Emperor's Reckoning

The guests left the palace with no haste in their minds. They showed their smile under their thick mask for the wondering eyes of the elves.

The kingdom rarely had any guests, let alone the ones that were shrouded with mysteriousness such as theirs. Their sudden visit brought so many brows risen as they arrived, but even more so when they were about to cross the gate at the end of the day.

They wondered what they had talked about with the king. The wine-monsieur rarely showed himself in public in recent days. However, the smiles on their faces led them to believe that the little visit was a success.

"Hmm, those guys really giving out a bad vibe," said one elf as he spoke from a distance.

"You think so too, huh? I wonder what His Majesty was talking about with these fellows," added another.'

The four people of the Legion went through the opened gate before continued distancing themselves from the gazes of the curious elves.

"Nora, are you sure that giving him such key information would lead to our benefit?" said one of the taller ones amongst the cloaked person.

"No, I just bought us some more time," Nora smiled.

"More time? You mean from how he wanted to render our bone to ashes as you did your little trick against him?" added another.

"Calm down. At least I dare to try it on him, you know it as well as I do how smooth it would be if he fell under my sophisticated mantra," he smiled.

"He is the king of the elves, doesn't that ever cross your mind how low the probability was, unbelievable," added the last person.

"Hey, hey, no need all three of you to gang up on me, you guys didn't even spare a word in that meeting anyway," Nora pouted as he pointed at the three of them. "Though, at least we would leave him hanging in confusion for now."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Nora smiled, "Clearly such intelligent creatures that think so highly of themselves than humans would agree that Lyon is also their greatest threat. My illusion is not entirely wasteful on him you know." he shrugged, "He may be not fell entirely but he himself should know the fear that haunts his mind."

"And do you think that's enough for him to act?"

"No, but it's enough for him to consider it, which is really good in our case," Nora nodded.

"That's not good enough, we need certainty, after all, Lyon is not just some beast that we could hunt with the more people we have. His maddening potential is growing as each our breath goes, even now."

Nora sighed, "Don't you think I know that? Do you think someone that came out of nowhere and becomes the top dog of the Mortal World in less span than a baby learns how to talk is not frightening? The king knows this as well, I just amplified it."

"And that's worth the risk you pulled us into?"

"We're still breathing, aren't we? Why are you so serious about it?"

"If I die, I rather die for our goal than for offending a sharp-eared king."

"Oof, such harsh words yet patriotic at the same time," Nora grinned. "However, I never told him when we would strike Nostria yet."

"That... is true, but it doesn't matter."

"Nora stop bullshitting with us."

Nora rolled his eyes, "We got the orcs to help us, despite their tiny brains, their strength is incomparably powerful, especially with the anti-mana inside them."

"You think they would be enough to stop the retaliation from the whole Nostria? Why can't we just kidnap the woman instead? Won't that be much easier?"

"Because she has the same energy as the orcs have, you idiot. Tell me what kind of mana-based magic you have to contend against her? The significant potency of your spell will rot against her, especially with her cultivation level. I'm not saying that it won't work, it's just that it would be a waste of effort," Nora rolled his eyes. "After all, out of all four of us, I'm more well-versed in subduing magic than all of you."

"You with your lack of tack with the elderly, we still could break you like a twig, remember that."

"Hahaha, you know I'm just messing around with you seniors," Nora laughed. "Though, I did slip out when I said the original state of the world."

"You stupid idiot!" said the three of them together.

"Alright, alright, jeez, no need to give your spits either."

One of the three sighed, "Don't you think that sharp-eared king would pick up what kind of energy that we are talking about?

"I was probing him, but as you witnessed it yourself, the king didn't mention Anti-Mana at all, but he furrowed his brows," said Nora. "Which means he had an idea already."

"Now you tell me why would the king help us? The energy that we are seeking is the very opposite of what they are using. Wouldn't acquiring that energy threatened the king even further?"

"You might even add a new enemy to our list Nora," the tallest one sighed.

"Now, now, don't be so pessimistic with this whole ordeal," Nora smiled. "There is no need to panic, even the king himself knew that in order to counter that juvenile monster, he needed far greater power than just stronger spells or sharper arrows."

The three of them turned silent as Nora smiled and continued, "When we attack, we will deliberately notify the king, after all, he needed to know, so might as well let him get prepared."

"Then what about the enemy side? The orcs will surely attract a lot of unwanted attention from the human side of the Mortal World."

"But have you seen them doing anything?" Nora raised his brows. "The little skirmishes that the orcs did was nothing in their eyes. They don't want to start a grand war that would destruct both sides over a mere unknown village."

"But they have been alerted by their movement, surely they are going to be more on guard in the greater city, especially a kingdom like Nostria."

"The Deo World is not as famous as you might think," Nora shook his head, "As long as we struck them by surprise then they will not know what hit them. After all, with the mere small numbers that the orcs have right now, it wouldn't even cross their mind that these 'green-skinned' would attack a major kingdom to their death."

The three masked men looked at each other before the tallest one crossed his arms and said,

"Then what are your strategies?"

"We have enough forces at our disposal," Nora shrugged his shoulders. "I just hope that one of us managed to stay alive."

"You're the one to talk, we almost died for nothing because of you."

"Hey, why are you still bringing that up? Let it go already," Nora sighed. "Well, you know at least who will get to live to see it bore fruit."

"The leader and his unfathomable cultivation of course," said the eldest one among them. "We shall die for the cause of the greater good."

"Alright, I guess that's enough then," Nora smiled.

"Huh?"

"Do you think that the king would let us go that easily? We got a shy guest hiding behind that tree," Nora casually pointed out one of the trees in the forest nearby.

"Show yourself," the three of them frowned before they heard a snapping twig.

Nora smirked as he noticed the familiar elf. "Are you trying to test my awareness?"

"No, I was sent by His Majesty to look after the four of you until you crossed the border."

"Hmm, it seems like he had grown distasteful at us," muttered one of the three.

"No, no, no, that's wrong," the espionage elf shook his head, "He in fact has grown fond of you people— despite your attempt in trapping him in your illusion. The fact that you are still allowed to walk out from the kingdom proved his benevolence."

One of them snorted, "As if we would believe that."

"You can believe what you want to believe, however, this is as far as I will escort you."

"Escort? Bah! You mean eavesdropping?"

"It's just another word with the same meaning to me," the espionage laughed before the three of them frowned and unleashed their powerful presence. The elf frowned, "I suggest you not do that, His Majesty can see what you're doing right now."

"What?!" The three of them raised their brows before they turned to Norak. "Is that true?"

"Hmm," he solemnly gruntled. "I guess that's what the feeling was about."

They gulped before they turned at the now-distant kingdom, especially the majesty palace. From the window that overlooks the city, the elf king was looking straight in their direction.

"Hehe, we are in his range even when we are this far, what a terrifying elf you are, King Galaeron of Errel!" Nora grinned.