Emperor's Reckoning



The onlookers stood in stunned silence, their eyes fixated on the lifeless body of King Corvin on the ground. The air crackled with a mixture of awe and fear as they witnessed Selena, her figure suspended in the air, commanding the very sky itself. Her black blade gleamed with an ominous aura, emanating an intense and relentless bloodlust that sent shivers down their spines.

Whispers filled the air, hushed voices sharing disbelief and astonishment at the sight before them. They had never seen such raw power, such commanding presence from a single individual. Selena's eyes blazed with an otherworldly intensity, her gaze sweeping across the onlookers as if daring them to challenge her.

Aldric, the once mighty king, stood in defeat, his shoulders slumped and his gaze fixed upon the lifeless body of King Corvin. He had been a witness to Selena's unimaginable power, her swift and decisive strike that had brought an end to a monarch's life. The weight of his own inadequacy bore down upon him, leaving him feeling small and insignificant in the face of such formidable strength.

Gone was the confidence and bravado that had once defined Aldric's reign. At that moment, he understood the true magnitude of the forces at play, forces that he had miscalculated. The realization washed over him like a wave, leaving behind a bitter taste of regret and self-doubt.

The realization that he had chosen neutrality in this conflict now weighed upon him like an anchor. As he surveyed the scene before him, his eyes lingered on Selena, the embodiment of power and determination, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of envy for her unwavering resolve.

Selena exuded an aura of authority, a force that demanded attention and respect. The weight of her actions, the swift and precise strike that had taken the life of a king, hung heavily in the air. The gravity of the moment was palpable as if the world itself had momentarily halted to witness the unfolding events.

Fear and uncertainty mingled in the eyes of those who watched, unsure of what Selena's next move would be. Would she unleash her wrath upon them, extending her deadly dance of destruction? Or would she spare them, offering a glimpse of mercy amidst the chaos?

But as the seconds ticked by, it became apparent that Selena's attention was focused elsewhere. Her gaze shifted, scanning the surroundings as if searching for a specific target. The onlookers held their breath, anticipation hanging in the air like a taut string.

"Something is a miss," said Rayus before his eyes widened in horror. He gazed left and right, yet the signs of his whereabouts were nowhere to be found. He gritted his teeth, "Shit, Drogan is missing!"

"What?" Noah scanned the sky carefully with Reinhard but to no avail, the leader of Burgeon Swan was nowhere to be seen. 

( He used that fleeting moment to flee? His own ally? ) thought Rayus as he furrowed his brows. ( No, that can't be, he must have the foresight that King Corvin will die by madam's blade ).

---

Drogan's escape was marked by his agility and skill as he maneuvered through dense forests and treacherous mountain paths. He moved like a phantom, leaving no trace behind, his every step calculated to avoid detection. His runes had dimmed.

In the solitude of his escape, he allowed himself a moment of introspection, a chance to reflect on his choices and the path he had taken.

"Is this the price I must pay?" he murmured to himself, his voice carried away by the wind. "The path I have chosen, the alliances I have forged, the battle I had fought, is it going to be robbed away right before my eyes?"

His footsteps were swift and sure, his body moving with a primal instinct to return. The thoughts of his past actions intertwined with his hopes and fears for the future. He wondered if he had made the right choices if his pursuit of power and dominance had not clouded his judgment.

"I have always sought power, and control over my own destiny," he mused, his voice tinged with a mix of regret and determination. "But at what cost? How many lives have been affected by my ambitions? How many have fallen along the way?"

He shook his head and washed the thoughts gone. He had arrived at the Burgeon Swan headquarters from a thick forest, and his figure brought about surprise to his underlings.

"C-Captain!?" one of the bandits noticed the deep wound where the javelin gave as a parting gift.

Ferece, who was agitating inside his tent, heard the stunned voices of the others. He swiftly exited his tent before his eyes widened seeing his idol walking with blood smeared half of his body red.

"Ferece," said Drogan as he stopped right in front of him, with a gaze of absolute determination.

"C-Captain, did you... succeed?" asked Ferece as he gulped. He had never seen the leader of Burgeon Swan suffer such a wound.

"No," said Drogan. "The man is more powerful than I thought, but the woman is the dangerous one."

His words hung in the air as the whole place couldn't believe what they had just heard. Their captain was suddenly imperfect, someone managed to wound him so and still be alive. 

Ferece's lips parted in disbelief as his pupils shrunk before his right shoulder was grabbed by the captain.

"The next battle will be the last one," said Drogan as his voice raised, he turned to face all his underlings with a resolute gaze, "If we won the next battle, Second Heaven is ours! Your life will change! Respect will come to you and Richess will spoil your great-great grandchildren rotten! So be prepared to live a life of LUXURY!" he fisted the air with a resolute war cry.

The bandits were being hugged by one intent, his intent. They all let out a war cry as their dreams approached sooner than they thought, despite seeing how disheveled their captain was nor how his upper body sprayed red.

Under the boosted morale of their bandits, Ferece asked, "Captain, your wound."

"It has closed up," said Drogan as he returned back to his tent. He found his seat and sat on it before sighing. His wound had indeed closed and blood dried out. However, he could still remember the stinging pain from the javelin. After he managed to get his hands on the runes, he was never wounded, at least to the extent that everyone could notice. 

He looked up at the ceiling with his eyes closed. Selena's revelation still caught him by surprise. The astute woman was capable of discerning his ability. "She might have some knowledge about runes."

He snapped his eyes open as a certain figure appeared in his mind. He furrowed his brows before changing his clothes to a decent robe. He exited out of his tent before heading toward the prisoner.

Refl, a formidable adversary, had been captured by Drogan's forces during a previous encounter. Bound and confined, he no longer exuded an air of defiance, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of resentment and regret.

"Heh, I know that look," said Refl as he smirked, "You came home defeated."

Drogan furrowed his brows in rage before he extended his hand and grabbed his neck. He pulled him to the bar before he asked with a glare, "You knew..."

Refl was not struggling at all as he was held up by his old foe. He merely looked down on him with pity. 

---

Reinhard gazed up at the sky. His eyes scanned the vast expanse above. As the chaos unfolded below, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. And then it hit him like a bolt of lightning. Another figure was missing, a pivotal figure that had changed his life trajectory in Nirvana was missing.

"Where is our teacher..?" he muttered before Selena seemed to have caught a path.

She gazed in a certain direction with brows furrowed, then she swiftly fly over there.

---

'You're a fool' was the words Drogan could read from his old friend's face before his glare gradually softened and his eyes wider before his pupils trembling. Then, his goosebumps were shocked upward.

"He's here!" Drogan shouted his voice echoing throughout the chamber.

"Hm?!" Ferece was immediately alerted before cold killing intent washed over the entire headquarter. 

The Burgeon Swan's hustle and bustle was shut down instantaneously. All the moral hype from before knelt toward the killing intent.

A soft thud was heard. A figure was standing at the center of Burgeon Swan after a leap. His head was crowned by menacing horns. His hands showed both of his palms, radiating with calamitic dread.

Lyon revealed his horizontal pupils before he clapped his hands once and the palms stood connected to each other as the wave of the sound conquered the place.

  "Calamity Goat Art: First Calamity."

Bapho's true form image transparently appeared for a moment behind his back before vanishing, sentencing the fiery judgment on Burgeon Swan.