Emperor's Reckoning

"Where were they?" asked Lyon toward Parriot.

"They were seen in Nostria, but, when I got there, they had already gone," Parriot shook his head.

"Tch!" Lyon furrowed his brows. "Then we have no idea where to go."

"Well not really," said Kesya as she courted his attention. "We might be able to trace them back using this severed forearm."

"What?" Lyon furrowed his brows. "But it's useless, she is an anti-mana user, my magic wouldn't work."

"Oh, she is? Hmm, I never noticed," Kesya chuckled. "Then we should go to Nostria first, I should have been able to pick up the scent. From the look of the severed limb, it doesn't seem too long ago that it has been severed either."

"You can do that? Great!" Lyon nodded. "I will leave it up to you then."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Kesya answered with a bow before Lyon darted his glance forward.

"We are going to Nostria, Yoji, immediate departure!" shouted Lyon.

"Yes, Emperor," Yoji nodded before he placed his hand over forward. "Go!"

The horses neighed before the four of them accelerated to a blast. The whole city shook as the waterfall splashed uncontrollably.

Parriot had his butt on the ground as his eyelids were stuck in a rolled state. His fingers clawed against the ground as he gulped. He saw the very fabric of space broken with ease like a glass. "A horse.... a horse just did that....."

...

Meanwhile in Nostria.

Sylviana was resting on a chair with her eyes heavier than the cries inside her kingdom. They had survived the ordeal but at the cost of the lives of those valiant young soldiers. However, the loss of one particular individual had brought an impact even she had no way of foreseeing.

The blonde woman had been a public figure on par with her. One could say that she was the pillar of whipping the mature ones and inspiring the young ones, regardless of their gender. Her beauty in motion, her destructive art, and especially her dignity. She stood straight until the very end facing the vile creature that was a magnitude stronger than her own.

"Miss, you should rest your eyes," said Fei by the side.

"The people are saddened, I can't leisurely do that," said Sylviana.

Fei sighed as she looked at her queen. She might not be the best queen in existence but her heart showed how she was worthy of her late father's title, at least, she was scraping it.

"But what can you do with your tired self? Resting is also important."

Sylviana didn't answer as she looked at her people from above. (They must have cursed me in their hearts...) she said inwardly. She could see the disappointment and the tiredness in their eyes from above.

Fei placed both hands on her shoulder. "You made me proud, Miss."

Sylviana weakly smiled as she placed her hand on top of hers.

"Huh?" Fei raised one brow, "Is that Jugen?"

"It is him," Sylviana confirmed. "He has been standing on top of that building with his arms crossed the whole time."

"Oh... I see..." Fei answered. She knew that the imposing manner that Jugen showed was his way to cover up the devastating feeling that he sorrowly suffered. His sister was captured before his very eyes and his arrow couldn't even reach their blood vessels. "Poor man..."

The cultivators occasionally looked up and shook their heads. They knew the situation, they knew it very well. However, what could they do to ease him?

"Hey Jugen, you should come down."

"Come down from there Jugen, let's go to the bar together."

"Senior Jugen, I'll buy you a round in the brothel."

However, Jugen was not shaken by the temptation, until someone asked.

"What are you doing up there Jugen?"

"I'm waiting! I'm waiting for him! I shall join his redemption road!" answered Jugen with his gaze starring at the horizon.

They knew who was the person he was referring to. Everyone saw and heard his rise, from a naked god to an actual god with clothes. There was hardly anything in this world that could comprehend his advancement in cultivation level. He had fought numerous enemies that were stronger than him, at least until their souls evaporated from his arts. However, he was not present at the time of war, miracle failed to happen.

"He won't come to today Jugen, just take a rest will ya, we are here for you," said the people below."

"No, he will come," Jugen shook his head. "I know him, he won't waste another second. Especially regarding my older sister."

The cultivators below sighed. They could do nothing to persuade his act. His imposing manner definitely resembled the person they admired and were inspired to be. However, that wouldn't be enough to summon him back. Nobody got his Summoning Ruby Stone either.

