Emperor's Reckoning

The three leaders from the Mortal World were looking at the young man with worries behind their glance for he was unpredictable. Everyone came to believe that he could do anything. The worst of their imagination could still be surpassed.

Seeing that the young man still hesitated to answer, King Pala smiled. "Lavish, you can live lavishly in this world. Forget about the Mortal World, this place is made for you. Everything is better here."

"No need to worry about resources, we have plenty. People will respect you, no one shall speak ill of your name."

King Pala enticed the young man further. It was an offer that cultivators from the Mortal World could only dream of. No amount of honest hard work would grant them that position, even if they spent their entire lifetime. Not even Hezar was promised such sweet nice things.

The leader of the Elite Five, Barat, had his eyebrows furrowed. He knew the dangerous play that his king was playing.

A slap today for a peaceful tomorrow. In the eyes of the powerful king, the bargain was worth it. His name got some weight. Though his reputation might seem like dirt compared to the smile that he showed, none doubt his capabilities of springing out luxury wealth that he had accumulated over the years.

"Beautiful woman you say?" asked Lyon as he rubbed his chin.

(I got you!) thought King Pala as his eyes were filled with spark. Lyon might have not taken the bait but he was surely inching closer.

"Absolutely!" said the king with a royal tone. "Your eyes shall feast only the finest beauties, and your tongue shall taste only the finest wine."

"Ho?" Lyon slowly had his lips curved upward.

"Yes, yes! What's the point of shedding more blood, where we can have peace," said King Pala. "There is no need for us to keep fighting, we all know you are undoubtedly the strongest one here. In fact, there is no need for the final round to commence. We can just have the banquet tomorrow and skip the necessities."

"Hmm," Lyon rubbed his chin.

Seeing the youth was amused, swallowed by his enticing offer, the king grinned inwardly. (I must say, you are still inexperienced, your haughty manner sold you out! You might have power, but you are still, in the end, a naive child).

"Then," King Pala opened his arms with a genuine smile on his face. "Welcome to First Heaven, the indomitable, the strongest—."

"I'm afraid, that will not happen, Pala."

King Pala had his eyes snapped open before he gradually lost his smile as he looked down against the young man. He tried to force a smile under the thumping of his heart. "W-What? I'm sorry, did I misheard you? These old ears must be acting again."

"Then listen carefully," said Lyon before Graham grabbed the back of the king's head then slammed his entire body to the ground.

*Boom!

The loud and daunting crash was heard as Lyon reigned the atmosphere. Barat and Hezar had their eyes both wide opened as nothing but short gasp they could utter.

King Pala opened his eyes wide as his head was slightly pulled up by Graham so that he could see the young man. (S-Such massive power!!) He couldn't even bend his finger. He was clenched by the aura that was pushing him down.

Lyon crouched down. His eyes were severely sharp as he looked at King Pala with disdain.

At this moment King Pala knew who he was messing with. The young man suddenly seemed larger than life itself, larger than what he had become. Not even in his entire lifetime could he compete against this young man. One glance was enough, the young man was neither a true noble nor he was a debauchery one. He was someone above, above even those of the old kings.

Many refer to him as a monster but he was as human as he could get. He had ten fingers like him, a single head, and four limbs. He was nothing different than the rest of them, but his achievements and unmatched strength made him earn the word monster. However, being so close to the ground, King Pala realized that monster was not the right term to explain what being that was staring him down.

"Die," uttered Lyon.

The soft word echoed, not just to the king's mind but the whole Afurnae. Everyone could hear the clear tone.

The king's pupils instantly shrunk as his heart thumped for the last time. He took a deep breath before feeling the clench on his head tighten.

With killing intent flourishing Graham's brows, he slammed the king's head to the ground before sending Afurnae to a massive quake.

The whole arena shook greatly as the buildings made a concerning crack. Like snakes, the crack slithered its way from the foundation up before a loud snap was heard. A section of the arena crumbled to the ground.

Queen Wanda had her mouth slightly gaped unbeknownst to her. She just saw the death of a powerful man as if he was weak. His head splattered, his blood gushed out. He was taking a humble role to entice the powerful mortal, yet it was his head that was turned into a mince as the result.

Everyone was shocked. Horror colored their faces. The great four kingdoms suddenly lost one of their kings. The balance in First Heaven was instantly threatened. However, under the gawked and race-thumping hearts of the crowds, the young man slowly stood.

His back was straight and a smirk was on his face. Though First Heaven had been proclaimed to be better than Mortal World, it was not under his presence.

"This is an order!"

The shout didn't come from Lyon but rather, the queen of the Sverine Kingdom. She managed to recover from the shock quite quickly than the others as a smile already resurfaced from her beautiful face.

The king of the Golden Dragon Kingdom immediately furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the dangerous woman. (This woman! Don't tell me).

First, she was smiling at Lyon who had a surprise clamoring his face then at the king of the Golden Dragon Kingdom who received hers as obnoxious.

"The Sverine Kingdom will aid Lyon Torga, from here on out, from henceforth! Hesitate, then it won't be Lyon's blade that will sever your head, but me!"

The crowd immediately froze. She finally shed off the skin that she carefully wore each time she was in public. She was waiting for the perfect moment, and that perfect moment was brought out not by her husband but the young man whom she hardly knew.

With the shift of power changing in a drastic matter, she knew it was the right time. The real powerhouse of the Sverine Kingdom finally made her presence known not as the queen but as the ruler.

"Wanda!" the king of the Golden Dragon Kingdom shouted.

"Oh? No pleasantries?" teased Wanda with a wink.

"You!!"

Needless to say, the king was infuriated but his son was quick on the uptake.

He immediately sought his dear rival, Raul. The latter was shocked as his fingers jittered. Never in his wildest mind, that thing would escalate to this point. His father was dead with his entire body on the ground. It was not the death befitting a ruler such as him.

"Raul! Snapped out of it!" shouted Rupert before the latter jumped to his side.

"Oi! Raul!" his voice finally brought him back to reality.

"A-Ah! AHH!!!" Rupert screamed as he put his hands on his veiny temples. "ARGH!!!!!"

The power, the fame, the riches, they were all within his grasp. It was time, time was all he needed. He was to mature and inherit everything but suddenly, all was lost within a single bang of a head. All of it was because of one man, one mortal.

"Tch!" Rupert averted his glance toward Lyon. The slapping incident didn't even last for a day and now, he had started a war, and within Afurnae too. (Did he plan all of this?!) thought Rupert as he gave a cruel glare toward the mortal.

However, even his father's aura couldn't contest against Lyon let alone him.

"SO BE IT THEN!" shouted the king of the Golden Dragon Kingdom before he threw his royal cloak.

"It has been far too long! We all know the tension of our kingdoms must be quelled one day! However, I never thought that the trigger would be someone from outside our world! You are all blinded by an outsider! All of you that don't stand by my side, you don't deserve to live in First Heaven!"

His blue eyes turned golden before the king let out the aura that was worthy of his crown, and more importantly his bloodline.

Graham was about to move before Lyon stopped him. "Wait, Graham, no rush, he is not the only dragon in town."

Lyon's back shimmered a jade glow as a grinning true dragon perched at his right shoulder.