Emperor's Reckoning

"Lyon! Lyon! Young Master Lyon!!"

His name echoed across the Myriad Devils. The man that severed their imminent destruction had returned. The ultimate mortal that far surpassed the five guild leaders altogether had returned from the unannounced journey from the unknown.

"Hehe, this is dangerous. I could get used to this!" Lyon smirked as he swallowed all of the praises through his laughter.

Zelena had black lines over her head as her shoulders slumped seeing her brother-in-law, and she shared the same expression with the dragon woman who despised unnecessary attention.

"Lyon, stop it, you might blow your head if you laugh anymore," remarked Lumina.

"Hahaha...." Lyon's laugh trailed off before he blew air through his nose. "Alright, time to get them out of my way."

"Understood," Assid answered, with his feet already approaching the masses. He parted his lips before the adventurers immediately made a wide path for the party.

( Woah, he didn't even utter a single word ) thought Lyon with his brows raised in admiration.

Assid closed his lips and nodded. He turned around with stoicism and elegance before bowing. The path had been opened for he who was his master.

Lyon nodded before leisurely putting his arms behind his back. He pursed his lips together before whistling as if he was strolling inside his own backyard.

None of them dares to interrupt, however, their eyes couldn't help but steal a glance at the new person that made their jaws drop. A devastating beauty walked amongst the mortal. Her eyes were blue as the ocean and a sword by her waist. Alas, what they were most confused about was the shape of the lady's face.

"There are two Zelenas?" muttered one of the onlookers.

"No way, the rumor was true. She has a sister, no, even better! A twin sister," said another following gulp.

Cecile smirked before she tugged Selena's arm. "Looks like you just devastated the men in town with your appearance."

"I don't need your jest, War Maiden," Selena frowned. "This unnecessary attention always brought unnecessary problems."

"Yet, your darling seems to love basking in it," Cecile smirked, with a snort.

Lyon's ears twitched as he overheard their conversation. ( Man, don't they ever give it a rest ).

"Eh? What is that?" uttered one of the onlookers softly, with his hand pointing at a tied-up sack in the shape of a snake. The thing wiggled as it was dragged around by the tallest of the party.

"Did they go fishing or something? It's a really lively fish," said one of the onlookers.

"That must be one tough fish, I mean look, there are no traces of water drenching the sack. How did it live in dryland that long?" said another onlooker.

His words invited rushes of chains of thought amongst the adventurers and onlookers alike. They all made up the conclusion from the best scenario to the worst scenario. Either way, their curiosity couldn't be well hidden from their expressions. Yet, before they reached for the truth, an appearance of a man courted their attention.

"Hm?" Lyon raised one of his brows seeing the familiar figure awaited them.

Zelena frowned, "Baiyun..."

...

The double door closed as they left the onlookers back to their daily activities. The party casually walked on the red carpet that stretched long to a podium.

Lyon yawned without even bothering to cover his parted lips. His eyes didn't fully open and he was filling the air with sighs.

Baiyun had his brows twitched as he led the party inside, but he kept his words inside. "I never thought that you would come back this soon."

"I never thought that I would see you again either," Lyon said with a blatant sarcastic tone. "I have had hoped to see Farash and Sakya once more, yet my prayers seem too brittle."

( This womanizer! ) Baiyun cursed inwardly before making a fake cough. "As you know, the state of the Myriad Devils is not as ideal as it should be. We are now shrouded with fear, of unwelcome destruction."

"You should stop playing music and start swinging a sword or something," said Zelena.

"Tch!" Baiyun's face twitched hearing her remarks, "I will pretend I did not hear that, Fang."

His eyes darted from Zelena's snort toward the lady that was the spitting image of her. ( Dear me, was it not for that blue eyes, I thought that Zelena could split herself into two ). He shook his thought before smiling with his chest tensed up. "You must be her sister, miss..."

"You have no right to know my name," said Selena as she sharpened her eyes.

( Ugh! These two uneducated sisters! ) cursed Baiyun as his pride was slammed.

Lyon chuckled with Kesya before the former said, "Stop dwindling your words around, I know you called us here for a reason."

