Emperor's Reckoning

"You persistent FOOLS!" the chief gritted his teeth before he raised his calf to a knee-high. "Then tremble below my feet!"

Everyone was petrified. The amount of muscle hidden beneath his thick skin could crush a dragon's head with a single stomp. However, before he could put down his foot, a bolt of black lightning zipped the sky.

"Huh?!" the orc frowned before his breast was struck. The resounding clap of thunder immediately followed before his raised leg had to be put behind him to regain his balance.

Jugen and the others couldn't believe their eyes. Especially for the former, since the black lightning came directly overhead. He gulped before he looked up. His pupils immediately shrunk as everyone else recognized the figure hovering in the air.

"The.. queen..."

"Nostria's queen..."

"Our queen..."

Everyone was stupefied. The unlikely hero was actually a heroine. Her silver hair fluttered against the air as trails of dry blood could be discerned across her chin.

"Queen Sylviana!" shouted one guard.

"Queen Sylvianaa!!" shouted another guard.

Before long, her name was chanted across as their morale shot through the sky once more.

"I knew it! I knew it! The blood of her father runs inside her veins!" Chun grinned. "She does make me proud."

Sylviana's red jewels were looking straight at the orcs despite her ears swerving with joy from the chants of her people.

"You! Who are you?!" asked the chief before his eyes found a familiar black spear in her hand. "So it's you... did you come back for more? Do you want to die that much?"

"Die? You should leave," said Sylviana as she furrowed her brows. "He is coming."

"You're bluffing!" the orc squinted his eyes.

Sylviana pointed her spear against the sky as she locked gazes with the chief. The clouds immediately shifted to a darker shade before she pointed her spear back at the orc.

"Hahaha, do your worst, you know it yourself that mana won't work on me!!"

"Then that is what I shall do!" Sylviana gritted her teeth as her other consciousness challenged her right to her body. One of her eyes turned black.

"Gungnir Art: Raining Veins!"

Black bolts of lightning from the clouds were traveling at instantaneous speed before thunderous claps soon followed. The cultivators of Nostria had their faces flashed by the sudden struck before their brains petrified by the sight of the sky. For as if the blood vessels of the Deo itself were tainted with malevolence, and they were revealed to their sight. However, they failed to see, that every strike of lighting was precisely hitting the orc's forehead, and not a single one of them missed.

"Such a flashy move for something that's useless," the chief laughed with his arms crossed. "I can't even feel it grazing my skin."

Everyone turned ghastly. The move that their queen showed could render any mortal beings to ashes in a matter of milliseconds but the green-skinned cultivators didn't even move from their spots at all.

"Kuh! I could even feel my friend's fart compare to this hahaha!" One of the orcs laughed.

"What is this? This is the power of your queen? Might as well become a slave at that point," one of the orcs followed.

"Don't need to be, after all, her kingdom would be nothing but a pile of ruins in a matter of minutes, reminiscent of their past glory. Heh, if there were any in the first place," added another one.

The cultivators frowned their brows as they were humiliated by mere words. Their queen might not be as strong and figuratively legendary as the king of Deo, but she did her best. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't do any damage to the orc, but they wished that she could procure something up, like a miracle, like that man they heralded.

Sylviana's hands were trembling as her hair swiftly turned black. The humiliation that struck her heart was the trigger enough for her to lose her state of balance. Her conciousness slowly faded away as another being was eager to occupy her body.

"It didn't even graze you, you say?" Sylviana gritted her teeth. "Don't make fun of me..."

"Huh?" The chief raised one of his brows. "Talk louder I can't hear you! Hahahaha!"

"Then hear this! Gungnir Art! Raining Veins!"

It was the same move but with greater intensity. The loud thunderous clap reached all the way to where the elves were.

...

"What is that queen doing? Why is she wasting her energy?" asked Connak.

"You're wrong, Connak, she is not wasting her energy. Do you know how important a leader's image is toward their people?" added Agist before he shook his head. "They are really crucial for running  a kingdom, His Majesty is a proper example of that."

"Hehehe," their king chuckled with a grin. "What Agist said is true, every king is vulnerable to his own image, at least to some degree. Even a king without strength but a superb image could lead a kingdom, however, one cannot be said the same for the other way around."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Agist nodded.

"However, you are still wrong about one thing, well, incomplete, I might say," said the king as he smiled.

"Please do enlighten me, Your Majesty," Agist bowed his head gently.

"There is more reason than just keeping an image here," answered the king, "Connak, perhaps you could discern what it is that she is doing, her goal might be masked with her words."

"Her goal might be masked with her words?" Connak muttered as he rubbed his chin. He contemplated about the words his king gave him before a snap from the revelation of thoughts gave him the answer. "Her technique just now, it's more intense than prior, however, she already knew that mana won't work on him. The only reason that she kept doing it is not to damage him at all."

Agist frowned, "That's what I said, image."

"No, not just image," Connak shook his head, "You didn't hear the first art that she unleashed, now did you?"

"Hear..? Oh?!"

"Precisely," Connak nodded, "She is doing this to reach more attention from their faraway neighbors. After all, Deo is kind of united as of now."

"To call for her reinforcement, wow, never thought that she could think that far ahead," said Agist. "I guess the human has their own becoming."

"Maybe there is someone else there that told the queen how to act but that is not all, the ultimate goal is not to call for reinforcement," the king chuckled. "You guys have the answers, but her movement is like killing two birds with one stone, or perhaps multiple birds this time."

"Time? Time!" Connak nodded, "She is betting on that! Of course! Time is crucial for them! Their heralded king is on the way back and she is stalling for time!"

The elf king chuckled, "As far as I can see, I don't know how that juvenile monster would get notified of hits battle, however, the time that she bought was not just only for him to arrive, but for that halfling to survive."

"Woah," Agist nodded. "I understand. Your Majesty, your sight is as sharp as ever. No, I dare say that you've surpassed even those seers."

"Hahaha," the king chuckled before he drank his famous Elven Wine from his usual wooden glass. He gulped before adding, "Though, this situation is really dire for, that orc is really stupid and got carried away too easily with the queen's act."

"Yeah, she guided his mind out of that halfling quite easily."

"Flashy moves and the fact that she fought him before added to her advantage," Agist nodded, "Though, I won't call their first meeting was not one-sided."

"I have no idea how her hair turned black, what kind of blessing did she have?" The king frowned. "Even with my knowledge I can't fathom it, is it a curse that she had?"

"Most likely, her ears are still that of a normal human being, so dark-elf is out of the question," Connak nodded. "However, she hardly could control it with how we can notice her veins popping out on her temple."

"Hmm... you're right," The king looked back at the scene.

...

"It didn't work again..." the guard trembled.

"They are truly devils!!" added another one.

Soon the laughter of orcs permeated the sky to Sylviana's disgust. She was panting already with her shoulders slouched. The toll of keeping her sanity intact while unleashing her art started to creep on her body.

"Tch! She is hitting her limit," muttered Argeon as he could only leer. The cloaked man in front of him was nothing like he had fought before. The mask, the smile, and the confidence that his opponent gave out made him ponder. "Who are you, why are you siding with the orcs?"

"Tch! I don't have time to spend with you," Nora frowned before he darted at the orc (The fool got carried away and forgot about his real target! I can't sense her since she is an Anti-Mana cultivator damn it!).