Emperor's Reckoning

The entire Luderia was in a state of panic as everyone was going outside their building and hit the street.

"What was that!? An earthquake!?" a junior frantically asking. For the record in history, Luderia never had an earthquake ever since it existed.

An old senior citizen replied, "No, look closely, up there.." as he pointed to the sky. The onlookers couldn't help but averted their gaze to the sky.

*gulp

The junior gulped down his saliva as his mouth formed a twitching smile, "You're kidding right..." He couldn't help but having cold sweat. In fact, he was not the only one that experienced this, almost the whole citizen did the same.

The old senior said with his hoarse voice, "That's right! An earthquake would never do something to the sky! Look, the clouds are missing!"

In the sky, the lonely sun looked much brighter than before as if it ruled them. Though the temperature was not as high as in a dessert, the people got the message. This was not a natural phenomenon.

In the upper-class region of the city, the nobles also did the same as the commoners. "Is it a hidden expert?" a local young noble said.

"Ah brother, we can't pinpoint the source of the impact since it was underground but we can be sure that it was from an external force." said a friend of his.

"Well, it matters not, no one can defy the royal guards of Luderia anyway. Well, time is nigh, I will buy a new set of clothes for the banquet, join me, my brother." thus both of them went to a high-class boutique.

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Inside the palace of Luderia, in a particular room with a door made of an enchanted wood. A skinny old man with a long white bird was gazing at the window that overlooked the city, With a white silk clothing and his pale white skin, he still exuded a kingly bearing despite the sickly face.

His eyes turned sharp as he said, "Such tremendous force that could shake the entire land, to think that even my hand is still shaking."

The old man snapped his finger.

*thud

A shadow took a knee behind him silently.

"What information do you have regarding the incident just now," the old man still looked at the city below him.

"Your majesty, my apology, I cannot retain the information of the culprit behind this." said the shadowy figure while gasping.

The old man raised his eyebrow and avert his gaze to the kneeling shadow, "Not even a name? What happened?"

The shadowy figure gulped as he remembered what even had befallen him before saying, "I was... hunted."

"What? You were hunted? by who? Who could possibly make prey out of you, Higarde The Elusive?" The old man evidently tried to keep himself calm.

*splurt

Higarde suddenly vomited blood as it stained the carpet. "It was two women."

(two women?) The king recounted his memories but no name came out in his head that could possibly beat Higarde.

"As I was nearby, I immediately sprung to the source of the event, however, two-woman stopped me in my track as I was right in front of the location," said Higarde as he kept pressing his chest.

His eyes sharpen as he said to the ruler of Luderia, "Those two women were definitely not from Deo, I cannot fathom the depth of their cultivation level."

The old man was about to mention the Luderia Seal he gave to Higarde but the notion erased once he mention that the two women were not from this world. Luderia Seal had significant value as it has the same weight as him being in person.

"Then, it's a miracle that you are still alive," sighed the old man.

"No, it's not a miracle, they let me live..." said Higarde as he shook his head.

"That means?" The old man became cautious as he took a step back.

"I'm here to give your majesty a massage from one of the women, particularly the one with fox ears," said Higarde as he was relaxing his breath.

The old man furrowed his eyebrow, "How did she know that you served the king?"

Taking a deep breath Higarde said, "She deduced my identity through the Luderia Seal as I failed to cover them. Forgive me, your majesty, by her pressure alone I couldn't help but speak the truth."

The old man sighed and waved his hand, "It's not your fault, if even you would do that, others will probably broke sooner, so what is the message you want to give me?"

"Thank you, your majesty, the message was simple," Higarde turned serious as he said, "Your majesty must give a declaration that the event that just transpired was nothing but a natural phenomenon. Naturally, I was not to disclose the location either."

The old man reluctantly agreed to this term, he didn't dare to say what happened if he were to refuse. He knew that his people were smart enough to differentiate between a natural phenomenon or not but alas, he had no choice.

He dismissed the injured Higarde, as he spoke softly toward the window, "This game of chess is will come to an end soon enough, as I can feel my life is withering away the proper successor should be appointed, with the arrival of the 'wild card' I wonder how my children will fare."

He closed his eyes before shouting, "Guards, bring me a brush!"

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The maid's body froze as she saw the man completely obliterate her master in a single blow. In her eyes, her master was among the strong cultivators in Luderia, yet this young man in front of her that seemed not older than twenty years old completely broke her imagination.

Lyon turned to the helpless maid, "Tell the head butler to meet me inside the living room, there are things need to be discussed."

She instinctively nodded out of fear and frantically searched the head butler.

Lyon sighed as he walked toward Biane and Clemora in the wrecked living room, (Now then, how should I talk to them after I killed their father).