Emperor's Reckoning

"...." Lenu had his pupils shrunk to a dot before they trembled. The camp of the Burgeon Swan, the notorious bandit group, was dead silent. The advancement of his investigation broke through, but he never thought it would be all the way toward the incident in front of him. ( Refl... What kind of monster have you found... ).

Noah gulped before he muttered, "No matter how many times I've seen it, I still can't fathom her prowess."

"Truly, a woman befitting the title Empress," muttered Rayus before he gulped and looked at Lyon. ( If your wife is this powerful, just what kind of monster are you hiding inside that smirk of yours, teacher ).

"H... Holy shit!" Reinhard exclaimed as he broke the silence. He tried to stand up before realizing his hands were still tied up.

"Gamael, Gameal, wake up," said Lyon as he knocked Gamael's head lightly with his knuckles. "Are you alive?"

Gamael, kneeling right in front of Lyon, slowly had his awareness returned. His head slowly rose before he saw Lyon with his smirk. His pupils dilated in horror, "Ah!"  before he quickly crawled backward using his hands, gaining a few steps distance from Lyon. "G-Get away from me!"

He kept crawling back whilst looking at Lyon before his back crashed against a pile of loot boxes. His back was against the stack of boxes then he saw Lyon nonchalantly approach Gamael. His skin crawled with every distance between him and Lyon shortened. Soon the latter's shadow enveloped his fear-stricken face.

Lyon squatted down to his eye level with a smirk on his face. "A few questions, are you ready?"

"H...En! En! En!" answered Gamael.

"I can't believe it," said Lenu as he watched the fearsome Gamael reduced to a state of a scared child being interrogated by a ghost. "Then again, who could, I'm here with both of my eyeballs still intact, I can smell the scent of iron from the blood patching the grasses— almost taste it even —but my brain refuses that all of this is real."

"Now then," Lyon sat down with his legs crossed like he was having a picnic. He pointed his hand at the three students, "You see those three?"

Gamael nodded rapidly.

"Hahaha, calm down," Lyon laughed. "Who is the last teacher?"

Gamael was taken back but his lips only quivered.

"What's wrong? Too inclined to tell?" Lyon raised his brows. "Is he that high up in the ranks?"

Gamael nervously nodded before gulping.

"Hahaha," Lyon burst out laughing. "That makes it more interesting."

Gamael was astounded by Lyon's words. "D-Do you know who he is?"

"No," Lyon shook his head whilst keeping his chuckles in check. "But, heh, it won't be fun otherwise."

( Fun?! ) thought Lenu. "Oh, good handsome man! You should execute him right here and now, if you let him live, the whole Burgeon Swan will hunt you down!"

Lyon furrowed his brows before he glanced over at Lenu, "Are you the one that Refl told us to meet? I have a piece of paper somewhere for you."

"I... I don't think that matters now, I believe that you are Refl's friends," said Lenu. "The swan will die in time!"

"That's where you're wrong," said Lyon.

Gamael and everyone else present were surprised by his words.

"The swan will die, not in time, but in our hands," said Lyon.

Lenu raised his brows, "W-Well said."

"You also wrong about one more thing," said Lyon. "We are not waiting for the swan to hunt, we will the ones that hunt it."

"Heh, what madman..." Rayus muttered.

"Gamael, my dear boss of the Burgeon Swan camp," said Lyon. "You can tell me right now, who, and where, or I will have to end you."

Gamael's eyes lost focus as his quivering lips slowly turned into laughter. "Hehehehe! Y-You think you will get away with this? Such bravado! Do you know how much influence the Burgeon Swan is in Second Heaven?"

"Who said anything about getting away? I'm not running Gamael, I'm hunting," said Lyon as his eyes sharpened. He grabbed Gamael by his neck and pulled his face closer. "You must have a way to contact the headquarter, someone like you, in charge of a camp this size, too obvious."

"Y...You're planning to go to the headquarter?" asked Gamael before he smirked, "You will die at the doorstep."

"So the Returning Jade Stone that you have will let me land on their doorstep, that's good news," said Lyon.

"Y...You're insane!!" said Gamael with his lips trembling.

