Emperor's Reckoning



Right in the middle of the night, the Broken Rose Kingdom was shifting its power. Their king died in the middle of the sea and they all were witnesses of the spectacular sight. However, the new king loomed over their minds as they contemplated.

"How about the royal knight?" asked one of the cultivators below.

"With King Nyi showing up on that balcony visually unharmed, I doubt the royal knight made it."

"You're kidding... right?"

"I hope I was, but not even Captain Ifiz showed himself, and it's highly likely that he too might be..."

"Dead," the cultivator gulped. "So we basically have no choice but to submit or die."

The young king basked under their gasps and gawks whilst maintaining a smile. He could see how the people were cornered by two choices that he had given. 

King Nyi opened his lips and said, "I am a fair king, I will not use the method that King Cae used to rule you, but I will also not let my people look down on the Broken Rose Kingdom as well. The statue of your founder shall be kept as is, it is to honor your historic value and his or her value as well. This place shall prosper under my rule, just like my kingdom, Elyrianth."

"Elyrianth!" exclaimed one of the cultivators amongst the crowd. "No wonder he looked familiar, that's the prince of Elyrianth, I guess I missed the coronation."

"He is an alumnus of the Nirvana School as well," said another. "Wait, Lyon was invited by the king to have lunch, but... don't tell me that he is involved as well?"

"So that means the two of them are working together? Damn, no wonder that guy Lyon is powerful, he is friends with the young prodigy!"

"I take it that none of you decide to rebel or revolt?" asked King Nyi before nodding. "Good, then this should be simple, from this moment onward, Broken Rose will be the vassal kingdom of Elyrianth, expect bountiful resources and upgrade of living."

The cultivators were looking at each other with nervous looks before one hesitantly raised his fist and pulled out courage from deep within. "Long live King Nyi!"

"Long live King Nyi!"

King Nyi nodded under the enchantments of his name. He turned around as he flared his cloak. His eyes were bright and shifted to lazy ones. He inhaled through his nose before saying, "Royal knights of the Broken Rose Kingdom, will you appear now?"

"Too late," said Lyon.

"Huh?" 

"You can find their bodies in the room that they provided me," Lyon smirked. "You think Ifiz would be dumb enough to come alone? He was one step further, however, it's still inadequate to survive."

King Nyi smiled, "I see, so he brought all of the royal knights with him to assassinate you."

"They tried," said Lyon. "Though, I don't know if those were all of them."

"The royal knight consists of five men," said King Nyi.

"Then all of them is dead," said Lyon. "Not much of a fight when they looked down on you at the start."

King Nyi nodded, "No matter how high a cultivation level is if you blundered, you pay the price."

Lyon snorted a smile, "What are you going to do with the maids here? One is hiding inside this room." Lyon looked the door over his shoulder and nodded up.

"Of course, I will not kill the maids," said King Nyi, "They have nothing to do with the world of politics, they just faced bad luck, besides, I need people to clean and maintain this palace."

"Do whatever you want," said Lyon. "Though, I'm curious, how did you get here?"

"By flying?" King Nyi smiled. "I sneaked out of my kingdom, well, my palace to be exact, once I sniffed news that Cae is inviting you."

"Solid work of your informant then," said Lyon with a smirk.

"Indeed," King Nyi smiled. "They all tailing the royal knights, and one of them is the one hiding in the said room."

"Ah..." The three students were amazed. Now they knew why the maid managed to allow King Nyi a smooth ride toward the corridor, she was working under him from the start.

The door was pulled open from inside before the maid knelt. "Greetings, your majesty."

"Excellent job there, Maya," said King Nyi with a smile, "however, it seems your espionage job has come to an end in this place."

"It's been fun, Your Majesty," said Maya. 

"I never would have expected that you are the informant," said Lyon.

"Hahaha," King Nyi smiled, "Please gave her some professional credit, you've only met her once, with poison in your body."

"Not bad," said Lyon with a nod before looking at King Nyi. "Well, King Nyi, I think it's about time for me to sleep."

"I will sleep in the king's chamber if you don't mind," said King Nyi.

"I'm afraid that won't do," said Maya. "Your Majesty sneaked out of the palace again, King Father Leander will not be pleased."

The young king sighed, "You want me to go home in the middle of the night?"

"I'm afraid that it's nonnegotiable, Your Majesty," said Maya. "Your Majesty can use the Returning Jades Stone to return to the palace as fast as possible.

"Alright Maya," King Nyi sighed and looked at the balcony. "You should clean up the mess here, it's dirty."

"Cleaning is one of my fortes, Your Majesty," said Maya. "Rest assured that Your Majesty's next visit will give Your Majesty's usual impression like in the palace."

King Nyi smiled and nodded, "I know I can count on you, Maya."

"Thank you for your compliments, Your Majesty," said Maya.

Nyi looked at Lyon. "I'll be waiting for your arrival, don't forget to use that earring to meet me, otherwise, things might get too complicated than they should."

"Prepare me a good reception, then I might consider visiting you."

King Nyi smiled, "They probably going to give you a hard time there, but alas, the earring will give you triumph."

Lyon smirked. "One of the true marks of a king is if the king— stripped out of his royal cloaks and expensive wardrobe— dared to walk on his own streets or not."

King Nyi tilted his head as he pondered his words. He then smiled and looked at Lyon. "That's quite profound."

"It is," Lyon chuckled.

"In peaceful times, I will definitely want to talk with you," King Nyi nodded before walking toward the middle of the balcony. "See you again, Lyon of Mortal World."

He broke his Returning Jade Stone and jade lights started to engulf his being before zipping through the lone night sky.

Lyon crossed his arms and looked at the young king traveling far. Noah approached him from behind whilst looking at the same thing. "Wow, teacher, they say that King Nyi is hardly talkative in his teenage years."

"In peaceful times, I will definitely not want to talk with him," said Lyon.

"Eh? Why?" Noah raised his brows. "Wait a minute, is it because he's a guy?"

Lyon looked over his shoulder and raised his brows twice.

Noah sighed, "Of course it is."

Lyon laughed as he turned, "Hahaha, I'm just kidding." He slapped Noah's back before he returned inside. Maya was there waiting for him.

"Mister Lyon, it is possible that you use the king's chamber if you want, the place is being cleaned as we speak."

"Ugh, drop it with the 'mister', it feels off," said Lyon. "Just call me Lyon instead, also, what about these children."

Reinhard and Rayus had their lips twitching hearing how he referred to them with. 

"Their rooms are also being prepared as we speak, of course, it was not their original room, but the rooms are better than the ones they just struggle to get out of," said Maya with a generous smile.

Rayus felt cold crawling down his spine.

"Great, in the meantime, can you tell me about Elyrianth?" asked Lyon. 

"Certainly," Maya nodded, "Elyrianth is a prosperous kingdom that is currently led by none other than King Nyi. The place is located in the middle of a lake that was surrounded by a lush of greens. One great bridge was connecting the kingdom toward the vast steppe.  We excelled in combats, gourmets, and also alchemy."

( She answered like a bot ) thought Lyon as he pressed his lips. "Are you a robot?"

Maya raised both brows as her lips parted. Then she smiled, "I'm sorry, Sir Lyon, but I have no knowledge of the word that you just utter."

( That's what a bot would say! ) thought Lyon before he sighed, "Never mind, can you prepare for my departure tomorrow?"

"Are you visiting Elyrianth?" asked Maya.

"Yes, this place is going too political in the next few days... maybe weeks or months, I don't want to take any part of that."

Maya nodded, "Absolutely, everything will be in order the next morning."

Lyon nodded, "Great! Keep up the good work!"