Emperor's Reckoning

"Hoooaaammmm....." Lyon didn't bother to close his lips as his feet stepped down the stairs. His eyes were thin and he hardly could recognize what he was seeing. He scratched the side of his stomach before he stretched as he arrived on the ground floor. "Guys, have you ever thought that maybe, hooooaaammm, this is a little too morning for the Cockatrice to even show up."

"That's because you were going out late at night," said Cecile. "This won't happen if you sleep early."

"It was my fault, young miss, I should have stopped the young master," said Assid as he bowed.

"No, it's not, stop jumping in front of him and take the blame," said Cecile with a glare.

"I-I...." Assid got his words stuck in his throat and left Kesya chuckling at the side.

"I get it, I get it," said Lyon as he shrugged. "We are hunting a chicken with scales, no big deal."

Cecile sighed, "Anyway, according to the people living in this city, Cockatrice is not a common beast to encounter with."

"So a stray one?" asked Lyon.

"Most likely," she nodded.

"I bet Justdy has some past with this particular Cockatrice," said Lyon as he crossed his arms. "Oh, by the way, did you know that we met him yesterday night?"

"We did," said the four women altogether.

"Woah, since when did you four become friends," Lyon raised his brows.

"Shut up," said Lumina as she looked away.

"We should get going," said Luna. "If we miss the chance, we might need to stay another night."

"She is right," Cecile nodded. "We have no time to lose, let's make haste, oh, and don't forget your cloak," she threw Lyon's cloak at him.

Lyon caught it with one hand and a smile, "Shouldn't I wash my face first?"

"No time," said Cecile. "Besides, it's better if you can't open your eyes properly, that way you can avoid Cockatrice's stray gaze."

"Oh, that's... a relief, I guess?" Lyon shrugged before he wore the cloaks.

The group went out of the lobby of the inn and passed the smiling receptionist a wave of goodbye. The street was dead. There was hardly anyone passing them however, the cold chill air could hardly penetrate the thick cloaks that they wore.

The group went out with some random adventurers staying away from them. The rumors had spread faster than a wildfire in a forest. They had immediately learned the story of which what the cloaked group was capable of, even the Five-Star Adventurer needed to be wary of them, let alone a random Four-Star one.

"So we walk?" asked Lyon the moment they stepped outside the gate, "How about renting a horse, my treat!"

"We walk," said Cecile as she already stepped into the vast meadows. "It's toward the east, where the sun rises."

"Almost east," said Lumina.

"Okay..." said Lyon as he rolled his eyes before he followed the others.

The man kept yawning as he went over a small hill. "You know, maybe hunting for a single chicken is a bad idea."

"It's your idea," said Lumina.

"I know, but still, I never thought that it would only be a single Cockatrice, c'mon, if you see the word Cockatrice you have to expect the whole flock, right?" asked Lyon.

"You should read the quest more carefully next time," said Luna. "There is a little note at the bottom of the poster that explains it."

"Really?"

"En," Luna nodded.

"Damn, and that Justdy guy can't handle a single chicken? C'mon, he is a Six-Star Adventurer, surely he could handle a single beast like that," said Lyon.

"Perhaps the strength of the adventurers has downgraded for a while then," said Assid.

"En, En," Kesya nodded. "Ever since the beasts are decreasing, so did the adventurers might."

"The beasts are decreasing?" Lyon raised his brows. "How did you know?"

"I don't know for sure, but there had been very few sightings of strong beasts lurking around," said Kesya as she shrugged. "I spend my time outside my guild most of the time, and that was what I've noticed."

"Your guild, eh," said Lyon as he crossed his arms. "Where is your guild anyway, does it enter the Guild Link?"

"Well, no, hahaha," said Kesya. "It's not even among the top ten."

Lyon smiled wryly as he saw how proud Kesya was.

"That's because you never showed yourself as the leader of Guild HQ, you hid because you're tired of messing with the documents," said Assid. "I immediately noticed the piles on your desk when we arrived."

