Emperor's Reckoning

Everything that the party see was nothing but the darkness itself. There was not a single shred of light coming into the passage whatsoever.

"Hey, it's dark!" shouted Lyon after he noticed that none of the women even scream.

"Ah! No need to shout!" said Lumina who was near him.

"Hehe, sorry, it's just weird that none of you screamed," said Lyon as he pondered, (I thought that they would cling to my arms, but these tough women are really... really tough).

"Keep your guards up," said Mavis, "Now we don't know where the vines would strike."

Even as the young master of the Sky Clan, he was a bit frightened by the situation. Their eyes were sealed off and they could no longer sense the next incoming attack. The best way for now was...

"L-Lyon, how long would it take for you to make that Star Child again?" asked Hilde with a slight panic in her tone.

"That depends, if we tried hard, you can get it out in about nine months," answered Lyon flatly.

.

.

.

"What?" Hilde raised her brows, "What are you talking about?"

"Be serious Lyon!" said Lumina. "This is no time for jokes!"

"Hahaha!" Kesya laughed out loud. "E-Even in this... haha... situation."

Mavis smiled wryly. (Don't they realize the gravity of our situation here?). He couldn't believe it. He himself was an easy-going type of guy but even he will take a serious stance in a life and death situation, especially the situation where one of his senses was simply disabled.

"Ah!" a scream ensued

"Elder Anna! What's going on?" asked Nit with his eyes squinting. However, no matter how hard he pressed his brows, he could see nothing but the darkness around him.

"S-Something touch me," said Anna as she hugged herself.

"Lyon!" Lumina shouted.

"What? It wasn't me!" said Lyon who was still by her side.

"Oh, sorry."

"Ah!" Lyon shouted.

"What's wrong?!" Lumina asked.

"Something touched me, wait... Kesya!" Lyon glared at the darkness.

"Hehe," the said woman giggled.

Lyon took a deep breath before his ears twitched.

*Shrug!  *Shrug! *Shrug!

"Graham, on your guard," muttered Lyon.

Graham nodded.

"Graham... can you hear me?"

"Yes, young master, I'm nodding," said Graham.

(This doesn't look promising!) said Mavis inwardly before the vines started protruding out of the walls. "They're coming!"

Graham flashed his eyes before a loud popping series occurred. Nobody could see what he had done and nobody could move an inch before he was done.

"It's done, young master," answered Graham.

"Ahn~" a moan was heard and everyone froze in place. The sound was tingling and melting to one's ears, no matter if they were a woman or man. However, nobody knew whose voice it belonged.

"Err... who was that?" Lyon asked.

"W-Wait, you did nothing?" asked Lumina.

"W-What do you take me for?!" Lyon put his hands on his waist despite no one being able to see him doing it, "Wait a minute, was that you?"

"No, it wasn't me," answered Lumina.

"Cecile, you've been oddly quiet," asked Lyon as he furrowed his brows. "Are you even here?"

"I am," Cecile answered.

"Then... who was that?" asked Lyon.

"I don't think it's appropriate to ask who was moaning in this situation," Cecile chuckled.

"M-Maybe we should continue with illuminating the passage first," said Mavis.

"I agree," Hilde answered. "There is no way that we continue in this pitch darkness." (Besides, I've somehow more worried about Lyon than that Rafflesia Flower or whatever) thought Hilde as she hugged herself in shivers.

"Alright, give me time," said Lyon as he nodded.

(He... hmm) Lumina frowned as she obviously didn't believe that her man didn't have anything fraudulent in mind, especially in this situation. If there were two words to describe him, they would 'pervert' the first, then the other one would be 'an opportunist'. Combining the two traits, there was no way that he would do nothing in this pitch darkness.

.

.

.

Minutes had passed but there was no sign of Lyon chanting the spell that he must evoke.

"Lyon, are you okay?" asked Lumina albeit skeptically.

"I am, please, don't disturb me," said Lyon.

"Alright then...?!?!"

The next waves of the attack came but this time, Lyon was not the target, instead, the vines were attacking all of them at the same time.

The three generals immediately acted and moved at an even faster speed, but this time they couldn't make it as instantaneous as before.

