Emperor's Reckoning

The crowd gasped as they held their breath. Not only the sudden transformation that the mad mortal did but also the words that he clearly uttered. To the eyes of many, he was suicidal.

"Did he just..."

"He did...."

"My god..."

They couldn't believe such a person existed. There were only a few people in the world who had the power to offend such great force, namely the other three kingdoms. 

Wanda furrowed her eyebrows before she smiled wryly (That guy is something... Doesn't he think that he made enough enemy already?).

Cherie gulped as she looked at the youth standing with his back straight and shoulder relaxed. She was having a hard time believing that those words were uttered by him but her ears didn't lie.

Her eternal rival also felt the same.

The princess of Bolg Kingdom, couldn't state a word out of her thought. She was sure that Lyon would have a limit to his offending capabilities. (Something is wrong with him or something?! He already won the second round and could advance toward the final! Why would he make time to do something so stupid!).

She bit the corner of her thumb as she crossed the other arm over her breast. It was already hard enough for her to convince her parents to take Lyon in. She was about to negotiate with her parents once more, especially after seeing his victorious way.

However, offending two kingdoms at once, and even possibly three could end up in their own destruction instead.

(Why are you making it hard for me to recruit you!) thought Hilde as she gave a glare toward the obnoxious young man. 

She slightly pouted before she averted her gaze toward Cherie. The woman was not having a good time either based on her expression. (Looks like we are on the same boat then).

The Golden Dragon King furrowed, glared at the youth. Though the menacing ashen horns protruded from the latter's head, he didn't flinch an inch. 

His rage was boiling his blood. He wanted to tear the young man in front of him limb to limb as his prestige was spat upon. The might and valor of the mighty Golden Dragon were shunned by the insult from someone he deemed to be nothing but a weak insect.

"Mortal, what did you say to me?!" his overbearing tone reverberated in the arena. The whole Afurnae slightly shook as his glaring eyes could kill.

"Kh!" the surrounding kings leered against the Golden Dragon. The three of them were the closest to him and took the direct hit from his overbearing aura. However, the strong king didn't faze even though he knew he was being the subject of their distaste.

"?!" Wanda raised her eyebrows. Her eyes turned into a glare as she noticed the massive aura had enveloped the entire arena. (Such power!).

Hilde and Cherie immediately felt their shoulders being pushed down. Their pure soul could only bow at the distress. All of those who stood sat back down, all of them couldn't keep a straight face. The unimaginable aura that could conquer First Heaven was present. The conquering aura caught everyone in awe.

Rupert grinned as he saw his father's might. For the blood he owned came from his seed. Sooner or later, he too would have the same power, the power to conquer, the power of pure blood Golden Dragon at its peak. 

He crossed his arms as his blue eyes shifted from his father to the pathet—

"!!?" his pupils shrunk as his heart thumped. 

Wanda stood up. She was about to open a speech and broke the atmosphere from getting worse. However, her own words stuck inside her throat the moment she laid a flash of a glance toward the young man she had been aiming for since the beginning.

"Impossible..." Hezar couldn't believe his eyes. (Even the Pala King won't be able to withstand that kind of pressure!).

Carius was about to open his mouth before he shook his head. Even he was astonished as him.

"Hu~" Tael puckered up his lips before he shook his head as well. "Treat him like any ordinary mortal or even a super mortal, then you will suffer. I guess I can only give you my condolences Hezar."

Hezar heard the negative remark but his eyes and mind were still fixated on the youth on the tenth step.

The matriarch of the Yuki clan shook her head before she smiled under her thick veil. "That is not a human mortal man, he is a monster."

"Heh," Cecile smirked. "The might of a Golden Dragon, what's that compare to a True Dragon, what's more."

"Calamity Goat, Devil Ape, and then True Dragon," muttered Lumina.

"That's right," nodded Cecile. "Furthermore, there are nine others that he is going to search."

Cecile smiled as he looked at the young man unhindered by the might that was pressuring his soul to sink down.

"Heh, what did I say? How about I said it closer to you," said Lyon as he smirked.

The Golden Dragon King and the other three raised their eyebrows in surprise. They thought Lyon was keeping an act, but his voice didn't even break. His breathing was normal to the point that it was to be feared. 

"Lyon, who taught you?!" asked the Pala King.

"Taught me? Do you think you have the right to know my masters?"

(Masters?) thought Wanda as she caught the plural word.

The king of the Sverine Kingdom furrowed his eyebrows, "That blessing that you use, it belonged to a Disaster Goat."

Lyon raised one of his eyebrows, "Disaster Goat? Huh?"

"Disaster Goat is not the same as my kin, grandson," said Bapho.

"They are less superior," said Sun. "Comparing it to Calamity Goat like him, it's like comparing a mountain against a boulder."

Bapho smiled as the little goat rested on his shoulder.

"How did you meet a Disaster Goat?" asked the Sverine King as he furrowed his eyebrows.

(Disaster Goat? You mean to tell me that a mere goat that only knows how to eat everything and shit could withstand the valor of a Golden Dragon?!) thought the king of the Golden Dragon.

Wanda sat back down as she crossed her legs. Her face was beginning to show some skepticism. (A Disaster Goat won't be able to withstand the power of a Golden Dragon... if there is a goat that could...). Her eyes opened wide as she gained a sudden epiphany. (No way... One.. three... Seven?!)

"Hahaha," Wanda chuckled before she shook her head. "I was wrong..."

"Mother?"

"Lyon is most likely not from Paradise, he might come from the opposite end of that place."

"You mean... Hell?"

Wanda nodded. "It's not a Disaster Goat, but the mightiest Calamity Goat."

"Calamity Goat..., the one that was said to be living in the deepest level of Hell?"

Wanda shook her head, "That's what the legend said, but who knows about the truth. What matters the most is the sum of the horn that he possessed."

"What about it?"

"The Calamity Goat is already a mighty race on their own, but the numbers of the horn represent who is at the top of the hierarchy," said Wanda before she shook her head, "Now it all makes sense, his not a mortal, he is an absolute monster."

"Heh," Lyon smirked as he let the Sverine Kingdom take his own conclusion. He averted his glance back toward the king of the Golden Dragon.

The crowd was clenching their fists.

"He is not going to do it, is he?"

"No... he already broke the record. Not once in generation could step on the eleventh step!"

"W-What if he could..."

"Then... it signifies that he is of equal with the four kings!"

No matter how much they want to believe that what they saw was a dream, the truth was still laid in their eyes. There was nothing that they could do, the young man had proven to be more frightening than the first round. His absurd result from the first result was carried over in the second round.

The Golden Dragon furrowed his eyebrows before he unleashed a huge image behind him. It was the image of his pure bloodline. Everyone could see the valor of the Golden Dragon with their bare eyes.

"Don't act cocky, mortal," said the Golden Dragon. "This is is a slight punishment for your ugly words then after—"

*Tap!

"?!"

The four kings had their eyes opened wide as a right foot was on the eleventh step. The crowd had their heart clenched by what's happening in front of them. Slowly and calmly, the youth rose up before he was the subject of everyone's attention.

"..."

The four kings couldn't utter a word as the eleventh step also meant one more thing. That the young man standing in front of them, the cocky mortal that was condemned by the First Heaven cultivators, was actually equal to the four of them.

The atmosphere froze as he reached the highest step that was not even supposed to be in the second round. The final and last, eleventh step.