Emperor's Reckoning

Selena's lips parted as her breath was taketh away by Lyon's revelation.

"You shut your blabbering mouth this instant!" shouted the supreme elder. "This fiend told nothing but lies! That's why we ousted him from our school! Your character is a thing to spit on! And now! You've grown old enough to face me, strong enough to face me! However, you have no idea what you're messing with!"

"That's a lot of words for someone not guilty, don't you think?" Lyon smirked. "I opened up the sky before I joined your school. Be blessed would you, I've come there for a visit."

"You!"

"Woah, might want to get an easy breathing there, I could hear your pulsing blood from here, too much pressure building up in there, tsk, tsk, tsk," Lyon shrugged before he averted his glance toward Selena.

"Who are you?" asked the king.

"Hello there, your majesty, I have to apologize, this matter is between Selena and me, tho, it seems like it inadvertently involves you," Lyon laughed. "I humbly apologize for the rude entrance, however, there is a high chance that this ceremony will end prematurely."

The king frowned with a glint of killing intent under his sharp eyes, "Are you trying to be our enemy? Who are you, to be so bold in coming here alone and expect to live after."

"Hehe, the fool," the supreme elder smirked, "you're really clueless are you, don't you know who you're offending right now?!"

"Shut up old man, this is not your time to speak," Lyon casually said before looking at Selena. The latter was tentative. Her eyes begged for an explanation, but she was in a tight spot. She needed to prove to identify her own emotion.

"Selena dear, don't believe any of his words, he is spouting lies," said the female elder.

"Why would I want to come here with a lie under my tongue?" Lyon raised one of his brows, "Perhaps it is true, you all have grown senile to even have a proper conversation!"

"Step one more time with your feet and the whole kingdom will be your enemy as well!" shouted the crown prince.

Lyon frowned then his glabella folded. "You must be the dumbest prince I've ever met in my life. Are you not reading this situation at all? Are you dreaming? Being enthralled by Selena's beauty perhaps?"

The crown prince was fuming. His eyes were twitching randomly before he pointed at him. "You mongrel! Do you have any idea who you are speaking to?! I was being lenient and giving you a chance to escape, however, it seems like it is you who are begging to die, what kind of soon-to-be leader would I be, not to nod and fulfill such a wish! Men!"

The entire fleet of royal knights immediately gathered in the throne room. One source comes from inside the castle and another blocks Lyon's escape from the back. The latter's space was sealed. He was destined to finish whatever he was doing right there and then.

"Elders!" the supreme elder glorified his voice before continuing, "He is like a cornered rat, he might bite back but it is still a rat nonetheless! A brandish of our sword is enough to kill them."

"I've faced a much worse situation, I mean," Lyon shrugged. "I didn't even shed a single shed of blood here yet and the sun is blazing in the sky all the way up there."

"Is it true Lyon?" one raised voice of a dignified woman courted all of their attention.

Lyon looked at Selena whose shoulders were stiffened. His smile turned neutral before nodding.

"What proof do you have?" asked Selena.

The supreme elder smirked, "Yes, that's right, what proof do you have?! Boy!"

"I didn't bother with any proof," Lyon answered so straightly. "I just need you to believe me."

"Bah! Such a baseless accusation! Not only are you ruining our wedding but you're also shaming my kingdom!" shouted the crown prince.

"I don't have any physical proof," Lyon shook his head. "However, think of it this way, Selena. You're near truth but something inside you is fighting it, you're sense of morality. You want to repay what they've done to you, so much so that you're thoughts are clouded. You're in denial."

"You have a twisted tongue and mind!" shouted the king.

Selena tightened her upper lips. Her heart was racing but none of the elders turned and faced her. She was alone to judge the situation.

"This is the ultimate question, Selena," said Lyon. "Do you think, I have the power to sneak past this old thing back then? You know yourself I was not invincible. It is impossible for me to even try to steal the scripture. What I found out was their taboo. In order to create the perfect vassal for the Void Art, what's better than a voided-out child? Someone that has no attachment to the world but the school itself? Thus your parents had to die, and here you are selling yourself to a kingdom you barely care."

Selena's eyes opened wide. Her pupils trembled as they shrunk. Her mind crashed in an instant as her lips jittered. Her fingers trembled as a course of chill travels inside her veins. Her heart pulsed one last time.

"Selena, don't listen to his crap!" said the supreme elder as he saw her hiding her emotion under her fringes. "We have taken care of you from when you have nothing, what did this boy ever do to you?"

"Selena, you have to decide," said Lyon as he crossed his arms and raised his chin. "Do you want to live as your parent's child, or do you want to live as the supreme disciple, or better yet! Do you want to live as you?!"

The state of her parents' corpses flashed inside her mind. The state of her living well inside the school ground and the courtyard also flashed before her. The two were the opposite of each other. The two were polar.

"What's important to you, Selena?" asked Lyon.

"Enough! Kill him!" the king ordered.

"Heh," Lyon smirked, "No need to hold back, all at once!" He taunted with his hand.

Lyon forcefully made one of them kiss the hill of his foot before going to the other one.

"Guha!"

"One down," Lyon smirked before they all rushed together. He avoided the strike and countered. He took the simplest and most effective way to dodge before leaving them unconscious with the counter strike, all the while his glance was looking at Selena. He sighed inwardly before relating a small mana burst and staggered the entire group. He took the chance to eliminate them out of their wake in an instant before his eyes widened.

"Too slow!" the elder laughed before his sword narrowly grazed Lyon's throat.

"Tch!" Lyon furrowed his brows before grabbing the elder's face with one hand.

"Still inexperienced!" another elder said behind Lyon's back.

Lyon canceled his original intention the instant he heard it, however, his side was slitted as he made a space.

"Void Art! Abyss Cleave!"  the supreme elder swung down his sword in Lyon's direction.

"Damn it!" Lyon crossed his arms before his eyes turned golden. He used his tail to pivot away from the devastating slash.

A part of the throne room was cut open and made the onlookers gawk at the prowess. However, the barrage of attacks didn't attack there.

"Look's like you manage to find an odd blessing in your journey," said the supreme elder seeing his four tails. "However, that won't save your life today!"

"You still lack knowledge even after living for so long, no wonder your wife-less," Lyon smirked after his insult made his ears perk up as he heard the blood inside the so-called Ancient One boiled inside.

"Void Art! Abyss Hack!" shouted the supreme elder after he leaped with his swords up. He hacked down his sword and the blade slit opened the space all the while going to Lyon's forehead.

"Void Art: Abyss Cleave."

Lyon and the supreme elder both raised their brows before the blade of the latter made sudden shock resistance.

"What?!" The supreme elder had no choice but to retreat.

Lyon went to a safe position before he looked at Selena with a beam of a smile until he realized something was wrong. "Selena...?"

The elders were frowning as well as the royalties, but the supreme elder had his lips parted.

"She advanced, she broke through!" The Ancient One laughed before he felt a gush of wind passing by. "NGh?!" His eyes opened wide in disbelief. His clothing ripped diagonally over his shoulder before the skin slit opened. Blood didn't manage to escape before another slash wound appeared across the opposite. Then rapidly other wounds formed along with the sound of ripped clothing. His strong body didn't twitch at all before all of the wounds churned out the blood at the same time. His knees fell to the ground before his entire body followed suit.

Everyone couldn't even gasp at the sight, they were baffled.

Lyon frowned as he looked at Selena. "You've been consumed by the void."

Selena was emotionless before she looked at Lyon and revealed her blue eyes.