"Kuh! Take that!" Mavis retaliated.

"Gah!" Nit was heard landing a blow to the vine.

"Alright!" Lyon shouted. "Thanks for the help! Everyone! Cover your eyes!"

"Divine Spell: Star—Gah! Son of a bitch!" Lyon shouted as he felt a slap on his face.

"Young master, what happened?" Assid rushed.

"One of the vines slapped me," said Lyon as he rubbed his cheeks, "Damn it, I need more time now."

(Really? I didn't sense them) thought Assid before he bowed, "My apologies, it must have slipped out of my senses somehow."

(Somehow eh?) thought Lumina as she raised her nose up.

"Don't worry about it, sorry guys, but you need to buy me more time here," said Lyon.

"It's alright brother Lyon," said Mavis, "Just concentrate on your part and we will concentrate on ours."

"Right, right! Oh crap, here comes the next wave!" said Lyon before the next waves of vines started to protrude out. "On your toes guys!"

"Damn it, how many vines does this flower have?!" shouted Hilde as she tried her best to ward them off.

"I'm not sure, this is the first time I've ever encountered it," said Nit.

"The flower can regrow its vine at a very fast rate, but they would need an abundance of water to supply their nutrition," explained Anna. "Ironically, the book said that the flower can't actually grow on water."

"Cherie!" Lyon suddenly shouted.

"Y-Yes?! Young master what's wrong?" exclaimed Cherie.

"Oh nothing, I just making sure that you're alright, haha!" Lyon chuckled.

She couldn't believe that Lyon would ask about her well-being in this ruthless situation where one might die. The gravity of the situation was something that they must take seriously, however, he didn't. She started to wonder what kind of situation that could force Lyon to be serious.

"I... I'm honored by your concern, but I'm fine, really, please stay focused on your part, we all need you," said the princess of the Sverine Kingdom.

"Y-Yeah Lyon, we need you," added Hilde.

"Alright, alright," answered Lyon.

"Ah!" Anna screamed as she felt something was coiling her ankle. The force pulled her entire figure before her body fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Elder!" shouted Nit before he felt these arms being grazed by the sharp vines.

"Huu~"

Anna immediately felt a cold sensation on her feet as the vines crystalized before a loud thock freed her ankle. She was breathing rapidly as she wondered what was going on but shaking her head to regain her clarity. She stood up despite her obvious panting, "I'm alright."

"Divine Spell: Star Child!" chanted Lyon before the magic brand formed and slightly enlightened the cave.

The little star came out of the center of the magic brand and the room was immediately illuminated. Then Anna opened her eyes wide as she saw that Ivy had a bit of cold fog in her hands.

*Crack!

The little star was slapped with a giant vine before it could even stomp to alert the others. The passage turned to pitch dark once more.

"Goddamn it!" Lyon shouted as he furrowed his brows. "If that's how you going to play, then fine!"

"Lyon, don't use fire!" shouted Cecile.

"Wa? How did you know?" asked Lyon. "How did you know that I was going to use fire?"

"Never mind that, but in this passage, it would be bad for us if you use high-level magic such as Prometheus's Tongue."

"The heat would suffocate us," said Lumina. "If you use that same magic that you did back in Cecile's castle, then we would die out of breath."

"W-Wait a minute," Mavis said, "Lyon, you can use high-level fire magic too?"

"A-A triple aptitude cultivator?!" Cherie exclaimed as she covered her mouth.

"He can," Kesya answered. "However, that's not the point here. We need to figure out a solution."

(Is he really... just a human?) thought Hilde as she smiled wryly.

"Ahn~" A moan was heard once more. It was as melting as before but the voice was a bit different. It didn't take too long for the others to understand that it belonged to another.

"There it goes again," said Lyon. "Who was that?"

"Lyon stop pretending! It was you right!" asked Lumina.

"I didn't moan!" answered Lyon.

"I'm not talking about the ones moaning, I am talking about the ones who making them moan!" berated Lumina.

"Oh, then yes," said Lyon before he felt something coiling at his ankle. "Eh?"

Lyon didn't even bother to scream as his body was dragged away. (Karma huh..).