Emperor's Reckoning

The crowd cheered to no end as they called out his name and title. He was arguably more popular than their pride princesses. Even the queen of the Phantera Kingdom couldn't help but had her eyes open wide with their brows raised. Her mouth was covered with her hand and her shoulders jolted at the sight.

His arrival made a crowd. He was being chanted over and over but the man they idolize had no intention of stopping at all. The claps, rendered the defining victory that reverberated throughout the entire kingdom, as minutes passed they slowed down but had no sign of stopping.

( Is he... deliberately stalling this? ) thought Luna as she could see the sign of pain that the crowd was experiencing from excessive 'support'.

Lyon smirked before standing up and raising his arm to stop the daunting applause. He disregarded the red print on their palms.

"Everyone, please welcome, my dear son-in-law, The Hero of Phantera Kingdom and The Undisputed King of Deo, Lyon Torga!" said Luna's mother.

( Are you kidding me?! ) thought the crowd before they filled the kingdom with applause once more and this time was merrier than the previous one.

Lyon had his lips twitched as he was greeted with another round of applause.

"Alright, that's enough," said Luna after a minute passed. She couldn't bare the look of pain that her people exuded, but inwardly as well, she was amused. "I think that the hero has few things to say?"

( What?! ) screamed Lyon inwardly as he looked at Luna with her eyes opened wide. He cued with his twitching brow but only received a playful grin from her. ( This is supposed to be your role! Your part to get me out of this! ).

"Don't make your fans wait now," uttered Cecile from below.

"Tch!" Lyon clicked his tongue. "People of the beloved Phantera Kingdom."

"YES!" all of them answered unanimously.

Lyon was snapped back from the instant reply and almost failed to keep his cool. He made a light fake cough before continuing, "Excuse me— I am the vanquisher of the dragon that was called... umm... was it Draco? I forgot, anyway. I hope that this kingdom will remain prosperous and be at peace with one another. May no war be ignited in Deo for whatever reason. May the children of your children live in strife and happiness and may this place be blessed with beautiful wo— I mean, riches, yeah that."

"Woo!" shouted one cultivator among the crowd with a round of applause by himself. Meanwhile, the royalties had black lines over their head.

( How in the hell did this turn awkward ) thought Lyon before he jumped down.

"That was... a great performance, pfft!" Cecile couldn't face Lyon and chuckled under her arm.

"Don't worry darling, that was great," said Selena with a smile before her face turned cold, "I will erase their memories like before."

"Okay let's not do that," said Lyon as he immediately grabbed her shoulders.

"Lyon, I thought that you would never visit."

Lyon raised his brows and turned to see Luna and her parents approaching him. He gave a smile, "Yeah, things have been busy."

"Oh, I see, did you find a way to heal the Golden Demoness?" asked the king.

Lyon grunted as he looked down before answering, "Well, let's just say that I found a new option."

"A new option?" Luna asked with her brows raised.

"We are going on a special mission," Lyon grinned.

"You know, I immediately felt shiver the moment you said that," said Luna. "I hope it's not something crazy."

"After all we've been through?" Lyon raised one of his brows.

Luna sighed and loosened her shoulders as she muttered, "Goddamnit— alright, what is it?"

"I'm going to explain it to you on the way, but first we are going to visit Luderia," said Lyon.

"We are?"

"Owh, you're not going to spend the night here?" asked Luna's mother with puppy eyes. ( C'mon say yes, I will ensure that I have my grandchild in nine months! ).

"Honey..." the king softly said. "The man's gotta do what the man gotta do."

"Hahaha," Lyon smiled as he noticed the king got his side elbowed by his own wife. "I'm afraid that I can't spend the night here."

"That's too bad... you're breaking this old woman's heart now."

"Mother please," Luna begged.

"I'm sorry, mother, but urgent matters forced me," said Lyon with a smile.

Her face turned radiant the moment he called her mother. The beaming warmth encapsulated her heart before she smiled. "Alright, I think I can wait a little more. Good luck my son."

"En!" Lyon nodded.

Luna was half in disbelief as she looked at their exchange. The charm that Lyon exuded was too pure for her mother to handle. "Heh, he is really..."

