Emperor's Reckoning

The adventurers gasped in disbelief as they saw both fighters were out of bound, at the same time. Both of them were laying on the ground— face up, with their hands clutching their abdomens.

"Na?! Wh-What just happened?" said one adventurer before he blinked like a fool.

"I-I don't know, I mean, I saw Boto leaping forward and tried to hammer down the cloaked dude with his fist, but then... I'm not sure, I think the newcomer retaliated, somehow."

"Y-Yeah, but what happened though? How come their clash resulted in a tie?"

"So like, no winner?"

The adventurers that were watching how the bout went, had their thought in disarray. The deal was for there was a victor and a defeated. However, they never made a deal when the fight ended up in a tie.

"Will there be a second round?" asked one of the adventurers.

"I-I don't know, Abaddon hasn't said a word yet, he said to be the judge in this fight, right?" replied another.

The golden-haired adventurer had a smile on his face before noticing both fighters recovering from the ground.

"Alright, that's enough, the battle ended up in a tie," said Abaddon with his arms crossed. "So the winner is, the newcomer!"

"What?!" the adventurers exclaimed in disbelief. Abaddon had just said that the battle ended up in a tie, however, declared the newcomer the winner. The absurdness of his declaration made the entire thing seem to be orchestrated as a mock for Boto. They knew the two of them had some sort of unfinished business from their prior short conversation.

"You!" Boto glared from the side as he heard what Abaddon had just said. He tried to stand up but a sudden jolt in his abdomen forced him down. His eyes twitched but he hid his gritted teeth behind his lips albeit his cheeks sunk because of his jaw tightening.

( Kh! What power did he use?! ) said Boto inwardly as he looked over at his enemy across him. ( Huh? Does he got hit too? ). He frowned.

"Well now, I'm sure you're ready for the next round right?" asked Abaddon before he himself entered the circle boundary with a leap. He stood at the center and faced Boto.

"What are you talking about?" asked Boto with a frown before he saw Abaddon picking up his ax.

"Do you need your ax?" asked Abaddon. "Catch!"

He lobbed the former's weapon over the air before Boto caught it with one hand.

"See, you're good to go!" Abaddon grinned. "My fire is waiting to flame you."

"Tch! Are you stupid or something? I'm not going to fight you!" said Boto before he used the ax to aid him in standing up.

"Hm?" Abaddon raised his brows ( Look's like he got hit pretty bad, heh, that's amazing, who is this newcomer? ) he glanced over his shoulder with a smirk only to find Lyon already joining his group with his hand clutching his abdomen.

"Why did you declare him the winner?! He is out of bound just like me!" shouted Boto as he courted all of the attention.

"Do you really want an answer for that?" Abaddon shrugged. "It's really plain obvious why he won."

"Why?"

"You're a Five Star Adventurer, he is a newcomer, Zero Star Adventurer, if you ended up in a tie with him, is his win."

"Oh?" The adventurers finally understood why. "Now that he mentioned it, it does indeed supposed to be the newcomer's win."

"Yeah, yeah, now it all makes sense," said one adventurer as he made a slow bounce of nod.

"That's unfair!" shouted Boto. "Are you stupid or something?"

"The battle was never fair in the first place, what are you talking about?" asked Abaddon. "Listen, are you ready or not? Or, are you a coward?"

The adventurers gasped. Things had taken a sudden twist, however, they didn't mind another free show. The battle of two Five Star Adventurers was not something they could witness any day of the week, it needed sufficient conflict. Furthermore, both of them were affiliated with different guilds from one another.

"Hmph!" Boto crossed his arms, "You can say that for yourself, I'm still not done with that newcomer."

"Oh it's done," said Abaddon, "The result of the battle is a tie, but the winner is the newcomer."

"You're abusing your status!" shouted Boto.

"Why are you getting so worked up over something so trivial? It's not like you're losing something," Abaddon shrugged.

"You...! Enough, fine, however, since it's a tie, the deal is off!" shouted Boto.

"Tch! Cheapskate," sneered Abaddon.

"Do I need your opinion? Burning Fist?" asked Boto.

"Do you want one?"

