Emperor's Reckoning

"It's that roar again," said Hilde. "Hey, do you think he'll be fine?"

"I believe young master ought to be fine," said Cherie. "I have full confidence."

Cecile chuckled, "The two of you seemed to contrast one another."

"We're like this ever since we were a child," said Hilde as she furrowed her brows.

"Oh pardon me," said Cecile as she chuckled before she glanced at Anna. "Anna, it looks like our trip won't last for days just as planned, in fact, we might be able to gather the flowers for you soon."

Anna nodded, "This is all due to the new passage and the bravery that young master Lyon has given us."

"Hehe, your tone suggested that you're glad he's gone," said Kesya as she looked at her playfully with her hands covering her mouth as she giggled. "I wonder why, and the fact that your outfit looked a bit... off, you're really suspicious."

"E-Ehem!" Anna made a light cough, "My outfit was purely wrinkled because I fell, nothing more."

"Really?"

The cold voice didn't come from the group of women that Anna was facing but rather on the back. Her eyebrows raised as she swallowed her saliva with a small gulp before she turned around. "Yes, I fell, in fact, you are the one that helped me get rid of the vines that held my ankle, I thank you for that."

Ivy coldly nodded as she looked at her mother.

"Jeez, both of you are so weird," commented Kesya as she turned and put her hands behind her head just like how her young master had done it.

Cecile snorted out a smile, "Just leave them be Kesya, it's not our business to poke around their situation."

(You said that but you're definitely implying something right) thought Kesya as her lips twitched. She knew her empress well. Cecile might not butt in but she would graze the matter if she could.

"With all due respect, Elder Anna," said Nit before the latter turned. "Maybe it's time to settle this problem between the two of you."

"Nit?" Anna raised her brows before she saw him walking past both of them.

"Assid," Cecile called out.

"At once, young miss," said Assid before he approached the mother and the daughter duo. He fixed his glasses with a finger before he turned to Ivy, "Here, keep injecting your mana to keep it illuminating."

Ivy raised her brows and questions bubbled inside her mind, but Assid took another orb as the answer to half of them.

"Do what you must do, Ivy," said Cecile with a smile before the party left the two of them alone.

Anna gaped as the party slowly distant themselves away from the two of them to reach the deeper part of the passage.

(It is inevitable, I guess) thought Anna as she closed her eyes before averting her glance toward the only person standing in front of her.

"Are you really, my mother?" asked Ivy.

Anna felt shivers even colder than the coldest ice running up her spine to her nape. Her goosebumps rose as fate pulled a string against her life. She looked at her daughter, incapable of yearning, incapable of warmth. With one look at her icy blue hair, she knew that Ivy had gone through a lot, no need for words from the headmaster.

Anna took a deep breath before she answered with trembling lips, "I'm... not."

Ivy had her eyes wide open as she heard Anna's answer. Her knees felt weak as her heart sunk, but she kept standing as she tightened her upper lips. It was hard for her to keep her glance and the mana orb in her hand turned havoc. It dimmed, it lightened, it dimmed then it lightened up once more.

"W-Why, are you denying me? My existence, is it really that much of a hindrance to you?" asked Ivy as her eyes started to glisten.

"I... No... I..." Anna couldn't keep up with her emotion before her eyes turned red as she pressed her lips together to keep a tear falling out, yet she failed. One tear from her eyes crossed her cheek. It was translucent and hard to see inside this dimmed cave, but Ivy could. She made a harsh swallow as she continued, "I, I indeed gave birth to you."

"Then! Then you're my mother!" shouted Ivy as the mana orb in her hand glared out. "You gave birth to me! That makes you my mother! My flesh and blood! My flesh... and blood..."

Anna was taken back with her eyes not daring to see her daughter's yearning. She nodded, "True, I did gave birth to you."

"Then! What's wrong with me?! What's wrong with me that you left me out of YOUR LIFE!" shouted Ivy with her pupils trembling.

Anna shook her head, "It wasn't you who is wrong, it was me."

"Huh?!" Ivy's eyes trembled as she saw Anna get bitter and hugged herself.

The mother snorted a smile, "I'm—"

*Boom!

The ground they were standing on shook tremendously before they instinctively hold each other.

"W-What's going on?!" Hilde exclaimed as she kept herself steady with Gae Bolg's thrust to the ground.

"Look's like something is going on, I'm sure young master Lyon is currently facing the king of the cave," said Cherie as she furrowed her brows.

"He is fighting the king of the cave? You mean he is fighting the one that welcomes us with a roar back at the entrance, alone?!"

"No doubt about it," Kesya nodded, "But damn it, they could have picked a more right time, things were getting good over there."

"It's very rude to listen to their sensitive conversation," said Assid.

"Hey, I just following our young miss over here," said Kesya as she looked at Cecile with a smile.

"Mind you," Cecile laughed as she feigned her guilt by holding Lumina's shoulder—who looked to the dark end where Lyon probably disappeared into. "Are you alright?"

Lumina furrowed her brows as she kept looking at the distance, "He is on the move, isn't he?"

"Heh," Cecile smirked.

...

"Heh," Lyon landed with both feet on the ground as the vines crumbled to meaningless dust. He crossed his arms as he smirked facing the giant beast.

"It would be a hard win, grandson," said Sun as he laughed, "With your cultivation that is."

"Use your energy wisely, Lyon," said Bapho. "Otherwise, you would be at a bad place."

"Escaping is impossible against a grootslang in his lair. Grandson, we must render it unconscious first."

"This one is stronger than a kunpeng?" asked Lyon as he watched the beast eat the last bit of what was once a demented druid.

"They all fought with their own style and these two could never meet with one another due to their natural habitat," said Sun as he shook his head, "Nevermind that, it seems like he wants your body as his next lunch!"

"Alright then," Lyon smirked as he saw the amber-skinned beast coiled before flaring its hood against him. "A cobra with tusk, I've seen two things I hardly see daily."

The grootslang roared before slapping its tail against the ground and shaking the entire cave.

"Woah, a casual slap did just that?" Lyon grinned (It's amazing how I don't even feel threatened by its menacing galore or by its sheer size, I must have been fighting a much larger beast back then!). Lyon transformed with the name Devil Ape on his back.

"Devil's Ape art: Heaven'se Fury!"

Lyon's entire figure flashed before four banners sprung out from his back with his battle armor ready. Standing in front of the grootslang his magnificent headdress was contending against the beast's tusks.

"HA!" Lyon made the first move as he went straight to the head with his tongue out in an attempt to mock him.

The grootslang roared before the tail came from Lyon's right side.

"Hm?!" (Fast!) thought Lyon before he braced for impact by raising both his right arm and knee.

*Boom!

His body launched faster than a bullet before hitting a wall with a devastating crack. "Gah!" He looked down and noticed the water streamed. "If I fell down, I would be able to escape."

"Are you going to run?" asked Sun with a chuckle.

"As if!"

"That's my boy!" Sun laughed as Lyon grinned.

His golden tails pushed him out slightly from the wall before he made a sudden acceleration that caught the grootslang by surprise. "Eat this!"

*Boom!

His fist connected against the head of the grootslang, but the beast didn't tumble down. Lyon quickly landed on the ground with both of his hands balled, "HOO!"

He let out a flurry of punches against its giant body without stopping for a breath, however, the grootslang felt nothing at all.

"Hehe," Lyon smirked before he noticed an incoming slap from its giant tail. He evaded it quite easily, "The more I put the combo in, the heavier it ge—NGH?!"

*Splurt!

Blood burst out from his gritted teeth as one of the giant tusks managed to pierce his body whilst he was in midair.