Kesya slouched down. "I mean c'mon, I never thought that being a leader of a guild would be really, and I mean, REALLY boring! Who got time to even manage the financial cash flow of a guild, is a damn guild! Just hunt some boars or something, bring it back, and then we reward you, but noooo! I have to attend meeting this, meeting that, prove my strength to this, a challenge that, it's so boring!— Okay, the prove my strength part was not, but it was like maybe once."

The three men had their ears twitching as they heard Kesya complaining her heart out.

( Maybe it's a good idea not to go to her guild ) thought Lyon with his lips twitching as he saw how their ex-leader behaved.

"Shh! We have arrived," said Luna after she saw Cecile crouching down over the edge of the hill.

Lyon frowned before he joined the crouch and stealthily approached his wife. "Hey, Cecile."

"What?"

"You look beautiful today," said Lyon softly with a smile.

"What?" Cecile furrowed her brows, "Thanks? Don't make any unnecessary words, for now, Lyon. Cockatrice is pretty sensitive!"

"Right, right, I-uh, I just want you to know," Lyon chuckled with a grin. "Anyway, where is the Cockatrice?"

"There, right in the middle of the meadow," said Cecile as she peeked over.

"Huh?" Lyon furrowed his brows and squinted his eyes before he saw the mentioned beast.

The beast was like they described prior. The head was that of a rooster chicken but it had a single colorful long feathered crest on top of its head. It had two strong scally legs with sharp talons. Its tail was bare but quite longer than a crocodile. It had almost the same size as an adult war horse. Th

"Damn, that's one big chicken," said Lyon.

"No, it's not, it's still a juvenile,' said Cecile. "It only had a single feather on its crest."

"Everything is a juvenile nowadays," said Lyon as he rolled his eyes, "We met a juvenile kunpeng way back too."

"I think it's looking for a mate," said Cecile as she observed how it behave.

"What? What makes you think so? I thought that they are here because they praised the sun?" said Lyon.

"Beast praised nothing, Lyon," Cecile rolled her eyes. "Graham, can you kill it from this spot."

"It's quite far though," said Lyon.

"I can make it," Graham nodded.

"Of course," Lyon shrugged.

"Wait for the sunrise then," said Cecile.

"What? Why?" Lyon raised his brows.

"Because when they sing, they closed their eyes, that's the perfect time to strike," said Cecile.

"Oh... then it would happen soon," said Lyon as he saw the night sky gradually get corrupted by the tint of blue right in the east direction.

The seconds keep on ticking as they wait with their breaths held. The head of the Cockatrice immediately turned to the east before its dark eyes saw the first ray of the sun. It flocked its feathers and slightly bend its feet before its throat started to gargle. It closed its eyes before the group suddenly felt a loss of presence.

"Ku—GH?!"

Graham flashed a glint of killing intent as he choked the giant beast and pushed it up. He swung it down to the ground before punching its head.

"Let me finish the job," Lyon smirked before he jumped out of hiding and called for Scarlet. "Take this!"

He hacked down the neck with the dark swod before severing its head. The rooster's head flew out and tumbled around before stopping. Lyon smiled before straightening his back up. "All in a day's work, right Graham."

"Right," Graham sighed.

"Hahaha," Lyon turned before he caught a glimpse of the Cockatrice's head.

Its eyes were opened.

*Thump!

*Thump!

*Thump!

"Huh..." His hearing of the surrounding was immediately lost as his limbs turned numb. The sword in his hand fell and stabbed the ground before his body fell forward with a thud. His eyes were opened as the beating of his own heart accompanied him. Time stood still.

Everyone froze at the sight. Their eyes opened wide as they saw their hero in the embrace of the meadow. They all opened their mouths, he could see them opening their mouths. Everything was clear for a second before darkness colluded his vision, even though the shimmer of the sun basked his face. The dawn had started.