Emperor's Reckoning

Mavis gulped as the light turned dimmer and dimmer, covering the hideous state of what the beast was in. Some were caved in, with crushed skulls, and broken claws, and each one of them was etched on the walls with blood slowly tracing down the walls. It was the stuff of a nightmare, especially for someone who hardly found himself in a bloody situation. He shook his head before keeping up with the others.

"Lyon," Mavis called out before he walked by his side.

"What?" Lyon asked with his gaze still on the passageway at the front.

Mavis smiled wryly, "Where do you think the road will lead us to?"

"I don't know for sure, but if you really want my opinion..."

The others suddenly had their eyes sharp as they looked at Lyon with their ears perked up.

"I uh, I got nothing, haha!" Lyon laughed as he kept walking forward and left them dumbfounded for a second.

Nit furrowed his brows, "I have a scary thought if you are willing to listen, Elder Anna."

"Hmm?" Anna raised her brows.

"It might be possible that the passage that we are using right now, might lead us to the deepest part of the cave," Nit gulped. "To the one that gave us the welcoming roar."

"What part of that roar did you think was welcoming?" muttered Anna.

"That's not a bad premonition," said Cecile with a smile. "We never went here before, so we wouldn't know, but according to you, this place is supposed to be packed with beasts right?"

Nit nodded, "Mainly the poisonous ones, however, the giant mole rat from before was new even to me. We have never seen it in person until now."

"I see," Cecile nodded. "However, keep your eyes peeled, you might find something even more precious than that pretty flowers that you're looking for."

Mavis frowned. "Lyon, have you noticed."

"Huh? Noticed what?" asked Lyon.

"The mana, it's depleting as we go in," said Mavis.

"I guess, I don't particularly care to be honest," he shrugged as he calmly continued his walk.

"Young master Mavis is right, the mana in this place is getting thinner the more we advance," said Cherie. "Maybe it would be best for us to proceed with more caution."

"We are always cautious," said Cecile. "We just don't look like it."

(Yeah, I can see that) thought Hilde as she smiled wryly. "Huh?" Her eyes squinted before he noticed something by the wall. It was a flower with a full bush of white petals. "Is-is this it?"

"Hm?" The party stopped before they all turned their glance to Hilde.

Elder Anna squinted her eyes before she came closer to the flower, "Let me see it."

Lyon put his hands behind his head, "It doesn't look like a hundred petals to me."

"You're right," Anna nodded, "This is not the flower we are looking for."

"Really?" Hilde raised her brows. "Well if this is not it, then what does the flower actually look like?"

"The flower that we are looking for will have a thin purple tint on one of the petals, besides, this one didn't amount to a hundred," explained Anna. "You can call this a juvenile Hundred-Petals flower."

"A flower has a juvenile state?" Lyon raised his brows.

"She obviously means that the flower has not matured enough yet, obviously," Lumina rolled her eyes before she asked Anna, "So that means we just need to go further in?"

Anna nodded, "That would be logical, though, this also means another thing."

"Hmm?" Mavis raised his brows, "What would that be?"

"The poisonous beasts in this cave get their nutrition from the flower that we are looking for," said Anna as her eyes turned sharp. "The fact that his juvenile flower could bloom here, means that there are most likely none of the poisonous beasts aforementioned. Which is, I don't know if that's a bad thing or a good thing."

"From an adventurer standpoint, it's not a good thing," answered Lyon. "It could mean that either another type of beast devoured the poisonous beasts, or they avoided this place for a reason we have yet to find out."

"It can be the giant mole rat," Kesya shrugged, "But I killed them all, so... I guess that's a bad thing for the food chain, hehe."

"Maybe not all," said Assid as he adjusted his glasses. "There ought to be some more hiding."

"He is right," Graham nodded.

"Let's just continue the passage," said Cecile. "Pondering around for an answer that doesn't benefit us is a waste of time, especially in a place that we are hardly familiar with."

"I agree," Lumina nodded. "There is no meaning in finding an answer, we only need to find the flower and be done with it."

Lyon shrugged as he let the little star continue what he did best.

"Mavis, have you tried adventuring before?" asked Cecile.

"Huh? Oh... hmm, depends on what you call adventuring," Mavis laughed. "I might be a little bit out of hand when I was a kid but even I know some boundaries."

"Have you ever joined a guild before?" asked Cecile.

Cherie smiled wryly as she didn't dare to mock her question. Mavis was a high-born elite cultivator. He was born with privileges others could never dream of, the young master of the Sky Clan in Sixth Heaven. There was only a really small circle of people that had a better living environment than him. Being an adventurer would likely be a downgrade from his current life.

"I was interested in it, but due to my status, I hardly can join one," said Mavis as he sighed. "Being born with respect coming at your door and silver spoons, they invite unnecessary problems in my opinion."

Nit looked at Mavis with a nod. Being such a lucky fellow, a guild would have to treat him differently than the others, 'special treatments' one might say. Though Mavis was a talented cultivator himself, it didn't change the fact that he was the young master of the Sky Clan, the prestigious clan that was in Sixth Heaven.

"You can just wear a mask and pretend to be someone else," said Lyon without a burden on his tongue.

"Hehe, there is no way that they wouldn't figure me out," said Mavis. "I don't mean to brag, but being famous is really a tragedy for me."

"Really?" Lyon asked, "I think it's worth it in my opinion."

"Worth it?" Mavis raised his brows, "Why would you think so?"

Mavis might not know who Lyon really was, however, for the short time that he knew him, he could digest that Lyon was kind of the same as him, in terms of popularity. Perhaps not in his realm, but in Lyon's own.

"I mean, you could surround yourself with beautiful girls, haha!" Lyon laughed. "It would be easy to meet with one if you're famous, I mean, sure you probably can't go to a red-light district but you will get to know those fairies above."

Lumina sighed before he advised Mavis who was dumbfounded by his answer. "Don't follow his advice."

"Hey, it's legit advice," said Lyon as he furrowed his brows.

"Legit for you," answered Lumina.

"Heh, hehe," Mavis smiled wryly (How is he capable of saying that in front of his women is still beyond me).

Lyon shrugged. "Mavis, if you know someone pretty in Sixth Heaven, mention me would you."

"Hehe, probably I would refrain from doing that," Mavis refused with a weak smile. "Your wife would slit my throat if they knew."

"Haha, I won't," said Cecile with a smile. "But I know one who would."

Mavis gulped. Considering what happened to those giant mole rats and how Cecile knew the secret of his clan's origin, he didn't doubt that the 'someone' she mentioned would actually do and did it.

"Damn, just how far are we going here?!" asked Lyon as he furrowed his brows whilst his original intention was averting the topic.

"We seem to be quite far from the entrance, and the many flowers on the wall may mean that we are getting closer to our target," said Elder Anna.

"And you said that we shouldn't have taken this passage," Lyon jested.

Anna had a red hue on her cheeks, "I do apologize for my inexperienced judgment, clearly I was in the wrong."

"I'm just joking, no need to be that tense," said Lyon before he abruptly stopped. He furrowed his brows to the darkness at the front.

*Tap! *Tap! *Tap!

The little star tapped at the ground before a vine protruded out from the walls of the cave and was coming at Lyon in superb momentum. "You seem to never learn," Lyon smirked.

Assid moved without the slightest hindrance before the vines were all cut off with blinding speed. However, before the chopped vine fell to the ground...

*Crack!

The light suddenly went out and everything turned into absolute darkness.

"Eh?" Lyon muttered. (D-Did I just jinx it?.... Fuck).