Emperor's Reckoning

"You know, the best equipment to chop off a tree, is an ax, however, back in my world, there is an even better equipment called, a chain saw."

Lyon smirked as he confidently walked forward toward the huge tree trunk with the red blood sword in his right hand.

"What?!"

"Of course you wouldn't know, the great Golden Wise Tree is nothing but a scam!"

"How dare you!"

The branches started to move once more to apprehend the danger that was walking toward its heart.

"Heh, are you running out of tricks?"

Lyon smiled before cutting the branch in a swift and smooth movement that no regular sight could see. His footsteps were steady and unhindered as he inched closer and closer toward the giant tree trunk.

"For an immortal, you are quite disappointing."

"Shut up! Let's see how you could keep that smug of yours after this!"

Lyon sneered before his eyebrows slightly creased. All the branches of the Golden Wise Tree started to move against him. The sum of them was uncountable like the hair on his head but Lyon didn't flinch his smirk one bit.

"Do you think this will make me vulnerable? Attacking from below and above? Heh, please. You're like an open book!"

*BOOM!

Hundreds of roots started crawling from below at astonishing speed and coming toward him with the intent to kill.

"Stupid Mortal! I was being lenient before but no more!"

"You stupid immortal, do you think I need to get closer to kill you?"

"What?!"

Lyon smirked before he slightly leaped backward and shouted, "Go! Scarlet!"

The veins inside his right arms popped as he grinned and gritted his teeth at the same time before launching the sword with a sonic boom. The point of the sword crackled the incoming thick branches and roots like it were nothing but butter.

*STAB!

The branches froze as the crawling roots stopped moving. The red-blood sword was embedded on the giant tree trunk before Lyon let out a breath and crossed his arms.

"What's wrong immortal? Aren't you going to say something?"

Lyon sneered before a laugh rang in his mind.

"This? What is this tiny dagger gonna do to me?! I can't feel a thing."

"Oh, Golden Wise Tree..." Lyon shook his head before he continued, "Have you forgotten how I summoned Scarlet? The sentient weapon that is embedded in you may not be as sharp as the sharpest sword in the world, nor is it as hard as the tenacity of a hammer. However..."

Lyon smiled as his eyes turned sharp and laser focus before he muttered, "That sword is hungrier than anything else."

*THUMP!

One of the branches suddenly wrinkled as the golden leaves gradually turned brown that could be observed by naked eyes. One leaf was naturally plucked off as it dried up before it fell at the mercy of the wind. Dancing away before it belonged back to the ground where it all started.

"Impossible!"

The red blood sword lit up before the Golden Wise Tree felt its very vitality was drained. The rapid drying of its branch was astonishing and left the ancient being weakened by seconds. The surviving roots immediately pulled back to the ground as the branches moved in unison and withdraw.

"Heh," Lyon smirked before with one tap of the ground with his foot, he plunged himself forward. It was pretty obvious that the tree wanted to pull out Scarlett as fast as it could before it lost all of its strength.

In the middle of his leap, his eyes turned golden as his height was immediately halved. The four tails protruding out of him were lighter than air yet the force they contained was in full control according to his wishes.

"This is a big chance Scarlet! You don't get this kind of chance every day! Feast the ancient being like it's your birthday!"

Lyon smirked before he quickly repelled the branches that were trying to grab the hilt of the sword with his fists. He crossed his arms as his figure was floating with the support of two of his black tails.

"Heh, let's rumble!"

"You!"

The thousands of branches above descended down at varying speeds as well as the hundreds of roots from below.

"Heh, take your time Scarlett, I beg of you. I'm going to play for a while!" His eyes turned sharp but his smirk didn't waver a bit.

*BOOM!

The first contact ensued as Lyon countered one of the branches and immediately broke it with a crackle.

"YOU DAMNED MONKEY!"

"Then in the name of my grandfather, I shall destroy you! Heh, too bad no one hears that one."

His fist connected once more before he started to use his feet and pair of tails. This was a contest of speed and force. One single miss of a rhythm and Lyon would have lost the game. However, the crackling sound was getting louder and louder in the atmosphere as if four auto riffles were being shot at different intervals yet filled each other.

Soon the ground trembled as Lyon's agility surpassed even those whose cultivation was in an entirely different realm above him. The soil slowly floated as every fiber inside Lyon's body moved in unison and going according to his wishes. The alertness inside his small mind was out of this world as even his own eyes couldn't keep up with his movement. This was one of the inherent skills that a Devil Ape had, a race that was born to fight.

However, he was unaware of how loud their fight was. The sound of crackling woods and blasts of rapid-fire was reverberating across the huge plane.

"Hmm??!"

The man halted before his eyebrows slightly creased. The crashing sound was like the sound of war that kept on generating fear.

"A big battle is being held... I think they want the rest of us to find them. It might be unwise but it really does bore me to stroll around with no living being to punch."

Meanwhile, on the other part of the plane, a woman was sitting on a rock. She was the woman from the South City that evoked resonance with her powerful magic. She even left a mark on the  Bell of Heaven while doing so.

"Rattle, rattle, rattle... surely this is not the type of fight Kaiju Loh would be in. Hmm... I wonder who.. ah... of course. Why not take a little peak instead of guessing."

She puckered a smile with her purple lips before she stretched her right arm and opened her hand that was covered in a black glove. Mana was gathering around it at the speed that might rival that of Lyon.

"Now then, Divine Magic: Eye of Sorority!"

Lyon was busy blocking and countering the thousands of branches that seemed infinite that he could not have known a magic brand appeared far above the sky the looked like a single eye with no eyelid.

"Hmm? Wait a second... Isn't that? The Golden Wise Tree?!"

The woman stared in disbelief against the magic brand that revealed the vision from the floating eye. From its point of view, it was clear that there was a giant tree with golden leaves.

"Why is someone fighting the Golden Wise Tree? Isn't that kind of the opposite of what one should do? Curious... I am curious.." Her purple lips smiled once more before she moved the eye lower to get a clear view of the identity of who was fighting an ancient being. Who was foolish or brave enough to challenge an old devil.

"A-Amazing... such speed! I could only see the branches crackling and falling down! Hmm... Two tails? No, four tails. His figure is pretty small, a dwarf? No... a dwarf doesn't have a tail, not to mention four."

(Should I get a closer look?) she gulped at the anticipation. She didn't recognize among the list that would be stupid enough to fight someone, something, like the Golden Wise Tree. What's more surprising was, the small figure actually had the upper hand against it.

"Who are you..." She smiled as the eye leaned closer to the fight before it received a strong gale as the result of each contact between a limb and a branch. Nevertheless, her curiosity was stronger than a cat as it kept going forward in the hope to see of who was the person.

"C'mon Scarlet, go slower, I can't even scratch my— huh?"

Time seemed to slow down as Lyon glance over to the side with only his pupils moving. (An eye? What??). His eyes met with an eye, he was confused for a second before he winked at it and time resumed its speed.

The woman that was observing from the other side blinked in disbelief before.

*CRACK!

The magic brand was abruptly broken the moment one of the branches accidentally pierced through it.

She was stupefied before she shook her head.

"That was, if I recall correctly, its face does appear to be... oh my."

She quickly retrieved the flyer from her ring and infused her mana in it. The image produced was immediately shown.

"How can I miss this before. Such a sly young man. You might be the weakest of among the other Crown winners. However, you can't escape my observation skill that easily. Young Emperor, Lyon Torga. The same man that evoked the perfect resonance."

She puckered her purple lips to a smile as no one knew what she was thinking.