Emperor's Reckoning

Jugen looked at the state of the mighty orc with a gulp. The powerful and imposing creature that appeared out of nowhere and charged at Nostria was now in a bloody pulp. His face was nothing but a pool of blood with small hints of little bubbles bursting from what had once been his nose.

Jugen gulped. He had not seen him for a while since, but now he was able to take down the mighty orc that could cleave Nostria in half with a swing. The brutal fight was presented right before his eyes, and Lyon came out victorious while the others got butchered by his generals. There was nothing but the word of awe shrouding his mind.

Jugen saw his cultivation journey. He came out of nowhere and descended down from the sky akin to an immortal being that thought the worldly affair was nothing but benign. Now, he was at the pinnacle of the Mortal World, who would dare to contest him with strength? The man took down a mighty orc that nullifies all mana.

"He is still alive," muttered Yoji before following a grunt. 

"He is neither alive nor dead," Jugen shook his head. 

"It's his will alone that keeps his perseverance against the grueling gentle wind. Rakumtatak's descendant is indeed someone remarkable," Yoji shook his head.

"Rakumtatak...." Jugen muttered under his breath. "Who is he anyway?"

"An old orc warrior of legend," Yoji smiled. "That guy is indeed strong to the bone."

"I see," Jugen nodded before he darted his eyes toward his big brother at the faraway cliff.

Lyon had his arms crossed as he stood near the cliff. "Who the hell are these people?"

"Emperor Lyon, these mongrels are the elves that were observing the battlefield," Assid knelt.

Lyon furrowed his brows, "Then what about the one that Kesya hit?"

"We have our target, Master," Graham knelt. "He is the one that was leading the group, Legion. The ones that have been causing you trouble as of late."

Lyon's vascularity turned imminent as he heard what Graham had just said. Legion was a group that had been nagging him from the time he was in Nostria. Now, they finally caught the head of the snake.

"So you're the one that reanimated that village? The one that killed Reka's parents as well?" Lyon frowned.

The dark elf smirked. "I've killed a lot of people in my life, I wouldn't be surprised that I have killed someone's parents or more."

"Emperor, shall I butcher him right here and now? Asking permission," Assid said.

"No," Lyon answered as he shook his head.

Everyone had a slight gasp as they heard his answer, however, the most surprised one was obviously the dark elf. He had been badly injured and was holding the pain as much as he could, but his enemies didn't finish him off. He could hardly give Graham a scratch wound, let alone keep up with Kesya.

"Heh, you torture freak, what do you want from me?" asked the dark elf.

"You are creating a cult, Legion may not be fully pulverized," Lyon shook his head, "Not even with your death that it would perish."

"Heh," the dark elf smirked a chuckle, "Well, looks like you are indeed an emperor. A sight only those sitting at the summit possessed!"

(An emperor, yet I've never heard of him before) Galaeron frowned. No matter how many books, how many words traveled— both through the walls or not, he was not able to recognize the emperor named Lyon. He was just a man that came down from the clouds above Nostria before showing a meteoric rise that none of the histories ever shown before.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's just common sense," answered Lyon coldly. "Though, there is a way to stop all your subordinate's madness."

"Huh?"

Lyon smirked. "By giving them what they want."

Galaeron raised his brows. "No! You can't do this Lyon! I mean, Emperor Lyon, you must not do it!"

"Who are you?" asked Lyon with one brow raised.

"I'm King Galaeron of an elven kingdom," answered Galaeron as he slightly bowed his head. "You must see the bigger picture! Who knows what will happen to the Mortal World if you open the gate?!"

"Huh? Hahahaha!" the dark elf laughed, "Look's like I'm not the only crazy one here. You want to open the sealed door?"

"Of course," answered Lyon to the dark elf's delight.

Connak and Agist, though they couldn't utter a single word, their pupils shrunk to a dot. The whole objective was to stop the Legion and the orcs to unseal the door to Hell, yet the person that was supposed to end that had decided otherwise.

"But, why?" asked Galaeron. The king of the elves frowned. He had not a single idea as to why would Lyon proceed where the Legion had utterly failed. Giving a leeway for Anti-Mana to seep into the Mortal World was a global matter. The entire structure of the Mortal World would be shaken by the arrival of new entities.

"Just let him do his thing, old elf," the dark elf smirked. "He has better sight than you, even if you used to be a marksman yourself."

"Tch! I shut your mouth," Galaeron glared before he darted back at Lyon. "Please, consider this through, if you open the gate, Nostria might have succumbed to yet another defeat."

"So you were there when Nostria was attacked?" Lyon frowned.

"Gah! Hahaha!" the dark elf laughed. "You just dug your own hole, stupid king."

Galaeron significantly squinted his eyes as his toes curled. "I have my own kingdom to consider about. If I joined in the fight with the risk of failing being quite high, my kingdom would also suffer."

"Hmph," Lyon snorted. "Then you have no right to tell me what to do, nor do you have any right to know why I do what I'll do."

"Bu—"

"Enough!" Lyon waved his hand. "Whether the door shall be opened or not will have to wait for my wife's answer."