Emperor's Reckoning

The Nostria Kingdom was filled with breathless cultivators for a second. The gasps of the locals couldn't be mended as their breath was taken by the sight of the instantaneous phenomenon that was the lady with the sword in her hand, hovering above them all.

Once again, the Kingdom of Nostria was swept by a wave of attention. The young man that they idolized, the young man that they seek nothing but perfection on, the young man whose name alone bore the weight of perhaps the entire Mortal World, had returned home. However, the smile of the young man was not seen.

His lips parted as words collided inside his throat. He gulped as his hands trembled. His emotion crashed seeing Ryona being supported by Kyoko. However, the perpetrator was none other than his beloved wife.

"Enough, Selena!" a voice of a woman rang true as a hand grabbed Selena's shoulder from behind.

The crowd was stunned as their own queen could only watch from the sides. The appearance of another familiar figure came to light. Her hair was auburn and she was famous before the young man. There was an abundance of achievements that the lady had earned or given, however, her latest identity only fortified what was great about the young man they adore.

"What are you doing, Cecile?" Selena leered over with a frown.

"Stopping you," Cecile frowned back. "There is no reason to get violence in this area. The lady you just strike, she means no harm."

"You know the examples more than I do," said Selena as she frowned. "There are many dangerous things that appeared innocent."

Cecile snorted a smile, "Maybe so, but you don't know how many Lyon got acquainted with, especially regarding women."

"Because you let darling loose," Selena frowned.

Cecile sighed, "Just take a good look at your darling."

Her eyes opened wide as she saw Lyon's crashing emotion. The young man was on the balance of chaos and love. He didn't know how to feel given the circumstances, it was all written on his face. Selena's lips trembled before she tightened her lips and loosened the grip of her sword. She took a deep cold breath and closed her eyes before revealing them to Cecile.

Zelena gulped as she spectated her sister above. ( Is this the price of the Void Art or is this just her jealousy ).

"Fine," said Selena.

"That's better," Cecile smiled before winking at Lyon.

"You can get your hand off of me," said Selena before Cecile giggled as she did what she was told.

Selena hovered over to Kyoko and Ryona before the atmosphere turned tense.

Kyoko couldn't believe her eyes, such a monster casually standing inside a form of a human. There was a blade in her hand, and she could see a thousand death just from stealing a glance at her own reflection. The curved sword was nothing extraordinary, but the wilder was the opposite.

"Hello," Kyoko greeted with a smile.

Selena frowned, "A nine-tailed fox, azure one."

( She saw right through me... as expected hehe ) thought Kyoko before she nodded. "Indeed, I am."

Selena didn't reveal her emotion about the admittance of Kyoko. She darted her glance toward the woman that had the vibrant orange color of hair.

"I apologize," said Selena without her head bowing. "It seems that I was going overboard."

Ryona didn't answer as she looked at her with panting breaths. Her eyes didn't blink before Kyoko caught on.

"Well, why don't we have lunch together," said Kyoko with a wry smile, "I don't think this matter deserved to disrupt the daily life of those walking on the ground below."

"She is right," Cecile added. "There is no need to expose our weakness further."

Selena's brows twitched but she didn't refute her answer.

.....

Under the roof of the palace was the familiar place where Lyon had most of his lunch back in the early days. However, the atmosphere was not as festive as one was hoping for.

Lyon sat between Selena and Cecile as a matter of course, and Assid was missing as usual. Sitting opposite them were some of the beings that Lyon had freed from the curse that binds them inside the Labyrinth of Simak whilst the one sitting at the very end was the queen of the Kingdom of Nostria, Sylviana and of course, standing beside her was the multiple role women of the Nostria Kingdom, Fei.

( I cannot believe that he returned, with another wife! ) thought Sylviana as she inwardly sighed. She hovered her eyes toward Selena who was cool and composed. She frowned ( Funny, why do I feel something familiar radiating out of her, do I know her? No, no, no, I would have remembered her if she were this striking ).