Not a single one of them dare to laugh at them. Reka, the leader of the Mist Clan was looking at him from the distance with sharp eyes. Biane and Clemora as well. Prince Frey had arrived a while ago with his soldiers aiding whatever it was that was necessary for both Nostria and the king of the Phantera Kingdom.

Every second ticked by as Karina went further away from the battlefield. Jugen's hair fluttered against the strong wind and his eyes hardly blinked. His ears slowly received less and less of the ambiance. Their footsteps, their sorrow, everything had become silent.

...

Meanwhile at Luderia.

Princess Aelina was sitting by the window with Fenrir resting on her lap. His stomach was fully bandaged and he slowly whimpered. His eyes glistened as his eyelids were about to close. His breathing was the slowest in its life had ever been and his tail was full of energy. She didn't know if he enjoyed her slow caress or not.

"At least you're stable now, don't hesitate to sleep, Fenrir," Aelina smiled before she sighed. "I'm saddened that I couldn't be there, he must have felt devastated hearing the news."

Fenrir's ears suddenly rose up. His eyelids snapped open as his tail rose. His nose twitched before he limply tried to get up from Aelina's gentle thighs. His paws crawling but couldn't get a proper standing.

"What's wrong?" Aelina immediately got up. "Are you ill?"

"Wu, wu!" his gaze was landing through the window.

"You want me to go near the window?" Aelina asked, "Alright, alright, give me a second."

She held him as she approached the window.

"Auuuu!!!"

Fenrir howled.

"Huh?" Aelina frowned. "What's happening?"

*Thump!

Aelina's eyes opened wide before her goosebumps almost jumped out of her skin. She felt something dreadful come upon her, no, the entire kingdom. A presence like never before was dawning. Immediate powerlessness succumbed her to watch the window before she saw with her dot pupils the cracked space forming right above the newly built square.

All the cultivator experts on the square looked above before they saw the muzzle of a horse piercing the sky from the spatial storm. The dreadful fiery horses made their way to Luderia before the space unveiled the chariot at the very back. No words were spoken except for awes and thumping of their hearts.

Fenrir howled once more. "Auuuu!!"

Aelina's gaped lips finally muttered. "That's... him...."

The aura permeating out of the people in the chariot could suffocate even mana itself. The power they bore inside them was incomprehensible even by those self-proclaim experts nor an actual one. The horses could pierce the space with their muzzles, they couldn't even do that with their fists.

One face was recognizable from the group. It was the illustrious king that was heralded by the people living in Deo. The heralded king, Lyon Torga.

His black hair fluttered with Kesya grinning behind him. He stood at the front most, just beside Yoji, with his arms crossed. His eyes laid on the west, where Nostria was at. Regardless of the silence from below, the horses galloped in the very air.

"Go, Lyon..." Aelina nodded as she looked at him departing with haste and not a spare of words.

...

"Hmm!" Jugen squinted his eyes as he saw a dot from the horizon arriving in Nostria. There, he saw a familiar face, a familiar gesture. The man that crossed his arms was no longer smirking. He was there, with the thunderous momentum of fiery horses.

"BIG BROTHER!!!!" his shout echoed throughout Nostria.

Everyone was stunned. There was only one man he called big brother and every important figure knew of this.

Sylviana furrowed her brows as she stood off from her chair. Her glance stuck at the horizon where a dot was slightly larger with every passing second. Fei gaped her lips as did everyone inside the kingdom.

The Tetragram Chariot stroke the sky of Deo and combed through the ground with its imposing presence. The mighty hind legs of the horses could tear a cultivator to a bloody mess, their muzzles alone broke the spatial space. Enduring the spatial storm like nothing, they soon arrived right above the middle of the kingdom that welcomed their owner from death.

The Heralded King of Deo, Lyon Torga.

With his presence and the rest. They inwardly knew the second round of the war was about to begin.