"Hmph!" Boto grunted. "I'm leaving."

The Five Star Adventurer left the battlefield before he paused and glance over at the newcomer he just fought.

Lyon raised his brows before he darted over and found Boto was frowning at him. "Heh," Lyon smirked.

"Tch!" Boto was giving a tight upfront. He was frowning all the way into the city and greeted none of the passing adventurers.

Kesya chuckled, "You wreck his stomach but he still played it cool, gotta give it to him, hahaha!"

"Shh!!" Lyon gestured with his finger. "Slow down, he has not noticed it yet."

"Are you alright, Lyon?" asked Luna as she looked over the abdomen his man keep on rubbing.

"He is fine," Cecile chuckled. "It was quite clear that he doesn't suffer a hit, but the diversion and the explosion caught the onlooker's thoughts dwindling."

"R-Really?" Luna raised her brows. "W-Why would you do that?"

"Because young master is feeling generous," said Assid as he readjusted his glasses with a finger. "Good work as always, young master."

"Thank you, Assid," Lyon laughed as he kept on rubbing his abdomen.

"So, what did you get?" asked Lumina. "I'm sure you're putting that skill into good use."

"Well, I can't show you here, all eyes are on us right now," said Lyon softly with a smile. "However, I think I went a little bit overboard."

"Alright, everyone disperses!" said Abaddon after he watched Boto with a sigh. "There is nothing to see here now."

The other adventures and merchants started to disperse and leave the meadow uncrowded. However, the Burning Fist, Abaddon's eyes hovered at the cloaked group that dared to escalate to this extent, with a Five-Star Adventurer nonetheless.

"Hey, newcomer, what's your name?" asked Abaddon.

"Huh?" Lyon turned over before seeing Abaddon grinning from ear to ear with his hands on his waist.

"What's your name?"

"Sein," answered Lyon flatly.

"Sein, huh?" Abaddon slightly tilted his head as his thought ran through a background check. ( Never heard of that name before ). "Are you new in the adventuring stuff?"

"Perhaps," Lyon made an ambiguous tone.

"Well, I'm Abaddon of the Flame Guild, perhaps you have met my guild in Ahkam before?"

"Yes we did," said Cecile.

"Ok great!" Abaddon replied. "May I know what happened between you and Boto? Because I'm sure no newcomer is going to take a fight with a Five Star Adventurer."

"It's a usual problem of someone with status, abusing their power, nothing fancy," said Lyon casually.

"Abusing his power?" Abaddon furrowed his brows. "Like what?"

"He raised the price of the entrance fee by his own lips," said Lyon. "So, things escalated and here we are."

"That's.... a little bit oversimplified," Abaddon made a wry smile.

"Well, if you have nothing to say, we are in a hurry," said Cecile.

"Wait!"

"What?" Lyon asked.

"If Boto is causing you a problem, don't hesitate to come to the Flame Guild," Abaddon smiled before he jogged away and waved his hand. "See ya!"

"And he ran off just like that," said Kesya as she shook her head, "I thought he would pay our entrance fee."

"You me both," Lyon and Kesya sighed.

"I think it's you guys that are hoping so much," Luna muttered with twitched lips.

"Let's get inside Farvan," said Cecile before she led the group. The other adventurers in the original lineup smiled and made a nod before letting them skip the arduous waiting time.

They were at the booth once more, with the same lady that bullied them not long ago. She was shocked at first glance. She never thought the others would let them skip ahead.

"It's seven hundred AT, right?" Cecile smiled.

"W-What?" the lady was taken back. The seven hundred AT case was supposed to be resolved by the fight prior. However, Cecile's smirk made her a bit uneasy that she could faintly nod.

The other adventurers were looking at one another in confusion before Lyon slammed a big pouch on the table.

He slowly let go of the pouch before leaving a smirk at the lady, "Keep the change."

They were stunned by the action but more so by the size of the pouch. It made quite a bang as it was slammed against the table.

The lady had her fingers twitching before she gulped and peeked over the content.

"?!" her breath was taken away as her pupils shrunk to a dot. After she injected her mana into it, a number that made everyone drolled appeared. "T-Ten thousand AT?!"