Emperor's Reckoning

The group went on without care as Cecile acted as the leading woman. 

There were no buildings as far as the eye could see. There was not a single bird nor a single cricket heard. It's hard to believe that a fortuitous encounter would occur in this place.

"What is it that attacked you Garuda?" asked Jin he turn a glance while walking.

"Older brother," Garuda let out a sigh.

"It's a  Remnant"

The answer came from Cecile and from the looks of their faces, it seemed no one knew what it was. 

Yunesia in particular was piqued by the word. She had read many books, many adventurous journals, and history about this place, but still, nobody knew what exactly happened.

"What is a  Remnant?" asked Yunesia naturally.

"When a certain cultivator has cultivated their souls at a certain height. Even if their body were destroyed, the strong soul could linger and even take shape of their original form which is called  Spirit," said Assid as he immediately courted all of their attention.

"So basically a ghost?" muttered Lyon as he simplified his entire explanation.

"Yes, your majesty," said Assid with a nod. "Remnant, however, is a case where one's owned spirit failed to conquer their own killing intent. Thus reducing them to a mere ghost that kills to quenched their own killing intent."

"So basically a ghost that kills people?" simplified Lyon.

"Very well said, your majesty," said Assid as he made tens of claps with fluttering praises whilst Lyon shamelessly basking with laughter.

Lumina rolled her eyes as she heard the two. The master and the servant acted like a child. 

"But the thing that attacked me, I'm afraid it was not human," said Garuda.

Yunesia nodded, "Indeed, the thing that attacked Garuda was not a human. However, it is true that the killing intent was indeed maddening when it started to notice us."

"So basically you meet one Remnant and it slaughtered most of you?" said Cecile as she laid down the hard truth.

Garuda had his head hung down whilst Yuneisa could only swallow the shame. From the silence of admission, Cecile let out a sigh.

"I won't deny it, that was a stupid move. I never knew that Remnant was supposed to be that strong or even if there are any within my knowledge then," said Yunesia.

"There is no need to blame yourself Yunesia, consider it that you're lucky enough to even stay alive, let alone without a scratch. The thing won't even feel pain as you attacked it. It is only led by a desire to kill," said Cecile.

Yunesia nodded before she suddenly raised her eyebrows. She glanced toward the west but she didn't catch anything unusual. 

"You feel it too?" muttered Garuda as he stayed on guard.

The subtle movement caught Jin's to be wary of his surrounding before holding his wife's hand.

"Jin, what's wrong?"

Jin smiled, "Looks like we are not alone in this vast plain."

"Is it one of the Remnant?" asked Priscila as she turned vigilant toward her surroundings. 

(I said that and these guys should have noticed it before we did, but they seem to not care about what's coming) thought Jin as he smiled wryly.

The three generals were unperturbed as they kept a steady pace toward whatever place Cecile was leading them to.

Yunesia with her little sister and Garuda with his daughter continued to walk with all four pairs of their eyes trying to pick up something unusual.

"Your cultivation level won't sense them, it's useless. Spirit is not bound with mana, they are attracted to your soul, the soul of the living that we all have," said Kesya.

"T-Then what we must do?" asked Ayumu.

"For your current level, just know that they are definitely coming but don't expect just one, there will definitely be more," said Kesya with a grin on her face.

"It's coming!" shouted Lyon to their disbelief.

Cecile's eyes turned sharp as a figure made of soul was coming toward her in a flash. "Graham!"

The half-giant immediately moved at blinding speed before throwing his palm right against the obscure figure that appeared to be hollow and transparent. His ashen hair fluttered as the dark nature of the Remnant dispersed in an instant before revealing a white flame at the center of its body for a second. The white flame immediately dispersed along before a deep wail was heard as the final bits vanished to thin air.

Garuda and Yunesia had their words choked inside their throats.

"O-One shot," muttered Garuda as he looked how Graham casually sent a Remnant in one effortless blow. Not even an art or a technique and that wailing ghost were gone. 

"H-However, that was not the size that I met back then," muttered Yunesia. "It was probably twice the size."

"What you see just now, is a lesser Remnant. The soul of that thing was not high enough to maturely form a Spirit but the killing intent still corrupting it," said Assid before they continued their walk.

-----

Meanwhile, back at the portal.

"Young master, what should we do?" asked Elder Peli with a whisper.

Porealus was pondering for a while now and Lyon's group was out of sight. He eventually let out a sigh, "I can't risk you guys dying, we are going to the north."

"Wise choice, young master," said Elder Peli but his praise went unnoticed.

"Ivy, Zet, I will be going to the north, farewell!" said Porealus before he waved his goodbyes. He didn't mention anything about the map to either of them, keeping the benefit for himself.

"Ah! I don't know where to go!" sulked Zet as he watched the south and saw his big brother was nothing but a dot. (They walked so fast too!).

"Maybe toss a coin?" said Elder Gunther. "Let fate decide your fortuitous encounter."

"That's a great idea," Zet took out a coin from his pocket, "If it's head we are going to the west, if its tail we are going to east."

"We are going to the east," said Ivy as she destroyed the festive mood of Zet.

She didn't bother to look at his dejected face and went to the east side of this new realm.

Elder Crystal immediately followed her with the rest of the elders before she asked, "Young miss, are you sure you don't want to follow them?"

"Elder Crystal, I know that you have a history between you and aunt Priscila. I don't want unnecessary trouble in this place. I need to prepare for the tournament," answered Ivy coldly.

"I understood," Elder Crystal bashfully nodded her shame. 

Ivy didn't know the exact details of what their history was but she was actually unperturbed by it. The actual reason that she refused to go to the south was that the warning that she said. The last time that she had warned her, she wished she could have swallowed her pride and listened. This time she won't be making the same mistake.

(I hate that woman) thought Ivy though she knew deep down within herself that the mistake was her own doing.

"Well, so much for the coin I guess," sighed Zet. "Let's head on to the west."

The young sword genius marched on with his trusty Irae on the side of his waist. He could feel the walk was going to be boring very quickly before he suddenly asked, "Elder Gunther."

"Yes? Young master?"

"You think you can handle one of Big Brother's elders?" said Zet. 

Elder Gunther smiled at his curios, young master. "I believe that if I was fighting the tallest elder I might win, the one with the glasses really gives me eerie feelings but that's probably because of how he dressed. The woman with black ears, heh, she wouldn't stand a chance."

"Oh?" Zet raised one of his eyebrows. "You are really confident, huh?"

"If it were fist to fist I will admit that I might have a chance to win, but if you allow me to use my sword then victory is just a fact," answered Elder Gunther.

"Haven't you heard? The three of them help Big Brother to usurp Treas. Heh, I don't think 'usurp' is the correct word to use here since he practically ended Treas but still gained Empress Cecile as his lover. What an absolute man!"

"If you are talking about the former, I personally think that those are true indeed. However, Treas was never strong in quality, they were strong in quantity. Thus not enough to reach the apex. That's why I believe that I could win a one-on-one fight against them," said Elder Gunther proudly before the rest of the elders nodded in agreement.

"Hahaha, alright then, I will ask big brother to let you have a spar with one of them, probably the tallest one since you are keen and confident enough to win," said Zet as he laughed.

"Very well, young master," nodded Elder Gunther with a smile.