Emperor's Reckoning

Everyone was stumped as they saw the huge dent. The king frowned before the crown prince could even comprehend what happened.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the king turned his head toward the supreme elder.

The supreme elder shook his head, "This is not our fault, somebody is trying to frame us!"

The supreme elder frowned before he looked at the four elders and nodded.

"Selena, hold still and stay pretty, you shall not swing a sword today, it's an important day after all," said one of the elders.

"Tch!" The king shouted, "Where is the royal knight captain?!"

Another loud bang of the bronze door was heard as another massive dent was seen. People's terror was heard and encompassed the whole kingdom.

"We are under attack!" the crown prince said, "Fools! What are you doing?! Who is the enemy?! Are you all going to wait until the door is opened?!"

"Y-Your Majesty! We are under attack by an unknown force!" said one knight who rushed down the stairs.

"I know that!" The king berated.

"Don't worry your majesty," the supreme elder, Ancient One, chuckled. "Whoever they are, they have no idea what's going to hit them."

The four elders all smirked with their swords drawn.

The panting royal knight shook his head, "That's the problem, elder. It's not 'they'."

"Huh?" Selena and the rest raised their brows before they were startled by another loud bang. However, this time, all of their pupils trembled. The captain of the guard, the captain of the royal knight, had his head protruding out of the double door. His face was drenched in blood, and only half of his helmet was left. The man's eyes had rolled up into the sleeves of his eyelids.

Selena frowned and drew her sword from the sheath. Her brows furrowed.

"It's not 'they' ... you're majesty," the knight gulped before the door was pulled open. "It's just one."

Selena's sharp eyes turned soft and shrunk to a dot as they trembled. Her lips parted as her goosebumps rose. She recognized the man that crossed his arms at the doorstep. She recognized the smirk that none other could produce.

"You have a lot of foolishness inside you that you dare to storm here in the holiest ceremony this world will ever see," said one of four elders that had already anticipated his arrival.

"Foolishness?" Lyon laughed. "You seem not only to grow old, but senile as well. Do you forget who I am? Or are you just pretending to forget who I am?"

"Should I know you?" asked one of the elders before the only female elder frowned.

"You couldn't be, Lyon, could you?" uttered the elder.

"That expelled student?"

"Hahaha," Lyon laughed. "Of course, I was expelled."

"What are you doing here? Are you trying to shame our school?" the elders furrowed their brows.

"That's one of your students?" the king frowned at the supreme elder.

"Ex-student," the supreme elder didn't dare to meet the majesty's gaze. He stepped forward with his hands behind his back. His chin raised as he solemnly said, "Child, I have given you mercy by expelling you, yet you seem to fail to notice that. I should have ended you right then."

Selena raised her brows before averting her glance back toward Lyon.

"Do you know this man?" asked the crown prince.

Selena's parted lips connected. She looked at the groom of the wedding with her sharp eyes and nodded. "I do."

The crown prince frowned before he smudged a smile, "I see, is this one of your old lovers? I have quite experience with that."

Selena turned her attention away from the crown prince and looked at Lyon. ( What are you doing? Why are you here? )

"Tch!" the crown prince frowned. "Supreme elder, you better kill that man! He has ruined a good day! My wedding day!"

"I will have that sort out, crown prince," the supreme elder smiled. "Now, child, you have no choice but to apologize headlessly."

"You keep up your appearances, old man," Lyon rubbed his finger inside his ear canal as one of his eyes twitched in pleasure. "However, do you think that you can beat me? I mean, you can't kill me back then."

( Kill?! ) Selena raised her brows.

"Heh, I see that the world failed to teach you manners," said the supreme elder with a slight twitch of his brows.

"I don't think you understand, old man," Lyon crossed his arms once more and raised his chin, "The fact that you and those four are still breathing, is because I allowed it."

"I see that you can now talk sharp, wish it would have been your blade," said one of the elders.

"The only reason that I allow you four to live despite wanting to kill me, well, you should know who," Lyon smirked as his eyes looked at Selena.

Selena raised her brows in disbelief.

"Selena? Hahahaha, boy, you're just a frog trying to eat a swan! Do you know the difference between the earth and heaven? She is a bright star, you're just a rock!" shouted one of the elders.

"Me?" Selena muttered. "What do you mean?"

"Selena, you really are clueless," Lyon shrugged but kept his smile. "Do you think I would leave you like that for no reason?"

"What was the reason?" asked Selena.

"Tch! Oi! Do something!" shouted the crown prince.

"Stop babbling!" shouted the supreme elder as his enormous presence was unveiled.

The king and the queen managed to hold themselves whilst Selena and the crown prince were astonished. The Ancient One was a very well-deserving name.

"Hahaha!" the crown prince laughed only to abruptly stopped as he caught Lyon still standing with a smirk.

"He has completely ousted the captain of the royal knight," the king uttered. "That man is no ordinary guy in the street."

The four elders raised their brows in astonishment as they saw Lyon stretch his neck and sighed.

"What?!" the supreme elder frowned. ( My aura couldn't deter him?! ).

"Hey, you need to stop frowning else you might get a century older," Lyon remarked with a chuckle. "Hmm? What's wrong? You four turned mute or something?"

"It seems like you indeed have grown stronger," said one of the four elders with full killing intent.

"A shame, I was already benevolent enough to let you five live just because Selena holds you five dear. She was beckoned to do something in return because you guys treated her as your own, like a helpless child," said Lyon as his voice deepened. "That's right, a helpless child, a perfect vessel that you can shape any way you want, furthermore with her talent, she was perfect."

"Shut up!" One of the elders stepped forward before vanishing from his line of sight.

"Lyon!" shouted Selena as she saw the elder brandishing his sword against Lyon's neck.

( Heh, fool! ) the elder smirked inwardly before his pupils shrunk as they met with Lyon's sharp glance. "Tch!"

The elder used his other foot to retreat immediately. He was panting as he looked at Lyon in a different light.

"Oi, what's wrong?" asked one of the elders.

"He kept up with your Void Steps," the supreme elder sighed.

The four elders and Selena gasped as they looked at the young man.

"What kind of power do you possess now?" asked the supreme elder. "To think that you now you can stand toe to toe against me."

The Ancient One took the lead and stood against Lyon with his brows furrowed.

"Stand toe to toe with you? Please, the words coming out of your mouth are revolting even if they are praise," Lyon snorted before he looked at Selena. "Selena, do you know the real reason why I got expelled?"

Selena raised her brows.

"Your blabbering stop here!" the supreme elder unleashed his Void Step with his sword aiming at Lyon's throat.

Lyon frowned at the incoming attack and tipped away the course of the sword with his finger.

( He is quick! ) thought the supreme elder ( But! ) a sword intent instantly formed on his shoulder and shot.

The loud ding immediately made the supreme elder retreat in haste.

"Sword intent!" the supreme elder uttered in disbelief. "Impossible!"

"There is more than one way to cultivate the way of the sword," Lyon smirked. "besides, I can already do this when I was thirteen."

"That's a lie, you were the worst in class!" shouted one of the elders. "You must have used a hidden weapon!"

"I'm the worst in class, but even Selena knows that I'm the best swordsman in that building!" Lyon proudly smiled. "No offense, but I teach her better than all five of you, better yet, I never told her a single lie, yet."

"?" Selena raised her brows.

"That's right! The one that burned down your house, your parents! It was not the local bandit! Heck, they were not even bandits! They were just miners! The one that ended your loved ones, are these four elders, under the words out of that old thing's mouth!" Lyon shot a sword intent at the supreme elder before the latter deflected it and revealed a frowning rage.