could find me due to fortune reading? I wonder if it's the same person).

"Did you say Alchemy Union?" asked Lyon.

The queen nodded, "That's right."

"I see," Lyon nodded before he gave a smile.

"Oh? Looks like you are eager to go to the Alchemy Union. Perhaps to see a lady friend?" the queen jested.

Lumina and Cecile tilted their head at the same time in the same direction.

"Well, I won't call her a lady."

"What?" the queen raised her eyebrows, "Do you know her name? Perhaps I could help?"

"Oh, haha!" Lyon laughed, "I remember her name very well, it's really funny."

"Her name is Elize Growthort, but I doubt that was her real name though, she might give me an alias," Lyon laughed. Their meeting was purely a coincidence back in Deo World.

"Hahaha...ha... eh?" Lyon was the only one laughing.

Wanda was looking at him with her pupil's shrunken.

"What's wrong?" asked Lyon before she seemed to return back to reality.

"Lyon! How did you know her esteemed self?!"'

"What? Who?!" asked Lyon before he looked at Cecile who shrugged her shoulders.

"Elize Growthort! How did you know her?!" asked Wanda.

"Is she really such a big deal there? Hmm... now that I think about it, I guess she did say that she is pretty famous there."

"Famous does not even begin to explain her prowess! Her pills are coveted by many cultivators even I couldn't arrange a meeting to see her."

"Oh really? Heh, now I want to visit the Alchemy Union more, haha!" Lyon laughed.

"Ah..." the queen of the Sverine Kingdom couldn't believe that the young man from the Mortal World would have a connection with the Alchemy Union, not only that, the connector was none other than Elize Growthort.

The more Wanda looked and pry Lyon's identity the more she was amazed and frightened. Not even the late four kingdoms had a connection to a deep-level figure such as Elize Growthort.

"Oh, Hilde, why don't you join us in our little walk?" asked Lyon as he smiled toward the beautiful woman with her black silk-like hair.

"I don't want to spoil your group date with my presence," Hilde smiled.

"Group date? Hardly," Lyon sighed before he smiled, "But I'm grateful to be surrounded by beautiful women all around, haha! Oh, by the way, when will the fortune-teller come?"

Hilde raised her eyebrows before Wanda answered, "It would be tomorrow in the evening, but..."

"But?"

"I wonder if she had predicted Afurnae's disaster?" Wanda smiled wryly.

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