"Heh, don't speak of sanity to me," said Lyon. "I'm not the one that lost all of his men with a single snap of a finger."

Lyon pushed him back before he stood up and stared him down.

"The Burgeon Swan will end your charade!" shouted Gamael.

"Are those really your last words, not even a mention of your mother?" Lyon smirked, "Pathetic, live and die you are to the camp of bandits that you lost in a single snap."

Selena drew out her sword before plunging forward toward his neck.

"Ferece! Ferece!" Gamael shouted with every word clinging to his life. His eyes were peeking at the tip of the sword that pricked his neck.

"Ferece..." Rayus muttered.

"It looks like he really used an alias," said Noah.

"That bastard."

"Ferece..." Lyon smiled. "Now, that's not hard, is it? It's only a name though. Who is he?"

"C-Can you move the blade first?"

Lyon nodded, "Selena, pull the sword a bit further from his neck."

Selena did as she was told but still kept her eyes on the target.

"Well, spit it out," said Lyon."

"H-He is the second-in-command, in the Burgeon Swan," said Gamael.

"The second-in-command?!" exclaimed the three students and Lenu.

"Is that true?" Lyon furrowed his brows.

"Yes! yes! yes!" Gamael nodded repeatedly.

"Is that all?" Lyon asked. "What about his location?"

"I-I have no idea."

"Is that so."

"Wait! Wait! I have no idea where he is, but that's because not just everyone can casually talk with them!" said Gamael.

"That exclusive?"

"It's true! I hardly ever saw him."

"Then how did you know about the incident taking place in Nirvana School and the ones involved?"

"E-Everyone in Burgeon Swan knew what happened, nothing that big would come out unnoticed," said Gamael. "Even my now-dead lackeys knew it, we also are the ones that keep suppressing the news of the scandalous teacher being the bandit of the Burgeon Swan at bay, well, were."

"You guys knew that it's a futile attempt," said Lyon.

"We don't need to completely squash their belief, all we need was making them doubt and thus a rumor."

"Not bad," Lyon nodded, "So becoming a rumor is your goal."

"T-That's right."

"Why?" asked Selena.

Lyon answered, "Because by staying a rumor, the Burgeon Swan could avoid direct chaos from the higher-ups and since nobody could nor would, prove that the scandalous teacher was from the group of bandits, the awareness of the name could increase exponentially without repercussion. This way, Burgeon Swan will still be the talk of the towns and maintain their status— thus making them relevant, without the threat of being upheaved by the law... if there is even one."

"W-Wow, I honestly never thought that he would sound smart," said Noah.

"S-Same here," Rayus nervously gulped.

"You're really wondrous! I bet you can climb up the ladder in Burgeon Swan in no time!" said Gamael.

"Are you still seriously thinking that I will go over your side?" Lyon smirked.

"I swear you can go and replaced Ferece! Not only your sharp mind but your prowess far exceeds him!" said Gamael. "Our meetings may start on a sour note but don't let the start defines the end."

"I can hear your heartbeat from here, Gamael," said Lyon as he smirked.

"Eh?" Gamael raised his brows with an awkward smile.

"You think that they will give me a chance? After what I've done?" Lyon smirked before he turned around. "Selena."

Gamael's pupils shrunk to a dot before a blade slit through his entire neck. At the last moment of his consciousness, he heard the grunt of a dragon and the eyes of jade beauty. His head fell with a soft thud before rolling a few steps with a look of disbelief.

Selena took a breath through her nose before her eyes returned back to normal. She turned and smiled at her husband. "Darling, what do you think?"

"Perfect cut," Lyon nodded before his eyes opened wide as his wife leaped into his embrace. He caught her and spun a few times before stabilizing himself. "Woah, hahaha, we need to untie those four first though."

"Hehe," Selena smiled before she picked on Lyon's nose with hers.

Lenu's hands were untied. He rotated his wrist a couple of times as he looked at Lyon then asked, "Who are you, Lyon?"

"Hm?" Lyon turned his glance over. He smirked, "I'm the teacher of Class Six."

Lenu's eyes widened a bit, but the three students had a bit of an itch on the tip of their noses as they heard that.