Emperor's Reckoning

The crowd didn't dare to cross eyes with them. The young man was lethal despite his aloof and lazy expression. One word coming out of his mouth could spell the end of a god.

He didn't bat an eye for the status that his opponent had. Never curry favor, never fazed. The only mortal cultivator that was able to do so. Worthy to stand amongst the four kings that ruled First Heaven. Didn't lay a finger yet a god died by his name.

He came here bearing the flag of the Mortal World. His name was unknown four days ago, yet now everyone in First Heaven knew his name. There was no limit to what he could do, he had faced no loss nor competition in the eyes of the crowd.

They had first seen him as nothing but a cocky newcomer from the Mortal World. However, after conquering the first and second rounds, his name shot to the firmament of heaven. Even more so after they saw the death of an elite cultivator.

The experts among the crowds shook their head, "Afurnae is still a neutral ground, offending the kingdom in this place is not a wise move."

"Wise? That guy is mad!"

"Even Prince Raul still needs to behave in front of the others."

Everyone grew wary of him. No good fruit would be borne from connecting with him. He had offended the Pala Kingdom greatly. Threatening to kill the famous commander was one thing, but actually killing someone above that was another. Especially in Afurnae.

"Afurnae is a neutral land," said one of the crowd before he continued, "He is going to face the four kingdoms rather than the Pala Kingdom alone."

"He had overdone himself, what kind of backing dare to stand behind him now?"

"Do you think he needs backing?"

The question caught everyone to a silent. Backing? The young man could kill a god with an order from his mouth.

Kesya grinned as she walked a little faster to match her master's speed. She slightly slouched forward as she took a peek at his face.

"Young master..."

"Hm?" Lyon leered down as he kept walking.

"Do you think the final round will be held?"

"I don't know," said Lyon. From his nonchalant eyes, everyone knew he didn't a single damn about it.

"I wish to see you fight up close though," Kesya pouted.

"We already did remember?" said Assid. "Back when he was fighting the remnant of Eternal Golem."

Kesya raised her chin up as she closed her eyes. She didn't look at Assid as she replied, "That's doesn't count!"

"What?"

"That doesn't count, our legs were stuck to the ground and we couldn't watch properly."

"Hmm," Assid readjusted his glasses as a response.

"You will get your fill later," uttered Cecile as she crossed her arms. The auburn beauty was smirking as she exude a greater aura than the rest of them. "After all, this place won't be at peace anymore."

---

Meanwhile, things were quite hectic inside the Pala Inn.

The private inn was full of cultivators from the same banner and the merry atmosphere immediately turned blue the moment they saw the prince coming with heaves.

"Prince Raul, what's wrong?" said one of the guards.

Prince Raul was about to answer but the Elite Five that was covering him from behind immediately said, "Move!"

"Ah..." The cultivators immediately made way for both of them. Though they were not going to halt their advance, they were concerned as to why their prince looked pale.

Naturally, the rest of the group like Folcre and the others were left behind. The matter concerning what had happened back at the front of the restaurant had not spread to the entirety of Afurnae yet, one thing was certain, the king must know.

"Your majesty!"

The king of the Pala Kingdom furrowed his eyebrows. He was having a meeting with the rest of the Elite Five and didn't seem too keen on being interrupted.

"Erlang, what are you shouting about?! We are at the presence of his majesty!" said one stout cultivator.

"Hm? Where is Kane? I thought you both are going to Prince Raul together," said one lean cultivator.

Both of them belonged to the Elite Five group.

The king furrowed his eyebrows but before he managed to say a word of his own, he saw his son looking terribly pale.

"What's wrong, Raul?" asked the king of the Pala Kingdom. "I've never seen you like this before."

Raul looked up to his call. He opened his mouths. No words came out. There was a certain trauma hinted at behind his eyes.

Erlang looked at the prince before bowing to the king of the Pala Kingdom.

"Y-Your Majesty, I have come bearing bad news."

The atmosphere immediately sunk as everyone but himself and the prince had their eyebrows furrowed. It was a very rare occasion that someone from the Elite Five arrived with bad news.

The king's breath turned heavy as his weary eyes looked at one of his most prized subordinates.

"Tell."

"Y-Yes," said Erlang before he looked at the king with the same pale eyes as Prince Raul, "Kane is dead."

"Hm?!" His weary eyes opened wide as his heart skipped a beat.

The three others of the Elite Five also had the same reaction. One of them stepped forward with his eyes glaring at his teammate.

"Oi, Erlang! What the hell are you saying!"

"Kane is dead!" said Erlang as his lips slightly quivered. "Do you think that I would lie about something like this?!"

The other one from the Elite Five immediately glared, "You guys are in front of the king, mind your tone."

He had a leader aura surrounding his figure and everyone looked at him with a huge sense of respect.

"S-Senior Barat, forgive me," said both Erlang and the other one.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to the king," said Barat as he bowed. "Please forgive the manner of my subordinate!"

"Please forgive us!"

The king merely raised his hand to signify their pardon. He looked at Raul before averting his gaze toward Erlang.

"What happened? Who killed Kane?' The king asked the question.

The room was silent for a moment but the one answer to his question was none other than his own son.

"It was... Lyon Torga."

"What?!" the king immediately opened his eyes wide. His pupils shrunk in disbelief as he heard the name.

"Impossible," said one of the Elite Five. "That guy sure has gained a little fame for himself but it would be impossible to kill Kane with his mere cultivation!"

"No, it's not the young man that killed him, but his death was by his name," said Erlang in a submissive tone.

"You mean, somebody tries to frame him?" asked Barat as he furrowed his eyebrows.

Erlang shook his head, "No, Kane died because he was killed by Lyon's subordinate."

"What? Why didn't you help him?" asked Barat as his daunting aura enveloped Erlang.

Erlang immediately felt like his neck was strangled by an unbreakable metal. His eyes bulged open as he saw his senior with pleading eyes(This is why you're the leader, that calmness on your face, it's deadly).

"I-I couldn't, please forgive me."

"What do you mean you couldn't? The two of you should have taken care of him quite easily," uttered Barat.

However, Erlang shook his head, "There was nothing that I could do. I need to prioritize Prince Raul's safety above all."

The king furrowed his eyebrows, "You mean to tell me that you couldn't finish him off together?"

Erlang bowed, "Forgive me, your majesty! But this lowly one couldn't even speak a word when that monster attacked!"

(Monster?) the term crossed everyone's mind.

"Explain, Erlang," asked Barat. He knew his subordinate wouldn't use that term without a reason.

"Kane died! He died by... he died by..." Erlang was trying to calm himself down but couldn't.

"He died by what?!" asked the other Elite Five impatiently.

"His head was crushed, by a single hand," said Erlang as his eyes paled.

The room was dead silent the moment he said those words. There was no remedy for the news he had just delivered.

"Impossible... Raul is this true?"

Raul's opened his mouth but found it difficult to utter the word. He gulped instead before nodding nervously.

The affirmation from the prince brought the ghastly hollow into the room. The creeping cold of the truth brought no comment from all of them.

The king furrowed his eyebrows as the veins in his temples bulged. The smirk of the young man vehemently appeared inside his mind. Especially the moment where he took the eleventh step and nonchalantly bear the combined pressure from all four kings' aura. (It's him again! It seems like he wishes to die in Afurnae after all!)

"Bring me Hezar, now!!"

The king shouted and reverberated across the inn. His kingly aura flared as the guards of the inn slightly felt the jolt from their souls.