"See you later," Lyon raised his hand.

"I will visit again, mother, father," said Luna.

Both royalties nodded seeing their daughter off from the Phantera Kingdom. The people did their part as they watched them continue their journey.

---

Inside the carriage.

"Lyon, what mission are you talking about?" asked Luna.

"Well, we are going to hijack the seer's carriage," said Lyon nonchalantly.

"What?!" her scream almost scared the passing carriages.

"Are you serious?!" She lowered her tone but nonetheless her eyes were glaring. "Do you know what you're talking about?"

"We are going to fight Paradise, this is nothing," added Cecile.

"After what we've done to that Seraph, this is nothing," added Selena.

"You two..." Luna sighed. ( Sometimes I forgot that these two ladies are not, 'ladies', they are living monsters. If my parents heard of this plan... sigh ).

"Hahaha, don't worry, we'll be fine," said Lyon as he crossed his arms.

"Of course..." Luna rolled her eyes. "What's so special about it?"

"It can go to hell without going through the gate or portal that is sealed by Paradise," said Selena.

"Wait... why don't we use your chariot instead? I mean, that thing literally traverses the spatial space without a hitch," said Luna.

"... huh?!" Lyon opened his eyes wide. "You're right!"

"Eh?" Luna was expecting a rebuttal but instead, she was pitching an idea for him.

"Why don't we use the Tetragram Chariot?!" said Lyon toward his two wives. "I'm sure Little Yoji can take us there."

Cecile sighed, "That's not impossible."

"Why then?" Lyon raised his brows.

"Is it because of the source of energy?" asked Luna.

"Yes, sort of," said Cecile. "Tetragram Chariot mainly used mana as fuel and was indeed built to traverse in every part of the Three Realms, but it has its limit."

"That's not the main issue, going to Hell with the Tetragram Chariot will bring disaster," said Selena. "The Origin Magic that Paradise chanted long before our reincarnation— pseudo-reincarnation, meant that it only affects those that cultivate with mana."

"Which means..." Luna opened her eyes wide before looking at Lyon. "Lyon, that means your name is not forgotten in Hell!"

"Right!" Lyon nodded. ( Though I would appreciate better phrasing, you make me look like I'm a sinner ).

"En," Selena nodded. "For better or for worse, darling, your name might be a mere legend or myth."

"Nice," Lyon rubbed his chin as he nodded with a grin.

"So we are going to stick to the old plan then?" asked Luna.

"As crazy as it sounds, it's our best bet," Cecile nodded. "It's not like this is our first time hijacking a carriage, right Selena?"

"Shut up," Selena answered. "I-I rather walk, it hurt my pride as a swordswoman."

"Oh stop pretending, back then you didn't even feel a shed of pride," said Cecile as she crossed her arms.

"That's because my emotion had yet to return back then!" said Selena.

"Here we go," muttered Lyon. "Alright Graham, how close are we?"

"We are exiting the forest in a few more gallops," said Graham.

"Great! Hear that? Now please don't fight until we arrive," said Lyon.

"We're not fighting, darling, right Cecile?" said Selena as she gave out a smile.

Luna and Lyon had blacklines over their head.

Cecile sighed, "Returning to our discussion earlier about the Tetragram Chariot."

"Hm?" Lyon raised his brows.

"As long as the path toward Hell is sealed, there is no way to enter that realm without a special means. This means, there is no way to enter that realm since the spatial space— which is filled with spatial storm —only belongs to one realm each. In simple terms, the three realms have their own spatial spaces exclusively. Thus why there is no way, for example, Graham tear apart the space in the Mortal World and swam from there to Hell."

"Oh... that's new," said Lyon. "I thought the space expands limitlessly, encompassing all three realms."

"Sadly, it's not darling, after all," Selena's next words were as calm as a droplet in a still pond. "The three realms were never supposed to connect to one another in the first place."

"What..." Lyon frowned.

"We will leave it at that first," said Cecile. "Once you regained your memory, you will understand, since, you were the one who uncovered the truth about the history of the Mortal World."

Cecile smiled seeing Lyon's and Selena's bewildered faces.