Baiyun smiled, "Let's not jump into matters at hand that fast. I just want to know how do you guys fare from venturing into the unknown path, or rather, the feared path."

Cecile caught Baiyun's eyes darting toward the sack that Graham carried. She raised her brows before saying, "Baiyun, was it?"

"Yes?" Baiyun nodded.

Cecile smirked, "Are you perhaps curious about what Graham here is carrying?"

Selena frowned before she spare a sharp glance toward the auburn woman, "What are you aiming at here?"

Cecile disregard her attention and awaited for Baiyun to answer instead.

"T-That's correct," answered Baiyun. "That thing really gave off an ominous feeling."

"Ominous you say? Funny that you say that," Cecile made a light chuckle.

Lyon put down his leisure bearing and crossed his arms. "Is this why you guided us here?"

Baiyun took a cold breath through his nose before turning around and walking away with his hands behind his back. "As one of the five guild leaders that protect mortal greatest adventurers, I want to know. No, it is necessary that I and the other four know what is it that you brought into Myriad Devil."

Kesya frowned before Baiyun's skin crawled. The supreme lust for killing intent was evoked. There was no mercy inside her eyes as she took one step forward. "Are you saying that my young master will bring chaos to this place?!"

"Kh!" Baiyun gritted his teeth as his pupil shrunk. He was never been so vulnerable as he was void of the capability to utter a word. ( What cold killing intent! I can't even blink my fucking eyes! ) said Baiyun inwardly, with his forehead drenching in a cold sweat.

A hand reached out before grabbing Kesya's shoulder.

"Enough."

Kesya's killing intent vanished in an instant. Her pupils shrunk before she made a wry smile while looking back over her shoulder. "Hehe, I'm just joking, Empress Selena, please don't get mad."

Lyon raised his brows as he saw Kesya didn't dare to cause mischief with a word from Selena. ( She really composed a power that stilled in everyone's mind ).

While Baiyun was catching for breath at the side and had his eyes still in disbelief, the door toward the Guild Link opened.

Rapid steps were heard before a loud voice echoed, "You're back!"

"Sakya?" Lyon raised one of his brows. "Whatever you see right now, it's not our fault."

"Fault?" Sakya furrowed her brows before noticing the pitiful Baiyun catching for breath. She snorted in response before catching Selena and the sack Graham carried.

"You must be..."

"That's not important," said Zelena. "What are you here for?"

"I've heard that your party brought something interesting inside a sack," said Sakya. "As much I respect the gains from adventuring, there has been a rising concern amongst the lower class of adventurer."

"So it is your duty as one of the five guild leaders in Guild Link to foresee what is inside?" said Lyon before he made a chuckle. "I've heard that line before."

( Crap, he really is tough to deal with ) thought Sakya. "Lyon, please tell me what's inside that sack and tell me why it won't cause concern. You're not bringing any type of flying serpent, are you? Please don't tell me you abduct a child from Great Hydra."

"T-That's right, the mother of the Great Hydra would ravage our city for sure!" said Baiyun as he rubbed his throat in discomfort.

"That's enough!"

A silvery voice echoed inside the Guild Link hall before Lyon caught the blue-haired beauty, Farash coming in with full set attire, though, her allure still couldn't be hidden that easily.

Selena raised her brows but Cecile immediately intervened by clutching the former's shoulder. Selena looked back over the shoulder and found Cecile smiling before shaking her head slightly.

"Farash, where have you been?" asked Baiyun.

"You are disturbing the Myriad Devils' hero, are you sure that your question bears any weight now?" Farash frowned before she raised her hand to gesture to the physician to leave her with the rest. Her glance darted toward Lyon, disregarding the disbelief in Baiyun's eyes.

"Lyon, you and your friend must be tired after a long journey, why not take a rest in an inn, my treat."

"We were planning to," answered Selena. "You don't need to be so 'benevolent'"

Farash's skin crawled as she heard Selena's voice. Her lips quivered and were noticed by the other guild leaders, however, they couldn't wrap a conclusion.

"Heh, thank you Farash for your generosity," Lyon shamelessly intervened with a laugh then headed outside without a care for the world.