"Hey, big brother," said the little girl in white oversized linen cloth with hair as green as nature.

Lyon raised his brows before he smiled, "Miko, long time no see."

"Hehe," Miko smiled, "It's been long, but not that long."

"You seem to grow taller," Lyon added.

"You think so?" Miko grinned.

"You have grown exponentially stronger over the months," said a robust commanding voice that belonged to a knight without a helmet on."

"Tristan, you should try to get into fashion sometimes," said Lyon. "That heavy armor doesn't seem comfortable."

"Don't jest," Tristan laughed. "The chainmail under this armor is quite cool."

( Well, considering your robust laugh, maybe it is ) thought Lyon as his smile twitched before he hovered toward Ryona and Kyoko. His gaze softened, were it not for them, he might not be able to make it on her own. Their aid was as important as what Sylviana and Luna did for him.

( She is still stacked ) thought Lyon as he bops a nod before he addressed Ryona. "Ryona, long time no see."

"I miss you hubby," Ryona smiled but the hesitation in her eyes was evident.

( Ah, crap ) Lyon sighed inwardly. ( This is one of those consequences of having a harem aye, it's not like I have a few options to pick from like those visual novel games ).

( This is so awkward, I feel like I don't belong here ) thought Sylviana watching the two ( Wait a minute, this is my place! ).

Sylviana made a few fake coughs, "Lyon, did you come back with great news?"

Lyon sighed then shrugged, "No."

Ryona and the others from Nostria raised their brows.

"Well, this is a surprise," Fei uttered. "I honestly thought that this would never come."

"What?" Lyon raised his brows.

Cecile smiled, "You placed my husband too highly in your mind, he is not the creator of the world."

Kyoko smiled, "To be fair if you have seen what we saw, you would have suspected that he might be the reincarnation of such a being."

"Hahaha," the ladies laughed.

"Lyon after this, I need to talk to you about something," said Kyoko out of the blue.

Lyon raised his brows toward her request.

"And what is that?" asked Selena.

Kyoko put her index finger on top of one another making a cross. "It's a secret."

"Selena, calm down," said Lyon as he crossed his arms.

"Sorry, darling," Selena immediately bowed her head.

The people inside the dining room were stunned by the reaction from the deadly woman. Speculations emerged inside their heads and all of them were different Ryona's eyes were brimming and her pupils shrunk as her lips pointed outward.

"Did you finally find out where you live?" asked Lyon. "Your... home."

"Not quite, but let's just talk about it later," said Kyoko. "You seem too eager about this."

"Hahaha," Lyon laughed.

"Hubby..." Ryona called out before she looked at Selena for a glance then returned.

"It's been a while," Lyon smiled.

"How was... heaven like?" asked Ryona.

Lyon raised his brows before he took a rather heavier breath as he contemplated with his sight wandering on the ceiling. "Hmm... it's actually nothing special."

"Really?" said Miko enthralled.

"To be honest I don't know what was I expecting either, but it's pretty much the same as Mortal World more or less," Lyon shrugged his shoulder. "However, that's just the First Heaven, I don't know about the second and the rest."

"Do you want to go with him, on his next adventure?" asked Cecile.

"Absolutely!" Ryona nodded firmly.

"Hahaha," Lyon laughed.

Selena didn't spare a grunt and closed her eyes as they basked in the limelight of lukewarm affection.

The food arrived with Assid leading the rookies behind him. The crackling of the skin on the red meat made their ears twitch with pleasure. The sensational scent immediately punched through their nostrils as they humbled their drools.

Sylviana couldn't help but gulp at the sight of the wonderous dish even before the plate reached her side of the table.

"Oh, my," Fei covered her mouth with astonishment riddling her eyes.

"As expected of Assid," said Lyon disregarding that Lumina already began eating before the host even snapped back from her epiphany.

The group proceeds to have a heartful lunch.