Emperor's Reckoning

Porealus and his grandfather left the arena with the former leading.

Meanwhile, the lady fortune-teller, Vivi Croix, was having unease due to the vision that she saw back with Porealus. It was a vicious vision, one that she had not experienced many.

"A warzone..." Vivi muttered as her brows furrowed. "Right in Mortal World? Tch! I wish I could see the scope of the battlefield."

Vivi sighed, "Then again, why are they grinning in that volatile place."

---

"Mortal World will have a war?!"

Carius couldn't believe his ears. His eyes were widened as he looked at his only grandson. "That's preposterous!"

Porealus shook his head. "I don't want to believe it either, but I told you what I saw."

"How could this be," Carius looked away as he walked back and forth in contemplation.

"Everything is possible, grandfather," said Porealus before he let out a sigh, "No peace meant forever just as no war meant forever."

"Yes, but I would like to be at peace more than at war," said Carius before Porealus rolled his eyes.

"Do you know where it is? What's the cause?" asked Carius as he looked at his grandson with his hands behind his back.

Porealus shook his head before he let out a sigh. "She didn't know where it was, who, why, or when, but she did tell me that it will happen in my lifetime."

"It will happen in your lifetime?" asked Carius as he furrowed his eyebrows.

Porealus sighed, "I honestly wish she didn't say that, but yes, the lady fortune-teller said so, so it must be true."

Carius took a step further, "What are you implying? You don't believe her words?"

Porealus shrugged his shoulder as he tried to look away from his grandfather's glance. "I don't know, is she really legit? I mean, I know that I was in that place, but she seemed, unprofessional? Maybe just to me though, because Zet and Ivy seemed to have no problem."

Carius snorted before he turned around, "Well, I cannot say that she is trustworthy, but I've heard that those fortune-tellers have their own set of rules and detached from worldly affairs, at least that's what I hope anyway."

"So you know nothing," muttered Porealus as he rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Carius let out a long exhale from his nose as he looked at his grandson. "If the war was meant to be, then there is nothing that we can do, nobody is strong enough to change fate, no one in history. We can only hope that you are on the winning side."

"Me? How about you?" asked Porealus. "Don't tell me you want to kick the bucket before it happens? I need guidance!"

*Smack!

"Ouch!" Porealus rubbed his head with his eyes squirming from the pain. "No need to hit that hard, grandfather!"

"Good then, that means I still got it," Carius nodded.

(That was not a praise!) thought Porealus as he glared against the back of his grandfather's head.

"Hah~" Carius sighed as he approached the window. "A new spring will come and new flowers will bloom. The old leaves will be blown away by the wind."

(You suck at this, grandfather) thought Porealus as he shook his head.

"When the war comes, I hope you stand by the Mortal World as a whole, and not as an individual."

"Huh?" Porealus raised his eyebrows as his grandfather turned around to face him.

"I have established our family as the noblest in the Mortal World for a reason. I have a grand vision, so grand that I knew that I won't live to tell the tale."

"You mean the unification of the Mortal World?" asked Porealus.

"Yes! The unification of the Mortal World! However, I know that diplomatic approach will eventually fall flat out, and only war can truly decide our fate."

Porealus furrowed his eyebrows, "Have you tried the diplomatic approach before?"

"I did, if it were to succeed we won't be talking about it now, weren't we?" asked Carius.

"Good point," Porealus nodded. "But why? Why did it fail?"

Carius shrugged his shoulder, "Because I was young and naive. For the problem with the unification of the Mortal World is not just as a simple matter of going to the other side and making a peace treaty."

"Then?" asked Porealus.

"We must unite first before we could have ever dreamt to unite the entire thing," said Carius before he let out a sigh.

"I see," Porealus nodded. "Speaking of which," (Now is the chance to change the topic!)

"Hmm?"

"It's funny how the lady fortune-teller warned me about Lyon Torga," he smiled wryly.

"She did?" asked Carius as his brows furrowed.

"Yeah, grandfather, you wouldn't believe it, she couldn't even read who Lyon is," Porealus chuckled.

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised," Carius shook his head. "That young man is more capable than you and me combined."

(Wow, never thought that you would praise someone like that) thought Porealus. (Then again, this is him we are talking about).

"More importantly, they, well, Lyon might not know, but Cecile and those three might know something that  we don't regard the Mortal World as a whole."

"Really?" asked Porealus with his brows raised. "Like what? I thought the four-"

"Three."

"Three great families have the most knowledge regarding the Mortal World, well, at least half of it?" said Porealus.

"Things, grandson, things," Carius sighed. "However, as you know, we the leaders of the Mortal World was having a little meeting with him."

"Yes, I do know about that, but you deny my presence," said Porealus as he rolled his eyes.

"Well, it's too risky to let a youngster without any experience of ruling a portion of the Mortal World to join in."

"Sure," Porealus added.

Carius didn't mind his grandson's disappointment, he knew he would be disappointed himself if they were to switch places.

"Lyon, or should I say, young master Lyon."

"Young master Lyon?" Porealus couldn't believe his ears as he smiled.

"Shut it, this was all that crazy sword maniac idea," said Carius. "I will have to play along."

"Even the matriarch of the Yuki Clan complied?" asked Porealus.

"Yes, why are you interested in that? That's not important!" asked Carius.

"Hehe, nothing," Porealus shrugged.

"Anyway, the young master's wife, Cecile, stated that she and her husband does not want to have anything to do with the Mortal World," said Carius as he rested his brows.

"Really? Don't they know that they have the power to literally conquer the Mortal World? Well, at least half of it."

"I believe that they knew that very well, who do you think Cecile is?" asked Carius. "The husband might not be fit to be a ruler but more like a hero, however, his wife is definitely suited to be one, not to mention how decisive she is."

"Wow, why?" asked Porealus.

"We are ready to give him the fourth vacant seat, but in reality, it's much more than that. It will only be symbolic for the common cultivators so that they think that we have reached yet another balance, but in reality, they will be holding all the power, and they refused that."

"Damn, why?" asked Porealus once more.

"They say they have problems of their own to sort out," said Carius before his eyes sharpened.

"What problems?" asked Porealus.

"Cecile said that we will know when the time comes and that Purgatory and Paradise, will know as well," nodded Carius.

"That's..."

"Exaggerating?" Carius smirked before his grandson nodded. "I thought the same. But then again, let's say that you have never met Lyon in the flesh. You only heard his achievements, his dreamlike achievements, the unbelievable feats that he had done, through the words of other cultivators, what would you think?"

"Er..."

"Exactly," Carius nodded, "We are back to the same word, however, after you met the person, suddenly it all made sense."

"T-That's..."

Porealus had no way to refute what his grandfather had just said. He truly would never believe that Lyon was unbelievable as he was talked about by other cultivators until he met him personally back then in the Adamrest Mountain.

"D-Don't scare me, grandfather," Porealus smiled wryly. "Because if that were true, then the unification of the Mortal World will be a small thing."

"Which make sense!" answered Carius. "Whatever problems that they were facing, might very well alter the fate of the Mortal World in a bigger picture that we both currently see!"

"Damn..." Porealus suddenly found himself having the same cold sweat as he was during the reading. He turned around before going for the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Carius.

"I'm going to catch some fresh air," said Porealus before he left the room.

Carius watched the door slowly close before he let out a long sigh. He turned around then see through the windows, the landscape of Afurnae, or at least of what was left of it.

"I need some fresh air too," muttered Carius before he left the room.